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

Book 52: Heartstone by C. J. Sansom. My second reading of this book which is very exciting and includes the sinking of the Mary Rose. I think this was his best Shardlake book.

67 The Christmas Appeal Janice Hallett

Something light after my last book. This is really a novella, only 200 pages. Anyone who enjoyed her first book, The Appeal would probably enjoy this too. Done in her usual style using emails, this time between a group of amateur players about to stage their annual Christmas pantomime of "Jack in the Beanstalk". The actual Beanstalk that features, plays a major part, in that it is concealing a dead body. Laced with humour, an easy read.

102-Sunshine over Wildflower Cottage-Milly Johnson.
Viv goes to work at a wildlife sanctuary to do admin, but the truth is she is here for something much closer to her heart. Meanwhile her mum Stel thinks she may have found the man of her dreams, but is there another side to Ian.
A story full of love, laughter and friendship.

55. The Last List of Mabel Beaumont, Laura Pearson
When Mabel’s husband dies unexpectedly she finds he’s written her a little message, saying she should find D, a friend she lost touch with many years ago. As Mabel sets out on life without him, she meets new people she wants to help and adds to her list. It’s not very true to life, and a bit over sentimental, but it’s an easy read. Sadly I’ll have to wait for the end, as my library service whipped it away at midnight with 25 pages to go and now another reader has got it.

Book 171, A Dark and Distant Shore, by Reay Tannahill. Quite a good read actually, it spans several generations of a Scottish family in the 1800s, set mainly in the Highlands. My version is a hardback, nearly 600 pages, very difficult to hold on to, took me a week to read, unusual for me.

😁😁

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Hello everyone. Apologies for being AWOL.
I don’t even know what number book I’m up to. Perhaps you can forgive me as I do like to pop in when I feel up to it. I’ve not been reading so much this summer.

However I have to share with you all the novel I’m halfway through at present. I’m absolutely LOVING IT!

It’s our book club read - discussion in two weeks. Quite honestly I’d never have chosen this book in a month of Sundays! That’s why book clubs are so great aren’t they? Little gems occasionally are discovered and it’s wonderful when they are unputdownable - as I’m finding this one. It’s without doubt the best read I’ve enjoyed all year. I hope the second half is as good as what I’ve read so far!

www.theguardian.com/books/2021/mar/06/the-lamplighters-by-emma-stonex-review-a-superb-debut

I absolutely loved this book too.

It was only 99p FriedGreenTomatoes2

Hope you’re not disappointed Allira. 😁

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Allira

Thanks, FGT2

This is based on a true story, the keepers of Flannan Isle.

It’s had me pausing and looking stuff up on Google Allira. Fascinating things, lighthouses. Who knew? And this weave of a story based on facts is really engrossing.

Just downloaded it on to my Kindle, FriedGreenTomatoes2 🙂

Allira

Thanks, FGT2

This is based on a true story, the keepers of Flannan Isle.

It’s had me pausing and looking stuff up on Google Allira. Fascinating things, lighthouses. Who knew? And this weave of a story based on facts is really engrossing.

SueDonim

No 29. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. I gave up a third of the way through this and just read the last chapter. I’m not very good with magical realism!

Me neither SueDonim! I don’t have the imagination and find the genre irritating!

#86. The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney.

Thanks, FGT2

This is based on a true story, the keepers of Flannan Isle.

Not sure of the number.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I wasn't sure at first but I became engrossed and invested in Eleanor's story.
Recommended.

Hello everyone. Apologies for being AWOL.
I don’t even know what number book I’m up to. Perhaps you can forgive me as I do like to pop in when I feel up to it. I’ve not been reading so much this summer.

However I have to share with you all the novel I’m halfway through at present. I’m absolutely LOVING IT!

It’s our book club read - discussion in two weeks. Quite honestly I’d never have chosen this book in a month of Sundays! That’s why book clubs are so great aren’t they? Little gems occasionally are discovered and it’s wonderful when they are unputdownable - as I’m finding this one. It’s without doubt the best read I’ve enjoyed all year. I hope the second half is as good as what I’ve read so far!

www.theguardian.com/books/2021/mar/06/the-lamplighters-by-emma-stonex-review-a-superb-debut

66 The Absolutist - John Boyne

Timely read given it's coming up to Remembrance Sunday. A moving WW1 story with all the horrors conjured up in the thousands upon thousands of young lives that perished in trench warfare. The book starts in 1919 in the aftermath of the war, where Tristan Saddler is travelling to Norwich to deliver letters to Marian, the sister of Will Bancroft a soldier he fought alongside. Will and Tristan meet at training camp in Aldershot initially to befriend each other although on the part of Will a suppressed awareness of a frisson of burgeoning attraction they feel for each other. Tristan the son of a brutal father, having suspected his son of being a homosexual casts him out of the family home. Will the son of a Norwich Vicar having had an altogether gentler upbringing, although it is Will who unflinchingly is to stand up for his principles when he becomes the most extreme form of conscientious objector known as "an absolutist"This is precipitated when during an advancement and the taking of a German held trench during their time in Northern France, they and their fellow fighters annihilate all their young German counterparts in that trench, only to find one, still not much more than a boy had been hiding in a foxhole where he remained unscathed. There ensues a showdown between the men, the moral argument as to whether he should be taken POW the stance supported by Tristam and Will and those who oppose that and would shoot him dead there and then, Unfortunately the latter is to be the young boy's fate, a heartbreaking scenario after pleading for his life, in German, the gist of what he was saying transcended the language barrier in his fraught intonations. Will so appalled by his comrade in arms brutality, is to lay down his own arms and to declare himself an Ansolutist. His Court Marshall and execution by firing squad follow and he was besmirched as a coward thereafter, but as Tristam reveals to his heart broken sister later, his was an act of immense bravery. All the terrors, the gruesome nature and absolute futility of that ridiculous war are conveyed in harrowing detail. Young men used as fodder, forced to advance into a No Mans Land where the inevitability of them being picked off by snipers was to be the majority's fate, survival for a tiny percentage by sheer luck. The complacency of just sending contingent upon contingent of disposable young lives, by senior officers secure and removed from the horrors faced by a generation of boys, barely men, from the safety of their war rooms isn't lost, or the resounding "lions led by donkeys" which is now how history has judged that needless war. A very moving book encompassing, passion, jealousy and heroism, not an easy read. .

#73 was The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths. I think it’s 9th in the series, I am trying to spread them out and not rush through the whole series. This is the one involving the homeless community and where they venture into the underground tunnels. Another very good and enjoyable read. 8/10

It is Doris, I read it a few weeks ago, enjoyed it. I love my thrillers. but like a nice, light read now and again.

101-Marrying a Stranger-Anna Jacobs.
When Ben and Megan meet there is an instant attraction, but he's due to move to Australia next week. His suggestion that they get married and she goes with him comes as a shock.
Would you do that I kept wondering as I read this unusual romance. A nice easy read.

#72 was *The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller’. Meri and Nathan move to a college town in New England, next door to the home of a distinguished retired senator and his wife. The senator is nowhere to be seen but Meri strikes up an unlikely friendship with his elegant wife Delia, who could not be a more different person from Meri. Meri is very drawn to Delia and her interest begins to take an unhealthy turn which results in a huge betrayal of trust.
This didn’t hold my interest in the way that other Sue Miller books have, but it took an unexpected turn at the end and it’s lingered in my mind. 7/10

#85. Living With A Serial Killer by Delia Balmer.

Just collected from the library this morning. It’s the story behind the ITV thriller on this week, ‘Until I Kill You’.

Have read a few chapters, I didn’t think it would be very good, but so far, it is quite intriguing.

Book 51: Maxwell's Retirement by M.J. Trow

54. The Murder Room, Lisa Stone

I wanted something to listen to while I did some decorating, so downloaded this from the local library, where it came recommended. The premise is that a family man decides to spy on his paying guests by setting up a hidden camera in their room. He gets a lot more than he bargains for when he sees a murder taking place. So far, so intriguing. After that it’s a constant string of ludicrous decisions and unbelievable events. Can you tell I wasn’t impressed?

100-A Highland Christmas-M C Beaton.
A short lighthearted story to warm everyone before Xmas. Hamish wants everyone in the village to have a wonderful time. He arranges for lights, entertainments, and presents.