Welcome to 2020

I hope you all received great bookish gifts like me during the festive period, for those of you whose festive periods come at different points of the year I am wishing you many great books to look forward to.So it’s day one of 2020 and I have finished my first book already…

The Outsider by Stephen King
3 Stars
Synopsis from Goodreads: When an eleven-year-old boy is found murdered in a town park, reliable eyewitnesses undeniably point to the town’s popular Little League coach, Terry Maitland, as the culprit. DNA evidence and fingerprints confirm the crime was committed by this well-loved family man.

Horrified by the brutal killing, Detective Ralph Anderson, whose own son was once coached by Maitland, orders the suspect to be arrested in a public spectacle. But Maitland has an alibi. And further research confirms he was indeed out of town that day.

As Anderson and the District Attorney trace the clues, the investigation expands from Ohio to Texas. And as horrifying answers begin to emerge, so King’s propulsive story of almost unbearable suspense kicks into high gear.

Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy but there is one rock-hard fact, as unassailable as gravity: a man cannot be in two places at the same time. Can he?

My Thoughts – after reading the Dark Tower series last year I am ready to lose myself in the King multiverse again. As this was a Christmas gift it seemed like a good place to start. Yes in true King tradition this does bring in characters from other King books but to find out who you will have to read for yourself.

There is not a lot I can say about this one without giving things away but I will say I really enjoyed the set up at the beginning, I loved the characters and I think the ending tidied things up well.

In other news it is time to set my new Goodreads Challenge for the year, last year my aim was 112 books I smashed that by reading 144 books so this year I am upping my target a small amount to 120. I have chosen this number as I don’t want to be too ambitious and to end up pushing myself to read just to get the numbers up. Reading should always remain a joy not a contest!

What about you did you have a target last year and did you hit it? Are you setting yourself a target for this year?