50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

Duchess :(

So envious of your trip to Berlin, Remus. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go but not likely to now for the foreseeable future. Was due to go years ago with an old family friend who was from Berlin but he died suddenly and we never got there. One day maybe

Wow, been away for a few days and just had to read 6 pages to catch up!

Three to add:
16. The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro
This one was a real slow burner for me, it felt gentle and ever-so-slightly odd - maybe because I kept trying to relate it to anything else I've ever read about Anglo-Saxon times and Arthurian stuff, and it really doesn't feel like any of that. Elderly couple Axl and Beatrice are on a quest to find out what happened to their only son, but are hampered by a collective amnesia which affects the whole country. They go on their journey against a backdrop of an uneasy peace between Britons and Saxons which threatens to break down at any time. There are also dragons and giants, but they feel rather incidental - it doesn't read like fantasy to me, but rather a meditation on loss of memory, both individual and as a society. Beautiful, unshowy writing. This is my first Ishiguro and I'll look out for more - I like the sound of his Japanese novels from earlier up thread.

17. Where'd you go, Bernadette, Maria Semple
    Loved this. Very funny, lots of good observations about the differences between Seattle/Microsoft and LA/Apple. Underneath the comedy it's also a moving story of mother/daughter bonds.

18. A visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
    Mixed feelings about this. Set in America between the 80s and the near future, this is one of those novels with lots of characters, each chapter following one character then passing the baton to another. The writing is sparky but it feels like a collection of short stories as you don't get to know any of the characters well, and I found it hard to warm to any of them. The basic premise seemed to be that everyone is damaged in some way (drugs, sex, rock'n'roll), but some people are survivors and others are not. Hmm. I'm sure Egan is saying something profound about modern society, but to me it just felt unsatisfactory.

Now reading Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behaviour, which is wonderful.

The FT review of Berlin was terrific. I love Berlin but it's been years since I've been. I used to love looking at photos and videos of when David Bowie and Iggy Pop lived in Berlin in the mid-70s.
howtospendit.ft.com/destinations/155-a-long-weekend-in-berlin

Thanks, Olly. Have read that!

Thanks for the link too. Feel free to PM me with any recommendations for restaurants etc. :)

I have Family Life on my bookshelf. It does look slight.

Might have already recommended this earlier in the thread but Beatrice Colin's The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite is set in Berlin. One of the best books I've read in recent years.

Incidentally, I was listening to a podcast recently and this walking tour was very highly recommended www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187323-d3747792-r262385676-Isherwood_s_Neighbourhood_Walking_Tour-Berlin.html#REVIEWS

Have a great time in Berlin - I loved it.

Thanks, Bssh.

I googled fiction set in Berlin and this link looks good
theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/10-books-that-will-make-you-fall-in-love-with-berlin/

Christopher Isherwood set some stories in Berlin. Can't remember which as a teen when read them. Pre-WW2? Anyway...

Book 47 - 'Hollow City' (The second of the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children) series
As I expected, the writing was a bit inconsistent and the plot deliberately far-fetched, but what makes these books so fascinating is the vintage photographs that they are based around. I'll definitely be looking out for the next one.

Shake - I really enjoyed the first two of the Ness trilogy, but was really disappointed by the third. Worth a read but not a patch on the others, sadly. :(

Book 48 - A guide to Berlin as we've just booked our next holiday! This was useful in the sense of helping me work out where things are etc, but I'd have liked a bit more about the city's history.

Can anybody recommend any good fiction or non-fiction about/set in Berlin, please?

36. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. No need to review it as it's already been done on here. Surprisingly good. A good old fashioned thriller with lots of twists and turns. Very enjoyable.

Two easier, though not particularly short, reads:

14. The Ask and the Asking (Bk 2 in the Walking Chaos Trilogy) by Patrick Ness
    Part of a YA series about settlers on an alien planet where all the thoughts of men (not women) are heard out loud. It has a good engaging plot and I like the characters. I think you can tell this is YA- there are interesting themes but you are hit over the head with them. The majority of the time you can see where it is all going a mile off. Saying that, I am enjoying the story and interested to find out where it leads so will definitely read the third.

15. A Discovery of Witches by Barbara Harkness
    Stressful times at work (for me) lead to fantasy epic novels about witches, vampires and daemons at war - goodies, baddies and a central love story. What more could you want to whisk you away?

I hope you will enjoy it

Have added Major Pettigrew's Last Stand to my TBR pile thelittlebooktroll.

28. Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
    Superb account of a young girl growing up under the violent fist of her fanatically religious father and in the aftermath of a Nigerian coup. Beautiful descriptions of Nigeria and the complex feelings of a daughter for her father.

29. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
    In a small American town in Iowa in 1956, a dying preacher in his mid-70s writes letters to his only child, a six year old boy, letters that won't likely be read until the boy is an adult. "While you read this, I am imperishable, somehow more alive than I have ever been." A beautiful and lucid meditation on spirituality, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, family history, the natural environment and more.

30. Every day is for the Thief, Teju Cole
    A young man returns to Nigeria after 15 years in New York and observes the changes he sees with acerbity and disenchantment. A brilliant and heartfelt account of belonging and displacement, with poignant asides to the healing power of literature, art and poetry.

Mamapain your list looks good to me I didn't like The Shock of the Fall either. I thought it was pants.

29. How to be Alone - Jonathan Franzen

A collection of his essays, mainly from the mid-1990s to 2001.
There were few here I found interesting; one about his fathers death from Alzheimer's and one about the prison system in the USA. There was also an interesting bit on smoking and lots about the place of fiction and reading/writing novels in the age of technology. The trouble is, technology has moved on a lot from 1997 so the writing already seemed dated.

I couldn't help thinking that Jonathan Franzen had too much time on his hands when he wrote these. There's far too much introspection going on and I can't believe he started smoking because he felt that nuclear war was almost inevitable and therefore what did it matter if he smoked a cigarette or two?! Riiiiiight....

I first posted on the second thread and was only up to my fourth book. Sorry I haven't come back I've been so embarrassed as I haven't done that much reading since. I can't believe some of you are approaching 30 or 40 books already.

Just to recap, I read:

1. Backstory- David Mitchell
2. I Partridge: We need to talk about Alan - Alan Partridge/Steve Coogan
3. Yes Please- Amy Poehler
4. The Girl on the Train- Paula Hawkins

I have now read

1. The 100 Year Od Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
2. The Shock of the Fall
3. The Rosie Project
4. The Rosie Effect

All of these seem to have been repeatedly posted about. I didn't enjoy the shock of the fall at all, but found the other three funny and heartwarming.

I'm not a good reader and am so slow that its a bit of a struggle. I'm doing ok considering I only read 4 books last year, although I certainly won't be keeping up with you lot!

I'm currently on Wild by Cheryl Strayed, but am not sure where to go next.

26. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
    The Queen visits a mobile library and develops a love of reading. I suppose this book really is about the love of reading. I know a lot of people love Alan Bennett and I thought this book would be funny/ witty, but I found it boring and unoriginal. Disappointing read.

27. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen
    Major Pettigrew is a respectable widower living in a little English village in Dorset. His younger brother Bertie dies and the local Pakistani shop keeper Mrs Ali supports him and becomes a good friend and a sort of romance develops between the two which might not be acceptable in this traditional Dorset village, but they have much in common. I loved this story. Read it while home in bed fighting a tedious cold and it was the perfect tonic. Chick lit for old people but the characters are well developed and its a book with a big heart. This book has been on my shelf for a long time, so glad I finally read it.

28. My cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
    Philip is brought up by his uncle Ambrose on an estate in Cornwall. One day Ambrose leaves for Italy where he marries his cousin Rachel and Philip doesn't hear from him until he receives a letter from Ambrose that all is not well and he might be dying. Philip travels to a Italy, but arrives too late. Ambrose is dead. Back in Cornwall Philip gets a visit from cousin Rachel. He falls for her, but did she have a hand in Ambrose's death?
    Beautifully written by Du Maurier if course. I am a big fan of her writing and not sure why I haven't read this book before. Loved it.

Not posted in a while but have been enjoying reading some of the reviews on here. I'm a bit stuck in a rut with my reading at the moment, and have been re-reading some old fairly safe reads whilst I decide what to go for next (have lots on my kindle tbr but can't find my charger ).

17. All the Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson.
    A DCI Banks case, following the investigation of a murder/suicide. Not one of his best but an easy read all the same.

18. Bad Boy by Peter Robinson.
    Another DCI Banks book, although in this one he's out of the country for most of it. His daughter Tracey gets caught up with a bad lad and gives him refuge. Didn't read the last few chapters as I got bored.

19. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin.
    The first book in the Detective Rebus series follows the investigation into the investigation of young girls being abducted and killed. Rebus is receiving coded messages to both home and work addresses. Well written.

Audiobook of Wolf Hall has been paused as I don't have time to concentrate on it atm. Will come back to that one.

So, decided book 13 is Game of Thrones... I must admit I am a little scared! Thought I would give it a go as it has been sat on my to read pile for months...I've been scared off by it's size!!!! However, I have taken the plunge and I started it last night and am pleasantly surprised by how easy to read it is so far....

Reading a few short books to get back on track and huge thanks to SouthEastDweller for these recommendations (especially the Ian McEwan - that is one great book )

#11 The Children Act Ian McEwan - Exquisitely and compellingly written. Loved this - I got so drawn in to the story and the characters. Quite sad it's over.

#12 I Feel Bad About My Neck Nora Ephron - Didn't enjoy at all. Couldn't see the point of any of the stories, and just didn't see the humour that the reviewers see.

Now reading Julian Barnes The Sense of an Ending.

I didn't see the TV thing. I thought the writing was clunky. Iirc she was very young when she wrote it, and I thought it showed. Didn't warm to the characters, either.