50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

:o Coincidence Southeast. It was very good. Really enjoyed it.

I listened to The Clothes They Stood Up in read by himself a couple of years ago - was also good. Might look out for the other one you mention, too, especially if it's cheapish on kindle :)

Yes it's that one Really cheered me up yesterday.

Sorry to hear about your dad Mumslife

Duchess, is the bookshop book the one where a customer is asking if Ann Frank wrote a sequal? Must add it to my list. I think I must have more books soon than my local library

20. The Rosie Project. This was well written and a cute story, I read it on holiday and it was a perfect book for that. Can't quite understand why its as massively popular as it is but its certainly a nice read.

37. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami. Very strange story but so beautifully presented. I loved it and will want to read it again soon

38. The Laying on of Hands by Alan Bennett. A shortish novella. Rather good.

39. More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell. Really entertaining collection of more silly things overheard in her bookshop and others.

Thanks, Joyless. Do feel free to DM me with any specific recommendations. :)

One of my current reads is, 'East Lynne' by Ellen Wood. It's a Victorian sensation novel and I am enjoying it, but I seem to have been reading it forever and am barely a third through it so far. Has anybody read it?

Book 15 - I am Legend by Richard Matheson.

This book was written in 1954 and was hugely influential in making zombie books popular.

Odd one this in that I watched the film first, and definitely liked it more than the book. The film bears little resemblance to the original plot and is the better for it IMVHO.

That said, the book is well executed considering it's a first person narrative with little scope for dialogue for a lot of the time (main character is the last surviving human in a zombie apocalyse). It doesn't become too introspective (as could easily have happened) and the tension rarely flags.

Book 16 - The Kings Curse by Phillipa Gregory

This is the story of the life of Margaret Pole. A definite improvement on the The Red Queen and Kingmakers Daughter this book, although treading familiar ground with the rise and fall of anne bolyen and Henry VIII wives, reads like a new story and Gregory really conveys the feelings of shock and confusion that people of England must have felt whilst all this was going on. Recommended.

16 A place beyond courage Elizabeth Chadwick.
The book before the greatest knight, giving a back story to William Marshall, set in the time around the death of Henry I, the war between Stephen and Mathilda. Really enjoyed this! Will read the other books in the series as well. Not very familiar with British history as didn't go to school here and I'm catching up, great stuff.

23. The Children Act - Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan is one of the most gifted writers out there and I am a fan but he rarely has a good story to tell. What actually happens in this book can be told in its entirety in three sentences and the rest is Fiona's thoughts and feelings, which is all well and good, but even those are not terribly consistent and well thought-out imho.

The characters were flat and some of the book just didn't ring true, I felt.

SPOILER... SPOILER.... SPOILER...

In particular, I really really don't think a 60-year old judge would kiss a teenage boy under any circumstances, least of all a subject of one of her controversial rulings and in plain sight of her colleagues. Even if she is a bit upset/unsure re her marriage.

#14 The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes

Another recommendation from SouthEastDweller - thank you. Wonderfully written, very moving, poignant book. Thought provoking and sad, but enjoyable.

Downloaded some of DuchessofMalfi's suggestions - although saving them for a weekend away later in the month. Next book is The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

Bssh thanks for the recent review - I've added the Teju Cole to my wishlist.

Remus I'm sure you'll love Berlin. I really want to go again as I injured my knee on my visit. There was a lot of renovation work being done when I went (last year), so hopefully that'll be mostly completed. Oh & I concur with troll on the food - really high quality.

19 & 20: 1Q84 Books 1&2, 1Q84 Book 3 by Haruki Murakami. This is my second Murakami and I enjoyed it greatly. I don't think its just because of the "happy" ending either.

This is the story of Aomame and Tengo who meet briefly when 10 years old and finally re-connect 20 years later. Both are outsiders who've had isolated upbringings - her within a religious cult, him with a heart-broken father who was obsessed with his job. Aomame is a fitness coach/physical therapist who discovers a method of killing which leaves no mark. She works with a rich dowager to punish men who subject their wives to domestic violence. Both are protected by a gay literature-quoting bodyguard of extraordinary ability. Tengo is a mathematics child prodigy, who decides he wants to write. He edits/co-writes a fantasy novel which becomes a bestseller. There are shifts in reality (this is Murakami) and one needs to accept the inexplicable, but the story has structure and an outcome, and was all the more satisfying for of it.

Next up, the new Patrick Gale as I'm scheduled to write a review on my blog.

Remus - I love Berlin, you'll have a great time. As for books, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a must.

Yes, Jewish monument looks/sounds amazing.

I've put half a stone on in the last couple of months, so had better lose some before hitting the foods of Berlin!

Sorry for the thread hijack all - back to book talk now!

Remus, I don't really eat meat and still got fat in Berlin.

The Jewish monument which I think is fairly new is worth a visit. Beautiful and haunting.....

27. Druids A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe

I bought this out of curiosity about the quality of this series of short introductions - I've read other books about the druids before. I must say, I was impressed. Cunliffe is an expert of course, but he crammed an awful lot if information into 139 pages. He looks at the archaeological evidence as well as evidence from classical sources, and even touches on the emergence of modern day druids, from the 18th century through to modern pagans. This is a good introduction for anyone new to the subject.

Troll - I'm veggie. Will I be okay for stuff to eat, or doomed to live on pizza and chips?

Don't be daft!

Feel a bit bad about putting a dampner on the Berlin posts, Remus - sorry. Hope you have a great time :)

Hmmm nearly bought Family Life in Waterstones today, but not so sure after your review SouthEast.

Remus, I love love Berlin. Put on at least 2 stones in one weekend when I was there last
October. The food is divine. Lucky you!!

30. Waiting for the Barbarians - J.M Coetzee

This powerful and allegorical novel is set in a frontier settlement of an empire and focuses on the character of The Magistrate who governs the outpost and what happens when the 'powers that be' launch attacks against the barbarians. The time and date of the novel's setting is kept deliberately vague, it is more a study of crime and punishment and of the machinations of an empire. We never really learn who the barbarians are, but the most barbarian behaviour is not displayed by them, but by the soldiers and torturers of the empire. Grim but gripping.

I'm feeling a bit disheartened about my reading today, I'm not sure why! ghee's so much I want to read but I am only ever at the tip of the iceberg. It seems like an impossible (self-imposed) task.