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!

I’m in! I’ve set my challenge at 40 books this year. So far

1. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
2. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
3. Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

Currently reading A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum which came in my Reposed reading subscription box this month. Really enjoying that so far.
I got the Richard & Judy winter book club selection for Christmas which 2 & 3 are in, so will be reading the others over the coming weeks.

I've finished a couple so far.

2: Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. I enjoyed it but felt like the big moment it was leading to fizzled out.

1. The Widow by Fiona Barton. A good read but the premise is horrible. About a kidnapped child. Not nice but an interesting read.

Finished no 3, which is 2 in the "books I own" list, Public Confessions of A Middle Aged Woman by Sue Townsend. Amusing but it's a series of magazine pieces so very short.

Was stuck on Milkman at the end of last and eventually gave up on it halfway through - I think the first time I’ve ever given up on a book!

So far for 2020:

1. My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite - quite enjoyed this, very easy read
2. Conversations with Friends - Sally Rooney - liked this a lot - enjoyed it much more than her other offering Normal People which I read last year

Just started The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story - Christie Watson

4 - Panic Room by Robert Goddard - enjoyed this even though there were some overly dramatic, unbelievable bits.
5 - Everyone Lies by AD Garrett next

Everyone Lies was ok - kept me turning the pages, even if a bit predictable.
6 - The Plagiarist by Robin Pritchard - uni student has an accident and seems to have forgotten he has epilepsy and doesn't recognise his girlfriend. He also starts writing in the style of a dead doctor. Thought it was worth a try!

Number 4 finished. The truths and Triuphs of Grace Atherton. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would was cutesy and predictable.

Book 4 for me is Conversations with friends by Sally Rooney - I'm enjoying it. I have Normal People lined up too, but reading reviews on here I'm not so sure.

My FIL passes endless books on to me and highly recommended both of them (he's not your typical FIL)

Book 4 was 5 go off in a caravan a famous five book I’ve been reading to D.C. (and changing some of the chores done by different characters as the treatment of Anne was getting to me!)

Book 5 was a speed read of The Return a debut horror book by Rachel Harrison I’m directing next week and got booked on yesterday. I’m not a horror fan (over active imagination and propensity towards nightmares!) so I don’t know how it stands in the genre but I thought it was fairly well written if the characters were a little one dimensional

Back to Girl, Woman, Other which I’m hoping to get finished in enough time to speed read two more books for work by the end of next week

1. Reluctant Adult by Katie Kirby (Hurrah for Gin)

Very funny in places - she has a brilliant eye for the absurdity of family life. Made me howl with laughter about a homework task to build the Taj Mahal our of yogurt pots! If you like her cartoons on social media etc you’ll enjoy this.

I’ve also nearly finished H is for Hawk - very mixed feelings about it.

Have finished 4. The tattooist of Auschwitz and 5. The dilemma by BA Paris. Really enjoyed the dilemma and read it in a couple of days. Think I'll start Blood Orange next.

5 Girl, Woman, Other
The stories of 12 interconnected women. Enjoyed this, although guessed what would be in the epilogue much earlier but that didn't stop it being satisfying. I'd have had this win the Booker by itself though rather than joint with The Testaments.

Next up Jacob's Room is Full of Books by Susan Hill. Loved Howards End is on the Landing so hope this hits the same spot.

IJumpedAboardAPirateShip Loving including the books read to DC and completely agree about the gender stereotypes in Blyton. I swapped round the characters when reading The Magic Faraway Tree so that Fanny said Jo's lines, Bessie said Fanny's lines and Jo said Bessie's lines .

4. The Light Between Oceans. Not sure how I feel about this one - I keep switching between liking it and then thinking that I can't be sympathetic towards the main characters as they brought everything upon themselves. Watching the film right now to see if that can sway me one way or the other!

Kudos to those of you that can switch characters around while reading - I think I would just end up confusing myself! Although maybe in an Enid Blyton book it doesn't make too much difference...

@BookSkark I felt that way about the film when watching it so you might not draw a conclusion!

Am enjoying noting others' recommendations on here. Although some mixed reviews on books on my To Read list (e.g. Sally Rooney) so hoping to find those in the library rather than buy them.

@BookSkark I agree re light Between Oceans but really loved it (surprisingly) all the same

So I've finished the film and wish I hadn't watched it. I felt a lot more sympathy for everyone when reading the book (despite my comment above!), and the film just didn't generate the same level of emotion - apart from the very end scenes.

If anyone's looking for a book club book, I think this would be a good one - lots of discussion potential.

1. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Listened to the audio book of this and thought the narration was superb - so many different accents to juggle, and it really made the story come alive. More so than reading it would have done, I feel. Thought the section in America was a little too long and the ending was a little bit forgettable, but really enjoyed the structure and characters.

1. Nine Perfect Strangers - Liane Moriarty. Not as good as Truly Madly Guilty for me but a decent enough easy read.

1/ The Whisper Man - enjoyed this made me cry too

2/ The Milkman - I like this but my friend recommended I had to read Thee Women so started it will go back to Milkman

3/ Three Women - really really enjoying this, also listening on audio. Really has made me think about my relationships with men.

Agree Americanah on audio is brilliant my favourite audio book the story really came alive

I finally finished The Testaments. I really enjoyed it, but it was a much lighter read than I expected, given how heavy THT is.

I started a new job that is very intense and a lot of technical reading outside work, so I'm not getting the time to read now.

However, I've just started Book 7 The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. It looks like a great read and is about the five victims of Jack the Ripper.

1. 29 Seconds by T M Logan. Mixed feelings about this. I couldn't put it down, it really grabbed me. But it was so utterly unlikely that I struggled to believe any of it. But still was desperate to know what would happened. Also was a bit disappointed by the ending. Felt like a cop out. But I would still recommend it! Such a weird mass of contradictions!

1. Seven Days by Alex Lake. Absolutely devoured this in about three days. It's so awful a premise (I really do need to stop reading about kidnapped children) but I was so desperate for Maggie to succeed. Similar to Room really but more horrible.

I'd like to join in if I may? I've tried keeping up with the 50 book threads in the past but they move so quickly. This looks much more like my pace!

1. Her Sister's Secret - E.V.Seymour
Psychological thriller about a woman whose sister dies in a car accident. Enjoyed this more than I expected to.
2. How to be Right in a World Gone Wrong - James O'Brian
From the LBC radio phone-in host. A liberal perspective on Brexit, Trump, racism, trans rights. He was preaching to the choir and it doesn't have much depth but I didn't mind it.

3. The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story - Christie Watson - just finished this one, a medical memoir, would recommend to anyone who enjoyed This is Going to Hurt

4. Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid - will start this one next

Welcome Hound and any other lurkers! Like you, I find this thread moves at a more manageable pace than the 52 books one. I also think the books are slightly more accessible, although maybe that's just me choosing what to focus on.

And completely contradicting my statement above, I've started on The Age Of Innocence. Funny how your mind needs to switch between modern and classic literature to get into the zone. Fortunately I've got a couple of chunky work trips coming up so hoping to make some progress then.

Interesting re audio version of Americanah I was disappointed reading it after loving her other books so much

Just a little check in to update what I’ve read so far in 2020. My target is to read 20 books this year:

1. Milkman Anna Burns. I really liked this book a lot.
2. Small Island Andrea Levy. Glad to have finally ticked this off my “to read” list and I thoroughly recommend it.

3 Killing Floor Lee Child. I had never read a Jack Reacher book so I picked this out of curiosity. It turned out to be much better than I expected.

I’ve just started All the Light We Cannot See which I’m really enjoying so far but I have a feeling it may end up being very sad.