25 (ish) books in 2018 anyone?

[Homemadehopeful]

I know there is the 50 books thread but that is totally unrealistic for me so wondered whether anyone wants a slower paced thread with a hopefully more achievable target?

I read 22 books last year and have set myself a target of 25 for this year.

I've started with The Handmaid's Tale, nearly finished and really enjoyed it.

aw babybythesea I just went to by The Bounce from Amazon but they only have it available for Kindle and I'm not a fan of reading from one :-( I'll have to keep my eyes pealed in charity shops I really want to read it now!

Her Name Was Rose 22
Just Me by Sheila Hancock no 23.

Willoughby Book Club is a website, where you can choose a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription and you get sent a book every month. There are various categories, eg classics, contemporary, bespoke (combination of the two), non-fiction (includes cookbooks and natural history) and so on. You have an online form to fill in, where you include what your favourite books and authors are. For example, I mentioned that I like James Herriot... I got my second Willoughby Book Club book at the start of the month, and the blurb says it’s suitable for Herriot fans (it’s set in Yorkshire). The company also donates a book to charity every time they send you a book. If you’re sent a book you already have, you can just email them.

Website is here: www.thewilloughbybookclub.co.uk
I think the 3-month subscription is £34.99.

I haven't updated for a while. I have just finished Book 27 The Hearts Invisible Furies, following a recommendation here. I found it an absolutely brilliant read, even though for some parts I could hardly see the words through the teats. I thoroughly enjoyed it and definitely recommend it.

Book 28 will be Still Me by Jojo Moyes. I figure I read the first 2 so should complete the trilogy.

@Tinkhasflown not sure if it was my recommendation you took but I did read and recommend it on here, best book I have read in ages.

It was @Iamblossom! Thanks so much. That's a couple of your recommendations I have really liked.

*Oh and tears above not teats!

Book 20: The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain by John Boyne.
I just read this book in one sitting and thought it was so good. A real insight into how Hitler brainwashed young people during the war and the terrible crimes they committed as a consequence. Heart breaking and thought provoking.

Since we are talking recommendations:

Bit of a throwback as I read them a few years ago but I REALLY enjoyed Jenny Eclair's books, Camberwell Beauty, Life Love and Vanilla Slices and also Moving. Really good, quite dark stories. Whatever you think of her as a comedienne, I was pleasantly surprised at her writing.

Also Blacklands, Darkside and Finders Keepers by Belinda Bauer

And Wool, Shift and Dust the Wool Trilogy by High Howey. Really really good.

And ditto The Passage Trilogy, by Justin Cronin.

All of the above I wish I have not read just so I could read them again now for the first time. If that makes sense!!

Thanks for the recommendations Iamblossom. I'm checking these out and adding to my list.

tomhazard I saw that book on the library list yesterday and am sorry now I didn't take it. I've never read the Boy in the striped Pyjamas either (although I've seen the movie). I loved Hearts Invisible Furies so much that I intend to try his other books so they are on my list.

Some of the books I really enjoyed from last year included My Sisters Bones - Nuala Ellwood, Silent Child - Sarah A Denzil, Alias Grace and The One - John Mars.

I absolutely loved The Lovely Bones that I read a few years ago. It really stayed with me for a long time after.

I loved the lovely bones too

Book 22. The other side of the Dales. Gervase Phinn. The life of a school inspector in Yorkshire. James Herriott for schools.
Mission 'Empty bookshelves of quick easy reads in time to give loads of them for sale at the village fete' continues...!

I got Hearts Invisible Furies after readin the recommendation too! Now just need to read the book....
Still trying to find the Betsy Tobin book. I know I have it here somewhere.

Book 10 - 'The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock' by Imogen Hermes Gowar. A really rich, detailed, brilliant book which I'm now recommending to everyone! Set in the late 18thC (bit of a favourite literary period for me) and about an unassuming widower merchant whose sea captain brings back the body of a mermaid, thus plunging him into society and a fairly murky world of high class brothels. It's a bit of an epic which took me five weeks to read (although this might be more to do with the 500 exam papers I had to mark at the time than the novel) but so worth it.

Book 11 - ' The Olive Tree' by Lucinda Riley. Read this in 5 days on holiday. Not one of her best but still very readable. I enjoyed the Cypriot setting and liked her characterisation. Dialogue a bit clunky as always and the 'twists' were pretty predictable but it kept me entertained on my sun lounger for a few days!

Haven't decided what to read next yet - off to peruse the shelves.

Book 21: Instructions for a heatwave- Maggie O'Farrell. This is the last Maggie O'Farrell that I hadn't read. I really enjoyed the weaving family story although There were parts I found a bit stilted. I'm glad it was generally good though as I found 'My Lover's Lover' which I read a couple of weeks ago really poor.

Book 8 done. It was pretty enjoyable, except two of the three main characters weren’t very pleasant; playing nasty “practical jokes” that were passed off as “banter”/“get a sense of humour”. I hate that kind of behaviour.
It was about an apprentice farrier, but there was very little explanation of what it involved. James Herriot explained what diseases were, whereas with this book there was little explanation; for example there was mention of multiple types of forge with no explanation as to the difference. There was much more emphasis on the main characters’ social lives.
Overall, though, it wasn’t bad. I think I’ve said this, but book 9 is The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. I read The Cuckoo’s Calling towards the end of last year.

@toffee1000 to liked the Robert Galbraith books, and enjoyed the tv series too.

Book 17, woman last seen in her thirties by Camille pagan, second one of hers I have read.

Very readable, good characters, enjoyed it without it really being about anything new or original. Happily married woman, husband leaves after 30 years of marriage and two grown up children.

I keep seeing the mermaid and Mrs Haddon popping up as a recommendation on Amazon. Been trying not to look too closely in case it ends in a purchase. Maybe I'll stick it on the wishlist!

Book 23. The River King - Alice Hoffman. Read it years ago and couldn't remember it but really enjoyed it.

13. Hag-seed - Margaret Atwood. I read this not actually knowing the story of The Tempest, which I'm not sure was a good thing really. I found it well written but slightly boring. I can't help but feel like I'm missing something, some 'deeper' meaning. But, again, that is probably because I don't know the original story. Anyone read it and loved it?

14. Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet - M.C. Beaton. Light, enjoyable read. Funny in places and very short. Probably won't read another one though as I did find it a bit meandering and hard to get into initially. I like books to spark my interest at least within the first few chapters..... This one didn't.

22. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne. I've been meaning to read this for years , but as a Jewish person with relatives killed in the holocaust I could never quite bring myself to pick it up. Having recently read 'The boy at the top of the mountain', however, I decided to read this. It was every bit as heartbreaking as I thought it would be but beautifully written and a very valuable and important read.

Finished a Book 13 the Boy on the Bridge, sequel to the Girl with all the Gifts. Definitely not a light read!

Just started Circe by Madeline Miller. I really enjoyed her last book, a Song for Achilles. I’m hoping this one is as good.

tomhazard I have that on reserve in the library, but like you have been reluctant to read it.

I enjoyed Still Me, it's a light read and what I needed after Hearts Invisible Furies. I'm currently reading The Colour Purple. Getting through quite a few books I have been meaning to read for years. Planning on The Diary of Anne Frank soon as it was on Kindle offer this week for 99p.