50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2018, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it’s not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of the year is here and the second one here.

What are you reading?

[Sadik]

Just checking in, I"m currently reading Arcadia by Iain Pears which I'm thoroughly enjoying but need to take slowly ( weird interesting cross between science-heavy SF & pastoral fantasy).

[Piggywaspushed]

I've just received my copy of 1001 Books To Read before You Die.

I'll have to live a very very long time before I even make a dent in it!!

Oddly, the I have read nearly all the German books in there.

I'm a bit shit where the first seven decades of the twentieth century are concerned!!

[Ellisisland]

Book 16 The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Sweet easy read about a cat that travels with his owner to visit friends. The reason for the journey unfolds over the story and it is told from the the point of view of the cat. Enjoyable read but some of the sentences are a bit clunky so I do wonder if it isn’t a great translation but since I don’t read Japanese I will never know!

[CramptonHodnet]

Checking in. Thanks for the new thread, southeast. I picked up Diary of an Ordinary Schoolgirl by Margaret Forster from the library and have just started it. It is lovely - stepping into a bygone era. It was the year before my parents got married so, although they were a few years older, it's a little glimpse at their world too.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thanks, South.

Will finish the Donald Crowhurst book tonight so will review tomorrow.

DD1 just gave me this so I think it will be next. Regular readers might remember my rave review of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by the same writer.

[Tarahumara]

Thanks for the new thread, southeast - just marking my place.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Marking place!

[Passmethecrisps]

Thank you for the new thread, south

I started Burual Rites having decided to simply read whatever was next on my kindle. I would like to be a proper adult and not buy anything until I return back to work in june but I am not sure I can manage. I have a library card to I suppose it should be straightforward.

I already very much like this book and have read more in one nap time than I managed in a few nights with the other bilge. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes

[Matilda2013]

Thanks for the new thread. List below. No particular stand outs yet!

1. Sisters and Lies - Bernice Barrington
   
2. Her Husband’s Secret - Janice Frost
   
3. Mount! - Jilly Cooper
   
4. They All Fall Down - Tammy Cohen
   
5. The Word Game - Steena Holmes
   
6. The Good Widow - Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
   
7. Mummy’s Favourite - Sarah Flint
   
8. The Paper Year - Avery Aster
   
9. Gone - TJ Brearton
   

Currently reading 10. My Sister’s Grave - Robert Dugoni as the last of my forays into the kindle unlimited books!

[virginqueen]

My list
In January, Good People by Hannah Kent, The Burning Page and The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman, The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson, The Assassin's Apprentice and Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb, Star of The Sea by Joseph O'Connor.
In February so far, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman and Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb. I'm feeling pleased with myself for having got so far, although others have done much more.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

List:
1: Quiet London
2: Walking in Berlin: A Flaneur in the Capital - Franz Hessel
3: Death at the Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh
4: Our Man in Havana – Graham Greene
5: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane – Henry Farrell
6: The Berlin Wall – My Part in its Downfall by Peter Millar
7: The Winter Queen – Boris Akunin
8:: The Thorn Birds – Colleen McCullough
9: The Nix – Nathan Hill
10: N or M – Agatha Christie
11: A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh
12: The Attenbury Emeralds – Jill Paton Walsh
13: An Almond for a Parrot – Wray Delaney
14: Strong Poison – Dorothy L Sayers

[Piggywaspushed]

Eleventh book Sapiens.

This was actually a quick read but probably because I skimmed the bits that bored me

He's a very clever man and I am in awe of his breadth and depth of knowledge. I enjoyed the first half of the book. It's thought provoking. He overuses the word myriad , though.

I found the stuff about the very modern world dull, must admit. Too much science for my tastes. Not sure I'll read Homo Deus.

I picked up A Tale Of Two Cities form the school library today and was cheered to see it is relatively short by Dickens' standards...

remus is the bold the books you liked?

[StitchesInTime]

Thanks for the new thread.
Checking in

[CluelessMama]

Not keeping up with reading posts on here, seem to have missed the whole of thread 2, will try to do better on shiny new thread!
3. This Mum Runs by Jo Pavey
Athlete's autobiography. A bit of inspiration for my new years resolution to start running. It kind of worked, her enthusiasm for running shone through and I've so far completed the first five weeks of a nine week walk/run programme.
4. How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry
This book was exactly what I expected from the title. Set in a village near Oxford/the Cotswolds, a large cast of characters' lives become interwoven through their connections to the village bookshop. A comfy kind of read, enjoyable.
5. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Listened to the this on Audible and really enjoyed it, one that I know will stay with me.
No idea what's next or when I'll get time, a couple of busy weeks ahead, dreaming of curling up with a book again as soon as I get the chance!

[CheerfulMuddler]

Thanks for the new thread. My list:

1. Make More Noise! Various
   
2. Rose in Bloom L M Alcott
   
3. Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
   
4. Alice Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll
   
5. Eight Cousins L M Alcott
   

And

1. How to Be a Victorian Ruth Goodwin
   

Social history of Victorian Britain; what we wore, ate, did etc. Goodwin has clearly done a lot of first hand research, living and dressing as a Victorian etc.
I really enjoyed this, once I'd gotten into it. Lots of horrifying facts, like how many working class people lived on diets of 80% bread, how it was recommended that you didn't give children fruit or vegetable until they were at least two etc. And the layers of clothes!
Only slight quibble is that she's covering 60 years and the entire social scale, so it's not as detailed as I'd have liked (that's probably just me though, it's pretty damned detailed). I'd have liked more about what the houses/furniture looked like, and what a day looked like particularly for women. Those are quibbles though, it's a very thorough and fascinating book.

[CramptonHodnet]

My reads so far, this year:-

1. Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig
   
2. The Durrells of Corfu by Michael Haag
   
3. The Secret Life of Cows by Rosalind Young
   
4. The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes
   
5. Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
   
6. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
   
7. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving A F**k by Sarah Knight
   
8. The Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor
   
9. Hardcore 24 by Janet Evanovich
   

10. Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon

[Toomuchsplother]

Bringing my list across. Bold are my highlights , italics for the stinkers.
1. Golden Hill - Francis Spufford

1. How to measure a cow - Margaret Forster

3. A History of Britain in 21 Women- Jenni Murray
4. Home Going - Yaa Gyasi

1. The reader on the 6.27
2. Fire and Fury - Inside the Trump White House - Michael Wolff

7. Sugar Money - Jane Harris
8. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë

1. The Book of Eleanor - Pamela Kaufman

10. The Victoria Letters - The Heart and Mind of a Young Queen - Helen Rappaport
11. A place called Winter - Patrick Gale
12. Fingers in the Sparkle Jar - Chris Packham
13. Amy and Isabelle - Elizabeth Strout
14. Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
15. Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín
16. Night waking - Sarah Moss
17. How to stop Brexit - Nick Clegg
18. Life after Life - Kate Atkinson
19. A thousand acres - Jane Smiley
20. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson
21. Birdcage Walk - Helen Dunmore
22. All quiet on the western front - Erich Maria Remarque
23. Gut Symmetries - Jeanette Winterson
24. Fall down 7 times get up 8 - Naoki Higashida
25. The girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson
26. Priestdaddy - Patricia Lockwood
27. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - Imogen Hermes Gowar
28. The more you ignore me - Jo Brand
29. The Reservoir Tapes - Jon McGregor

Still ploughing through The Bone Clocks . Still not sure what I think . One minute I love it the next I am forcing myself onwards.

[ChessieFL]

My list, highlights in bold.

1. Jacob’s Room Is Full Of Books by Susan Hill
   
2. Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller
   
3. The Dry by Jane Harper
   
4. Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson
   
5. Oh My God What A Complete Aisling by Emer McLysart
   
6. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
   
7. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
   
8. The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
   
9. Mrs de Winter by Susan Hill
   

10. The Rebecca Notebook And Other Memories by Daphne du Maurier
11. Wuthering Heights According To Spike Milligan
12. The Growing Pains Of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
13. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
14. All She Wants by Jonathan Harvey
15. Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott
16. The Trouble With Goats And Sheep by Joanna Cannon
17. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
18. Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard
19. The Outcasts Of Time by Ian Mortimer
20. The Power by Naomi Alderman
21. How To Stop Time by Matt Haig

Currently reading The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle and Close to Home by Cara Hunter, plus have an Adrian Mole and number 4 of The Cazalet Chronicles on the go on audiobook.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Piggy - yep.

Clueless - Wild - subtitle: Cheryl invents a silly new name and thinks about shagging a lot.

[TheTurnOfTheScrew]

Cheers SouthEast.

My slow readers club list:

1. The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale
   
2. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
   
3. The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry
   

4. What A Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe

1. Death in the Clouds but Agatha Christie
   
2. The Road Home by Rose Tremain
   

7. 21st Century Yokel by Tom Cox

Just picked up Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.

[Piggywaspushed]

Did you not like The Wicked Boy Turn ? I raced through that last year and really rather liked it.

[TheTurnOfTheScrew]

Piggy I did like it, and found the sections on Broadmoor particularly interesting, but I don't think it's one that's a real stand out. I think at heart I'm just not built for non-fiction . DH reads far more non-fiction, and there's loads of history and biography around the house I feel I ought to read, but it never quite happens.

[TolstoyAteMyHamster]

15 The Shining by Stephen King
I’m trying to fill in my SK gaps over time and this is the first in that project. I found this frustrating because it was absolutely full of that thing he does
(I really don’t like it)
of carrying on two
(Or three or more)
narratives simultaneously while using brackets.

That aside, wow. It was intensely claustrophobic and incredibly frightening. Made IT look like Nancy Mitford, but I’ve always been scared by madness, so perhaps that was why. What’s really striking is how he went from this, which is claustrophobic and confined and focused, to The Stand which blows the world right open in so many ways.

16 The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

I’m still trying to figure this out. I read it quite slowly over a month or so, for book club, and that gave bits time to seep in and also meant I kept having to drag my mind back to it. It’s the kind of book that makes you feel both clever and a bit dumb at the same time; I had to keep reading sections over and over to make sense of them but then bits were just beautifully written and the whole thing had a horrible sense of hurtling towards something awful. I wonder whether being Catholic would make a difference to how one reads this? I felt a lot of it went over my head somewhat without the theological background.

[SatsukiKusakabe]

Thanks southeast

piggy Tale of 2 Cities really turned me round to liking Dickens, I cried big undignified choking sobs at that book. My husband (them boyfriend) thought someone had died until I told him I had just finished a book

[SatsukiKusakabe]

I love Heart is the Matter I think it might be his best. I’m not Catholic but I love all the internal wrestling. I’m thinking of having a GG reread soon.