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

@InTheCludgieI’ve listened to most of Stephen King’s more recent books. Some of them are read by Will Patton who I quite like as a narrator. I remember particularly liking Billy Summers in audio but I read all the older ones in paperback so can’t help you with those.

I am learning to listen to books on audio but have so far only done a few re-reads, mainly some Jane Austen. I'd like to try one that's really excellently narrated if anyone has recommendations?

Also loving the exciting bookshop news. I work in Bloomsbury so my go-to is book browsing if I get a lunch break. Sadly lunch breaks are a rare treat.

I‘ve been down with the lurgy for the last few days, thanks to DD who passed it on. I’ve been in no mood even for reading, just trying to sleep it off.

Catching up on the thread. A new Persephone bookshop! I must visit next time I’m up in town - a great opportunity to buy some Christmas presents (for me 😊). I’d be up for a 50B meet up some time - I was in France for the last one - especially if it involves browsing bookshops as well.

47… The House with the Golden Door - Elodie Harper

Second in The Wolf Den trilogy set in Pompeii AD75; I wish I’d read it sooner as I couldn’t remember who half the characters were or their backstory. Despite that it was quite readable, and made a change to see women’s lives in Ancient Rome with their few choices available. As with The Wolf Den, there was a lot of sex, but also love and friendship. A charming portrayal of a same-sex (female) couple as well. Must get round to reading the final book soon before I forget who’s who.

I discovered Sinead Gleeson through three short story anthologies she's edited - The Glass Shore (Northern Irish women), The Long Gaze Back (Irish women) and The Art of the Glimpse (Irish writers). Also her memoir-essay collection Constellations is great. And I've just bought a collection of essays on music off Vinted, along with a Guide to Event Management, because whether I stay co-chair of my borough wide libraries campaigning group or hand over to someone else and have time to start the local Friends group I've been meaning to for years, my current co-chair and I really need to think about organising events (she's trying to set up a group at our central library, which is the least attractive big library in the borough - all 3 are relatively accessible by public transport whereas some others including my own branch are hidden away - I am sure some people within walking distance who like reading don't really know where we are. I didn't when I lived in a shared flat about 3/4 of a mile from the library and similar from my current home in slightly different directions.

Re Kristin Hannah I’ve read The Nightingale (good), The Women (good first half, lost its way second half) and The Winter Garden (pretty good, historical bits were the best as it described something I knew little about). Agree that she falls just short of greatness. I have The Great Alone to read so good to see it’s getting some not-terrible reviews!

I’m not an audio fan but I have started incorporating them into my reading over the last two years. I’ve found some criteria that work for me, though I have to treat it as a book and can’t be doing other things other than very benign stirring dinner or washing up - I can’t clean and listen as I lose the thread. I also have to listen at normal speed. My rules for me are:

Agatha Christie (tend to be read by people like Stephanie Cole, the man who plays Hastings in Poirot, Richard E Grant which work for me)

Some non fiction read by the author. Works well for comedian memoirs and anyone who’s way of speaking I like (Janina Ramirez’s history books for me) or where their voice helps with context/placing (Jacinda Ardern’s memoir).

I did listen to Rivers of London as I think @ÚlldemoShúlrecommended the narrator and he was good.

@Pigtailsandall I listened to Sense and Sensibility read by Juliet Stevenson which was very good, although I notice that Rosamund Pike has narrated some Austen novels recently so might be worth a preview listen if you're able to do that.

Thanks for the Kristin Hannah recs, I've just realised I have actually read one of hers - Firefly Lane, forgot all about that 🙈 it was five years ago and I rated it 8 out of 10 (my memory isn't great so it's no reflection on the book that I couldn't recall it!)

@ÚlldemoShúl Billy Summers is one I already have on my shelf and I'm too tight to spend an Audible credit on it 😂

I listen to quite a lot of audio as It's a good way to get new books a bit more cheaply by using credits. I also find them a good way to read books that I'm not that into.

I listened to Project Hail Mary on Eine's recommendation recently and that was great. other recent ones I've enjoyed are John of John and London Falling. I also really liked Tom Lake which was narrated by Meryl Streep. And I loved Arundhati Roy's autobiography which was read by the author.

Books that are written in patois or accented speech also work really well. A few that I have liked are:
Fire Rush
The Mercy Step
Love After Love
The Love Songs of Boysie Singh

Quick klaxon for anyone (ie me) who’s been stalking Alba de Céspedes' Forbidden Notebook - it's down to 99p today.

Thank you, and thanks @AgualusasL0ver and @Stowickthevast good ideas. I don't think I considered the narrator as a contributing factor to the experience! I'm down with a cold so I might pick an Agatha Christie for today as a bit of a comfort-listen.

I've tried several times to get into audio books but I drift very quickly even at x 1.5. It seems such an obvious way to enjoy a book, particularly when driving or at the gym. @AgualusasL0ver The only ones I have managed were autobiographies read by the author.
I recently downloaded a few from Borrowbox but ended up going back to podcasts.
DH and I are also down with cold, no doubt picked during one of several trips to A&E this week after he injured himself.

I’m also on the hunt for good audiobooks, the Lisa Jewell ones are usually very well done but I know she’s not your thing @Stowickthevast

@ÚlldemoShúl I’m not really enjoying Will Patton reading Doctor Sleep I preferred The Shining narrator Campbell Scott

Oh interesting @EineReiseDurchDieZeitNarrators make such a difference to audio I think.
I find speeding it up helps my concentration for those who feel their concentration slip- it kind of forces you to pay attention. I usually read around 1.5 but sometimes up to 1.7 depending on how slowly the narrator reads. I had to give up on one recently that sounded like a good story - an Aussie thriller called Melaleuca but the narrator was so painfully slow with strange gaps in the middle of sentences that I just couldn’t continue.
Agree with Stowick re books written in dialect. Also good to start off any stream of consciousness. Which takes me to y latest read- not on audio but in paperback. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I’m not going to write a full review because I’ve written one here before- this is a reread and I loved it even more this time. The sublime writing in part 2. The exploration of time and beauty and the role of women and motherhood. The enigma that is Mrs Ramsey. Bold again.

I enjoyed Shuggie Bain and Milkman on audio for similar reasons to Stoick. Also The Testament of Mary read by Meryl Streep. Other than that I am better with memoir or non-fiction rather than fiction as I can lose the thread of a story. Although I did enjoy a Lucy Clarke one with multiple narrators that reminded me a bit of the Lisa Jewell @EineReiseDurchDieZeit . I think it was called The Hike.

I’ve only got into Audiobooks in the last few years but I have to be doing something unlike AgualusasLover. Especially cleaning or cooking both of which I detest. Or drawing or painting or knitting or something mindless.
Politics and History actually work better for me as audio. I don’t tend to listen to fiction - apart from Dickens. I can’t read Dickens in book form.

Off Topic: Reeling that my Strictly thread got reported because I used the 24 hr clock AND put PM. Am I so wrong?!?

Gosh @EineReiseDurchDieZeit , shocking behaviour on your part. I hope you repent and see the error of your ways.

😂😂😂

Because I'm very nosey, I immediately looked at the thread in question, and I admire your use of the adjective tautologous! Not a term I see every day.

Outside of book Mumsnet it’s a very different beast isn’t it? I joined a Traitors thread then left as everyone was so snappy with each other (I see you surviving on there @EineReiseDurchDieZeit)

I have been trying to find a similar thread* for movies and TV, but they are often quite mean-spirited. I saw the new Sense and Sensibility and had some thoughts about it and wanted to see if anyone agreed. But some of those threads scare me 😅

*similar to this, edited to add

New thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5587718-50-books-challenge-2026-part-eight

@Pigtailsandall as independently verified by a panel of judges, this is one of the best threads on MN 😊