The Mock Turtle

I've just finished The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell, it was brilliant. Recently read Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson too, also very good.

The new Jane Harper?! How exciting!

I really lost my reading mojo over Christmas and feel ashamed by the number of DNFs I had. Still Life was one of them, bizarrely.

The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean got me back into the groove. I've just finished Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet which was readable, but feels rather pointless.

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman was great.

Exit by Belinda Bauer was both horrible and funny and above all readable. I do enjoy her stuff.

Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan and Fen by Daisy Johnson were 'supernatural-esque' stories; a little weak on the whole. Help the Witch by Tom Cox was similar, but better.

The Homes - JB Mylet - a thriller set in a children's home on the outskirts of Glasgow in the 60's. It was a good page turner told from the perspective of a 12 year old.

Clubland: How the working men's club shaped Britain - Pete Brown. I loved this. Really interesting and I'd rather read this than kings and queens.

They both sound interesting Duo.

That Clubland books sounds really interesting and right up my friend's street so I'm going to make a mental note of it for her birthday!

I'd like to read that, Duop. Years ago when I was hoping to be able to do a masters in History I wanted to study comedy in working men's clubs as a representation of social history.

I finished The Great Gatsby in time for book club tonight, I quite liked it.

For anyone interested you can listen to an abridged version of clubland on bbc sounds

I'm now reading Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

On a recommendation from Mini I'll be reading Things fall apart straight after

Things Fall Apart is brilliant.

I've just read the newish Richard Osman as my library reservation finally came through today. I'm hoping this gets my reading mojo back as I've just been doing internet scrolling and haven't read any books for weeks. Now I need something else!

I took so long to finish The School For Good Mothers! It was depressing as hell, but I liked reading it. I think I just couldn't read much at a time.

I'm now onto No One Left To Come Looking For You, by Sam Lipsyte. It's a dark comedy set in early 90s Manhattan. And I also have the new Grady Hendrix on its way, which I'm excited about - How To Sell A Haunted House.

I'm still reading Wolf Hall. I'm enjoying it but I keep almost falling asleep in bed during reading so it's taking a long time.

I am desperate to re-read the Wolf Hall trilogy. I listened to The Mirror and the Light on BBC Sounds which was wonderful and reminded just how gifted Mantel was. Again.

I'm on Lily's Promise by Lily Ebert and Dov Forman (her grandson) about her time in Auschwitz. How people survived this is just astonishing.

I really want to read A Place of Greater Safety but I've been putting it off as I think it is going to be a real commitment.

And I've just finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - overally I enjoyed it but it for me it started really strongly (had the feel of a Judy Blume for adults) and then tailed off by the end. There is a lot about making video games in it

I've just finished Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. It was written during the lockdown and is so very much more enjoyable (and less predictable) than Nine Perfect Strangers. I was going to pick it for my book club choice for March, but we've had at least two Liane Moriarty books before, so I'm looking for other possibilities. I'm wondering whether The School for Good Mothers might be a good fit for our group? ETA* Scratch that, there were only 3 copies available in the library system, so I might go with Things Fall Apart - based on recommendations here and there are plenty available in the system.

I've not got a good record for book choices. I once chose Frankenstein, thinking it a classic and very different from the horror film portrayals. Unfortunately, the local library let me down, handing out a children's 'abridged and illustrated' version to some members, while others got Mary Shelley's original!

I finished The Ink Black Heart. I thought the ending was rushed, the game chats were awful and some of the writing was genuinely poor but I'll keep reading for Cormoran and Robin, basically.

I cleared a couple of first reads, and a book by an author I like that I downloaded ages ago but never got round to.

How to Kill Your Best Friend - thriller set around the memorial of one of a group of friends.

Murder at the Hedgerow - a ‘cosy mystery’ :woteva:

We Begin at the End, Chris Whitaker - the one I actually wanted. Another US set thriller. Definitely the best of the three!

I absolutely loved We Begin at the End. I gave it 5* which is v rare for me.

I’m reading Elly Griffiths - the Locked Room. It’s set during Covid which is slightly stressing me out.

I’ve just read Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It was a Kindle Unlimited book & is a short story. Anyway, it was enjoyable to read

I finished The Keeper of Lost Things yesterday. It was nice, but way less about the lost things than I’d expected.

Chicky wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:30 am I absolutely loved We Begin at the End. I gave it 5* which is v rare for me.

Did it make you want to go to Montana?