2023 - 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

Tess Gerritsen's 'Listen to me' had a different set up this time with Rizzoli's Mum getting involved. Made me smile as sometimes us parents are overlooked when we make a suggestion.
25 was Peter Lovesey's 'Wobble to death', which gave me a history lesson of sport in the 1800's.
26 is Little Wing by Freya North. If it's as good as her previous book, I will not be disappointed. I am delighted that some of it is set locally to me.

No 9. The Magician by Colm Toibin.

It’s taken me aaaaages to read, I don’t know why. I was drawn to the novel’s subject matter of the author Thomas Mann and some of it was interesting but much of it was dreary. And then it suddenly ended. Stopped. Finished. 🤷‍♀️

#13 Earthside Dennis E Taylor. Audiobook narrated by Ray Porter.
This is number 2 in a new sci-fi series by the author. I loved the author's 'Bobiverse' series and enjoyed bk 1 in this series but Earthside was a disappointment, nothing much happens. Book 3 won't be published until next year so I have until then to decide whether I will continue with the series.
My next book will be one that I have had on my virtual pile for a while, Nora Roberts' Northern Lights.

Welcome to the thread Sangela.

Val McDermid is a great crime writer, particularly her Karen Pirie series, they are my favourites of her books.

As you say, William Boyd, always a good choice and no two books ever the same.

I hope you enjoy coming to this thread with any contributions and recommendations.

Hi, just found this book challenge. I will give it a go, think it will be fun. I have bought several Val Mc Dermid books , brilliant writer but content too scary for me. I end up taking them to charity shop before getting past first few chapters! Just now I am reading Flush by Virginia Woolf, R in the month by Nancy Spain. I occasionaly purchase books but also use the warm space and enjoy coffee at Perth library whilst choosing my next couple of reads. Enjoying the book reviews and getting ideas on books to look out for. William Boyd is always a good choice.

Diggingdoris
I agree, one of my daughters always gives me books for presents.
We have pretty much the same taste, but occasionally she gives me something I really don’t want to read, but I always do.

Surprisingly, to me, I actually liked The Death of Dalziel, now just started the next in the series, A Cure for all Diseases, book 36.

M C Beatons Potted gardener wasn't quite as silly as some of her others. But then on to 2 of Rebecca Tope's mysteries for my 21 The Windermere Witness, and 22 The Ambleside Alibi. Both very plausible stories.
Then 23 was one of James Patterson's Bookshots, 'Radiant'. Part of the diamond trilogy, but definitely not about diamonds!
So now 24 is Tess Gerritsen's 'Listen to me'
If a friend gives me a book I feel I must give it a try even if I give up after a while, so lots on my list are not what I would buy. Do you other book swappers feel the same?

Pigma

Sparklefizz
I love the Shardlake books, hope you enjoy Dissolution.

I am following your recommendation Pigma - only about 100 pages in but was loving it from page 1 ! Thank you.

I love this thread and all the books threads.

Book 14 Dark Truths by A J Cross. A police procedural with strong, interesting characters, a good plot and a satisfying ending. I will read more by this author. Pigma Im another fan of the Shardlake books, may have to reread.

Sparklefizz
I love the Shardlake books, hope you enjoy Dissolution.

Musicgirl I loved Our Fathers by Rebecca Wait and bought it for both of my AC who also enjoyed it.

I've just finished my 1st book in March - A Dubious Legacy by Mary Wesley, an old book passed on by a friend. I quite enjoyed it although there was a very unlikeable and unrealistic character, but Mary Wesley's bitchy comments were quite amusing.

Book No. 19 which I've just started is Dissolution by C.J. Sansom.

I have gone out of sync with my reading list so have five in the batch:
#16 was The Liar in the Library by Simon Brett. Great fun.
#17 was Our Fathers by Rebecca Wait. This book is set on a remote Hebridean island and explores the aftermath of a terrible event - a father who shot two of his three children, his wife and himself. The story follows the surviving son returning to the island twenty years later. Insightful.
#18 was Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. This is a fictionalised account, through a servant’s eyes, of the village of Eyam in Derbyshire; the village that quarantined itself in the plague of 1665-1666 - the first lockdown in history. I really enjoyed it until the final two chapters, which I felt suspended my belief too much.
#19 was Coming Home to Island House by Erica James. This was a lovely story, set at the outbreak of world war 2 in a Suffolk village. Erica James writes beautiful family sagas.
#20 was Guilt at the Garage by Simon Brett. Light-hearted cosy murder mystery.

Book 12
Lessons - Ian McEwan
I was at least two hundred pages in before I started to enjoy this book.
It begins with Roland, a forces child, sent back to boarding school in England, you suspect the school may be awful, but it’s not, it’s generally a happy friendly place.
That’s until he starts piano lessons with Miss Miriam Cornell, she is a monster, a predatory paedophile, and a monstrous character, a full blown sexual affair begins when Roland is fourteen, and doesn’t end till she becomes totally mad when he’s sixteen.
This whole scenario I find a bit unbelievable, even though the school is quite liberal, I’m certain someone would have noticed all these prolonged absences, or a neighbor would have come suspicious.
I also found it too crowded with world events.
But, Roland becomes a man, and then a single parent, and as you follow him through his life, you start to admire and like him.
It’s a slightly shambolic story, but Roland, despite many difficulties is a good friend and a kind and loving father.
There is a cast of likeable characters, and a couple of horrendous ones, there are very sad sections, one character declines into senility, another dies a very bad death from cancer.
But overall, a book rich in love and friendship.

Book 13 Final Account by Peter Robinson, an Alan Banks novel and thoroughly enjoyed.

Just about to start book 35, The Death of Dalziel, by Reginald Hill.

#12 The Viscount Who Loved Me Julia Quinn.

This is the second of the Bridgerton romance/bodice ripper series about eight siblings from an aristocratic family living in Regency London. Each book details the sometimes rocky road to matrimony of one of the siblings. Even though it is not very well written and the author evidently has no knowledge of the period she writes of, I actually quite enjoyed this book. If you are looking for high literature though, avoid 😄.
On the subject of avoiding high literature I think I will have a change of genre to sci-fi and listen to the audiobook of Dennis E Taylor's Earthside next.

#12. The Wire In The Blood by Val McDermid.

Main Maine

I descended mainly into crime in February through the following books.

7 The Rising Tide - Anne Cleeves. I pretty much enjoy all her books and this one featuring Vera was no exception, set partly on Lindisfarne where the crime takes place, an atmospheric isle accessible when the tides are out, it has stayed in my memory from a few years ago when we visited it from nearby Alnwick.

8 Picture you Dead - Peter James., Fairly good, dragged a bit towards the end for me, Roy Grace on the trail of murder this time set in the world of art in particular forgery of old masters.

9 The Mysterious Case of The Alperton Angels - Janice Hallett, I don't know what to say about this latest one of hers other than I felt a bit lukewarm about it, it falls somewhere between The Appeal which I loved and The Twyford Code which really lost me. A fairly complex plot that involves a cult who were going to kill a baby 20 or so years ago, thought to be the antichrist, failing thankfully, when the baby disappears, they kill themselves. . Amanda Bailey is researching a book on the cult known as the "Alperton Angels" collaborating on it with her nemesis and male competitor Oliver Menzies. In Janice Hallett's usual style the narrative is related through transcribed notes, emails, text messages, extracts and other written matter such as books and plays on the subject. I realised after a while this novel format which I really enjoyed so much with The Appeal I was beginning to find it somewhat tiresome in this one around a third of the way in. I believe there is a 4th book in the pipeline and I live in hopes that she will repeat the appeal of The Appeal in that!

10 Reckless - William Nicholson I picked this up from a display cabinet at my local library thinking it was a William Boyd I saw the William and mistook it with a title of his "restless" when I got home saw it wasn't Boyd at all but Nicholson, it's not as if they even sound the same Decided to read it anyway, quite enjoyed it set mainly in the world of the 1960s looming Cuban missile crisis where the story switches between the Kennedy administration in the US and a young woman in London drawn into the murky world of Stephen Ward and The Cliveden set.

11 Munich - Robert Harris, set around the Munich Agreement in 1938 when Neville Chamberlain was duped into thinking Hitler was a person who he could negotiate peace with Taking an English delegation to Munich to that end. Told through the eyes of one of Chamberlain's private secretaries and his German counterpart, a diplomat both men having met each other when they studied at Oxford. Interesting and depressing.

12 The Last Remains - Elly Griffiths Big sigh Last of the Ruth Galloways, no spoilers, just to say she is back on form in this book and wraps it all up in a satisfactory manner. I shall miss the great cast of characters, in particular, Ruth, Nelson, Cathbad, and of course Flint the Cat who now has a neighbour in the form of Derek The Main Coon.

So on to March, first book, number 13, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver which I started last night.

Trust in Me had a good twist near the end. Now reading books 32, 33 and 34, a 3 in one volume by James Patterson, written along with other writers. The Moores are Missing was good, next is The Housewife, then Absolute Zero.

A bit late with my latest update of books but as I don’t seem to read so much as lots of you not a problem. So, my last 3 books were:
Far from Home by Ellie Dean - second in the series
The Golden Oldies Book Club by Judy Leigh
Secrets of the Cottage by the Sea by Rebecca Alexander.
All were lovely and enjoyable books to read especially the one by Rebecca Alexander.
With lots of you mentioning libraries can only say I think libraries are just fantastic and should be protected as much as possible. I live in a very small town in Suffolk and we have a small but brilliant library. I very rarely buy books so all I read I borrow from the library. Both my daughters were taken to the library every week to choose different books and always did the summer reading challenge. We only have 1 grandson who is now 8 and our daughter has continued this with him every year.

Book 8 The Second Cut by Louise Welsh.

A Girl Called Hope was a nice refreshing read after my last few books. Now reading book 31, Trust in Me, by Sophie McKenzie.

Finished Getting Better by Michael Rosen on how he has overcome tragedies in his life. Really interesting stuff about his Jewish background, the death of his son and overcoming Covid. Not at all morbid and beautifully written but, goodness, his battle to get back on his feet after six weeks in a ventilator was mammoth and I think it’s easy to forget the damage that can be done to bodies and minds by this dastardly virus. A good read. Now on to book 22, Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass.