50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Nine

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the ninth thread of the 50 Books 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, it’s not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here, the third one here here, the fourth one here, the fifth one here, the sixth one here, the seventh one here and the eighth one here.

What are you reading?

Thanks @Southeastdweller
Just checking in for now. Will add my list and latest reviews later.

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

The story of Sally, a comedy writer, and Noah, a pop star, over the pandemic.

I LOVED IT. She is such a clever writer, and I find it very comforting to read COVID books - like a kind of validation that it did all really happen. Even in the thickness it I remember thinking how much I was looking forward to experiencing it in fiction! It's a lovely, happy story and it has made me feel all squashy and romantic.

Thank you for new thread.

71 The Trouble With Sheep And Goats by Joanna Cannon
Secrets start to bubble to the surface during the summer of 1976. I enjoyed the child’s-eye view of what grown ups do and say and there’s some cracking dialogue and descriptions. Not so sure about the Whistle Down The Wind bit, but if the adults were batshit enough to do what they appear to have done I suppose they would be predisposed to seeing Jesus’s face in a creosote drip. And just the mention of creosote took me right back to 70s summers!

Signed copy of Tough Crowd by Graham Linehan arrived today, so that’s me sorted for the evening.

I need to do a Word doc of my list, I think, for next time or the end of the year, so I can C&P it.

Thanks for the new thread southeast.

1 The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey
2 What Could Possibly Go Wrong, Jodi Taylor
3 Lamentation, CJ Sansom
4 City of Girls, Elizabeth Gilbert
5 Tombland, CJ Sansom
6 House of Glass, Hadley Freeman
7 Sorrow & Bliss, Meg Mason
8 A Terrible Kindness, Jo Browning Wroe
9 10 Minutes, 30 Seconds in This Strange World, Elif Shafak
10 The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng
11 Lies, Damned Lies and History, Jodi Taylor
12 Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford
13 Carrie's War, Nina Bawden
14 Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
15 Human Croquet, Kate Atkinson
16 The Railway Man, Eric Lomax
17 Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain
18 Stay Where You Are And Then Leave, John Boyne
19 Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams
20 Pompeii, Robert Harris
21 Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller
22 Beartown, Fredrik Backman
23 Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin
24 Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe
25 My Name is Why, Lemn Sissay
26 The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka
27 A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness
28 Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders
29 Master Georgie, Beryl Bainbridge
30 The Bell, Iris Murdoch
31 A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
32 And the Rest is History, Jodi Taylor
33 Trespasses, Louise Kennedy
34 Jews Don't Count, David Baddiel
35 My Father's House, Joseph O'Connnor
36 The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
37 Five Chimneys, Olga Lengyel
38 A Village in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd
39 Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi
40 English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
41 People Person, Candice Carty-Williams
42 Espedair Street, Ian Banks
43 Metronome, Tom Watson
44 The Bandit Queens, Parini Shroff
45 Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez
46 The Lincoln Highway, Amor Toles
47 Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield
48 The Light Years, Elizabeth Jane Howard
49 Strange Sally Diamond, Liz Nugent
50 Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
51 A Spell of Good Things, Ayobami Adebayo
52 Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd
53 The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters, ed Charlotte Mosley
54 Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
55 Foster, Claire Keegan
56 Trust, Hernan Diaz
57 The End of Days, Jenny Erpenbeck
58 Once Upon a River, Diane Setterfield
59 Evidence of the Affair, Taylor Jenkins-Reid
60 Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead
61 A History of Burning, Janika Oza
62 Tears of Amber, Sofia Segovia
63 Kala, Colin Walsh
64 A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabel Allende
65 East West Street, Phillipe Sands
66 This Tender Land, William Kent Kruger
67 For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain, Victoria Makenzie
68 The Man Who Wasn't There, Pat Barker
69 Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall
70 Goodbye to Berlin, Christoper Isherwood
71 The Escape Artist, Jonathon Freedland
72 Amongst Our Weapons, Ben Aaronovitch
73 Yugoslavia, Hourly Histories
74 Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11, Mitchell Zuckoff
75 The Return of Faraz Ali, Aamina Ahmad
76 Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell
77 Notes on an Execution, Danya Kukafka
78 The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
79 When the Dust Settles, Lucy Easthope
80 Attack Warning Red, Julie McDowall
81 Tunnel 29, Helena Merriman
82 The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See
83 A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson
84 The Beauty of Your Face, Sahar Mustafah
85 The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Raffey
86 Lightning Strike, William Kent Krueger

Thanks @Southeastdweller

Still reading flimsy books and putting off nuclear war.

Just going to add my list from the last thread

76. Actress - Anne Enright
77. The Enchanted April - Elizabeth Von Armin
78. Time Shelter - George Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel
79. Best of Friends - Kamila Shamsie
80. All the Little Bird Hearts - Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
81. Love And Other Thought Experiments - Sophie Ward
82. Soldier, Sailor - Claire Kilroy
83. Notes On An Execution - Danya Kukafka
84. Old God's Time - Sebastian Barry
85. The Bee Sting - Paul Murray
86. Prophet Song - Paul Lynch
87. Babel - R F Kuang
88. Amy & Lan - Sadie Jones
89. Maame - Jessica George

I've got the Curtis Sittenfield downloaded @PersisFord so looking forward to cracking on with that.

I've just finished 90. Sea of Tranquility - Emily St John Mandel. I've read her last two books Station Eleven - which I remember being controversial on here but I was neither a lover or a hater - and The Glass Hotel. She seems to be doing a David Mitchell-esque self referential universe so in reading, it does help if you've read her previous books, although I didn't remember exactly what happened. This progresses through time with different narrators who have loosely similar experiences - first in 1912, then 2020, 2203 and 2401. The 2020 one features characters from The Glass Hotel, while the 2203 is about an author promoting her book about a pandemic which sounds awfully like Station Eleven. It felt quite short, and it does tie up all the narrative strands, which I don't think happened in Station Eleven. I think it's my favourite of the three but not necessarily one I'd be pressing on people.

And forgot to say thanks as ever for the new thread @Southeastdweller

Hey thanks for the thread southeast

This is just since last time :

122. The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
123. Horse by Geraldine Brooks
124. Chorus by Rebecca Kauffman
125. The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
126. Counting The Cost by Jill Duggar
127. Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo
128. American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin
129. The Strength Of Love by Kate Garraway
130. Run Towards The Danger by Sarah Polley
131. Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
132. Oh Miriam! by Miriam Margolyes
133. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
134. Manifest by Roxie Nafousi
135. The Familiars by Stacy Halls
136. Ultra Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken

Now between books

Thank you for the new thread, Southeastdweller. Here's the continuation of my list;

48. The Singularities: John Banville
49. Lessons in Chemistry: Bonnie Garmus
50. Demon Copperhead: Barbara Kingsolver
51. High Wages: Dorothy Whipple
52. Chess Story: Stefan Zweig
53. New Boy; Othello Retold: Tracy Chevalier
54. Othello: William Shakespeare
55. Kala: Colin Walsh
56. Three go to the Chalet School: Elinor Brent-Dyer

Thanks for the new thread southeast - no list from me. Not much reading this week as work is very busy.

Thanks@Southeastdweller

Checking in - thanks for the new thread Southeast. Just been to the library & picked up Monbiot's Regenesis (which I expect I will be annoyed by but feel I ought to read) & something by Holly Smale of Geek Girl fame (but from the adult shelves) for a bit of light relief.

@Stokey ooh interesting!! I LOVED Station 11 (I have insisted people I know read it so I can talk to them about it) and HATED the Glass Hotel - I hated it so much I wished I hadn't ever read it! I'm on the waiting list for the audiobook of Sea of Tranquility on Libby but sounds like it would be better on paper do you think of the timelines are a bit variable? I struggle to follow that kind of thing on audiobook.

@Southeastdweller thanks for the thread!! I was too excited about Curtis Sittenfeld and forgot my manners, sorry!

I have just DNF The Burning by Jane Casey - it was recommended on another thread and I'm sure it's very good but I can't get past, well, the burning. I hate books with graphic descriptions of violence against women. I know it's sometimes relevant and important, but often I feel that it reads in an almost self-gratifying way.....I am probably overthinking this but there are MANY police procedurals out there without it so I will abandon.

Thanks @Southeastdweller
47. Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
Historical fiction set during the Second World War. At the outbreak of war we meet Mary, the young daughter of an MP who volunteers to serve and is assigned a role as a teacher in London, quickly growing attached to her young pupils. Mary and her best friend Hilda cross paths with Tom and Alastair, flatmates who are also figuring out how they can contribute to the war effort in a rapidly changing world. Banter filled dialogue contrasts with horrific experiences as the war, particularly the blitz in London and the seige of Malta, change lives forever.
48. The Fell by Sarah Moss
The right book at the right time for me. I listened to this from start to finish yesterday on a rare day at home alone doing housework and gardening, and I was absorbed in the setting of rural lockdown life right from the first 15 minutes. There were observations about life that I really appreciated, and listening to the audio gave some chapters the feel of a theatrical monologue.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller here's my list since the last thread, as this is the most I have read for years and my list is getting a bit unwieldy, plus a couple of recent reviews.

113. A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon
114. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
115. Say Her Name by Dreda Say Mitchell and Ryan Carter
116. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
117. The Closers by Michael Connelly 118. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
118. The Change by Kirsten Miller
119. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
120. The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster by Charles River Editors 122. Kala by Colin Walsh
121. Echo Park by Michael Connelly
122. Field One by Simon Winstanley
123. The Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman

123. Echo Park by Michael Connelly

The next Bosch book. Bosch and team take a serial killer out on a day trip and it all goes wrong. Surprisingly. Enjoyed this one.

124. Field One by Simon Winstanley

The first in a science fiction series where a secret organisation has 60ish years to save humanity from a giant meteor / asteroid / meteorite (can’t remember which). It started well and I enjoyed the early part, but it jumped about a lot and took too long to bring the different elements together. Ultimately I found it a bit unsatisfying and won’t be bothering with the next in the series.

125. The Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman

What if the research and development department created to produce the first atomic bomb was a front for a series of other, more unusual, programs? This graphical novel is set in multiple universes with AI Presidents, evil versions of scientists, and all kinds of craziness. This was too out there for me and I just found myself faintly bemused.

Thanks for the new thread, south!

My painfully slow progress limps on. Here's my (pitiful) list since the last thread began:

59: Period Piece - Gwen Raverat
60: The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens
61: A Spy Among Friends - Ben Macintyre
62: The Anomaly - Hervé Le Tellier
63: Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life & Sudden Death - Laura Cumming
64: This Is What Happened - Mick Herron
65: Black Teacher - Beryl Gilroy
66: High Wages - Dorothy Whipple
67: Frauen - Alison Owings

Okay I’ve braced myself to do the list 😊
I’m sure my bolds have probably changed from the start but I think that’s natural in terms of what has stuck with me over time.

1. The Furies- John Connolly
2. What is Remembered- Alice Munro
3. The Woman in White- Wilkie Collins
4. A Crown of Swords- Robert Jordan
5. Elements of Style- Strunk and White
6. Exiles- Jane Harper
7. Sorrow and Bliss- Meg Mason
8. The Field of Blood- Denise Mina
9. The Mist- Ragnar Jonasson
10. The Iliad- Homer
11. An American Marriage- Tayari Jones
12. The Great Gatsby- F Scott Fitzgerald
13. Unfettered- anthology
14. Olive Kitteridge- Elizabeth Strout
15. Breakfast at Tiffany’s Truman Capote
16. House of Ashes- Stuart Neville
17. Desire- Haruki Murakami
18. The Odyssey- Homer
19. Widowland- CJ Carey
20. Desert Star- Michael Connelly
21. A Streetcar Named Desire- Tennessee Williams
22. Empire of the Vampire- Jay Kristoff
23. Slouching towards Bethlehem- Joan Didion
24. North and South- Elizabeth Gaskell
25. Trespasses- Louise Kennedy
26. Mrs Dalloway- Virginia Woolf
27. I’m a Fan- Sheena Patel
28. Children of Paradise- Camilla Grudova
29. The Marriage Portrait- Maggie O’Farrell
30. Joe Country - Mick Herron
31. Memphis- Tara M Stringfellow
32. 16 Ways to Defend a Walled City- KJ Parker
33. Five- F Scott Fitzgerald
34. Agamemnon- Aeschylus
35. A Room of One’s Own- Virginia Woolf
36. Empire of Pain- Patrick Radden Keefe
37. Wastelands- Anthology
38. Demon Cooperhead- Barbara Kingsolver
39. The Metamorphosis- Kafka
40. Wandering Souls- Cecile Pin
41. The Bandit Queens- Parini Shroff
42. Dirt Town- Hayley Scrivenor
43. The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro
44. The Confession- Jo Spain
45. Animal Farm- George Orwell
46. The Roommate- Dervla McTiernan
47. The Colour of Law- Aaron Philip Clark
48. Burial Rites- Hannah Kent
49. The Double- Dostoevsky
50. The Libation Bearers- Aeschylus
51. Lessons in Chemistry- Bonnie Garmus
52. Method Acting for Writers- L Hall Wilson
53. Dubliners- James Joyce
54. Pod- Laline Paul
55. The Count of Monte Christo- Dumas
56. The Way it is Now- Garry Disher
57. Black Butterflies- Priscilla Morris
58. Fire Rush- Jacqueline Crooks
59. Atonement- Ian McEwan
60. Just One Damned Thing After Another- Jodi Taylor
61. The Euminides- Aeschylus
62. A Room with a View- EM Forster
63. Cannery Row- John Steinbeck
64. Empireland- Sathnam Sanghera
65. The Child- Fiona Barton
66. Parable of the Sower- Octavia E Butler
67. Open Water- Caleb Azumah Nelson
68. The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
69. Ethan Frome- Edith Wharton
70. A Visit from the Goon Squad- Jennifer Egan
71. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- Joyce
72. To the Lighthouse- Woolf
73. It’s Not About the Burqa- Ed Mariam Khan
74. The Great Believers- Rebbeca Makkai
75. All the Beauty in the Workd- Patrick Bringley
76. The City of the Dead- Jonathan Kellerman
77. The Rabbit Hutch- Tess Gunty
78. Book Lovers- Emily Henry
79. The Close- Jane Casey
80. The Importance of Being Earnest- Wilde
81. The Feminine Mystique- Betty Frieden
82. A Farewell to Arms- Hemingway
83. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo- Taylor Jenkins Reid
84. Kala- Colin Walsh
85. Say Nothing- Patrick Radden Keefe
86. Collected Stories- Alice Munro
87. Rivers of London- Ben Aaronovitch
88. The Goldfinch- Donna Tartt
89. Life after Life- Kate Atkinson
90. Tomorrow x3- Gabrielle Zevin
91. A Paalm for the Wild Built- Becky Chambers
92. Moon over Soho- Ben Aaronovitch
93. The Age of Innocence- Edith Wharton
94. The Pariah- Anthony Ryan
95. Close to Home- Michael Magee
96. She Lies in Wait- Gytha Lodge
97. Pineapple Street- Jenny Jackson
98. Rememberings - Sinead O’Connor
99. In Memoriam- Alice Winn
100. Small Mercies- Dennis Lehane
101. If I Survive You- Jonathan Escoffrey
102. Whispers Underground- Ben Aaronovitch
103. East of Eden- John Steinbeck
104. Giovanni’s Room- James Baldwin
105. The Drop and the List- Mick Herron
106. The Lottery and other Stories- Shirley Jackson
107. The Madness of Grief- Rev Richard Coles
108. Sweet Thursday- John Steinbeck
109. We Had to Remove this Post- Hanna Bervoets
110. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie- Muriel Spark
111. Foster- Claire Keegan
112. A Doll’s House- Ibsen
113. Three Men in a Boat- Jerome K Jerome
114. Passing- Nella Larson
115. I Who Have Never Known Men- Jacqueline Harpman
116. Year of Wonder- Geraldine Brooks
117. The Running Grave- JK Rowling
118. Wuthering Heights- Emily Brontë

Phew. I’ll save the reviews of the last three for another day.

Thank you. No list from me as I'm a bit ashamed!

We're a no shame zone, Piggy. I won't put my list up because I can't face logging on to my laptop. Work is seriously interfering with my reading and mental health so I'm trying to avoid logging in after hours.

I'm listening to the new Strike. Much better by miles than the last one - none of that awful in game chat nonsense. But still - "she was still as beautiful as ever, even at 42". I mean, WTF, Rowling? But you know, it's par for the course to moan about it but we all get sucked in in the end.

I do have some reviews which I will post tomorrow when I'm meant to be working.

Thanks for the thread, @Southeastdweller. How many do we need to get a new record?

No shame. I am a bit in awe of everyone's lovely lists (and am also scouring for recommendations!!). I will start a list next year!

Sorry about work @PepeLePew, hope it gets better.

I saw a cafe/deli with a second hand book shop attached the other day. Ever since I'm half in a fantasy world where I just sit around all day drinking coffee and reading, and eating nice cheese and olives, and occasionally a customer comes in and we chat about books and drink coffee. If I win the lottery that is what I will do and you can all have free coffee for life, just say the magic words which are "50 books thread".

Thank you for the new thread @Southeastdweller
I will try to get my head around my list soon.

@CluelessMama I love Sarah Moss. Such a wonderful writer.

Still on with Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell which I am loving!

But in the mean time have been dipping in and out of And so this is Christmas - new book of poetry from Brian Bilston . Picked this up when I went to see him perform last week; not sure if it is on general release yet, Humorous, mainly light hearted and then every now and then you get a sucker punch of poignancy.

Thanks for the new thread. We may be moving quickly but I think this is my slowest reading year since joining 6 years ago. I don’t know why. I’m far less stressed then I have been in years which I thought would lead to more reading but has mainly led to more of other fun things. I hope I get my reading mojo back.

Not that this book helped.
28. Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls. Honestly until the last 50 pages one of the worst books I’ve ever read. Teenager gets some fairly average Alevels and snogs a girl. Hated all the characters. Not sure why the author thought we would be interested in a mopey teenage boy bring mopey. A lesson for myself to DNF more - I found it deeply unsatisfying to start enjoying it at the end - there was probably a better Novel to be had out of this somehow.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller
My list so far .....

1. One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, Olivia Hawker

2. Passing, Nella Larsen

1. Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez
2. Abide With Me, Elizabeth Strout
3. So Sweet A Changeling, Ruth Adam
4. Im Not Complaining, Ruth Adam.

7.The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah

1. Human Kind, Rutger Bregman
2. Tall Bones, Anna Bailey

10. Watching Neighbours Twice a Day, Josh Widdicombe 11. The Game, Micah Richards 12 Devotion, Hannah Kent 13. Stay With Me Ayobami Adebayo 14.Love Marriage, Monica Ali 15. I'm Not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti 16. The Cut Out Girl Bart Van Es 17. Excellent Women Barbara Pym 18. Wavewalker Suzanne Heywood 19. All Among the Barley Melissa Harrison 20. Some Tame Gazelle Barbara Pym 21. Transcendent Kingdom Yaa Gyasi 22. The Schoolhouse Sophie Ward 23 Lives Like Mine Eva Verde 24. The Paper Palace Miranda Cowley Heller 25. The God of That Summer Ralf Rothman 26. Other Women Emma Flint 27. Foster Clare Keegan 28. We Are Not Like Them Jo Piazza & Christine Pride 29. The Hours Before Dawn Celia Fremlin 30. Metronome Tom Watson 31. Vera Elizabeth von Arnim 32. A Trip of One's Own Kate Willis 33. Small Pleasures Clare Chambers 34. Snow John Banville 35. Uncle Paul Celia Fremlin 36. The Mysterious Affair st Styles Agatha Christie 37 I have some questions for you Rebecca Makkai 38. A Town Called Solace Mary Lawson 39. Trespasses Louise Kennedy 40. A Dry Spell Clare Chambers

41 Counting the Cost Jill Duggar
Eine reviewed this recently and it sparked my interest. I couldn't resist an impulse kindle buy. I'm not sure Jill is truly free, but I was cheered that she now feels able to wear what she likes, enjoy a pint colada & most of all use contraception. It does make you really think about the morality of any 'reality' TV shows that parade children on screen for our entertainment.

I wasn't going to review it until I'd finished The Tennant of Wildfell Hall, but it's a new thread and that is still a work in progress.

Small Pleasures & Tresspasses should also be bolds, I always find it a faff putting them in the list & miss some out. I'm not even sure I'm consistent* *they're not saved on the list on my phone.'

Thank you southeast for the new thread. Bringing my list for now and will add latest review later:

1. Old Filth - Jane Garam
2. Sad Cypress - Agatha Christie

3. Three Hours - Rosamund Lupton

1. Light Perpetual - Francis Spufford

5. Trespasses - Louise Kennedy

1. Crossfire - Felix Francis
2. Long Story Short - Jodi Taylor
3. A Storm of Swords - George RR Martin
4. Partners in Crime - Agatha Christie

10. Back Trouble - Clare Chambers 11. The Man in the Queue - Josephine Tey 12. Joe Country - Mick Herron 13. To Live - Yu Hua 14. Gamble - Felix Francis 15. The Lamplighters - Emma Stonex 16. The Moving Finger - Agatha Christie 17. Stone Blind - Natalie Haynes 18. Faro’s Daughter - Georgette Heyer 19. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym 20. About Time - Jodi Taylor 21. The Skylark’s Secret - Fiona Valpy 22. Agent Zigzag - Ben MacIntyre 23. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton 24. Sparkling Cyanide - Agatha Christie 25. Bloodline - Felix Francis 26. After the End - Clare Mackintosh 27. A Feast of Crows - George RR Martin 28. The It Girl - Ruth Ware 29. The Sentence - Louise Erdrich 30. Unfinished Portrait - Mary Westmacott 31. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 32. The Trees - Percival Everett 33. The Lullaby - Leila Slimani 34. The Black Moth - Georgette Heyer 35. Refusal - Felix Francis 36. Marie Antoinette - Antonia Fraser 37. They do it with Mirrors - Agatha Christie 38. Tokyo Express - Seicho Matsumoto 39. Whistleblower - Robert Peston 40. Troubled Blood - Robert Galbraith 41. Rizzio - Denise Mina 42. Sylvester - Georgette Heyer 43. Beyond the Wand - Tom Felton 44. Evil under the Sun - Agatha Christie 45. The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho - Paterson Joseph 46. Damage - Felix Francis 47. The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side - Agatha Christie 48. Labyrinth - Kate Mosse 49. The Third Man and The Fallen Idol - Graham Greene 50. Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver 51. Riders - Jilly Cooper 52. Halloween Party - Agatha Christie 53. Rivals - Jilly Cooper 54. The Cliff House - Chris Brookmyre 55. Peril at End House - Agatha Christie 56. Free Love - Tessa Hadley 57. Five Little Pigs - Agatha Christie 58. The Echo Chamber - John Boyne 59. A Wedding in the Country - Katie Fforde 60. A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe 61. Death comes as the End - Agatha Christie 62. The Crow Road - Iain Banks 63. Hags - Victoria Smith 64. Slough House - Mick Herron 65. Appointment with Death - Agatha Christie 66. Colditz - Ben MacIntyre 67. Crampton Hodnet - Barbara Pym 68. Educated - Tara Westover 69. Triple Crown - Felix Francis 70. A Man with One of Those Faces -Caimh McDonnell 71. Bloody Christmas and Dog Day Afternoon - Caimh McDonnell 72. Lord Edgware Dies - Agatha Christie