*2021 - 50 BOOKS FOR THE YEAR*

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is amazing. I didn’t want it to end.

I love this thread. I tend to go through fazes and I don't think I read one last year got hooked on 5d painting but this has renewed my passion Think I will start with Obama's book
might get it on Audible as well so I can do my crafts at the same time

No 1 The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal. I loved it! A gothic tale set at the time of the Great Exhibition and involving twins, the aforementioned doll factory and Pre-Raphaelit artists. Someone will surely turn it into a film or tv series.

I’m only 20% through this week’s book choice of mine. It’s non fiction and I’m enjoying it but I’ve done 2 full days of childcare this week. Plus I get sidetracked by my addiction to GN.
?
Last year I read close on 90 books.
This year I’m aiming for one book a week.
Pacing myself and doing other stuff a bit more too!

I do love to read these posts & get some ideas. Thank you.

I've read that one Patsy along with many Mike Gayle books. He's a fellow Brummie. Half a World Away and All the Lonely People are my favourites.

I'm not sure who recommended it now, but I have nearly finished reading 'The Man I Think I Know' by Mike Gayle, and have enjoyed it so much. I will certainly add him to my list of favourite authors. Thank you.

Just finished my first book of the year, Nest of Vipers by Andrea Camilleri. I love an Italian detective and Camilleri’s Montalbano books are very easy reads. Now about to start The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce. I read The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by this author a year or two ago, another easy but enjoyable read which is all I’m in the mood for at the moment.

Just read from library BorrowBox scheme Three Hours by Rosamund Upton. I really enjoyed it which I didn’t expect. I’m also reading and listening to author Abir Mukherjee - detective books set in India in 1900s - really enjoyed first two now on book 3.

I’ve just finished my second book of the year, The Ice Twins by SK Tremayne. It’s a psychological thriller, set on a tidal island off the coast of Skye. Very atmospheric and eerie, a real page-turner. One of Sarah and Angus’ identical twin girls dies in an accident but it becomes unclear which one died. Full of twists and turns, I loved it!

Finished Motherwell by Deborah Orr did not realise that she was a Guardian editor or married to Will Self or now sadly deceased! Loved it as could identify with her upbringing and her observations on life and relationships we had similar backgrounds and experiences. I preferred it to Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart though it was written and set in the same times and settings, Lanarkshire in central Scotland. Also interesting to compare the contrasting Male and Female points of view of similar growing up events. Shuggie Bain was a bit uneven as if it was two stories spliced or had been short stories stitched together. Motherwell my only criticism would be she had a theme going that she was emptying out her parents writing desk and that felt a bit artificial at times.
Started The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar. Some lovely historical detail, a storyline that I can’t predict...just rolls along nicely very like that tv series about the Bawdy House that I can’t remember the name of.
My copy of The Clearing by Samantha Clark arrived today so will be reading that this weekend.

Finished my first book Career of Evil Robert Galbraith. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend (best to read the first two in series though) It was too long in my opinion but I suppose if you are J K Rowling you can get away with it ?. My second book is a Kindle freebie called Loving Harry Joan Fallon. It is about two women who meet for the first time at the funeral of the man they both loved. I have only just started to read it but I'm enjoying it so far.

First read of the year! Cottage of Curiosities by Celia Alexander...set in Cornwall .... looking in at people's lives, actually felt I was there with them. Nneighbour handed in a bag of books, all different genres but must have a walk before I choose my next read from those.

Just finished reading The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary. Easy reading with humour. I’ve read another book of hers The Switch which I also enjoyed , I think because I can easily identify with the characters.
Just started Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig. Interesting facts about parts of London that I didn’t know, but she does go on a bit too much for me about Women's Equality.

I would love to join again. Like many I did not keep up with entering books read last year so will try to do better! I think I read 30 to 40 books a year but only usually read books from the library. I live in Suffolk where we have an excellent library and can reserve books for free which are mostly available within a few weeks. Of course libraries are now closed so could be a problem. We are allowed to borrow I think 12 books at a time so fingers crossed they will last until the end of lockdown but could be wishful thinking!
My first book of the year is House of Correction by Nicci French. A good psychological thriller, well written as their books always are, ( for those not familiar with these books, they are joint husband and wife authors) but not as good as their Frieda Klein series. I usually mark my books read out of 10 so would give this 7.

I've just started my second one The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri ?

Oops. Thought I’d lost the first one. Sorry.

Just finished number two for this year. A YA writer-Phillip Reeve ‘Here Lies Arthur’. Such a good writer and appreciated by recycled adolescents too...to generalise from my own experience. Any other fans out there?

Just finished number two for this year. It was a Phillip Reeve book. He is seen as a YA writer but I enjoy his books in my recycled adolescence. ‘Here Lies Arthur’. A retelling of the Camelot story suggesting the king was all mouth and no trousers. Does he have many aged fans on this thread I wonder?

Just finished reading "Beating About The Bush" by MC Beaton. I've read all het Agatha Raisin books. Very light cosy crime books. I've got another couple of crime books on the go on my kindle app on the iPad. I tend to read those at lunchtime when tbe news is on.

Interesting, Sarahmob - someone passed it on to me but I couldn't get past the 2nd chapter. Perhaps I should have persisted or perhaps I'm just too old to appreciate it!

I don't usually abandon books but I just abandoned another one, The Affair, by Sanra Montefiore. Her books are usually ok, light, easy reads but this one is dreadful.
I wondered if it was written by someone else.

My number 2 is ‘I wish it could be Christmas Everyday’ by Milly Johnson. It was a book club read that I couldn’t get in time to read along - popped into my library ebook account on New Years Day so decided to read anyway. It was a light, frothy read but I really enjoyed it - not my go to genre.

I have just re-read A Very Murderous Christmas, which is an anthology of short stories, old and new, with a Christmas theme. Very enjoyable, particularly as l had not read it for several years so, in nearly all the stories, had completely forgotten whodunnit.

I've just read Brand New Friend by Mike Gayle which I got for Christmas. It's one of his older ones but I love his books.
I will start a new book tomorrow but I'm not sure which one. I have three lined up.

I have just finished Sea Wife by Amity Gaige - started in 2020 so I don't know if that is cheating. I found it not quite as good as I was expecting but interesting.

Presently reading The Mirror and The Light - excellent. I reread Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies at the end of last year to get me back up to speed,

dwgw6062 I read Circe last year and couldn’t put it down - one of those books you can’t bear to come to the end of.