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

I bought Bookworm on the deals today.* *

8: Billy Bathgate
By E. L. Doctorow

E.L. Doctorow mixes real life characters and situations with the imaginary in his fiction - here is the story of the downfall of (actual 1930’s) gangster Dutch Schultz as told through the stream of consciousness perspective of his protege, fifteen year old Billy Bathgate. This is a rich, beautiful book and despite the dark subject matter it is humorous too.

It is less a traditional gangster tale and more of a coming of age story for Billy - he catches the attention of Schultz with his juggling and acrobatic skills and this teetering on the edge of balance, death or glory, is a theme throughout the book. It explores extremes: the poverty of the Bronx contrasts with the complacent luxury of the upper class at the races, and the psychopathic violence employed by Dutch Schultz feels like a world removed from the smooth corruption practiced by the men in positions of power who don’t get their hands dirty. When Billy returns to the Bronx after a period hiding out in the countryside with the gang, he sees it with new eyes.

He realises power isn’t always about getting your own way through bribing others with money or frightening them into submission, it is also about accessing things because you know how, and if you haven’t been taught, you can learn.

It’s just one of those perfect books I wished wouldn’t end.

Just a reminder for those on the Read Along that we’re discussing Book 1 of A Tale of Two Cities today.

@MamaNewtNewt I was diagnosed with autism 6 years ago and it has been quite a learning journey since then. I'm still discovering the extent to which I mask, along with other things. For me, the diagnosis and assessment itself really sparked a lot of self understanding, but I still feel confused about some of the things you are wondering about. When you've gone through life hiding parts of you to fit in, it's very hard to unpack after (in my case) 50 years. I hope a diagnosis brings more answers for you if you do receive one.

Thanks for the reminder that it’s deals day. I got The Will Of The Many which was on my Wish list but nothing else as being good/RWYO

Throwing my voice in support that the Maeve Kerrigan series is absolutely worth it.

7 A Death in the Family: My Struggle 1 - Karl Ove Knausgaard
First volume of a Norwegian autofiction series. Knausgaard recalls his alcoholic father’s death and various incidents from his childhood. Some parts gripping and moving, others not so much. Proust it isn’t. Not sure whether I want to commit to several more volumes of descriptions of making a cup of coffee.

Currently making my way through The Story of Art Without Men and listening to Equal Rites from the library.

I forgot how bad this thread is for tempting me to buy new books! I have a Reading Spa at Mr B's in Bath booked for June, and have sworn no new books until then. I already own so many good ones I haven't read so I am concentrating on RWYO*

• it is purely coincidence that I currently have 7 books out from the library 😳

Late bringing over my list but at least it's short!

1 Edenglassie - Melissa Lucashenko
2 All the Colours of the Dark - Chris Whitaker
3 BoyMum - Ruth Whippman
4 Bramble Fox - Kathrin Tordasi
5 Salem's Lot - Stephen King

And latest read:

6 Scattered by Aamna Mohdin

A personal account of the author's and her parents' experience of leaving Somalia as refugees and their ultimate settlement in the UK. Mohdin is a Guardian journalist and this book was in part a way of finding her own identity as well as telling her parents' story. When I first started as a lawyer I dealt with a lot of asylum claims on behalf of Somali clients and so some of the history she recounts is familiar to me, but every personal story is very different. The book is a bit of a patchwork but in this case I thought it was all the better for it. The terrible experiences Mohdin and her mother had whilst separated from her father are put in a different context; almost easier to deal with than the ongoing struggle of working out how to live in "safe" exile. The most successful bits of the book are I think the parts where Mohdin works through her relationship with her parents, and the end, when she reunited with a childhood friend, is full of hope. But there are also thought-provoking factual sections which bring home the sheer numbers of people who spend their whole lives, or a significant proportion of them, in the uncertainty of a refugee camp, citizens of nowhere. The best kind of memoir, that touches you but also gives a new perspective.

Hope your wrist heals soon @Terpsichore

I liked The Artist @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie hope your wrist is improving too

Nothing on my wishlist on the deals - I've added a lot from the Observer's debuts to look out for so most aren't published yet - so I'm not tempted to divert from RWYO. I'm trying to reach there Woman's prize without buying anything new (except audio).
9 The Fertile Earth - Ruthvika Rao. I think this was one of those books last year that people were predicting would be on book prizes but then wasn't. I'm a sucker for books set in India having lived there as a teen and this ticked lots of boxes for me. It starts with the murder of the ruling family in a village in 1970 and then goes back to 1955 and 1965 to set up how we got there. The main characters are the two daughters of the ruling family, Vijaya and Sree and two brothers from a poor house in the village Ranga and Krishna. The story casts a light on India's feudal farms and the "vetti" system which is basically slavery. It also traces the start of the Naxalites, a terrorist arm of the communist party. The descriptions of the countryside, class and society are great, I'd recommend this - 4.5*.

edited to change the numbering!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie
I just finished reading The Artist on Friday night/early hours of Saturday morning. It took me some time to get in to it but I really enjoyed it in the end.

I just read the first 30 pages of The Artist and it was doing nothing for me so I returned it for a refund. Far too much present tense for my liking. I can always try it again later in the month, I guess.

I also read and hated the sample of the second Maeve doodah, so I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere with those.

I’m enjoying Poirot investigating a murder on a plane though!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I'm assuming Death in the Clouds? One of my favourites!

I just bought Reflections by Diana Wynne Jones for 99p - one of my absolute favourite childhood authors.

Yep @Welshwabbit Just finished it.

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
I really enjoyed this and found some of it very amusing. I didn’t guess whodunnit at all.

For probably the first time ever (since I discovered them) I’ve bought nothing in the monthly deals on kindle or audible. I shouldn’t polish my halo just yet though as I already own the Maeve Kerrigan books

I also really like Death in the Clouds.
Definitely* *a good one👍

I liked The Artist when I read it during the summer.

@ÚlldemoShúl the monthly deals seem a bit odd this time, they only run until 15th Feb

Hi all

Managed four books in January although two were finished off from previous year.

1. The death of grass. John Christopher.

think I got this after a review on here. Set in the 50s in Britain, a virus sweeps across the world that kills grass, rice and wheat. Mass famine ensues. A small group of people attempt to reach a farm of a relative in a closed off valley as society starts breaking down. It’s a short book but I felt that it still managed to paint a harrowing picture without going into great depth. An enjoyable read.

1. The list of Suspicious Things. Jennie Godfrey

set in Yorkshire at the time of Yorkshire ripper a girl decides to investigate suspicious people to identify the ripper believing it will stop her Dad from moving them South. A good insight to life in a small town in those times but I found it slow in parts and took a while to get into.

1. Little Women. Louisa May-Alcott

This was just a nice reread (listen) on audible while I was working.

1. The Ritual. Adam Nevill

Picked this up after seeing it listed by lots of people in a book thread I follow as one of the scariest books ever. 4 men are having reunion trip away hiking in Sweden. Two of the men are woefully unfit and unprepared for the hike and so the group take a short cut through an old forest to shorten the hike. However something begins to stalk them, at the same time the are rising tensions within the group due to drifting apart in their every day lives. I enjoyed it but was not the scariest book I have ever read. Also felt it went on a little bit too long and to many coincidences. Apparently it is now a film and I think if done well it could make a good cult horror

Not sure why it won’t let me change the numbers.

You have to leave a space between the number and the full stop for it to work @LessObviousName it’s a pain in the arse

@LessObviousName I have just given up on numbering for the thread this year. My spreadsheet and my phone list are numbered but I’m just not going to even try for MN 😀

That is strange!

2 Round the Bend by Nevil Shute

Tom Cutter is an aircraft engineer who spots a need for air freight services in the Middle East during the period following WWII. He employs his old friend Connie Shaklin who becomes a great teacher to all aircraft engineers. Connie's teachings of best practice in aircraft maintenance are bound up with inter-religious philosophy and practice.

I love, love, love this book. There is a fair amount of reference to Eastern religions. It also offers a glimpse into the geography of the region during the early days of oil production.

@Welshwabbit I like the sound of Scattered by Aamna Mohdin

Had a quick flick through the monthly deals and downloaded a couple of samples of things I fancy. However, as usual, I was also conveniently reminded by the big A that I actually have 5 of their delicious deals languishing unread on my kindle - one that I bought as far back as December 2018 - so I should just crack on with those really, shouldn't I??!

I've spent a large part of the weekend curled up (as much as you can curl up with a doorstop hardback) with Strike and Robin and STILL have a good 300 pages or so left to go before I learn what happened to Dr Margot Bamborough. Rowling's writing of accents is absolutely intolerable and infuriating but she does spin a good yarn.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief due to the above (blame Rowlings!!) I haven't yet finished my chapters of TOTC but I will be along later in the week to discuss.

My January reads

@bettbburg would like to hear more about Night Swimmers...