50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Five

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fifth 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, the third thread here and the fourth thread

Spinoff thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5540468-the-names-by-florence-knapp-discussion-thread-with-spoilers

23 Precipice by Robert Harris
Loved this. I have a feeling that it’s had rather mixed reviews either on here or by the critics - I shall go and have a look now. And a couple of the most crucial moments were a bit wooden. But I’m so impressed with Harris’s ability to turn jigsaws of history into believable thrillers. I also think he’s done a great job here with Venetia Stanley, tbh probably a more sympathetic portrait than she deserves. I certainly ended up feeling more for Asquith and his errors and frailties than for her.

I have Precipice on my TBR pile so will move that up too!

37. Brooklyn - Colm Toibin

I haven't seen the film so there were no spoilers for me in this story about a young Irish woman leaving home to go to the US to seek work. I think it must be a generational thing as she was remarkably self-contained and poised for someone so far from home, essentially friendless and in a new environment. I never quite got to grips with all the other lodgers but that didn't seem to matter. I really enjoyed it and it kept me guessing until the end as to what choice(s) she would make.

IIRC @PermanentTemporary neither I nor @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupierated Precipice but we were in the minority

Remus been meaning to draw your attention to a thread on What We’re Reading called Terrible Things Happening At Sea thought it would be your bag

I liked Precipice very much. I also enjoyed Conclave. I would read more of his books. I like what you said about how he turns jigsaws of history into thrillers, @PermanentTemporary.

I loved Conclave notwithstanding the ending!

I was on the fence about Precipice. I thought the RL events were interesting enough without having to turn them into a novel, if that makes sense. Loved Conclave despite the frankly ridiculous resolution.

@SpunkyKhakiScrollerI thought it was readable and enjoyable but I saw very little literary merit in it. It read like a decent chick lit to me… enjoyable but a weird choice for a prize.

Also really loved Conclave. I thought it was superb. Better than Precipice.

Thanks to @Southeastdwellerfor the new thread. I found Precipice interesting , but I expected the policeman part of the story to be more exciting. I did like Act of Oblivion (about 2 of the signatories to the execution of Charles I) & this has led me to read more books (fiction & non-fiction) about the 17th century.

This is my list of books read over the last thread:

48 . Elizabeth’s Women by Tracy Borman - Was Gloriana a good boss?
49 . Ruth’s First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths - Christmas instalment for fans.
50 . The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths - post-War murder linked to variety magicians
51 . Whiskey in Small Glasses by Denzil Meyrick - Glasgow detective investigates a gruesome, coastal murder
52 . A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - of knitting and self-sacrifice amidst the French Revolution
53 . An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge - more post-War theatrics
54 . The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet - how a hotel moves from 1960s glamour to withstanding regime change
55 . Moderation by Elaine Castillo - real-life romance blossoms in a virtual world
56 . The Pretender by Jo Harkin - a farm boy claims the Tudor throne
57 . The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow - P&P spin-off about the shy sister which can’t compare with …
58 . Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - a shy girl suffers unrequited love & is tempted by a charming suitor

53. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. The romance is delightful (from a person who hates most modern romances) and I really liked the character of Thornton as a decent, principled, stubborn man who is open to change. In fact what I found fascinating in the whole book was how modern parts of it felt. Margaret has to take up the whole mental and physical load of her family and this is made very clear by Gaskell. Her father is useless but is not painted as a buffoon aka Mr Bennett but as oblivious. Thornton is also a very modern man - he takes criticism and reflects on it and at the end he does not react to Margaret's business proposal as an affront to his manhood. I foresee them being true partners. But at the same time, some parts were very much of their time especially the thinking around religion and lying. The description of industrialism and labour relations was also fascinating. Overall I really liked it and am glad I finally read it.

I also officially DNFed The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. I really wanted to like it as I have a lot in common with both Sonia and Sunny in terms of cultural background. But despite reading 440 pages the characters never became people for me. They were vehicles for the author's arguments and ideas. I always prefer books that and trust the reader to ask questions and reflect on the answers. This just rammed the author's ideas and was just so wordy and show-off-literary. I know many people love it so maybe it's just me but I just didn't get on with it.

33 Slough House - Mick Herron Slough House has been wiped from the Park's database, Peter Judd is up to something (again), and the Russians are messing about on British soil. Another great book, but I am not ok with the ending!

Rat Race by Callum Mcsorley
The final outing for DCI Alison McCoist and it hits the ground running (excuse the pun). Fran Forbes is an ex drug dealer who found a talent for running during COVID to pull him away from his dodgy and life limiting day job, but now he needs an expensive knee operation to get him back into competition. So what’s the harm shifting a bit of product one more time? He knows what he’s doing and he’s in control, right? This being a fictional Glasgow underworld, and McSorley, we know that the last thing Fran has is control and neither does DCI McCoist, as various gangland killings unfold in a grisly fashion, top level police pull strings for their own agendas and however safely you think you’ve parked your personal life it’s never out of danger.
I enjoyed this a lot. Love a book written in dialect where appropriate, love some grim gangster violence that takes time to build up the characters about to die horribly. Female baddies get their turn on stage too and some genteel Russian middlemen whose semi-legit facade is gloriously discarded in the last third of the book. Fast paced as usual, with some understated but lovely takes on father/son relationships.
I’m glad this is only a trilogy, because repeating the formula after this might see it getting a bit stale. As it is, he’s left it on a high and I hope he’ll move off in a new direction - Mcsorley can write and I can’t wait to see what he produces next.

45. Another World - Melvyn Bragg

Bragg's memoir about his childhood and adolescence in Wigton was a stand-out bold for me, so I was keen to follow him as he left his hometown for university. This is a much slimmer and less detailed book (though he still seems to have a photographic memory) but his time at Oxford is largely dominated by Wigton for at least the first third of the book, as he finds ways to spend time with his long-term local - and now long-distance - girlfriend, Sarah. For a while he teeters on the verge of giving up Oxford, feeling like a fish out of water, but then settles down and embraces it more fully.

By the end of the book he’s broken up with Sarah (her decision) met and married Lisa, graduated and got a coveted BBC traineeship. I enjoyed this but it lacks the intensity of his first book, which I thought was a deeply moving portrait of his early life, family ties and emotional connection to his beloved Wigton.
Nevertheless I'd be very interested in a further volume, though whether he's planning more, I'm not sure.

100. Ultra Processed People - Chris van Tulleken

Book 100! This is a bold.

I have slightly resisted reading this as DS2 was of an age to be a big Operation Ouch! fan but Dr Chris writes an informed and accessible review of the food industry. It's not a constant banging of the drum to refute UPF either - he explains the background and impact of various processing steps and additives, and leaves it to the reader as to how they use the information.

Well Done On 100 - @SheilaFentiman

44 . Strange Pictures by Uketsu

Three pictures which appear on a defunct blog hold the key to a murder mystery.

This is either the follow up to or predecessor to Strange Houses - conflicting information online.

I mentioned them on another thread and another poster said they were simultaneously too simplistic AND confusing. I have to agree. I lost the thread of this for a moment before the end and didn’t know what was going on before it circled back. I also found it disjointed.

I will read the next Strange Buildings but not unless and until it drops in price as I got the first two for 99p each.

Well done on your 100 @SheilaFentiman seriously impressive reading skills!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Did it work on a Kindle? Graphically I mean as I always find maps terrible on them.

I was given the paper back a while ago but wasn't that impressed. it felt light.

@SpunkyKhakiScroller The artist in Sonia and Sonny is one of the most annoying characters I've come across. For me, the parts in India, the aunties and uncles, were the most successful but the end degenerates into a weird crime caper.

@Stowickthevast Strange Houses worked great but with Pictures I found some formatting issues and they definitely are slight - 99p but no more I think

*@Stowickthevast asked: Did it work on a Kindle? Graphically I mean as I always find maps terrible on them.

That's always my worry as well.

Hello all. Life has been challenging & i havent read anything new. I tried to motivate myself by not posting until I'd actually finished something. That didnt work - my tablet is a graveyard of DNFs. So im back to lurking & looking for inspiration in the hope that I may get out of my new youtube addiction (Peter Kay has been cheering me up). Off to catch up on the thread and what everyone (else) has been reading.

I have a bad YouTube addiction too @Owlbookend who do you follow? I follow a lot of book type people

Absolutely all sorts & a lot of complete rubbish. Confessions:

• A lot of comedy - Peter Kay, Micky Flanagan etc. *Old films & series. It has been taken down now but there was a channel with old series & films from Oz. I got into it - no idea why. *Football podcasts. The overlap etc. I like my football. World cup will be another reading distractor. *Cruise vlogs. I honestly cant think of many things worse than a cruise. Trapped with all those people in a floating metal box. Shudder. But I developed a morbid fascination. Im odd. *BBC archive. I love an old documentary from the 50s/60s/70s/80s. I could watch the slice of life stuff indefinetely. Morning in the Streets - Liverpool in the 50s - it is my mum's childhood - 'tis my favourite. Love stuff watching stuff like that. BBC archive is a treasure trove of old docs. *Watching people play cosy computer games I like. Cant believe I admitted that on this thread 😳. Honestly when life and the world is too much it is the ultimate escapism. Nothing bad happens - can help me fall asleep. Nothing book related im afraid, but always open to extending my range. The algorithm makes it very addictive. I can always lower the tone of the thread 😁

That formatting went weird. It might have been low brow, but it was nicely formatted when i posted.

@Owlbookend

I watch a lot of WalkWithMeTim doing travelogues

I also watch a group of 4 YouTubes that do food reviews and sometimes interact : Harrison Webb, Hannah Ricketts, Gary Eats and Danny vs Food. Hannah also does hotel reviews

for books Book Thing, And They Were Readers, Supposedly Fun, Paperback Journeys amongst others

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit - yes i have certainly seen a few walkwithmetim 🙂