The New Fifty Books A Year Thread 2020

Well done everyone.

I started trying to do this at the beginning of the year but somehow got waylaid by Gransnet and the internet! I have a shelf full of books which I have brought home when they have been offered round by my little circle of English friends but I really can't be bothered with them. I have downloaded a few onto my Kindle and read them, and shall probably do that with the rest.

My hall is already full of books I am getting rid of. The problem here in Germany is that, short of throwing them in the bin, there is very little you can do with books. Charity shops are not a "thing" and anyone else who is collecting them for fundraising has more than they need. The library has book flea markets but they have been cancelled this year and the women that organise them are disbanding as their members are dying off and no one is interested in taking their place. (My DGS's other grandmother is the chairwoman).

There are a couple of free book exchange cupboards dotted about in public places, but these are also closed due to Covid. Selling or giving away through newspaper ads is about the only option I have.

So I hope to join you next year and at the same time have less booksheves to dust.

43 Erica James .Tell it to the Skies
44 Robert Eric :Sanctuary
45 Janie Bolitho: Caught Out in Cornwall
46 Janie Bolitho :Buried in Cornwall
47 Janie Bolitho Plotted in Cornwall
48 Janie Bolitho Killed in Cornwall
49 Bernard Schlink: The Reader
50 Raynor Winn:The Salt Path. Really enjoyed the last 2 books. Read 50 after seeing it recommended on here.

That’s a tongue-twister, Rosecarmel! I love it.

Sar53 try Goodreads. You can record what you are reading, want to read or have read. My notebook recording books was started in 1996 but when I discovered Goodreads I started using it. I can keep track of my TBR pile when I go to the library or search online on Overdrive. Great app/website.

I do the reading challenge on Goodreads , it’s a great incentive. I promised 70 in 2020 and got to 105! Hadn’t factored in a pandemic! I will aim for 70 in 2021. Look forward to reading this thread. ATM, I’m reading The Coffinmakers Garden (Stuart Macbride) on Pigeonhole and Sleep ( SL Taylor) on my Kindle.

Ok, thanks all for your comments, I'll start one tomorrow. Wishing you all the best for 2021 and hope that it's an improvement on 2020.

The New Fifty, Fewer or Further Book Thread For 2021

Your intro (OP) above is welcoming and explains it all-

Just reading Love the Making by Roisin Meaney , I used to be an avid fan of Maeve Binchey and this is the only author I can find that seems to match her style

I suppose 50 might be a bit off putting if you don’t normally read much, though personally, I don’t mind. 30 sounds more achievable, as that’s about a book every ten days or so, and less daunting for someone who is testing the water.

Terri I just read , it wouldn't matter to me whether you said 30, 50 or 100. I keep a notebook and write down every book I read. Last year it was 87 this year 82.
Some people read quickly, some more slowly. So long as you enjoy the books you read it shouldn't matter how many the total is.

say

47. The Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell.

48. When We Were Very Young by AA Milne (it was lovely to revisit this with my youngest GC)

49. Ruby and the Naughty Cats by Jane Hissey.

50. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. My very first AC! I haven’t actually finished it yet but will by midnight, so with the addition of books I read to my GD, that’s fifty book.

rosecarmel, I was thinking twice about it, I'm wondering if the "50" number puts people off, what do you think? I didn't make that number this year, say. Should we revise the thread to say 30?? I'd appreciate your opinion, or anyone else's for that matter. Personally I think we need our books more than ever right now. Simply amazed when I go over to MN, some contributors get to over a 100, in fact close to 200

I picked up numerous books this year that I was unwilling to finish! I found myself reading articles instead, in the news and magazines about current events and subjects that interest me- As a result didn't even come close to 50! But I do hope that TerriBull will begin a new thread for 2021

I thought for sure with the situation at hand I would have read more books!

46. A Wood of One’s Own by Ruth Pavey. It’s an account of a woman who bought some scrubland in Somerset in order to plant a wood. It’s ok, but rather slim.

38 - Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 by Albert Marrin

45. The Fall of the House of Byron by Emily Brand.

I'd be closer to 50 books but I managed to start quite a few books that I just couldn't commit to!

38 - The Return by Nicholas Sparks

Oh, that was book #37!

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

I love to give credit where credit is due but this novel garners the opposite- The author grifted, lifted and stitched together this and that from other southern writers to create a tacky, patchwork romantic piece of crap -- zero originality, no stars-

I picked it up to read not even knowing what the book was about because I read Me Before You and loved it- But geez ..

The only thing I can assume is that it was a personal challenge- Also found it odd that The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was published months before The Giver of Stars, both covering the exact same subjects, regions and with strikingly similar characters-

Daisy Werthen would call it highway robbery ??☺

Hands down the worse book so far this year!

43 The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomons. I admit I’ve only read the first third and the last third. I may or may not read the middle third.

44 The Son by Philipp Meyer. What a book! It’s basically the history of Texas told through the eyes of several generations of one family. It’s bloody at times and challenging, with many dialect words unfamiliar to the British, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

29 Moonflower Murders - Anthony Horowitz very good, the format is a book within a book set fifty years apart but the plots and murders are linked. Agatha Christie pastiche. I enjoyed it.

30 The Invisible Girl - Lisa Jewell. Not one of her best, I really like her as a writer though and of late I feel there's a Ruth Rendell quality (a much missed author) about her writing.

31 Find Them Dead - Peter James, latest in the Roy Grace series, much of the action takes place around the trial of a man accused of running a County Lines operation and a jury member who is being threatened to direct the jury to a not guilty verdict. Quite good.

32. The Golden Rule - Amanda Craig. Chance meeting when two women are thrown together in the same carriage on a long journey down to Cornwall. Their conversation throws up the fact that they both have abusive partners. They agree a pact to murder each others men folk. Inspired by "Strangers on a Train" the narrative also provides, via a Cornwall and London backdrop a state of the nation comment on the "haves" and "have nots" exemplified by the London second homers in Cornwall and the stark contrast of the natives of that county doing their best to eek out a living where the main industry, fishing has been decimated. Slightly similar to Jonathan Coe's "Middle England" I personally prefer Amanda Craig's writing.

33 Remain Silent - Susie Steiner. Every bit as good as Ellie Griffiths' Ruth Galloways imo, this is the third in a series which features, DI Manon Bradshaw. Haven't quite finished it yet, but the plot centres around a young Lithuanian immigrant worker in Wisbech found hanged, a vicious gang master and local community tensions.

I somehow don't think I'm going to reach the target of 50 before the end of the year, my next books is probably going to be "Troubled Blood" which my husband tells me is awfully good, but it's nearly 1,000 pages so that'll keep me going for a while.

Last posted in July so a few to catch up on!
24: Jonas Jonasson , The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden.
25: Josephine Cox, A Woman's Fortune.
26: Judy Leigh, The Age of Misadventure. A bit trashy, OK for holiday reading!
27: Kerry Fisher, The Silent Wife. Really good story about husband who abuses his wife but she doesn't tell anyone.
28: Santa Montefiore, The Daughters of Castle Deverill.
29: Robert Goddard, Set in Stone.
30: Sue Grafton, D is for Deadbeat.
31: Jay Rayner, My Dining Hell or 20 ways to have a Lousy Night Out. Very funny, disses a lot if high class restaurants, some of which have now closed, not surprisingly!
32: Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club. Enjoyed this and glad to hear that it is to be made into a film.
33: Sue Grafton, E is for Evidence
34: Sheena Mackay, The Orchard on Fire. Great read.
35:Clare Morrall, Astonishing Splashes of Colour. Another goodie.
36:Gervais Phinn, The other side of the Dales. Very witty account of author's time working as a school inspector in the Yorkshire Dales.
37: P D James Sleep No More.
38:Ann Cleeves, The Glass Room
39:Ann Cleeves, Silent Voices. Not read any of her books till now but enjoyed them.
40:Jane Bolitho, Betrayed in Cornwall.
41: M J Lee, Where the Silence Calls. Good thriller.
42: Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests. Very well written, set in early 1920s. She wrote Tipping the Velvet which I remember seeing on TV a while back. Similar theme (love between 2 woman,) but with a murder as well!

I may make it 50 by end of year at this rate! (If I pick shortish books)?

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36 - One Life by Megan Rapinoe with Emma Brockes

This is the best book I've read thus far this year -- along with The Salt Path-

Blurbs:

"Megan Rapinoe, Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women's World Cup champion, has become a galvanizing force for social change; here, she urges all of us to take up the mantle, with actions big and small, to continue the fight for justice and equality

Raised in a conservative small town in Northern California, the youngest of six, Megan Rapinoe was four years old when she kicked her first soccer ball. Her parents encouraged her love for the game, but taught her that winning was much less important than how she lived her life. From childhood on, Rapinoe always did what she could to stand up for what was right—even if it meant going up against people who disagreed.

In One Life, Rapinoe reflects on the choices she has made, her victories and her failures, and embarks on a thoughtful and candid discussion of her personal journey into social justice. After the 2011 World Cup, discouraged by how few athletes were willing to discuss their sexuality, Rapinoe decided to come out publicly as gay and use her platform to advocate for marriage equality. Recognizing the power she had to bring attention to critical issues, in 2016 she took a knee during the national anthem in solidarity with former NFL player Colin Kaepernick to protest racial injustice and police brutality—the first high-profile white athlete to do so. The backlash was immediate, but it couldn’t compare to the overwhelming support. Rapinoe became a force of change, both on and off the field.

Using anecdotes from her own life and career as an Olympic gold medalist and two-time women’s World Cup champion, from suing the US Soccer Federation over gender discrimination to her widely publicized refusal to visit the White House, Rapinoe discusses the obligation we all have to speak up, and the impact each of us can have on our communities. Deeply personal and inspiring, One Life reveals that real, concrete change lies within all of us, and asks: If we all have the same resource—this one precious life, made up of the decisions we make every day—what are you going to do? "

"Emma Brockes is the author of What Would Barbra Do?: How Musicals Saved My Life, which was serialized on the BBC. She writes for The Guardian’s Weekend Magazine and has contributed to The New York Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle. She lives in New York City."