50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Eight

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2020, 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, the sixth one here and the seventh one here.

What are you reading?

Thank you for the new thread!

I hit 50 books on 23rd August and I will be aiming for quality over quantity for the rest of the year (although I reserve the right to panic-read Shopaholic books if things get stressful).

My list so far:

1. Wakenhyrst - Michelle Paver
2. Faces: Profiles of Dogs - Vita Sackville-West

1. Country Life - Paul O'Grady

4. French Exit - Patrick DeWitt

1. I've Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella
2. Hard Pushed - Leah Hazard
3. Trigger Mortis - Anthony Horowitz

8. The Man Who Died - Antti Tuomainen

1. How To Break Up With Your Phone - Catherine Price

10. Burmese Days - George Orwell 11. The Ravenmaster - Christopher Skaife 12. Old Baggage - Lissa Evans 13. Around The World In 80 Trains - Monisha Rajesh 14. The Moomins and The Great Flood - Tove Jansson 15. Size Zero - Victoire Dauxerre 16. Shopaholic Ties The Knot - Sophie Kinsella 17. The Turn of The Key - Ruth Ware 18. My Friend Anna - Rachel DeLoache Williams 19. A Shropshire Lad - A E Housman 20. Get Me The Urgent Biscuits - Sweetpea Slight 21. Up - Ben Fogle 22. The Truth About These Strange Times - Adam Foulds 23. Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez 24. Shopaholic and Sister - Sophie Kinsella 25. Rupture - Ragnar Jonasson 26. A House of Ghosts - W C Ryan 27. The Book of Forgotten Authors - Christopher Fowler 28. Sushi & Beyond - Michael Booth 29. Metropolitan Stories - Christine Coulson 30. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier 31. The Thunder Girls - Melanie Blake 32. Watling Street - John Higgs 33. Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella 34. Brer Rabbit Stories - Enid Blyton 35. Unfree Speech - Joshua Wong & Jason Ng 36. The Deep - Alma Katsu 37. The Guest List - Lucy Foley 38. Travels in a Dervish Cloak - Isambard Wilkinson 39. Is There Still Sex in the City? - Candace Bushnell 40. The Cat and The City - Nick Bradley 41. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote 42. Rough Magic - Lara Prior-Palmer 43. Dangerous Crossing - Rachel Rhys 44. Maigret Takes a Room - Georges Simenon 45. Adults - Emma Jane Unsworth 46. I Carried a Watermelon - Katy Brand 47. Dead Famous - Greg Jenner 48. The Safe Place - Anna Downes 49. The Accidental Dictionary - Paul Anthony Jones 50. Lockdown - Peter May 51. Party Girls Die In Pearls - Plum Sykes

And currently reading:

Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains - Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent
Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
Miss Iceland - Audur Ava Olafsdottir

Ooooh, shiny new thread! Thanks @southeastdweller. Bringing my list over. I wish I could say like @HarlanWillYouStopNamingNuts I'll now be prioritising quality over quantity, but I have a feeling work is going to be awful for the next three months, and that's assuming the kids are back at school. So I'll be reading whatever I fancy when I can, I think, albeit trying to continue with my "buying order", interspersed with detective novels if I still feel I need a fair bit of comfort reading.

1. Autumn Term – Antonia Forest
2. Mutual Admiration Society – Mo Moulton
3. Swan Song – Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
4. This Must be the Place – Maggie O’Farrell
5. The Bookshop – Penelope Fitzgerald
6. A Place Called Winter – Patrick Gale
7. The Reunion – Guillaume Musso
8. Black Water Lilies – Michel Bussi
9. Wilful Blindness – Margaret Heffernan
10. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos – Dominic Smith
11. The Farm – Joanne Ramos
12. The High Window – Raymond Chandler
13. The Lady in the Lake – Raymond Chandler
14. The Little Sister – Raymond Chandler
15. She Lies in Wait – Gytha Lodge
16. The Last Anniversary – Liane Moriarty
17. Bitter Orange – Claire Fuller
18. The Lost Man – Jane Harper
19. What Red Was – Rosie Price
20. Keeping an Eye Open – Julian Barnes
21. Heartburn – Nora Ephron
22. Crooked Heart – Lissa Evans
23. Old Baggage – Lissa Evans
24. A View of the Harbour – Elizabeth Taylor
25. The Crow Trap – Ann Cleeves
26. Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects: Part 1 – Giorgio Vasari
27. Telling Tales – Ann Cleeves
28. The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion
29. Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
30. How the Dead Speak – Val McDermid
31. Idaho – Emily Ruskovich
32. After the Party – Cressida Connolly
33. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower – Rumer Godden
34. Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects: Part 2 – Giorgio Vasari
35. French Exit - Patrick DeWitt
36. Hidden Depths – Ann Cleeves
37. Expectation – Anna Hope
38. Silent Voices – Ann Cleeves
39. Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo
40. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor
41. Warlight - Michael Ondaatje
42. Closed Circles – Viveca Sten
43. Things Can Only Get Worse – John O’Farrell
44. Guiltless – Viveca Sten
45. Cassandra at the Wedding – Dorothy Baker
46. The Glass Room – Ann Cleeves
47. The Loney – Andrew Michael Hurley
48. The Colour of Murder – Julian Symons
49. My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
50. Tonight You’re Dead – Viveca Sten

1. Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman
2. Vox by Christina Dalcher
3. In Evil Hour by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Spasm by Lauren Slater
5. Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
6. Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders
7. Written On The Body by Jeanette Winterson
8. Lion by Saroo Brierley
9. Tony And Susan by Austin Wright

10. The Purveyor Of Enchantment by Marika Cobbold 11. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier 12. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnett 13. Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale 14. The Remains Of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 15. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 16. The Girl With All The Gifts by MR Carey 17. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout 18. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth 19. Touch by Claire North 20. A Year Of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman 21. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins 22. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth 23. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 24. Small Island by Andrea Levy 25. Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper 26. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff 27. Ayoade On Top by Richard Ayoade 28. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman 29. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman 30. Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge 31. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 32. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern 33. The Wings Of The Dove by Henry James 34. The Mirror And The Light by Hilary Mantel 35. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 36. The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 37. The Five by Hallie Rubenhold 38. Half Of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 39. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers 40. The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss 41. Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker 42. The Gift Of Fear by Gavin de Becker 43. Capital by John Lanchester 44. Love Child by Allegra Huston 45. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss 46. All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque 47. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 48. Little by Edward Carey 49. Lost Girls by Robert Kolker 50. Becoming by Michelle Obama 51. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman 52. Normal People by Sally Rooney 53. Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor 54. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow 55. The Rainbow Comes And Goes by Diana Cooper 56. The Light Of Common Day by Diana Cooper 57. Trumpets From The Steep by Diana Cooper 58. Nod by Adrian Barnes 59. Derby Day by DJ Taylor 60. The Power by Naomi Alderman 61. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld 62. The Memory Of Love by Aminatta Forna 63. And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseni 64. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow 65. Lady In Waiting by Anne Glenconner 66. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones 67. The Psychology Of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas 68. Queen Bees by Sian Evans 69. A Woman Of No Importance by Sonia Purnell 70. Disobedience by Naomi Alderman 71. Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce 72. Kick by Paula Byrne 73. The Dry by Jane Harper 74. Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller 75. Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg Jephcott 76. This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 77. My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell 78. The Other Half Of Augusta Hope by Joanna Glen 79. Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela 80. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins 81. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters 82. Corpus Christi by Bret Anthony Johnston 83. The Coincidence Authority by John Ironmonger 84. Permanent Record by Edward Snowden 85. The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice 86. The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things by JT LeRoy 87. The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk 88. Stasiland by Anna Funder 89. Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid 90. The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler 91. The Wall by John Lanchester 92. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell 93. Another Day In The Death Of America by Gary Younge 94. Written In History by Simon Sebag Montefiore 95. Queen Mab by Kate Danley 96. The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock 97. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens 98. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 99. Milkman by Anna Burns 100. Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield 101. This Thing Of Darkness by Harry Thompson 102. Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer 103. Churchill : Walking With Destiny by Andrew Roberts 104. First Lady by Sonia Purnell 105. Don’t Lets Go To The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller 106. Court Number One : The Trials That Shook The Old Bailey by Thomas Grant 107. Helter Skelter : The True Story Of The Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry 108. Gotta Get Theroux This by Louis Theroux 109. A People’s History Of The United States by Howard Zinn 110. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 111. Quartet In Autumn by Barbara Pym 112. The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright 113. Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine

Thank you southeast. Bringing over my list - no update as I am reading A Suitable Boy having watched the television adaptation. Enjoying it but only a third of the way through so you may finish this thread before I finish it!

1. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
2. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman

3. Once upon a River - Diane Setterfield

1. Tombland - CJ Sansom
2. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas - Agatha Christie
3. White House Farm - Carol Ann Lee
4. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson

8. A History of Loneliness - John Boyne

1. The Last Tudor - Philippa Gregory

10. The Pale Horse - Agatha Christie 11. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway 12. Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams 13. Pigeon Pie - Nancy Mitford 14. A Country Escape - Katie Fforde 15. Slow Horses - Mick Herron 16. Bookworm - Lucy Mangan 17. Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor 18. A Symphony of Echoes - Jodi Taylor 19. The Light Years - Elizabeth Jane Howard 20. A Second Chance - Jodi Taylor 21. Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut 22. Circe - Madeleine Miller 23. Dead Cert - Dick Francis 24. Nerve - Dick Francis 25. For Kicks - Dick Francis 26. Hamnet - Maggie O’Farrell 27. Odds Against - Dick Francis 28. Flying Finish - Dick Francis 29. Blood Sport - Dick Francis 30. Dishonesty is the second best policy - David Mitchell 31. Forfeit - Dick Francis 32. Rat Race - Dick Francis 33. Bonecrack - Dick Francis 34. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway 35. The Thief of Time - John Boyne 36. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins 37. A Thousand Ships - Natalie Haynes 38. Smokescreen - Dick Francis 39. Slay Ride - Dick Francis 40. April Lady - Georgette Heyer 41. All the Light we cannot See - Anthony Doerr 42. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving 43. Knock Down - Dick Francis 44. Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier 45. High Stakes - Dick Francis 46. The Silence of the Girls - Pat Barker 47. First Term at Malory Towers - Enid Blyton 48. Magpie Lane - Lucy Atkins 49. The Dutch House - Ann Patchett 50. Middlemarch - George Eliot 51. In the Frame - Dick Francis 52. Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey 53. Risk - Dick Francis 54. The Weekend - Charlotte Wood 55. Trial Run - Dick Francis 56. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos - Dominic Smith

And thanks southeast for the thread

Thank you as ever!

Just as a heads up to the OMF(G) crew, today is September 1st!

If, like me , that thread keeps falling off your radar please pop by to offer more intellectual musings than I seem to be capable of (I am at the level of thinking Wait... the table is a person.??

Barging onto thread to turn a pirouette and mark my place. Thanks, south-east.

Thank you SouthEast. No list from me but looking forward to September as new Vera and Cormoran Strike books out shortly. I’ve gone mad and pre-ordered them as a treat.

Currently reading the second Susie Steiner Manon Bradshaw. I don’t think it’s as good as the first but still one of the better new detective books of recent years.

Had a flying visit to Hay-on-Wye today but managed to come away without buying anything 😲

Thanks for the new thread, southeast.

Here's my list:

1. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
2. 11.22.63 by Stephen King
3. The Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen
4. Thomas Hardy: the Time-torn Man by Claire Tomalin
5. Lies Lies Lies by Adele Parks
6. The Dark Side of the Mind by Kerry Daynes
7. Back Story by David Mitchell
8. The Path by Malcolm McKay
9. Ulysses by James Joyce

10. The Mother of All Jobs: How to have Children and a Career and Stay Sane by Christine Armstrong 11. Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love by Fergal Keane 12. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss 13. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty 14. Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday 15. Eat, Drink, Run: How I Got Fit Without Going Too Mad by Bryony Gordon 16. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 17. To Throw Away Unopened Viv Albertine 18. I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections by Nora Ephron 19. Bring Me Back by B A Paris 20. My Lovely Wife: A Memoir of Madness and Hope by Mark Lukach 21. The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy 22. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout 23. The Stand by Stephen King 24. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones 25. Normal People by Sally Rooney 26. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby 27. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion 28. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy 29. Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson 30. I Never Said I Loved You by Rhik Samadder 31. The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance by Nessa Carey 32. The Marshmallow Test: Understanding Self-Control and How to Master it by Walter Mischel 33. An Unsuitable Match by Joanna Trollope 34. Me by Elton John 35. Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World by Laura Spinney 36. On The Beach by Nevile Shute 37. Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty 38. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell 39. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge 40. Black, Listed by Jeffrey Boakye 41. Paper Sparrows by Nathalie Abi-Ezzi 42. Expectation by Anna Hope 43. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak 44. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Thanks, southeast. He's my list:

1. My Name is Why- Lemn Sissay
2. Damaged- Cathy Glass
3. Wonder- R.J. Palacio
4. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race- Reni Eddo-Lodge
5. Lost at Sea: the Jon Ronson Mysteries- John Ronson
6. Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television- Louis Theroux
7. Birdsong- Sebastian Faulks
8. Lord of the Flies- William Golding
9. The Beatrix Potter Collection- Beatrix Potter

10. The Cold War: a History from Beginning to End- Hourly History 11. The Subtle Knife- Philip Pullman 12. The Amber Spyglass- Philip Pullman 13. Nine Perfect Strangers- Liane Moriarty 14. Brazil- Michael Palin 15. The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald 16. The Collector- John Fowles 17. Ready Player One- Ernest Cline 18. Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life- Peter Godfrey-Smith 19. Engleby- Sebastian Faulks 20. Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure- John Cleland 21. The Boy at the Back of the Class- Onjali Q. Rauf 22. Prison: A Survival Guide- Carl Cattermole 23. The Children- Alice Meynell 24. The Year of Reading Dangerously- Andy Miller 25. This is Going to Hurt- Adam Kay 26. Mummy Told Me Not to Tell- Cathy Glass 27. The Aerodynamics of Pork- Patrick Gale 28. Aztec Civilisation: A History from Beginning to End- Hourly History 29. Cannery Row- John Steinbeck 30. La Belle Sauvage- Philip Pullman 31. War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line- David Nott 32. The Bookshop that Floated Away- Sarah Henshaw 33. The Imperial Phase: The Rise & Fall of British Indie Music 1986-1997- Ray Dexter 34. Lunch with the Wild Frontiers: A History of Britpop and Excess in 13½ Chapters- Phill Savidge 35. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind- William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer 36. Frost in May- Antonia White 37. Lyra’s Oxford- Philip Pullman 38. Scrublands- Chris Hammer 39. A History of Loneliness- John Boyne 40. Here Comes the Clown: A Stumble Through Showbusiness- Dom Joly 41. Nickel and Dimed- Barbara Ehrenreich 42. Inside Broadmoor- Jonathan Levi & Emma French 43. The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath 44. Doctor Sleep- Stephen King 45. The Lost World- Michael Crichton 46. The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger 47. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?- Jeanette Winterson 48. The Perfect Child- Lucinda Berry 49. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling 50. To Siri with Love- Judith Newman 51. Prognosis- Sarah Vallance 52. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit- Judith Kerr 53. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- J.K. Rowling 54. Another Forgotten Child- Cathy Glass 55. The Children Act- Ian McEwan 56. And the Ocean Was Our Sky- Patrick Ness 57. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child- J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne 58. In the City, by the Sea- Kamila Shamsie 59. Fleabag: The Special Edition- Phoebe Waller-Bridge 60. Winston Churchill: A Life from Beginning to End- Hourly History 61. The Rehearsal- Eleanor Catton 62. The Saddest Girl in the World- Cathy Glass 63. Sal- Mick Kitson 64. It’s Not About You- Tom Rath 65. The Nanny State Made Me- Stuart Maconie 66. Sonic Youth Slept on My Floor- Dave Haslam 67. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time- Mark Haddon 68. I Was Britpopped- Jenny Natasha & Tom Boniface-Webb 69. A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner- Chris Atkins 70. My Brother’s Name is Jessica- John Boyne 71. Unnatural Causes- Dr Richard Shepherd 72. Bookworm- Lucy Mangan 73. Innocent- Cathy Glass 74. Eye Can Write- Jonathan Bryan 75. The Covid Companion: 52 Ways to Be Happy in Isolation- Muzzammil Ali 76. Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division- Peter Hook 77. Strangeways: A Prison Officer’s Story- Neil Samworth 78. Finding Stevie- Cathy Glass 79. Horn Life, or What’s Your Proper Job?- John Pigneguy 80. Keeping On Keeping On- Alan Bennett 81. Julius Caesar: A Life from Beginning to End- Hourly History 82. Fun Home- Alison Bechdel 83. Swallowdale- Arthur Ransome 84. Inside Charlie’s Chocolate Factory- Lucy Mangan 85. The Scream: The Music, Myths and Misbehaviour of Primal Scream- Kris Needs 86. The Men Who Stare at Goats- Jon Ronson 87. 84 Charing Cross Road/The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street- Helene Hanff 88. Station Eleven- Emily St John Mandel 89. I Capture the Castle- Dodie Smith 90. Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East- Benjamin Law 91. The Spanish Flu: A History from Beginning to End- Hourly History 92. Do it Like a Woman… and Change the World- Caroline Criado Perez 93. Broken Greek: A Story of Chip Shops and Pop Songs- Pete Paphides 94. The Chilbury Ladies Choir- Jennifer Ryan 95. Dear Bill Bryson: Footnotes from a Small Island- Ben Aitken 96. Happier at Home- Gretchen Rubin 97. The Boy on the Bridge- M. R. Carey 98. Infection: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Novel- M. P. McDonald 99. Isolation- M. P. McDonald 100. Invasion- M.P. McDonald 101. Titanic: the Story of the Unsinkable Ship- Hourly History 102. Tastes of Honey: The Making of Shelagh Delaney and a Cultural Revolution- Selina Todd 103. Nerd Do Well- Simon Pegg 104. Alone at the End of the World- M. P. McDonald 105. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- J. K. Rowling 106. Where Has Mummy Gone?- Cathy Glass 107. A Long Way from Home- Cathy Glass 108. How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You- Leil Lowndes 109. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry- Rachel Joyce 110. All the Rage- Cara Hunter 111. Pandemic 1918- Catharine Arnold 112. John F. Kennedy: A Life from Beginning to End- Hourly History 113. The Star Outside My Window- Onjali Q. Rauf 114. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- J. K. Rowling 115. The Five- Hallie Rubenhold 116. Magpie Lane- Lucy Atkins 117. Charlotte’s Web- E. B. White 118. Forever- Judy Blume 119. The Body: A Guide for Occupants- Bill Bryson 120. Hired- James Bloodworth 121. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling 122. Troublesome Words- Bill Bryson 123. The Wombles- Elisabeth Beresford 124. All Points North- Simon Armitage 125. Confessions of a Bookseller- Shaun Bythell 126. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid- Bill Bryson 127. Celtic Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Sagas and Beliefs- Hourly History 128. Pollen- Jeff Noon 129. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter- Carson McCullers 130. How to Deal with Stress- Stephan Palmer 131. Too Scared to Tell- Cathy Glass 132. Into the Night- Sarah Bailey 133. Days of the Bagnold Summer- Joff Winterhart 134. Sweet Sorrow- David Nicholls 135. Revolution in the Head- Ian MacDonald 136. The Wall- John Lanchester 137. Coping with Coronavirus: How to Stay Calm and Protect Your Mental Health- Dr Brendan Kelly 138. A Walk in the Woods- Bill Bryson 139. Holes- Louis Sachar 140. Wuthering Heights- Emily Brontë 141. Middle England- Jonathan Coe 142. The Coronavirus Preparedness Handbook- Tess Pennington 143. My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece- Annabel Pitcher 144. To the Lighthouse- Virginia Woolf 145. The New Jim Crow- Michelle Alexander 146. The Mayflower: a History from Beginning to End- Hourly History 147. Eat that Frog!- Brian Tracy 148. The Secret Commonwealth- Philip Pullman 149. Tess of the d’Urbervilles- Thomas Hardy 150. Around the World in 80 Days- Michael Palin

I haven't yet commented on nos. 144-150, but I'll do that within the next few days.

Thanks for the new thread.

My list:

Bringing over my list

1.The xenophobes guide to the English, Anthony Miall

1. Between the stops, Sandi Toksvig

3.Once gone, Blake Pierce 4.The Guilty Mother, Diane Jeffrey 5.The little book of hygge, Meik Wiking 6.It’s too late now, A.A. Milne 7.The world I fell out of, Melanie Reid 8.The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley 9.Christmas at Rachel’s pudding pantry, Caroline Roberts 10.The Patron saint of lost souls, Menna van Praag 11.The octopus nest, Sophie Hannah 12.The 50 list, Nigel Holland 13.The power trip, Jackie Collins 14.The lost child, Patricia Gibney 15.Heads you win, Jeffrey Archer 16.Titanic survivor: Life boat number 6, Pierre Beaumont 17.Sunny Side Up, Susan Calman 18.Honeysuckle House, Christina Jones 19.Double take tales, Donna Brown 20.The deal of a lifetime, Frederick Backman 21.My life in comedy, Nicholas Parsons 22.Seahouses, Richard Barnett 23.Little fires everywhere, Celeste Ng 24.A crime short story collection, Bloomsbury 25.Little girl missing, J.G. Roberts 26.The second book of general ignorance, John Lloyd (QI) 27.New Zealand calling, Alex Richards 28.Swimming with orca, Ingrid Visser 29.The sealand incident, Brent Saltzman 30.Ka Mate, Dan Coxon 31.Fresh of the boat, Simon Collins 32.New Zealand, James Boyle 33.The british colonisation of New Zealand, Charles River 34.The laughing policeman, Glenn Wood 35.Trustee from the toolroom, Nevil Shute Norway 36.The very picture of you, Isabel Wolff 37.Cop Out, Glenn Wood 38.The divine storyteller, William McCandless 39.Swell: a waterbiography, Jenny Landreth 40.If clouds were sheep, Sue Andrews 41.The telephone box library, Rachael Lucas 42.Two old fools down under, Victoria Twead 43.You’ll never see me again, Lesley Pearce 44.Keep calm and swim to France, Mark Ransom 45.Step by step, my life in journeys, Simon Reeve 46.Christmas at the lucky parrot garden centre, Beth Good 47.Hourly Histories American Revolution 48.Squashed possums: off the beaten track in NZ Jonathan Tindale 49.All balls and glitter, Craig Revel Horwood 50. The Photographer's Saga, Petra Durst-Benning 51. Pulse, Felix Francis 52. The Sealwoman's Gift, Sally Magnussen* 53. QI Book of general ignorance 54. The pants of perspective, Anna McNuff 55. Pied Piper, Nevil Shute 56. Round the bend, Nevil Shute 57. The Flower Shop, Petra Durst-Benning 58. Breaking Borders, James Asquith 59. The corner shop in Cockleberry Bay, Nicola May 60. If street lights could glow ultraviolet, Katherine Highland 61. The Seedwoman, Petra Durst-Benning 62. Secrets at At Bride's, Debbie Young ^Returned for refund* 63. New Zealand: 36 days in wonderland, Mark Wallace 64. Mythos, Stephen Fry 65. Hope Close, Tina Seskis 66. Walking Shorts, Mark Richards 67. Father, Son and the Pennine Way, Mark Richards 68. A wedding at the beach hut, Veronica Henry 69. The complete Uxbridge English dictionary 70. Father and son return to the Pennine Way, Mark Richards 71. Father, son and the Kerry Way, Mark Richards 72. All that she can see, Kerry Hope Fletcher 73. Travelling in a box, Mike Wood 74. Two in a box, Mike Wood 75. While the world is still asleep, Petra Durst-Benning 76. Family life on a narrowboat, Richard MacKenzie 77. Unsinkable, Jane MacDonald 78. The Champagne Queen, Petra Durst-Benning 79. Fierce Bad Rabbits, Clare Polland 80. Stories from the heart, Amanda Prowse 81. Mr Portobellos morning paper, Amanda Prowse 82. The queen of beauty, Petra Durst-Benning 83. A short history of nearly everything, Bill Bryson 84. Expedition, Steve Backshall 85. The girl from the sea, Shalini Boland 86. The perfect family, Shalini Boland 87. The bookshop on the shore, Jenny Colgan 88. Rough Magic, Lara Prior-Palmer 89. 100 things you will never find, Daniel Smith 90. Dumped actually, Nick Spalding 91. The Space Race, Hourly History 92. Guilty, not guilty, Felix Francis 93. Closer, KL Slater 94. Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland 95. The Night you Left, Emma Curtis 96. The Ravenmaster, Christopher Skaife 97. Charlee and the chocolate shop, Jessica Redland 98. Beyond the Lens, Robert Rodriguez 99. A short history of * (my town) 100. KIdnapping my daughter, Rachel Jensen 101.Beowulf, Seamus Heaney 102. Forest Therapy, Sarah Ivens 103 This thing of darkness, Harry Thompson 104. Queens of the Kingdom, Nicola Sutcliff 105. Wham, George and Me, Andrew Ridgley 106. Confessions of a Police Constable, Matt Delito 107. Pad's Army, Paul Addy 108. Nothing Ventured, Jeffrey Archer 109. Iceburg, Paul Kavanaugh 110. Further confessions of a GP, Benjamin Daniels 111. Crazy Street, Archie McFee. 112. The Girlfriend, Michelle Francis.

Goodreads thinks I've read 109 books so something is wrong somewhere.

Currently reading: Some kids I taught and what they taught me. Kate Clanchy. New term, new book about some pupils. I'd recommend it.

Thanks for the new thread SouthEast, here’s my current list:

1. Pet Semetary by Stephen King (2/5)
2. The Outsider by Albert Camus (5/5)
3. Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter by Carol Ann Lee (3/5)
4. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. (4/5)
5. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. (5/5)
6. 4321 by Paul Auster. (4/5)
7. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. (3/5)
8. The Devil's Teardrop by Jeffrey Deaver. (1/5)
9. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor. (3/5)

10. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. (4/5) 11. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 12. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 13. Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay. (1/5) 14. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. (3/5) 15. The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub. (2/5) 16. Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade. (3/5) 17. Black Ice by Michael Connelly. (2/5) 18. In the Woods by Tana French. (3/5) 19. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. (3/5) 20. Red Ribbons by Louise Phillips. (1/5) 21. The Girl He Used to Know by Tracy Garvis Graves. (3/5) 22. The Other Us by Fiona Harper. (2/5) 23. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. (3/5) 24. The Crow Trap by Anne Cleeves. (3/5) 25. The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. (3/5) 26. Guilt by Jussi Adler-Olsen. (3/5) 27. This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay. (4/5) 28. Just One Damn Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 29. The Very First Damn Thing by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 30. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 31. When a Child is Born by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 32. Roman Holiday by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 33. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 34. Christmas Present by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 35. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 36. No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 37. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths (3/5) 38. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (1/5) 39. Thinner by Stephen King.(2/5) 40. What Could Possibly Go Wrong by Jodi Taylor. (3/5). 41. Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings by Jodi Taylor. (2/5) 42. My Name is Markham by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 43. Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 44. The Great St Mary's Day Out by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 45. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. (4/5) 46. The Sudden Departure of the Frasers by Louise Candlish. (3/5) 47. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling. (3/5) 48. Raven Black by Ann Cleeves. (4/5) 49. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. (4/5) 50. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. (3/5) 51. Skeleton Crew by Stephen King. (2/5) 52.Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. (4/5) 53.It by Stephen King (4/5) 54. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (4/5) 55. East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman (3/5) 56. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (5/5) 57. And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 58. Someone Out There by Catherine Hunt (1/5) 59. A Perfect Storm by Jodi Taylor (2/5) 60. Christmas Past by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 61. An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 62. The Battersea Barricades by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 63. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (3/5) 64. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (3/5) 65. Look For Me by Lisa Gardner (2/5) 66. The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis (3/5) 67. The Steam Pump Jump by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 68. And Now for Something Completely Different by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 69. Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 70. When Did You Last See Your Father? By Jodi Taylor (3/5) 71. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (4/5) 72. Enigma by Robert Harris (4/5) 73. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson (3/5)

Thanks southeast.
Finished 29. Findings by Kathleen Jamie
This book stopped my reading from grinding completely to a halt as I returned to work. The essay format suited as I could read in short chunks and without following the plot of a novel. I feel like I've read a lot of London based non-fiction this year ( Mudlarking, The Five, Between the Stops ) and enjoyed the nature writing and rural/remote Scottish locations in this collection. Some of the observations and comnections that Jamie makes are a joy to read.

Thanks, South. No list from me, and nothing bought in the Kindle sale yet, although I do wonder if Rum Doodle might be worth a shot. I bought it for a friend years ago, but never got around to reading it myself.

Hi South and thanks for the thread :)

I'm still reading The Count Of Monte Cristo, can't even remember how long I've been reading it or what number it is. It's HUGE! but I'm enjoying it, just letting it take me along in its flow and accepting I won't get anywhere near 50 books this year.

BTW does anyone else find all the lists on these later threads make them really hard to read I read mostly on an iPhone and find it's a real pain to scroll through them to get to the actual book chat. With apologies to all those who have posted their lists!

Thanks for new thread southeast.

1. Black Hammer Vol 1

2. Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson

1. Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson

4. Jim Henson The Biography by Brian Jay Jones 5. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow 6. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

1. Thin Air by Michelle Paver
2. 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

9. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt 10. The Pied Piper by Neville Shute 11. The Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard 12. The 101 Dalamatians by Dodie Smith 13. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien 14. My Wild and Sleepless Nights by Clover Stroud 15. Wild and Crazy Guys by Nick de Semlyn 16. The Topeka School by Ben Lerner 17. Trustee from the Toolroom by Neville Shute 18. The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks 19. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris 20. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami 21. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid 22. Persuasion by Jane Austen 23. The Island 24. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss 25. Stasiland by Anna Funder 26. Ice Cold in Alex 27. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld 28. Matilda by Roald Dahl 29. The Railway Children by E Nesbit 30. The Mothers by Britt Bennett 31. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford 32. Millions by Frank Cottrell-Boyce 33. Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls 34. The Redhead at the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler 35. Back When We Were Grown-Ups by Anne Tyler 36. The Second Sleep by Robert Harris 37. Little Women by Louisa M Alcott 38. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger 39. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel 40. For Esme with Love and Squalor by Jd Salinger 41. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith 42. Emma by Jane Austen 43. One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown

Thanks for the new thread SouthEast

Just bringing the list over for now, I'm still mid-book.

1. Asymmetry - Lisa Halliday
2. The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides
3. Woke – Titania McGrath
4. My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
5. The Familiars – Stacey Halls
6. The Hunting Party – Lucy Foley
7. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
8. Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
9. The Sanctuary Murders – Susanna Gregory

10. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell 11. Villette – Charlotte Brontë 12. Night Boat to Tangiers – Kevin Barry 13. Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche 14. Homesick for Another World - Ottessa Moshfegh 15. Middlemarch – George Eliot 16. Galatea – Madeline Miller 17. The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien 18. The Running Hare – John Lewis Stempel 19. The Hidden World of the Fox – Adele Brand 20. The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway #2) – Elly Griffiths 21. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman 22. And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie 23. The Witches Are Coming – Lindy West 24. Lost Children Archive – Valeria Luiselli 25. The Confession – Jessie Burton 26. The Wall – John Lanchester 27. The Man Who Saw Everything – Deborah Levy 28. Bone China - Laura Purcell 29. I Am, I Am, I Am – Maggie O’Farrell 30. Call the Midwife – Jennifer Worth 31. Candide - Voltaire 32. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain 33. The Mercies – Kiran Millwood Hargrave 34. Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel 35. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco 36. Such A Fun Age- Kiley Reid 37. Bring Up the Bodies – Hilary Mantel 38. Conviction – Denise Mina 39. Disappearing Earth – Julia Phillips 40. The Illness Lesson – Clare Beams 41. A History of Britain in 21 Women – Jenni Murray 42. Three Things About Elsie – Joanna Cannon 43. Dear Edward – Ann Napolitano 44. Djinn Patrol on the Purplr Line – Deepa Anappara 45. The Outsiders – SE HInton 46. Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi 47. The Mars Room – Rachel Kushner 48. Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson 49. Nightingale Point – Luan Goldie 50. The Most Fun We Ever Had – Claire Lombardo 51. Ask Again, Yes – Mary Beth Keane 52. The Death of Mrs Westaway – Ruth Ware 53. The Mirror and the Light – Hilary Mantel 54. Sometimes I Lie – Alice Feeney 55. The Confessions of Frannie Langton – Sara Collins 56. Long Bright River – Liz Moore 57. Silas Marner – George Eliot 58. Persona Non Grata (Ruso #3) - Ruth Downie 59. Heroes – Stephen Fry 60. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (POirot #4) – Agatha Christie 61. Lark Rise to Candleford – Flora Thompson 62. The Spire – William Golding 63. The Furies – Natalie Haynes 64. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid 65. The House at Sea’s End (Ruth Galloway #3) – Elly Griffiths 66. If You Want to Make God Laugh – Bianca Marais 67. A Woman of No Importance – Sonia Purnell 68. A Good Neighbourhood – Therese Anne Fowler 69. The Absolutist – John Boyne 70. Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid 71. My Dark Vanessa – Kate Elizabeth Russell 72. Actress – Anne Enright 73. Dominicana – Angie Cruz 74. Fleishman is in Trouble – Tiffany Brodesser-Akner 75. Weather – Jenny Offill 76. Saltwater – Jessica Andrews 77. How We Disappeared – Jing-Jing Lee 78. Guest House for Young Widows – Azadeh Moaveni 79. Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver 80. A Thousand Ships – Natalie Haynes 81. When Will There Be Good News (Jackson Brodie #3) – Kate Atkinson 82. Supper Club – Lara Williams 83. Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell 84. He Said/She Said – Erin Kelly 85. Surfacing – Kathleen James 86. The Other Bennet Sister – Janice Hadlow 87. Our Women on the Ground – Zahra Hankir 88. The Five - Hallie Rubenhold 89. Dear Mrs Bird –AJ Pearce 90. The Reservoir Tapes – Jon McGregor 91. The Story of My Teeth – Valeria Luiselli 92. Topics of Conversation – Miranda Popkey 93. A Single Thread – Tracy Chevalier 94. The Opposite of Fate – Alison McGhee 95. The Girl With the Louding Voice Abi Daré 96. Miss Austen – Gill Hornby 97. Redhead By the Side of the Road – Anne Tyler 98. I Know Who You Are – Alice Feeney 99. The Book of Longings – Sue Monk Kidd 100. Akin – Emma Donaghue 101. Out of Darkness, Shining Light – Pettina Gappah 102. The Sealwoman’s Gift – Sally Magnusson 103. Jonathan Pie Off the Record – Jonathan Pie 104. Dept of Speculation – Jenny Offill 105. The Lesser Bohemians – Eimer McBride 106. We must Be Brave – Frances Liardet 107. All the Birds Singing – Evie Wyld 108. Know My Name – Chanel Miller 109. The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters 110. Say Nothing – Patrick Radden Keith 111. Absolution By Murder ( Sister Fidelma #1) – Peter Tremayne 112. The Rise of Darkness (Serailler #3) – Susan Hill 113. The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places – Neil Oliver 114. The Secretary – Zoe Lea 115. Everyday Sexism – Laura Bates 116. A Bit of a Stretch – Chris Atkins 117. Pamela – Samuel Richardson 118. Three Women – Lisa Taddeo 119. The Yellow Bird Sings – Jennifer Rosner 120. The Uncoupling – Meg Wolitzer 121. Strange Hotel – Eimear McBride 122. If Beale Street Could Talk – James Baldwin 123. A Different Class of Murder: The Story of Lord Lucan – Laura Thompson 124. The Foundling – Stacey Halls 125. St Clare’s Collection – Enid Blyton 126. Days Without End – Sebastian Barry 127. A Thousand Moons – Sebastian Barry 128. The Grove of the Caesars (Flavia Albia #8) – Lindsey Davis 129. The Bookseller’s Tale (Oxford Medieval #1) - Ann Swinfen 130. Clock Dance – Anne Tyler 131. If I Had Your Face – Frances Cha 132. These Women – Amy Pochoda 133. Brit(ish):On Race, Identity and Belonging – Afua Hirsch 134. The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship and Liberation in the 1960s – Maggie Doherty 135. The Inimitable Jeeves – PG Wodehouse 136. A Far Cry from Kensington – Muriel Spark 137. One, Two, Buckle my Shoe – Agatha Christie 138. Invitation to Die – Lyndsey Davis 139. Mouthful of Birds - Samata Schweblin 140. McGlue – Ottessa Moshfegh 141. David Copperfield – Charles DIckens 142. Disgrace - JM Coetzee 143. A Room Full of Bones (Ruth Galloway #4) – Elly Griffiths 144. Testament of Youth – Vera Brittain 145. Crooked Heart – Lissa Evans 146. Ithaca – Patrick Dillon 147. The Mothers – Brit Bennett 148. Red Dress in Black ad White – Elliot Ackerman 149. All My Mother’s Lovers – Ilana Masad 150. Pericles: Prince of Tyre – William Shakespeare 151. The Porpoise – Mark Haddon 152. The Other Americans – Leila Slimani 153. What We Lose – Zinzi Clemmons 154. Home Remedies – Xuan Juliana Wang 155. The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett 156. Caveat Emptor – Ruth Downie 157. The Gathering – Anne Enright 158. The Truants – Kate Weinberg 159. Watching You – Lisa Jewell 160. What’s Left of Me Is Yours – Stephanie Scott 161. Little Eyes – Samata Schweblin 162. My Mother’s House – Francesca Monplaisir 163. Drifts – Kate Zambreno 164. A Burning - Megha Majumdar 165. The Book of Rosy - Rosayra Pablo Cruz 166. The Gustav Sonata – Rose Tremain 167. American Spy – Lauren Willkinson 168. Human Acts – Han Kang 169. Intimations – Zadie Smith 170. The Novice’s Tale (Oxford Medieval #2) – Ann Swinfen 171. Winter (Seasonal Quartet #2) – Ali Smith 172. Dear Ijeawele – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche 173. The Huntsman’s Tale Oxford Medieval #3) – Ann Swinfen 174. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway 175. Hidden Valley Road – Robert Kolker 176. After Leaving Mr MacKenzie - Jean Rhys 177. Where the Crawdad’s Sing – Delia Owens 178. Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche 179. Night, Sleep, Death, the Stars – Joyce Carol Oates 180. The Pull of the Stars – Emma Donoghue 181. Remain Silent - Susie Steiner

Meg - agreed. I don't really want to see the lists, although it might be nice for people to maybe just say their best 2/3 books so far. It wasn't so bad when the threads had fewer people on them.

I like seeing the lists as it's interesting to see who has read books I'm thinking about reading, maybe it'd work better if we just posted the books from the last month?

Either way, I'm not fussed about posting mine so I'm happy to not do it on the next thread.

Thanks for the new thread SouthEast. Agree with Remus and Meg I also find the lists make the thread unwieldy very quickly, but I think some people only keep their lists on here so would lose them otherwise?

Nothing to add here, still reading Anathem which is wonderful, one of the few books where I'm grateful for the fact that it's 1000 odd pages long! I do need to finish it though as I've got a pile queued up on the library app.

Definitely not bringing my list over! Though I have just thought of a possible project late in December, to do a list of all the bolded books in everyone's list just in time to mop up everyone's gift tokens [evil cackle]

38. The Year of Living Biblically by A J Jacobs A New York-based journalist for Esquire spends a year living according to all the Biblical laws.

This was a truly random read as I picked it out of one of the Help Yourself books that are on a lot of front windowsills at the moment, and which are causing my TBR pile to explode because it's hard to walk past without picking something up. But I really enjoyed it, especially the first nine-tenths. A J is quite an appealing persona and writes in a very subtle faux-naif style e.g. with very short sentences, which suits the topic of accepting instruction and change. The subject matter is really interesting, exploring different interpretations of the Bible and of religion. The much larger first portion is about the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and it's the best IMO. The New Testament portion is shorter and much less heartfelt, though he does write about that fact. It fades rather unsatisfactorily at the very last which was a little annoying, and the biggest 'missing' item is a chapter written by or at least an interview with his wife. It made me think again about reading A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans because I feel that this project would have been much harder and more visceral for women - and in looking that up, I find that RHE tragically died last year aged 37

I love seeing the lists, I find it fascinating seeing everyone's varied tastes and seeing the same books come up as highlights. My updated list:

1. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
2. The Reason I Jump - Naoki Higashida
3. My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
4. The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell
5. You Will Not Have My Hate - Antoine Leiris
6. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - Horace McCoy
7. Something to Live For - Richard Roper
8. From Prejudice to Pride: A History of LGBTQ+ Movement - Amy Lamé
9. 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff

10. Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams 11. Blood Orange - Harriet Tyce 12. Those People - Louise Candlish 13. Lady in Waiting - Anne Glennconner 14. Authentic - Stephen Joseph 15. Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo 16. Clothes and Other Things That Matter - Alexandra Shulman 17. Platform Seven - Louise Doughty 18. How Not to Be a Boy - Robert Webb 19. Heartstopper vol 2 - Alice Oseman 20. Heartstopper vol 3 - Alice Oseman 21. Two Besides: A Pair of Talking Heads - Alan Bennett 22. Talking Heads - Alan Bennett 23. Motherwell: A Girlhood - Deborah Orr 24. The Shielding of Mrs Forbes - Alan Bennett 25. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference - Greta Thunberg 26. The Glossy Years: Magazines, Museums and Selective Memoirs - Nicholas Coleridge 27. Me - Elton John 28. Nick and Charlie - Alice Oseman 29. Exciting Times - Naoise Dolan 30. Queen Bee - Jane Fallon

I don't mind the lists. Always in awe of fortuna! I also like seeing the ones in bold that I really hated! Or not in bold and can't understand why the poster didn't like it as much as me.

I haven't brought my list over because I am too lazy to copy and paste.

Now it's term time I'm not using my ipad at night when in bed so I should get more reading done. I've picked up these on the monthly deal:
24 hours in ancient China: a day in the life of the people who lived there - and the same for Athens and Egypt.