2026 - 50 Books a Year Challenge

Just popping in to say how much I have enjoyed The Names.
Finished it 10 minutes ago. Well written and kept me gripped.
Thank you for the recommendation.

55-Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree-Santa Montefiore
What a delight this was. Set in the Argentine pampa, this family saga has it all; romance, exotic locations, forbidden love, death and rich lifestyles. Spanning the turbulent years from 1947-1997 this story was a real page turner.

41 What Happened That Night - Nicci French

This is the third book in the writing partnership's series featuring Detective Maud O'Connor. An excellent who done it, slightly in the vein of Agatha Christie where all the suspects of an historical murder are gathered together at the request of the person who was convicted to discuss what may have really happened that night.

30 years ago Tyler Green was convicted of murdering his university friend Leo Bauer. Now, newly released from prison, requesting the company of the former tight knit group of friends as they were then, including his once much loved girlfriend, now married to another of the circle. This is an evening of facing the truth. Their varying fortunes are revealed whilst their darkest secrets initially kept hidden, during the course of the drunken gathering hosted by Beatrice, KC and married to a government minister, are gradually to be exposed. At the end of the evening one of them will be murdered. Tyler believed to have killed before, falls under suspicion, but did he commit this one or the previous one? . Enter Detective O'Connor.

#53. Dead And Buried by Stephen Booth.

I read Butter Maggie, recommended by my step granddaughter with a "you'll love it" I didn't! I agree "dark without a hint of light" very apt and like you I really wouldn't recommend it either.

24. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden

I found this Freida McFadden a little slow and repetitive after enjoying Dear Debbie so much. And this time I guessed the main twist from the start. Still, it was an easy read compared to:

25. Butter, Asako Yuzuki

I’m not sure whether enjoyed is the right word for this one, but I did find it very compelling. Based on the true story of a Japanese chef accused of murdering her lovers, the story focuses on a journalist getting close to her to find out her back story. There’s a lot of emphasis on body image and relationships, and long descriptions of food, and if it’s at all true to life I learned a lot about Japanese attitudes to these. It’s dark without a hint of light and I actually found it quite disturbing in parts, so I’m not sure I’d recommend it!

#52. For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming.

54-Blood Work-Michael Connelly
I liked the synopsis of this book, so though I was going to give US murders a break I thought I'd give this a try. I found it a bit slow in places but it had a great ending.
Terry is an ex FBI agent who has recently received a new heart from a murder victim. When the victim's sister asks him to investigate the killing, he feels indebted to try and find the killer.

#51. When The Guilty Cry by MJ Lee,

37 Peaky Blinders The Legacy by Carl Chinn. This is a non fiction book about the racecourse gangs in England (mainly) from the 1920's onwards. This is the history behind the gangs and how (some of them) transformed themselves from gangsters to reformed citizens. It explains the gangs behind the series. Very interesting.

40 Elizabeth and Marilyn Julie Owen Moylan

Thought this looked quite interesting when browsing at the library. An interwoven narrative where alternating chapters. switch between a young Queen Elizabeth and Marilyn Monroe.

The year is 1956 and Marilyn has come to England to film The Prince and the Showgirl and for that three month duration is ensconced in a grand house, with her new husband, Arthur Miller, pretty close to Windsor Great Park and the castle. The sight of the castle, where the raised flag denotes whether the Queen is in residence has Marilyn pondering on her desire to meet her. Meanwhile, the day to day strictures and tedium of the young Queen's life are conjured up through all the day to day paperwork she is expected to trawl through and frequent meetings with the Prime Minister of the day, Anthony Eden at a time when the storm clouds are gathering over the Suez crisis. Eden is someone the young Queen feels rather patronized by, whilst simultaneously not a million miles away during the shoot of The Prince and the Showgirl Marilyn is also getting the same treatment from her co star and director, Lawrence Olivier who she also doesn't particularly get on well with. They are portrayed as token women in a man's world.
Various chapters go back into their respective growing up years. Elizabeth is to learn that Uncle David is abdicating to marry Mrs Simpson and the quiet lives both her mother and father planned are to be kicked into the long grass when he reluctantly succeeds his brother. She also had to come to terms with the fact that the role of the monarch would rest upon her shoulders when her time comes.

For Norma Jeane, a young life that was achingly sad. An absent father, a mother with mental health problems, various foster homes and orphanages were to leave her with anxieties and a lack of confidence that impacted on her new incarnation of Marilyn Monroe. It was at this time in her life she was looking to her husband, acclaimed playwright Arthur Miller for the confidence she lacked but also some credibility beyond the pin up dumb blonde she was perceived as. They were to have their differences as time eventually revealed. Meanwhile young Elizabeth was experiencing her own marital problems as to the swirling rumours around Philip's raucous lunch club assignations.

The book culminates in Marilyn achieving her ambition to meet the Queen when she is thrilled to receive an invitation to be presented to her at that year's royal film performance.

#50. The Devil Inside Her by Jack Cartwright.

#39 A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline
Christina Olson’s whole world has been a rocky, windswept point on the coast of Maine, the farmhouse her ancestors fled to from the Salem witch trials. A world she fears she will never leave. Farm life was hard, as her degenerative health condition turned every task into a challenge.
Years pass and Christina’s solitude is broken by the arrival of Andrew Wyeth, a young artist who is fixated on the isolated farm house. In Christina he will discover more than a kindred spirit; for him, she will become a muse like no other.
This story is a fictionalised account of how a famous American picture came to be painted. I had never heard of it, but enjoyed the author’s previous books. It was very good, not quite Orphan Train, but still good. 9/10

#40 Little Bee by Chris Cleave
This is the story of two women, Little Bee and Sarah, whose lives collide in a terrifying way. Little Bee is a 16 year old refugee from Nigeria, Sarah is a magazine editor in London.
This was an unputdownable read.
Incredibly, after I had finished it, I discovered it was originally published as The Other Hand and I had read it 14 years ago. I remembered reading that book and that I gave it 10/10 at the time, but I actually remembered nothing at all when I was reading it - and it’s a very memorable book with unforgettable events. Maybe I read too much! 10/10

23. Dear Debbie, Freida McFadden

Debbie is the perfect wife and mother, as well as having a part-time job as an agony aunt. But there’s more to Debbie than meets the eye, as we discover when things around her start to unravel. I really enjoyed this, with all the twists and turns I didn’t see coming (though tbh, I rarely do ).

53-Paradise Parade-Anne Baker
A 1930's Merseyside family saga this time. Emily Barr lives above her stepfather's fish and chip shop, and is glad to escape to her job in a jewellery factory each day. When she is promoted to work for the owner's son Mr Giles, she is the envy of all her workmates. But is there another side to this handsome young man?

19. Body of Lies by Jo Callaghan

The last book in her AI detective series. Highly entertaining, thought-provoking and a stark warning on what can happen if/when AI gets out of hand.

20. Happiness for Humans by P.Z. Reizin

Another AI book, but this was a light-hearted romance in which an AI assistant acts as a matchmaker for his hapless human.

21. The Degrowth Manifesto by Kohei Saito

In the midst of a heatwave, this is a sobering account on unsustainable growth. The consequences of ever-expanding consumption are now reaching countries in the West. Saito outlines what might come next, how our way of life and societies will change.

39 The Trial Rob Rinder

Book club choice which had a resounding thumbs up. Rob Rinder's debut novel in his series featuring pupil barrister, Adam Green. Hero police officer, Grant Clivedon collapses and dies without warning whilst attending an Old Bailey trial. It transpires that he has been poisoned. Adam is part of the defence team for the accused, Jimmy Knight, a man with multiple previous convictions and who has his reasons for wanting the nation's favourite policeman dead. Adam has a year to prove himself at Stag Chambers, not an easy task as his pupil master, leading the defence in this case, sneery, womanising Jonathan Taylor-Campbell, is not well disposed towards Adam or the legal aid case, which has been assigned, rather wishing to work and oversee an extremely lucrative one that's concurrent and to which he would prefer to devote his time to. Meanwhile Adam is determined to go the extra mile and fight for their client even when the evidence against him is quite considerable. Nevertheless what he is to uncover beneath the victim's veneer of respectability, is a trail of corruption. The story is fast paced, interlaced with humour via Adam's archetypal Jewish mother, portrayed through her phone calls to him, focused on what he's been eating, whilst endeavouring to line him up with potential girlfriends. The book culminates in a killer twist, which none in our book group saw coming. Very good, far better than the follow up which I'd read previously.

#49. Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister.

38 A Rebel and a Traitor by Rory Carroll

I keep meaning to read more non fiction, depending on the subject matter and personal interest they can certainly trounce a so so novel. This is one such book. An account of Irish born Sir Roger Casement, British Diplomat who towards the end of the 19th and the early 20th century spent his life in the colonial service, much of it in Africa where he worked tirelessly to expose the exploitation, leaving government in 1913. The main focus of the book is his involvement and support of Irish nationalism and his collusion with Berlin during the early years of the Great War in trying to get them to support the Irish cause. The ensuing Easter Rising of 1916 in an attempt to free Ireland from the shackles of their British overloads. Subsequently raising an army the attempted coup was to result in failure and the capture and execution of the leaders. The aftermath led to the rise and significance of Sinn Fein and the formation of the IRA in their continued fight for independence. Casement being one of the captured transferred to the British mainland. During his police interviews it had come to light that he had deposited his rather extensive diaries at a previous address in London's Ebury Street and these were to reveal how during his travels lived his life as a closeted gay man detailing numerous sexual encounters, many with male prostitutes To his dread they were brought under the microscope during his interrogations to further besmirch his character as a previously respected diplomat. A, flawed hero, and a man of conflicted loyalties. Convicted of treason he was hanged at Pentonville Prison in August 2016.

Just finished “The Killing Stones” by Ann Cleeves. This is a resurrection of Inspector Jimmy Perez, this time on his home turf of Orkney, instead of Shetland. Great book. Couldn’t put it down. However, I had preceded this with one of her series of George and Molly Palmer-Jones whodunnits and what a slog that was. I never like to give up on a book, but there were no likeable characters in this one and the storyline was just plain silly. Vera would have torn them to shreds in the first few pages!

#48. Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan.

Just started this, hoping to get it read before the last 3 episodes are shown on tv over the next few days,

22. Welcome to the Neighbourhood, Jane Fallon

I needed something light and frothy after reading Nobody’s Girl, and this fit the bill. Kitty moves to London after a break up and finds new friends in the neighbourhood. But are they what they appear to be on the surface (no, is the answer 😊). There’s plenty of conniving and deceit going on under the surface, and lots of humorous situations as well. I enjoyed it.

Diggingdoris

52-The Elephant Whisperer-Lawrence Anthony
This non-fiction book tells of the rescue of a herd of 'rogue' elephants into the Thula Thula game reserve. Lawrence risked his life to create a bond with the troubled animals. He shows how intelligent and loyal these creatures are. A great read.

Glad you enjoyed it Diggindoris. One of my book club reads coming up in a couple of months.

37 Based on a True Story - Sarah Vaughan

Successful children's author, Dame Eleanor Kingman has gathered her family and friends together at her spectacular cliff top Cornish house to celebrate her imminent 70th birthday. The book's opening chapter is the day after, a storm has rolled in and on the beach below lies a dead body. Therein hangs the tale. Who is this person who appears to have met a violent death?. Why, after 4 decades as a best selling author, has Dame Eleanor recently received an email threatening to expose a lie from her younger impoverished life a world away from all the trappings of success she enjoys today. Could the writer be her estranged literary agent, her ex husband also a writer of some note but long since eclipsed by his ex wife's success. Whilst they no longer talk, he does know something of her past and how she's embellished the truth. Over the course of the run up to the big day, her three daughters are gathered all harbouring their various demons and one with a husband who has embroiled them both in a particularly dangerous situation. A reasonably good crime read.

52-The Elephant Whisperer-Lawrence Anthony
This non-fiction book tells of the rescue of a herd of 'rogue' elephants into the Thula Thula game reserve. Lawrence risked his life to create a bond with the troubled animals. He shows how intelligent and loyal these creatures are. A great read.