26-ish books in 2022

Do come back and tell us all what you think of the books

I think it's the only one I haven't read actually. I should, as she's one of my favourite authors.

[quote highlandcoo]**@livingonpurpose* I recommend Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, probably her most famous book. Also State of Wonder*.
Neither is anything like The Dutch House. AP is like Rose Tremain in that she doesn't turn out different versions of the same book every time - one of the things I like about her as a writer.[/quote]
Thanks highlandcoo - I've reserved them both via my library app. I also saw that her book The Patron Saint of Liars is 99p at the moment so I picked that up. Have you read that one?

highlandcoo thanks for those recommendations!

No 2 finished yesterday. *Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers.
Really enjoyed this book and I really warmed to the Jean the main character.

@livingonpurpose I recommend Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, probably her most famous book. Also State of Wonder.
Neither is anything like The Dutch House. AP is like Rose Tremain in that she doesn't turn out different versions of the same book every time - one of the things I like about her as a writer.

2. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

This has been on my to do list for about ten years and I have been putting it off, I don't know why. Anyway, I loved it, it was magical and dark and I really enjoyed reading short stories, especially ones that lead into the next one in some form. I will definitely dip into them again.

My next read will be The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, another Christmas gift.

8. The Dutch House - Ann Patchett
The life story of a brother and sister who lose both their parents, and then their home when their stepmother kicks them out. The books flips back and forth on the timeline of the narrator's (the brother) life, which can be a little confusing but is for the most part very well done. I liked the book a lot, even though I didn't really get much of an emotional connection with the main characters. I found it quite a soothing read, so I might try more of the author's books.

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

Five Days in May, by John Lukacs - a reconstruction of the week Churchill became PM, up to and touching on Dunkirk. Fairly intense and detailed as it covers a limited time frame.

I listen to The Sleepy Bookshelf but that's deliberately designed to make you drift off!

@WeeFae I absolutely loved The Family From One End Street when i was young. I think because I was the sort of wee girl who would go around the doors asking if there were any babies I could borrow (as you could in those days) so i really identified with the big sister. I can still visualise the illustrations.
Good luck with the chemo - not fun. Hope the reading helps.

@KobaniDaughters I'm going to order Still Life on audible based on your review. I have five credits to use up, and I'm not really getting into the swing of it, having joined nine months ago.
When I'm cooking or whatever, I tend to listen to a podcast like A Good Read or World Book Club rather than a full audiobook. I don't think I'm a very good listener actually; I tend to drift off and seem to concentrate better on the written word.
So far I've listened to Mayflies, Simon Schama's History of Britain part 1, a bit of The Dutch House and have Alan Cumming's autobiography waiting, which I'm looking forward to.

I fancy some non-fiction next, so I'm going to start on Murderous Contagion: A Human History of Disease by Mary Dobson.

It's about the impact that diseases have had in shaping history from the Black Death to the AIDS epidemic.

1. The Inheritance Of Loss by Kiran Desai

1. Milkman by Anna Burns - I can see this being a marmite book based on the very stylistic writing, but I personally really liked it and found a lot of the descriptions darkly funny.

I did get a little frustrated with the passivity of the narrator at times, although appreciate this was part of her coping strategy to 'opt out' of her rather grim reality. I also thought the final chapter ended her main conflict with Milkman a bit too neatly. Overall you could really feel a sense of claustrophobia and menace throughout the book. In particular the young narrator unable to voice her concerns about a predatory man who was stalking (but not overtly threatening) her felt uncomfortably real.

@ExtremelyDetermined oh I love Goodnight Mr Tom

3. Still Life by Sarah Winman

Listened to it and loved it so much I’ve done 5-10k steps a day just to have the excuse to walk and listen! The author reads which was a pleasant surprise (I’m not normally a fan of author read books) as she did a wonderful job.

It spans decades and a cast of incredible characters who come together or are thrown together or meet briefly, lose each for a life time and find each other again to make a family. It’s a love letter to Florence that had me searching for trips there inbetween listening. Truly wonderful and highly recommend the audiobook

1. Freckles by Cecelia Ahern (book)
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audio)
3. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri (audio)

1. Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah. Loved this - I'm familiar with the area and it was like meeting the grandparents of good friends when they were young.

7. Fifty Fifty - Steve Cavanagh
Part of the Eddie Flynn series, I've previously read his book 'Thirteen' which I enjoyed. This was was equally good and kept me second guessing myself until the very end. I kind of knew who had to be the murder to make it a good story, but I couldn't quite work out how he was going to do it. I did notice a few annoying typos in the book that a proofreader should have caught, but otherwise a good read.

Currently reading The Dutch House and listening to Stephen Fry read his book Mythos.

1. The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
2. Piranesi by Susannah Clarke
3. The Red House by AA Milne
4. Other Minds: the Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey-Smith

Next is going to be The Algebraist by Iain M Banks - it’s a reread!

1. Ariadne - Jennifer Saint

Another book from what seems a new genre/trend of myths retold from the female perspective. I haven't read any others so i don't have anything to compare it to.
I enjoyed the story but felt the writing style was quite flat and the characters quite one dimensional.
I need to borrow my mums book about the Greek myths to refresh my memory.

@ChipPotts it happens 3 times in this book - once I could believe but not 3 times in different parts of the US 😂.