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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:
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8
DrMadelineMaxwell · 11/04/2023 14:56

Lots of lovely reading time over the bank holiday.
Novellas
40 Magic Dreams
41 Magic Steals

Novels
42 Magic Bites
43 Magic Bleeds

Just starting 44 Magic Strikes.

All by the very excellent Ilona Andrews. If you like contemporary fantasy and havent read her work I heartily recommend it. 10 book series.

Citygirlrurallife · 11/04/2023 18:42

Haven’t updated in eons and need to get my mojo back after a few weeks of not picking up a book, but here’s my list so far

EspeciallyDetermined · 12/04/2023 06:52

12: The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith. Well, I love the two main characters and their ongoing story but this was a slog, it's taken me 6 months and is so long, with so many minor characters and alter-egos that it has left me a bit confused.

Citygirlrurallife · 12/04/2023 07:06

Oops didn’t post

  1. Songbirds by Christy Lefteri
  2. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
  3. Lies by Michael Grant
  4. The Promise by Damon Galgut
  5. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
  6. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
  7. A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney
  8. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
  9. This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell
  10. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling (read to DD)

been a good year so far and I especially recommend On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and A Heart That Works

Pourmeanotherwine · 12/04/2023 07:57

1 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
2 The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier
3 lessons in Chemistry
4 touch of love by Jonathan Coe
5 The bird in the bamboo cage by Heather Webb
6 The man who died twice by Richard Osman
7 The Glass Blowers by Daphne du Maurier
8 The travelling cat chronicles by Hiro Arkawa. Lovely but sad.
9 Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif. Enjoyed I think. Darkly funny.
10 Everyone in this room will someday be dead by Emily Austin.
11 The Helingor Sewing Club by Ella Gyland. Really enjoyed this one, about the evacuation of Danish Jews to Sweden in the second world war by local fishermen with the help of the whole community.
12 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Scout2016 · 14/04/2023 19:28

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.
8) Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
9) Difficult Women by Helen Lewis: A History of Feminism In 11 Fights.
10) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
11) Crooked House by Agatha Christie.
12) My Life In Orange by Tim Guest
13) Regeneration by Pat Barker. I don't know if i would say I enjoyed this but i am glad I read it and I intend to read the next one inthe trilogy and more of Barker's work. Set in a military psychiatric hospital in Edinburgh during war (1917.) Follows a handful of the patients during their stay there, including Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, and also one of the therapist's. Interesting insights into therapeutic interventions of the time, opposing views on the war, aspects of societal views on men and women, class and so on... You might need a strong stomach for some of the more graphic descriptions of the soldiers' experiences on the front line.
I was quite pleased when some female characters were brought in as it opened to story out a bit, lightened the mood and gave a glimpse of what some women were doing. (I did not know that working in a munitions factory turned skin yellow.)
If you aren't keen on poetry or naval gazing it probably isn't for you.

Scout2016 · 14/04/2023 19:30

*Bah, therapists not therapist's - sorry!

Yuja · 15/04/2023 17:14

10 - The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

I found the start a little slow but loved it from about 20% onwards.

EspeciallyDetermined · 17/04/2023 20:21

13: The Enchanted Aprilby Elizabeth von Arnim - four English women rent a castle in Italy for a month in order to get away from their everyday lives (and the men in them). At first it seems they won’t get along with each other but as the days pass they all learn a great deal about each other, the men in their lives and the meaning of love. Beautifully written.

Scout2016 · 17/04/2023 21:00

14. Bilgewater by Jane Gardam. Very enjoyable "coming of age" story about an academic and unworldly teenage girl's last few months at school. Many quirky and well drawn characters and scenes. I liked the narrator, could easily visualise the scenes, loved her way of describing things and the dialogue. Satisfying ending which still left some "what if?s". I think it would make a good film - one of those slightly daft but quietly moving very British ones, where not a lot happens and there's a lots of manners and faux pas and you root for the odd bod underdogs.

thefinaltwist · 17/04/2023 21:03

Book 10 Dead Find by T F Muir

I'm doing so much better than I expected

Nordicmom · 17/04/2023 23:45

I finally finished
6.Fairytale- Stephen King
7.Death and Papa Noel - Ian Moore I read in between it was very short
8.Bad Mormon -Heather Gay I’m now continuing

BunchOfBobs · 18/04/2023 20:29

Jumping in. I've been lurking on this thread so thought I'd contribute.

I finally got back to reading in March after approx 6 years of not reading- my eldest is 6 🙄.

Here are my reads so far:

✓	The Girl on the Train
✓	The Memory  Collector
✓	The Dinner Guest
✓	We Begin at the End 
✓	American Dirt
✓	Hamnet 
✓	Piranesi 
✓	Beekeeper of Aleppo 
✓	Lessons in Chemistry

Book 10 is The Radium Girls.

I've loved most but really didn't enjoy The Dinner Guest, really bad continuity/editing errors. I found it really jarring to read.

Also didn't quite get into We Begin at the End, until the last chapter really.

I've rediscovered my love of reading and I'm hammering my local library which is great- use it or lose it!

mathanxiety · 19/04/2023 00:39

4 'The Road to Little Dribbling' by Bill Bryson. Started slowly but gathered pace.

Yawningalldaylong · 19/04/2023 08:30
  1. The Midnight Library- Matt Haig
  2. The Switch - Beth O'Leary
  3. The Coroner - MR Hall
  4. Faking Friends - Jane Fallon (audio)
  5. The Marlow Murder Club - Robert Thorogood
  6. The Killing Kind - Jane Casey
  7. Missing, Presumed - Susie Steiner (Audio). *8) My Sweet Revenge - Jane Fallon (Audio)
  8. The Christmas Bookshop - Jenny Colgan (Audio)
  9. Listen to me - Tess Gerritsen.* *Recommended to me and was easy to read

I've really struggled to find my flow since January, but audiobooks have kept me going.

ECMCS · 21/04/2023 19:49

1.One Minute Later by Susan Lewis

  1. The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster
  2. Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher
  3. Undoctored by Adam Kay
  4. The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler
  5. The Library of Lost and found by Phaedra Patrick
  6. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelidas
Did not see that ending coming at all!
  1. Freckles by Cecelia Ahern
I have read some of her books before and really like her writing style

Haven't updater for a while:

No. 9. The Family Lie By Jake Cross
No.10. The Man Who Died Twice By Richard Osman

Scout2016 · 22/04/2023 12:56

15 The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker. Very twisty plot with a central "who dunnit?" thread. Some aspects I found rather gimmicky and irritating - ever chapter starting with something about writing, central character's mother is a one dimensional stereotype, some very clunky dialogue and psychology, dislikable characters and I got beyond fed up of the controversial "love story" and love letters. I didn't give a monkeys about the publishing aspects. Possibly something was lost in translation. I was very involved up to page 450, by page 500 I was flagging but then there was a twist that pulled me back in and everything shifted.
It kept me hooked just wanting to know what had happened, it's a bit different from other crime novels and I would actually recommend it to someone who wanted something twisty but not too demanding.

Deadringer · 22/04/2023 13:15

I just started book 24, 'Duffy and Son' and I am loving it so far. Its set in Ireland and is about a father who wants to find a partner for his son who is about to turn 40. Its funny and charming and very engaging.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 22/04/2023 15:01

45 Magic Strikes (my favourite of the entire series)
46 Magic Bleeds
47 Magic Slays

GalileoHumpkins · 22/04/2023 16:03

I hope it's ok if I join in, so far this year I've read
Cat Lady - Dawn O'Porter
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin
Galatea: A Short Story - Madeline Miller
Broken Summer - Jung-Myung Lee
Nightbitch - Rachel Yoder
The Whispering Muse - Laura Purcell
Cleopatra and Frankenstein - Coco Mellors
She and Her Cat - Makoto Shinkai
Ponti - Sharlene Teo
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Lonely Castle in the Mirror - Mizuki Tsujimura
What Lies Between Us - John Marrs
The Forgetting - Hannah Beckerman
Keep It In The Family - John Marrs
Medusa - Jessie Burton
The Things We Do to Our Friends - Heather Darwent
Sweetpea - C.J. Skuse
Perfect Remains - Helen Fields

I'm currently reading Tender is the Flesh - Agustina Bazterrica

Orangebadger · 22/04/2023 16:58
  1. All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr.

The best book so far this year, not that that's saying much as I am not getting through many!

Any historical fiction fans may enjoy this WW2 book. A wonderfully written story, one part from a French girl who is blind perspective. The other a German orphaned boy. And how their lives intertwine. Very clever and beautifully written.

Onto The Lincoln Highway a book I have waited a while to read as absolutely loved A Gentleman in Moscow.

BaconAndAvocado · 22/04/2023 20:47

Orangebadger I also adored All the Light. It’s being made into a tv series I believe.

I also loved A Gentleman in Moscow. The Lincoln Highway is another great book but, for me, not quite in the same league as Gentleman.

EspeciallyDetermined · 22/04/2023 21:38

14: Waypoints - My Scottish Journey by Sam Heughan (audio). Sam challenged himself to walk the West Highland Way one November, this book combines the story of his journey with his memoirs and is beautifully written and narrated.

Orangebadger · 22/04/2023 21:44

BaconAndAvocado · 22/04/2023 20:47

Orangebadger I also adored All the Light. It’s being made into a tv series I believe.

I also loved A Gentleman in Moscow. The Lincoln Highway is another great book but, for me, not quite in the same league as Gentleman.

Yes A gentleman in Moscow is a tall order to follow!

Citygirlrurallife · 23/04/2023 13:29

Orangebadger · 22/04/2023 21:44

Yes A gentleman in Moscow is a tall order to follow!

Show quote history

Agreed! All The Light is one of my favourite books ever

just finished #11 Spring Cannot Be Cancelled by David Hockney and Martin Gayford and highly recommend it even if you don’t normally read non fiction (like me) felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket of Hockney’s calm and exquisite world

just finished a book for work but I don’t count those on my read sadly - it’s a goodun though!