Page 22 | 26-ish books in 2022

StColumbofNavron · 2021-12-31T11:49:57+00:00

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.

highlandcoo · 13/01/2022 21:09

@StColumbofNavron that's so interesting. Don't give him up on my account . I might get over my encounter with him eventually and read the book of his that's been sitting on the shelf for two and a half years now. You never know.
I would like Ian Rankin as my friend, and have smiled over at him in the Oxford Bar, but didn't want to go over and intrude. Now he's a writer who knows how to talk to his fans nicely

@ExtremelyDetermined we read The Beekeeper of Aleppo in our book group and it went down well. One or two people who'd lacked sympathy for refugees previously did become more open-minded after reading it. I think it's a better book that it's rather cliched title would suggest.

ExtremelyDetermined · 13/01/2022 18:58

Freckles by Cecelia Ahern (book)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audio)

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri (audio) The story of a family torn apart by the war in Syria, narrated by Art Malik. Nuri, a beekeeper and his wife, Afra, leave Aleppo after horrendous war time events destroy their way of life. This story follows their journey to England to be reunited with Nuri's cousin and fellow beekeeper Mustafa. I enjoyed the way the story is told in flashbacks, from their time awaiting a decision on asylum in England following their journey through Europe, with vivid description of people, places and events. The language used is simple but very effective, a great listen.

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StColumbofNavron · 13/01/2022 16:00

@highlandcoo I’ve met him as well and I think grumpy old man sums him up tbh. I followed him on FB and occasionally he, himself, would post bonkers missives about life, kids, writing and cats. If you posted on the comments he would chat and he mentioned a big festival he was doing and I think it must have been nearby but I was busy and said so. He then responded that he was doing a talk about Birds Without Wings - one of the earlier books and not what he was promoting at the big festival really close to where I live. I turned up to a tiny gallery with about 12 other people and we all went to the pub after where he told me about his mate who is a huge, huge very accomplished famous musician, writer and politician in Turkey who I am a huge fan of so we had a massive chat.

The 50 book thread has had a debate about Elif Shafak who I also love that has lowered her in my estimation slightly. I can’t give up Louis today.

That said, I am not surprised by what you say.

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BaconAndAvocado · 13/01/2022 14:57

StColumbofNavron
Thank you for a précis of your rant.
I agree with you on all points, particularly re the court scene.

It's a book group book and I think I might be the only one that doesn't love it 😂

mrsfeatherbottom · 13/01/2022 13:53

Have just read Playing Nice by JP Delaney - I couldn't put it down. So chilling. The whole way through, I was thinking that I could imagine them making a four part drama on BBC of it!

AColdDuncanGoodhew · 13/01/2022 13:39

Aw I also loved Girl on a Train! Really enjoyed that.

highlandcoo · 13/01/2022 13:34

I thought both The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys were excellent. Very powerful writing. I think The Underground Railroad is going to be a TV series soon.

StColumbo I heard Louis de Bernieres speak at Edinburgh Book Festival and when I tried to chat to him at a book signing afterwards he was so rude and unpleasant (towards other authors) I can't bring myself to read any of his books in future. Most authors I've met have been exceptionally nice. He was an unfortunate exception.

Fridafever · 13/01/2022 13:10

Oh thanks for the tip - I’ll get it! I read The Nickel Boys by the same author and really liked it

livingonpurpose · 13/01/2022 13:04

Oh, and if anyone fancies reading The Underground Railroad, it's 99p on Kindle at the moment.

rambleonplease · 13/01/2022 13:03

I enjoyed Girl on the train too @dollybird

livingonpurpose · 13/01/2022 13:02

6. The Underground Railroad - Colston Whitehead
Set in the antebellum Deep South, Cora is a slave on a plantation who, after catching the eye of cruel plantation owner and knowing what that will mean, decides to attempt escape to the North via the Underground Railroad. In the book the Underground Railroad is an actual railroad, and the story follows Cora on her journey and paints a vivid picture of the horrors that black people faced (face?) in America.

A powerful book that taught me more than I wanted to know (but needed to know) about slavery and racism, and made me ashamed and embarrassed to be white...while feeling a small amount of relief that at least I'm not American.

Needtogetoffmyphone · 13/01/2022 12:50

I’d like to join - obvious reasons! - see username. Think it would give me some good ideas.

Am currently reading a Biography of Saint Paul (hardback).

Have just finished The Rule by David Jackson. (I bought it on impulse when I was in Waterstones and really enjoyed it).
I’m finding it harder to read paperbacks these days - eyesight doesn’t like it - so needs to be kindle or hardback.

Hardbacks are clearly more expensive- but it is nice to hold a book again.

Divebar2021 · 13/01/2022 12:39

@dollybird

You weren’t alone …. It was massively successful.

ExtremelyDetermined · 13/01/2022 11:22

I was fairly neutral on Girl on a Train, it was ok.

dollybird · 13/01/2022 11:12

@Divebar2021

I didn’t realise there was so much hate for Crawdads… I didn’t read it I listened on audiobook and was pretty engaged with it. I’m not usually very tolerant of “trashy” novels either- I thought Girl on a Train was a steaming pile of shite and couldn’t work out for the life of me why it was so popular. I’m reading something now that I don’t think is that great but it’s for my book club so I need to be a bit careful in my review in case the “nominator” really loves it. I loved Burial Rites ( can’t remember the author) which was my choice but a couple found that a hard read - I think more for the subject matter than the writing. Ultimately we all connect with novels in a different way depending on our tastes and life experiences.

I loved Girl on a Train 😂

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StColumbofNavron · 13/01/2022 09:35

I read it with my book club and whilst they didn’t hate it they didn’t love it but the film has been mentioned. I don’t think I can face it to be honest, so will just have to listen to other people’s reviews.

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ExtremelyDetermined · 13/01/2022 09:16

I ended up speed reading through the second half of Crawdads in case it got better but it didn't. It was by far the worst book I read last year and I took it straight to the charity shop. Completely unbelievable, the murder plot line added nothing to it, the characters were stereotyped and not developed properly, in fact the story of the main character was so far-fetched as to be laughable, the poetry added nothing and the ending was so, so bad. But, lots of people love it and it wouldn't do if we all liked the same thing. It will be interesting to see what the film version is like.

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StColumbofNavron · 13/01/2022 09:15

I think trashy is absolutely fine. I love some
trash. I think this was billed as or the impression I got was that it was more than that. I think it’s marmite. Those who love it love it. I’m a Louis de Bernieres fan, die hard fan and so many people absolutely dislike his work.

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Divebar2021 · 13/01/2022 08:53

I didn’t realise there was so much hate for Crawdads… I didn’t read it I listened on audiobook and was pretty engaged with it. I’m not usually very tolerant of “trashy” novels either- I thought Girl on a Train was a steaming pile of shite and couldn’t work out for the life of me why it was so popular. I’m reading something now that I don’t think is that great but it’s for my book club so I need to be a bit careful in my review in case the “nominator” really loves it. I loved Burial Rites ( can’t remember the author) which was my choice but a couple found that a hard read - I think more for the subject matter than the writing. Ultimately we all connect with novels in a different way depending on our tastes and life experiences.

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StColumbofNavron · 13/01/2022 07:53

@BaconAndAvocado I cannot remember if it was here or on another thread - there was definitely an actual Crawdads thread.

Anyway, generously it suffered from overhyping. Overwritten generally - in spite of all those descriptive passages I could not for the life of me envisage any of it and I read am someone who is a very visual reader even with no description at all. Overwritten bonkers plot but trying to be taken seriously. I don’t mind daft plots, but you can’t be all serious about it. I just thought it was generally a 99p trashy novel, or 3pm channel 5 made for TV film, again, fine if that’s what I thought I was getting. The single and only thing I got from it and the reason it got 2 stars instead of 1 is that the court scene reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird leading to a reread. (That and it didn’t feel fair to lump it with Us by David Nichols). If I had had a physical copy I would have felt compelled to lob it out of the window at the very very final reveal and unecessary extra shit with the non plot related reveal.

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TheAnswerIsCake · 12/01/2022 20:54

@StColumbofNavron

Mention of Crawdads always makes me want to go off on a massive rant, but I think I have already ranted about here, so I will spare you.

Not a Fan.

Your rant is why I have never bothered to read it!

AColdDuncanGoodhew · 12/01/2022 19:42

Now I'm intrigued by Crawdads!

BaconAndAvocado · 12/01/2022 19:32

StColumbofNavron
I wasn't party to your Crawdads rant!
Please spill.

KobaniDaughters · 12/01/2022 19:29

No I found it disappointing after a wonderful start

ExtremelyDetermined · 12/01/2022 18:24

I did not like Crawdads either.