Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

26-ish books for 2023

767 replies

Tinkhasflown · 01/01/2023 13:15

A shiny new thread for 2023. There didn't appear to be one do hope it's ok that I have created it this year.

All welcome and note 26 is just a number. Everyone can set their own target and you are welcome here even if you only read 3 books a year.

I personally count the larger novel style books I read to my children and audio books I listen to. Others don't and there are no rules.

I look forward to all your suggestions again this year.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Scout2016 · 11/02/2023 20:12

1)Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
2)Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
3) My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay
4) Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhy
5) The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.
6) The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
7) The Prison Doctor by Dr Amanda Brown. True life memoirs of doctor working in young offenders', then mens' then women's prisons. Wouldn’t recommended. Not very well written and a bit like an extended version of those articles you get in the type of magazines where people sell stories about walking in on their mum shagging their boyfriend on their wedding day, alongside a sad face photo. Bits set at her home were particularly cringy. At wotk there's lots of high drama anecdotes but very superficial somehow. One interesting aspect is how her job changes her view of her world.
There's a lot of these books out there, I think maybe since the sucess of Henry Marsh's Do No Harm (which was great) but a lot are really disappointing.
I'm noticing reworking of myths is one of the in things now and it seems rather cynical.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 11/02/2023 23:50
  1. Good Omens (a re-read because it's a classic!)
UsefulSmartPrettyHappy · 12/02/2023 16:03
  1. Space Hopper by Helen Fisher - About a woman who is able to time travel back to the 1970s. She gets to meet her mother and her childhood self. I really enjoyed this book, and didn't want it to end. You do have to suspend belief a little bit, in order to fully enjoy it. If anyone else likes this they might also enjoy The Accidental Time Traveller by Sharon Griffiths - About time travelling back to the 1950s.
Orangebadger · 12/02/2023 21:28
  1. Love Untold by Ruth Jones. 2 a) 11/22/63 by Stephen King. DNF 2 b) Spectacle, A memoir. By Sue Perkins.

Really enjoyed this, funny, warm and humble.

  1. The man who died twice by Richard Osman. Read the first one last year and enjoyed it in a light hearted way. Need something easy to dip into during half term.
Wildernesstips · 13/02/2023 07:33

4. The Hand of Ethelberta by Thomas Hardy
I am gradually reading (or re-reading) these in chronological order. Not one of the better ones but enjoyable enough. Thomas Hardy has such a great turn of phrase.

SlightlyJaded · 13/02/2023 16:36

Is it me? I am halfway through listening to Shrines of Gaiety (read brilliantly by Jason Watkins) and it's ok, but really just ok...

I LOVE KA. Behind the Scenes and A God in Ruins are two of my favourite books but I am really struggling to 'love' this.

EasilyDirected · 13/02/2023 22:20

6: East of Croydon by Sue Perkins (audio) - A few years ago Sue was asked to make a documentary following the course of the Mekong River. She had never been East of Torremolinos. This book charts her journey. Beautifully narrated, witty, observant and compassionate.

blametheparents · 14/02/2023 07:32

BaconAndAvocado · 11/02/2023 16:04

  1. The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page. Wasn’t great, a bit Mills and Boon for me.

Next up is The Night Ship by Jess Kidd. Started it last night - so far, so good.

@BaconAndAvocado - Got The Night Ship on my ‘to read’ list.
It’s not reached the top yet though!

blametheparents · 14/02/2023 07:34

Finished Book 3 - Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. As you’d expect - pretty light but a very enjoyable read.

I’ve just started ‘Free Food for Millionaires’ by Min Jin Lee - the same author who wrote Pachinko (which has been pretty popular last year and this). Really enjoying it so far.

BaconAndAvocado · 14/02/2023 08:41

blametheparents I’m about a quarter of the way through The Night Ship, enjoying it.
Having just read The Keeper of Stories,I’m really appreciating some good writing.
I read a Taylor Jenkins Reid last Summer on holiday. Again, the writing was very one dimensional. Reminded me of the Jackie Collins books I read when I was a teenager.
So many books, so little time.....

Yuja · 14/02/2023 11:06

4 - People of Abandoned Character - Clare Whitfield
I found this very readable but ultimately it was just okay. The ending became quite far fetched (and gory!), and I found the main character difficult to like or empathise with. Very good descriptive writing of London slums in the 19th century though.

toffee1000 · 14/02/2023 22:26

I’ve been a bit crap with my reading in the past couple of years, I’d read a bit and then would put it down for days/weeks. Not so much because I hated the book, but because I am so easily distracted by other things! I read a grand total of about five books last year Blush
I’ve been doing much better this year though. So far I’ve read 3.5 books (the half being a book I started last year and finished in January. Have recently started my fourth book.
I got a 12 month subscription from Willoughby Book Club last year, first book came in February. So I’d be getting a new book every month and they’d just be added to my large “to be read” pile BlushGrin They are useful though for introducing me to new authors/books I may not have considered myself. Three of last year’s books came from them. I did re-read some books but I only count “new to me” books when totting up what I’ve read during the year.

This year so far:

  1. Thornyhold by Mary Stewart (the “half book”)
  2. The Mitford Vanishing by Jessica Fellowes
  3. Love in Idleness by Amanda Craig
  4. The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

Good books overall, I enjoyed them. Some characters were a PITA but that’s normal with books. All the books were from Willoughby Book Club apart from Mitford Vanishing which is part of a series I like.
Just started “Crampton Hodnet” by Barbara Pym. I’ve not read any of her stuff before although I do have a copy of Excellent Women knocking about somewhere.

Magentax · 15/02/2023 11:03

My list so far! Highlights are Zone of Interest and Lolly Willoes. I thought Rosemary's Baby was pretty weak although I think it was probably very original when written.

  1. A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon
  2. Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
  3. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (would not recommend, I loved this book when I was about 12 but it is not as good as I remember!)
  4. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
  5. Lolly Willoes or the loving huntsman by Sylvia Sylvia Townsend Warner
  6. Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
  7. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
  8. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

Now a bit stumped as to what to read next! Will have a read through PPs lists and see if inspiration strikes!

UsefulSmartPrettyHappy · 15/02/2023 14:49
  1. The Child That Books Built by Francis Spufford- I expected to really like this as I loved Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. I just didn't though. I found it much more long winded than Bookworm, and not half as much fun to read. Both of these books are reminiscing about childhood reading.
Scout2016 · 15/02/2023 16:54

@Magentax have you read We Have Always Lived In The Castle? You might like that if you liked Lolly Willows.

Scout2016 · 15/02/2023 16:56

@Magentax Or I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

Magentax · 15/02/2023 17:02

I have read both of those! I loved them both though so spot on suggestions.

PritiPatelsMaker · 15/02/2023 18:19

So far I've read:

Prudence by Jilly Cooper after seeing it recommended on MN. I've never read one of hers before and will probably read another on holiday maybe.

Angels by Marian Keyes. It was a deal on kindle and I really should have known better.

This Must be the Place by Maggie 'O'Farrell. Bizarre set of characters but thoroughly enjoyed it.

And now I'm reading The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves. Again a new author for me. It's a bit slow but picking up now towards the end.

I did start Murder Before Evensong but just couldn't get on with the style of writing so moved on to something more enjoyable.

Chickoletta · 15/02/2023 22:41
  1. Forever Home by Graham Norton
  2. Betrayal by Harold Pinter
  3. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus I really liked this but did not love it as much as the general MN consensus. Did anyone else just not warm to Elizabeth or Mad? I found the ending very moving though and am glad I read it.
Iamblossom · 19/02/2023 14:55

I'll keep adding my list so far on my posts...

1 Twelve Secrets
2 People of Abandoned Character

Just read 3 and 4 on holiday:

The Herd - enjoyed this, well written, I guessed the plot twist at the end quite early, #smug

Last One at The Party - really enjoyed this, which on some level is surprising as "the end of the world/post apocalyptic survival" has been done to death. But this was great.

Recommend all of mine so far.

Iamblossom · 19/02/2023 14:57

Yuja · 14/02/2023 11:06

4 - People of Abandoned Character - Clare Whitfield
I found this very readable but ultimately it was just okay. The ending became quite far fetched (and gory!), and I found the main character difficult to like or empathise with. Very good descriptive writing of London slums in the 19th century though.

I liked it for that too

Iamblossom · 19/02/2023 14:59

PritiPatelsMaker · 15/02/2023 18:19

So far I've read:

Prudence by Jilly Cooper after seeing it recommended on MN. I've never read one of hers before and will probably read another on holiday maybe.

Angels by Marian Keyes. It was a deal on kindle and I really should have known better.

This Must be the Place by Maggie 'O'Farrell. Bizarre set of characters but thoroughly enjoyed it.

And now I'm reading The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves. Again a new author for me. It's a bit slow but picking up now towards the end.

I did start Murder Before Evensong but just couldn't get on with the style of writing so moved on to something more enjoyable.

Oh wow I wish i could read Jilly Cooper's Riders for the first time again. I stumbled across it at 14 and was transfixed. 😳

DrMadelineMaxwell · 19/02/2023 15:56

15 - The Creeping Shadow.

UsefulSmartPrettyHappy · 19/02/2023 16:18

7. Our Day Out (a play) by Willy Russell - A play about a class of disadvantaged children going on a school trip. A big hit of nostalgia for me, as I last read this as a pupil at school. I liked it then and I like it now. Smile.

thefinaltwist · 19/02/2023 19:06

Started book number 5 which is called The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster