50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Seven

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh 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, the fifth thread here and the sixth thread here

It was both me & @Stowickthevast @elspethmcgillicudddy glad you liked it

65 . The Curator by M W Craven

Washington Poe #3

This pissed me off a bit, the ending was highly convoluted and not very believable

Onto the next

You're making me want to go back and reread M W Craven Eine as they all have sort of blended together for me now. There were definitely a couple that I found rather implausible but the characters of Tilly and Poe pulled me through.

I bought The Last Samurai on Kindle recently @bibliomania and then realised I had it on my book shelf from years ago. Looking forward to a re-read.

Just inhaled Time To Burn so thanks for the recommendation @ChessieFL. Good, page-turning, time travelling thriller. A bit obvious in places and a black mark for the "Rayban Meta Sunglasses" product placement, but otherwise enjoyable.

@Stowickthevast the one with the island it was ! Definitely implausible

Yes that was a bit far fetched. There's one that quite annoyed me too, The Mercy Chair I think.

I really liked The Four Winds, the first novel by Kristin Hannah I've actually read, and was surprised by the very sympathetic portrayal of trade unionism - I was expecting romance (and yes it's there) but not the politics, in someone I see as a popular fiction writer (not being snotty - I like a good historical saga).

@MaterMoribund- that’s a fab haul & the bookshop sounds lovely. The Charlotte McConaghy is my favourite of the Women’s Prize fiction list (so far - see below) & I do want to read more of Frances Hardinge.

87 . All You Had To Do Was Stay by Laura Starkey - BorrowBox romcom about a second chance romance. Readable but I preferred some of her earlier writing.

88 . Black Beauty by Anna Sewell - this reread is the result of the discussion earlier in the year about the 100 greatest books. I found it really hard to narrow down what I think are my greatest books aside from a few obvious ones like P&P and the only way I could think of to narrow them down was to think in genres. BB is a didactic book (ie trying to persuade or teach the reader something), which is a genre that I have little patience with as I don’t have much time for authors preaching at me - except for BB. Once you accept the conceit that horses talk to each other, then this is a moving tale of a horse’s life as he passes between some good owners, some well-meaning but ineffectual ones & others who are neglectful &/ cruel. I think it works so well as there are sadly so many & varied ways that people can be cruel to horses. A bold not least because the bit about docking dogs’ ears made me wince.

89 . Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lilith Assadi - from the Women’s Prize fiction list, this is the story of a Palestinian refugee who moves from country to country. This was readable & quite an interesting theme for a book although I didn’t find the main character likeable (not least due to the way he treated his wife).

89 . Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy - another one from the Women’s Prize list which I liked rather better. A woman is shipwrecked on s remote southern island inhabited only by a family who are about to be evacuated. Both the woman and the family have secrets. With this one, I like both the characters and the descriptions of the landscape and wildlife in the setting. The plot didn’t seem particularly original but the setting made it more interesting than a standard mystery or romance. The main flaw to me was the ending, as it felt as if the book could have easily had a happy or a sad ending and I didn’t like the one that the author chose.

I adore the Cazalets but have just got round to reading book 5, All Change, before I pick up the new one. I didn’t feel it was as bad as I’d been led to believe - it all felt familiar and easy and I thought she captured the changing society very well (Edward’s surprise about Hugh and Rupert no longer having servants!) I couldn’t remember enough about the earlier books to spot the errors that people say are there. I did think some of the plot lines were a bit random or even alarming (NEVILLE) and I think she was just juggling too many characters at this point - I missed hearing about Polly or Lydia, and couldn’t keep the children straight at all.

I also read Queenie is working on it which was fine, I guess - I really liked Queenie the first time round but this just felt like more of the same and it didn’t really take the characters anywhere new.

And at the far more literary end, Lila by Marilynne Robinson, which is a beautiful and mysterious novel about a troubled young woman who marries the older pastor from her other books. It was quite opaque but I enjoyed being in her world and piecing together the story of her past before she found Gilead.

I’ve also been reading my way through the Worst Witch series with my daughter, a delight to revisit, and I’ve just started reading her Matilda which I’m excited about.

57 The Seventh Bride - T. Kingfisher
Fairytale retelling of the Bluebeard story - charming, and grisly in parts, but didn’t feel like the main character had much agency in the resolution which I always find frustrating.

58 The Nocturnal Brain - Guy Leschziner
Case studies focusing on sleep disorders and dreaming. Interesting and will look out for his other books.

59 The Good Ancestor - Roman Krznaric
How to promote long-term thinking to solve the world’s problems, especially climate change and ecological crises. I mean he’s probably right, but a bit worthy and dull.

60 Flick - Kate Lister
History of women’s pleasure (and ways the patriarchy has tried to control it). Light-hearted tone although covering some grim material - not a lot was new to me but it kept me amused.

51) Heart The Lover by Lily King
What a wonderful book. The reviews are excellent and I agree with them. Very strong bold.

The story is told from the point of view of Jordan, firstly from her days as a final year university student, then as the mother of two young boys.

At uni she fell under the spell of two star students, Yash and Sam. She has her first taste of true love and the book is excellent at portraying the highs and lows of young passion and how it can affect the rest of your life.

It is also incredibly sad. I don't cry at books but I bet it has that effect on a lot of readers.

Many Barbara Kingsolvers in the daily deals today

I have given up on Hamnet for the moment and moved on to The Lilac Bus - Maeve Binchy. I don’t seem to be able to do anything but light fiction these days.

Also Elin Hildebrand - Golden Girl. Bit of a strange one this, bestselling author is killed in a hit and run and looks down on her three children from the afterlife. There’s a bit of a whodunnit thrown in and it’s all set on Nantucket as All her books are. I’m not sure it is one of her most successful.

Which BK books do people recommend?
I really liked Demon Copperhead and The Poisonwood Bible but haven't read any others.

I picked up quite a few in the deals today:
Sophie, Standing There
Good Girl
The Sense of An Ending
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
Last One Out (new Jane Harper)

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit American Psycho is on there. I'm not tempted!

@GrannieMainland thanks for the Queenie review, am moving it down my list.
@Arran2024 great review of the Lily King. I actually preferred her other one Writers and Lovers so give that a go too.

Ah, I loved reading these with my daughter too. Took me back!

@Benvenuto Black Beauty is one of my favourite books of all time. This is one I did read as a child because my mum had a cherished copy that he brother had bought her for her 10th birthday - one of 14 children so gifts usually comprised of a new bed to share with her sister. It stayed with me and I have read multiple times as an adult. I read a biography of Anna Sewell, Writing Black Beauty by Celia Brayfield that I highly recommend. She didn't lead a very exciting life, there are no dramas, but she did live with disability and cared deeply about animal rights.

@LadybirdDaphne Guy Leschziner diagnosed my sleep problems and I may have a teeny, tiny crush on him. Love Kate Lister too, I have Flick ready on Audible which she reads herself.

My reading has slowed right down, but have some book club stuff coming up so need to get moving.

I was also expecting romance in The Four Winds @elkiedee and yes, it was there but I agree, it's far from the main interest in the novel.
It's my second novel by Kristin Hannah - I read The Nightingale a good few years ago and remember sobbing through parts of it. That one takes place during WW2 if I recall correctly, and I've read considerably more about the French Resistance than I have about the 1930s dustbowl in the States.

I vaguely remember DNF-ing one of hers (Firefly Lane?) and I know many have said her work is quite uneven but I will certainly look out for more of her books.

@Stowickthevast As a Barbara Kingsolver fan I can simply say - fill your boots!!

I loved Unsheltered, Prodigal Summer, Flight behaviour, The Bean Trees (but I'm not sure that on is in the deals). Also her non-fiction Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is one of my faves.

@Stowickthevast I've loved every Kingsolver that I've read except, strangely, Unsheltered, which I DNF-ed. Need to give it another go because how can I not like it when I've enjoyed her others so much?

Would definitely recommend Poisonwood Bible, Flight Behaviour, The Lacuna and Prodigal Summer from the ones on offer today.

I am going to get Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for myself, and I've heard good things about Holding the Line.

Thanks @nowanearlyNicemum I feel a Kingsolver autumn coming on. I'm going to the reading that @SheilaFentiman recommended next week and doing her new book for book club so will be completely immersed!

Have monthly deals changed to weekly deals now? I find the kindle deals harder and harder to navigate but it seemed to be offering me weekly deals this morning.

I did notice My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You in there (after recent Louisa Young discussion) and The Lamplighters which is good lighthouse fic.

I can only see the daily deals :(
Not a monthly deal in sight for nowanearly 😥

Holding the Line is Barbara Kingsolver's first published book and is in the offer at £1.29, again. It is non fiction, reportage, an account of a copper mine strike led by mostly Mexican American women in Arizona, at around the time of the miners' strike here in the UK. I could very much see where the politics that runs through her novels came from.

The Bean Trees is not - it's the only one apart from her new book coming out next month that isn't, I think. I've just bought her short story collection Homeland - not the title story on its own which is also available on Kindle.

My best find in this month's deals so far is Natasha Walter, Feminism in a World on Fire. Just published in the summer, £25 in hardback, 99p on Kindle! I've borrowed it from the library but can just return it next time - I'm waiting for a copy of Louise Kennedy's new novel to get from "Processing" to the reservation shelf.

I mostly checked my wishlists and and also noticed that most of Barbara Kingsolver's work is on offer, including a collection of her short stories which I've not seen on offer for Kindle before. There are lots of good books on offer that I have already! The monthly deals often filter through over the first 24 hours or so of a new month, and I've found recently that people have shared several goodies that my systems didn't find.

I’m in another slump (can I call it that really when it seems to be the status quo, broken up by occasional periods of reading?!)

So all I’ve managed to finish recently was another of my insomniac audible listens We Chase Shadows - Richard Osman there’s another thread on here about his books at the moment, with lots of judgement about the dull, unintelligent people who must enjoy them. I got defensive, but have to say that this latest one is perhaps harder to defend! It collapsed a bit towards the end and required a really obvious ‘recap’ conversation between the characters ‘so how many murders have we solved now? Well there was this one, done by X because of Y, and that one, and of course ….’ etc etc. I did cringe a bit at that. Still, I really enjoyed Nicola Walker’s narration once again and I had fun.

I love me some Barbara Kingsolver though I’ve still not managed to work up the motivation to tackle Demon Copperhead. I’ve never read any of her non-fiction though so I’m off to check out the deals, thanks for the tip and the recs all!