50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Three

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 first thread of the year is here and the second thread here

@Benvenuto@SpunkyKhakiScroller - I have quite a lot of the Morland books having read maybe the first 10 many years ago. I started a re-read a few years ago and got as far as the early twentieth century but then got sidetracked and failed to finish. I agree that one needs to suspend belief as to their involvement in all major historical events although but it was great as refresher (or introduction to) those events - I hadn't realised that was the publisher's brief!

I may try again with a re-read when I have cracked through a few more of my TBR piles.

Age of Wonder was a stand-out bold for me. I love everything Richard Holmes has written. DH bought me the Tennyson biog for Christmas (heavily 'suggested' by me) - must actually read it!

@Terpsichore I thought Spot of Bother sounded familiar and I've found a copy on my TBR paper books pile. I loved Curious Incident and your review has made me want to read Spot of Bother. I do struggle with paper books though, I've only read e books for years now.
@SpunkyKhakiScroller I re-read Holes earlier this year because I fondly remembered the neatness of all the threads in the book. It wasn't quite as good second time round but considering it's a children's book I did enjoy it. I completely agree about the Moorland Dynasty, a painless way to improve history but I haven't read them all. I do remember thinking I'd had more than enough of Ann Boleyn and co in book 2. I've got one of her 20th century ones on my TBR.

On the subject of libraries mine doesn't even pay for Libby. The borrowbox selection seems to include a lot aimed at children and YA plus an abundance of wartime romances.

Sounds like mine, can’t see the good titles due to the amount of dross, pages and pages of it

More applause for @cassandre 's detailed reviews! I very much enjoy finding out what people connected with in a book.

On libraries, I am very lucky that our BorrowBox selection is amazing. As an example I’ve been able to borrow four of the most recent Booker shortlist and am in the queue for a fifth – only The Land in Winter is missing.

13.Munichs by David Peace. A dramatisation of the 1958 disaster in which a flight carrying the Manchester United football team, sports journalists and supporters crashed on its third attempt to take off from Munich airport. Twenty three people were killed, including several of the player.

The scale of loss of the tragedy was awful, but almost awful was the fact that the club were expected to continue with the rest of their footballing commitments that season, begging other clubs to release out of favour players and ransacking the youth team simply to be able to field a team of eleven. Staggeringly, survivors of the crash were expected to play. Bobby Charlton was hospitalised for a week, but was on the pitch in an FA Cup tie less than one month after the crash.

This was excellent, albeit heartbreaking. The imagined dialogue was incredibly plausible, with the turns of phrase of that place and time captured uncannily. Ultimately it read not as a football story, but one of very ordinary northern working class families (this was in the era of a maximum weekly wage for footballer of not much more than the average for the time) coping with extraordinary circumstances. This was my first David Peace and I'm keen to read more.

That book sounds very good @StrangewaysHereWeCome

1. Crying in H-Mart - Michelle Zauner

Poignant memoir by Korean-American singer about the death of her mother and the Korean food that bound her to that side of her family. Very good.

Munichs is utterly brilliant.

DNF - Ugly Love - Colleen Hoover

Got about 35% into this KUL book and don’t care about the characters and why Miles hasn’t had sex for 6 years. I like some of her books, but not this one.

Adding to the praise for Munichs. It was my top fiction last year.

I’ve been so busy with work, I’ve not been able to keep up to date. Thankfully we are over the the ridiculous phase and just back to busy. Plus Easter holidays very much on the horizon, so hurrah!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit – have replied to you. Sorry for the delay

Well done @MamaNewtNewt excellent work. I’m getting more books in the house as I made the mistake of discussing books with two different people who have kindly given me more books to read.

I loved Hamnet and everything else that I have read by MOF. I’ll probably get round to watching the film, but want to see Project Hail Mary first.

@TimeforaGandT – that’s really interesting about Tom Lake. I was also incredibly underwhelmed by The Dutch House, so I might give Tom Lake a go.

@Welshwabbit – 😂😂😂Well, I was just going to get A Woman of Substance from the library. Then I saw I could get it on Audible, but it was 26 hours! I really enjoyed this TV adaptation, but they have changed the ending, presumably in the hope of getting a second series? I did read all the books back in the 80s/90s when they first came out.

My library service is excellent. They were just shortlisted for Library Service of the Year (Scotland). They didn’t win, but this is the second year in a row that they have been shortlisted. I’ve just reserved Mother Mary…on BorrowBox.

41 The Secret Hours – Mick Herron. For fans of Slow Horses. It gives a bit of background about what happens to Jackson Lamb in Berlin. Some things we already know and others we don’t. I was too dim to work out who ‘Alison’ was and it was huge surprise to me. More observant people probably were able to work it out, but I was just lost in the story.

Thanks @Tarragon123 for The Secret Hours review - I checked it out and it's currently 99p on Kindle, so have bought it.

@Tarragon123 - I didn't see what was coming in The Secret Hours either!

Hope you enjoy Tom Lake if you try it....

12) Girl on Girl: How pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves by Sophie Gilbert. A focus on the period between the late 90s and early 2000s, the rise of internet porn, and the move towards hyper-objectification and sexualization of women in the media.

This was ok as an overview of the topic, but it didn't really bring anything new to the table. Particularly if you already lived through it, like I did. If you're looking for an analysis of the topic, this is not the book for you. Instead it reads more like a list of pop culture events during the era.

Overall fine, but not amazing.

We only have Borrowbox at our library as well, no Libby. I've just been into the app for a good search (the browse function is awful) and come up with:

WP non-fiction shortlist: 1/6
WP fiction longlist: 4/16
2025 Booker shortlist (2025): 3/6
Jhalak Prize shortlist (2025): 0/6 ☹

I also found that they do have an email address to make suggestions so I am thinking I might drop them an email and ask for more award-listed books.

By contrast, for a small library in a not very intellectual provincial town, the print selection is good, and we can request anything from a wide area of the country for free as inter-library loans. I've just been down to take 2 back and came back with 6. So I can't complain too much.

19 How to Have a Magnificent Midlife Crisis, Kate Muir

It's not this book's fault that I thought it would be something else. Well, actually it kind of is. The title led me to believe that this would be a book full of middle-aged joy: adventures, creativity, growth, excitement. Maybe not moving to Paris and having an affair with a younger man level of Magnificent, but something that would speak to the very clichéd longing that my friends and I all seem to be feeling for things that make us feel that we still have plenty of life left in us.

Instead, this is very sensible book about the challenges of mid-life, and evidenced-based things that you can do to get through them in good shape. There's loads here about HRT, cold water swimming, lifting weights and all the usual stuff. If you're going to read one of the 1000000000 books about menopause that are currently available, this would probably be a decent choice.

I'm sure it's all good advice but, God, where is the joy? Where is the advertised Magnificence??

I need to scroll back and remind myself of the title of the Paris book.

I've also temporarily DNF-ed In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I can tell that it's good but I'm tired and it was hard going, so I have put it back on the shelf and will come back to it another time.

Sympathies @VikingNorthUtsire I’m exhausted every day at the moment with no real reason beyond I’m having serious knee issues

I LOVED In Cold Blood though so don’t completely dismiss it! Hope you’re doing better

Thanks Eine. Don't worry, it's not going anywhere, I'm just saving it for a time when my brain's feeling a bit more active.

Hope you feel better soon.

@Welshwabbit- after reading so much about A Woman of Substance, I’ve started to very slowly watch the original TV version. Your review has definitely convinced me that this is the right choice from the book / old TV / new TV options.

@FruAashild@Terpsichore- I’ve added Age of Wonder to my wishlist - thank you!

@TimeforaGandT& @SpunkyKhakiScroller- I didn’t know that the Morland series was commissioned like that, but what a great thing for a publisher to do! I suspect it happens a lot in children’s books (as so many conveniently coincide with primary history topics) but I can’t think of any other adult examples off hand. They did remind me of the old Ladybird history books (especially as I know there was one on Warwick the Kingmaker) - I saw a excellent documentary years ago on Ladybird books, which said that the aim of that series was “to make friends from history” which also seems to sum up the Morland books.

36 . Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry - a memoir by the author about the death of her father-in-law. This is another from the Women’s Prize Non-Fiction longlist and it’s definitely one that I wouldn’t have read otherwise as it is very upsetting. The writer chronicles her father-in-law’s rapid deterioration, her experience of the NHS and her grief at his death. Although clearly fond of her father-in-law, she also captures some of the tension & difficulties in dealing with people who you are related to by law but not by blood. She also captures both the difficulties of dealing with NHS bureaucracy and the compassion shown by individual staff. It’s very readable and also very concise (which I think is a strength of this type of memoir). Inevitably, I found it upsetting (which is why I wouldn’t have chosen to read it) - so not exactly enjoyable but certainly effective. The question raised previously is why this didn’t make the longlist when other memoirs did? Structurally, I much preferred this memoir format to the letters in the Temelkuran book and I also preferred that there was less preaching in this book, although there were points to reflect on re how we care for people at the end of their lives. But then, I suppose the subject of this is perhaps mundane as so many people in the country will share this experience, whereas the experiences Ece Temelkuran recounts book in her book are extraordinary.

37 . Artists, Siblings, Visionaries by Judith Mackrell - from the Women’s Prize Non-Fiction shortlist, this is a biography of the sibling artists Gwen and Augustus John. Augustus was a flamboyant “legend in his own lifetime”, who has since been seen to have failed to realise his immense talent: Gwen very much his opposite being introverted and reclusive, yet had the laser-focus on her art needed for success. Structurally this is very much a conventional biography, although an immensely assured one. The opening chapter I found to be a bravura introduction, which made me feel confident that I would like the book. The book itself is very readable and enabled me to have a good understanding of the life and achievements of two artists, who I was aware of but not particularly interested in. The description of the art itself was good and I found myself flicking between the text and the illustrations to understand the pictures, and then returning to the pictures. One criticism is that the illustrations are limited. This isn’t such a problem for Gwen John as you can see more on Wikimedia, but it is for Augustus who is harder to find online (I would have liked to have seen more of his portraits of writers). It isn’t a bold due to the characters of both artists: Augustus had a “Bohemian” or “liberated” attitude to relationships, which in practise meant lots of fun for him and lots of misery for the women involved. There’s an early episode in his life when he gets a job teaching art in Liverpool - initially it’s a great success as it’s a great chance for his family and his students love his classes, but then he quickly self-sabotages it and that experience seemed to sum him up. His most attractive feature was his support for his sister, particularly his realisation that eventually he would be known for being her brother rather than his art. Gwen had the focus needed for great art, but this also resulted in her being reclusive and austere. That said, there are paintings by both in the illustrations that I liked very much and I would be interested to see in real life.

Another RWYO.

38 The Racketeer by John Grisham

A lawyer negotiates his release by bargaining with his knowledge of the murderer of a federal judge. So far so ok, but it’s downhill from here with lots of nonsense and an implausible and dizzying amount of travel. The problem was this book wasn’t half as clever as it thought it was, and it’s the type of book where you need to be rooting for the main character, but he was just awful. Not great

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Well this was an awesome piece of writing about Alaska but hard to read as misery upon misery is dumped on the lovely Leni. I have a poor memory, but I think that's about what everyone has said so far, so I'm not being very original.

I loved Alaska being practically a character. I dream of moving to a wild place and living remotely, in the past I might have accidentally said off grid but I didn't mean it, I have read enough books like this to know I am not tough enough. I would love to live wild adajecent, in a simple and smallish house with electric and running water. I do not wish to catch, gut and then can my own fish. At least, not more than once an exercise to see if I can actually do it!

@RazorstormUnicorn I loved The Great Alone

I use Borrowbox, it is hard to browse so I tend to search for something specific to see if they have it before I use a credit on Audible. Sometimes there is a wait but that's fine. I currently have *Big Sister, Little SIster, Red Sister" by Jung Chang on hold.

A couple of reviews:
16) The Stranger You Know (Maeve Kerrigan #4)
Maeve and her team are investigating the murders of three young women which seem to be linked to an earlier murder in the 1990s, and all evidence is pointing to one of Maeve's own team members. The series is definitely picking up - a good read.

17. The Fair Botanists by Sara Sheridan This was the story of recently widowed Elizabeth who moves to Edinburgh from London to become a companion to an elderly relative of her late husband. Edinburgh is excited by the establishment of new gardens in the city and a potential visit from the King. Elizabeth becomes friends with a courtisan called Belle Brodie, who is establishing a business making scents and bath oils, and consequently also has an interest in botany, and other characters fictional and real - Sir Walter Scott is part of her circle. It's all pleasant, easy reading, nothing really memorable. Present tense all the way through was irritating.

@Benvenuto what fab reviews. I would have picked neither of those myself but based on your reviews, at least Artists, Siblings is going on my TBR.

@Benvenuto if you are anywhere near Cardiff or Edinburgh there’s a great Gwen John exhibition on. It’s on until June in Cardiff (I’m going next month) then moving to Edinburgh from August.

Very behind with the thread but hopping on to update. Have finished two and not that impressed with either of them. The first I listened to on BorrowBox
9.The Women of Wild Hill by Kirsten Miller
An Americanised strange glamorous witchy vendetta against men /hollywood killing off billionaires. It interested me to keep listening but pretty naff
10.In A Thousand Different Ways by Cecelia Ahern This disappointed me too although did keep my interest to finish. About a girl and her life coping with seeing aura’s. I didn’t really feel anything for the characters and didn’t like the ending