2026 - 50 Books a Year Challenge

Thank you TerriBull I appreciate this thread, I will endeavour to contribute.

I am currently rereading Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles I know they are not literary classics, but it’s been a rough year and for me they are a comfort read

I am currently reading one of the "Rivers of London" books which are a series of graphic novels. I am a great fan of books with pictures. However most of the books I read do not have pictures.

GG and Magenta. Welcome to this thread. A thread which is all about what you, the contributor, enjoy reading. Your books certainly don't have to be literary classics. I imagine the most popular choices, if we were to scrutinise previous threads would probably be crime.

Anything goes here! whatever brings you an enjoyable experience, or as another thread suggests maybe a really good miserable book. Our books can make us laugh, cry, pondor, exasperate us, send us on journeys , annoy us, make us hungry, bring us joy, prove a distraction or an escape from life's trials, be a comfort, send us to sleep, or keep us awake because we need to know who dunnit and why? as well as expanding knowledge. They can be all of those elements or just one.

I won't be starting a new book until next year now, I'm done with 2025.

I’m reading The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce.

It about a rundown road with a mish mash of shops and their owners, who love and support each other. A tattooist, an undertakers, a religious gift shop with a retired vicar , a bakery and of course The Music Shop. Developers want to knock them all down but they’re determined to hang on .

I’m enjoying their quirkiness, commitment and the different lives they live.

Am I allowed to name the book I finished last week?
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty.
A woman on a flight from Hobart to Sydney walks through the plane, making predictions about passengers and crew.
A lot of characters to remember but I do enjoy her books.

Currently reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - set before the Women's Liberation Movement.
Thought-provoking; yes things have improved since then but sometimes it seems as if we take a step backwards occasionally.

I'm using all my powers to grant you a special dispensation Allira, it's not easy Although my o/h has just commented "you don't look a day older than you did last year" so I draw strength from that

My books I'm starting with are a mixed bag:

Eat, pray, love. A book club choice. Not sure whether it will be my cup of tea. Has sold 10 million copies allegedly. Appraisals on the cover from The Times, Guardian and Telegraph seem to endorse its worthiness. So I shall approach it with an open mind.

I shall intersperse that with a non fiction library book, The Greedy Queen. The eating habits of Victoria. A glutton apparently!. Anyway, I think it will shame me to contemplate my own calorie count over Christmas and resume normal eating asap.

My Audible, for those early awake hours, a psychological thriller. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.

I meant to add I loved Lessons in Chemistry your current book.

I enjoy reading and listening to books. Currently have Raven Black by Ann Cleeves on audio. I have only recently started reading her books and have liked them all so far, this one is the first in her Shetland series (never watched on tv). Also reading Together by Julie Cohen, this is my book club read and I am struggling to get into it but must make an effort as next book club meet up is on Monday

Thanks for this thread, TerriBull. I usually contribute for the first few months, then 'life gets in the way' and I forget to add the books that I've read. Must try harder in 2026!
Book 1 is Richard Osman's The Impossible Fortune, his 4th book. Easy reading, funny in places.
Gingster: I've enjoyed all Rachel Joyce's books. They're quite quirky.

I also loved Lessons in Chemistry, though I know it's not to everyone's taste.

Happy New Year, all, and thank you for keeping the book challenge going, TerriBull.

When I first joined I struggled to get to 50 books in the year, in 2025 I managed 75. I think that’s in part due to your influence, and partly to the fact that I’ve added audio books to my repertoire, and always have one on the go, downloaded from our library service.

Interesting that you mention pictures in books, Magenta. My first audio book of the year is

1. My Family, David Baddiel

read by the author. The hard copy must have quite a few illustrations, as he keeps pausing the narrative to describe them. Also to read out footnotes and comment on them. I think I’m going to enjoy the book, but it might be an easier read in paperback form.

Thank you, Terribull for setting up 2026’s Book Challenge. It’s become quite an institution on Gransnet now, along with the likes of the Good Morning thread and Soop’s Kitchen.

I fell off the reading wagon badly last year (for the first time in my life, which worried me, because books are my solace) but I’m clambering back on board now and hope to contribute more to this thread.

I finished a book in the early hours of this morning so that will be my number one for 2026. ’A Very British Christmas your festive survival guide’ by Rob Temple. It nails so many of the Christmas dilemmas we find ourselves in and suggests how to deal with them, in a lighthearted manner. It was fun to read.

I’m another who loved Lessons in Chemistry

Glad to have you clambering back on the wagon SueDonim.

Maggiemaybe regarding audio books, I do confess Audible certainly ups my total and something I turn to when I can't get back to sleep during those early hours of the morning. Although there are times when after I have resorted to that, I realise I have no idea what I've just listened to. So from that I can conclude I must have been asleep!

I'm re-reading the CJ Sansom series Shardlake. At the moment it's Dissolution. The series, like much of his stuff, is set during the tudor era and is really well researched.
Love his books which come under 'historical crime' i suppose..

I keep a record of every book I read each year. Last year I managed 70.
My first book this year is 'Burning State' by Rob Sinclair.
His books are mainly thrillers, one of my favourite genres.

Thankyou TerriBull for keeping this going.
I’m nearly at the end of my first book, would have finished it if not for so many visitors, more coming today, so unless I do my thing of getting up and reading during the night, it probably won’t be finished till next week.
Looking forward to discovering some more amazing books, and plodding through some mediocre ones
Happy new year to all fellow readers

I love reading this thread for inspiration, but I do forget to add my books. Like you TerriBull I listen to get back to sleep and forget what I’ve heard.
I’ll try to contribute more this year!
I’ve just finished The Land in Winter by Andrew Millar, it was a Booker Prize nominee. It’s is set in the 1960s and reflects the attitudes of the time. I think if would interest those who enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry.

I also read The Land in Winter J52 just week or so ago. A very good book for evoking the time it was set in and the harsh winter of 62/63.

Happy New Year TerriBull and all 🎉🥂🎂
I’ve had loads of great recommendations for books from these threads.
Presently reading The Wager by David Grann.
It’s 1745: a ramshackle vessel of patched up wood and cloth washes up on the coast of Brazil, inside are thirty emaciated men barely alive.Survivors from The Wager a British vessel wrecked while on a secret mission to raid a Spanish treasure ship, they have an extraordinary tale to tell.
Six months later an even more decrepit boat comes ashore on the coast of Chile, with just three castaways on board who tell a very different account of the same story.
This is actually nonfiction and is a marvellous read.

I would highly recommend "The Names" by Florence Knapp although it came out last spring. It's really clever and well-written and an easy read (although it's classified as Literary Fiction.) I got it as an early birthday present and have just read it in less than 24 hours as couldn't put it down.

p/s Sorry if this has already been covered as I am late to the party!

Thanks for continuing this thread. I am a relatively new member of Gransnet so would love to join in.

I am reading JD Vance’s HillBilly Elegy. As most of you will know, this book predates JD Vance’s entry into politics. I remember hearing him being interviewed at the time of its publication. Someone mentioned to me recently that they were reading this book and it reminded me that I hadn’t got round to reading it.

I have deliberately tried to take the book on its face value and forget about JD Vance’s current job. It is a really illuminating account of his family life and the challenges that they faced in a poor, working class.

Hi I'm new here, I read most days mostly thrillers, I'm currently reading Susan Lewis - Never Look Back it's about a group of people who work on a true crime podcast. It's the 3rd book in this series.
I already have a TBR pile for 2026