50 Book Challenge in 2013. Who's with me?

I've been following what everyone's reading with interest - here's my list so far:

1. Parade's End - Ford Madox Ford
2. Bitter Water - Gordon Ferris
3. To the End of the Land - David Grossman
4. The Makioka Sisters - Junichiro Tanizaki
5. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion - Yukio Mishima
6. How to be a Good Wife - Emma Chapman
7. Blossoms and Shadow - Lian Hearn
8. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
9. The Box Man - Kobo Abe

I had a plan this year to read in themes: first Japanese novels, then books set around WW2, then Tudor and finally Indian subcontinent .. with the odd crime novel or book club choice mixed in.

This was derailed by Iain Bank's sad announcement that he was terminally ill, which made me decide to try his science fiction for the first time and also go back and reread his mainstream novels from the beginning. That's what I'm into at the moment, having just survived The Wasp Factory (engrossing but occasionally stomach-churning)

I've also really enjoyed the clarity of the writing in classic novels like Grapes of Wrath and The Painted Veil, which were library book club choices. So my revised plan is to work my way through Iain (M) Banks, then focus on Victorian and early 20th century writers, and after that moving on to books set in the 40's.

I'm in my 50s and it's starting to dawn on me that I'm not going to live long enough to read everything that I want to

20. The Girl you Left Behind by JoJo Moyes.

Glad I borrowed this and didn't waste my money! Ugh, so darned predictable!!! Disappointed, so for a completely different read, I'm off to have a go with Gone Girl!

21. The BFG - Roald Dahl
22. Alone In Berlin - Hans Fallada

Alone In Berlin was really good, based on a true story of a middle-aged German couple during WW2 who start leaving anti-Hitler postcards around the city when their son is killed in action.

Where did shrinkingnora go? Hope you didn't stop posting just because you got to 50 - it's still interesting to hear what people are reading!

46. Boxer, Beetle, Ned Beauman. Reminded me of The Crow Road, Iain Banks. Same kind of shock value. Okay, but not altogether my kind of thing.

47. The Council of the Cursed, Peter Tremayne. I like the concept (7th century female Irish lawyer) but not all that atmospheric or intriguingly plotted. Won't bother with the rest of the series.

48. Shakespeare's Local, Pete Brown. Non-fiction. Amusingly written, some interesting characters, enjoying it.

I haven't been on this thread in a while. I had a flying start but faltered in April with a lot of failures. Book 12 was Winter of the World by Ken Follett which I enjoyed more than his last one. Book 13 was a Robert Parker (Spenser) who I love. I have just started a Terence Strong.
13 books in 4 months. Must do better.

No.7 Road to Paradise - Paullina Simons. A really lovely chunky read, but felt a little shortchanged by the ending - a massive length of time covered in very few pages. However, I love her style so shall be reading more.

Just started No.8 - My Time - Bradley Wiggins

No.17 was Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes, which I read because I have seen it mentioned several times on MN. Great to see such an important subject as addiction covered in a chick lit style.

12. Sea Stirred - Caroline Williams. This was a thoroughly enjoyable light read about first love set in Cornwall. Anyone who has been on holiday would instantly recognise the scenery and local flavour. The characters were believable and it made me remember being that age all over again.

I recommend it, particularly as it is written by a MN'er. It's currently on Kindle for £1.53.

*Thursday, not Tuesday. (Confusing my diary with my fiction!)

So #23 finished. Really enjoyed it. Jasper Fforde was just what I needed after the depressing Stephen Baxter book. Problem is, I realised I've now read the first and last in the current Tuesday Next series, so I'll have to work out what order all the others go in, and read those.

Just started (literally on page 1) #24 The Somnambulist. And picked up #25 & #26 from the library today.

Oh wow. I didn't know that. It's years since I read it though. I might have to do a bit of googling.

WednesdayNext it's worth doing a bit of googling after reading The Jigsaw Man. The man he was convinced was responsible for Rachel Nickel's murder (but was never found guilty as the evidence was ruled inadmissible) was innocent - someone else confessed years after the book was written!

It's a fascinating subject, but interesting to see he is not infallible.

Lots of catching up to do if I'm to get anywhere near 50!

1. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
2. House Rules - Jodi Picoult
3. How To Be A Woman - Caitlin Moran
4. Is it Just Me?- Miranda Hart
5. Mum's List - St John Greene
6. My Dear I Wanted To Tell You -Louisa Young
7. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
8. When God Was A Rabbit - Sarah Winman
9. Our Man In Orlando - Hugh Hunter

Currently reading The Snow Child and then thinking of Wolf Hall or Room.

mixed It was the sweet shop element that led me to the Jenny Colgan, probably will get her new one too as it is about a chocolate shop
Added to my list:
32) Lee Child - Die Trying
33) Margaret Dickinson - Clippie Girls
34) Iain Edward Henn - Disappear

tumbletumble you're the first person I've come across who read The Jigsaw Man. I read it when I was much younger and remember being fascinated by it!

I'm still on book 18, "A Feast for Crows" by George RR Martin. Enjoying it, but it's a slow read! I'm about half way through.

Just finished book 27 Truth Dare Kill by Gordon Ferris. I am really enjoying these books set just after the second world war. This time with a different protagonist, though they are both Scottish, and very different from each other. I have 2 more of his left and I am unsure whether to read something else or just dive straight into the next one.

I got an email today saying I had by e-reader for a year, these are the books in my library I read.

Young Adult books

1 - 3 The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and The Answer, Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness
4 - 6 Hunger Games books
7 A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness.

1. Holes
2. Trash

Adult

12 -13 Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings
14. The Devil Dancers - T Thurai
15. The Garden of Evening Mists
16. The Hundred Year Old Man ....
17. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
18. Ragnarok The End of Gods - A S Byatt
19. Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
20. Are We Nearly There Yet? A Families 8,000 miles Mile Car Journey.

21. Pets in a Pickle - Malcolm Welshman. The only SHIT one, it was very bad.

I really haven't read that much during the last year, less iPad whilst watching tv and more going to bed with a book is needed.

Yes I agree, she has a very different parenting style to mine, but she does seem to have a sense of humour and made some very interesting points about the reasoning behind her methods.

Re Amy Chua, she did seem quite human after all, didn't she? A bit more self-awareness and humour than expected, and you do sense that it's about ensuring her dds can be all they can be, and not just how they reflect on her. She does acknowledge in the end that some children benefit from this style and others don't.

There's something to be said for pushing children past a "blockage", for example when learning a musical instrument, so that they learn the satisfaction of doing a hard thing. Some victories are all the sweeter for being hard-won.

That said, in practice I'm one of the wimpy kind of mothers who says "Don't do it if you don't want to". But she's made me thing twice about whether that's always the right thing.

Finished Book 34 - Five Run Away Together (Famous Five Book 3) by Enid Blyton (DD's bedtime story :o). Perhaps not quite as enjoyable as the first two, but still good.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is surprisingly good, isn't it tumble? I wouldn't be in any hurry to take parenting advice from Amy Chua, but I didn't think she was all that bad!

Thanks for the suggestions Nickname.

Greenhill, that's next on my list! Not a re-read for me though.

Finished no.16, Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, which slightly to my surprise I really enjoyed.

Now reading Rachel's Holiday.

11. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier. A re-read, I'm staggered at how useless Maxim is: he doesn't help ease his bride into the household routines and someone he actively dislikes (Mrs Danvers) is allowed to gain such a hold over the household that it causes a bad atmosphere that he is oblivious to: most of her fears and social gaucheness would have been solved if they'd stopped in London on the way back from their honeymoon and got her a proper trousseau. He is so wrapped up in himself that the second Mrs de Winter has no idea what he is thinking about and is not the man she thought she married. It is very atmospheric, especially in terms of people looking and acting their parts and the horror that rises from Mrs de Winter thinking she has the wrong script and costume on.

Ooh, I enjoyed that one, tumble. Paula Byrne's book Jane Austen: A life in things is good too, as is Jane's Fame by Claire Harman.

No. 15 What Matters in Jane Austen by John Mullan, which made me want to read all my Jane Austens again!