50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Six

[Southeastdweller]

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

@VikingNorthUtsire I have a close relative who features in someone else's book (their autobiography) and is unhappy about it. The problem is the way that two people can have very different memories of the same occasion, without either of them lying or deliberately misrepresenting the other person, but the person who hasn't written the book doesn't get to give their side of the story. However, I must admit I still enjoy reading autobiographies, and don't usually give much thought to the other people appearing in them. Although I did think when reading Andre Agassi's autobiography recently that Brooke Shields must have been very pissed off about the way she was portrayed!

Really interesting to see a fictionalized version of someone you know, @VikingNorthUtsire - it does feel unfair.

Where would we be without Guide knots, @PermanentTemporary ?

The House That Made Us - Alice Cavanagh

Mac and Marie have a picture taken outside their brand new house on their wedding day in 1970, and continue taking a picture every year on their anniversary. This follows them through their life together - children, grandchildren, jobs, illnesses etc. and the cruise that they’re constantly saving for but never manage to go on. It’s described as One Day meets Up which is a good description, although I didn’t find most of the characters as engaging as those in One Day. I liked Mac but found Marie a bit annoying.

The Dubrovnik Book Club - Eva Glyn

Claire takes a new job running an English bookshop in Dubrovnik, and starts a book club that helps lots of its members deal with their issues. I did like this but it was written during and set just after Covid and it’s jarring now reading about all the Covid fears. I liked the setting - I could picture the places described having now visited the city. I also felt there were too many characters with issues which meant that some of them were resolved a bit too easily - it would have been better to focus on just a couple of the characters and give their stories more space.

The Library - Bella Osborne

Lonely teenager Tom and lonely pensioner Maggie join forces when their local library is threatened with closure. This was much better than I expected - it is a bit unbelievable that the two would make friends so easily (or that the library is saved so easily) but I liked both characters and seeing how they supported each other to improve their lives.

@VikingNorthUtsireI love The Monk but yes, it’s absolutely bonkers.

42 Three Hours - Rosamund Lipton Told from multiple perspectives of teachers, pupils and parents, as well as one of the police officers, the story covers a three-hour period on a snowy winter morning at a progressive independent school set in sprawling grounds as armed gunmen mount a siege. The identities of the gunmen and their aims gradually become clear as we jump from group to group, with a backdrop of a dress rehearsal of Macbeth and some well-drawn personal relationships. I found this gripping and the characters realistic; just short of a bold I think, due to the occasional lapse into slightly didactic information dumps about extremists, high-school shootings and refugee journeys, but really good nonetheless.

Despite bringing my list over, and then saying I'd be back with the latest read, of which there were 2, I didn't. So here's my next glut of books.

113. Wherever You Will Go. Fran Clark

114. However Far We Fall. Fran Clark
     This was a lovely little duo of books. The first one follows a woman who comes from the West Indies (IIRC) to London where her husband has come to having served in the British army in WW2. He's completely disappeared. The second is is about her daughter growing up in the 50s/60s as a mixed race child. Really enjoyed them, but not a bold.

115. The Armchair Detectives On Holiday. Matt Dunn
     Cosy crime following a couple of old men, ex spies I seem to recall, who end up investigating a possible murder whilst on their holidays.

116. The Man With A Nose. Maureen Taylor-Gooby
     Set in a northen pit village, we follow the life of a girl as she grows up in the 50s(?)

117. Moonset On Desert Sands. Sherri L Dodd
     This is the sequel to Murder Under the Redwood Moon. It's about Witches but that's all I remember.

118. Bad Blood. Maya Ross
     Gangland crime fiction. This is the second book in the series, but I can't remember the name of the first.

119. Final Harbour. Mark Batey
     Crime fiction. I know I really enjoyed this but can't remember enough to explain it. I think there were terrorists, and MI6 type people

120. The Irish Girl. Sandy Taylor
     No idea what this was

121. Rose Red Undead. Vic Sinclair
     Book 2 in the Fablenoir series of fairystory retellings. These books are really good fun. Jack of the Beanstalk is a NYC cop who's addicted to a drug known as magic beans. Goldilocks is just a badass criminal. And so on.

122. The Stolen Twin. Jade Lee Wright One twin is kidnapped, and then years later appears to come home again. I rated this 3* which means I don't recommend it.

123. Lie In The Tide. Holly Danvers
     A group of friends meet up for the first time in 20 years. Seems like a terrible idea to me! On the way there one of them goes missing and later turns up dead. All of them had secrets of varying degrees. And the ending was a bit "and then they woke up and it was all a dream". But I've got the sequel lined up in the hope that it will make sense.

124. Dead Air. Freddie Pickard
     Cosy(ish) crime about a radio DJ who gets murdered. Everyone has a motive.

125. Red Flag On The Seashore. Catherine Aitken
     Second book in the Bella McCaa series. Bella is a "woman of a certain age" whose starting out again having been a carer for her elderly mother for years. Weirdly I can remember that, which was Book 1. But can't remember book 2, other than spoilers.

126. A Dance of Mirrors. Annette Byford This was a bold for me. It was the parallel stories of 2 women, mother and daughter. The mother grew up in poat war Germany, the daughter in America. There were a lot of similarities in their lives. It's the kind of book where nothing happens, but it's beautiful all the same.

127. The German Sisters. Marty Wingate This wasn't listed as a series, but is a sequel to The Home For Lost Children. It follows 2 German Jewish children who come to England on the Kindertransport. They move into a lovely house which is later bombed so end up being rehoused in the aforementioned house for Lost Children.

128. First Hunt. Steve McHugh
     This was a really short novella, which is the prequel to a vampire series.

129. The Club For Rebellious Ladies. Siobhan Curham I want to say this was set around WW1 and follows a group of young ladies at finishing school who set up their own club to rebel against the absolute shit they are learning. One of them dies. Years later, a young woman buys the old school building and starts looking into the mystery. I'm sure there was a link between her and the ladies in the past

130. Exiles and Pagans. Aiden K. Morrissey This was almost a bold. Finn (who is one of the few fictional characters) is part of the new Christian religion spreading through 6th/7th Century Scotland.

131. The House of Pearls. Ali Mercer
     A group of sisters. I think one was called Pearl. That's all I recall. I "twists" were all really obvious.

132. A Tibetan Girl Called Ata. Xiao Hei
     Another really interesting book, which might have been translated, but also might not. It wasn't very clear. Set in Tibet and China, the history of which I knew nothing about, it's essentially a romance between a man and woman from opposing sides. It was a beautiful story, but the language was a bit odd at times. Could be the translation.

133. Save Her. Abigail Osborne
     A thriller about 2 best friends who are married to brothers. It was twisty and showed the scary side of deep friendship. I was never entirely sure what was or wasn't true.

134. Two States One Killer. Alistair Birch A crime thriller set across 2 states. State the obvious! We know who the killer is. We sort of know why, and yet I found it so compelling. There was some seriously clever technical stuff going on which made sense enough that I knew what was happening, but couldn't explain it.

135. The Swimmer of Auschwitz. Renaud Leblond This is the true story of Alfred Nakache, Olympic swimmer and Holocaust survivor. Although there was mention of some of the horrendous things that happened at Auschwitz, or
     it was a lot less than other books have. I hadn't heard of Nakache, but his story was fascinating.

The Croatian Island Library - Eva Glyn

Three unlikely people are thrown together to run a mobile library on a boat, touring round the islands near Dubrovnik. Throughout the summer, as well as making a success of the library, they each realise what they want in life. A nice story with a lovely setting (and does mention, in a very minor way, some of the characters from The Dubrovnik Book Club that I read a couple of days ago, which was nice).

84 Mr Mercedes – Stephen King. This is the book that Holly first appears in, so I was keen to reacquaint myself with her. Bill Hodges, a retired detective is contacted by someone claiming to be the serial killer that Bill never caught. Thanks to Holly, the case is concluded.

85 London Falling – Patrick Radden Keefe (BookBeat). I got BookBeat as a freebie for having bought 3 items on Vinted. Normally I just ignore the freebies, but finally one that interested me. BookBeat is just like Audible, only more expensive! You get to choose how many hours a month you listen to and there are three tiers to choose from. I suppose it could be cheaper than Audible if you take the cheapest option, but given the amount of books that this particular group go through, I don’t know if it would work out.

Anyway, back to the book. I’ve read previous books by PRK and always been impressed at his research. This was no different. This has been well reviewed by other 50 Bookers. The tragic tale of the unexplained death of a young man, who got involved in things with some very unsavoury people. I hope his parents find some peace.

I've not finished anything else, but was just reading the reviews for the Books and Islands book by Erdrich and it turns out it is part of a National Geographic series of authors exploring places they know well, so I thought I would share in case they appeal. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/150689.National_Geographic_Directions_Series

DNF, probably, The Nord Stream Conspiracy by Bojan Pancevski. That’s the first time I have bought a book on the basis of a review in The Economist. I may go back to it but the style is horrible and the subject is giving me nightmares.

@Tarragon123 DP who doesnt read (well had only ever read football biographies before) started on Stephen King and particularly likes the Mr Mercedes series. He has read all of the series now. It is strange how different styles click with different people. Both myself and DD have tried King and cant get on with it.

Loving your mini reviews @BlueFairyBugsBooks. Made me smile.
I’m still ploughing through Olive Kitteridge and tbh, its a bit of a slog.

@Tarragon123 I had Bookbeat for a few months last year as was trying not to give Jeff B more money. But it was more expensive with fewer titles than Audible so I have reluctantly returned.

Interesting discussion re real people in books @VikingNorthUtsire. I can imagine it just be very upsetting. I know someone who has just had a book published about something one of her friends did. It's caused major splits in the friendship group about the portrayal of characters but also who has the right to tell a story - her friend definitely didn't think the author did!

Just catching up on a few reviews - on holiday.

74 The Killer Question - Janice Hallet. The worst of hers yet. It's about a pub quiz team and various landlords. I was rather bored and probably should have DNF'd

75 My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell. The point of view is a 15 year old school girl who has been groomed by her teacher but still sees the relationship as a great romance. Uncomfortable reading where I was mainly waiting for the narrator to realise what had happened to her.

76 & 77 Dungeon Crawler Carl, Carl's Doomsday Scenario. Very silly books about the end of the world where the remaining creatures alive get trapped in a rogue style dungeon crawler game. I really enjoyed the first one, mainly thanks to the excellent character of the cat Princess Donut. The series would be very easy to inhale but am going to pace them out. Quite enjoyable but can see how they will get quite samey.

78. Whistler - Ann Patchett. Read for my online book club. Patchett's latest book is narrated by Daphne, a 53 year old English teacher, who randomly meets her stepfather Eddie at a museum. She hasn't seen Eddie, her mother's second husband, since she was 9 and they were in a car accident together. Eddie is a lovely character and this is quite feel good generally. Nothing much happens but I enjoyed spending time with the characters. It's been touted as a Booker possiblity but I don't really see it. I think Elizabeth Strout's latest has more bite.

I didn’t get on at all with Olive Kitteridge

and I’m sorry to say @Stowickthevast I abandoned Dungeon Crawler Carl at 12% not for me.

Still in a massive drought, but still also not particularly well.

Hope your feeling better soon @EineReiseDurchDieZeit 🌷

I will only review the last book I read and will try and remember to come on and write a little something for everything else going forward. I've just typed out this list and although I've obviously read them in the last 6 months, I can't for the life of me even remember what some of these books were :(

1. Assassin's Quest, Robin Hobb
2. Hamnet, Maggie O'Farrell
3. North Woods, Daniel Mason
4. The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead
5. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
6. The Compound, Aisling Rawle
7. Circle of Days, Ken Follett
8. James, Percival Everett
9. Razorblade Tears, S.A. Cosby
10. Heavenfield, L.J.Ross
11. The Alaska Sanders Affair, Joel Dicker
12. My Friends, Fredrik Backman
13. Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada
14. The Stranger, Albert Camus
15. Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
16. The Correspondent, Virginia Evans
17. The Fox Wife, Yangsze Choo
18. My Husband's Wife, Alice Feeney
19. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
20. Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
21. The Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski
22. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
23. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
24. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk
25. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
26. When I Lost You, Merilyn Davies
27. The Reformatory, Tananarive Due
28. The Examiner, Janice Hallett
29. All the Lonely People Mike Gayle
30. Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke
31. The Push, Ashley Audrain
32. Before I Go to Sleep, S.J. Watson
33. Snap, Belinda Bauer
34. Ask for Andrea, Noelle W. Ihli
35. The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
36. Vicious, V. E. Schwab
37. All the Sinners Bleed, S. A. Cosby
38. A Month in the Country, J.L.Carr
39. Writers & Lovers, Lily King
40. Universality, Natasha Brown
41. The Killing Stones, Ann Cleeves
42. The Names, Florence Knapp - I read this in 24 hours. The first 3 chapters really had me but at the end I was little confused about what it wanted to be. Is it about domestic abuse or the difference a name can make? I read Nesting last year, and that book hit me hard so this doesn't reach anywhere near those levels emotionally. I liked it, I didn't love it as felt it was trying to do 2 things at once without fully committing to either.

21 Billy Liar - Keith Waterhouse
This is one of my favourites, not sure how many times I've read it now... I forget the quality of writing between times. I've read other books by Waterhouse, but nothing matches the masterful prose of Billy Liar.

Billy escapes the predictability and boredom of his home and work life, as well as the self-imposed difficulties of his love life, by retreating into his imaginary world where he is a successful and charming public figure. The book spans 1 day in Billy's life where his web of lies and breaks down and he loses his job, his Grandma and 2 fiancees, while failing to make a real-life break for freedom.

@Owlbookend – funnily enough, I probably wouldnt have chosen Stephen King. I read Carrie and Christine etc back in the 80s, along with James Herbert. But that sort of thing is not my taste anymore. However, the previous book Holly, was part of an online book club. Actually before that, it was The Stand. This particular American woman who runs the online book club absolutely adores SK. I find this particular series (Holly, Mr Mercedes etc) more police procedural, rather than supernatural/spooky. I don’t think I’m going to read Cujo which is next up for book club.

@Stowickthevast – I hear you! After the disgusting display at their wedding, I cancelled my Audible sub. But I’m back. BorrowBox just don’t have the range at the moment and neither does BookBeat. However, I’m happy with BookBeat for a wee freebie.

@Hellohah I use Fable to track my reading. I think others may use Good Reads. Just whatever works for you.

Shout out to my library. I popped in yesterday to drop off Mr Mercedes and get the next one in the collection. Had a quick look at the new books and managed to snag Pagans (which was on my list thanks to @MaterMoribund) and The Scandalous Ladies Football Club.

I know what you mean @VikingNorthUtsire and that’s why I usually steer clear of fiction books about real people and events (I hated A Terrible Kindness for instance). Interesting that our perspectives differed on The Two Roberts as I thought the namedropping stayed just the right side of eyerolling for me.

@Tarragon123 I do log my books on Goodreads, done that ever since I bought a book I'd already read 🤦🏻‍♀️ my trouble is I read a fair few that are just easy to read, nothing special, good in the moment. But after a while, I have forgotten what they're actually about 😂

DNF The Truants, Kate Weinburg

OK I get that it was supposed to be OTT and also a homage to Agatha Christie. But I just couldn't. The brooding mysterious guy who drives a hearse, and the quirky inspirational tutor, and the sexy friend whipping off her clothes to skinny dip in the pub beer garden? Just all way way too silly for me. DNF at about 30%.

@MaterMoribund I think from your review that you were much more familiar with the artists in the two Roberts' group - that probably helped. I recognised the names of the more famous ones but there was still a lot of head-scratching and not knowing of back stories, and I think that was part of why it failed to draw me in.

I absolutely gobbled up (down?) The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine. This is a troubling story , very compelling. It it is quite ambiguous in places and the polyphonic style gets a bit of getting used to. Some of the characters are less developed than others (Chris, for example) but all in all it's a really interesting character study of trauma, tenacity and survival : even the middle class mothers have back stories that share a kind of resilience, although I found it hard to feel any empathy with Bronagh perhaps until the end. I was distracted by the author using a really odd name for one of the boys (Lyness??) and whether that was meant to imply something.

It reminded me in style of Munichs. It's not the tour de force that that book was but it is still really involving.

Some won't like the ambiguity - especially the outcome of one of the characters ,and potentially the extra little voices are pointless. I wasn't sure of the more sympathetic sketching of one of the boys but I can see the point Erskine was making.

Fierce Bad Rabbits by Clare Pollard I didn’t enjoy this history of picture books, mingled with memoir, as much as I’d hoped and expected to. There’s a streak of self righteousness and I found some of the memoir slightly toe curling. However I persevered as I’m interested in the topic and enjoyed the nostalgia - the Tiger who came to tea! Owl Babies! Dogger! But I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as Lucy Mangan’s (later) Bookworm.

I lent a beautiful hardback version of that book to a colleague several years ago and this has reminded me that she hasn't given it back to me!

On holiday in Portugal and went to visit the world's oldest operational bookshop (according to the Guiness Book), Livrara Bertrand. I don’t normally buy books as I am a library reader, but I made an exception today for Balthazar and Blimunda. Buying a Portuguese classic in Portugal seemed like the right thing to do.