Fifty Books a Year (or fewer)

mrswoo: All the books with asterisks either side of the title should have been in bold, meaning I loved them. Having recently discovered Lucinda Riley, I am thoroughly enjoying all the books by her that I have read so far. I typed the list on my phone which possibly wasn't the best idea. In my haste there were a few typos so apologies for that.

We’ve just been talking about this at work. I’ve started with a gift in December by Jenny gladwell. So I’ve started so I’ll Finnish I will keep you posted.

I’m getting round to doing my list ( it’s less than 50)

In the meantime granfromafar I was wondering if the books with the * beside the title were the ones you loved or the ones you hated. I hated The Love Letter by Lucinda Riley but I think you may have loved it. I usually enjoy her books, but not that one. You’ve got some interesting books on your list which I am going to take a look at, especially the Isabel Allende.

1. The Japanese Lover, Isabel Allende
2. The Adults. Caroline Hulse
3. After You, Jo Jo Moyes
4. Stark, Ben Elton.(Didn’t finish
5.*The Love Letter, Lucinda Riley*
6. The Girl You Left Behind, Jo Jo Moyes
7. Where Did I Leave my Glasses? Martha Weinman.
8.The 100yr Old Man Who Climbed Outhe Of A Window, Jonas Jonasson.
9, Border Crossing, Pat Barker
10. House of the Spirit, Isabel Allende
11. The Suspect, Fiona Barton
12. Mr Doubler Begins Again, Seni Glaister
13 Becoming, Michelle Obama
14 Mary Mary, James Patterson
15 My Story Fern Britton
16 Incendiary Chris Cleave
17 Magnificent Mrs Mayhew Milly Johnson
18 The Heart Beats in Secret Katie Mum nick
19 Gathering Light Jennifer Connelly
20*Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal Jeanette Winterson*
21 Daughter of Fortune Isabel Allende
23 Where the Light Gets In Lucy Dillon.
24 The Couple Next Door Shari Lapena
25 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Paul Torbay.
26 The Thread Victoria Hislop
27 * Secrets of the Sea House Elizabeth Gifford *
28 After the End Clare Mackintosh
29 Tombland CJ Sansom
30 The Keeper of Lost Things Ruth Hogan
31 Still Me Jo Jo Moyes
32 Clara, A Good Psychopath? Ann Thompson
33 The Muse Jessie Burton
34 The Ex-wives Deborah Moggach
35 The Bottle Factory Outing. Beryl Bainbridge
36 Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler
37 Those Who Are Loved Victoria Hislop
38 The Seven Sisters Lucinda Riley
39*A Single Thread Tracey Chevalier*
40 The Storm Sister Lucinda Riley*
41*The Pearl Sister Lucinda Riley*
42 Haven't They Grown Sophie Hannah.
43 The Shadow Sister Lucinda Riley

1. Road to Little Dribbling, B Bryson
2. The Sun Does Shine, A R Hinton
3. A Room of One’s Own, V Woolf
4. The Librarian, S Vickers
5. The Snowman, J Nesbo
6. The Suspect, F Barton
7. The Green Road, A Enright
8. A Twist of the Knife, P James
9. The Rumour, L Kara
10. Want You Dead, P James
11. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, S Turton
12. I Am, I Am, I Am, M O’Farrell
13. The Devil’s Star, Jo Nesbo
14. An Experiment in Love, H Mantel
15. Honeymoon Suite, W Holden
16. The House on Cold Hill, P James
17. Daughter, J Shemilt
18. The Senator’s Wife, Sue Miller
19. The Seal Woman’s Gift, Sally Magnussen
20. The Bones Beneath, Mark Billingham
21. The Mother in Law, Sally Hepworth
22. The Bad Mother, Amanda Brooke
23. The Girls, Emma Cline
24. The House Across the Street, Lesley Pearse
25. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan
26. If I Die Before I Wake, Emily Koch
27. Transcription, K Atkinson
28. The Dragon Lady, Louisa Treger
29. The Various Haunts of Men, Susan Hill
30. Deckside at Willow Lake, Susan Wiggs
31. My Husband’s Wife, Jane Corry
32. Runaway, Peter May
33. Normal People, Sally Rooney
34. You Could Do Something With Your Life (You Are Raoul Moat), Andrew Hankinson
35. The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year, Sue Townsend
36. How It Was, Janet Ellis
37. I Invited Her, In Adele Parks
38. The Rabbit Girls, Anna Elliott
39. The Couple on Cedar Close, Anna Lou Weatherley
40. Two Brothers, Ben Elton
41. Home Truths, Tina Seskis
42. A Stranger in the House, Shari Lapena
43. Found, Erin Kinsley
44. My Sister the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite
45. Through the Wall, Caroline Corcoran
46. Deceive Me, Karen Cole
47. The Savage Garden, Mark Mills
48. Last Christmas, Greg Wise & Emma Thompson
49. Watching You, Lisa Jewel
50. Lost Hills, Lee Goldberg

Thank you for the thread, TerriBull. See you in 2020.

49. Watching You, Lisa Jewel
50. Lost Hills, Lee Goldberg

One a bit of a mystery, the other a police procedural, and I enjoyed both.

My last two, and I’ve reached my target, phew! I only finished the last one two minutes ago, so now I can get ready to go out to celebrate the New Year with a clear conscience. ?

Looking forward to starting from scratch tomorrow.

The Cold Cold Sea by Linda Huber and Am I Guilty by Jackie Kabler. Amazing books. Read them both about 3 months ago but can still remember them. Quite dark but thrilling.

'1 Allie & Bea by Catherine Ryan Hyde

2 A Village Christmas by Laurie Lee

3 The Children Act by Ian McEwan

4 THIS IS GOING TO HURT by Adam Kay

5 The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkes

6 The Sealwoman’s Gift by Sally Magnusson

7 Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Laurence Durrell

8 Love in an English Garden by Victoria Connelly

9 Admissions A life in brain surgery, by Henry Marsh

10 The Orchard by Tracy Chevalier

11 The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young

12 An Unremarkable Body by Elisa Lodato

13 The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore

14 The Girl in the Letter by Emily Gunnis

15 WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi

16 The Christian Watt Papers by Christian Watt

17 Holding by Graham Norton

18 THE SALT PATH by Raynor Winn

19 After Me Comes The Flood by Sarah Perry

20 Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell.

21 . Middle England by Jonathan Coe.

22 Marrying Off Mother, a collection of short stories by Gerald Durrell.

23 The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne.

24 The Gathering by Anne Enright

25 A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

26 The Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Huxley

27 The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine.

28 The Librarian of Auschwitz trans by Antonio Iturbe (didn’t finish)

29 Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee

30 The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier.

31 The Lost Man by Jane Harper

32 The Memory Tree by Linda Gillard

33 The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman.

34 Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLavity

35 ELMET by Fiona Mozley

36 A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor

37 The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd.

38 The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

39 As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morn by Laurie Lee.

40 Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay

I think a new one, but this one can continue for those who wish to post their entire 2019 list.

Will the new year bring a new thread or will this one continue?

No 20 The Missing Girl, I have no recollection of reading, so it must have been instantly forgettable

I’m on my phone so don’t have the BOLD option, unless there’s a button I don’t know about, which is always possible, so I’ll do amazing, must reads in upper case, got to 50 last night.

1 The Crow Girl Erik Axl Sund
2 BITTER ORANGE Claire Fuller
3 THE STANDING CHANDELIER Lionel Shriver
4 WUTHERING HEIGHTS Emily Bronte
5 Dear Amy Helen Callaghan
6 Nutshell. Ian McEwan
7 A Girl in Winter Philip Larkin
8 Elevation Stephen King
9 The Doll Funeral Kate Hamer
10 TAKE NOTHING WITH YOU Patrick Gale
11 Our House Louise Candlish
12 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson
13 The Roanoke Girls Amy Engel
14 Careless Love Peter Robinson
15THE MINIATURIST Jessie Burton
16Lethal White Robert Galbraith
17 FROM THE HEART Susan Hill
18 The Long Shadow Celia Fremlin
19 My Absolute Darling Gabriel Tallent
20 The Missing Girl Jenny Quintana
21 The Diary of a Provincial Lady. EM Delafield
22 Magpie Murders Antony Horowitz
23 The Sacrifice Joyce Carol Oates
24 THE LIBRARIAN Sally Vickers
25 The Death of Mrs Westaway Ruth Ware
26 One Minute Later Susan Lewis
27 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson
28 A Crown of Lights Phil Rickman
29 Mothering Sunday Graham Swift
30 NORMAL PEOPLE Sally Rooney
31 Port Mortuary Patricia Cornwell
32 Those People Louise Candlish
33 A Far Cry From Kensington Muriel Spark
34 The Snakes Sadie Jones
35 A Spark of Light Jodie Picoult
36 Born Lippy Jo Brand
37 Big Sky Kate Atkinson
38 The Cure of Souls Phil Rickman
39 Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
40 The Turn of the Key Ruth Ware
41 THE STOPPED HEART Julie Myerson
42 The Dark Circle Linda Grant
43 The Family Upstairs Lisa Jewell
44 The Wanderers Tim Pears
45 Wild Fire Ann Cleeves
46 The Thirst Jo Nesbo
47 Tidelands Philippa Gregory
48 Pieces of Her Karin Slaughter
49 OLIVE KITTERIDGE Elizabeth Strout
50 Red Mist Patricia Cornwell

Now on to the next fifty!

I’ve just read this is going to hurt by Adam Kay even though it has over 1000 reviews on Amazon I must admit I wasn’t impressed I found it very repetitive.

I’ve just started self help for your nerves which was recommended to me by another GN

Also Cross your Heart 2nd Sarah Pinborough I didn't like.

Dark Circle and Blood Orange didn't seem to come out as good reads, nor The Man with no Face as a not favoured book. Hope this works

Can't believe this thread is nearly a year old, if you are interested in submitting your completed list stick it here. In MN tradition, great reads in bold rubbish ones in italic

1 The Glass House Ann Cleeves
2The Robber Bride Margaret Atwood (audio)
3 The Rumour Lesley Kara
4 The Missing Girl Jenny Quintana (audio)
5 The Chalk Pit Elly Griffiths
6*The Dark Circle* Linda Grant
7 The Hunting Pary Lucy Foley
8^The Man with No Face^ Peter May
9 Strictly Between Us Jane Fallon (audio)
10 Waiting for Sunrise William Boyd
11 Losing you - Nicci French (audio)
12 The Death of Mrs Westway Ruth Ware
13 All the Beautiful Lies Peter Swanson
14 Educated Tara Westover
15 Ordinary Thunderstorms William Boyd
16 Killing me Softly Nicci French (audio)
17 Transcription Kate Atkinson
18 My not so Perfect Life Sophie Kinsella (audio)
19 A Sleeping Life Ruth Rendell (audio)
20 You were Gone Tim Weaver
21 A Spot of Folly Ruth Rendell
22 The Welsh Girl Peter Ho Davis (audio)
23 The Moon Sister Lucinda Riley
24 Milkman Anna Burns (audio)
23 The Girl on The Cliff Lucinda Riley (audio)
24 In Search of Mary Shelley - Fiona Samson
25 The Janus Stone Elly Griffiths
26 Normal People Sally Rooney
27 Different Class Joanne Harris
28 When she was Bad Tammy Cohen (audio)
29 The Carrier Sophie Hannah (audio)
30The House on Half Moon Street Alex Reeve
31 The Butterfly Room Lucinda Riley
32The Disappearance of Emily Marr Louise Candlish
33The Good People Hannah Kent
34A Room Full of Bones Elly Griffiths
35 The Second Husband Louise Candlish
36Dead at First Sight Peter James
37 The Ghost Fields Elly Griffiths
38 Meridan Philippa Gregory (audio)
39 The Stone Circle Elly Griffiths
40 Crossing Places Elly Griffiths
41 The Word is Murder Anthony Horowitz (audio)
42 Big Sky Kate Atkinson
43^Nine Perfect Strangers^ Lianne Morriaty (audio)
44 Clock Dance Ann Tyler
45 How Was It For You, Women, Sex, Love and Power in the 1960s Virginia Nicholson
46 A Friend from England Anita Brookner
47 Blood Harvest Sharon Bolton (audio)
48^Cross your Heart^ Sarah Pinborough (audio)
49 How it was Janet Ellis
50Those People Louise Candlish
51 I Invited Her in Adele Parks (audio)
52 No one at Home Tim Weaver
53 Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor
54 The House at Sea's End Elly Griffiths
55*Blood Orange* Harriet Tyce
56 Middle England Jonathan Coe
57After the Bombing Clare Morrall [audio]
58 The Black House Peter May
59The Suspect Fiona Barton [audio
60^Pieces of Her^ Karin Slaugher [audio]
61 The Family Upstairs Lisa Jewell
62The Outcast Dead Elly Griffiths
63 A Family Romance Anita Brookner (audio)

I've really only got to the number I have because I've been using my local library's audio collection, limited choice, but I've got used to listening to them in the car. Looking back can't believe I've included one of Peter May's and one of Kate Atkinson's in non enjoyable reads, as usually they are among my favourite authors, nevertheless didn't like either of the books listed Although there's been several books I've really enjoyed, didn't stumble across one of those rare reads that you completely fally in love with such as last year's "The Heart's Invisible Furies"

Came to Elly Griffiths late so still working my way through the Ruth Galloway back catalogue, often in the wrong order so her personal life jumps about a bit. Good reads though.

Tell Me A Story - Cassandra King Conroy

The best book I read this year I guess was Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

41. ’Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay.

My book reading this year has been limited .. Here's to more reading in the future

#40. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morn by Laurie Lee.

48. Last Christmas, compiled by Greg Wise & Emma Thompson

I downloaded this as my Christmas read and have just finished it in bed, when I should be up and at all the prep for tomorrow! It’s very good, not the book of the film but a compilation of various people’s Christmas memories. Some funny, some interesting, some very moving. The last word’s from Victoria Coren Mitchell, a prayer for her little daughter. Please God, may all her Christmases be safe. And consistent. I think that’s what we’d all wish for our little ones.

I have just started my 85th book 'The Christmas Party' by Karen Swan. Not my usual kind of book but as it's Christmas .....
I didn't realise that I read so many books but this has been a good way to see what I do read in a year. I will continue next year.

39. The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar. I loved this, it’s a v unusual story, with a touch of magic realism. I felt as though I was living in Regency times! It’s rather bawdy in places, though, if you’re not keen on that.