The New Fifty Books A Year Thread 2020

In my last post, that should read Creek and not Creed ?

40. After The End by Clare Mackintosh.

41 The Pandemic Century by Mark Honigsbaum. About all the pandemics of the 20th/21st centuries. ?

42. A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier.

Finished The Angels Mark and thoroughly enjoyed it. Humourous, suspenseful, very well researched. You can see - and smell - the Tudor London he brings to life. Followed it up with The Serpent’s Mark, second in the Jackdaw trilogy. Great reads.

32 - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creed by Kim Michelle Richardson

Fantastic read, beautifully descriptive, draws you in right from the beginning- Will make you laugh and your heart ache -- even though the end of the story felt rushed-

It's a story about the Pack Horse Library Project which was a program that delivered books by horse and rider to remote regions of Appalachia- The main character is a strong female who was a Blue Fugate of Kentucky-

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker- Too disturbing, I had to put it down-

33 - Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon

34 - Melania and Me - by Stefanie Winston Wolkoff
Insightful ..

35 - Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Highly recommend!!! He's an inimitable guy and it's exactly how he storywalks you through his life, his mind, his heart- Wild and fun! It's the most unique memoir I've ever read- Lots of bumper sticker, philosophical quips throughout- Super optimistic and uplifting- Currently number 1 on the NYT list- 5 Stars

I’m reading “The Angel’s Mark” by S. W. Perry. An Elizabethan whodunnit. It’s along the lines of C.J. Sansom’s books and is very readable so far. It’s the first in a series - The Jackdaw Mysteries.

I need to drag my mind out of the sewer. I read the thread title as The new FILTHY books a year thread. I got a bit overexcited until I realised my mistake

39. Becoming by Michelle Obama. I know praise has been heaped upon this book but I found it rather dull until the quest for the White House began. It’s the subject of my next book group discussion.

Urmstongran.

38. She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen by Katie Hickman.

It’s about the lives of women in India 1600-1900. There were some formidable women back then, it must be said. Those that survived the ordeal, of course.

SueDonim

26. I’ve given up on my next book. It’s Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I normally like her books but this one, despite it being much lauded, just isn’t doing anything for me. It’s really rare for me to give up on a book but Urmstongran further back made me realise life is too short to read a book you don’t enjoy!

Oh well done that woman!

I read ‘Do do Harm’ a couple of years ago mrshat it was a great non-fiction read and stayed in my mind for ages after. It’s a good job someone can take a drill to someone’s head ...
Can’t imagine performing brain surgery whilst the patient can speak (so the surgeon knows no other damage is being done) whilst gently removing or reducing a brain tumour ...

Ps I loved ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ too *Terribull. One of my best reads this year without a doubt.

Try Shuggie?

I’ve just finished Shuggie Bain & loved it. Has anyone read it? Heartbreaking story set in Glasgow during the That her years. Shuggie’s mum is an alcoholic. Poverty, the grittiness of the Glasgow sink estates, the mindset of an alcoholic (oh the promises made), the tension and devastating effect on a sweet young fatherless family...

It’s short listed for the Booker - up against Hilary Mantel’s ‘The Mirror and the Light’.

I’d not like the task of being a judge!

That said, this is the author’s debut novel. I think it’s a winner.

36 The Familiars by Stacey Hall. A novel set around the Witches Pendle real life story. It’s a bit daft but enjoyable.

37 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. The first couple of chapters, I wasn’t too keen on but I persisted and am so glad I did. One of those books you're glad to have read.

37. Clock Dance, Ann Tyler
She's one of my favourite authors and this didn't disappoint. The main character gets a phone call from a complete stranger demanding that she fly across the States to look after her granddaughter, the caller's neighbour's daughter, whose mum has been shot and is in hospital. It's not her granddaughter at all (it's the daughter of a woman her son once lived with, who she's never met), but she goes anyway. It's a lovely book.

38. South Riding, Winifred Holtby
I wasn't looking forward to this (it was a reading group choice). I thought it would be stuffy and old-fashioned, but it was neither. Really well written and an absorbing story with characters you could care about. Winifred Holtby died young and this was published after her death. Such a waste.

39. Last Seen Alive, Claire Douglas
One of those thrillers with a twist (think Gone Girl, but not as good). It kept me entertained for a day or two but the ending was daft. It was as if the author had just run out of steam and stopped writing. And it was a bit difficult to follow as well.

I'm reading The Flat Share now, as reviewed by TerriBull above. I'm glad it was just a middle of the night, wide awake so I'll download a book to get back off, cheap Kindle buy!

That should be Lara, Lara Prescott

31 - The Secrets We Kept by Para Prescott

"Secretaries turned spies, of love and duty, and of sacrifice--inspired by the true story of the CIA plot to infiltrate the hearts and minds of Soviet Russia, not with propaganda, but with the greatest love story of the twentieth century: Doctor Zhivago"

30 - Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

An oral history of the rise and fall of a 1970's rock band -- it's a novel ?

Here's an interview with the author:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfy6hqKHg6U

Only read two books in August, but the latter was a tad over 800 pages!

First up "The Flat Share" Beth O'Leary, can't believe I waited ages for this when I was getting my deliveries from Tescos, every week, it was seemingly unavailable due to the demand! Well as far as I was concerned it wasn't worth the wait, just didn't engage me. I suppose the premise was quite good two strangers working out a strategy to share a one bedroomed flat, due to the prohibitive price of renting in London. He's a nurse works night shifts so requires it for daytime and she's in PR or something or other like that, daytime office worker, well she wouldn't be right now of course. Anyway she's just broken up with boyfriend and there's some other stuff concerning male nurse's brother wrongfully arrested. Then he breaks up with his girlfriend, which of course only means one thing they will end up together. They overcome all their trials and tribulations, get together. The end!

Far better was "The Sun Sister" the sixth, but I suspect not the last in Lucinda Riley's seven sisters series, the seventh sister is missing apparently!, but I suspected right from the outset when I read the first book, she was going to be found.
So this one is all about Electra, the sixth and most troubled. due to lots of substance abuse, of the preposterously named D'Apliese sisters, adopted as babies from different parts of the world and named after the stars in The Pleiades Constellation, yes the premise is that bonkers!, but nevertheless, I just can't take it away from Lucinda Riley she writes a really good yarn. The narrative switches between Manhattan, 2008 and 1940s "Happy Valley" Kenya where the sublimely named Cecily Morgan Huntley provides the link between the two continents and the different time periods. The book moves through the war years in 1940s, America, England and Kenya through to the American civil rights movements of 1960s America and beyond. Lucinda Riley canter levers these strands together very well. I've really enjoyed reading these books and this was definitely one of the best in the series. I look forward to the next one which I have no doubt is in the pipeline.

I don’t usually read detective stories apart from Anne Cleeves but have just read J. M. Dalgleish’s ‘One Lost Soul’, the first of his Norfolk Mysteries. Not top notch but engaging, and I may download another to see how they pan out.
Finished “Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey” by the present Countess of Carnarvon; a biography of the wife of the 5th Earl - he of Tutankhamen fame. Sketchy in parts, but quite illuminating. How the rich did live!

29 - Into the Wild by John Krakauer -- a re-read-

35 On Chapel Sands by Laura Cumming.

It’s a memoir of the search for the author’s mother’s roots as an adopted and later, kidnapped child. I loved it.

29. Dead Beat, V McDermid
Enjoyable, but not as good as other books I’ve read by this author. I liked the female detective and her boyfriend though, so will look for more in this series.

30. One Way Out, AA Dhand
A cracking thriller set in Bradford, a city I know well, which added to the enjoyment.

31. Just My Luck, Adele Parks
The (last ever? ) GN Book Club choice, about a family’s experiences following a massive Lottery win. Made me a little less bothered about my twice-weekly flutter ever coming good.

32. Trick of the Dark, Val McDermid
Val at the top of her game!

33. Rock Me Gently, Judith Kelly
Not my usual sort of book and I wouldn’t recommend it, a bit of a misery memoir, set in a convent orphanage.

34. Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano
I loved this. A plane crashes with just one survivor. It intersperses what happens on the plane before the crash and what happens to the bereaved families, and Eddie, the survivor, in the years following. It’s very touching and uplifting.

35. Half a World Away, Mike Gayle
A single parent cleaner manages to trace her long-lost half-brother, adopted as a toddler and now a barrister. Worth a read.

36. I’ll Keep You Safe, Peter May
I loved this one. Set in Paris and the Outer Hebrides. An enthralling story and so well written you feel you can see the city streets and the islands.

28 - The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon

Fascinating reading even if you aren't into the series- She covers a lot of her research subjects, how she does her research, how the series came to be and gives a brief autobiography of her life which like the Outlander series is captivating- She is terse and has a dry sense of humor- Enjoyable read-

34 The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien. Depressing stuff.

27 - Calypso by David Sedaris