2023 - Book Challenge - Second thread

Thank you TerriBull for restarting this thread. I have enjoyed seeing what everyone is reading.
63-Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell. There are some new characters in this story that Kay hasn't worked with before. Are they all to be trusted when investigating the death of a little person? Gripping as always.

#47. A Mind To Murder by PD James.

#53 Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris. Not my usual kind of story but I'm quite liking it. I think someone on here recommended it. Lots of history that I don't know too much about.

Hi everyone, I am new here. I would like to get suggestions on contemporary novels by women novelists that are not ageist.
It's so hard to read upbeat stories, or anything of interest, without the entire 'issue' being on 'how old they are' etc. (Excuse my odd username, I was told I had to use 4 charters, 2 of which were numbers..I now see you all have much different usernames) anyhow, not a problem. Thanks, Bridget

Welcome ab23. I think if you peruse the previous thread and "The best book you have read this year" one you will find plenty of suggestions which will include many contemporary female authors with a non ageist slant. I tend to read a greater number of female authors, more by accident than design, women writers seem more prolific at the moment.

Thanks TerriBull for thread no. 2. This is my favourite on GN.

Sar53 I've read Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris. It took me a while to get into it but once I did, I really enjoyed it, and learnt about a period of history that I knew little about.

Thanks for all your regular feedback Sparklefizz.

Also have Act of Oblivion on my shelves, my husband's read it, I will be reading it too, possibly before the end of the year, I do know it's good and I love that period of history.

Good morning. Thank you for the new thread TerriBull.
#46 The Reading List Sara Nisha Adams.
A lovely book about the power of books and libraries to bring people together. I loved it.

I read a lot and probably nothing much of quality but I have just ordered and received A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and Tomorrow and Tomorrow...by Gabrielle Zevin. I'm hoping these are book I can get immersed in. It would be great if anyone has enjoyed these.

I liked The Vanishing Point, but it wasn`t quite what I`ve come to expect from Val McDermid. Nor reading book 106. You Should Have Told Me, by Leah Konen.

I have been in the 50 books in 52 weeks challenge, I have done this for last 3 years, A few friends have joined too

The Dictionary of Lost Words / Pip Williams. I loved it. Something quite different!

BigBertha
‘A Little Life’ is a powerful book. Very beautiful, very sad, and at times very unsettling.
I loved it, but I do know people who didn’t rate it, I hope you won’t be one of them.

‘

Do let us know

Staceyann

The Dictionary of Lost Words / Pip Williams. I loved it. Something quite different!

I found I couldn't really get into this, but it's still sitting on my shelves so perhaps I'll give it another try.

Book 38
The ink Black Heart- Robert Galbraith
Still can’t really decide what I really thought about it.
The story itself was quit gripping, and Strike and Robin never disappoint, but I really struggled with all the chat room and twitter stuff.
I didn’t like the format, it took me a while to realise I was meant to read down the columns and not across.
There are also a big cast of characters, so it’s a job to remember who is who, and how they’re connected, then just to make it even harder, a lot of them have two identities.
I have never been in a chat room or used twitter, maybe if I had it would have been a bit simpler to follow.
The last hundred or so pages, I seemed to lose interest, and by the end I wasn’t really bothered.
Not one of my favourites, but will still eagerly await the next one.

Sara1954 I agree with what you've said about The Ink Black Heart. I had it for Christmas but found I just wasn't interested in following all the chat room and Twitter text. I flicked forward in the book and discovered there were huge chunks of this throughout the book, so I gave up. ife's too short and there are too many other wonderful books to read instead........

....one of which is The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, and as usual this author doesn't disappoint. This was Book 64 for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Cecilia discovers an old envelope in her husband's handwriting saying "To be opened only in the event of my death".

She resists for quite a while but eventually opens it .... and it's like opening Pandora's box.

The book's characters are well drawn, and Liane Moriarty writes well on relationships, always with a touch of humour. This is cleverly plotted and a very good read.

I echo your feelings Sarah and Sparklefizz, The Ink Black Heart wasn't the easiest to read of the series, particularly as regards to three way, on line conversations which I did get bogged down in, I did finish it though. Certainly a disappointment, it followed my absolute favourite of hers "Troubled Blood" and for me that would have been a hard act to follow.

As I read a lot, I haven’t kept score.
I’m on book 4 of the “House of Niccolo” series by Dorothy Dunnett - Scales of Gold. I have the eight books and love rereading them.
I also have the whole set of the Lymond series, which I shall reread with pleasure at some later stage.

TerriBull
Completely agree.
Troubled Blood was her best I think, really enjoyed it.
I did finish Ink Black Heart, but as I said, by the end I wasn’t really bothered.
Love the Strike and Robin chemistry though, and I’m a big fan of Pat.

#47 Artemis Andy Weir.
A sci-fi book this time. An industrial thriller set on the Moon. Not as good as The Martian or Project Hail Mary but I enjoyed it.

64- The River Folk-Margaret Dickinson. 1920-30 story about the people around the River Trent. A family saga with the relationships between the gentry and working class at it's centre. Can romance between the two ever have a happy ending? I've learnt what it was like living on the river from this book. As always, MD never disappoints.

You Should Have Told Me was OK, but not spectacularly so. Am now reading book 107, No Sweet Sorrow, by Denzil Meyrick, I love these books, set around Kintyre, my favourite part of the world.

The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital by Joanna Nell
The Memory Shop by Ella Griffin
The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page
Forever Home by Graham Norton
The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley
The Thursday Club books 1, 2, 3 by Richard Osman

I don't know the numbers as I've read many others in between too.