26-ish books 2024

[Tinkhasflown]

A shiny new thread for 2024.

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.

16. Tackle
    Riders by Jilly Cooper changed my life (teenage girl with horses) so I read this out of loyalty, but Jilly's double entendres unfortunately don't stand the test of time and her MO is very dated now.

17. Hamnet
    Loved this, I thought it was beautiful, loved all the character descriptions and the way familial love was addressed.

Now reading Demoncopperhead but Burial Rights and The Mercies waiting in the wings.

My list so far:

2024 books

1. This Christmas
2. A Terrible Kindness
3.Picking up the pieces 
4.Yellow face 
5.Love Untold
6.None of this is true 
7. Really Good Actually
8.The Stonehenge Legacy
9.The Lost Man
10.Then She Was Gone
11.Everyone here is lying 
12.The Woman Who Lied 
13.American Dirt
14.The couple at no. 9
15.The survivors 
16.Tackle
17.Hamnet

17 His and Hers by Alice Feeny. Fairly standard thriller with a fairly standard twist, got it from Amazon Prime reading.
18 Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney. I rarely read poetry but really enjoyed this, my June/1960s book for my Decades reads.

I haven't had a great reading year and am well behind on my 26 book target, but so far I've finished:

1. The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin
2. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (reread)
3. Love, Locked Down by Beth Reekles
4. The Surrogate by Louise Jensen
5. The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
6. Poor by Katriona O'Sullivan

I currently have two books on the go, Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken and Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde

UPP by CvT is a must read. Fascinating and scarey in equal measure.

Try Ravenous by Henry Dimbleby too.

I tried to read Trinity by Leon Uris, but after 100 pages was a DNF.

18. The call of the weird by Louis Theroux. I doubt I need any words to explain this but I enjoyed it. Easy to read and makes you wonder, as he does so well!

It's been an age since I updated. Not on target for 26. Posting for accountability.

In May I read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. June was How to run your home Without Help by Kay Smallshaw (non fiction). I haven't decided yet for July which means of course that I have not yet started a new book. Have my eye on Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner but would prefer easy fiction.

20. This Other Eden - Paul Harding

I really enjoyed this. Both the main story and the descriptions of how the people came to be on the island. Its a fictional story but based on a real story of the clearance of an island off Maine last century.

No 19 The Black Echo by Michael Connolly*
The first Bosch book. I've been listening to the post-retirement books on audio and watching Bosch Legacy which is a totally different plot. So I'm a bit confused but it was good.

19 The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I first read this probably 30 years ago, the story high society New York in the late 19th century, the marriage between Newland Archer and his bride May, and the scandal that arrives with May’s cousin who has left her European aristocratic husband. Everything everyone does is dictated by stifling social conventions, but of course the women more so than the men. Utterly infuriating when viewed through a modern lens, but it’s a great story.

20 the people on platform 5 (Clare pooley) a light and fluffy book club book which is never normally read but actually it was nice to have something a bit different. Bookclub has chosen another fluffy book though so that’s a bit annoying

21 HP and the prisoner of Azkaban. Slowly working through them again with DD and she’s loving it

13 Family Roundabout by Richmal Compton Follows the sagas of two families who have very different matriachs at their helms. Roughly the period between WW1 and WWz2. A few really infuriating characters that I struggled with at points but that's a sign of plausible characterisation and diologue I suppose. I thought it would be lots of afternoon teas and fretting about who to dance with at parties, but actually an awful lot happened and there was some appalling behaviour.
From Persephone so I should have known it would be more than it first appeared.

19. The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. Thank you to whoever it was who recommended this.

21. The Scarlet Sisters - My Nanna's story of secrets and heartache by the banks of the river Thames - Helen Batten

A bit different to my usual read but I really enjoyed it.

14. Our Wives Under The Sea by jjlia Armfield. Set in contemporary times but with a lot of gothic, this story is told in short alternating chapters by a married couple. Miri recounts coping with the absence and then return of Leah, who goes missing during what should be a routine submarine trip and comes back altered. Leah's parts tell what happened on the sub.
I had an increasing sense of dread, morbid fascination, curiosity, claustrophobia, horror...there's a lot left unanswered and ambiguous so if you like plots wrapped up it might bug you.

I’m going to keep replying to everyone who reads this so more people hear about it! One of my favourite books ever

I think it was you @Citygirlrurallife who recommended it to me!

Ravenous by Henry Dimbleby

I don't usually (& wont) include this as one of my 26 books of the year as it's a fact book and I just want my list to be fiction - but I had to add it on here to raise awareness and highly recommend it.
It is such an eye opener to the food industry and how what we eat is killing us and the planet. It's massively made me think and will undoubtedly change my eating habits (for the better).

100% worth a read. 5 stars out of 5.

22. Tell Me How This Ends - Jo Leevers

Perfect holiday book, easy read with a good storyline.

12 Silkworm Robert Gailbraith. I started reading RG from Troubled blood and enjoyed it so much I have gone back to read the prior ones in between new ones coming out. I have to say i did not enjoy this one. I just couldn't get into it nor care for the characters (obvs apart from Strike and Robin.) Not one I would re-read sadly.

13 The Running Grave Robert Gailbraith
Loved Loved this one. So happy after being disappointed by Silkworm. I took a while to finish it as I experienced anxiety reading about being in the cult but omg the last third was rocket propulsion! Loved it, one I will definetly re-read. Now for the interminable wait for the next one and I have to wait for the paperback version 😭

Edited to add: What do I read now?!!!

I'm no use as I went back and listened to them all on audio when I got to the end!
20 Headstrong: 52 Women who changed Science and the World by Rachel Swaby - quite brief on each of the women and did get a bit repetitive for a few of the physicists (sorry, I am not a physicist) but some real blinders in there.
21 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams which was my July/1970s read (yes it was published in 1979!)

I now have to pick at 1980s book for next month from the Big Jubilee Read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Jubilee_Read

Most of them are a) very hard going or b) very long or c) I've already read them. I might just re-read.

@coolmum123
I felt exactly the same about Silkworm and the Running Grave.
I can't believe I abandoned a Strike book now, but I did!!

So excited for the next one....think the title is out there but can't remember what is???

Anyone know when its release is?

No word on date!

www.therowlinglibrary.com/2024/03/15/j-k-rowling-reveals-title-of-strike-8-the-hallmarked-man/

7. Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde - The long awaited sequel to Shades of Grey wasn't quite as good as the first book, but still enjoyable. The best thing about the world building in Shades of Grey were the slow reveals and being allowed as a reader to fill in the gaps. In comparison, some elements in Red Side Story were overexplained and resolved too quickly. Jane's character also seemed somewhat muted compared to the first book. Having said that, the last third was gripping, and I enjoyed the character development of Violet and Penny.

Now reading Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.

@drspouse
I think the last 2 books were released in September??
🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Am on school holidays now so my reading is having a big surge...
37 All out of Leeds
38 What happened in London.
39 Accidental Scientist
40 - 45 Dead to the World series books 1-6
Started but then gave up 1/3rd of the way in with In Any Lifetime.
Started but suspended reading You Shouldn't Be Here cos it was late at night and gave me scary vibes (🤣)
46 Federal Bureau of magic book 1