2022 50 BOOKS - OR AS MANY AS YOU CAN MANAGE

SueDonim
I read Hidden Valley Road this year, I found it haunting, I couldn’t put it down, and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
So much tragedy in one family.

I`m going loopy! My book is Angels Flight, not Angel Heights!

#17 Kate Clanchy ‘Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.’ Inside stories of professional life, a genre that shows individuals’ good intentions up against social and political realities. The author is not unscathed (she’s accepted criticism that there’s some stereotyping in her writing, and she now intends to revise it). A powerful memoir.

I’ve just finished The Fallen Angel by Tracy Borman, the last book in the series. It’s set in the time of James I and I would recommend that the books are read in order. Also I’ve just started Miss Dior, the biography of Christian Dior’s sister, she was part of the French Resistance before being captured and sent to Ravensbruck. She survived and lived to an old age.

Book 9
House of Correction-Nicki French
Wasn’t sure I was going to get into this one, a woman is arrested for murder, she has serious mental health issues, and struggles to remember her movements for that day, but feels that a lot of witness statements are inaccurate.
Her lawyer appeals to her to plead guilty to manslaughter, so she decides to represent herself, and solve the crime from her prison cell.
A bit unbelievable, but a good read, kept me guessing till the end.

Book 10
The Haunting if Alma Fielding-Kate Summerscale
A true account of a woman who is plagued by poltergeist activity.
Really interesting, its mainly dealing with whether or not Alma, and the many other mediums of the time were genuine or not.
I was really gripped for most of the book, but it seemed to trail off towards the end.
Would recommend though.

Book 11
Oh William! - Elizabeth Strout
So looking forward to this one.
I enjoyed it, but nothing like as much as I enjoyed the Olive books.
I didn’t find William to be particularly likeable, and Lucy irritated me a bit.

Book 12
The Redeemed- Tim Pears
This is the third book in the West Country trilogy.
I have loved them all, I so wanted a happy ending for Leo and Lottie, but I won’t spoil it by saying if that happened.
Tim Pears created two of fictions most loveable characters in Lottie and Leo.
In this third novel you see Leo in the navy, and Lottie training to become a vet.
Life goes on for them, but they both know there can only be each other.
Given this beautiful love story, and Tim Pears descriptive writing of the West Country, this is definitely my favourite book of the year so far.

#16 was Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller. I was disappointed with this one as I felt it did not live up to its hype and skim read a lot of it.
#17 was My Mother, Munchausen’s and Me by Helen Naylor. A fascinating but disturbing account of a daughter and her mother, who had Narcissism and Munchausen’s Syndrome.
#18 was The Ship of Death by Vera Morris. An enjoyable, although very average murder mystery set on the Suffolk coast.

Angels Flight was book 17, my mistake. I followed it with The Visitors, by Catherine Burns, but wasn`t really keen. Book 19 is going to be Everything But the Truth, a first book by Gillian McAllister.

No 9. The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay by Julie Brooks. It’s a dual-timeline mystery tale of two women set around the First World War and then in modern times. It was ok but not one I’d recommend particularly.

I'm reading The Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson. It's very good.

AliBeeee

At the end of January I have finished 5 and am on my 6th, not a bad start for me. They are:
1. Something Might Happen by Julie Myerson
About a murder, but told from the viewpoint of and impact on those around the victim. Very good 8/10
2. Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
Excellent, as all hers are 9/10
3. Monogamy by Sue Miller
About a long married couple and secrets that come out following a sudden death. 8/10
4. A Sweet Obscurity by Patrick Gale
Written about 20 years ago, but as good as all the other works of his I’ve read 8/10

The one I have just started is The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow. It’s a novel focussed on Mary Bennet, the middle and unlovely sister in Pride and Prejudice. So far it’s very good.

My February reads were
5. Summer Water by Sarah Moss 8/10
6. The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow. 6/10. A good enough story but at 660 pages was at least 260 pages too long!
7. Apologize, Apologize! by Elizabeth Kelly. 8/10. I found this in a Little Free Library in Rochester, Minnesota when visiting my stepson in November, not an author I was familiar with.
8. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. 8/10. Fluffy but readable, though you could see the ending coming from the beginning.
9. The Absolutist by John Boyne. 7/10. Set during WW1, think Birdsong.

Next up will be An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel.

Lagging behind my February reading, only three books, well it's a short month, my excuse!

7. Before We Say Goodbye Louise Candlish. Picked up in Sainsburys, because I'm a fan of hers. Not one of her best, clearly an early one, which I imagine has been republished hadn't seen it before, it was a bit meh! say no more.

8 Victoria A Life A N Wilson (non fiction) I'd read one of his previous books relating to the 19th century, The Victorians, I love this period, didn't do it at school, interminably stuck on The Reformation, or so it seemed, well that's catholic schools for you, always their axe to grind!

The book describes the circumstances that surrounded the scramble for an heir after Victoria's cousin Princess Charlotte, George 1V's daughter died in childbirth, Victoria's isolated childhood, her coronation, her passionate marriage to Albert, the annoyance of her nine children arriving at regular intervals all covered in detail. As were relationships with her ministers, her children, their dynastic marriages. Bertie, later to become Edward V11 throughout her life a constant source of irritation, Albert's death and the void after that filled by John Brown. The backdrop of key events, Crimea, Indian Mutiny, Irish famine and the rise of the Fenians and the inception of socialism all are described all covered. Lots of fascinating black and white photos, I do love 19th century early photography. At the end of Victoria's long reign, the landscape of Europe is already shaping up into the horrors that were to play out a decade or so after her death, with her grandchildren placed in the midst. No wonder she looked grumpy maybe she had a premonition

9 The Twyford Code Janice Hallett

I loved her last book and was looking forward to this one. Sadly I found it disappointing. The narrative that unfolded through transcribed phone records at times to me were baffling insomuch as they were harder to follow than the medium of emails which the author used in her last book. Having said that I did think it was clever and loved the obvious Enid Blyton pastiche in Edith Twyford, whose books had long since fallen out of favour. They are nevertheless being read to a class of children deemed remedial by an inspirational if not a somewhat maverick of a teacher, Miss Illes, referred to as Missiles in the audio transcriptions. On taking her small group of pupils on a day out to visit the late author's home, Missiles subsequently disappears. These pupils of hers are deprived inner London kids at the bottom of life's heap, struggling with difficult home lives. One of the kids, the illiterate Steven Smith, later to spend time in jail where he learns to read is the book's main protagonist and it's from his sometimes unreliable phone testaments that we learn his obsession with Edith Twyford's books and the secret codes contained therein.

With the Edith Twyford and her unacceptable books in mind I really liked this quote from Janice Hallett contained in her notes right at the end "It's thanks to Enid Blyton falling out of favour that I discovered reading, If no one had sent their Famous Five books to the 3rd Northolt Scouts jumble sales of the 1970s, I would never have picked them up and taken them back to a home with no other books in it and you would not be holding this one right now"

Some of the books I read in February :
The Third Pole by Mark Synott , about the commercialistation of climbing Everest, and the endurance of pain.
American Dirt, which I could not put down
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
My Family and the Galapagos by Monty Hall, he takes his family out there to live for a while.
Fear by Bob Woodward , all about the Trump campaign and his first months in office. A revealing read.
A Rising Man by Abil Mukerjee, recommended on this thread, and I really enjoyed it.
The Central Line by Saskia Sarginsson.
Into Thin Air by John Krakaeur all about a 1996 expedition up Everest when eight lost their lives.
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre - this is gripping and very topical about a double agent who now lives in Britain. An ex KGB man working with M15, and you realise how awful Putin's regime is.

Loved American Dirt, also couldn't put it down riveting! It would make such a good film or series even, come on Netflix or similar please!

I found Everything But the Truth a little boring. Book 20, just started, is Perfect People, by Peter James. So far, I`ve only read the Roy Grace books by him, but have great hopes for this one.

#15 The Apartment K L Slater.
A disappointing 'psychological thriller' with an unbelievable plot and badly written characters. I finished it but wish I hadn't wasted my time.
#16 Kiss The Girls James Patterson.
Second book in the Alex Cross series. Recommended by my DH, I really enjoyed it. Think I'm going to find something a bit lighter next though as I feel as though I have been through the wringer!

Wish you were here by Jodi Picoult...Lovely topical read, thought provoking not just a love story .

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood...3rd time read...love this book, one of her best.

Welcome to the woke trials by Julie Birchill...How identity killed progressive politics. The authors take on " wokeism" is jaw dropping, eye opening, scary and very humouress. Excellent read.

Ardrishaig was home by Angus Mcdonald...Gallipoli 1915, story of a young Scottish soldier and a Queens Alexander nurse and their journey through the war...simple but lovely .

The coffee shop in Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez...Lovely book of war torn Kabul and a little centre of hope and happiness amidst the strict country traditions .
8

Bridie
Just ordered the Julie Birchill, sounds really interesting

Sara1954... it was a fascinating read, I hope you enjoy it, it certainly made me think !

I have just finished book 13
The Gardener - Salley Vickers
She is becoming one of my favourite writers.
This is a story about a house, sisters, and an Albanian gardener
Very gentle prose, likeable characters, and a real feel for the countryside. It’s a book about endings and beginnings, I would recommend.

#15. The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths.

Really looking forward to reading the latest Ruth Galloway book, glad to have reached the top of the waiting list from the library.

Finished #9 Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie excellent as ever.
About to start #10 A Thousand Splendid Suns for book club. Have heard good reports of this one.

Latest books:
The Couple at No. 9 by Clare Douglas, A good thriller and page turner type of book. 8/10.
Gifts by Laura Bennett. A book about different people who are all connected in some way giving Christmas gifts. May not sound interesting but I found it enjoyable and read it quite quickly for me so must have been good. 8/10.
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan. I always enjoy a book by Jenny Colgan. Just an easy read which is fine with me these days. 7/10.

I LOVED A Thousand Splendid Suns, was sad to finish it actually.
Am liking Perfect People, a bit different to Peter James` books about Roy Grace, this one deals with designer babies.

#19 was An Unfinished Business by Ann Granger, which tied up the loose ends of an old murder case. Very enjoyable.
#20 and #21 were two books on my kindle that have recently been reprinted and were first published in the mid-nineties:
The Greenway and The Secrets by Jane Adams. They introduce DI Mike Croft and are set in my native Norfolk.

Enjoying everyone’s comments. Thank you all

#18 Sarah Winman ‘Still Life’. Whopper of a book: 450ish pages, ranges over 20th century, drama of WW2 and 1966 floods in Florence. Charming and moving by turns.