50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Eight

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth (and probably final) thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2021, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it’s not too late to and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.The lurkers among you are also very welcome to come out of the woodwork and share with us 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.

How have you got on this year?

Excellent work, Permanent

If you ever have the time and inclination, it would be interesting to see a list of all-time 50-Book favorites.

Interesting list thanks @PermanentTemporary!

I thought I might sneak another in but I picked up troubled blood a few days ago and am gripped but at 900 pages (yup she needs a better editor as always) it’s not going to be finished before the bell tolls.

I’ve deleted my Amazon payment and really am going to try and not buy books this year unless I’m supporting a book shop.

My figures:
Reading on: kindle (43%), Real book (22%), Audio (35%)
Author: male (43%), female (57%)
Type; fiction (63%), non fiction (34%) poetry (3%)

41 books total which is my lowest since I joined the thread. A combination of home schooling, new job and no commute.

I’ve enjoyed it though and particularly glad to see non fiction increasing as I get so much pleasure from it.

Fave was without a doubt Chanel Miller’s know my name, her memoir about the justice system following her rape.

Happy New Year all

Of the top nine on Permanent's list, I have read four and loved all of them. Four more are sitting on my TBR list.

I'm now wondering whether to add the ninth (Small Pleasures) because I am a sheep I really rate the recommendations from this thread .

Thank you Permanent. Interesting lists, as always. I've read two of the top nine and have another four on my Kindle, so that might be my reading list for January.

One final one for 2021:

65. Christmas Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella

Unashamedly trashy bedtime read in which, among other developments, Becky joins a gentlemen's club and her parents move to Shoreditch.

I haven't worked out my stats for this year, except that I've finished 65 and 69% were by women. Normally I read 75 to 80, but the lack of commuting has cut into my reading time.

Cote I did actually do this once!

Here's the list of all-time 50-booker favourites (author rather than book title given, if the same author was nominated for multiple books) in order:
Jane Austen
Charles Dickens
Tess of the d’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
Into Thin Air - John Krakauer
Stephen King
Agatha Christie
Daphne du Maurier
John Boyne
John Steinbeck
George Orwell
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Bernières
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
David Mitchell
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Thank you Permanent really interesting to see our lists. I love how different our tastes are, and how it can bring me to books I'd never have heard about or tried without this thread.

Wow what a mega-task PermanentTemporary Well done and much appreciated.

I've read four of the top nine and plan to investigate the others. More classics, more rereads, more posting my reviews (as I fell off the thread half-way through 2021) and less screen time - apart from on this thread of course - are my reading resolutions for next year.

As others have said, this is just the best place on Mumsnet and I have enjoyed reading all the comments and recommendations loads. Sending everyone best wishes for 2022 and here's hoping it's a much better year for everyone.

Wow, thank you @PermanentTemporary, and all of the lovely 50 bookers for another splendid year. I've read less than last year, and none too wisely at times, falling a bit into the generic 99p Kindle crime trap when too tired to properly engage with reading. Oh well.

1. Christmas Chronicles Nigel Slater
2. Merry Midwinter
3. Twas the Nightshift before Christmas - Adam Kaye
4. Bridget Jones' Diary
5. Rupture Ragnar Jonasson
6. Murder Mile Lynda La Plante
7. Bone China Laura Purcell
8. No-one is too small to make a difference Greta T
9. Whiteout Ken Follett

10. The Sealwoman's Gift Sally Magnusson 11. A Mind to Murder PD James 12. Middle England Jonathan Coe 13. Hidden Depths- Ann Cleeves 14. Home- Bill Bryson 15. Diana In Her Own Words-Andrew Morton 16. Pillars of the Earth- Ken Follett 17. Nothing Stays Buried- PJ Tracy 18, Shroud for a Nightingale- PD James 19. Findings Kathleen Jamie 20. The Familiars- Stacey Hall 21. One by One- Ruth Ware 22. Spain for the Sovereigns- Jean Plaidy 23.The Holiday T.M Logan 24. The Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen 25. Past Caring Robert Goddard 26. Finders Keepers, Belinda Bauer 27. A Long Petal of the Sea- Isabel Allende 28. Telling Tales- Ann Cleeves 29. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie 30. The Unseen Roy Jacobsen 31. The Road to Little Dribbling- Bill Bryson 32. Conclave Robert Harris 33. The Plot 34. The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald 35. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 36. The Girl Who Played with Fire 37. The Girl who kicked the Hornets Nest 38. Cider With Roadies- Stuart Maconie 39. The Loving Spirit- Daphne Du Maurier 40. The Only Plane In the Sky 41. The Darkness- Ragnar Jonasson 42 Last Rituals- Yrsa Yrsa Sigurðardóttir 43. A Child's Christmas in 80s Wales 44. A Child's Christmas in Wales- Dylan Thomas 45. Raven Black- Ann Cleeves. 46. The Punishment she deserves, Elizabeth George 47. Insertion- AJ Quinnell.

My fiction bolds:
A Mind to Murder- PD James
The Unseen- Roy Jacobson
Conclave- Robert Harris
The Bookshop- Penelope Fitzgerald
A Child's Christmas in Wales- Dylan Thomas.

My top one overall would be Conclave, for being the only real "make the train journey last longer as I want to keep reading" book of my year.

My non-fiction bolds:
The Only Plane In the Sky
Findings- Kathleen Jamie
Christmas Chronicles- Nigel Slater
Pies and Prejudice (nth reread) Stuart Maconie

Favourite non-fiction, toss up between the first two, as the second two are in my top 10 of all time and annual re-reads.

Stinkers- too many sadly to give them further headspace, but absolutely and forever I want Adam Kaye cancelling.

One DNF- Whiteout with Ken and his breasts.

Most of mine were on Kindle.

23 by men, 24 by women.

Hope everyone has a lovely NYE doing whatever makes you happy, and see you on the other side tomorrow.

Thanks for your hard work compiling that list PermanentTemporary! I’ve only read two of the top nine - loved Piranesi, had adverse reaction to Hamnet.

Really interesting Permanent. I'm going to copy the list for inspiration when I finally (if ever) get through my TBR pile. A lot of love for ShuggieBain I've put off reading it as it sounds so grim - his new book is due in 2022 but reviewers are saying it's even more grim.

Thanks so much for the list @PermanentTemporary, this is definitely going to help to direct my reading next year. Of the top 9 I've read 4. I loved The Only Plane in the Sky, The Pursuit of Love and Hamnet was my favourite fiction read. I also read Piranesi, which I liked but didn't love.

This thread is by far my favourite place on the internet, thanks to all of you for sharing your reading and opinions. Looking forward to more good books and debate in 2022!

My reading aims for next year are:

• Read at least 20% non-fiction.
• Read at least 6 classics.
• Read at least 15% physical books.
• Only buy books on my wish-list rather than the 99p easy reads.
• Continue listening to audiobooks at around the same level.
• Continue my Stephen King readathon.
• Reduce the number of re-reads.
• Read War and Peace

I’ve read 5 of the top 9 and have TOPITS on my kindle.

Wow, PermanentTemporary, that's a tour de force. Thank you!

The One Plane is the main book on the thread that I have felt I should read based on everyone's reviews, but I just don't know if I can stomach it. I was in the US on 9/11, in Chicago, and I will never forget how awful it was to watch the events unfolding on TV and how frightened everyone was on the uni campus where I was teaching at the time. And then there was the terrible aftermath when the US invaded Iraq (my brother was a Marine and got sent over there). So I have been avoiding the book as I'm afraid I will find it too dark. I want to read it one day though when I'm feeling brave enough!

On a lighter note, @JaninaDuszejko, I'm thinking I should read Leila Slimani's The Country of Others given that it was your top fiction choice of the year. I wasn't a huge fan of her Lullaby, so hadn't planned to read it, but I'm impressed that you rate her new book so highly.

Sol, your comments on Adam Kaye and 'Ken and his breasts' made me laugh.

SapatSea, the start of Shuggie Bain is grim, but if you persevere there is a lot of warmth in it, a lot of humour even! I would say it's ultimately very life-affirming (I know that sounds like an awful adjective from a cheesy book cover blurb, but in this case it's true).

@cassandreI have The Country of Others on my TBR pile too. I have a PhD colleague who writes about French women who had relationships with Morrocan men in the colonial period and I find her work fascinating so I think this is right up my street.

Some end-of-year readings stats:
71 books
67% by women (I actually thought it would be more!)
20% by BAME writers
20% non-fiction (I'm not a big non-fiction reader, although I do love memoirs)
17% translated into English

Ooh StColumbo, that does sound fascinating. I'm interested in gender and the Maghreb as well.

I cannot edit, but I do know that it is Moroccan rather than Morrocan.

I was equally underwhelmed by Chanson douce (Lullaby) last year cassandre but have heard nothing but good things about Le pays des autres so might be convinced to give that a go. Or, lazily, I'll wait and see what you think

Here is my list for the year. I sneaked in an Hourly History today in order to make it up to a nice round, grand total of 700 for the last three years, since joining these threads (some are rereads). Thanks to southeast, Permanent and Happy New Year to all.

1. Why Mummy’s Sloshed- Gill Sims
2. Hungry- Grace Dent
3. Ballet Shoes- Noel Streatfeild
4. Notes on a Scandal- Zoë Heller
5. Stephen Fry in America- Stephen Fry
6. Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger- Nigel Slater
7. Kind Words for Unkind Days- Jayne Hardy
8. Poverty Safari- Darren McGarvey
9. Into Thin Air- Jon Krakauer

10. Jew-ish: A Primer, a Memoir, a Manual, a Plea- Matt Greene 11. The Well of Loneliness- Radclyffe Hall 12. It’s Not About You- Tom Rath 13. Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to Happiness- Bill Bailey 14. Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me- Kate Clanchy 15. My Dark Vanessa- Kate Elizabeth Russell 16. How to Write Everything- David Quantick 17. The Witches- Roald Dahl 18. Let’s Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood- Jasper Rees 19. Utopia Avenue- David Mitchell 20. Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire- Akala 21. A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner- Chris Atkins 22. The Thursday Murder Club- Richard Osman 23. Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams- Matthew Walker 24. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck- Mark Manson 25. QI: The Sound of General Ignorance- John Lloyd and John Minchinson 26. The Only Plane in the Sky: The Aural History of 9/11- Garrett M. Graff 27. The Prison Doctor: My Time Inside Britain‘s Most Notorious Jail- Dr Amanda Brown 28. How To Be Black- Baratunde Thurston 29. More Than a Woman- Caitlin Moran 30. Hillsborough Voices: The Real Story Told by the People Themselves- Kevin Sampson 31. Who Am I, Again?- Lenny Henry 32. The Prison Doctor: Women Inside- Dr Amanda Brown 33. Just Like You- Nick Hornby 34. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins 35. Contemporary Choral Work with Boys- Martin Ashley 36. How to Answer Interview Questions- Peggy McGee 37. Boris Johnson: The Gambler- Tom Bower 38. How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS- David France 39. Columbine- Dave Cullen 40. The Rotters’ Club- Jonathan Coe 41. Mudlarking- Lara Maiklem 42. Many Different Kinds of Love- Michael Rosen 43. Best Foot Forward- Adam Hills 44. The Lockdown Diary of Tom Cooper- Spencer Brown 45. The Song of the Lark- Willa Cather 46. The Boy Between: A Mother and Son’s Journey from a World Gone Grey- Amanda Prowse & Josiah Hartley 47. Gilead- Marilynne Robinson 48. Q- Christina Dalcher 49. Broken Greek- Pete Paphides 50. I Love the Bones of You: My Life, My Family, My Father- Christopher Eccleston 51. The Queen’s Gambit- Walter Tevis 52. 500 Words You Should Know- Caroline Taggart 53. The Swish of the Curtain- Pamela Brown 54. Maddy Alone- Pamela Brown 55. Golden Pavements- Pamela Brown 56. Blue Door Venture- Pamela Brown 57. Maddy Again- Pamela Brown 58. Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights- Helen Lewis 59. Withdrawn Traces: Searching for the Truth about Richey Manic- Sarah Hawys Roberts and Leon Noakes 60. Little Fires Everywhere- Celeste Ng 61. The Library Book- Susan Orlean 62. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race- Reni Eddo-Lodge 63. A Version of Reason: The Search for Richey Edwards- Rob Jovanovic 64. The Vinyl Detective: Flip Back- Andrew Cartmel 65. The Bilingual Brain: And What It Tells Us about the Science of Language- Albert Costa 66. Emotional Intelligence: Managing Emotions to Make a Positive Impact on Your Life and Career- Gill Hasson 67. Helen Keller: A Life from Beginning to End- Hourly History 68. The Sleep of Reason- The James Bulger Case- David James Smith 69. Another Planet- Tracey Thorn 70. The Madness of Grief: A Memoir of Love and Loss- Rev. Richard Coles 71. Leonard and Hungry Paul- Ronan Hession 72. A Nurse’s Story: My Life in A&E During the Covid Crisis- Louise Curtis with Sarah Johnson 73. Confessions of a Curious Bookseller- Elizabeth Green 74. A Chip Shop in Poznań: My Unlikely Year in Poland- Ben Aitken 75. The Foundling- Stacey Halls 76. The Night Bus Hero- Onjali Q. Rauf 77. World War Z- Max Brooks 78. Becoming- Michelle Obama 79. 1-2-3-4: The Beatles in Time- Craig Brown 80. Inspire- Ben Fogle 81. I Am Legend- Richard Matheson 82. South! The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914-1917- Sir Ernest Shackleton 83. The Alchemist- Paolo Coelho 84. Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment for Every Day of the Year- Susie Dent 85. Ramble Book: Musings on Childhood, Friendship, Family and 80s Pop Culture- Adam Buxton 86. The Private Lives of the Tudors: Uncovering the Secrets of Britain's Greatest Dynasty- Tracy Borman 87. Fathomless Riches: Or How I Went from Pop to Pulpit- Rev. Richard Coles 88. The Boy Between Worlds: A Biography- Annejet van der Zijl 89. Rubbernecker- Belinda Bauer 90. A State of Fear: How the UK Government Weaponised Fear During the Covid-19 Pandemic- Laura Dodsworth 91. I Can’t Believe You Just Said That: The Truth about Why People are So Rude- Danny Wallace 92. On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno- David Sheppard 93. The Color Purple- Alice Walker 94. I Let Him Go- Denise Fergus 95. Miracles of Life- J. G. Ballard 96. My James- Ralph Bulger with Rosie Dunn 97. The Passage- Justin Cronin 98. Peri Menopause Power- Maisie Hill 99. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen 100. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies- Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith 101. Harry Potter: A History of Magic- Ben Davies 102. The World I Fell Out Of- Melanie Reid 103. The Children of Men- P. D. James 104. Where the Crawdads Sing- Delia Owens 105. My Thoughts Exactly- Lily Allen 106. Engleby- Sebastian Faulks 107. Far from the Madding Crowd- Thomas Hardy 108. Small Pleasures- Clare Chambers 109. Life in Pieces- Dawn O’Porter 110. Learning to Swim- Clare Chambers 111. How to Survive a Pandemic- Michael Greger 112. No-one’s Home- D. M. Pulley 113. The Book Lovers’ Companion: What to Read Next- Various 114. Children of the Dust- Louise Lawrence 115. The Vinyl Detective: Low Action- Andrew Cartmel 116. Love is Blind- William Boyd 117. Room- Emma Donoghue 118. Dealing with Difficult People- Roy Lilley 119. Prince Caspian- C. S. Lewis 120. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson 121. How to Be Sad- Helen Russell 122. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- C. S. Lewis 123. Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books- Cathy Rentzenbrink 124. An Unusual Boy- Fiona Higgins 125. The Silver Chair- C. S. Lewis 126. Kurt Cobain: A Life from Beginning to End- Hourly History 127. Hag-Seed- Margaret Atwood 128. Did Not Finish: Misadventures in Running, Cycling and Swimming- George Mahood 129. The Horse and his Boy- C. S. Lewis 130. So, Anyway…- John Cleese 131. The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern 132. Did Not Try: Misadventures in Running, Cycling and Swimming- George Mahood 133. The Magician’s Nephew- C. S. Lewis 134. Did Not Start: Misadventures in Running, Cycling and Swimming- George Mahood 135. Any Human Heart- William Boyd 136. How Not to Get Married- George Mahood 137. The Last Battle- C. S. Lewis 138. Keep the Aspidistra Flying- George Orwell 139. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev- Dawnie Walton 140. Along the Broken Bay- Flora J. Solomon 141. Did Not Enter: Misadventures in Running, Cycling and Swimming- George Mahood 142. The Secret Doctor- Dr Max Skittle 143. The Cockroach- Ian McEwan 144. The Sense of an Ending- Julian Barnes 145. How to Find Fulfilling Work- Roman Krznaric 146. Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle with Coronavirus- Jonathan Calvert & George Arbuthnott 147. Arthur and George- Julian Barnes 148. O Sing unto the Lord: A History of English Church Music- Andrew Gant 149. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen 150. Did Not Happen: Misadventures in Running, Cycling and Swimming- George Mahood 151. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists- Robert Tressell 152. The Nanny State Made Me- Stuart Maconie 153. Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend- Matthew Green 154. On the Road- Jack Kerouac 155. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced- Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui 156. The Consequences of Love- Gavanndra Hodge 157. Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate- Susan Calman 158. Richard Osman’s House of Games- Richard Osman & Alan Connor 159. Aspergers on the Job- Rudy Simone 160. The Comfort Book- Matt Haig 161. Stalin Ate My Homework- Alexei Sayle 162. Watching Neighbours Twice a Day: How ‘90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me for Life- Josh Widdicombe 163. On the Beach- Nevil Shute 164. In a Good Light- Clare Chambers 165. Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North- Stuart Maconie 166. The Girls- Lori Lansens 167. I’m Only In It for the Parking: Life and Laughter from the Priority Seats- Lee Ridley 168. The Uncommon Reader- Alan Bennett 169. Only Child- Rhiannon Navin 170. Dave Gorman vs. the Rest of the World- Dave Gorman 171. My Name is Leon- Kit de Waal 172. Beyond Belief- Jenna Miscavige Hill and Lisa Pulitzer 173. Excuse Me, Your Job is Waiting: Attract the Work You Want- Laura George 174. Back to Nature: How to Love Life- and Save It- Chris Packham & Megan McCubbin 175. The Echo Chamber- John Boyne 176. The Wild Remedy- Emma Mitchell 177. A Terrible Secret- Cathy Glass 178. Tuesdays with Morrie- Mitch Albom 179. Last One at the Party- Bethany Clift 180. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid- Bill Bryson 181. American Dirt- Jeanine Cummins 182. Troy- Stephen Fry 183. Notes on a Nervous Planet- Matt Haig 184. The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah: The Autobiography- Benjamin Zephaniah 185. The Reading Cure: How Books Restored My Appetite- Laura Freeman 186. The Girl with the Louding Voice- Abi Daré 187. I’m Not With the Band: A Writer’s Life Lost in Music- Sylvia Patterson 188. Knowing Why: Adult Diagnosed Autistic People on Life and Autism- ed. Elizabeth Bartmess 189. The Midnight Library- Matt Haig 190. Substance: Inside New Order- Peter Hook 191. Seven Ways to Build Resilience- Chris Johnstone 192. Dominicana- Angie Cruz 193. Billy Liar- Keith Waterhouse 194. The Wild Other- Clover Stroud 195. Wintering- Katherine May 196. Akin- Emma Donoghue 197. Quite: Love, Life & Eyeliner- Claudia Winkleman 198. Billy Liar on the Moon- Keith Waterhouse 199. Anxiety for Beginners: A Personal Investigation- Eleanor Morgan 200. Twelve Years a Slave- Solomon Northup 201. Theroux the Keyhole- Louis Theroux 202. The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures- Louis Theroux 203. Before & Laughter- Jimmy Carr 204. The Wild Silence- Raynor Winn 205. Chasing Trails: A Short Fun Book About a Long Miserable Run- George Mahood 206. Coming Up for Air- Tom Daley 207. This Fragile Earth- Susannah Wise 208. Unorthodox- Deborah Feldman 209. I Am Malala- Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb 210. When We Were Orphans- Kazuo Ishiguro 211. Wonder- R. J. Palacio 212. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas- John Boyne 213. At Home: A Short History of Private Life- Bill Bryson 214. A Life Lost- Cathy Glass 215. Mary Poppins- P. L. Travers 216. The Forensic Records Society- Magnus Mills 217. Mrs England- Stacey Halls 218. One Of Your Own: The Life and Death of Myra Hindley- Carol Ann Lee 219. All That Remains: A Life in Death- Sue Black 220. A Boy Called Christmas- Matt Haig 221. Twilight- Stephanie Meyer 222. The Children Act- Ian McEwan 223. A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens 224. The Dark is Rising- Susan Cooper 225. Really Saying Something: Sara & Keren- Our Bananarama Story- Sara Dallin & Keren Woodward 226. Flying on the Inside: A Memoir of Trauma and Recovery- Rachel Gotto 227. Theatre Shoes- Noel Streatfeild 228. The Box of Delights- John Masefield 229. Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days- Jeanette Winterson 230. The Pull of the Stars- Emma Donoghue 231. Shuggie Bain- Douglas Stuart 232. Lullabies for Little Criminals- Heather O’Neill 233. Age of Enlightenment: A History from Beginning to End- Hourly History

@FranKatzenjammer

I've just started the Adam Buxton so happy to see it bolded there. I had no idea who he is but am a sucker for 80s musings and pop culture bits and bobs so enjoying it already.

SOLINVICTUS I bolded it last year as well! One was the audiobook, the other was the Kindle book. I loved his Adam and Joe Show with Joe Cornish in the 90s. I hope you enjoy the rest of it.

My bolds below - I've read some excellent books this year, some disappointments or meh books but not any duds.

Passing by Nella Larsen
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Sea The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Winter by Ali Amith
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
Pew by Catherine Lacey
Things we lost in the fire by Mariana Enriquez with MeganMcDowell
The High House by Jessie Greengrass
Machines Like me by Ian McEwan

Non-Fiction Highlights
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel
The only plane in the sky: An oral history of 9/11 by Garrett M.Graff
Nomandland by Jessica Bruder

Here is my list for 2021, am almost finished The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie and Without Fail by Lee Child, will include them at the start of my 2022 list instead:

1. The Pull of the Stars – Emma Donoghue
2. Half A World Away – Mike Gayle
3. Pine – Francine Toon
4. In A Dark Dark Wood – Ruth Ware
5. Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
6. The Girl on the Landing – Paul Torday
7. The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
8. The Silent Scream – Diane Hoh
9. The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

10. The Devil and the Dark Water – Stuart Turton 11. Virgin River – Robyn Carr 12. The Guest Book – Sarah Blake 13. The Haunted Hotel – Wilkie Collins 14. Last Night at the Lobster – Stewart O’Nan 15. Nine Dragons – Michael Connelly 16. A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson 17. Walking With Ghosts – Gabriel Byrne 18. The Haunting of Alma Fielding – Kate Summerscale 19. Piranesi – Susannah Clarke 20. Started Early, Took My Dog – Kate Atkinson 21 .I’m Thinking of Ending Things – Iain Reid 22. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid 23. The Boy From The Woods – Harlan Coben 24. Firefly Lane – Kristin Hannah 25. Invisible Girl – Lisa Jewell 26. The Body – Bill Bryson 27. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 28. The Long Long Afternoon – Inge Vesper 29. A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson 30. The Seven Sisters – Lucinda Riley 31. Vol’jin Shadows of the Horde – Michael Stackpole 32. Summerwater – Sarah Moss 33. My Not So Perfect Life – Sophie Kinsella 34. All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr 35. Daddy – Emma Cline 36. The Visitor – Lee Child 37. No One Home – Tim Weaver 38. The Observations – Jane Harris 39. Eight Detectives – Alex Pavesi 40. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 41. The Storm Sister – Lucinda Riley 42. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle 43. The Reversal – Michael Connelly 44. The Shadow Sister – Lucinda Riley 45. Traveler – Greg Wiseman 46. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen 47. Later – Stephen King 48. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens 49. The Alice Network – Kate Quinn 50. Port of Peril – Ian Livingstone 51. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 52. American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins 53. Found – Harlan Coben 54. A History of Britain in 21 Women – Jenni Murray 55. Hillbilly Elegy – J D Vance 56. Dissolution – C J Sansom 57. Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart 58. Open – Andrew Agassi 59. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - 60. Before The Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi 61. One By One – Ruth Ware 62. The Salt Path – Raynor Winn 63. Big Sky – Kate Atkinson 64. Catch Me If You Can – Frank Abagnale 65. Third Girl – Agatha Christie 66. Hot Winter Nights – Codi Gary 67. Old Baggage – Lissa Evans 68. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkhaban 69. Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia 70. Ghosts of Christmas Past – Various authors 71. This House is Haunted – John Boyne 72. Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid 73. Akin – Emma Donoghue 74. The Christmas Bookshop – Jenny Colgan 75. The Christmas Murder Game – Alexandra Benedict 76. Echo Burning – Lee Child 77. A Promised Land – Barack Obama 78. A Redbird Christmas - Fannie Flagg

42 female authors, 10 NF, 22 on audio, 24 physical books and 32 ebooks

My reading resolutions for next year are:

Complete the W&P and Hard Times readalongs at the same time as everyone else!
Finish Little Dorrit
Finish Bleak House (I started the readalong but dropped out when my DF passed away, feel ready to pick it up again)
Read more of my own books instead of impulsively downloading ebooks from the library
Finish The Three Musketeers – I started it 4 years ago but too many other books just got in the way and I forgot to go back to it

Hope you all have a Happy New Year and see you in 2022!

Not sure if anyone has posted but Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes is 99p (kindle) at the moment.