2023 - 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

Lovely memories Pigma

#10 Maggie O Farrell ‘Instructions for a Heatwave’. An oldie (pub 2013) but I’m only just coming round to O Farrell (wasn’t she chick lit?) A slow start but I was rewarded by her skill in taking me inside characters’ heads. I liked the way the family and especially sisterly relationships moved from pain to compassion.

I’m a big fan of Maggie O’Farrell, Cs783. Both Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait were amongst my favourite books of last year, highly recommended and well worth a read.

I’m reading ‘The Marriage Portrait’ at the
moment, so far, not loving it s much as ‘Hamnet’ but it’s early days.

Pigma

I’m a big fan of Maggie O’Farrell, Cs783. Both Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait were amongst my favourite books of last year, highly recommended and well worth a read.

I'm another Maggie O'Farrell fan.

My favourite Maggie O’Farrell is ‘This Must be the Place’
But I also really enjoyed ‘Instructions for a Heatwave’

Maggie O'Farrell is a brilliant writer, I'm not sure I'd ever describe her as a chic lit writer. Her first book was about a love affair and the bereavement of a partner who lost their other half in the Canary Wharf bombing, I read it a long time ago now so my memory is a bit vague but it certainly reeled me in. Her books tend to cover different subject matters, for example The Disappearance of Emily Lennox was about how easily it was to be incarcerated in a mental institution not so many years ago for merely being wayward. I think I've read most of her books except The Marriage Portrait which is on my to read list. Her books have that special quality of staying with the reader for quite a while imo, always a sign of the effect really good writers have.

Thanks for the encouragement, O’Farrell fans. I’d obviously got her name mixed up with someone else’s. And while I was impressed by some of ‘Hamnet’ I suspected her of cynically exploiting some well known names and themes. But She Can Write and her imaginative understanding of others is captivating. I’ll read more of hers! Then another Irish writer…

#11 Claire Keegan ‘Foster’. Just stunning. Very short but just the length it needed to be. I read it a second time to pick out some of the ambiguities and foreshadowing.

Book 9. Follow the Dead by Lin Anderson. An enjoyable thriller featuring forensic scientist, Rhona Macleod. Another one set in Scotland. Good characterisation, well paced and plenty of suspense.

#4 Together by Julie Cohen from 2017. A love story of two who take up a relationship again after years apart. I didn't find the couple very relatable and ended up with more questions than answers at the ending.

#5 The Midnight House I enjoyed this one about a modern day journalist investigating a disappearance from 1940. Nice well rounded characters and an interesting story.

I LOVED The Upstart! Have just started book 20, Life After You, by Sian O`Gorman, not sure about it yet.

Finished #5. Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North. Last in the Harold Fry trilogy. I’m glad I read it as it did pull the story together, but not one of my favourite reads. I found that I liked the peripheral characters more than the main, but it was written beautifully. I gather there’s a film coming out later this year of the first one, so I’ll be interested to watch that.
#6? I’ve got a few to go at but I think I’ll try the first in the Shardlake series. Was not aware of them before this thread, and I do love a series of books to get my teeth into. Happy reading!

Glad the third book pulled it all together, LadyGaGa but even though I liked it best of the three I’d had enough by the end! She does have a gentle style of writing that can still pack a pinch though.
Oooh, Shardlake, my favourite series of books ever though I feel they did tail off a bit in the end. But the first ones are gripping, you’ve got a treat in store.

Unfortunately the latest Ruth Galloway doesn't seem to be on sale anywhere for under around £17.99 so have added it to my reservations at my local library, I'm number 145 oh well! it will be interesting to see if that becomes available before it goes into paperback, if not, I'll definitely buy it then.

Sometimes reaching the top of the list can be surprising, I reserved Janice Hallett's latest book (she wrote The Appeal) and I got that fairly quickly. This latest is called The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, my husband is reading it at the moment and tells me it's very good. I loved The Appeal but didn't care much for her follow up The Twyford Code.

I have a myriad books on my Kindle library that I am intending to read. A series I have re-embarked on is by Phil Rickman, featuring Merrily Watkins, a woman priest in rural Herefordshire, also given the job of diocesan 'deliverance consultant', formerly known as exorcist.

_intending to read._ re-read

I've just finished my 7th book this year. My app says I have read 45 days in a row! This will be due to a broken shoulder but I do generally read a lot. I only read on my phone and only free books, either from Kindle or from the Library. Current book is Just my Luck by Adele Parks which is a bit of a silly story, but I will work through until the end.

TerriBull This latest is called The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, my husband is reading it at the moment and tells me it's very good. I loved The Appeal but didn't care much for her follow up The Twyford Code.

I loved The Appeal too, but definitely not The Twyford Code. I'll check out The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. Thanks Terri.

I’ve been on holiday so have been reading my Kindle instead of ‘real’ books.

#5 Bound by Vanda Symon. This is #4 in a series featuring a young female detective, set in Dunedin. I’ve enjoyed them all and having spent time in Dunedin, they are very evocative of the location. 8/10

#6 The Familiars by Stacey Halls. Set near Pendle during the time of the witch trials, but with characters only peripherally involved. I enjoyed it. 8/10

#7 A Dark Matter: Skelfs 1 by Doug Johnstone. The first in a series of books about a family of undertakers/private detectives in Edinburgh (where I live). Dark humour and a great knowledge of Edinburgh. There are 3 others (at least) in the series, so I look forward to reading those. 8/10

Annodomini
I really enjoy the Merrily Watkins books, more so as I become more familiar with the characters, very interesting

Life After You isn`t really grabbing me, but I will persist.

#9. All Change by Elizabeth Jane Howard.

I bought The Twyford Code with a book token and have not yet read it. I hope l will enjoy it more than some of you have. I will let you know.

Just finished the latest batch of three:

#10 was The Clutter Corpse by Simon Brett. A very enjoyable cosy murder mystery.
#11 was The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths. A tremendous end to the series.
#12 was Return To The Chalet School. This was a compilation of essays about Elinor M Brent-Dyer and the influence her work had in the genre of school stories.

Life After You was less than exciting, same goes for book 21, Mouthing the Words, by Camilla Gibb. Just starting book 22, The Holiday Cottage by the Sea, by Holly Martin.