THE BRAND NEW 2024 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

7. The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
This was my reading group’s choice and I really didn’t fancy it. It’s a re-telling of the Iliad, from the perspective of a minor prince called Patroclus, exiled from his homeland as a child and later to become the much loved partner of Achilles. I really didn’t think a tale of gods and battles would be my thing, but it turns out it was. I absolutely loved this book, and felt bereft when it was done. The love between Achilles and Patroclus shines through to the end.

8. The Dwarves of Death, Jonathan Coe
Looking for something I’d be sure to enjoy after the last book, I picked this one by one of my favourite authors. It’s one of his early novels and not up to the dizzy heights of The Rotters’ Club, but I really enjoyed it nevertheless. It’s a short book, a black comedy with an unlikely plot, built around the music scene. Our hero witnesses an unlikely murder committed by two sinister dwarves, and being the only other person on the scene, he becomes the prime suspect. It’s nowhere near as grim as it sounds. In fact, the best bit of the book for me is his hilarious and very relatable description of waiting for a bus that you just know will only turn up if you leave the queue.

It’s great to see so many recent comments about Ann Tyler and Kate Atkinson, two of my favourite writers. It’s made me want to look out more of their books, but I have such a toppling to be read pile already! My next read will be Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I got half way through it last year and had to abandon it to read a book group choice. I was enjoying it, so need to get back to it now before I start something else.

Hellogirl you’re on book number 40 I see! Wowzer.
I’m playing at the game (on 4).
🤣

Finished the Linda Robson autobiography last night. It was readable (says she damning it with faint praise). It passed a few hours along. Understandably peppered with luvvie nonsense. It was okay and it’s done with. No, I wouldn’t recommend. One or two snippets about her family life growing up, not much money but thick as thieves apparently (her dad went to prison at one stage when Linda was at junior school + that must have been tough).

As my dear mum used to say ‘slap one and they’d all cry’!

Now for Book number 4. Fiction this time - the one recommended upthread. ‘The Hours of the Night’.
😊

I also read Star of the Sea quite a few years ago and remember I loved it. I didn’t know the author was Sinead’s brother, talented family.

My #16 was The Girl Below by Bianca Zander.
After 10 years of living in New Zealand Suki returns to London, hoping to reconnect with old friends, find work and restart her life in London. It doesn’t quite work out as she’d hoped, she goes to live for a while with an old family friend and as she becomes involved with the family old secrets surface. There’s a bit of a ghost story runs through it which turned me off a bit. I did like the author’s writing style though. 6/10

Book 12: Little by Edward Carey - This is a very excellent book. It is set in and before the French Revolution and reimagines the life of Madam Tussaud who began the wax works museum. I couldn't put it down and was awake half the night reading it!

18-A Family Secret-Kitty Neale- 2nd in a trilogy of Battersea Tavern stories. London 1949 Winnie and her pub are the heart of the community helping friends and family despite bombs dropping all around. But life for her does not run smoothly when her son David comes back with devastating consequences for some. Long hidden secrets are revealed which shock many of the family. Another great read.

Book 32 Jobs for the Girls by Ysenda Maxtone Graham. Subtitled - How we set out to work in the typewriter age, the author interviews women from all sections of society who have ever had a job from the 1950s to early nineties. I loved it, a very engaging and entertaining read.

#16. Dying To Tell by Jack Cartwright.

Book 31 An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison - The author is a professor of clinical psychiatry in the US; she also has manic- depression ( a description she prefers to bipolar). A very enlightening memoir.

#11 The Toll Gate Georgette Heyer.
Captain 'Crazy Jack' Staple is finding peacetime following Waterloo a bit dull. While on his way to visit a friend he gets lost and takes refuge at an unmanned (apart from a terrified young boy) toll gate. Here he discovers a mystery, adventure and love. Great fun.

Book 40, Escape, by James Patterson and David Ellis. A great read.

Book 13
Old Gods time - Sebastian Barry
Not really sure about this book, beautifully written, atmospheric, moving, but confusing at times.
Tom Kettle is a retired policeman, he lives in the annex of a Victorian castle, and since retiring he has managed to keep himself to himself.
But he carries an unbearable burden of guilt and heartbreak, almost more than any man could be expected to bear
There is a supernatural element to this story, and at times it’s difficult to see what’s real and what isn’t.
The writing is beautiful, the characters are really well drawn, it’s full of small details, but much like the last book I read, there is a degree of ambiguity, left me feeling sad.

It’s funny, SOTS is a book I’ve wanted to read for years but somehow never got round to it and it never appeared in my Xmas stocking. Thus, I’m rather late to the party!

I didn’t know he was Sinead O’Connor’s brother until I was reading about him earlier this afternoon - they certainly both had a way with words. ❤️

Book 39, The Girl From the Tanner`s Yard, by Diane Allen.

SueDonim "Star of the Sea" is one of my all time favourite books, I think I read it when it was first published nearly 20 years ago now, I thought it was wonderful, I gave it to several people I know who I knew would also love it too. It is one of a handful of books that have stayed with me. Wonderful writing. Yes I knew Joseph O'connor was the late Sinead's brother.

#15. The Final Curtsey by Margaret Rhodes.

Goodness SueDonim that brought back memories. I read ‘Star of the Sea’ oh must be 20 years ago. Rich and compelling I recall parts of the story even now. Did you know the author is the brother of the late Sinead? (Nothing Compares 🎵)

No 7 Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor. The title is the name of a ship taking impoverished migrants and a variety of other characters from Ireland to the US in 1847 and it follows their various tales on the voyage as well as their background stories. It’s a brutal and sad book but wonderfully written.

I’m another Anne Tyler fan. Ladder of Years is also my favourite - I think it resonates for a lot of women!

#11 Left you dead - Peter James. I’ve read lots of his books and enjoy them.

Not My Baby by Anya Mora. Book 30. A midwife gives birth alone to a baby girl. When she wakes up her husband is home but the baby he’s holding is a boy. Amateurish self-published short novel. Waste of time really. But I expect it’s lovely for the author to have her book in print.

Book 29 Bitter Harvest by Ann Rule - True Crime, horribly fascinating story of a Kansas housewife, qualified doctor who is found guilty of poisoning her husband and setting the house on fire killing two of her three children. Is she deeply psychologically damaged or just plain evil? No real attempt to explain or examine her personality and actions.

I really enjoyed Pachinko too.

17-A Mother's Secret-Kitty Neale. 1939 London. The first of a trilogy of stories set around The Battersea Tavern. An insight into life in a pub run by Winnie. Her brute of a husband is lazy and lets her do all the work, her son takes after his father, but she is tough and carries on regardless. Winnie is the first of several colourful characters who all have a secret they want to hide. KN has a way of making her characters so realistic that you feel as if you know them personally. Very enjoyable and I'm looking forward to reading the next two books.

Pachinko. By Min Jin Lee.
Very readable story about a Korean family in Japan over a 3/4 generations. Interesting and thoroughly enjoyable.

Currently reading ‘The Rose Code’ by Kate Quinn and thoroughly enjoying it.