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

Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist:

• Gloria Don’t Speak by Lucy Apps (Weatherglass Books)
• Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi (4th Estate, HarperCollins Publishers UK)
• Moderation by Elaine Castillo (Atlantic Books)
• Flashlight by Susan Choi (Jonathan Cape, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK)
• Dominion by Addie E. Citchens (Europa Editions UK)
• The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine (Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton, Hachette UK)
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House UK)
• The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson (Cassava Republic Press)
• The Others by Sheena Kalayil (Fly on the Wall Press)
• Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly (Saraband)
• Heart the Lover by Lily King (Canongate)
• Audition by Katie Kitamura (Fern Press, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK)
• A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (Scribner, Simon & Schuster UK)
• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Canongate) TBR
• The Best of Everything by Kit de Waal (Tinder Press, Headline Publishing Group, Hachette UK)
• A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang (Dead Ink)

I've read 5 and reviewed 3 (which I think is quite a lot at this stage). I have another 3 TBR. 2 have been shortlisted for the Booker in 2025. I've not heard of 7 of the 8 other authors before - and know the name Megha Majumdar but know nothing about her, think she has published at least one other book

I’ve read 3, dont know if I’m going to buy the others or not!

@Stowickthevast Thanks for the Craven rec - I’ve started the first one. I don’t normally read modern crime with a contemporary setting but the geography appealed and I liked the main character from the sample.

I read The Correspondent and I honestly don't understand the plaudits for it. It was perfectly decent but I do think that it's a bit of a cop out to write a story in letters and emails - the author hasn't had to craft a story as such. It can jump about and leave us guessing in a way you can't do with a regular novel.

Gosh I've read a Women's Prize nominee! Wild Dark Shore which has been quite well liked on here.

I don't follow the prizes closely but thanks to those who do. I try and pick out a universally well liked one each year in an effort to keep current. So everyones reviews and discussion is much appreciated!

I'm currently reading Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky and it's so sinister and creepy it's got really under my skin and I dreamed about it last night wondering what will happen next!

Interesting @Arran2024 I have to say it's not one that particularly appeals to me. That and the Wild Dark Shore seem to be getting a lot of attention.

Apparently Heart The Lover is a sequel which I always find a bit annoying in prizes.

@elkiedee which ones have been your favourite? 5 is pretty good going.

Heart the Lover absolutely works as a standalone book though @Stowickthevast. I had read the 'first book' and didn't connect the two until I read some stuff online about it. It was my absolute favourite read last year.
Otherwise, the only one I've read is Wild Dark Shore, which I reviewed a few days ago. And the only ones I've heard of are The Correspondent and Flashlight, both of which are on my wishlist. Definitely interested to hear more from anyone who has more knowledge though!

Ah good to know. Thanks @carefullythere

Just seeing this. I’ve read 4- the 2 Booker nominees , Heart the Lover which I loved and The Benefactors which I also really rated. Bodes well for the rest of the list. I own another 3 so will prioritise those then see what the library gets in.

I enjoyed The Correspondent it was a bold for me. I just don’t think I can justify shelling out on all these books! I might wait for the shortlist

I’ve read six which probably means it’s leaning quite commercial this year as that’s where my reading is these days!

I didn’t like Moderation at all and found Flashlight a slog for what should have been an incredibly thrilling story.

Heart the Lover was beautifully written but I wasn’t in the mood for the level of tragedy, not the book’s fault! I enjoyed The Correspondent although didn’t think it was prize worthy, a few too many twists and secrets.

The Benefactors and Wild Dark Shore I thought were both great, original and unusual, and I’m pleased to see them there.

Of those I've read, The Benefactors and Heart the Lover were my favourites.

I also liked the other three I read very much: The Best of Everything, Flashlight and Moderation.

I've reviewed The Benefactors, The Best of Everything and Flashlight. I think I've shared my reviews here but they can be found on www.librarything.com too.

I have Audition, The Correspondent and Wild Dark Shore TBR, and have just bought The Guardian and the Thief for £1.99 - thanks Stowick (I have Majumdar's debut A Burning TBR). All Kindle.

I've added a new forthcoming novel, this month, by Cecile Pin to my huge wishlist - her first novel Wandering Souls was longlisted for the Women's Prize previously

I don't think that it matters at all that Heart the Lover is linked to Writers and Lovers - in fact, the relationship between the two books only becomes apparent later. While it didn't ruin my reading of HTL, I wish I hadn't learned the connection first (I had read W&L previously).

I agree - I’ve read Heart the Lover not realising it was a sequel and still haven’t read Writers and Lovers. It stands alone no problem and it really surprised me by being bold for me (and I generally don’t read much romance)

Calling @Southeastdwellerwe’ll need a new thread soon :)

I am currently reading Flashlight. Enjoying so far.

29 Pagans by James Alistair Henry
Recommended by someone here- sorry I can’t remember who. This is an alternate history police procedural and the alternate history is well thought out and interesting. The Romans never came to Britain so it remains as separate countries and is relatively poor. The different ethnic groups of celts, Norse and Saxons don’t always get along. Into this a Saxon and a celt must work together to solve a series of murders. I don’t think the balance was quite right between world-building, crime and character but it was good fun and I’d imagine that a sequel will be even better now the world is built.

I’m so glad you liked Pagans (with the reservations about world building/crime element). I think the sequel is scheduled for next year, or it might even be 2028

The Girls - Emma Cline

Evie is a 14 year old girl in the late 60s who becomes entangled with an alternative community on a ranch in the US. It's told in flashback and very early on it alludes to a Manson type murder scenario, but just a brief glimpse, before we go back to the beginning of her time with the group.

I loved this. I thought the writing was great with memorable lines and startling descriptions, without being flashy. Cline writes the viewpoint of a teenager with great insight, and she is wonderful at showing how the same situation can seem glamorous, free and thrilling one moment, and seedy, sad and dangerous the next.

This was a definite bold for me - the first this year I have wholeheartedly enjoyed from start to finish. It was a page turner with a lot of skill and intelligence.

I loved it - someone bought it for me as a Christmas present a few years ago. It's in hard back and I have kept it even though my rule is to usually dispose of books I have read

11 Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
This took a bit of getting used to. The language was deliberately a little over-elaborate, aiming to bring back the atmosphere of 1900 where the story is set. I’m glad I gave it time. The book is famous for its intense sense of the Australian bush, beautifully described, and its unresolved plot (having read the notes there is a chapter that explains everything but Lindsay’s editor persuaded her to cut it - huge relief tbh.. I’m resistant to giving it a bold at the moment but that’s probably quite harsh. A short trip into another world.

New thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5499103-50-books-challenge-2026-part-three

I haven't read Wild Dark Shore yet, but I read Migrations by the same author a couple of years ago and it was bold for me.

Have a look at the original ending online- or don’t because I’m not sure if improves anything

Closed!