Meanderer-ing through 2021

Books read in 2021:
1. A Little Night Murder by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook.
2. Goldfinger by Ian Fleming. Audiobook.
3. Spirits of the Season edited by Tanya Kirk.
4. N or M by Agatha Christie.
5. Death in Ecstacy by Ngaio Marsh
6. The Last Resort by Susi Holliday.
7. Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch.
8. The Gold of Tolosa by Philip Matyszak.
9. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. Audiobook.
10. Languages are Good for Us by Sophie Hardach.
11. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie. Audiobook.
12. Exodus: Arisen, Book 5 by Glynn James and Michael Fuchs. Audiobook.
13. The Platform Edge edited by Mike Ashley.
14. Morse's Greatest Mystery by Colin Dexter. Audiobook.
15. The Hanging Club by Tony Parsons. Audiobook.
16. Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by MC Beaton. Audiobook.
17. Cliffhanger by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook.
18. From the Depths: And Other Strange Tales of the Sea edited by Mike Ashley.
19. The Rat Stone Serenade by Denzil Meyrick. Audiobook.
20. Afraid of the Light by various.
21. Kindred by Rebecca Wragg-Sykes.
22. The Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Audiobook.
23. The Thunder Spirits by Christoffer Petersen.
24. Cover Her Face by PD James. Audiobook.
25. The Sisters by Dervla McTiernan. Audiobook.
26. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie. Audiobook.
27. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith. Audiobook.
28. The Invisible Man by HG Wells. Audiobook.
29. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. Audiobook.
30. A Fire upon the Deep by Verne Vinge.
31. Earth Abides by George R Stewart.
32. Real Tigers by Mick Herron. Audiobook.
33. Old Man's War by John Scalzi.
34. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach. Audiobook.
35. The Secret of Brimley Manor by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook
36. Iluliaq by Christoffer Petersen.
37. The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham. Audiobook.
38. Death Masks by Jim Butcher. Audiobook.
39. Out of Spite, Out of Mind by Scott Meyer. Audiobook.
41. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths. Audiobook.
42. Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. Audiobook.
43. Solomon Time by Will Randall.
44. Why We Love Pirates by Rebecca Simon. Audiobook.
45. Alaskan Retreater's Notebook by Ray Ordorica. Audiobook.
46. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.
47. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi. Audiobook.
48. Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi. Audiobook.
49. Dune by Frank Herbert. Audiobook.
50. The Driver by Mark Dawson. Audiobook.
51. In the Heart of the Fire by Dean Koontz. Audiobook.
52. Too Many Lies by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook
53. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. Audiobook.
54. Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie. Audiobook.
55. The Last Policeman by Ben H Winters.
56. The Forest by Edward Rutherford. Audiobook.
57. Well of the Winds by Denzil Meyrick. Audiobook.
58. Pet Sematary by Stephen King. Audiobook.
59. Time: 10 Things You Should Know by Colin Stuart.
60. Station Eleven by Emily St.John Mandel. Audiobook.
61. Murder under the Sun: Cherringham. A Cosy Crime Series by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook.
62. Black Gate Tales by Paul Draper.
63. Word Perfect by Susie Dent.
64. Dinosaurs: 10 Things you should Know by Dean Lomax.
65. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Audiobook.
66. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Audiobook.
67. Peril at End House by Agatha Christie. Audiobook.
68. Sweet Revenge by Helena Marchmont. Audiobook.
69. Afraid of the Christmas Lights by various.
70. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. Audiobook.
71. Killing Time: Cherringham. A Cosy Crime Series by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook.
72. The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi. Audiobook.
73. Space: 10 Things You Should Know by Rebecca Smethurst.
74. Still Dead: Cherringham A Cosy Crime Series by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook.
75. The Penguin Book of Hell by various.
76. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Audiobook.
77. The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1661 by Samuel Pepys.
78. Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham. Audiobook.

Welcome back Tony.

Welcome back!

Hope you have a great year of reading!

Best wishes for a better 2021!

Happy reading in 2021, Tony!

And keep up with my friends here, Tony. Have a great 2021.

Thank you all for the warm welcome back. I haven't finished any books this year so far, but I'm getting close.

1. A Little Night Murder by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook. Another of those cosy crime series, this time set in the late 1920s. An enjoyable listen.

2. Goldfinger by Ian Fleming. Audiobook. An enjoyable outing with 007 which includes all the expected ingredients. As with all these books, there are opinions and stereotypes which would not be acceptable today.

3. Spirits of the Season edited by Tanya Kirk. This is a wonderful collection of short ghost stories, mostly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which are set around Christmas. There is not really a weak story in this collection.

4. N or M by Agatha Christie. An enjoyable mystery set in the early years of World War 2.

5. Death in Ecstacy by Ngaio Marsh. Audiobook. I did not like this one as much as the others I have read by this author. I'm not sure why but it just didn't grab me. An OK listen.

>13 meanderer: Some of Marsh's work better than others for me too. I don't think I've read that one.

6. The Last Resort by Susi Holliday. The reviews I read for this one were mixed with quite a few mentioning a disappointing ending. Whilst it is true, I think, that the ending could have been better I really enjoyed the premise of the story and read this in, what is for me, record time.

Some good old classic crime sprinkled in there, Tony.

7. Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch. Audiobook. A good plot, witty dialogue and wonderfully read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. A great listen.

8. The Gold of Tolosa by Philip Matyszak. Set at the time of the Cimbric invasion of Gaul and the battle of Arausio in 105BC, this novel follows the adventures of Lucius Panderius a Roman brothel keeper who becomes involved in an attempt to rescue a sacred statue from the temple vaults in the city of Tolosa. The author has written many non-fiction books on ancient Greece and Rome and so the attention to detail is excellent and the plot moves along at an excellent pace. Early on in the Kindle version of the book there are quite a few typos, but these did not spoil my enjoyment of the story.

9. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. Audiobook. This version is wonderfully read by Andy Serkis. I hope he goes on to narrate The Lord of the Rings.

10. Languages are Good for Us by Sophie Hardach. A tour through the world of language. Topics include the development of writing in Ancient Sumeria, how words spread, the role of interpreters in history, how bilingual children learn their languages, fairy tales and many others. A fascinating read.

11. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie. Audiobook. An interesting mystery, although Miss Marple does not appear until nearly the end.

I have been reading Marple this month too, Tony.

>21 PaulCranswick: I enjoy a good Agatha Christie, in fact I've been reading a fair bit of "Golden Age" crime fiction recently. All very enjoyable.

12. Exodus: Arisen, Book 5 by Glynn James and Michael Fuchs. Audiobook. I know what I'm getting with these. The relentless zombie action, the if-it-can-go-wrong-it-will-go-wrong scenarios and lots of fun.

13. The Platform Edge edited by Mike Ashley. Another good collection from the British Library's Tales of the Weird series. Stories range in date from the late 19th century up to 1985 and cover the age of steam to tales of the tube. There were a couple of weaker stories in this collection, but overall it was still a good read.

14. Morse's Greatest Mystery by Colin Dexter. Audiobook. A collection of short stories, some of which feature Inspector Morse (one of them just as a cameo) and one featuring Sherlock Holmes. There are a couple of weaker stories.

>25 meanderer: I think that is the only Morse book I haven't read, Tony.

15. The Hanging Club by Tony Parsons. Audiobook. Sometimes you just need a good vigilante action story. This is it.

16. Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by MC Beaton. Audiobook. Another crime series set in the Cotswolds; I'm surprised there's anyone left alive in that picturesque part of the country. Entertaining cosy crime.

17. Cliffhanger by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook. Still in the Cotwolds for yet more cosy crime.

18. From the Depths: And Other Strange Tales of the Sea edited by Mike Ashley. Another collection of short stories from the British Library's Tales of the Weird series. This collection features tales from the sea and includes abandoned ships, stories of revenge and a floating island which collects shipwrecked sailors. Another good read. All stories are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

19. The Rat Stone Serenade by Denzil Meyrick. Audiobook. Another page-turner set in Kintyre on the west coast of Scotland.

20. Afraid of the Light by various. A short collect of dark tales from 14 authors. The stories are each different in style and each was a pleasure to read.

21. Kindred by Rebecca Wragg-Sykes. The author sets out the latest findings about how Neanderthals lived and died using archaeology and DNA evidence. She also examines the history of the discovery of Neanderthals and how perceptions of the species has changed over time. I must admit that I found some parts of this book hard going, especially the chapter on lithics, but overall I learnt quite a lot from this book.

22. The Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Audiobook. A great listen. Fantastic story, beautifully read. I loved watching the development of a non-human species from the stone age to the space age and the two strands of the plot worked together very well. The ending was a surprise, but very pleasing.

23. The Thunder Spirits by Christoffer Petersen. More Greenland crime.

24. Cover Her Face by PD James. Audiobook. Engaging country house mystery.

>34 meanderer: I have a few of Tchaikovsky's books on the shelves and you just helped propel them closer to my reading table, Tony.

Have a great weekend.

25. The Sisters by Dervla McTiernan . Audiobook. A novella length story of two sisters, one a police officer, one a barrister, who try to get justice for a man they believe wrongly accused of murder.

26. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie. Audiobook. Another outing for Hercule Poirot. Interesting but a little contrived, I thought.

27. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith. Audiobook. I am something of a mood reader and started listening to this because I wanted something light and a bit exotic and that is what I got. The mysteries in this story are not really the main point; it's just nice to get absorbed into the lives of Mme Ramotswe and the inhabitants of Gaberone.

28. The Invisible Man by HG Wells. Audiobook. I didn't expect the invisible man to be such an unpleasant character or the book to be quite so violent. A fun and quick listen, nevertheless.

29. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. Audiobook. A bit of hard sci-fi. The ideas are interesting and the characters are nearly all unpleasant. This may have been one of those instances where getting the audiobook version was a mistake. At the start there is quite a lot of jumping around the timeline and, whilst in the print version there are clear gaps, John Lee, the narrator of the audiobook, does not pause when the perspective changes. Also, the voices he uses for the characters are a bit too similar for my liking.

30. A Fire upon the Deep by Verne Vinge. I read this as part of the Science-fiction readalong on the YouTube channel Media Death Cult. This is a book brimming with original ideas and alien species such as the Tines, a dog-like species where each individual is actually a pack which communicates via ultrasonic waves.

31. Earth Abides by George R Stewart. Audiobook. Another one for the readalong. Someone described this a "cosy" end-of-the-world story and I would agree.

32. Real Tigers by Mick Herron. Audiobook. A secret dossier, kidnapping and general mayhem. Another entertaining outing with the Slow Horses.

33. Old Man's War by John Scalzi. A fun sci-fi read; plenty of action, humour, interesting aliens and intriguing technologies.

34. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach. Audiobook. A nice collection of eccentric British characters dropped into a retirement home and former hotel in Bangalore. Humour with a touch a sadness. An enjoyable listen.

35. The Secret of Brimley Manor by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook. It has been a few months since I last visited the crime hotspot that is the Cotswolds village of Cherringham. The mystery this time is related to arson not murder. An enjoyable listen as always.

36. Iluliaq by Christoffer Petersen. Back to the icy wastes of Green for my latest read. A race to rescue villages after an iceberg threatens to calve and send tidal waves to destroy the village.

37. The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham. Audiobook. This is supposed to be an Albert Campion investigation, but he plays a relatively minor role in this story and is not there at the denouement. It is almost as if this series was supposed to be about George Abbershaw since we see the action through his point of view and it is he who solves the crime. I also thought that some of the scenes in the book were ridiculous even for the early 20th century. I will, however, continue with the series since I believe that the quality improves. David Thorpe, the narrator, was excellent as usual.

38. Death Masks by Jim Butcher. Audiobook. Another excellent addition to the Dresden Files.

39. Out of Spite, Out of Mind by Scott Meyer. Audiobook. I like this series a lot. A nice, light listen with a good sense of humour, engaging characters and brilliantly read by Luke Daniels.

40. Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie. Audiobook. I was not so impressed with this entry in the Hercule Poirot series.

41. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths. Audiobook. Another entertaining addition to the Ruth Galloway series. Once again, Ruth's archeological investigations chime with an ongoing investigation by DCI Nelson and the usual cast of characters is present.

42. Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. Audiobook. An intriguing mystery centred around a missing egocentric author and his final book. A well-paced story sees Cormoron and Robin's partnership develop along with their complicated private lives.

43. Solomon Time by Will Randall. One of those books that I did not want to end. Will Randall, a teacher of French, ups sticks and moves to the Solomon Islands to help a small community develop a way of generating a sustainable income. An account full or gentle humour and fascinating characters. Unless Randall wrote very detailed diary entries every evening, you have to accept that the conversations in the book are reinvented from his memory, but this is the case with many memoirs I expect. The events took place in the late 90s and Randall moved on and has written books about his time in India and Botswana. As I finished the book, I wondered what had happened in the intervening years to Small Tome, Small Small Tome, Tassels, Luta, Edith, Emily and all the other inhabitants of Mendali.

44. Why We Love Pirates by Rebecca Simon. Audiobook. Although this book contained a lot of interesting information, I was quite disappointed by it. There was a lot of repetition for example, the author described the execution of Kidd at least three times and revisited topics such as the condemned pirate's final speech too many times. Still, it was a quick listen and I did learn a few things. I'm glad it was an Audible Plus book and therefore included in my membership and that I had not forked out £17 for the paperback.

45. Alaskan Retreater's Notebook by Ray Ordorica. Audiobook. Not quite what I was expecting. The firt part of the book is more of a handbook for people wanting to live off-grid in the wilds of Alaska and was not really of much interest to me (I tuned out during parts of this). The remainder of the book was more interesting and covered some of the events during the author's time in Alaska incuding his relationships with the animals there.

Just stopping by to wish a fellow Yorkie a great weekend, Tony.

>60 PaulCranswick:. Thanks Paul. I've just returned from two wonderful, sunny weeks on Uist in the Outer Hebrides, I hope that you had a good weekend as well.

46. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. The first in the Wayfarer series. It is a bit of an info dump in places and it does wear its heart on its sleeve but I warmed to the characters and enjoyed the second half of the book.

47. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi. Audiobook. The premise behind this short book is somewhat specific and needs a bit of suspension of disbelief if you are going to enjoy the story. Nicely read by Zachary Quinto.

48. Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi. Audiobook. The second story in The Dispatcher series. As entertaining as the first. I hope there are more of these.

49. Dune by Frank Herbert. Audiobook. The audio version I listened to was billed as a full-cast version but turned out to be a bit of a strange mix of full-cast sections and sections read by a narrator. I think I preferred the narrated parts of the book. The story was excellent.

50. The Driver by Mark Dawson. Audiobook. Another exciting episode in the life of the British version of Jack Reacher. An entertaining listen.

51. In the Heart of the Fire by Dean Koontz. Audiobook. It's a bit cheeky counting this as a book, since it is quite short. It is the first in a series of stories about Nameless, an amnesiac good guy righting wrongs. A sound enough tale.

52. Too Many Lies by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook. More Cherringham cosy crime.

53. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. Audiobook. Ever since I listened to Andy Serkis read The Hobbit I have been waiting for his reading of The Lord of the Rings to appear. It was worth the wait. This is a fantastic version of a great book.

>69 meanderer: Perhaps because it was the first I read but also because I still remember the huge impression it made on me, that remains my favourite of Tolkien's books and one of my absolute favourite books of all time.

54. Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie. Audiobook. A Poirot novel without much Poirot. A reasonable novel.

55. The Last Policeman by Ben H Winters. A crime novel set in a pre-apocalypse world where everyone knows the end is nigh. What a brilliant idea. Detective Henry Palace is trying to solve what he believes to be a murder whilst the world around him slowly falls apart as the end draws near. It made me think about what I would do if I knew that the world would certainly end on a particular date. Would I indulge in my deepest desires? Would I decide to end it all at a time and place of my choosing? Would I carry on as if nothing was going to happen? Would I sink into a pit of despair and embrace a narcotics fueled sense of euphoria? I hope I will never need to find out. I'm enjoyed this book and I hope that the rest of the trilogy lives up to the standard of the first book.

56. The Forest by Edward Rutherford. Audiobook. This is a long book and I've been listening to it on and off for over a year. The book is split up into a number of parts (each of which could be a volume in their own right) which makes it easier to do this. I enjoyed the continuity between the parts and following the various Forest families of the course of a thousand years.

Checking in on you, Tony! Looks like you have been doing some good reading this year. Hopefully I will keep better tabs on you from here on out.

>74 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. It's good to hear from you. It's not been a bad reading year, although I've not read/listened to as much as last year.

57. Well of the Winds by Denzil Meyrick. Audiobook. Another thriller from the DCI Daley series set in Kinloch in the west of Scotland. Not the most original of stories, but and entertaining listen. Wonderfully read by David Monteath.

58. Pet Sematary by Stephen King. Audiobook. One of King's best and scariest stories, so probably not the best choice of listening for my evenng walks in the dark along mostly unlit country roads and tracks.

59. Time: 10 Things You Should Know by Colin Stuart. A fascinating little book. It's been a while since I read anything on spacetime and this book included some ideas that were new to me. This is part of a short series currently with volumes on space and dinosaurs.

60. Station Eleven by Emily St.John Mandel. Audiobook. A post-apocolpyic story set in a world where a deadly virus has killed 99% of the world's population. The narrative in the book jumps around in time as it tells the stories of the people who survived and who did not survive the pandemic. Although this is potentially confusing, I found myself drawn into the story and into the lives of the characters as the pieces fell together. The main characters are connected in some way to an actor called Arthur Leander who dies on stage just before the plague takes hold.

61. Murder under the Sun: Cherringham. A Cosy Crime Series by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook. Another trip to the chocolate-box, crime-infested hell-hole in the Cotswolds.

62. Black Gate Tales by Paul Draper. A collection of short creepy horror stories, some of which stayed with me for a while after I had read them. Mostly good, one or two not so much.

63. Word Perfect by Susie Dent. I started this book one year ago. On the whole, I enjoyed my daily dip into the world of words although some entries were disappointing.

64. Dinosaurs: 10 Things you should Know by Dean Lomax. This small book packs in a lot of facts. Very interesting, I learnt a few things.

65. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Audiobook. I must be in the mood for end of the world tales. Classic sci-fi, a bit dated but still good.

66. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Audiobook. I enjoyed this more than Triffids. I got a bit tired of the overlong philosophical discussions in The Triffids and, overall, I thought that Chrysalids was a better story.

67. Peril at End House by Agatha Christie. Audiobook. More fun with that irritating but clever man Hercule Poirot. A nice country house mystery, just what I wanted after all the end-of-the-world stuff I've been reading recently.

>76 meanderer: I am not familiar with this series. I will have to give it a shot. Thanks for the mention, Tony!

>79 meanderer: I loved Station Eleven when I read it. Glad to see you enjoyed it too.

>87 alcottacre: If you do read the Daley series, you should read the first three books in order. There is a story arc which concludes at the end of book 3.

>88 meanderer: Thanks for letting me know, Tony.

>86 meanderer: Irritating but clever does rather sum up Hercule nicely, Tony.

Have a good weekend and I am hoping you can get to 75 this year.

>90 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul. I may get to 75 because I have a few books that I am close to finishing. Talking of which.........

68. Sweet Revenge by Helena Marchmont. Audiobook. Not the best entry in the Bunburry series, but entertaining enough.

69. Afraid of the Christmas Lights by various. A collection of short crime stories set at Christmas. Some good, some not so good.

70. The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. Audiobook. I really liked the story in this one and the humour and witty banter. Will Wheaton is an excellent narrrator.

71. Killing Time: Cherringham. A Cosy Crime Series by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook. A fun listen.

Have a lovely holiday, Tony.

>96 PaulCranswick: Thank you. Paul. I hope that you and your loved ones are also enjoying a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

72. The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi. Audiobook. A brilliant sequel to The Collapsing Empire which I enjoyed even more and I really liked the first one. Snappy dialogue, schemes with schemes, double (and triple) crossing, all brilliantly read by Wil Wheaton.

73. Space: 10 Things You Should KNow by Rebecca Smethurst. This one had fewer facts new to me in it but was still an engaging read.

74. Still Dead: Cherringham A Cosy Crime Series by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. Audiobook. Another fun listen.

75 (yay!) The Penguin Book of Hell by various. A look at the depictions of hell in Western culture from the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans up to the present day. An engrossing read.

76. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Audiobook. I know that this is supposed to be a classic of sci-fi, but I found it quite dull. I just didn't see why some of the characters acted the way that they did and there were quite a few inconsistencies in the narrative. Overall, a dissapointment.

>101 meanderer: Congratulations on reaching 75, Tony!

>94 meanderer: Oo, I do not have that one by Scalzi. I will have to look for it. I tend to like Scalzi's books. Thanks for the mention, Tony.

>98 meanderer: Oo, that one too!

Happy New Year, Tony! Congratulations on hitting 75!

Congrats!

Thank you all.

>104 alcottacre: I only came across Scalzi this year, but the ones of his I have read have been very entertaining.

77. The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1661 by Samuel Pepys. Continuing my long term project to read an entry from Pepys' diary every day between Jan 2020 and mid-2029. Another successful year for Sam, but not without its problems. On to 1662! This will probably be the last book I finish in 2021.

Well done Tony for reaching 75. Happy new year.

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Tony.

>109 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul. Happy New Year.

78. Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham. Audiobook. One further book has just made it under the wire. I thought this was going to be a dud at first, but it improved as the story went on. A rare form of lichen is discovered to contain a substance which extends a human lifespan. The book looks at the possible consequences of this for society and the discoverers themselves.