26-ish books in 2020

[drspouse]

A thread for those too busy or otherwise not able to aim for 50 books in a year!
I'm aiming for 12 from my shelves and 12 from a reading challenge

thebrokenspinedotnet.wordpress.com/2019/12/14/reading-classic-books-challenge/

There are loads of reading challenges here too

www.girlxoxo.com/the-master-list-of-2020-reading-challenges/

We are very laid back here, join any time, I imagine this thread will be open till Dec as it doesn't move too fast!

15. Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

This wasn't quite the book I was expecting it to be. It's a non-fiction forensic look at the lives of three real women with the emphasis on their relationships and desires.

I think I imagined it would be about empowered women expressing their passions and proclivities. Instead, in the beginning I found the three women to be frustratingly powerless. Having said that, I found it to be an absolutely fascinating book and I was rooting for all of the women as the book went along, even the slightly supercilious-seeming Sloane. I think there is probably something in this book that most women can relate to in some way, big or small.

*21. The Escape - David Baldacci
*
Nice easy read. Jack Reacher-style hero saves the world. It's not highbrow but it kept me entertained for a couple of days.

July reads.

Three mini books by Dave Haslam, which were short, entertaining and informative.
20. Searching for Love: Courtney Love in Liverpool, 1982
21. We the Youth: Keith Haring's New York Nightlife
22. A Life in Thirty-Five Boxes: How I survived selling my record collection

23. How Not To Be a Boy - Robert Webb. This was what all good autobiographies should be; insightful, incisive, brutally honest, warm and funny. Listened to the audiobook which made it feel even more personal.

24. Natives -Akala. Although he's younger than me he grew up in the same kind of area. His writing gave depth and analysis to things that I understood to be true but have never experienced and never will, unlike others I grew up with. Should be on the national curriculum

21 Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher

I guess this counts as a modern classic these days. Princess Leia writes a confident and semi-autobiographical novel about drug abuse. She plays with structure, first chapter is a series of postcards from the main character (a successful actress called Suzanne Vale) to some of the secondary characters, next are her diary entries from the rehab centre, then a stream of consciousness section from the viewpoint of one of the other inmates then a more traditional third person viewpoint of what happens to Suzanne as she rebuilds her career. This is clever and funny and raw.

22. Stop at Nothing by Tammy Cohen.

A very intriguing thriller/domestic drama. Very relatable narrator with her menopausal issues! Wish an editor had properly checked it though as the amount of time she said "on impulse" made me want to sling it across the room. But the story is very good.

Book 23 overall, book 8 in books I own. Everything Under by Daisy Johnson, like a PP I found it quite bleak but well written.

@CountFosco

21 Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher

I guess this counts as a modern classic these days. Princess Leia writes a confident and semi-autobiographical novel about drug abuse. She plays with structure, first chapter is a series of postcards from the main character (a successful actress called Suzanne Vale) to some of the secondary characters, next are her diary entries from the rehab centre, then a stream of consciousness section from the viewpoint of one of the other inmates then a more traditional third person viewpoint of what happens to Suzanne as she rebuilds her career. This is clever and funny and raw.

I've been meaning to read this and CF's autobiog as well. Am going to buy these now so they are on my to read pile!

22. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler

I'm a bit behind the curve with this one. I think everyone else in the world read it when it first came out but I'm only just getting to it now. I found it fascinating, funny and incredibly thought provoking. I liked the way the "big reveal" happened in the first third. Very clever storytelling.

I'm currently rereading The Provincial Lady in Wartime. So deeply relevant! I've started a thread...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3991078-To-ask-what-the-Provincial-Lady-would-do-during-COVID

Margot it had been on my Amazon wishlist for ages then I noticed it was 99p for the kindle so I couldn't refuse.

Excellent work on your Provincial Lady thread DrSpouse

23. The Judgement of Caesar - Stephen Saylor
This is one in a series featuring Roman investigator Gordianus the Finder. This one is set in Alexandria with Caesar and Cleopatra featuring. These are really good but they do need to be read in order from the start so you can keep up with the underlying plot threads. It has been over a year since I read the last one and I couldn't remember half of them.

22 Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Series of interconnected short stories set in a small town in Maine and all mentioning our eponymous heroine to a greater or lesser extent, sometimes the story is from her viewpoint, sometimes she is just a background character mentioned in passing. Sparce, beautiful writing and Olive is a complex character. Will read more of Elizabeth Strout at some point.

I'm going to add Olive Kitteridge to my tbr list @CountFosco
I understand it was also made into a tv series, which I haven't seen either.

Yeah, I've not seen the TV series either but it got lots of awards. Surprised it took so long to get a series made, the episodic nature of the book with minor characters dropping in and out seems made for TV and a lot of guest stars! Last year there was a follow up book, 'Olive, Again' which follows the same format. The Waterstones reviews are interesting, most seem to love it, but some really hate it (not really a novel being the main complaint but you could say the same about Girl, Woman, Other really).

Hi all, hope you're all well. lost my mojo for a bit. I started a few books that I couldn't get into and then just gave up. So started again over last month
22 So Lucky Dawn 'O' Porter. Lighthearted and very funny in some places
23: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. I loved this book and I can't actually stop thinking about it. One of my favourite books this year
24: Currently listening to Bryony Gordon's Glorious Rockbottom. it's about her battle with alcohol addiction... some it very sad and shocking but really enjoying it

23 Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

I love Lisa Jewell's books, followed her from the romantic fiction days to the latest domestic thrillers. This is a brilliant one, great characters, and mostly kept me guessing. Her writing is so approachable and I've really enjoyed this one.

24. My Animals and Other Family - Clare Balding
I loved this. I have always liked Clare on TV. I think she's an excellent presenter and she always comes across as very genuine. This book made me like her even more. I hadn't realised she had such a privileged upbringing though, she essentially grew up in a Jilly Cooper novel!
I seem to be rattling through books at the moment. I should easily hit 30 for the year if I carry on like this.

23 The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Shortlisted for the International Booker this year, this was actually first published in Japan in 1994. The narrator is a young novelist who lives on an island where things are slowly 'disappeared' and most people forget about them and lose their emotional attachment to them. But some do not, including her editor, and the Memory Police seem to be tracking down and taking away those who remember. This has shadows of other dystopic novels (it reminded me most strongly of Never Let me Go, although it predates that by 10 years, and the film Perfect Sense, also released much later) and has a dreamlike quality (not helped by me dreaming about it last night!) that makes the story more disturbing. Really fantastic and so glad I read it, highly recommended.

Now for something more lighthearted!

I finally got the 3 book box set I reserved in the library in January of Chimamamda Ngozi Adichie books. So Book 27 was Half of a Yellow Sun, Book 28 was Americanah and Book 29 was Purple Hibiscus. I thoroughly enjoyed all three of her books and can't decide if my favourite was Purple Hibiscus or Americanah. I've wanted to read her books since I saw recommendations last year, they were definitely worth waiting for.

Book 30 will be Rebecca which I put down to start these books.

Finished Provincial Lady in Wartime, book 8 in classics and 23 overall.

24 The Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield

Thanks to drspouse for reminding me of this, I've been meaning to read it for a while. I'm on holiday (staycation) and spent most of yesterday in the hanging chair in the garden giggling to myself as I read this. Great fun.

Oh lovely!
I've had no more inspiration for my fan fiction, though maybe when I'm back at my desk and seeking distraction.

Oh and we are nearly up to 26 @CountFosco. I read 40 last year so that's looking possible this year too. I'll fit in a few quick reads once I've done my Classics challenge.

And Where Angels Fear To Tread, no 9 in Classics, no 24 overall.

@Tinkhasflown I loved Americanah, will have to try her others