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

And here's another review - I have mixed feelings about this book but struggling to write and rewrite about it has made me realise how much time I've spent thinking about it - perhaps more to it than I thought initially, but while there's some humour I also found this quite bleak.

2026 #25
Natalia Ginzburg, Valentino published 1957
Translation Avril Bardoni 1987, Introduction Alexander Chee 2023
Read 18.02.26 to 26.02.26, reviewed 09.03.26
Rating: 3.7

Valentino is a novella first published in 1957, and this translation from Italian to English by Avril Bardoni is copyright 1987. I read the Daunt Books edition (UK 2023) which just contains this story with an introduction by American novelist Alexander Chee. In the US, the same story has been published together with another story, Saggitarius, and with a different introduction, by NYRB.

Valentino is a story about an Italian family, a first person narrative by Caterina, who is really the central character despite the title's suggestion that this is about her brother Valentino. Valentino is described by Caterina, with comments and reported conversations about how other people see him. The characters are connected by their love of Valentino, who apparently attracts and charms everyone despite being a rather lazy young man who is more interested in his clothes and social life than studying to qualify as a doctor. The family is middle class though living in genteel poverty, but prioritises paying for Valentino's education and related needs, and his clothes. The descriptions of Valentino admiring his reflection in his ski suit offer some social comedy, but there are darker undertones.

Valentino's sisters and parents are shocked and rather dismayed when he announces that he is going to marry a rather plain, bossy woman, a wealthy landowner. First impressions are not good, but Maddalena then offers various practical and financial help to the whole family, and invites Caterina on holiday and to live in her house.

Then, things get complicated. And I have mixed feelings about the story, thinking that Caterina clearly has dreams beyond a teaching diploma and work as a schoolmistress, that dreams of her own choices and independence quickly disappear. I think I will remember this story named after a lazy, selfish young man, a dilettante, for the relationships between the women in it.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie how about some Christopher Brookmyre? The Jack Parlabanes are a series and he also has standalones.

And echoing @Stowickthevast's Reginald Hill suggestion - the Dalziel and Pascoe books are fabulous.

Ooh nice idea @noodlezoodle

All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye is my favourite of his standalones.

Mine too! I also love A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away, and One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night.

Same - I felt like I was missing out on the conversation!

21. Sylvester by Georgette Heyer
    I don't normally like audiobooks but I discovered I like Richard Armitage as a narrator in Garden of Angels. So when I discovered he has read abridged versions of some Heyer novels, I had to try one. She is one of my favourite lightweight authors and I needed some palate cleansing as I ploughed through Ministry of Time. Sylvester is not one of my favourites though and I didn't appreciate the abridging. It did the job of entertaining me just before I fell asleep though and Heyer can never be bad.

22. Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
    I felt like this book was a roller coaster ride. A time travel themed romantic speculative fiction, it is brilliant and dire in equal measures. I loved the first chapter and went so far as to wonder if she might one day live up to Sir Terry Pratchett who is the king of wisdom and humanity disguised as witty fantasy. Sadly, it deteriorated from there until I was close to DNF in the middle. The writing style, particularly for the first person narrator is so 'look at how clever I am' that it felt like attending a literature, politics, and philosophy seminar. I appreciate clever writing but when almost every line requires decoding, the pleasure is not worth the effort. Like many debut writers, it felt like every idea she had was crammed into the book and it made for a very uneven muddle. The concept and the dialogues made me persevere and it did improve at the end but not enough for me to recommend it. The bones of a great novel but not the flesh.

@SpunkyKhakiScroller two great reviews thanks. I've never read Georgette Heyer but she's been mentioned a few times on here so I will give her a go.
I'm always up for a touch of time travel and you almost had me hooked with time travel themed romantic speculative fiction but it was downhill from there.

@Notwavingbutreading if you do try Georgette Heyer, my favourites are These Old Shades, The Corinthian, and The Unknown Ajax. Frothy Regency romances but witty, well written and with a slight bite.

10 A Woman In The Polar Night - Christiane Ritter

Thanks to those on here who recommended this- a short but evocative account of a year spent in remote Svalbard. Having recently been on a trip north of the Arctic Circle, this resonated with me, though I was in much more comfortable lodgings and didn’t have to eat any seal meat thankfully…

@NotWavingButReading I do hope you are feeling better soon. Can you have some holiday type treats even if you're stuck at home?

The Manningtree Witches - A.K.Blakemore

This is based on the true story of a group of women tried as witches in Essex after being "discovered" by Matthew Hopkins. It's told from the POV of Rebecca West, one of the accused. I found the language and descriptions wonderful, very creative and immersive. Unsurprisingly, a lot of what happens is grim and horrifying, but there are always moments of dark humour and Rebecca has a resilience and defiance through it all.

I live near Manningtree and am going to see the local stage adaptation of the book this week, which has fantastic reviews.

ANNOUNCEMENT! :

Potential 50 Bookers Meet Up In Liverpool depending on interest on 5th April which is Easter Weekend

If interested please PM me and I’ll organise from there

10) The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen - Lonely marshal Hart Ralston and undertaker Mercy Birdsall have hated each other since first sight. After yet another run in, Hart writes an anonymous letter, addresses it simply 'to a friend' and posts it. To his surprise, he gets an anonymous response back and a friendship slowly blossoms through exchanged letters. Who could it possibly be?! Oh except this is a Romantasy, so the postal workers are a foul mouthed rabbit and a dandified owl, the marshals ride horses with webbed feet who travel predominantly by swimming, and there are reanimated corpses and demi gods aplenty.

This is the first Romantasy I've ever read, and while it was fun I probably won't rush to read another. It was very formulaic, but I enjoyed most of the characters and the story for what it was - pure froth!

CORRECTION:

the Liverpool meet up is Saturday the 4th not Sunday the 5th as that is Easter Sunday

10 Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe A thread favourite, and a bold for me too. I’ve never really known much about the Troubles - too recent to be history taught in school (and of course Irish / Northern Irish history is very much overlooked in England anyway), but mostly before my time. My (lovely, gentle) dad was posted to Northern Ireland as a young man in the 70s and has never talked about it - must have been a grim time for all concerned 🙁 And it’s incredible to think that the Northen Irish students I met when I started uni in 2000 had grown up in a world where this was the reality, while I was oblivious on the English side of the Irish Sea. A really fascinating, thoroughly-researched and fair-minded account of a terrible period in our country’s history.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I’ve read lots of samples but nothing is quite hitting the mark for me.

Thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit Obviously I'm in!!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Love the idea of a mini Liverpool meet, but can’t do that date. Hope you all have a lovely time.

Yeah @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupieit might need to be rescheduled depending on interest and availability would you be up for a different date down the line with more notice? At the moment it’s me @Tarragon123and possibly @Terpsichoremaybe Easter weekend isn’t ideal ? But I don’t want to derail the thread so anyone interested who would like a different date also PM me.

Have fun in Liverpool! Won't be able to make it but will be with you in spirit.

Sadly I’m not able to come to the meet up in Liverpool – a shame as I went to uni there last century 😊and have many happy memories of my time (my first year room looked out onto Penny Lane). Have a lovely time, those who are able to go.

A couple of RWYOs.

14) The Rest is History – Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook

The official book from the makers of the podcast, which I sometimes enjoy so I don’t know why this book was a slog; it’s 400 pages long, so no epic, but I was so ambivalent about it I could barely be bothered to write up a review. It’s essentially short chapters on different quirky aspects of world history (though concentrating more on modern history), some moderately entertaining, others in the way they were written feeling like rejects from Horrible Histories sketches. The tone slightly reminded me of the books I had as a child, the ‘500 Amazing Facts About The Past’ type. It passed the time. Speaking of which:

15) Five go Parenting – Bruno Vincent

As I said on the RWYO thread I feel slightly guilty about including this, but I did own it (I suspect given as a present) and I did read it. One of the series of spoof adulting books based on the now-grown up Famous Five. It was quite amusing in parts, going through some of the situations of early parenthood. My baby days are over now so this book can go.

Currently on a gripping NF, with a Lindsey Davis and Spitting Gold lined up to counteract the recent fluff :)

Can’t make it to Liverpool sadly but have a great time!

11 Design As Art - Bruno Munari

Picked up on Libby amongst their Penguin Classics selection on a whim, and really enjoyed this. It’s a selection of essays by the 20th century Italian designer about design (including visual, graphic and industrial design), which I found informative, thought provoking and funny.

I'm DNFing Marian Keyes' Making it up as I go along.
I gave it 3 hours on audible but just couldn't give a toss about her make up routine or her various weekends away. Not for me.

@nowanearlyNicemum I tried a Marian Keyes last year. Not for me would be a diplomatic review.

I can't make the Liverpool meet up, but hope you have a good time.

Lot's of people having a hard time on the thread at the moment - hope things are looking up soon.

Enjoy the Liverpool get together.
Finished a couple more- all longlist reads.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Tells the story of Sybil van Antwerp, a retired lawyer and divorced mother of three through her correspondence with her family, friends and random authors. She is grappling with the death of her son many years before, her own adoption as a baby and her relationships with the people around her. This was a perfectly nice read, a bit sentimental at times. I imagine it was like the Frederick Blackman books that I keep meaning to try but haven’t got around to yet. I don’t think it’s a prize winner though. This is my fifth read from the WP fiction longlist (but first since the list came out)

The Wax Child by Olga Ravn
Historical fiction telling the story of accusations of witchcraft in Denmark. The story and themes are nothing new- just a different setting and from the POV or a wax child- a doll made from wax purportedly used for witchcraft. The writing is a bit too stylised for my tastes- lots of rhythm and repetition. International Booker longlist. Wouldn’t be in a hurry to read Ravn again because of the writing style.