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

75. The Hunter by Tana French - second in the Cal Hooper series of atmospheric mystery novels set in rural Ireland. Like the previous book this is less about the mystery and much more about the place and the people. Trey is now a teenager and what a fascinating teen she is - bright, spiky, with her own agenda, while being perfectly capable of doing stupid teenage things. Well written teen characters are rare and she is one of the best. The story is about the return of her charming, reckless father with his get rich quick plans and his mysterious (and dangerous) London friend. The plot is good if slightly rushed at the end. But I don't listen to Tana French novels for the plot. Her writing and her people are outstanding and I have already reserved The Keeper on Borrowbox.

Welcome, ThereThereTheir!

Welcome @Theretheretheir I read and loved They Were Sisters a couple of years ago. A friend had given me a gorgeous Persephone edition as a birthday present and I wasn't sure what to expect but got completely sucked in.

@ChessieFL I'm intrigued by the Mark Watson book. I don't know him personally but he lives a couple of streets away from me and I see him around all the time. I think he has a child in my youngest's drama class as he was at their showcase at the end of term. I may have to read it as a nosey neighbour.

eta hope you're ok @minsmum sounds painful!

88. The Gate of The Feral Gods - Matt Dinniman. More Dungeon Crawler Carl antics. I liked this better than the third one, but did stop about halfway through to get a much needed dose of literary fiction in. After finishing the two Booker books, I went back and finished this off yesterday afternoon, and enjoyed the completely ludicrous high octane end. Reviews suggest the fifth book is the best so I'll probably keep going - DH has already read them all - but I do need something else in between to prevent them getting too samey.

Sympathies @minsmum and @AliasGrape . Welcome @Theretheretheir and I do like your description of Perfection - "a weird mix of intimate and acerbic" is absolutely right.

38 In Sickness and in Health by Fiona Sussman

Charity shop find and it was a good one. A psychological thriller set in New Zealand featuring a woman dying of a brain tumour who is accused of murdering her best friend.

It was page turning and full of interesting characters, but at the end I had lots of plot questions that I felt were left unanswered and I hate that, so not quite a bold.

Sounds painful @minsmum
Welcome @Theretheretheir

Finished two of the huge stack of books I took on hols. Not sure how many more I’ll finish as I’m really enjoying just swimming then dozing under a big umbrella.

The Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Cespedes
I’m joining the de Cepesdes stans (when and why did they become stans rather than fans I wonder? Or am I using it wrong?) This was terrific. Valeria lives with her husband and two adult children in Rome. When she starts a secret diary she begins to question her role, marriage, her children’s decisions and her life in general. This was smart, feminist and thought-provoking. Really enjoyed it and am planning to follow up with the others at some point. Thanks to everyone who recommended.

Black Summer by MW Craven
Another fun and pacy adventure with Washington Poe and Tilly. This time, one of Poe’s previous convictions- a celebrity chef who murdered his daughter- comes into question. Enjoyable and perfect holiday read.

Ow, @minsmum ! Fast recovery wishes to you
Welcome to the nicest corner of the internet @Theretheretheir.

Five by Ilona Bannister*. A recent recommendation on here and it was interestingly put together. An author who addresses the reader constantly and instructs them how to think, have patience etc would normally be DNFed very quickly indeed, but in this case it works pretty well. Irritation levels low, once I’d got past the first bit.
Does exactly what it says in the blurb. Some people on a train platform, one is definitely going to die in the next five minutes. We learn about them, then we examine how we might feel if each of them dies. The characterisation is slightly clunky and I was a bit bored with the Emma/Liam sections. The explorations of neurodiversity in children were the better bits and it came as no surprise in the afterword that the author has experience in this area.
A fast, undemanding read in the umpteenth heatwave of the year.

Just popping in to say thanks for asking after me. A combination of work being busy, some personal stuff, a home renovation project, and coming to terms with finally getting an autism diagnosis have led to me struggling to read and just being all round rushed off my feet and stressed.

Hope you are all doing ok. I plan on reading through the thread later this week and as I’m actually managing to get through The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal before starting the next one, I’m hopeful of actually finishing a book!

Hop, Step and Jump by Winifred Watson
Lacks the frothy joy and clever wit of Miss Pettigrew but enjoyable enough in its own right. In other hands this would have been a working class girl makes good by charming a rich man with her auburn hair and flashing eyes sort of story, but this is a bit more unexpected and clever than that.

I liked it and as with all Persephone books, it is a thing of absolute beauty, but don’t necessarily see myself re-reading it as I do Miss P.

Sorry to hear things are tough @MamaNewtNewt
Hope a little St Mary’s magic helps you along the way.

That's a lot all at the same time, @MamaNewtNewt !

@MamaNewtNewt Really sorry things are tough

@MamaNewtNewt take care of yourself.

46 Thornhedge - T. Kingfisher
Fairytale retelling novella, focusing on Toadling, a small damp fairy who is keeping the sleeping princess trapped in the tower for very good reasons… Charming but slight.

47 Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today - Naomi Alderman
Comparison of the rise of the internet with the other great ‘information crises’ - the invention of first writing and then the printing press. Both of these caused people to become more dogmatic, fixated on purity of thought (which becomes valued over actual good works), and willing to literally burn their neighbours at the stake. Interesting but too short to explore anything in depth, and strangely forgettable a week after listening to it.

48 Nightbloom - Peace Adzo Medie
Picked this up from the library as I’d really enjoyed His Only Wife by the same author a couple of months ago. Cousins Akorfa and Selasi grow up as best friends in Ghana, but Akorfa enjoys a much more privileged life and wins a place at an American university, whereas Selasi loses first her mother, then her grandmother, and becomes alienated from Akorfa’s family when she goes to live with them as a teenager.

Uses the Gone Girl / Fingersmith approach of telling the story first from Akorfa’s, then from Selasi’s POV, which is a bit redundant here as there’s not really any great twist or revelation. Very readable though with a satisfying ending, and I enjoyed learning more about modern Ghana - solid 3.5 out of 5.

62. The Secret Painter - Joe Tucker

I’m just going to outsource all my book choices to @CornishLizard from now on, I think - this was her strong recommendation and fully justified. Joe Tucker tells the poignant, funny, sad yet dignified story of his much-loved uncle Eric, whose extraordinary hoard of artworks - hundreds of canvases and drawings made over a lifetime - was only fully discovered after his death. Eric wasn’t an easy man and his life was one of hard physical work (he was mainly employed as a labourer), but the love his family have for him, and their pride in his talent, shines through in this affectionate tribute.

40% off at Harper Collins for the next few days with code SUMMER40

Hope the stress levels reduce @MamaNewtNewt , and welcome @Theretheretheir !

51 Here One Moment - Liane Moriarty I always enjoy Moriarty’s books (Aussie Lit is its own category for me, like heatwave lit 😄) but had been a bit wary of this one as I thought it would be depressing given the subject matter (woman on a plane predicts the time and method of all the passengers’ deaths). Sure enough it was pretty stressful reading for at least the first half of the book, not helped by the fact that I read it late into the night and then couldn’t sleep for worrying about literally everything (instead of only worrying about 90% of everything, like normal 🤪). It was better finishing it off in the cold light of day when I’m a bit more rational, especially when Harvey the seagull thwarted fate (spoiler, sorry) following which the story changed direction and became happier!

The narrative switches between the perspectives of the “death lady” (who gradually tells her life story) and a number of the passengers as they come to terms with their predictions and react in different ways. The death lady’s voice sounds very like that of Joyce in the Thursday Murder Club books, and was a teeny bit irritating, whereas I was more interested in the other viewpoints, perhaps because we got much less of each of them. I did enjoy the book and its particular strength was Moriarty’s excellent ability to write relatable characters who have realistic interactions with each other (I could hear Allegra’s mum’s voice in my head, in particular!).

55 . The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell (audio)

Another day another Lisa Jewell audiobook, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I can’t recommend them highly enough. They are always well done and read and very accessible without being brain dead.

This one is the sequel to The Family Upstairs and as such cannot be summarised without spoilers from the previous book.

I thought it was very good. However everything is tied up FAR too neatly and not necessarily believably IMO. Still both books are definitely worth listening to or reading whatever floats your boat.

@MamaNewtNewt Hope things calm down a bit soon.

Hit me with your favourite, non-crap, beach reads, please, folks! I’m struggling to find anything I fancy.

Just finished
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Clever writing means you actually find yourself feeling sorry for the sociopathic Tom Ripley at the start of the book and despite myself I still wanted to see him win. Great fun.
If you haven’t read it, it could be an option @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie? I’m about to start Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer next which I reckon will be either lighthearted, heartwarming and witty or absolutely bloody awful…

I recently read The Vipers by Katy Hays and thought that it would be a good beach read. It's set on Capri. Also have you read The Wedding Party? Looks like chic lit but it's much better than that.

@Terpsichore – thank you. I’m keeping The Land in Winter for a cozy evening.

Aw @minsmum Get well soon

Welcome @Theretheretheir

Hugs @MamaNewtNewt

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie – have you tried Elin Hildebrand? I’d recommend The Five Star Weekend for starters

91 The Women – Kristin Hannah. I’d be interested on others’ thoughts here. I felt this was a good book, but it could have been a great book. May 1966, Finley and Frankie (brother and sister) grow up in Southern California, on a small island just off San Diego devouring stories about their forefathers serving in the military. This was my first issue. Their father is an Irish immigrant. So they didn’t serve in the US Army, except for their mother’s father. But Connor, their father is so proud of his father and his grandfather etc etc. The maternal grandfather has a purple heart. We don’t know his age, but both he and his wife are dead in 1966. Frankie is born in 1946. I guestimated her mother to be born around 1918. I find it very unlikely that the grandfather fought in WW2 and purple hearts were not awarded in WW1. So by the end of chapter one, I’m irritated. Frankie signs up to be a nurse and the Vietnam part of the book is probably the best part. She comes back from Vietnam and gets spat at four times and all the taxi drivers refuse to take her. I don’t believe it. Also, why was it called The Women? It was all about Frankie, her life, her choices etc. I’m in no rush to read anything else by KH. Disappointing.

92 A Woman Is No Man – Etaf Rum. From the ridiculous to the sublime. A beautifully written debut novel from a US author with Palestinian heritage. In 1990, 17 year old Isra lives in Palestine and is betrothed and married to an American Palestinian. She moves to Brooklyn and struggles. In 2008, Isra’s oldest daughter Deya lives with her grandparents and sisters. She is 18 and is expected to get married. But Deya wants more than her mother’s life.

Oh this was so good and the ending broke me. I was howling.

76. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant - read for a 'book from the 90s' Goodreads challenge, I liked this one very much. It tells the story of the wives (Leah, Rachel, Bilnah, Ziplah) and daughter (Dinah) of Jacob from the Bible and is apparently one of the earliest examples of giving a voice to voiceless women from history and myth. It builds a beautiful world in which women's lives have a separate rhythm and flow to men's but is equally important and full of sisterhood and support. The only mention of Dinah in the Bible is of an assault resulting in her brothers bloody revenge on the tribe of her assailant. Red Tent reimagines this as something quite different and raises the question of how we can know the truth if some voices are silenced. There is some very moving writing here and though the themes and style feel slightly dated (only because it has been done so often since), I can absolutely see why this has the reputation it does. I did think the end gives more closure than it should have. To me, the book was saying that time does not heal; we merely survive it—or are destroyed by it. The ending didn't quite match that.

Latest reads:
#30. The Barbecue at No. 9 by Jennie Godfrey
More tosh from Jennie Godfrey, but I enjoyed its setting, all taking place on the 13th July 1985 - Live Aid Day, with the chapters detailing who played when. Brought back many happy memories of Wembley Stadium on that day.

#31. A Ladder To The Sky by John Boyne. This will be an overdue bold for me.
Telling the tale of Maurice Swift, a kind of literary world Riplyesque figure, who uses and abuses those around him to claw his way to the top of the writers tree.
I listened to this as an Audiobook and it was told from several POV’s all brilliantly narrated by different people, including Richard E Grant. Recommended if you’re looking for a good listen.
Maurice was a deliciously dark anti-hero who reminded me that, although I often invoke it, I have never actually read The Talented Mr Ripley. I now have the book and intent to remedy that soon. It was interesting to see that both @RomanMum and @ÚlldemoShúl have recently finished this and given largely positive reviews. I’m in good company.

#32. Taste by Stanley Tucci a loose autobiography interspersed with foodie writing and recipes. Quite enjoyable, not outstanding. He can be amusing with a good turn of phrase.
I was sorry to read about his brush with cancer that I had been unaware of.