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

@ÚlldemoShúl a coincidence you reserving judgement about whether or not to bold the Ishiguro as I was just pondering how to rate The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'd already decided to delay my rating decision for a few days in case I find myself thinking about the book. Right now, I'd mark it down just for the ogres but that's a me problem as I'm not much of a fantasy fan.

Thank you @Southeastdweller for the new thread 🌻

@InTheCludgie that is one impressively contented cat! Lovely 🐈

@CrochetGrannySquare - The Buried Giant is one of my bete noires - all that trudging and incessant "Princessing"!

Indeed. The last celebrity memoir I felt was genuine, entertaining and absorbing was Putting the Rabbit in the Hat by Brian Cox (highly recommended for anyone who enjoys actors memoirs). Perhaps, in his mid-70s, he was at a stage where he didn't give a damn.

Belated thank you to @Southeastdweller for the new thread (and Brian Cox is GREAT. Love his interviews).

1 Who Wants to Live Forever, Hanna Thomas Uose (RWYO)
2 The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell (RWYO)
3 A Long Way from Verona, Jane Gardam (RWYO)
4 The Two Lives of Louis & Louise, Julie Cohen (RWYO)
5 The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Margareta Magnusson
6 The Parallel Path, Jenn Ashworth
7 Consider Yourself Kissed, Jessica Stanley
8 Plain Bad Heroines, Emily M Danforth
9 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab
10 Strong Poison, Dorothy L. Sayers
11 Easy Connections, Liz Berry
12 Black and Blue, Anna Quindlen (RWYO)
13 Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (RWYO)
14 The Housemaid, Freida McFadden
15 Let's Make a Scene, Laura Wood
16 Everland, Rebecca Hunt (RWYO)
17 Appointment with Yesterday, Celia Fremlin (RWYO)
18 Esther is Now Following You, Tanya Sweeney
19 Smoke and Ashes, Abir Mukherjee (RWYO)
20 Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid
21 Death in Venice, Thomas Mann
22 A Stranger City, Linda Grant
23 A Bright Ray of Darkness, Ethan Hawke
24 Mind over Money: The Psychology of Money and How to Use It Better, Claudia Hammond
25 The Last Hundred Days, Patrick Mcguinness
26 Christmas in Austin, Benjamin Markowits
27 Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi (RWYO)
28 Heart the Lover, Lily King
29 Orbital, Samantha Harvey (RWYO)
30 The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau, Graeme Macrae Burnet (RWYO)
31 The Book of American Martyrs, Joyce Carol Oates (RWYO)
32 Audition, Katie Kitamura
33 The Girls of Summer, Katie Bishop (RWYO)
34 To Exist as I Am: A Doctor's Notes on Recovery and Radical Acceptance, Grace Spence Green
35 The Dream Hotel, Laila Lalami
36 Albion, Anna Hope
37 Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy

I've just finished 38 Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner. I missed this a couple of years ago when it hit the Booker longlist, although I had loved The Mars Room. Thanks to @Arran2024 who reviewed it recently and brought it to my attention.

This is a smart, philosophical book masquerading as a thriller. I have to admit it took me way longer than it should have done to realise that it wasn't just going to be a straightforward spy story, albeit with a few Neanderthals thrown in. I'm going to blame one of the quotes on the cover (something about "Kill Bill written by John Le Carre") which set my expectations. Unfortunately I probably spoilt the book for myself because I rushed through the earlier parts, looking for plot that wasn't forthcoming.

One thing that I loved about this book was that there were numerous background characters, most of whose stories are completely unresolved, and who were interesting and real-seeming enough that I would happily read a whole book about any of them. I want to know more about the mysterious Marseille sun-tanning woman!

Popping in to place mark. List haters can rejoice as I am not on my phone so my minuscule one won’t be pasted over.
Thanks to @piggywaspushed for your suggestion. DD gobbled up Jessie Burton’s Medusa.

That's good to hear!

Thanks to @EineReiseDurchDieZeit for pointing out I was on the old thread!

Tart - Slutty Cheff
I finished a book! Unfortunately, not a book I liked much.

Sex, drugs and mise en place: this is the story of the anonymous author training to be a chef after quitting her office job. I bought this without knowing she was Instagram famous and I suspect it works much better if you already “know” her through that, because I just didn’t care that much about her personal life, though the restaurant kitchen parts were interesting.

Still, I finished something, so that is to be celebrated!

39 Bookish: How Reading Shapes Our Lives by Lucy Mangan
More bookish musings from Lucy. I loved this and hope she writes another one

40 Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Had this on my shelf for ages. It's the story of a man who splits up from his boyfriend and distracted himself when his boyfriend remarries by taking up any international opportunities offered to him as a writer.

It's gently comic. I enjoyed it. I'm surprised it won the Pulitzer prize as I didn't seem that unusual. Maybe an elderly gay protagonist was more revolutionary at that time.

41 The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
A writer in her forties and her older male friend through work at a literary magazine talk about him leaving his job due to the awful new boss. It goes into their pasts and what brought them to this point.

I utterly adored this and I'm not sure why. The writing was just so completely believable. I've taken everything else they had from her in the library. I hope this makes the booker longlist this month.

44. The Last Party - Clare Mackintosh

Ffion Morgan is a police officer in North East Wales and has a bad start to the New Year after someone goes missing after a NYE party on her local patch. Things become more complicated for her when the investigation has to be shared between the Welsh police and Cheshire police because the location is on the Welsh/English border. This was a page-turner for me and I liked the fact that it dealt with the animosity between the locals and second-homers. I think the author lives in N Wales so is on familiar territory. A few plot holes (or perhaps points that stretched credibility) but still a fun read.

@nowanearlyNicemum Around here it would be very easy to pick up the rest of the Neopolitan books from a charity shop, but I think it will prob depend on where you are. Nothing to report here. Am reading - which is bliss after months of not, so am very happy.

The Names Florence Knapp
First of all massive thanks to @EineReiseDurchDieZeit for the recommendation. This is the first physical book I’ve read in months. It grabbed me from the first chapters & I was motivated enough to keep going despite the current challenges of my injury.
I was aware of it previously, but I thought I wouldn’t enjoy the concept because the names aspect would be gimmicky. It also has the words ‘life affirming’ on the cover that to me are a similar turn off to magical realism. They are like a mawkishness siren. Anyway, despite some reservations, it was eine’s recommendation and I took the plunge.
It opens with Cora registering the name of her infant son. Trapped in an abusive relationship the choice she makes reflects her response to the violence she experiences and her attitude to her young daughter Maia. We then follow the parallel lives of her son named Bear, Julian or Gordon, over several decades.
First the good. As a plot device, the parallel narratives really worked for me. I was hooked wanting to revisit the boys and eventually men as the years past. It also all fits together like a jigsaw. Characters that feature in one narrative appear in the others in different contexts. There are emotionally devastating moments in the first half of the novel. It never shies away from the horror of abuse. It makes you think - what makes us, us? Does our environment determine our future? Our personhood? Are monsters made not born? How much responsibility do parents bear? Do women in abusive relationships bear responsibility for how their choices impact their children?
Even though there was a lot I liked, there were issues for me. Although I found the plot structure compelling, it ultimately seemed a bit mechanistic. I sometimes felt the characters were there to show certain things rather than them being ‘real people’ & yes I can see the absurdity of that statement 😀. I also found their was increasing amounts of tell not show. Characters would discuss or explain the meaning of things that I felt would be better left unsaid. Ultimately, I felt it was answering questions rather than posing them.

I could write more, but don’t want to ramble on. Also, I know others haven’t read it yet & there is stuff I can’t say for fear of spoilers. Not a bold for me, but definitely ‘a good read’. Thanks again dine.
PS I’m a lifelong blue, & had a season ticket for years⚽️

My pleasure @Owlbookend

lifelong blue

I’M OUTNUMBERED BY ALL 3 FELLOW SCOUSERS

<mutters darkly>

Can I join
im on book 51 today, my yearly goal is 75

Anyone can join, so welcome !

As you’re already halfway through the year, give us an idea of your taste by telling us which titles you would highlight in bold to recommend out of what you’ve read!

The Two Roberts by Damian Barr
Fiction about real people is a close second Pet Hate to audiobooks, so it’s a good job I didn’t know this was the case when I put this on my wishlist. I would have been depriving myself of a quite marvellous read!
It sets out the life of Scottish artists Robert Colquhoun and Bobby MacBryde, spanning the time between their first meeting at Glasgow School Of Art and Robert’s death. They hobnob with the bright young artist milieu, including Francis Bacon and Elizabeth Barker, their rising stars halted by Robert being conscripted for WW2, their enduring relationship always necessarily hidden. Then we see how their promise starts to wilt as commissions fade away and they ping from friend to friend to acquaintance leaning on favours past that they often don’t quite deserve.
I’m feeling a bit woozy with the heat so I won’t blather on not doing it justice, but it’s a solid bold for me. There’s an Afterword, then the Kindle review page popped up, but then comes an alternative ending that just blew me away. Just stunning and I went down several rabbit holes researching their art and the circles they moved in.

Thanks @AgualusasL0ver - that's encouraging!
I’m heading to Cornwall for DD’s graduation and a few days R+R. How quickly did those 3 years whizz past??

I’m checking in late though don’t have much to update - but want to get out on threads I’m on.

Im working my way through Night Waking -Sarah Moss on kindle* and Why be happy when you could be normal - Jeanette Winterson *on audible but work has gone so hectic as has life in general really so I’m mostly just sleeping when I eventually make it to bed, therefore not getting through anything with any speed.

Got a long drive (alone) tomorrow so hopefully will make some good progress on the audio at least,

Thanks @Southeastdweller for the thread!

I am surrounded by Reds in my house (even though none of us has any connection to Liverpool - something to do with John Barnes and immigrant communities my husband says).

@AgualusasL0ver JB lives locally. He was a big deal in the 80s and suffered some vile racial abuse so I can imagine he was a hero to non white fans!!

I saw him play once when he was still with Watford! I’ve only been to two or three football matches in my life but even I could see he stood out on the pitch and I think he scored twice. Breaking the heart of the Birmingham City fan I was going out with at the time.

I’m on holiday and it’s so hot, all there is to do is lie in the shade and read! So today’s finished book is
101 Son of Nobody by Yann Martel
Hotly tipped for the Booker longlist (mainly because of Mary Beard being the chair of judges) this book tells the story of the discovery of an Ancient Greek manuscript telling another perspective on the Trojan war, from the perspective of Psoas, a commoner, son of nobody. It’s presented like an academic work with the translated epic at the top and footnotes at the bottom which also tell the story of the translator’s life and translation. The two tales dovetail in theme. It’s a great idea, but for me it didn’t work. Both stories are a bit preposterous and predictable in the case of his real life story. Just okay. I don’t think it deserves to be long listed but we will see!

56. Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Rue and Eli are brought together when the biotech firm she works for is the target of a hostile takeover from the private equity firm he works for.

The author has added a note at the beginning of the book promising a happily ever after, so it’s obvious that Rue and Eli will end up together. On the way to the happily ever after, there’s the conflict set up by the hostile take-over to overcome, Rue’s personal issues, a dastardly boss, and there’s also lots of very explicit sexual content. That took me by surprise a bit, but I guess it really shouldn’t have given that the author used the phrase “erotic romance” in the note at the beginning of the book.
Anyway, there’s enough of a plot in there that the book would work without the sex scenes, and it all moves along quite nicely. Although it’s probably not one that will stick in my memory for all that long.

It's OK, @EineReiseDurchDieZeit. I can’t pretend to be an avid fan but I count myself as a dyed-in-the-wool red. I have to be, my dad was from Anfield!

With all this football talk I need to see if I have any fellow supporters - MOT / ALAW!