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

Light A Penny Candle - Maeve Binchy. I know this has been liked on here but gawd, I found it depressing.

Late to the Kindle deals but have bought the new Ann Cleeves Jimmy Perez* which I’ve had my eye on for a while.

@BestIsWest is that the one set in Orkney? I'm laughing at the blurb describing the 'wild isolation' of Orkney. I wanted to move to the biggest city possible (Glasgow) when I went to Uni because in Orkney you are never isolated, everyone knows your business. Everyone in Orkney is very excited thst there might be an series of 'Shetland' set in Orkney.

The acceptance of all the awful men ?!

Belated thanks @Southeastdweller for the new thread!

💐@Terpsichore for the broken wrist, I'm so sorry! I hope it's not impeding your life too much. It's downright uncanny the number of people I know recently who have broken their wrists. One of my students broke his last week, and now can't type his essays (among other woes).

On a happier note, So Long, See You Tomorrow is a beautiful book. I like your Proustian comparison.

💐@PermanentTemporary I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope you're surrounded by lots of love and support.

I always seem to be catching up on comments many days after the fact (!) but @FuzzyCaoraDhubh your comment about the wordplay on Vilain's name was spot on. Actually in Old French, 'vilain' originally just referred to social class; it meant peasant. People were either vilains (peasants) or courtois (feudal aristocrats). But it quite quickly comes to mean 'bad' in the moral sense. So you get medieval tales where the narrator observes that a 'vilain' is acting like a 'courtois', or that a 'courtois' is being 'vilain'. Anyway Philippe Vilain mentions at one point that he could hardly have a more working-class surname.

@mononcle I also loved August Blue. I'm a big fan of Deborah Levy. I think she's influenced by psychoanalysis and that gives her novels a slight quirkiness. I can imagine she's not everyone's cup of tea but I love her playful use of symbols and her interest in family relationships. Hot Milk is great (there's a Medusa theme) and so is The Man Who Saw Everything. The latter is a multi-layered narrative with the same scene being replayed multiple times. When I finished it, I went straight back to the beginning and read the whole novel again in order to understand it better (not something I usually do with books). I enjoyed both readings! Her autobiography (three volumes) was also a bold for me, but I recommend it with a bit of caution as I recall a 50-Booker read it on my recommendation and didn't love it. She's a marmite author I think 😂

A propos of list numbering, I think I've given up now too. Last year MN used to let me edit my posts in a way that would let me fix the list formatting. This year, no matter how I try to edit, it's hopeless (I'm doing copy/paste from Word). Very annoying.

Re the awful/inadequate men in Light A Penny Candle - I found particularly Aisling's attempts to cover up Tony's alcoholism by trying to jolly him along and take the blame for things and apologise to avoid a drinking binge uncomfortably realistic. My ex was a Tony, utterly selfish and a terrible drunk. Any conversation with him ended up with him accusing me of nagging, then going awol. Im now mortified I put up with it for so long. Unlike Tony though by ex is bloody immortal and spends his days shuffling back and forth to the pub.

I loved it. One of my favourite books of last year. But I have seen less positive reviews on this thread.

Do books you read to your kids count? If so, then I've just finished Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, and really enjoyed it.

Morrigan is a cursed child. As well as being blamed for pretty much everything that goes wrong in town, she's destined to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. That is until she's whisked off to the magical city of Nevermoor on her day of reckoning with only minutes to spare. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor, Morrigan must compete in four dangerous trials against hundreds of competitors to join the elite Wunderous Society, or risk being sent back home to her death.

Very imaginative and my 9 year old was gripped from start to finish. Nevermore itself felt like a cross between the Emerald City & the wizarding world of Harry Potter. We'll definitely be getting the next book in the series.

@HagCymraeg not an ex but I have a father who fits the bill. In his 80s now, still going on don’t know how he is still alive. We are NC.

15 In Lieu of You by Keith Pearson

I needed an easy read after slogging through The Goldfinch, so I picked up this time travel book from kindle unlimited. A dude tries to get out of paying his soon to be ex wife what she’s due,by travelling back in time to prevent the two of them from ever meeting. As is always the case with time travel, there are unforeseen circumstances. This wasn’t anything too challenging or special, but was kind of sweet in places and as the easy read I needed.

So sorry for your loss @PermanentTemporary. Sending you , and also and bone-knitting wishes to @Terpsichore and @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie.

Although I've been following the threads I have somehow managed to once again fall horribly behind on reviews, so apologies for the review dump.

1. RWYO. In the Shadow of the Mountain, by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado. Memoir by the first Peruvian woman to climb Everest, this is gripping but also includes some very harrowing accounts of the child abuse she suffered.

2. Fair Play, by Louise Hegarty. A group of friends gather for New Year's Eve at an airbnb and play a murder mystery game. In the morning, one of them is found dead. An eminent detective arrives to solve the murder, as everyone present falls under suspicion. This is described as original and genre-breaking and it is, but in an unexpected way. I wish Mumsnet had the spoiler tag in the same way that goodreads does because I can't really say any more without massive spoilers. What I will say is that it was very moving, and did indeed mess with my brain.

3. The Lady on Esplanade, by Karen White. One in a fairly formulaic series of mildly supernatural/romance/mysteries. Not my usual thing but I love the New Orleans setting and am slightly addicted to these. There are some really annoying mistakes which snatched me out of the story and there are also multiple will they/won't they couples which drives me bonkers - 3 books is enough time to resolve this! (There's a reason I gave up on Strike and Robin).

4. RWYO. The Compound, by Aisling Rawle. Billed as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, which is fair enough although William Golding would not be impressed. 20 contestants in a near-future dystopian setting compete to reach the end of the competition, with fame and fortune for those that get furthest, and the chance to win luxury goods along the way. It was good fun and zipped along, but the satire was rather heavy handed and not nearly as deep as it wanted to be. Would be a good sun lounger read.

5. RWYO. Witches of America, by Alex Mar. Informative mix of history and memoir about America's pagan and occult communities. Makes excellent points about why this is not taken as seriously as other religions, which made me particularly think about the more 'mystical' Christian traditions like speaking in tongues or self-flagellation. At times silly (why does everything have to be black, red or purple?!) but always interesting, a probable bold. There are lots of angry reviews from the members of the pagan community who feel misrepresented and betrayed, but I don't think that's fair. And I'm not much for content warnings, but there's an absolutely stomach-churning chapter on necromancy, in which I profoundly hope the interviewee is a fantasist and liar.

6. RWYO. 1 Dead in Attic, by Chris Rose. Real-time newspaper columns from the Times-Picayune about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I actually bought this book in New Orleans in 2017, and after several false starts, I finally finished it, but it's gruelling - you can see that the author is succumbing to depression through the writing, and he reveals in the introduction that he split up with his wife and went to rehab for opiate addiction just before publication. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to have fared well in the intervening years, and is now estranged from his family and has end-stage cirrhosis. Important and agonizing but I don't know that I'd recommend it unless you, like me, are somewhat obsessed with NOLA.

You’re officially forgiven NowanearlyNicemum

1. She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena
2. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman (audiobook)
3. The Intruder by Freida McFadden
4. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (audiobook)
5. The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
6. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
7. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (audiobook)
8. Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard
9. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling (audiobook - Stephen Fry)
10. My Friends by Fredrik Backman
11. The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley (audiobook)
12. Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

Here’s my 2026 list for January. I’m definitely a thriller/mystery girl normally but trying to branch out this year (and get through my physical TBR pile!). I’m usually a plot over prose reader! Enjoyed them all except Beautiful Ugly which was a really slog to get to the end, if I’d had a proper book (not kindle) I’d have flicked through most of the second half.

I think most will have been reviewed before, Not Quite Dead Yet was a a nice change to usual thriller. Jet is attacked in her home after a Halloween party, she survives but suffers an injury that will end her life in 7 days. She decides to spend this time trying to solve her own murder. Lots of twists and turns and I really raced through it. Will look out for more Holly Jackson now.

Just started The Satsuma Complex (book) and halfway through The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty.

I really enjoyed it, I gave it 4 stars out of 5 on StoryGraph

it was an interesting insight into the Covid lockdown since I was at work throughout so it was different for me. The characters were well portrayed and the plot was good.

@Piggywaspushed – I wasn’t that taken by Down Cemetery Road, but I really enjoyed the TV adaption. I’m going to give book 2 a go. I love the Slow Horses series (books and TV)

@Purrpurrpurr – I’ve just come across EL Doctorow for one of my book clubs! Never heard of him before.

@CrochetGrannySquare – that sounds like a very interesting book, but then Nevil Shute was a very interesting man. I have too many on my TBR, but I’m tempted to stick that on my wish list.

@campingwidow – I really enjoyed The Husband’s Secret.

I am really struggling with Black and British. It is taking me ages to get through it and I’m only at 13%. I love David Olusoga as a TV presenter, but I’m finding his writing quite academic. Is it just me? I think everyone else loved this? Its utterly depressing to read what feels like pages and only move up 1%.

4 Maurice & Maralyn - Sophie Elmhirst
I finished listening to this on audible on my way into work this morning.
It's the retelling of the true story of British husband and wife sailors who were shipwrecked in the Pacific in 1973 and spent 4 months in survival mode, adrift on a life raft.
I was expecting to love this but it really fell flat for me - almost considering putting it in italics... Very disappointing.

@Tarragon123 I liked it but it turns out I was listening to a shorted version designed for kids on audible.

@nowanearlyNicemum Agree that M&M wasn’t great. Not sure why it was so hyped.

@Tarragon123 I also read the kids version! I've got the adult edition on my To Read shelf but it's a bit daunting!

@MamaNewtNewt I'm a sucker for time travel so have added In Lieu of You by Keith Pearson to my wanted list. I enjoyed the Goldfinch many years ago but recall it needed a good edit.

5. Go as a River -Shelley Read
6. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
7. Dark Angel - Elly Griffiths
All RWYO

I was very disappointed in Go as a River after seeing it on so many Insta reels. Skipped whole bits of it.

Olive Kitteridge, I absolutely loved. What an amazing woman. The fact that it won the Pulitzer did put me off reading it and it really shouldn't have.

Another Ruth Galloway, I do really love this series. Ten down, five to go

I am really struggling with Black and British. It is taking me ages to get through it and I’m only at 13%. I love David Olusoga as a TV presenter, but I’m finding his writing quite academic. Is it just me? I think everyone else loved this? Its utterly depressing to read what feels like pages and only move up 1%
I read it in sections interspersed with other books and not in chronological order. It is quite dense and academic. I do go back to it if a period in history comes up in my day to day life (I work in a school) to give a more thorough background to people or events the children are learning about.

@Purrpurrpurr thank you for your review of Billy Bathgate. I really enjoyed Ragtime and The Book of Daniel so I’ll add that to the TBR list.

@MamaNewtNewt I completely agree with you on The Goldfinch. There was definitely a good book in there struggling to get out, but I nearly lost the will to live in the overlong Vegas stoner section.

7.Jump! by Jilly Cooper. Etta, a widow put-upon by her ungrateful adult children finds an abandoned and abused horse and nurses her back to health. Lo and behold, the horse turns out to be a talented jumper. Etta and her friends, who now own the horse as a syndicate, begin racing her, and it looks like she might have what it takes to win over the very biggest fences of Aintree.

This was definitely better than the last Rutshire Chronicle Wicked, which I binned off as neither the characters nor the plot were in any way engaging. However it was still a bit flabby with too many minor characters. There was also a complete bizarre subplot involving a Pakinstani jockey’s links to extremism, and the sexual storylines were iffier than you’d expect for something written in 2010, but there was enough daft fun to balance out the shortcomings.

Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie
Not as good as the aeroplane one, but enjoyable enough. Captain Hastings was less annoying in this than he often is and I especially enjoyed his ‘conversations’ with the dog. I guessed the killer, but that didn’t spoil it for me, even though the main clue was almost comically obvious.

@NotWavingButReading I think time travel is my favourite genre. This definitely wasn’t one of the best I’ve read but it was kinda sweet. We’ll have to swap time travel recommendations.