THE BRAND NEW 2024 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

Book 22, Snap, by Belinda Bauer.
Urmston, I read a lot because I`ve not been very mobile for a while, and have the good fortune that 2 of my daughters do my housework, washing and ironing.

Siope, thanks for the heads up on the latest about Ruth and Nelson, I'll watch out for that in the summer.
I enjoyed book 11, The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffith, the development of Ruth and Nelson's relationship against a WW2 archaeological back story.
I'm alternating these Dr Ruth Galloway books with stand alone titles so that I'd don't binge read and finish them too quickly!
So book 12, The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont, was completely different! It is a very imaginative historical fiction about Agatha Christie's eleven day disappearance in 1926, narrated by her husband's mistress. It includes a Christie style murder mystery...very far fetched but cleverly put together and all loose ends tied up!
Book 13, A Room full of Bones, was the next Ruth Galloway, very enjoyable.
Tonight I will start book 14, All the Broken Places by John Boyne, after reading the recommendations here. I'm not sure how I'll cope with it though because The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas left me quite distressed for some time.
Thanks again to TerriBull and everyone contributing to this super thread. 📚 🍷 👓

Ta Da! I’ve finished book no.3 😁
Thoroughly enjoyed it. I love the way Clare Chambers writes. And all the characters are so engaging and utterly believable. It made me laugh quite a lot too, so another bonus. A good book is a marvellous companion.

Now the pleasure awaits in choosing my next book….
Back later.

Chosen this as my book no.4
It’s our book club read for mid March. 510 pages 😱 in 4 weeks.
I’m a slow reader so I’d better crack on …

Urmstongran
Sorry, I must have missed it somewhere, which Clare Chambers book did you read?

Finished Book 15 The Little House by Philippa Gregory. This was not her usual historical novel but present-day, set in Bristol and Bath, and tells the story of relationships.

Ruth, who had a sad childhood, is married to Patrick who is his parents' very spoilt "golden boy". His mother is very domineering, Patrick always agrees with her and Ruth finds it hard to stand up for herself.

I enjoyed this book (although found myself wanting Patrick to get his come-uppance ).

I read ‘The Editor’s Wife’ Sarah.

Sorry - Sara54. 😊

GeminiJen

Only just seen your question, sorry.

I enjoyed ‘Past Lying’. It’s quite a while since I read any Karen Pirie books, so had to get back in her world again.

The fact it was written, I assume, while Lockdown was still on, brought it all back. How long ago it seems when we were having to wear masks, have ‘bubbles’, keep our distance and having people die of Covid before any vaccinations were available.

Never want those days to return.

Sorry, yes I remember I did read that, I love Clare Chambers, but I haven’t read that one, I will order it.

#7 A Winter Grave-Peter May, a good read set in 2051, most of it in a frozen Scotland, global warming.
#8 Little Wing-Freya North, I’ve just started this.

#8. Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm by Gil North.

My #11 was Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gale. Follows the life of Charles, born in Cornwall during the first war and serving in the navy in the second one. Following his father’s death when he is very young, Charles has a very close relationship with his mother, a laundress. He is a quiet and studious boy who does well and goes on to become a “coder” in the navy.
Apparently the author took his inspiration from a few known facts of the life of Cornish poet Charles Causley, I had never heard of him as I don’t read poetry.
It found it engrossing and I rattled through it, helped by a long train journey. Can’t decide if it’s 8 or 9 out of 10, so will go with 8.

Book 23, The Never List, by Koethi Zan. I realised part way in that I`d read it before, but a while back, so carried on as I couldn`t remember the ending.

No 7 was Payday by Celia Walden A man has been found impaled on railing, then the book goes into all the people who wanted him dead written from their view point. I enjoyed this one, good twist at the end so I downloaded her 2 other books.

Not 8 The Square Celia Walden, similar premise a women has been killed and the book follows all the people with an interest in murdering her. Good but not quite as good as Payday , I thought.

No 9 Harm's Way bu Celia Walden. Completely different story about a young girl in Paris who befriends an older woman and gets drawn into her circle. Not very sympathetic characters.=, but still very readable.

I have put the Horse Dancer by JojoMoyes to one side, just couldn't get into it, will try again at a later date,
Read the Bob Mortimer autobiography and enjoyed it, it brought back memories of his shows with Vic Reeves, he is also a local .
Started Holly by Stephen King.

#15: the third of the the Joel Hames trilogy. God knows why.
#16 Elly Griffiths' The Crossing Places, a re-read while I thought about what I fancied next
#17 Had a bash at Rob Rinder's The Trial. It's okay, but perhaps not as witty as it thinks it is
#18 Elly Griffiths' The Janus Stone, also a re-read but still good
#19 A non-fiction one (which I bought because I love the title as much as the subject): Index, A History of the, by Dennis Duncan. Described as a bookish adventure, and it is brilliant. Definitely recommended for those who love words and indexes (and want to know why indexes and not indices!), and history.

Have now started The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff, which is a revenge thriller, set in rural India.

I think this is books #3 and #4 🙂 I’m very slow because I spend too much time on social media and online newspaper!

The Spare Room by Helen Garner. This is about a friendship tested to the limit when Helen has her longtime friend Nicola to stay for 3 weeks while Nicola undergoes an ‘alternative’ treatment for the cancer which surgery, radiation and chemo have failed to halt. There is a lot of humour in this Australian set novel, but it is harrowing in what the desperate clinging on to bogus therapists does to Nicola herself and to Helen.

I’ve just finished The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan. This is another harrowing read, set in British occupied Malaya during WW2 when the Japanese took over from the British and then, of course, surrendered after the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The Malayan family at the centre of this novel are separated by the events of the war and we hear the story of the two daughters - a six year old and a ?17year old, and the 15 year old son who is betrayed by a schoolteacher and imprisoned in a labour camp, working on the Burma railway. The story of Cecily, the mother, goes back further, to British rule in the 1930s and the struggle to win favour and a good job which preoccupies Cecily’s husband. The story is well told and full of atmospheric detail. I was swept along and happy to ignore a few too convenient plot twists.

On to #6 which is The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, for this months book club and I have only left myself 10 days to read it so I hope it will be an easy read though it looks quite densely printed. A friend highly recommended it 🙂

#9. The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith.

Am re-reading all the Strike books. This was my least favourite by far, didn’t like the online chats, but am just going to whizz over them this time.

What was book no.5 Litterpicker?

Book 6 : The Princes in the Tower -An interesting read as I love history, but I am not convinced by her arguments. There are leaps of logic and somewhat forced conclusions. I prefer Nathan Amin's book about Henry V11 and the Tudor Pretenders.

My book 6, mentioned above "The Princes in the Tower" is by Philippa Langley.

Book 20. Pandemic by Robin Cook - This was written just before Covid and I thought it would be interesting to compare the imagined pandemic with the real thing. It turned out not to be about a Pandemic but about gene editing being put to dubious uses. It is the 11th book in a series and there are lots of references to previous events which is a bit irrelevant if you haven’t read the other books. I can remember enjoying Robin Cook’s medical thrillers years ago but this one wasn’t a great read for me.

Book 24, Every Breath You Take, by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke. A really good read.

10-Richard Osman-The Thursday murder club-I've had this on the shelf for ages and decided to read it at the same time my sister in law was reading hers. No doubt we'll have a good old natter over a coffee and give our opinions. It surprised me a bit because I wasn't expecting it to be so funny, I suppose because most murder mysteries I read are serious. I loved the characterization, some really loveable pensioners. I look forward to seeing the film when it's released. I enjoyed this as I could almost hear RO's voice reading it to me, but I don't think I can read the next book just yet.