2022 50 BOOKS - OR AS MANY AS YOU CAN MANAGE

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.

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"

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.

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

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.

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.

#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.

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.

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.

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

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.

#13 I thought You Said This Would Work Ann Garvin.
I picked this at random from my TBR Kindle pile. Didn't expect much from it: two former best friends undertake a mercy mission road trip, joined by a kooky 'has been' Hollywood star. I actually enjoyed it more than I expected; it was quite moving.
#14 Simon the Coldheart Georgette Heyer.
I have been a GH fan since my teens but I had never heard of this one. One of her very early books and in my opinion not one of her best. She obviously thought so too as she hadn't wanted it reprinted after her death, her son overruled her wish. It is not one of her familiar Georgian novels being set in the 15th century but the historical research is as usual impeccable. I'm glad I read it but unlike her other titles, I probably won't reread it.

Deadly decisions was good, book 16 is Angel Heights, by Michael Connelly. Dates from 1999, but the Harry Bosch books are usually worth reading.

#16 Hannah Rothschild ‘House of Trelawney’ family saga, satirising the poisonous tendrils both historic privilege and of ‘new money’. Tragicomedy, with strong female characters. I raced through it.

*14. Dry Bones That Dream by Peter Robinson.

Will be sad when I finish this book, as I will then have read all the DCI Banks series, all out of order!

Have just finished the latest Simon Serailler, but disappointed in it, not really as interesting as some of the others.

Now reading “The Storyteller of Casablanca” but don’t think I will stick with it. SiL gave me a book called “Endurance”, about Ernest Shackleton. He said it’s one of the best book he’s ever read. So with that ringing endorsement……!

I’m enjoying “The Making if a Marchioness” by Frances Hodgson Burnett who wrote “The Secret Garden”.
I didn’t know she wrote adult fiction and it’s very enjoyable if you like the Edwardian period, similar to Edith Wharton.
It’s in the very stylish grey Persephone edition too.

I loved Deadly Decisions, now reading 15 Seconds, by Andrew Gross, book 16.

12. Girl A, Abigail Dean

My DD1 recommended this and in turn I’d recommend it to anyone who’d like a really well-written gut-wrenching read. Girl A is one of 7 children in a family discovered being held captive by their fanatical father and submissive mother. This is the story of that time and their lives after being rescued.

Hellogirl1

I`m glad I`m not the only one to find The Expats less than thrilling.

I only realised from the end notes that the author is male. Perhaps that accounts for his portrayal of stay at home motherhood as completely petty and soul destroying while interest depends a lot on fast paced action…

I`m glad I`m not the only one to find The Expats less than thrilling.

#15 Chris Pavone ‘The Expats’ I wasn’t invested in the characters, so no suspense in the twisty plot for me. If someone makes it into a film, the European settings (Luxembourg, south of France, ski slopes, Paris) could be luscious.

Scrapped book 15, have changed it to Deadly Decisions, by Kathy Reichs, I love her books.

#10 was Little Girls Tell Tales by Rachel Bennett. An enjoyable thriller set on the Isle of Man, but a certain suspension of belief needed.
#11 was The Killing Room by Claire McGowan, a story about the aftermath of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
#12 was The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths. An early Ruth Galloway novel.
#13 was When Fraser met Billy by Louise Booth. A true story about an autistic child and the strong bond with his cat.
#14 was The Auschwitz Violin by Maria Àngels Englada. A moving, harrowing story about a violin made by a luthier imprisoned in Auschwitz.
#15 was The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous. An enjoyable thriller.