26-ish books in 2022

Oh that's good. I've put books 2 & 5 on my Kindle wishlist to monitor for a 99p bargain. The rest of the books I'll be able to borrow via my library app. I can't bring myself to pay £6 for the paperbacks when they're such short books!

Haha that so funny StColumb - did it still make sense starting at number 2?

@mathanxiety - I read it a few years ago and was a bit disappointed, but watched the film last year and actually thought it was better than the book, highly unusual.

I loved American Dirt too, didn't hear about the controversy until I'd read it.

11. The Only Plane in the Sky - Garrett M. Graff
The oral history of 9/11, this was an interesting and impactful book that I couldn't put down. I have watched many documentaries about the events on 9/11 but this was the first book I've read about it, and there were many new stories that I hadn't come across before. Like the author, I was left with a sense of how luck played such a huge part in the outcomes of people on that day.

12. Mythos - Stephen Fry
Listened to the audiobook via my library app as I wanted to hear Stephen Fry narrate his own book. An enjoyable ramble through various Greek myths, many of which I hadn't come across before, and told in an entertaining way by Fry. Enjoyable.

A Series of Unfortunate Events 1: The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
Read to my son so not counting in my number tally. After reading the various reviews by StColumb I thought it was time we tried this series. It was a fun and quick read that we both enjoyed, so I'm sure we'll pick up the next in the series.

13. The End of Men - Christina Sweeney-Baird
An interesting premise for this debut novel - a highly infectious and deadly plague sweeps across the world that only kills men. The multi-layered implications of such an event are explored in the book, from the new opportunities presented in a major-majority female world to the devastation on a personnel level when 90% of all men - fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, etc - are likely to die if a vaccine cannot be produced quickly enough.

@MargotMoon and @Divebar2021 I enjoyed Wild too though I found the last 1/3 really rushed - I would have liked more of her trek through Oregon

@Tinkhasflown it took me a while for Gentleman in Moscow too, I’ve actually grown to like it more post-reading as I often find myself thinking about it. Might be a better re-read

Welcome @mamaduckbone I’ll have to check that out, I love Frederick Back man’s work too

I’m having to move onto a YA book series as DS loves it and really wants someone to talk to about it. First book was so simplistically written I’ve put off the next but it’s a little better so will grit my teeth and do it for him.

@Divebar2021 I loved Wild too - read it in the aftermath of my marriage breaking down and found her voice to be hugely comforting

Book 4 The Bad Beginning- Lemony Snicket read to the children and we have moved on to book 2.

Book 5 Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton I found this book brilliant, I could hardly put it down. Now I'll be honest I did predict some of the end fairly early on and it was all a little neat - however, despite that I still found myself holding my breath quite a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this book.

I've moved to something lighter now and am reading Aisling and the City, the fourth in this series.

For me A Gentleman in Moscow was one I nearly DNF! It took me a while to get into it, but I was so glad I kept going.

There can also be a lot of virtue signalling and posturing around some titles… look how intellectual or progressive I am ( not referring to Crawdads here) I was listening to Jane Garvey on her podcast talk about reading and her enjoyment of Ken Follett and her dislike of intellectual snobbery around reading or literature. I will remind myself of that when feeling guilty for enjoyment of some populist or “middle brow” title.

@MargotMoon

I agree with you about the dangers of taking on other peoples opinion before you’ve read the book. Individual opinions are a pretty poor gauge unless you know that persons tastes and generally align with them. A collective “star” rating can be useful although I’m struck by how extreme a lot of people can be on places like Goodreads and Amazon - a lot of 5 star and 1 star reviews. I would seriously need to be reading a pile of crap to give 1 star and would only give 5 stars to something engrossing that I thought was also well written.
Sometimes a book finds you at the right time… I remember being enchanted by Wild by Cheryl Strayed because of what I was feeling in my life at the time. That book faced a lot of criticism which I felt was irrelevant to my enjoyment of it. I lived in North Carolina for a while in my 20’s so have a certain nostalgia for some of the domestic details of Crawdads - sometimes it’s the little things that resonate

Finished my first book Where the Crawdads Sing which contrary to lots of you recently I have to say I loved. I bought it on a Kindle deal about a year ago and then read so many negative reviews on here that I ignored it. However, from the very first page I was completely absorbed by it. I loved Kya's resourcefulness in the early chapters - reminded me of Dicey in Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. I googled North Carolina marshes and grits and biscuits so I could get a better mental image of everything...enjoyed the mystery element and the ending...

So that'll teach me to listen to other people instead of trying a book for myself!

I'm enjoying the love on here for One End Street. I read it as a child in a block of flats in London and couldn't picture what their street looked like, but after living in Leeds for nearly 3 decades I've got a much better idea!

If it's not too late, may I join?
I'm off to a slow start this year due to book 1 being
Blue Eyed Boy by Joanne Harris. I've loved everything else I've ever read by her but god this was hard work.
Nevermore recommended by a child I
teach - I like to read some kids / young adult books to keep in touch.
My Grandmother sends her regards and apologises Only a few chapters in but enjoying so far - it's by Fredrik Backmann who wrote A Man Called Ove, one of my favourites of all time.

1. The House at Old Vine by Norah Lofts
2. The House at Sunset by Norah Lofts
3. Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss
4. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Adi Dare
5. The Red Tent by Anita Daimant
6. The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett
7. Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney
8. Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers
9. The Pull of Stars by Emma Donoghue

@DonEmmanuelsDingleberries yes you’re right, she has a podcast but from memory it had loads of ads. I found listening to a targeted audiobook much better.

@yoshiblue thanks for the recommendation. I think I might have listened to a podcast of hers. Confessions of a Slob or something? I'm bad with names!

Finished book 6 - Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burn Out Generation by Anne Helen Petersen. To be honest I was just skimming this one by the end. It reads like an overly long op-ed, and I didn't feel that I gained any new information.

Starting The Secret History by Donna Tart today. It's been on my bookshelf for ages, so hope it's worth the wait.

StColumbofNavron
Yes, visiting the Metropole Hotel in Moscow is definitely on my bucket list!