Finish 52 books 2021

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) The Dutch House - Ann Patchett.
2) Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18) - Simon Scarrow.
3) Night Frost - RD Wingfield.
4) Chessmen of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs.
5) Three Sisters, Three Queens - Philippa Gregory.
6) Away With The Penguins - Hazel Prior.
7) Confessions of a Curious Bookseller - Elizabeth Green.
8. James Acaster's Classic Scrapes - James Acaster.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Snow in May - Kseniya Melnik.
28) Again to Carthage - John L Parker.
29) The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell.
30) Broken Greek - Pete Paphides.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.

Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman. A tribute to a (to me) surprisingly well-liked cricketer and commentator, who died in 2019. The first part of the book is an abridged summary of his life, which uses the passive tense too much (common with runners, and I dislike it "the legs were feeling good, so I pushed on), and has a bit too much "things happened and then we were on to the next day" but it isn't the focus. Then there's a celebration of some of his greatest matches, which is good stuff, and then onto the really great bit - testimonials from those, loads and loads of them, who really loved him. I never 'got' him, just hearing a whining voice and what seemed like a 'tell it how it is (but err on the negative side, and forget that the opponents could ever do anything good' nature. That really wasn't him, and he was hugely respected as a result. Couple of testimonials, from all the Bothams and one of his neighbours, are lovely human stories. It's a mixed bag as a book, but interesting if you're at all interested in the subject.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

Oh, and an add-on. There's a lengthy section from a book Willis himself wrote, or part-wrote, which talks about a tour of Australia. It's very serious about the cricket, but there's an awful lot about hanging out with Elton John, though without any detail at all - just, oh, Elton got in touch so we went to see him play again, then hung out afterwards. I'm pretty sure, from another podcast this morning, that this must have been a tour infamous for drugs and good times, about which another player says he knows he was on the tour "because I've seen the score cards", but otherwise can't remember anything. It's a measure of the man that he didn't go into any of that, because it was no-one's business but his. Sad he's not about any more.

Grim... · **Posted:** Mon Nov 29, 2021 19:01

Grim... wrote:

1) Doctor Sleep - Stevie King
2) John Dies at the End - David Wong
3) Stranded - Bracken MacLeod
4) Artemis by Andy Weir
5) Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
6) Randomise by Andy Weir
7) I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter by Isabel Fall
eight) The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
9) Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
10) Come Closer by Sara Gran
11) Bad Move by Linwood Barclay
12) A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home by Jason Arnopp
13) Dear Laura by Gemma Amor
14) The Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett
15) The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
16) Camp Slaughter by Sergio Gomez
17) Aliens: Infiltrator by Weston Ochse
18) Rabbits by Terry Miles
19) A Medium-sized Book of Boring Car Trivia by Sniff Petrol
20) Holy Cow by David Duchovny
21) Better Off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child

22) A Vision of Fire, 1: Book 1 of the Earthend Saga by Giillian Anderson (yes, that Gillian Anderson). And if you look reeeeeally closely at the cover, you can see "And Jeff Rovin".

Completing my X-Files main star readathon with this book by Scully. It's... It's all right. It was a bit long winded, and I really didn't know what was going on some of the time. Was it a fantasy novel? Was it political? Yes? Kind of? And what was with the thing that caused the plane to crash? No idea. Maybe that gets sorted out in book 2, but I'll never know.

Goddess Jasmine · **Posted:** Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:25

Goddess Jasmine wrote:

1. Linwood Barclay - Fear the worst
2. Linwood Barclay - Too close to home
3. Linwood Barclay - Parting Shot
4. Linwood Barclay - The Accident
5. Linwood Barclay - No Time for Goodbye
6. Linwood Barclay - Broken Promise
7. Linwood Barclay - Far From True
8. Linwood Barclay - The Twenty-Three
9. Linwood Barclay - Bad Move
10. Linwood Barclay - Bad Guys
11. Linwood Barclay - Bad Luck
12. Linwood Barclay - Bad News
13. Linwood Barclay - Trust your eyes
14. Linwood Barclay - Never Look Away
15. Linwood Barclay - Clouded Vision
16. Linwood Barclay - Never saw it coming
17 Linwood Barclay - A Tap on the Window

18. Linwood Barclay - No Safe House

This goes back to the characters of Terry and Cynthia from No Time for Goodbye (but can be read standalone).

Plenty of twists as ever, but also consideration of the effect that trauma has on a family. I feel like there might/should be a follow up at some point.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) The Dutch House - Ann Patchett.
2) Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18) - Simon Scarrow.
3) Night Frost - RD Wingfield.
4) Chessmen of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs.
5) Three Sisters, Three Queens - Philippa Gregory.
6) Away With The Penguins - Hazel Prior.
7) Confessions of a Curious Bookseller - Elizabeth Green.
8. James Acaster's Classic Scrapes - James Acaster.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Snow in May - Kseniya Melnik.
28) Again to Carthage - John L Parker.
29) The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell.
30) Broken Greek - Pete Paphides.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman

Conn Iggulden: The Falcon of Sparta. Two Persian Princes fight to be emperor, and one of them brings Greek mercenaries, who are much better soldiers. The book follows them through the battle and beyond. I'm a sucker for this stuff, and this is a good one, though it's hard to do justice to the original story. But I get a kick out of seeing people I know as names from dry schooldays brought to life.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) The Dutch House - Ann Patchett.
2) Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18) - Simon Scarrow.
3) Night Frost - RD Wingfield.
4) Chessmen of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs.
5) Three Sisters, Three Queens - Philippa Gregory.
6) Away With The Penguins - Hazel Prior.
7) Confessions of a Curious Bookseller - Elizabeth Green.
8. James Acaster's Classic Scrapes - James Acaster.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Snow in May - Kseniya Melnik.
28) Again to Carthage - John L Parker.
29) The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell.
30) Broken Greek - Pete Paphides.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman.
45) Conn Iggulden: The Falcon of Sparta.

Suzanne Collins: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Prequel to the Hunger Games, following a young Coriolanus Snow, as the games, and he, develops. It's fine, and interesting to step back into the world. But very young adult fiction - wears its politics lightly, and has to spell things out a bit too much. I didn't find his development particularly interesting, either. Just not subtle enough to be satisfying.

Jonas Jonasson: Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All. Jonasson is all about the whimsy, so this story about a hit man hurting people, being managed by a couple of people and expanding his activities before turning to religion deals with dark subjects but aims at funny. Only hits occasionally, and I wasn't always captivated by the whimsy, which breaks the spell. Other books I've read by him were better.

Grim... · **Posted:** Tue Dec 07, 2021 20:22

Come on, JBR! You can do it!

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

I jolly well will do it, too.

Curiosity · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2021 14:42

JBR wrote:

I jolly well will do it, too.

Careful not to get a DQ for inconsistent naming conventions in the list...

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

Curiosity wrote:

JBR wrote:

I jolly well will do it, too.

Careful not to get a DQ for inconsistent naming conventions in the list...

...AND I will spend the time to tidy that up. Or I would do if there were any danger. Nothing to see here, inspector.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) Ann Patchett - The Dutch House.
2) Simon Scarrow - Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18).
3) RD Wingfield - Night Frost.
4) Edgar Rice Burroughs - Chessmen of Mars.
5) Philippa Gregory - Three Sisters, Three Queens.
6) Hazel Prior - Away With The Penguins.
7) Elizabeth Green - Confessions of a Curious Bookseller.
8. James Acaster - James Acaster's Classic Scrapes.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Kseniya Melnik - Snow in May.
28) John L Parker - Again to Carthage.
29) Lisa Jewell - The Family Upstairs.
30) Pete Paphides - Broken Greek.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman.
45) Conn Iggulden: The Falcon of Sparta.
46) Suzanne Collins: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Nina Stibbe: Man at the Helm. Lovely, and funny. Written from a child's perspective, and I think she has just the right ear for relating adult speech through a pre-teen. It's a grim subject, with divorce, being disgraced in a village, running out of money and taking pills and alcohol to cope, while the kids try to sort their mum out. But it's really just a charming story about a family in the 70s, and made me laugh out loud a lot.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:54

Just five more! Just five more!

Bobbyaro · **Joined:** 18th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 11916

I worked out I managed 26 books so far this year, well 25 and 3/4 as I gave up on The Magicians as it was pap. Which is many more than previous years.

I think I've mentioned it before, but the website ereaderiq.com lets you generate a list of authors/books and when their kindle price drops it sends you an email - it has saved me a fortune this year.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

That's a top tip, thanks - much as I enjoy scanning my wish list occasionally, and great joy in spotting a price drop, it's hit and miss and would be nicer not to have books shown on there with 'real' prices and use that for kindle ones.

Findus Fop · **Joined:** 14th May, 2009 **Posts:** 4370

Of course the cheapest place to get books are charity shops and I have stacks of paperbacks I'd love to read but I'm very much stuck to the e reader teat for ease of reading at night time. Has anyone found a book light that isn't a piece of flaky shit? My current one offers a spotlight on the centre of the page, it's like trying to read a book as a space marine in space hulk.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) Ann Patchett - The Dutch House.
2) Simon Scarrow - Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18).
3) RD Wingfield - Night Frost.
4) Edgar Rice Burroughs - Chessmen of Mars.
5) Philippa Gregory - Three Sisters, Three Queens.
6) Hazel Prior - Away With The Penguins.
7) Elizabeth Green - Confessions of a Curious Bookseller.
8. James Acaster - James Acaster's Classic Scrapes.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Kseniya Melnik - Snow in May.
28) John L Parker - Again to Carthage.
29) Lisa Jewell - The Family Upstairs.
30) Pete Paphides - Broken Greek.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis - A Cricketer and a Gentleman.
45) Conn Iggulden - The Falcon of Sparta.
46) Suzanne Collins - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
47) Nina Stibbe - Man at the Helm.

Stuart MacBride - The Blood Road. First one this year, but I've read most of these thrillers about Logan McRae (this is no.11), Scottish police officer/sergeant/whatever. Gritty, funny at times despite hideous crimes. Intricate plots and flawed good guys. All that stuff. This one didn't disappoint.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) Ann Patchett - The Dutch House.
2) Simon Scarrow - Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18).
3) RD Wingfield - Night Frost.
4) Edgar Rice Burroughs - Chessmen of Mars.
5) Philippa Gregory - Three Sisters, Three Queens.
6) Hazel Prior - Away With The Penguins.
7) Elizabeth Green - Confessions of a Curious Bookseller.
8. James Acaster - James Acaster's Classic Scrapes.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Kseniya Melnik - Snow in May.
28) John L Parker - Again to Carthage.
29) Lisa Jewell - The Family Upstairs.
30) Pete Paphides - Broken Greek.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis - A Cricketer and a Gentleman.
45) Conn Iggulden - The Falcon of Sparta.
46) Suzanne Collins - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
47) Nina Stibbe - Man at the Helm.
48) Stuart MacBride - The Blood Road.

Aida Edemariam - The Wife's Tale. The story of the author's grandmother, interwoven with the recent history of Ethiopia, as she lived from 1916-2013. It's pretty dense, and I've read it on and off over a long time, but fascinating in parts.

MaliA · **Posted:** Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:20

Make Room Make Room by Harry Harrison. Superbly written novel where a policeman is trying to solve a murder in a city with precious little food or water. Lots of warning about scarcity of resources in the future.

It was made ino the film Soylent Green.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) Ann Patchett - The Dutch House.
2) Simon Scarrow - Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18).
3) RD Wingfield - Night Frost.
4) Edgar Rice Burroughs - Chessmen of Mars.
5) Philippa Gregory - Three Sisters, Three Queens.
6) Hazel Prior - Away With The Penguins.
7) Elizabeth Green - Confessions of a Curious Bookseller.
8. James Acaster - James Acaster's Classic Scrapes.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Kseniya Melnik - Snow in May.
28) John L Parker - Again to Carthage.
29) Lisa Jewell - The Family Upstairs.
30) Pete Paphides - Broken Greek.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis - A Cricketer and a Gentleman.
45) Conn Iggulden - The Falcon of Sparta.
46) Suzanne Collins - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
47) Nina Stibbe - Man at the Helm.
48) Stuart MacBride - The Blood Road.
49) Aida Edemariam - The Wife's Tale.

Barbara Kingsolver - The Bean Trees. I've not read a bad book by BK, and I doubt she's written one, though this feels slighter than some of the others (edit: it was her first, so that makes sense - a great author finding her voice). A young girl leaves home in outer USA, and travels. On the way stuff happens, heartwarming (family/friends) in places, maddening (immigrants/attitudes) in others, and you get to explore a bit of the US along with her. Great (but I'd start with Flight Behaviour if you've not read any of hers and want to).

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) Ann Patchett - The Dutch House.
2) Simon Scarrow - Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18).
3) RD Wingfield - Night Frost.
4) Edgar Rice Burroughs - Chessmen of Mars.
5) Philippa Gregory - Three Sisters, Three Queens.
6) Hazel Prior - Away With The Penguins.
7) Elizabeth Green - Confessions of a Curious Bookseller.
8. James Acaster - James Acaster's Classic Scrapes.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Kseniya Melnik - Snow in May.
28) John L Parker - Again to Carthage.
29) Lisa Jewell - The Family Upstairs.
30) Pete Paphides - Broken Greek.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis - A Cricketer and a Gentleman.
45) Conn Iggulden - The Falcon of Sparta.
46) Suzanne Collins - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
47) Nina Stibbe - Man at the Helm.
48) Stuart MacBride - The Blood Road.
49) Aida Edemariam - The Wife's Tale.
50) Barbara Kingsolver - The Bean Trees.

Adam Buxton - Ramble Book. He's talked a lot about the subject of the book, the writing etc of it in his podcast, but it's still great. Made me laugh out loud at points, and there's plenty of sobering stuff on the meaning of life. But not crass. Almost certainly helps enormously if you're already a fan and have heard his voice on the podcast. The ending was a bit abrupt, dealing with his dad's death, and all the more poignant knowing that that wasn't the end of the family sadness for Buckles. But overall I enjoyed it, and was pleased this wasn't just another celeb "hey, anyone can write a book, right?" - pretty sure he's been through and edited and re-edited it to make it work as well as it does.

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri Dec 24, 2021 1:08

One more! You can do iiiiiiiit!

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!

1) Ann Patchett - The Dutch House.
2) Simon Scarrow - Traitors of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 18).
3) RD Wingfield - Night Frost.
4) Edgar Rice Burroughs - Chessmen of Mars.
5) Philippa Gregory - Three Sisters, Three Queens.
6) Hazel Prior - Away With The Penguins.
7) Elizabeth Green - Confessions of a Curious Bookseller.
8. James Acaster - James Acaster's Classic Scrapes.
9) Nina Stibbe - Paradise Lodge.
10) Ann Patchett - Taft.
11) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi.
12) Paul McAuley - War of the Maps.
13) Susan Orlean - The Library Book.
14) Adharanand Finn - The Rise of the Ultra Runners.
15) Samanta Schweblin - Little Eyes.
16) Mark Thomas - 50 Things About us.
17) Alistair Moffat - The Wall; Rome's Greatest Frontier.
18) Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk.
19) Paul Brannigan - This is a Call, Life and Times of Dave Grohl.
20) Kate Atkinson - Big Sky.
21) Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing.
22) Elizabeth Kay - Seven Lies.
23) Joanne Harris - The Lollipop Shoes.
24) Deborah Frances-White - The Guilty Feminist.
25) Conn Iggulden - The Gates of Athens.
26) Anthony Horowitz - Moonflower Murders.
27) Kseniya Melnik - Snow in May.
28) John L Parker - Again to Carthage.
29) Lisa Jewell - The Family Upstairs.
30) Pete Paphides - Broken Greek.
31) Rachel Joyce - Miss Benson's Beetle.
32) Simon Scarrow - The Emperor's Exile.
33) Emily St John Mandel - The Glass Hotel.
34) Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing.
35) Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water.
36) Robert Harris - Conclave.
37) Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls.
38) Hannah Rothschild - The Impossibility of Love.
39) Joanna Glen - The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
40) HG Wells - War of the Worlds.
41) Robert Harris - V2.
42) Dawn French - Because of You.
43) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic.
44) Bob Willis - A Cricketer and a Gentleman.
45) Conn Iggulden - The Falcon of Sparta.
46) Suzanne Collins - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
47) Nina Stibbe - Man at the Helm.
48) Stuart MacBride - The Blood Road.
49) Aida Edemariam - The Wife's Tale.
50) Barbara Kingsolver - The Bean Trees.
51) Adam Buxton - Ramble Book.

No suspense here - last book finished. My gift to anyone who might have had any minor worry about it. Also my opposite-of-gift to anyone who wanted a last day screeching finish.

52) Mike Phillips - The Dancing Face. An excellent page-turning thriller that twists and turns all over the place but manages not to ever be clunky or exaggerated. My edition is in a Black Britain line, which "celebrates pioneering books from black Britain and the diaspora". But it's worth knowing that it's an attempt to give a voice to unduly ignored authors, rather than, I don't know, only 'educational' books. This is that, in that characters talk about their experiences, but it's mostly a thriller. Excellent. Subtle. (A bit) Like watching Crazy Rich Asians and enjoying the ride, and then realising at the end that the only white people were the help.

And that's my 52. I only picked shorter books towards the end, so I might pick a longer one - the Beatles one that Mali and Kern both recommended is sitting there, waiting - and see if I can finish that by the end of the year.

Bobbyaro · **Joined:** 18th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 11916

Still time for a couple more

Grim... · **Posted:** Sun Dec 26, 2021 23:25

And make a mockery of the thread title?!

Squirt · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 6630

Good work JBR! I'm hoping to finish my current one and get to 26, so that'll be halfway.

JBR · **Joined:** 2nd Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 3309

Grim... wrote:

And make a mockery of the thread title?!

Exactly. If I finish any (like the Inspector Montalbano thing I finished last night), it'll be between me and my kindle.

Squirt · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 6630

Squirt wrote:

1.) The House Share - Kate Helm
2.) Rebecca -Daphne de Maurier
3.) The Black Cloud - Fred Hoyle
4.) Bad Move - Linwood Barclay
5.) The Longest Afternoon - Brendan Simms
6.) The Holocaust - Laurence Rees
7.) A Little Hatred - Joe Abercrombie
8.) Ghoster - Jason Arnopp
9.) Bad Guys - Linwood Barclay
10.) The Three Hostages - John Buchan
11.) Map Addict - Mike Parker
12.) Chastise - Max Hastings
13.) Three Corvettes - Nicholas Monsarrat
14.) Moonfleet - J. Meade Falkner
15.) Operation Pedestal - Max Hastings
16.) The Seeds of Time - John Wyndham
17.) Salem's Lot - Stephen King
18.) Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age - Greg King & Penny Wilson
19.) The Trouble with Peace - Joe Abercrombie.
20.) Time's Eye - Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.
21.) The Destroyers - Douglas Reeman.
22.) Ripley Under Ground - Patricia Highsmith.
23.) Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway - Jonathan Parshall & Anthony Tully
24.) Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome
25.) The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester

26.) The Devil Rides Out - Dennis Wheatley
Spooky Satanic Shenanigans in this horror / thriller from Wheatley! Apparently he was one of the biggest fiction writers in the world back in the day, though I doubt many are familiar with him now. This still holds up pretty well, if you ignore the occasional piece of wildly dated language and the odd bit of creaky exposition. The black magic theme works well and is quite creepy, and it all comes to a nice climax. There was a 1960s film of this which apparently sucked, but I reckon you could make a decent film out of this if someone took a fresh stab at it. Bonus points awarded for the MacGuffin being a mummified penis.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 26234

When I was about 14 I had a bad year of stuff, and circumstance meant that I found myself staying in a room which happened to have a whole collection of red leather bound Dennis Wheatley books, and with little other possession, etc, I read every one. I can’t remember much about it to be honest, more the weirdly nice collectors bindings.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 26234

It was the same set as this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dennis-Wheat ... 635-2958-0

MaliA · **Posted:** Tue Dec 28, 2021 0:55

Cannot recommend this enough: Bad Vibes by Luke Haines about Britpop. Or, as I call it "What Holden Caulfield did next".

Every sentence is golden and pure hatred. Loved it.

https://uk.bookshop.org/books/bad-vibes ... 0099522263

Squirt · **Joined:** 31st Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 6630

Mimi wrote:

It was the same set as this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dennis-Wheat ... 635-2958-0

Oh, those are nicely bound. He also wrote a series of long winded historical spy novels ( of which my Dad had the complete set).

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Dec 29, 2021 0:50

Grim... wrote:

1) Doctor Sleep - Stevie King
2) John Dies at the End - David Wong
3) Stranded - Bracken MacLeod
4) Artemis by Andy Weir
5) Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
6) Randomise by Andy Weir
7) I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter by Isabel Fall
eight) The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
9) Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
10) Come Closer by Sara Gran
11) Bad Move by Linwood Barclay
12) A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home by Jason Arnopp
13) Dear Laura by Gemma Amor
14) The Secret of Ventriloquism by Jon Padgett
15) The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
16) Camp Slaughter by Sergio Gomez
17) Aliens: Infiltrator by Weston Ochse
18) Rabbits by Terry Miles
19) A Medium-sized Book of Boring Car Trivia by Sniff Petrol
20) Holy Cow by David Duchovny
21) Better Off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child
22) A Vision of Fire, 1: Book 1 of the Earthend Saga by Giillian Anderson

23) Firefly: Big Damn Hero by James LoveGrove.

This wasn't bad! There were potentially a few too many callbacks for fans of the series, but that's okay. It's all right, although I'm not convinced it'd appeal too much for people that aren't fans of Firefly.

But those kind of people don't exist, so that's not a problem.

Goddess Jasmine · **Posted:** Sat Jan 01, 2022 17:38

Goddess Jasmine wrote:

1. Linwood Barclay - Fear the worst
2. Linwood Barclay - Too close to home
3. Linwood Barclay - Parting Shot
4. Linwood Barclay - The Accident
5. Linwood Barclay - No Time for Goodbye
6. Linwood Barclay - Broken Promise
7. Linwood Barclay - Far From True
8. Linwood Barclay - The Twenty-Three
9. Linwood Barclay - Bad Move
10. Linwood Barclay - Bad Guys
11. Linwood Barclay - Bad Luck
12. Linwood Barclay - Bad News
13. Linwood Barclay - Trust your eyes
14. Linwood Barclay - Never Look Away
15. Linwood Barclay - Clouded Vision
16. Linwood Barclay - Never saw it coming
17 Linwood Barclay - A Tap on the Window
18. Linwood Barclay - No Safe House

19. Ann Rule - The I5 Killer

I went for a bit of true crime for a change. This is a really interesting look into the investigation and the issues that they faced trying to solve something like this back when we didn't have CCTV, cameras on the roads and mobile phones. It was interesting to read that Dick Van Dyke's son Chris played a significant role in prosecuting the case too as the DA.

Mr Russell · **Joined:** 6th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 12356

Well I hope it's being made into a Netflix drama because I want to see that!

Be Excellent To Each Other

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