26-ish books for 2023

21. The No-Show by Beth O'Leary

Very slow going, not much happening, then a twist bringing things nicely together, slightly random ending... Not the best. 2 out of 5.

13) Becoming by Michelle Obama. Brilliant!

27. Soonchild by Russell Hoban illustrated by Alex's Deacon. Not the sort of thing I usually read but Soonchild was featured in a book I read on children's picture books and I was intrigued. Deacon also did Beegu, which I love. That is definitely a kids' book. Soonchild was marketed as YA fiction I think, but I think there's crossover and I'm not sold on the YA appeal given the themes.
Anyway, it's set in the icy North and based on Inuit mythology. The protagonist is a shaman called sixteen face John. He's been slacking on the shaman work though. His wife (No Problem) is heavily pregnant but the baby (Soonchild) is refusing to come.
This is a beautiful book. The illustrations are somewhat strange and all in monochrome. The book is increasingly heavily illustrated as the story gathers momentum, the story follows John through trials and trances as he tries to put the world right to entice his baby to come. I'm attaching a couple of photos to give a flavour in case any one fancies reading it, or giving it as a present maybe.
Mr Ugly is a whalebone carving John made.

26 A Long Way From Verona by Jane Gardam. I really really loved this.
At the end there's blurbs for other books and one (Faith Fox) is recommended by Victoria Wood. Which fits, because Gardam has that sort of humour and precise but matter of fact language, odd turns of phrase, with small and huge dramas given equal attention, and several odd bod characters.
The narrator is a 12 year old girl who is not inclined to conform and has a knack of getting in fixes even when she does try to. Set in the North East during the second World War.

12) And then there were none. Agatha Christie. My first Christie book and I loved it! A fantastic page turner.

Between you and me, Lisa Hall.
Really good.

@GalileoHumpkins 🤣 great thanks. I'll buy for my holiday.

was Lisa Jewell 's new book good ?

Yes, I really enjoyed it and was reading it when I really should have been doing other things!

@GalileoHumpkins was Lisa Jewell 's new book good ?
I've just read The Serial Killer's Sister, Alice Hunter. I really enjoyed it. My sister gave me The Serial Killer's Wife, same author - she loved it.
I'm now reading between you and me, Lisa Hall. My sister read this in a day, she said it's brilliant.

55 None of this is True by Lisa Jewell
56 Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

25. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Wasted on me unfortunately. Took me a long time to get into, then so long to read that I don't think I could reasonably make any comment. Can't work out what went wrong. Maybe I just picked a bad time to read it.

I finished #9: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo and #10: My Farming Life by Emma Gray. #10 was a non-fiction memoir rather than a novel, by a woman who lived on a Northumberland farm (although she lives on the island of Bute in Scotland by now) who mostly works with sheep and is really good at sheepdog trials. Apparently she’s been on TV a few times. It was pretty interesting, you learn a lot about farming and sheepdog trialling. I got it as part of a Willoughby Book Club subscription, they sent it to me because I said I like James Herriot.

Book 22 The Book of Souls by James Oswald

16 - Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier
(I was inspired by a PP's list). I wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but du Maurier is such a good novelist that I was completely hooked in no time. It would be a great read if you were holidaying in Italy.

21 The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal. I think if you liked Lessons in Chemistry you'd like this.

22 The End of Gender by Debra Soh. I'm not a fan of evolutionary psychology and I feel she trips herself up a bit in her attempt to be all things to all people BUT she has some good bits as well.

23 Embassy Wife by Katie Crouch. Loved this. Very evocative but also hilarious in places (and doesn't pretend like Alexander McCall Smith to know what it's like to be a middle aged African woman when you are in fact a Scottish man).

I am feeling well enough that I am not counting audio books any more but still a bit exhausted!

16: The Talented Mr Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
Had (thankfully) forgotten the plot from film adaptation, but did remember enjoying it and this has been on my 'to read' list for years - but low down. i REALLY enjoyed it.

15 - The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O Farrell
I love this author so was pleased to really enjoy this beautifully written story.

I read Rebecca a few years ago and remember really enjoying it so that sounds promising!

I loved it. Have you read Rebecca? Just as dark as rebecca but I think I preferred My cousin Rachel as a whole book. Very cleverly written, weaves lots throughout the book that slowly piece together.

@Orangebadger what was My Cousin Rachel like? I picked it up in a charity shop recently.

Fallen off the radar with this thread. Only on book12 though as has been a very busy year so far, so hard to get on a roll. Have read some great books though recently which are keeping me up late!

9. Do No Harm. By neurosurgeon Henry Marsh.
10. My cousin Rachel. Daphne Du Maurier.
11. The children's Act. Ian McEwan.

Now reading Becoming, Michelle Obama and loving it.

Currently reading Madame Bovary. I've only read 11 books so far this year and I don't think I'm going to hit my target iof 20.

I'm really struggling to get on with my number 25, which is As I Lay Dying. Took him 6 weeks to write apparently, will take me longer to read. School holidays are a factor so maybe I'll make progress in September!

One Moment Later - Susan Lewis. I loved it. I've never read any of hers before so excited to have someone new to read.
Nine Lives - Peter Swanson. I couldn't put this down. Read it in a day - brilliant.