Fifty Books a Year (or fewer)

Have just finished Dissolution. Heavens, that was a good book. Took a while to get into it, haven’t touched on the Tudors for over 50 years. Then it took off and I couldn’t put it down. Came to really like Matthew Shardlake and look forward to reading more about him. What really struck me were the similarities between then and now. Reformers and Papists. Leavers and Remoaners. We don’t seem to have come very far in 482 years. My third book will be Dark Fire then I must ease off. Read the whole of Ellie Griffith’s last year one after the other then felt stuffed in more ways than one.

Finished, The Heart goes Last by Margaret Attwood ..brilliant read if you like, twisted, quirky, dark and hilarious stories, 10/10
Book no.3... Billy Connolly, made in scotland..love billy, so I'm biased already!

I’ve just started Milkman by Anna Burns. I’m also reading Michael Mosley’s The Fast 800.

What a wonderful thread. I now have an excuse to buy a new notebook. I have just finished reading 'The Yard' by Alex Grecian. It is set in the year after the Jack the Ripper murders. Now I am reading 'The Devil's Workshop' by the same author - again starring Walter Day and the newly formed Murder Squad. I will count that as two books this year. I do love a good thriller.

Finished Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham at lunchtime. It made me cry and laugh and I learned a lot. I thought it was a very well written book giving good insight into aspects of ASD. I recommend it!

Just finished ‘Templar Silks’ by Elizabeth Chadwick. Will start ‘Oswald, Return of the King’ by Eduardo Albert, another historical novel, this weekend.

I must reacquaint myself with Matthew Shardlake, Alima. I read and enjoyed the first three books and then lost touch with the rest of the series.

I'm re-reading 'Katherine' by Anya Seton, a classic by now. It's an historical: John of Gaunt's mistress and then wife.

I like all Anya Seton's books, so beautifully researched and written.
She was an American but writes about British history with such authority.

Just finished another Crime book -"Improving the Silence" (A Harry Vicary Mystery) by Peter Turnbull.

A good read, about bent coppers!

I've just finished my third book 'Anatomy of a Scandel by Sarah Vaughn. A good story with a twist. My fourth is 'The Moon Sister' by Lucinda Riley. I really like Lucinda Riley as an author, great stories, well written. The Seven Sister series are well worth reading preferably in the order they were written.

Book 3 : The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne. This has been recommended by several Gnetters and I am looking forward to reading it.

Finished Cloud Atlas- strange book but I quite enjoyed most of it.
Started book 3 -Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne which is our reading group book this month- very promising start.
Just realised he wrote The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas which I could not bring myself to read (not yet anyway)

To those starting The Heart's Invisible Furies, wonderful book best I'd read in the past couple of years, wish I was starting it again for the first time. Enjoy!

Sarah53 I also loved Anatomy of A Scandal and looking forward, like you, to reading the Moon Sister love Lucinda Riley's, Seven Sister series.

Found Cloud Atlas, strange and unique but heavy going, read it a few years ago now, it was a little bit of a penance, but I ploughed on and managed to finish it.

Have just finished In My Mind’s Eye by Jan Morris. A lovely book just about her everyday thoughts on just about everything! Then read A Brush With Death by Quintin Jardine mainly because his books are set in Edinburgh and East Lothian where my son lives, though this one was mainly in Glasgow. Not as good as some previous ones but I liked getting to know some of the previously more peripheral characters better. Am now reading Conundrum again by Jan Morris. I love her style of writing and Conundrum is a total eye opener - to me anyway.

I too loved The Heart’s Invisible Furies it was definitely my book of the year in 2018.
I’m currently reading A History of Loneliness also by John Boyne which I am enjoying but possibly not quite as much as The Heart’s Invisible Furies. Boyne is, in my opinion, a brilliant writer.

Greyduster I have just finished Tombland, the latest Shardlake book. It was riveting and held my interest for all 800 pages. C J Sansom researches brilliantly, the detail is fascinating.
My husband was interested as well, he is a Norwich man born and bred.

I've just finished Adam Kay's This Is Going To Hurt. I'm feeling quite stunned by it, actually. It's a compassionate. humorous book with a dark interior, which makes me feel very sad, particularly as my dd is a student medic.

Book No 5 is The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins.

Book 2 finished.....Erica James.. Coming Home to Island House. Thoroughly good read set around 1939.
Book 3 finished Adam Kay..This is going to hurt, Secret diaries of a Junior Doctor.
Very funny, horrifying and riveting......learnt a few things about obstetrics and those!!
But what was really appalling was the enormous pressure on Junior Doctors.....and the book was based on Adam Kay's experiences up to 2010......can't believe that things are any better now.

Had to put ‘The Distant Hours’ on hold to read Book Group choice, ‘Conclave’ by Robert Harris. As the name suggests it is about the choosing of a new Pope. A bit tedious, lots of difficult names and a predictable ending. I did find some of the insights into the procedure quite interesting.

I am reading Stratton’s War by Laura Wilson. It is about a Policeman during the war years. She has written quite a few of these and they are very atmospheric. We read about his home life, his relatives and the police officers at the station.
Stratton is lovely, he is a cross between Inspector Foyke, Inspector Frost and Dixon of Dock Green.

I love these threads and usually male lists to check up on the title. Would find it really helpful if posters could give a brief synopsis of the plot.

All change! I realised I had read “Oswald the King”, so abandoned it and started “Songwoman”, a tale of ancient Britain, which looks quite promising. As of this morning, I have the book I have been waiting a few weeks for from the library, “Circe” by Madeline Miller, so must get on with that as there is a huge waiting list for it!

I have so little time these days for reading, in fact only have time for GN for about ten minutes a day ( if that) I had no idea that being retired could get so busy! ?
However, I should read more so this is a good idea, and I shall write down some of the book suggestions.
I have just read Slade House by David Mitchell ( quirky, like all his books, you either love him or hate him) it’s a supernatural story, very inventive.

Hi. Please may I join too. Such an excellent idea.
I’m reading two books at the moment. First Light, which is Geoffrey Wellums autobiography about his life as a spitfire pilot. I’m really enjoying it. Also reading , on my kindle,
Debutant by Ann Melville . It’s a light read but enjoyable. Coincidently this covers some of the same period of the Second World War as First Light. Thank you everyone for your recommendations.

lemongrove have you considered audio books? They play while you work

I've just finished A Secret Gift by Ted Gup. The story of a man who decided to send money to "deserving cases" during the 1933 US depression.

Gup has located the families of some of these and intersperses their stories with that of the man who started it all.

Yes BradfordL I listen to them when driving.