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

63. Clouds of Witness - Dorothy L. Sayers

I’m making my way through all the Peter Wimsey books (which for some bizarre reason I’ve never read, despite being fully aware of them forever), and this is No. 2. Our hero is called on to save his brother, the Duke of Denver (‘a shocking ass’, according to Peter) from a capital charge of murder. There’s lots to enjoy here - despite much padding involving rough North Country types with ee-bah-goom accents - with a set-piece finale as the Duke is tried in the House of Lords. I’m especially relishing the intelligence and wit of Sayers’s writing and looking forward to the next instalment.

I do like Clouds of Witness. Mortal peril! Daring dashes! Bunter with emotions!

See me in the fourth book @Terpsichore

Can’t wait! 😁

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

This was initially serialised in The Scotsman and so starts with several short chapters that bounce about between characters before settling down. The novel is very rooted in middle class Edinburgh and I recognise the characters as well as the places (DH grew up in the same part of Edinburgh as the main character). As always with McCall Smith the joy is in his very human characters and their foibles rather than the rather plot and the 101 loose ties at the end of the book may explain why there are now 17 books in this series.

Oh, and Ian Rankin makes an appearance as a minor character!

Sending all good wishes to @minsmum , @MamaNewtNewt and anyone else who’s struggling a bit at the moment. And welcome to @Theretheretheir - looking forward to getting to know your tastes.

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh I’ll add The Renovation to my (ever-lengthening) list on the basis of your excellent review. And the same to @SpunkyKhakiScroller with The President's Hat.

@Benvenuto I LOVED The Tenant of Wildfell Hall when I read it last year. So much so that when in that neck of the woods last week, I went to visit Anne Brontë's grave to doff my cap while the rest of the family were at the beach. Pictures attached!

33.My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Lila, a Neapolitan woman in her sixties, appears to have gone missing without trace. This prompts her childhood friend Lenù to record in detail their shared history of growing up a working class Naples suburb characterised by violence. This first volume follows the girls, their families and their neighbours from early childhood to the age of 16.

This was a very slow burn for me. I appreciated that Ferrante wanted to detail the girls’ experiences from the very start of their friendship but I didn’t find the early childhood sections very interesting. I do think it’s hard to write young children well (although PJ from The Bee Sting is one that springs to mind as a brilliant character) and so the focus on the early experiences of Lenù and Lila was just a bit flat. Their early friendship seemed more antagonistic than I remember my friendships being at that age, with lots of competition and jealousy, at the expense of warmth and positive regard between them. I also thought that throughout the novel the younger male characters weren’t well-drawn and so I did find it hard at points to remember who was who.

All that being said, as the girls got older, and their paths diverged, with Lenù being able to stay in education and Lila at home supporting the family business, it became most interesting, with the choices the girls’ made in the face of familial and societal expectations creating a sense of drama. I can’t say I loved this, but the story became compelling enough that I do want to find out what happens next, and I may yet move on to the next one.

33: Circle of Days by Ken Follet
I was really excited to read this. I loved Pillars of the Earth and Fall of Giants, and was hoping this would be more of the same -interconnected lives of ordinary people around some big historical event. Ken Follet is formulaic like that, but I quite like it, the way I like Edward Rutherfurd as well.
This was not his best.
I understand no one really knows who built Stonehenge or how they did it but this was a stretch. It's generally accepted the bluestones came from the Preseli hills in Wales (around 140 miles away) so the fact they find a valley full of ideal stones just a days walk away and manage to move 9 stones in 10 days despite being sabotaged by evil farmers, was a bit too much.
I did finish it because I really really wanted to like it, but 3/4 of the way through and they are still not building it, then suddenly it all comes together and they build it all in the last 1/4, and an epilogue 10 years or so later and it's all done. Too many ands in that sentence, but that is a bit how it reads. The amount of blatant historical impossibilities made it silly. I was also bothered by the endless references to the workers dragging the stones as "Volunteers". Even if they were willing workers (doubtful), the word volunteer is Latin in origin. Sounded clunky in a 2500BC setting. Also lots of bad sex, promising characters killed off early.
Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell was much better, as was Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd (even though Stonehenge was only a bit of that.)

• The Storied Life of A J Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin

Loved this. It’s by the author of Tomorrow, and… .

Widower AJ Fikry runs Island Bookshops at tourist spot Alice Island. Since his wife Nic died, he has become somewhat withdrawn, especially after the theft of a valuable manuscript which would have been his retirement fund. That is until the surprising appearance of toddler Maya in his life, abandoned in the shop by her mother.

Each chapter starts with a brief summary of a short story (like the ones placed on bookshop shelves) as that is Fikry’s favourite literary format.

A short and lovely book.

Hello. I’m just popping in to this cosy corner of the internet to catch up on reviews. I seem to have inadvertently pissed someone off on another thread 😳so it is nice to be back in the world of books. I lurked for years on MN, then only posted on this thread, but as I haven’t been able to read much in recent times (well anything to be more truthful) I have been posting elsewhere in the wilds. I think I’m better sticking to here even if I’m a total fraud & probably won’t read 20 books this year never mind 50.

So back to the safe topic of books. In some weird reversal of previous times teen DD has been reading loads (it is summer) and I have been watching lots of shit on YouTube. Thanks for the Natalie Haynes recommendation for her - definite hit - has made her way through two now. I have made a start on The Searcher by Tana French that was suggested on here. I’m listening as an audiobook and I am getting into it. Just need to stop falling asleep. I am on leave from work for two weeks now 😃so maybe I’ll manage a little more reading. We’ll see.

@Owlbookend I've not read over 50 books since 2021 (although I did read 48 in 2024) but the book chat here is better than on the 25 books thread so I don't care. Maybe when I retire! (Also my proudest MN moment was when I was called a 'vile woman' for saying I found small childhood hard work. Thankfully I was saying it in a 'don't worry, it's normal to find it hard' rather than in a 'please help me' way so I found it amusingly venomous rather than upsetting).

@StrangewaysHereWeCome sorry to see Anne Bronte's grave looking so weathered, I was last there when pregnant with DD1 (now off to study medicine in less than a month) and it looked weathered but was still completely readable. I think all the Neopolitan Quartet books are slow burners that get more compelling as you move through them. I read the whole series in less than a year which I generally don't do.

Coming Home - Rosamunde Pilcher

Long saga about posh people in Cornwall before and during WWII. Lots happens, nice clothes and food and houses.
One of those books that you can immerse yourself in without having to think too hard which is what I needed.

Whistler - Ann Patchett
Conversely, a book in which not a lot happens. A woman runs into her favourite stepfather, someone she hadn’t seen for 40 years, in a New York art gallery. Slowly, the events that led to his disappearance from her life are revealed.
I usually like Ann Patchett but I have to say I found this a bit flat and a teeny bit dull and was glad when it was over.

Sorry to hear you didn't get on with Whistler, I have that one to read next. Ann Patchett novels have pretty much been half and half for me (I loved Dutch House, Commonwealth and Tom Lake, but was pretty indifferent to Bel Canto, State of Wonder and The Magician's Assistant), I do wonder if I'm bound to come across a dud at some point!

64. The Brontës in Brussels - Helen MacEwan

This was a very quick read indeed. It’s technically over 300 pages but has lots of (interesting) illustrations; I'm afraid I skipped fairly large chunks which reprinted the 'devoirs' or homework essays of Charlotte and Emily Brontë - but if you’re interested in the Brontës and want to read around their stay in Brussels at the Pensionnat de Demoiselles, this is worth a punt. The author is a Brontë expert who lives in the city and leads walks, so she knows her stuff. I don’t think any of the info is new to any reasonably clued-up Brontëphile but what's really interesting is the background knowledge of the huge changes made to the city since the 1840s, which - alas - have obliterated all traces of the school where poor Charlotte ate her heart out over Monsieur Heger.

I have totally dropped off the thread and no idea where I am up to with books. I have entered the world of Bookstagram though and created an account. If anyone is on there and want to share please do 🙂. I have never done ARC reading before and very luckily was chosen to read The Wine-Dark sea by Victoria Hislop out in September. Really enjoying this so far about the Greek civil war from 1947-1949. It is about the children that were separated from their mother’s from northern Greek villages. It is a period in history I know absolutely nothing about and it is truly heartbreaking reading this to be honest. Will be back with a full review when finished.
I am also starting to listen to The road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell.

@Owlbookend definitely the nicest corner of Mumsnet. lol I never ever achieve 50 it’s amazing if I get to 20 but I love the chat about books on 50 bookers so always return 😁

@StrangewaysHereWeCome our paths must have crossed last week as I was in Scarborough. My family originated there and I have been most years since being a child, more since having DC. I was having a coffee at the clock cafe near the spa and we had a great view of the church and castle. I was telling DS (now 28) about Anne Bronte's grave though we didn't visit it.

@FruAashild I must also be a vile woman then :) Might consider it as a new username...

I nearly ended up in Scarborough today (or so joked Ross, the wonderfully jolly LNER guard who guided us all through a journey and a half). Luckily, I made it to Haworth where I am living Brontë life.

Oh, please report back, @AgualusasL0ver. I haven’t managed to make it up there in years despite being a card-carrying (literally) Brontë Society member! My dear mum and I used to sneak off there for day-trips sometimes when I still lived at home, lovely memories.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
I don’t know how this book has passed me by for the last 10 years! Probably needs no in depth plot description on these threads.
Cora is a slave on the Randall plantation in the American South. Her mother, Mabel, runs away and Cora is left defending a tiny patch of land and exiled to Hob, the housing for reject women. Then she is introduced to the Underground Railroad and her own escape commences.
This was just gut-wrenchingly incredible. Making the Railroad an actual, physical thing in no way detracts from the continuing slam of Black history into your consciousness. Violence and inhumanity might be at one or two removes in a fantasy or historical novel but here you are always brought back to the fact that this all happened. Impossible to look away. I’m not going to blether on not doing it justice, but it was heartbreaking, infuriating and wonderful.

I agree with you, @MaterMoribund . I found it hugely powerful and it has stayed with me.

38… An Awfully Big Adventure – Beryl Bainbridge

This was featured on the ‘Rather Dated’ club not so long ago, and I remember watching the film many years ago so thought I’d try the book. It’s set in Liverpool in 1950, a coming-of-age story featuring teenager Stella who has been taken on as an assistant stage manager at a repertory company rehearsing the Christmas production of Peter Pan. She develops an obsession with the director Meredith, and gets drawn into the professional and sexual politics surrounding the productions. When famous actor PL O’Hara arrives to take the part of Captain Hook events take a darker turn.

There were things to enjoy about the story, mainly the shabby post-war atmosphere and sense of place (lots of street names and places bringing back happy memories of my time in Liverpool – thought not in 1950 I hasten to add!), but overall I found it too grubby and bleak. A short book, the characters were not well-developed enough to differentiate the main players in the company. Even Stella was unlikeable; I had no sympathy for any of them. Overall a bit of a disappointment, a story with potential that didn’t quite deliver.

And a rare DNF: Light over Liskeard – Louis de Bernieres. Q is a cryptographer in some sort of present/near future alternative Britain populated by bots and oddballs. Q relocates to a ramshackle house on Bodmin Moor after learning something about the future which the reader is not told about (at least, not at the point where I gave up). The book is told from various viewpoints including first-and third-person from Q. I don’t think it’s a bad book but I just couldn’t get into it. The final straw was the misspelling of ‘aurochs’, which irrationally irritated me, having had cause to write this word a lot recently.

I’m going back to the Slough House series which is more of a page turner, and trying to keep the wish list down – hard to do with so many great reviews on here! Waiting for the next elusive bold, I've not had much luck on that score recently.

Thanks for your review of The Underground Railway @MaterMoribund . I would like to read this. Was very moved by The Nickel Boys by the same author.

I love Haworth. Do you have time to visit nearby Heptonstall, where Sylvia Plath is buried? It's an amazing place.

37) Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England. When the fantasy novel ends, and the Big Bad is defeated, what happens to the brainwashed henchmen left behind? This story follows Oaklin, a former cult member who was forced to commit war crimes under a mind control spell. Years after the war, and freshly released from jail with nowhere to go, a traumatised Oaklin buys a small farm and tries to reintegrate into society.

This was such a promising concept, but the end result was dreadful. Oaklin came across as immature for someone who'd been through so much. Their new friends existed only as emotional crutches, and spoke in therapeutic platitudes. There was immediate and total acceptance of Oaklin from day one, and everyone instantly knew (and provided) whatever support was needed. In fact everyone was so uniformly kind and generous that at one point I thought Oaklin had accidentally stumbled into another cult. Alas nothing that interesting happened.

Avoid.

1985: A Year In The Life of Robbie James - Jason Ayres

Robbie gets to go back and experience 1985 again, but this time with a magic bracelet to help him make changes to his life. This one was focused around computer game development - better than the recent gambling based one but still not an area I’m keen on reading about. I like the time travel element though.

The Scandalous Ladies Football Club - Frances Quinn

Based on a true story, this is set in 1897 and is about a group of ladies who came together to form a football club despite the disapproval of almost everyone around them. I did enjoy this, but I thought the feminist messaging was a bit overdone with all the male characters being caricatures of Victorian manhood (except one, who was almost too far the other way).

Seeing Red - Damien Boyd

The latest in the Nick Dixon police procedural/murder mystery series. I like these because they’re all set around where I live (although that meant it was slightly annoying when I spotted an error in some directions!). Here Nick investigates a murder linked to a Naval base. I enjoyed it.

The Killer’s Mark - M. W. Craven

This is the latest in the Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series. I love this series and this was a brilliant addition. Here Poe and Tilly are trying to track down the mum of teenage girl Esmerée but find themselves in more trouble than they expected. Great characters (including Esmerée who I really liked) and a great story. A bold for me (but start at the beginning of the series if you haven’t read the others yet).

Becoming Liz Taylor - Elizabeth Delo

A reread as I’m going to a talk by the author tomorrow. This is a touching story about lonely Val, who copes with her loneliness and grief by dressing up as Elizabeth Taylor. One day, Val sees a pram and before she can think it through she’s pushed it away. The rest of the book follows what Val does next and also flashes back to explain how she’s ended up in this position. It’s quite a sad tale, but does have some light at the end of the tunnel as well.

1986: A Year In The Life of Lucy Hart - Jason Ayres

Lucy’s turn with the magic bracelet, and she uses the opportunity to set up her own Body Shop type business. This is more my thing than gambling or computer games so I enjoyed this one a bit more than the last couple.