The Not So New 2024 50 Books a Year - Thread 2

TerriBull

Sarah, I was greatly moved. I think in some respects the narrative transcends time and parts of it still resonate today, there are parallels for sure, although it's fair to say there are more safety nets now. The sheer abandonment of those people by the state was nothing less than shocking and the banks well their behaviour hasn't improved much with time. The unfairness of how any attempt to set up some form of unionisation to represent the crop pickers was thwarted in the most brutal of ways. He portrayed a flawed capitalistic society who only wished to protect the status quo and any opposition to that was deemed to be a form of communist subversion. My husband has got all of his books, I will read some more, maybe Cannery Row next.

You’re a really good reviewer I doff my cap to you😃
I read most of Steinbecks novels as a teenager, my Dad had them all as paperbacks and I remember being much moved by The Grapes Of Wrath.What a time for those people it was, the dustbowl farmers.There’s a very good, well acted and rather spooky tv series about a travelling ‘Carnie’ ( fairground) called Carnivale set in those times.It runs to several series and I thought it was brilliant.
Cannery Row is more light hearted and a good read as are all his books.

Oreo

Sparklefizz you can’t beat Hilary Mantel on the subject of Thomas Cromwell. I have the trilogy and intend to read them all again too.

I totally agree.

#36 Private Games James Patterson and Mark Sullivan.
Number three in James Patterson's Private series about an elite private security service operating all over the world. Appropriately at this time it is set during the 2012 London Olympics. A maniac calling himself Cronus and his three women associates, The Furies, try to destroy the games and the modern Olympic movement. They are of course foiled after much murder and mayhem by a member of the London Private office. Very good 👍.

Book 42
What she left behind - Emily Freud
This turned out to be a lot better than I expected.
It’s quite cleverly written, there was a twist which I didn’t suspect till the end, and it was hard to put down.
Basically, a remote house in the woods, a husband, a wife, and two gorgeous children. Only problem is, the husband is very far from how he appears.
Unsettling and creepy, I would recommend it.

Sparklefizz

Book 51 The Silence between Breaths by Cath Staincliffe.

This book is terrific. The reader becomes drawn in to the lives and concerns of a random group of passengers on a train. In the middle of the carriage sits Saheel carrying a deadly rucksack ....

Cath Staincliffe is such a good writer and has created believable characters in real-life situations. There's a contrast between the ordinariness of daily life building up to the horror that awaits..... the tragedy and the aftermath.

I will definitely look for more of her books.

44 The Silence Between Breaths - Cath Staincliffe

On your recommendation Sparklefizz!, yes a terrific read!

After the fact though, I read much of it with a lump in my throat She conveyed the horror of such an event, juxtaposed between the ordinary, the mundane and sometimes the stress filled lives of her main characters travelling from Manchester to London in the pursuit of work/job interview/a wedding. Each character outlined in some detail, their hopes fears, irritations, foibles before the impact, Among the multiple deaths are children a mother trying to get back to her sick child. Those that remain alive are left with life changing injuries. It certainly brought back the horror many of us remember in the accounts of similar atrocities on home grown soil. I can see her writing would transfer very well to the screen in line with the cover notes that detail her input with Blue Lights for example. Heartbreaking, only a handful of her initial characters survive the explosion, albeit without limbs and emotionally traumatised. Part of the story focuses on the family of the suicide bomber, their revulsion at his appalling act and how it tears their lives apart leaving them with feelings of rage, shame and grief. Ultimately I found it very sad.

I have just ordered The Silence Between Breaths.

I must look out for that book ( the silence between breaths) as I well remember travelling on the tube and being very nervous, passengers eyeing each other.
A difficult subject for an author to handle and maybe a difficult book to read too, I may need the box of Kleenex.

I wouldn't read it if you are about to undertake a train journey Oreo. Yes it's a difficult book to read., I found it very upsetting, it's fiction, but unfortunately it's been real life too.

#57 The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman. Number 4 in the Thursday Murder Club series. I know this series divides opinion, but I like it and loved this one. I’m looking forward to the movie version. 8/10

I have ordered The Silence Between Breaths too.

On your recommendation Sparklefizz!, yes a terrific read! (*The Silence between Breaths*)

Glad you enjoyed it TerriBull if "enjoyed" is the right word.

Finally finished #26 Homecoming by Kate Morton. It was well worth the the slow read as it is a huge book, but, as always with KM’s books, a wonderful, warm story with mystery and a sting n the tale.

36. Lies, lies, lies, Adele Parks

Daisy and Simon and daughter Millie are a happy family, until suspicion and lies overwhelm them, Simon’s drinking gets out of hand, and a horrific accident changes their lives forever. It’s a page turner, but of course you’ve to suspend disbelief as the plot unfolds.

Haven't posted for a while. Still reading though
Bit of a mixed bag to follow...

26. Priscilla Morris. Black Butterflies
Debut novel. Truly remarkable. Set in 1991. Follows artist Zora through the first year of the siege of Sarajevo.

27. Leo Vardiashvili. Hard by a Great Forest. Another remarkable read. Follows a young man, Saba, who returns to his home city of Tbilisi, Georgia, two decades after fleeing the Georgian Cvil War of 1991.

28. Stephanie Wrobel. The Recovery of Rose Gold.
This was one of our Book Club reads, Library choice.
Also a Richard and Judy book club recommendation.
Another debut novel.
Classic case of Munchhausen by proxy. Double narration, told from the two viewpoints - mother and daughter. Psychological thriller. Gripping read.

29. Robert Tressell. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.
Another of our Book Club reads/ librarian's choice.
First read this in my 20s. 60 years later...
Vivid picture of 19th century life-hardships, poverty, social inequality. Days before social security, lack of modern safety nets.
More of a political sermon than a novel, slow and a bit ponderous at times. But characters interesting, well drawn. Has stood the test of time.

Had a visit from a friend from Australia and she gifted me the following. They've all cropped up in previous posts so I won't elaborate beyond saying that I enjoyed them all. Real page turners.

30. Jane Harper. The Dry.
31. Force of Nature.
32. The Lost Man.
33. The Survivors.

3) Just reading ‘Toast’ by Nigel Slater. Absolutely wonderful.

Book 137, The Girl in the Castle, by James Patterson and Emily Raymond. Wasn`t sure about this at first, it goes back and forth between now and 1347, but it turned out to be a good psychological thriller.

GeminiJen

Haven't posted for a while. Still reading though
Bit of a mixed bag to follow...

26. Priscilla Morris. Black Butterflies
Debut novel. Truly remarkable. Set in 1991. Follows artist Zora through the first year of the siege of Sarajevo.

27. Leo Vardiashvili. Hard by a Great Forest. Another remarkable read. Follows a young man, Saba, who returns to his home city of Tbilisi, Georgia, two decades after fleeing the Georgian Cvil War of 1991.

28. Stephanie Wrobel. The Recovery of Rose Gold.
This was one of our Book Club reads, Library choice.
Also a Richard and Judy book club recommendation.
Another debut novel.
Classic case of Munchhausen by proxy. Double narration, told from the two viewpoints - mother and daughter. Psychological thriller. Gripping read.

29. Robert Tressell. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.
Another of our Book Club reads/ librarian's choice.
First read this in my 20s. 60 years later...
Vivid picture of 19th century life-hardships, poverty, social inequality. Days before social security, lack of modern safety nets.
More of a political sermon than a novel, slow and a bit ponderous at times. But characters interesting, well drawn. Has stood the test of time.

Tressel's The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is well worth reading. Alas, he only wrote the one novel but it is a powerful indictment of working class poverty and some believe it contributed to the 1945 Labour victory.

Book 41: The Whitby Murders by J.R. Ellis

#37Sylvester Georgette Heyer.
My August Georgette Heyer, I am re-reading a book a month in 2024.

I really must post on here more frequently, as I have quite a long list to add!
Book 4: Rachel Hore, The Love Child
Book 5: Lucinda Riley: The Olive Tree. Have enjoyed all her books, she's a great storyteller.
Book 6, 7 &8: All by Jeffery Deaver: The Vanished Man, The Empty Chair and the Cutting Edge.
Book 9: Izy Suttie (comedienne from the Peep Show), Jane is Trying.
Book 10: Monica Ali Brick Lane . Excellent
Book 11: Another Jeffery Deaver: The Stone Monkey
Book 12:John Green: Paper Towns. Think thus is aimed at US teenagers, not my usual type of book!
Book 13:Jeffery Archer: Best Kept Secret
Book 14: Jo Baker: Longbourn. The story of Pride and Prejudice but told from the servants' point of view. Really good.
Book 15: Rebecca Tope: Murder in the Cotswolds. OK
Book 16: Hazel Prior: Away with the Penguins. Great story, if a little far-fetched!
Book 17: Greg Mosse: Murder at Bunting Manor.
Book 18: Jodie Picoult: House Rules. One of my favourite authors and didn't disappoint.
Book 19: Harlen Coben, Caught.
Book 20: John Connelly: The Killing Kind.
Book 21:Kate Morton: Homecoming. Loved this book, set in Australia, as have many others on here. Will look out for more by her.
Book 22: Fiona Velpey: The Beekeepers Promise. Set in France, again over 2 time-periods.
Book 23: Tom Hanks, Uncommon Type. Short stories. Didn't read them all as some didn't interest me.
Book 24: Paul Clayton: The Punishment. Good Murder mystery.

I read all the Georgette Heyer books in my teens. Loved them. Tried one again a few weeks ago and found them a little insipid. I expect because we are noe used to more Bridgerton like text

68-The Witches Tree-M C Beaton-Are there witches in the Cotswolds? Agatha Raisin investigates.

#64. The Secret Of Villa Serena by Domenica De Rosa.

Book 138, Secrets for the Three Sisters, by Annie Groves. A lighter read for a bit of a change, set in WW2, enjoyed it.

#58 was Moral Hazard by Kate Jennings.
Cath takes a job on Wall Street when her older husband becomes seriously ill and they need the medical insurance benefits. It’s set in the late 1990s and it’s obviously a horrible working environment, especially for a woman. It’s a short book, only 170 pages, but it was too full of Wall Street jargon and bad management for me. Where the story focused on Cath and her husband Bailey it was excellent, but for me, this was overshot too much Wall Street. 5/10

granfromafar I read Longbourn a few years and enjoyed it. It was a refreshing take on the story of the Bennett family.