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.

@HoundOfTheBasketballs I read All The Lonely People a while back and also enjoyed it. I was wondering what you thought of the ending - the bit about his daughter Rose. Without wanting to give away any spoilers, I did find it a little unbelievable/farfetched and this spoilt the experience of the book for me.

Heads up - American Dirt is on the 99p Kindle Daily Deal today (I'm allowing myself to get it as it's been on my Wish List for a while now!).

@livingonpurpose Yes, I agree. It wasn't what I was expecting and it felt rather clunky within the rest of the story. Without giving too much away either, I was looking forward to her meeting all his friends!

livingonpurpose
American Dirt is excellent, I found it hard to put down.

43. The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina

I picked this up as Kindle deal a while ago. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it’s really a love story, and despite the somewhat depressing premise (people speak to lost loved one on the “wind phone”) I did really enjoy the path of self discovery taken by the main character. Would recommend.

44. Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

This has been reviewed all over the place, but I’d have to scroll back to see who else has read it on this thread. I changed my mind about this book several times as I read it going through thinking it was potentially far fetched, to too slow and boring, and it also suffered from both the major ending points being entirely obvious from the outset. However, it grew on me. The slow pace was evocative of the time, I guess, and I thought Jean’s character was well developed. I definitely ended up wanting to find out what was going to happen and couldn’t wait to pick it up again. Given all the different themes I can entirely see why it was long listed for the Women’s Prize. And unlike a lot of other reviewers I’ve seen, I didn’t hate the ending. In fact, it’s “realness”(not a word!) felt right, no matter how awful.

40. In Five Years - Rebecca Serle
Dannie's life is going to plan, she's about to be offered her dream job and her boyfriend has just proposed - then she experiences a strange dream which seems to be a premonition of her future life, five years from now, where she's living in a completely unexpected location and with a completely unexpected man. As her life moves forwards and the date of her premonition/dream draws closer she's almost forgotten about it, but then the man from her premonition/dream enters her life.

The blurb on the back of this book says something like "This is not the love story you are expecting", and I think that sums it up well...this book IS a love story, but not in the conventional sense. I really enjoyed this book and how it explored the theme of love and the various forms it can take in your life.

41. Faithful Place - Tana French
The third book in the Dublin Murder Squad series. I like how each book in this series features a different protagonist, usually a secondary character from the previous books. This one focuses on undercover cop Frank Mackey when the discovery of a suitcase belonging to his childhood sweetheart, who disappeared over 20 years ago on the night they were supposed to elope together, forces him to re-engage with his dysfunctional family. An enjoyable read.

42. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Listened to this on audiobook via my library app. Although I thought the writing was amazing given this was her first book, and she was only 24 (I think) when it was published in 2000, the story itself bored me. I think maybe it just went on too long. The dialogue was excellent, and three out of the 4 voice artists did an amazing job in the delivery of the audio book, but I just didn't really find the story fulfilling and was relieved to finish it.

@BaconAndAvocado I just came on to say
14. American dirt- Jeanette Cummins - rollicking read, enjoying the immersion in a bloodthirsty world and a mother’s fight for her son.

15. A tree grows in Brooklyn- Betty smith- memoir-ish, soft, compelling social impact novel about Brooklyn, long before it got trendy... covers poverty, childhood, parenting, economics and family

16. The testaments- Margaret Atwood’s follow up to The Handmaids Tale- slightly short of her usual brilliance- some slightly skimpy bits that needed fleshing out, but a unique book as a writer responds to the inspiration of seeing her own work on telly and the stories of her protagonist extended beyond where she finished writing.... it’s pretty cool for that.

angliski
Glad you enjoyed America Dirt, there was never a dull moment!

And your comment on The Testaments definitely rang true with me, “slightly short of her usual brilliance”.
Unlike The Handmaid’s Tale, it didn’t blow me away.
Writing this has brought to mind my favourite Atwood novel, Cat’s Eye.
It’s a lesser known book but IMO excellent. It powerfully explores childhood bullying and its long lasting effects.

13. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Thank you so much to the people who have discussed this beautiful book on this thread. I would never have discovered it otherwise. Definitely the best book I've read this year. I love how well drawn the characters are. I genuinely cared about what happened to them.

@rc22 I am completely over invested in people’s feelings about this book. So pleased you enjoy it. I cannnot see the title or think about it without a little smile.

For anyone wanting to read Piranesi, I've just noticed it's reduced to £1.89 at the moment - not sure for how long, but it doesn't appear to be a daily deal. It's on my wish list so I've just bought it!

I got A Gentleman in Moscow for 99p in this month's deals, so I'm looking forward to reading it soon.

[quote StColumbofNavron]@rc22 I am completely over invested in people’s feelings about this book. So pleased you enjoy it. I cannnot see the title or think about it without a little smile.[/quote]
Same here. A very very special book.

Finished no 15 Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham, it was a random selection the library chose for me in Lockdown 2, I'd never heard of him but will look out for more by/about him now.

@livingonpurpose thanks for that. I’ve been checked Piranesi from time to time as didn’t want to pay £7.99 for it, so have now bought it. This “Best Price in 30 Days” thing seems to a new one on Amazon - I picked up Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates for 99p the other day, on the same basis. Not sure if there is a way to see all the books in that category though!

Re A Gentleman in Moscow I’m currently just over 100 pages in and whilst I’m enjoying it, I’m not feeling anything amazing about it. I don’t know if I just need to read more, or if my expectations have just been raised so much by you guys! I’ll let you know how I feel when I finish it!

@TheAnswerIsCake I think that it’s slow and not much happens. But I like stuff like that where the words just wash over me.

It’s pretty slow @TheAnswerIsCake and I def had to push through the first 100pages but ended up really enjoying it

@Angliski wholeheartedly agree with your reviews on Testaments and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I actually think if the Testaments had solely been about Aunt Lydia I would have preferred it

21. The Girl Who Drank the Moon
    Book club book for the club I run for DD and 3 of her friends (who are all 8/9yo), highly recommend this for your younger readers, it’s actually quite a challenge for them as it plays with and break form, intersecting poetry and lyrical language and intentionally confusing switching between reality and magic and points of view but they all seemed to love it!

22. Mind of My Mind
    2nd of Octavia Butler’s Patternist Series and continuing on my Butler kick for 2021 - the ending was NOT expected and while I wasn’t as bowled over as I was by the first one I’m looking forward to moving onto the next!

Loved Piranesi @TheAnswerIsCake*@Kobanidaughters @StColumbofNavron*- weird and wonderful, but not in the league of jonathan strange. That had to be one of my top books ever, ever.

@rc22

13. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Thank you so much to the people who have discussed this beautiful book on this thread. I would never have discovered it otherwise. Definitely the best book I've read this year. I love how well drawn the characters are. I genuinely cared about what happened to them.

So lovely! There was something very special about the way it was written, some authors are so good at creating a vivid picture. And I loved the way he described the Count's orderly life, it fit so well within the boundaries of his existence in the hotel.

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 16. Gargantis, Thomas Taylor 17. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka 18. The Uses and Abuses of History, Margaret Macmillan 19. The Wrong Side of the Table, Ayser Salman 20. Stoner, John Williams 21. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket 22. The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey, Julia Laite 23. A Series of Unfortunate Events #4: The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket 24. The Alienist, Caleb Carr 25. Mixed/Other, Natalie Morris 26. The Viscount Who Loved Me, Julia Quinn 27. A Series of Unfortunate Events #4: The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket 28. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 29. The Holiday, Guy Bellamy 30. The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket 31. Mr Loverman, Bernardine Evaristo

We’ve already touched on this above, but I thought this was far, far superior to Girl, Woman, Other. Briefly, it is the story of Barry and Morris, from Antigua who have been in a relationship since they were teens. They both get married and continue on with their lives and this is the story of Barry’s relationships with various members of his family and his coming out story I guess. I loved the tone, the way it was written. It occasionally strays into no punctuation territory for Carmel, Barry’s wife’s chapters but I didn’t mind so much, even if I still don’t think it adds anything. Definitely recommend.

My reading has slowed right down as I am embroiled in a Middle Eastern soap opera that has 63 episodes, plus real actual deadlines now.

45. Intensive Care: A Gp, a Community and Covid 19 by Gavin Francis

Please can someone stop me reading anymore Covid books?! I picked this one up on a deal, largely because everyone said it was “one of the better ones”. In truth, it was disappointing. Others I’ve read include Breathtaking (reviewed up thread) and Duty of Care by Dominic Pimenta. The truth is, there is only so much real interest in reading about something that we’re still living through. And whilst this book was supposed to be about the community, there was very little of the real life storytelling found in Breathtaking. It felt like a fairly dry recounting of facts that we all new, and the fact that the author lives and works in Scotland could easily be overlooked, for how little Scotland-centric information there was. I think this book could have been so much more. Some of the public health history could have been expanded on, and the stories of the homeless could easily have been drawn out better. But most of all I need to remember that this is current affairs. I need to resist buying books by “celebrity” doctors and doctor-turned-authors who just feel the need to ensure they’ve got something out there (and spun some money out of the pandemic.)

46. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Here we go... feeling I’m going to get kicked off the thread but... I don’t get the love for it. Don’t know if my expectations were too high, but it felt slow and for huge chunks entirely plotless. Technically great writing and well drawn characters on their own, even with a good sprinkling of Russian history, just aren’t enough for me. I need to care about the characters and have interest in them, and mostly... I just didn’t. Sorry guys!

47. No Hunger in Paradise by Michael Calvin

This is an expose by football writer Calvin of the youth football academy system in England... or at least it’s billed as that. It makes lots of valid points about the way aspiring footballers are treated, but the writing is mostly clunky, often assumes all readers have the same knowledge of different aspects of the subject, and became somewhat repetitive. It didn’t follow a clear and logical sequence, jumping around from one story to another rather than building up an actual argument about the perceived problems. And it’s also already dated, with passing references to at least one player who wasn’t regarded as a star, but has gone on to make the current England squad! However, for someone whose son is - against my better judgement at most times - becoming increasingly embroiled in the “system”, (don’t worry, he won’t get far!) it was a passable read.

23. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor Continuing my experiences with Afro-Futurism, there is so much imaginative structure in this book - a group of Nigerian Pre-teens find out they belong to the world of Juju and must master their natural abilities to conquer one of the spirit realms most deadly spirits. Easy to read and sucked me in - am passing onto DS as I reckon he’d like and he needs to mix up his fantasy and sci fi reads

it felt slow and for huge chunks entirely plotless

I think this is a very true statement, but for me that worked really well.

That’s a disappointing little run @TheAnswerIsCake. Hope the next lot are better.

@StColumbofNavron it has been a bit of a slow run. Wanted something good to get my mojo back before it slid away entirely. A Gentleman in Moscow particularly felt like a slog! Am halfway through Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie now and it’s definitely hitting the spot!

43. Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
My birthday book from ds - I was looking forward to this as I love historical fiction and don't think I've read any/much this year as I've been trying to widen my reading. As most will know this is the fictionalised story of Hamnet Shakespeare and his mother Agnes (Anne Hathaway). I loved it and found it quite emotional.

44. American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins
I was so pleased to pick this up for 99p recently as it's been on my wish list for a while. The story of Lydia and her son Luca as they try to escape Acapulco and reach the US before the narco boss who has murdered her entire family tracks them down. This book maintained a great sense of peril for the characters throughout, with the ever-present fear of the cartel on their tail, the danger they faced on their journey north as migrants, and the potential for violence and abuse from the people they encounter on the way (particularly for the women). An enjoyable read.

45. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
Another 99p bargain book off my wish list. I was excited to read this and I wasn't disappointed. I loved the descriptions of the world Piranesi lived in and the mystery of why he was the only living human there, apart from the illusive Other. I'm eager to read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell now.

It's been a run of really enjoyable books lately.

I haven't updated in a while, but here goes:

Book 18 - Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. I honestly didn't think much of this book, but wanted to read it before the TV series comes out. Similar to Normal People, I wasn't mad about the book either, but enjoyed the TV series. I just couldn't relate to any of the characters in this.

Book 19 - The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue - Based in a Dublin Hospital in 1918 during the Great Flu pandemic and in the middle of a war. I always enjoy Emma Donoghues books and found this a good read.

Book 20 - Rememberings - Sinead O'Connor Sinead recounts her memories of her childhood and how life changed when she became famous. It was a very interesting read in parts, but rambling and confusing in others. For this reason it took me an age to get through the book. I can't really say I found it an enjoyable read, despite all those reviews that say it is a great book. Maybe you need to be a fan of Sinead O'Connor to appreciate it more.....

Book 21 - Tin Man by Sarah Winman. I think this was recommended on this thread? I purchased as a deal on Amazon for 99p. I thought it was a really enjoyable read, in fact I read the whole book in 2 sittings! It is really a love story, but I was kept intrigued from the very beginning. I definitely recommend this one.

@Tinkhasflown thanks for the review of Tin Man. I was considering buying this the other day but held off as unsure, but having read your latest post I decided to go ahead and get it while 99p.

I also have The Pull of the Stars on my TBR pile, so good to hear you enjoyed it.