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Post by windysisters on Jan 1, 2021 9:02:48 GMT
It's time to ask everyone to nominate their Top Ten Favourite Reads (and their Five Worst Reads)
of 2020
Any time between now and 15 January, please list your Top Ten Favourite Books that you have read this year and also your Five Worst Reads of the year.
I'll post a summary over the weekend of 16/17 January.
Guidelines:
• Please also put the authors’ names with the titles
• The books don’t need to have been published this year, you just need to have read them this year
• If the book is part of a series or trilogy, please put a note to indicate this (just in case anyone wants to read on your recommendation but doesn’t want to come in part way through a series)
Looking forward to the lists!
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Post by alison44 on Jan 1, 2021 11:16:41 GMT
Top 10, in no particular order 1. Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton 2. Natural Flights of the Human Mind by Clare Morrall 3. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters 4. Let's Do It by Jasper Rees 5. Runaway by Alice Munro 6. Half in Love by Maile Meloy 7. The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys 8. Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig 9. Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple 10. The Fortnight in September by R C Sherriff I'm not listing any books I haven't enjoyed, partly because I can only really think of one or two, but mainly because there's enough negativity in the world at the moment, without me adding to it. Happy reading in 2021 everyone
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peppercricket
Book Assistant
Batley Townswoman's Guild presents the Battle of Pearl Harbour
Posts: 7,075
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Post by peppercricket on Jan 1, 2021 11:34:06 GMT
Favourites Swallows & Amazons by Arthur Ransom Neidermyer & Hart by MJ Johnson The North Water by Ian McGuire Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl by Grayson Perry Before & After by Andrew Shanahan Kitty Peck & The Parliament of Shadows (4) by Kate Griffin Troubled Blood (5) by Robert Galbraith Succession 1972 by Michael Drysdale Oranges & Lemons (19) by Christopher Fowler The Brittle Star by Davina Langdale
Crapola The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero The Faust Act by Kieron Gillon Twenty Trillion Leagues Under the Sea by Adam Roberts
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Post by adelynechan on Jan 1, 2021 11:45:21 GMT
Top 10 (in order of when I read them, even choosing 10 was far too difficult not to mention put them in order of preference!): Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Eriksen The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali Statistical by Anthony Reuben The Gifted, The Talented, and Me by William Sutcliffe We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker Black Summer by M.W. Craven Second Sister by Chan Ho-Kei Cleverlands by Lucy Crehan
Bottom 5: Big Little Man by Alex Tizon Washington Square by Henry James The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney Why the Dutch are Different by Ben Coates Can Medicine be Cured? by Seamus O'Mahony
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Post by celia48 on Jan 1, 2021 16:53:59 GMT
Top Their Little Secret by Mark Billingham Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs Hollow City by Ransom Riggs Thursday's Children by Ruma Godden All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr The Murder of Harriet Monkton by Elizabeth Haynes Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh The Night Fire by Michael Connelly The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
Bottom Lockdown by Peter May Murder in the Snow by Gladys Mitchell Dead Ringer by MC Beaton
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Post by sarita on Jan 2, 2021 14:17:24 GMT
Very hard to choose only 10. Will nominate only those available in English.
3 around the world 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
4 others Exhalation by Ted Chiang Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
3 thrillers or crime Killing Mr Watson by Peter Matthiessen Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver
Oops forgot the bottom ones Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz The Courage to Be Disliked by Ishiro Kishimi Queen Lucia by E F Benson A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
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Post by josette on Jan 2, 2021 16:38:52 GMT
Best
(In the order I read them)
1) Apollo 13 - Jim Lovell 2) The Man Who Didn’t Call - Rosie Walsh 3) Me - Elton John 4) The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller (favourite book of the year) 5) Normal People - Sally Rooney 6) Becoming - Michelle Obama 7) Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams 8) Troubled Blood - Robert Galbraith 9) The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman 10) Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Worst
1) Rules for Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson 2) Battle Scars - Jason Fox
There were a few that I abandoned, but I won’t include those.
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Post by natsplatt on Jan 2, 2021 17:15:16 GMT
Too 10 in no particular order
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman The Thursday murder club (1) by Richard Osman Me by Elton John Life after Life (1) by Kate Atkinson Troubled Blood (5) by Robert Galbraith The flatshare by Beth O’Leary Where the heart is by Billie Letts The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse by Charlie Mackesy Hidden by Linda Gillard The Testaments (2) by Margaret Atwood
I didn’t have any worthy of the bottom 5, few disappointing reads but nothing really awful!
Nat
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Post by rosemary3 on Jan 2, 2021 21:38:50 GMT
My top 10: Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Murder Every Monday by Pamela Branch The Untouchable by John Banville Maria in the Moon by Louise Beech
The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck
Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell Diamond Boy by Michael Williams
On the negative side, some disappointments, but only one I really hated which was Claudine at School by Colette. I just couldn't bear Claudine.
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Post by freerange on Jan 3, 2021 12:42:32 GMT
I read 73 books altogether, 9 were books I've read before
Top Ten A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles (definitely my favourite of the year)
The Brother Gardeners - Andrea Wulf The Binding - Bridget Collins Watching You - Lisa Jewell A Month in the Country - J L Carr
Toad Triumphant - William Horwood
Wolf of the Plains - Conn Iggulden (read before)
Duncton Quest - William Horwood (read before, sequel to Duncton Wood)
The Runaway Jury - John Grisham (read before)
Bottom Five (just not the kind of books I enjoy reading)
The Spanish Promise - Karen Swan Special Delivery - Danielle Steel
Chaff Upon the Wind - Margaret Dickinson Nights of Rain and Stars - Maeve Binchy The Ever Open Door - Glenice Crossland
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Post by eightlegs on Jan 3, 2021 15:22:19 GMT
My best books of 2020
A Single Thread – Tracy Chevalier
The Girl with all the Gifts – M R Carey
The Split – Sharon Bolton
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – Imogen Hermes Gowar
Where I Found You – Catherine Ryan Hyde
Bowlaway – Elizabeth McCracken
The Sewing Machine – Natalie Fergie
The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox – Claire Gradidge
The Long and Winding Road – Alan Johnson
The Salt Path – Raynor Winn
And no "worst books" as I don't think I had any that were really awful, certainly none I can recall
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voguedotcom
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
I'm Dani - a returning RiSi 'Golden Oldie'
Posts: 202
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Post by voguedotcom on Jan 3, 2021 18:05:10 GMT
Fortunately, I have already listed my top ten on Twitter! I can't fully decide on the order, so after the first 3 or so, the order is a bit rougher.
1. The Midnight Library Matt Haig 2. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell 3. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 4. Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan 5. The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty (the final book in a trilogy) 6. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes 7. The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys 8. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 9. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (in a series, but they don't have to be read in a particular order) 10. Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I wouldn't say that I really hated any of the books I read this year, but these are my least favourites, in no particular order:
1. Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel (second book in a trilogy) 2. Followers by Megan Angelo 3. Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter (I LOVED The Cows, but this one was not great) 4. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby 5. Cow Girl by Kirsty Eyres
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Post by windysisters on Jan 5, 2021 13:26:28 GMT
My favourites: Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid Home Stretch by Graham Norton The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel Little Sister by Isabel Ashdown The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks Tower of Silence by Sarah Rayne Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome Playing with Bones (Joe Plantagenet #2) by Kate Ellis When the Floods Came by Clare Morrall
I gave up on three: The Reef by Nora Roberts The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton Yuki Means Happiness by Alison Jean Lester
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Post by windysisters on Feb 2, 2021 9:08:39 GMT
Oops, I forgot to post the results. I think I was hoping more people might post their nominations.
Two books got 4 nominations, both were new releases last year:
Troubled Blood (5) by Robert Galbraith
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
And the following all received 2 nominations:
Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Me by Elton John
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
The Testaments (2) by Margaret Atwood
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Post by geminii on Feb 2, 2021 22:31:23 GMT
Thanks Wendy .. I completely forgot to add my votes, but I don't think it would have changed the top 2 .. Guessed those would both come out on top ..
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