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

Thanks for the support @Terpsichore ! It's a minor aggression but one that still matters to me. Fortunately the third colleague who shares the kitchen is a woman of high academic status, and one who agrees with me that it's not OK for our illustrious colleague to appropriate the whole of our common space. She and I are a united front so I can enlist her support again if need be.

Well done!

Speaking of women and perceptions of power, I just read Naga Munchetty's book on women's health It's Probably Nothing. I rattled through it mainly for teaching revision as she summarises a lot of research and the Women's Health Strategy. I like Naga. She takes no shit. But she quotes Elinor Cleghorn a lot which is, all round, the far better read. I think Naga would agree- as they have different intentions.

This is possibly slightly outing but I don’t think anyone on here will know me well enough to recognise the colleague I once had who hoarded so many newspapers in towering piles for ‘research’ in his office that they became a serious risk of toppling over and killing him. He was spoken to about it but couldn’t bring himself to stop, so ultimately security were brought in to remove him to another office. We all cowered behind our closed doors while his screams echoed down the corridor and they had to prise his fingers off the door-jamb…..😱🥴

Everything She Didn’t Say by Jane Casey

Skimmed the reviews on here until I had finished this, but have been back now to read them. Agree with others that this wasn’t a patch on Maeve Kerrigan (though I
wouldn’t be against Ben/Liam/Cara returning) but the actual mystery was over complicated and a bit annoying!

Good heavens terpsichore!

OMG @cassandre and @Terpsichore what… unusual behaviour!

OMG @Terpsichore it sounds like your former colleague and my current one are twin souls.

I feel sorry for him on some level because I think it's a psychological issue that runs deep. On the other hand, once your mental health issues start affecting your co-workers, it's not great. I'll probably be in this post till I retire, and I don't want to spend the next 10-15 years wading through my colleague's possessions every time I want to make a cup of tea on a workday.

I read a bit about hoarding online, and it was interesting. Apparently 'collectors' know how to access the stuff they are keeping, but hoarders don't. This is true of my colleague. He has stuffed cupboards full to the brim, and if he ever wanted to locate a particular book, I suspect he wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start looking for it.

We both started our posts at roughly the same time, and I don't think he's accessed his common-space possessions since then. He adds to the collection, but never moves any of the old piles.

In the kitchen, eh @cassandre ? What a shame that your coffee pot keeps exploding and spraying coffee over all surfaces...

And yowza, @Terpsichore that's high workplace drama indeed.

@bibliomania I want to use the laughing emoji but it's gone!

Eurgh annoying colleagues. In colleagues news I have finally got a new permanent job - at the company (and last perm role) that I left 14 months ago. I am actually totally delighted because I loved it and only left to explore a promotion and learnt the grass is not greener but I am going back to a sort of promotion in a different space with a massive pay increase so happy days.

@RomanMum Light over Liskeard was not his best but because I am devoted to old LdB I read it and liked it enough - in hardback.

@Terpsichore Deep Romantic Chasm and Something Light sound like absolute hoots.

Haworth was wonderful, it started raining (really quite hard) and as the Townies were are we were not remotely prepared but one of my travelling companions just kept stopping and exclaiming 'this is wonderful, makes it feel just like Wuthering Heights'. I spent an insane amount of money in a shop called 'Cabinet of Curiosities' and just generally had a wonderful time. Our next trip is to Cornwall to find ourselves a French Pirate and explore du Maurier country.

I still haven't finished The Renovation as I needed a little break as so much is very close to me at the moment. I do think it is wonderful though.

Oh wow that is fab news on the job front @AgualusasL0ver , congratulations! They're lucky to have you back.

I really want to visit Haworth now.

Congrats on the job @AgualusasL0ver !

Congratulations @AgualusasL0ver ! Sounds like a great outcome on the job front.

Congratulations on the job @AgualusasL0ver and commiserations to @cassandre and anyone else having to deal with annoying colleagues.

I found out today a colleague has resigned which means (at least in the short term) more work for me but long term could open up some opportunities so it’s a bit of a mixed bag. On the other hand DD did really well in her GCSEs so I’m very proud of her.

Congratulations @AgualusasL0ver and well done to @ChessieFL’s DD on her results

Congrats @AgualusasL0ver- great news!
@cassandre@Terpsichorederiniyely sounds like compulsive behaviour.

Congrats @AgualusasL0ver & @ChessieFL 's daughter!

@cassandre isn't your colleague worried that an oil based salad dressing might accidentally get knocked over and spill into one of the boxes? 😁Jokes aside, hopefully this can be nipped in the bud quickly given that it's already gone to mediation.

38) The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Elwood Curtis is a studious, idealistic Black boy in 1960s Florida. A devotee of Dr Martin Luther King, he's on the cusp of becoming the first in his family to enrol in college when an error of judgement lands him in The Nickel Academy reform school.

The school is a hot bed of abuse and corrupt officials, where boys who resist are 'taken out back' and never seen again. Horrified, Elwood tries to stay true to his principles and the words of Dr King whilst on the inside. This both amuses and irks his new friend, Turner, a cynic who believes the only way to survive in this cruel world is to take a pragmatic, more cut-throat approach.

This was a short book at only 208 pages, but not a word was wasted. It relays the horrors the boys were subjected to without ever feeling gratuitous. That said, I found a scene involving a boxing tournament harrowing, so be warned! This is also a book that benefits from going in blind.

A bold from me.

Hiya @ChessieFL DS2 also got his grades today and did well, huzzah!

@ChessieFL @SheilaFentiman congratulations to your DCs. dd1 also got hers today and I was particularly proud of her English Lit where she got nearly full marks, a future 50 Booker in the making.
And congrats on the job @AgualusasL0ver

Also congrats to mini @SheilaFentimanand mini @ChessieFL on their results. Ooh and just edited to add mini stowick

Well done to DS2 @SheilaFentiman and Mini Sto too, happy days all round

Thanks all and congratulations to your DCs @SheilaFentiman and @Stowickthevast - almost full marks for Eng Lit is very impressive!

Sorry to hear the colleague woes. I hope he clears it soon cassandre. But unpleasant to have to tackle it even if he does.

Congrats on the job Agualusa and on vicarious gcse results Chessie, Sheila and Stowick.

Here be Dragons by Sharon Penman I recently found a big haul of Sharon Penman hardbacks in a National Trust secondhand bookshop, and felt it would be rude not to snap them up! This 800 pager is about Llewelyn, Prince of Gwynedd, north Wales, and Joanna, daughter of English King John. I must admit I did sometimes flag slightly, as there is one border war after another, and often the history is brutal, but Penman does a fantastic job of leading even an uninitiated reader through the history with enough romance and intrigue to keep the pages turning.

A good 50 booker day all round. Well done everyone.

@cassandremeet up in Haworth in 2027 😂

Sorry to hear of your workplace woes @cassandre. Hoarding is always both sad and complex, but when it starts to affect the people around you it's not fair on anyone for it to go unchallenged.

Big congratulations to @ChessieFL, @SheilaFentiman , @Stowickthevast and anyone else with a DC who's successfully come through their GCSEs!

@AgualusasL0ver glad you enjoyed Haworth. It's really atmospheric there, although I did once ruin that atmosphere by accidentally driving down an access only street and ending up in the semi-pedestrianised village centre and having to wait for a crowd of tourists to let me escape!

34.Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix
A fictionalised retelling of the sinking an inflatable dinghy attempting to cross the channel, in which 27 people died. It’s told firstly from the perspective of a coastguard call handler accused of negligence, and then from the point of view of someone on the boat.

This was as harrowing as it sounds, but despite its short length it engaged brilliantly with issues beyond the events that night, including compassion fatigue, moral injury, and the boundaries of individual responsibility in the face of large scale suffering caused by famine, war and political upheaval. The prose is poetic and haunting. Recommended, although not for anyone feeling a bit wobbly.

35.Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
This offers a glimpse into the highly aesthetic lives of millenial couple Anna and Tom, Southern European expats working in Neukölln, Berlin as digital creatives.

The satire here was very sharp and well-observed, as the couple tend to their cloud like monstera, enjoy natural wines, attempt charity work strictly when convenient, and make half-arsed attempts to enjoy Berghain as they feel they ought. It also reflects that social media has brought about the globalisation of trends. Nowadays Anna and Tom's mid century Scandi interior in a gentrifying neighbourhood could be plucked straight out of Ancoats or Chorlton, whereas even 10 years ago major cities had stronger and more unique identities.

it was however a bit of a one-note read. Anna and Tom are defined pretty much by what they own and how they spend their time, so there's not much characterisation other than their nagging feeling that things are quite perfect enough, and their disappointment when the glimmers of perfection they do achieve aren't all they're cracked up to be.