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50 Book Challenge 2022 Part One

1000 replies

southeastdweller · 01/01/2022 09:28

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2022, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

If possible, please can you embolden your titles and maybe authors as well of books you've read or going to read? It makes it much easier to keep track, especially when the threads move quickly at this time of the year.

Who's in for this year?

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falgelednl · 01/01/2022 17:33

Hi Everyone. Can I join in please? I read 56 books in 2021 with quite a few dnf.
I’m turning 50 in November so my challenge is to read a book published in every year since 1972.
I’m halfway through Triptych by Karin Slaughter, which was meant to be a quick read to end last year...

Stokey · 01/01/2022 17:34

@FiloPasty I really enjoyed Love after Love too which I'm sure was recommended by someone on the 2021 50 books thread.

My other highlights of 2021 were Sorrow and Bliss, Mermaid of Black Conch and Great Circle if I have to pick just 3!

weebarra · 01/01/2022 17:45

Hi everyone and thank you for starting the thread.
I fell off the last thread about three months in so going to try harder this year - I often used the threads as inspiration!

TimeforaGandT · 01/01/2022 17:48

Thank you for the new thread southeast - can’t believe we’re on page 6 already.

Happy new year to all 50 bookers.

I read 88 books last year but quite a lot of those were easy, comfort reads.

I am currently reading The Long and the Short of It by Jodi Taylor which is a short story collection in The Chronicles of St Mary’s. I have also started but am not making much headway with the first book of The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning so am going to park this and start something else.

TheAnswerIsCake · 01/01/2022 18:21

@minsmum The Only Plane in the Sky was one of my standouts last year. I picked it up as a Kindle deal in either January or February and unusually I read it straight away (deals usually languish for several months until I get to them). Definitely one that has stayed with me, and I know I wasn’t alone with rating it so highly on these threads.

noodlezoodle · 01/01/2022 18:23

Hurray! I'm definitely in, I love these threads. Happy New Year 50 Bookers old and new, and thank you southeast as always for the thread.

Stokey I just keep a list in OneNote that I can update on phone or laptop. I'm also trying a reading journal this year - toward the end of last year I started making a few notes as I read along and it's really lovely to look back at.

I'm another one that started with Storygraph and then reverted to Goodreads. Fortuna I think I'll join you in trying both in parallel, because I really don't like Goodreads, it's so antiquated.

InTheCludgie · 01/01/2022 18:42

Happy New Year everyone and thanks southeast for the new thread. Welcome to all the new 50 bookers too!

Chessie I love that your reading list was too big to post in one go, I'd love to have a list that big, means my wishlist of about 600 books would be whittled down by a good bit in just a year.

I see that Small Pleasures is getting more praise, I bought this on a Kindle deal last year so really need to get it read some time soon. ABookWyrm I've always had good intentions of reading the Discworld series, am working through them in order and have Guards! Guards! sitting on my shelf to read next, planned to read at least two Pratchett books last year but never even managed one unfortunately. One of my reading goals is to borrow less from the Overdrive e-library (which is fantastic and far too convenient) and read more of my own books.

Terpsichore · 01/01/2022 18:46

The weather's been pretty awful today and apart from a quick walk I've been able to stay in and mostly read, hence an unprecedentedly swift start to the year!

1. Forever Young - Hayley Mills

Being a bit of a sucker for showbiz memoirs, I snaffled this on the daily deal the other day. Hayley came from showbiz royalty (actor father John, writer mother Mary Hayley Bell) and made her film debut aged 12 in Tiger Bay, but it was Pollyanna that made her a child star and began an association with Walt Disney that endured over the course of a seven-year contract, with varying degrees of willingness on her part.

It's well-written, often gossipy and very honest about the considerable downsides of fame for a young girl growing up in the public glare - hello eating disorders, crippling shyness and family dysfunction - but also funny and likeable. Pity it wasn't better edited (eg 'Cheney' Walk in Chelsea), but Hayley comes across as a thoroughly decent sort. A nice way to ease into a new year of reading.

Grettagove · 01/01/2022 18:49

Oh yes! I’d like to join you. I have just started reading The Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell.

DesdamonasHandkerchief · 01/01/2022 19:00

Hello all, Happy New Year. I'm in again for what I think is the sixth year.
Thanks for starting us off again Southeast I look forward to another year of book chat.
Currently reading The Only Plane In The Sky and Rosie on Kindle, listening to Marking Time (second of the Cazalet Chronicles) on Audible and about to embark upon Hard Times for the read along, and may or may not keep up with the War and Peace read along, I did read W&P last year but probably read it too fast to do it justice.
Latest purchase to be added to the towering TBR pile is the Kindle version of Rachel's Holiday for 99p (Thanks to MamaNewtNewt for the heads up) as I was intrigued by the comments about it on last years final thread.

triplechoc · 01/01/2022 19:23

I’d like to join; I’ve lurked on and off for a few years picking up recommendations but need to jump in I think!

I managed 51 books last year, a mix of fiction and non-fiction. I boosted my tally with a series of undemanding, ‘cosy’ whodunnits, which were the comfort-reads I needed at the time, but it feels like a cheat as I knew I could get through a book a day! So this year I’d like to avoid doing that.

I’m mid-way through Necropolis: London and it’s Dead by Catherine Arnold . It’s about how death has been dealt with in London in particular over the centuries. Interesting, but I feel I should maybe have read something lighter alongside, it’s not a cheery Christmas holiday book!

FiveGoMadInDorset · 01/01/2022 19:33

@Grettagove that is on my re read pile

Book one done

Crisis by Frank Gardner

I picked this up somewhere a while ago and it has been glaring at me for a few years so decided to give it a go. Definitely a meh book, which I found disappointing considering the calibre of the author.

Luke Carlton ex SBS has just started work for the intelligence service and a crisis is brewing in Colombia. Travelling there sets in motion a series of events both in UK and Colombia.

It was OK as a easy read but I won’t be hunting down the next in the series.

LadybirdDaphne · 01/01/2022 19:50

The January deals are here I think: www.amazon.co.uk/s?ref=lp_3017941031_sar&rh=n%3A3017941031&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&fs=true

Terpsichore · 01/01/2022 20:08

Thanks LadybirdDaphne, I wrestled with it for an hour or two and I think I found it too!

SOLINVICTUS · 01/01/2022 20:12

@yoshiblue

Thanks for the heads up- I did read it when it came out but it's in storage in the UK at the mo' so I've bagged the Kindle one for a reread.

I'm enjoying the Adam Buxton as many of you predicted I would, and shall look up his podcasts.

I've ordered my first two book books of the year, in an attempt to read more book books as I feel I put more into them as a reader (though this is undoubtedly more due to the fact that an awful lot of my ebooks are still "most terrifying psychological thriller you'll read this year" 99ps. Anyway, I ordered The Dark is Rising #50BookersMadeMeDoIt and Just Kids by Patti Smith as I'm a sucker for 70s rock memorabilia as well as 80s pop culture and Patti is a goddess. She was 75 the other day so there's been a fair bit about her on our news.

I keep a note of my books read on a Notes app and last year started using Goodreads. If something has been particularly good or particularly bad I tend to copy over my reviews from here to there or vice versa.

TattiePants · 01/01/2022 20:15

Is anyone else struggling to get onto Goodreads today? I guess everyone is setting their 2022 challenge but I don’t ever remember it being like this.

Palegreenstars · 01/01/2022 20:26

@TattiePants yep it’s very slow and presumed it was down to everyone using it at the same time

MissRainbowBrite · 01/01/2022 20:31

Can I join in? I used to read lots and since having DD (10 years ago) I've got lazy and fallen down the social media scrolling trap. So, I've ordered myself a kindle in the hope I can fall back in love with reading and stop the mindless scrolling.
I used to love the likes of Freya North and Marian Keyes so I'll start with an old favourite I think. I'm looking forward to setting up my Kindle, never had one before.

Nuffaluff · 01/01/2022 20:33

Have just finished

  1. The Photograph by Penelope Lively.
@DustySpringboard it’s a brilliant book and a great one to start with I reckon. Glyn finds a photograph of his dead wife, Kath, from years before, when she was on an outing without him, holding hands with another man. The man is her sister’s husband. The rest of the story is told from the viewpoint of different characters and follows the fall-out from Glyn’s discovery and memories of Kath and the mystery of who she was. Beautifully written, intriguing and moving. I loved it. When I read books by this author I find myself really believing in the characters. They feel so real and I have strong opinions about them and care about what happens to them. Much more so than with many other writers. Just brilliant. I will pass it onto my mum.

Now going to re-read The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley for my book group.

Magissa · 01/01/2022 20:35

I'm in! I have lurked on previous years threads. I read 63 in 2021 so would like to do more this year.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 01/01/2022 21:09

With the Amazon sale, I've read Raybearer which is good if you like YA fantasy, and Leah Remini's autobiography which is a quick read but I then ended up watching about 5 episodes of her documentary series.

LittleDiaries · 01/01/2022 21:10

@PepeLePew I read The Railway Children between Christmas and New Year, inspired by the Backlisted podcast. It was a lovely reread for me. I loved E Nesbit's novels as a child and, of course, adored the film of The Railway Children. I even had the soundtrack and listened to it many times, so that I think I pretty much know the script word for word (even now) Grin

lovelibrary · 01/01/2022 21:12

I've only just discovered this corner of Mumsnet and would love to join in. I'm a keen reader, but actually don't keep count of how many books I read, so it will be interesting to see if I get to 50.

I finished The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall earlier. I haven't read any of his other books, but enjoyed this one, especially the chapter on space.

I've now started on Spider Woman by Lady Hale. It was given to me as a Christmas present.

TheRealShedSadie · 01/01/2022 21:18

Happy new year all! Thank you southeast. I’ve been looking forward to rejoining after a very hard 2021 defeated my concentration completely.

I was on the 2020 thread (name changed) and managed 58; thoroughly enjoyed the company and recommendations on here.

I’m starting with The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

JSL52 · 01/01/2022 21:29

I'm in please. Like lots of others I need to get off my phone and back to my books.

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