THE BRAND NEW 2024 50 BOOK CHALLENGE

Loved it too Sparkefizz, I think Lisa Jewell can be relied on to consistently produce a page turner.

Book 5 None of This is True by Lisa Jewell.

Wow! What a gripping book. I've enjoyed other books by Lisa Jewell but I reckon this might be her best. I have had to postpone what I was doing this afternoon because I just couldn't put it down and wanted to finish it. So many twists and turns.

The story is as follows: Alix, a podcaster, is out celebrating her 45th birthday in a local restaurant when she crosses paths with Josie, who is also celebrating her 45th birthday. They are, in fact, "birthday twins".

A few days later they bump into each other outside Alix's children's school and they get chatting. Josie tells Alix she has been listening to some of her podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject herself for a new series because she's on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Alex agrees to a trial interview and Josie's life appears to be complicated and strange ..... and it all goes from here.

This is an unput-downable book in my view.

I started reading Rachel Joyce when my nephew recommended The Music Shop which I loved. She seemed to write a different and sympathetic view of people.
Miss Benson’s Beetle was so different in style but good too.
Have now read all the Harold Fry, Queenie and Maureen books which have also been so engrossing.

Finished Book 9 - Virgin Earth after 8 Earthly Joys. As I wrote before I can’t understand why I never read them before! As well as the plant gathering, the politics and inclusion of various lesser known skirmishes in the Civil War make fascinating reading. The forays into Virginia and the relations between the settlers and the indigenous people added to the mix. A short pause today to re-gather my thoughts!

Sparklefizz….spot on. One man’s meat is another man’s poison and that’s the truth. It shouldn’t be a chore to read a book it should be a pleasure and something to relish.

Book 4, Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh. I was a bit bored at the beginning, but it turned into a good read.

I’d forgotten I’d put ‘Brazen’ to one side (whilst changing for my book club read 😮) so I’m back to it. Non fiction. A completely different genre! I’m a slow reader - and I spend too much time pickling about on GN. It’s a bit addictive….

2-Olive, Mabel and me-Andrew Cotter. This non-fiction book was really interesting and a must read for anyone who loves dogs or climbing Munros. If the authors name is familiar, he is a sports presenter, and he cheered us up during lockdown making little videos with his two Labradors. Most enjoyable.

3. The Real Deal, Caitlin Devlin
This was a Prime First Reads book. The plot revolves round the televised reunion of a group of 20 somethings who appeared in a popular TV reality show of that name six years earlier. The original series ended abruptly with a shocking event, details of which emerge during the reunion. I enjoyed the book on the whole and thought it started really well, but it didn’t quite live up to the early promise, imho.

Book 4, Orphans of the Storm by Celia Imrie. After reading this novel, based on real people and events ( love affair set in Nice, developing to Titanic drama) I just had to go online to research the background to this intriguing story. Sometimes fact is indeed stranger than fiction.
Book 5 I know you by Claire McGowan. A young woman tries to create a new life and identity for herself after being convicted , then exonerated of killing the family she worked for as a nanny in the US.
It was OK, I didn't particularly like any of the characters, although I really enjoyed and binge read all the Paula Maguire books by this author.
Not sure what I'll read next...

Book 6 Fleishman is in Trouble, a wealthy, Jewish couple are breaking up. It got superlative reviews and I wonder why. It’s a decent read, but I maybe other readers got more out of it than me.

I have just finished my 3rd book. It is "The Ashes of London" by Andrew Taylor which is the first book in a great historical crime /mystery series. Set in 1666 London at the time of the Great Fire, a mans body is found in the remains of St Paul's. He has been stabbed in the neck. James Marwood a traitors son is forced to hunt the killer and encounters a desparate young woman who is determined to have a life. Another murder draws Marwood into political and religious mysteries at Westminster and into the track of killers with nothing to lose. I couln't put this book down. It is set in a period of history when change was happening and is I feel, given a realistic historical setting. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
Andrew Taylor is a great story teller. Last year I read his Lydmouth Crime series set in the 1950's. He is great at evoking the period of Britain at this time.

Also, I have often used the term Curate’s egg and l do know the origin of the term. It is very useful.

@Sparklefizz, l couldn't agree more with you. This is a fun thread and we do not have to study set works for school or exams. I did A level English. In those days, English literature was the only English A level you could take and I am sure that l would have much preferred English language A level, which is available nowadays. Having to dissect texts for each hidden meaning was soul destroying for me. I enjoyed about half the course but T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland (and l normally enjoy his poems) and, worst of all, Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, are seared into my memory. The Wasteland made me rapidly lose the will to live altogether and, over forty years later, Portrait of a Lady still makes me angry. Irrational, I am sure. The one fun fact l learned is that T.S. Eliot is an anagram of toilets. With this in mind, I have since had the opinion that l am reading for pleasure and life is far too short to worry about what I "should" be reading. If I am not enjoying a book, I stop reading it and choose another.

TerriBull

I love this expression "Curate's Egg" I've Googled it, having never heard it before I'm going to shove it everywhere from now on Be warned!

I was 1st! Top Trumps 🤣

mrshat So, shame on me, I am abandoning this from today and will find another on my Kindle list! I will be back (hopefully!)

No "shame" whatsoever! We are reading for pleasure and it's my belief that life's too short to plod on with a book that's not enjoyable when there are so many good books just waiting to be read!

I read Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller for my book group. I enjoyed its setting on the Isle of Purbeck which I know from childhood holidays, and the way the story was told was intriguing. The wife/mother disappeared when Flora, the younger of the two daughters, was 10. Flora is now about the age her mother was when she met her womanising husband. Gil was Ingrid’s tutor at university and very much older. She was warned off him but, of course, married him anyway, giving up her plans for an independent and adventurous life. Before she disappeared she wrote down her experience of marriage in the form of letters to her husband. She concealed the letters in various books in Gil’s collection (he loves to collect secondhand books for the notes written on the pages by previous readers and for items found between the pages - notes, shopping lists etc.
The story begins with Gil thinking he has seen Ingrid outside the bookshop in their local town. He goes in pursuit but falls and is taken to hospital where his daughters come ‘home’ to be with him. He is, we learn, seriously ill from before the fall. We follow the story of his final days in chapters alternating with Ingrid’s letters which are still, as far as we know, hidden in the books. The descriptions of the area and especially the sea, are beautiful. Unfortunately the characters are not well developed, or particularly likeable or, in some cases, convincing. Still, a good read.

Terribull I find it very useful! Hope you have fun with it.

I love this expression "Curate's Egg" I've Googled it, having never heard it before I'm going to shove it everywhere from now on Be warned!

Finally finished The Year of the Locust. Very much a curate’s egg, and not a patch on I Am Pilgrim.

Just discovered there’s a new Harbinder Kaur book by Elly Griffiths out at the end of the month, which is pleasing.

Sara1954

Sparklefizz
I loved it eventually, but I thought it was slow to get going. The ending I found so sad.

Yes, the ending was sad, I agree.

Well I’ve given up on book number 2.
‘The Satsuma Complex’ by Bob Mortimer. I love Bob’s humour, love the tv programme’Gone Fishing’ but this book irritated the life out of me. I gave up at 45% on my Kindle. The whimsy just didn’t compute with the thriller genre, the characters didn’t engage me. Something was ‘off’ about it and I can’t put my finger on it. Reviews on line are stellar though - many say 5* more than not - so perhaps ignore mine!

Back tomorrow when I’ve chosen another novel to read.
I love deciding what’s next!

‘The Marriage Portrait’ was a bit of a curate’s egg for me. A lot of intricate detail and prose, some tension, some page flicking …. Hmm.

Belated Happy New Year. Joining again this year but it is unlikely I will reach the 50 target although I love reading.
So far, I have read
1. Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls and
2. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister by Jung Cheng. Well, I've got 30% read, it is not an easy read and really needs to be in book form, not on Kindle. Too many references to cope with. So, shame on me, I am abandoning this from today and will find another on my Kindle list! I will be back (hopefully!)

Sparklefizz
I loved it eventually, but I thought it was slow to get going. The ending I found so sad.

I'm only a little way in Sparklefizz, I mistakenly thought the Lucrezia, of the piece was going to be Lucrezia Borgia, I loved reading about the Borgias many years ago, such a bad lot! but a different Lucrezia altogether and died so young. I like Maggie O'Farrell's writing she is a favourite author, I'll come back here when I've finished it.

I do agree with you about Matthew Venn, one of Anne Cleeves least interesting characters.