50 Books Challenge 2023 Part One

[Southeastdweller]

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

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2023, 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?

@FortunaMajor good to have you back.
Regarding Spare, I certainly plan to skim-read this guiltily, just as soon as the copies start trickling through to the charity shops. I reckon they'll be falling over them in a month or so.

Spare will either be my next review or by Sunday, I will try and Spare you all as best I can. It has become a bit Oh God, Spare me I'll admit

I’m looking forward to reading Spare as soon as it’s available from the library - definitely won’t be paying for it though 😂

Regarding Spare, I certainly plan to skim-read this guiltily, just as soon as the copies start trickling through to the charity shops. I reckon they'll be falling over them in a month or so.

Same here 🤣 Unless I see it in the library first!

technically, I did but I had a leftover Audible credit I didn't shell out for it and I am quite glad.

Oh @FortunaMajor what else do you think will make the list? I'd have thought Best of Friends quite likely too given it's by a previous winner.

I suspect Spare will be the new 50 Shades, with charity shops drowning in copies.

Book 4 - A Litter Of Bones by JD Kirk. Read the whole thing on a train journey today. Jack Logan isn’t quite funny as he thinks he is, but it’s engaging, fast-paced and I’m about to start the second one.

Can I join in please? I've just set my Goodreads reading Challenge goal to 52.Reading 'The Open Air' by Lucinda Hart atm ❤️

I'm undecided on Weather I'm going to read Spare yet. 😂

I am halfway through Spare on Audible. All very woe is me so far.

Just popping to send best wishes to @FortunaMajor - sounds very nasty and I hope you are feeling less shaken up now.

I honestly feel as though I’ve read Spare several times already. I eventually had to hide the whole Royal Family topic and it’s bliss, but I’m just naughtily catching up with this thread at work and the full horror of the eleventy-million threads on H & M on ‘Active’ has come hurtling right back 😱

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Build Your House Around My Body was one of my books of the year last year. Even though not all of it was entirely successful - I found Winnie a very unsympathetic character - it has really started with me, and was just so original.

I haven't really thought about the Women's Prize this year but will move Tomorrow x3 to the top of my TBR list. Monica Ali maybe? And Lessons in Chemistry seems quite popular. There's always a few I've never heard of though which is what I love about it.

Really *stayed with me!

I was just wondering who would be the first to read Spare on here so 💐to @GrannieMainland . I'm going to wait till I see a copy in a charity shop, agree it won't be long till they start appearing.

@ChessieFL that doesn't surprise me.

I'm not interested in reading 'spare', but have been sent it as a pdf several times now!!!

I've only finished 1 book so far, crafternoon sewcial club by J C Williams. It was my book clubs choice, we thought it would be feel good over the Christmas period but we were all annoyed by it! Was a bit like reading descriptive writing at school. Felt a bit old fashioned somehow.

I'm part way through 2 other books, one is a novel and one is an instructional (how to parent 😆).

I use the Goodreads eligible list. It isn't always that accurate, but you can make a reasonable guess based on previous authors. There will always be a few curveballs and new authors, but I think the likes of Maggie O'Farrell, Kate Atkinson, poss Kingsolver are shoe ins. I'm aiming to read 1-5/7/11/14/15/18/19.
Last year the list was nothing like predicted though so no promises.

www.goodreads.com/list/show/182133.Women_s_Prize_for_Fiction_2023_Eligible_Books

A dubious honour @JaninaDuszejko

Thanks for the list @FortunaMajor, regardless of how accurate there are some really interesting books there!

Greetings and love to you @FortunaMajor

John Crace has written an excellent review of Spare in The Guardian.

Finished my first book of 2023, The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11 by Garret M. Graff.

This was an incredible book to start the year and very affecting. One recollection of an in-house counsel for one of the companies in the North Tower spending hours signing a foot high pile of affidavits for lost employees so that their death certificates could be released, and pausing to say a few words about anyone he knew really stuck with me.

Highly recommend.

Love to you @FortunaMajor.
Off to look for the review of Spare. SIL went straight out to buy it so I’m waiting for her copy.
I enjoyed this www.thetimes.co.uk/article/our-week-william-and-harry-jw8btxvtk

I’m not going to bother with Spare. I am however, half way through Remains of the Day.

I'm currently on 'A Kind worth Killing.' By Peter Swanson ❤️

I finished book 3 last night: Stories for Christmas and the Festive Season: British Library Women Writers Anthology: 18 edited by Simon Thomas. A nice collection of short stories, which were mostly new to me (I'd read the Stella Gibbons on in Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm), and although I missed the Christmas season I still enjoyed them. I didn't much like the Muriel Spark though, which surprised me as I've always really enjoyed her writing. I've not read anywhere near enough this week and have slipped back into bad habits looking at my phone at lunchtime etc. Must do better!