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

@Midnightstar76 - hope you enjoy it!

I’ve just read The Long Walk too. I did enjoy it, but you’re right about it being bleak. I have so many questions! Mostly, why? Why does the event exist? How did it start? What is it supposed to achieve?

I really like Stephen King, Misery was the first of his that I read, when I was about 15 or so, and I read quite a few in succession, but none for a few years, until this year. I quite fancy reading Christine next.

Nature's Cathedral: A Celebration of the Natural History Museum Building

I feel a bit of a fraud including this, as it's mostly a collection of photographs, but it is a book and I did read it 😅

This is a lovely little volume packed with beautiful detailed photos of the Natural History Museum building in London and all of the wonderful sculpted and painted depictions of wildlife both inside and out. It's one of my favourite places and it was a real treat to see all of the ornaments and features up close instead of squinting up at them. It also has a brief account of how each part of the Museum was designed and some interesting info, including the fact it was highly criticised at the time it was built!

Why does it exist? Because there will always be power and powerlessness and always be people who exploit that and people who are powerless and poor enough to accept that; this imagines that imbalance at its worst, but in aTrump second term world it can appear terrifyingly prescient, I guess. And now I’m really feeling bleak!

8.The Names by Florence Knapp
I need my next book to be a lighter happier read. I would have given up on this if I hadn’t seen that it is highly reviewed and curiosity has made me finish to the end. It is about Cora and what happens if her baby boy is named different names, Bear, Julian or Gordon. Cora is in a domestic violence relationship with her Dr husband named Gordon and this book spans over time as we see the baby boy grow up in three different lives under each different name. Honestly this was so utterly sad, very emotional and will be one of those books I won’t forget. A very definite bold.

Sending sympathy to @EineReiseDurchDieZeit& @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie& hope you both feel better soon.

I’m considering buying The Hand that Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell, but I haven’t bought anything yet in the deals yet as I have quite a backlog from previous deals & haven’t been particularly inspired this month. I’ve also got a list of books to read on BorrowBox.

23 . The Women by Kristin Hannah - a young nurse naively volunteers to serve in the Vietnam War. This was from BorrowBox following discussions about Kristin Hannah on this thread. I enjoyed this especially the first part about Vietnam, which vividly described how hard the nurses had to work in very traumatic conditions. I also liked that the second half of the novel showed how difficult it was for the main character to readjust to civilian life. Not a bold as the plot felt a bit too contrived towards the end, but will read more by the author.

24 . The Crowded House by Winifred Holtby - from the Rather Dated MN thread. I liked the author’s writing style & the evocation of early 20th century life, but had some reservations about the main character.

25 . A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor - set in a boarding school during World War II, a ghost of a teacher investigates her own murder. I liked the setting, which is based on a ruined stately home, and the complex relationships amidst the school community. I was less keen on the supernatural element. The author has written another book set in the same location but a century earlier, which I would like to read as it’s a location that has clearly inspired him.

26 . Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin - Christmas fake-dating romance where 2 families from different cultures spend Christmas together. I’ve enjoyed some of the author’s other books, but this isn’t one of her best. The plot is a bit too complex (this wasn’t an issue in her earlier books which were reworkings of famous romances) and the writing needed to be funnier. Her earlier books were also much sharper on observing & commenting her characters” experience of work, family & religious life, which I missed here. The best bit was the descriptions of cooking.

@Benvenuto she threw far too much shit at Frankie to the degree that it lost plausibility and became a misery fest

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit- I overlooked the misery for a bit as (1) Vietnam was clearly awful & (2) it felt realistic that she had PTSD but it got me a bit at the end. I definitely agree about the plausibility, especially in the last third.

SPOILERS:

Why did Rye sign on for a second year when Frankie did - that made no sense with regard to later revelations? Then both the timing Rye’s eventual return home and Frankie’s unexpected reunion with another important character at the end felt contrived.

Thanks @Benvenuto I’m feeling a lot brighter today, thank goodness.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit How are you doing?

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
For the first half, I thought this might be a bold, but it was not to be. Lots to like - some wonderful descriptions and a The Shining sense of creeping menace- but it was too long and rammed too much in imo and it all got a bit silly in the second half. I also wasn’t too taken with the use of news reports/letters and occasional different perspectives, which felt a bit adolescent and clunky.

Having said all that, it got me out of a rut and I’ve finished it in a day.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie no reading done but no vomit either !

@Benvenuto yeah I found the end frustrating more than anything

A no vomit sort of day has got to be better than a vomit sort of day, even without reading.

I hope you're on the mend, @EineReiseDurchDieZeit 💐

Thanks Fuzzy

I completely agree with this assessment of Hannah's writing...I've read The Nightingale, The Women and The Winter Garden (all passed on by my mum) and while the stories are good - and she's clearly done her research - the way they're written is only 'good', and they do sometimes lose their way.

Tales from the Café - Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Second in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold time travelling Japanese cafe series. There are six, apparently. I liked the first a lot but think it will be an inevitable case of diminishing returns and doubt I will buy others.

Just checking in with you all.
I've been in a bit of a reading desert as I have been so busy at work and so tired, I am barely managing a chapter of anything before I fall asleep.
I am reading the 4th Maeve Kerrigan, which I am enjoying but just so tired.
I have got Boudica by Manda Scott on the go on Audible. I can appreciate it is well researched and well written but it just isn't engaging me really. This is probably my fault rather than the book though.
The best thing I have read lately is Demon Copperhead so enjoying the love for that.

14. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon Armitage Epic poem translated from Middle English. Vaguely diverting.

15.The White Darkness by Simon Grann
Biography of Henry Worsely. Worsely was the descendant of one of the original members of Shackleton’s Antarctic team. He travels to recreate parts of Shackleton’s journey and then decides to attempt to cross the entire continent of Antarctica unsupported.

A good polar adventure book if you like that sort of thing.

16.Foster by Claire Keegan
Bold. A hauntingly beautiful little novella about a young girl in Ireland who goes to stay with a couple on a farm while her mother has another baby. There was a lot of subtlety here in the relationships. It is written from the child’s perspective so there is much that seems obscure in the behaviour of the adults around her. Very effective.

17.How to Disappear by Gillian McAllister

Thriller about a young woman and her mother who go into witness protection. I mainly read this because I was fascinated by the ideas and implications of going into witness protection. I think McAllister wrote it for the same reason. By her own admission she wasn’t able to find out much that is concrete about the real process and it did feel a bit far fetched in places as a result. It was also slightly one of those books where the characters do things that are so mind-bogglingly stupid that you lose suspension of disbelief and slightly stop caring.

Also the main character ate a lot of cakes all the time. Which wasn’t a problem but just an observation. She ate a lot of cakes and seemed to enjoy it and her weight and physical body were never commented on. Which was actually quite refreshing.

18.We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
A man is released from jail after serving a sentence for accidentally killing a child. A woman is murdered and he says that he did it. His friends are convinced it is not in his nature.

I enjoyed this while reading it but didn’t find it especially memorable.

19.Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith

A really boring book about fell running. Small enjoyable nuggets about particular hill running nutters. One bloke used to train others by attaching himself to them with a bungee rope and then running down the hill- they had to keep on their feet. Bits like this were strongly outnumbered by long passages with names and dates of who won which race when. Which was dull in the extreme.

20.Air by John Boyne

I read Fire but haven’t read the other elements books (I definitely don’t need to read at least one of them now because this told the whole story too). I enjoyed this and thought the father-son relationship was well depicted. However I should have done a bit more research on the correct order in which to read and enjoy these.....

I’ve had a decent haul in the March deals
Glorious Exploits
Killers of the Flower Moon
The Wide Wide Sea
Fenwomen (thanks to whoever pointed this out- I live very close to Isleham so am interested in this)
I Who Have Never Known Men (bought before the most recent reviews which have me thinking it might not be at the top of the TBR pile)

Updating with the last of my Austria reads as I wait for the flight home.

19. Last Dance in Salzburg - Vivian Conroy - DNFed after reading a third. I was expecting lighthearted cosy historical mystery. I got page after page of woe is me navel gazing by a heroine I assume we fall in love with in the previous books because she is insufferably boring in this one. With no progress on the mystery and more repetitive thoughts on the way, I decided life was too short and moved onto...

20. Cafe with No Name by Robert Seethaler - A quiet book of vignettes about an old fashioned cafe in Vienna soon as the city is reinventing itself after WW2. A story of change and of people whom change leaves behind. Somewhat underwritten for my taste but it still left me moved by the end. A solid 4/5. Not my style precisely but I can see that it's good.

@elspethmcgillicudddy – I Who Have Never Known Men is short, if you’ve doing RWYO, that might be helplful?

33 Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid. Thanks to the chat about getting Audible books on BorrowBox, this is my first read! This is maybe my 4th TJR and while I haven’t read them in order of publication, I enjoyed that she has some character crossovers.

This book is set in Malibu, California in 1983 where the four Riva siblings, children of the music star Mick Riva live. The siblings are glamourous and rich and Nina, the eldest, has a party every year to mark the end of Summer. The morning after her party sees her beautiful house burn down. The narrative moves from the current day 1983 back and forth to the mid 1950s ongoing. The story of the Rivas develops. I do think that TJR is good at family dramas/sagas and I wished I’d read this one before Carrie Soto is Back. Never mind.

10 Human Resources: slavery and the making of modern Britain by Renay Richardson and Arisa Loomba
This apparently originated as a podcast, which explains the structure of 39 chapters on a different topic and how they demonstrate aspects of slavery, links to modern Britain and the persistence of the consequences of exploitation and brutality. Some chapters are inevitably stronger than others to me (strongest included Pirates, Surnames and Holiday Resorts) but all are thought provoking. The writing benefits by being derived from a vocal script I think, it’s exceptionally clear without being simplistic.

I've never read any Kristin Hannah, they don't quite appeal to me. I wonder if DM may like them though.

Hope you're feeling better Eine

Two more from me:

18. Mother Mary Comes To Me - Arundhati Roy. Reviewed by @ÚlldemoShúl up thread, this is Roy's memoir about her life and abusive mother. I knew about her activism but didn't know anything about her background which is eye-opening. The writing is beautiful and it's made me want to re-read The God of Small Things, which I originally read when it won the Booker. A definite bold for me.

19. The Final Vow - M.W.Craven. The seventh outing of grumpy northern cop Poe and his young genius assistant Tilly. A sniper is indiscriminately shooting people all over the UK. I inhaled this in a day after picking it up in the deals. Recommend this series for those stuck in a rut that fancy a bit of a crime fix. Don't start here though as there are spoilers for the previous 2 books.

Echoes - Maeve Binchy
God, this was dull. Set in a small seaside town in the 1950s, it centres on a few characters, a scholarship schoolgirl from the town grocers, the doctor’s son, an inspirational teacher, the seaside photographer. Lots about religion and snobbery but I lost the will about halfway though and found it a bit of a slog. Not her best.

I am thanks @Stowickthevast

Sorry to hear that @BestIsWest I barely remember that one!

@BestIsWest I remember that one. The heroine was such a wet lettuce!

Women's Prize for fiction day
Revealing the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction longlist - Women's Prize : Women's Prize https://share.google/42foc2lROV4Iqh9v4

I've only read 3 - the two Booker ones and The Benefactors, which I loved - but there are quite a few others that I saw on prediction lists.

A Guardian and A Thief is in the deals so have just picked that up.