50 Book Challenge 2013 -The Sequel!

46. Agatha Raisin and the Christmas Crumble - M C Beaton. The story felt a bit rushed, but was mildly amusing.

bibliomania I've just started 'Rosemary's Baby': so far, so good, if I enjoy this Ira Levin too, I may download some more.

Stepford Wives is a fun read - and it's intriguing to see where the trope originated.

Finished Mutton by India Knight. I feel the same way about IK as I do about the Sunday Times Style section. It keeps trilling at me "This is what women are like!" and I keep thinking nope, that doesn't reflect me. But it was an entertaining read and slipped down easily.

Have started (44) Under Another Sky by Charlotte Higgins. A couple of chapters in and I'm loving it. It's just the sort of book I adore. The author visits various sites connected with Roman Britain and muses about the the way the Roman presence has been interpretated over the centuries.

45. Stepford Wives - Ira Levin. A really good quick read.

41. Space Captain Smith - Toby Frost

31. Martian Time-Slip - Philip K Dick
32. The Witches - Roald Dahl
33. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
34. The Worst Journey In The World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard
35. James And The Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
36. The Children's Hospital - Chris Adrian
37. Ring Of Bright Water - Gavin Maxwell
38. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
39. The White Queen - Philippa Gregory
40. Blindness - Jose Saramago. A post-apocalypic dystopian novel not dissimilar to John Christopher's The Death Of Grass which I read earlier in the year, this has the premise that first a small group of people, then everyone in the world is suddenly struck blind, and rapid breakdown of civilisation follows. It's not an easy read but incredibly well written so would highly recommend for those who like that kind of thing.

I've been lurking and reading what others have been posting. I'm also lagging way behind, but am loving that I have got back into reading.
Here's my list so far:

1. How to be a Woman ? Caitlin Moran
2. Raising Boys ? Steve Biddulph
3. Reaver?s Ransom ? Emily Diamand
4. Kindred ? Octavia E. Butler
5. Wendy ? Karen Wallace
6. Generation A ? Douglas Coupland
7. Runemark ? Joanne Harris
8. The Picture of Dorian Gray ? Oscar Wilde
9. The Hundred Year Old Man who climbed out of a window and disappeared ? Jonas Jonasson
10. Shade?s Children ? Garth Nix
11. The Journal of Dora Damage ? Belinda Starling
12. The Hunger Games ? Suzanne Collins
13. Island of Lost Girls ? Jennifer McMahon
14. The Garbage King ? Elizabeth Laird
15. Heart-Shaped Box ? Joe Hill
16. The Adventures of Jimmy Scar ? Jeanne Willis
17. Catching Fire ? Suzanne Collins

Almost finished:
18. The Snow Child ? Eowyn Ivey

Minsmum - almost there. I am so lagging behind.

40. Is that a fish in your ear? David Bellos. Non-fiction about translation. Got quite bogged down in this for a long time.

41. The Lewis Man, Peter May

42. The House at Sea's End, Elly Griffiths.
    Two crime stories with quite a lot in common - dark doings in remote spots decades ago. Preferred the Elly Griffiths, as I like her characters more.

Currently on (43) Mutton, by India Knight. I find her a bit annoying but still amusing, so enjoying this one.

I started Dominion, by CJ Sansom, but got mired in all the exposition, so am taking a break from it. Next up is a recent non-fiction book, Under Another Sky by Charlotte Higgins, which I'm really looking forward to.

49. Gone West - Carola Dunn That's the last of the series so far and I have thoroughly enjoyed them. Not sure what to read for number 50, although I have a couple on the go at the moment. Some non fiction that I have been dipping in and out of.

51. Why we get fat and what to do about it - Gary Taubes Very interesting.
52. Death of a Cad - MC Beaton

74 - Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome. A re-read, and just as witty and entertaining as ever.

Book 40 finished. Not Hoffman's best IMO, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well worth a read.

Book 41 is a kindle freebie. Jodi Taylor "Just One Damn Thing After Another". Not entirely sure what it's about, I've just read a few pages but they've made me

Are not ate obviously

And 73 - I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron. An interesting and amusing collection of articles. Some ate so true and very funny.

72 - The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Really good. Page turningly excellent

I've been on a WW2 history binge:

57. The Secrets Of Bletchley Park
58. Five Days That Shocked The World
59. Stalingrad, by Anthony Beevor
60. Berlin, ditto

And back to fiction

61. Until You're Mine, by Samantha Hayes- just brilliant psycholical thriller, thoroughly recommend it

62. Nearest Thing To Crazy, by Elizabeth Forbes- again, rollicking good read. In the tradition of classics like The Yellow Wallpaper, it examines female 'madness' and gaslighting.

63. Just What Kind Of Mother Are You- in the middle of this, and

64. What Matters In Jane Austen- interesting look at her work, suggested on the current Austen thread.

Yes that's the one. I don't know too much about it either, my DH is British Bangladeshi so I was a bit interested. Have yet to read either. I will probably know more than him at the end.

I am struggling with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and other stories of the jazz age. I had to read Button for book club but I can't really add it to my total if I don't finish the book. I think I am coming to the conclusion that F. Scott Fitzgerald is just not my bag.

Is it 'The Golden Age' Circassian? I have that to read too, it's the follow up.
I liked it, didn't love it. Don't know a lot about the Bangladesh War Of Independence but it was more character/emotive led than details. Am saving the sequel for a while because I found the ending hard going!
Have just been on holiday and managed only managed to read one book It was
66. Ken Follett - Eye Of The Needle

Book 39 was "The Falling Sky" by Pippa Goldschmidt. I really enjoyed it, although there were some predictable plotlines, and the conclusion of one of the plotlines was a bit disappointing.

Started book 40: Alice Hoffman "Angel's Landing". Alice Hoffman is a firm favourite of mine, and this one is great so far!

44. Rush of Blood - Mark Billingham. Excellent thriller.

Well, most of us have Kindles so page numbers don't mean much to my book club

We don't usually read the classics but we don't read chick-lit crap either. It's a good mix.

Jealous of Anna Karenina for book club Cote.

Our group has rules, one of which is no books over 400 pages, although we broke it once for Kim.

42. Friends in High Places - Donna Leon. Unusually Brunetti cracks and shows genuine anger.

43. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger. Would have been much better without the dreadful ending.

40. Armour wherein he trusted - very poetic, slightly moralistic, but beautifully written story of courtly love. I didn't enjoy it as much as 'Precious Bane', but it hasn't put me off Mary Webb.

41. The Queen's sorrow. This was one of those books that I thought was a bit vague at the end. Interesting to hear about how the Spanish were reviled but also regaled during the reign of 'Bloody' Mary - and the lengths taken to keep her subjects "under control". However, several points were unconcluded which left me feeling a bit disappointed.

42. The Traitor's Wife - Kathleen Kent. This is her second novel but is actually the backstory to her first. Enjoyable historical fiction built from her own family history and factual events.