What books did you read in 2023?

[Jamie John]

Well, here we are again. As ever, I'm determined to read more this year, having only got through a paltry 18 books in 2022. My aim for 2023 is to read 20 books, which is still pretty modest, but hopefully achievable. I'm planning on reaching this goal by putting my phone down and picking my Kindle up more often, on my lunch break, before bed, when I'm putting my son down, and so on. We'll see!

 

Talking of my son, he's a right handful at the moment, so I'm starting off this year with a parenting book, The Gentle Parenting Book, in fact, by Sarah Ockwell-Smith. My wife and I are going to read it together; we read her Gentle Sleep book when our boy was younger and found it useful, so while this new book is probably not going to be the most scintillating read, hopefully we'll find it similarly helpful.

 

Anyway, what books did you read in 2023, rllmuk, and how many books are you aiming to read this year?

[Stopharage]

I'm going for 40 again. This year, I've largely chosen what they are going to be as well, although I can see a few changing as other titles are reduced and new titles come out. Think this might stop me procrastinating over what title in my huge Kindle pile of shame to tackle next. A real mixed bag in there. 

 

Here's what I've settled on for now. I'm currently reading (all begun in 2022) The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers, Expected Goals by Rory Smith, Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood and The Every by Dave Eggers. 

Spoiler

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Dead In The Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel

The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

A Ladder In The Sky by John Boyne

Rogues by Patrick Madden Keefe

The Game by Micah Richards

Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Exhalation By Ted Chiang

The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Ministry Of The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There Is No Antimetics Division by qntm

The Miracle Pill by Peter Walker

All About Me by Mel Brooks

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

In The Garden Of The Beasts by Erik Larson

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St Mandel

Nothing But The Truth by The Secret Barrister

The Fourth Turning by William Strauss & Neil Howe

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver

Meantime by Frankie Boyle

Expected Goals by Rory Smith

Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars by Nick Duerden

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari

Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood

The Little Friend by Donna Tarrt

The Every by Dave Eggers

 

[Vimster]

22 last year and I've set myself the modest target of more than 22. Not got off to a great start as I've just begun reading Red Mars which is a 29 hour audiobook (great book though). Definitely need to fill more downtime with reading. I have a nasty habit of daydreaming and thinking what I should be doing, time that I could be filling with a few pages here and there. That's what I used to like about having books in the loo, you'd be surprised how much that contributed. I have difficulty with paperbacks as my eyesight isn't amazing (hopefully that'll change this year). 

 

 

[Stopharage]

1. Expected Goals by Rory Smith. Discusses the explosion of data analysis on the Premier League, as Moneyball influences clubs to look at alternative approaches to player recruitment. If you has a reasonable interest in football and/or data analysis I think you’d enjoy it. Some good tales of the initial sniffiness and suspicion towards data and how some of our most maligned managers (Pulis, Allardyce, Redknapp) were amongst the standard bearers of this new approach whilst my team’s manager, Brendan Rodgers was more dismissive than I would have thought. 4/5

First one of my planned reads down. 
 

Spoiler

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Dead In The Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel

The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

A Ladder In The Sky by John Boyne

Rogues by Patrick Madden Keefe

The Game by Micah Richards

Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Exhalation By Ted Chiang

The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Ministry Of The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There Is No Antimetics Division by qntm

The Miracle Pill by Peter Walker

All About Me by Mel Brooks

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

In The Garden Of The Beasts by Erik Larson

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St Mandel

Nothing But The Truth by The Secret Barrister

The Fourth Turning by William Strauss & Neil Howe

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver

Meantime by Frankie Boyle

1. Expected Goals by Rory Smith

Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars by Nick Duerden

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari

Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood

The Little Friend by Donna Tarrt

The Every by Dave Eggers

 

[QuackQuack]

1. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

 

I think I enjoyed this? Maybe? A short, well-written time travel novel that was on a lot of Best of 2022 lists.

It was interesting that the parts written about COVID already felt a bit dated.

[Jamie John]

1. The Gentle Parenting Book by Sarah Ockwell-Smith (2016)

 

 

I thought this was very useful and has definitely made me reflect on how I parent my son. While reading it, I've noticed myself changing the way I talk to him when he's pushing boundaries and it's helped me remain calm and in control. It's a book I'll keep handy to dip into now and again and refer to for specific situations. Recommended to all parents, especially those with young children.

 

Next up: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

[Stopharage]

2. The Every by Dave Eggers 

Second of my planned 2023 reads down. This is a sequel to Eggers’ The Circle, which was about the dystopian impacts of a behemoth social media site. I wasn’t hugely enamoured with that, although it was significantly better than the Netflix version. 
 

Anyway this is a sequel which ramps things up even more and I really didn’t get much out of it. The relentless spread of ever more inhumane apps and the slavishness of the employees made for a dispiriting novel. 
 

Eggers is one of my favourite contemporary writers but I don’t get on with these books at all. 
 

Spoiler

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Dead In The Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel

The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

A Ladder In The Sky by John Boyne

Rogues by Patrick Madden Keefe

The Game by Micah Richards

Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Exhalation By Ted Chiang

The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Ministry Of The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There Is No Antimetics Division by qntm

The Miracle Pill by Peter Walker

All About Me by Mel Brooks

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

In The Garden Of The Beasts by Erik Larson

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St Mandel

Nothing But The Truth by The Secret Barrister

The Fourth Turning by William Strauss & Neil Howe

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver

Meantime by Frankie Boyle

1. Expected Goals by Rory Smith

Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars by Nick Duerden

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari

Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood

The Little Friend by Donna Tarrt

2. The Every by Dave Eggers

 

[Jamie John]

2. The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker (2018)

 

 

Quote

When her city falls to the Greeks, Briseis's old life is shattered. She is transformed from queen to captive, from free woman to slave, awarded to the god-like warrior Achilles as a prize of war. And she's not alone. On the same day, and on many others in the course of a long and bitter war, innumerable women have been wrested from their homes and flung to the fighters. The Trojan War is known as a man's story: a quarrel between men over a woman, stolen from her home and spirited across the sea. But what of the other women in this story, silenced by history? What words did they speak when alone with each other, in the laundry, at the loom, when laying out the dead? In this magnificent historical novel, Pat Barker charts one woman's journey through the chaos of the most famous war in history, as she struggles to free herself and to become the author of her own story.

 

This was very good and a real page-turner from start to finish. The characterisation of Achilles was especially well-observed, as well as Brieseis' mingled feelings of hate and awe towards him. I definitely want to get the sequel, and it's inspired me to give The Illiad another go (or maybe a prose translation of it) after I tried and failed while at university. If you're into Greek myths, historical fiction or this entire genre of literature that re-examines cultural events from a female perspective, then check it out.

 

Next up: Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. I've not read this one before but have enjoyed the other stories about the witches, so I'm looking forward to this.

 

Read in 2023:

Spoiler

1. The Gentle Parenting Book by Sarah Ockwell-Smith (2016)

2. The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker (2018)

 

[Chthonic Boom]

I've been trying to get back into reading a bit more over the last few years. Thought I'd done pretty well in 2022 but looking back I can only remember reading 8 books (Annihilation trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, first 2 Wolf Hall books by Hillary Mantel, an Agatha Christie, the first Thursday Murder Club book by Richard Osman, and the Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon) which isn't as much as I'd thought. Was going to target a book a month in 2023, but I've got off to a cracking start in Jan over holidays so I'm wondering if I can push this out to 20 in the year. Hope so, as I've got a pretty hefty backlog which I'm adding to at a rapid pace, with quite a few purchases based on skimming through the 2022 thread and picking up recommendations.

 

Edit: realised that Golden Hill was actually a 2022 book so removed it from the numbering

 

1 0. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

Lightweight but reasonably fun read, set in 1700s New York. Didn't feel hugely engaged by the plot, so not one that I expect will stick in the memory.

 

2 1. The Mirror and the Light by Hillary Mantel

(started in 2022) Really enjoyed this series - I re-read the other 2 books last year as I'd read them so long ago that I'd forgotten what was going on, and absolutely demolished them, despite having a lot of trouble keeping track of who the different characters were. TMATL was a satisfying conclusion, but I didn't find it quite as engaging as the previous 2.

Spoiler

I think this is because the first two books have you much more inside the tent - as a reader we're privy to the machinations that Cromwell is going through in order to arrange Anne Boleyn's ascent then downfall. Cromwell's downfall felt a lot more abrupt as we can't see the hoops that everyone else is going through to get his head on the block. 800 pages of "Oh boy Cromwell sure does like pissing people off, but what's new" then 100 pages of "oh whoops".

 

3 2. The End of the World is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan

Peter Zeihan is a geopoliticist who believes that we're in the final days of globalisation and that we're heading for a pretty rough next few decades. Overall thesis is that the things that make global trade possible (particularly safe ocean transport) have been dependent on US-backed security, and that the US are losing interest in preserving the status quo, and that this combined with aging populations in most of the developed world will result in a pretty fundamental collapse of civilisations. I'm not sure how much stock to put in this, but in any case, it was a fascinating look into just how interconnected all of our nations are across lots of areas, which we've seen hints of in the face of covid and Ukraine. Highly recommended, though he's got a lot of material up on youtube which covers the fundamentals.

 

4 3. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

Bit of a palate cleanser after TEOTWIJTB. Enjoyable romp, with likeable characters and a rollicking plot. Not sophisticated literature by any means but I really enjoy this series.

Edited January 30 by Chthonic Boom

[QuackQuack]

2. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

 

I really hated this book. I stuck with it because it was on a lot of 2022 lists but I’ve now learnt to disregard those lists. I’m more annoyed at myself for not quitting early on. 

 

It has the writing style of a teenager desperate to show off about something they don’t quite understand. It clumsily and unconvincingly drops in cultural references like a politician talking about their football team. It has some overly saccharine attitudes, some of the worst sex in literature, and a lack of editing. 

Just bloody awful. 

 

Praying my next book is better. 

[lolly]

Hyperion- Dan Simmons

 

I think this is considered a Sci-Fi classic ?  Anyhow , the author uses a pilgrimage  by a number of folks to tell a number of disparate stories  crossing various genres, some are quite good but the most interesting one, for me,is given short shrift an the motivation is overemphasised  while the  results, which sounded like a far more interesting story  are given a lot less time.

Some of the characters are not brilliantly written but nothing too egregious. The final paragraph of the book  however, is one of the most toe curling shit endings  of anything ever IMO, his editor should have been fired for letting that pass. I'd be interested to see where the sequel take the story but that ending has me questioning whether to bother.

[Iain]

Trying to get back into reading so have manged to get loads of Kindle books for 99p each over the last view weeks. Lets hope that I actually manage to get though some of them. Anyway, first book of 2023 was finished a week ago and only getting round to putting this post together.

 

1. Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View - Various

 

A collection of short stories based on characters in the first Star Wars film. A tale about a Jawa on Tatooine, a couple of stories about various patrons of the Mos Eisley cantina, how a rebel mechanic had to view the attack on the Death Star and so on. There are over 30 stories here so as can be expected the quality can vary drastically. Some are quite good but there are a couple of absolute stinkers. Worth a read for something different but don't pay full price for it. 

[Vimster]

1. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - Well I was wrong in the post above, this book isn't "great" but it is thought-provoking and throws up some interesting ideas about the relationship between a dying Earth and new frontier Mars, whether a new Martian society should be free to do their thing without corporations taking full advantage. Shame this audiobook (23 hours, not 29, although it feels like 50 at times) can drag, largely down to meaningless descriptions of rock formations, landscapes, and the like that are impossible to visualise and just go on and on and on. Didn't mind the excessive scientific detail though although I acknowledge that's a bit excessive too. 

[Stopharage]

3. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers

Soon to be a BBC series, directed by Shane Meadows. Based on the true story of the Crag Valley Coiners, who created their own currency to avoid paying taxes to the King. It’s a tale of murder and grim existence in the 18th Century. Myers’ prose is sound throughout and he includes alternating chapters that are written in the dialect of the day. Works well and it’s an intriguing tale which illustrates how awful and barbaric life could be. 4/5

 

4. Rogues by Patrick Madden Keefe

A collection of his writing in the New Yorker. 12 different longform articles on topics such as Mexican drug wars, the exploitation of African resources and Anthony Bourdian. It’s very much hit and miss, which is largely down to the subject matter rather than any falling of his writing. 3/5

 

Spoiler

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Dead In The Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel

3. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

A Ladder In The Sky by John Boyne

4. Rogues by Patrick Madden Keefe

The Game by Micah Richards

Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Exhalation By Ted Chiang

The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Ministry Of The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There Is No Antimetics Division by qntm

The Miracle Pill by Peter Walker

All About Me by Mel Brooks

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

In The Garden Of The Beasts by Erik Larson

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St Mandel

Nothing But The Truth by The Secret Barrister

The Fourth Turning by William Strauss & Neil Howe

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver

Meantime by Frankie Boyle

1. Expected Goals by Rory Smith

Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars by Nick Duerden

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari

Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood

The Little Friend by Donna Tarrt

2. The Every by Dave Eggers

 

[Iain]

2. Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall - Spike Milligan

First of Spike Milligan's war diaries this one covers his time from before the army, through his time spent training (as well as playing jazz) and ends just as he is deployed to Algeria. Funny throughout without genuine laugh out loud moments. Also some moments of genuine emotion has he recalls the first time seeing London bombed or fellow soldiers who didn't return. Will now have to get the rest of the books. Recommended.

[Chthonic Boom]

4. Babel by R. F. Kuang

 

Alt-reality fantasy in the vein of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, this is set around Oxford university in an alternate 1800s where magic is worked through the use of language and translation. It's got a lot to say about empires (spoiler alert: it's not a fan) and spends quite a bit of time getting into the nuances of translating between languages.

The empire stuff was quite heavy handed at the start (oh wow! it turns out that slavery was pretty bad!) but it works better as the book progresses and it gets more organically included in the plot rather than just dropping tetchy footnotes in all the time.

Picked up on a whim when browsing on Amazon, and enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting.

 

 

5. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

 

Chinese sci-fi. I know this is really well regarded, but I had very mixed feelings about it. The overall concepts were interesting, but I really didn't get on with the writing style. I've had this reaction before when reading hard sci-fi, where it feels like the characters aren't particularly fleshed out; they just exist as vehicles to enable the sci-fi thought experiments the author is really interested in. At one point, a character

Spoiler

murders her husband because he's in the wrong place at the wrong time,

which feels like it should be a pretty big deal, but she just goes on with her business without any apparent concern. I didn't have any attachment to any of the characters, but I got more engaged as the book progressed and it became clearer what it was actually about, so I'll probably pick up the other books in the trilogy at some point.

 

 

 

 

Read in 2023:

Spoiler

1. The Mirror and the Light by Hillary Mantel

2. The End of the World is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan

3. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

4. Babel by R. F. Kuang
5. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

 

[Vimster]

2. Apocalypse On The Set by Matt Taylor - short book covering nine disastrous film productions including Apocalypse Now, Heaven's Gate and Waterworld. Some stories are well worn but it's nice to have them in a neat volume. 

 

 

Spoiler

1. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

2. Apocalypse On The Set by Matt Taylor

 

[grounded_dreams]

This time of year I have stacked up books I received for my birthday and Christmas to read while my academic research reading has a lull.

 

1. The Game: Player Pundit Fan Book by Micah Richards

Enjoy his charismatic manner and opinions, very interesting on his background and thoughts about the sport.

 

2. The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart

This was a recommendation in an end of year list, it is from a podcaster I did not know,

Story is pulpy but just the right side of far fetched. All about how a forensic pathologist investigates a serial killer.

Has all the hallmarks of being adapted into a gripping visually engrossing film.

 

3. Don't Laugh It'll Only Encourage Her by Daisy May Cooper

Only recently seen her work, was a name I was aware of but after seeing Am I Being Unreasonable? but then This Country (plus her other shows), have become a big fan. Can not wait to see Rain Dogs later this year.

This book has so many, I can not believe this happened and occurred to her. Was so funny, numerous times I had to put it down as I was laughing so much.

 

4. The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, Book 3) by Richard Osman

Another light but enjoyable read in this series. Great main story with intricating twists and turns. Slightly stronger than book two.

 

5. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Saw this in Waterstones and its cover peaked my interest. A chemist in the 60's working in a research institute becomes a TV chef, while pushing back on the status quo and boundaries society tries to fit her into within her work and lift environment. Parts and themes of it reminded me of Julia Child to some extent.

Could well be one my my favourite books of the year. Superb style of writing and I didn't want it to finish.

[Fitzcarraldo]

I always start the year off well and then tail off by the summer. Perhaps rounding up what I've been up to every month will keep me going this time, though I find it hard to write down my thoughts on novels beyond I liked it or I didn't like it because.

 

Anyway, books I read in January:

 

1. Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)

Very heavy book to start the year – it took about two weeks to get through a relatively short book, but there's more going on per page than a lot of novels double the size. It's also one of the grimmest things I've ever read, so I could only do a chapter or two a time and then I felt no desire to read anything else in between. Astonishingly well written, the sort of prose that makes you stop and go back to read through bits again. It's been a couple of weeks since I finished it and I've had that ending turning in my head most days. I can see why this has been described as unfilmable.

 

2. Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Gabriel García Márquez)

Doesn't touch the majesty of 100 Years, obviously, but it's brief and packs a punch. GGM seems to have a knack for opening lines ("On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on."). Perfect set-up to explore a small village that are all, in their own ways, culpable for the death of the protagonist. Manages to be very tense for a book that spoils itself in the title and opening line. Recommended.

 

3. Chess (Stefan Zweig)

Even shorter than Chronicle of Death Foretold at around 80-pages. Don't really have much to say about this. A decent novella about obsession and trauma that doesn't quite stick the landing. Felt the ending was a little rushed.

 

4. Jazz (Toni Morrison)

Before Jazz, the only Morrison I'd read was Sula which I liked. Had Jazz, Beloved and Song of Solomon to pick from and went for the former and I'm a bit disappointed. Just as beautifully written as Sula with some wonderful dialogue, but something about the fragmented structure of it all didn't catch me. I can tell it's a novel I'll probably appreciate once I've read more Morrison, but with so many books in the world, who knows if I'll ever bother. I will say that it hasn't put me off her.

 

Looking at that, I think I need to read at least one lighthearted book in February.

[Stopharage]

5. Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me - Various, including Stephen Colbert

Bought this as I'd read an article about the best humorous books. It's an anthology about various men's relationships and woes with women. I didn't find it particularly amusing and whilst there were a few decent contributions a bit too much of it was pretty obvious. Patton Oswalt, Stephen Colbert, Nick Hornby and lots of US comedians feature but it wasn't very insightful or original, so I can't recommend it. 2/5

 

On to reading Maybe I Don't Belong Here by David Harewood and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

 

Spoiler

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Dead In The Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel

3. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

A Ladder In The Sky by John Boyne

4. Rogues by Patrick Madden Keefe

The Game by Micah Richards

Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Exhalation By Ted Chiang

The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Ministry Of The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There Is No Antimetics Division by qntm

The Miracle Pill by Peter Walker

All About Me by Mel Brooks

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

In The Garden Of The Beasts by Erik Larson

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St Mandel

Nothing But The Truth by The Secret Barrister

The Fourth Turning by William Strauss & Neil Howe

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver

Meantime by Frankie Boyle

1. Expected Goals by Rory Smith

Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars by Nick Duerden

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari

Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood

The Little Friend by Donna Tarrt

2. The Every by Dave Eggers

5. Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me - Various, including Stephen Colbert

 

[Boothjan]

1. A Clash of Kings by George R R Martin

 

Tremendous stuff, and as I found with GoT, it's so much better the 2nd time around - and the increased number of characters is a lot easier to process!

 

The big finale at the end is tremendously exciting, this one was always one of my favourites in the series (Storm of Swords being my absolute favourite - the pinnacle of the whole thing IMO)

 

Now to re-watch the bluray....

 

9/10

[Dark Soldier]

How High We Go In The Dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu

 

A virus hits the world after an odd cadaver is unearthed on an archaeological dig.

 

It's a book of short tales, about humanity, love, hope and loss.

 

Beautiful creativity, prose, ideas. There's two particular sections that had me welling up.

 

It's a tough read in parts but it portrays life and its myriad complexities better than many other things I have seen or read.

 

A wonderful, wonderful thing.

[Stopharage]

35 minutes ago, Dark Soldier said:

How High We Go In The Dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu

 

A virus hits the world after an odd cadaver is unearthed on an archaeological dig.

 

It's a book of short tales, about humanity, love, hope and loss.

 

Beautiful creativity, prose, ideas. There's two particular sections that had me welling up.

 

It's a tough read in parts but it portrays life and its myriad complexities better than many other things I have seen or read.

 

A wonderful, wonderful thing.

Pig and Theme Park, right? 

 

I won't stop recommending this book. Some amazing parts. 

[Dark Soldier]

11 minutes ago, Stopharage said:

Pig and Theme Park, right? 

 

I won't stop recommending this book. Some amazing parts. 

Yes, yes indeed. The park is just an outstanding piece of writing by itself, no context needed.

 

There are multiple, tiny moments where I felt that lump well at the back of the throat but those two chapters, incredible writing but so hard to get through.

[QuackQuack]

3. The Institute - Stephen King

This was the first Stephen King book I’ve ever read. It’s about a bunch of kids with psychic powers so no particular new ground there. Although it had a bit of a slow start it was rather engaging and I found myself looking forward to making the time to read more. It ended rather poorly though which was very anticlimactic. Needed a good editor to chop the last 50 pages off.

 

4. Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

I just wanted to read this again as it is perfect. My favourite book and its not even close.

[Dark Soldier]

King is the master of terrible, terrible endings. They're also cracking fun up to that point.

[Iain]

3. Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster  - Adam Higginbotham

Highly detailed and enthralling account of the disaster at Chernobyl. Not only does it go into detail about the accident and the aftermath, but also gives insight into the political and social ideas at the time which conspired many at the higher ends of Soviet government to try and cover up just how bad it was. It also gives frightening descriptions of the radiation poisoning suffered by many of the workers and firefighters so be prepared for that. Despite being 13 when the accident happened, most of my knowledge about the disaster would have come from the excellent HBO mini series. As such you have to try and put that out of your mind as the show could only handle a fraction of the people involved. If you want a detailed account of what happened this is highly recommended. 

[Iain]

4. This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

A novella rather than a full book, this is a story about two opposing fighters in a war across time who end up falling in love with each other. A wonderful story throughout and as its a novella you can get through this very quickly. Highly recommended. 

[little che]

Colditz by Ben Macintyre 

The author usually writes about spies and such so this is a bit of a departure and I thought it was excellent.  I like most kids growing up in the 70s and 80s was very familiar with the colditz story but until now I didn't know the details and some of the escapes ant attempted escapes were absolutely brilliant (poor choice of words but still).

 

Stoner by John Williams 

Been meaning to read this for a while as it's often said to be a forgotten classic. It's the melancholic story of a son of a farmer who lives his entire adult life working in a small university , marrying the wrong woman and nothing much else happens. And yet its beautiful and sad and well worth reading.

 

I'm currently reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Reminds me of early Clive Barkers The Great and secret show or Weaveworld, a fantasy novel set in the very real world. Thoroughly enjoying it so far.

 

Completed book count...8

[Stopharage]

1 hour ago, little che said:

I'm currently reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Reminds me of early Clive Barkers The Great and secret show or Weaveworld, a fantasy novel set in the very real world. Thoroughly enjoying it so far.

6. Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo. The best part of this was having a fantasy tale play out in the modern world. There's some pretty dark themes running throughout and some of the set pieces work really well. The glamour, darkness and exclusivity of the various Yale communities is described really well. I mistakenly thought this was a YA book rather than an adult book, so was pretty shocked by a few of the developments before realising my mistake. It was a decent enough read, like a fantastical version of The Secret History. As much as I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I'd pick up the sequel. 3/5

 

7. Maybe I Don't Belong Here by David Harewood. A memoir of sorts by the British actor, who addresses his mental health problems and the times where he was sectioned, his understandable issues with being black and British and how the acting establishment still treats black actors poorly. He confronts his mental health issues and brushes with psychosis with integrity and humility and rails against the discrimination that he's faced. At times he comes across as a real luvvy and fairly immodest but that is understandable when you consider the challenges that he has had to face in achieving what he has done. An insightful read. 4/5

 

Now onto the literary heavyweight that is Micah Richards.

 

Spoiler

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

6. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Dead In The Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel

3. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

A Ladder In The Sky by John Boyne

4. Rogues by Patrick Madden Keefe

The Game by Micah Richards

Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Exhalation By Ted Chiang

The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Ministry Of The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Puckoon by Spike Milligan

One Day All This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There Is No Antimetics Division by qntm

The Miracle Pill by Peter Walker

All About Me by Mel Brooks

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

In The Garden Of The Beasts by Erik Larson

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St Mandel

Nothing But The Truth by The Secret Barrister

The Fourth Turning by William Strauss & Neil Howe

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver

Meantime by Frankie Boyle

1. Expected Goals by Rory Smith

Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars by Nick Duerden

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Chasing The Scream by Johann Hari

7. Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood

The Little Friend by Donna Tarrt

2. The Every by Dave Eggers

5. Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me - Various, including Stephen Colbert