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.

Just started with 'the shape of darkness' by Laura Purcell. Gothic thriller. Not been reading much but this thread has just prompted me

@TheAnswerIsCake @BaconAndAvocado I live a bit further east, no superselectives, one of the easier areas to get in but this also means the alternatives are pretty dire so the pressure's there! Only year 3 at the moment though.

I read The Hearts Invisible Furies a few years ago and it's one of my all time favourites. Is there anything similar anyone can suggest? I haven't read any of his other books, has anyone else?

My taste is pretty mainstream, I like Celeste Ng, Matt Haig, Kristen Hannah.

Not read a page yet in 2022

I want to read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek but after borrowing the ebook from my library I can't transfer it to my Kindle and don't really want to read it in my phone! Any advice?

Can I join please?
Just started Night Road by Kristin Hannah tonight.

MargotMoon
I loved The Casual Vacancy.
Wish JKR would write more books in this vein.

I'd like to join please. I read 30 books last year, and 27 the year before, which I was quite impressed with, as I took back up cross stitch in the first lockdown, and haven't looked back. Am currently reading a non fiction about the Christmas truce in WW1 that DH got me for Christmas. My favourite books last year were The Five, Invisible Girl and Exit

@Manteo I had the same problem recently when I borrowed what I thought was the audio book of Malibu Rising from my library, only to realise it was the ebook and I couldn't read it on my Kindle. I really didn't want to read it on my phone, but had no choice and actually it wasn't that bad! So my advice would be to just give it a go on your phone. In the end it wasn't all that different from reading it on my Kindle.

Well I'm a numpty because I posted this on a different thread but this is my aim for the year.

elifthereader.com/reading-projects/reading-challenge-2022/

Please may I join you for 2022? I used to be an avid reader but family catastrophes took their toll on my time in 2021. I have fallen out of the habit of reading so this will be a challenge for me. I love books and bookshops and reading reviews and about books; I just need to knuckle down to actually read one in 2022!

I’m posting a picture of my bedside reading pile to show you all just how much of a challenge I’m facing! 🙈

Can I join? I’m reading I Capture The Castle, it’s brilliant.

Do kindle books count? If not I only read one book last year- that's pathetic.
Before children I would read at least one book a week.

(Gone to dust of my reading lamp, glasses and bookmarks)

Please may I join ?

@Journeynotdestination

Can I join? I’m reading I Capture The Castle, it’s brilliant.

I love this book, will add it to my list to re-read this year.

@Merryweather80

Do kindle books count? If not I only read one book last year- that's pathetic. Before children I would read at least one book a week.

(Gone to dust of my reading lamp, glasses and bookmarks)

Please may I join ?

I hope kindle counts as 99% of what I read is on there!

What book will you start with?

@BaconAndAvocado agree. It was very readable but the end was terrible

I hope kindle books count coz that's what 90% of my reads are!
Having said that I have just finished my Christmas book which was The Man who Died Twice - Richard Osman.
Back to my kindle book Contacts - Mark Watson which I was really excited to read and waited for ages for it to be 99p on kindle and I'm struggling with.

@Merryweather80 you can count whatever you want! Personally, for me, a book is a book no matter what format it's in - hardback, paperback, ebook (Kindle), or audiobook! I count them all and 90% of what I read is on my Kindle.

1. Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens

This was a little slow to start but the characters and setting creep up on you and I ended up really enjoying this. The last part of the story is quite unexpected.

1. Oh William! Elizabeth Strout

Silly me! I bought this in hardback just after Christmas because it was half price and I liked the cover. I didn’t realise that it’s the last of the Lucy Barton trilogy but the story - a fictional autobiography of a woman accompanying her ex-husband on a road trip to Maine to search for a lost sister - seemed to stand alone. I loved this book. Strout’s style and the character of Lucy were really compelling. I’ll be adding the first two books to my to-read list.

3 Appetite Ed Balls

Part autobiographical anecdotes and part cook book this is an easy read. I skipped reading most of the recipes but I’ve decided the book now belongs in the kitchen so I can return to them some time. I enjoyed this but Nigel Slater’s Toast is my favourite in this genre. I hope to read Grace Dent’s Hungry this year.

Next up is No one is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood.

I have had a real blitz on reading over these last couple of days but it will slow down significantly as I return to work tomorrow. I’m an English teacher but I find doing any sustained reading in term time very difficult.

@LadyMacnet - I bought the Ed Balls book in Waterstones sale last week and have the Grace Dent one waiting on Kindle, looking forward to both of them. I am also a Nigel Slater fan and am working my way through Christmas Chronicles again. I didn't enjoy Crawdads though, found it far-fetched in the extreme.

@WeeFae the spreadsheet is really just basic. Because I can look at my actual hard copy books and decide what to read I wanted to be able to see at a glance for my Kindle. So I went through all of my unread books and just have three columns and only added those I either really really want to read on one column; second column is books I’d like to read but not as much as column one and a third which is non-fiction.

So it isn’t every single book on my kindle, there is lots of there I probably should just delete. But looking at 400 books was daunting and now there is more like a 120 on the list. Otherwise, what happens is that I buy faster than I can read and end up forgetting about books.

I’ve preplanned a few:
Hard Times readalong here
War and Peace readalong
Autumn, Ali Smith in September
Mexican Gothic in October
Starting Emma shortly with my book group

I’ll hopefully be back at the end of the day with my first book finished.

I'd love to join too please.

Just started the Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown. How do I do bold? I can't remember!

I think I read about 30 books last year on my own then about another 20 ish to the kids (although some of their books I really did enjoy).

Reading Dave Grohls autobiography at the moment and just finished Ariadne which I enjoyed. I like a mix of books. Found I didn't want anything emotionally taxing for a while but think I may be ready for harder reads again this year.

I’m in!

I read a miserable total of 9 books last year due only to my phone addiction skyrocketing throughout the pandemic. I normally read in the region of 20, which can absolutely be increased with less phone and more determination! 💪

I’m starting off with a little book my DD bought me for Christmas - The Cat Who Saved Books - Sosuke Natsukawa which, 1/3 of the way in, is proving more engaging than the other short Japanese cat-themed books I’ve read in the last few years!

I’m also reading Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year with 365 sonnets/quotes and a commentary every day but obvs that’s going to take a while.

I’ve got Circe - Madeline Miller and The Silence of the Girls - Pat Barker lined up next.

I usually like to have a non-fiction on the go too (nature/science/art/motivational) but I think I’ll stick to one at a time whilst I’m getting back into the swing of reading.

@Weepingwillows12 I’d also like to read Dave Grohl’s biography and Ariadne this year.

I’ve started as I mean to go on and I’ve read a chunk of The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz this morning.

What do you all do about books you were part way through on 1st Jan, do they count? What about those you didn't finish (I wouldn't typically count these but it may be interesting to discuss them on the thread even so).

I count any I finish in the relevant year - so I’m on book 2 as I finished 1 on the 2nd Jan. I don’t count unfinished but keep a list of them