50 Books challenge - 2024 roundup

Almost my full list but in reverse order of reading (spreadsheet woes using Mac Numbers, come back Excel, all is forgiven, I still love you).

Some cracking non fiction this year. My bolds haven't changed since I posted up thread.
It's been a joy revisiting Jilly Cooper although otherwise not a great year fictionalise really but much of this is due to my inability to concentrate on anything much in the latter half of the year.

The Darkest Evening - Ann Cleeves

Sunset over the Cherry Orchard Jo Thomas

Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish: How Having Fewer, Better Things Can Make Us Happier Patrick Grant

You Are Here David Nicholls

Thrown - Sara Cox

Mayflies -Andrew O'Hagan

The Olive Branch - Jo Thomas

Please, Mister Postman - Alan Johnson

This Boy - Alan Johnson

Diaries Volume One: Prelude to Power - Alastair Campbell

Beautiful Wales - Edward Thomas

Some Tame Gazelle - Barbara Pym

Berlin: The Downfall 1945 - Antony Beevor

A Pocketful of Happiness - Richard E. Grant

Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe

Polo - Jilly Cooper

One True Loves - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Madensky Square - Eva Ibbotson

The Raging Storm - Ann Cleeves

American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld

Eligible - Curtis Sittenfeld

Retreat to the Spanish Sun- Jo Thomas

My Lemon Grove Summer - Jo Thomas

The Oyster Catcher - Jo Thomas

The Vintage Shop of Second Chances - Libby Page

The Burning - Jane Casey

Coming Home to Winter Island - Jo Thomas

Riders - Jilly Cooper

Rivals - Jilly Cooper

The Honey Farm on the Hill - Jo Thomas

The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous - Jilly Cooper

Appassionata - Jilly Cooper

Score! - Jilly Cooper

Who Dares Wins: Britain, 1979-1982 - Dominic Sandbrook

Keir Starmer: The Biography - Tom Baldwin

Politics On the Edge: A Memoir From Within - Rory Stewart

Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death - Laura Cumming

The Drawing Book - Sarah Simblet

Around The World In Eighty Days - Michael Palin

Killing Thatcher - Rory Carroll

State of Emergency: the Way We Were - Britain, 1970-1974 - Dominic
Sandbrook

Pole to Pole - Michael Palin

The Blair Years: Extracts from the Alastair Campbell Diaries - Alastair Campbell

The House of New Beginnings - Lucy Diamond

Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church - Peter Ross

Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall - Helena Merriman

The Worst Journey in the World (Illustrated Edition) - Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Life in the Balance: A Doctor’s Stories of Intensive Care - Jim Down

Murder Before Evensong - Richard Coles

Paper Cup - Karen Campbell

A Tomb With a View: The Stories & Glories of Graveyards - Peter Ross

The Great Post Office Scandal - Nick Wallis

Adventures on the High Teas: In Search of Middle England - Stuart Maconie

Diamond Street: The Hidden World of Hatton Garden- Rachel Lichtenstein

Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew - Michael D. Leinbach

A Village in the Third Reich Julia Boyd

Breathtaking: The story you haven't been told - Rachel Clarke

Travellers in the Third Reich - Julia Boyd

A Woman of No Importance - Sonia Purnell

Village Christmas: And Other Notes on the English Year - Laurie Lee

I’ve already given my top reads and they haven’t changed.
My total figures for 2024 are 216, of which 20% were non-fiction (big improvement for me on the non-fic)
My average rating is 3.82
I’d like to reduce my number next year and increase my average score- I foresee more DNFing in 2025!

And here is my full list for the year.

1 The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
3 Here’s Looking At You by Mhairi McFarlane
4 Christmas Pie by Jodi Taylor
5 The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
6 Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants by Paul David Gould
7 The Maid by Nita Prose
8 One Day With You by Shari Low
9 Fool Me Once by Ashley Winstead
10 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
11 Sabrina by Nick Drnaso
12 Les Enfants Terribles by Jean Cocteau
13 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
14 Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
15 Call the Canaries Home by Laura Barrow
16 The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
17 Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins
18 The Spare Room by Laura Starkey
19 Hags by Victoria Smith
20 Rachel Ryan's Resolutions by Laura Starkey
21 Amy Perry’s Assumptions by Laura Starkey
22 Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
23 Why Don’t You Love Me? by Paul Rainey
24 Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee
25 Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: Extraordinary Journeys into the Human Brain by Allan H Ropper and BD Burrell
26 The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir
27 A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E Grant
28 The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
29 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
30 One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky
31 The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
32 The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner
33 The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner
34 The Next Accident by Lisa Gardner
35 The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner
36 Gone by Lisa Gardner
37 Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner
38 Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
39 How To Clean Everything by Ann Russell
40 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
41 Eye For An Eye MJ Arlidge
42 Little Ghosts by Gregg Dunnett
43 Meet Me On The Bridge by Sarah J Harris
44 Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty by Catherine Bailey
45 To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
46 On Bloody Sunday: A New History of the Day and its Aftermath By the People Who Were There by Julieann Campbell
47 The Night Raven by Sarah Painter
48 Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
49 The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
50 Who’s That Girl by Mhairi McFarlane
51 All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley
52 Killing Time by Jodi Taylor
53 Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
54 Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
55 You Belong With Me by Mhairi McFarlane
56 Time Shards by Dana Fredsti and David Fitzgerald
57 Frenchmen’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier
58 Infinity in the Palm of a your Hand: Fifty Wonders That a reveal an Extraordinary Universe by Marcus Chown
59 A Time to Change by Callie Langridge
60 Take It Back by Kia Abdullah
61 The Inmate by Freida McFadden
62 Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
63 Me by Elton John
64 Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
65 He Said / She Said by Erin Kelly
66 Alvar the Kingmaker by Annie Whitehead
67 The Burning Air by Erin Kelly
68 The House With the Golden Door by Elodie Harper
69 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
70 The Quiet Game by Greg Iles
71 Turning Angel by Greg Iles
72 The Devil’s Punchbowl by Greg Iles
73 Natchez Burning by Greg Iles
74 The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
75 The Dig by John Preston
76 China Room by Sunjeev Sahota
77 Her Last Words by Brianna Labuskes
78 The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
79 Your Place or Mine by Portia MacIntosh
80 Bridesmaid For Hire by Meghan Quinn
81 Lovelight Farms by BK Borison
82 The Devil and Mrs Davenport by Paulette Kennedy
83 Retribution by Julianne Hoffman
84 Foster by Claire Keegan
85 Yearbook by Seth Rogen
86 Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
87 We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
88 Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
89 I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
90 Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford
91 Ten Little Words by Leah Mercer
92 Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
93 Happy Place by Emily Henry
94 Book Lovers by Emily Henry
95 The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal by Jodi Taylor
96 The Curse of the Burdens by John Wyndham
97 The Lies You Wrote by Brianna Labuskes
98 The Truth You Told by Brianna Labuskes
99 Ghost Stories Vol 1 by MR James
100 Girls of Glass by Brianna Labuskes
101 Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner
102 Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner
103 Remain Silent by Susie Steiner
104 Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood
105 Sal by Mick Kitson
106 Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
107 The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Wall
108 Scaredy Cat by Mark Billingham
109 Lazybones by Mark Billingham
110 Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS epidemic by Richard A McKay
111 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
112 Just Date and See by Portia MacIntosh
113 Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson
114 Hekla’s Children by James Brogden
115 Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire by 1871 - 1918 by Katja Hoyer
116 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
117 Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson
118 Normal People by Sally Rooney
119 In the Weeds by BK Borison
120 Elena: A Hand Made Life by Miriam Gold
121 Beach Read by Emily Henry
122 Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen
123 And Then She Vanished by Nick Jones
124 Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
125 So Late In The Day by Claire Keegan
126 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
127 Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
128 Disgrace by Jussi Adler-Olsen
129 A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney
130 Lights! Camera! Mayhem! by Jodi Taylor

I'm finally done for the year so here's my list and stats. I've had a good year and met a few of my reading aims - to make more use of Kindle Unlimited / Audible Plus, listened to more audio books, and to read more non fiction, but have read less overall.

• Total: 130 (153 in 2023)
• Fiction/Non-Fiction: 85% - 15% (91% - 9% in 2023)
• Print/Audio/Digital: 6% - 14 % - 80% (7% - 9% - 84% in 2003)
• Male/Female: 36% - 64%
• Average Rating: 3.26 (3.17 in 2023)
• Longest Book: Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett (1090 pages)
• Shortest Book: So Late In The Day by Claire Keegan (43 pages)

Here are my fiction bolds:

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants by Paul David Gould
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
• Why Don’t You Love Me? by Paul Rainey
• One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
• Foster by Claire Keegan
• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal by Jodi Taylor
• The Lies You Wrote by Brianna Labuskes
• Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
• Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Here are my non-fiction bolds:

• Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: Extraordinary Journeys into the Human Brain by Allan H Ropper and BD Burrell
• A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney
• On Bloody Sunday: A New History of the Day and its Aftermath By the People Who Were There by Julieann Campbell
• Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
• All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley
• Infinity in the Palm of a your Hand: Fifty Wonders That a reveal an Extraordinary Universe by Marcus Chown
• Me by Elton John
• Elena: A Hand Made Life by Miriam Gold

Here's my roundup. My whole list for the year (including bolds)

1. I Have To Save Them. Ellie Midwood

1. P.S Jane. Jessica Julien

1. Mrs. Quinns Rise to Fame. Olivia Ford

1. The Villa. Jess Ryder

1. Artificial Wisdom. Thomas Weaver

1. The Paris Spy's Girl. Amanda Lees

1. Twisting Time: Forbidden City of Gold. D.F Jones

1. The Liberation of Bella McCaa. Catherine Aitken

1. The Quelling. C.L Lauder

10. Munich Wolf. Rory Clements

11. Sam Time. Donna Balon

12. A Most Malicious Messenger. Katherine Black

13. Taken to the Hills. S.J Richards

14. Blood On The Tracks. Guy Hale

15. Black Money. S.J Richards

16. The German Child. Catherine Hokin

17. Phoenix Rising. Celia and Ephie Risho

18. The Bakers Secret. Lelita Baldock

19. The Vermillion Ribbon. Hayley Price

20. Inheritance. Philip Tyler

21. Nicole's War. Andrée Rushton

22. Aria and Liam: The Druids Secret. Coline Monsarrat

23. Dark Arts. Karen Taylor

24. Vermilion Sunrise. Lydia P. Brownlow

25. Opaque. Calix Leigh-Reign

26. Knights, Witches and Murder. R.M Schultz

27. The Advocate. Theresa Burrell

28. Queen of Secrets. E.J Tanda

29. The Lost Child. Kathleen McGurl

30. Blood Sapphires Revenge. Bruce Farmer

31. New Dreams at Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

32. Highly Flawed Individual. T.C Roberts

33. Tale of Two Curses. Theresa Biehle

34. Right Across the Bay. Quinn Avery

35. How Boys Learn. Jeff Kirchick

36. The False Men. Mhairead MacLeod

37. Evermarked. A.J Eversley

38. Truth Sister. Phil Gilvin

39. Crodor The Ancient. Celia and Ephie Risho

40. The Whispering Palms. Annette Leigh

41. Good Girl Deprogramming. Michelle Minnikin

42. When The Moon Was White. Jeff Probst

43. Split Adam. Calix Leigh-Reign

44. The Wartime Book Club. Kate Thompson

45. House of Dreams. Mark Stibbe

46. Humebeasts. Lisa Munoz

47. Island In The Sun. Kate Fforde

48. Shooters. Julia Boggio

49. Escape to Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

50. Knights, Necromancers and Murder. R.M Schultz

51. The Secrets of Blythwood Square. Sara Sheridan

52. Chasing the Light. Julia Boggio

53. Another Side of the Heart. C.H Lazarovich

54. Exodus. Steve Catto

55. My Perfect Family. Melanie Price

56. Fog Of Silence. S.J Richards

57. Daughters of Warsaw. Maria Frances

58. Olympia. Eva Grace

59. Mannigan. L. Ross Coulter

60. Pink Camouflage. Gemma Morgan

61. Hear her Scream. Dylan H Jones

62. Cursed by Slumber. Michelle Moras

63. The Clark's Factory Girls at War. May Ellis

64. An Elf With No Name. Mortimer Langford

65. Memory Road. Sarah Edghill

66. What we Thought We Knew. Claire Dyer

67. Moral Injuries. Christie Watson

68. A Woman Of Pleasure. Kiyoko Murata. Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter.

69. All The World's A Stage. Guy Hale

70. Orson the Great. Colm McElwain

71. The Giveaway Girl. Chrissie Bradshaw

72. Knights, Witches and The Missing. R.M Schultz

73. Naked Truth. Vicki Rebecca

74. Into the Darkness. Steve Catto

75. Gathering of the Four. A.E Bennett

76. A Tale of Something New. D.S McColgan

77. Specular. Calix Leigh-Reign

78. Maybe It's About Time. Neil Boss

79. The Godfather of Dance. Andrea Barton

80. Dark Shadow. Simon Dinsdale

81. The Keeper of Secrets. Maria McDonald

82. Crown of Confessions. E.J Tanda

83. The Grief of Godless Games. J.T Audesley

84. The Magical Journey of John and Adele. Ancius M. Murray

85. Liddle Deaths. Morgan Christie

86. What Would Aimee Dean Do? Y.M Miller

87. 17 Alma Road. Ian Gouge

88. Chapel Field. Paula Hillman

89. Jesse's Triumph. Amra Pajalic.

90. The Pact. Lisa Darcy

91. Then There Were Giants. Nicky Heymans

92. Wolf's Keep. K.E Turner

93. Hindsight. Mary Turner Thomson

94. Awaken the Dawn. Ellis K. Popa

95. Knights, Witches and The Vanished City. R.M Schultz

96. Sweetness In The Skin. Ishi Robinson

97. Blackwolf. Phil Gilvin

98. The Journalist. John Reid Young

99. Death Under a Little Sky. Stig Abell

100. The Pictish Princess. Dolan Cummings

101. My Mystical Path. Donna Shin-Ward

102. Three Brave Hearts. Liz Middleton

103. Jericho Caine, Vampire Slayer, Love, Lust and Blood. Dee Rose

104. Love Lottie. Mel Higgins

105. The Orphans of Berlin. Jina Bacarr

106. Hard Times For The East End Library Girls. Patricia McBride

107. Leap. O.C Heaton

108. Death Walks In Mowhall. Benjamin Hanna

109. Corpse In The Chard. Anna A. Armstrong

110. Green Ray. O.C Heaton

111. The Weight of What Was. Pip Landers-Lett

112. Aria and Liam: The Baker Street Mystery. Coline Monsarrat

113. Let Me In. Claire McGowan

114. Through Blood and Dragons. R.M Schultz

115. Earth Protectors. Samuel Lawson

116. The Palladium. Thorsten Brandl

117. Birth of the Tiptons. Philip Davidson

118. Good Things. Kate MacDougall

119. Mask of the Gods. Karen Furk

120. The Rutland Connection. Michael Dane

121. Murder On The Isle. Anna. A. Armstrong

122. Fall From Grace. Alan Feldberg

123. The Photograph. Diane Clarke

124. Wolf's Prize. K.E Turner

125. Courting The Sun. Peggy Joque Williams

126. The Time That Never Was. Steve Fallon

127. Atom Inc. O.C Heaton

128. Them Old Bones. Astor Y Teller

129. Black Mark. Paul Spencer

130. The Nine. Gwen Strauss

131. Amateurs. Gill Oliver

132. The Hedge Witch. Colleen Delaney

133. Turkish Delight. Anjelica Søndergaard

134. Out Of Her Mind. Sally Hart

135. Miracle Number Four. Paul Marriner

136. The Advocates Betrayal. Teresa Burrell

137. Catch Me Twice. Catherine Yaffe

138. Conditions Are Different After Dark. Owen W. Knight

139. Broken Shadows. Sorrel Pitts

140. Make the Dark Night Shine. Alan Lessik

141. Accidental Dragons. Astor Y Teller

142. Catalog of Desire and Disappearance. Ana Cruz

143. Husbands. Mo Fanning

144. Knife River. Justine Champine

145. 8ish. Luing Andrews and Jack East

146. Truestory. Catherine Simpson

147. The Flower Queen. Kay Freeman

148. Secrets Dark and Wicked. Jessica Julien & Juliet Stevens

149. The Guardians Light. Oliver Crane

150. A Simple Foundation. Larry Heitz

151. How Soon is Now? Paul Carnahan

152. Murder on Stage. F. L. Everett

153. Murmurations. Sarah Thompson

154. Sun of Endless Days. L.G Jenkins

155. The Days of Our Birth. Charlie Laidlaw

156. The Florence Letter. Anita Chapman

157. The Game of War. Glen Dahlgren

158. Under her Roof. A.A Chaudhuri

159. Remedy. Emily Bridget Taylor

160. One Month's Notice. Katie Lou

161. The Second Life of Jonathan
     Sendel. Jeffrey Ashkin.

162. Second Glance. AE Bennett

163. Allison Consents. D. Accord

164. Be More Octopus. Suzanne
     Lissaman

165. Halfmoon Lane. Paula Hillman

166. The Diary at the Last House Before the Sea. Liz Eeles

167. Gallows Wood. Louisa Scarr

168. The Swan's Nest. Laura McNeal

169. Killing Nan and other crime short stories. Keith Wright.

170. The Croaking Raven. Guy Hale

171. Catalyst. Cameron Phoenix

172. Destiny of a Free Spirit. Stephen Ford

173. All in Monte Carlo. Anna Shilling

174. Seven Summers. Paige Toon

175. The Consciousness Company. M.N Rosen

176. About Last Night. Laura Henry

177. The Bite. Jim X Dodge

178. Searchlight, The Rock. Ann Bryant

179. The Walk. Emma Marns

180. Vengeance Day. Simon Dinsdale

181. Serabelle. Tavi Taylor Black

182. War Bunny. Christopher St. John

183. Descended. Ingrid J. Adams

184. If I Can Save One Child. Amanda Lees

185. Sweet Delusions. Bea Miller

186. The Broken Pieces of Us. Celia Tandy

187. Infinite Stranger. Wendy Skorupski

188. Walking Out of This World. Stephen Ford

189. All The Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr

190. Vengeance Street. Louise Sharland

191. When The World Went Silent. Ellie Midwood

192. The Cage. Danielle Bannister

193. Love and Other Sins. Emilia Ares

194. Season For Murder. Anna A Armstrong

195. Here Lies A Vengeful Bitch. Codie Crowley

196. Benidorm, Actually. Jo Lyons

197. Spencer Edwards: Emperor of the Galaxy. Alex Prior

198. The Library Girls of the East End. Patricia McBride

199. The Self-Education Manual. Gary Dean Peterson

200. Eighth Moon Bridge. Angus Peter Cambell

201. The Safehouse. Danielle Bannister

202. The Codebreaker Girl. Gosia Nealon

203. The Orphan List. Ann Bennett

204. The Last Bird of Paradise. Clifford Garstang

205. When The Sky Falls. B.R Spangler

206. The Boy Behind the Glass Screen. Ian Siragher

207. Summer at Pine Lake. Alyssa Delle Palme

208. The Physics of Relationships. Chas Halpern

209. A Promise to my Sister. S.E Rutledge

210. Elite Sauna. Craig Lowe.

211. The Swaddling: Search for the Healing Cloth. P.H Bray

212. Istanbul Crossing. Timothy Jay Smith

213. Soul Love. DF Jones

214. Christmas at Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

215. The Officer. Michael E Bistrica

216. Wartime Wishes for the Land Girls. Ellie Curzon

217. A Seaside Murder. Alice Castle

218. The Human Trial. Audrey Gale

219. Love And Other Cages. Emilia Ares

220. Her Secret Soldier. Julie Hartley

221. Rising Shadows.

222. The Telegram. Debbie Rix

223. The File. Gary Born

224. Journey of A Radiant Heart. Niomi Nicci

225. The Harlan Artefact. Greg Marchand

226. Blue Heart. Nicola Davies

227. The Orphan With No Name. Shirley Dickson

228. The Woman Of Blythe Manor. Miriam Wade

229. Their Little Lies. Quinn Avery

230. Before She Fell. Natalie Sammons

231. Michel's Destiny. Roberta Kagan

232. One Night Only. G.P. Ritchie

233. Just One Weekend. Catherine Aitken

234. A Family Shattered. Roberta Kagan

235. A Killer of Influence. J.D Kirk

236. The Ballerina of Auschwitz. Edith Eger

237. Wolf Boy. David Fitzpatrick

238. Bring Back Time. Julia Sutton.

239. In The Shadows of Love. Awais Khan

240. Susanne: Anne Frank's Forgotten Friend. Sloane Ballou

241. Summerday. Christopher St John

242. The Enlightenment Club. Chris West

243. Ghost Talker. Byrd Nash

244. Death in the Sunshine. Steph Broadribb

245. Mother. Hristina Bloomfield.

246. Watch Over My Child. Roberta Kagan

247. Witch Wife. Lumen Reese

248. The Paris Inheritance. Natalie Meg Evans

249. The Asymmetric Man. Alex Rushton

250. Eden's Comfort Kitchen. Tilly Tennant

251. Moral Code. Lois and Ross Melbourne

252. The Twins on the Train. Suzanne Goldring

253. The Jack O'Lantern Men. Lee Allen.

254. The Angel's Gate. G.P Ritchie

255. Through Fire and Shadow. R.M Schultz

256. Nowhere Man. Deborah Stone.

257. The Night Counsellor. L.K Pang

258. The Witch of White Lady Hollow. C. David Belt

259. Selena Flowers and the Cursed Ruby. Ella English

260. The Other Couple. Tríona Walsh.

261. The Witch and the Devourer of Souls. C.David Belt

262. Another Breath Another Sunrise. Roberta Kagan.

263. Mona Lisa's Daughter. Belle Ami

264. The Irish Family Secret. Daisy O'Shea

265. Cemetery Lodge. Paula Hillman

266. The Last Agent in Paris. Sharon Maas

267. The Christmas Party. Mikayla Davids

268. The Family Secret. Mikayla Davids

269. All Mine Enemies. C. C Gilmartin

270. Flora and Busby's First Christmas. Anna A Armstrong

271. Wait For It. A.L. Glennon

272. Winter Wishes in the Scottish Highlands. Donna Ashcroft.

273. What The Nanny Saw. Kaira Rouda

274. The Ranch at the End of the World

275. Earth Hagiography. Sfarda L. Gül

276. The Witch, The Warlock and The Damned. C. David Belt

277. Catbird. Julia

278. A Safe Place. Stephanie Carty.

279. The Good Witch of Abbotsford. Alaisdair Hutton.

280. Bewitching Rosemary. Colleen Delaney

281. Sailing For Grace. Joseph Bauer

282. Why are you sick? Benjamin L. Smith

283. The Michalmas Daisy. Paul Marriner.

284. The Stolen Sisters. Ann Bennett

285. Scream If You Wanna Go Faster. Wade Beauchamp.

286. The Girl With The Irish Secret. Susanne O’Leary.

287. The Photographer's Secret. Ellie Midwood.

288. Zero Risk. Simon Hayes

289. Earthlings. Ray Star

290. Murder At the Harmony Hollows Resort. Gina Kirkham

291. Double Takedown. Kevin G Chapman

292. The Santa Secret. D Thrush

293. Prelude of Fire. Christine E. Schulze

294. A Little Christmas Magic. Suzanne Rogerson

295. Happyagony. Mem Ferda

296. Operation Fools Mate 24. M. L Baldwin

297. The Widow's Lie. Melanie Price

298. Childhood Behind Barbed Wire. Bogdan Bartnikowski

I was surprised at how many were 5 star reads. But of those 5 star the best were...
Standalone fiction
Artificial Wisdom. Thomas Weaver
Maybe It's About Time. Neil Boss (although i think a sequel is coming)
The Weight of What Was. Pip Landers-Lett
All The Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr
Zero Risk. Simon Hayes

Nonfiction
Pink Camouflage. Gemma Morgan
Naked Truth. Vicki Rebecca
The Nine. Gwen Strauss

Fiction Series
Queen of Secrets/Crown of Confessions. E.J Tanda
Truth Sister/Blackwolf Phil Gilvin

My shortest read was Elite Sauna (29 Pages of gay porn!)
Longest was either Through Fire and Shadow, or Zero Risk (Goodreads and storygraph disagree on how many pages they are and i can't be bothered to go and find them to check)

Most read genre was Thriller
Most read author was R.M Schultz

I did have 2 or 3 DNFs, but as I didn't list them I can't remember what they were.

And I didn't include audio books. Personal preference before anyone comes for me!

If I have to pick a stand out read it was Betty without a shadow of a doubt.

Best wishes to you @Owlbookend.

Only finished 46 this year but it was a good reading year with no stinkers and 19 bolds:

Ranger Confidential: Living, Working and Dying in the National Parks, by Andrea Lankford.

True West, by Betsy Gaines Quammen.
Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell.
The Indifferent Stars Above, by Daniel James Brown.
The Book of Love, by Kelly Link.
Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival, by Velma Wallis.
Wild, by Cheryl Strayed.
Day One, by Abigail Dean.
Ghost Wall, by Sarah Moss.
Subculture Vulture, by Moshe Kashner.
Again, Rachel, by Marian Keyes.
The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman.
When the Dust Settles, by Lucy Easthope.
The Mess We're In, by Annie McManus.
I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, by Glyniss MacNicol.
Trust Her, by Flynn Berry.
Alphabetical Diaries, by Sheila Heti.
Orbital, by Samantha Harvey.
Heartburn, by Nora Ephron.

Absolute best was I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, which I adored and have also bought for several friends.

This is a particularly good time of year for me reading wise, as Christmas break is quite low key other than Christmas Day, plus teen kids so I get a fair amount of time to read.

Bolds
· Betty, Tiffany McDaneil – my book of the year, not a week goes by when I don’t think about this
· The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, India Holton – such fun
· The Darling Buds of May, H E Bates
· Ali and Nino, Kurban Said trans. by Jenia Graman
· The Eighth Life, Nino Haratischvili trans. by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin
· The Museum of Innocence, Orhan Pamuk trans by Maureen Freely
· Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi
· Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
· Sidesplitter, Phil Wang

Italics
· Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey, Janet Malcolm – mostly because she didn’t seem to like Chekhov, or Russia or even appreciate either

Full List

1. A Bollywood State of Mind, Sunny Singh
2. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris
3. Betty, Tiffany McDaniel
4. The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
5. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

1. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, India Holton
2. An Offer from a Gentleman, Julia Quinn (Bridgerton, 3)
3. The Waiter, Ajay Chowdhury

Definitely want to join for 2025! Shameful year here but really desperate to read more this year. I just keep on buying them 🙈🙈.

1. A Heart Full of Headstones - Ian Rankin
2. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank - T. E. Carhart
3. Late in the Day - Tessa Hadley
4. The Wah-Wah Diaries - Richard E. Grant
5. Resurrection Walk - Michael Connelly
6. A Fortunate Man - John Berger
7. The Messalina of the Suburbs - E. M. Delafield
8. The Tuscan Year: Life and Food in an Italian Valley - Elizabeth Romer
9. Dead Man's Riddle - Mary Kelly
10. Charlie Chaplin vs. America - Scott Eyman
11. Goats - Mark Poirier
12. Coffee with Hitler - Charles Spicer
13. The Glass Pearls - Emeric Pressburger
14. Giving Up the Ghost - Hilary Mantel
15. The Rector's Daughter - F. M. Mayor
16. Everywhere I Look - Helen Garner
17. A Sort of Traitors - Nigel Balchin
18. Two Sisters - Blake Morrison
19. Plenty Under the Counter - Kathleen Hewitt
20. Tunnel 29 - Helena Merriman
21. The Girls - Lori Lansens
22. The Secret of Cooking - Bee Wilson
23. The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald
24. The Making of Home - Judith Flanders
25. Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? - Nicci French
26. Jane's Fame - Claire Harman
27. Little Tales of Misogyny - Patricia Highsmith
28. Map of Another Town - M. F. K. Fisher
29. Saplings - Noel Streatfeild
30. Leftovers - Eleanor Barnett
31. The Hidden Man - Charles Cumming
32. The Dictionary People - Sarah Ogilvie
33. Tuesday Girl - Marjorie Gayler
34. 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare - James Shapiro
35. Romantic Comedy - Curtis Sittenfeld
36. Hitler, Stalin, Mum & Dad - Daniel Finkelstein
37. The L-Shaped Room - Lynne Reid Banks
38. The See-Through House - Shelley Klein
39. Waiting - Ha Jin
40. Rites of Passage - Judith Flanders
41. Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? - Lorrie Moore
42. Hokkaido Highway Blues - Will Ferguson
43. A Thousand Lies - Laura Wilson
44. Gwen Raverat - Frances Spalding
45. A Secret Life - Christobel Kent
46. Dancing into Battle - Nick Foulkes
47. Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens
48. Private Faces - Siân Phillips
49. Out of the Bandbox - Marjorie Gayler
50. Public Places - Siân Phillips
51. Our Spoons Came From Woolworths - Barbara Comyns
52. To Be Young - Mary Lutyens
53. Bluebird, Bluebird - Attica Locke
54. London Underground by Design - Mark Ovenden
55. A House in the Country - Jocelyn Playfair
56. I Seek A Kind Person - Julian Borger
57. Persuasion - Jane Austen
58. The Man Who Drew London - Gillian Tindall
59. The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford
60. Ruskin Park - Rory Cellan-Jones
61. Small Bomb at Dimperley - Lissa Evans
62. Too Late to Turn Back - Barbara Greene
63. The Librarianist - Patrick DeWitt
64. In No-Man's Land - Tony Parker
65. The Wife - Meg Wolitzer
66. Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair - Emma Tarlo
67. The Prisoner - Marcel Proust
68. The War Diaries - Nina Siegal
69. Ships of Heaven - Christopher Somerville
70. Anglo-Saxon Attitudes - Angus Wilson
71. The Book-Makers - Adam Smyth
72. Mistletoe Malice - Kathleen Farrell
73. Gut - Giulia Enders
74. Same As It Ever Was - Claire Lombardo
75. My Family - David Baddiel
76. The Country Girls - Edna O’Brien
77. Challenger - Adam Higginbotham
78. Bonjour tristesse - Françoise Sagan, trans. Heather Lloyd
79. The Friday Afternoon Club - Griffin Dunne
80. Shy Creatures - Clare Chambers
81. Patient - Ben Watt
82. May We Borrow Your Husband? - Graham Greene
83. Lev’s Violin - Helena Attlee
84. Orbital - Samantha Harvey
85. Vagabonds - Oskar Jensen
86. To All The Living - Monica Felton
87. Other People’s Houses - Lore Segal
88. It Had To be You - David Nobbs
89. The True History of the First Mrs. Meredith and other lesser lives - Diane Johnson
90. Strange Journey - Maud Cairnes
91. Ammonites and Leaping Fish - Penelope Lively
92. One Year’s Time - Angela Milne
93. Summer at Tiffany - Marjorie Hart
94. The Inn at the Edge of the World - Alice Thomas Ellis
95. Good Girls - Hadley Freeman
96. A Few Green Leaves - Barbara Pym
97. Wartime Women - ed. Dorothy Sheridan
98. Small Pleasures - Clare Chambers
99. Tarte Tatin - Susan Loomis
100. Accidents in the Home - Tessa Hadley
101. Diary of a Wartime Affair - Doreen Bates
102. Death at the Sign of the Rook - Kate Atkinson

34 male authors and 68 female (35 and 68 if you count the dual identities of Nicci French!)

Finally made it to NYE with no reasonable expectation of finishing another book today, so I’m calling it quits for 2024. I’m slightly surprised by the total as I got badly bogged down mid-year, but seemed to put a spurt on in the later stages, so I’m happy enough with reaching 100.
Having hit on the 50:50 fiction/non-fiction dodge a few years ago, this works well for me, so my list is an even mix of the two - I would have read a fair bit more overall if I’d allowed more fiction, as that’s just so much quicker to read, but I do enjoy non-fiction hugely and have had some good bolds (singling out Other People's Houses, The Dictionary People and Adam Smyth's fascinating book-about-books, The Book Makers).
I've enjoyed taking part in the Rather Dated Book Club and several of my fiction bolds are from there. Honourable mentions to the very enjoyable Clare Chambers novels. Just the one real clunker: the inexplicably acclaimed Mistletoe Malice (a ‘rediscovered festive classic with fangs' , apparently, which I found tedious, terminally unfunny and long-winded.
I'm afraid my fascination with the 40s and wartime has overcome me at times so lots of my reads are period ones and hopelessly niche, but they’ve kept me entertained!

This thread has been an absolute joy throughout the year - I not sure what I’d do without it now, tbh - so thanks to all 50 Bookers, and long may it continue!

Posted on the wrong thread have posted on the other one

Catching up on the thread in a minute. @Owlbookend 🌺 and sending best wishes.
Does anyone have any bookish new year resolutions other than the 50 target? Mine is to fall asleep listening to an audiobook as think it may help me achieve that 50. Also read some more historical fiction.

Good luck @Owlbookend with your cancer treatment - sending best wishes.

Thanks @Kinsters . Im on my phone & dont seem to have the edit post option. Otherwise id go back & fidget with it.

It did that for me! No idea why it looked like that but I edited the post and went through and made it all follow on from the one that worked as a list and then it looked how I wanted it to.

Why does it do that to the formatting? It didnt look like that for me. Argghhhh!

A bad year for me in terms of both quantity and quality of reading (but a bad year generally - cancer being somewhat distracting). There is a singular bold - Falling Animals that i would really recommend. All the Locke's are good if you enjoy a deep south set thriller with the inevitable comprimised and tortured hero. There are a few so if you like them you can keep going. Far too many children's books in the list, they are 'cheats' really & i wouldnt normally count so many.

The Hiding Place is the only definite italics. Woo chick-lit - almost so bad it was good, but not quite. Honorable mentions also go to 'Has anyone seen Charlotte Salter?', which has had some good reviews on here, but the ending made me want to throw it across the room and 'Pine' that seemed to never end with its boring potentially supernatural ponderousness.

The reading year has ended on a high with the Strout. Finishing a book that was neither a children's book or a thriller seemed a real achievement - treatment has shot my concerntration to pieces. Roll on 2025, im hoping to get closer to 50 (but then i always have good intentions ....).

1. The Cutting Season Attica Locke

My books of the year are Project Hail Mary and The Great Post Office Scandal. I also loved The Lady Astronaut trilogy and I really enjoyed Homegoing which I just finishes but I think you need some distance from reading a book to know how much you truly like it.

My DNFs were Eve - Cat Bohannon which I really wanted to like but it was just irritating and didn't seem to say very much and The Christmas Tree Farm which was total rubbish.

Only one italic which I slogged through but wouldn't recommend anyone read and that's Years of Rice and Salt and Rice - Kim Stanley Robinson. I really don't know who this book would appeal to but it definitely wasn't me nor, I suspect, any of you! Mentions for other books that I didn't enjoy but that's a me problem and I can see why others like them The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng, You are Here - David Nicholls and Enter Ghost - Isabella Hammad.

My full list

1. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
2. Years of Rice and Salt - Kim Stanley Robinson
3. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
4. Yellowface - RF Kuang
5. The Great Post Office Scandal - Nick Wallis
6. The Seven Sisters - Lucinda Riley
7. The Kitchen God's Wife - Amy Tan
8. Dreaming the Eagle - Manda Scott
9. The Calculating Stars - Mary Robinette Kowal
10. The Fated Sky - Mary Robinette Kowal
11. Red Side Story - Jasper Fforde
12. Restless Moon - Mary Robinette Kowal
13. One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson
14. Expecting Better - Emily Oster
15. The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng
16. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
17. The Lost Man - Jane Harper
18. Ultra Processed People - Chris Van Tulleken
19. Paper Cup - Karen Campbell
20. The Dry - Jane Harper
21. When the Dust Settles - Lucy Easthope
22. Rachel Ryan's Resolutions - Laura Starkey
23. The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
24. Assassins Apprentice - Robin Hobb
25. Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb
26. Assassins Quest - Robin Hobb
27. Over My Dead Body - Maz Evans
28. The Nothing Man - Catherine Ryan Howard
29. The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien
30. The Light That Bends Round Corners - Alexandra Carey
31. The Burning Girls - CJ Tudor
32. The Two Towers - JRR Tolkien
33. The Bookbinder - Pip Williams
34. Enter Ghost - Isabella Hammad
35. The Return of the King - JRR Tolkien
36. The Other People - CJ Tudor
37. The Three Body Problem - Liu Cixin
38. The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams
39. The Dark Forest - Liu Cixin
40. The Gathering - CJ Tudor
41. Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
42. Hex - Jenni Fagan
43. The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
44. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
45. The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden - Mark Bowden
46. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin
47. The Mountains Sing - Nguyen Phan Que Mai
48. The Bonesetters Daughter - Amy Tan
49. The Christmas Appeal - Janice Hallett
50. You are Here - David Nicholls
51. The 12 Clues of Christmas - Rhys Bowen
52. Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi

Here's my 2024 list:

1 The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
2 A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
3 A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney
4 Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
5 The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre
6 The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
7 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
8 Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
9 Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession
10 Lean Stand Fall by Jon McGregor
11 Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
12 Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents - and What They Mean for America's Future by Jean M. Twenge
13 Our Wives Under the Sea by Julie Armfield
14 This House of Grief by Helen Garner
15 Kala by Colin Walsh
16 My Body by Emily Ratajkowski
17 Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
18 Delicacy by Katy Wix
19 Piglet by Lottie Hazell
20 Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
21 We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch
22 Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly
23 Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
24 Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
25 Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
26 A Change of Climate by Hilary Mantel
27 Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
28 A Tomb With A View by Peter Ross
29 The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
30 Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
31 Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
32 Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman
33 And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott
34 It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
35 Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue
36 The Herd by Emily Edwards
37 Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
38 Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
39 East West Street by Philippe Sands
40 House of Glass by Hadley Freeman
41 The Two Week Wait by Sarah Rayner
42 The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
43 Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
44 Guest House for Young Widows by Azadeh Moaveni
45 Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
46 Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
47 A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo
48 Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
49 Seven Ways to Change the World by Gordon Brown
50 The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
51 North Woods by Daniel Mason
52 The Wych Elm by Tana French
53 Red Plenty by Francis Spufford

64% female / 36% male
74% fiction / 26% non fiction

Top five (not in order):
Half of a Yellow Sun
House of Glass
Guest House for Young Widows
Mercury Pictures Presents
Red Plenty

See you all in 2025!

Loving everyone's lists. I read 90 books this year which is my highest ever total I think. I tried to read one book in French every month, and one nonfiction book every month (because I buy nonfiction books and then they tend to sit on my shelves unread). I succeeded in these aims, just!

Stats: 87% fiction, 13% nonfiction
78% in English, 13% in French, 9% in translation
90% women, 9% men, 1% non-binary
80% white, 20% other ethnicities
37% bolds. I bold a lot!

Fiction bolds:
La Carte postale [The Postcard], Anne Berest
Les Disparus du Clairdelune, La Passe-Miroir Livre 2 [The Missing of Clairdelune, The Mirror Visitor Book 2], Christelle Dabos
[I enjoyed this whole fantasy series, but Book 2 was the best.]
Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens
Jamaica Inn, Daphne du Maurier
And Then She Fell, Alicia Elliott
La Honte [Shame], Annie Ernaux
Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante, trans. Ann Goldstein
The Hunter, Tana French
Enter Ghost, Isabella Hammad

Stars of Fortune, Cynthia Harnett
[Discovering Harnett was one of the highlights of my year and I read almost all her books, but this one was my favourite.]
Pearl, Siân Hughes
The Vegetarian, Han Kang, trans. Deborah Smith
Human Acts, Han Kang, trans. Deborah Smith
Les Liaisons dangereuses, Choderlos de Laclos
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain, Victoria MacKenzie
The Spoilt City, Olivia Manning
[The second book of Manning’s Balkan trilogy and my favourite, but books 1 and 3 were also good.]
My Friends, Hisham Matar
Ordinary Human Failings, Megan Nolan
A Little Luck, Claudia Piñeiro, trans. Frances Riddle

I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
The Wife of Willesden, Zadie Smith
Abide With Me, Elizabeth Strout
Tell Me Everything, Elizabeth Strout
The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk, trans Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Stone Yard Devotional, Charlotte Wood

Nonfiction bolds:
Le Coeur à rire et à pleurer : Contes vrais de mon enfance [Tales from the Heart : True Stories from My Childhood], Maryse Condé
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman
Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender, Kit Heyam
Un sac de billes [A Bag of Marbles], Joseph Joffo
Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich, trans. Barry Windeatt
[I finally read the two earliest women writers writing in English: Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe. Margery was quite the read as well, but Julian was my favourite of the two]
Hons and Rebels, Jessica Mitford
My Good Bright Wolf, Sarah Moss
Black and British: A Forgotten History, David Olusoga

Italics:
The Maiden, Kate Foster
Vipère au poing [Viper in the Fist], Hervé Bazin
Houris, Kamel Daoud

I’ve hit 70, which could well be my lot for the year.

My bolds were:
Unruly - David Mitchell
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The First Fossil Hunters - Adrienne Mayor
Nightbitch - Rachel Yoder
The Quick and the Dead - Cynric Temple-Camp
Strong Female Character - Fern Brady
Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens
The Covent Garden Ladies - Hallie Rubenhold
The Betrayal - Helen Dunmore
A Spell of Good Things - Ayobami Adebayo
You Don’t Have to be Mad to Work Here - Benji Waterhouse
Deerskin - Robin McKinley
Odyssey - Stephen Fry
Super-Infinite: the transformations of John Donne - Katherine Rundell
Rouge - Mona Awad

No out-and-out italics stinkers as such, but I didn’t think much of How to Say Babylon or Sophie Hannah’s latest Poirot.

Full list:

1. Be a Free Range Human - Marianne Cantwell
2. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? - Caitlin Doherty
3. The Second Sleep - Robert Harris
4. Poirot’s Silent Night - Sophie Hannah
5. Unruly - David Mitchell
6. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
7. Rising to the Surface - Lenny Henry
8. The First Fossil Hunters - Adrienne Mayor
9. Vital Organs - Suzie Edge
10. Venomous Lumpsucker - Ned Beauman
11. Why Losing Your Job Could Be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You - Eleanor Tweddell
12. Attack Warning Red - Julie McDowall
13. Shakespeare - Bill Bryson
14. Culture: a new world history - Martin Puchner
15. Vet in Harness - James Herriot
16. Weird Medieval Guys - Olivia Swarthout
17. Why is This a Question? - Paul Anthony Jones
18. Nursery Earth - Danna Staaf
19. Writing for Busy Readers - Todd Rogers & Jessica Lasky-Fink
20. Your Child is Not Broken - Heidi Mavis
21. The Ferryman - Justin Cronin
22. Sacred Nature - Karen Armstrong
23. The New Life - Tom Crewe
24. Medieval Horizons: why the Middle Ages matter - Ian Mortimer
25. Nightbitch - Rachel Yoder
26. The Quick and the Dead - Cynric Temple-Camp
27. The Leader Assistant - Jeremy Burrows
28. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty - Akwaeke Emezi
29. The Cause of Death - Cynric Temple-Camp
30. Great and Horrible News - Blessin Adams
31. What I Want to Talk About - Pete Wharmby
32. A Curious History of Sex - Kate Lister
33. Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops - Shaun Bythell
34. Strong Female Character - Fern Brady
35. Rizzio - Denise Mina
36. The Final Diagnosis - Cynric Temple-Camp
37. Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens
38. The Covent Garden Ladies - Hallie Rubenhold
39. The Betrayal - Helen Dunmore
40. What About Men? - Caitlin Moran
41. A Spell of Good Things - Ayobami Adebayo
42. Divine Might - Natalie Haynes
43. Rebel Folklore - Icy Sedgwick
44. How to Say Babylon - Safiya Sinclair
45. In Defence of Witches - Mona Chollet
46. Emperor of Rome - Mary Beard
47. You Don’t Have to be Mad to Work Here - Benji Waterhouse
48. Deerskin - Robin McKinley
49. Camouflage: the hidden lives of autistic women - Sarah Bargiela
50. How to Survive the School Year - Lee Parkinson & Adam Parkinson
51. Affinity - Sarah Waters
52. Emotional Ignorance - Dean Burnett
53. Human Origins - New Scientist
54. Impossible Monsters - Michael Taylor
55. This book shall remain nameless
56. A is for Alibi - Sue Grafton
57. Odyssey - Stephen Fry
58. Super-Infinite: the transformations of John Donne - Katherine Rundell
59. The Werewolf in the Ancient World - Daniel Ogden
60. Monsters: what do we do with great art by bad people - Claire Dederer
61. My Husband - Maud Ventura
62. Imagining Decolonisation - multiple authors
63. My Animals and Other Animals - Bill Bailey
64. Insanely Gifted - Jamie Catto
65. A Taste for Poison - Neil Bradbury
66. Rouge - Mona Awad
67. And So This is Christmas - Brian Bilston
68. Foster - Claire Keegan
69. The Deorhord: an Old English Bestiary - Hana Videen
70. A Body Made of Glass - Caroline Crampton

Bolds for this year:

Win - Harlan Coben
The Third Man - Graham Greene
The Sun Down Motel - Simone St James
River East, River West - Aube Rey Lescure
Tom Lake - Ann Patchett
The Safe Kerp - Yael van der Wouden
My Friends - Hisham Matar
James - Percival Everett
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

DNF:

Shrines of Gaiety - Kate Atkinson
Intermezzo - Sally Rooney

I think Sally Rooney works better for me in audio format, the lack of speech marks was making me lose focus so I returned Intermezzo to the library pretty quick. The Kate Atkinson I'll probably try again soon, I think my head wasn't in the right place at the right time for that one.

Stats:

73 books
40 female, 32 male, 1 various
8 non fiction

You may recall that I'm a big Stephen King fan. He thinks Hill House is a masterpiece of horror writing. I remember being so confused and underwhelmed on reading it, after reading King saying how great it is. I didn't like We Have Always Lived in the Castle either, but my dd absolutely loved it.

Yes Remus I was reading it wondering what all the fuss was about! I quite often don’t like the books everyone else likes though so not really surprising. Horror’s not my genre also which doesn’t help.

@ChessieFL I'm so glad that you thought Hill House was rubbish. I thought it was a pile of crap, but everyone seems to rave about it.