BEST BOOKS OF 2026
Let's start right on the nail with a Sunday Times Best Debut Novel. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, was shortlisted for the Women's Prize, but if you're a bloke, don't be put off. This is a nailbiter of a story set in a global crisis future. A single father with three children is a working on a remote island when a woman is literally washed ashore. The family starts to nurse the stranger to health, but as she recovers, it's clear that everyone is keeping secrets from each other and no one trusts anyone else, while around them, a life-threatening storm threatens to wash their island away. The characters are beautifully drawn and demand your affection, while the final twists, as secrets are finally revealled is stunning. Lyrically written short chapters makes it a winner, and it's hard to believe it's her first try! So if you're reading this book, or even if you've thrown it across the room, tell us in the comment box.
Goodreads.com is a great indicator of what people are reading and trending this year is The Names by Florence Knapp with 297,000 ratings and 35,510 "shelvings"
Readers are loving the concept in this book: that we hugely influenced by our name. So what if, in three vewrsions of a life, a new baby boy is given three names by his abused mum? For 35 years, we follow Gordon…or Bear…or Julian, watching the outcome of these different starts on the path of life.
Now, I have to say, I didn't really get into this story. Okay, great concept for a novel, but the idea and outcomes didn't really gell with me. Other readers thought, truly loved it, and if you did, let us know.
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| Elizabeth Strout |
THE BBC
'Auntie Beeb's' culture website has 10 best books up at the moment, and a strong book comes through the list. The Things We Never Say by the Pulitzer-winning author Elizabeth Strout. She is loved worldwide for the real-life character Olive Kitteridge who lives in a small-minded small town in the US. Once you've found Olive, you'll never be able to forget her, so read is she, protrayed through a series of short stories within the novel. Sometimes, she's hardly present at all, at others, she's annoyingly central. She is everyone's neighbour that you love to hate–– complex and vibrant. The Things we Never Say is a stand-alone novel about Artie Dam who navigates a lonely existence until he confronts a life-altering secret. Are you planning to read it? Or have you already given it your heart? Do tell!
THE OBSERVER
Sunday newspaper the Observer chose The Mercy Step as it's 'Best Debut Novel'. Written by Marcia Huntchingson, this book tells a grueling story while making me laugh throughout. Mercy begins her tale while still in the womb, yes narrates it with optimism, as she is by turns ignored and beaten. Her mother won't even sign her up for the library, but she finds her way through; going straight from school and reading until closing time. When she gets home, they haven't even missed her. Her deep love and committment to her mother is thrown back in her face, but, as we leave her at the age of 11, she's ready to forge ahead with her own life.
NINA!
And my choice? My favourite read comes both from the Women's Prize shortlist this year and the Booker shortlist. I reviewed Flashlight by Susan Choi HERE, so do go and read the full review, as for me, this is the book of the year. Complex, spanning generations and continents, deeply surprising, it taught me lots about places I knew litte about, and left a notch on my heart.
So now it's over to you. What was your utter favourite novel of 2026? Let me know in the comment box - let's see what your choices are.
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