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

#39 The Elfor One R R Haywood. Narrated by Colin Morgan.
Third in The Code trilogy. I have really enjoyed this futuristic space opera about a fleet of 50 'World ships' who set off from a destroyed Earth in search of a new planet 120 years before. Colin Morgan's narration is masterly.

TerriBull I enjoy your reviews, it’s not my strong point so won’t attempt it, but will say now and again what books I have liked reading on here and write down recommendations.😃
I’ve lent the latest book to a DD and now can’t think of the author (doh!) but was called Cat And Mouse, a crime genre, detectives, set in Southampton.A real page turner and well written.The lead detective is a woman DI Helen Grace who has peculiar murders to solve and is herself the subject of a vendetta against her by a criminal.

I’m also discovering an author called Patrick Gale and have a new paperback to start called Shrines Of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson.

Oreo I loved Shrines of Gaiety. Hope you enjoy it, too.

Oreo thanks! Don't feel obliged to do a review, it's up to the poster, I like to waffle on about books I've read , but just be as brief as you wish if you'd prefer.

I really like Patrick Gale he makes me want to be down in Cornwall

72-Death of a Dreamer-M C Beaton-Some artists move to the village but one of them is found murdered. Hamish has a canny way of solving the mystery.

#28 was Mothers and Daughters by Erica James. I normally love this author’s books, but I found this one a little too long, predictable and moralistic. A three star read.

Book 144, The Last Goodbye, by Tim Weaver. I wasn`t too sure at the start, but ended up enjoying it.

50 Water - John Boyne

At 160 pages or so, more of a novella, but John Boyne manages to add a lot of content to this slim volume. This is the story of a woman who retreats to an island off the coast of Ireland to escape a life that has imploded in on her. Changing her name, her appearance to give herself a new identity, she rents a basic cottage with few amenities. Her desperate back story slowly unfolds whilst keeping herself to herself but as time rolls on so does a gradual interaction with some of the islanders. Her identity unfortunately is not the secret she wanted it to be. Suffering from an infamy, by association. As the book progresses it comes to light just how her previous life collapsed. An ex husband, now imprisoned who sexually abused their daughter and children he came into contact with through coaching and her underlying guilt that maybe she should have known what he was up to underpinned her decision to up sticks and leave all of it behind.

I believe this is the first in a series of short interlinked stories, Earth, Fire and Air to follow. As always, John Boyne conjures up archetypal Ireland with great insight and for a male author, he manages to write his female characters invoking a feminine empathetic perspective. .

Nearly finished The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. Not always keen on family sagas but really enjoying this.

73-The Secret Life of Cows-Rosamund Young-Non-fiction account of how farming is done at Kite's Nest Farm in Worcestershire. A real eye opener and proof that cows are not stupid creatures, and can communicate, make decisions and mourn. If only all farms were run in the way the Young family do.

#67. The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas.

No.35 - Water by John Boyne. Boyne has become one of my favourite authors. Thanks to Terribull and others who have recommended his books.

No. 36 - Letters to my Daughter’s Killer by Cath Staincliffe. I liked the way this book was written, as a series of letters addressed to a killer … but who was the killer?!

No. 37 - Earth by John Boyne. This is not a sequel to Water, but follows up on one of the characters, Evan Keogh, who leaves the island to become a professional footballer. The third in the series, Fire, is due for publication later this year.

For lovers of the Elly Griffiths' series of Ruth Galloway/Nelson books, I have just finished her book The Last Word and it's very enjoyable ... similar to Richard Osman's "Thursday Murder Club" but with Elly Griffiths' gentle humour.

In actual fact, The Postscript Murders comes first, but I am accidentally reading them in the wrong order. It makes no difference as each book stands alone.

I’ve enjoyed The Last Word and The PS Murders Sparklefizz, but thought they were far superior to the Thursday Murder Club.

The characters seemed more ‘real’ to me.

40. The Full English, Stuart Maconie

I loved this. Inspired by J B Priestley’s English Journey, Maconie visits the same places that Priestley did and ruminates on how things have changed since the 1930s. I particularly enjoyed the chapters about towns and cities I know well, but it’s also inspired me to plan trips to some I don’t, particularly Norwich and Lincoln. Some might find Maconie’s political musings a bit off putting, but being a leftie myself I found myself nodding in agreement much more often than not.

22. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. The plot centres around the effect on a young couple’s marriage of the unjust imprisonment of the husband for a crime he didn’t commit. I got so very involved with the characters.

Telling Tales by Anne Cleeves.
Secrets and lies about a murder that Vera has to unravel.

#64 was Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz.
Winter 1919, Amanda is nursing soldiers wounded in the Great War. Overwhelmed, she leaves Milwaukee to return to her family’s remote farm where she helps her younger sister Mathilda with her 3 year old niece Ruth. One terrible night Mathilda disappears, to be later found drowned in the lake.
The book then moves forwards and backwards as their story is told, exposing dark secrets, strained family bonds, terrible guilt, and love.
This was very good, I couldn’t really see where it was going. It was well written with well rounded characters you could believe in. 8/10

Diggingdoris I was given The Secret Life of Cows for Christmas a couple of years ago and thought it was excellent and very thought provoking.

Last night I started Strange Sally Diamond, if I didn’t have things to do today I think I would just spend the day reading it. Excellent so far.

Book 145, The People Watcher, by Sam Lloyd. It may be some folks`cup of tea, but I wouldn`t recommend it. It bucked up for about the last 100 pages, the previous 200 or so were, I thought, just plain boring.

74-The Secret Hours-Santa Montefiore-I read the first 3 of this family saga series 2 years ago. I have struggled a bit trying to remember the family tree of many characters, so I would recommend reading them all closely together. Having said that this was still a stunning story of love, deceit, infidelity and tenderness.
I am now going to read the last of this series while the characters are fresh in my mind. Though I see a note inside the cover that SM may still decide to write another episode.

AliBeeee Strange Sally Diamond, was a real stand out book for me, unlike these next two.

51 The Garnett Girls -Georgina Moore

There are a lot of accolades on the cover of this book, seemingly rated highly by both The Times and The Observer, plus lots of other well known writers of contemporary fiction giving it the thumbs up. I'm sure they all have a tacit agreement to big each other's books up. Seemingly this debut novel didn't quite live up to the expectations of those recommendations. I thought it took a while to get going, 70 plus pages on the unravelling of the family dynamics, which was centred around a doomed lover affair back in the '70s, Margot and Richard who meet whilst she is a 17 year old school girl, he a few years older, they marry have three daughters, The Garnettt Girls of the title, before she, the mother goes off the rails when the often drunk Richard leaves her for another woman with whom he has a second family. I can't really put my finger on why I didn't engage with it the way I have with other family sagas, maybe I found them all a bit annoying, it just seemed to fall a bit flat for me. I did however like the Isle of Wight setting of the family home overlooking a sandy bay which gave it a holiday read appeal. Lots of favourable reviews, so maybe I'm swimming against the tide but I always know when I get that feeling of "I'll be glad to finish this one" but okish 3 out of 5.

52 Butter - Asako Yuzuki (Audible)

Japan is not a country I'd naturally associate with butter, somehow I don't think they achieve their longevity overloading themselves with dairy products. This is a strange tale of a female gourmet cook who has been convicted of serial murders of lonely old businessmen, seduced by way of her calorific butter rich recipes. Whilst Kajii is awaiting trial, into her orbit comes Rika Machida, the only journalist who she has agreed to talk to mainly because she reels her in by asking her for her recipe of beef stew and what follows are a lot of gastronomic exchanges whilst Rikka is digging for the truth. Yes it was different, not in a good way for me, it was a recommendation from my step granddaugher and I'm not sure I'd have chosen it otherwise. It does give an insight into Japanese culture. The book covered friendships and relationships and the way women are judged and shamed for putting on weight, but then there were a helluva a lot of long drawn out descriptions of food and cooking. Right at the end Rikka cooks a turkey which seems to send her and her invitees for the turkey dinner into a state of ecstasy, I can't think why, the general consensus amongst those of us in the west, is turkey is a pretty boring meal. I don't think I even found out whether the accused was guilty and what happened to her, apparently this was based on an actual case in Japan. I did find my mind wandering off at times, so I'm wondering if I missed something, but couldn't face rewinding any of it, because quite honestly I just wanted to get to the end!

Book 26. Take Your Breat Away by Linwood Barclay. A real page-turner, I read it in a couple of days. Set in the USA, a woman goes missing and the husband is accused of her murder, even though a body is never found. I liked the family dynamics of the story and has a great twist at the end. Would like to read more books by the same author.

You have a treat in store, granfromafar. Linwood Barclay has written some brilliant books.

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!