26 for 2026

Dakota_Rose

@thechubbyunicorn I hope you’re fully recovered now - sounds grim 😞. I’m impressed with the amount of progress made on here since I last posted all 😊.

I’ve finished my 22nd book of the year. Think I should complete my 26 books for 2026 challenge but we’ll see. I’ve really been enjoying it reading something different these past couple of months which has kept the momentum going. 

This was A Throne of Glass, the first of a new series by Sarah J Maas. I’d definitely read the next one but it didn’t grip me as much as I had hoped. I think it’ll grow on me as it continues knowing what I’m like with these things. I debated a 7 or 7.5 but I did read it within a week so for stickability, I’ll give it an 8.

26 books for 2026

1.You Are Here (easy read) 9/10

2. The Seven Murders of Evelyn Hardcastle (time-travelling murder mystery) 9.5/10

3. Love Untold (ending made a middling read worthwhile) 8/10

4. Way Back (engaging easy read with a farm theme and a few typos) 8.5/10

5. The Cuckoo’s Calling (first of the Strike detective novels) 8.5/10

6. Yellowface (‘too awful to look away’ page-turner) 10/10

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns (emotive, heavy but worthwhile read) 10/10

8. Before the coffee gets cold (Japanese coffee-shop time-travelling scenarios) 8/10

9. Us Three (screenplay-style friendship story) 9/10

10. The Twyford Code (a puzzle within a puzzle) 9/10

11. The Shock of the Fall (first person narrative with flashbacks - includes childhood trauma told sensitively and with humour woven throughout) 8/10

12. Guilty (lots of shock factor details, but predictable storyline) 7.5/10

13. The Falls (Scottish detective novel) 8.5/10

14. The Examiner (murder mystery told through emails and messages) 8.5/10

15. First Blood (prequel to a favourite detective series) 10/10

16. We Solve Murders (cosy murder mystery) 8.5/10

17. A Court of Thorns and Roses (fantasy romance) 9/10

18. A Court of Mist and Fury (second in the ACOTAR series) 9/10

19. A Court of Wings and Ruin (third in the series, loved it) 10/10

20. A Court of Frost and Starlight (fourth in the series, bridging book - easy read) 9/10 since found out this was a Christmas special.

21. A Court of Silver Flames (fifth in series - loved this one exploring different characters with big attitudes 😂) 10/10

22. A Throne of Glass (first of what promises to be a new epic series - blood, guts with a bit of magic and majesty) 8/10

Despite being midway through Remains of the Day, I’m just not feeling motivated to pick it back up. Think I’m going to have to go back to my TBR shelf and try something different for my next read.

DundeeDoll

Yippee my first A-Z complete - pop groups, one album listened to:

Alan Parsons Project
Beatles
Coldplay greatest hits
Dire Straits
Eurythmics
Fleetwood Mac
Genesis
Haircut 100
Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Jethro tull
Kraftwerk
Level 42
Madness
New Order
Oasis
Pink Floyd
Queen
REM
Squeeze
T-Rex
Ultravox
Velvet Underground
Wings
XTC
Yes
ZZ Tops

suzeesu2000

Well done you @DundeeDoll thats an achievement

thechubbyunicorn

@suzeesu2000 @Dakota_Rose it certainly was grim. I'm so glad to be back to normal now, I'm not a very good patient!

Well done @DundeeDoll

Week 42 update….

5. Be able to run for 26 minutes - 25 minutes!!!!

6. Post 2026 photos to Instagram - 94

11. Try 26 new recipes - Cajun salmon orzo 

16. Save £2026 - £10.20

17. Walk 2026 miles - 33.3

19. Complete 26 walks from the book ‘Lanarkshire Walks’ - Palaceriggs and Fannyside Loch / Broadwood Loch and Orchardton Woods 

20. Make 26 donations - Robbie’s Fundraiser  

23. Save 26 of each coin / note (£1 to £20) - 1x£5, 4x£10, 2x£20 

26. Send 26 cards / gifts to others - Suncatcher for BIL 

27. Complete Parkrun 26 times - 18.10.26

❤️

Dakota_Rose

The book I’ve started and finished this past week is called Close to Home by Michael Magee. It’s set in working class West Belfast and gives an incredibly vivid depiction of the young character’s life - a lad whose got such potential for a successful life but falls back into bad habits with childhood friends. It involves trauma, violence and drugs but has a real vulnerable and loving human side too. Quite a hard read in places but I found myself being drawn to picking it back up often. I’d rate it 9.5/10.

26 books for 2026

1.You Are Here (easy read) 9/10

2. The Seven Murders of Evelyn Hardcastle (time-travelling murder mystery) 9.5/10

3. Love Untold (ending made a middling read worthwhile) 8/10

4. Way Back (engaging easy read with a farm theme and a few typos) 8.5/10

5. The Cuckoo’s Calling (first of the Strike detective novels) 8.5/10

6. Yellowface (‘too awful to look away’ page-turner) 10/10

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns (emotive, heavy but worthwhile read) 10/10

8. Before the coffee gets cold (Japanese coffee-shop time-travelling scenarios) 8/10

9. Us Three (screenplay-style friendship story) 9/10

10. The Twyford Code (a puzzle within a puzzle) 9/10

11. The Shock of the Fall (first person narrative with flashbacks - includes childhood trauma told sensitively and with humour woven throughout) 8/10

12. Guilty (lots of shock factor details, but predictable storyline) 7.5/10

13. The Falls (Scottish detective novel) 8.5/10

14. The Examiner (murder mystery told through emails and messages) 8.5/10

15. First Blood (prequel to a favourite detective series) 10/10

16. We Solve Murders (cosy murder mystery) 8.5/10

17. A Court of Thorns and Roses (fantasy romance) 9/10

18. A Court of Mist and Fury (second in the ACOTAR series) 9/10

19. A Court of Wings and Ruin (third in the series, loved it) 10/10

20. A Court of Frost and Starlight (fourth in the series, bridging book - easy read) 9/10 since found out this was a Christmas special.

21. A Court of Silver Flames (fifth in series - loved this one exploring different characters with big attitudes 😂) 10/10

22. A Throne of Glass (first of what promises to be a new epic series - blood, guts with a bit of magic and majesty) 8/10

23. Close to Home (heartbreaking and heartwarming Irish novel) 9.5/10

DundeeDoll

2nd A-Z complete - poems (and, although very late in the day, have switched learning a piece on the piano by an A-Z of composers to listening to music by A-Z of composers - 1st off is Mozart Requiem which I lerv

Apron strings
Because I could not pause for death
Casey at the bat
Drawing him at fifty
Eve
Footprints
Getting Older
Heredity
If I had my life again
John Anderson ma Jo John
Keeping Orchids
Leisure
maggie and milly and molly and may
No man is an island
Outgrown
Pollen
Quarantine
Remember me
She walks in beauty
Trees in the garden (DH Lawrence)
Unto like story
Victory comes late
When we two are parted
X was once a great king Xerxes
You cannot do this
Zacho the King rode out of old

DundeeDoll

3rd 26 completed - a-z of radio programmes - sad that Radio 4x is going - some below were from 4x. Also knotted another 4 knots.

Alison and Maud
Bristow
Charlotte and Lillian
Desert Island Discs
Ed Reardon's week
From our own correspondant
Getting nowhere fast
Harrier angels
Illuminated
Just one thing
kitchen cabinet
legal decent honest and truthful
Music Matters
News Quiz
One more chai
Plum house
Quake
Radical
Sunday worship
That'll be all Mrs fothergill
Understand
Valentine's Day
Winnie the Pooh
Xtreme
You're dead to me
Zoe Lyons: Now What?

thechubbyunicorn

I have no idea what happened this week. It was like I blinked and it's Sunday again!

Week 43

6. Post 2026 photos to Instagram - 47

8. Watch 26 documentaries - Maternal Instinct 

9. Tick 26 things off my master to do list - Close old savings account 

15. Walk along 26 different beaches - Broughty Ferry beach 

16. Save £2026 - £13.43

17. Walk 2026 miles - 33.3miles 

19. Complete 26 walks from the book ‘Lanarkshire Walks’ - Larkhall and Morgan Glen

❤️

DundeeDoll

Today I went to the Chinese supermarket and managed to pick up a couple of things for my alphabets - will post when I've eaten the Quail eggs (protein A-Z) and the yanangel leaf extract (fruit and veg A-Z). Looking forward to posting my end of October lists - definitely slowing now I hit the difficult letters. I'm aiming at 20 different alphabets and have just looked out how many of each letter I've got to:

20	A
20	B
19	C
19	D
19	E
16	F
18	G
17	H
18	I
16	J
16	K
18	L
19	M
14	N
16	O
19	P
13	Q
18	R
18	S
18	T
13	U
14	V
15	W
7	X
10	Y
15	Z

DundeeDoll

end of the month and I'm overall on target but definitely getting harder.

01: 25 Artists
02: 20 Knots
03: 20 Workout programmes
04: 26 Pop groups - 1 album listened to	Complete
05: 10 Church music by composer
06: 25 Books read
07: 21 Protein food
08: 26 Poem	Complete
09: 21 Fruit or veg
10: 21 Soups made
11: 20 Trips and treats
12: 20 Films watched
13: 25 TV programmes
14: 24 Street art
15: 17 Christianity
16: 24 Teas
17: 26 Radio 4 programmes	Complete
18: 23 Colours
19: 18 Places
20: 20 Whiskies

A	20	complete
B	20	complete
C	20	complete
D	20	complete
E	20	complete
F	18
G	20	complete
H	18
I	19
J	17
K	16
L	18
M	19
N	15
O	17
P	19
Q	15
R	18
S	18
T	18
U	13
V	14
W	15
X	7
Y	10
Z	15