200) Narrow Margins - Marie Browne
201) The mistake I made - Paula Daly
202) Halloween Party - Agatha Christie
203) The lady in the van - Alan Bennett

204) Anne Fine - Battle of Wills
205) Hilda Wolitzer - Hearts

49. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin, audiobook narrated by Harry Lloyd.
This is set about a hundred years before the Game of Thrones books and comprises three short stories featuring hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and his unlikely squire, Egg. It's not as complicated as GOT as the stories are told from only one perspective and there isn't as much political intrigue. Very enjoyable and excellent narration from Harry Lloyd who played Dani's brother, Viserys, in the tv series.

117/ Reborn by Katie Price

Autobiography number 6

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The ghost writer has certainly captured Katie's "voice" in the writing style.
This volume mainly covers marriage to Kieran and the aftermath of his affairs. I burst out laughing on several occasions. Can't wait for the next volume.

39. When She Was Bad - Tammy Cohen
10/10 - this was recommended on Twitter by one of my favourite authors Elly Griffiths, one of my favourite authors and I highly recommend it. There are two thread to the story, one about two children who were abused by their parents and in the present day an office of co-workers where a new boss is brought in a causes mayhem. I didn't guess the twist in the tale.

118/ Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives - various authors, edited by Sarah Weinman

Excellent collection of crime stories by female authors with domestic settings. The majority of the authors are no longer well known and this collection is an attempt to highlight their work.

The majority of collections I've read seem to have a couple of excellent stories, a couple of awful ones and the rest mainly middling but the quality in this volume is very high. Even the weaker stories (of which there are only two) are interesting only being let down by poor endings.

Highly recommended.

119/ The Uncanny X-Men: Dark Phoenix by Chris Claremont & John Byrne

Often hailed as one of the best storylines in X-Men history.
Interesting ideas and quite well paced but for me it hasn't stood the test of time.

50. Autumn: An Anthology for the Changing Seasons by Melissa Harrison
Short essays and poetry relating to autumn, a mixture of old and new. New essays by keen naturalists interspersed with entries from Gilbert White's 1792 Naturalist's Journal . Poets include Dylan Thomas, Ted Hughes, Thomas Hardy and Tennyson, but no Keats Ode to Autumn.

Very enjoyable and evocative of this season.

38) The Holiday Swap by Zara Stoneley

19. A Catered Wedding (A Mystery With Recipes #2) by Isis Crawford – When Bernie and Libby Simmons discover the dead body of the bride at a wedding they're catering, they and their father decide to solve the crime. I was unable to like the book. Less time is spent on investigating the crime than going on and on about their own relationships, and the horrible editing of the book (the worst problem was the lack of commas) made it difficult to enjoy.

Wow, I don't think I've ever posted twice in a row in these threads! A coworker lent me a book and I was able to finish it very quickly.

20. The Twelve Deaths of Christmas by Marian Babson – On the run up to Christmas, someone is going around London and killing people in horrible ways. The murderer is living in a boardinghouse where all the residents are planning their holiday celebrations, and the reader is supposed to figure out which of them is the killer. I loved this book! It was a very quick read and I tried hard to puzzle out who the murderer was, and I was wrong. I would definitely reread this one with pleasure.

19) March Violets by Philip Kerr

Any good?

Ive often been tempted but Im not generally a fan of 'noir' or books written in the first person so Im not sure it would be my kind of thing

When I first started reading it I thought it was good, something different, set in pre-war Berlin etc.
It soon started to irritate though, loads of cliche on every page, ("At this point, the butler cruised smoothly into the room like a rubber wheel on a waxed floor and, smelling faintly of sweat and something spicy, he served the coffee") it's definitely for hardened fans of Noir.
I doubt I'll read the next 2 books in the Trilogy.

Doesnt sound like it'll be up my street then!

One to cross off the list

Cheers!

120/ Trunk Music by Michael Connelly

Part of the Harry Bosch series.

Enjoyable and gripping crime thriller. I generally like the Bosch books - this isn't as good as some of the others but is still a good solid thriller. I liked the misdirection which had me second-guessing for large parts of the story.

206) The Book of James - Ellen J Green
207) We were on a break - Lindsay Kelk
208) 34 Days - Anita Waller
209) The Couple Next Door- Shari Lapena
210) The Last Thing I Remember- Deborah Bee

20) Cold Skin by Albert Sanchez Pinol

39) Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs

121/ Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

Part of the Temeraire series.

Probably the weakest of the series so far. Still enjoyable and kept my interest but the pacing was all over the place.
For example, the journey to the enemy's lair takes ages but the lead up to the final cliffhanger (which is a far more relevant part of the story and had much more potential) is rushed.

Luckily the characterisation remains strong particularly of the dragons.

29. Try not to Breathe by Holly Seddon . Not bad.

15) The Cone - HG Wells
16) The Shining - Stephen King

40. Smoke and Mirrors - Elly Griffiths
6/10 - I really wanted to like this book as I love the Ruth Galloway series by the same author, but I just couldn't get into it and it took me over 2 weeks to read. The ending was pretty good but I just don't really like the detective and his magician friend. I also felt there were too many similar showbiz characters that I got confused about who was who.

40) How To Find Love In A Book Shop by Veronica Henry

Excellent book, different, recommended

21) Dark Suits and Sad Songs by Denzil Meyrick

211) Stella Rimington - Close Call
212) Kate McQuaile - What She Never Told Me
213) Paige Toon - The Longest Holiday