My 2016 Book Reading Statistics

From 1 January to 31 December 2016 I have read 62 books.  

The shortest book was Freaks by Tess Gerritsen which was just a very short story of 32 pages. 

The longest book was The Decision by Penny Vincenzi which was 757 pages. 

I have read a total of 23,072 pages over the year.  

Tomorrow I will begin my first book of 2017! 

The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett

Maurice and Rosemary Ransome spend a night out at the opera watching Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte. When they arrive home their flat has been burgled.  Absolutely everything has been taken, including the carpets, curtains and light fittings.  

Over the next few days Rosemary dashes around buying some essential items whilst they wait for the insurance claim to be processed.  After the initial shock of the burglary Rosemary begins to feel liberated by being unencombered by years worth of objects and household items which they have kept for the 32 years of their marriage but do not actually need or use.  She begins to visit local shops she would never before have considered using to buy a few pieces of furniture and even tries out some exotic fruit and vegetables from the local Asian grocery shop - but tells Maurice they are from Marks and Spencer so that he will eat them and give his approval.  Maurice just wants to have a new state of the art hifi system on which to play Mozart.  

This is a short story by Alan Bennet which tells a lot about the relationship between Maurice and Rosemary.  

I bought this book a few years ago in a small box set of three stories as I wanted to re-read 'The Lady in the Van' and could not find it as a story on its own, only in the form of a play.  It is the story version in this set.  The third book in the set is 'Father! Father! Burning Bright' which I have not yet read.  These are the only Alan Bennett stories I have read, but I have enjoyed numerous of his Talking Heads plays.  I have also seen The Lady in the Van on stage and also more recently the film which was produced last year.  

A Winter Flame by Millie Johnson

Five years ago Jonathan, the fiance of Eve Douglas, was killed in a bombing whilst on duty in Helmand Province at Christmas.  Even before this, Eve had not experienced very many happy Christmases as a child.  Eve has struggled to let go of Jonathan and move on with her life.  She does not like Christmas! 

Eve's dotty old Aunt Eveline dies and in her will she leaves to Eve half of a Christmas theme park which she is, unbeknown to Eve, in the process of building.  The other half of the park has been left to an unknown man by the name of Jacques Glace.  The will specifies that they must run the park together.  Eve is very suspicious of Jacques.  Who is he?  How did he know her aunt?  Is he the con-man mentioned in the local newspaper who targets elderly people for their money?  Eve is determined to find out but in the meantime they have only a few weeks to finish the rest of the planned work on the theme park and get it opened before Christmas.  

This is definitely a Christmas story which really is full of everything we associate with Christmas! 

I have also read 'An Autumn Crush', 'The Teashop on the Corner' and 'Ladies who Launch' and have 'Afternoon Tea at the sunflower Cafe' on my bookshelf. 

The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

The story begins in mid-August and then works up to Christmas.  Lizzy Pharamond lives in Perseverance Cottage in the grounds of her husband's family estate.  Lizzy is married to the philandering Tom who regularly disappears for days at a time.  The relationship between Lizzy and Tom is getting worse and worse.  Lizzy is waiting until their son Jasper goes to University in the Autumn and then she plans to leave Tom and find somewhere else to live.  This could be a problem as Lizzy lives a very self sufficient lifestyle, she grows all her own fruit and vegetables, keeps chickens and her only form of income, other than bartering her goods, is 'The Perseverance Chronicles' which she writes.  These contain funny things which happen around the cottage, and recipes for some of her creations with the food she grows.  They are published into books from time to time, but don't earn her a lot of money. 

Following an accident Lizzy suddenly finds herself widowed.  A number of women then come forward to claim that they were the love of Tom's life and Lizzy becomes the focus of some male attention around the village and is also the target of some vicious actions.   

Lizzy, as a member of the Christmas Pudding Circle, is busy creating seasonal recipes and cooking up her share of the required items for the annual senior citizen Christmas hampers.  There is also an annual Boxing Day Mystery Play to rehearse and cooking of preserves and pies to be entered into the annual Village Show, for which this year Lizzy has some serious competition from Tom's cousin Nick.  

There are a couple of recipes given at the end of the book. 

I enjoy Trisha Ashley books, there is usually a bit of gentle romance blossoming within the stories.  I have also read 'Twelve Days of Christmas', 'A Winter's Tale', 'Chocolate Wishes' and 'Sowing Secrets' and have 'Wish Upon a Star', 'Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues' and 'Good Husband Material' on my bookshelf.  

Coming Home for Christmas by Julia Williams

The story starts at Christmas then takes us through the ups and downs of the lives of three couples, who all live in a village named Hope Christmas, over a whole year.  

There are Cat Tinsall, tv chef, and her husband Noel who are struggling with an ever growing family as one of their teenage daughters has become a single parent and Noel's mother has a fall and become increasing frail. 

Pippa and Dan Holliday have recently separated.  Dan has moved out of their family farm, but continues to work there on a daily basis.  Following a fall from a tree Dan has sustained some permanent brain damage and doesn't think it is fair for Pippa to have to deal with his mood swings.

Marianne and Gabriel North, also farmers, suddenly find themselves looking after Gabriel's ex-wife Eve when she is discharged from hospital following a mental breakdown.  

Whilst the three couples are all struggling with their families and work, they also get involved in a campaign to try to stop a developer from building a large hotel and leisure complex within the village.  This is to be situated next to Gabriel's farm and across the road from Pippa's farm.  The developers are offering the struggling farmers a large amount of money for the acquisition of additional pieces of their land.  

The book does start and end at Christmas but isn't entirely a Christmas story as it is separated out into the activities which take place during each month of the year.  There are also a few flashbacks to previous years. 

I have also read the short story 'A Hope Christmas Love Story' which involves Cat Tinsall's family and particularly her daughter Mel.  

The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown

On May the fourth Sybil Bloom is stood up at the alter by Luke her Stars Wars fanatic husband to be.  Luke fails to show for the wedding and runs off with Sasha, Sybil's twin sister.  Sybil, known as Sybs to her friends, is heartbroken and turns to her passion for knitting for comfort.  A few months on and Sybs is still struggling to concentrate at work, and when she reads a story in the local paper about an error made with a housing payment at the local council which is being investigated, she panics as this error could have been made by her.  

Sybs decides to get away for a few days and visit her friend Cher who has taken over as landlady at The Duck and Puddle Pub in Tindledale.  Sybs hastily packs a bag and, along with her scotty dog Basil, gets a train to Tindledale.  Things then don't go according to plan as Cher is away on a course but all the villagers of Tindledale are very friendly and immediately word goes round and everyone knows who she is and offers help and friendship.  Sybs visits 'Hettie's House of Haberdashery' which would have been the shop she has always dreamed of running, had it not been so very old fashioned.  Hettie is struggling to cope with the shop and is being pressured by her nasty nephew into selling up as he wants to develop the land into new housing.  Sybs and Hettie strike up an immediate friendship and work together on Sybs project to knit a Christmas jumper in just a few days. 

Sybs helps Hettie to re-arrange the shop and, together with some of the local villagers, they start a 'knit and natter' group and come up with ideas to help Hettie to save the shop.  

This is a lovely story of Sybs getting over her heartbreak, finding new friends and helping Hettie with whom she shares a passion for knitting and other crafts. 

There is a Christmas pudding knitting pattern at the end of the book.  

I have also read 'Cupcakes at Carrington's' by the same author. 

Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber

The story begins with three Prayer Ambassador angels - Mercy, Goodness and Shirley - taking Will, their apprentice angel, on an unauthorised trip to earth, to Time Square in New York, on New Year's Eve.  Only God can hear peoples prayers.  He talks them over with Gabriel who then assigns requests to the Prayer Ambassadors.  Their role is to help people to realise what they can do for themselves but they are not allowed to interfere with peoples lives.  People must be able to make their own decisions.  Whilst on this unauthorised trip, Will does interfere and causes Lucie Ferrara and Aren Fairchild to meet.  

Lucie and Aren get along really well but then fate intervenes and they loose contact with each other.  Moving on almost a year, to the time when they should really have first met, Gabriel sends his troop of angels back to earth to watch over Lucie and Aren and to ensure that nothing goes wrong and a prayer send to God months before by Lucie's mum Wendy, can be answered.  

Lucie and Aren are initially really pleased to meet up with each other again but unfortunately the angels can not help but interfere again and they make matters worse.  They then need to try to right the situation to get Lucie and Aren back on the track of their original fate.  

Whilst reading chapter one I was not really sure if I would enjoy this book as it seems strange to read a story from an angel's point of view.  By chapter two when Lucie and Aren have met, and our feet are firmly back on the ground, I got into the story and enjoyed the rest of the book.  

According to the information provided by the author, this is one of a series of books written about the three angels Mercy, Goodness and Shirley, but is the first to introduce their apprentice Will.  The only other book by Debbie Macomber I have read is 'Falling for Christmas'.  I have 'On a Snowy Night' and 'A Mother's Gift' on my bookshelf.  I don't think any of these appear to involve angels. 

There are five recipes at the end of the book. 

One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern

Kitty Logan is a journalist with the magazine Etcetera.  She also had been doing some television stories for a programme called Thirty Minutes.  Having made a error on a television story and making an incorrect accusation she is facing a court case and the ruin of her career.  At the same time her friend, mentor and the magazine editor at Etcetera, Constance Dubois, is terminally ill in hospital.  

When Kitty visits Constance she is asked, at her next visit, to bring in to her an envelope from her filing cabinet which contains the idea for a story.  When Kitty looks into the envelope she finds a list of one hundred names but no other information.  As a final tribute to Constance, Kitty has to find out what links these one hundred people and write the main feature story for the magazine.  This is her chance to save her career whilst at the same time paying tribute to Constance.  Kitty has just two weeks in which to find these people, make the connection and write the most important story of her career. 

Kitty struggles to find the people on the list.  She desperately wants to make a success of the story, but a lot of people don't want to talk to journalists, and particularly journalists with her current poor reputation!  

This is an interesting story and I felt a lot of empathy for Kitty.  She really is sorry for what she has done and does want to make amends, but just doesn't know how.  

I have not read a Cecelia Aherne book for a very long time, but I'm sure I have previously read at least 'PS I Love You' and I have 'The Gift' on my bookshelf. 

The House by the Sea by Santa Montefiore

The story starts in Tuscany in 1966 when a young girl, Floriana, meets Dante whilst peeping into the gardens of the Villa La Magdalena.  Dante is the son of a wealthy family who live in Milan and spend the summer each year at their Tuscan family villa by the sea.  Floriana has been abandoned by her mother who has run off with a tomato seller, taking her young son, but leaving Floriana behind with her alcoholic father.  Dante invites Floriana, and her friend Costanza, to spend time at La Magdalena with him and his sisters.  They all spend the summer together swimming in the pool and playing in the gardens.  

Running alongside is another story set in Devon in 2009 where Marina and Grey Turner own and run a hotel called The Polzanze.  Marina is searching for an artist to spend the summer at the hotel to give painting lessons to their guests.  The hotel is struggling financially, she needs to encourage more guests or they can not afford the repayments to the bank.  Marina has spent years refurbishing and building up the hotel.  After interviewing a few people she finds an Argentine man, Rafa Santoro, to be her artist in residence for the season. 

The stories move backwards and forwards from Italy, telling how Floriana waits for Dante's returns, to Devon where Rafa takes up residence at the hotel and catches the eye of all the local young women, including Clementine who is Grey's daughter and Marina's step-daughter.  

I enjoyed the book, both timelines of the story were interesting and obviously towards the end we find out what the connection is between the events and people.  The only other book by this author I have read is Last Voyage of the Valentina which I also enjoyed.