50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Nine

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth (and definitely final) thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge was to read fifty books (or more!) in 2018, though reading fifty wasn't mandatory. The lurkers among you are also very welcome to come out of the woodwork and share with us what you've read!

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here, the third one here, the fourth one here, the fifth one here, the sixth one here, the seventh one here and the eighth one here.

How have you got on this year? Feel free to list your stats, full lists, favourites and disappointments!

Thanks for the bonus thread! I think I might be done for 2018, having scraped to 50 for the first time.

Here's my full list and selected stats:

1.The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale

1. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
2. The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry

4. What A Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe

1. Death in the Clouds but Agatha Christie
2. The Road Home by Rose Tremain

7. 21st Century Yokel by Tom Cox

1. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
2. Murder At The Vicarage by Agatha Christie

10. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry 11. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre 12. Keep on Keeping On by Alan Bennett 13. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon 14. The Witch Finder's Sister by Beth Underdown 15. The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster 16. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier 17. The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory 18. Conclave by Robert Harris 19. The Girl on the Landing by Paul Torday 20. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman 21. A Very English Scandal by John Preston 22. The Devil in The Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson. 23. London Under by Peter Ackroyd 24. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie 25. Lullaby by Leila Slimani 26. Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes 27. Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor 28. Left Bank by Kate Muir 29. Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton 30. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie 31. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott 32. The Party by Elizabeth Day 33. This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay 34. Moving by Jenny Eclair 35. Ragtime by EL Doctorow 36. Less by Andrew Sean Greer 37. The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith 38. Delight by JB Priestley 39. The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole 40. I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron 41. Heartburn by Nora Ephron 42. Fatherland by Robert Harris 43. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan 44. The Dry by Jane Harper 45. I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell 46. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng 47. Autumn by Ali Smith 48. Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor 49. The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton 50. Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford 51. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

20% non fiction
49% women
33% library books
8% charity shop books
44 different authors
26 authors read for the first time
12 proper corkers

Top five books in no particular order: The Essex Serpent, Conclave, Hangover Square, Reservoir 13 and My Cousin Rachel

Stinkers of the year: The Girl on the Landing, Ashes of London, The Party, Left Bank, Lullaby

Thanks to all the posters for inspiration - see you on the 2019 thread.

Marking my place on the bonus thread

Here is my list for 2018:

1. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
2. According to Mark - Penelope Lively
3. Conversations With Friends - Sally Rooney
4. Grief is the Thing With Feathers - Max Porter
5. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
6. The Game Theorist's Guide to Parenting - Kevin Zollman and Paul Raeburn
7. Out of Time - Miranda Sawyer
8. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
9. Gut Symmetries - Jeanette Winterson

10. Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury 11. Born A Crime - Trevor Noah 12. The Silence Between Breaths - Cath Staincliffe 13. A Girl is a Half-formed Thing - Eimear McBride 14. Shadowlands: The True Story of C.S.Lewis and Joy Davidman - Brian Sibley 15. The Pedant in the Kitchen - Julian Barnes 16. City of Friends - Joanna Trollope 17. The Position - Meg Wolitzer 18. A History of Britain in 21 Women - Jenni Murray 19. With the End in Mind - Kathryn Mannix 20. I Am, I Am, I Am - Maggie O'Farrell 21. Amsterdam - Ian McEwan 22. Bookworm: a Memoir of Childhood Reading - Lucy Mangan 23. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes 24. Burial Rites - Hannah Kent 25. The End We Start From - Megan Hunter 26. We Were Liars - E. Lockhart 27. The Book of Memory - Petina Gappah 28. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - Imogen Hermes Gowar 29. The Story of a Marriage - Geir Gulliksen 30. Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan 31. Educated - Tara Westover 32. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng 33. Another Day in the Death of America - Gary Younge 34. Standard Deviation - Katherine Heiny 35. The Heart Goes Last - Margaret Atwood 36. The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes - Janet Malcolm 37. Artemis - Andy Weir 38. The Cows - Dawn O'Porter 39. Mount! - Jilly Cooper 40. Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver 41. Lullaby - Leila Slimani 42. Run - Ann Patchett 43. Ammonites and Leaping Fish: A Life in Time - Penelope Lively 44. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot 45. The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne 46. A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal - Ben Macintyre 47. Moondust: In Search of the Men who Fell to Earth - Andrew Smith 48. Frog Music - Emma Donoghue 49. Rubbernecker - Belinda Bauer 50. What We Cannot Know - Marcus du Sautoy 51. Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks 52. The Emperor of All Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee 53. Milkman - Anna Burns

And my favourites of the year are

Top Five Fiction:
Milkman - Anna Burns
Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver
The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
The Sense of An Ending - Julian Barnes
Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks

Top Five Non-Fiction:
Educated - Tara Westover
A Spy Among Friends - Ben Macintyre
I Am, I Am, I Am - Maggie O'Farrell
Bookworm - Lucy Mangan
With The End in Mind - Kathryn Mannix

Place marking :)

tara glad you liked Milkman as much as I did.

Thanks for the (very necessary, ahem, Mr Tarahumara) bonus thread south will be back with my list later.

Also I laughed at cote doing a “dead musicians” percentage

Won't post my list yet, as I should finish My Week With Marilyn before the end of the year, but jut had a quick look at it and, very unusually, I've read lots more by women than by men this year. It's largely because of 'golden age crime' novels.

Will post the book poster lists again for recommendations on favourites/where to start

1. Sisters and Lies - Bernice Barrington
2. Her Husband’s Secret - Janice Frost
3. Mount! - Jilly Cooper
4. They All Fall Down - Tammy Cohen
5. The Word Game - Steena Holmes
6. The Good Widow - Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
7. Mummy’s Favourite - Sarah Flint
8. The Paper Year - Avery Aster
9. Gone - TJ Brearton

10. My Sister’s Grave - Robert Dugoni 11. Carrie - Stephen King 12. Based on a True Story - Delphine de Vigan 13. Every Last Lie - Mary Kubica 14. The Darkness Within - Lisa Stone 15. Anatomy of a Scandal - Sarah Vaughan 16. The Trap - Melanie Raabe 17. Flawed - Cecelia Ahern 18. Bring Me Back - BA Paris 19. Perfect - Cecelia Ahern 20. The Roanoke Girls - Amy Engel 21. He Said/She Said - Erin Kelly 22. 3,096 Days - Natascha Kampusch 23. Diamonds - K A Linde 24. First One Missing - Tammy Cohen 25. Lullaby - Leila Slimani 26. Just What Kind of Mother Are You - Paula Daly 27. Elizabeth is Missing - Emma Healey 28. The Fear - C L Taylor 29. My (not so) Perfect Life - Sophie Kinsella 30. The Roses of May - Dot Hutchison 31. The Serial Killer’s Daughter - Lesley Welsh 32. Then She Was Gone - Lisa Jewell 33. Never Let You Go - Chevy Stevens 34. The Mistress’s Revenge - Tamar Cohen 35. Don’t Close Your Eyes - Holly Sedden 36. Thirteen - Steve Cavanagh 37. No-one Ever Has Sex in the Suburbs - Tracy Bloom 38. The Idea of Him - Holly Peterson 39. Good Me Bad Me - Ali Land 40. The Trophy Child - Paula Daly 41. Watching You - Lisa Jewell 42. The Girl I Used To Be - Mary Torjussen 43. Clean - Juno Dawson 44. Open Your Eyes - Paula Daly 45. The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas 46. I See You - Clare MacKintosh 47. This is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay 48. Let Me Lie - Clare MacKintosh 49. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng 50. Lethal White - Robert Galbraith 51. One Little Lie - Sam Carrington 52. The Break - Marian Keyes 53. Dead Woman Walking - Sharon Bolton 54. A Spark of Light - Jodi Picoult 55. The Summer Children - Dot Hutchison 56. My Name is Anna - Lizzy Barber 57. Resin - Ane Riel 58. The Last Thing She Told Me - Linda Green 59. Love As Always Mum xxx - Mae West 60. Dying for Christmas - Tammy Cohen 61. Five Years From Now - Paige Toon

2018 list as above and reading The Secret Barrister which I doubt I’ll finish in time.

Top 5: Then She Was Gone , Lethal White, Thirteen , Flawed and First One Missing

1. Munich – Robert Harris
2. Continuum Contemporaries : Studying The God of Small Things
3. Cleverlands – Lucy Crehan
4. The Learning Rainforest – Tom Sherrington
5. Middlemarch – George Eliot
6. An Almond For A Parrot -Wray Delaney
7. The Muse – Jessie Burton
8. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
9. Daisy Christodoulou : The Seven Myths of Education
10. Sapiens – Yuval Noah Harari
11. The Secret Of Literacy – David Didau
12. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
13. Homegoing –Yaa Gyasi
14. If Only They Didn’t Speak English – Jon Sopel
15. Northanger Abbey –Jane Austen
16. 1606 –James Shapiro
17. Tall Oaks – Chris Whitaker
18. Rise Up Women! – Diane Atkinson
19. Cheer Up Love- Susan Calman
20. The Book Of Dust - Philip Pullman
21. I, Coriander – Sally Gardner
22. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
23. Fatherland – Robert Harris
24. The Nightingale –Kristin Hannah
25. The Witchfinder’s Sister - Beth Underdown
26. The Travelling Cat Chronicles – Hiro Arikawa
27. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
28. Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
29. This is Going To Hurt – Adam Kay
30. When The Adults Change – Paul Dix
31. Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng
32. Gillespie and I – Jane Harris
33. Closing The Vocabulary Gap – Alex Quigley
34. The Fourteenth Letter - Claire Evans
35. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – Imogen Hermes Gowar
36. The Keeper of Lost Things – Ruth Hogan
37. Women and Power – Mary Beard
38. The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder – Sarah J Harris
39. Charlotte Gray – Sebastian Faulks
40. How Not To Be A Boy – Robert Webb
41. How To Stop Time – Matt Haig
42. Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
43. Circe – Madeline Miller
44. This Thing of Darkness – Harry Thompson
45. The Music Shop – Rachel Joyce
46. Northanger Abbey – Val McDermid
47. The Music Shop- Rachel Joyce
48. The Lido- Libby Page
49. White Rabbit Red Wolf – Tom Pollock
50. Reservoir 13 – Jon McGregor
51. The Illumination of Ursula Flight – Anna-Marie Crowhurst
52. Tin Man – Sarah Winman
53. Unbelievable – Katy Tur
54. A History of Britain in 21 Women –Jenni Murray
55. North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell
56. The Sealwoman’s Gift – Sally Magnusson
57. The Toy Makers – Robert Dinsdale
58. Waterland- Graham Swift
59. Force of Nature – Jane Harper
60. The Summer of Impossible Things- Rowan Coleman
61. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
62. Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
63. The Taliban Cricket Club – Timeri N Murari
64. Dark Water - Elizabeth Lowry
65. Hag-Seed – Margaret Atwood
66. Snap – Belinda Bauer
67. The Accidental Further Adventures of the 101 Year Old Man – Jonas Jonasson
68. Bookworm – Lucy Mangan
69. The Wish Child- Catherine Chidgey
70. Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman
71. The Elephant In The Staffroom- Chris Eyre
72. Armistice – ed Carol Ann Duffy
73. Blood Brothers – Willy Russell
74. Sugar Money – Jane Harris
75. Mythos – Stephen Fry
76. The Rotters’ Club – Jonathan Coe
77. Christmas : A Biography – Judith Flanders
78. A Literary Christmas : An Anthology – The British Library
79. Christmas Days – Jeanette Winterson
80. Uncommon Type – Tom Hanks
81. Lullaby – Leila Slimani

48/80 women 60% (1 n/a) ; 20 non fiction 25% ; 6 pre 20th century 0.75%

I only read about 4 books on the Kindle and these tended to be my least favourites, which may be connected. Think I will stick to paper. A small spattering came from my school library. Next year , I may aim to up my percentage of pre 20th but proud that I eventually did Middlemarch!

Stand outs to me were This Thing of Darkness , The Travelling Cat Chronicles and Gillespie and I. I thank MN for introducing me to Jane Harris!

Matilda - Lord of the Flies and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest would be two of my top choices from that list.

I’ve read Lord of the Flies at school but definitely want to do that again!

Do do do read Lord Of The Flies again Matilda

I hated my memories of it from school. Remus persuaded me to read it again last year and it was brilliant. I read it again straight away afterwards. It’s now in my top 10 too.

A very poor year from me reading wise. I’m not commuting any more so have lost 10 hours a week reading time and am about 50 books down on last year’s total.

Also new job is very mentally challenging so easy comfort reading has been needed.

1 Diary of an Ordinary Schoolgirl - Margaret Forster
2 Sunday Morning Coming Down -Nicci French
3 OVer Sea Under Stone -Susan Cooper
4 Cider with Rosie - Laurie Lee
5 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
6 The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
7 How Hard Can it Be? - Alison Pearson WORST BOOK
8 Skellig -David Almond
9-13 Shopaholic books 5-8 Sophie Kinsella
14. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
15. Eiger Dreams -Jon Krakauer
16. Balancing Act - Joanna Trollope
17. City of Friends -Joanna Trollope
18. Excellent Women -Barbara Pym
19. The Threat Level Remains Severe - Rowena Macdonald
20. Conchie, What my Father didn’t do in the war - Gethin Russell
21. Reservoir 13 - Jon McGregor
22. The Year that Changed Everything - Cathy Kelly
23. My Cousin Rachel - Daphne Du Maurier
24. The Descent of Man - Grayson Perry
25. Sourdough -Robin Sloan
26. The Pedant in the Kitchen - Julian Barnes
27. The Dry - Jane Harper
28. Force of Nature - Jane Harper
29. The Trick to Time - Kit De Waal
30. Unless - Carol Shields
31. Mother Country - Jeremy Harding
32. The Moth Catcher -Anne Cleeves
33. Harbour Street -Anne Cleeves
34. Conclave - ROBERT Harris
35. The Glass Room - Anne Cleeves
36. Silent Voices -Anne Cleeves
37. Hidden Depths -Anne Cleeves
38. Revelation - CJ Sansom
39. The Dark Angel - Ellie Griffiths
40. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
41. Telling Tales -Anne Cleeves
42. The Crow Trap - Anne Cleeves
43. Telling Tales - Anne Cleeves
44. The Seagull - Anne Cleeves
45. Raven Black -Anne Cleeves
46. White Nights - Anne Cleeves
47. Red Bones -Anne Cleeves
48. Blue Lighteining - Anne Cleeves
49. Dead Water - Anne Cleeves
50. Thin Air - Anne Cleeves
51. Too good to be True - Anne Cleeves
52. Cold Earth - Anne Cleeves
53. Wild Fire - Anne Cleeves
54. This Is Going To Hurt - Adam Kay
55. Day of The Dead - Nicki French
56. The Various Haunts Of Men - Susan Hill
57. The pure in Heart - Susan Hill
58. The Risk Of Darknesss - Susan Hill
59. Educated - Tara Westover
60. Lethal White - Robert Galbraith
61. The Vows Of Silence - Susan Hill
62. The Shadows in the Street - Susan Hill
63. The Betrayal Of Trust - Susan Hill
64. A Breach Of Security- Susan Hill
65. The soul of Discretion - Susan Hill
66. The Comforts Of Home
67. A Question of a Identity - Susan Hill
68. The Crossing Places - Ellie Griffiths
69. The Butchering Art - Lindsey Fitzharris
70. Kennixstone - A Gower Farm
71. The Janus Stone - Ellie Griffiths
72. The House at Seas End - Ellie Griffiths
73. A Room Full Of Bones - Ellie Griffiths
74. Dying Fall - Ellie Griffiths
75. The Outcast Dead - Ellie Griffiths
76. The Ghost Fields - Ellie Griffiths
77. The Woman in Blue - Ellie Griffiths
78. The Chalk Pit - Ellie Griffiths

Star book of the year - My Cousin Rachel. Outstanding and kept me on the edge of my seat. Going to read more Du Maurier next year (Rebecca is already in my top 5).

Lost on my kindle to look forward to - Shardlake for example. See you all next year.

"Also I laughed at cote doing a “dead musicians” percentage "

Hey, 12% is a very respectable percentage, too

Thanks for the new thread southeast! I'm really enjoying reading everyone's final lists, breakdowns and top fives. Very useful for compiling next years TBR list. Here's what will probably be my last book of the year...

68. To the Bright Edge of the World – Eowyn Ivey

A novel inspired by a real life expedition to navigate a remote area of Alaska in 1885. I love a good adventure story and it’s always nice to have a book you can escape into over the Christmas period. This fitted the bill perfectly.

The story is told through a series of journal entries and letters written by the expedition leader, Allen Forrester and his wife Sophie Forrester. There are also newspaper articles from the time and short articles from contemporary publications. Running parallel to the main plot is a subplot consisting of correspondence in the present day from an elderly relative of the Forresters, and a Curator at a museum located in the area which Forrester attempted to navigate.

The unusual structure meant that it took a while for me to get into this one, but once I had the hang of all the various threads I found it difficult to put down. I understand Eowyn Ivey also written The Snow Child which I will definitely be checking out in 2019.

Just started on Everything Under by Daisy Johnson. Although it's quite short, I doubt I'll get it finished in 3 days and it will probably be my first book finished in 2019.

Full list and top five to follow soon.

Thanks southeast, this thread is already clearly a much needed public service.

Matilda my standouts from your bucket list are The Poisonwood Bible, The Handmaid's Tale and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

Just spending my last few reading hours of the year snowed in in South Dakota with the lovely Jack Reacher...

Just checking in to the new thread, full list to follow when I've not been at the pub

Thanks for the new thread Southeast.

Matilda from your list I second All Quiet on the Western Front as it is beautifully written.

Is The Odyssey worth a read? I read The Illiad forever ago, but tried The Odyssey straight after it and couldn't get in to it. There's a lot of Greek lit based stuff I want to read, but feel I would get more from if I tackled that first.

51. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

1820s Cornwall. Mary follows her mother's dying wish and goes to live with her estranged aunt, unwittingly stumbling into a criminal gang operating from her new home.

Lots of tension and atmosphere, a bit of a twist, what's not to love. I really liked this. I don't think it was as good as Rebecca and MCR, but still a cracking read.

I'm not posting a list or breakdown until 31st as I have high hopes for the last 2 days of the year. We overdid it on our annual post-xmas podge busting hike today and I don't think I'll be fit for much tomorrow. Sofa surfing with a book is on the cards.

Also enjoying seeing the standouts for everyone to make next year a quality one. I've read too much rubbish this year compared to last.

Thanks for the new thread, Southeast, and hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through my 'big' Christmas read, David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob de Zoet - book number 55 for 2018, or possibly 1 for 2019, depending on when I finish it!

Seriously considering making 2019 the year I reread my 50 favourite books (as rated on Goodreads), including some I've not read for 20+ years. Need to have a sort through the bookshelf as I don't have copies of all of them.

Fortuna, I just finished the new Emily Wilson translation of the Odyssey - well, listened to it on Audible. It is worth it, I think, but needs concentration (although the translation is really accessible). I read and loved Circe earlier this year so wanted to go back to the source text. Well worth it and has inspired me to try some other Greek texts next year.

I'm still hoping to finish my current book tomorrow or on Monday so will post the full list then!

Brill new thread!
Just finished 144. Bloody Brilliant women - Cathy Newman Potted history of Women's rights and achievements in Britain since the late 1800's. Really accessible and informative would recommend.

Posting list below. Copied and pasted from my phone so taking a risk that the bolding (stand outs ) and italics (terrible dross) works.

1. Golden Hill - Francis Spufford

1. How to measure a cow - Margaret Forster

*3. 21 women who made British History - Jenni Murray.

1. Home Going - Yaa Gyasi *

5. The reader on the 6.27 - Jean- Paul Didierlaurent

1. Fire and Fury - Inside the Trump White House - Michael Wolff

*7. Sugar Money - Jane Harris

1. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë *
2. The Book of Eleanor - Pamela Kaufman

10. The Victoria Letters - The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen - Helen Rappaport 11. A place called Winter - Patrick Gale *12. Fingers in the Sparkle Jar - Chris Packham 13. Amy and Isabelle - Elizabeth Strout 14. Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson* 15. Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín 16. Night waking - Sarah Moss 17. How to stop Brexit - Nick Clegg *18. Life after Life - Kate Atkinson 19. A thousand acres - Jane Smiley 20. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson* 21. Birdcage Walk - Helen Dunmore 22. All quiet on the western front - Erich Maria Remarque 23. Gut Symmetries - Jeanette Winterson 24. Fall down 7 times get up 8 - Naoki Higashida 25. The girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson *26. Priestdaddy - Patricia Lockwood 27. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - Imogen Hermes Gowar* 28. The more you ignore me - Jo Brand 29. The Reservoir Tapes - Jon McGregor 30. The bone clocks - David Mitchell 31. Unless - Carol Shields 32. The Co-op’s got bananas- Hunter Davies 33. The Witch Finder’s Sister - Beth Underdown 34. Burial Rites - Hannah Kent 35. A Very English Scandal - John Preston 36. Jane Austen at Home - Lucy Worsley 37. When you disappeared - John Marrs 38. The Wolf Border - Sarah Hall 39. Moon Tiger- Penelope Lively 40. Sacrilege - S J Parris 41. Perfect - Rachel Joyce 42. The night rainbow- Claire King *43. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks 44. The passion - Jeanette Winterson* 45. Lady of the English - Elizabeth Chadwick 46. Behind the scenes at the museum- Kate Atkinson 47. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine- Gail Honeyman *48. Sing, unburied, sing - Jesmyn Ward 49. When I hit you : Or, Portrait of The Writer as a Young Wife - Meena Kandasamy* 50. Three things about Elsie- Joanna Cannon. 51. Amsterdam- Ian McEwan 52. Nelly Dean - Alison Case 53. A Boy in Winter - Rachel Seiffert 54. A life in the day - Hunter Davies 55. A hero for high times: A younger readers' guide to the Beats, Hippies, Freaks, Punks, Ravers, New-Age Travellers and Dog-on-a-Rope Brew Crew Crusties of the British Isles, 1956 - 1994 by Ian Marchant. 56. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness - Arundhati Roy *57. Educated - Tara Westover 58. White Houses - Amy Bloom* 59. Plot 29 - Allan Jenkins 60. Uniquely Human: A different way of seeing Autism - Dr Barry M. Prizant with Tom Fields-Meyer 61. My name is Leon - Kit De Waal 62. The Trick to Time - Kit De Waal 63. wildflower Hill - Kimberly Freeman 64. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders 65. Enigma - Robert Harris 66. Victorians Undone- Kathryn Hughes 67. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng 68. This thing of Darkness- Harry Thompson 69. Jane Seymour : the haunted Queen - Alison Weir 70. Sight - Jessie Greengrass 71. This is going to hurt- Adam Kay 72. I am, I am, I am - Maggie O’Farrell 73. The Ghost - Robert Harris 74. The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell 75. Women and Power - Mary Beard *76. Bluebird, Bluebird - Attica Locke 77. In the days of rain- Rebecca Stott* 78. Reader, I married him - Edited by Tracy Chevalier 79. The wicked cometh - Laura Carlin 80. the year of magical thinking - Joan Didion 81. The shell seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher 82. The end we start from - Megan Hunter 83. The children’s act - Ian McEwan 84. These is my words: The diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881 - 1901. - Nancy E. Turner 85. The Gathering - Anne Enright 86. The Child - Fiona Barton 87. From the heart- Susan Hill 88. Commonwealth- Ann Patchett 89. The Djinn in the nightingales Eye- A.S.Byatt 90. An equal stillness - Francesca Kay 91. I am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes 92. The final solution- Michael Chabon 93. Fell - Jenn Ashworth 94. Hillbilly Elegy : A memoir of a family and culture in crisis- JD Vance 95. Conclave- Robert Harris 96. fat Chance - Nick Spalding 97. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson 98. One good turn - Kate Atkinson 99. When will there be good news? - Kate Atkinson 100. The Explosive child - Ross W Greene 101. Started early, took my dog - Kate Atkinson 102. The Burgess Boys - Elizabeth Strout 103. Standard Deviation - Katherine Heiny 104. Ma’am Darling - Craig Brown 105. Why I am no longer talking to white people about race - Reni Eddo- Lodge 106. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 107. Reasons to stay alive - Matt Haig 108. Yellow Crocus- Laila Ibrahim 109. The land of green ginger - Winifred Holtby 110. Your blue eyed boy - Helen Dunmore *111. Circe - Madeline Miller 112. The seal woman’s gift - Sally Magnusson.* 113. Manhattan Beach - Jennifer Egan 114. Mythos - Stephen Fry 115. The Tattooist Of Auschwitz - Heather Morris 116. Every note played- Lisa Genova 117. Not my fathers son - Alan Cumming 118. Gillespie and I - Jane Harris 119. Hagseed- Margaret Atwood 120. Force of nature - Jane Harper 121. Conversations with Friends - Sally Rooney *122. Lethal White - Robert Galbraith 123. The reading cure: How books restored my appetite- Laura Freeman* 124. The history of the world in 21 woman - Jenni Murray 125. Milkman - Anna Burns 126. The comforts of home - Susan Hill 127. Raven Black - Ann Cleeves 128. Tombland - C.J Sansom 129. Washington Black - Esi Edugyan 130. Melmoth - Sarah Perry 131. The long take - Robin Robertson 132. Everything I never told you- Celeste Ng 133. Careless love : The unmasking of Elvis Presley- Peter Guralnick 134. Becoming - Michelle Obama 135. Rotherweird - Andrew Caldecott 136. The book of night women- Marlon James 137. Christmas Pudding - Nancy Mitford 138. Quidditch through the Ages - J K Rowling 139. Village Christmas: And other notes on the English Year - Laurie Lee 140. The Mars Room - Rachel Kushner 141. The Overstory - Richard Powers 142. Sincerity- Carol Ann Duffy 143. Fox 8 - George Saunders 144. Bloody Brilliant Women - Cathy Newman

Top 5 fiction:
Life after Life, This thing of darkness, Circe, The Long Take, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock.

Top 5 non fiction :
Educated, Priest Daddy, The reading Cure, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar, Becoming.

My favourite rereads:
Lincoln in the Bardo, Wuthering Heights and Gillespie and I. They never disappoint.

Just started Rise Up Women which has been on my Kindle for an age. Doubt I will finish before the clock chimes on the 31st so this is probably my last post this year. As always it's been fab, Thank you.

I've not participated much but I'm saving all the lists to have a look for books for my wish list, I can share my list if you like.

206. The One by John Marrs

Really interesting idea - a scientist has discovered a gene that you only share with one other person, and that person is your Match (your soulmate). Unfortunately the idea is the only thing that is good. Poor writing, ridiculous characters behaving in stupid ways just because a computer tells them to, and the basic premise just doesn’t make sense. One to avoid!

I’m hoping to fit in at least one more before the end of the year and will also come back with my list and stats tomorrow or Monday.