Book life

Recommendations from my reading so far in 2026

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

It is a while since I have done a book review post, and I was inspired to get back to writing them by a friend who said that she really enjoyed my reviews and the unique perspective I brought to them. That was so good to hear because as many of you will know here on Substack, and on social media, it can feel like shouting into the void at times. For those of you who are new to my reviews, I will only write reviews for books I have enjoyed and would recommend. I do rate all books on my Goodreads and StoryGraph accounts, mainly for my own record. So if you so wished you can check all the books I have read on those platforms. An author friend said she didn’t rate books she didn’t like because she didn’t think it was fair on the author and I understand that, but I would never write a nasty review, as I know something I dislike will be loved by someone else and vice versa, but I like having the record. If I ever get published I reserve my right to change my mind on this point.

I rarely abandon a book, even if I am hating it, I just moan about it and family just keep saying “why are you continuing with it?”. But I did DNF a book recently, it had been a pick for my book club. I didn’t hate it but I just found it ridiculous and I didn’t care at all about the characters or what happened to them. It’s that feeling when reading becomes a chore, then I know that I should just put it down and start a new book. I did eventually about half way through after I couldn’t make the book club and then I heard it had been rated really low by the group, so I thought, what the hell, I am just going to give up. I donated it to a book swap before I was tempted to pick it up again.

2026 has been a good reading year so far in terms of numbers, assisted in a large part by my listening to The Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths on audio books. These books are crime fiction/police procedurals, where Ruth the main protagonist is a forensic archaeologist on the East Anglian coast of the UK. I came to them through a recommendation on a podcast and I am now up to the 13th book in the series. They are a good easy read/listen, and I am mainly there for all the characters and their ongoing trials and assignations. I also enjoy the historical elements of the archaeology.

On audio, I only really listen to easier reads (and I say that with great affection for an easy read, it is by no means derogatory term for me) or autobiographies. More literary books, like those with challenging structures, or deeply emotional arcs, I need to read in physical form, so I can go at my own pace and if necessary flick back and reread. I don’t find it that easy to navigate back and forth with audio or digital books, (I read on a Kindle too occasionally). The Ruth Galloway books are my version of a soap opera. Luckily Elly Griffiths (real name Domenica de Rosa) has a couple of series I can get stuck into when I have finished with Ruth.

After the disaster of the book club book I picked up a book I had had on my tbr pile for a while, My Friends by Fredrik Backman. It was the perfect choice to follow a DNF as I got my reading mojo back within the first few pages. What a book!. It is the story of a group of friends from a small Swedish town down on its luck. They are immortalised in a world famous painting and their stories unfold throughout the book as a teenager who is obsessed with the painting becomes part of the friends’ world. This is book full of hope, which is mysterious and surprising with its plot. It is a wonderful portrayal of friendship between teenagers and how our upbringing and families shape our lives. There is a strong beautiful sense of place through the quality of the writing. The detail and description of emotion is masterful. Backman is a master of the‘show not tell’, for those writers out there. In summary a totally immersive, surprising and clever read. I will miss everything about this book. I will leave you with a quote from the book, which may just become my new guiding mantra:

“That we create and paint and dance and fall in love, that’s our rebellion against eternity. Everything beautiful is a shield.”

Fredrik Backman from ‘My Friends’

I immediately followed My Friends, with A Family Matter by Claire Lynch. This is an award winning first novel (Claire has had a non fiction book published previously), for which there has been quite a lot of hype around in the bookish world. It didn’t disappoint! It is about a young mother in the early 1980s who follows her heart and is cruelly punished for it, and a daughter years later who discovers the truth about her absent mother. This is a book that has left me thinking not only about the injustices of our society against women, but of the quality of the writing which has achieved so much in a relatively short book. Not a word is wasted. The writing is in a way sparse, by that I mean shows you the impact of a deeply flawed society, but it doesn’t lay judgement on any one persons actions and doesn’t give you all the answers. Claire gives the reader space to experience and empathise, allowing us to come to our own conclusions. A tale woven so beautifully it allowed me the space to feel it all. The sensitivity of the writing and wonderful little details of human life reminded me of Maggie O’Farrell whose writing always blows me away.

I haven’t read much non-fiction this year, beyond books about writing, but one I did pick up I devoured in less than 24 hours. The book is Strangers, A Memoir of a Marriage by Belle Burden. I love the blurb on this book, so here it is:

It was a great love, one for the ages

The speed of our beginning and the speed of our ending felt like matching bookends. They both came out of nowhere.

He wanted it, he wanted me. And then he didn’t

Belle writes with such beautiful raw honesty about the sudden end of her marriage, I was really swept along on Belle’s journey through the grief for her relationship, and how she was still able to recall the wonder and romance of the earlier times amidst all the pain. It is also a brilliant commentary on the social rules of ‘traditional’ relationships and how young women can fall into traps with the promise of the ‘perfect’ marriage. There is something so compelling about being given a window into such a personal moment in someone’s life. Equally compelling is the opportunity to experience vicariously the very privileged world of America’s rich who spend their summers in New England, on ‘the Cape, or the Vineyard’. A world I will never know but can’t help myself in being fascinated by. I defy you not to be saddened, angered and captivated with this book. I understand Belle is now writing a fiction book, and I will be queuing up for that when it is published.

Here are a few other recommendations from my reading so far in 2026, all 4 star reads!

Historical fiction:

The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable & When We Divided by Liz Flanagan

Other book series I am heavily invested in:

The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall & Flora's House by Freya North

Vintage Read:

A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute, a great story, (but Trigger Warning it is very of its time in terms of sexism and racism).

As always I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these books if you have also read them, or any recommendations.

What are you reading and loving at the moment?