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

Just finished Elegy in April by John Banville I do not appear to be reading these in order. Quirke has just signed himself out of a clinic where he has been drying out. Straight back on the booze of course but apparently white wine doesn't count. It's very atmospheric and a foggy Dublin is almost a character in its own right.
I am confined to the sofa as I fell down the stairs on Friday and this was a good way to pass the time

49 The Elements by John Boyne

This was 99p on the Kindle deals recently and I have seen various of the individual novellas which make up the compilation reviewed on here, so thought I'd give it a go. The four novellas (Water, Earth, Fire and Air) are loosely interlinked, with characters from each turning up in the others. Each of them has at its centre a crime and how it affects the victims, families and perpetrators. A friend of mine who reviewed these really rated Water, which I liked, but it wasn't my favourite (possibly because water is a pretty hostile element in the story, whereas I'm happiest when swimming). I was most drawn in by Earth, which is the story of a rape trial, and Air, which focuses on the healing process for victims/family members. Overall an interesting project; not a standout for me as the prose is efficient rather than beautiful, and there's a fair bit of heavy-handedness ('on theme' names, some well-worn tropes hammered home rather more than they needed to be). But the interweaving of the stories is clever and sometimes unexpected and Boyne raises some interesting questions about the duties people owe to each other, and how they carry on after the unthinkable has happened. I found the ending quite satisfying.

61. The Land in Winter - Andrew Miller

In the bitter winter of 1962, two couples live in adjacent houses in the Wiltshire countryside and find their lives intersecting. Eric Parry, the local doctor, has married the more socially-elevated Irene. Nearby, ex-Oxford man Bill Simmons is slaving away as a hobby farmer while Rita, the former nightclub hostess he married in an impulsive rush, has her own secrets and fears to cope with. Both women are pregnant and forge a tentative friendship; both men have preoccupations they don’t, or can’t, share with their wives. The great freeze holds everyone and everything in its grip as events play out and it becomes evident that these married couples are strangers to each other in many respects.

I've seen a few varying opinions about this novel but I loved it. The writing's very spare and tight, switching between each of the four characters, with short chapters that enticed me to keep going to find out what happens - I have to say there’s a definite sense of mounting dread that something really bad's about to hit (there are bad things, but perhaps not quite as terrible as I was expecting). I really liked the way Miller evoked the period; with a few exceptions, it generally rang true, which is by no means always the case in fiction these days.

@minsmum - I have just worked my way through Quirke and this is the order:

Christine Falls
The Silver Swan
Elegy for April
A Death in Summer
Vengeance
Holy Orders
Even the Dead

There is some continuity of personal plot lines through the books.

Well, I managed four (technically three while away as the last one was read yesterday) - could have been worse.

32 - Oh William! - Elizabeth Strout
The latest in the Lucy Barton series sees Lucy start to reconnect with her former husband William. I really enjoy her writing - I can see how some wouldn't - but I really enjoyed this.

33 - The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman
The fifth book from the Thursday Murder Club. I enjoyed it but not as much as the previous four, it seems to have lost its way a bit. They investigate the disappearance of a man who survived an attempt on his life. This is told more from Joyce's perspective and Elizabeth is still grieving her husband's death which means it is slower moving than when the latter is firing on all cylinders. Some nice touches though and if another book in the series appears I will inevitably read it.

34 - Dissolution - CJ Sansom
The first in the Shardlake series - I've read two of the later ones already, so doing it out of order. Matthew Shardlake is sent to a monastery to investigate a murder around the time Henry VIII is shutting them. Suspenseful and atmospheric as people jostle for position under the king's new religious regime, but I recognised some familiar tropes from the later books - an 'uncommon' woman to whom Shardlake is attracted but can't have, a doctor of 'foreign appearance' (though tbf it might be the same character reappearing, I can't remember!) I enjoyed this but am hoping that when I find book two it's not too similar again. If it is, I might not bother with the rest in the series.

35 - Lucy by the Sea - Elizabeth Strout
Another Lucy Barton instalment - Lucy moves to Maine to escape New York during the pandemic. Again, really enjoyed it and got through it in a day yesterday.

49 N or M? - Agatha Christie I thought I would re-read this short wartime spy thriller as it was a plot point in the last book I read. The main characters are Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, which I think 50 Bookers generally dislike - and I get that, having read the first few pages of the first book they appear in! - but here they are middle-aged and being overlooked for service in the second world war as they are supposedly too old (at 46!!). Tommy ends up with an undercover task and Tuppence gets in on the action by listening at doors; they wind up in a seaside boarding house trying to work out if any of the (incredibly dull) residents are secretly masterminding the German invasion of the south coast. Good fun, and with some strong similarities to The Thirty-Nine Steps in places, to the point where I had conflated elements of the two stories in my mind.

Have a day to myself to read today. Just finished

54 . Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa

This short novel about a disabled woman in Japan has been raved about but left me cold I’m afraid

Oh no @minsmum - I hope you are ok.

Hope you're on the mend @minsmum

38 The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer - I fancied some escapism/ comfort reading yesterday, hence digging out the Heyers. I'd remembered this as being one I enjoyed, but on rereading I couldn't really get past the horror of the leading couple's ages. 17 and 35!!!!! I think I'll reach for The Grand Sophy next time.

Sending condolences @minsmum , I hope your injuries aren't too serious. I fell down the stairs myself at one point and the soreness took literally months to heal!

@Terpsichore that's a lovely review of Land in Winter, which was a bold for me as well. I even bought the novel for DH as a gift, but he didn't finish it - argh. I've basically given up choosing novels for him; even after 30 years of marriage I can't predict which novels he'll like 🙄He does read mostly nonfiction.

As for Richardson, I think you'd find her very readable given that you've read the whole of Proust! She's definitely more accessible than Proust. However, her saga is a bit like Proust's in that if you want to delve VERY deep into historical references etc, you can. I'm reading her in a relatively casual way (not worrying if I haven't entirely grasped what's going on all the time) and still very much enjoying it. I've made good use of the Richardson website created by an American reader, Brad Bigelow:
https://readingpilgrimage.com/the-2026-pilgrimage-reading-group/

He hosted a read-along in 2022 and is hosting another this year, which I caught up with belatedly. His summaries of the novels are helpful (I have found minor errors here and there, but that's no big deal). He has also recorded the 2026 book group sessions and put the recordings online; I watched all these as well (as I said, I'm a geek!). Anyway, the website is helpful I would say, whether you pick up Richardson now or later. Very funny about HG Wells' squeaky voice 😂I have a friend in London who is an eminent historian of 19th/20th century sexuality (she's the one who put me on to Richardson) and she has just told me that Wells was actually a big proponent of contraception, but that he seems not always to have practiced what he preached...

@Stowickthevast I think I'll be giving The Vivisectors a miss based on your review!

Thanks so much for the Richardson info @cassandre. I’m determined to read her but I just have to commit 😂 My Proust group got really immersed in the side-detail and we loved all that (just funny little things like the Paris railway being called the petite ceinture because it encircled the city like a belt) - so I can pretty much guarantee I’d get similarly obsessed with Richardson.

Funny about old HG being a proponent of birth control. I bet Rebecca West would have given the side-eye to that! I feel very sorry for the son who resulted from their relationship.

Ha @Terpsichore it's hard not to go deeper and deeper down rabbit holes!

Intriguingly, Rebecca West's son Anthony West seems to have taken an enormous dislike to Richardson. There's an excerpt from his biography of H.G. Wells (his father) on the Reading Pilgrimage website, and it's not pretty. Personally I'm withholding judgement until I've read more of Pilgrimage.

I think Rebecca West is amazing; my historian friend put me on to her as well. But her son Anthony seems rather sexist in his analysis of Richardson; he's so disparaging of her...

https://readingpilgrimage.com/anthony-west/

I confess I didn't actually finish reading the Anthony West piece, it was so ranty. I thought I'd wait till I'd read more of Richardson.

@minsmum Hope you’re okay. When I fell down the stairs last year my shoulder hurt for months.

I have finished Natalie Haynes' No Friend to this House her rendering of the myths of Jason and Medea. I know a bit of the Jason story in fragments (I mean, who doesn't?)and had an idea that Medea killed children but that was probably it.

I felt the first part of this book was a bit weak -too many stories and characters but I get why she does this. Once Medea enters the story is much more focused and involving. One of the deaths is pretty graphic. I have enjoyed other Hayneses more but still lapped this up ultimately - I like her deconstruction of Greek heroes : she needs to have a chat with Nolan.

Three Summers Margarita Liberaki, trans by Karen Van Dyck

Written in 1946, in Greek, this is a wonderful story of three sisters over the course of, yes, Three Summers. It really evokes time and place exceptionally well and there is some wonderful writing (translation?). Much like my Islands obsession I cannot resist anything that alludes to summer or has lemons or watermelons on the cover or in the title.

Solid 4 star I think.

@TimeforaGandT thank you for the list they were all 99p apart from the last one so they are sitting on my kindle. Which is fabulous.
I am not too bad thank you all. I banged my head on the radiator, big lump, twisted my right foot somehow, it's just one massive bruise, wrenched my right shoulder, not too badly and managed to pull a muscle in my left thigh, I think trying to save myself.
Could have been worse

Still sounds very nasty @minsmum , hope you recover soon.

And @AliasGrape I hope you get your gallbladder issues sorted soon - I have had my gallbladder out so know how agonising the attacks can be.

Contacts - Mark Watson

James sends a text to everyone in his phone contacts, telling them he’s planning to end his life. He then turns his phone off and gets on a train, while everyone gets in a mad panic trying to track him down. This is trying to say something about our connections in the age of the phone, but I’m not sure it quite manages it. There were too many event timings which just felt convenient to the plot rather than being realistic.

All Killers Aboard - David Fennell

Comedy crime set aboard a cruise ship, which happens to be hosting the annual convention of a club of serial killers. All very silly but a fun read.

Agent Gatz - R. M. Spencer

A prequel to The Great Gatsby, with Jay Gatsby as a spy in WW1. Fine as a story in its own right, but other than the character name there’s nothing to link it to TGG, and it doesn’t add anything to my understanding of the character in TGG so a bit pointless really.

Split Second - R. C. Bridgestock

Police procedural, but here they’re investigating a case where a firearms officer shot and killed two people during an incident. Was she justified in doing so or was it murder? Unfortunately this was lacking in tension (you know what’s happened upfront and the only unknown is whether she’ll be found guilty of murder or not) and I didn’t find the investigation into exactly what happened very interesting. There was a bit of a twist at the end but not enough to redeem it.

Not The End Of The World - Kate Atkinson

Collection of short stories. I’m not a massive fan of short stories so this isn’t my favourite of Atkinson’s work, but these are told with her usual whimsical style so I still enjoyed them.

1984: A Year In The Life Of Nobby Clarke - Jason Ayres

Part of a series where people get to go back and relive a key year in their life in the 1980s. I like the time travel element and some of the nostalgia, but the actual stories are all quite samey, with the person using a magic bracelet to help change their life for the better. I’ll probably still keep reading them though because I am a bit of a sucker for a time travel book!

Eek @minsmumhope it all heals well.

46 Chess by Stefan Zweig, Anthea Bell
A very short novella about a man's obsession with chess. A really good read. This was recommended by Naomi Alderman as part of her Couch to 5k for reading.

47 The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro
An epic biography from the 70s about the man who made most of the decisions about New York transport in the 30s-60s.

This was a big book and had a lot of detail. Sometimes too much. I'm glad I read it but won't be rereading it. Interesting about how power corrupts and nothing stops it in the US.

Oooh @minsmum - that sounds so sore 🥴 I hope you manage to rest as much as possible.

Sounds awful @minsmum , hope you get plenty of rest and feel much better soon.

Very belated congratulations on finishing Ulysses, Ùldemoshùl - would have said it sooner but was too lazy to type out your name as I can’t @ you 😆 (also can’t imagine ever choosing to read Ulysses!)

that sounds painful minsmum, best wishes.

50 Annie Bot - Sierra Greer Read by a lot of 50-Bookers already, this is the story of a sex robot whose owner switches her to “autodidact” mode and who starts to become a real person as a result - albeit wholly controlled by her owner/boyfriend. Interesting idea and deeply unsettling, but there is limited exploration of the science fiction / AI aspects of the scenario and instead it felt like a heavy-handed allegory for a human relationship of coercive control.

Joining here very late in the year! My numbers this year aren't great, so will just summarise my last few- I pick up most of my recommendations from this thread so most are probably familiar anyway.

The Art of a Lie- Laura Shepherd-Robinson

A Georgian widow investigates a mystery around her murdered husband's finances. Reviewed a lot already on here, so I'll just say I really enjoyed this- I really dislike a book where I can predict the end, and this was anything but that! There were a few slips where I felt the language felt too modern, so not a bold, but close.

One of Us- Elizabeth Day

I think she's a really solid writer and very readable- but I felt like this couldn't decide if it was a satire or not- the ending was softer than I thought it should have been.

The Ending Writes Itself- Evelyn Clarke

This has definitely been reviewed on here before- I remember someone talking about the preface, which calls an unnamed writer an arsehole(?)- not classy. There is a very bitter tone throughout this- you can tell the writers have been burnt by the publishing industry/ not had the success they think they deserve. I'm not generally a big crime reader but I thought this was good- it's convincing enough going in and out of various characters' perspectives- but does include possibly the worst phonetic depiction of a Scottish accent I've ever read.

Murder at the Spirit Lounge- Jess Kidd

1950s period crime- Nora Breen investigates the murder of a medium and loads of mad stuff besides. This was a lot of fun- love the character of Nora Breen. The plot wasn't amazing but the writing and characters were so strong and sparky I was still happy to go along with it.

Perfection- Vincenzo Latronico

Millennial expat couple Anna and Tom are living the dream in an Instagram-worthy apartment in Berlin, but get bored. Thank you to whoever recommended this, would never have found it otherwise! This was so... bitchy. I looked up the author afterwards as I had a feeling it might be autobiographical- it was such a weird mix of being intimate and acerbic- and I think it is, as he also moved to Berlin from Italy at a similar age as Anna and Tom. I felt personally attacked when they turned down a rental property due to its containing Ikea cube storage units. Who doesn't love an Ikea cube storage unit?? In the end I took from it the reassuring message that life is never perfect, whether you're a 20 something millennial living in a perfectly curated flat in a cool area of Berlin, or a 40 something living in a house full of Ikea cube storage units.

They Were Sisters- Dorothy Whipple

Three 1920s sisters- one who's a bit of a saint, one who marries a total dickhead, and one who's too good-looking for her own good. This was my first Dorothy Whipple and won't be my last. At first it took me a while to get used to the style- she moves character perspective a lot- but once I got my head around that panoramic style, I got into it. Bloody Geoffrey! I haven't had that visceral a reaction to a character in a long time. Vera as well- she's that kind of brilliantly written character where you understand every one of her choices while hating them at the same time. A bold.

Ordinary Time- Cathy Rentzenbrink

Unappreciated vicar's wife gets her head turned. Again, thanks to whoever recommended this! I found this really immersive, with characters I completely believed in. Maybe a bit too neatly wrapped up at the end, and Jamie slightly too perfect a man (this may be my cynicism talking here) but loads to enjoy.

Love by Elizabeth von Arnim

Written in 1925, a widow in her 40s begins a relationship with a man in his 20s. I started this just off the back of it being free on Audible (not sure if it still is) and was really glad I did. Lots of this appealed to me, particularly the part where Christopher takes Catherine for a ride on his motorcycle and everyone becomes massively worried about him doing this 'at her age' (she's about 42). Lots of clever, witty asides that feel very modern, and the ending is very affecting.

Now reading Booth by Karen Joy Fowler and Freya by Anthony Quinn.