So: another year over and another about to begin. But however 2025 has treated us and whatever 2026 has in store for us, there will always be another book to read!
My favourite read of 2025 was American Pastoral by Philip Roth – you can access my review here – so it’s perhaps unsurprising that the other two books in his American trilogy, I Married a Communist and The Human Stain, are on my reading list for 2026.
And after rediscovering Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, I’ve decided to give her novel Mrs Dalloway another shot, particularly as Hubby’s mum has gifted me a ticket for the stage adaptation at Chester Storyhouse in June 2026.
Also on my radar for 2026 are:
- Flesh by David Szalay, winner of the 2025 Booker Prize (enough said);
- Four winners of the Whitbread Novel award – I’m gradually working my way through the winners’ list – that Hubby bought me for Christmas i.e. Kruger’s Alp by Christopher Hope, Young Shoulders by John Wain (not that one), The Old Jest by Jennifer Johnston, and Picture Palace by Paul Theroux;
- A few classic works inspired by the wonderfully eclectic Bedside Companion for Travel Lovers (a page-a-day anthology of travel writing that includes poetry, fiction, journalism, memoirs, et al, which my big sis’ gave me last Christmas, and which has been my post-breakfast reading throughout 2025), namely H G Well’s sci-fi masterpiece The Time Machine, Henry James’s classic travelogue English Hours, and A E Houseman’s poetry collection A Shropshire Lad.
Finally, December 2025 is the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and with major events taking place across the UK throughout 2026 it seems only fitting to revisit one of her novels. The big question is: which one?
So what’s on your 2026 reading list? And which Jane Austen should I read – and why? Please share your ideas.
I’ll leave you with lines 1 to 7 from Walt Whitman’s Song of the Open Road, today’s offering from the Bedside Companion anthology:
“Afoot and lighthearted, I take to the open road, / Healthy, free, the world before me, / The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose. / Henceforth I ask not good-fortune – I myself am good fortune, / Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, / Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms, / Strong and content I travel the open road.”
Happy holidays, Happy New Year, and Happy reading to one and all!
whatcathyread 
Happy New Year, Cathy
I am thoroughly enjoying your blogs – thank you for sharing your views
of your reads they are very interesting. I’ve also enjoyed the ‘prompts’
to go back to authors I have not read for years – therefore, for
example, I will be reading To the Lighthouse this year. I’m a big fan
of Jane Austin although I’ve only come to her in very recent years
having been enchanted since childhood with the Bronte sisters and a
little later with George Eliot. I got started with Austin when I
received a pretty box set of her novels – I read them chronologically
after getting overwhelmed with so many on-line opinions re which one to
start with. I then did a course with Octavia Cox (she does some
interesting youtube talks) about Austin’s writing and still have Marilyn
Butler’s book to read which was a recommendation on the course.
I’m hoping to get into a reading routine this year. Here is the next
batch of books I will be reading – one at a time – having several on the
go does not work with me. The batch contains a couple of Christmas
presents and others that have been on my shelves for years.
I’m very much looking forward to reading more whatcathyread blogs this year.
Many thanks
Helen
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