50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Eight

[Southeastdweller]

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

Or Jane Harris? Not Sugar Money. Perhaps The Observations? Think that's The Highlands.

I am really enjoying John of John by Douglas Stuart, although it is set in the Islands rather than the Highlands.

No Name is my favourite WC. An absolute blast.

I know she’s marmite but there’s a couple of Rosamund Pilchers set in the highlands. September?. Lots of lairds and balls and cold draughty houses.

For some golden age fun in the Highlands, The Thirty Nine Steps? Nine Red Herrings?

43 Fly, Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Wild Swans was a formative book for my generation I think - I was 22 when it was published in the UK and therefore old enough to have some perceptions of Chinese history that it altered, and young enough to identify totally with Jung Chang’s youth and feelings, if not what happened to her. I have gone on to read pretty much everything she and her partner Jon Halliday have produced. This is really a companion volume to Wild Swans as it explains more about what arriving in Britain in 1978 was like, and how she came to write her books. She appears to have written this now as those she interviewed for her works are dead and no longer vulnerable to punishment by the regime, and in passionate opposition to the reconstruction of dictatorship in China. I really enjoyed it but chunks of the book are brief recaps of Wild Swans without its depth - I would definitely read that in preference to this.

111. Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje - This took my breath away. I had to take breaks because emotionally I couldn't handle reading large chunks in one go. The emotional observation and precision of writing is extraordinary. Ivona's way of thinking is very much like mine and I felt seen and spotlighted in a way that was slightly uncomfortable. I felt so incredibly sorry for Ivona for much of the book. The last 40% is a little more conventional but still incredibly good and it ends in the only way it could really. The psychological credibility with which all the characters behaved made them real. A definite bold and a very strong contender for my book of the year.

67 The Broken Afternoon - Simon Mason Second in the DI Wilkins series. A four-year-old girl disappears from nursery and it quickly becomes clear she’s been taken by a paedophile. Ray leads the investigation to try to find her before it’s too late, and Ryan helps from the outside having been dishonourably discharged - but maybe he has a chance of reinstatement. Decent plot again, though the subject matter is pretty horrible, and I preferred the characterisation in book 1. Would still read the next in the series if it turns up in the deals.

@VikingNorthUtsire O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker is roughly in that part of the world. Morvern Callar by Alan Warner is further west. The Silver Darling by Neil Gunn is further north. King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett covers lots of northern Scotland and has a great sense of place. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson is set in the Highlands as well.

The End of Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher

This was a waste of time but I started it so I had to finish it. A novella about an unlikeable young woman called Jane who lives with her father in the US following the death of her mother in Scotland several years ago. Jane finds herself returning to Scotland to stay on the family estate after receiving a visit from her grandmother's lawyer.

Nonsense story and I felt like the characters were made of lead.

Fair Play, Mere, The Water Cure and It Could Have Been Her in the kindle deals today.
@Piggywaspushed we were at Abbotsford last week, might have seen your Dad! Fascinating place, would love to get into the archives and have a delve.

Claws Out by Bella Mackie also in daily deals - unusual as it’s so new!

Clown Town, What I Ate in a Year and With the Law on our Side are all in the monthly deals

Maybe! If you came across a silver haired, well spoken and very talkative gentleman, this was him...

Thanks everyone for the Highlands recommendations. Looks like there's a branch of Waterstones in Aviemore as well as several charity shops (no independent book shop sadly) so I will see what I can pick up.

Some great recommendations that I have already read. O Caledonia and His Bloody Project are two of my favourite reads of recent years.

Also remembered that I am in the queue for John of John on BorrowBox and that should hopefully arrive while we're away.

Everyone was so friendly and talkative, although quite insistent about the audio guide. You all know I’m not a fan of audio anything! There was a bit of a kerfuffle as the lady who gave us our yearly access pass at the main entrance forgot to give us the day’s sticker to go with it - it was an utterly charming kerfuffle, however
The whole area is fantastic. We have never been to a friendlier town than Melrose. Not falsely friendly to tourists, just genuinely helpful and chatty. Seems a town secure in its place and heritage, so generous in sharing it. I’m less keen on Kelso but tbf we always seem to end up in the town centre when it’s pouring down and of course it’s larger.

Melrose is definitely a lovely town.

Gone a bit mad in the kindle sale this morning.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase — Joan Aiken
HOME — India Knight
The Noise of Time — Julian Barnes
The Academy — Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham
Murmuration — TJ Klune
Number 9 Dream — David Mitchell
A Bigger Life — Louise O'Neill

Bought a handful in the monthly deals
The Last Kind Words Saloon- Larry McMurtry
Between Two Rivers- Moudy al-Rashid
Nothing but the Night- John Williams
The Killer’s Mark- MW Craven
All That I Am- Anna Funder

I also have The Finest Hotel in Kabul in my daily deals. Haven't checked the monthly ones yet but I will definitely be gettingThe Noise of Time (thanks @Cherrypi )

I'm trying to be very good and only buy books that are on my ever expanding wish list as I have 60 on my TBR. Knocked 5 off it this morning with deals.

Nice stash @Cherrypi !

Your post brought back a distant memory for me of reading The Wolves in my childhood. Happy days. Since then though I have not read anything by Joan Aitken. Has anyone read any of her books for adults?

I've picked up
Stoner
Fair Play ( despite @ÚlldemoShúl review 😬)
Clown Town
MW Craven latest
Blank Canvas by Grace Murray which I think was on The Observer books to look out for at the start of the year

The Winter Guest by Sarah Moss A novella set in a luxury hotel in Ireland on Christmas Eve. Only 2 guests have made it through the storm raging outside. Over a meal they each share a story.

I loved this - absolutely perfect to curl up with on a dark night.

I’ve just picked up Stoner too (glad you mentioned that @Stowickthevast as I can’t be bothered to troll through the monthly deals) and also got The Finest Hotel In Kabul just after midnight this morning.
God knows when I’ll get round to reading them though. I’ve definitely fallen down a The Book Club podcast hole with a great back catalogue to delve into. Dominic & Tabby are such an unlikely duo but I do love their chemistry, they make talking for an hour + about a book and its author sound effortless. I’m enjoying listening to them dissect those books I’ve already read, and all those I know I’ll never get round to reading. But then there’s all those books I’d like to read or reread before I listen which are going on the TBR pile…

The Hill In The Dark Grove by Liam Higgins on

Folk horror set in Wales, reviewed by someone on here I think, thank you whoever it was!

Carwyn and Rhian have a farm in Wales and each chapter opens with a couple of pages on ancient gods and stories from centuries before as well as the back story of how our couple fell in love and why Carwyn is digging in the bottom field.

Read deliberately over Halloween, this was suitably creepy and atmospheric. Some tropes of London tourists lost on Welsh hills that I thought was a bit silly but overall the tension rose and I really wanted to see how it all unfolded. Solid 4 stars from me.

No deals for me this month (that's a good thing!) I am determined to dig into my TBR pile and back log on Kindle. I have a big holiday with long flights in December so hoping to make a massive dent and then in 2027 I might treat myself to some full price books that have been languishing on my wishlist. There's some I think I need to just buy or delete and move on!!

That was probably me @RazorstormUnicorn , glad you liked it!