Alexi

TBR A-K Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Cecilia Ahern - The Marble Collector Mitch Albom – The first phone call from heaven Uwem Akpan – Say You’re One of Them Maria Angels Anglada - The Auschwitz Violin Fredrick Backman – A Man Called Ove David Baldacci - Absolute Power Sam Baldwin - For Fukui's Sake JG Ballard - Empire of the Sun Nonna Bannister - The Holocaust Diaries Anthony Beevor - Stalingrad Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian – The System Dennis Bergkamp - Stillness and Speed H G Bissinger - Friday Night Lights Tracy Bloom - No one Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday Judy Blume - Tiger Eyes Judy Blume - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret Attilio Bolzoni - White Shotgun Kathryn Bonella- Hotel K Anthony Bourdain - Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain - A Cook's Tour Mark Bowden - Killing Pablo Tom Bower - No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone William Boyd - Ordinary Thunderstorms Ray Bradbury - Farenheit 451 Rodric Braithwaite - Moscow 1941: A City and it's People at War Anne Bronte - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Max Brooks - World War Bill Browder – Red Notice Helen Bryan - War Brides Edward Bunker - Mr Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade Jimmy Burns - La Roja Jessie Burton – The Miniaturist Luca Caioli - Messi Michael Calvin – Family Michael Calvin - The Nowhere Men Mark Cappell - Run Run Run Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Noel Cawthorne - Witch Hunt: History of a Persecution Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay Tracy Chevalier - Falling Angels Lee Child - Killing Floor Lee Child - The Affair Noam Chomsky – Occupy Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Ernest Cline - Ready Player One David Cohen - Bringing them up Royal Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire Suzanne Collins - Mockingjay David Conn - Richer Than God Thomas H Cook - The Last Talk with Lola Faye Susan Coolidge - What Katy Did George Cooper - The Origin of Financial Crises Mitch Cullin – Mr Holmes Robert Dallek - John F Kennedy: An Unfinished Life James Dashner –The Maze Runner Robert Davies - The Man Who Lived at the End of the World John Deering - Bradley Wiggins: Tour de Force Barbara Demick – Nothing to Envy Diana Dempsey - Falling Star Becky Dennington - Me and the Ugly C David James Duncan - The Brothers K Mark Dunn - Ella Minnow Pea Steven Dunne - The Reaper Sam Eastland - Siberian Red Damien Echols - Life After Death: Eighteen years on Death Row Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith - My Secret Sister Nick Edwards - In Stitches Ben Elton - Two Brothers Ben Elton – Time and Time Again Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain Eskimo Folk Tales Jeffrey Eugenidies - The Virgin Suicides Michel Faber – The Hundred and Ninety Nine Steps Charles Fernyhough - Pieces of Light Joseph Finder - Paranoia Helen FitzGerald - The Cry Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Ken Follett - Pillars of the Earth Eric Foner - Give Me Liberty John Foot - Calcio Michael Frayn - Skios Barbara Freethy - Ryan's Return Dawn French - A Tiny Bit Marvellous Francis Fukuyama - Political Order and Political Decay Neil Gaiman - Stardust Robert Galbraith – Career of Evil Alex Garland - The Beach Antonio Garrido - The Corpse Reader Lisa Genova - Still Alice Tess Gerritsen - The Silent Girl Tess Gerritsen - Bloodstream George Gissing - The Unclassed David Goldblatt - The Game of Our Lives Alex Grecian - The Black Country Graham Greene – Brighton Rock Phillippa Gregory - The Kingmaker's Daughter Ioan Grillo – El Narco George Grossmith - Diary of a Nobody Richard Guard - Lost London Heather Gudenkauf - These Things Hidden Carla Guelfenbein - The Rest Is Silence Romesh Gunesekera - Reef Matt Haig – The Humans Duncan Hamilton - Provided You Don't Kiss Me Dashiell Hammett - The Maltese Falcon Chad Harbach - The Art of Fielding Robert Harris - Imperium Thomas Harris - Red Dragon Jonathan Harvey – The Secrets We Keep Nadia Hashimi - The Pearl that Broke its Shell Ben Hatch - The P45 Diaries Noah Hawley - The Good Father Terry Hayes - I am Pilgrim John Heilemann and Mark Halperin - Double Down Richard Herley - The Penal Colony Jason Hewitt – The Dynamite Room Howard Hockin - High Stakes Andrew Hodges – Alan Turing: The Enigma Steena Holmes - Finding Emma Ninni Holmqvist - The Unit A M Homes – May We Be Forgiven Rafael Honigstein – Das Reboot Anthony Horowitz- Moriarty Anthony Horowitz - The House of Silk John Hoskison – Inside Thomas Hughes – Tom Brown’s Schooldays Victor Hugo - Notre Dame de Paris Victor Hugo - Les Miserables Graham Hunter – Barca Christopher Isherwood – Goodbye to Berlin Eowyn Ivey - The Snow Child Quintin Jardine - Lethal Intent Liz Jensen - War Crimes for the Home Lisa Jewell - The House We Grew Up In Graham Johnson - Football and Gangsters Jonas Jonasson - The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared Andy Jones – The Two of Us Owen Jones - The Establishment Rachel Joyce - Perfect Ben Judah - This is London M R C Kasasian - The Secrets of Gaslight Lane Andrew Kaufman – Born Weird Carolyn Keene - The Secret of the Old Clock Lindsey Kelk - I Heart Hollywood Lindsey Kelk - I Heart London Hannah Kent - Burial Rites Simon Kernick – Relentless Simon Kernick - The Business of Dying Judith Kerr- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Yasmina Khadra – What the Day Owes the Night Sue Monk Kidd – The Invention of Wings Stephen King – Joyland Stephen King – Mr Mercedes Stephen King – The Stand Stephen King - IT Barbara Kingsolver - Flight Behaviour Ayse Kulin - Last Train to Istanbul Simon Kuper – The Football Men Chris Kyle – American Sniper

BOOKS READ 2016 JANUARY The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom 3/5 Roman Holiday by Jodi Taylor 4/5 The Turn of the Screw by Henry James 2/5 Football and Gangsters by Graham Johnson 2/5 NW by Zadie Smith 3/5 Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh 4/5 FEBRUARY Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee 3/5 A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines 4/5 El Narco by Ioan Grillo 4/5 Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo 4/5 Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 3/5 At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie 3/5 MARCH It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis 4/5 Tales from the Secret Footballer by Anonymous 2/5 Ashenden by W Somerset Maugham 3/5 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame 5/5 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J K Rowling 4/5 Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume 4/5 APRIL When the Grey Beetles Took Over Baghdad by Mona Yahia 5/5 London by Tube by David Revill 3.5/5 The Go-Between by L P Hartley 3/5 Turbo Twenty Three by Janet Evanovich 2/5 Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope 3/5 MAY No Hunger in Paradise by Michael Calvin 4/5 The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot 4/5 The Vanquished by Robert Gerwarth 4/5 Pure by Andrew Miller 3/5 JUNE Frozen in Time by Ali Sparkes 3/5 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 4/5 Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith 4/5 On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin 3.5/5 The Football Men by Simon Kuper 3/5 JULY A History of Britain I by Simon Schama 4/5 Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes 3/5 Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison 3.5/5 The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 5/5 The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie 4/5 All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward 4/5 AUGUST American Gods by Neil Gaiman 2/5 The Dirt by Motley Crue 3/5 Family by Michael Calvin 4/5 SEPTEMBER A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor 4/5 Mr Holmes by Mitch Cullin 2/5 The North by Paul Morley 3/5 Lorna Doone by R D Blackmore 3/5 Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne 5/5 Nina is Not Ok by Shappi Khorsandi 4/5 The Darling Buds of May by H E Bates 3/5 OCTOBER I'm in Heaven by Terry Ravenscroft 3/5 The Right to An Answer by Anthony Burgess 4/5 Eskimo Folk Tales by Knud Rasmussen 2/5 Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd 3/5 Talking as Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham 4/5 The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides 4/5 NOVEMBER Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty 5/5 The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley 2/5 One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson 5/5 The Misses Mallett by EH Young 2/5 The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd 4/5 DECEMBER Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 5/5 The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson 3/5 The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern 5/5 Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie 4/5

Hello! Welcome to another reading log. I was ready for another to be honest, 2016 rather got away from me. I have put some reviews of the English counties books in the relevant forum, but other than that I intend to start afresh and do better with updating this year. It was a brilliant year for me away from reading, but that did rather impact both on reading and BCF time! 2017 should be a little quieter. NewJob means less commuting time, good, but that also means less time for reading, bad. So let's see. Now we have made the decision not to move abroad (for the time being, at least, California will still be there in a few years!) I should be more stable in life and work. AIMS FOR 2017 I'm playing fast and loose with these, they may change. My TBR stands today at 325 books, which is ridiculous. I did however, successfully reduce the pile by THREE in 2016! But really, it needs to get to below 300 because this is ridiculous. I would like to finish the English Counties Challenge if possible, even though I am 18 away from that, so we shall see, and I need to get a few books off the list that have been languishing on the kindle or physical bookshelves for years now. Other than that, simply enjoy!

Happy 2017! I loosely intend to finish the English Counties list this year - although I am a lot further behind than you! But it also stems from a desire to look at the US states list more closely. Some crackers hopefully await on both lists. Will look forward to comparing thoughts. Hope you have an excellent reading year.

Happy New Year Anna! I intend to be around a bit more in 2017, so look forward to comparing reads with you. Hope you have some great books in your future.

Happy 2017 BB! Hope you have some great reads ahead of you.

Happy 2017, Claire. I'm looking forward to comparing English Counties books with you! I have read 30 of them, but also have a loose plan to get it finished this year. We'll see!

Kylie, I BOW DOWN to your lists, both in terms of organisation and the sheer number/quality of your library! Jealousy abounds! I hope you have an excellent year in 2017, both books and non-books.

Happy reading in 2017 Laura! Like you, I am also trying to get the TBR down, but it's just so easy to increase it...!

Happy reading in 2017, Athena!

Although it is a very famous novel, I knew very little about the story itself before coming to it for the English Counties Challenge. It is essentially a sad story. Clifford survives World War I, but injuries leave him impotent and unable to enjoy the same relationship with his young wife, Connie. They stop communicating, grow apart, Connie becomes isolated and then meets the estate's gamekeeper. They begin an affair, and throw some swear words around, which led to the book being banned. I have to wonder whether this book would have survived down the decades in the same way were it not for the infamy, because it was a terribly long, dull slog to get through. The pace was too slow and the characters too unlikeable to sustain that. The constant asides so Lawrence could have a moan about industrialisation and progress took something away from the story as well. Perhaps the 1920s and 30s needed someone to write a book like this, with some honest discussion - and frank descriptions of - sex, and perhaps we have benefited from this in the years since. However, given that isn't an issue now, it's just a very tedious read. Goodreads describes this as a 'masterpiece'. I certainly beg to differ.

I had never read any Wodehouse before coming to this for the English Counties Challenge, nor have I watched any of the TV series, so this was entirely new for me. My early thoughts echoed Willoyd's, with lots of two dimensional characters feeling rather pointless as we swayed along. But then the plot takes off, and it doesn't seem to matter too much that the characters don't really develop, because the plot moves on at such a pace that is enough to keep the reader more than entertained. It's a certain style of novel, and I would imagine very much of its time, with caricatures of English upper class society and the resulting pitfalls for the younger generation, who will want to marry chorus girls and don't think that should impact on their inheritance! I'm not sure how much of this world still exists - I met a few boarding school types during my university years that were all expecting money at 21 and weren't taking job applications too seriously - but I imagine there is a lot less of this now. It reminded me of a soap opera in many ways, with characters all suffering from jealousy and crossed wires, while others employed private detectives and there were secrets galore! It's not a genre that I read, and it's not one I could stomach regularly, but it was a quick, entertaining read and I am glad to have dipped my toe into the Wodehouse waters.

I am ashamed to admit that I had never read this as a child, despite owning a copy! Much like the publishers originally told Adams himself, by the time I got the book I assumed it was too babyish, given it was about a load of rabbits. I was nervous about coming to it for the first time as an adult, but I really should not have been. It was great. A group of rabbits travelling across the countryside to make a new home does not sound like something that could hold an adult's interest for long, but there is so much here. The characters may be rabbits, but they are rich characters and all of them are entirely distinct - much like human personalities. The knowledge of rabbits means the reader can immerse themselves in their world entirely, and really get involved in the struggles they encounter. The dynamics between Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig are really interesting, given they set up differently to life at the original warren where Bigwig, as the biggest and strongest, would have automatically been the leader. In the introduction to my edition, Adams writes that he never intended the story to be an allegory, and that he was merely making up a story to entertain his children. I find that hard to believe. He may not have intended it as an allegory as such, but I assume he deliberately built in bits to teach his children about the advantages of working together, listening to each other and not accepting an old order of strength as the best way to proceed. If not, it's quite the coincidence! But it's not moral or preachy, just a good adventure story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 4/5 from me.

Janet's review also sums up my feelings on it perfectly. I think I would have always finished this book, because ultimately I was expecting the ending to tie up all the missing elements that had left me so confused about where exactly the story was going. Then it didn't! I wouldn't dismiss this author again, but I won't seek out her work either. I enjoyed the writing style, but it left me so frustrated. Did she want it to be a supernatural story? Did she want that element of mystery? Did she want it to be the focus on the family dynamic? Or did she want Geordie to be the focus? (It should definitely have been the last one). It just felt like four short stories tied together ineffectively to me.

Ha, I do often agree with you though! We have reasonably similar tastes I think. I will add it to the list!

This sounds really interesting. I have put off reading any Atwood after all the reviews of the three books you mention, which did not sound up my alley at all. But this one really does. Maybe starting with something like this makes it more accessible! I definitely agree about the lack of joy in serials. Even with a series of books I get frustrated - and sometimes leave large gaps between novels. I always think about it when reading Dickens, which were all serialised in the papers/magazines. I'm not sure I would have bothered!

I do this as well. I like to know where the book ends and the appendices begin. With a non-fiction book, you know there are going to be loads of notes at the end as a rule. I agree it's very annoying when you aren't expecting it, so it's one of the first things I do - even if reading on kindle.

This x a million. I get them out of the library now though, have since book 11 or so. I used to read them every summer holiday so they bring back memories of lying by the pool with not a care but man, she needs to can it. But until she does, they are my little guilty pleasure. It's like pop tarts, you know they're bad for you and there will be remorse at the end, but you just can't help yourself.

My reading has been slooow lately. Finally managed to get through Death Descends on Saturn Villa - as poor as I was warned. I have downloaded the fourth book (it was on offer at 99p earlier this year) so will read eventually, and hope the series picks up again, but what a let down. I am halfway through Summer Lightning by PG Wodehouse for the ECC challenge and while it was slow to start with I am getting on now. It reminds me a bit of a soap opera to be honest!

Hi Kylie I also have been fairly slack with updating, and also catching up on everyone's logs but I just wanted to say massive congrats on the directorship!

Happy 2017 Frankie!! I am very envious of your lists

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North Synopsis: No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. ‘I nearly missed you, Doctor August,’ she says. ‘I need to send a message.’ This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: I genuinely love time travel stories - with a couple provisos. They have to 'fit in' with every day life - ie. time travel could exist in the world I currently live in, I just don't know about it. This fits that perfectly - but it is one of the more original interpretations of time travel I have yet come across. Harry lives his same life over, and over. When he dies, he returns to babyhood and gets the chance to live again. I read this on the plane to Canada in September, and I spent about four hours considering exactly what I would do if faced with this situation. What a chance to keep the best bits of your life, try a new career, genuinely see all the world... Wow. Awesome. Anyway, so it is for Harry except that the world is ending - and it's getting quicker with each life that is lived. There is science fiction and spy novel elements to this, and the plot unravels deliciously slowly. The pace is a little slow at times - although I think I dealt with this better than most because I read it largely in one sitting, rather than keeping coming back to it - but it is worth it with a brilliant set-up. The main character isn't that interesting as a lead, which is probably the biggest flaw here. This is definitely plot, rather than character driven, but it doesn't hurt to give the lead a little personality to help us through the first half of the book. You also have to accept a couple of stretching plot points - which I can't talk about for fear of spoilers, so trust me - but it was a really enjoyable read. Looking at the reviews on Goodreads, there are lots of 4 or 5 star reviews, then lots of 1s for a slow, boring read, so clearly a bit marmite! But I was one of the former, with the get-out clause that it might be because I had an 8 hour plane ride to get through it. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it)

The Miniaturist is on my TBR as well, but I have been putting it off! I am 25% through Death Descends on Saturn Villa. I was nervous because people have said this is a let down, and I am already not enjoying it as much as the first two.

A Child Al Confino by Eric Lamet Synopsis: Eric Lamet was only seven years old when the Nazis invaded Vienna - and changed his life and the lives of all European Jews forever. Five days after Hitler marches, Eric Lamet and his parents flee for their lives. His father goes back to his native Poland - and never returns. His mother hides out in Italy, on the run from place to place, taking her son deeper and deeper into the mountains to avoid capture. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: This is an interesting premise. Most people are familiar with the horrors of the Holocaust, and its survivors, even if we cannot ever understand what they went through. But Lamet and his mother ran from Hitler and eventually ended up in Italy, where they were put i an internment village and had to ask for permission to leave. His experiences are fascinating, and it's very interesting story about loss. Lamet and his Mother may have survived, but other family members were not so lucky, and their relationships with other survivors were forever changed. The problem here lies in the editing - or lack thereof. I downloaded this free years ago so it may not have had a serious editor. It jumps around a lot, some of the chapters are collections of incidents with no clear theme, the wording is sometimes incorrect and it needed to be cut down a bit. This seriously affected by enjoyment, which is a shame because it had serious potential and Lamet's story deserves to be told. 2/5 (It was ok)

LOL at bottomless pit. I have an identical one. I think my ultimate goal is to live forever just so I can get to the end of my wish list I went back to look at the Bobby Moore biography, but I didn't write a full review for here - often the case with sports books, unless they really stand out or cover culture/history as well as sport, like the Sid Lowe one for example. I gave it a 3.5, which means I enjoyed it but it didn't stand out enough for a 4 mark. I remember it challenging a lot of misconceptions about Bobby Moore this perfect thing - the cliche phrase is 'what would Bobby Moore have made of Wayne Rooney out on the razz in an England hotel' - well actually, he would probably have been leading the charge to the bar. Definitely worth a read I would say. It's also interesting on his life after the game, and his decision to work for Sunday Sport. Definitely the short stories are better I think! I would advise both of you to give The Versions of Us some time - it took me a while to really get to grips with the timeline, but it's worth it This was my first one by her! I haven;t heard of any of her other books but I will definitely go and track them down now. I think there is a sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum. Started to think about the New Year this year, and that made me realise I haven't reviewed any of the books I have read since September, so now on a rush to get them all done before the end of the month...