50 Books Challenge - 2nd Thread.

TerriBull

Calendargirl

#77. Entitled-The Rise And Fall Of The House Of York by Andrew Lownie.

I'm now listening to this.

What a family!

#78. Catherine The Princess Of Wales by Robert Jobson.

32. In Plain Sight - Marion Todd
Book 2 of the Detective Clare Mackay series.

I would usually avoid a book with this topic - a baby kidnapped from her pram.
Having read book 1 of Clare Mackay, tho, I wanted to continue with the series.

The story follows Clare throughout which means we get description of her ordinary life (as much of that as she has time for) and the slog of police work as well as possible leads and breakthroughs in the case.
That could make the story a bit tedious to read (or maybe not ) but I was listening on audiobook while working in the garden so I was happy to go along with its pace.
I did guess the motive quite early on but of course there was still the actual kidnapper to be identified, complicated by a few other crimes along the way.
I intend to continue with the series.

Book 49
The Three Graces - Amanda Craig
Three aging ex patriots live out their years in the Tuscan Hills, Ruth , Diana and Marta.

Ruth has agreed, rather reluctantly, to host her grandsons wedding to the beautiful vlogger, Tania.
and gradually her home fills up with the large wedding party, all young, rich and entitled.

Diana, impoverished aristocrat, struggles with her husbands dementia, and Marta, talented musician, suffers badly with her health.

It’s a book about aging, about immigration problems, about families and about enduring friendships.

It’s not a page turner, it’s a book I could put down without dying to know what happened next, but I enjoyed it, a gentle read with some memorable characters.

Just finished Pride and Prejudice. Such a classic!

Book 55 A Neighbour's Guide to Murder by Louise Candlish.

This book was described as a psychological thriller full of suspense, but I would disagree. It trundles along and is not a page-turner.

Gwen is retired and lives in a flat in beautiful Columbia Mansions. A neighbour rents out a room in his flat to a young woman, Pixie, and Gwen immediately hits it off with her despite the huge age gap. Gwen enjoys making herself useful to Pixie in a variety of ways.

However, when a crime comes to light, Gwen's protective instincts go into overdrive.

I found Gwen irritating at times with the ridiculous decisions she made but, of course, without that stupidity there would be no storyline. 7/10

100-Flappy Entertains-Santa Montefiore
If you want to know what life is like living in a stately home in the country, with a bottomless purse, this is a book for you! Flappy has a busy life and a very ordinary, golf obsessed husband, but her life suddenly changes when she meets her new neighbours. A story to see how the other half live-pure escapism.

Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang. A very good tale about theft, lies, social media and racism.
Keep Him Close by Emily Koch. Two mothers meet in terrible circumstances.
The Dead of Winter by Stuart Macbride. A dose of Tartan Noir with a dash of humour.
I am half way through Everything is Everything, a memoir by Clive Myrie. I like him but knew nothing about his life and career. It is an interesting read.

63 The Last Days of Kira Mullen - Nicci French

The book opens with young couple Nancy and Felix who are moving across London to a cheaper area, Chef Nancy recently having given up her burgeoning restaurant business due to a breakdown. Soon after she moves in, she briefly meets her neighbour across the hall, Kira Mullen, who strikes her as upbeat and happy. A day later Kira is found dead, hanging from a beam to all and intents and purposes her death appears to be a suicide........triggering questions and umpteen uncertainties in Nancy's mind. When Nancy finds she is completely alone with her doubts, controlling boyfriend continually reminds her of her own instability whilst suggesting to neighbours when she discusses the matter with them, that Nancy has bouts of paranoia manipulating her as not only a woman on the edge but one gradually descending into madness. A taut and tense thriller, with the second appearance of Metropolitan Detective Maud O'Connor who featured in "Has anyone seen Charlotte Salter" and I imagine she will be central to this new series featuring her.

101-Flappy Investigates-Santa Montefiore
Autumn and Winter bring emotional ups and downs for Flappy. A continuation of the enviable life of a wealthy lady in the close-knit community of Badley Compton.

52. No Son of Mine, C Swatman
53. The Last Morning, Camden Baird
54. Lethal White, Robert Galbraith

The first two a couple of those quick read thrillers downloaded from the library or offered free with Amazon Prime. They always seem to start off so well and end up with so many implausible threads and such a very unlikely conclusion that you wonder why you stuck with them (I’ll never learn!). Needless to say I’m not recommending either.

The third completely different. A Strike cracker that reminded me what good writing, characterisation and plotting is like. Robin and Cormoran get stuck into a complicated case featuring government ministers and the upper classes. And of course there’s the will they, won’t they of their own obvious mutual attraction, thwarted as usual by the fact that they’re always in relationships with other people. I enjoyed this one so much I’ve now started on the previous book, as the case covered in it was mentioned several times.

#56 We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

This book was just right for me while I'm going through a difficult time healthwise. It's an easy read and perfect for those who like family/relationship stories. 9/10

64 The List of Suspicious Things Jennie Godfrey

I think I was swimming against the tide of the overwhelming good reviews for this book, insomuch as it didn't really do much for me, in fact I broke off halfway through to read the Kira Mullen book above realising I was finding it a little bit boring, but not enough to bin it. Picking it up after that, it did refresh somewhat, but not enough to make it really memorable. Given the central theme is two youngsters trying to crack what must be one of the worst and very real cases of brutal murders this country has ever known, it felt almost as if Enid Blyton had conjured up the two children in their endeavours and supplanted them into 1970s working class Yorkshire, in fact it was no surprise to find that a couple of Blyton books and characters were referenced in the narrative, Aside from the very dark adult themes of racism, marital breakdown, sexism, mental illness, redundancy encompassing many of the social ills of the time, it still felt a bit juvenile in its delivery. That ship sailed a long time ago for me, in placing children as the main protagonists in solving crime whether those are represented by Blytonesque "lashings of ginger beer" guzzling posh kids on the tail of would be smugglers, or these two here, 12 year old Miv and her best friend Sharron who try to nail a brutal serial killer with their list of suspicious things, putting all manner of people who are in their orbit under surveillance as possible suspects, reaching two and two making five scenarios. I suppose it could be viewed as a coming of age book, but I read a far better book one earlier this year on that theme in David Nicholls' Sweet Sorrow, where the main character like Miv was a child on the outside, looking in trying to make sense of depression and marital breakdown upending their adolescence. In that there is an explanation and resolution for Miv as the tale draws to an end, but also a tragedy that plays out amongst her friendship group. The book ultimately culminates against the backdrop of Peter Sutcliffe's arrest.

#79. War Of The Windsors by Nigel Cawthorne.

I was away for a while and haven’t kept up posting here, so I have a list.

#53 The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths
This is the first one of Elly’s that I’ve been a bit disappointed in. 6/10
#54 Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai
I think this is the first one I’ve read by this author and I was a bit disappointed in it. 6/10
#55 Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman
Ten years ago, after a sun-soaked summer in Greece, best friends Bess and Joni were cleared of any involvement in their friend Evangeline's death. Although they were found innocent, the case made them infamous and they've not seen each other since. Except now Joni wants a favour, and when she turns up at her old friend's doorstep in need of an alibi, Bess has no choice but to say yes. After all, she still owes her. 8/10
#56 The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown
It’s an idyllic New England summer, and Sadie is a precocious only child on the edge of adolescence. It seems like July and August will pass lazily by, just as they have every year before. But one day, Sadie and her best friend play a seemingly harmless prank on a neighborhood girl. Soon after, that same little girl disappears from a backyard barbecue—and she is never seen again. Twenty years pass, and Sadie is still living in the same quiet suburb. She’s married to a good man, has two beautiful children, and seems to have put her past behind her. But when a boy from her old neighborhood returns to town, the nightmares of that summer will begin to resurface, and its unsolved mysteries will finally become clear. 8/10
#57 The Killing Code by J D Kirk
One of the DCI Logan series, set in the Scottish Highlands.
8/10
#58 Fire by John Boyne. One of the 4 elements series of novellas.
On the face of it, Freya lives a gilded existence, dancing solely to her own tune. She has all the trappings of wealth and privilege, a responsible job as a surgeon specialising in skin grafts, a beautiful flat in a sought-after development, and a flash car. But it wasn’t always like this. Hers is a life founded on darkness. Freya is a deeply unlikeable character, but the writing was excellent. 8/10
#59 The Old You by Louise Voss. I picked this up in the library and shouldn’t have bothered. 5/10
#60 No Sweet Sorrow by Denzil Meyrick
One of the DCI Daley series set in Kintyre. 7/10

Book 50
You are Here - David Nicholls

A book about walking, bad weather, loneliness, sadness and hope.

The story, a gruelling walk across the fells and dales, Cleo, her son, and three friends, previously unknown to each other.

Gradually they fall by the wayside, leaving two sad and damaged divorcees, Marnie and Michael.

At first I thought this book was nothing like as good as his previous novels, I found Marnie a bit cringy, but it grew on me as I read on, and eventually I loved it, here I sit, crying at the ending, and never knowing what happened next.

I am also a little bit in love with Michael, Nicholls has created a new kind of hero.

# 38 “Strange Sally Diamond”.
If you liked “Room”, you’ll enjoy this. It’s following victims of imprisonment and release. I didn’t like it at all but finished it because it was my book group choice.

33. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
BBC Sounds in 10 episodes. 1st episode available for 19 days from today.

Maybe I'm cheating with this one as it's a dramatised version of the novel.

There is a mysterious lady tenant at Wildfell Hall, and a local man who finds her very interesting.
Can he take their friendship further?
What is the lady's secret?

I found the story gripping and did not foresee the ending.
I recommend listening to this version of the book while it's on BBC Sounds.

102-Trial & Retribution-Lynda la Plante
As always a well written murder mystery. Every parents nightmare when a five year old disappears from a children's playground and a body is found hidden on a building site.

103-Frederica in Fashion-M C Beaton
A short period romance with amusing bits of nonsense, as expected from MB. This makes a change from her Agatha and Hamish stories.

#61 In Another Life by Imogen Clark
When Loretta dies suddenly a stranger turns up at her funeral and claims to be her sister. The only problem is that Loretta was an only child. Most of the family dismiss the woman as a fraud, by daughter Brontë decides to investigate further. Is this woman really her sister and if so, why did did Loretta lie about her past? A rather sad story then unfolds about the two sisters and how Loretta came to change her identity neatly 40 years ago. This was quite a good story and I raced through it on a train journey. 7/10

Sara1954

Book 50
You are Here - David Nicholls

A book about walking, bad weather, loneliness, sadness and hope.

The story, a gruelling walk across the fells and dales, Cleo, her son, and three friends, previously unknown to each other.

Gradually they fall by the wayside, leaving two sad and damaged divorcees, Marnie and Michael.

At first I thought this book was nothing like as good as his previous novels, I found Marnie a bit cringy, but it grew on me as I read on, and eventually I loved it, here I sit, crying at the ending, and never knowing what happened next.

I am also a little bit in love with Michael, Nicholls has created a new kind of hero.

I grew to love this book too, Sara1954

#57 was The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley. It has taken a while to read because it has so much in it. It is mostly set in the Soviet Russia of 1963. We first meet Dr. Valery Kolkhanov, a nuclear specialist, in a Siberian gulag. He is sent to City 40, a mysterious town in eastern Russia, where experiments in radiation are being carried out. We soon find out that it is not only mice that are being experimented on. I can thoroughly recommend it.

34. Thicker than Water - J D Kirk

Detective Jack Logan leads a police team investigating the gruesome murder of a young mum whose body is found in Loch Ness.
A twisting story with an ending very unexpected to me, even after getting a huge clue!
I'll read more of this author.

35.
The Life & Times of Prince Albert by Patrick Allitt
An Audible Original

Very interesting on the personal lives of Albert and Victoria as well as the political situation relating to the UK and other countries at the time.
It astonished me to hear how inadequate and disorganised so much of our great British society seemed to be eg almost total absence of planning and organisation of the army and its equipment and supplies, both before and during wars.
It seems that Albert was a great force for good in many areas, including the royal family itself which had become very dissolute before Victoria's reign.