26-ish books in 2021

[MercedesDeMonteChristo]

Thought I’d kick start the new thread for this year.

I’m starting with Outlander by Diana Gabalon and reading Anna Karenina Tolstoy one chapter a day, so expect to finish September sometime - I’m on chapter 4.

I copied the incomplete list.

1. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
2. Diary of a Provincial Lady, E M Delafield
3. The Duke & I, Julia Quinn
4. Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
5. Us, David Nicholls
6. The Autumn of the Ace, Louis de Bernieres
7. Migrant City: A New History of London, Panikos Panayi
8. Frenchman’s Creek, Daphne du Maurier
9. The Outsider, Albert Camus

10. The Battle of Green Lanes, Cosh Omar 11. Malamander, Thomas Taylor 12. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens 13. The Interest, Michael Taylor 14. Twenty Years After, Alexandre Dumas

1. Just My Luck by Adele Parks
2. The Prison Doctor by Amanda Brown
3. The Doctor Will See You Now by Amir Khan
4. The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish
5. The Babysitter by Phoebe Morgan
6. The Open House by Sam Carrington
7. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
8. Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates
9. The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer 11. Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde 12. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano 13. Vox by Christina Dalcher 14. The Mandibles: A Family, 2029 - 2047 by Lionel Shriver 15. Scattered Minds by Gabor Maté

The subtitle of this book is “The origins and healing of Attention Deficit Disorder”. Personal reasons for reading this one, as we’re knee deep in diagnosis here. I would highly recommend to anyone who had someone with ADD/ADHD in their life. It does a superb job of explaining the developmental basis for the condition (it’s not “bad behaviour” - on the contrary, my son is incredibly well behaved much of the time”) but it does have its basis in circumstance and experience in early childhood. It explain this neatly without blame. Yes, there are situations in my child’s life that have potentially contributed to where we are (not least massive infertility issues, miscarriage, ill health and a severe depression on my part) but those things are what they are. The book has actually released me from a lot of the guilt I’ve been carrying.

On a different note - I can’t believe I’ve read 15 books already! I said when I joined the thread that I always race out of the gate with reading in January, but it usually falls by the wayside quite quickly. Whether it’s the effect of lockdown (although the first lockdown last year actually paralysed my reading) or just that I unusually haven’t hit any DNFs (The Mandibles was really close though) but I’m still consistently reading a good chunk every day. This is all good news for my huge TBR pile and Kindle Deals addiction!

I’ve had a very lazy day and finished another.

1. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
2. Diary of a Provincial Lady, E M Delafield
3. The Duke & I, Julia Quinn
4. Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
5. Us, David Nicholls
6. The Autumn of the Ace, Louis de Bernieres
7. Migrant City: A New History of London, Panikos Panayi
8. Frenchman’s Creek, Daphne du Maurier
9. The Outsider, Albert Camus

10. The Battle of Green Lanes, Cosh Omar 11. Malamander, Thomas Taylor 12. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens 13. The Interest, Michael Taylor 14. Twenty Years After, Alexandre Dumas 15. The Disappearance of Emile Zola: Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case, Michael Rosen

A bit of a cheat as I was already 85 pages through from a few years ago. Michael Rosen tells the story of Zola’s exile in London towards the end of his life after writing a tract in defence of Dreyfus, a Jewish soldier who was falsely accused of treason. I like Zola’s work so I read it on a few levels. I wasn’t aware of his domestic set up (mistress with children) but Rosen romanticises it a little too much for me. The exploration of exile was interesting though.

13. The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes - Ruth Hogan
This is lovely. Although hard to read in places. The main theme is death and specifically the death of a child, so might not be quite right for everyone. But it is charming and clever and funny and the characters are delightful.

14. The Scarlet Lion - Elizabeth Chadwick
Final book in a trilogy about 12/13th century knight/hero William Marshall and his family. Based on a real person, the research is meticulous and the story is fascinating.

1. Midnight library - Matt haig. Slightly simplistic writing but a fun idea- that all the choice you made in life are open to be reviewed in a library where you can try out your alternate lives. Not finished yet..

10. The marriage bureau

A memoir about two women who set up a marriage bureau in 1939 in Bond St. Hilarious, sweet and fun, laugh out loud at times. Tinder back in the day... I head about it on Radio 4. It’s a bit like Bridgerton without the sexy bits. Highly recommended.

5: The Pioppi Diet
Interesting read about the people in the Pioppi region of Italy and how their way of life is so healthy.

6: The Secret Barrister
Enjoyed this but there were nowhere near enough cases to make his/her points come alive.

7: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Loved this one and really want to read all her books.

Currently reading Where the Crawdads Sing and I don’t hate it but don’t love it either.

Book 9 Where the Crawdads Sing. Fespite all the hype over this book it was nearly a dnf for me. I plodded on and found it ok in the end, but felt like I just wanted to get to the end, it took me an age to finish it. I found it a little unbelievable and way too much focus on the biology of the area.

Book 10 My Dark Vanessa where do I even start with this one! I read it quite quickly, but that was more to do with the book being so disturbing and me wanting to get through it I think. I did find it a good book, if you can describe it that way, but God some parts literally made my skin crawl. A very insightful view into how trauma can make us see things in a very different light.

Book 11 was The Boy in the Dress - David Walliams that I read to the kids.

I think my next book will be My Sister, the Serial Killer

@Tinkhasflown exactly my thoughts re: Crawdads. If it hadn’t been book club I would have stopped at 50 pages. In the end I was glad I finished but very meh.

I think Crawdads would have been better if there had been less plot and more biology, the descriptions of the environment were the best bit!

17 Freedom Bound: Escaping Slavery in Scotland by Warren Pleece

Kids graphic novel I got for the DC. This was written in conjunction with the University of Glasgow who has done a lot of work unearthing the extent of the links between the University and slavery (there's a lot, Glasgow became a wealthy city because of the tobacco trade). This focuses on the stories of three real life runaway slaves, the third of which was the first slave to be granted his freedom by the courts in Scotland. There's more information and references at the back. Copies have been given to every school in Scotland. It's a child friendly read on a horrible subject.

Sorry, wrong thread - should have posted on 50 books!

Haven't posted much yet on the thread, mainly because I chose such a long book at the beginning of the year that I didn't have any updates.

Anyway just popped in to say that I've finished The Great Gatsby today and it's only 127 pages. So if you haven't read it and you want a short, good book to up your count I can recommend this one

Oohh I love F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Tender is the Night is in my top 30 books.
I don't think I've reread a book but if I ever do it will be that one.

Oohh I love F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Tender is the Night is in my top 30 books. I don't think I've reread a book but if I ever do it will be that one

Thanks fir that Bacon. I just cant quite Darin why I've never read any of his before. Think I'll put Tender is the Night on my list for later in the year

A friend really rated Tender is the Night last year, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've read a collection of his short stories too which I also didn't love, except one about a mountain the size of a diamond, I liked that. I also didn't get on with Gatsby. Reading that back, it would seem that F. Scott Fitzgerland and I just don't get along.

Reading that back, it would seem that F. Scott Fitzgerland and I just don't get along. I'd say it sounds like that too

9. Grown Ups by Marian Keyes
I've always considered MK to be an author firmly established in the so-called Chick Lit camp.
But I just loved this book.
I'm bereft without the characters and their plot lines. The writing was funny and perceptive.
8/10.

Off to read My Dark Vanessa now, which I think may be rather different to Grown Ups.....

So far this year

1. Thursday Murder Club. Got a bit tiresome towards the end

1. Mexican Gothic - was ok

1. My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. Excellent but a very difficult book to read at times

1. Scrublands by Chris Hammer. Was good but dragged on.

1. The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins. I absolutely loved this book I didn’t want it to end. I love her writing

1. Erebus - The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin. I’ve just watched The Terror and found the story fascinating so reading a more factual side of the story now. Also have this on audio so switch from reading to audio. Michael Palin is a pleasure to listen too

I am now no 86 on the library list for Thursday Murder Club. Will I get it in 2021 do you think?

1. The Confession by Jessie Burton.

I've enjoyed this author's previous books so was looking forward to reading this book. I didn't enjoy the first hundred or so pages so thought I was going to be disappointed but the middle and end were a big improvement on the opening so I'm glad I perservered! A good book about relationships just a shame the beginning wasn't as strong as the rest.

@drspouse I read that as ‘I’m on book 86’ and was about to congratulate that rather incredible achievement.

Sorry no!

11. In the light of what we know Zia Haider Roman

Don't you just hate a polymath? This dude is into his third career and his debut novel is infuriatingly good. About 50 pages in so will report back, but gripped. His protagonist has the same background as him, so I am intrigued to know how much of the fiction follows his facts... Oxford, Maths, child of Pakistani immigrants, human rights lawyer.... and then....

Bangladeshi... sorry.

1. Just My Luck by Adele Parks
2. The Prison Doctor by Amanda Brown
3. The Doctor Will See You Now by Amir Khan
4. The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish
5. The Babysitter by Phoebe Morgan
6. The Open House by Sam Carrington
7. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
8. Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates
9. The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer 11. Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde 12. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano 13. Vox by Christina Dalcher 14. The Mandibles: A Family, 2029 - 2047 by Lionel Shriver 15. Scattered Minds by Gabor Maté

16. Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy

I highly recommend this one. Especially if you are a parent or a teacher or the sort of person on Mumsnet who has ever written “not a teacher bashing thread but....” This book does a fantastic job of unravelling many of the issues faced not just by the education system, but society in the UK as a whole, and highlights what we need more people to understand if we’re ever to achieve a fully functional society: People don’t choose their circumstances.

17. May Contain Nuts by John O’Farrell.

I also enjoyed this one, despite being one of the private school utilising people that it is bashing. I also live in an area where the obsession about entrance exams to secondary schools is next level. Although it’s a comedic look at “pushy parents” the underlying characterisation is not that far fetched. I hope that this and Some Kids I Taught between them will keep my feet on the ground over the next couple of years as we’re forced to navigate the secondary school transfer!

18. The Prison Doctor: Women Inside by Amanda Brown

I reviewed the first instalment of Dr Brown’s prison tales earlier in the thread and said I wasn’t in a hurry to read the second (which is definitely a second instalment, not a sequel, as it stands alone). Then it came up as a 99p deal on Kindle, and a couple of people recommended it as being better than the first book, so I gave it a go. It did have much more human interest in it than the first book (the cynic in me says that by this point in her career she’d started seeking out the full stories of the inmates in order to write a book) and there is more social commentary about the root causes of crime being social deprivation, exclusion and having suffered violence or abuse. In short, another book which reminds that people really don’t choose their circumstances.

19. Q by Christina Dalcher

Another one I really recommend. It’s the highly disturbing tale of an imagined scenario in which US citizens are ranked by their intelligence which an aim to produce an elite race. Hugely disturbing, and all the more so because it is based on a real eugenics movement that is frequently airbrushed from history. It’s scarily plausible. Hoping there is more coming from this author as I’ve really enjoyed both of her books recently.