26-ish books for 2023

[Tinkhasflown]

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.

Woops that was to baconandavocado

Breathmiller
Yes it is great and I enjoy listening to how they review books I’ve read too.

Yes, i get a bit excited when I've read the book - its like knowing an answer on mastermind 🤣🤣. "Oohh..i know this one! - Get me!"

28. Chums by Simon Kuper. "How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK."
Interesting read, doesn't read like a textbook at all. Nothing particularly surprising but discusses several aspects I hadn't considered.

Few books started but not finished for many reasons

13. Mortal Remains Sally Rigby
14. None of this is true Lisa Jewell

Love this thread. Everyone dipping in and out. I'm going to read back through the thread for recommendation.

I've decided to embrace audiobooks, they just fit my life style right now, so any Audible recommendations very welcome.

29. Blow Your House Down by Pat Barker
Set in a North East town and following the lives of several women who are sex workers at a time when a serial killer is targeting them. Strong echoes of the Yorkshire Ripper case but it’s not a crime / detective novel.
This really kept me gripped. The characters and diologue are believable, the narrative shifts work well and there's elements of social observation around class, society, sex (in both definitions of the word) and power that weren'ttoo didactic. I'm not sure it would be right to say I enjoyed it given there's some graphic violence against women, including sexual violence- in fact violence against women is a theme throughout. It's unflinching, rather than gratititous, but casually refered to at times in a way which jarrs, and I think is intended to. I would recommend it, especially to anyone who has read Joan Smith's work about the Ripper case and the misogyny surrounding the investigation and response.

Just finished 16 - The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

Really enjoyed it, an interesting premise of how you might live your life if you knew the date of your death.

17 - The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

I loved this one - it was such a rich read that I just wanted to immerse myself in it.

I go on holiday on Thursday, but I don't want to start my "holiday reads" - can I squeeze another book in before I go?

15. Dead Man Talking Roddy Doyle (The Commitments). This was a £1, quick reads story. I've ordered a few, it's nice to finish a book in one sitting, although this was very confusing!

30 Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi I think this might be the first graphic novel I've read, and I've had it ages and gone to start then changed my mind loads. Once I finally made a start I really enjoyed it. The first half more than the second, but that's because the first half set such a high bar and I was more interested in the wider political and social narrative than her personal "journey" and difficulties.
It's autobiographical. We meet Marjane aged 10. It starts in Iran in 1980, just after the Islamic Revolution, and we see Marjane dealing with monumental changes to her way of life.

60 She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran.

Book 11 was going to be The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy but I gave up on it as I didn’t really understand what was going on. According to the introduction there’s no real plot. The character would be doing something and then start retelling anecdotes from her life and I just wasn’t really following what was happening.
So now I’m considering what will be the new Book 11.

I read Bella Mackie, How To Kill Your Family, so funny, highly recommended. It's her 1st book, too. Brilliant.
I really enjoyed James Patterson, Hide n Seek - read it in a day ( I'm on holiday).
Just started The Serial Killers Wife - Alice Head. I'll probably finish it on the flight home.

I've embraced audio books too, they make me get out for my walks. I recommend you sign up to your library audio app and get them all for free :)

My last few books have been just ok....

The Maid by Nita Prose - a bit farfetched in places.
Haven by Emma Donnoghue, my least favourite of her books. It was quite boring.
Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena. It was enjoyable but I thought the ending was a bit crap.
I've a Lisa Jewell book from the library next so looking forward to getting into that.

17. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
SUPERB

But oh my god, I need to discuss the ending with someone....

61 Only Ever Yours by Lousie O'Neill

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
13 Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier.
14 The scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
15 The bullet that missed by Richard Osman
16 Murder before evensong by Richard Coles
17 Back when we were grownups By Anne Tyler
18 Now reading Circe by Madeleine Miller
19 Dinner at the homesick restaurant by Anne Tyler
20 Still Life by Sarah Winman
21 We will never be young again by Daphne du Maurier
22 People person by Candice Carty- William's
23 Suzy Suzy by William Wall.
24 Trio by William Boyd
25 (still reading) the prophet and the idiot by jonas jonasson

@Pourmeanotherwine wow, you've read a lot this year. That's great.
Did you enjoy the Richard Osman books ?
I keep seeing them, especially in charity shops, so might give them a try.

Thanks, I've been meaning to, I've just downloaded BorrowBox so I'm hoping the content is good.

18 - Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
I confess that I have a little thing for Stanley, and I loved him in his In Search of Italy programme. If you liked that, then you will also adore this. You really feel his voice come across.

handyandhopeful
I'm off to the library to get a password for Borrowbox....didn't realise it does audiobooks too?!

13. Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers
Loved this gentle tale of life in the 1950s. The characterisation is excellent, I couldn't put it down.

14. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Unfortunately I accidentally read a mahoosive spoiler in the acknowledgments which hugely affected my enjoyment of my very first AC book!
That aside, it's exactly how I imagined it. Very plot led with many many characters. I really wanted to be wowed....

15. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
An author new to me but what a talent! This is a fantastic read and I'll definitely be seeking out her other novels.

16. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
A really unusual, unique book set in different time periods.
Elegiac and highly original, it's not dissimilar to another of Mandel's books, Station Eleven which I've not yet read but watched the superb tv series.

Drum roll.....
17. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
This arrived yesterday and I'm already loving it.
Can't believe JK's output!
I was reading book 6 this time last year and they're huge!

62 What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher.

22. Sunrising - Susan Hubert
23. The Garden of Burning Sand - Corban Addison

Quite apt to go from one to the other actually. First one based on lives in colonial Rhodesia at the turn of the last century. I really enjoyed it.
Then the second one I liked as much as another Addison book I read earlier this year. This one was set in modern day Zambia and as before tells a story around some dark real life experiences. Would recommend both.