26-ish books for 2023

Breathmiller I loved A Man Called Ove too. There is a Swedish version of the film too.

Haven't posted for a while. Don't seem to have found as much reading time this year as last.

1. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 4/5
2. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus 5/5
3. The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page 2/5
4. The Night Ship by Jess Kidd 4.5/5
5. Hostage by Clare Mackintosh 3/5
6. The Island of Missing Trees - didn't finish, too trite.
7. To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

1. The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer 3/5
2. (Currently reading, and loving) Love Marriage by Monica Ali.

I ended up not finishing my book
15.Exiting Times -Naoise Dolan ,I just got bored of the relationship drama then leafed through her other one The Happy Couple and found that wasn’t my type of book either so both are going to charity . I’m starting instead
16.Billy Summers -Stephen King

15. A Man called Ove - Fredrik Backman

I loved this. It took me a while to read but thats more because i have been busy and distracted so attention span hasn't been great. I loved Ove and his story. Think I'll go see the film too (A man called Otto)

Going to look back at the thread for inspiration for my next book.

19. Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? By Seamus O'Reilly. Memoir of growing up one of eleven children brought up by their dad after their mum dies. Set in Northern Ireland. Enjoyed some parts a lot but there were large chunks that were really dull, and at least one chapter I would have cut out completely.

I finished my
13. If it Bleeds -Stephen King which was good so I’ll continue reading his books .
then started on
15.Exiting Times -Naoise Dolan after about 50 pages the jury is still out . It seems a quite an easy read, it does flow but I’m not sure I like it . Will give it another 50 pages to decide . I have her other book too ;” The Happy Couple “.
I have 3 more books in my book drawer now again . Another Stephen King , a John Grisham and the second Naoise Dolan .

29 Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid

5- Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
6 - The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. He nailed 1980s middle America.

28 VOX by Christina Dalcher

15. The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page

Not as good as some of the reviews might have suggested but a decent 3 out of 5.

Yes, I'd say it was my favourite too, Reggie is great.

I did indeed finish my Mary Roach books.

57 Grunt - the curious science of humans at war

58 Stiff - the curious life of human cadavers (the first and more memorable book I read of hers. Very respectfully written and extremely interesting.

59 Packing for Mars - Curious science of life in space.

60 was When I die by Philip Gould. A cancer biography.

61 is what I'm reading now and is a work colleague recommendation. I've never quite read anything like it before. It's odd. But in a good way. Cat Out of Hell.

Starting book 14 Blood Runs Cold by Neil Lancaster

@EspeciallyDetermined I really enjoy the Jackson Brodie books too. My absolute favourite is When Will There Be Good News as the two main female characters are just excellent.

List so far:

2023 Books:

1 Twelve Secrets
2 People of Abandoned Character
3 The Herd
4 Last One at The Party
5 The Last Thing to Burn
6 Moon Over Soho
7 The Girls Who Disappeared
8 The Chalk Man
9 The Unheard
10 Away with the Penguins
11 Whispers Underground
12 Pineapple Street

Book 12 - Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. A very entertaining insight into "old wealth" families in New York. The first rule of having money is you never talk about having money....

24: Big Sky (Jackson Brodie 5) by Kate Atkinson. Another cracking good listen, Jackson was a bit more peripheral this time and there were a few loose ends from the previous book not tied up but those are small criticisms.

That should say Alperton Angels!

I felt exactly the same about it @Wildernesstips a bit long but beautiful narration.

13: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Although I enjoyed this one, I felt it was a bit too long. Listened to it on Audible and Carey Mulligan is a great narrator.

26 The Whistling by Rebecca Netley
27 The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Anges by Janice Hallett

I enjoyed The Colony and loved Trespasses, I just finished Last boat to Tangier and while it is very well written and brilliant in parts it was a bit of a chore to read at times.
Just started no. 30, I found you by Lisa Jewell, seems good so far.

11: The Colony by Audrey Magee
I read this book about living on an island while I was on an island of the same size. Two summer visitors see the islanders in very different ways to each other, and from how the islanders see themselves. Quite good, but not really as I expected.

12: Tastes Like War by Grace M Cho
This had a big push through my library app. A kind of social history including snapshots of Cho’s time with her mother, recounting the Korean food she ate. I thought it was an interesting book but then read the review on Goodreads by her brother which really slates her and questions the reality of a lot of what is included.

I did this on audio too. Recently finished. The last chapter made me cry.

Davy reminded me a bit of Owen Meaney.

23: Trespasses by Louise Kennedy (audio) - set in 1970s Northern Ireland, a young Catholic woman falls in love with an older, married, Protestant man, the start of a chain of tragic events involving several families. Very moving, very well written and narrated.