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

27) The Story of a Nobody by Anton Chekhov (translated by Hugh Aplin). A novella about a consumptive revolutionary who takes a job as the servant of a government official's son, Orlov, to get access to his father and assassinate him. Instead he becomes embroiled in the toxic relationship between the supercilious Orlov and his married lover, Zanaida Fyordorovna, and ultimately abandons his mission.

Although a very quick read (only 101 pages), there is a dramatic shift in tone in the final 20 pages or so. Up until then, I'd found it quite funny. Orlov is a git, but some of his snide comments are great. I also enjoyed the character of Pekarsky, a pragmatic but rather socially inept friend of Orlov. Then the book veers sharply into tragedy, which remains unresolved at the end of the book.

I'm glad I read it, but not sure if I'd reach for it again. I would however like to read more Chekhov, as I really liked the flow of his writing.

Hi @Terpsichore, thanks, it wasn’t me who reviewed Craftland but it sounds exactly like my kind of thing so I’ve added it to my wish list 😁

Oh dear, I'm very bad at remembering who recommended things!

The Inheritors by William Golding This has been on my list - and 2 copies have been on my shelf - for many years as my dad raves about it. I’ve resisted as I could never face the subject matter of the Neanderthals’ world being overturned by the arrival of the new people. I finally read it this month motivated by the footnotes and tangents read along.

It’s objectively an excellent novel as you experience the incomprehension and bewilderment of the Neanderthals whilst also wincing as you understand more than they do of what is happening (though often not understanding enough, in my case - the read along notes showed how much I had missed). I hope it’s not a spoiler to say that it’s not a cheery read, and it’s definitely not as approachable as Lord of the Flies. Sorry dad.

@CornishLizard I said, of The Inheritors

A book about a bunch of Neanderthals.
I suppose it makes me something of a Neanderthal to say I really wasn't into it and found it quite boring, but C'est La Vie - another longstanding member of the TBR boxed off.

I’m pleased too to have it off the list - though not satisfyingly so as I would need at least another run at it to do it justice.

Quaderno Proibito: Alba de Céspedes.

'Forbidden Notebook' is the English version, translated by Ann Goldstein.

Set in Rome, in November 1950. Valeria Cossetti sees a black notebook in the window of the tobacconist's shop. She knows that she shouldn't buy the notebook on a Sunday, as it's not permitted by law for the shop to sell stationery on that day, but she wants the notebook and this is her first act of rebellion. She buys it, takes it home and begins to write a secret diary for the next six months.

Valeria never realised how unhappy she was until she started recording her thoughts and feelings about the details of her domestic life. She realises that this diary is the only thing she has ever done for herself and that her individuality has been stifled by her devotion to her husband and family. Even her name has been erased as everyone calls her 'Mammà', including her husband. While she works to supplement her husband's income, she is only defined in terms of her functionality to the family. She feels her life is nearly over and she's only forty-three.

This is an excellent book; a window into the domestic life of this family who are respectable but not well off, just earning enough to get by. The story is told through Valeria's point of view and through her we explore her relationships with her husband and son and in particular, her daughter and her own single friend, whose situations differ from hers as they are determined to live as independent women.

This is a nuanced and complex novel, written in very elegant prose that draws you in from the first page. I love reading this author. Thanks to @cassandre for bringing her to my attention!

Just catching up with the thread. Hope all is now well @Tarragon123 and @GrannieMainland.

I’ve finally got Enough Said - Alan Bennett on BorrowBox. It is lovely, so soothing. Unfortunately I’m having to rush through it instead of savouring before it disappears. I can only use BorrowBox on my iPad or phone which means I can’t read it in bed where I do most of my reading. I’m almost at the point - but not quite- of paying £18 for the Kindle version.

Best, good to hear this. I've finally got to No. 1 in the queue for my (physical) library reservation - it's not on BorrowBox where I am, for some reason - so fingers crossed I'll be joining you in your appreciation soon!

@Tarragon123
"Thank you for all your kind words, much appreciated. I’m so much better after a couple of days at home."

Hope you're continuing to recover, 4 days later

"I might investigate Charles Paris. Its vaguely ringing bells. Was it maybe adapted for Radio 4 with Bill Nighy playing the title part?"

Yes, there are about 21 books in the series now - Simon Brett started writing them over 50 years ago, and the lead character is 47 in the first book, but he hasn't aged in real time as that would make him nearly 100.

Also the adaption by Jeremy Front, featuring Bill Nighy as Charles Paris, very cleverly captures the essence of the books and the characters but brings them into a present day setting, with mobiles and the internet etc, not phone boxes.

@Stowickthevast wrote

"Let Me Go Mad In My Own Way - Elaine Feeney. This is a book about Claire who goes a bit deranged with grief after her mother dies, breaks up with her boyfriend and moves to the family home in Ireland. It has an odd structure where the main part is written in the first person from Claire's Pov but then we get flashbacks to 100 years before when the family are living in poverty. We also get an extended flashback to Claire's childhood, and then it switches back to modern day but in a third person perspective. It's a bit distracting, although I guess it's showing the inherited trauma through the generations. There are some side characters who seem a bit irrelevant and the ex boyfriend who comes to Ireland has basically no character. There's also an odd bit where Claire gets obsessed with trad wives which doesn't really contribute much to the plot. I gave this 3* but now writing this review, feel like I was too generous!"

In contrast, I really enjoyed this.

I hope you're beginning to feel better @Tarragon123 💐

It was good to see you @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie 👋

Welcome to the thread @VanGoSunflowers It's a very friendly place 😀

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh@cassandreI have a few Alba de Cespedes books on my kindle. Sounds like I need to move them up the tbr!

I've read 'Her Side of the Story', which is also very good. Cassandre has read more. * *

I finished The Art of A Lie. I read a lot of hype about this but was almost entirely unmoved. It has two unreliable narrators and a couple of neat twists but it is all rather silly. As everyone , virtually, is lying. there are a lot of assumed identities and pseudonyms and I didn't care enough to keep track. I forgot the writer previously wrote The Square of Sevens which I didn't read because not one person had anything good to say about it on the Sara Cox programme, which is rare.

Also, she kept writing 'confectionary' and nothing I read online confused me this was ever used in the context of a shop or the times sold in it. It ahs been used in the context of the art of making it but this isn't how she uses it. The blurb spells it 'confectionery'!

I had a trip to the bookshop today and decided not to go too mad. I bought Kabatasis by Kuang and Of Mice and Men
Decided to read of mice and men this afternoon before going back in to the Poppy War series and really enjoyed it. It was sweet and heartbreaking.

That's why this thread is so helpful @elkiedee lots of varying opinions. I wonder whether the fact I was reading Land at the same time didn't really help, as it dealt with some of the same themes.

62. Land - Maggie O Farrell - reviewed up thread by @FuzzyCaoraDhubh, I didn't love this quite as much though it was still good. It's about a family living in Ireland in the 1860s, Tomas and Phina, and their 4 children Enda, Liam, Rose and Eugene. Tomas and Phina both survived the famine, and Tomas now makes maps for the English. After a mystical experience, he uproots the family and moves them to the country side. The story follows Tomas at first and then Enda and Liam with a bit of the other characters thrown in. It's very descriptive as you'd expect from O' Farrell and had parts that were reminiscent of Hamnet - especially the mystical bits - and of The Marriage Portrait, the historical descriptions. I found Enda's parts the most compelling, and sometimes felt the other parts dragged a bit. Eugene's character is a "Wise fool' which I wasn't entirely convinced by. On the whole, I wasn't wholly convinced that the mystical bits fit in with the rest of the story. It's also pretty sad. There is an amazing Irish Wolfhound in it though. DH is unconvinced this is an appropriate pet for a London home.

There’s a lady I follow on TikTok who was recommending this - she did a post about reading more books in translation and this is the one I noted down from her list. Now I’ve read your review I’ll definitely go ahead and invest I think!

I highly recommend it @AliasGrape .
I hope you'll like it. I think she's an excellent writer.

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh thanks for a super review, I have added Forbidden Notebook to be TBR.

Ooh @FuzzyCaoraDhubh great review of Forbidden Notebook! I'm so glad you liked it. It was the first Alba de Cespedes novel I read, and remains my favourite. I'm envious of you being able to read it in Italian. I would love to read her whole corpus, but quite a few of her novels haven't been translated into English at all (despite me managing to get hold of some out-of-print English translations). I'm excited to see all the interest in her on this thread!

There's No Turning Back is also brilliant - very different to Forbidden Notebook because it focuses on a whole group of young women characters, rather than foregrounding just one. She was very inventive in terms of style and every book I've read by her so far is quite different to all the others.

@TimeforaGandT thanks for the review of Scaffolding; I've added it to my wish list. Paris, psychoanalysis and sex, what's not to love? 😂When I googled the book, I also found a very positive review of it by Sarah Moss, and I'm a big Moss fan, so that makes me even more keen to read it.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief interesting review of the St Aubyn novels. I've read a couple of them in the past, and while I recall them as being quite dark, they were well-written. I'd like to read the whole series in order like you did.

@Stowickthevast 😂at There is an amazing Irish Wolfhound in it though. DH is unconvinced this is an appropriate pet for a London home.

I'll look out for the wolfhound when I read Land.

My first post on this 'new' thread but thankfully a timely one. @cassandre has clearly been successfully influencing us all 😀

Her Side of the Story by Alba de Céspedes. Translated by Jill Foulston

This had an afterword by Elena Ferrante and reminded me a lot of her writing with the not very likeable narrator who is in her own head a lot. Alessandra describes her childhood and early marriage to an anti-fascist in Rome during WW2. The book is split into three sections and the first one describing the relationship with her mother was the best, although I had a soft spot for her relationship with her nonna in part two. I really enjoyed this and will be adding her other translated novels to my TBR list.

Oooh @FruAashild that is serendipity! ❤

34. The Keeper, Tana French 5/5
    The final volume in French’s Cal Hooper trilogy, set in the fictional West Irish village of Ardnakelty. As I mentioned before, I loved this novel. At the start I thought maybe French was recycling too many of the same themes she introduced in the first two volumes of the trilogy (the village has Many Dark Undercurrents of local history! everyone’s speech is laden with Hidden Meanings that an outsider like Cal can’t understand!). However, the story quickly gathered pace and presented some new forms of tension and character development (as for example in Cal’s relationship with his love interest Lena). French’s ear for dialogue is pitch-perfect I would say. The final plot twist isn’t very plausible, but that’s OK; in terms of sheer page-turning joy, this is the best novel I’ve read in some time.

35. Une forme de vie [Life Form], Amélie Nothomb 4/5
    The Belgian writer Nothomb is always weird and interesting, and this short novel is no exception. It consists mostly of (fictional) letters between the writer Nothomb herself and an unlikely fan of her work: a morbidly obese American soldier who is writing from Baghdad during the Iraq war. His obsessive eating becomes both a form of protest against the military violence he is part of, and a form of art. This isn’t the only Nothomb novel to focus on disturbing representations of food and eating (there’s also her semi-autobiographical novel Biographie de la faim / The Life of Hunger, which I preferred to this one). The narrative ends with not one but two unexpected plot twists. A compelling if quite surreal read.

36. Lélia, George Sand 4/5
    This was an effortful read that I’ve been doing slowly for quite some time. I’m glad I read it, but also glad to have reached the end! I love Sand’s novel Indiana, and had heard that Lélia, which she wrote shortly after Indiana was a great feminist novel, so I wanted to read it. In fact there isn’t a lot of plot: it’s mostly a series of long poetic/philosophical discourses, placed in the mouths of different characters. The beautiful, intelligent Lélia (clearly in some ways a double of Sand herself) is disillusioned with life, love and especially men. She is surrounded by three men who love her in different ways: a poet, an ex-convict turned philosopher, and a mentally disturbed priest. Oh yes, and there’s also her identical sister, who is a famous courtesan. Sand revised the novel substantially after its original publication; the edition I was reading had both versions, so I read both, which was a bit confusing, but interesting. Version One was more annoying in terms of all the characters moaning self-absorbedly in true Romantic style, but it had a shockingly violent ending. Version Two toned things down somewhat, but transformed some of Lélia’s speeches in order to articulate her feminist and anti-religious agenda much more clearly. Various themes which you might not expect to find in a 19th century novel included: hints of lesbian desire (directed by Lélia to her sister when they were young!), Lélia’s inability to orgasm from sex with men, and Lélia’s frustration with the fact that men expect women to ‘save’ them, but also consider women to be the inferior sex: this paradox sends her into an understandable rage.

I plan to stay away from crazy autofictional French novels by women for at least a little while now, ha. Despite my love for the genre, I need a break.

57. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson - This was recommended by a 50 booker though I can't remember who. Whoever it was, THANK YOU! I had never heard of Mary Lawson before and now I am bemoaning the fact that she has only written 4 novels. I loved this one! Kate Morrison, and accomplished natural scientist is reflecting on her difficult childhood and skirting around her then-close, now estranged relationship with her brilliant brother Matt. The nature writing, the writing about rural Ontario, their daily lives, and their relationships was beautiful and each character felt real. The ending wasn't as perfect as the rest of the book but only because the first 95% was excellent and the resolution was merely good in my opinion. After reading a few books about ideas masquerading as people, it was such a relief to read about good people facing difficult circumstances imperfectly.