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

The second Ali Dawson book by Elly Griffiths is 99p on kindle this morning - The Killing Time. Happy Easter.

Thank you @Cherrypi

@cassandre Glad you enjoyed but also good to know you felt the same about the overly neat ending in The Correspondent.

I loved The God of Small Things and the memoir sounds really interesting, adding it to my list.

I’ve slowed down again and only managed to finish one thing - 15 The Odyssey - Stephen Fry. I started last year and abandoned because I got a bit bored, but it’s been niggling at me. It was an audible listen for me.

I loved Mythos and to a lesser extent enjoyed Heroes but I did not overly enjoy this latest. I’m grateful to the first for reigniting my interest in these myths and stories, but I feel like I’ve found better/ more interesting takes on them since, and I’ve never really liked Odysseus in any of the portrayals I’ve come across, something just rubs me the wrong way! Im more interested in the women and female characters, who don’t get much airtime here, but as I said on the RWYO thread this has reminded me to get round to The Silence of the Girls - Pat Barker which has been sat on my kindle for ages.

Ooh, enjoy Silence of the Girls, I loved it.

@cassandre great review of Arundhati Roy's book, she's such an interesting woman. I have quite a few ties to India so was aware of the cult of Modi but it's good to get her perspective. I hadn't realised how life changing winning the Booker was for her and also really want to re-read God of Small Things. I also wasn't a fan of her second book but am looking at it more kindly now after reading the memoir - she's such a champion of the disenfranchised.

@AliasGrape I don't know if you're on The Odyssey read thread, but quite a few of us are enjoying the Emily Wilson translation which attempts to give a more accurate portrayal of the women. Agree with your take on Odysseus though, he's very manipulative!

30. Gloria Don't Speak - Lucy Apps. Another WP book and think this one is a strong contender. It's told from the third person perspective of Gloria, a young woman with learning ng difficulties who witnesses her friend commit a terrible crime. The book deals with the run up and aftermath to this and how it affects Gloria's life. It does a great job of portraying Gloria's disorientation and confusion. Also liked the descriptions of east London which are very accurate. A bold.

No @Stowickthevast - I didn’t know about it but that’s interesting, I wonder if I could catch up? If not I will still look for that version, thank you.

Thank you! Will be very interested to read it!

24 The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Coincidentally, like @AliasGrape I have just got round to reading this, which has been on my Kindle for a long time, because I'm on holiday in Greece and it seemed appropriate. The story will be familiar to those who have read The Iliad, but told from the perspective of Briseis, the captured Trojan woman given to Achilles as a slave. Barker writes beautifully as ever and succeeds to some extent in showing events from the women's point of view. The problem, and the reason why the book is not wholly successful for me, is that the story of Achilles and Patroclus is so essentially, male-centric that it necessarily overpowers everything else. Barker proves unable to resist the pull, so several chapters are told from Achilles' point of view. I have a lot of sympathy with this because I've always found Achilles and Patroclus heartbreaking (even though Achilles is an obdurate idiot, although maybe that's partly why), but for me it makes the book less satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting The Iliad, though, and am continuing with the second in the trilogy.

@cassandrereally enjoyed your reviews and felt the same about The Correspondent. Also felt everyone had too much of a story for it to feel real. Enjoyed but didn’t love it.

@StowickthevastGloria Don’t Speak has really stayed with me since finishing it. While my favourite of the list so far (still one to read and 2 DNFs) is A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing, I think Gloria would be a worthy winner.

I’ve finished 2 more which means I’ve reached my 50.
Broken Shore by Peter Temple Aussie crime. Temple is best known for the Jack Irish stories (televised in Australia anyway starring Guy Pearce) but it’s this book and its follow up Truth that are his biggest successes imo. This was a reread (actually listen) for me telling the story of a small town cop investigating a serious assault and opening a can of worms. Having spent a few years living in small town Australia, I found this convincing in terms of some people’s attitudes and the tensions in small towns everywhere. I plan to relisten to the follow up soon.

Troubles by JG Farrell
Winner of the ‘lost’ Booker of 1970 (lost because of a rule change on the window of eligibility and voted on in 2010). This is the first of Farrell’s Empire trilogy- a critical examination of the British Empire. The second The Siege of Krishnapur also won the Booker and I have it on my Booker Prize winners tbr. This one is set in Ireland in 1919 at the beginning of the War of Independence, where shellshocked British major Brendan Archer goes to stay at the dilapidated Majestic Hotel owned by a member of the Anglo Irish aristocracy in country Ireland (he had met the daughter of the house during the war and she had written to him, referring to him as her fiance) Here we descend into farce and allegory as the guerilla war ensues in the country. The allegory is clever, his knowledge and discussion of Irish history interesting (though I would imagine it could be hard enough to follow for anyone unfamiliar with Irish history) and the writing strong. But I didn’t love this. I’m not a fan of slapstick or allegory and the book was definitely overlong with a saggy middle. I wonder would it have actually won in 1970- were people as critical of empire then?

I keep meaning to say to @cassandre that I too love reading your long reviews (especially as mine are, if anything, much longer than yours!)

Wow congratulations on 50 @ÚlldemoShúl I have The Seige of Krishnapur on my TBR pile too - do I need to read Troubles first?

I don’t think so - the three books (the third is The Singapore Grip) all deal with the same themes of empire but in different times and settings with different characters I believe.

Congratulations on your 50 @ÚlldemoShúl

I gave Beast up next so looking forward to it.

The Siege of Krishnapur definitely works as a stand alone as I read it about 25 years ago. and haven't read the others.

Well done @ÚlldemoShúl

Murder in The Mews Agatha Christie
Nice little Poiriot mystery. Mrs Alan is found dead in her locked bedroom. Initially it looks like suicide, but clues suggest it isn't ... A short story really, but everything you want from a Christie. I didn't guess the twist till near the end. Bonus points as I haven't seen a TV adaption. Listened on borrowbox. Might even be a bold as it was just the type of easy 'read' I needed.

Latest reads:

The Lost Women - Tim Weaver

Latest in the David Raker series. In this one David is investigating the disappearance of a man from a hospital, which turns out to be linked to the disappearance of three women from a Cornish island twenty years ago. I really like this series and enjoyed this one too.

My Name Was Eden - Eleanor Barker-White

This had a great premise, but sadly didn’t deliver. Teenage girl Eden falls in a lake, and when she’s rescued she insists she’s not Eden but Eli, the name of her twin brother who sadly died before birth. This ended up just being a case study of Eden’s mum Lucy falling apart, with no real resolution to the original story. Disappointing.

Nonesuch - Francis Spufford

I have had mixed responses to Spufford’s work before, and this has fantasy elements so I was a bit dubious, but I ended up really enjoying it. The fantasy element doesn’t really start until well into the book, and it is largely set in a recognisable setting (WWII London), so fantasy lovers may find it’s not enough for them but it was fine for me. It ends ‘to be continued’ and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Connie - Charlotte Duckworth

A whydunnit, with an ex police officer wanting to write a book about renowned female serial killer Connie. The present day, with the officer trying to find out more, is interspersed with flashbacks to Connie growing up adding some context to why she turned out like she did. An interesting look at what makes a killer.

K is for Killer - Sue Grafton

These are starting to get a bit samey now but I’m determined to read them all! Kinsey looks into the death of a woman ten months ago.

No Time To Die - Clare Donoghue

Police procedural, where they’re hunting a killer who buries his/her victims in underground tombs. Good but nothing outstanding. Will read more in the series though.

The Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage - M K Oliver

Lalla spends her whole life trying to get one over on everyone around her in order to get what she wants - including murder. The main character is unashamedly appalling but this was a funny read.

Down To Earth - Melanie Rose

Michaela jumps out of a plane on a skydive, but when she lands it’s six years later, she’s been missing all that time and everyone in her life has moved on. This started well but fell apart a bit towards the end with people acting and speaking in very unrealistic ways. It was good for a light read though.

The Missing Brontë - Robert Barnard

Cosy crime written in the early 1980s. Scotland Yard detective Perry is on holiday when an old lady accosts him in a pub and shows him a manuscript that she thinks may have been written by one of the Brontë sisters. A few days later she’s attacked and the manuscript stolen. I hoped this would be more about the Brontës than it was, but after the beginning it just turns into a standard cosy crime caper with various thugs getting involved in the hunt for the manuscript.

The Family Friend - Claire Douglas

Imogen inherits a house from an artist who was a friend of her mother’s, and discovers clues left in the house which ultimately lead Imogen into danger. This was fine, kept me reading and I finished it in a day.

The Infamous Gilberts - Angela Tomaski

This appears to be rather a marmite book on Goodreads. I really enjoyed it but I can see how the style wouldn’t work for everyone. The Gilbert family grew up in a large house which is now being sold to a hotel firm but before they renovate, family friend Maximus takes you on a tour round the house telling you where things came from/how various bits of damage happened while also telling the history of the family. My only complaint is that it takes a bit too long to get to grips with who everyone is, but once I did I really enjoyed this.

The Parallel Path by Jenn Ashworth
I do like her fiction, but a combination of a tangential working crossover back in the day and the odd interview/interaction since means I don’t have much time for her as a person. I’m going to try really, really hard to be objective, however and I did buy this in good faith with a view towards gaining a bit more insight into her as a person. I don’t expect authors to be paragons of virtue or even particularly likeable.
I didn’t like it. Too ‘main character syndrome’, arrogant at times, falsely representing situations that I won’t go into but that I know did not occur as she said; what on earth the mawkish insertion of Clive and his letters was meant to achieve I have no idea; spiteful and self centred towards fellow walkers; frequently derivative…
If you’re walking the Coast To Coast it’s difficult to make it sound boring, but dear god, she achieves that goal.
And that’s me trying my best to be objective should have seen my first draft.
It only swerved being a DNF because I wanted to give it a fair go.

ETA there was no maximum one hour walk only during Covid, so why the ‘half an hour, half an hour back’ twaddle she repeats? Then conveniently forgets it when she needs to make a snarky point about another walker on the C2C. Grrrr.

Ooh @Piggywaspushed – I hadn’t realised that the next Nora Breen was due for publication. Will need to make a note of that.

@cassandra – hurrah!!

Thankyou @Cherrypi I was about to check my library for The Killing Time, but as I’m heading off on holiday on Wednesday, I didn’t really want to take a library book with me.

Lady Tremaine is also on 99p today and I just bought it on Audible. Bah! Also on the 99p specials is Flashlight by Susan Choi (WPF)

Congratulations - @ÚlldemoShúl 👏

45 A Better Man – Louise Penny – Three Pines 15. Better than the previous two. A pregnant missing woman is concerning Gamache and the team. However, the significant weather forecast is more problematic. Three Pines maybe swept away in flooding if the sandbags don’t hold. The husband of the missing woman is just awful. He’s a wife beater, is he also a murderer? This was more satisfying than the previous two that I struggled with. There was quite a twist at the end that I absolutely did not see coming.

Hardback released end May @Tarragon123

15. No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done by Sophie Hannah

I’m confused. This veered off into WTF territory in far too many places, it’s full of characters behaving in over the top ways, and the last couple of chapters are raising more questions than answers.

This did not work for me at all.

@StitchesInTime same. There was allegedly a breathtaking twist but can’t say my breath was taken!

@SheilaFentiman i was too busy being torn between utter bafflement and WTF to have my breath taken away by any of the potential contenders for the alleged breathtaking twists 😵‍💫

Just started reading Messenger Cat Cafe by Nagi Shimeno. Finished Simply more by Cynthia Erivo yesterday which was an interesting read.

@StitchesInTime theres a whole thread here of people being baffled by the Sophie Hannah!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5361655-anyone-read-sophie-hannahs-no-one-would-do-what-the-lamberts-have-done?reply=150577743