50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Four

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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 as this makes it much easier to keep track of books or authors that may appeal (or not appeal) to everyone else.

Some of us bring over our updated lists to the new thread. Again, this is up to you.

The first thread of the year is here the second thread here and the third thread here

That wasn’t me @Stowickthevast but thanks!

I easily read 50 books a year, but nothing highbrow. I love a good detective, am working my way through all Ann Cleeves novels at the moment, absolutely love them, especially the Vera ones. Also love anything by Donna Leon, Dorothy l sayers, all the Zen books by Michael Dibden and anything by Stella Rimington. All pure escapism tbh

Highbrow, Lowbrow and everything in between is welcome here. Have you read the Jane Casey detective series?

Lol @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Sorry @Terpsichore it was @Tarragon123 . I got my Ts mixed up!

DD has just read that book and she complained about the same thing (and she hasn’t read ACOTAR so it was meaningless to her!). It was her first Jimenez and she wasn’t very impressed but will be giving her another go!

@ChessieFL It’s definitely not her best

@Arran2024 Belated sympathies about your dog. They are so woven into the fabric of our days.

Welcome @Bertiebiscuit

Latest reads, 31 and 32:
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han. Final book in the TSITP YA trilogy. Readable, but not as good as the TV series (and I am a big book-over-TV-series person generally!)

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller. Never got around to this when it came out a few years ago, but has lots of my favourite fictional tropes. Dual narratives of one day in the live of a 50-ish year old woman who finally has to choose between two men and a flashback narrative of her life up until this point. I thought it was very good. Complex characters, sparkling dialogue and a really clever narrative structure.

Congrats Terpsichore! What an achievement. I’ve got two more to go so hope to follow you next year. I have liked and disliked pretty much exactly the same things so far.

Welcome @BertiebiscuitI love a bit of crime too- currently reading one by Abir Mukhergee set in India. Not sure if I love it yet. Have the Ann Cleeves on my want to read list too.

Welcome @Bertiebiscuit . I like thrillers too, usually historical ones but am currently listening to a modern one - The Searcher by Tana French - and loving it.

Another vote for Richard Armitage the TV version of North and South .
I have it downloaded ready to watch again.

@Bertiebiscuit welcome. Another crime fiction fan here. My reading is 95% lowbrow and it's refreshing on here that nobody judges. I'm just about on target for 50 books this year.

My latest books
22.The Herring Girls by Chrissy Walsh. Irish girls leave home to gut fish and catch men
A prime loan.What my late mother used to call a "clogs and shawls" book. I've actually read a bit about the Herring girls who used to follow the fishing fleets in herring season and prepare the caught fish for sale or preservation. Often in Whitby or Scarborough but in this case in Ireland. Pleasant read.

23.The Siege by Helen Dunmore
Life in Leningrad is tough and gets worse.
Paperback.
Anna lives in Leningrad with her father and young brother. She is the sole breadwinner as her father is a writer and has been “cancelled” for failing to toe the party line. Neighbours keep their distance for fear of being tarred with the same brush. There's a constant risk that someone will report them to the authorities for some minor wrong think and the consequences would be exile to Siberia.
They live in a tiny apartment with communal facilities and life is very hard. Food is in constant short supply and in order to buy food you have to queue interminably. This is before the Germans invade and blockade the city. The book then chronicles the slow and painful decline into starvation during a Russian winter with no fuel.
It's utterly bleak and grim. The writing style was unusual but lovely, I even overcame my horror of present tense writing. Probably my book of the year so far.

I've had this book years but I only like reading on kindle so had been avoiding my paperback tbr shelves. One of the things I missed about reading on kindle is the ability to highlight but I overcame that by giving myself permission to write in the
book.

Welcome @Bertiebiscuit - I'm also a Sayers fan (see username :>) and I like Elly Griffiths (esp. the Harbinder Kaur books) and Jane Casey too.

Truth Dare Kill - Gordon Ferris
In which Ferris starts a series with a different hero (Danny McRae), this time in London not Glasgow. Danny is affected by blackouts from his war injuries and is restarting his life as a private detective, getting dragged into a world of serial murder, corrupt police and disappearing women. Rattled along nicely.

Magpie - Elizabeth Day
Another bold for me from this author, which is centred on Marisa's pregnancy and its impact on her, Jake (the father) and Kate (who shares their house). Gripping.

Welcome @Bertiebiscuit - I also enjoy a good crime novel. Have you read Kate Rhodes murder/detective series set in the Isles of Scilly?

Very impressive @Terpsichore , congratulations! I have absolutely no inclination to follow in your footsteps 😂

Welcome @Bertiebiscuit ! As others have said, anything goes in terms of reading choice! I’ve also been enjoying some of the Ann Cleeves books over the last year or so.

Boulder by Eva Baltasar. Translated by Julia Sanches

Boulder is a cook on a freight ship who meets and falls in love with Samsa. They move to Iceland and Samsa has a baby. Boulder struggles with the changes in her life. This was nominated for the International Booker and the writing was fantastic, very readable but also beautiful and so charged with emotion. I loved it.

Well my latest read was definitely way down at the bottom of the lowbrow scale!

30. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Vol 1 by singNsong

Apparently this is based on a popular Korean web novel. Although this was a

physical paper copy that I bought in an actual bookshop.

The protagonist, Dokja Kim, is a big fan - the only fan - of an extremely long and obscure web novel, Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.
One day, on his commute home, the novel ends, and shortly after that, the world changes. Everyone is thrust into scenarios straight from the web novel, there’s monsters spawning around the place, there’s various game mechanics added in like earning coins for completing scenario objectives, levelling up on strength, stamina etc , and Dokja finds that not only does he have useful foreknowledge due to his reading, he’s also been granted some special abilities as a reward for being such a loyal fan of the web novel. All of which greatly increases his chances of surviving and thriving despite not him not a main character (or indeed any character) in the web novel.

This was thoroughly entertaining. There’s a lot of violence, but the whole video game feel to the story (and the frankly ridiculous premise) make it hard to take any of this book too seriously.

Popping in very briefly to blow a bugle for @Terpsichore . Toot toot! (Do bugles toot?)

Well done on reaching the end of your Proustian adventures @Terpsichore
I'm very impressed and am joining Biblio to pause and blow my bugle to mark this momentous occasion 📯

<makes a bmm-bmm-da-bmm-da-bmm bugle noise for @Terpsichore >

Thanks for the celebratory bugle-calls 😂

I have absolutely no inclination to follow in your footsteps 😂 @DuPainDuVinDuFromage I don’t blame you in the slightest! It’s not been what you’d call a comfort-read…

<bugle> I would like to SAY I’ve read Proust, but without actually having to read Proust. I have the Clothbound Classics set but it’s gathering dust!

📢for @Terpsichore. I am a sucker for reading challenges but you'll get no competition (only reverence) from me on this one!

I haven't, but am always open to suggestions - i shall investigate! Thank you

What I’ll tell you is that the first one in the series is the weakest, they take a while to warm up, but once you’re IN…..

Agree with Eine - the Casey books (Maeve Kerrigan series) do get better and then you will be sucked in and won’t rest until you’ve binge read them all.