THE BRAND NEW 2024 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

#12 Once Upon a River Diane Setterfield.
It is the night of the winter solstice and the regulars of a Thames side inn are telling stories. A badly injured man carrying the corpse of a drowned child bursts in and collapses. He is alive but everyone, even the village nurse, agree the child is dead. Except she comes back to life. Three families claim her but who is she? She cannot speak.
A captivating and mysterious book, I really enjoyed it.

I finished reading the Richard and Judy's choice 6 book set my daughter bought me for Christmas, and here they are:

The Last Resort - Heidi Perks - OK
This Could Be Everything - Eva Rice - OK
I Will Find You - Harlan Coben - OK
Freeze - Kate Simantsb- OK
The Escape - Ruth Kelly - wasn't keen
An Eye for an Eye - M.J. Arlidge - oh, so good (if you like revenge-type whodunnits). The last line was brilliant.

In between all these I finished off Eleanor of Aquitaine by Sara Cockerill - it took forever!
Then The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
And I've just finished Where The Crawdads Sing which was absolutely wonderful.

Phew, that takes my year's list so far up to 12.

I'm now going to put Hours of the Night on my list after reading the above posts.

Sparklefizz, I agree, Hours of the Night would be on my best ever books of all time list, if I had one!
I’m also in agreement re The Salt Path, I too found it irritating and reckless.
Couldn’t buy into all the hype at all.

I've just finished Book 22 Trio by Sue Gee, another enjoyable book by this author which starts in Northumberland in 1937.

She writes so beautifully of sadness and longing.

I have read three books by Sue Gee. I would rate Hours of the Night absolutely No. 1, Reading in Bed No. 2 and Trio No. 3.

I found "Salt Path" irritating and frustrating. They set off from home with just a toffee and 5p in their pockets and a seriously ill husband and then proceeded to scrounge off people along the way. I know I am exaggerating this but to me they made some totally mad decisions.

It has since been said that parts of their story were highly embellished.

I suppose ‘Salt Path’ shocked us because of their awful financial situation and so the book held us because their experience was so dire. But the book I’m reading is definitely better written!

Sparklefizz, I agree, Trio is also a good read.
Salt Path definitely didn’t do it for me, but I know most people have really enjoyed it. As you say, each to his own

I have to agree Sparklefizz this book is indeed a sumptuous read (love that word ha!).

Apologies, not sure who might have been the first to mention it!

Urmstongran So pleased you're enjoying Hours of the Night. You mention The Salt Path and I feel I have to say that Hours is much more beautifully written than that. (but we each have our own opinions of course)

I am now reading another Sue Gee book called Trio which is also wonderful. This is my 3rd book by Sue Gee. What a terrific author.

Book 43, The Journey, by Josephine Cox

Urmstongran, I am so pleased you are enjoying it,
It’s lovely isn’t it

Sara1954

Urmstongran, I’m sure you will enjoy it, please let us know

Just popping in to say I’m loving so far, my book number 5 - ‘The Hours of the Night’ by Sue Gee. The descriptive passages are wonderfully evocative they remind me a bit of those in ‘The Salt Path’ by Raynor Winn which many of us enjoyed. I’m 30% in already! I have a feeling this is going to be a tear jerker. There are signs …
Thank you SO much for the recommendation!
I have my book club tomorrow night to discuss what was my book no.3 (Love Marriage by Monica Ali) but I shall definitely be singing the praises of this book. The story is unfolding at a cracking pace.

Book 12, I think but I have really lost count. Conclave by Robert Harris. He is a new author to me but a friend gave me the book and I really enjoyed it. As the title suggests it is about the election of a pope. I am going to the library today and will look for more of this author's work. It is time I weaned myself off those murder mysteries.

Maggierose

Book 34 All the Broken Places by John Boyne - I realised, as I was reading this, that it’s a sort of sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Immensely readable, beautifully written and a gripping story. Gretel is 91, living quietly in a London mansion block. The arrival of a young family in the flat below sets in train events that force her to make the hard choice between doing nothing or acting, thus bringing her whole world crashing down.

I loved that book Maggierose, I think my next book is going to be another John Boyne, "The History of Loneliness" I think he's such a great writer.

Yes the Clare Mackintosh was pretty good Sparkelfizz.

Like you I do enjoy a non fiction history book, The River Kings was very interesting, I believe she's written a follow up, I'm not sure what the subject matter is though.

Book 34 All the Broken Places by John Boyne - I realised, as I was reading this, that it’s a sort of sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Immensely readable, beautifully written and a gripping story. Gretel is 91, living quietly in a London mansion block. The arrival of a young family in the flat below sets in train events that force her to make the hard choice between doing nothing or acting, thus bringing her whole world crashing down.

River Kings by Cat Jarman - non-fiction and an easy read about the Vikings and their influence from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads. I found it very interesting as I've been fascinated by the Vikings since schooldays. The author has been able to show in detail the lives of the Vikings due to the way that archaeology and DNA testing has advanced in recent years.

TerriBull I think I will give your Clare Mackintosh book a go as I've enjoyed other books by her.

14 The Last Party - Clare Mackintosh

Pretty good "whodunnit!" from Clare Mackintosh, although I've yet to read anything by her that has surpassed her first novel "I Let You Go".

Set in a newly built village of holiday homes in an idyllic predominantly Welsh lake setting that has partial English shores opposite the village of Cwm Coed Into that setting, local returning celebrity opera singer, singer Rhys Lloyd, who grew up in the village and is a partner and heavily invested in this new development, is throwing a New Year's Eve party. Before the end of the evening he will be found dead, floating in the freezing waters of Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake). Local DC Ffion Morgan and her English accomplice, DC Luke Brady who had previously met through a one night stand, not realising that they will meet again when unwittingly thrown together on this murder. A case that in true Christie style has umpteen suspects with backstories of having clashed over the years with the rather immoral victim, whose career is now on the wane and his new business venture is pivotal to resurrecting his finances. Although there are also local resentments as to second home buyers from over the border. Throughout the book the failed unhappy relationships of the two main characters, Ffion and Leo are recounted and their obvious growing affection for each other comes to the fore. Well plotted, and a couple of unforeseen twists in the conclusion.

I'm off to find something completely different to read for my next book.

Book 42, Somewhere, Someday, by Josephine Cox. I`m not familiar with her writing, but enjoyed this book immensely.

Book 33 Cost by Roxana Robinson. Although it’s well written it’s rather a slog. It deals with the effect of the heroin addiction of the younger son on the rest of the family. Unrelentingly miserable and although it’s a desperate situation it’s hard to warm to any of the characters.

#10 was Tell Me How It Ends by Jo Leevers. It is a lovely feel-good story about an unlikely friendship that develops between repressed, almost autistic Henrietta and the older, but lonely, Annie, who is dying from cancer. Henrietta has a job transcribing Life Memory books, ghost-written for people who are dying to leave behind for their friends and family. Both the main protagonists have suffered from life changing events that become clear as the story progresses. It sounds gloomy but it really is not. I can thoroughly recommend it.

Hellogirl - there’s nothing ‘more worthwhile’ - just ‘necessary’ perhaps!
x

Book 41, In Love and War, by Lily Baxter, who I was surprised to find out is also Dilly Court.
Urmston, I read when I should be doing more worthwhile stuff, lol!

I really enjoyed Circe when I read it , my first stab at Greek Mythology, I keep meaning to read some more. I'll get round to it.

I fell in love with Madeline Miller’s books after reading “Achilles”. Her books “A Thousand Ships” and “Circe” continue in that splendid vein. You simply can’t put them down. I recommend Natalie Haynes and Pat Barker also. Their characters leap off the page.