26-ish books in 2022

1. Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens

This was a little slow to start but the characters and setting creep up on you and I ended up really enjoying this. The last part of the story is quite unexpected.

1. Oh William! Elizabeth Strout

Silly me! I bought this in hardback just after Christmas because it was half price and I liked the cover. I didn’t realise that it’s the last of the Lucy Barton trilogy but the story - a fictional autobiography of a woman accompanying her ex-husband on a road trip to Maine to search for a lost sister - seemed to stand alone. I loved this book. Strout’s style and the character of Lucy were really compelling. I’ll be adding the first two books to my to-read list.

3 Appetite Ed Balls

Part autobiographical anecdotes and part cook book this is an easy read. I skipped reading most of the recipes but I’ve decided the book now belongs in the kitchen so I can return to them some time. I enjoyed this but Nigel Slater’s Toast is my favourite in this genre. I hope to read Grace Dent’s Hungry this year.

Next up is No one is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood.

I have had a real blitz on reading over these last couple of days but it will slow down significantly as I return to work tomorrow. I’m an English teacher but I find doing any sustained reading in term time very difficult.

@Merryweather80 you can count whatever you want! Personally, for me, a book is a book no matter what format it's in - hardback, paperback, ebook (Kindle), or audiobook! I count them all and 90% of what I read is on my Kindle.

I hope kindle books count coz that's what 90% of my reads are!
Having said that I have just finished my Christmas book which was The Man who Died Twice - Richard Osman.
Back to my kindle book Contacts - Mark Watson which I was really excited to read and waited for ages for it to be 99p on kindle and I'm struggling with.

@BaconAndAvocado agree. It was very readable but the end was terrible

What book will you start with?

Do kindle books count? If not I only read one book last year- that's pathetic.
Before children I would read at least one book a week.

(Gone to dust of my reading lamp, glasses and bookmarks)

Please may I join ?

Can I join? I’m reading I Capture The Castle, it’s brilliant.

Please may I join you for 2022? I used to be an avid reader but family catastrophes took their toll on my time in 2021. I have fallen out of the habit of reading so this will be a challenge for me. I love books and bookshops and reading reviews and about books; I just need to knuckle down to actually read one in 2022!

I’m posting a picture of my bedside reading pile to show you all just how much of a challenge I’m facing! 🙈

Well I'm a numpty because I posted this on a different thread but this is my aim for the year.

elifthereader.com/reading-projects/reading-challenge-2022/

@Manteo I had the same problem recently when I borrowed what I thought was the audio book of Malibu Rising from my library, only to realise it was the ebook and I couldn't read it on my Kindle. I really didn't want to read it on my phone, but had no choice and actually it wasn't that bad! So my advice would be to just give it a go on your phone. In the end it wasn't all that different from reading it on my Kindle.

I'd like to join please. I read 30 books last year, and 27 the year before, which I was quite impressed with, as I took back up cross stitch in the first lockdown, and haven't looked back. Am currently reading a non fiction about the Christmas truce in WW1 that DH got me for Christmas. My favourite books last year were The Five, Invisible Girl and Exit

MargotMoon
I loved The Casual Vacancy.
Wish JKR would write more books in this vein.

Can I join please?
Just started Night Road by Kristin Hannah tonight.

@TheAnswerIsCake @BaconAndAvocado I live a bit further east, no superselectives, one of the easier areas to get in but this also means the alternatives are pretty dire so the pressure's there! Only year 3 at the moment though.

I read The Hearts Invisible Furies a few years ago and it's one of my all time favourites. Is there anything similar anyone can suggest? I haven't read any of his other books, has anyone else?

My taste is pretty mainstream, I like Celeste Ng, Matt Haig, Kristen Hannah.

Not read a page yet in 2022

I want to read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek but after borrowing the ebook from my library I can't transfer it to my Kindle and don't really want to read it in my phone! Any advice?

Just started with 'the shape of darkness' by Laura Purcell. Gothic thriller. Not been reading much but this thread has just prompted me

I've just drawn up a diagram of all the different characters in The Casual Vacancy and how they relate to one another. I'm about a quarter in and keep forgetting who is who! This is one of those books where I'd like a character list to refer to at the beginning (like Jilly Cooper! )

CaptainChannel totally with you re Handmaid’s Tale though not so much The Testaments!

stiltonandcrackers I loved The Rules of Civility.
Don’t think Amor Towles has a bad book in him (🤞🏻)

Hi all, I’d love to join if that’s ok!

I’m starting with Piranesi by Susannah Clarke. I’m about a third in and loving it so far.

@Shinyandnew2022 I ready Three Hours in 2019 and loved it! Very suspenseful and enjoyable.

2. The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue
Set over the course of three days, this is the story of a maternity nurse in a Dublin hospital during WWI as she looks after the expectant women who have been placed in quarantine as they have contracted a dangerous new flu. I raced through this book as it was so enjoyable to read - despite the annoying lack of speech marks which made it a little difficult sometimes to work out who was saying/thinking what.

I know what you mean though. I feel like this if anyone tells me they didn't enjoy The Handmaid's Tale.