26-ish books 2024

Coming Home yes, Winter Solstice not so much, I just didn't enjoy it in the same way.

Coming Home and Winter Solstice are good too.

@MargotMoon I'm not a massive reader of 'cosy' books but, for emotive books with female protagonists you could try Douglas Kennedy? Maybe The Pursuit of Happiness.

Can anyone recommend another Rosamunde Pilcher? I loved The Shell Seekers - such a cosy read! But I'm guessing that's her best as everyone seems to love it. Does she have any others as good?

Or another book with the same feel? I've read all of Maeve Binchy's, she definitely knows how to do cosy!
I didn't really like I Capture The Castle, before anyone suggests that or anything similar.

I’ve finished my no
4.Yellowface - Rebecca F Kuang and I thought it was good so I do recommend it . I was often reading it late at night quite tired so only bit at a time and felt like it took me ages to finish . I think next I’ll start
5.Good Material -Dolly Alderton
Has anyone read it yet ? I got it for Christmas and know nothing about it but I do know the writer from her newspaper columns .

3: Letters of Note by Shaun Usher
I've been trying to cure my breakfast phone scrolling addiction by reading a few letters from this book each day. There are a real mixed bag but some very interesting ones, including one from a mother to a daughter about an extensive operation that she had with no anaesthetic.

I also loved Wild Swans.

Wild swans was a fantastic book

Second @Topbird29 rec of Wild Swans

Finished 3 - Water by John Boyne I loved it, he's an amazing writer. It was a novella so over quickly, but the start of a quartet so I'm looking forward to the next installment in May.

Thanks @Topbird29 I have got Wild Swans on my shelf so I’ll see if I can get into it. I’ll look out for Memoirs of a Geisha in charity shops or on offer on kindle.

I pride myself on mostly buying my books secondhand or for 99p on kindle. Which means I’ve always got an excuse to buy books

@MaryasBible - wild swans is a beast of a book but is an account of china during the early 20c and the rise of Chairman Mao and the communist regime - so different period.

Iwould also recommend memoirs of a geisha- Japan rather than China, but has similar "feel" as Empress Orchid

@DiggoryVenn I have the first of the Tidelands trilogy on my kindle. I’m saving it for when I’ve finished the Plantagenet and Tudor books. It’s good to read that you enjoyed P&T and then tidelands, as I had wondered if they’d be any good.

@Topbird29 Honestly I’m not sure what I expected, but I thought Empress Orchid was great. Really interesting, not a period or country I’ve read about before. And it’s piqued my interest. I’m looking around for other books set in China. Would prefer them written by someone Chinese, or if Chinese heritage.

4. Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. An unexpected delight. I loved the descriptions of the clothes, hair, makeup, and nails. The book follows Orchid from arriving in Peking as a teen. I won’t give spoilers, because if you’re like me and know nothing about the time at all you’ll be holding your breath reading it.

I finished that on Wednesday and haven’t settled on the next book to start/finish yet.

Did you know they are two people and write alternate chapters?
I recently found this out.

@MaryasBible - I read Empress Orchid a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

Finished 2 books so far
1 - Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow- really enjoyed this. A book about friendship rather than a romantic love story. And I presume the author is really into gaming- she knows a lot about it!
2 - Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers - also like this. A gentle book about inter relationships again.
Am now reading The Drift by C J Tudor. Only on chapter 5, but is straight into the action, with 3 plots running and a few bodies already. Looking forward to the rest. Also reading Tough Crowd by Graham Linehan - currently on his early career, and nice to see some his early influences are Vic and Bob - seemingly for their utter inaneness!
Might bold some when have more of a list going to be able to compare.

1. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier. Well I could not put this book down!! I can never decide which Du Maurier book I love the most, it was My cousin Rachel but now I am not sure. Would recommend for anyone that loves a dark page turner!

Just started 6. Waiting for Wednesday by Nikki French. Sounds like a psychological thriller which I'm hoping is so good I won't be able to.pit it down!

2. Doreen by Barbara Noble. Nine year old Doreen is evacuated to the countryside during second World War. She leaves behind her stoic, no frills mother and their 2 rooms in a delipidated London house, and of course London itself as it was then - shelters, raids and ruins, although none of that bothers Doreen much. Her new set up is with a well to do couple in a big house in the countryside, offering her a completely different lifestyle from the one she's used to.
I enjoyed this greatly. Well written and sensitively handled. Offered a lot to think about and no easy answers.

I have just finished number 5. The Key Man by Simon Clark and Will Louch. True account of the biggest private equity bankruptcy and the fraud involved. Fascinating account. Will choose my next book probably Friday.

@MaryasBible I loved those Philippa Gregory too - I recently read Tidelands which was very good.

1. The Running Grave

1. This Christmas by Emma Heatherington

4) A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Loved it! Will read the sequels at some point.

Currently reading Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. I’m really drawn in to the story even though hardly anything has happened plot wise yet. The language is so good! The little descriptions he gives make things easy to picture. I’m planning on watching the film with Kate and Leo after finishing the book, never seen it before, is it any good?

Someone asked me up thread what I liked about Act of Oblivion but I can’t find the comment now. But to whoever you were… I liked the characters, I thought their motives made sense (based on my patchy a-level history memory) and I even liked the made up character.

2. The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory. Bloody loved it like a few people on here. So much so that

3. The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory. They are utter trash and I spend far too much time on Wikipedia reading about the characters but I thoroughly enjoy this series. I started with The Lady of the Rivers (or something similarly named ) as per the reading order recommended on Philippa Gregory’s website.

I need a break from Henry viii and his misery and I’m half way through Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. I picked it up in a charity shop ages ago, I couldn’t tell you why, and I couldn’t tell you why I chose it off the shelf on Sunday. But I’m glad I did as it’s great.

Finished book 2 The Seventh Son - Sebastian Faulks
I enjoyed the near future setting and the topic in general. I always enjoy Sebastian Faulks though so a thumbs up

Oh dear I forgot about this thread! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I LOVED Daughter of Time 5/5

The Alice Network 4/5

have also read Yellowface 3.5/5

The Drift. 4.5/5

His and Hers 3/5

currently listening to The Dead Zone

Currently reading A Piece Of The World recommended (probably on here) for lovers of Burial Rites of which I am 100% one 😃

will have a quick run through the other posts now!