The New Fifty Books A Year Thread 2020

#17 A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler.

I do love her books but this one, I dunno. Her depictions of family life are spot-on but she left the ending of this one too much hanging on a...er...thread.

I read Ann Tyler's "Clock Dance" last year SueD, haven't read a lot of her books, but thought it was very good and made a mental note to read more of her novels.

A newbie to this thread, but will start my 50 books later today.

16. Out of Touch, Haleh Agar
The GN Book Club choice. I put a review on the Book Club thread with all the others so won’t repeat, but I did enjoy it.

17. Step on a Crack, James Patterson
I fancied an easy read and picked this from my shelf full of charity shop buys still to read. About three pages in I realised I’d already read it, but I enjoyed it again anyway! I like the detective’s huge family of adopted children.

18 will be The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel. I’ve cheated and downloaded it as a free audio book from the library. I thought this might spur me on to get round to some sorting and tidying while I listen. It’s a hefty work, so I may be gone some time.

I think I’ve read all the Ann Tylers before Clock Dance, TerriBull, and I’ve got that one ready to read. She’s one of my favourite authors. I’d particularly recommend The Accidental Tourist.

My lockdown list so far:

Mirror and Light.

Wolf Hall (for the second time).

Lady in Waiting - Anne Glenconner. (dull).

Diana - Sarah Bradford. Good.

George V1 - Sarah Bradford - finding it dull.

Cromwell - Tracy Borman.

Innocent Traitor - Alison Weir - about Jane Grey. (Novel).

House of Stairs - Barbara Vine - second time.

Just downloaded A Very British Murder by Lucy Worsley and a bio of Prince Eddy by Andrew Cook. Both look promising.

Really missing actual books though. Kindle is a godsend, but not quite the same somehow.

No 18. Educated by Tara Westover. It’s a memoir about the author’s childhood in an ultra-religious American family and how she managed to escape her upbringing.

I'm kind of surprised this thread isn't on fire .. Being locked in and having more time to read ..

I loved Educated- I was immersed yet felt I missed so much that I'm now tempted to read it again-

I felt the same as you did, Sue, about A Spool of Blue Thread ..

15 - Like Brothers - Mark Duplass

16 - My Love Story - Tina Turner

Ah, I couldn’t find this thread the other day!

No 19 Confusion the third book in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazalet Chronicles series.

No 20 Mudlarking by Lara Maiklam. This is about the writer’s experience of ‘foraging’ in the sand and mud of the banks of the Thames for long lost objects. It’s a short book but utterly beguiling.

Rosecarmel

18. The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel
An audiobook, so cheating really. I’m sure I’d have enjoyed it even more if I’d read it properly, as my concentration kept slipping.

19. Those People, Louise Candlish
A very enjoyable read about what happens in a perfect street when the neighbours from hell move in.

20. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, Josie Silver
My reading group choice. The group were split about whether it was touching and realistic or trite. I went for trite.

21. Unleashed, Emily Kimelman
One of those giveaway Kindle crime downloads. It actually started off really well (then went rapidly downhill).

I’m now reading
22. Wire in the Blood, Val McDermid

and
23. Straight Outta Crawley, Romesh Ranganathan

Heavens above! forgotten all about this thread I started

Since last posting I've read the following:

"Finders Keepers" - Sabine Durrant, don't think it's published yet, I read a proof. Fairly good from what I can remember, although she set the bar very high a couple of years ago with "Lie with Me" and haven't read anything she has written as good as that one.

"Tell Me A Secret" - Jane Fallon, her books are very readable, and then forgettable, from what I can remember main character promoted and then colleague, who is also close friend, does her best to sabotage that promotion.

"Asta's Book" - Barbara Vine, how I miss Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell Going through my bookshelves found this one which I remember reading and loving nearly 30 years ago, happily I'd forgotten most of the plot. I did remember it was about Asta and her husband Rasmus Danish emigrees who settle with their two children in 1905 London. Rasmus is often missing, away on business and Asta, left for long periods on her own writes diaries. Fast forward to the 1960s and '70s, the diaries are published and it transpires there are references to an unsolved crime from that era which lies at the heart of this novel. Ruth Rendell's own grandparents were Danish and I imagine she has drawn on their experiences to write this story as there are many references to Asta's early life in Denmark. I loved this book as much as I did when I first read it.

"The Ghost Tree" Audio - Barbara Erskine, the writer has used her ancestor Thomas Erskine as the main character. He was an eminent man in the 18th and early 19th century. Into his own story she has woven some fictitious facts. The narrative switches from present day back to the times of her ancestor charting his rise to the position of Lord Chancellor. I enjoyed the book, although 20 discs in it seemed it had gone on forever, don't know how thick the physical book is but a weighty tome I imagine!

No 20. I’ve just finished a fabulous book, The Secret Life of Books by Tom Mole. It’s about books as physical objects, not about what is inside them. It’s utterly fascinating. I usually pass on my books, but this one will be staying with me.

www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Life-Books-They-Words/dp/1783964588/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&tag=gransnetforum-21&qid&sr

Thanks OP for reminding me about Asta's Book. That's going on my list to re-read. .

I've added a few Liane Moriartys to my list:

Nine Perfect Strangers (silly).
The Last Anniversary. (good).
Three Wishes (a bit daft).
The Husband's Secret (good).

Just off to download another one. Light reading but not too fluffy, with touches of humour and well-drawn characters.

Bit like The Clap.

Since last posting I read among others, The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde and a few more stories from a collection of his works.

Then Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I always Enjoy Tom Sawyer hadn't read it for about 10 years.

I read a few books by John Grisham :
The Testament
The Firm
The Reckoning
The Last Juror
Cabino Bay
King of Torts.
They are real page turners, mostly read out in the garden or on those nights when there is nothing on TV. I can see why they are called airport or train books! I then picked up another one set in a prison, but after 2 pages had had enough!

Reread Boris's The Churchill Factor which is written like he speaks and quite engaging in tone.

Now dipping into Into the Silence by Wade Davis about the Mallory expeditions to Everest. A really good read and you can just dip into a chapter at a time. A reread.

Also reading Looking for La Bomba byRichard Neill, which is light-hearted and quite funny. He buys a double bass and takes it to Cuba to learn to play.

I have just finished “ Where The Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens which we are reading for our book club. It is a wonderful book which made me laugh, cry and saddened me at the same time.
Even the men in our group are loving it!

It’s a while since I posted so have a few books to enter
31- Behind closed doors by B.A. Paris - domestic abuse was main theme

32- picture Perfect - Jodi Picoult - always a good read

33- The ice twins byS.K. Tremayne - an unusual thriller about identical twins

34- windflowers by Tamara McKinley

35- cuckoo in the nest by Nora Kay - wartime saga

36- The gift of rain by Tan Twan Eng - really enjoyed this but was long and small type face. Set in Penang Malaysia so brought back memories of the 2years I lived there.

37- On a wing and a prayer by Helen Carey another wartime story - not my usual read but found them around the house.

38 - Last chance saloon by Marian Keyes

39- The time travellers wife by Audrey Niffenegger - enjoyed this but thought ending dragged on a bit

40- The underside of joy by sere Prince Halverson good easy read.

Well am still working my way through books that are dotted around various bedrooms and bookcases left here mostly by now adult children. A way of reading books that otherwise mightn’t have picked!

No 21. Phew, I’ve at last finished a massive biography of Florence Nightingale, by Mark Bostridge. It’s on my Kindle so I’m not sure if it’s length but I think it’s 600 pages of a very detailed story. It even pervaded my dreams at times!

Now to read something lighter, I think.

Book 8: The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley. The sixth in the series and onr of the best. Eagerly awaiting the 7th and last.
Book 9/10 Second and third of Penny Vincenzi trilogy : Something Dangerous and Into Temptation. Very enjoyable and readable family saga.
Book 11 Ian Rankin Flesh market Close. A good murder investigation.
Book 12 Fern Britton's A Good Catch. Disappointing. Don't bother.
Book 13 Holly Seddon Try Not To Breathe. Gripping story.
Book 14 Barbara Trepido Temples of Delight. Unusual book, funny in places, reminded me a little of Muriel Spark.
Book 15 Holly Hepburn: A year at the Star and Sixpence. Quite enjoyed this, though a little predictable!
Book 16 Ken Follett: Fall of Giants. The first in the Century Trilogy. Starts pre- WW1 and very gripping. Will look out for other 2 in charity shops when they eventually reopen. Is 850 pages so took a while to read.

22. The Portrait by Iain Pears. It’s quite an old, short novel, set at the start of the 20thC, the plot being that of an artist who is painting the portrait of an art critic. It’s claustrophobic and has quite a twist or two on the way to the end!

23 Please, Mr Postman the second of Alan Johnson’s memoirs, covering the twenty years between becoming a postie and joining the Labour and trade union movements,

17 - Re-read Educated by Tara Westover

18 - Reckless Daughter - David Yaffe
A biography about Joni Mitchell-

19 - The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah

Round and round, round and round, round and round- It was like waiting years for a boxing match to end! All she had to do was pull a Celia Foote, grab a skillet, and be done! I developed arthritis waiting for her to make up her mind! Uh ..

24. Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield.

It’s set on the upper reaches of the Thames, in late Victorian times, and concerns an unknown child found in the river. It’s kind of magical realism, but also believable, a modern fairy tale, I suppose. I enjoyed it, great escapism.

20 - House Lessons: Renovating a Life

Excellent memoir about the author and architecture-

25 The Woman Who Saved The Children by Clare Mulley. It’s a biography of Eglantyne Jebb, the woman who founded the Save the Children charity in 1919.

It’s a bit patchy, with some bits of rather boring officialdom but it’s a fascinating story. I’d never heard of her.