50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

You did put her straight I hope?

Meanwhile in the magical realm called MumsNet where nameless strangers come up with the weirdest personal attacks, I got told by someone that she is sorry for me because (in her understanding) I have no books at home and don't know "the pleasure of reading". She is sorry for me & my children, apparently.

I can't stop laughing

wilting - The Martian is great. It is currently being filmed with Matt Damon in leading role, apparently. Enjoy

18 Longbourne by Jo Baker ; Have to say I did enjoy this although the sensibilities expressed are really v modern and the proffered Austen setting really just gives a backdrop, it doesn't inform the atmosphere or emotion of the narrative at all. So if you are looking for an Austen re-telling or re-enacting of the original P&P, this is not it. It is it's own story and the Austen thing is a bit of a hook really. I suppose there was rather a lot about all the housework but I found I was interested in what life was like for those servants and what they strived for and what realistically was available for them. In the end, the book gives into the readers(?) desire for a happy ending which I think does not really accord with the times we are supposedly reading about or the likely fates of the people featured. So a weak second half but overall an enjoyable read.

Currently reading The Barbarians at the Gate: The fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough & John Heyler which is about the LBO of a giant US corporation involving food and tobacco companies. V well written for a business book, really engrossed in it so far.

Cote picked up The Martian in the library on Wed! Was well pleased with my find

Joyless I loved 1Q84, one of my favorite books. Did you say you had a blog??? >nosy

I hadn't thought about that littlebooktroll - I'll be 35 later this year too so I should think about my 25 year old self too!

I was in a very different place! Different career, different partner, different kind of life altogether.

TheEagle, I loved What Alice Forgot. It's a light read, but it made me ponder what 25 year old me would think if she saw me now. Hopefully she wouldn't be too shocked.

Ooh I heard John Sweeney interviewed a few weeks ago and he was very interesting. Will definitely have to take a look at that book at some point.

Thanks for the welcome ladies.

I started Number 18, What Alice Forgot, yesterday. It's entertaining so far and very light.

Queued up next on my Kindle is Gentleman and Players by Joanne Harris - saw it recommended on another thread and haven't read one of hers in a long time so thought I'd give it a go.

I found it really hard to read after DS was born in 2013. Don't know why, I couldn't concentrate on a book (sleep deprivation probably!) so I'd say I'll have a hiatus from reading when these 2 arrive.

Love listening to audiobooks as well, think I commented on the other Audible thread that I enjoyed listening to Agatha Christie short stories.

No 35
Decided to read an old favourite in the garden under a shady tree yesterday
Jane austen's Emma
Never grow tired on it reminded me of being at uni reading outside summers seemed much longer then !

I'll try that Duchess, thanks

John Sweeney's non-fiction "Church of Fear" about Scientology is 0.99 on the Kindle today, if anyone is interested. A superb piece of investigative journalism, apparently.

With Rivers of London series, if you can appreciate Ben Aaronovitch's sense of humour then it will help with the strangeness of the plot. Rivers isn't the best of the series and I would recommend reading the next one as well before deciding whether you want to continue, because I think he's just getting into his stride with the characters then.

I loved the series and I am definitely not a fan of fantasy novels

Room by Emma Donoghue is 1.99 on the Kindle at the moment, if anyone is interested.

I'm keeping an open mind about Rivers Of London (having loved JS & Mr N and enjoyed Drood) and suspect I'll like Mountains Of The Mind, too.

I read and loved Alan Turing: The Enigma and reviewed it on the previous thread, I think. It was easily one of the most difficult books I have ever read, and I say that as someone who enjoys reading big tomes on math & science topics. Very rewarding, though.

Cote - I think you'll love, 'Mountains of the Mind'.
And hate, 'Rivers of London.'

Dp really enjoyed the Turing book - and I think it sounds right up your street. I've not read it - scared it might be too mathematical for me.

Daily deals have indeed been rubbish lately. Having said that, I recently snapped up H Is For Hawk, Into Thin Air, Mountains Of The Mind, The Three-Body Problem, Alan Turing: The Enigma, and Rivers Of London so maybe shouldn't complain too much.

Agree and it's so nice to be read to

Yes I'm including audio books in my list. I think if you take the time to listen to it then that's the same as time taken to read it :)

Their daily deals seems to be pants or at least not for me. Can we include audibles in the 50 book challenge?

Hi, Eagle. :)

Book 48:
'East Lynne' by Ellen Wood
I really enjoyed this typically overblown and over dramatic Victorian sensation novel. It's long (700 pages odd, although I read it on Kindle so it didn't feel too bad!) and at times a bit too long, especially when the author decides to jump in and interrupt her own characters to witter on at us, but it's a cracking story.

Welcome to the thread Eagle I remember having a huge flurry of reading before my first was born but then didn't really get going again. properly until my second was nearly 6 months old. Have been making up for lost time since though

Oops, meant to say good luck with your twins TheEagle. I found I was able to get a lot of reading done on my Kindle during night feeds but I just had one baby to deal with and I imagine two might be a different experience!

32. The Greengage Summer - Rumer Godden

I really loved this coming of age story set in one hot, strange summer in France. The Grey family are taken by their mother (their father is overseas) to France, but their mother falls ill, leaving them in the care of a mysterious Englishman called Eliot in a provincial French hotel. These days it would probably be classed as a YA book as the narrator, Cecil, is 13 and the story is written completely from her point of view. It was published originally in 1958, which might have been a bit of a shocker for some readers at the time, though nothing by todays standards. The prose is lush and very evocative. I would recommend this. It made me feel young again.