50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Two

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second thread of the 50 Books Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2026, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

If possible, please can you embolden your titles and maybe authors as well of books you've read or going to read? It makes it much easier to keep track, especially when the threads move quickly at this time of the year.

The previous thread is

Ooh I just googled him and erm, yes, erm, ooh!

I see it has Olivia Coleman in though and I positively detest her, so won’t be going anywhere near it.

I’ll give it ago on the basis that Mrs Bennet is pretty awful anyway.

Late to the party so will just list briefly:

1. Frozen River - 4.75
2. Project Hail Mary - 3.75
3. Hamnet - 4.75
4. Atmosphere - 3.5
5. The Light Years (reread) - 4.5
6. What you are looking for is in the library - 5
7. The Gustav Sonata - 3.75
8. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe- 4
9. Six of Crows - 4

10. Wintersmith - 3.75
11. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - 4
12. A Gentleman in Moscow - 5
13. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (reread) - 5
14. Dept. Of Speculation- 3.75
15. Garden of Angels - 5

Currently reading

• The Magicians Guild (reread)
• Holes (read aloud to son)
• The Undercover Economist (audio)
• 52 Ways to Walk (dip in and out)

Finished a couple more and a DNF.
DNF out of the way first - A Time of Dread by John Gwynne. I liked the first series Gwynne set in his world of the Banished Lands but when I started this first book in the second series I remembered it was the characters I liked rather than the world and this was a whole new set of characters who I just couldn’t really be bothered getting to know in a substandard world. I will try the first book in his other series though (which I also have on my kindle)

23 The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet
My second WP Non-fiction read- also from library and read by the author- I usually don’t like that but I did enjoy it here, probably because of her reporting experience. This was a great read- a history of Afghanistan from the 1970s through the eyes of the staff of the Intercontinental in Kabul. The human element adds interest and heart to what would otherwise be a history of one conflict after another. Well worth reading. Glad the prize brought it to my attention.

24 Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner
Edith Hope is a writer who is staying in a quiet hotel in Switzerland because of an incident we aren’t told about until later in the novel. Through her thoughts, letters and descriptions and conversations with the other guests the author explores loneliness and the social pressures on women both within and outside marriage. There’s biting wit, some good insights and exquisite prose. It does feel old-fashioned though- more like a book that should be in the Persephone catalogue than one written in the 1980s. I initially gave it 4.5 on Storygraph but later increased this to 5 (incoming rant alert) mainly because when googling the book to see what others thought of it, I found a review in The Guardian from 2009 or 2013- can’t remember! comparing it unfavourably to Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard, also shortlisted in the same year. The comments below the line just stank of misogyny- 100% by men, few of whom had read the book but still were confident to judge its themes as slight. Most didn’t even talk about it but talked about the other books (all by men) that should have won that year and focused instead on why spec fic (also by male authors) is not taken seriously- yes in a review of Hotel Du Lac… The one exception was Simon Savidge who I didn’t realise had been reviewing books that long. Anyway it angered me enough that I marked it up to 5 (but will probably put it back down at some point) Rant over.

@Welshwabbit yes, it was me who recommended the Mary Kelly - really glad you enjoyed it. I keep saying it, but she just wrote like nobody else and as you say, that oppressive sense of place was incredible. I’ve read all the 'Hedley' novels now and I’m not sure he ever makes much more of an impression tbh!

5.A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
This is set in the great North Woods , North East America in 1906 and kind of reminded me of Anne of Green Gables in that it is a coming of age book about a young girl called Mattie Coakley. It comes back to a true murder that happened on the lake when a Grace Brown was found drowned whilst out boating with her beau Chester. It looks at Mattie’s life on her father’s farm and the many trials she goes through. Mattie is a book worm and a truly gifted writer and I was rooting for her to see if she ever leaves this small place to go to college in New York which is her dream. Honestly this was a great story and very much recommended. It is a children’s book but there are so many dark themes that I would say it is for an older child 12 years and up but very easily enjoyable for adults too.

@SpunkyKhakiScroller - A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my favourite books and one of the few I reread regularly.

14. Audition - Katie Kitamura

A new author for me. A book of two parts both of which are narrated by the same unnamed middle aged non-white actress - ethnicity not specified but relevant to plot. Part 1 revolves around the actress, her husband Tomas and a young man called Xavier and play rehearsals. I really enjoyed this and would happily have read a whole book taking this storyline further. However, Part 2 takes the same characters and puts them in a parallel universe. I enjoyed this part less. I wonder how I would have felt if the parts had been ordered the other way....

Presumably, the message was that lives can turn out differently, people can behave the same or differently etc

Interested to know if anyone else has read it and I have missed something (quite likely!).

I would read more by the author as I thought her characterisation was strong and really enjoyed the first part.

I think they need a younger actress for Mrs B. She would have married Mr B young and beautiful so Olivia C is as badly cast as the abominable Alison Steadman was and, I suspect, will do a similar job. It would be nice to see a different interpretation of her.

If anyone is after a more accurate be version of WH, Andrea Arnold's film is very good, and Heathcliff isn't white. Although Dom Sandbrook argued he was probably Irish, I didn't get that impression in my recent reread.

@ÚlldemoShúl I can completely understand getting the rage at all the judgey men btl.

@TimeforaGandT I read Audition as part of a book club read which was good as there were loads of different ideas and what was going on. Without being too spoilery, one was that one or the other half was the play. The second part particularly reads like it could be in a set. Another was unreliable narrator, possibly dementia going on. If it gets longlisted for the WP, I may reread it and see whether I pick up more hints.

on P&P, hot Mr B is not something I'd considered before, but I'm here for Rufus.

I saw Jack Lowden in a play recently and he was amazing, very different to his Slow Horses role. It was a 2 man play with Martin Freeman, and Lowden was definitely the star.

Olivia Coleman does tend to play the same character in every thing she's in, but I still have a soft spot for her from her Green Wing days.

Thank you @Stowickthevast - food for thought on Audition and I can see how the second part could have been the play.

I had a lovely time in London the other day and the Gower Street branch is as charming as I remember. The bag I bought from Daunts may be my favourite of all I’ve bought from there.

@Midnightstar76I felt the same as you about Let Them - Mel Robbins. I was seriously considering buying it, but then unexpectedly saw it in the library. It did talk sense, and made me think, but I would have felt robbed if I’d paid for it. It could have been half the length, I thought.

I got The Names on the kindle 99p deals the other day, looking forward to reading that, when I’ve finished London Rules

I've just finished audiobook How To Disappear by Gillian McAllister. Loved it. I think it's my 7th book but can't find my previous post. Must start taking notes as this thread moves so fast!

A bagful of books is surely evidence of a good day. I’m desperate for a trip to London but don’t think I’ll be able to make it happen until at least May.

Lovely book stack @Southeastdweller

Hated it @TimeforaGandT thought it was Emperors New Clothes

KLAXON - Barbara Kingsolver has a new book coming in October!

Afternoon all, can’t find my previous post (was many pages ago) so apologies if I am reviewing twice?
6) John &Paul: a love story in songs Ian Leslie. Loved this, took a while to read as had to listen to each song, which then left to another etc. Don’t usually go for biographies and ultimately believe only they knew what they meant to each other, but their writing and being together resulted in magic.
7) Here one moment Liane Moriarty - intrigued by the premise, a lady on a plane gives everyone their date and cause of death, which starts to worry people when the predictions start to come true. Easy reading and liked the outcome.
8) The Ministry of Time Kaliane Bradley - could not put this down, solid characters, many different themes woven into a sci-fi love story. Might be heading down a Commander Graham Gore shaped rabbit hole…

Just finished my fourth Cathy Glass fostering memoir in a row. I turn to these when I want an easy read but I need a break from the depressing now

20 Flint in the Bones by Eva St John

Bish is a detective in a London where Practitioners (wizardy types) power pretty much everything with magic. When a Practitioner commits a truck load of murders and flees to Norwich, a place where wild magic abounds, Bish (Norwich born and bred) is sent to chase him down. I can’t remember who on the thread mentioned this one, but thank you, I really enjoyed it. I’m off to read the next one now. This is free on kindle unlimited, as is another series by this author (Quantum Curators) which I also enjoyed.

8. The Last Odyssey by James Rollins

Researchers stumble upon a medieval ship frozen into a glacier in Greenland. Artifacts on the ship include an intricate mechanical map tracing the path Odysseus’s ship took on his voyage home from Troy - and pots full of mechanical monsters powered by a mysterious radioactive oil.

The discovery attracts the attention of a powerful and influential apocalyptic cult, and a small Sigma Force squad are soon in a race against time to find the map’s final destination first and avert the cult’s attempt to bring about the apocalypse.

It’s an entertaining fast paced thriller. I liked the classical references to the Odyssey and Greek myths as the team hunted for Tartarus.
I didn’t realise this book was part of a series when I picked it up at the library, but my ignorance of the Sigma Force characters and their previous adventures didn’t stop me enjoying this book.

book 10. Wreck by Catherine Newman
I gather Sandwich divided opinion on here last year. And in many ways this is more of the same, so I wouldn't recommend those that disliked it give this one a try (We All Want Impossible Things, her first book, is quite different and worth a go anyway I think).
I've been ill this week, so been doing some comfort re-reading, including Fragrant Harbour by John Lanchester which I loved first time round (some twenty years ago) and enjoyed re-reading very much. It's a sweeping tale of four intertwined characters' lives from the 1930s to around the turn of the century (though arguably the main character is Hong Kong itself). The story is great, the writing is great - it was just the job for an afternoon feeling sorry for myself on the sofa.

I think a handsome Mr Bennet is perfectly plausible - Mrs B is very clear about what Jane should look for in a man (looks, charming manners, money & social cachet) so it makes sense that Mrs B had the same priorities. If Mr B was lacking in any of this, she probably would have complained about it.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie- completely agree with both the age of Mrs B & the poor casting. My estimate is that she must be between 40-45 & she also needs to be pretty (to make sense of why Mr B married her). Mr Collins also needs to be good looking to.

I do enjoy the Andrew Davies adaptation as it’s a lot of fun, but most if not all of the casting is wrong for the book & I feel it completely lacks the depth of the book. The fuss about that adaptation (“Look, we’re daring because we’ve put Darcy in a wet shirt”) is probably why I just don’t have the headspace for the new Wuthering Heights film.

Back to book reviews (as I could speculate endlessly re P&P):

22 . Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy - this chronicles 2 friends from a small Irish town, who go to university in Dublin during the late 50s & find friendship, love and infatuation. Thank you to everyone who recommended Maeve Binchy as I really enjoyed this (definitely a bold). It’s a long novel and I think this suits her talents better than the short story format. The central characters aren’t quite as vivid as in Light a Penny Candle, but I found the plot was much better. It had a shorter timeframe, which worked better for me, and - although bad things happened - the ending was much more optimistic for the main characters. The author’s trademark vile men were there - but these were balanced by also having some decent men on the main characters’ side. Finally, just like in Light a Penny Candle, I do like that characters face the natural consequences of their behaviour - if they behave stupidly &/ selfishly they suffer.

Just going back to previous discussions, I could have read Circle of Friends as a teen, but I didn’t as I was put off Maeve Binchy by the covers looking a bit too middle-aged. I was wondering if anyone else enjoyed it at that age as given the subject matter (university, friendship & first love / infatuation) it would seem a good choice for an adult novel that you could put in a teenage library / bookshop section?

@Benvenuto Collins? Good looking? Absolutely not. David Bamber was absolutely perfect as Collins!

I will probably watch it but I am a die hard fan of the 90s BBC version