My 2021 Book Reading Statistics

From 1 January to 31 December 2021 I have read 81 books.  

The shortest book was The Silver Collection by Carole Matthews which was only 59 pages (a Kindle short story). 

The longest book was Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton which had 563 pages. 

I have read a total of 29,584 pages over the year which is almost 5,000 more than in 2020 (24,646).

This year I have beaten my previous record in both number of books and number of pages read. 

 

I have not yet started my next book that will count as the first in my 2022 statistics. 

Far From True by Linwood Barclay

This is the second book in the Promise Falls trilogy. 

On the last night that the Constellation outdoor theatre is open for business there is a accident.  The screen falls and lands on the two cars parked on the front row.  Four people are killed.  Lucy Brighton’s father was in one of the cars.  When she enters his house the next day she hears someone leave by the back door.  She asks private investigator Cal Weaver to help find out who was in the house and what they have taken.  Whilst looking around the house they find a hidden room in the basement with video equipment.  

Barry Duckworth, the local police Detective, realises that there is becoming a pattern of crimes in the area which all link to the number 23. 

The Push by Claire McGowan

All the members of an antenatal group are invited to a house barbecue.  All the couples should now have their babies, but sadly two don't.  During the afternoon someone falls from the balcony and dies.  

DS Alison Hegarty is called in to investigate the death.  She doesn't believe that it was an accident and is convinced that this is a murder, someone else was on the balcony and it was a push rather than a fall.  

As she investigates DS Hegarty realises that all of the couples have something they are hiding.  They are not telling her the truth either about themselves, their relationships or where they were when the fall happened. 

The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by T E Kinsey

Superintendent Sunderland has heard that a deserter in the war, who is a diamond thief, is planning to steal hidden jewels from the Aristippus club in Mayfair.  As he doesn't have the manpower to investigate he asks Skins Maloney and Barty Dunn who are musicians in the jazz band The Dizzy Heights to investigate for him.  

The jazz band play at the club and investigate the members of the Alphabet Club who are practicing for a dance competition.  Skins' wife Ellie pretends to be the band manager so that she can gain access to the mens club and help with the investigation.  

One by one they discount different members.  Then there is an unexpected death at the club which looks to have been a murder. 

A Cosy Countryside Christmas by Eliza J Scott

Joss and Ella grew up as best friends in the village of Lytell Stangdale in the North Yorkshire Moors.  At age 16 Joss was sent away by his angry father and had not returned.  

18 years later Joss receives a phone call from his brother Rich to say their father is unwell, he is in hospital and Joss needs to come home to look after the farm.  Joss agrees to help and returns to Lytell Stangdale.  He is determined to keep a low profile, keep away from the villagers and get back to his own home as soon as he can.  He realises that things are not as they should be on the farm and it is probably in financial trouble.  As soon as Joss arrived Rich disappeared and is not answering any calls.  

Ella unexpectedly meets Joss and, although she is happy being single, she suddenly finds him very attractive.  But so does her best friend. 

The Descent by Matt Brolly

This is the second book in the Detective Louise Blackwell series. 

A dead body is found at the foot of a cliff.  A suicide note includes the words 'death is not the end'.  Detective Inspector Louise Blackwell has seen these words before on another suicide note and doesn't think this is a coincidence. She is sure there is something which links the young women who have died.  

One man, Jay, who seems to be the leader of a cult could be the link she is looking for but then he disappears.  DI Blackwell needs to find him before another dead body turns up.

The Friend by Teresa Driscoll

Stay at home mum Sophie is starting to get bored with country life in Tedbury.  The long awaited second child has still not arrived and husband Mark is always away working in London.  She is alone all day with her small son Ben. 

A new neighbour moves in to the village, single mum Emma has a son Theo who is a similar age to Ben.  Sophie and Emma become friends and the boys often play together. 

One day when Sophie has left Ben with Emma, she gets a phone call whilst on a train heading home to say there has been an accident.  Both boys are injured, one more seriously than the other, but the hospital staff don't know which boy is which.  

Sophie realises that there are things about Emma that she didn't know and perhaps she shouldn't have trusted her to take care of her son. 

The Little Christmas House by Tracy Rees

Primary school teacher Holly Hanwell has recently been dumped by her boyfriend of 10 years.  He is going to have a baby with someone else.  This is to be her first Christmas alone for many years and so she is planning something very quiet in her new little cottage.  

Single dad, Edward, has just bought and moved into Christmas House at the edge of Hopley. His 8 year old daughter Eliza has joined Holly's class.  Eliza has chosen not to take part in the school nativity play as she has had stage fright before at her previous school.  Edward encourages Eliza to choose what she wants to do, as long as she is happy.  

Holly and Edward keep bumping into each other in the town of Hopley.  Holly, who has sworn off men, finds Edward quite attractive. 

The House Guest by Mark Edwards

British couple Ruth and Adam are spending the summer in New York.  Ruth is rehearsing for a play she is to star in on Broadway, and Adam is writing a screen play.  Whilst in New York they have been offered the chance to house-sit for a couple they met on a cruise.  

The summer is looking good for them, until one rainy day when there is a knock on the door.  Out in the pouring rain stands Eden who has come to visit her friends, the homeowners, but didn't know they were currently away.  She said they had told her she could stay with them any time she was in the city.  Adam invites her in out of the rain and when they find out that Eden has nowhere else to go, they invite her to stay.  It will only be a few days until Mona and Jack return home and she is their friend.  As soon as Eden moves in things start to go wrong.  She is not who she appears to be.

The Hope Chest by Carolyn Brown

Three cousins Nessa, Flynn and April are reunited when their grandmother jointly leaves them her house in Blossom Texas.  She also leaves a locked hope chest.  The chest can only be unlocked when the cousins have completed a hand stitched quilt which has been left in the quilting shed.  

They all have different memories of Nanny Lucy and the house.  Nessa visited each summer to get away from her strict and religious parents. Flynn used to visit each summer until his mother died, he wanted to stay but Nanny Lucy sent him away to live with his father.  April's mother died just after she was born and so was brought up by Nanny Lucy and always felt unloved.  

The cousins meet up and move into the house to start the task set for them, they all have reasons to want a fresh start in life. 

A Baffling Murder at the Midsummer Ball by T E Kinsey

The Dizzy Heights jazz band is booked to play at the Bilverton House midsummer ball.  A summer storm occurs and due to local flooding the band is stranded at the house.  

The next day, the host, John Bilverton, is found shot dead in his study.  The door had been locked from the inside and the death looks like suicide.  Skins, Dunn and Ellie from the Dizzy Heights are not convinced.  They think this is murder.  They have the short time until the flood water goes down to investigate and work out what has happened.  

Then yet another member of the family is found dead.

In Another Light by AJ Banner

The body of a dead woman, Pauline Steele, turns up at the mortuary where Phoebe Glassman works as a cosmetologist.  Pauline is Phoebe's doppelganger and has a photograph of Phoebe in her belongings.  

Phoebe starts to investigate Pauline's life and death when she realises that she has seen a photograph of her butterfly tattoo on her husband's phone prior to his death in a car accident. Phoebe uncovers a definite link between her husband Logan and Pauline. 

Logan seemed to have been living another life that Phoebe knew nothing about. 

A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton

The Taylor family bookshop in York is not doing well.  In an attempt to increase trade Megan has arranged for a book launch and signing to take place with award winning author Xander Stone.  

When Megan meets Xander she finds him grumpy, moody and rude.  He is also very attractive and she can see that behind the facade he is quite nervous about the event.  

Megan returned to the family bookshop 3 years ago after the death of her husband and has hidden herself away there ever since.  Meeting Xander, and with a lot of encouragement from her friends and family, she realises that it is time that she moves on with her life and agrees to go out on a date.