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.

45. Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen

I’m sure this needs no introduction. The quintessential romantic comedy. Darcy dislikes Elizabeth (and everyone else) because he is too proud; Elizabeth dislikes home; he falls in love with her against his better judgement and SPOILER she falls in love with him.

This was a reread for a small book group readalong. I loved it like I always do. It was comforting, uplifting and just fun.

Just finished:
D-Day, by Antony Beevor
The Last Battle, by Cornelius Ryan - old account of the last days of WW2 in Europe, focusing on Berlin. The myth of the 'good Wehrmacht' features.

Upcoming:
Stalingrad, Antony Beevor
The World at Night, Alan Furst

34. Gone by Michael Grant YA dystopian fiction pretty hefty in terms of size, read because DS did and won’t stop talking about it so figured I ought to keep up with what he’s reading. It was fine. Looking forward to diving into a grown up book!

46. The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak

One of my outstanding reads of the year, 4.5 ⭐️.

Set between 2010s London and 1974 Cyprus it tells the story of Defne who is Turkish Cypriot and Kostas who is Greek Cypriot, but more than that it tells the story of an island. It’s about trauma, inherited inter generational trauma, love, home and exile. I really don’t want to say too much as it’s wonderful for it to all unravel. It’s told from multiple viewpoints including one unusual one which I loved. I have an affinity to an island and we have fig trees which feature heavily so this book spoke to me on so many levels.

The last 0.5 star that I withheld is because I just know when something is 5 star for me and whilst I loved this it wasn’t quite there. My only criticism is her tendency to over write sometimes.

E.g. she refers to Lawrence Durrell once having lived in Cyprus and I sort of think she could have just said Lawrence or Mr
Durrell or whatever - it would have gone over some peoples’ heads (prob mine) but others would get it. Sometimes I don’t think everything needs explanation.

58. Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen McMahon
Another one from the Women’s Prize Longlist. Widower David reflects on his life and marriage - bit of a mixed bag really. Elements of the story were incredibly tender and touching, but at times it was a bit too stream-of-consciousness for me. I didn’t always enjoy the narrators voice, even when I identified with elements of the story.

59. Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O’Porter
I’ve been meaning to read this for ages, as I’m a very similar age. In actual fact, other than the lack of mobile phones and social media, there isn’t really that much 90s teenage nostalgia in the story but my goodness she nailed all the angst and confusion and difficulty of being a teenage girl. Absolutely loved this and looking forward to reading the follow up soon.

60. Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton
This has been on my radar for a while after reading a number of recommendations, and I happened to see it had gone to 99p on Kindle. It was definitely worth my 99p! It follows staff, students and police through A school shooting/terror plot. Lots of suspense - I couldn’t wait to keep picking it up again - and a chilling amount of believability. Without any spoilers, the parent character was the one that most made me really think. Definitely recommend if you haven’t already read it.

35. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

Magnificent and tragic book, I listened to it and it’s a multi cast recording by some incredible narrators. Beautifully wrought characters and a real sense of time and place and yet it could be anywhere in that is subject to colonial powers. Highly recommended

From the publisher:

Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.

Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake Of her people’s freedom

47. The Slippery Slope, Lemony Snicket

I think this is my favourite Unfortunate Event so far. I finished the last bit without DS3 so will need to finish it again tonight.

48. The Light Years, Elizabeth Jane Howard

The first in the series of the Cazalet Chronicles much recommended on Mumsnet. The story revolves around an upper middle class family who spend their summers together at the family estate. This one is set against the backdrop of the impending Second World War. There is lots of sewing, planning dinner, motoring off to London and luncheons. I thought I’d love it, I thought it was fine. Sometimes the speech was hard to work out who was speaking but otherwise I thought it was pretty decently written, not anything out of the ordinary really. I did get a sense of the world EJH had created but I think it just didn’t live up to the hype. I also wonder why no one ever mentions the abuse of a child when they talk about the cosy, comforting read because I wasn’t ready for that. I even googled to see other people talking about the book and it’s really glossed over and Edward (yes, spoiler, sorry) is just ‘awful’.

I think I might read the others over a few years but am in no rush at all.

24. Conjure Women - Aida Atakora a brutal telling of the time after freedom for ex slaves in the American South. Hard going and intimate but far from ‘the new Toni Morrison’ accolade.

25. Featherweight - mick kitson

Well written Roma romp about a young woman who takes up boxing to earn a crust in days of yore.

20. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
The latest Cormoran Strike novel by RG aka JK Rowling.

A fantastic read, essentially a complex detective yarn.
Personally, I prefer the aspect of Cormoran and Robin's relationship to the whodunnit element and would love to read a book purely about these characters!
Having read all the other CS books, this is the best one so far.

Bacon, I've only read the first Cormoran & Strike book so far though I have at least the next 3 in Kindle format (so many series books I want to read!) but I'm very much like this about many of my favourite series characters, such as the Ruth Galloway books and also her series set in historical Brighton (library reservation to pick up next week on #6 in that series, The Midnight Hour).

This month I finished two books:

19. Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell. First of hers I've read, absolutely beautiful writing.

20. Happy - Darren Brown. Turns out I'm quite naturally leaning into stoicism so I got a lot out of this.

Had a big backlog of books to read for work but did manage to finish:

37. The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai Tri-generational story of Vietnamese taking us through the Japanese invasion and then the American invasion, told through the eyes of a grandmother and grand daughter. First piece of fiction written by a Vietnamese poet and just doesn’t let up but an incredible story of familial love and triumph over adversity with some really stunning chapters of prose, but on the whole too much “this happened” rather than “it felt like” to really hook me in

I wasn’t going to count books for work but two I’ve just worked on were a absolutely fantastic so in the spirit of recommending beautiful work in the hopes some of you might come across them once they’re punished next year:

38. The Stars Are Not Yet Bells - Hannah Lillith Assadi
    A woman with dementia movies between the present day and memory, sometimes falling in and out of tense and sometimes actively disappearing into memory in order to escape the present. The story itself is heartbreaking and the prose just so eloquent and treated with such empathy and respect - no “doddery old lady losing her marbles”, just very true and authentic and lyrical. A really beautiful book (and the narrator did a wonderful job for those who prefer to listen than read their books)

39. Shit Cassandra Saw - a collection of short stories by Gwen E Kirby
    Just brilliant feminist short stories, all full of wit and humour but also an underlying current of all the crap we go through as women and how to just get by every day when smothered by the patriarchy. An absolute joy of a book, clever, subversive, some stories written like performance poetry, some completely out there science fiction style, some just simple little narratives about simple people and simple lives. Buy this for every person in your life!!!

Then for pleasure:
40. The Glass Hotel - Emily St John Mandel
I was really excited for this after loving Station Eleven and in a similar vein she weaves together the stories of multiple characters. Beautifully written and I don’t know, just incredibly sad in that very small human way of just existing is to be sad rather than a huge traumatic experience, if that makes sense. Easy to dip in and out of.

Probably won’t be able to read anything for pleasure for a few weeks thanks to being booked on an absolute tome of a book - 955pages of an epic historical fiction so wish me luck and see you all closer to Christmas (I have My Dark Vanessa lined up thanks to all your recommendations!)

Haven't posted in a while, mainly because my reading has slowed down massively since getting a puppy in the summer. But I finally managed to finish a book today that I started what feels like months ago, and it feels like I might be able to get back into regular reading again.

50. Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams
Didn't really enjoy this, not sure why - maybe just lack of connection with the main character.

51. One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson
Second instalment in the Jackson Brodie series. Just as much fun as the first.

52. The Things We Left Unsaid - Emma Kennedy
I was listening to the audio book from my library but it was so slow going and just couldn't summon the interest to stick with it. My first DNF of the year.

53. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
Interesting storyline, an enjoyable but not standout read.

54. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
My first book by Strout. I found the format - with interwoven stories from numerous different people - hard to follow, especially as I took so long to read it. Each time I picked it up I felt lost as to who I was reading about and why.

49. The Grim Grotto, Lemony Snicket

More unfortunate goings on, but things are coming together a bit now. I was holding to post until I had read something more substantial but everything is a bit of a slog at the moment.

I’ve hit 50 for the first time in my life ever, likely to not be repeated and thanks in great part to Lemony Snicket and reading to my 10y.

50. The Penultimate Peril, Lemony Snicket

Erm, more unfortunate events. I really liked this one, lots of characters reappeared and a new one who I loved. I’m a bit sad that we are about to begin the last book and then will be finished.

51. What is History, Now?, edited by Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb

A great volume with lots of different historians contributing about how we study, read, write and absorb history. The chapters are short and snappy and come with small further reading lists which I will definitely be exploring. Stand outs for me were the chapters on women’s history and indigenous history - but I also really enjoyed global history and why history should be at the movies. A nice Christmas gift if you are interested in the practice of history but also if you want to be exposed to snippets you might not already know about (see reading lists mentioned).

I haven't posted for a while but finally reached 26books.
24: The book of two ways, Jodi Picoult
25: The Windsor knot, SJ Bennett
26: The Thursday Murder club, Richard Osman

I haven't posted in an age, mostly as I just don't have time to read with all the late nights working! I do still make time for reading to the kids though, so my list looks like that is all I read! I also counted book 18 twice so to keep my count in line with good read my next book on the list is book 29.

Book 29 Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo. I really enjoyed this book, but did want to throttle a couple of the characters.
Book 30 The Worlds Worst Children, David Walliams this is more like a book of short stories but my children loved it.
Book 31 Billionaire Boy, David Walliams
Book 32 World's Worst Children 2, not nearly as good as the first one.
Book 33 Lies by TM Logan this was free on prime reading, but it took me an age to read and I really struggled through it. I found it really far fetched and felt the author spent way too much time mansplaining - very irritating.
Book 34 Boy 11963 by John Cameron a moving autobiography from John who was placed for adoption and ended up being mistreated in an industrial school in Ireland and his search for the truth about his parents.

I definitely won't make my own personal target of 40 books this year.

I’m glad I’m not the only one with children’s books.

I was looking through GoodReads and although I’ve read lots I have less standouts. Only 2-3 (if I exclude re-reads and Lemony Snicket 😄).

p.s. I personally thought Mr Loverman was superior to Girl, Woman, Other.

I thought Girl, Woman, Other was good and was/am very pleased that it brought a literary breakthrough for Bernardine Evaristo. I also think she is making good use of this opportunity to promote the work of other black writers who deserve more recognition, and I'm always interested in seeing what other writers authors themselves recommend.

I do also prefer Mr Loverman and have been recommending it to others since I read it a few years ago. I discovered it through being invited to a launch event for some new novels from Penguin, including some debut novelists but mostly writers who should have been better known. The others included Elif Shafak with Honour and Claire Fuller, and several others whose profile was raised but who have been more successful with subsequent books.

Tink Was Barry one of the characters you wanted to throttle? If not, who? Who else?

@StColombo I read and enjoy quite a lot of children's and YA books. I buy them from charity shops and on KIndle offers and borrow them from the library. I've had the Lemony Snicket books TBR for ages but I think I've missed my chance to read them to my boys.

@elkiedee I would definitely read them myself. Last night a character called Ishmael said ‘call me Ish…’ (opening line to Moby Dick) and I thought it was fab. I have the compendium on Kindle - it must have been an offer at some point.

I’ve met Elif Shafak a few times, I love her. I bought The Bastard of Istanbul (my first, though Honour is the first I read) purely because she had a Turkish name (I’m half Turkish) and I hadn’t come across that in Waterstones before. Her latest book was spectacular. I thought Honour was very clever and an interesting way of approaching the subject.