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.

19. This is going to hurt - Adam Kay. I really wanted to like this completely and there were many aspects that I did. I laughed at some bits, got sad at others and found his last chapter pretty gut wrenching. Despite this I found myself disliking the author considerably - I found the way he described some situations and people very disrespectful and some of his jokes were very distasteful too. This, unfortunately, made me like the book a lot less than I could have done. Shame.

Coming to this thread very late, but I'm trying to get back into reading so aiming for 12 books this year (a bit of a change from my usual 50 or so), and have been picking up some excellent tips from you lot!

So far:
Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith
A Friend of the Family - Lisa Jewell
This Must Be The Place - Maggie O'Farrell
Kick - Paul Byrne
The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher
One Night at the Call Centre - Chetan Bhagat
Half-Truths and Semi-Miracles - Anne Tyler
Eleanor Oliphant - Gail Honeyman
Checking Out - Nick Spalding
The Map of Us - Jules Preston

The last four I've read in the last two weeks, so I'm picking up my pace at last :)

I've crawled over the 25 mark!
26. Alan Turing: The Enigma. Andrew Hodges. It's the book the film with Benedict Cumberbatch was based on and I thought it would be fascinating. The first third was interesting, his school days, early life etc. The last section was also really interesting. And the book as a whole did give a real sense of the kind of person he was. But the middle section - I thought I was reasonably smart and clued up on maths and physics but dear heaven. I had not a clue what was going on. Anyone without a maths degree would struggle. Far too detailed for most readers. (I read it for my book club. Most didn't make it half way through - only one other person even tried!) It has taken me over a month.
27. Black Rabbit Hall - Eve Chase. Family saga based around a house in Cornwall. I really enjoyed this book - crosses two time periods and interweaves them. My sort of thing!

Finally done with 11 (Murder at Wrotham Hill). It wasn’t a novel/fiction. It was pretty interesting. Rather weird story behind it.

Next will be Corduroy Mansions, by Alexander McCall Smith I believe.

Will probably do 15 by the end of the year, or more if I pick the pace up.

20. The heart's invisible furies - John Boyne. Lots of people have reviewed/read this on Mumsnet and the majority seem to have loved it. I loved it too.

Updating for the first time in a while:

1. The Power (Naomi Alderman)
2. The Good People (Hannah Kent)
3. Gangsta Granny (David Williams)
4. My Name is Lucy Barton (Elizabeth Strout)
5. Eleanor Oliphant (Gail Honeyman)
6. How to Train Your Dragon 1-4 (Cressida Cowell)
7. The Daily Struggles of Archie Adams (Katie Kirby)
8. The Examined Life: How we Lose and Find Ourselves (Stephen Grosz)
9. Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist (Sunil Yapa)

10. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (JK Rowling) 11. Grief is the Thing with Feathers (Max Porter) 12. My Name is Leon (Kit de Waal) 13. Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood) 14. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (JK Rowling)

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15. A Place called Winter (Patrick Gale) – a book club choice; I see it's been recommended up-thread. Four stars from me, I really enjoyed this imagining of a true story

16. Run Mummy Run (Leanne Davis) – not that inspiring, really, I didn't get anything much new out of it

17. How to Stop Time (Matt Haig) – It was enjoyable enough and I do like what he's trying to achieve with mental health and so on. But I don't really love his writing, I wish I did.

18. The Yellow Wall-Paper (Charlotte Perkins Gilman) – short story/novella that's very startling/unsettling. Well worth a read.

19. Educated: A Memoir (Tara Westover) – absolutely fascinating and much recommended. A book club one that had us talking for well over an hour, so a brilliant, inspired choice.

20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (JK Rowling) – the best of the first three for me, very exciting.

21. The Marrying of Chani Kaufman (Eve Harris) – a book club read, I didn't much like it, it was a bit like Jewish chick lit.

22. The Break (Marian Keyes) – reading this as was on heavy work deadlines and my brain was too tired for anything more literary. It is quite funny and entertaining, but a bit trashy and inexplicably long.

15. 'After the Party' by Cressida Connolly. Set in the 1930s, a woman from a society background gets caught up in Oswald Mosely's political campaign and is imprisoned. This was well-written and quite intriguing but didn't really grip me.

16. ‘Our House’ by Louise Candlish. Not my usual sort of thing book was recommended by a friend. A very twisty thriller which was extremely well-plotted and kept me guessing. I found the narrative style a bit lazy - written as one character’s blog and a ‘Word document’ by another as well as third person narration. I would compare this to ‘The Girl on the Train’ - fast paced and engaging but not particularly deep.

Anyone else still out there?

25: rough music by Patrick Gale. Loved this as much as his others that I read earlier this year and I'm really glad to have found this author.
This might be my last book this year so delighted to have made it to 25!

I’ve just finished the Chrysalids by John Wyndham which makes 20. Still not sure if I’m going to make 25 but I’m more than happy with 20 so far, I’ve had a rather distracting year

I've lost my reading mojo! I struggled through to the end of In the Days of Rain, but in all honesty I really didn't like it so.it took me an age to finish. I started Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman after a recommendation on another MN thread. I'm dragging through it and not really enjoying it either. I might give up with it and try to delve into something that might pull me back to reading again.

I’d ditch it if you’re not enjoying it Tink. Try something you might enjoy more instead

3 books in a month - I'm on a roll!
17. 'The Love Letter' by Lucinda Riley. I always turn to Lucinda Riley for something light but gripping and I enjoyed this one as much as ever. A bit far-fetched but well-plotted and exciting nonetheless.

I'm reading 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' next after so many recommendations.

3 is very impressive

I finished book 12 a while ago and have started on book 13, The House at Riverton. Book 12 was good, no real “plot” as such but several stories interwoven.
Am enjoying The House at Riverton.

toffee I remember reading The House at Riverton whilst in labour with DD! I love Kate Morton's books. She's got a new one out now - I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback as I'm too tight to buy HBs but really looking forward to reading it.

Where was I?
33 Nina Is Not OK
34 The Grand Duchess of Nowhere
35 The Versions of Us
36 Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely fine
37 Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race
38 The Reader on the 6.27 (my foreign translation for my challenge list)
39 The Alice Network

Back on Alexander Hamilton now. I'm not sure I'll finish it this year and I still want to read Changing Places and Schindler's List for the challenge list.
But it looks like I'll be above 25 but well below 50 for the year.

I love Kate Morton, toffee. I also really enjoyed Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase which is written along similar lines but isn't quite as hefty!

Three more for me.
28. Anne Williams. With hope in her heart - Sara Williams. Anne Williams was a key figure in the Justice for Hillsborough campaign after her son died there.
29. The Day that went missing - Richard Beard. A writer investigating what happened the day his brother drowned when they were on holiday as children. Autobiography. Fascinating but depressing.
30. A passage to India - E. M. Forster. I enjoyed this but because I was reading it in fits and starts at a busy time I didn't really get into it. Got a bit impatient with some of the really long, flowery bits.

18. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne. What a book this is! I loved it and was totally engrossed. I've just been away on a work trip involving long train journeys and read the last 400 pages in a weekend, which is practically unheard of for me.

It reminded me a bit of Thomas Hardy both in terms of scale and because of all those coincidental meetings and twists of fate.

John Boyne describes it as a comic novel and it is very funny in parts but I don't think that this is where its strength lies. Such a powerful and moving novel - easily the best thing I've read this year.

Not sure what to start next. Definitely something a little lighter - any recommendations?

Hoping to get to 20 by New Year.

Ok so I was stuck in a train station with nothing to read and so no 40 is Educated by Tara Westover. Which is amazing. Everyone should read it.

31. The Palace library - Steven Loveridge. My daughter got given this. She doesn't really enjoy reading fiction and I read this as part of a pact to 'share' more reading with her to see if we can find someone that will pique her interest. She hasn't read it yet. It was ok, not the best kids book ever as although the plot was a good idea the writing was bland. I'm not sure this will do the job for her!

Drspouse - I got given this by a friend. We have a competition to buy each other obscure but brilliant books each birthday. This was her choice to me this year. I'd never heard of it. Now I'm intrigued.

baby I'd read an extract online and I wouldn't have been able to find it based on what I remembered so it was lucky I spotted it!

33. The Rosie Project
34. The Boy in the striped pyjamas
35. In the Days of Rain - Rebecca Stott
36. Into the Water - Paula Hawkins
37. A History of loneliness - John Boyne
38. How to be a woman - Caitlin Moran

I really enjoyed Into the Water and a History of Loneliness. Ihad started the Caitlin Moran one before them then went away andcame back to it, but I found it pretty crap to be honest. I don't know if it was howit was written or the fact I just didn't agree with some of the stuff she was on about. But I hated it!

Off to find my next read.

32. My dear, I wanted to tell you - Louisa Young. For my book club. I enjoyed it - suspect that although I wouldn't class it as the best book I've ever read I will be mulling it over for some time yet.