2023 - 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

Alongside Magpie by Elizabeth Day, I am also reading Wake Up by Piers Morgan, which was a random pick when I was last in the library.

I'm not a fan of PM but sometimes he talks a lot of sense and sometimes he doesn't but I thought I'd take a look and see what I think myself.

Sparklefizz
It will probably be a good read, I agree with you, I’m not a big fan, but sometimes I think he says things we are all thinking.

Yes Sara1954, I'm halfway through his book and it's interesting that he's using a diary format to record the shenanigans and misinformation re Covid leading up to the first lockdown. I'm also enjoying the number of well known people he is calling out for their hypocrisy - H&M, of course, but also many others. I'm not on Twitter so some of these passed me by.

I have actually surprised myself by finding it very interesting (so far )

Sparklefizz

Finished Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift and loved it. Beautifully written and atmospheric, set in 1924 with the First World War and loss of so many young men an underlying theme.... it's a book I shall still think about in years to come.

What to read next? It will be hard to follow Mothering Sunday. Sigh.

Hi everyone I read this book pre Covid & totally agree with you Sparklefizz it stayed on my mind too for ages afterwards!

I didn’t join Terribull as although this is a wonderful thread I find my reading can be pretty sporadic. I read voraciously for a few weeks then find I haven’t read anything (apart from the newspapers) in a long time.

This is one I’m reading at present. I’m 50 pages in (out of 500) and it’s gripping. Has anyone else read it? It was a recommendation from a friend.

Oh Urms what took you so long to wander over here? glad you have, I see from what you have posted on other threads you are an enthusiastic reader, so here you should be that's not really an order, just a suggestion.

I did read one of your recommendations from somewhere or other "The Paper Palace" it was a holiday read last year, very good by the way.

Sporadic reading doesn't matter, please join us whenever, this is primarily a thread to talk about books and your sense of humour and suggestions will be appreciated.

Goodness what a lovely welcome! Most unexpected and very kind.
I will join you all if I may when I am in ‘reading mode’. That tends to be when we are on holiday. Once home, as now, I tend to watch BBC iPlayer and Netflix more.
😱
The novel I’m reading needs to be returned to my friend so I’m hoping to crack on with it this week & next before we fly back out to Málaga. I’ve loaded my Kindle in preparation for my next holiday. They are so brilliant aren’t they? I remember the days of packing four paperbacks somewhere (!) plus buying one at the airport!
Like most on here I do still love the feel of a book in my hands.
Poetry works best in print I find and any books with illustrations or family trees!

Book 12 is The Strings of Murder byOscar de Muriel, yet another crime novel set in Scotland. I can’t remember if it was recommended on this thread or another but I’m grateful to whoever it was, a very enjoyable read. It’s set in Victorian Edinburgh and combines historical fiction, crime, a touch of horror and quite a lot of dry humour.

9. Three Hours, Rosamund Lupton

I was a bit disappointed by this school siege drama, as I was really looking forward to reading it. I just found some of the scenarios very unlikely and some of the characters one-dimensional, either 100% hero or 100% villain. I liked the twist though (I’ll say no more).

10. A Sliver of Darkness, C J Tudor

This was an unusual read for me, though it did take me back to my teenage days and the hours spent devouring the Pan Book of Horror Stories series! These are well-crafted short stories, spine-tinglers set in various versions of a dystopian future. For some reason my Kindle version repeated 4 of them halfway through- at first I thought it was some kind of clever conceit and my story was going to head off in a different direction, but no, it was obviously just an error.

For a complete change of pace I’m now nearly at the end of:

11. Love Untold, Ruth Jones

A multi-generational tale of love and estrangement. It’s very well written, even if I do keep forgetting which generation’s which, when the story moves about in time. This is my main criticism of e-books - you can’t just flick back and check on who’s who or what happened thirty years ago!

Urmstongran

I didn’t join Terribull as although this is a wonderful thread I find my reading can be pretty sporadic. I read voraciously for a few weeks then find I haven’t read anything (apart from the newspapers) in a long time.

This is one I’m reading at present. I’m 50 pages in (out of 500) and it’s gripping. Has anyone else read it? It was a recommendation from a friend.

Hi Urmstongran Glad you enjoyed Mothering Sunday. Did you watch the dramatised version on TV recently? It was well done and stuck to the book pretty well.

I'll check out the book you've recommended and reserve it from the library. I had a massive clearout of my bookshelves last year and sold a large boxful of books to one of these online book places. It was either that or buy a new bookcase!! Now I use the library as much as possible.

I always feel a twinge of envy when people talk about going to the library. Our nearest one closed in 2019 after a local consultation - the justification was that we had another just over a mile away, so within walking distance. Guess what happened to that one in 2021? Sadly neither of them can be taken over by the community - one is already sold off and the other needs at least a million spending on it. I feel so sorry for people who needed the libraries as their only source of books, for the internet and latterly, as a warm space.

Sorry, I digressed there - one of my bugbears, I’m afraid!

Maggiemaybe- rant on. I'm sure you'll find lots of agreement here. Libraries are a bastion of free access to fun, learning, and information to everyone, regardless of their income. Long may they continue.

Sorry to hear your nearest library closed a while ago Maggie, they are wonderful, my earliest memories are of being taken there to choose my books. I've renewed my acquaintance with the local one, after a long hiatus. Definitely one of my happy places.

Oh Maggiemaybe what a shame about your libraries. Personally I think it's a crime. I have a library in 3 different locations not far from me, each one a 20 minute drive from home in different directions. If I couldn't drive, it would be very difficult as there's no bus from here, (but I won't let myself think about that.)

No Sparklefizz I didn’t see th dramatisation. Bet is was good though if it stuck to the novel which was so evocative of the time.

Re libraries.
I’m SO lucky here in Urmston. We have a newly built library in the square below us next to Sainsbury’s and Starbucks. In fact I took L’il Miss there this afternoon (she was 6y last month). I’m the only family member who takes her and we use the library regularly, maybe once a week. It has an escalator but we went up in the lift this afternoon as she had her doll’s pram with kbaby Alex’ in it - as you do on a Saturday afternoon with grandma when you are that age. She chose 3 books. Loves books about dogs at the moment (hint, hint mum and dad!). We ❤️ our library!

Urmstongran
Oh that’s such a lovely way to spend an afternoon, it reminds me of when one of my grandchildren was little, I always had her on a Friday, and we always went to the library for story time and new books.
Every time she went she had her card stamped, after every ten stamps she had a certificate, there were about ten certificates ending with a gold one, the librarian told me she was the first child to get the gold certificate, I was very proud!
Sadly my little bookworm prefers her phone now, but they were happy days

It’s lovely to see you here, Urms! I shall be ever-grateful to you for ‘giving me permission’ to stop reading any books I don’t enjoy. I do usually reach the end of books but a few times now, I’ve said ‘nah, not gonna finish this. It’s rubbish.’

I ought to join the library in the new town we live in now but I am so out of the habit of going. I suppose books have become so cheap and easy to buy, as an alternative. It’s a matter of use it or lose it, I’m sure, so I also feel guilty for not getting library books.

Don`t Wake Up wasn`t great, but still an OK read. Now on book 30, A Girl Called Hope, by Grace Thompson, a nice, light read, enjoying it.

Urmstongran Mothering Sunday is available here if you want to see it. Well worth a viewing, I would say.

www.flicks.co.uk/movie/mothering-sunday/

Ooh Sparkelfizz ! Thank you SO much for this link. I plan to watch it tomorrow evening and will report back. Fab.
😊

Also what a heartwarming welcome I’ve received.
Thank you lovely peeps. Bookworms really are the bestest people. Kindred spirits indeed. x

👋 SueDonim!

Urmstongran Ooh Sparklefizz ! Thank you SO much for this link. I plan to watch it tomorrow evening and will report back. Fab.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

#6 The Dream Weavers by Barbara Erskine - I really enjoyed this, I found it similar to The Lady of Hay. A ghost story with a woman from today and the Saxon daughter of King Offa.

#7 The Room in The Attice Louise Douglas - free with Prime membership at the moment. I wasn't sure about this one but ended up enjoying it. A schoolboy in 1993 in an old building discovers a mystery from the beginning of the century.

#8 The Japanese Lover Isabel Allende 2015. I found this in my Kindle stash, must have started it some time ago and abandoned it. But I started from the beginning again and this time got into it. Lots of interesting characters.

Book 13. From the Ashes by Deborah Masson. A police procedural, OK but not great. A bit repetitive in places and I can work out how upset people are without having it constantly spelt out.