Book Notes

[Annabella]

I just finished Love Marriage by Monica Ali. I did not enjoy this as much as other books of hers that I have read. I think it was too much analysing of relationships and very introspective characters vs the actual underlying story of Jasmin's parents which was the story.

I have now started The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy.

[Ella77]

I've just finished Flight by Lynn Seger Strong, and I really enjoyed it. It's a bit like The Corrections, BUT the women have inner lives because it's written by a woman. Don't let the Franzen reference put you off .

I've just downloaded another by the same author (Hold Still), and it's really good so far.

[Epponnee Rae]

Oh that sounds good, Ella. I’ve just reserved it at the library. I hope I get it before Christmas

[Zoomer]

I like the look of that, thanks Ella.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I’ve recently read Girl, Woman, Other. It’s going to one of those books I think about a lot. I wasn’t sure about the style at first, but I did enjoy it.

[Cerise]

I’ve just finished The Man Who Died Twice and really enjoyed it. I really like his sense of humour and the characters.

I’m now on to Lucy Foley’s The Paris Apartment.

[Little My]

I just finished The Cloisters by Katy Hays. It didn't get as thrilling as I felt it might, but it was a decent read and I enjoyed it. Filled with academics, tarot cards, murder, mystery and medieval drugs.

I'm now reading The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf, which feels like a good fit for this time of year as it's set in a blizzard.

[sally maclennane]

I’ve recently read Girl, Woman, Other. It’s going to one of those books I think about a lot. I wasn’t sure about the style at first, but I did enjoy it.

I loved it, I read it during the first lockdown and like you said, I thought about it a lot afterwards.

[Turtle Bean]

I have 3 books to go to reach my Goodreads goal of 52 for this year. I must say I have slightly cheated by counting all 7 of the Harry Potter books which were re-reads and I don't normally include those. I've also had 3 very short ones, an Alan Bennett one about lockdown, The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck and last night I read The Nutcracker by E.T.A Hoffman which is really just a slightly longer short story.

I need to pick my next 3 carefully as they can't be anything too lengthy! I am about a third of the way through Shrines of Gaity by Kate Atkinson and I've just now remembered a romance one I read in about five minutes the other week so must add that. Only two left!

I don't always add embarrassingly trashy stuff.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I only removed one book from my Goodreads & it was really a short story/novella that Chunk made me read because he loved it at school. Turns out he’s a big fan of horror short stories.

[Little My]

I have 3 books to go to reach my Goodreads goal of 52 for this year. I must say I have slightly cheated by counting all 7 of the Harry Potter books which were re-reads and I don't normally include those. I've also had 3 very short ones, an Alan Bennett one about lockdown, The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck and last night I read The Nutcracker by E.T.A Hoffman which is really just a slightly longer short story.

I need to pick my next 3 carefully as they can't be anything too lengthy! I am about a third of the way through Shrines of Gaity by Kate Atkinson and I've just now remembered a romance one I read in about five minutes the other week so must add that. Only two left!

I don't always add embarrassingly trashy stuff.

If you haven't read it already, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan would be a good pic. Perfect for this time of year, beautifully written, and very short.

[Epponnee Rae]

I have already beaten my goal for the year, but it was only 22 books and I’ve read 25 so far, way off you Bean! I might get one or two more in before the year is out.

[Pippedydeadeye]

My goal was 50 and I’ve managed 60 so far. A week in the sun helped with that, plus making a conscious decision not to doomscroll or watch TV that doesn’t thrill me.

[Disco]

Bloody hell, I can't believe how many books you guys have read! I said I would read 16 and I'm on my 29th but I didn't have a week in the sun and I'm a telly addict so only read for 20 minutes at bedtime.

[Kenickie]

I have two more to my target of 100 this year. Pleasingly this will also be 1000 books since I started using Goodreads.

[Wiggle]

I started to think that's amazing when I saw Bean's post, then saw Disco's/Epp's and thought good going, then I got to Pip and was super impressed, then I saw Ken's and all I can say is wow!

I have read 25 books so far and might get to 26. My initial aim was 5 and then gradually increased the target by 5 each time. In the past few years I was lucky if I finished 2. I do prefer to read in bed and have made a conscious effort this year to go to bed earlier. Next year I plan to read other genres, this year has mostly been murder mystery.

[Disco]

Ken! 98 books! Wow.

I am currently reading and enjoying The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin.

[Kenickie]

Don't forget I've been either pregnant or on mat leave the whole year, plus they've all been very easy reads.

[sally maclennane]

98 is amazing Ken, especially with 3 small children!

I have read 41, which is a big improvement on last year (around 28 i think). I've tried not picking up my phone unthinkingly as I often do, but it's still a bad habit.

[Lola]

That’s amazing with 3 children, Ken

I don’t keep track of how many books I read throughout a year but it’s probably about 15-20? I’m a slow reader I think, and I don’t like to give myself targets.