26-ish books for 2023

I have read both of those! I loved them both though so spot on suggestions.

@Magentax Or I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

@Magentax have you read We Have Always Lived In The Castle? You might like that if you liked Lolly Willows.

1. The Child That Books Built by Francis Spufford- I expected to really like this as I loved Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. I just didn't though. I found it much more long winded than Bookworm, and not half as much fun to read. Both of these books are reminiscing about childhood reading.

My list so far! Highlights are Zone of Interest and Lolly Willoes. I thought Rosemary's Baby was pretty weak although I think it was probably very original when written.

1. A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon
2. Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
3. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (would not recommend, I loved this book when I was about 12 but it is not as good as I remember!)
4. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
5. Lolly Willoes or the loving huntsman by Sylvia Sylvia Townsend Warner
6. Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
7. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
8. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

Now a bit stumped as to what to read next! Will have a read through PPs lists and see if inspiration strikes!

I’ve been a bit crap with my reading in the past couple of years, I’d read a bit and then would put it down for days/weeks. Not so much because I hated the book, but because I am so easily distracted by other things! I read a grand total of about five books last year
I’ve been doing much better this year though. So far I’ve read 3.5 books (the half being a book I started last year and finished in January. Have recently started my fourth book.
I got a 12 month subscription from Willoughby Book Club last year, first book came in February. So I’d be getting a new book every month and they’d just be added to my large “to be read” pile They are useful though for introducing me to new authors/books I may not have considered myself. Three of last year’s books came from them. I did re-read some books but I only count “new to me” books when totting up what I’ve read during the year.

This year so far:

1. Thornyhold by Mary Stewart (the “half book”)
2. The Mitford Vanishing by Jessica Fellowes
3. Love in Idleness by Amanda Craig
4. The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

Good books overall, I enjoyed them. Some characters were a PITA but that’s normal with books. All the books were from Willoughby Book Club apart from Mitford Vanishing which is part of a series I like.
Just started “Crampton Hodnet” by Barbara Pym. I’ve not read any of her stuff before although I do have a copy of Excellent Women knocking about somewhere.

4 - People of Abandoned Character - Clare Whitfield
I found this very readable but ultimately it was just okay. The ending became quite far fetched (and gory!), and I found the main character difficult to like or empathise with. Very good descriptive writing of London slums in the 19th century though.

blametheparents I’m about a quarter of the way through The Night Ship, enjoying it.
Having just read The Keeper of Stories,I’m really appreciating some good writing.
I read a Taylor Jenkins Reid last Summer on holiday. Again, the writing was very one dimensional. Reminded me of the Jackie Collins books I read when I was a teenager.
So many books, so little time.....

Finished Book 3 - Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. As you’d expect - pretty light but a very enjoyable read.

I’ve just started ‘Free Food for Millionaires’ by Min Jin Lee - the same author who wrote Pachinko (which has been pretty popular last year and this). Really enjoying it so far.

@BaconAndAvocado - Got The Night Ship on my ‘to read’ list.
It’s not reached the top yet though!

6: East of Croydon by Sue Perkins (audio) - A few years ago Sue was asked to make a documentary following the course of the Mekong River. She had never been East of Torremolinos. This book charts her journey. Beautifully narrated, witty, observant and compassionate.

Is it me? I am halfway through listening to Shrines of Gaiety (read brilliantly by Jason Watkins) and it's ok, but really just ok...

I LOVE KA. Behind the Scenes and A God in Ruins are two of my favourite books but I am really struggling to 'love' this.

4. The Hand of Ethelberta by Thomas Hardy
I am gradually reading (or re-reading) these in chronological order. Not one of the better ones but enjoyable enough. Thomas Hardy has such a great turn of phrase.

1. Love Untold by Ruth Jones. 2 a) 11/22/63 by Stephen King. DNF 2 b) Spectacle, A memoir. By Sue Perkins.

Really enjoyed this, funny, warm and humble.

3. The man who died twice by Richard Osman. Read the first one last year and enjoyed it in a light hearted way. Need something easy to dip into during half term.

5. Space Hopper by Helen Fisher - About a woman who is able to time travel back to the 1970s. She gets to meet her mother and her childhood self. I really enjoyed this book, and didn't want it to end. You do have to suspend belief a little bit, in order to fully enjoy it. If anyone else likes this they might also enjoy The Accidental Time Traveller by Sharon Griffiths - About time travelling back to the 1950s.

14. Good Omens (a re-read because it's a classic!)

1)Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
2)Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
3) My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay
4) Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhy
5) The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.
6) The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
7) The Prison Doctor by Dr Amanda Brown. True life memoirs of doctor working in young offenders', then mens' then women's prisons. Wouldn’t recommended. Not very well written and a bit like an extended version of those articles you get in the type of magazines where people sell stories about walking in on their mum shagging their boyfriend on their wedding day, alongside a sad face photo. Bits set at her home were particularly cringy. At wotk there's lots of high drama anecdotes but very superficial somehow. One interesting aspect is how her job changes her view of her world.
There's a lot of these books out there, I think maybe since the sucess of Henry Marsh's Do No Harm (which was great) but a lot are really disappointing.
I'm noticing reworking of myths is one of the in things now and it seems rather cynical.

1.Sycamore Row by John Grisham
2.The Familiars by Stacy Hall.

Update
3.The Fell by Sarah Moss
The Fell was a book set in lockdown. Already seems almost dystopian.

4.Echoes by Maeve Binchey
Echoes was a delight. I love Maeve Binchey and hadn't read this one. I look that feeling of being immersed in Irishness.

5.Winter's Daughter by Val Wood
Val Wood is from Hull and writes historical novels based around Hull and Holderness. I know the area well and enjoy stories set in the past in familiar places. She writes a captivating but gentle story.

1. The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page. Wasn’t great, a bit Mills and Boon for me.

Next up is The Night Ship by Jess Kidd. Started it last night - so far, so good.

1.One Minute Later by Susan Lewis

1. The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster
2. Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher
3. Undoctored by Adam Kay
4. The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler
5. The Library of Lost and found by Phaedra Patrick

1. Reconstruction (Mick Herron)
2. Terciel & Elinor (Garth Nix)
3. Ithaca (Claire North)
4. I Saw Him Die (Andrew Wilson)
5. Whatever Gets You Through the Night (Charlie Higson)
6. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels (Janice Hallett)
7. The Raptures (Jan Carson) 8) Haven (Emma Donoghue)

Anyone read Babel? Thoughts? It's unavailable at my library (unless doing ebook, which I don't use) so I'm trying to decide if it's worth buying!

Finished 4 : Touch of Love by Jonathan Coe. I normally like his books but this one was maybe a bit dark for my February frame of mind.
About to star 5 : The bird in the bamboo cage by Heather Webb. Not read any of hers before, it was a random library pick.

Book number 3 wasn't successful and I gave up I found it very long winded and it lost my attention very early on which is very unlike me.

I've started book number 4 which I'm enjoying its called The Last Girl To Die by Helen Fields

I am about to start no. 10, The Hypnotist's Love Story by Lianne Moriarty. No. 8 was The Bullet that missed which wasn't as good as the first two imo, or perhaps I am just tiring of the Murder Club trope, and no. 9 was John Boyne's All The Broken Places which I thought was wonderful. Happy weekend reading peeps!

*better