26-ish books in 2022

[StColumbofNavron]

Roll up, roll up ...

Shiny new thread for 2022.

I am setting my target at 25 this year.

I want to read at least a min of 5 in hardcopy and at least 4 non-fiction.

I have been a little remiss with updating so here are my books so far this year:

1. All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
2. To Throw Away Unopened - Viv Albertine
3. American Dirt - Jeannie Cummins
4. Why I am no Longer Talking To White People About Race -Reni Eddo-Lodge
5. Women Who Blow On Knots - Ece Temelkuran - my first DNF of the year
6. The Storyteller - Dave Grohl
7. Coal Black Mornings - Brett Anderson I was really disappointed in this book, I thought it was poorly written, and although it evoked the London of my student years, I didn't feel I connected with the author at all - and I am a fan of Suede.
8. Bed Stuy by Jerry McGill an Amazon freebie read on my kindle on a long trip. Surprisingly enjoyable but ultimately not memorable
9. The Monk, The Surfer and The CEO by Robin Sharma utter guff read as part of a work wellbeing group!

I had to stop after the first 100 pages of “ Into the water “ by Paula Hawkins that was my book no 8 . Don’t know why but I just didn’t get on with the writing style or something so out to charity shop it went . I am in the middle of several on my kindle but I think
I’ll read a John Grisham one next probably “ Camino Island “ from my drawer . I haven’t read his books for ages.

Oh and I finished “ My Friend Anna “ and that went to charity too .

@Nordicmom exactly same, I skimmed the end to find out the conclusion but couldn't get into it enough to read whole thing.

Book No 26
99 Red Balloons Elisabeth Carpenter

Fairly average abduction story. The 'twist' was obvious and the end a bit ott but a passable read.

7. Emma by Jane Austen (Audio)
Wonderful, obviously. I love listening to audiobooks last thing at night but have always found that, even with the sleep timer, I fall asleep and then struggle to find the right place again. My new system is to have a book which I know really well and love to listen to last thing at night. Doesn’t matter too much then if I miss bits!
This was from the Jane Austen Collection on Audible - all of the novels for the price of one book. Narrated by Emma Thompson with different voice actors playing the roles. A bit cheesy maybe but quite effective.

1. Freckles by Cecelia Ahern (book)
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audio)
3. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri (audio)
4. Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian (audio)
5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling (audio)

6 The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater 7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (audio) 8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban by JK Rowling (audio) 9 Persuasion by Jane Austen audio/kindle mix. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery audio - another classic, loved in childhood. Perfect escapist stuff for troubled times, beautifully narrated. We should all be a bit more Anne.

10. The Godmother by Hannalore Cayre, really fun and slightly crazy crime novel set among Arabic speaking immigrants in Paris.

1. How to Be a Rock Star - Shaun Ryder

Listened to the audio book of this read by Shaun Ryder, and it was far and away the most entertaining audiobook I've ever listened to. I think if you followed along with the written text you'd find that he doesn't just read it verbatim - all along the way he adds in loads of extra stories, comments on the text, laughs at memories as he is reading them and generally revels in telling his story. There's also an interview with him and Bez at the end of the book.

@bibliomania I read The Doomsday Day several times when I was a teenager, absolutely loved it. Then listened to the audiobook last year and realised how appallingly written it was. A good editor should have tightened it up, but it would have been a mammoth task! Still have huge fondness for it and still think about Kivrin from time to time.

@pontiouspilates I felt exactly the same about Coal Black Mornings! Then I also read Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn and came to the conclusion that Brett Anderson is either a miserable twat or takes himself far too seriously (poss both) - where was the joy!?!! Has every single aspect of his pop star career been relentlessly miserable?

Margot, I agree that a bit of tightening up wouldn't have gone amiss. But if you do get into it, it is pretty immersive.

Oh I think I might read Noughts and Crosses fit my sci-fi if that's sci-fi?
I really don't know what is any more!

9. Riders, Jilly Cooper

Well, where to start? I am sure many of you are aware of Riders or indeed read it when you were 16 which appears to be the experience of everyone I know, except me!

Set amongst the glam world of show jumping in the late 1970s, early 1980s a load of unlikeable people jump horses and each other - and repeat.

The casual sexism and every other ism was mad and I wanted to hate it and I did, but I also loved it and couldn't stop reading it (I have failed to read it twice before but I just seemed to click with it this time).

Everyone is awful and though Rupert Campbell-Black is the main villain of the piece they are all awful and he is at least quite up front. I hated everyone for different reasons and loved hating them.

I think I will read the others.

@drspouse

Oh I think I might read Noughts and Crosses fit my sci-fi if that's sci-fi? I really don't know what is any more!

By Malorie Blackman? I wouldn't say it was sci-fi, it's reversed apartheid so I guess dystopic. Worth a read for sure although I found it very upsetting. Some of her other novels are sci fi but e.g. Pig Heart Boy is getting close to no longer being sci-fi.

:23DonEmmanuelsDingleberries

1. The Inheritance Of Loss by Kiran Desai
2. The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan
3. Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson
4. Milkman by Anna Burns
5. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
6. Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burn Out Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
7. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
8. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

9.Whistling for the Elephants by Sandi Toksvig

10. Ariadne by Jennifer Saint - This was an enjoyable, quick read. I didn't know much about Ariadne beyond the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, so it was interesting to do a bit of follow on reading about her mythology.

Just started The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Daré.

Book 28
Next of Kin Kia Abdullah
This is a harrowing but excellent read about family crisis and the ensuing court case following the death of a young child. The twists at the end left me reeling.

Has anyone read any of the longlisted books for the Women's Prize for Fiction? I want to put them all on my list but seeing as I can only usually manage 26 books in a year it wouldn't leave much room for anything else (& skint me out!)

womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/features/features/news/announcing-the-womens-prize-2022-longlist

I’ve only read the Elif Shafak and I loved it.

I've read The Final Revival of Opal & Nev and thought it was good. I have Great Circle and Sorrow & Bliss on my Kindle TBR.

1. Freckles by Cecelia Ahern (book)
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (audio)
3. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri (audio)
4. Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian (audio)
5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling (audio)

6 The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater 7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling (audio) 8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban by JK Rowling (audio) 9 Persuasion by Jane Austen audio/kindle mix. 10 Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery (audio) 11 I Love the Bones of You by Christopher Eccleston (audio).. A moving memoir, focussed on the relationship between Christopher and his father, also with his young son. I didn't know much about Christopher's life, prior to this. He first came to my attention as one of the lead actors in Our Friends in The North, one of the best Tv series ever IMO. This book is really moving, he speaks lovingly of his father (and mother) throughout and reveals his own struggles with mental illness.

No 11 The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister by, well, Anne Lister. And Helena Whitbread. I found this really fascinating but also hard going - and there's a volume 2. In hindsight I should have read a biography or one of the novelisations of Gentleman Jack.

1. The Inheritance Of Loss by Kiran Desai
2. The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan
3. Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson
4. Milkman by Anna Burns
5. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
6. Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burn Out Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
7. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
8. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

9.Whistling for the Elephants by Sandi Toksvig 10.Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

11. The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré - I really liked this book, and enjoyed reading about most of the characters very much, especially Adunni, Kofi, Big Madam. However I thought everything was resolved too easily at the end with very little suspense. I also wasn't really sold on Tia's character or unlikely friendship with Adunni which all felt a little too convenient.

25. Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
I loved the concept of this book: the idea that if you could live your life over and over again what would/could you do differently, how can you learn from your experiences, and what influence you could have on key events. I found the characters interesting and I enjoyed that it was set over the period of the Second World War, as I don't think I've read a book about the Blitz since I was kid.

26. Rodham - Curtis Sittenfeld
This book explores the life that Hillary Rodham might have lived if she hadn't married Bill Clinton. An interesting and entertaining fictionalised version of what might have been. Other than the sex scenes parts, which gave me the ick feeling unless I worked hard to not think of the characters as the real people, this was good.

27. The Other Bennett Sister - Janice Hadlow (audiobook)
A fun Pride and Prejudice spin off focused on what happened to Mary Bennett. Probably a bit overlong and a little frustrating in parts but I enjoyed the ending where Mary finally decides to speak her mind.

28. The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
One of my favourites of the year so far, I loved this story which focuses on the lives of two sisters in occupied France during WW2. A fantastic book that shines a light on women's endurance and resistance during war, something that doesn't get recognised in the usual remembrance of male bravery and victory. I cried at the end and (as I tell my ds whenever he gets upset) it's always a good thing when a book (or film) makes us feel something.

@drspouse

No 11 The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister by, well, Anne Lister. And Helena Whitbread. I found this really fascinating but also hard going - and there's a volume 2. In hindsight I should have read a biography or one of the novelisations of Gentleman Jack.

I read Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister by Anne Choma, which was brilliant. I'd read reviews of the diaries saying they were hard going.

I might try that some time dolly!

Finished 'Shattered' (about Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign). Good analysis of the insurmountable problems hardwired into the campaign.

Now half way through The House on Mango Street, and I'll be finished by Monday evening. I am very familiar with the city where it's set and yet this is the first time for me to read it, to my shame. So far it's wonderful.