2026 - 50 Books a Year Challenge

18-The Honeymoon Affair-Sheila O'Flanagan
Steve has dumped Izzy just before their wedding, so she decides to use the Caribbean honeymoon booking as a holiday with her cousin. While there she meets famous author Charles Miller and has a holiday romance, but is she on the rebound or can it last.

#20. A Stranger In The House by Shari Lapena.

19 My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

I felt this was a bit slow to start but really enjoyed it as I got into it.

#15 The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan
Detective Cormac Reilly’s girlfriend Emma is first on the scene of a terrible hit and run and, after she calls him, he is first on the scene. It’s a murder that would never have been assigned to him, but which he’s determined to solve. It’s a high profile case, involving a powerful local family and their pharmaceutical company, in whose research labs Emma works. As he investigates, it increasingly becomes clear that the murder is linked to the labs, and potentially to Emma herself.
Set in Galway, this is the second Cormac Reilly volume, the first was The Ruin, both were excellent. 9/10

I think many posters here love Anthony Horowitz's Hawthorne books, particularly in the clever way AH inserts himself into the plot. I would also recommend his Atticus Pund books to anyone who hasn't discovered those, they're very much a pastiche of the Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Hello FGT and welcome back. I haven't read your book club read. I find book club choices are good for making me read books I might not have chosen myself, although sometimes I confess it's just a "skim read" if I'm really not enjoying it at all, just enough to enable me to join in any discussion.

stewaris I see you've moved on to the next Du Maurier book in your collection. What did you think of "Rebecca"?

Diggingdoris

I love the Hawthorne series. It's brilliant how there's a twist to the already unique setup in each new book.

17-A Line to Kill-Anthony Horowitz
This compelling whodunnit is set in the Channel Isle of Alderney. AH is invited to a literary festival, and takes private investigator Daniel Hawthorne with him. The visiting authors all seem to be harbouring unpleasant secrets.

18 What's That Weed by Guy Barter

14 The Nowhere Girls Carmel Harrington Audible

I think this was reviewed in the ST a while ago and I put it on my to read list, often mooted as "unputdownable" Maybe because I was listening rather than reading, I know sometimes I miss pivotal points whilst drifting off to sleep, I'll go back if I find what I'm listening to sufficiently engaging. I just found this disappointing early on to make me want to do that, so maybe I didn't give it a fair enough crack of the whip. A convoluted tale of two very young sisters found abandoned at Pearse Station Dublin. 30 years later an investigative journalist, Vega, is trying to piece together what happened to the "Nowhere Girls" whose only recorded memories at the time were of previously living somewhere in a forest. Her investigations lead to a journey that takes her to rural New England where she makes the crucial familial connection as to where the girls emanated from before returning to her native Ireland. Lots of twists and turns in her quest to get to the bottom of the mystery.

A bit lukewarm for me.

Just read THE PERFECT MARRIAGE by Jeneva Rose.
I couldn't put it down, the ending blew my mind!

17. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier.

Allira

Yes, it’s 19. I had to check back to make sure.

Some I read quicker than others, depending on how good they are.

I find the Shari Lapena books are easy to read, not too long and short chapters mostly.

8. Repeat: A Warning from History by Dennis Glover - A succinct but chilling account of the years leading up to WW2, how populism took over and helped Hitler get into power. And how the same playbook is being applied in today's politics.

9. A Novel Murder by E.C. Nevin - Cosy mystery in which the murder takes place during a crime fiction festival. I liked the hopeless author sleuth and the sneak peek into the publishing industry.

Hello, FGT, it’s good to see you. Your book sounds interesting, I hope you have a good discussion!

I’m not reading much at the moment as my time is now taken up with caring duties, which I will say I do gladly, though sadly. Xx

Welcome back FGT2, it's good to have you posting here again. I haven't read your book club read, but wish you an enjoyable meet up with your book club friends. Being a fairly new person to a book club, I've found the choices a somewhat mixed bag, not always to my taste, but to be expected I'm sure.

Good evening everyone. I’d like to rejoin I started off in the NY then events took over for a while.

I’ve no idea what number book I’m on, forgive me. I’ve been reading constantly (my solace these past few weeks) but not keeping any kind of record.

I’m almost finished our book club read. (90% through). It’s Tge Correspondent by Virginia Evan’s. It was apparently a Times Bestseller. It’s a story written in letters and emails from a woman in her 70’s reflecting on her life, grief, and past mistakes, A slow start had me unsure whether I’d persevere but I have enjoyed it well enough.

Have any of you read it?

I think it will promote a lively discussion at book club next week. I haven’t attended this past year owing to circumstances but I’m very much looking forward to seeing all my friends there again. Book lovers are very special people. I feel most at home in their engaging company.

I hope to continue better with this thread too now going forward.

19? 😲

#19. The Harder They Fall by Jack Cartwright.

TerriBull

Allira

5 The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A very long book set in three time zones with many characters so reading late at night required concentration! Very intriguing and enjoyable nonetheless.

A small girl is found abandoned on a wharf in Australia in 1913. Many years later her granddaughter tries to find out the truth of her grandmother's mysterious past.

That was one of my favourite Kate Morton books

The reference to Frances Hodgson Burnett attending a party at the house and being interested in the garden made me smile, Terribull 😀

Allira

5 The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A very long book set in three time zones with many characters so reading late at night required concentration! Very intriguing and enjoyable nonetheless.

A small girl is found abandoned on a wharf in Australia in 1913. Many years later her granddaughter tries to find out the truth of her grandmother's mysterious past.

That was one of my favourite Kate Morton books

5 The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A very long book set in three time zones with many characters so reading late at night required concentration! Very intriguing and enjoyable nonetheless.

A small girl is found abandoned on a wharf in Australia in 1913. Many years later her granddaughter tries to find out the truth of her grandmother's mysterious past.

#15 Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
This book is similar to Anne Tyler's books - character-driven and chronicling everyday modern life, this time in New York.

The main characters are Charlie and Nora Nolan - in their 40s and married with teenage twins - the book gives a clear-eyed look at their marriage with wit and warmth.

This book is an easy read and I enjoyed it. 8/10

My numbers are out of sync as I have two number 11s. Don't know how I managed that. So this is number 16.

16 Weeding Without Chemicals - Bob's Basics by Bob Flowerdew.

8. This is your Life, John O’Farrell

I’ve had this on my shelf for a while, having bought it after reading and liking The Best a Man Can Get and Things Can Only Get Better. It didn’t disappoint. Jimmy Conway leads a pretty boring and mundane life, but having come across some encouraging letters he wrote as a child to his future self, and bumping into a national treasure while out for a run, he somehow manages to become a fake celeb, convincing the world that he’s a brilliant new star of the stand up comedy circuit. The twists and turns as he blags his way through his new life are very funny, and there’s plenty of cutting comment on the world of celebrity and the media.