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

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller .

The daily deals are good today. I’ve bought The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent and Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester.

Also there is A Far-flung Life by M L Stedman which I read and loved a few weeks ago, The Elements by John Boyne which I also really enjoyed, and Gillian McAllister’s latest Caller Unknown (which I thought was just OK, not as good as some of her others).

From the monthly deals I picked up Answer In The Negative by Henrietta Hamilton, which is part of a new series of reprints called The Mermaid Collection, described as timeless classics by pioneering female authors.

I read this twice, the first time when I was very young. I've also read 'Mrs Osmond' by John Banville, which I thought was really good. I love 'Portrait'. I remember wanting a Ralph in my life, to love and adore me. Nowadays I'd probably find him annoying 😄

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller !

My list since the last thread:

22 Real Tigers - Mick Herron
23 The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman
24 Spook Street - Mick Herron
25 A Spell of Winter - Helen Dunmore
26 London Rules - Mick Herron
27 Amy & Isabelle - Elizabeth Strout
28 Last One Out - Jane Harper
29 Thin Air - Ann Cleeves
30 The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Alison Weir

And I’ve bought 7 books in the deals, just from my wishlist - a bumper month!…

Proto by Laura Spinney
The Spy in the Archive by Gordon Correra
The Proof of my Innocence by Jonathan Coe
The Chessmen by Peter May
Faithful Place by Tana French
The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas
Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron

Now just need to find time to read…

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller. Here are mine since the last thread.

39. The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett – an elaborate literary puzzle that spends hundreds of pages convincing you the answer will be more exciting than it is

40. The Medici Murders by David Hewson – murder and intrigue in Renaissance Florence, elevated by a vivid sense of place and history

41. The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty – a thrilling and emotionally satisfying conclusion to one of the most immersive fantasy worlds I've visited in years

42. Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao – a dreamlike, Ghibli-esque fable about choice, loss and imperfection that carried me along like a river

43. So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ – a short but powerful reflection on friendship, marriage and women's lives that feels remarkably modern

44. Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer – a gloriously funny comedy of bad decisions, impulsive marriages and accidental happiness

45. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg – a warm, life-affirming celebration of friendship, community and the stories that shape us

46. Book Lovers by Emily Henry – publishing insiders fall in love while repeatedly reminding the reader that they know they're in a romance novel

47. The Searcher by Tana French – a slow-burning mystery wrapped around one of the most convincing portraits of a community I've ever read

48. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – an satire of entertainment, capitalism and survival, occasionally interrupted by crude adolescent male jokes

49. Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard – wartime England seen through the lives of ordinary women, written with extraordinary humanity and insight

50. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro – an artificial child tries to save the girl she loves, and quietly breaks your heart while asking what makes a person human.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller.

STILL haven't compiled my full list, might try if I get a quiet moment this afternoon as am interested to know how many I'm on, but here to add

Anything is Possible - Elizabeth Strout

Vignettes of people who live in and near Lucy Barton's hometown in Illinois - Lucy being the protagonist of this series of novels and the thread that ties everyone together. It's a great study of different lives, cleverly, sometimes tenuously, interwoven. I don't know if I've read too much Strout though but I really noticed how obsessed with weight she is - especially obesity and how everyone who's overweight (or their relatives) must be unhappy about it. A bit off putting. I have the next two in the series still to read but I'm having a rest before I carry so I can come to them afresh!

Done it!

Here's my list:

1 - So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
2 - Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
3 - Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
4 - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
5 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling
6 - Take Your Breath Away - Linwood Barclay.
7 - All the Lives We Never Lived - Anuradha Roy
8 - The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffernegger
9 - The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad
10 - Tell Me Everything - Elizabeth Strout
11 - Revelation - CJ Sampson
12 - Olive, again - Elizabeth Strout
13 - The Storm Sister - Lucinda Riley
14 - The Shadow Sister - Lucinda Riley
15 - 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
16 - Lord of the Flies - William Golding
17 - I'm the King of the Castle - Susan Hill
18 - Wobegon Boy - Garrison Keillor
19 - Death at the Sign of the Rook - Kate Atkinson
20 - Paris Echo - Sebastian Faulks
21 - Three wishes - Lianne Moriarty
22 - Piranesi - Susannah Clarke
23 - My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
24 - Anything is Possible - Elizabeth Strout

Will try to keep on top of it now...

Thanks for the new thread. Just checking in for now.

Thank you for new thread. I don't read as much as most of you but I'm on target for about 45.
I've been in a slump which often happens after I finish a really good book so I'm re-reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follet. I know lots of people don't like him and it's not all accurate but I like to get my history through fiction. I first read it when it was published about 15 years ago and had forgotten most of it. So far it's not as good as I remembered.
Just had a root canal so I'm going to reward myself with something from today's deals.

Sympathies on the root canal, @NotWavingButReading . You definitely deserve a reward!

Thank you @Southeastdweller - we're keeping you busy this year.

Here's my list:

1 The Proof of Innocence - Jonathan Coe

2 Marble Hall Murders - Anthony Horowitz
3 The Voyage Home - Pat Barker
4 Passing On - Penelope Lively
5 Double Cross - Ben MacIntyre
6 Bleeding Heart Square - Andrew Taylor
7 Devil's Cub - Georgette Heyer
8 The Crash - Robert Peston
9 The Truth about Melody Browne - Lisa Jewell
10 Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
11 The Lock Up - John Banville
12 Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid
13 The Beautiful and the Damned - F Scott Fitzgerald
14 Audition - Katie Kitamura
15 Persuasion - Jane Austen
16 Score - Jilly Cooper
17 Air - John Boyne
18 Dumb Witness - Agatha Christie
19 Regency Buck - Georgette Heyer
20 Lessons - Ian McEwan
21 Tom Lake - Ann Patchett
22 A Bird in Winter - Louise Doughty
23 Horse - Geraldine Brooks
24 Pandora - Jilly Cooper
25 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
26 Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
27 Fire - John Boyne
28 Bad Actors - Mick Herron
29 Clown Town - Mick Herron
30 London Falling - Patrick Radden Keefe
31 From London with Love - Katie Fforde
32 The Road to Lichfield - Penelope Lively
33 The Pretender - Jo Harkin
34 Carrie Soto is back - Taylor Jenkins Reid

And my latest read is:

35 The Hounding - Xenobe Purvis

Set in a village on the bank of the Thames during a hot summer in the eighteenth century it focuses on the five granddaughters of a local well to do farmer. The girls move as a group, are self-possessed and are allowed an unusual amount of freedom. The villagers view them with suspicion and/or resent them and gossip about them and then the gossip gets out of hand. This reminded me quite a bit of Once upon a river - Diane Setterfield. It also shows how quickly things can escalate and how women can be targeted (particularly in those days) for not conforming. Unsettling, reasonably short and good.

Thanks @Southeastdweller !

1. I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
2. North Wood by Daniel Mason
3. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
4. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
5. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
6. A Village in the Third Reich: How ordinary lives were transformed by Fascism by Julia Boyd & Angelika Patel
7. If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
8. Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
9. The Country of Others by Leïla Slimani

10. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

11. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

12. Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert

13. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

14. The Names by Florence Knapp

15. Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

16. I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel

17. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

18. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

19. Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang

20. Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

21. Hail Project Mary by Andy Weir

22. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
    

23. Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

DNF Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

Four Shots in the Night is in the deals but only until 7th June whilst most are until end of June (in case you do what I do, which is add them to wishlist and then decide over the course of the month which 99p ones to get!)

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller .

A continuation from me:

37 The Fell - Sarah Moss
38 The Man who Spoke Snakish - Andrus Kivirahk trans Christopher Moseley
39 Sovietistan - Erika Fatland
40 Bad Therapy - Abigail Shrier
41 The Tale of Aypi - AK Welsapar trans WM Coulson
42 Schindlers Ark - Thomas Keneally
43 Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
44 Greek Lessons - Han Kang trans Deborah Smith & E. Yaewon
45 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
46 The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
47 Soldier, Sailor - Claire Kilroy
48 How to be Invisible- Tim Lott

A distinct lack of bolds since the last thread but I have enjoyed most of what I have read at least in part.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller.

Here’s my list since the last thread with my outstanding reviews.

51 Dear Reader by Cathy Retzenbrink
52 Dear Ijeawele, Or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
53 The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K Dick
54 Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
55 Hot To Go by Kristen Bailey
56 Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
57 The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick
58 The Pearl by John Steinbeck
59 Toward Yesterday by Paul Anthony Jones
60 By the Time You Read This by Brianna Labuskes
61 Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

59 Toward Yesterday by Paul Anthony Jones

This was an interesting concept, but unfortunately not very well executed. After a science experiment everyone wakes up 25 years in the past, in the bodies they had at that time, including those who had died in the intervening years. There was a lot that could have been explored here, including those who are ‘returned’ from the dead, those who have an adult consciousness in a child’s body, the social upheaval, the impact of knowing the ‘future’. The author chose not to do this and the story was just a bit light and boring. This was a RWYO.

60 By the Time You Read This by Brianna Labuskes

This was the third in a trilogy featuring an FBI linguistics expert. A serial killer is killing psychopaths, mixed up with a load of other nonsense. Unfortunately it was nowhere near as good as the first two and was just a bit of a mess altogether. Free on kindle unlimited.

61 Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

This is a short book, written entirely in verse, with spare, evocative language. Will’s brother was shot and killed last night so he follows The Rules, passed from brothers, fathers, uncles, friends, the most important of which is to kill the person who has killed someone you love. As Will is traveling down to the ground floor in the lift the door opens and he’s joined by his brother’s friend Buck, who was shot years before, and on each floor another person whose life has been lost to gun violence joins him, and Will is forced to confront the cycle of violence and revenge and the costs involved. I thought this was excellent, a bold for me, and a book that I think will stay with me.

After the Fire by Jane Casey (Maeve Kerrigan no. 7) Thanks again to everyone who recommended these. The series has definitely picked up and I’m really enjoying them.

I have bought four books in the deals
Homegoing - Yaa Gayasi, The Promise - Damon Galgut, The Elements - John Boyne and Taiwan Travelogue which recently won the International Booker Prize.

Anyone have a link to the deals please? It keeps giving me books for £4.99 or free with kindle unlimited

www.amazon.co.uk/amz-books/book-deals?ref=ebooks_sba_uk_kindle_deals

Thank you @Southeastdweller !

Off to scour the Deals now….

@InTheCludgie I do this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/deals?ref_=nav_cs_gb&discounts-widget=%2522%257B%255C%2522state%255C%2522%253A%257B%255C%2522refinementFilters%255C%2522%253A%257B%255C%2522departments%255C%2522%253A%255B%255C%25221025612%255C%2522%255D%257D%252C%255C%2522rangeRefinementFilters%255C%2522%253A%257B%255C%2522price%255C%2522%253A%257B%255C%2522min%255C%2522%253A0%252C%255C%2522max%255C%2522%253A6%257D%252C%255C%2522percentOff%255C%2522%253A%257B%255C%2522min%255C%2522%253A80%252C%255C%2522max%255C%2522%253A100%257D%257D%257D%252C%255C%2522version%255C%2522%253A1%257D%2522&promotionsSearchPageSize=60&promotionsSearchLastSeenAsin=B0FCBS8ZWG&promotionsSearchStartIndex=0

This is from the home page on the web (app is a struggle) - select Today's Deals, then Books, then set Price to a max of £6 (the lowest the slider will go) and discount to a range of 80% to 100%. That gets most of the 99p and £1.99 :)

If I do it @ChessieFL 's way, then sort price low to high, I get a bunch of pricey manga for £7.99, for some reason.

@CutFlowers is The Elements an omnibus of the individual ones?

Yes it is @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Read so far:

1. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
2. The Drums by Mike Joyce
3. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
4. The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer
5. The Colour Of Our Sky by Amita Trasi
6. There Is Nothing For You Here by Fiona Hill
7. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
8. The Story Of A New Name by Elena Ferrante
9. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay Elena Ferrante
10. A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
11. The Story Of The Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
12. The Secret Hours by Mick Herron
13. Enough Said by Alan Bennett
14. Bookish by Lucy Mangan
15. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
16. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
17. Seascraper by Benjamin Wood

Latest reads:
#18. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Too many questions and not enough answers in this post apocalyptic book. I suppose the same criticism could be levelled at Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, but that was far better executed. IWHNKM seemed to chase its own tail to a conclusion, limping to the finish line with no clue what planet it was on or why, or why, for example, all the electrically powered freezers were still operating.

#19. Never Mind by Edward St Aubyn. The first in a series of five Patrick Melrose semi autobiographical novels.
I’m not sure why, but at some point I bought them all for two credits on an Audible deal. This first book puts you in the company of some of the most despicable, dislikeable characters I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across. Only Ann comes out of it with any credit.
The action takes place over a single day and evening during which the psychopath David Melrose and his abused wealthy wife host a dinner party for their intellectual, upper class ‘friends’. Flashbacks tell us how they got together and why.
Their only child, Patrick, is five and about to have a day that will change his life.
Very bleak.

Yes!

(To Eine, Chessie posted whilst I was taking the pic!)