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!

Finished The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith, I lost the thread quite a bit, I find middle aged white men hard to distinguish in books (and some films); I did watch the TV series (it just has 2 episodes) the same day and found that a bit easier to follow - I do think the book may have had just a FEW too many plot twists. I was looking forward to snow in the TV show though and I thought the off-road driving was just a bit Top Gear in the TV show. No 28 overall.

30 Aya Love in Yop City by Marguerite Abouet (author), Clement Oubrerie (artist)

The further adventures of Aya and her friends. This seems a bit more adult than the first book, it starts with an attempted rape and covers a character almost ending up homeless in Paris and a prison stay for two characters. But it all ends positively for our faourite characters.

Now back to Thomas Cromwell again which I'm enjoying but it feels very long after all the short novels I've read this year!

A big THANK YOU to those of you who recommended Rebecca; a book I have been meaning to read for years. I borrowed it from the library and am about a quarter of the way through and absolutely love it!

There's a quote by Sarah Waters on the front of my copy and I can see the influence on her writing so much, especially in The Little Stranger. Marvellous!

I can’t tell you how excited I am that you are reading it. I really feel it’s one I will always feel a bit sad that I never get to read for the first time again.

20. The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy

A man is hit by a car on Abbey Road in 1988 and then again in 2016. Much happens in between, some of it seen through a seemingly morphine-induced haze. There is a lot to ponder in this interesting book.

21. Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout

I was worried I might find this disappointing after the marvellous Olive Kitteridge but I couldn't put it down. It was achingly poignant and full of warmth.

32. The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern

I am at a total loss as to how to describe this. I spent most of the time I was reading it not being entirely sure what it was about. It's packed to the rafters with magic and fantasy and fairy tales. This is the author's second book after The Night Circus. I loved that and I loved this. Even though I'm still not 100% sure what happened.

Finished The Life That I Live - Violette Szabo by Susan Ottaway - no 9 in books I own and no 29 overall. It was really interesting though slightly irritating style.

3*3. Anybody Out There - Marian Keyes
*
Nice easy read to while away a few hours.

Two quite quick reads - The Illustrators - Judith Kerr which was lovely and full of gorgeous pictures, and I am not your baby mother by Candice Brathwate, really thought provoking and particularly interesting for her discussions with her African-educated husband who has a really different perspective on being Black.
Numbers 30 and 31 overall.

28: The Other People by C.J. Tudor

I quite enjoy her books, they always have an interesting premise and this was good. I do feel like she's absolutely bloody terrible at writing children though and in this book there are a few kids. In my experience they don't talk anything like the way they do in this book. Was quite surprised to read the acknowledgments and the fact she has a daughter. You wouldn't think it. But other than that it was good.

16. Catcher in the Rye, J D Salinger
I really enjoyed this, I thought it was very clever at depicting relationships, sibling relationships in particular and was witty but also quite sad in parts as things unravelled. One part about a sibling who had died (not a spoiler) really had me in bits as I’ve thought the very exact same thoughts that Holden has.

I think this book will stay with me.

31 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori

Deadpan first person novella that has been a bestseller around the world. I'm not entirely sure if I should find it funny or tragic (despite the cover reviews saying it was hilarious) but I liked that! The narrator has a distinctive and unusual voice and I whizzed through it, it's very readable.

Also read The Man Who Didn't Call by Rosie Walsh, which was light but had a bit of a twist and I enjoyed it. No 32 overall and no 10 in Books I Own. I have to stop buying books I don't want to read - I'm really struggling with that category!

27. Postcards from the Edge - Carrie Fisher. Some cracking one-liners at the start, then it dragged in the middle (not great considering it's a short book) and then had a decent ending. I have her autobiography to read as well, hope I enjoy that more than this.

28. Conversations with Friends - Sally Rooney. Enjoyed this in exactly the same way as Normal People - loved the writing style, got really irritated that the main character wouldn't just fucking tell people how she felt. But then I guess that's the whole point of the book.

29. Endurance - Alfred Lansing. I wanted to learn more about Shackleton's remarkable story of survival in the Antarctic. Listened to it on Audible, narrator was good and it is indeed an incredible story.

Just finished working on Bravey by Alexi Pappas, a Greek-American Olympian distance runner. I was expecting it to be a bit....millenial but actually it was really good and she’s awesome, though as ever with non fictional if the author reads normally it’s better to read the book Than listen to a non professional

Also finished reading Winter of the World, the last in the Ken Follet Century trilogy. Had to force myself to Finish it, just got bored and don’t think I need to read any more Ken Follet to be honest!

@IJumpedAboardAPirateShip I’ve had a Ken Follett on my shelf for about a decade. Fall of Giants I think. Just haven’t got to it yet.

Finished 17. The Five: the story of the victims of Jack the Ripper, Hallie Rubenhold

Really enjoyed (if that’s the right word). Some significant work has gone into reconstructing these women’s lives and overall I think her argument that they were likely homeless rather than prostitutes is convincing. What it really excels at is presenting a really interesting social history that comes out from the women’s stories.

29: Mr Nobody by Catherine Steadman

Really enjoyed this, a good story with a few twists towards the end. I did have to suspend disbelief though. A lot of the press stuff felt a bit "that would never happen" to me. But I found it to be a real page turner.

22. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner

I've been working my way methodically through the magnificent Backlisted podcast, having dipped in and out of it at random in the past, and I'd been meaning to read this featured book for ages. The first part is about Lolly living an unfulfilled life of duty in London, as expected of her by her family. The second part is about her breaking free of convention and living her best life in the countryside. Her best life turns out to have a few surprises in it, including a chat with a very charming Satan. I loved it.

23. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Thank you to all those who recommended this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a proper page-turner. I'm now going to watch the Netflix adaptation but it's got mixed reviews so I hope I won't be too disappointed!

@CharliesMouse I watched the Netflix adaptation the other day. I liked it, there were some changes and some things I would have done differently but overall I liked it separately to the book.

18. Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty I liked this. There is a murder but all the way through you don’t know who has been murdered. It was a page turner and I read 50% of it today. It’s not my usual thing but I’ve read one Moriarty before and I probably would again.

I've just finished* no 30. Rebecca* too!

I absolutely loved it. It really got under my skin, it felt so modern in a way - the protagonist's deep anxiety disorder (without being described as such) running through it and making me question everything.

I might watch the original Hitchcock film (it's on YouTube) and then the Netflix one to compare them

Just finished Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce, it was quite relevant, set during the Blitz and it's about how having a stiff upper lip isn't always the only way in a crisis. No 31 I think overall, no 11 in books I own.

I’ve n/c but to continue my list:

1 who’s that girl by Mhairi McFarlane
2 Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng
3 Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng
4 Did you see Melody by Sophie Hannah
5 The girl who speaks bear by Sophie Anderson
6 Hygge and kisses by Clara Christensen.
7 You, me everything by Catherine Isaac
8 three things about Elsie by Joanna Cannon
9 my sister the serial killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
10 the house with the chicken legs by Sophie Anderson
11 Ma’am darling by Craig Brown

Currently on read number 12: Little white lies by Philippa East

I’ve got a pile of books to read and need to up my game! Matt Haig’s, ‘The midnight library’ is next on my read list!

Which ones would you recommend out of those?

Glad so many people have found joy with Rebecca - I might have to re read Jamaica inn

I am enjoying all the Rebecca love. I’m still thinking about it and it’s been weeks.

I’ve just started Girl, Woman, Other and the lack of punctuation, erratic spacing and lack of sentences of already annoying me. Which is a shame because I’m enjoying the narrative.

I’m also reading 1984. Only one chapter in as it’s a book club where we read a little at a time and catch up. So bleak.