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

#66 Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans.
Noel Bostock, aged 10, orphan, is sent to live with Vera Sledge in St Albans as a wartime refugee from London. Vera is always in debt, always needs money and is unscrupulous about how she gets it. On her own, she’s a disaster, with Noel, they’re a team. He is smart and always has a better plan. This is a funny and touching book, there some great lines in it. 7/10

#67 The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths. This is number 8 in the Ruth Galloway series, the one with the Easter passion play. Good, but didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous one, The Ghost Fields. 8/10

The following are all memoirs. All well worth reading.
# 36. Darren McGarvey, Poverty Safari.
# 37. Deborah Orr, Motherwell
# 38. Jackie Kay, Red Dust Road
# 39. John Niven, Oh Brother.
# 40. Alan Cumming, Baggage
# 41. Miriam Margolyes, This Much is True.
Of the last two, I don't normally go for celebrity memoirs but made an exception for these. Not at all self aggrandising. On the contrary.

Having a binge on Scottish writers.
#Book 35 Damian Barr, Maggie and Me.
Story of survival amid deprivation and abuse. Now being brought to life on stage by the National Theatre of Scotland.
Heartbreaking at times but also hilariously witty and warm.
Another thumbs up

August is over...and Edinburgh recovering from all the many Festivals
# My Book 34 is Philippa Gregory, Normal Women: 900 years of making history.
Bought after attending the author's event at the Book Festival. Not the history of kings and queens but of social and cultural transition, detailing the agency, persistence and effectiveness of women in society, from 1066 to modern times. Highly recommend.

Granny Bear, like you I read a lot of Fay Weldon back in the '80s I loved her books; thought she was very unique

Nonny I read Bleeding Heart Square a while ago, yes it was very grey and atmospheric.

41. The Burning, Jane Casey

This was a library download, the first in quite a long series featuring London DC Maeve Kerrigan. I’ll definitely look out for more in the series, as it was well-crafted and not at all over-dramatic, as serial killer stories often are. There were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, and I liked the main character and the depiction of her relationships with her colleagues.

Book 45: Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor- I found this a bit gorey at times. Very atmospheric set in 1930's London with the rise of Moseley's Black Shirts.

Have only just started it Sparklefizz, read first chapter in bed last night.

Ordered it from library on reading recommendations on here!

Will let you know when I’ve finished it.

👍🏻

What did you think of it Calendargirl ?

#69. The Silence Between Breaths by Cath Staincliffe.

SueDonim glad you too liked What you are looking for is in the Library.
I read Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin. It’s about a cemetery caretaker and the wide range of people she meets as they visit the graves of loved ones and strangers. It’s not about death, rather about love, loss and optimism. I loved it.
I must seek out Forgotten on Sunday.

77-Death Comes to Pemberley-P D James-I wasn't sure what to expect from this title. PDJ re-creates Jane Austen's world with this sequel to Pride and Prejudice. I'm not sure JA would have written about a murder, but this is done in the same style. I thought it was a bit slow, but then so was the original. Sorry if I upset you classical readers out there!

23. Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin. This is an English translation of a book written in French. The translation is a bit clunky at times but the story is intriguing. Our 21yo heroine, Justine, works in a care home. Residents’ families are suddenly besieged by phone calls telling them their family member has died. Alongside this, Justine is writing down one resident’s life story as it is told to her, full of twists and turns. She is also trying to untangle her own family history, which is full of inconsistencies and mystery.

It all ties up, nearly, of course, but it kept me up into the wee small hours, wanting to get to the end!

Grannybear I recently read What You Are Looking For Is In The Library. It’s charming, isn’t it?

Book 57 Dead to Me by Cath Staincliffe

I have enjoyed all the Cath Staincliffe books I've read this year, and this is another good one.

This book is the prequel to the hit TV series Scott & Bailey from a few years ago.

DC Rachel Bailey and DC Janet Scott and how they first began working together.

Book 147, Our Fair Lily, by Rosie Goodwin. A lighter read, but a pleasant one, set in the 1870s.

No. 38 - The Race to be Myself by Caster Semanya.
No. 39 - Before the War by Fay Weldon
No. 40 - What you are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

Three very different books. I enjoyed them all.

Caster Semanya sets out her no-holds-barred perspective on how issues about her sexuality were handled in the aftermath of her Olympic success.

I used to read Fay Weldon’s books back in the 80’s. This one was published in 2016 and Weldon has not lost her touch in putting a good story together.

Books by Japanese authors seem popular just now. This gentle book by Mishiko Aoyama tells the story of how a Librarian influences the lives of a range of individuals who are at a crossroads in their lives.

#68. The Daughter Of Time by Josephine Tey.

Book 47
A Bird in Winter - Louise Doughty
Really enjoyed this book, couldn’t put it down.
Heather/Bird works for the secret service, she is sent from London to Birmingham, where a division has been set up to catch dirty spies.
But things start to go wrong, and gradually she realises she is being set up.
She is trained to go on the run, should she need to, and she does
I loved how she stayed one step ahead, facing real danger, but she was never really safe, and would never be again.
It goes back and forth. Her childhood, her dad also in the service, her years in the army, and her closest relationship, her friend Flavia.
It’s tense, it’s scary, but I kept willing her on, she’s a formidable heroine.

75-Distant Shores-Santa Montefiore-Part 5 of this family saga. An author arrives to write a history of the Deverill family, but although the present Lord Deverill is delighted and gives her access to all the archives, some of the family members are horrified in case she reveals some of the skeletons in the cupboard. A rich tale of happy and sad times, beautifully written.

76-An Elephant in the Garden-Michael Morpurgo-I have a grandson who is a bookworm, so if I see one of MM's stories in our swap-kiosk I always grab it. I like to read them first to make sure they are suitable for the age range. I find the way the stories handle historical events sensitively, delightful. In this one a family escapes the bombing of Dresden, and meets an RAF pilot along the way. A very subtle way of showing the two sides of a terrible war.

Book 146, 12 Months to Live, by James Patterson and Mike Lupica. A top lawyer is diagnosed with terminal cancer, but refuses treatment until her present case is over.

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths Book no. 56.

For all Elly G fans who miss her characters Dr Ruth Galloway and Nelson (not forgetting Cathbad), you might enjoy this book "Postscript" plus the next one The Last Word. I accidentally read them out of sequence but it didn't matter. I'm hoping for a 3rd one in this series.

The characters are good fun and the books are written with the same style and humour found in the Dr Ruth Galloway books.

#40 Curse The Dawn Karen Chance.
Number 4 in the Cassie Palmer series. War mages, master vampires, ghosts and other supernatural creatures make life interesting for Cassie who is coming to terms with being named Pythia (modern incarnation of the Oracle of Delphi). Great fun.

Book 46
Dissolution - C J Samson
Thankyou to whoever recommended this book some time ago, I had to pre order it, but it was worth the wait.
As the title suggests, the dissolution of the monasteries is the theme, Henry, now head of the Church of England wants them all destroyed, taking their massive wealth and lands for himself, and those he favours.
A commissioner is sent by Cromwell to Scarnsea, to the monastery, but before he makes any progress, he is savagely murdered.
Cromwell then sends Matthew Shardlake, reformist, lawyer and hunchback, to catch the killer.
It’s very atmospheric, and does make you question who was right, and who was wrong regarding the dissolution.
A good detective story, with a lot of historical facts, my only complaint? Cromwell, who I have a soft spot for, is portrayed as a murdering bully with no scruples, I prefer Mantels depiction.

#65 Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent.
What a book. Very dark subject matter but unputdownable. If I hadn’t had other commitments I would have read it in one sitting. I was rooting for Sally right to the end. I won’t describe the book, I know it’s been mentioned on this thread before as that’s what made me pick it up in my local Little Free Library. I will be watching out for her other books. 9/10

Thanks, Hellogirl. I looked in the NT bookshop of the property we visited today, but didn't spot any. A trip to the library beckons!