Read It 2014

I read quite a lot of books last year.  I'm aiming to read 60 this year, which is 4 more than in 2014.  I'm going to use one of those fabulous internet challenges, where you take lots of pictures and "hashtag" them on Instagram, but more about that another time.

If you're interested, here is my list with one line reviews. 

• Civil to Strangers; Barbara Pym (read the novella, reading the short stories at the moment)
• Love and Friendship; Alison Lurie (1970s American academics, quite interesting)
• Love at Second Sight; Ada Leverson (lovely)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; JK Rowling (oddly terrifying)
• Ladies Delight; Emile Zola (jolly good)
• The Sweet Dove Died; Barbara Pym (brilliant)
• Findings; Kathleen Jamie (fantastic)
• Tenterhooks; Ava Leverson (lovely and funny)
• The Amazing Thing About The Way It Goes; Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (mostly pretty funny)
• Yesterday's Houses; Mavis Cheek (belonged to my Ouma, it tickles me to think of her reading it, it's pretty dirty in parts)
• Excellent Women; Barbara Pym (Barbara Pym-esque)
• The Sacred and Profane Love Machine; Iris Murdoch (unnecessarily wordy)
• The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden; Jonas Jonasson (OK)
• Gilead; Marilynne Robinson (jolly good)
• The Smart: The True Story of Margaret Caroline Rudd and the Unfortunate Perreau Brothers; Sarah Bakewell (a bit boring)
• All Fall Down; Jennifer Weiner (different to her other book)
• All Change; Elizabeth Jane Howard (desperately sad that it is the last one)
• Bryant and May - The Bleeding Heart; Christopher Fowler (I think  I read too many of these in a row)
• Citadel; Kate Mosse (didn't finish, too, too similar to all her other books)
• My Judy Garland Life; Susie Boyt (loved this)
• Bird of Paradise; Ada Leverson (gorgeous)
• The Bad Cook; Esther Walker (funny as usual)
• Mansfield Revisited; Joan Aitken (not very good, bit obvious)
• Bryant and May - The Memory of Blood; Christopher Fowler (I liked this one best)
• Bryant and May - The Victoria Vanishes; Christopher Fowler (confusing)
• Bryant and May - The Invisible Code; Christopher Fowler (funny)
• Bryant and May - Off the Rails; Christopher Fowler (long)
• Bryant and May - On the Loose; Christopher Fowler (enjoyed this)
• The Dragonfly Diaries; Ruary Mackensie Dodds (utterly brilliant) 
• The Bell; Iris Murdoch (understood this a lot more now I'm an adult)
• The Diary of a Provincial Lady; E. M. Delafield (re-reading, but super)
• One Corpse Too Many; Ellis Peters (re-reading)
• The Old Ways; Robert MacFarlane (superb)
• The Bridges of Constantine; Ahlam Mosteghanemi (like eating a massive marshmallow, too, too over-written)
• An Episode of Sparrows; Rumor Godden (of its time)
• Moon Over Soho; Ben Aaronovitch (super)
• Raising Steam; Terry Pratchett (super)
• The Middlesteins; Jamie Attenburg (can't believe it's her first book)
• The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year; Sue Townsend (loved this)
• Happy Kids; Cathy Glass (boring)
• Broken Homes; Ben Aaronovitch (super ending)
• Whispers Underground; Ben Aaronovitch (love this)
• The Strangling on the Stage; Simon Brett (I read too many of these in a row)
• The Corpse on the Court; Simon Brett (meh)
• Rivers of London; Ben Aaronovitch (great)
• Love's Shadow; Ada Leverson (lovely)
• Guns in the Gallery; Simon Brett (same as the others)
• Turned Out Nice Again; Richard Mabey (liked this one)
• Instructions for a Heat Wave; Maggie O'Farrell (can't remember either)
• The Bones under the Beach Hut; Simon Brett (same as the others)
• The Prisoner of Heaven; Carlos Ruiz Zafón (can't remember)
• Various Pets Alive and Dead; Marina Lewycka (funny)
• Sara Gay, Model Girl; Janey Scott (not very good)
• Mrs Tim Flies Home; DE Stevenson (funny)
• The Goldfinch; Donna Tartt (I loved this, and didn't want it to end)
• Tempting Fate; Jane Green (similar to her others)
• A Fairly Honourable Defeat; Iris Murdoch (chillingly horrible)