pickThis is a tough read. The narrator, Vanessa, has been abused by a teacher from the age of 15, and manipulated so much that she believes it‘s a romantic, consensual love affair. We, the reader, can see the manipulation, and sometimes Vanessa has moments of clarity. It‘s an unusual perspective.
Overall, it‘s a pick, but the novel is flawed in format - it‘s longer than it needs to be, parts could be removed without affecting the impact.
#Read2025
pickThe latest (and probably last - Cooper is 88 now!) in the Rutshire series is the tamest of the series, with some decent characters and a happy ending. Good escapist nonsense!
Book 80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025
“Pour me somethin' tall and strong
Make it a Hurricane before I go insane
It's only half past twelve but I don't care
It's 5 o‘clock somewhere”
#CountrySong
#Falling
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Sorry for all the posts today, I‘ve been catching up on both reading and reviews after my recent, rather fabulous, holiday in Rome
so-soAn interesting concept, with some engaging characters, but the pace was unbearably slow at times, the author going of at slightly preachy-sounding tangents too often. And one of the least engaging characters was the main character herself.
Book 79/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickWhy, yes, I am a 57-year-old woman very to late to the party of this global phenomenon…
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
Book 78/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickI‘m growing to love this series: gentle, seemingly soft-touch stories with gentle humour, but covering some tough subjects at the same time.
As one of the official languages of Botswana is English, I‘m claiming this for #English_Speaking #FictionalTraveler @julieclair
Also part of a series for #SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
Book 77/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickI just love this series, and its characters, so much. Even I did have to take notes to keep up with who was involved in which story arc!
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView Book 76/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
panI‘m just going to assume that the reason I couldn‘t enjoy this Booker nominated piece is that my brain is just not wired in such a way as to be able to appreciate this level of pretentiousness.
Book 75/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
Do I have 5 books on the go already? Yes.
Will I put them all to one side and dive straight into the new Comoran Strike novel. Absolutely yes.
pickAn absolutely exquisite comedy of manners, satirising the classist oneupmanship in a women‘s literary lunch club in the Edwardian era.
Book 73/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterX #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
panThat‘s another series cleared from my shelf. I really enjoyed the first couple of books in this series, but felt by book 4 it was getting jaded, and sadly this, the 5th in the series, is even more tired. Dunbar is so intent on shoehorning politics into her book that she forgot to make the story and characters interesting.
Book 71/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65
#LetterN #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
so-soAm I in a reading slump? Is this the problem? Books that other people are raving about are falling short for me, including The Names. It‘s billed as being about how a person‘s life can be affected by their name, but actually it‘s about how the child‘s life is affected by the abusive husband‘s reaction to the name, which is a completely different story.
Book 70/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
so-soGiven that this is Booker longlisted, this may be an unpopular opinion, but this missed the mark for me. The structure apes Hernan Diaz‘s Trust, longlisted in 2022, but whereas Trust had a natural flow, Universality feels very disjointed, and purely a vehicle for Brown‘s view of the press. I had to reread some sections 3 times because I just didn‘t feel engaged with the writing at all. Too much of a hard slog.
Book 69/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickThis might be my favourite read of the year so far. A reflective, character-driven story, where the richly described landscape is as much a character as the two women at the centre of the story.
Book 68/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickThis is a masterclass in psychological thriller writing. I was expecting a cosy crime, but, while this starts off bright and breezy, it‘s turns more and more dark as the characters start to question their understanding of part of their family history.
#LetterU #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
Book 66/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
panI read this solely because I was being lazy - it ticked off three prompts on the Goodreads reading challenges
Note to self: choose books because they genuinely interest you, not to satisfy a prompt.
This was repetitive, unintentionally funny in places, and I didn‘t like the writing style. The best review of it I‘ve seen is “if Temu wrote Misery”…
Book 64/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickI read the first in this series years ago, and though I enjoyed it, for some reason I never got around to continuing the series. I stumbled across this second in the series when looking for a book for the #SomeplaceHot #FictionalTraveler prompt, and I‘m glad I did. This is delightful, gentle storytelling.
@julieclair
Book 65/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
panThis novel has won awards - I was prompted to finally read it (it‘s been on my TBR for at least three years…) by the “Acclaimed Titles” prompt on Goodreads - so it must be me, not the book, but I did not enjoy this one. I didn‘t like the writing style, it gave me no empathy for the characters or the bizarre decisions they made.
Book 63/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickA recent publication by the British Library Crime Classics, this is a collection of short stories by authors mostly from the Golden Age of Detective Stories, carefully curated by Martin Edwards, and all with a holiday theme. All the stories are good examples of the era, though inevitably some are better than others. The title story and the last, longer story were my favourites.
#Read2025 Book 62/89 @DieAReader
so-soNo. 9 in the Rutshire Chronicles series, and one of the best in the series so far; the story is good, the characters, although often caricatures, are still somehow well-developed. I do worry about Cooper‘s apparent necessity to include at least one incidence of sexual violence in each book, though. It may have seemed “acceptable” in 1985, but by 2010, when Jump! was published, I‘d like to think we‘ve moved on
Book 61/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickMy first taste of William Boyd, and I rather enjoyed it. The main character is, for the most part, a likeable character - apart from when he seem to go a bit mad and out of character, turning into a mad stalker for an entire chapter. Do all of Boyd‘s books have a disturbing obsession with sex filtering through?
Book 59/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
so-soI loved the first book in this series, but it feels like it‘s getting a bit tired now.
Book 58/60 # Read2025 @DieAReader
so-soIn a way, I kind of enjoyed this. It‘s a bit of good, fun, easy-reading “chick lit” with friendships forming across a class divide.
But… I couldn‘t get away from the plot feeling a little too implausible.
Book 57/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickI‘ve gone from a book I felt was way too long to one that I want to be longer! This short novella is a taut look at the effects of trauma, when the death of Matthew‘s parents lead him to uncover a 35-year-old secret.
Book 56/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#Water #FictionalTraveler @julieclair
so-soA typical Jilly Cooper romp, but at over 1,000 pages, it felt way too long for its genre!
Book 54/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65
so-soI‘m not sure if it‘s the book or me that‘s getting a bit jaded, but this 4th instalment of Dunbar‘s Borrow-a-Bookshop series didn‘t seem to have the charm of the first three.
Book 53/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
pickMy second Anne Tyler this month. I seem to be in the mood for well-written observations on normal life. Micah is a quiet, well-mannered IT expert/apartment block caretaker who maintains routines in his everyday life almost to the point of obsession, until events throw the routines off track. It‘s a gentle, character-driven short novel and I adored it.
Book 52/60, page 17,255 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterR #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
so-soI liked the idea of this book, but the execution did not deliver. This main character was difficult to feel engaged with, and the 1979 story line seemed very flat. Sad, because this could have been great.
Book 51/60 Page 17,083/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#PlaceYoudLikeToVisit #FictionalTraveler @julieclair
pickTaylor Jenkins Reid is an expert at making you care about her characters. The novel is a love story set in NASA during the early 1980s, the early years of the Space Shuttle program, and it touches on sexism and homophobia. And that ending!!
Also - I much prefer the UK cover to the US one.
Book 50/60 Page 16,695/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickA soft pick for me. I enjoyed the slow burn investigative element, and the court room scenes, but something about the writing style niggled me slightly. With the MC “snuffling” and saying things “in his gentle way” I sometimes felt like I was reading a Bagpuss script. I probably will read the second in the series, though.
Picture shows the Inner Temple garden.
Book 49/60 Page 16,327/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickWhen I started reading this, I wasn‘t sure it was going to be my sort of thing. But by then end, I was so invested in the characters, willing Gail to not let me down (she didn‘t!). This short novel is an exquisite exploration for relationships and forgiveness. I adored it.
Book 47/60 Page 15,811/18,000 #Read2025
#LetterT #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
panI was expecting a feelgood story about mother-daughter relationships and “found family”, but what I got was a woman who sees ghosts, superficial relationships and a confused and confusing story. This one wasn‘t for me, sadly.
Book 47/60 Page 15,811/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterQ #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
pickA soft pick. This is fundamentally a thriller hing on the hook of the original Sweetpea novel. Sweetpea had originally that subsequent books on the series naturally can‘t match, but it‘s still a good read.
Book 46/60 Page 15,564/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
pickA slow-build Gothic novel that took me in a direction I wasn‘t expecting it to go in.
Book 45/60, Page 15,094/18,000 #read2025 @DieAReader
pickAfter nearly bailing on this series after two disappointing books I found this a great improvement, and a nice bit of escapist fun.
Book 44/60 Page 14,902/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
pickThis book is such fun, Vera is a great character, but it also touches on dark subjects. Overall, a good balance.
Book 43/60, Page 14,344/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterV #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
Book 2 in the series #SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
so-soI was disappointed with this one, it felt a little messy. Also, I chose it as my choice for this month‘s #FictionalTraveler, #SpanishSpeaking, but being set in a rambling old Manor House owned by an English family, there was little sense of place.
Book 42/60 #Read2025 @DieAReader
@julieclair
pickI was wondering whether to carry on with this series, because one of the main character‘s behaviour was so appalling that it was grating on me. But this, the fifth in the series, turned it to a bit of a whodunnit and now I want to carry on and read the rest of the series!
Book 39/60, Page 12,918 #Read2025 @DieAReader
Rutshire Chronicles #6 #SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65
pickHaving been disappointed with one of Shriver‘s more recent novels, I went into this somewhat trepidatiously, but I have been pleasantly surprised. This is an excellent book that poses the question “nature or nurture” in a quite brutal fashion. Was Kevin born a killer, or was his mother‘s attitude towards him the problem?
Shriver‘s female lead characters all seem to be of a type, and all unlikeable.
Book 38/60, Page 12,653 #Read2025 @DieAReader
so-soThere are a few interesting snippets of Townshend‘s life in this 516 behemoth, but mostly what I got out of it was that he was a serial adulterer who “fell in love” with any woman who batted her eyelids at him, and he wants to remind us that he was the songwriter so he was always the richest member of the band. I guess I‘m #TeamRoger
Book 37/60 Page 12,253/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickI‘ve loved the Phryne Fisher series, and have now read all 23 books in the series. This one isn‘t the best, it feels like the author, being aware of the limited time she had left, wanted to ensure that the series cameto and end with no loose ends - Greenwood passed away in March this year.
Book 36/60 Page 11.715/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
pickI am enjoying this series. There a nice mix of serious issues alongside romance and humour, with a nice mix of likeable characters.
Book 35/60, Page 11,419/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
so-soI expected to enjoy this book, but I actually found myself having to force myself to pick it up and continue. It all felt a bit too preachy. Shriver is, as far as I‘m aware, a hugely respected writer, so I‘m not sure if she‘s just not my thing or if this is not her usual standard. I think I need to read We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Book 34/60 Page 11.033/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
so-soCooper‘s books definitely fall into the #GuiltyPleasure category. Despite being a National Treasure, I don‘t think she‘s that great a writer, but the books are fun, if a little on the long side - do editors fear to tell their top authors to make cuts?
Book 33/60 Page 10,745/18,000 #Read2025
Book 5 of 11 The Rutshire Chronicles #SeriesLove2025 @TheSpineView @Andrew65
pickAn interesting skip through Daltrey‘s life from school years, through the formation and progression on the Who, as seen through Daltrey‘s eyes, to his life today. I feel the need to read Pete Townshend‘s memoir now, to get a balanced view.
Book 32/60 Page 9,849/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
pickI loved this 1958 satire poking fun at the British Secret Services.
Book 31/60 Page 9,577/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader
#LetterO #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader
#Island (Cuba) #FictionalTraveler @julieclair
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