50 Books Challenge - 2nd Thread.

# 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.

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 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

#79. War Of The Windsors by Nigel Cawthorne.

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.

#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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Just finished Pride and Prejudice. Such a classic!

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.

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.

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

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!

99-Want You Dead-Peter James
What a page-turner this is. I know the Grace tv series are adaptions, but this story bore no resemblance at all to the tv programme of the same title. I couldn't put this down!

Calendargirl

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

I'm now listening to this.

62 Selfish Girls - Abigail Bergstrom audio

I wish I'd read this book rather than listened to it. Sometimes, particularly when drifting off to sleep, I think I missed some of the nuances which contributed to the delicate balance of inter family relationships the story was about. The book presents the tale of the Wyn sisters growing up in Wales, and the different paths their lives take. The story opens with Ines the youngest, an aspiring actress, moving back home from London, having suffered a break- down. Middle sister Dylan coping with a broken heart in a rejection from a desired lover and eldest sister Emma is coming to terms with the fact that she cannot cope in her stifling marriage, a marriage she really longed for. The story intersperses between the sisters as adults, whilst rewinding into their childhood, delving into the changing relationship they have with their mother, which at times is far from perfect. Gwen, linchpin in their adulthood, had nevertheless abandoned them for a period during their childhood to follow her own desires. Many complex issues are part of the narrative, loyalty, desire, betrayal, abandonment are all peeled back in layers and how each daughter was affected by those, pivotal to the dynamics of the family's passage through childhood to maturity. I think I'll get hold of the physical book at some stage, very good writing, would appeal to those who enjoy reading about messy family relationships.

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

95-Dead Man's Time-Peter James
A great thriller as always. Don't be put off reading the books if you've seen the TV adaptions, as the books are far better and the stories differ quite a bit sometimes.

96-The Gift-Alan Titchmarsh
One of our favourite TV gardeners has a flair for writing a good novel. I've read all of his so far and have never been disappointed. The 'gift' in this stories is not about a present, it's about a rare talent. A great read.

97-Death of a Nag-M C Beaton
Another light-hearted murder mystery that makes a welcome interlude between serious stories.

98-Family Connections-Anna Jacobs
When two families discover they have relations living 10,000 miles away, they decide to make the journey to meet them. Some of them found more than they expected. An emotional story of friendship, forgiveness and second chances.

#54 The Household by Stacey Halls
This book was ok but I found it hard to be interested in the characters. This may be my own fault as I have a lot of worry with my health at the moment/awaiting scans and results, etc.

31. Bad Influence by C J Wray

Having read The Excitements, I was keen to read this follow-up featuring Jinx.
The first 30 chapters (of 50) alternated between Jinx's modern day life and her life as a child in Singapore with some sections on her meeting and partnership with Penny Williamson (of The Excitements).
I found the modern day parts quite tedious and almost gave up on the book but continued for the promised secrets to be revealed towards the end of it.
Indeed, the story livened up considerably with several strands being explored and resolved.

Book 48
Absolutely and Forever - Rose Tremain
Absolutely loved this small but perfectly formed novel, perfectly charming.

The swinging sixties, Marianne is a girl from a middle class family, distant mother, military father, little love in her life until she meets Simon, she gives him everything, including her virginity, but when he flunks the Oxford exam, he goes to France in disgrace, where he marries a French woman.

Marianne never gets over him, her whole life is only half lived, because she will always love Simon.

I loved Marianne, her adoring husband, and her wonderful loyal friend Pet.

Shades of Anita Brookner I thought, thoroughly enjoyed it.