50 Book Challenge 2014 Part 2

15. Longbourn. I really liked this though I thought it went off a bit towards the end. Very moving in parts especially the parts about the siege of Corunna.

28. Washington Square, by Henry James. I haven't read this since I was a teenager, but I enjoyed it even more this time around. I really recommend it- it's short (a novella, really), and so wry, yet heartbreaking. Anyone who has been put off James by being forcefed his "big" novels should really give this a go, especially if they enjoy the Jane Austen kind of observant wit.

1. The Twelve - Justin Cronin

The sequel to The Passage, this book is not bad but still a bit of a disappointment. I'll get to the 3rd book in due time.

Now on to Bad Science.

25. Neil Gaiman "Stardust". Not my favourite of his, but I did enjoy it.

Thanks strawberrypenguin I read To Kill a Mockingbird at school but have never revisited it.

highlandcoo Thanks for the recommendation. I think I've got a copy of the Secret Life of Bees somewhere around the house (unread) but haven't heard of The Invention of Wings before.

Book 1 - the Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
Book 2 - The Blackhouse - Peter May
Book 3 - The Universe Versus Alex Woods.
Book 4 - Mad About the Boy
Book 5 - My Life - David Jason
Book 6 - Paper Towns - John Green
Book 7 - We Are Water - Wally Lamb
Book 8 - American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
Book 9 - What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty
Book 10 - The Personal History of Rachel Dupree - AnnWeisgarber
Book 11 - The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng.
Book 12 - The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith
Book 13 - Greyhound of a Girl - Roddy Doyle
Book 14 - Gangsta Granny - David Walliams
Book 15 - The Rosie Project
Book 16 - 12 Years a Slave
Book 17 - Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
Book 18 - Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
Book 19 - The Impossible Dead - Ian Rankin
Book 20 - Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone.
Book 21 - The House We Grew Up In
Book 22 - The First Casualty - Ben Elton
Book 23 - Big Brother - Lionel Shriver

First of all I can't bear just how bloody pleased she is with herself and her opinions. Her prejudices come through in everything she writes. I actually think she's a superb writer once she gets over herself but I can't help feeling that she missed the mark a little here. Not as much as that crock of mud that was Double Fault; worst mockney dialogue ever! I happen to think that WNTTAK was magnificent but I read it before the ending was common knowledge and it scared the bejesus out of me. This, not so much. Not at all. Oh and I met her at a literary festival a few years ago and she has no social skills whatsoever. A mannerless vacoid. I wanted to love this and indeed I raced through it. On reflection, meh.

Finished no.6 at last!

1. Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes

I really enjoyed this one, probably more so than City of Spades which was the first book in the collection. I have started reading the last one now, Mr Love and Justice, but think I need to find a smaller book to fit in hand luggage for a weekend away this weekend. Any recommendations gratefully received!

Book 15 The Witch Hunter by Bernard Knight.

Set in Exeter in 1195, the story is set around the coroner in Devon, Sir John de Wolfe, and it's one in a series with him as the lead. A wealthy mill-owner dies suddenly and his widow is convinced he was killed by witchcraft, although the coroner declines to investigate as he was overweight, had been complaining of chest pains, and there were no signs of injury. The widow and her cousin, canon of Exeter cathedral, start a campaign against witchcraft and the cunning women who practise it, whipping up mobs and putting several women in danger.

It's an okay read, not brilliant, but entertaining enough. I don't know a huge amount about this period historically (it's set in the reign of Richard the Lion Heart) so there were interesting comments about the perceived differences in status of the Norman incomers and the Saxons, even though it is over 100 years after 1066.

My reading has slowed down a bit because I'm also reading a non-fiction work which always seems to take me longer to get through for some reason.

mumtojakie and strawberrypenguin - also take a look at The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Even better than The Secret Life of Bees which she also wrote.

It's a powerful examination of slavery from both sides .. how it affects the lives of the owners as well as the slaves themselves. Based on a true story of two sisters from a slave-owning family who became dedicated campaigners for abolitionism, it's informative but extremely readable at the same time. Beautifully written.

15. Life After Life - Kate Atkinson. Enjoyed this. The characters grew on me, but I did finish it feeling like there was something missing, things that weren't fully explained that I wanted to know more about.

I decided to record my reading this year as I so easily forget books and authors. I am on to my eleventh book - Life After Life but really loved A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki - from the Booker prize list. Also Twelve Years a Slave. Reading is a habit which can easily be broken by modern day distractions. Important that children see adults read. Lovely challenge.

mum2jakie if you loved The Help have you read To Kill A Mockingbird? If not you need to. I read The Help first and enjoyed it but Mockingbird was amazing.

1. Wolves of the Calla (Dark Tower book 5) - Stephen King

Finally finished! I did enjoy it and had some truly great moments in it but, like the last one, overlong. Might take a break for some shorter books before attempting book 6.

19. Is it just me - Miranda Hart (audiobook)
    This was rather funny, particularly because she narrated it herself. I'm not normally into audiobooks but I had two 6-hour bus journeys within a few days and i can't read on a bus.

20. The Handmaids tale - Margaret Atwood
    A colleague recommended this and then I saw a few people on mn recommending it too (particularly on some of the feminist threads). It was really good, but very scary how quickly people stopped seeing women as real people.

21. Forged by Greed - Angela Orlowski-Peart
    YA fantasy about teenage shapeshifters. It wasn't great. I only read it because I was looking for an author who shared my name and she does, part of it anyway. There are more in the series but I have no desire to read them.

#26 - I am number 4- Pittacus Lore.
A sci fi adventure story with an unsubtle teen romance running through it.

16. My James - Ralph Bulgar. Absolutely heartbreaking and a really difficult read. Took me ages to get through as I was in tears at every page.

17. The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat. A quick and easy Enid Blyton comfort read to recover from the previous book.

18. The Help - Absolutely loved this and felt bereft when I finished it!

11. The Carrier - Sophie Hannah

Didn't enjoy this one, had a lot of characters which I found confusing and took some perseverance to get to grips with the story, and decided by the end it hadn't been worth it. Just felt too much like hard work...

Onto the next one...

14. Minding Frankie by Marian Keyes 3/5

26. Big Brother, by Lionel Shriver. As well-observed as ever, but the subject matter seemed too insubstantial a premise for a novel, really. I do like the way she writes though.

27. The Crow Road, by Ian Banks. Loved this.

18. The Virginia Monologues, Virginia Ironside.

I think because I'm about to turn 40, it's enjoyable to read these essays about life in your sixties. From this perspective, a 40-year-old is a mere baby...

She's covered the same ground in the (lightly) fictionalised form of No, I don't want to join a book club. There's also a recent sequel, No, I don't need reading glasses, which I have lined up to read soon too.

Riverboat It was one of the 99p kindle daily deals, a few months back.

A 15 YO boy is left looking after his 6 YO brother for 15 days when their depressed alcoholic single mother doesn't come home from work one day.

Despite the desperately sad situation that they face, its quite an entertaining read.

One of my reasons to join the 50 books challenge was to read books quicker than I am buying them! Am doing OK in both respects, ignoring a 'small' blip on the buying front in the Christmas/New Year sale.

1.Robert Galbraith - The Cuckoo's Calling
2.Mad About the Boy - Helen Fielding
3.Tangled Lives Hilary Boyd

1. I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes
2. The Rosie project Graeme Simsion
3. Killers Wedge Ed McBain

I read an Ed McBain as my dad had so many of his little paperbacks and they were the first crime books I read when I was a teenager, so I was a bit nostalgic. It was OK.

Onllkey I have no idea what that book is about but I live the title!

13. What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty

I knew from the blurb and from having read another book by this author that I'd get on well with this book, and sure enough I raced through it. Great premise, I remember reading a similar memory loss novel by Sophie Kinsella, but I think this one was probably better. It really made me think about my own life, where I was 10 years ago and where I might be 10 years in the future. Lots to think about.

1. 15 days without a head, by Dave Cousins

16. Nonsense by Christopher Reid. A book of poetry, which I liked very much 5/5.