2026 - 50 Books a Year Challenge

I loved The Penguin Lessons, DigginDoris and gave a copy to each of my adult children who also loved it. As you enjoyed it, I would recommend "Raising Hare" by Chloe Dalton, another joy.

Hope you like The Names Calendargirl.

For me, book 18 The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves - the return of Jimmy Perez. You know what you're going to get with this book. It was an easy read, but nothing special in my view. 8/10

#22. The Names by Florence Knapp.

Just started this, from the library, after reading the recommendations on here.

I can’t renew it, so it’s obviously in demand.

The library manager said to me, when she saw which book I had, “You’re in for a treat!”

20-The Penguin Lessons-Tom Michell
A true story this time. On holiday in Uruguay, Tom rescues a penguin from an oil slick, only to find that the bird then refuses to leave his side. This penguin changes the lives of everyone he meets. A magical story!

16 Best Offer Wins Marisa Kashino

Highly entertaining, best described as a psychological /black comedy. Set in Washington DC., Margo, a 30 something, married publicist, wants the perfect life and part of that is a coveted house living in one of DC's desirable environs rather than the cramped downtown apartment where she and her husband Ian live at present. Tipped off by a real estate friend, the house of her dreams, in a red hot market is about to be listed. Knowing the vendors will be inundated with offers, hell bent on eliminating any competition, she sets about stalking one of them and through shared yoga sessions, eventually befriends them both before their house hits the market. However, when she is rumbled as to the actual ruse she has used to ingratiate herself, the new found relationship goes south. Margo, not a very likeable person in her pursuit of going to extraordinary lengths in digging the dirt on one of the husbands, to blackmail them both into accepting her offer. Meanwhile, both her marriage and job are on shaky grounds, each vital to the acquisition of her ideal home, as she throws all her efforts into ruthlessly obtaining her ultimate goal.

Book 7: A Dubious Legacy by Mary Wesley. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Mary's work until my neighbour gave me this to read.
It is about Henry who brought his new bride, Margaret, to Cotteshaw at the end of the war. On entry she blacked his eye and retired to bed for most of the rest of her life interspersed by vicious outbursts to all who meet her.
In 1954 two young couples meet her and become regular, uneasy house guests over many years. They watch Margaret wondering and guessing, piecing together gossip and finally untangle the truth of Henry's life.
It is a strange tale but it was an excellent read.

#21. The Royal Insider by Paul Burrell.

6 The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright

Kay Bright has corresponded with her best friend Bear regularly for years since Bear emigrated to Australia. Then Bear (Ursula) stops writing and Kay wants to find out why. She leaves her predictable but rather unsatisfactory life to find out why.
This is the story of a wife, mother, who reaches a stage in her life where she thinks there must be more to life than this and of her daughter who has decisions to make too.

Enjoyable, but some of the reminiscences about their lives related more to those of women of a younger age group than me, which, of course, they are.

I’ve just read The Killing Time by Ellie Griffiths and Stolen in Death by J.D. Robb, both good and up to the authors usual standard.

I reserve books at the local library and I also use SELMS if the library doesn’t have a copy.

TerriBull

I hope you enjoy The Names Maggiemaybe, it was one of my standout books from last year. Sparklefizz also posted a highly positive review of it upthread.

I loved it. A poignant and moving book, beautifully written.

19-Paranoia-James Patterson & James O Born
This is the 17th book in the Michael Bennett series.
I have enjoyed every one of this series so far, but I realised that they are all pretty much the same; police chasing drug gangs, lots of shooting and fast cars chasing the baddies. So I think this will be the last one I read. The best part of this series is the on-going family story of MB and his wife and ten adopted children.

I hope you enjoy The Names Maggiemaybe, it was one of my standout books from last year. Sparklefizz also posted a highly positive review of it upthread.

10. My Lover’s Lover, Maggie O’Farrell

I was disappointed in this one, too. Jess moves in as Marcus’s flatmate after his girlfriend Sinead leaves in mysterious circumstances. I usually love Maggie O’Farrell books, and this is beautifully written, but the storyline just seemed so limp. It starts off as a supernatural mystery and fizzles out. Again, I didn’t care about any of the characters and was glad when I got to the end.

I’m just starting The Names now for my reading group next week, and am hoping it lives up to its reviews.

9. Then She Vanishes, Claire Douglas

Disgraced journalist Jess is sent to report on the breaking story of a double murder in her old home town. She is shocked to find that the suspect is her childhood best friend, Heather, who also shot herself and is in a coma. Heather’s sister, Flora, disappeared when the girls were teenagers, and this is another blow for their mother, Margot. Can Jess use her old ties to the family to help her get to the true story of what has gone on?

I actually thought the plot was good, and really enjoyed the first couple of hundred pages. It then seemed to get very slow and repetitive, and I didn’t really care about any of the main characters. By the end I was skim reading just to find out what had happened. Most other reviewers seemed to like it better - I sometimes think I’m getting too critical in my old age!

#16 Smile by Roddy Doyle
Middle aged Victor has moved into a new apartment and is alone for the first time in years. He starts going regularly to his local pub for a slow pint, just killing time. One evening a man joins him, saying they were at school together, but Victor doesn’t remember him at all. Victor dislikes the man and the memories he stirs up of his 5 years being taught by the Christian Brothers.
I didn’t enjoy this book at all and if it had been longer than its 212 pages I would have abandoned it. Very disappointed to find a Roddy Doyle book that I really didn’t like. 5/10

SueDonim

It is slow, Apple3pie but I guess a tale where the main protagonist is an old man is never going to be all flash, bang, whizz!

I was hoping for at least a car chase scene SueDonim

Book 6: Silent Bones by Val McaDermid. Another Karen Pirie book. It was an excellent read which kept me guessing to the end. I really enjoyed this.

21. Permaculture in a Nutshell By Patrick Whitefield

Yet another gardening book I've been promising myself to read. Slowly getting through them!

15 Anatomy of an Alibi - Ashley Elston

I didn't really like this one that much, it has had some good write ups and was one of Reese Witherspoon's Book Club choices. I found the plot really confusing at first, it's quite convoluted I just about worked out who, why and when towards the end. The premise, two women hatch a plan to swap identities for 12 hours to get answers as to a crime with a backstory, except the next morning the one of the women's husband who was loosely connected to that crime is found murdered. Both women need an airtight alibi, but only one of them has it.

I did enjoy Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, I read it before the series was made.

Book 17 Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.

I really loved this book. It's a tender and heart-wrenching story of a Chinese-American family. The father is an American, born of first generation Chinese immigrants, who marries Marilyn, a blonde, blue-eyed "all American" girl, which makes them a conspicuous couple in the 1970s in a small town in Ohio. Their 3 children struggle, with tragic consequences.

10/10

I am not sure if someone in this Group recommended this book. If they did, thank you very much. I shall look out for more by Celeste Ng.

20. Humble Pie and Cold Turkey by Caroline Taggart

This book is about the origin(s) of some of our sayings, hence the title. I've always been interested in where they come from and how they evolved. This book tells you a lot about it. It doesn't cover all of them as it's only 183 pages and is part of a best selling series. If you're a word/sayings nerd then you'll enjoy this.

Book 16 Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland

Steph makes tough decisions every day, committed to her job as an internal investigator for the FBI. But, as a single mother, the most important thing in her life is her teenage son, Zach.

So when she comes across something shocking whilst tidying Zach's room, she's forced to consider her son in a different light.

She loves him. She thinks she trusts him ... but could he be dangerous?

The storyline of this book was a bit complicated and maybe my concentration wasn't up to scratch as I'm under a lot of stress at the moment. 7/10

It is slow, Apple3pie but I guess a tale where the main protagonist is an old man is never going to be all flash, bang, whizz!

I've been waiting for a library copy of When the Cranes Fly South to be available for months. I hope it won't be a disappointment. Did you find it slow SueDonim ?

10. The Whole Truth by Cara Hunter - I like the Fowley series, but this particular book was underwhelming.

No 7. When The Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzen. This has been translated from its original Swedish and follows the life of an elderly man in a rural area who lives alone apart from his beloved dog, and the carers who attend him daily. He reflects on his life and the characters who populated it.

I have to say, it didn’t grab me in the same way as a lot of people say it grabbed them but it was well-written.