This page lists the titles of the books we will read and discuss in 2026. When we have full details for events (date and venue for discussion, free resources and more), there will be a link to a separate page on this site for each event.

We provide this list in advance of full details so that people can plan and budget ahead, perhaps picking a few books from the year they would most like to focus on, or times when they are most able to find time to read. If you can find the time to read all the books and join us for all the discussions, that’s wonderful – but we are more than happy to welcome people along to a single session on a topic they are most interested in.

We are very grateful that, once again, most if not all of the books will be available to buy from the Yellow Lighted Bookshop (YLB) with a 15% discount (by entering the coupon code “26stroudradical” when you reach the basket stage). Where we have a link to order the book from YLB prior to full information for a session, we have added that.

Our discussions will always be held in a Stroud town centre location, and entry will always be free – with collections of donations to cover costs. People will always be welcome to join us to listen to the discussion if they have not read the month’s book.

2026 book list:

January: The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly

February: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love: Precarity, Power, Communities by Joy James

March – choose either:

• Or Something Worse: Why We Need to Disrupt the Climate Transition by Nicholas Beuret
• Lifehouse – taking care of ourselves in a world on fire by Adam Greenfield

April: Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler

May: We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope, Edited by Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Ann Older

June – choose either:

• A People’s History of Football – A Graphic Chronicle by Mickaël Correia and JC Deveney
• A People’s History of Football by Mickaël Correia (text version, link is to Yellow-Lighted Bookshop page only)

July: News from Nowhere by William Morris

August: Woman On The Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

September – choose either:

• Woman, Life, Freedom by Marjane Satrapi
• Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art from the Women’s Protests in Iran, Edited by Malu Halasa

October: How Long ’til Black Future Month? By N. K. Jemisin

November: No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit (link is to Yellow-Lighted Bookshop page only)

December: Close to the Knives by David Wojnarowicz