*2021 - 50 BOOKS FOR THE YEAR*

Juno56

As a teenager I 'discovered' Georgette Heyer. In the succeeding 50 years I have periodically revisited her books. So #13 has been Devil's Cub.

Have you read These Old Shades? It's prequel to The Devil's Cub and was my first GH book, recommended by my mother in my teens. These two are still my favourite GH books.

#12. Service Of All The Dead by Colin Dexter.

Just finished The Moving Finger.

A Miss Marple book, but feel very short changed, it’s 234 pages long, and Miss M only appeared at page 175.

Bit of a swiz.

No 8 Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley. It’s about the women of colour who were the human computers behind America’s defence and space programmes. The story is fascinating but the writing is poor. There’s a film which I will watch at some point.

No 9. The Strange Adventures of H by Sarah Burton.
I loved this rollicking novel. It’s set in 1660’s London and follows the life of a young girl, H, as she is orphaned and has to fight to survive in a man’s world.

#5 Bel Canto by Ann Patchett I love her books, all a bit different but she makes the characters seem real

#6 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens I was a little disappointed with this as it all seemed a bit predictable

About to start #7 The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

#17 The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves, the latest Vera novel. Really enjoyed it. I’ll look out for Patricia Gibney, Sarahmob and mrshat, sounds like an author I’d enjoy. So many books, so little time!

I really enjoyed The Overstory by Richard Powers - it's about five trees.

Sarahmob - I love Patricia Gibney - I've worked my way through all her books!!

Found a copy of Arsène Lupin Le Bouchon de Cristal. Enjoyed watching the series on Netflix recently.

I'm currently reading through Val McDermid, Karen Pirie stories atm. I'll progress to the others in due course. Over the moon to have discovered VMcD, so many books, so little time. I know I'm a bit late to this particular party.

This was book number 14, it was a brilliant read (99p cheapie on my Kindle). I was hooked and intend to download more of the series. Police procedural thriller by genre.

Against my better judgement I carried on and finished “Thief Taker”. Overlong, unnecessarily gruesome, and more ridiculous as it went along.
Now reading “The Night Crossing” by Robert Masello. A promising start.

Just finished reading The Forty Rules of Love. By Elif Shafak. I found it very thought provoking and the descriptions of life in 13 century Turkey were wonderful

#11. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie.

Really falling behind!

#6. Shadow Dancer by Tom Bradby - a gripping book set in Northern Ireland in the 70's.

#7. The Beekeeper of Aleppo - I found this very moving and a must read really!

#16 The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. Very good. Raises questions about guilt, redemption and forgiveness.

I also enjoyed the Shardlake books.

I enjoyed “The Angel’s Mark”, Skallarigg and the one that followed it in the series, “The Serpent’s Mark”. Have yet to read number three but I’m sure it will be just as engaging. I am battling my way through “Thief Taker” - it’s getting sillier by the minute, so I may not stay the course.

Just finished #14, Motherwell by Deborah Orr. It is a memoir of growing up in Motherwell in the sixties and seventies with a Scottish father and an English mother - I was interested because the author (who has sadly died since writing the book) was only a couple of years older than me. However, I found it very rambling and navel-gazing and grew fed up with the use of the word narcissistic to describe people.

I now have an app on my iPad where I can record all the books l have read and give a brief review and rating Amazon style. It is fun to do and also means that l can refer back to it when I am tempted to buy a book (usually from The Works or a charity shop) because it looks interesting, only to find l have a copy on the shelf or Kindle or have read it already.

#10. The Silent World Of Nicholas Quinn by Colin Dexter.

Yes I enjoy S J Parris. Am a big CJ Samson fan love his books about Adam Shardlake. Just finished The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor and have moved on to Angel's Mark by S W Perry. but new author's for me.

I’m still working on books 3 and 4 and 5. I am really enjoying Execution by S J Parris.

I’ve not gotten off to a good start. Too much reading & posting here.

Anyway, I’ve read 2 books since the first week in January.

1. The Thursday Murder Club - pretty dire
2. City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert which I loved. A book set in New York from 40’s. Nora Ephron’s humour meets The Great Gatsby. I would highly recommend. Tears at the end just now for me. This was our book club read & I don’t think I’d have chosen to read it otherwise. Yay! I ❤️ book club for that alone.

Now for the lovely frisson of choosing my next book!
?

No 7. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

This book features the topic of racial identity, as twins girls grow up in the southern states of the US.

I really recommend it.

Just about to start #14 The Invisible Library Genevieve Cogman. It looks entertaining.