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Original poster

26-ish books in 2022

791 replies

StColumbofNavron · 31/12/2021 11:49

Roll up, roll up ...

Shiny new thread for 2022.

I am setting my target at 25 this year.

I want to read at least a min of 5 in hardcopy and at least 4 non-fiction.

OP posts:
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6
DonEmmanuelsDingleberries · 18/02/2022 13:58
  1. The Inheritance Of Loss by Kiran Desai
  2. The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan
  3. Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson
  4. Milkman by Anna Burns
5.The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
  1. Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burn Out Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
7.The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  1. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich - This was an interesting and at times heartbreaking glimpse into the lives of Soviet female veterans in WWII. I'm glad the women featured were finally able to tell their stories to a wider audience; however I found the writing a bit choppy. The narrative flits between different women's accounts very rapidly, and as a result I felt their individual voices were often lost and merged into one. Still a solid read though.

Book number 9 is Whistling for the Elephants by Sandi Toksvig. I love her on QI, so hope her books are good too!

mrsfeatherbottom · 18/02/2022 08:39

I've started Dune but it is hard work. DH says I should persevere and that it does get better!

mrsfeatherbottom · 18/02/2022 08:38

@VittysCardigan

12. And Away - Bob Mortimer Read in one sitting. Just lovely.
Want to read this. I love him.
Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 18/02/2022 08:01

Who is Maud Dixon? Alexandra Andrews

This was ok. I think if mystery/thrillers are your genre then this probably isn’t the greatest attempt.

I’m not a reader of those genres really so whilst I saw quite a few twists coming I didn’t really mind. There are also plausibility questions but I could ignore them and just go with it.

Essentially and aspiring writer finds herself in a position where she can steal a successful writers life.

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VittysCardigan · 15/02/2022 19:47

12. And Away - Bob Mortimer Read in one sitting. Just lovely.

BaconAndAvocado · 15/02/2022 18:56

3.The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Is it possible to follow A Gentleman in Moscow?

I really enjoyed this book about a group of youngsters haplessly travelling around America in the 1950s.
The characterisation was superb and the story was unpredictable, heartfelt and life-affirming in the same way as AGIM.

Was it as good?...... IMO, no but it was still a fabulous read.

dollybird · 15/02/2022 16:29

@dollybird

If my next book is the same as your Goodreads friend, then I must be her, and you'll have to tell me who you are!
That was meant to be quoting drspouse
dollybird · 15/02/2022 16:28

If my next book is the same as your Goodreads friend, then I must be her, and you'll have to tell me who you are!

ExtremelyDelighted · 15/02/2022 14:50
  1. Freckles by Cecelia Ahern (book)
  2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audio)
  3. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri (audio)
  4. Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian (audio)
  5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling (audio)
6 The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater 7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (audio) 8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban by JK Rowling (audio) - definitely getting better as the series continues, going to have a break for something different now though.
drspouse · 13/02/2022 20:31

[quote dollybird]@drspouse I don't think any of my Goodreads friends have a 7 year old DD. Someone else must be reading the same books as me![/quote]
Ha! It just seemed like a big coincidence.

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 13/02/2022 18:41

I usually make an effort to write separate reviews for this thread and the 50 thread because I straddle both, so forgive me today for pasting the same review, because there are only so many ways I can say INCREDIBLE.

7. Madonna in a Fur Coat, Sabahattin Ali, trans. By Maureen Freely and Alexander Dawe

I’ve overused the word magnificent today, but this is my first stand out read of the year. I’ve given it four and a half stars but I really think it’s five. I think it’s my fault that it hasn’t quite got the extra half. I don’t have faith in my ability to read and absorb this in the original, but it meant that often paused to wonder what turn of phrase Ali might have used at various points which interfered with my reading, so that is on me. It’s a Turkish classic written in the 1940s about a man who travels to Germany in the early 1920s and falls in love. It’s set quietly against the backdrop of the founding and forging of the Turkish Republic. It’s very short, only 168 pages and I devoured it having started last night.

If you liked Stoner I think you would like this.

OP posts:
dollybird · 13/02/2022 18:26

@drspouse I don't think any of my Goodreads friends have a 7 year old DD. Someone else must be reading the same books as me!

MargotMoon · 13/02/2022 16:42

@StColumbofNavron It's incredible isn't it? For such a short, simple book it really hits home.

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 13/02/2022 16:16

@MargotMoon I read Once last year after DS2 failed to touch it after his teaching recommended some stuff to get him reading. I thought it was magnificently done. I thought the simple prose was so powerful.

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MargotMoon · 13/02/2022 16:14
  1. Once by Morris Gleitzman
DD13 dropped this at my house with a care package of chocolate and face packs when I was isolating. Heartbreaking and not the comfort read I needed but as it's one of the few books that she has read and is enthusiastic about I decided to read it. I've used it as a way to get her on to When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, though, which I have failed to get her to read in the past.
drspouse · 13/02/2022 15:11

You'll have to wait till Sat which is my birthday!
Unless DD spills the beans first.

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 13/02/2022 14:39

Intrigued as to what they might come back with.

OP posts:
drspouse · 13/02/2022 14:24

I have rashly sent DH out with my Readers Challenge list for the year to find me a book for my birthday. He's not much of a reader and he's gone with DD who is 7 Confused

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 13/02/2022 13:20

On the website you will be able to amend the date read column when you click into books. They are slowly updating their pages though so I’m not sure if that has hit the new format. Alternatively if you just don’t enter a date then it won’t add to your challenge this year but just be listed as something that you read. As you add them on the site it should also allow you to amend the dates under where you might write a review.

OP posts:
drspouse · 13/02/2022 12:36

I think it might only be on the website - I can't do it on the Kindle, certainly.

Divebar2021 · 13/02/2022 12:20

Can I ask you helpful lot a question about Goodreads. I want to add some books I read last year. You used to be able to add a date that you read it but I can’t find that feature anymore. I don’t want to mess up my reading challenge by adding titles I haven’t read this year. Am I being thick / blind or have they changed it?

Divebar2021 · 13/02/2022 12:17

@SmithfamilyRobinson

Would you like some recommendations for quirky novels on the slim side ( that you can read quickly?)

Here are my recommendations for what it’s worth

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
10 Minutes & 38 seconds in this strange world by Elif Shafak
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiradi
I Love Dick by Chris Kraus… I actually read Torpor by Chris Kraus but I watched I Love Dick on Amazon and I prefer the thought of you sending your friend that title. Plus I don’t remember what happens in Torpor.

I’ve just finished My Sister the Serial Killer which is a simply written, pacy read. The lead character is a nurse working in Lagos who has the misfortune to have a beautiful younger sister who keeps murdering her boyfriends. I enjoyed the Nigerian setting without the book being about Nigeria per se.

SmithfamilyRobinson · 13/02/2022 11:05

Ps. Loved 'Radium Girls'!

SmithfamilyRobinson · 13/02/2022 11:04

Jumping on the thread - 26 books is about all I can squeeze in with no commute and the lure of the Internet!
Last year I reread Hilary Mantel's 'Mirror and the Light' (part 3 of her Tudor/Thomas Cromwell trilogy) taking 3 months Confused
So far this year I have read;

  1. Ali Smith ' Spring'
  2. Jonathan Franzen 'Crossroads'
I have already read 'Summer' and noticed that the library have the complete quartet. I often work my way through the whole cannon of a particular writer - my favourites are Muriel Spark, Lionel Shriver, Anne Tyler and my new fave Curtis Sittenfeld (read 'American Wife' and 'Rodham' last year, it's such a long time since I have been so totally absorbed in reading). The problem I have is that I've been exchanging books for the last 35 years with a university friend (male) for our birthdays and our rule is that it has to have been something we have read in the last year. It means finding something a bit off beat and probably not on the top sellers at WHSmith. We also both studied Eng Lit. There have been forays into non-fiction.
dollybird · 13/02/2022 10:56

@drspouse

7. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. Really good. Couldn't put it down. I hadn't really read the reviews and wasn't sure what it was about but.. Wow. P.s. *@dollybird* I think we're frIends on Goodreads/FB.
I can't see any of my Goodreads friends who've read The Radium Girls or your last couple of books. Why don't you like one of my updates, so I can see who you are? ☺️ I've never had someone on MN know me in RL before!
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