2022 50 BOOKS - OR AS MANY AS YOU CAN MANAGE

Just starting book 112, Speaking in Tongues, by Jeffrey Deaver

#64 Outland Dennis E Taylor. An audiobook narrated by Ray Porter.
Six college students create a gate to another dimension as a result of a physics project that goes awry. Soon after there is a catastrophic eruption of the super volcano at Yellowstone Park which will destroy civilization across most of the planet. They must get as many people as possible through the portal. A really entertaining listen.

Speaking in Tongues was OK, but not up to the standard of Jeffrey Deaver`s later books.

Book 113, Manhattan is my Beat, by Jeffrey Weaver.

#41 Joanna Cannon ‘A Tidy Ending’. First person viewpoint of a woman’s experience of having a humdrum life after childhood trauma, then being at the centre of serial killings in the neighbourhood. Ingenious writing by the psychiatrist author.

Book 39
Mistress of the art of Death - Ariana Franklin. Something new for me, medieval crime.

Children are disappearing in Cambridge, the Jews are being blamed, and have to be locked up in the castle for their own protection.

An investigator, and a doctor who speaks to the dead are sent for from Naples, to solve the murders, and exonerate the Jews.

I wasn’t grabbed from the start, but I gradually got drawn in, and really enjoyed it. Some lovely characterisations, and some fond friendships formed.

The killer is eventually unmasked, but not before a lot more tragedy. If you like this type of book, it was a good read.

Book 40
Still Life - Sarah Winman
Several contributors have disliked this book, so I was a bit hesitant about starting it.

But I really enjoyed it, a book full of lovely generous characters, a mismatch of people thrown together, some by war, others by location, all of them good people.

Definitely a little over sentimental at times, and the most extraordinary coincidences running through the book.

But I really enjoyed it, a feel good book

Manhattan is my Beat was OK, but not a great book. Just starting book 114, The King of Lies, by John Hart.

The King of Lies was a good psychological thriller. Book 115 will be Fox Evil, by Minette Walters.

#65 False Value Ben Aaronovitch.
Number 9 in the very entertaining Rivers of London series about an apprentice wizard who is also a serving DC in the Metropolitan Police. Really enjoyed it.

#42 Claire Keegan ‘Small things like these’ a novella reflecting on the now-shocking Magdalen laundries in Ireland, and how they relied on having a stranglehold on the communities around them. Such a cruel time but the story has a modest, inspiring hero.

Have just finished ‘The Ink Black Heart’.

Yes, the online conversations are very boring, not keen on them at all. Found myself confused about all the different characters and usernames.

As ever, it’s the Strike/Robin ‘relationship’ that has me hooked, far more than the actual crime.

#51. Picture You Dead by Peter James, the latest Roy Grace book.

I'm currently revisting The Rainbow by DH Lawrence, which I haven't read since I was a teenager. I'd forgotten how good it is.

Fox Evil was OK, but the characters weren`t very likeable. Now reading book 116, Killer Heat, by Linda Fairstein, it`s OK so far.

Loved Killer Heat. Now on book 117, Hidden, by Paul Jaskunas.

Hidden is a bit boring so far, but I will peersist.

Sorry, PERSIST!

Well, I finished Hidden, and it was so inconclusive, and still boring. My next book will be Song of the Wind, by Madge Swindells.

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#85 was Soot by Andrew Martin. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery set in York in 1799. It had many twists and turns.
#86 was Murder in Midwinter by Annie Dalton and Maria Dalton. This was a reasonably entertaining cosy mystery, which was very much aimed at an American readership, even though it was set in Oxford.
#87 was Cream Teas, Traffic Jams and Sunburn: The British Holiday by Brian Viner. I thoroughly enjoyed this wry account of the British on holiday, whether in the UK or abroad.

#66 The Pearl King Sarah Painter.
Number 4 in an entertaining series about a private investigator who is reluctantly pulled into her position as a member of the Crow family one of the four magical families of London.

36 Wintering by Katherine May. Subtitled as How I learned to flourish when life became frozen. Not about the winter season but about a personal voyage.

37.
A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville. A fictionalised story of one of the first (non-convict) women to move to Australia in the 1780’s. It’s a book group read and I enjoyed it a lot.

#52. Looking Good Dead by Peter James.

I loved Song of the Wind. Am just about to start book 119, Circle of Friends, by Maeve Binchy, but not sure if it`s my kind of book.

#67 Saving Time Jodi Taylor.
Number 3 in the Time Police series by one of my favourite authors. I have read it before but I wanted to remind myself before the recently published number 4. Before I move on however I shall look around for something quite different.

Since last posting I've read

Behind the Seams by Esme Young the host of Great Sewing Bee. This was a great read all about her life in London through the 60s and 70s and up to her TV appearances.

Windswept in the footsteps of remarkable women from Beauvior to O'Keefe by Annabel Abbs. She follows the walking trails through Britain and Europe of some women writers.

The White Rock by Anna Hope. This was an interesting book set just before Covid started, in Mexico where an English family is travelling in a minibus. The writer is wondering how things are going at home. They are approaching the White Rock off the coast and then there a number of other stories through the ages all relating to that place.

Through Siberia by Accident by Dervla Murphy. Written in 2001 about her travels through Siberia, full of engaging characters she meets on the way, and the realities of life in Russia at the time.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. This was a Sunday Times best seller about twins who are separated in their teens and set in the US. But I just couldn't get into it and gave up half way through!

Two books by Donna Leon, Transient Desires and The Temptation of forgiveness, about Commissiariat Brunetti and his work in Venice. I've never been there but you feel as if you are there. She's very good at describing the atmosphere and life alongside the canals.

In the Thick of It by Alan Duncan, former Foreign Office minister and MP for 25 years. This covers the period 2015 just before the Brexit vote to 2020 and was a brilliant read. I could not put it down. You learn a lot about the inner workings of Westminster and the Foreign Office. He had special interest in embassies and diplomatic cover overseas and knows the major political figures in the Middle East and beyond and often accompanied the Royals and the PM on trips abroad. Its very funny in parts as he can be scathing about political figures both Tory and Labour yet full of praise when it is due. 50p from a charity shop and money well spent!