*2021 - 50 BOOKS FOR THE YEAR*

16 Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell's, beautifully written, skilful portrayal of the central character, Anne Hathaway, or Agnes as she was known in the book. Her palpable grief in the loss of her son Hamnet was incredibly moving. Having visited Stratford on Avon umpteen times the description of the town, outlying areas and dwellings described resonated in my mind's eye. I thought the book conjured up a filmic atmosphere, particularly the character of Agnes who spent much time faffing about with herbs turning them into medicinal compounds, how much of that was true or conjecture who knows, but I can see a film coming out of the book at some stage.
17 Ralph's Party Lisa Jewell, one of her earliest books, and heaven's above she used a lot of bad language back then, I can almost visualise an editor or two advising her to tone it down a bit. Glad she has, I love much of what she writes now.
18 Take Six Girls (Audio) The Lives of the Mitford Sisters - Laura Thompson. Much has been written about them so the content wasn't new to me, I'd read about Nancy, probably most famous for her books and her "u and non u classifications" the latter blown out of all proportion allegedly! Unity an absolute horror who hero worshiped and met Hitler, clearly unhinged and inept she bungled shooting herself in the head and lived out the final years of her life in a childlike state. Diana a slightly toned down version of Unity spent most of her adult life in thrall to her fascist husband Oswald Moseley. Pamela and Deborah were fairly non political compared with their extremist siblings, the latter became the Duchess of Devonshire. Communist Jessica the other writer in the family, did at least have some redeeming qualities immersing herself in the US civil rights movement where she lived as an adult. I enjoyed listening to the book except when the narrator would from time to time effect an excruciating upper class accent when in Mitford character which I found horrible to listen to.
19 The Farm at the Edge of the World Sarah Vaughan, I got this out of the library because I'd enjoyed the writer's other two books I'd read, this one was ok, but as with a lot of earlier books not as good as the ones she has written more recently.
20 My Name is Lucy Barton Elizabeth Strout, never read any of her books before, this was brief, but I liked it a lot and will probably try Olive Kitteridge by this author next.
21 The Darkest Evening (Vera) Anne Cleves. AC always delivers for me, I enjoyed this one.
22 Right now I'm reading The Radium Girls Kate Moore Not an easy read. An account of the women who worked in factories throughout the 1920s painting clock and watch dials with luminous paint made from radium. Whilst they earnt way above the national average wage so at the outset, just after the First World War this was a lucrative occupation. As time wore on the women began to suffer from insidious illnesses often starting with the loss of teeth and oral infections that never healed, crumbling jaw bones, arthritis, sarcomas, agonising deteriorating conditions lead to their eventual deaths. Needless to say their employers denied responsibility. The women sought umpteen diagnosis from doctors and dentists before finally taking legal action against their employers. I'm about 3/4 through so have yet to reach the final outcome. The injustice they suffered was truly shocking!

Juno56, that was a blast from the past, I read all Georgette Heyer`s books when in my teens. Wonder if I`d enjoy them now as much as back then?

I think you would Hellogirl1 I first read them over 50 years ago so like you in my teens. I have reread them numerous times and each time enjoy them immensely. Go for it! The Grand Sophy is next on my Georgette Heyer list but you could pick any of them.

I`ll keep that in mind. At the moment I`ve got 3 carrier bags of assorted books to get through that I had given to me, so might take about a month to get through them.

I finished Presumed Innocent, but it wasn`t an easy read, lots of American legalise, good twist near the end.

I've had a very busy time so have taken much longer to finish number 33, Fall From Grace by Tim Weaver than I normally would. It is a long, involved thriller in the David Raker, Missing Persons Investigator series and l loved it. You think you have worked out what happened then there is yet another twist. I took off half a star for two Americanisms, though: flashlight and parking lot in a British book by a British author. Petty, l know, but l found it irritating.

Terribull I thought The Radium Girls was a really good read, but quite harrowing. Did you know there is a film that’s been released of this book. I think it’s going to be available on Netflix but wouldn’t swear to it.

Thanks Sarah, yes whilst trying to find out more about the content of the book on line, I see there has been a film made, I think Amazon may have it, but it's not one of those included with Prime membership. As you say, very harrowing, particularly descriptions of the women's deterioration and eventual deaths. Most shocking was how the Radium Dial Company did everything they could to shirk any responsibility towards afflicted employees.

I`ve started book 46, another by Scott Turow, but so far not really enjoying it, it`s a mixture of law and business, but hoping it livens up a bit.

From Cradle to Stage by Viginia Hanlon Grohl, tells stories of various mothers and their famous offsprings rise to fame,
StillMe by JoJo Moyes.. lovely book as were the prequels.
The Wild Silence by Gaynor Winn... life beyond the salt path, joy to read, moving and descriptive.
Dear Child by Romy Hausmann, A psycho thriller that is soooo good ,!!!
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.. an orwellian type book, a deadly virus hits america, Georgia flu, and its consequences.

I didn`t enjoy Burden of Proof, too much business talk.
I then dabbled for about half an hour with A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, but gave up, I`m not that bright, lol! I`ve just read the first few pages of book 47, The Son, by Philipp Meyer, looks OK.

I read The Son last year and loved it! It’s been made into a tv series but was v expensive on Amazon.

I`ve not had much time to read in the last 2 days, so not making much headway with The Son, Sue, but pleased to read a good view of it.

Number 13 read, "Redhead at the side of the road" Ann Tyler. An enjoyable simple story but well written. I love Tyler's style of writing so much I've started another "A spool of blue thread".
TerriBull Elizabeth Strout's writing is not unlike Ann Tyler. I loved both of the Olive books, they are beautifully written, gentle but with real insight into human nature.

#25. The Whole Truth by Cara Hunter.

Not impressed by my last book, The Thursday Murder Club. It seemed a bit like a literary version of the tv series, Rosemary and Thyme, rather twee and improbable.

Very much a Marmite book I think.

foxie, yes I very much agree, Elizabeth Strout's writing does remind me very much of Ann Tyler.

I aimed to up my reads to 50 this year. I'd normally read about 27.
So far I've managed 12 so am well behind. But some books are longer than others! A friend is an avid reader of chick lit and gets through about 3 a week. Always brags about how easy the 50 a year are for her! I read a mixture of thrillers, bios etc.
I don't think I'll reach my target but I'll give it my best. Love reading

Book 20: ‘The Good Husband of Zebra Drive’ by Alexander McCall Smith. Always enjoy these. They are gentle, full of wisdom and they make me smile.

#20 Pale Rider by Laura Spinney. It’s about the Spanish Flu. It was so interesting to learn that much of what we’ve seen in this current pandemic also featured in 1918-20. The ways in which it changed the world was also fascinating.

Does anyone else do the Goodreads reading challenge? I have for the last few years. You decide how many books to aim for and the app keeps a record. I’ve used this app for several years. I used to have a notebook ( started in 1996 when I finished the Open University) to record what I had read as I kept coming back from the library with a book I’d had before! On the app there is the facility to list ‘currently reading’, ‘read’ and ‘ want to read. It’s really useful when I’m choosing new books to see where I am in a series, whether I’ve read a book before , what the reviews are like or remind me of titles I want to read.
I also add the titles from my notebook every few weeks so I have a more complete record.
Currently reading November Road by Lou Berney.
WTR list has 307 titles, READ list has 837!
I’m slightly ahead in this years challenge but on course to read 100 books as I did last year.
Hope this interests some of my fellow readers!

Book 16
The Mirror and the Light- Hilary Mantel
This has really held me up, I think I’ve been reading it for about a month.
To be honest, although I really enjoyed it, I didn’t find it as gripping as the previous two, I was also aware of the fate of Thomas Cromwell, and that made me reluctant to get to the end.
I love Hilary mantels style of writing, and she’s brilliant at fleshing out characters, and the interaction between them is so thoroughly believable. I feel so fond of Gregory, Rafe and Richard, and it’s sad to get to the end of the third book in the trilogy and not really know what happens next.
One tip for anyone thinking of buying it. don’t buy the hardback version, it was so thick and heavy, the only way I could get comfortable reading it. Was sitting at the dining room table.

I could have written your post word for word, Sara. I loved it. I understand it is now out in paperback.

#34 was The Hidden Legacy by G J Minnett. I really enjoyed it.

Read a few more since my last post.
#36 The Boy with No Shoes by William Horwood. A fictionalised memoir of the author’s childhood in the 1940s and 50s. Well written and very moving.
#37 The Lost Man by Jane Harper. Thriller set in the Australian outback, really atmospheric.
#38 Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult. Like many of her books, this has a moral dilemma at the heart of the story. I couldn’t put it down!
#39 Blackberry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton. Historical fiction, about the Huguenot silk weavers in Spitalfields in the 18th century. It was OK, but quite similar to others I’ve read recently.
#40 Sea of Stone by Michael Ridpath. 4th in the series, set in Iceland, about Detective Magnus Jonson, and his obsession with discovering the truth about his father’s murder in Boston 15 years previously. I’ve really enjoyed them all. You need to read them in order as the 4th book is the culmination of the story.

#32 High Fire Eoin Colfer. I was familiar with the author's Artemis Fowl books for children but this is written for adults, a funny, foul-mouthed violent story featuring a dragon living in the Louisiana swamps and a young boy (but Pete's Dragon it ain't) I loved it!
#33 Another Time Another Place Jodi Taylor. This is the 12th book in the wonderful St Mary's Chronicles series.
#34 Fated Benedict Jacka. A new urban fantasy series for me featuring a mage living in Camden. I enjoyed it very much and as there are several books in the series I will be revisiting this world.
No idea what I will read now but I have many many titles on my TBR Kindle pile.