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?

Thanks for the stats @PermanentTemporary! I failed to do my list in any sort of good time, but it hasn't changed very much from the one you will have seen. I've failed to do much reading over the holiday period as it was a busy one, but despite the vagaries of this year have still managed a reasonable total - 3 less than last year, 5 more than 2019. There's a fair amount of comfort reading in there, but some great discoveries too - in particular Penelope Fitzgerald, who I think might actually have been a genius.

1. In the Shadow of Power – Viveca Sten
2. Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller
3. The Truants - Kate Weinberg
4. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
5. Olive, Again – Elizabeth Strout
6. The Winter Book – Tove Jansson
7. Waiting for Sunrise – William Boyd
8. The Collector of Lives: Giorgio Vasari and the Invention of Art – Ingrid Rowland and Noah Charney
9. Lanny – Max Porter
10. Murder on Safari – Elspeth Huxley
11. The Magpie Murders – Anthony Horowitz
12. In Black and White: A Young Barrister’s Story of Race and Class in a Broken Justice System – Alexandra Wilson
13. Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of Isis - Azadeh Moaveni
14. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup – John Carreyrou
15. Rules of Civility – Amor Towles
16. In Your Defence – Sarah Langford
17. Reflections in a Golden Eye - Carson McCullers
18. Platform Seven – Louise Doughty
19. If Morning Ever Comes – Anne Tyler
20. Rubyfruit Jungle – Rita Mae Brown
21. The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History - Kassia St Clair
22. The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman
23. The Dutch House – Ann Patchett
24. Sudden Death – Rita Mae Brown
25. Blood Orange – Harriet Tyce
26. In Bad Company – Viveca Sten
27. Regeneration - Pat Barker
28. Olivia – Dorothy Strachey
29. The Eye in the Door – Pat Barker
30. The Ghost Road – Pat Barker
31. Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson
32. My Name is Leon – Kit de Waal
33. Troubled Blood – Robert Galbraith
34. The Darkest Evening – Ann Cleeves
35. When I Hit You – Meena Kandasamy
36. The Falconer – Dana Czapnik
37. The Reckoning – Yrsa Sigurdardottir
38. My Former Heart – Cressida Connolly
39. The World I Fell Out Of - Melanie Reid
40. Blind Goddess – Anne Holt
41. The Pursuit of Love – Nancy Mitford
42. Cotillion – Georgette Heyer
43. Stay With Me – Ayobami Adebayo
44. Van Gogh: A Power Seething – Julian Bell
45. The Prime Ministers: Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to Johnson – Steve Richards
46. Report for Murder – Val McDermid
47. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
48. The Honjin Murders – Seishi Yokomizo
49. Grown Ups – Marian Keyes
50. My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante
51. You Left Early – Louisa Young
52. The Appeal – Janice Hallett
53. The Shadows in the Street – Susan Hill
54. Perfect – Rachel Joyce
55. Hold – Michael Donkor
56. Brixton Hill – Lottie Moggach
57. Invisible Women – Caroline Criado Perez
58. Fleishman is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser-Akner
59. The Killings at Kingfisher Hill – Sophie Hannah
60. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
61. The Untouchable - John Banville (re-read)
62. The Beginning of Spring - Penelope Fitzgerald
63. Everywoman – Jess Phillips
64. Unnatural Death – Dorothy L. Sayers
65. Little Red Chairs – Edna O’Brien
66. How Hard Can It Be – Allison Pearson
67. The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper (re-read)
68. Rodham - Curtis Sittenfeld
69. Conviction – Denise Mina

Oops, just realised I missed my last read of the year and made it to a round 70:

70. Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins

A mystery about a disappearing girl, set in Oxford. I did enjoy the Oxford setting, and the central character of Dee, but this didn't quite live up to the hype for me. The writing was rather repetitive in places and the build-up a bit slow (I do sometimes wonder if Agatha Christie has spoiled me for other crime novels, but that said, I'm perfectly fine with the interminable Strike and Robin). I also guessed the ending and felt it was quite similar to another Oxford-set crime novel which I know a number of you have read, so I won't give the name in case of spoilers. Reasonably enjoyable but a bit of a disappointment.

Just popping in to leave my final list and to say thank you to southeast for hosting, to PermanentTemporary for collating the most popular reads and all 50 bookers for their views. See you on the new thread…..

1. A Place of Greater Safety - Hilary Mantel
2. Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor

1. Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
2. Banker - Dick Francis
3. Old Baggage - Lissa Evans

6. Crooked Heart - Lissa Evans

1. The Guest List - Lucy Foley

8. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

1. A Symphony of Echoes - Jodi Taylor

10. A Second Chance - Jodi Taylor 11. The Spy and the Traitor - Ben MacIntyre 12. The Danger - Dick Francis 13. A Song for Summer - Eva Ibbotson 14. Alternative Li(v)es - Arnie Arnstein 15. The Offing - Benjamin Myers 16. A Trail Through Time - Jodi Taylor 17. No Time Like The Past - Jodi Taylor 18. Confusion - Elizabeth Jane Howard 19. Thirteen - Steve Cavanagh 20. Proof - Dick Francis 21. The Warden - Anthony Trollope 22. A Month in the Country - JL Carr 23. My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell 24. What Could Possibly Go Wrong - Jodi Taylor 25. American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins 26. Small Pleasures - Clare Chambers 27. Three Act Tragedy - Agatha Christie 28. Break In - Dick Francis 29. Bolt - Dick Francis 30. Giovanni’s Room - James Baldwin 31. Regeneration - Pat Barker 32. The Eye in the Door - Pat Barker 33. The Ghost Road - Pat Barker 34. Lies, Damned Lies and History - Jodi Taylor 35. Acts and Omissions - Catherine Fox 36. The Girl with the Louding Voice - Abi Dare 37. The Defence - Steve Cavanagh 38. Hot Money - Dick Francis 39. The Plea - Steve Cavanagh 40. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel 41. The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford 42. A Rose Petal Summer - Katie Fforde 43. Unseen Things Above - Catherine Fox 44. Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart 45. Realms of Glory - Catherine Fox 46. The Unknown Ajax - Georgette Heyer 47. To Calais in Ordinary Time - James Meek 48. Bring up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel 49. And the Rest is History - Jodi Taylor 50. An Argumentation of Historians - Jodi Taylor 51. Quartet in Autumn - Barbara Pym 52. Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie 53. Hungry - Grace Dent 54. The Widow - Fiona Barton 55. Casting Off - Elizabeth Jane Howard 56. V for Victory - Lissa Evans 57. The Edge - Dick Francis 58. Straight - Dick Francis 59. The Mirror and the Light - Hilary Mantel 60. Box 88 - Charles Cummings 61. Longshot - Dick Francis 62. The Party - Elizabeth Day 63. Maurice - E M Forster 64. Driving Force - Dick Francis 65. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid 66. Leave the World Behind - Rumaan Alam 67. A Year at the Circus - Jon Sopel 68. Hope for the Best - Jodi Taylor 69. The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett 70. Jews Don’t Count - David Baddiel 71. Munich - Robert Harris 72. Tales from Lindford - Catherine Fox 73. The Liar - Steve Cavanagh 74. Virgin Earth - Philippa Gregory 75. Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 76. Decider - Dick Francis 77. In the House of Brede - Rumer Godden 78. Arabella - Georgette Heyer 79. The Only Plane in the Sky - Garrett M Graff 80. Plan for the Worst - Jodi Taylor 81. A Bit of a Stretch - Chris Atkins 82. The Red Prince: John of Gaunt - Helen Carr 83. House of Trelawney - Hannah Rothschild 84. Wild Horses - Dick Francis 85. Next of Kin - John Boyne 86. Doing Time - Jodi Taylor 87. Hard Time - Jodi Taylor 88. Twisted - Steve Cavanagh

@TimeforaGandT, your Cazalet Chronicles reads caught my eye as I'm a big fan.

You've finished the fourth and as you probably know the fifth was written many years later, not long before EJH's death. It's really disappointing; none of the characters behave as they should; I wish I hadn't read it and plan to avoid it pretend it doesn't exist on future rereads. Just to let you know ..

Happy New Year 50 Bookers 🥳 I'm just about to join the whirlwind that is the first 50 Book thread of the year but first wanted to thank the long serving members for their company, chat and recommendations in 2021, and of course to thank Southeastdweller for keeping us all in line x

Thanks @highlandcoo. I have seen the various reviews of how disappointing the final Cazalet book is and I’m torn between being disappointed and not finding out what happens next - dilemma!

Just wanted to add my thanks to Permanent for the amazing lists, Southeast for the threads, and to you all for your company and reading inspiration.

I managed 56. I didn't think I would beat 2019 which was 55. Here is my list.

1.The silent patient – Alex Michealaides
2.Across the winding River – Amie K Runyan
3.Where the crawdads sing – Delia Owens
4.Nicholas and Alexandra- Robert Massie
5,Eudora Honeysett is quite well thank you – Annie Lyons
6.Weekend – William Mcilaveney
7.Fifty fifty – Steve Cavanagh
8.The German Nurse- M J Hollows
9.Flawed- Cecelia Aherne
10.Your story, my story – Connie Palmen
11.The family upstairs- Lisa Jewell
12.A single thread – Tracy chevalier
13.After the End- Claire Mcintosh
14.The Winter Ghosts- Kate Mosse
15.Half a world away- Mike Gayle
16.The life and loves of the Mountbattens – Andrew Fownie
17.A song for Issy Bradley – Carys Bray
18.Beneath a Scarlet sky – Mark Sullivan
19,The guest list – Lucy Foley
20.Becoming – Michelle Obama
21.Hadley and Grace- Suzanne Redfern
22.White Teeth- Zadie Smith
23.The Midnight library- Matt Haig
24.The Piano Tuner- Daniel Mason#
25.The peppermint tea chroncicles – Alexander McCall Smith
26.A promise of ankles- Alexander Mcall Smith
27.The husbands Secret- Liane Moriarty
28.Black diamonds – Catherine Bailey
29.I do not sleep - Judy Finnigan
30.To tell you the truth -Gilly MacMillain (library)
31.Under a gilded moon- Joy Jordan Lee (gave up)
32.The patient assassin – Anita Assand
33.Love Frankie – Jacqueline Wilson
34.The Catch – T M Logan
35.Late in the Day – Tessa Hadley
36.The sealed letter – Emma Donoghue
37.Every last secret - A R Torre
38.Shuggie Bain – Douglas stuart
39.The light through the leaves – Glendy Vanderah
Sarum (gave up)
40.Fingersmith – Sarah Waters
41,The Secret Mother – Shalini Boland
42.The Almost Moon – Alice Sebold
43.Haven’t they grown – Sophie Hannah
44.Plainsong – Kent Haruf
45.On Green Dolphin Street – Sebastian Faulks
46.Why mummy doesn’t give a Gill sims
47,Girl woman other - Bernadine Evistro
48.The other passenger – Louise Candlish
49.We were the Mulvaneys – Joyce Carol Oates
50.Then she was gone – Lisa Jewell
51.Aperignon- Colm Mccann
52.The Mother in Law- Sally Hepworth
53.When will there be good news? Kate Atkinson
54.The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
55.Brand new friend – Mike Gayle 55
56. The pain and the privilege (David Lloyd-George

There was a mixture here of fiction non fiction and biographies. My favourite read was probably Where the Crawdads sing and I loved Nicholas and Alexandra as well. The worst was Haven't they grown by Sophie Hannah (so far fetched and unbelievable) and I gave up with Sarum. The most emotional was Shuggie Bain.