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.

1. Index, a History of the by Dennis Duncan.

Full disclosure - the author is an old friend so I was always going to be predisposed to enjoy this book. But I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did - I'm not particularly literary or academic but I found it engaging and interesting and funny in parts.

I would like to have seen something about the Dewey Decimal system in there, though.

1. Manifesto by Bernardine Evaristo.

I listened to this on audiobook, read by the author, and found a lot to relate to despite the fact that I'm not a creative. Her hard-earned confidence in herself is inspirational.

20: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (audio). One more to go then I’m going to watch the films.

I’m not quite finished with them yet but atm racing to finish
12.The Girl Who Lived Twice - David Lagercrantz which is last in the Millennium Series by Stieg Larsson
13.The Chain - Adrian McKinty

I’ve really gotten into this one and ended up also getting his The Island by him after not being to resist buying a few new physical books before finishing my 11 left in the bedroom drawer .
14.How To Kill Your Family - Bella Mackie
was given to my by DH yesterday for my birthday and have to admit I started on it already , think it has potential …
then funnily I got the same book from my DS and my friend also yesterday “ The Paper Palace “ by Miranda Cowley Heller so one is going back to my friend who’ll read it .

16. The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex Wasn't sure this was going to be my cup of tea, but I enjoyed it a lot. So many themes explored and I liked the way she built the characters throughout.

I just finished The Other Bennet Sister which was recommended on this thread. I really enjoyed it.

14. Watership Down

I've always wanted to read this, and had it on my bookshelf forever. I don't even know where the copy came from. It seems to be an early (1974) print.

I enjoyed the story, but it was too long. The first two thirds were quite slow, and had lots of 'stories', which felt like unnecessary filller. Last third was much quicker to read and there was more action. I'm glad I've read it though.

Little Gods by Anna Richards
A fantastic read!
It tells the tale of Eugenia, a woman of huge proportions, from war time England to Hollywood.
I loved all the characters and think Eugenia will stay with me for some time.

I finished The Chain which I liked so I’m trying now to resist his other one The Island until I’ve finished The girl who lived twice …

17. A Family Affair, Mary Campisi

After her father dies a women discovers he has a whole other family who she is drawn to. I whizzed through this and it passed the time, but it was a nonsense really.

18. Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford

I love Nancy's privileged, crazy stories. This follows on from The Pursuit of Love but is set on the same timeline but follows different people, though still narrated by Fanny. Fanny is just one of the best stroytellers, her observations, her wit etc are all brilliant. I loved this, for its campness, its craziness and general eccentricity.

I watched the film at the weekend, and felt they condensed it too much and missed a lot out. Something between the film and the book would have been spot on.

20: Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (audio). Absolutely brilliant, but heartbreaking story of a gay teenage boy growing up in a dysfunctional family in working class Glasgow, brutal, tender, this will stay with me for a long time, as did the author's previous book Shuggie Bain.

Actually that was 21 not 20 for me.

22: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. Enjoyable but went on a bit too long and I found the ending a bit disappointing.

15 Left You Dead by Peter James
This was good, felt like a suitable ending to the Roy Grace series (I don't know if it is), as the last few books have not been as good as the earlier ones.

I'm really out of date but just bumping to keep this on TIO.

17 - Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.

This was exceptional - an amazing read. I fee bereft that it's over!

Yingmei Have you seen the HBO tv adaptation of Station Eleven? It’s superb.

I will now! Didn't know about it but that's very exciting!

@YingMei I can remember that I enjoyed Station Eleven when I read it a few years ago but my memory of it is now a bit hazy.

I'm about two thirds of the way through Emily St John Mandel's latest book, Sea of Tranquility - I went into it without much idea what it's about but I'm very much liking it so far, though I didn't mean to read two pandemic novels at the same time (also reading Sarah Moss, The Fell), or two involving time travel or something (Olga Wojtas, Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace).

I finished my
12 .The Girl Who Lived Twice
13.The Chain
And now reading
14.How To Kill Your Family which seems good so far but have just bought another I couldn’t resist that’s not fiction and more a social commentary book I already had a look of a bit
15 . Under The Affluence ( shaming the poor , praising the rich and sacrificing the future of America ) by Tim Wise after I saw him in a documentary which has potential to be either interesting or deathly boring so I shall see …

Couldn’t resist and started
16.The Island by Adrian McKintey
even though I haven’t finished the other two . Good so far …

Sorry I haven't read the thread so don't know whether his Duffy books have been discussed (must have posted on it months ago but it came up on TIO).
Adrian McKinty is my all time favourite author but for his Sean Duffy series, set in NI in the troubles, incredibly witty and just great writing.

19. My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite

Loved this short book with tiny chapters. This was very popular a few years ago, so I am sure needs no introduction and largely is what it says. I really enjoyed the sense of place, the way it’s written and all the references to Nigeria, the food, clothes etc.

My current other reads are either dense, huge or non fiction so it was nice to have an interlude, I read it all today.

I haven't updated in quite a while. I had a period where I just couldn't get into anything I picked up and had a couple of DNF's. I might return to a couple of them but Milkman that everyone raved about I won't.

I've also recently listened to my first audio books during my walks and am a convert so am counting them too. Annoyingly my count is out of sync with Goodreads as it counts DNF's - must look to see if I can fix that.

Book 12 We should all be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I love this authority this turned out to be just a short story. It was ok.

Book 13 My Evil Mother - Margaret Atwood another short story but quite enjoyable.
Book 14 The Miserable Milk - Lemony Snicket still working through this series with the children but also breaking away for shorter stories.
Book 15 The Austere Academy - Lemony Snicket
Book 16 Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes A really enjoyable read that got me back in the reading game.

Book 17 The thing about Clare - Imogen Clark This was free on prime reading and was just ok. A bit predictable with characters I didn't really warm to.
Book 18 Again, Rachel - Marian Keyes My first audio book, a follow on to book 16. I really enjoyed this one too and may look at others in this series about the other family members.
Book 19 - The Road Trip - Beth O'Leary Audio book, this was ok, laugh out loud funny at times but with some very annoying characters.

I'm currently reading As you Were by Elaine Carney but not living resetting style. I'm also listening to another Marian Keyes book This Charming Man.

I haven't updated in a while as I've been in a bit of a reading slump and have had a few false starts. My most disappointing DNF was Fingersmith (Sarah Waters), which I found irritatingly slow. After Googling the plot, I decided it wasn't worth the time, although I might have reconsidered for a shorter book.

18. In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende - The paths of undocumented immigrant Evelyn and human rights professor Richard literally collide as the result of a minor traffic accident during a snowstorm. The consequences of the accident are far more serious for Evelyn, and she shortly shows up at Richard's house with nowhere else to turn. In an effort to understand her, Richard enlists the help of his tenant Lucia, and their backstories unfurl during the course of the book.

This is my second book by Allende this year. I enjoyed it, but perhaps not quite as much as some of her others. The 'twist' was quite easy to see coming, and I thought that gutsy Lucia was far too good for the self-pitying Richard. Still a lovely read though.

19. Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez - A very interesting and thought provoking book, albeit an infuriating one. Its been reviewed a lot on Mumsnet, so I won't go into too much detail except to say that I will be forcing it upon highly recommending it to all the men in my life.