50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Seven

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh, and possibly final, thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2019, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it’s not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on 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 and the sixth one here.

How've you got on this year?

I really liked Bleak House and want to read another Dickens in instalments. Am tempted by David Copperfield, given the imminent film . Anyone got any thoughts? I have done BH, Oliver Twist, Christmas Carol, Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities.

I'd also be interested in Dickens recommendations please . I bloody hate Dickens, but thought I'd give him another go in audio. I struggled with Wilkie Collins in print as well, found him unnecessarily verbose, but found him ok when I listened instead.

I've read the usual suspects of Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations and some thing in the GCSE English Lit anthology in the mid-90s about some bloke with a moat and a cannon. If there is such thing as Dickens lite, ie a not very Dickensian Dickens that would be great. This won't end well...

i've just bought my last book of the decade - Attenborough's biography for the kindle down from £16.99 to £5.99

251. Tiny Histories by Dixe Wills

A collection of short essays about seemingly trivial historical events that actually had very big repercussions. An example is an officer leaving a ship with the key to a cupboard - the ship was Titanic and the cupboard contained the lookouts’ binoculars. Very interesting and easy to dip into.

252. Still Friends by Saul Austerlitz

A look back at the making of the show Friends and its ongoing influence. As a massive Friends fan I thoroughly enjoyed this for my last read of the decade!

Will be back tomorrow with final list and stats.

(NC)

I exceeded my goal of 100

101. The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
     This just felt a bit sad and awkward the whole way through

102. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
     From a recommendation here. Very interesting world building, literally. I really enjoyed thinking about Life from the perspective of an intelligent spider. But at 600 pages this was a slog.

103. The Golden Thread by Kassia St Clair
     Recommended here also. Essays about the importance fabric has/has had in our civilization/history

104. Marie Kondo The Life Changing Magic of Tidying
     Quick reread before 2020 to start the year off cleanly

--January--

1. Normal People by Sally Rooney
2. The Core by Peter V Brett
3. Murder never misses by Faith Martin (a Hillary Greene detective novel)
4. The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
5. Cactus by Sarah Haywood.
6. A Fatal Obsession by Faith Martin
7. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. -February-
8. Murder on the Oxford Canal by Faith Martin (a Hillary Greene detective novel)
9. The Clock maker's daughter by Kate Morton
10. Gray Mountain by John Grisham
11. Believe Me by JP Delaney
12. Copy Me and Other Science Fiction Stories by Laston Kirkland
13. Snap by Belinda Bauer
14. Murder at the University by Faith Martin
15. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom -March-
16. The Psychobiotic Revolution by Scott C. Anderson
17. The Mystery of Three Quarters (Poirot) by Sophie Hannah
18. Broken Ground by Val McDermid
19. Murder of the Bride by Faith Martin
20. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
21. Making it up as I go along by Marian Keyes
22. Legion and The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson -April-
23. Wych Elm by Tana French
24. Steel heart by Brandon Sanderson
25. Murder at Midnight (Hillary Greene Book #16) by Faith Martin
26. Far from True by Linwood Barclay
27. The Watchmaker's Daughter (Glass and Steele Book 1) by C. J. Archer
28. 24 Hours in Ancient Rome by Philip Matyszak
29. Still Waters (Sandham Murders 1) by Viveca Sten
30. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson -May-
31. Vox by Christina Dalcher
32. City of Thieves by David Benioff
33. Murder in Mind (Hillary Greene #16) by Faith Martin Dnf : The House by the River by Lena Manta
34. An American Princess by Annet van der Zijl
35. Hillary's Final Case (Hillary Greene #17) by Faith Martin
36. Twelve Red Herrings by Jeffery Archer
37. Gentle Sleep Book by Sarah Ockwell Smith
38. Closed Circles (Sandham Murders 2) by Vivica Sten
39. A Fatal Mistake by Faith Martin
40. Educated by Tara Westover
41. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
42. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reed -June---- Dnf : The Wandering Earth by Cixin Liu
43. Sleep by CL Taylor
44. The Palace of Lost Memories (After The Rift Book 1) by C. J. Archer
45. The Last by Hanna Jameson Dnf : The Corset by Laura Purcell
46. Transcription by Kate Atkinson
47. The Lost Man by Jane Harper -July---
48. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
49. The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes
50. The Riverboat Murder by Faith Martin (Jenny Starling #3) Dnf : The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and Robert Patterson
51. The River by Peter Heller
52. The Perfect Wife by Blake Pierce (Jessie Hunt#1) -August-
53. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
54. Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald
55. Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
56. Hushabye (Kate Redmond#1) by Celina Grace
57. To Throw Away Unopened by Viv Albertine Dnf: Remembered by Yvonne Battle Fenton
58. Severance by Ling Ma
59. G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton
60. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Vol. 13
61. H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton
62. Lowborn by Kelly Hudson
63. I is for Innocent by Sue Grafton
64. Altered Carbon#1 by Richard Morgan Dnf: Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie -September--
65. Don't Even Breathe (Maggie Novak#1) by Keith Houghton
66. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
67. The Vicarage (Monica Noble#1) by Faith Martin
68. The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
69. Maybe This Time by Jill Mansell
70. The Art of Mindful Reading by Ella Berthoud
71. Forensics by Val Mc Deirmid Dnf: The Girl Across The Bay by Emerald O' Brien
72. Lion in the Valley by (Amelia Peabody#4) Dnf: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
73. The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham
74. Incursion by Blake Crouch -October-
75. The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan Dnf: Dark Pines by Will Dean
76. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
77. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
78. Past Tense (Jack Reacher#23) by Lee Child
79. Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon McKenna
80. Get Lucky by Lila Monroe
81. The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
82. Erebus by Michael Palin
83. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
84. Holy Island (DCI Ryan#1) by LJ Ross
85. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
86. Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates
87. Sycamore Gap (DCI Ryan#2) by LJ Ross
88. Broken Angels (Altered Carbon#2) by Richard Morgan
89. P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone) by Sue Grafton
90. Dream More by Dolly Parton
91. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
92. Death by Honeymoon by Jaden Skye
93. Next Door (Chloe Fine#1) by Blake Pierce -November-
94. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
95. Atlantic Shift by Emily Barr
96. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
97. Heavenfield (DCI Ryan#3) by LJ Ross.
98. Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
99. The Beekeeper of New York by Summer Luqman
100. Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay -December-
101. The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
102. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
103. The Golden Thread by Kassia St Clair
104. Marie Kondo The Life Changing Magic of Tidying

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who has stayed in on New Year’s Eve to read and to update this thread - here are my last few books of 2019:

255. Daisy Jones and The Six- Taylor Jenkins Reid My reserve finally came through at the library! I loved this, especially all the tiny details which make it so Spinal Tap-esque, eg. Billy becoming obsessed with woodwork when he comes out of rehab, Daisy and Niccolo having an in-joke about Monopoly etc.

256. Three Men in a Boat- Jerome K. Jerome This was rather amusing. I liked the random anecdotes, especially the one about the cheese!

257. Monarchy- David Starkey This was excellent value for £3 in a recent Audible sale. Starkey makes history sound so exciting, especially in the interview at the end which is very entertaining.

258. The Little Mermaid and Other Stories; Aladdin and Other Stories- Hans Christian Anderson/Misc. I’m counting these two audiobooks as one, as they’re both pretty short. I love the narrators Tamsin Greig (see my username) and Stephen Mangan, so these are right up my street.

259. Queen Victoria: a Life from Beginning to End- Hourly History This is concise and informative- one of my favourite Hourly Histories I’ve read.

260. Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden This had its moments, but was unnecessarily long-winded. Unfortunately, I didn’t really care about any of the characters apart from the protagonist. However, I really enjoyed the sections about her studying to become a geisha- taking classes in singing, dancing, musical instruments and tea ceremony- and would have liked more of those.

Here’s my final list for the year (no absolute stinkers):

1. Bird Box- Josh Malerman
2. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool- Peter Turner
3. The Road- Cormac McCarthy
4. The Tattooist of Auschwitz- Heather Morris
5. Why Mummy Drinks- Gill Sims
6. Memory Songs- James Cook
7. Read All About It- Paul Cuddihy
8. The Boys are Back- Simon Carr
9. How to Make Great Radio- David Lloyd

10. The Revenant- Michael Punke 11. Every Song Ever- Ben Ratliff 12. Why Mummy Swears- Gill Sims 13. In the Days of Rain- Rebecca Stott 14. Trilby- George de Maurier 15. Not Your Average Nurse- Maggie Groff 16. The Secret Mother- Shalini Boland 17. My Year of Rest and Relaxation- Otessa Moshfegh 18. Rock Needs River- Vanessa McGrady 19. Three Weeks To Say Goodbye- C.J. Box 20. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine- Gail Honeyman 21. Born Under A Million Shadows- Andrea Busfield 22. The Year of Reading Dangerously- Andy Miller 23. De Profundis- Oscar Wilde 24. Weird Things Customers Say in Book Shops- Jen Campbell 25. Scrublands- Chris Hammer 26. More Weird Things Customers Say in Book Shops- Jen Campbell 27. Life Skills: Stuff You Should Really Know by Now- Julia Laflin 28. The Book Shop- Penelope Fitzgerald 29. The English Patient- Michael Ondaatje 30. Brave New World- Aldous Huxley 31. The Collector- John Fowles 32. Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Book Store- Robin Sloan 33. A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving 34. The Lost Child of Philomena Lee- Martin Sixsmith 35. Bookworm- Lucy Mangan 36. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More- Roald Dahl 37. The Lady in the Van- Alan Bennett 38. Jacob’s Room is Full of Books- Susan Hill 39. A Monster Calls- Patrick Ness 40. The Essays of Arthur Shopenhauer: Studies in Pessimism 41. The Music Shop- Rachel Joyce 42. The Last- Hanna Jameson 43. Moab is my Washpot- Stephen Fry 44. The Black Death- Hourly History 45. Boy- Roald Dahl 46. I’d Rather Be Reading- Anne Bogel 47. Anna- Niccolo Ammaniti 48. The Fry Chronicles- Stephen Fry 49. Nick Drake: Remembered for a While- John Murray 50. The Child that Books Built- Francis Spufford 51. More Fool Me- Stephen Fry 52. Atonement- Ian McEwan 53. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas- John Boyne 54. Gone- Michael Grant 55. Adolf Hitler- Hourly History 56. Set the Boy Free- Johnny Marr 57. Home Fire- Kamila Shamsie 58. The Middle Ages- Hourly History 59. Kill ‘Em All- John Niven 60. Lord of the Flies- William Golding 61. A Kestrel for a Knave- Barry Hines 62. Fingers in the Sparkle Jar- Chris Packham 63. The Diary of a Bookseller- Shaun Bythell 64. How Not to Be a Boy- Robert Webb 65. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini 66. Animal Farm- George Orwell 67. Station Eleven- Emily St John Mandel 68. A Note of Madness- Tabitha Suzuma 69. The Best of Adam Sharp- Graeme Simsion 70. Before I Go to Sleep- S.J. Watson 71. Lion: A Long Way Home- Saroo Brierley 72. Long Road from Jarrow- Stuart Maconie 73. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them- J.K. Rowling 74. The Sense of an Ending- Julian Barnes 75. The Librarian- Salley Vickers 76. The Handmaid’s Tale- Margaret Atwood 77. The Cut-Out Girl- Bart van Es 78. To Throw Away Unopened- Viv Albertine 79. Back Story- David Mitchell 80. The Heart’s Invisible Furies- John Boyne 81. Music in the Castle of Heaven- John Eliot Gardiner 82. Convenience Store Woman- Sayaka Murata 83. Misery- Stephen King 84. Close to Home- Cara Hunter 85. A Thousand Splendid Suns- Khaled Hosseini 86. World War Two Auschwitz- Hourly History 87. How Does it Feel?- Mark Kermode 88. And the Mountains Echoed- Khaled Hosseini 89. Coal Black Mornings- Brett Anderson 90. The Boy with the Topknot- Sathnam Sanghera 91. This is Going to Hurt- Adam Kay 92. The Children of Men- P.D. James 93. Swallows and Amazons- Arthur Ransome 94. Vox- Christine Dalcher 95. Uncommon People- David Hepworth 96. The Bookseller of Kabul- Asne Seierstad 97. Schindler’s List/Ark- Thomas Keneally 98. Why Catholics Can’t Sing- Thomas Day 99. Faking Friends- Jane Fallon 100. A Town Like Alice- Neville Shute 101. The End We Start From- Megan Hunter 102. Greek Mythology- Hourly History 103. Rosa Parks- Hourly History 104. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4- Sue Townsend 105. Confessions of an English Opium-Eater- Thomas de Quincey 106. Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate- Cynthia Kim 107. Northern Lights- Philip Pullman 108. Inside Black Mirror- Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, with Jason Arnopp 109. My Sister, the Serial Killer- Oyinkan Braithwaite 110. Nothing is Real- David Hepworth 111. All the Light We Cannot See- Anthony Doerr 112. The Road to Little Dribbling- Bill Bryson 113. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit- Jeannette Winterson 114. Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come- Jessica Pan 115. Take Nothing With You- Patrick Gale 116. Forever Today- Deborah Wearing 117. The Antidote- Oliver Burkeman 118. Down Under- Bill Bryson 119. The L-Shaped Room- Lynne Reid Banks 120. In the Dark- Cara Hunter 121. Down and Out in Paris and London- George Orwell 122. Cujo- Stephen King 123. The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett 124. The Cry- Helen Fitzgerald 125. How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain- Ruth Goodman 126. A Fabulous Creation- David Hepworth 127. Mythos- Stephen Fry 128. The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul- Deborah Rodriguez 129. Short Stories in German for Beginners- Olly Richards and Alex Rawlings 130. Making History- Stephen Fry 131. The Shining- Stephen King 132. Wild- Cheryl Strayed 133. The Librarian of Auschwitz- Antonio Iturbe 134. Jurassic Park- Michael Crichton 135. Joseph Stalin- Hourly History 136. Wonder- R.J. Palacio 137. Odd Girl Out- Laura James 138. Reading Allowed- Chris Paling 139. The Madonna of Bolton- Matt Cain 140. The Pleasure of Reading- ed. Antonia Fraser 141. How Far Can You Go?- David Lodge 142. My World in Motion- Jo Whiley 143. Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck 144. Bonkers- Jennifer Saunders 145. The Boy at the Back of the Class- Onjali Q. Rauf 146. Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland- Sarah Moss 147. The Slap- Christos Tsiolkas 148. Gig- Simon Armitage 149. No Way Out- Cara Hunter 150. Why Mummy Doesn’t Give a Fuck- Gill Sims 151. The Invisible Man- H.G. Wells 152. The Dark Lake- Sarah Bailey 153. Holes- Louis Sachar 154. Daughters of Jerusalem- Charlotte Mendelson 155. The Thorn Birds- Colleen McCullough 156. Notes from a Small Island- Bill Bryson 157. Auggie and Me- R.J. Palacio 158. Pet Sematary- Stephen King 159. Call of the Weird- Louis Theroux 160. Waterlog- Roger Deakin 161. Beautiful Boy- David Sheff 162. Poor Cow- Nell Dunn 163. Big Little Lies- Liane Moriarty 164. Educated- Tara Westover 165. Friendly Fire- Patrick Gale 166. A Swarm in May- William Mayne 167. Crossroads- Mark Radcliffe 168. David Bowie Made Me Gay- Darryl W. Bullock 169. I Found My Tribe- Ruth Fitzmaurice 170. Selected Poems- Simon Armitage 171. The Wild Truth- Carine McCandless 172. My Thoughts Exactly- Lily Allen 173. Gotta Get Theroux This- Louis Theroux 174. The Salt Path- Raynor Winn 175. Picnic at Hanging Rock- Joan Lindsey 176. The Lost Continent- Bill Bryson 177. The Subtle Knife- Philip Pullman 178. Murder and Crime: Leeds- Margaret Drinkall 179. The Liar- Stephen Fry 180. Little Lord Fauntleroy- Frances Hodgson Burnett 181. Oliver Cromwell- Hourly History 182. Fierce Bad Rabbits- Clare Pollard 183. Empire of the Sun- J.G. Ballard 184. The Rosie Project- Graeme Simsion 185. Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn- Brett Anderson 186. Confessions of a Bookseller- Shaun Bythell 187. Stay Where You Are and then Leave- John Boyne 188. The Bookshop Book- Jen Campbell 189. The Self-Care Project- Jayne Hardy 190. The Rosie Effect- Graeme Simsion 191. Holding the Man- Timothy Conigrave 192. Reasons to Stay Alive- Matt Haig 193. Half a World Away- Mike Gayle 194. The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange- Mark Barrowcliffe 195. Ex Libris- Anne Fadiman 196. The Wall- John Lanchester 197. The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax- Andrew Cartmel 198. Calm the Fuck Down- Sarah Knight 199. Reboot- Michael Owen 200. The Rosie Result- Graeme Simsion 201. Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia- Tracey Thorn 202. The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho 203. Dalek I Loved You- Nick Griffiths 204. The Road to Wigan Pier- George Orwell 205. Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment- James Gaines 206. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll 207. How to Be Famous- Caitlin Moran 208. State of the Union: A Marriage in Ten Parts- Nick Hornby 209. The Best Friend- Shalini Boland 210. The Kindness of Women- J.G. Ballard 211. A Concise History of the Vikings- Hourly History 212. Norse Mythology- Hourly History 213. The Little Book of Hygge- Meik Wiking 214. A Ladder to the Sky- John Boyne 215. Let the Right One In- John Ajvide Lindqvist 216. Winnie-the-Pooh- A.A. Milne 217. The Dark Tourist- Dom Joly 218. Face It- Debbie Harry 219. Scary Monsters and Super Creeps- Dom Joly 220. The Amber Spyglass- Philip Pullman 221. The Great Passage- Shion Miura 222. Dishonesty is the Second-Best Policy- David Mitchell 223. A Sweet Obscurity- Patrick Gale 224. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse- David Mitchell 225. The House at Pooh Corner- A.A. Milne 226. Women from Another Planet?: Our Lives in the Universe of Autism- Jean Kearns Miller 227. Hormonal: A Conversation about Women’s Bodies, Mental Health and Why We Need to Be Heard- Eleanor Morgan 228. Chapter and Verse- Bernard Sumner 229. Hidden- Cathy Glass 230. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone- J.K. Rowling 231. The Backward Shadow- Lynne Reid Banks 232. The Testaments- Margaret Atwood 233. Billy Liar- Keith Waterhouse 234. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- C.S. Lewis 235. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying- Marie Kondo 236. I Miss Mummy- Cathy Glass 237. Invisible Women- Caroline Criado Perez 238. The Prison Doctor- Dr Amanda Brown 239. The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole- Sue Townsend 240. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed- Jon Ronson 241. Twas the Night Before Christmas- Adam Kay 242. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin- Louis de Bernieres 243. Them: Adventures with Extremists- Jon Ronson 244. Frank- Jon Ronson 245. The Girl with All the Gifts- M.R. Carey 246. What Maisie Knew- Henry James 247. Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness- Jon Ronson 248. What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness- Jon Ronson 249. Profiles in Power: Hitler- Ian Kershaw 250. The Go-Between- L.P. Hartley 251. Whatever Love Means- David Baddiel 252. Lucky Jim- Kingsley Amis 253. The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove- Andrew Cartmel 254. How to Cope with Mitchell and Webb- David Mitchell and Robert Webb 255. Daisy Jones and The Six- Taylor Jenkins Reid 256. Three Men in a Boat- Jerome K. Jerome 257. Monarchy- David Starkey 258. The Little Mermaid and Other Stories; Aladdin and Other Stories- Hans Christian Anderson/Misc. 259. Queen Victoria: a Life from Beginning to End- Hourly History 260. Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden

This has been a brilliant reading year for me. Since joining this thread at the beginning of 2019, I’ve read much more often and more widely (especially a great deal more fiction), I’ve joined the library and I’ve got heavily into Audible and BorrowBox. Thank you for all the inspiration!

Here are my 10 favourite novels I’ve read this year, not including re-reads (I also love non-fiction, but it has been the novels which have had the most impact on me this year):

The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
The Go-Between- L.P. Hartley
A Ladder to the Sky- John Boyne
The Collector- John Fowles
A Town Like Alice- Neville Shute
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin- Louis de Bernieres
The Heart’s Invisible Furies- John Boyne
Northern Lights- Philip Pullman
Take Nothing With You- Patrick Gale
A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving

Here are a few stats:

Fiction: 52%
Non-fiction: 48%
Kindle: 35%
Audible: 16%
Library books: 16%
BorrowBox ebooks: 13%
Own books: 10%
BorrowBox audiobooks: 9%
Books borrowed from family/friends 1%

Too many books written by white men to even face working out the percentages- must do better next year…

Happy New Year and see you on the next thread!

I hadn't really meant to, but finished another book today, so it just squeaks in:

93: A Positively Final Appearance - Alec Guinness. I really loved this. I've read his previous memoirs/diaries and I love him as an actor (several of his films have been on over Christmas, which has been great). He comes across as very droll, thoughtful, gentle and a lover of animals - and also formidably well-read, with lots of discussion of books. I came away feeling I'd really like to have met him.

My 2019 book list in total looks like this (highlights bolded):

1. The West Pier - Patrick Hamilton

2: The Last Resort - Pamela Hansford Johnson 3: The Child That Books Built - Francis Spufford 4: Dark Sacred Night - Michael Connelly 5: American Bloomsbury - Susan Cheever 6: A Party in San Niccolò - Christobel Kent

1. Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary - Ruby Ferguson
2. The Dark Room at Longwood - Jean-Paul Kauffmann
3. Brother of the More Famous Jack - Barbara Trapido

10: Barrow's Boys - Fergus Fleming 11. The Harpole Report - J. L. Carr 12. Their Finest Hour and a Half - Lissa Evans 13: Leadon Hill - Richmal Crompton 14: Deep South - Paul Theroux 15: A Ghost at the Table - Suzanne Berne 16: A Girl in Winter - Philip Larkin 17: An Unsuitable Attachment - Barbara Pym 18: After the Crash - Michel Bussi 19: Seduction: Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood - Karina Longworth 20: Murder by the Book - Claire Harman 21: The Crime Writer - Jill Dawson 22: Mrs Frensham Describes a Circle - Richmal Crompton 23: Man at the Helm - Nina Stibbe 24: The Cut-Out Girl - Bart Van Es 25: The Year of Reading Dangerously - Andy Miller 26: The Big Necessity - Rose George 27: Transcription - Kate Atkinson 28: The Temptation of Forgiveness - Donna Leon 29: Normal People - Sally Rooney 30: Truly Madly Guilty - Liane Moriarty 31: Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 - David Sedaris 32: Mischief - Charlotte Armstrong 33: The Long Drop - Denise Mina 34: Waterloo: The Aftermath - Paul O'Keeffe 35: Moby Dick - Herman Melville 36: Where Shall We Run To? - Alan Garner 37: Ordinary People - Diana Evans 38: The Diary of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell 39: Gentleman Jack: the Real Anne Lister - Anne Choma & Sally Wainwright 40: The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister - ed. Helena Whitbread 41: No Time To Cry - James Oswald 42: The Flight of the Maidens - Jane Gardam 43: L'Appart - The Delights and Disasters of Making my Paris Home - David Leibovitz 44: My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite 45: Nine Perfect Strangers - Liane Moriarty 46: Milkman - Anna Burns 47: Moondust - Andrew Smith 48: The Lost Man - Jane Harper 49: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start-Up - John Carreyrou 50: The Longest Journey - E. M. Forster 51: Erebus - Michael Palin 52: The Comforts of Home - Susan Hill 53: Slow Horses - Mick Herron 54: Dead Lions - Mick Herron 55: Diary of a Somebody - Brian Bilston 56: Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me - Kate Clanchy 57: Real Tigers - Mick Herron 58: On the Move - Oliver Sacks 59: Unto Us a Son Is Given - Donna Leon 60: The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt 61: The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty 62: A Florentine Revenge - Christobel Kent 63: Y is for Yesterday - Sue Grafton 64: Smoke and Whispers - Mick Herron 65: City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert 66: Conviction - Denise Mina 67: Goodbye to Berlin - Christopher Isherwood 68: The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things - Paula Byrne 69: The Five - Hallie Rubenhold 70: Middle England - Jonathan Coe 71: Mudlarking - Lara Maiklem 72: Run Away - Harlan Coben 73: The Soul of Kindness - Elizabeth Taylor 74: Big Sky - Kate Atkinson 75: Spook Street - Mick Herron 76: The Wedding Group - Elizabeth Taylor 77: French Exit - Patrick deWitt 78: Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi 79: Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee - Casey Cep 80: On Chapel Sands - Laura Cumming 81: Towards the End of the Morning - Michael Frayn 82: Life in the Garden - Penelope Lively 83: Gloucester Crescent: Me, My Dad and Other Grown-Ups - William Miller 84: Travellers in the Third Reich - Julia Boyd 85: The Sorcerer's Apprentice: A Memoir of Picasso, Provence and Douglas Cooper - John Richardson 86: The Vanishing Man - Laura Cumming 87: So Long, See You Tomorrow - William Maxwell 88: The Gathering Dark - James Oswald 89: The Children of Dynmouth - William Trevor 90: Grass in Piccadilly - Noel Streatfeild 91: In Pieces - Sally Field 92: London Rules - Mick Herron 93: A Positively Final Appearance - Alec Guinness

DNF (returned to the library): Lisa Taddeo's Three Women . Just didn't have the patience.

Top 3 would be Waterloo: The Aftermath, Barrow's Boys and The Vanishing Man (yes, all non-fiction, I'm afraid, but an honourable mention to all the Mick Herron novels, which I've absolutely loved).

35 of these (just over 37%) were non-fiction
41 books (44%) were by women

I'm pleased that I borrowed a lot more ebooks from the library this year - 18 of my total - although unfortunately it didn't stop me buying books. I'm also rather annoyed with myself for not getting to 100, which now looks as though it should have been easily achievable, but hey ho.

It's been a pleasure and a joy to be part of this thread again, so thanks to all, and a Happy New Year 🥳 of reading to come.

It's not quite New Year here, so sneaking my 2019 list in just under the wire. Unfortunately I didn't make it to 50 this year, I had a bit of reader's block at various times, but I really enjoyed a lot of what I read in 2019.

My list, with standouts in bold. (Fortunately no absolute stinkers this year, despite a few that were not nearly as good as anticipated.)

1. Diary of a Bookseller, by Shaun Bythell

1. Dark Sacred Night, by Michael Connolly
2. Fear: Trump in the White House, by Bob Woodward

4. Transcription, by Kate Atkinson

1. Reading Allowed, by Chris Paling
2. The Art Of Gathering; How We Meet and Why It Matters, by Priya Parker

7. The Great Deluge, by Douglas Brinkley 8. Hollywood's Eve, by Lili Anolik

1. The New Iberia Blues, by James Lee Burke

10. Watching You, by Lisa Jewell 11. Bad Blood, by John Carreyou 12. Milkman, by Anna Burns 13. Duped: Double lives, false identities, and the con man I almost married, by Abby Ellin 14. Harriet, by Jilly Cooper 15. Rivals, by Jilly Cooper 16. Still Midnight, by Denise Mina 17. The Stranger Diaries, by Elly Griffiths 18. A Fatal Inversion, by Barbara Vine 19. Daisy Jones and The Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid 20. I'm Not With the Band: A Writer's Life Lost in Music, by Sylvia Patterson 21. The Henchmen of Zenda, by KJ Charles 22. Ordinary People, by Diana Evans 23. All Grown Up, by Jami Attenberg 24. Becoming, by Michelle Obama 25. Late in the Day, by Tessa Hadley 26. The Scholar, by Dervla McTiernan 27. The Ruin, by Dervla McTiernan 28. Hourglass, by Dani Shapiro 29. Fallen Angel, by Chris Brookmyre 30. On The Come Up, by Angie Thomas 31. We Went to the Woods, by Caite Dolan-Leach 32. Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch 33. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane 34. The Flatshare, by Beth O'Leary 35. Inheritance, by Dani Shapiro 36. She Said, by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey 37. The Vanity Fair Diaries, by Tina Brown 38. The River, by Peter Heller 39. State of the Union, by Nick Hornby

And finished recently:

40. Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams. There's a good book in here struggling to get out, but it needed some serious editing. Queenie is a British Jamaican twentysomething living in London, who is spiralling as she breaks up with her long-term boyfriend and begins to make mistakes at work. The characterisation and dialogue were great, but Queenie's actions and decisions are so exasperating that it's hard to stay engaged, and I couldn't understand her behaviour or what was driving her until very late in the book because the author holds so much back about Queenie's history and family until the last minute.

41. Ma'am, Darling by Craig Brown. An unexpected hit. I've never been particularly interested in the royals, but this set of '99 glimpses' of Princess Margaret are sharp, funny, tragic and eye opening. Initially I wasn't at all sure about the parody/fantasy chapters, but in the end I succumbed to them, particularly Queen Margaret's fictional Christmas Speech.

I DNF'ed Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk (couldn't be doing with it) and Invisible Women (too rage-inducing). I've also had to return How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan to the library several times without finishing it, but will be having another go in January. It's brilliant, it just requires more concentration than I've had recently!

Thank you so much to @southeastdweller for these threads, which are by far my favourite part of the internet, and to you all for being so funny, wise, kind, and for such fantastic contributions to my TBR pile. Happy New Year, and looking forward to more 50 booking in 2020!

Happy New Year all, and best wishes for a good reading year in 2020 :)

I DNFed Invisible Women too, Noodle - it just felt like being repeatedly hit over the head with information that I knew perfectly well, with no useful suggestions on how to change things (annoying, as I actually paid nearly a tenner for it on Kindle).

FranKatzenjammer, if you liked Three Men in a Boat, you should definitely read the sequel, Three Men on the Bummel. Personally, I think it's even funnier, (particularly a sequence at the start where they go shopping with a phrasebook).

I didn't want to add to my (over)long post but just to say, @Piggywaspushed - I'd also be very keen to do a David Copperfield readalong. I saw the trailer for the Armando Iannucci film and I'll be off to see that as soon as it comes out, so refreshing my memory of the book would be very welcome.

OK,I'm up for that!

I'd be interested in a Dickens read along - I have very so very few classics and that might give me a shove in the right direction. Please keep me posted!

Wow you lot are so inspirational! I only read 8 books in 2019. So much catching up to do!

1 Conversations with Friends - Sally Rooney
2 Educated - Tara Westover
3 All I know about love - Dolly Alderton
4 Sister of Mine - Laurie Petrou
5 Book of Dust - Phillip Pullman
6 The Vegetarian- Han Kang
7 Colorado Kid - Stephen King
8 Daisy Jones & the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid

What happened with previous readalongs, was there a separate thread? (I'm afraid I missed them, there was one for Bleak House I think, which I'm kicking myself for having overlooked).

Would you fancy starting one, Piggy?

And welcome along, MakeTea , HNY! I've just bought 5 Kindle books Oh well, start as you mean to go on, I suppose.....

Scribblygum started a thread and people joined. By the end it was basically just me , scribbly and a couple of others!

Happy to start a thread. Haven't heard form scribbly for while on this thread, unless she ahs NCd?

New thread for the new year and decade:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/what_were_reading/3782881-50-Book-Challenge-2020-Part-One?watched=1

Thanks Sadik, I'll have a look at that.

I think scribbly popped up not long ago and hadn’t been reading much for various reasons. I’m in for a David Copperfield readalong!

Another one keen for a David Copperfield readalong here!

1 .A Little life - Hanya Yanghira Jude, Willem, Malcolm, JB

1. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine- Gail Honeyman Eleanor Ray
2. Kissing Alice- Jacqueline Yallop Quennie-May Florrie Alice

4.Life after Life – Kate Atkinson Ursula, Teddy, Sylvie 5.Then we came to the End – Joshua Ferris Tom, Jack, Benny, Marcia, Lynn 6.The fever tree - Jennifer McVeigh (didn’t finish was too boring) 7.Let me lie - Clare McIntosh Caroline Anna Mark 8.The Kissing Gate- Mackenzie Ford Willhelm, Hal, Lottie, Sam 9.Three things about Elsie – Joanna Cannon Elsie, Simon, Miss Ambrose, Florence 10.The tattooist of Austwicz – Heather Morris, Gita Lale 11.The whole day through -Patrick Gale Laura, Ben 12.Espresso tales Scotland street – Alexander Mcall Smith 13.Love over Scotland street- Aleaxander Mcall Smith 14.The Goldfinch – Donna Tart - Theo Boris Pippa 15.The Rosie Project – Graeme Simson 16.A possible life – Sebastian Faulks (short stories) 17.The Help- Kathryn stockett 18.The World according to Bertie- Scotland street 4) Alexander Mcall Smith 19.The lying game- Ruth Ware 20.How to build a girl – Caitlin Moran 21.Frankie and Stankie- Barbara Trapido 22.The truth about the Harry Quebert Affair – Joel Dicker 23.The boy at the top of the mountain- John Boyne 24.The unbearable lightness of scones (Scotland street 5) – Alexander Mcall Smith 25.Forgive me- Lesley Pearse 26.The tea planters wife- Dinah Jeffries 27.Me to you - Jojo Moyes 28.Half of a yellow sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 29.The proposal – Tasmina Perry 30.The importance of being seven (Scotland Street) – Alexander Mcall smith 31.Bertie Plays the blues – Alexander Mcall Smith 32.Beneath the surface- Fiona Neill

This is my list for 2019. Didn't make 50 read 38 last year but working hours changed so don't get as much time. From next week I will be working full time so lots of my reading time gone so will challenge myself to the 25 for 2020. Ignore the names by some of the books these are just the character names so I can remember the book on some of the less riveting ones. My best read of 2019 was definitely A little life which I was reading this time last year followed by Me to you Jojo Moyes and the Scotland Street series which I am looking forward to continuing this year. So many books to read and no time!!!!!!

Ooh yes please for David Copperfield!

Don't know if anyone is still here but yesterday I finished The Blind Assassin and really enjoyed it. It's a book with numerous layers of story-telling but handled so deftly that you don't really notice the stories within stories within stories. The main story is that of two privileged but unhappy sisters, growing up in a small Canadian town during (mainly) the 1920s and 1930s. It has big houses, lovely clothes, an excruciatingly well-painted unhappy marriage, a sexy fugitive, mystery, twists, a lot of sadness and some lizard men from outer space.... I take my hat off to Atwood, she is a truly wonderful writer both in her story-telling and her technical skill - I think this is the best book of hers I have read and it's a cracker.

Forgot The Harry Qubert affair definitely one of my top reads too.

Sadik, that's exactly how I felt about Invisible Women and it was exhausting.

See you all on the new thread!

My final list (highlights in bold) and stats:

1. I Invited Her In by Adele Parks
2. The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
3. Deceived Wisdom: Why What You Thought Was Right Is Wrong by David Bradley
4. Beswitched by Kate Saunders
5. To The Letter: A Celebration Of The Lost Art Of Letter Writing by Simon Garfield
6. The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
7. Never Mind The Quantocks by Stuart Maconie
8. My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank by Jacqueline van Maarsen
9. Borrowed Time by Robert Goddard

10. Elizabeth Jane Howard: A Dangerous Innocence by Artemis Cooper 11. Mr Wrong by Elizabeth Jane Howard 12. Snap by Belinda Bauer 13. The Day Of The Dead by Nicci French 14. Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay 15. The Librarian by Salley Vickers 16. Bookworm: A Memoir Of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan 17. Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson 18. In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate The World by Simon Garfield 19. Take Me In by Sabine Durrant 20. The World Of Vanity Fair by Emma Marriott 21. Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession by Alison Weir 22. Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir 23. How To Be A Heroine by Samantha Ellis 24. What Alice Knew by T A Cotterell 25. I'll Be There For You: The One About Friends by Kelsey Miller 26. Watching You by Lisa Jewell 27. Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History Of 80s and 90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss 28. The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes 29. Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly 30. Highland Fling by Nancy Mitford 31. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple 32. What A Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe 33. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton 34. 84 Charing Cross Road/The Duchess Of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff 35. Terms & Conditions: Life In Girls' Boarding Schools 1939-1979 by Ysenda Maxtone Graham 36. A Vicarage Family by Noel Streatfeild 37. Die Of Shame by Mark Billingham 38. The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan 39. The Explorer by Katherine Rundell 40. A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 41. The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell 42. The Lottery And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson 43. The Lost Man by Jane Harper 44. I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella 45. The Stranger by Kate Riordan 46. Days Without Number by Robert Goddard 47. The Mennyms by Sylvia Waugh 48. The Genius Of Jane Austen: Her Love Of Theatre And Why She Is A Hit In Hollywood by Paula Byrne 49. I'm Fine And Neither Are You by Camille Pagan 50. The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry 51. The Beautiful And Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald 52. The Familiars by Stacey Halls 53. Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims 54. Transcription by Kate Atkinson 55 A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay 56 Sunburn by Laura Lippman 57 Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss 58 Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of The Wizard of Oz by Michael Morpurgo 59 The Suspect by Fiona Barton 60 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty 61 The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton 62Countries Of The World In Minutes by Jacob F. Field 63Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal HouseholdAdrian Tinniswood 64The Flower GirlsAlice Clark-Platts 65It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down The World's Family TreeA J Jacobs 66BlacklandsBelinda Bauer 67Service With A SmileP G Wodehouse 68A Pelican At BlandingsP G Wodehouse 69Cold Comfort FarmStella Gibbons 70Dark Fire C J Sansom 71Return To The Secret GardenHolly Webb 72No Way OutCara Hunter 73You Were GoneTim Weaver 74SovereignC J Sansom 75The Language Of Kindness: A Nurse's StoryChristie Watson 76How Not To Get Married: Confessions Of A Wedding PhotographerGeorge Mahood 77 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray 78 Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson 79Hope For The BestJodi Taylor 80TangerineChristine Mangan 81Cider With Roxie: A Walk Around The Borders Of Somerset With A Longdog Paul Hending 82The Confusion of Karen CarpenterJonathan Harvey 83CloserK L Slater 84The FriendTeresa Driscoll 85Wigs On The GreenNancy Mitford 86The Clockmaker's DaughterKate Morton 87One False MoveRobert Goddard 88 Rivals by Jilly Cooper 89The Real McCoy: And 149 Other EponymsClaire Cock-Starkey 90 Amateurs In Eden: The Story Of A Bohemian Marriage, Nancy and Lawrence Durrell by Joanna Hodgkin 91Three Things You Need To Know About Rockets: A Real-Life Scottish Fairy TaleJessica A Fox 92A Book Of Book Lists: A Bibliophile's CompendiumAlex Johnson 93Stone MothersErin Kelly 94 East of Croydon: Blunderings through India and South East Asia by Sue Perkins 95Anna of Kleve: Queen of SecretsAlison Weir 96The Other Wife Michael Robotham 97The Chalk Pit Elly Griffiths 98The Narnia Code: C S Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens Michael Ward 99It Shouldn't Happen To A Rep: The Hideous And Hilarious Tales of a Holiday Rep Cy Flood 100One Red Paperclip Kyle Macdonald 101The Exmoor Files: How I Lost A Husband and Found Rural Bliss Liz Jones 102The Secret Lives Of Colour Kassia St Clair 103 The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris 104Murder Most Unladylike Robin Stevens 105On Rereading Patricia Meyer Spacks 106The Overdue Life Of Amy Byler Kelly Harms 107Into The Blue Robert Goddard 108Pigeon Pie Nancy Mitford 109Finding Grace K L Slater 110Valencia and Valentine Suzy Krause 111Forget My Name J S Monroe 112Around The World In 80 Novels Henry Russell 113 Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild 114The Life-Changing Magic Of NumbersBobby Seagull 115Hard Pushed: A Midwife's StoryLeah Hazard 116AnneliesDavid Gillham 117Believe MeJ P Delaney 118 Big Sky Kate Atkinson 119The Bronte Cabinet: Three Lives In Nine ObjectsDeborah Lutz 120Lowborn: Growing Up, Getting Away and Returning To Britain's Poorest TownsKerry Hudson 121The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark 122Pie Fidelity: In Defence Of British FoodPete Brown 123The Famous Five Complete CollectionEnid Blyton 124Sorry I'm Late: I Didn't Want To ComeJessica Pan 125 The Darksome Bounds Of A Failing World Gareth Russell 126A Cornish SummerCatherine Alliott 127Once Upon A RiverDiane Setterfield 128 At Home: A Short History of Private Life Bill Bryson 129Playgroups and Prosecco: The (Mis)adventures Of A Single MumJo Middleton 130The BindingBridget Collins 131The Pedant In The KitchenJulian Barnes 132Why Mummy Doesn't Give A F*@&! Gill Sims 133The FlatshareBeth O'Leary 134How To Be Right…In A World Gone WrongJames O'Brien 135Wild And Crazy Guys: How The Comedy Mavericks Of The '80s Changed Hollywood ForeverNick de Semlyen 136Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Adventures In The OrdinaryRebecca Front 137The DaughterMichelle Frances 138Those PeopleLouise Candlish 139SleepC L Taylor 140Work Like A Woman: A Manifesto For ChangeMary Portas 141Confessions Of A Barrister Russell Winnock 142 Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Children's Picture Books Clare Pollard 143Close To The EdgeToby Faber 144Doctor Who Psychology: A Madman With A BoxTravis Langley 145Big Little LiesLiane Moriarty 146RulesJenny Colgan 147Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of SolitudeStephanie Rosenbloom 148I Looked AwayJane Corry 149Curious: True Stories And Loose ConnectionsRebecca Front 150The Bookish Life Of Nina HillAbbi Waxman 151 Chocolat Joanne Harris 152 The Lollipop Shoes Joanne Harris 153Humble Pi: A Comedy Of Maths ErrorsMatt Parker 154 Peaches for Monsieur le Cure Joanne Harris 155Perigord SummerJulianna Simor Lees 156A Girl Called JusticeElly Griffiths 157 Blackberry Wine Joanne Harris 158Brazzaville BeachWilliam Boyd 159Good Me, Bad Me Ali Land 160The CactusSarah Haywood 1611411 QI Facts To Knock You SidewaysJohn Lloyd 162The Stranger DiariesElly Griffiths 163Everything But The TruthGillian McAllister 164Rock Needs River: A Memoir Of A Very Open AdoptionVanessa McGrady 165Take No FarewellRobert Goddard 166 Holy Fools Joanne Harris 167Date NightSamantha Hayes 168After The EndClare Mackintosh 169The Last Hanna Jameson 170Everything You Know About London Is WrongMatt Brown 171The Girl In The LetterEmily Gunnis 172The Storied Life Of A J FikryGabrielle Zevin 173The Secrets She KeepsMichael Robotham 174Arsenic For TeaRobin Stevens 175Friends Like TheseSarah Alderson 176Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed For MenCaroline Criado-Perez 177Adventures of the Yorkshire ShepherdessAmanda Owen 178Cabin Fever: The Sizzling Secrets of a Virgin Air HostessMandy Smith 179No Time To Wave GoodbyeJacqueline Mitchard 180The Family UpstairsLisa Jewell 181The TestamentsMargaret Atwood 182The Secret Rooms: A Castle Filled With Intrigue, A Plotting Duchess and a Mysterious DeathCatherine Bailey 183Lie With MeSabine Durrant 184BecomingMichelle Obama 185Good Girl, Bad GirlMichael Robotham 186The Good Thief's Guide To AmsterdamChris Ewan 187Literary Britain and IrelandJane Struthers 188Cocktails For ThreeMadeleine Wickham 189Departures: A Guide To Letting Go, One Adventure At A TimeAnna Hart 190Sleeping ArrangementsMadeleine Wickham 191Liz Jones's DiaryLiz Jones 192 55 James Delargy 193I Carried A Watermelon: Dirty Dancing And Me Katy Brand 194RecursionBlake Crouch 195First Class MurderRobin Stevens 196The Evidence Against YouGillian McAllister 197. The Missing Ingredient: The Curious Role Of Time In Food And Flavour by Jenny Linford 198. Bone China by Laura Purcell 199. The Lying Room by Nicci French 200. My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff 201. Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay 202. Blink by K L Slater 203. The Understudy by B A Paris, Holly Brown, Clare Mackintosh and Sophie Hannah 204. The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty 205. How Hard Can It Be? by Allison Pearson 206. Clear My Name by Paula Daly 207. Travels with Rachel: In Search Of South America by George Mahood 208. The Fear by C L Taylor 209. Bitter Lemons Of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell 210. Operation Ironman: One Man’s Four Month Journey from Hospital Bed to Ironman Triathlon by George Mahood 211. The Outsider by Stephen King 212. Don’t Let Go by Harlan Coben 213. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres 214. To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Connie Willis 215. Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella 216. The Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen 217 The Tattooist Of Auschwitz by Heather Morris 218. It Started With A Tweet by Anna Bell 219. The Good Girlfriend’s Guide To Getting Even by Anna Bell 220. Everything You Know About England Is Wrong by Matt Brown 221. The Body: A Guide For Occupants by Bill Bryson 222. Friends: A Reading Of The Sitcom by Simone Knox and Kai Hanno Schwind 223. A Year In The Life Of The Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen 224. The Rumour by Lesley Kara 225. The Brontes Went To Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson 226. Peas and Queues: The Minefield of Modern Manners by Sandi Toksvig 227. Through The Wall by Caroline Corcoran 228. Between The Stops: The View Of My Life From The Top Of The Number 12 Bus by Sandi Toksvig 229. The Taking Of Annie Thorne by C J Tudor 230. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley 231. The Confession by Jessie Burton 232. A Snow Garden And Other Stories by Rachel Joyce 233. A Very British Christmas: 12 Days Of Discomfort And Joy by Rhodri Marsden 234. Christmas With The Savages by Mary Clive 235. The Lion, The With and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis 236. Violet by S J I Holliday 237. Dishonesty Is The Second Best Policy: And Other Rules To Live By by David Mitchell (the actor/comedian) 238. The Assistant by S K Tremayne 239. Confessions Of A Bookseller by Shaun Bythell 240. Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson 241. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 242. The Children Of Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston 243. The Whicharts by Noel Streatfeild 244. Pages & Co: Tilly and the Lost Fairytales by Anna James 245. Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye 246. The Thirteen Days of Christmas by Jenny Overton 247. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 248. Mr Dickens And His Carol by Samantha da Silva 249. Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay 250. Jeeves And The Yule-Tide Spirit by P G Wodehouse 251. Tiny Histories by Dixe Wills 252. Still Friends by Saul Austerlitz

30.95% by male authors, 68.25% by female authors and 0.79% by both (two Nicci French!). This is pretty similar to last year.
6.35% on Audible, 23.41% on kindle, 21.83% from the library and 48.41% physical books of my own. I listened to more Audible books last year, but have read more on kindle and from the library this year.
7.54% were children's books, 59.92% fiction and 32.54% non fiction. I've read more non-fiction this year than last year (although if I counted each Famous Five book individually the percentage of children's books would be higher!)
10.71% were rereads with 89.29% being new.