2023 - 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

Book 8
The Topeka School- Ben Lerner
I really did not like this book at all, I was so tempted to give up on it , but I was ever hopeful that it would turn a corner, it didn’t.

Great reviews, but in my view pretentious and disjointed, lots of jumping about, occasionally something would start to become interesting, and then just fizzle out.

Maybe I’m just not intellectual enough to appreciate it, its meant to be very clever, but it left me cold.

I loved The Cornish Midwife, a nice bit of light reading. Have just started book 18, Chasing the Sun, by Judy Leigh.

Finished reading Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain and I enjoyed it. Her books are an easy read which has been good as I'm going through a stressful time at the moment.

Now started on Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths (it's not one of the Ruth Galloway series).

Be interested to see what you think of Bleeding Heart Yard, Sparklefizz. I have finally finished Prince Harry’s Spare, nothing to say about that really but I did make it to the end, which is more than I managed with Isaac and the Egg. I’m sure it’s very clever and well worth persevering with and sometime I may get it out of the library for another go but, right now, I’m not in the right frame of mind for it so sadly have admitted defeat, something I don’t often do. So on to Black Rainbow by Rachel Kelly, a book about her personal battles with depression and how poetry helped her through. She is a journalist and I have enjoyed her work previously so am looking forward to reading her story. Need something a bit lighter to read alongside so, having just read her son’s story, I am going to read Diana, Closely Guarded Secret, written by her personal protection officer, Ken Wharfe. These will be books 15 and 16, though perhaps I shouldn’t include any books I don’t get up the end of?

Pigma As you have read "Spare", you might be interested in Tom Bower's book "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War between the Windsors" which I read when it first came out. I heard Tom Bower interviewed on the radio when he said that everything in the book had been triple checked and verified because obviously he didn't want to be sued, and everyone is well aware how litigious H&M are. There were 16+ pages of references at the end of the book to back this up. I found it very interesting indeed.

I shall be interested to know what you make of the Ken Wharfe book.

I am halfway through Bleeding Heart Yard. I wonder if this is going to be a new series because Elly G has taken Ruth Galloway and Nelson as far as she can go with them (not that I know what happens in the last book and am looking forward to getting hold of it!) Maybe in Bleeding Heart we are being introduced to the new characters who will play their parts in the future ......

8. Magpie, Elizabeth Day

A loving couple take in a lodger, but the wife becomes suspicious that her husband and the lodger might be getting too close…. I really enjoyed this, and for once the twists actually seemed credible.

I'm losing track already. I gave up on "Uprooted" by David Lucas, it's a very good account of the history of Vietnam but a bit depressing. I'm part way through 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. His writing always seems to have a slightly mystical other world quality to it and this is no exception. I'm enjoying it, it's not a difficult read and the story is engaging, if a little strange.

Book 6 The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly. When I checked in my book diary I see that I actually read this book last year but have absolutely no memory of what it is about.

Sparklefizz- thanks for the recommendation, now added to my ‘must read’ list. In the intro, Ken Whatfe says that so much of what we think and have heard about Diana is untrue and, for the record and for historians of the future, he wants to set the record straight. Very interesting so far.
Re Bleeding Heart Yard, apparently it is the third in a new series featuring Harbinder Kaur, the previous two - which I haven’t read yet - being The Stranger Diaries and The Postscript Myrders. Not a patch on Ruth and Nelson in my opinion but see what you think when you get to the end of BHYard.

Book 8 The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. It took me a long time to really get in to it, that seems to happen more and more these days, but once I did I didn’t want to put it down. It follows the lives of three children, in a thoroughly dysfunctional ‘county’ family from the 20s until the end of WW2.

Oh no! I have a serious addiction. Picked up 7 new releases from the library today so now have a total of 11 library books out in addition to all my other piles of books. Logged on to order The Tom Bower recommended by Sparklefizz only to see that another order has arrived and it’s Dying Fall which I am desperate for. Daren’t tell you how many others I have on order currently and I have three lists of ‘want to reads’ growing daily. Guess there won’t be much housework done chez moi for the foreseeable. But I did finish Black Rainbow this afternoon, well written but harrowing story of post-natal depression (twice) and the gruelling recoveries. Sounds totally horrendous, feel very lucky it was never anything I suffered from. Hmm, what to read next - not that I don’t have a huge choice!!!

Pigma I've finished Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths.
I thought it was moving along quite well until I got to the unsatisfactory ending which in my view was ridiculous. I hate when that happens after I've invested hours in reading several hundred pages.

I am rivalling you, Pigma with reservations and piles of books - I have 10 reservations pending, 2 waiting for pick-up and 16 on the coffee table waiting to be read (which include some Xmas books)

As you say, not much else will get done!

Now what to read next......

Sparklefizz - haha, I’m glad it’s not just me with an obsession - or is it an addiction?!
Yes, wasn’t the ending just beyond ridiculous? I felt very ‘cheated’ and had expected better of EG. So, assuming you haven’t read the previous two in this series either, do we read them or not bother? Hmmm….

Pigma
I read The Postscript Murders but didn’t realise it was part of a series, I quite enjoyed it though, not amazing, but definitely not bad.

Book 17 - Becky by Sarah May.

Sara1954 - it’s a bit of a dilemma isn’t it as to whether it’s worth reading the first two in a series when you definitely didn’t enjoy the third, if you see what I mean! I really like Elly Griffiths’ style of writing and BHY was well written but such a ridiculous ending spoilt it. If you can remember, did the ending of The Postscript Murders seem plausible?

Pigma I don't think I'll bother with the 2 earlier Elly Griffiths' books in that series while I still have a very healthy pile of books on my coffee table to choose from.

Regarding being addicted to books and reading, were you by any chance an only child? I was, and loved books from the age of 4. Only children have to learn how to entertain themselves at times if playmates aren't always available.

I feel bereft on the rare occasions I run out of reading material.

Pigma
To be honest, I can’t remember the ending, but I wouldn’t bother with them if you didn’t enjoy the last one.

These confessions of addiction are quite reassuring Sparklefizz & Pigma! I wasn’t an only child but I changed schools at 9 years old and had a very difficult couple of years adjusting and making friends, so my lunchtimes were spent reading through the classroom library (each pupil brought a book from home to lend). I never recovered 😂

I have read the first two of the EG Ruth Galloway series and enjoyed them for the setting and characters but wonder if every book ends with Ruth being rescued from a life-threatening situation?

Chasing the Sun was OK, a bit chick-littish, but OK. Now reading book 19, The Upstart, by Catherine Cookson. Loving it up to now.

Litterpicker Glad to find we're not alone and that books were a comfort to you after changing schools. I wanted my children to love books as much as I did so I would stop whatever I was doing if they brought me a book to read to them (it didn't work if they brought Lego!)

I'm pleased to say that they are both bookworms like me so we usually buy each other books for birthdays and Christmas and pass them round.

I am always totally astonished when celebs say - sometimes with pride - that they have never read a book!

Re the Ruth Galloway series, I've read all of them and actually bought the whole lot during the pandemic, and they have been much enjoyed by friends and family while I was acting as a library in passing them round in the correct order. I'm very interested in archaeology so I enjoy that aspect of the books too, and love the relationship between Ruth and Nelson. The books don't always end with Ruth being rescued........

Only the other day a friend said she might re-read them and could she start borrowing them again. As you enjoyed the first two of the series, I would recommend you carry on with them in the correct order.

Interesting topic, I’m not an only child but I am the eldest and there is a big gap between myself and my two brothers so I spent several years up to being at school being an ‘only’ one. I know I learnt to read at a very early age and used to write stories and ‘books’ and loved escaping into reading. The boys played with each other and I was very much left to amuse myself so lost myself in reading. I loved everything about books from being little and spent hours arranging them on my shelf. My mum and dad were busy with four children and, although they always had a library book on the go, were not prolific readers and we didn’t have many books in the house. Sadly, although my son had bookcases full of books and was read to every night as a child, he is not that interested in reading and neither are my grandsons. I am also married to a non-reader - apart from instruction manuals! So I am responsible alone for the overflowing bookshelves in every room of the house. I can never, ever imagine a situation in which I would be without anything to read!
Sparklefizz and Sara1954 - yes, I think I’ll give the first two a miss. Too many books to read and too little time.

I'm a very big reader and the oldest of three. I was an only child until I was three and my parents read a lot to me. I always enjoyed looking at books too. Apparently, I could read a little before l started school and once there there was no stopping me. My mother and my daughter are big readers too.

My oldest daughter is a big reader, two of my granddaughters (cousins) were very passionate readers, we would all regularly spend an afternoon in Waterstones, me treating them to piles of books.
It makes me very sad that they have abandoned their books for their phones.

Yes, that’s the trouble, Sara1954, books have been abandoned for tech by my grandsons too. Just been thinking about our discussion and it triggered a sad memory for me. I was 13 when my sister was born and I was a real bookworm but I can clearly remember my dad telling me, on several occasions when I had my nose in a book, ‘If you’ve nothing better to do, you can help your mum with the baby’. No wonder I was so resentful! Why, oh why, would anybody consider reading to be a waste of time?!
I can remember when my son was young I used to ask people to buy him book tokens for presents. We would then spend the afternoon in a bookshop reading snd choosing his books and then going for afternoon tea afterwards. Lovely times.