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

That’s a shame Eine, I loved Grapes when I read it last year.

Yes I was going to ask you if it was you

I just didn’t connect to it in any way from the start and I had such a different experience with East Of Eden which would have been a bold if not for the racism!

I have never read any Steinbeck but have both Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden on my TBR pile. Slightly worried now - will try East of Eden first!

I haven’t read East of Eden yet but it is on my TBR pile.

me too.

I start with my wishlists - general Kindle Wishlist, Women's Prize, Booker, Library Loans I want on Kindle, Netgalley, Replacement (that's when I know I have a pb/hb copy but would be quite happy to replace it with a well formatted e book), and a list for ones I would prioritise if I got a voucher, but I rarely get vouchers these days and the remaining books there will probably never be on offer. So....

I really liked East of Eden and loved Cannery Row but wasn’t keen on Grapes of Wrath

How did you escape being forced to read Of Mice and Men at school?!

Grapes of Wrath is often considered best, though I haven't properly read East of Eden to check - is it quite long or is that my imagination? I have both on Kindle these days and GoW isn't short, but last time I read it, wow! Sad though. You may need something fluffier to break the anger and sadness. East of Eden was made into a film with James Dean, so I'm not sure why that didn't push me into reading it as a teenager.

This doesn't make you a philistine at all. You explain why you didn't like it, and I don't feel disrespected by your explanation, which for me can be a danger of such concise reviews. I really get wound up by ones which say "anyone who likes this must be an idiot" very easily, and occasionally the conversation there has strayed that way, or I was thin skinned .

The James Dean movie only tells the story of the second half of East of Eden. There is a new tv adaptation underway I believe.

@elkiedee I don’t do lazy reviews either! Even worse on Amazon people who review who haven’t read the book!

Probably the laziest review I’ve done is “Fuck Me, This Was Dull” for a Lucy Worsley - I didn’t see a need to elaborate!

@elkiedeeThe trailer is out for the new East Of Eden with Florence Pugh. It looks like a high quality production @ÚlldemoShúl

Ooh, thanks, I like Florence Pugh a lot

I am not sure how I swerved it! For O level English I think I did To Kill a Mockingbird and Emma and some Shakespeare and poetry. But could be wrong...

But definitely never had to do any Steinbeck at any time as a set book.

DBro did it for GCSE but I didn’t have to - not quite sure why as we were at the same school, though he was two years ahead.

I've never read Steinbeck either. I've started GoW a few times but just found it really dull.

I did Of Mice and Men An Inspector Calls, Aninal Farm and Kes for GCSE no Shakespeare strangely

I’ve read a couple of Steinbecks Of Mice and Men at school, The Grapes of Wrath years ago, and The Pearl a week or two ago. I liked all of them and have most of his other books TBR.

Also I don’t think not liking something makes you a philistine just because it’s known as a classic. We like what we like.

I’d say try Cannery Row if you fancy giving him a go- much shorter than GoW or EofE and more upbeat.

100% agree (and not just because I don’t enjoy Shakespeare )

I’m having to DNF temporarily my current audiobook Fall and Rise it’s good and everything I want to read it but it’s just too overwhelmingly sad for a book being listened to last thing at night

42. Dear Reader - Cathy Rentzenbrink

Enjoyable and upbeat memoir/hymn to the joys of reading. Rentzenbrink worked at the coal face in various bookshops for years and while she always loved reading, she never thought she’d become a writer herself. She weaves her own life story very entertainingly here in between the book-talk, with brief recommendations at the end of each chapter. It's in the same vein as Lucy Mangan's bookish memoirs but with a different feel, and I liked the well-chosen vignettes of her own life, even the tragic events, which she tells well and unfussily.

Ouch! I confess I quite like Lucy Worsley, though mostly her TV rather than the books. That ridiculous arch tone makes for comfort reading for me.

How do you feel about Janina Ramirez, who one of my FB friends referred to as Gothy Girl a few months ago? Without the real name, I just asked, do you mean? I quite like her TV musings - very relaxing - and have a couple of her books TBR, but can understand others feeling differently.

I can understand that, but is that DNF or just a pause? I'm really struggling with two excellent books, neither sad so far but one is a biography and the end is coming. The other is just a collection of accounts of MI5 files, but it's who they're of and the writing is good, so it's a lot more entertaining than it sounds, if somewhat niche.