2026 - 50 Books a Year Challenge

Book 10 A Mother for Christmas by Jackie Weger.
Next book is The House on Persimmon Road, by the same author.

#7. The Kill Call by Stephen Booth.

4. Her Beautiful Life, Brianna Labuskes

One of the better Kindle freebies from my Prime membership. Journalist Holland goes to interview her old friend and room-mate Kat, now an internet famous trad wife and mother of six. It’s not long before secrets and lies from the past emerge, and someone dies…

SueDonim
That brings back memories of paraffin heaters too. Money was so tight when the children were small, so that was all we could afford. Sadly, my children tell me they were teased at school because their clothes smelled funny, which was no doubt the pong from the heaters we used. Thank goodness for modern heating !

7-E is for Evidence-Sue Grafton
A slow start for this one but I'm glad I carried on. Great ending.

No. 5 Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

This book was unputdownable. In this family everyone is keeping secrets, even the dead.

In the quiet, wealthy area of Brecken Hill, an older couple is brutally murdered after a very tense Easter dinner with their 3 adult children and partners who, of course, are devastated.

Or are they??? Each stands to inherit millions. They were never a happy family thanks to their vindictive father and neglectful mother. Has one of them snapped? Or ......... ?

This book kept me guessing all the way through. Buckle up! I highly recommend it and give it 10/10.

6 The Predicament William Boyd

A sequel to my previous book, Gabriel's Moon. I'm wondering if William Boyd has written both these books with an eye to developing a series. Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy who is increasingly finding himself drawn into the shadowy world of espionage. In this follow-up, the year is 1963, the place West Berlin where there is a plot afoot to assassinate JFK on his flying visit and where Gabriel has been sent to gather intelligence on his would-be assassin. Of course the outcome of that is a foregone conclusion nevertheless, the tension is still there where time is of the essence. I think these books need to be read in the right order to make sense of what is a continuing thread.

7 Fox - Joyce Carol Oates Audible

Anyone who has discovered JCO will know she's a pretty amazing author who tackles uncomfortable subjects.

This one is no exception. The book opens with a dog walker on a hiking trail in New Jersey. The dog who is prone not to obey the owner, a headmistress of a school pivotal to the story, when it wanders off into the undergrowth to discover body parts. One consideration during the course of investigations is that they belong to a missing person, namely Francis Fox, a highly respected English teacher at a prestigious private school. Initially, for a large part of the book, the reader is unaware that the body is that of the central character. The investigation that follows tries to establish whether the remains of whoever the person happened to be had met with an accident, committed suicide before the final conclusion that this was a murder. Although as the investigation digs deeper into how Fox came to be missing what slowly unfolds through the various voices of those connected with the school, particularly some of the favoured pre -pubescent female pupils, their teacher was a master manipulator who had been beguiling his chosen few. Drawn to high achieving girls but slightly built, younger than their age in appearance they become drawn into his orbit through their susceptibility in having an absent father. A void filled by an attractive, enigmatic teacher who'd singled them out through his extraordinary interest in their potential during one to one after school tuition sessions. His opportunity to groom and abuse them through his modus operandi of offering them pastries laced with sedatives. The reader also retrospectively hears from Fox himself who has a warped mindset into how he justifies his perversions. The essence of the book is the knock on outcome to the wider community and the effects on some of the intertwined relationships beyond the school confines.

Book 2: What To Do When Someone Dies by Nicci French. The author is the nom de plume of husband and wife Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. A gripping story about a wife who is told that her husband has died in a car crash, with a female passenger. Was he having an affair? Through her grief, she is determined to prove his innocence.
Book 3: We Are All Made Of Glue by Marina Lewycka. A story about a young woman who befriends an elderly, eccentric Jewish neighbour. Good story.
Book 4: They Thought I Was Dead by Peter James. The back-story of what happened to Sandy, the first wife of DCI Roy Grace. Couldn't put this down, so well written and full of suspense

#8. What The Shadows Hide by MJ Lee.

Thank you to those who recommended The River Kings. Absolutely fascinating. I am a few chapters in and am hooked.

8-Echo of the Dead-Alex Gray
This book took me back in time to the many holidays I've had in the Glencoe area of Scotland.
When DSI William Lorimer takes a colleague climbing they are shocked to find a body on the mountain, but when another body is discovered they are drafted in from their base in Glasgow to investigate. It's clear that a dark secret lurks beneath the wild beauty of this place. A great story, unputdownable!

TerriBull

Allira - Kate Morton's one of my favourite authors, I like the fact that her books are thick, because often I don't want them to end.

On to another favourite author

5 Gabriel's Moon - William Boyd

I wouldn't normally go for a book about the CIA, MI5 and spies but William Boyd makes all his books, particularly the way he sets them against historical events, really readable. This was no exception.The setting is 1960, when the relations between the west and the Soviet Union are at an all time low. Gabriel Dax is a promising young travel writer who whilst researching in the newly independent Republic of Congo manages to secure an interview with the country's first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, later to murdered. That incident some 65 or so years really resonates today after recent events, as it was thought, once again this left leaning leader had been deposed by outside forces, the Belgians with the help of the CIA and a trail leading back to the then president, Eisenhower. Returning to London Gabriel finds that the recordings he has in his possession are highly sought after given their sensitive nature. Courted by intelligence officers he finds himself drawn into the world of espionage in covert missions that take him firstly to Franco's Spain and then behind the iron curtain. Intermittent visits to a psychiatrist relating to childhood trauma which relates to the title of the book are also pivotal to the narrative.

I loved it, I am now reading the sequel "The Predicament"

I’m new to this thread too. But I read Gabriel’s moon last summer . I really enjoyed it and will look out for the sequel.

This January , I’ve read The house we grew up in by Lisa Jewell . She’s not an author I normally read but it’s a family drama and one of the main characters, the mum is a hoarder . My mums a hoarder , although not as bad as the character in the book , but it was a very interesting look at hoarding and the psychological reasons behind it .
I also read The Women by Kristin Hannah about the female nurses working in Vietnam during the war . I don’t remember much about the war , so I found it really interesting and learnt a lot about that time in history.
I’m currently reading a Lianne Moriarty book about a hypnotist . It’s in my kindle , so I don’t always register the book title.

3 No-one Saw it Coming by Susan Lewis

This novel seemed to be rather slow-moving for the first half and I did nearly give up, but it suddenly took a diferent turn.
I did have an idea about what was happening but not all of the twists and turns, will say no more as it could be a spoiler if anyone intends to read it.

TerriBull, Fox was one of my favourite books from last year, so cleverly written.

#9. Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena.

#6 The Story of a Heart - Rachel Clarke. Amazing and harrowing and interesting real story of a child’s heart transplant. The author explains the genesis of all the stages and procedures of the transplant. Not an easy read but fascinating.

#6 Freya by Anthony Quinn
This book starts in May 1945 in London when Freya (wilful, ambitious, outspoken) meets Nancy (gentler, less confident). They become friends and gradually moves on until it reaches the 1960s, supposedly telling the stories of women in the pursuit of independence. I thought I would enjoy this but by page 113 I couldn't care less about Freya, and ... dare I say it? ... I am not sure if a man can write as a woman and really get to the heart of her feelings. This book wasn't for me.

#7 Someone we Know by Shari Lapena
I haven't yet come across a book by Shari Lapena which is not gripping with lots of twists. She is the mistress of suspense.

This book is set in a tranquil leafy suburb of ordinary streets where everyone is polite and friendly. Then an anonymous note has been left at some of the houses apologising and saying "My son has been getting into people's houses. He's broken into yours."

Who is this boy and what might he have uncovered?

Then a missing local woman is found murdered and tension reaches breaking point. Maybe you don't know your neighbours as well as you thought you did. How far will all these very nice people go to protect their secrets?

I found this unputdownable. 10/10.

I’ve got a couple of books on the go at the moment, one a paperback and the other on kindle.

The paperback one is a Jeffery Deaver book “The Stone Monkey” which is a Lincoln Rhyme thriller, book 4 of I think 8 so far. I’ve read books 1-3 and have 5 - 7 on my shelf, which my niece has loaned me.

The one I’m reading is about Lincoln Rhyme and his sidekick, Amelia Sachs trying to track down a cargo ship carrying 24 illegal Chinese immigrants, hoping to catch the human smuggler and killer known as “The Ghost”. It really is gripping, quite violent in places, but very absorbing.

The other one I’m reading, on my kindle, is Dead Man’s grave by Neil Lancaster, book 1 of 6 so far in this series. Again, a bit violent in places, but very good. These books can be read independently, (as can the Deaver books), as I’ve only just read book 4 “Blood runs cold”.

This one (book 1) is about bringing to book a notorious gangland family who are taking revenge for the murder of their patriarch by another gang family.

One on a much lighter note, and completely different in style and tone, which I’ve just finished reading is “Best wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop” by Mai Mochizuki, which is a lovely, gentle read about various characters facing a crossroad in their lives guided by some feline divinations.

I got a voucher for Christmas so I’ve bought the first one, The Full Moon Coffee Shop which I will read after I’ve finished the Jeffery Deaver book.

I’ve been travelling and haven’t had much access to wifi, but fortunately had some long journeys where I could read and some good books to fill the time. Here’s my holiday reading:

#3 The Last Place by Laura Lippman. A private eye Tess Managhan novel.
In court-ordered therapy for having assaulted a potential child molester, Tess Monaghan is more than ready for a distraction. So she reluctantly agrees to look into a series of unsolved homicides that date back over the past six years. There are a number of troubling aspects to the assignment. Apart from the suspicion that each death was the result of domestic violence, nothing else seems to connect them,
This was very good, my OH read it after me and loved it too. 8,10

#4 Wild by Kristen Hannah
A six-year-old girl wanders out of the dense forest of the US Pacific north west. Speechless and alone, she offers no clue as to her identity.
Having retreated to her hometown after a scandal left her career in ruins, child psychiatrist Dr Julia Cates begins working with the extraordinary little girl. Naming her Alice, Julia is determined to free her from a prison of unimaginable fear and isolation, and discover the truth about Alice’s past. The shocking facts of Alice’s life test the limits of Julia’s faith and strength, even as she struggles to make a home for Alice – and find a new one for herself.
This was enjoyable, very readable and I raced through it. 8/10

#5 A Death Most Monumental by JD Kirk
One of the DCI Logan series set in the Scottish highlands. A young woman’s body is discovered hanging from the Glenfinnan Monument. At first it seems like an open and shut case, but as the team investigates, the victim’s secrets lead them in a difficult direction.
As ever, the sense of location and language in this series is excellent. 8/10

#6 The Ruin by Dervla McTiernsn
Galway 1993: Young Garda Cormac Reilly is called to a scene he will never forget. Two silent, neglected children - fifteen-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack - are waiting for him at a crumbling country house. Upstairs, their mother lies dead.
Twenty years later, a body surfaces in the icy black waters of the River Corrib. At first it looks like an open-and-shut case, but then doubt is cast on the investigation's findings - and the integrity of the police. Cormac is thrown back into the cold case that has haunted him his entire career - what links the two deaths, two decades apart? As he navigates his way through police politics and the ghosts of the past, Detective Reilly uncovers shocking secrets and finds himself questioning who among his colleagues he can trust.
This was excellent. 9/10

#7 Death at the white Hart by Chris Chibnall
This is the first novel by the writer of Broadchurch. It was very good.
The body is found abandoned on the A35 in Dorset – tied to a chair, stag antlers on his head. It's Jim Tiernan, landlord of Fleetcombe’s The White Hart pub – and now a murder victim.
Newly arrived DS Nicola Bridge has her work cut out. Fleetcombe is a picture-postcard village. Murder is the last thing on anyone’s mind. Except that here Nicola finds whispers, rumours, resentments and lie after lie.
8/10

#8 Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
At last, another outing of Jackson Brodie, the ex-cop turned private eye. As he starts to investigate the tedious case of a potentially stolen painting, he gets drawn in to a country house murder mystery weekend, set during a blizzard, with a cast of oddball character. Very witty and enjoyable. 9/10

8 First Lady - The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill
Sonia Purnell

An interesting biography of a remarkable woman, who would have made a good MP in her own right. Born Clementine Hozier, her mother, Lady Blanche's infidelity made her paternity uncertain although she was legally the daughter of Sir Henry Hozier.

She married Winston in 1908, at times it wasn't always a marriage made in heaven, she being quite the feminist of her era. He, not only a Conservative but defined by a conservative outlook where they were quite often politically opposed. In particular on women's suffrage but also later on he was against Indian Independence. Some ten years older than her, very much of his time with varying attitudes that were a hangover from the Victorian era as opposed to her more forward thinking ones. There was a time in the late 30s she even contemplated divorcing him. Nevertheless, their marriage appeared to strengthen when he needed her support at the most difficult time as the country's leader during the 2nd WW.

Mother to five children, one, Marigold died in infancy and the older 3, Diana, Randolph and Sarah suffered with mental health problems and alcoholism at various junctures in their lives, only the youngest, Mary later to become Mary Soames seemed to emerge reasonably unscathed. Clementine was far more than a political wife and an extension of her husband who whilst being very supportive of him also held her own independent views and achieved much in her own right.

Has anyone read The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins, I've been struggling to get into it but may give up which is unusual for me.

9-Mistress of Marymoor-Anna Jacobs
Deborah Jannvier is practically penniless when she is told she will inherit Marymoor House on one condition, that she immediately marries Matthew Pascoe, a man she's never met.
An insight into life in 1759 England.

This one isn't terribly interesting unless your a gardener.

5. Bob Flowerdew's Organic Bible.

Before I saw this thread I had made a New Year's resolution to stop buying books and read the ones I have and those that have overflowed to the floor, the top of the bookcase, the ones piled up at the side of the bed. It's going to be a very mixed bunch, I think.

Sorry corrected 'your' for 'you're'