2026 - 50 Books a Year Challenge

#70. When Blood Runs Dry by Jack Cartwright.

I have a problem with lists that say THE top 50 books because it is so subjective. It really ought to say 'These are the books I consider to be MY top 50'. Also, (whisper it) there's an element of 'look how clever I am' isn't there?
I've read quite a lot of the DT list but I would add South Riding and Barchester Chronicles

Good morning Ebb and Flo and welcome as a new poster.

I replied to you on the wrong thread, so I'll just repeat what I said on there, although I'm trying to get that one removed so as not to confuse. This is a continuous thread for contributors to note and comment on the books they're reading throughout the year and to give recommendations on our own, or what others are reading. Whilst it's titled as a 50 book challenge, that number is just a benchmark, some will fall short and some will exceed it, either way it doesn't matter.

Feel free to join this one, or if you prefer wait until the 27 one starts at the beginning of January.

68-The No1 Lawyer-James Patterson &Nancy Allen
A well written whodunnit that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Stafford Lee Penney is the best lawyer in Mississippi but when he's accused of murder, he chooses to defend himself in court.

69-The Teashop Girls at War-Elaine Everest
I found this story a bit muddled in my head as there were so many characters introduced in the first 30 pages, that I couldn't remember who lived with whom, and which of them worked at which of the three establishments, not to mention family members. So Sadly I gave up after 70 pages. For me this is one of those books which would benefit from a list of characters in the front cover, like I've seen many a time. Apologies to any EE fans.

#71. The Corpse Bridge by Stephen Booth.

52 The Great Alone Kristin Hannah

Not as captivating as the two previous books, I'd read by her, namely The Women and The Four Winds, but still pretty good, particularly describing the desolate Alaskan landscape as seen through the eyes of the Allbright family who decamp there from rainy Seattle. Kristin Hannah knows the Pacific Northwest well having grown up and lived there. The family's day to day fight for survival in a desolate rural terrain gradually eases as mother, Cora and daughter Leni strike up strong relationships within the small community around them. The time is the 1970s, and husband and father a former POW during the Vietnam War is suffering from severe post traumatic stress and whilst he was the instigator of starting over somewhere new, gradually his behaviour descends into a far greater challenge for mother and daughter than the harsh environment and living off grid.. Alienating their new found friends and becoming increasingly violent in the home, mother and daughter are pushed to drastic measures.

53 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides

One of the most memorable books I've read. Pulitzer Prize winner and semi autobiographical novel which has drawn on the author's own Greek heritage and his growing up years in the Middlesex of the title, a wealthy suburb of Detroit. The essence of the book is the tale of how Greek brother and sister fled their home outside the Turkish city of Bursa when the ensuing massacre of 1922 by Turkish armed forces uproots the Greeks of Asia Minor, who survive that atrocity to leave a land that has been their home for centuries. Likewise the Turkish population of Greece decamped back to their ancestral home of Turkey.

The siblings, with luck on their side are eventually to board a boat on the quayside of Smyrna, now Izmir to Athens and then on to New York as newly arrived immigrants in the US. Settling with a cousin in Detroit and a brief stint by the brother in the Henry Ford factory during The Depression eventually to emerge to a more prosperous era when they gradually aspire to the American dream moving out of the city to the suburbs due to race riots. Detroit is divided up on racial divisions within the neighbourhoods. The black population pushed into the poorer areas never to be afforded the opportunities that form part of the dream of the various immigrant populations, even if they are also deemed not quite white enough by their WASP neighbours out in the well heeled suburbs . The book is narrated through the eyes of the main protagonist of the piece, third generation born Calliope Stephinades, who bears the effect of a mutated gene carried across the generations from incestuous in breeding within the closed Greek communities of yesteryear. Born a hermaphrodite, which could also be ascribed to that specific condition in the way the author has framed the title, Middlesex. Classified as a girl at birth her early years are fairly straightforward until she reaches her very own cataclysmic adolescence when hormones dictate she is morphing into a he and what unfolds thereafter. Not an easy read, but a very accomplished book imo.

For various reasons I haven’t contributed very much this year, but whilst having a little browse at what you are all reading I came across TerriBulls post regarding The Fortnight in September, and I had to jump back in.
I loved this book so much, you are right TerriBull, little happens, but it’s so beautifully written, the little family are perfectly drawn. Their pride, their loyalty, their joy in one another, this book is perfect!
Definitely on the top ten list of the year, and very close to the top

Oh Sarah welcome back, I hoped you'd return. It's been so sad to lose Sparklefizz from the thread, I'm glad you're still with us. Of course I understand life takes over at times.

I’m sorry, I didn’t know Sparklefizz had left, that’s a shame

Unfortunately she died. I was very sad to hear when another poster broke the news on a separate thread

Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that, we shared a lot of opinions over the years

#72. The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden.

#73. What The Dead Want by MJ Lee.

70-Someone is Lying-Heidi Perks
Gripping thriller-How do you find your daughter, when no one believes she is missing? This book makes you think what would you do in this situation, and how far would you go to keep your child safe.
This story will certainly make any parents think.

So sorry to hear about Sparklefizz. She’ll be missed.

39. The News from Dublin, Colm Toibin

Short stories on the theme of loss and reminiscence. They’re a soothing and worthwhile read, even though nothing really happens in them.

40. A History of Britain 3000BC-AD1603 by Simon Schama

I really enjoyed this book. The history of Britain neolithic times to the tudor age was really interesting although I have to admit my main historical interest is in the Tudors. Really interesting and well written.

stewaris

40. A History of Britain 3000BC-AD1603 by Simon Schama

I really enjoyed this book. The history of Britain neolithic times to the tudor age was really interesting although I have to admit my main historical interest is in the Tudors. Really interesting and well written.

I have Simon Schma's History of Britain in 3 volumes. From neolithic Britain to more or less modern times,. I think they were published in conjunction with his tv programme on the subject. They are very interesting, he's very interesting!

#74. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service by Ian Fleming.

71-G is for Gumshoe-Sue Grafton
Kinsey is hired to search for an elderly lady who disappeared a while ago. While she is on the trail she discovers that a criminal from a previous case has hired a hit man to kill her. So she is constantly looking over her shoulder.
Another good tale from SG.

Terribull I really enjoyed the book especially when it got to the Tudor period-always been my favourite. I didn't realise there was a 3 volume set. I must look around and see if I can find it.

54 The Hidden Girl Lucinda Riley

One of the late author's republished earlier novels. Switching between time lines of 1940s Poland and 1970s Yorkshire and London. The tale of the rise to fame of Yorkshire born and bred Leah Thompson's discovery as a 16 year old and her ascent into becoming one of the world's top models. Interspersed with love affairs going awry. The link between the 1970s and the Treblinka concentation camp cantilevers the two 20th century eras together. As with most of LR's novels, captivating escapism with a thoroughly bad antagonist who stalks, by forming tenuous relationship links to those associated with a couple of the main characters, teenage survivors the holocaust down through the passage of time.

#75. Forever Home by Graham Norton.