50 Book Challenge 2020 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 2020, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, 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?

[Piggywaspushed]

Thank you!

[FortunaMajor]

Thanks for the new thread Southeast.

The list so far...

1. Asymmetry - Lisa Halliday
   
2. The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides
   
3. Woke – Titania McGrath
   
4. My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
   
5. The Familiars – Stacey Halls
   
6. The Hunting Party – Lucy Foley
   
7. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
   
8. Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
   
9. The Sanctuary Murders – Susanna Gregory
   

10. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
11. Villette – Charlotte Brontë
12. Night Boat to Tangiers – Kevin Barry
13. Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
14. Homesick for Another World - Ottessa Moshfegh
15. Middlemarch – George Eliot
16. Galatea – Madeline Miller
17. The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien
18. The Running Hare – John Lewis Stempel
19. The Hidden World of the Fox – Adele Brand
20. The Janus Stone (Ruth Galloway #2) – Elly Griffiths
21. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
22. And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
23. The Witches Are Coming – Lindy West
24. Lost Children Archive – Valeria Luiselli
25. The Confession – Jessie Burton
26. The Wall – John Lanchester
27. The Man Who Saw Everything – Deborah Levy
28. Bone China - Laura Purcell
29. I Am, I Am, I Am – Maggie O’Farrell
30. Call the Midwife – Jennifer Worth
31. Candide - Voltaire
32. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
33. The Mercies – Kiran Millwood Hargrave
34. Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
35. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco

[Sirzy]

Thanks for the new thread.

I have just finished Queenie and loved it. Something really different but very hard to put down.

[AnUnlikelyWorldofInvisibleShad]

Just checking in with my list here.

1. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers: Mary Roach (3/5)
2. Circe: Madeline Miller (2/5)
3. The Girl with all the Gifts: M. R. Carey (4/5)
4. Odd Girl Out: Laura James (3/5)
5. Their Skeletons Speak: Sally M Walker and Douglas W Owsley (4/5)
6. The Royal Art of Poison: Eleanor Herman (3/5)
7. The Boy on the Bridge: M R Carey (4/5)
8. Rivers of London: Ben Aaronovitch (2/5)
9. The Handmaid's Tale: Margaret Atwood (5/5)

10. The Vagina Bible: Dr Jen Gunter (4/5)
11. Hormonal: Eleanor Morgan (2/5)
12. Bosh! How To Live Vegan: Henry Firth and Ian Theasby (4/5)
13. Ready Player One: Ernest Cline (5/5)

[ChessieFL]

My list:

1. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
   
2. The Dilemma by B A Paris
   
3. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
   
4. Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr
   
5. Literary Landscapes by John Sutherland
   
6. The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
   
7. The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame
   
8. The Secretary by Renee Knight
   
9. Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West
   

10. Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorne
11. Lies Lies Lies by Adele Parks
12. The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
13. The Chalk Man by C J Tudor
14. When The Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica
15. Finders Keepers by Belinda Bauer
16. Confessions Of A Showbiz Reporter by Holly Forrest
17. After Me Comes The Flood by Sarah Perry
18. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
19. Friend Of The Family by Tasmina Perry
20. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
21. Death At Wolf’s Nick by Diane James
22. All The Rage by Cara Hunter
23. Haven’t They Grown by Sophie Hannah
24. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
25. A Spoonful of Jam by Michelle Magorian
26. Tea By The Nursery Fire by Noel Streatfeild
27. Black Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
28. Birds, Beasts and Relatives by Gerald Durrell
29. The Sudden Departure of The Frasers by Louise Candlish
30. The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen
31. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
32. Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland
33. The Boy At The Back Of The Class by Onjali Q Rauf
34. The Nothing Girl by Jodi Taylor
35. Grown-Ups by Marian Keyes
36. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
37. That Girl From Nowhere by Dorothy Koomson
38. Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham
39. One Shot by Lee Child
40. The Silence by Daisy Pearce
41. The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock by Jane Riley
42. Not On My Patch, Lad: More Tales Of A Yorkshire Bobby by Mike Pannett
43. Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
44. Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

Currently reading Little Fires Everywhere, plus David Copperfield for the readalong and Mansfield Park on Audible.

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

Thank you southeast

My list

1. Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman
2. Vox by Christina Dalcher
3. In Evil Hour by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Spasm by Lauren Slater
5. Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
6. Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders
7. Written On The Body by Jeanette Winterson
8. Lion by Saroo Brierley
9. Tony And Susan by Austin Wright

10. The Purveyor Of Enchantment by Marika Cobbold
11. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier
12. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnett
13. Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale
14. The Remains Of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
15. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
16. The Girl With All The Gifts by MR Carey
17. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
18. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
19. Touch by Claire North
20. A Year Of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman
21. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
22. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
23. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
24. Small Island by Andrea Levy
25. Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper
26. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
27. Ayoade On Top by Richard Ayoade
28. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
29. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
30. Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Remi Eddo-Lodge

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

It's very disappointing that out of 30 books, I've only loved 7.

[InMyOwnParticularIdiom]

Thanks Southeast.

Here's my list:

1. The Secrets of Blood and Bone - Rebecca Alexander
   
2. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
   
3. Identity Crisis - Ben Elton
   
4. Sunny Side Up - Susan Calman
   
5. How to Stop Losing Your Shit with Your Kids - Carla Naumburg
   
6. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty
   
7. This Book Will Change Your Mind about Mental Health - Nathan Filer
   
8. Damascus - Christos Tsiolkas
   
9. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
   

10. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse - David Mitchell
11. Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams

Currently reading Murderous Contagion, a history of disease which I am 'enjoying' in my own unique way.

[InMyOwnParticularIdiom]

Fortuna - I missed out on meeting Peter Ustinov by one year and got my degree from Bill Bryson instead...

[DesdamonasHandkerchief]

Thanks southeast, my list:


1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen
2. Holes by Louis Sachar
3. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
4. The Girl With All The Gifts by M R Carey
5. The Green Mile by Stephen King
6. Sweet Sorrow by David Nichols
7. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
8. The Acceptance World (Book 3 of A Dance To The Music Of Time) by Anthony Powell
9. Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Currently listening to Himself by Jess Kidd and reading Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue

[Chrissysouth]

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
   
2. The Girls by Lisa Jewell
   
3. I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell
   
4. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
   
5. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
   
6. I Found You by Lisa Jewell
   
7. The Sister by Louise Jensen
   
8. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
   
9. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
   

10. The Lost Man by Jane Harper
11. In a Dark, Dark, Wood by Ruth Ware
12. The Dry by Jane Harper
13. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
14. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
15. Deju Death by Kathy Reichs
16. Now You See Her by Heidi Perks
17. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
18. A Proper Family Christmas by Chrissy Manby
19. The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green
20. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
21. The Death Sculptor by Chris Carter
22. One by One by Chris Carter
23. China Lake by Meg Gardiner
24. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
25. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
26. Vox by Christina Dalcher

27. Sister by Rosamund Lupton
28. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
29. Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich
30. The Time Traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger
31. The Island by Victoria Hislop
32. Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon
33. The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne
34. Seven Days by Alex Lake
35. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NG
36. The Narrow Bed by Sophie Hannah
37. The Blood of an Englishman by M.C. Beaton
38. Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
39. Force of Nature by Jane Harper
40. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
41. The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish

Currently reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

[Terpsichore]

Thanks so much for the thread, Southeast

My list so far:

1: Quartet in Autumn - Barbara Pym
2: The Sale of the Late King's Goods - Jerry Brotton
3: The House Opposite - Barbara Noble
4: Jacob's Room is Full of Books - Susan Hill
5: The Gathering - Anne Enright
6: The Night Fire - Michael Connelly
7: The Shadow District - Arnaldur Indriðason
8: 1939 - Frederick Taylor
9: North Korea Journal - Michael Palin
10: Clock Dance - Anne Tyler
11: The Missing Ink - Philip Hensher
12: A Very Private Eye - Barbara Pym
13: Odd One Out - Lissa Evans
14: Whistle in the Dark - Emma Healey
15: The Greengage Summer - Rumer Godden
16: Some Tame Gazelle - Barbara Pym
17: The Lying Room - Nicci Gerrard
18: Not in Your Lifetime: The Assassination of JFK - Anthony Summers
19: Our Friends in Berlin - Anthony Quinn
20: Airhead - Emily Maitlis
21: Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane - Paul Thomas Murphy


Just started Robert Harris's Conclave , and I'm on the David Copperfield readalong train too...

[FortunaMajor]

Idiom he was a legend for going on as long as he did. We were the first year to graduate from the cathedral rather than the castle. I think I probably left just as you started. I used to spend far too much time in the Oxfam bookshop.

Currently listening to Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid on audio and reading Bring Up the Bodies in print.

I always like a new thread to see everyone's stand outs.

[FranKatzenjammer]

Thanks for the new thread, southeast. Here's my list:

1. My Name is Why- Lemn Sissay
   
2. Damaged- Cathy Glass
   
3. Wonder- R.J. Palacio
   
4. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race- Reni Eddo-Lodge
   
5. Lost at Sea: the Jon Ronson Mysteries- John Ronson
   
6. Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television- Louis Theroux
   
7. Birdsong- Sebastian Faulks
   
8. Lord of the Flies- William Golding
   
9. The Beatrix Potter Collection- Beatrix Potter
   

10. The Cold War: a History from Beginning to End- Hourly History
11. The Subtle Knife- Philip Pullman
12. The Amber Spyglass- Philip Pullman
13. Nine Perfect Strangers- Liane Moriarty
14. Brazil- Michael Palin
15. The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald
16. The Collector- John Fowles
17. Ready Player One- Ernest Cline
18. Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life- Peter Godfrey-Smith
19. Engleby- Sebastian Faulks
20. Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure- John Cleland
21. The Boy at the Back of the Class- Onjali Q. Rauf
22. Prison: A Survival Guide- Carl Cattermole
23. The Children- Alice Meynell
24. The Year of Reading Dangerously- Andy Miller
25. This is Going to Hurt- Adam Kay
26. Mummy Told Me Not to Tell- Cathy Glass
27. The Aerodynamics of Pork- Patrick Gale
28. Aztec Civilisation: A History from Beginning to End- Hourly History
29. Cannery Row- John Steinbeck
30. La Belle Sauvage- Philip Pullman
31. War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line- David Nott
32. The Bookshop that Floated Away- Sarah Henshaw
33. The Imperial Phase: The Rise & Fall of British Indie Music 1986-1997- Ray Dexter
34. Lunch with the Wild Frontiers: A History of Britpop and Excess in 13½ Chapters- Phill Savidge

and here are my most recent reads and listens:

35. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind- William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer This was on a Kindle Deal recently. It is the true story of a teenage boy who builds a windmill to provide power for his village in Malawi. I found it very moving to read about famine from a young person’s point of view and also inspirational to discover the difficulties he overcame (e.g. being kicked out of school as his parents couldn’t pay the fees). I know very little about physics but it was still interesting to read the details of how he built the wind turbines.

36. Frost in May- Antonia White A convent school story from 1933, published as one of the Virago Modern Classics. Based partly on the author’s own experiences, the first half of the novel describes the protagonist’s Catholic education beautifully. I enjoyed the second half slightly less, but when the end came it was quite shocking and rather sudden. I was sorry not to have read this earlier and will probably take a look at the sequels.

37. Lyra’s Oxford- Philip Pullman It was good to be back with Lyra- especially in Oxford- but this felt very short and inconsequential.

38. Scrublands- Chris Hammer I reviewed this Australian novel last year, but this was the audiobook. I enjoyed it again but still thought it was slightly too long. The narrator was excellent.

39. A History of Loneliness- John Boyne This story about child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland is expertly handled by John Boyne. He tells the tale with a lightness of touch and with engaging subplots, so that it is extremely readable. I zipped through it, the full horror of the story revealing itself only gradually. At the end, I felt strong, conflicting emotions: shock and distaste mixed with elation at what a fantastic novel I had just read.

40. Here Comes the Clown: A Stumble Through Showbusiness- Dom Joly I got this in the recent Audible sale, having enjoyed Joly’s two travel books. This one is a memoir, in which Joly tells us about the making of Trigger Happy TV and also several programmes I’ve never really bothered with. I like his self-deprecating humour, which makes him very likeable: he admits that he sometimes comes across as a bit of a wanker and that several of his programmes have been turkeys!

I've now got a few books on the go (as usual): I'm reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King, The Lost World by Michael Crichton, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich and (for the readalong) David Copperfield. On Audible, I'm just about to start Inside Broadmoor.

[mackerella]

Here's my list so far:

1. Hall of Mirrors by Christopher Fowler
2. Festive Spirits by Kate Atkinson
3. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel
4. The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
5. Angel With Two Faces by Nicola Upson
6. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
7. The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
8. The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths
9. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

10. The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
11. The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths
12. Normal People by Sally Rooney
13. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths
14. The Herring Seller's Apprentice by L. C. Tyler
15. To Siri With Love by Judith Newman
16. The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co) by Jonathan Stroud
17. 9th and 13th by Jonathan Coe
18. Literary Life by Posy Simmonds
19. Bach by Denis Arnold
20. The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy
21. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
22. Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert

Currently listening to England's Glory (Bryant and May short stories) and about to start Bamber Gascoigne's book about Kit Williams' Masquerade, which I luckily got through the library - second-hand copies sell for several hundred pounds

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

How did I manage to buy read and review the book without realising its Reni not Remi! 😱

[MamaNewtNewt]

Just bringing my list over.

1. Pet Semetary by Stephen King (2/5)
2. The Outsider by Albert Camus (5/5)
3. Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter by Carol Ann Lee (3/5)
4. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. (4/5)
5. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. (5/5)
6. 4321 by Paul Auster. (4/5)
7. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. (3/5)
8. The Devil's Teardrop by Jeffrey Deaver. (1/5)
9. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor. (3/5)

10. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. (4/5)
11. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor. (4/5)
12. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor. (4/5)
13. Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay. (1/5)
14. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. (3/5)

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thanks, South. No list to bring over, as I've not made one. I'm finding it oddly liberating!

[BestIsWest]

Thank you SouthEast also no list here (joins Remus in the rebel’s corner).

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Best - fist bump.

[Piggywaspushed]

My list is a bit short :

1. Following On – Emma John
   
2. Number One Chinese Restaurant – Lillian Li
   
3. If Cats Disappeared From The World – Genki Kawamura
   
4. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
   
5. The Hunting Party – Lucy Foley
   
6. Now We Shall Be Entirely Free – Andrew Miller
   
7. The Ballroom – Anna Hope
   
8. Emma - Jane Austen
   
9. The Mercies – Kiran Millwood Hargrave

[AnUnlikelyWorldofInvisibleShad]

MurderousContagion is great. I'm hoping to reread it this year.

[Jux]

Hi all! I haven't got a list of books read this year, and I'm pretty sure if I did one I'd be massively embarrassed by how short it is! If I take one thing from these threads it is that I am not spending enough time reading! For an erstwhile life-long bookworm, that is a bit of a shock!

EineReise, re A S Byatt, I think that I loved her books because they featured a young woman who was studious, intelligent, and rather naive (possibly autobiographical?) which reminded me of me. I suspect that I might find them a little self-indulgent if I were to reread them now. OTOH, we both loved The Children's Book. You could try The Game, which isn't a 'Frederica'' book - though I think it's still autobiographical - or take a punt on The Biographer's Tale, which I haven't read either. Just warning you, I really loved Possession.

Fortuna, I'm v uncertain about the Fry; in nearly 60 years I haven't found any retellings of the myths and legends that beat Graves.

[RubySlippers77]

I quite enjoyed The Name of the Rose although that was many years ago - suspect I wouldn't have the patience now! @Terpsichore are you enjoying Conclave? I quite liked that too but found it dragged on a bit - don't think I'd read it again.

I'm suffering with horrible ear infections which means audiobooks are out , but have recently read:

21. The Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters

The first in the Amelia Peabody Emerson series of archaeology mysteries. Soooo good and loads of fun. Set in Victorian times; I have no idea if all the archaeological details are correct, but Amelia is a formidable character, especially for the era!

22. Black Arts - Prentice & Weil

YA fiction about a boy who develops, yes you've guessed it I kept thinking I'd enjoy this more than I actually did, but kept going till the end regardless. Don't think I'd read any more in the series though (if there are any?! I didn't even care enough to check...)

23. One of Us is Lying - Karen McManus

YA fiction again, this time about a murder which takes place during a high school detention, and working out whodunnit. Cross between a locked room mystery and The Breakfast Club. I guessed the culprit before the end (unusual for me as I'm a bit dim at these things!) but it held my attention well and I'd read another book by this author.

[Taswama]

Mostly place marking. I managed 40 books last year (just) and am aiming for 45 this year. Currently on no 11 and my favourites so far:

1. Towards zero by Agatha Christie
   
2. 50 things that made the modern economy (audiobook)
   
3. Walking with Plato - musings on philosophy while walking from John O’Groats to Lands End
   
4. Thin Air and 10. White Nights both by Ann Cleves - murder mysteries in the Shetland’s - read in the wrong order
   
5. Last confession of Thomas Hawkins