Fifty Books a Year (or fewer)

I've just finished 'The Invisible Woman' taking on the vintage years by Helen Walmsley-Johnson Not my usual reading but sitting here with a fractured leg since October so open to read something new. Got me hooked and read in a day. Not a moaning book as i had assumed more a this is whats been happening to me and what i'm doing about it win or lose. Parts food for thought, parts had me nodding in agreement and others laughing out loud. Would recommend it happens to us all to some degree

Once, whilst driving along and listening to Alan Bennet reading his book The Clothes They stood Up In, I nearly ran into a ditch I was laughing so much.Be warned!

On the first thread I declared "don't think tat I will manage anywhere near 50 books", now I'm thinking well perhaps I will
Here is my list for the first half of January:

You Let me In by Lucy Clarke - I thoroughly enjoyed this and didn't foresee the ending at all

The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd - didn't enjoy this at all

Thursdays in the Park Hilary Boyd - was okay, a nice light read

This is going to Hurt Adam Kay - certainly thought provoking

Why Mummy Drinks Gill Simms - loved this, lots of laugh out loud moments

I've just finished " the house on half moon street " by Alex Reeve which I got from the library before Grandsnet gave away copies. What did those of you who had them think of it. Unusual I thought and taking the present talk of being in the wrong body back to the 1880 s to see how people coped then. It was interesting and a good read.

Here's another recommendation, although I'm only half-way through it.

'Wives and Sweethearts' by Alastair Massie and Frances Parton, comprises letters taken from the National Army Museum archives. With comments on the times and contents, and sometimes the lives of the writers and recipients, it makes fascinating and poignant reading.

Well I finished Homegoing a few days ago. What a wonderful sweeping saga of a story, following two branches of one African family over several generations, taking the reader through the slave trade both in Africa and the US, right up to modern times. No spoilers here. Thoroughly recommended!
I'm a little way into A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, but not sure I'll get through it. I want to, because it is so highly acclaimed, but I am struggling with it. It jumps from one generation to another, backwards and forwards in time, and I am having difficulty keeping up with who everyone is, where they belong generationally. I could seriously do with a family tree! I may have to put it aside and start something else...

My daughter gave me Homegoing to read and like you, Bathsheba I was blown away. An amazing book.

Do persist with A God In Ruins. I loved it and thought it better than Life After Life.

Has anyone read Milkman?

Thanks SueDonim, I will keep on with the book for a while - I am enjoying it, just struggling with placing everyone! So pleased to find someone else who loved Homegoing

Yes, it is a bit challenging keeping everyone in your mind - not one for reading as you drop off to sleep at night.

Homegoing seems to have been really popular amongst youngsters. The author is only young herself so maybe it appeals to them and they can relate to it more.

I’ve just finished the White Chrysanthemum which is set mainly in Korea and has the Japanese army ‘comfort women’ as its central subject. I read it in two sittings, the last of which had me still reading at 3.30 this morning because I needed to know what happened next. Always the sign of a good book.

I didn’t really get on with A God in Ruins either so I’ve just parked it temporarily waiting for a second attempt because I usually enjoy Kate Atkinson.

Book 3 A girl can dream --- Anne Bennett
Book 4 --- Beneath a Frosty Moon ---Rita Bradshaw

Loved both books

I thought ‘A God in Ruins’ “dropped away” a bit towards the end. I was disappointed.

I really enjoyed A God in Ruins. Apparently Kate Atkinson is writing another Jackson Brodie book, really enjoyed those.

Have finished 2 books so far. The Woman Who Kept Everything by Jane Gilley and Eleanor Oliphant is completely Fine.
Enjoyed them both, easy to read and interesting.

Finished Eleanor Oliphant this afternoon . Read for
my March Book Club meeting . I enjoyed it very much as it is an easy book to read but a good story well told..& believable characters. Finishing of a Christmas Crime Classic book of short stories until I decide my next longer book!

Hello Lemongrove. I have that on tape and listen to it when I want something cheerful. Ive also got him reading The Lady in the Van which is another favourite listen .

Finished Billy Connolly, made in scotland, loved it.
Book 4. Ruby Wax....How to be human..

Enjoyed another Dorothy Sayers Peter Wimsey series, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. Also enjoyed Death on a Longship by Marsali Taylor and The Candlelit Coffin by Elizabeth Bailey which Amazon compares to Georgette Heyer. Not as good as GH, no-one is for me, but a decent Regency mystery with a romance as a small part.

I’m lagging! I’ve finished The Sun Does Shine, which I really enjoyed, and am now starting book 3, Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman, as I fancy something equally disturbing, but fictional this time!

Just finished book number 2 (ok I’m a bit slow compared to lots of you but do a lot of crafting as well as reading), Human Face by Aline Templeton which I can recommend. This is the first in her new series of detective books. Aline wrote the series about the detective Marjory Fleming I enjoyed all of those so worth reading if you have not come across them before. The characters in the new series are quite different so I’m looking forward getting to know them in future books.

bonji don’t worry, you’re ahead of me, haha. I’m only a quarter of the way through my second book! Like you, I do a lot of crafting, well sewing really. I spend my days sewing or knitting and read only while eating lunch and dinner, and again when I go to bed. No way I’ll get through 50 books in a year ??

Up to now I've read, The Christmas sisters by Sarah Morgan, a lovely Christmas st read.
I then read, Well meet again by Lilly Baxter who also writes as Dilly court, this was a wartime romance between a German officer and a local girl living in the occupied channel islands.
I also read, Beautiful liars by Isabel Ashdown, this is a crime novel akin to a Ruth Rendell novel. I couldn't put it down.
Am currently reading , Spitfire girl by Lily Baxter and after the first chapter its sounding good.

I've finished The Girl On The Train. It kept me intrigued but after the end, it felt somewhat unfulfilling. Thrillers are not my usual choice and I don't think I'm really cut out for them, because I've read three over the recent months for book groups, and I've found none of them satisfying.

My book No 6 is The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson.

Just finished The Essex Serpent. Not my cup of tea but well written. Starting Peter James book Faith.