2022 50 BOOKS - OR AS MANY AS YOU CAN MANAGE

The Accidental Husband is readable, but a bit too chick-littish for me, I will finish it though.

#53 Hitman Anders And The Meaning Of It All Jonas Jonasson.
I had high hopes of this as I had read an earlier book by the author (The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared) and loved it. This one not so much and I struggled to finish it.

Not sure if it was recommended here, but I really enjoyed Mary Lawson’s ‘The Other Side of the Bridge’. Currently reading ‘Crow Lake’, another one by her, and enjoying it immensely.

Have just started book 90, The Perfect Girlfriend, by Karen Hamilton.

#67 was A Jubilee Murder by J P Fraser. A mildly entertaining murder mystery set at the time of the Silver Jubilee in 1977.
#68 was Kiss of Death by Adam Croft. I thoroughly enjoyed this police procedural set in Rutland.
#69 was Thr Legacy by Caroline Bond. I found this interesting and intriguing rather than enjoyable. It is about a family who have to come together in order to sort out a will.

#54 Pop Goes The Weasel James Patterson.
I am working my way through my husband's collection of Alex Cross novels. The protagonist is a Washington police detective and psychologist who pits his wits against truly horrific murderers. This is number 5 (of about 30 I think ?). Exciting and a real page turner, I finished it in record time.

Finished Lucinda Riley Seven Sisters series earlier this year, now counting the days for the final book next May. Just finished Sarah Halls The Familiars.

The Perfect Girlfriend was OK, but not the best I`ve read. Now reading book 91, The Sister Pact, by Lisa Swift. Not my usual sort of read, but liking it, it`s amusing and heartwarming at the same time.

#47. Hope To Die by Cara Hunter.

Quite liked The Sister Pact. Book 92 is Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. Very far removed from my usual reading matter, but I`ll give it a go.

The next three books were all easy reads for the bank holiday weekend and I enjoyed them very much.
#70 was Hurry Up, Nurse by Dawn Brookes. This was a memoir of nursing training in the late seventies.
#71 was A Nice Class of Corpse by Simon Brett.
#72 was Mrs Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh by Simon Brett.
These last two are the comical adventures of Mrs Pargeter, an elderly wealthy widow, who solves mysteries with the help of her late husband’s colleagues, many of whom have names like Concrete Jacket or Wire Cutter Wilson as their former trades were not always legitimate. Written in the eighties and nineties, they are great fun.

Book 93 is The Secret, by Kathryn Hughes, enjoying it so far.

#55 Operation Mincemeat Ben MacIntyre.
An account of the wartime mission to mislead the Germans about the invasion of Sicily by floating a corpse carrying faked letters off the shore of supposedly neutral Spain. It's a maybe accurate (but probably not entirely) account of the operation and the people involved. I really enjoyed it.

The Secret was actually quite a good story. Now reading book 94, Night Shift, by Nora Roberts.

Enjoyed Night Shift. Now reading book 95, Thorn in my Side, by Sheila Quigley. It`s the first of a trilogy, and it`s very good up to now.

#56 Tuned Out Keith A Pearson.
This is an ebook available to borrow as part of a Prime membership. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it but I'm glad I persevered. It is a time travel story which I found both poignant and nostalgic.

Book 96 is Are You Thinking Clearly? 29 reasons why you aren`t, and what to do about it, by Miriam Frankel and Matt Warren. Frankly, it`s more like a college text book than general reading matter and I`m finding it hard work, but I`m determined to finish it, so will plod onwards.

Just finished ‘Hope To Die’ the latest Cara Hunter crime novel.

A bit disappointed, if I’m honest. It’s another Adam Fawley one, and the others have all included quite a bit of the crime team’s personal lives, as well as a gripping crime plot.

This one has very little ‘personal’ stuff, and the actual story jumps about, through a 20 year time frame. I had a job keeping up with it all, and a lot of characters to boot.

Not her best book.

Now on #48. Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain.
Just picked it up in the library, never heard of the author, hope it’s good.

40 Sun Damage - Sabine Durrant I'm quite a fan of SD in the same way I like Louise Candlish, Lisa Jewell and Sarah Vaughan in the way they usually have some pretty good twists in their narratives. This one is set the South of France. The main character of the book is a con artist with a troubling back story, working in tandem with a controlling, older male accomplice. Whilst escaping his clutches using the identity of another she blags her way into the role of chef at rented holiday villa to an English family and their guests, all having their own something to hide. I enjoyed this good holiday read.

41 My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante first of the Neapolitan Quartet. Starts off with two best friends growing up in the back streets of Naples late 50s early 60s, conjuring up visions of Lambretta weaving their way round the labyrinth of washing strung neighbourhoods. Both girls are gifted academically and the expectation of a better future and leaving their small world for the wider one is an expectation. However, this first book ends with an early marriage at 16 for one of them and therefore a future life beyond the constraints of her environment thwarted, which makes me want to read on to the next instalment to see what happens next. An enormous cast of characters which at times were hard to keep up with.

42 The Storyteller Dave Grohl When my children were growing up and heavily into skateboarding and roller blading a Nivarna t shirt was de rigueur every boy indulging in the same pursuits seemed to be wearing one. Mine had to be wrestled out of the t shirt so it could occasionally be washed. Of all the groups they were into at the time Nivarna were the only one I could bear listening along to. Dave Grohl I was told was a top bloke, and it seems he is!. A memoir which starts off with his growing up years in Virginia, how he went on the road with various other bands before meeting Kurt Cobain and forming Nivarna, only for KC to commit suicide once they became really successful. After which Dave formed the Foo Fighters and continued on to become one of his generation's greatest rock stars.

43 The Garden of Lost and Found Harriet Evans. A really good read Two time frames connected by a house and garden, quite detailed the author writes similarly to Kate Morton an absolute favourite of mine. I enjoyed this book will definitely read some others by her.

44 The Family Remains Lisa Jewell her sequel to The Family Upstairs, which I know I loved when I read it, but clearly I'd forgotten much of the plot of that, as this book progressed and revealed snippets of what went on before. I may have to get that first one out of the library as I think it's one of the books I had and then donated to the library, it's not on my bookshelves anymore. I would recommend it as a must for Lisa Jewell fans her later books rarely disappoint.

44 Laura Blundy - Julie Myerson. I was so captivated by Julie Myerson's The Stopped Heart which I read last month, I couldn't wait to read another of hers, This is a slim volume rather a bleak tale set in the Victorian era, of the young woman of the title who badly damages her leg in an accident and goes on to marry the surgeon who removes the limb, only to kill him at a later stage. It's all rather grisly wouldn't recommend it for the faint hearted. Nevertheless I will be looking for more of her books I think she's an excellent writer.

Finished Are You Thinking Clearly? but none the wiser to be truthful.
Book 97 is Rapture in Death, by J.D.Robb, a police thriller, but set in 2058, so spaceships and space stations and all kinds of gadgetry abound.

Enjoyed Rapture in Death, but it would have worked just as well set in the present day. Now on book 98, Ceremony in Death, by J.D.Robb, another in the futuristic series featuring Eve Dallas.

#73 was The Book Club by Roisin Meaney. I can thoroughly recommend this bittersweet story of new beginnings.
I had a procedure in hospital so took my kindle as I wanted undemanding reads and the next two books reflect this.
#74 was Mrs, Presumed Dead by Simon Brett. Another Mrs Pargeter book and as much fun as the others.
#75 was Cofessions of a Male Nurse by Michael Alexander. An entertaining account of the experiences of a nurse from New Zealand.

Book 99, Holiday in Death, by J.D.Robb

#57 The Toll Gate Georgette Heyer.
A bit of nostalgia as I think I last read it over fifty years ago. Still a good read.
#58 Lies Sleeping Ben Aaronovitch.
Number 7 in The Rivers of London series. An urban fantasy, the protagonist of which is a serving Metropolitan Police officer but also an apprentice wizard. Highly recommended.

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