2026 - 50 Books a Year Challenge

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.

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

#70. When Blood Runs Dry by Jack Cartwright.

67-Curtain Call at the Seaview Hotel-Glenda Young
#2 in this amusing series. An acting troupe book into Helen Dexter's hotel in Scarborough, but she soon notices tension between the actors. But there is worse to come when one of them is found murdered. A humorous whodunnit.

#69. The Fortnight In September by RC Sherriff.

Can only agree with others, a lovely, simple, evocative read of times past.

Bit shocked how the family threw their empty sandwich paper out of the train window though, and also how other holidaymakers left ‘crumpled programmes, empty cigarette boxes and sweet bags, banana skins and a few bottles’ on the beach.

Leaving ‘a little army of housemaids’ to clear away the litter and tidy up.

Seems even back in 1931, there were litter louts, just not the plastic rubbish.

51 3 Days in June Ann Tyler

Although I pretty much always know what to expect with Ann Tyler, I always love her reflective style of writing, set as always in small town America, usually a suburb of Baltimore. Gail Barnes is an early 60 years deputy head teacher about to lose her job,. Meanwhile her only child, daughter, Debbie is on the cusp of getting married when her ex husband Max turns up on her doorstep with a rescued cat! After getting over her annoyance at his unannounced presumption of her place being somewhere to stay on the eve of their daughter's wedding, Gail with some reluctance accommodates them both. Meanwhile, Debbie has some doubts about her prospective husband's fidelity, which in turn stir up memories of Gail's own past, a catalyst that see Gail and Max draw together over the course of the three days, the eve of the nuptials, the wedding itself and the aftermath.

Fairly brief, more of a novella, with an upbeat conclusion Gail and Max drawing closer together reflecting on the water under the bridge of their own marriage. Her original annoyance at to his impromptu visit with the expectation of a place to stay, has completed evaporated by the end of his visit and she decides the cat is such good company she will keep her.

Sorry for being late! This sounds like a great way to keep the reading going throughout 2026. I like that there’s no pressure to hit all 50 books and that everyone can read whatever they enjoy. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone chooses and picking up a few recommendations along the way. Here’s hoping for plenty of good books and some interesting discussions!

#68. One By One by Freida McFadden.

66-The dog that saved my life-Isabel George
Non-fiction this time with this book of 5 stories about devoted dogs that did remarkable life-saving things in different war situations. A great read for dog lovers.

37. Twenty Years Later, Charlie Donlea

For her show American Events, TV host Avery Mason looks into a cold case involving Victoria Ford, who died in 9/11 while accused of the bizarre murder of a famous author. As she digs deeper, dark secrets begin to surface.

I thought this was excellent. There are lots of different threads and twists and turns, and a great ending. The depictions of the main settings - New York, California and Jamaica - are vividly drawn and the characters are believable and relatable. This is a new author for me, but I’ll be looking out for more of his books.

36. Enough, Dawn French

Etta is 68, in remarkably good health and spirits, comfortably off, with a loving family close by including a 5 year old granddaughter she adores and a son and daughter in law desperately trying to have a baby. So why would she gather her loved ones together to announce that she’s going to end her own life and this is her last day? Well Lord only knows imho, it made no sense at all despite Dawn/Etta trying to convince us it’s because she’s a wonderful and inspirational woman who doesn’t want to be a burden in her old age. It kept me reading though, and even with the predictable swearing, bodily function humour and sentimental philosophising you always get from Dawn French, I wanted to know how it ended.

65-Camino Ghosts-John Grisham
The developers want to turn uninhabited Dark Isle into a holiday paradise. Lovely Jackson claims to be the owner of the island, but with help from novelist Mercer Mann, a campaign to prove her ownership begins.
Another great story from JG.

35. Vow of Silence, Suzanne Walsh

Suzanne and her siblings had an idyllic family life in Ireland until the sudden death of their father, after which their mother had to leave them in the care of the Catholic Church while she worked in England. This is Suzanne’s story, including the awful four years with the nuns whose graves she later spat on when she came across them in adult life. It’s hard to imagine how harshly these poor children were treated by the very women who were supposed to care for them.

#57 The Dentist by Tim Sullivan
I thought I had reviewed this here already but I don’t see it, maybe I forgot to save it.
I had forgotten all about this when it arrived as I ordered it months ago from the library after someone posted about it here. It was my first encounter with DS George Cross, I enjoyed it, so I will read some of the others. 8/10

#58 The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton
Yasmin and her 10 year old daughter Ruby, who is deaf, set out across the North Alaskan wilderness in late November. They are searching for Ruby’s father, a wildlife photographer, who is missing. As their journey takes them further and further into the frozen wilderness in the endless night of the arctic winter, Yasmin begins to fear that someone is out to prevent them finding out the truth.
This was very good in many ways, with a strong sense of foreboding, but there were many of Yasmin’s decisions that seemed too incredibly dangerous given that she had her daughter with her. 8/10

64-The Teacher-Freida McFadden
Husband and wife teachers Eve and Nate have a strong but dull marriage, but when troubled 16 year old student Addie is at the centre of a scandal at school, things change dramatically.

50 Culpability Bruce Holsinger Audible

Far better was this one imo. Unfortunately my library didn't seem to stock it, I don't know why, it's on one of the latest Oprah book lists. So I listened to it instead. Again a family drama. This time in the US set around a summer vacation on Cheasapeake Bay. Prior to the family's holiday they'd been involved in a head on collision whilst on their way to son Charlie's Lacrosse match. The family survive with his two sisters and mom sustaining injuries, but nothing they won't recover from. However, in the other car both the elderly occupants were killed. Pivotal to the plot is the fact that the family's car was one of an autonomous variety. It transpires that Charlie was in the driving seat texting, whilst parents were both on their lap tops catching up with work and with the girls on their phones, all the family were distracted. It's a split second decision where Charlie is to grasp the steering wheel that sets them into the fatal path. What's to blame, human error or algorithams? The book unfolds through shared blame, paranoia, survivor guilt and ultimately the exploration into the ethical consequences of the role AI plays. There is also a burgeoning relationship Charlie is to develop with the daughter of a tech billionaire whose house is close to their holiday rental which ups the ante in what has gone before which sets the teenagers on a potentially dangerous path with further consequences to not only jeopardise Charlie's sporting scholarship but to ramp up an insurmountable legal challenge to the entire family.

49 All In Claire Powell

That was mooted as a "superior beach read" by India Knight in a ST supplement, whose recommendations I usually appreciate, so I ordered it straight away from my library thinking I'd get it before I went off. There was quite queue, so my holiday had come and gone by the time it was ready for pick up. I think it may have resonated more whilst reading it overlooking the lovely beach so close by, I didn't feel quite the same connection staring out at my parched lawn after I'd returned. Essentially, it's about a couple, Dave and Jo whose relationship has hit the doldrums, strained by rounds of failed IVF. Up pops Dave's brash well off Dubai residing brother, who offers to pay for a Mediterranean trip away for the couple along with him, girlfriend and their recently bereaved dad. Nothing goes well really, their suitcase goes missing, only to turn up as they're ready to go home. Strapped for cash Jo and Dave have to replenish clothes from the fairly expensive hotel boutique. It's a tale full of disappointments and difficult family dynamics. Given it's all set in a pretty up market resort, with everything on tap, I couldn't help contrasting it with my previous book "A Fortnight in September" In that the family decamp to "a seen better days boarding house" on the south coast. Happy in making their own entertainment without the benefit of alcohol, or maybe the detriment, given there are a few heads down the toilet in the aftermath in this book. Both books are about escaping the daily hum drum and the change of scenery that affords them that. However, there's little point in comparing a holiday from 1931 with that of today. In both books not a lot happens other than the best laid plans go awry in the modern one and the historical one by contrast has such a feel good factor it was probably that, that made me view this one with the thoughts that they might just as well stayed at home. I'm usually at one with India Knight on her recommendations, but somehow this one missed the mark for me.

#67. Getting Away With Murder by Shari Lapena.

Another brand new library book 😀, just started it as yet another that cannot be renewed.

It’s good, it won’t take me long to read it.

Terribull in a sequel I imagine their reaction to nearby Crystal Palace burning. And in the war the father being part of the home guard, the daughter going to Bletchley Park, the son off in the RAF and the mother finally conquering her dreadful anxiety and being useful in the WRVS....or not coping at all.

All sorts of possibilities post war.

Amazing how many people appear to have fallen in love with it HelterSkelter, I did. My library ordering service advised me there are 30 plus people on a waiting list to read it, quite a number for a little known novel, first published in 1931. I've decided I'm going to buy it to keep, it's the sort of book I feel I could pick up again.

Thanks for the mention of Green Gates, I'll Google that.

I loved The Fortnight in September so much. Written in the 1930s before WW2. I would have loved Sherriff to have written a sequel about their life during and after the war.
A gentle book.

I also liked Green Gates by R Sherriff, but the library no longer stock it for me to reread. I may have to treat myself to an expensive copy.

63-Marrying Miss Martha-Anna Jacobs
Set in 1828, when their father dies Martha and Penelope are left penniless, so they take a job offer as teachers to a mill owners children. Through hardships and challenges will the sisters ever find romance?
A lovely relaxed read, a great interlude to the thrillers I also enjoy.

Oh I don't know Maggie, Not Quite Dead Yet! was one of mine from maybe last year, that didn't live up to the hype for me either, so as your name suggests "maybe" you're right about The Correspondent. I'm sure I'll read it some stage, I've just moved it downwards on my list.

Oh, take no notice of my review, TerriBull! I can be a right grumpy old woman and no doubt the rest of my reading group will love it (I’ll report back, but our next meeting’s not until the 25th). And I can hardly complain about mistakes in the text when I somehow turned Fort into Port William.

I’ve just finished my latest audiobook and I’m afraid I’ll be damning with faint praise again.

34. Not Quite Dead Yet, Holly Jackson

The author’s known for her Young Adult fiction and this is her first foray into adult writing. Well, this still seems very YA to me, as the main protagonists act as though they’re 14, when they’re supposed to be 27. The f word’s scattered around like confetti for no apparent reason, which didn’t endear them to me either. The audiobook narration is dreadful imho, and some of the young characters sound like 90 year old chain smokers. The main premise is intriguing though - our heroine is clubbed from behind on Hallowe’en and sustains an embolism that will kill her in 5 days, so she uses that time to find out who murdered her and why. The plot kept my interest, though it’s a stretch to think that someone so desperately ill could wield a sledgehammer, escape a blazing inferno and outrun the police when they try to arrest her.

Right, I’m off now to find something that I can be more positive about.

Yes damn the housework too hot for it anyway.

I hope you enjoy it Calendargirl