2016 Book list
Well this is more
impressive than last year’s 27. I
managed to pass my original target of 35 which I then extended to 45 and my
final count was 52. Hopefully I will be
able to sustain this rate. I made good
use of the library this year.
For one of my online book
groups I had to pick my 10 favourites. I
thought that would be easy – just check out the highest rated, i.e. those with
5*. Not that simple – I ended up going
through the list and updating my ratings. The books are listed in the order that I read
them. My 10 favourites are in bold.
Not
Forgetting the Whale – John Ironmonger 5*
I thought this was going to be
quite dark as it’s apocalyptic in a way but it turned out to be a really
enjoyable read.
A Year of Marvellous Ways
– Sarah Winman 3*
The
Secret by the Lake – Louise Douglas 4* Essentially a mystery but with a ghostly
element.
Crooked Heart – Lissa
Evans 3*
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 2* FINALLY FINISHED! I hate giving up on books
and this one was a real challenge and very long. The writing is clever but it could have been
a lot shorter.
Letters to the Lost –
Iona Gray 4* Two love stories linked by letters.
The Redeemer – Jo Nesbo 4*
Another in the Harry Hole series.
Classic crime fiction.
The One that Got Away –
Simon Wood 4* Crime fiction
The Life I Left Behind –
Collette McBeth 4* Crime fiction
The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins 3* Not
sure this quite lived up to the hype but I enjoyed it.
Do
No Harm – Henry Marsh 5* This is the only non-fiction book I managed this year,
but was really interesting. Henry Marsh
is a renowned brain surgeon. I wouldn’t
want to work for him but if I needed brain surgery I’d want him as my surgeon.
(Or maybe someone he’s trained as I think he’s probably retired now.)
The Ice Twins – S.K.
Tremayne 3* A story revolving around the
death of a twin. I found how the family
dealt with this (moving away to a remote Scottish island) a bit unrealistic.
Moving – Jenny Éclair 4* Wasn’t sure what to expect from the author but
I enjoyed this book. Edwina has reached
a stage in her life where she needs to sell the family home. A good study of family relationships.
Vanessa and Her Sister –
Priya Parmar 3* A fictitious study of
Vanessa and Virginia Woolf based on actual letters. Interesting but hard to
follow at times.
Broken
Promise – Linwood Barclay 5* This is just a good old page turner of a crime
thriller.
The Language of Flowers –
Vanessa Diffenbaugh 3* Romantic fiction.
I Let you Go – Clare Mackintosh 4* This book had me rereading large chunks to see
how I’d missed the twist.
The Girl in the Red Coat
– Kate Hamer 3* This is about a child
abduction but I found some of it far fetched.
Memory Man – David
Baldacci 4* Baldacci is a new favourite of mine.
The Food of Love – Prue
Leith 2* Romantic fiction that I didn’t
realise was the first in a series.
Consequently the ending was very unsatisfactory and I didn’t enjoy the
book enough to want to read the next in the series.
Room
– Emma Donoghue * Speaks for itself.
First One Missing – Tammy
Cohen 3* Psychological thriller but police procedures are a bit glossed
over. Told from different POVs so also a
bit confusing at times.
The Accident – Linwood
Barclay 4* Another good crime fiction from a favourite author.
Alone with the Dead –
James Nally 2* Essentially a crime thriller with a bit of paranormal thrown
in. Didn’t grip me. Didn’t like the characters.
The
Bones of You – Debbie Howells 4* This is about the loss of a child and a very
dysfunctional family. Not the easiest of
reads but it kept me guessing.
The Kindness – Polly
Samson 3* This is about complicated
family relationships and although I enjoyed the writing it’s written from
different POVs and the ending is wrapped up very quickly.
The
100 Year Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson
5* This book had me laughing out
loud. Always a good recommendation.
While my Eyes were Closed
– Linda Green 4* A missing child, how it
happened and the outcome. There are no
dramatic surprises but it kept me absorbed.
Ursula’s Secret – Mairi
Wilson 4* This book is quite hard to
follow at times and I thought it was going to be a story of unrequited love but
it turned out to be much more.
Follow Me – Angela Clarke
3*Crime thriller but brought up to date by bringing in social media.
One Small Act of Kindness
– Lucy Dillon3*Light hearted read but with the thread of paying forward an act
of kindness carried through it.
The Judge’s Wife – Ann
O’Loughlin 3*An overbearing husband, a missing baby and unrequited love.
The Ballroom Café – Ann
O’Loughlin 4* Two sisters living
together in a large family house but not speaking – communicating by
notes. One decides to open a café in the
house to bring in funds. Interwoven with
a story of Nuns passing on babies for adoption from unwed Mothers.
Missing Presumed – Susie
Steiner 4* A good solid crime fiction revolving around a missing person. Didn’t go where I expected it to,
The Lake House – Kate
Morton 4* Another mystery involving a missing child. Well written (although a bit long) it kept me
engaged but I felt some of the loose ends were tied up too neatly at the end.
House of Dreams – Fanny
Blake 3* A nice light hearted read –
good holiday book.
The Turning Tide – Brooke
Magnanti 2* Is it a murder mystery? A
political farce? Or about a woman facing a midlife crisis? It tries to do all 3 but it’s no House of
Cards.
Summer with My Sister –
Lucy Diamond 3* Another ideal read for
summer.
Late Summer in the
Vineyard – Jo Thomas 3* And another summer read!
Beside Myself – Ann
Morgan 2* Another book about twins. The
story centres around the twins switching identities and the consequences. I found it a bit far fetched.
Fire and Rain – Diane
Chamberlain 3* I’m a Chamberlain fan but this took a while to get into. Complicated relationships that felt a bit
disjointed.
The
Light Between the Oceans – M.L. Stedman * Beautiful.
Sad, but beautiful.
The Girls – Lisa Jewell 4*
A disturbing tale of how newcomers can change the dynamics of established
friendships and the extremes to which some people will go driven by jealousy
and a need for revenge.
A Room Swept White –
Sophie Hannah 4* Essentially a murder
mystery but quite a complicated plot.
Time of Death – Mark
Billingham 3*I’ve read several of Billingham’s books – crime fiction based
around the detective Tom Thorne. I don’t
think this was one of his best but it still kept me engrossed.
The Liar – Nora Roberts 3*
Shelby, the heroine in this tale,
returns home after her husband is killed and she is left with massive
debts. A story of lies begins to unravel
leading to a dramatic but ultimately happy ending. An easy read, bit predictable and a bit long.
Look at Me – Sarah Duguid
4* This book grew on me and I began to
appreciate the descriptive writing and the author’s understanding of
grief. Based around Lizzie, her brother
and her father, all still mourning the loss of their Mother. Into this mix Lizzie invites Eunice, a
half-sister they didn’t know they had.
Calling Mrs Christmas –
Carole Matthews 4* A lovely topical
read just before Christmas. Cassie and
Jim are struggling to make ends meet.
Cassie reinvents herself as Mrs Christmas, offering her services to local
businesses and people who need help organising Christmas. It has beautiful descriptions of Lapland and
an Ice Hotel but also what the real meaning of Christmas should be.
You Belong to Me –
Samantha Hayes 2* This is essentially a story of stalking. It’s creepy and has a major twist in it but I
found some of it just too far fetched.
Did You Ever Have a
Family – Bill Clegg 2* This is
beautifully written at times but the basis of the story, (a woman loses her
home and all her closest loved ones in a fire) is quite dark. The aftermath is told from lots of different
POVs and overall I found I just didn’t like it or feel any empathy to the
characters.
A
Life Without You – Katie Marsh 5* This book is about a daughter reconnecting
with her estranged Mother and then losing her again as she succumbs to
Alzheimer’s. Sounds really miserable but
it isn’t all doom and gloom.
All I Ever Wanted – Lucy
Dillon 4* A nice easy read. Just right for after Christmas. Caitlin has separated from her husband and is
trying to get her life on track. But
then Nancy, her four year old daughter becomes a selective mute. Sad at times but with humour as well, wanting
to know how the family situation is resolved kept me reading.
