Another year, another book list! But this time with a twist! Over the years I have accumulated many books on my Kindle, particularly during sales. After doing some digital decluttering, I noticed that there were quite a few books on there that I haven’t finished reading and a fair number that I downloaded yonks ago and haven’t even started!

So I have decided to be very strict with my book buying this year, and not purchase anymore until I have read most of what is on my Kindle. I would usually give my unread or no longer-needed paperback books to charity or to friends, but obviously, this is hard to do in digital form.

Below is a list of books I have yet to finish or read – let me know which books are on your Kindle unread pile or on your unread shelf pile if you have paperbacks! Happy reading everyone!

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1984

For some reason I have just never been able to finish George Orwell’s ‘dystopian masterpiece’ after starting it years ago. BUT I MUST PLOUGH ON!!

Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party.

In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

 

 

WHILE MY EYES WERE CLOSED

I find it very hard to read or watch anything to do with children going missing (and worse) as it just raises my anxiety over my own kids. But this book came highly recommended and I should really try again! 

Lisa Dale shuts her eyes and counts to one hundred during a game of hide-and-seek. When she opens them, her four-year-old daughter Ella is gone. Disappeared without a trace. The police, the media and Lisa’s family all think they know who snatched Ella.

But what if the person who took her isn’t a stranger? What if they are convinced they are doing the right thing? And what if Lisa’s little girl is in danger of disappearing forever?

 

 

 

THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS

Another bestseller that I started and for some reason couldn’t get past the first few pages. MUST TRY HARDER!

Once a celebrated author of short stories now in his twilight years, Anthony Peardew has spent half his life collecting lost objects, trying to atone for a promise broken many years before.

Realising he is running out of time, he leaves his house and all its lost treasures to his assistant Laura, the one person he can trust to fulfil his legacy and reunite the thousands of objects with their rightful owners.

But the final wishes of the ‘Keeper of Lost Things’ have unforeseen repercussions which trigger a most serendipitous series of encounters…

 

 

 

THE ESSEX SERPENT

I’ve tried several times to read this book and always put it to one side in favour of something easier! I haven’t seen the film yet either… Hopefully Tom will wait for me!

London, 1893. When Cora Seaborne’s controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis – a curious, obsessive boy – she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge.

On arrival, rumours reach them that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist with no patience for superstition, is enthralled, convinced that what the local people think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species.

As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter’s vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith.

As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both.

THE BEES

This book was all the rage some time ago, but I just couldn’t get into it. I got to 27% and gave up, but won’t give up this time!

Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen.

But Flora is not like other bees. Despite her ugliness she has talents that are not typical of her kin. While mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is removed from sanitation duty and is allowed to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous.

But enemies are everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. And when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all her instinct to serve is overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce love that will lead to the unthinkable . . .

 

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

Not sure how much of a pilgrimage I want to go on, as this book is pretty hefty, but maybe Harold will keep me company!

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other.

He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else’s life.

Harold Fry is the most ordinary of men. He just might be a hero for us all.

 

 

 

 

What’s on your 2024 reading list?

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