The Hay Festival has launched 'The Pleasure List', a crowd-sourced collection of 39 captivating books chosen by the public to revive the joy of reading across Britain.10:09, 21 May 2026The Hay Festival has launched an ambitious new initiative aimed at reversing the decline of reading in Britain by celebrating the sheer joy of fiction.‌Named ‘The Pleasure List’, the crowd-sourced collection of adult reading recommendations has been curated to highlight the country’s most un-put-downable books.‌The campaign has been developed in partnership with the National Year of Reading 2026, serving as a direct response to worrying statistics that suggest fewer and fewer people across the United Kingdom are choosing to read for pleasure in their spare time.‌The unveiling of the list coincides with the opening day of the Hay Festival, which remains the largest free-to-enter celebration of books in the UK. Spanning eleven days in the famous book town of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, this year’s event marks the festival’s 39th anniversary.READ MORE: Children's reading crisis as UK families struggle and shared reading rates plummet by 11%READ MORE: Malala Yousafzai and Gisèle Pelicot lead star-packed Hay Festival 2026 line-upTo honour this milestone, the public-voted list features 39 titles, offering a diverse range of literary inspiration designed to appeal to readers of all ages and backgrounds. The final selection is the result of a massive six-month public call-out, during which thousands of passionate readers from across the country submitted their personal favourites to shape the definitive list.‌Reflecting a broad mix of genres, the final 39 titles bridge the gap between traditional literary classics and modern digital phenomena. The list boasts a strong showing from fantasy, crime, and romance, featuring contemporary #BookTok bestsellers alongside timeless masterpieces.Among the celebrated works included are romantic staples like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Jilly Cooper’s Riders, alongside gripping speculative fiction such as George Orwell’s 1984, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.Modern blockbusters such as Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing and Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club also sit comfortably alongside historical heavyweights like Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, proving that the British public’s appetite for storytelling spans centuries and styles.‌Want to hear the latest books news and reviews from The Mirror's resident bookworm? Follow Aimée Walsh on Tiktok and InstagramStephen Fry, the president of the Hay Festival, expressed both concern for current trends and immense optimism for the new campaign. He noted that while the National Year of Reading is fantastic news for book lovers, current statistics indicate that regular readers are decreasing.‌Fry explained: "You might have heard that this year is our National Year of Reading. Great news for book lovers, but the stats show we’re a dying breed. Fewer and fewer people in Britain are reading for pleasure and we want to change that."Hay Festival Chief Executive Julie Finch added: "Over the past six months we have been inspired as the public nominations for our Pleasure List campaign have flooded in. It has been a reminder of the joyful place reading holds in many of our lives – the power of great stories to delight and entertain us – a joy we’re keen to spread as far as possible in the National Year of Reading."The Pleasure List in fullA Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas‌A Little Life by Hanya YanagiharaA Man Called Ove by Fredrik BackmanA Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini‌David Copperfield by Charles DickensDune by Frank HerbertEleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman‌Fourth Wing by Rebecca YarrosHamnet by Maggie O’FarrellHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling‌Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëMurder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieNight Watch by Terry Prachett‌Northern Lights by Philip PullmanOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel by García MarquezPillars of the Earth by Ken Follett‌Piranesi by Susanna ClarkePride and Prejudice by Jane AustenRebecca by Daphne du Maurier‌Refugee Boy by Benjamin ZephaniahRiders by Jilly CooperRight Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse‌Small Things Like These by Claire KeeganThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan DoyleThe Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros‌The Book Thief by Marcus ZusakThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams‌The Island of Missing Trees by Elif ShafakThe Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. TolkienThe Midnight Library by Matt Haig‌The Secret History by Donna TarttThe Shining by Stephen KingThe Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller‌The Thursday Murder Club by Richard OsmanThings We Lost in the Fire by Mariana EnríquezWhere the Crawdads Sing by Delia OwensArticle continues belowWolf Hall by Hilary Mantel1984 by George OrwellLove reading? Join Dr. Aimée Walsh and our community of fellow readers in the Mirror Book Club to dive deeper into the books everyone is talking about.