*2021 - 50 BOOKS FOR THE YEAR*

#46. The Hanging Valley by Peter Robinson.

Thank you Greyduster. I have borrowed the second one in the series from the private library l belong to and am looking forward to reading it. I am sorry to hear that Arianna Franklin has died.
I felt a

Sorry. I pressed the post button too soon. I felt the need for some light reading so #56 was Secrets of the Last House Before the Sea; a tale of a young woman returning to her mother's Devon home after the mother's death and finding where she really belonged.
#57 was The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club by Sophie Green. This was a lovely, bittersweet book about a group of ladies in a remote part of Australia's Northern Territories in the late seventies/early eighties. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Still reading Holy Fools, it`s quite good actually, but taking me longer because I have to keep thinking about things, and going back to check out something or other.

Just finished Away With the Penguins by Hazel Prior

Thoroughly enjoyable but I wasn't quite sure about the ending

30 The Leopard by Tomas Lampedusa.

I’m so slow in my reading right now. I don’t know why.

#59 was an audiobook We Are Legion (We Are Bob) written by Dennis E Taylor narrated by Ray Porter. Sci-Fi book heavy on the science and even heavier on the fun. A hugely enjoyable listen.

I've lost track of the number, sorry

Holy Fools was OK, but a lot more thinking needed on my part. Book 97 was Call Me Elizabeth, by Dawn Annandale. I didn`t expect to like it as not really my cup of tea, but actually enjoyed it. A true narrative by a woman who answered an ad for callgirls at the age of 30, married, with 6 children. She was trying to settle thousands of pounds of debt as her husband just ignored all bills.
Book 98 is going to be Message in a Bottle, by Nicholas Sparks.

I loved Message in a Bottle, surprisingly, because I don`t usually go for love stories, especially as it was written by a man.
Book 99 is going to be a true story, The Last Foundling, by Tom Mackenzie.

# 31 A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. A Booker longlisted novel set in N Canada, it revolves round three characters ranging in age from very young to very old. It all ties up nicely by the end.

#32. Conundrum by Jan Morris. Jan Morris was born James Morris and changed sex in mid-life. I found it rather woo-woo and it contained some horrible stereotyping of people.

#26 - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by John
McGregor
#27 - The Thief of Time - John Boyne
#28 - Augie's War - J H Brown
#29 - Child's Play by Angela Marsons
#30 - Killing Mind by Angel Marsons (Currently reading)

#47. The Shadows In The Street by Susan Hill.

#60 Artemis Andy Weir. Very good Sci-Fi book set on the Moon. I enjoyed it, not as much as The Martian but very nearly. Andy Weir has a way of including very technical scientific content that you don't really have to understand but enjoy anyway.
#61 Solo Jill Mansell, a bit of chicklit. I have read several of the author's other books and thoroughly enjoyed them but this one I didn't really. The characters are for the most part irritating, unlikable or both. It is one of the author's early books, they improved later.

The Last Foundling was a good, if a little sad, read.
Book 100 (blimey, I`ve reached my century!) is going to be The Armageddon Rag, by George R R Martin. It says he`s the author of A Game of Thrones, but I never watched it.

The Missing Girl by Jenny Quintana... quite boring, a lot of story for the predicted ending.
One August Night by Victoria Hislop... follow up to The Island which I loved. This was disappointing, the best chapter was the Afterword which explained about origin , inhabitants of spinalonga, otherwise it was just a Greek love story.

#58 Boo! The Underdog with a Heart of Gold by Lisa Edwards. The story of a rescue dog with a very low IQ and a very large EQ, who helped children with learning disabilities. Heartwarming.
“59 The Dollmaker by Nina Allen. A surreal fantasy but very enjoyable.
#60 The Murder of my Aunt by Richard Hull. A reprint from 1934 about a bone idle, effete young man, who has decided to murder his aunt as he believes she stands in the way of his happiness. An enjoyable comedy of manners with a Pooter-type anti-hero.

#62 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer.
A book about the German occupation of Guernsey in WW2. It was recommended to me ages ago by a friend but I delayed reading it because I don't generally like books written in letter form. I absolutely loved this book. It has a wonderful cast of characters and is funny, sad, moving and informative.

Armageddon Rag was OK, but not really something that I could recommend. I`ve just started book 101, The McGregors, Daniel and Ian, by Nora Roberts. It`s the first book I`ve read by her, the 2nd in a long family saga series, so I`ve missed book one.

41 The Leopard Guiseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa I'd had this book on my to read list ever since Rick Stein mentioned it was his all time favourite novel, well it might have been his, certainly didn't prove to be mine. It was Okish a bit dull at times. Set in Sicily on the 1860s on the cusp of the unification of Italy. Much of the narrative was the musings of an aristocratic Prince, Fabrizio of Salina and the changing circumstances within his family as Garibaldi is about to invade Italy as part of his drive for unification. The Catholic church as ever, always on the wrong side of history, shown as a force that colludes with the rich to keep the poorer people in their place. It's quite evident that change is on the way. Not a thick book, just seemed like it! It did at least give me the impetus to read a bit about Garibaldi, so much more than a biscuit! I see you've read it too Sue Donin.
42 Believe Me J P Delaney - I can't remember much about this book, a British drama student in New York, working covertly without a Green Card for a firm of divorce lawyers to set up "honey traps" for errant husbands. Not that good.
43Home Stretch Graham Norton (audio) this was my book to do the ironing by, I like Graham Norton and his voice, he narrated the story. I've never read any of his stuff before but quite enjoyed this set in Cork about the lives of a teenage brother and sister whose lives are thrown into disarray when one of them is involved in a car crash.
44 Hostage Claire Mackintosh. I usually enjoy her books but found this one very disappointing. Plane hijacking, didn't enjoy it'.........unlike my next
45 The Night She Disappeared - Lisa Jewell I loved this book, great plot, don't want to give any away spoilers, but if there are any LJ fans reading this, suffice to say this is one of her best.

I wasn’t overly impressed by the Leopard either, Terribull. I wanted to slap the Prince all the way through. . I liked some of the descriptive bits, though.

I hadn’t twigged that the narrator wasn’t speaking from the viewpoint of those actual times and was taken aback at the mention of jet planes at one point. I thought I’d somehow missed that Italy had powered flight more than half a century before the rest of the world! ?

I loved The McGregors. Book 102 is going to be One August Night, by Victoria Hislop. I`m hoping to enjoy it more than Bridie22 did.

#48. Not Dark Yet by Peter Robinson.

#33. Long and Winding Road by Alan Johnson. It’s the third of his memoirs. Not as interesting as his earlier books but I found his account of working as an MP and the various jobs he had in government quite illuminating. It stops in 2004 so I imagine there’ll be another volume at some point.

Well, sorry Bridie22, but I really liked One August Night..I`ve just begun book 103, The End of Her, by Shari Lapena. I`ve enjoyed 2 other books by her, so high hopes for this one.