50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

I'd forgotten about mr Mercedes and Dr sleep. I did quite enjoy them.

Hated revival, and have it on my 'to be finished' list. Hated under the dome as well, although not particularly recent.

Most of the rest of the stuff he's done, I've eaten up.

The Stand is one of my favourite books apart from the ending

Although I do like SK's dithering about - I think a lot of the set up and administration of the free zone was unneccessary and can see why some say parts of the book are slow.

Book 44 - Very Short Introduction to Exploration
I loved this. Totally recommend this series, for anybody who likes non-fiction. They are very thought-provoking (lots of big words - I need a dictionary alongside at times!) but small enough to fit in a pocket. Can't recommend highly enough.

1. Catching fire by Suzanne Collins

It's set in a world where the population is reminded they are controlled by an annual hunger games. Where two children from each area are sent to a fight to the death. This book picks up after the results of the contest and the victory tour. I don't want to give too much away about the first book.

10 (finally!). The Stand - Stephen King

This was a real curate's egg. When it was good, it was brilliant - but at times it was very frustrating and, much like the Dark Tower series, really let down by the pacing in the middle. I also thought some of the characters' plotlines didn't do them justice. But overall a good read.

oh and to add to the 'cosy murder mystery' - they normally have a limited number of people who possibly could have murdered the victim, usually introduced at the start and you have to work out who it was yourself, rather than following police work type murders where it's usually you only are introduced to the murderer towards the end. Bonus points if in the final chapter the dectective can get all the suspects in a room together and explain how they worked out who did it, who then confesses straight away, rather than sitting quietly or denying it then hiring a half decent legal team who would point out the total lack of evidence....

Burgrit - I love your discription of a cosy murder mystery! I'm currently reading a Christie at the moment as a little treat to myself for plodding through the tedium of WWII lesbians being all angst ridden and sounding like a bunch of 13 year olds.... (The Night Watch - should have gone with my first instinct to abandon it about 100 pages in, it didn't improve)

Aw, see I loved Revival, even the mad ending.

Cote, think Murder She Wrote, Midsomer Murders or Agatha Christie. Stories where the murder (or murders) is tidy; a poisoning, say, or perhaps a letter opener in the back, rather than a gruesome butchery. Where the first victim is usually the business tycoon that everyone hated and had a reason to kill (and subsequent victims are probably witnesses who happened to see something and either try their hand at blackmail or phone the detective to tell them very loudly that they might have seen something but refuse to say anything specific over the phone because they are fuckwits.). The setting is very likely to an English village, with bonus points for a country house, and you know that nothing really bad is actually going to happen (apart from the odd murder, but they don't count).

Does that clear things up?

'Revival' was pretty awful. I quite liked, 'Mr Mercedes' and, 'Doctor Sleep.'

Yes, Stephen king is a favourite - have read different seasons, and enjoyed it very much.

I think his latest book is meant to be another short story collection, which I'm looking forward to - although his last few novels have been a bit off the boil for me.

Clash - do you like Stephen King? Novellas rather than short stories but, 'Different Seasons' is worth a read.

28. The Turn of The Screw - Henry James

A gothic horror novella in which a young woman gets a job as a governess to two young children. Whilst there were some creepy moments, I did struggle to get into it. Also, the overuse of CAPITAL LETTERS in dialogue for emphasis was irritating.

29. Dark Screams Volume 1 - various authors.

A collection of five short horror stories, four of which were very good. Enjoyed this, and was only a quid or so on the kindle.

Quite enjoying some shorter books after JS and Mr N and am off to find another good horror short story anthology.

Also got Girl on the Train.
Somebody stop me!

I have Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke in a big pile of books to read so I might promote them.

What is a "cosy murder mystery"? I'd like to judge but don't know what it is

Thanks Duchess, have bought.

And if anyone is interested in cosy murder mysteries, last night I noticed the Death in Paradise tie-in novel is only £1.19 on the kindle. Don't judge me.

www.amazon.co.uk/Meditation-Murder-original-Death-Paradise-ebook/dp/B00NQ9FF1Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1427541935&sr=1-1&keywords=death+in+paradise

I haven't read it yet, but fwiw it's got good reviews on there.

I tried to read the Jack Shepherd books on teaching in the Yorkshire dales but couldn't get into it so today I'm starting

30. I'll have what she's having rebecca harrington recommended on here nice light & fluffy book about celeb dieting Appeals to the Heat reading side of me

And

31. Jill Mansell three amazing things about you Been reading Jill mansell since my early twenties when I was a singleton obsessed with chick lit Love how her books plus Marian Keyes are growing up with me

27. The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro In 6th or 7th century Britain, a mist of forgetfulness has descended upon the land, causing concern to an old married couple Axl and Beatrice on a quest through a world of ogres and dragons to reunite with their long forgotten son, who may or may not exist. Along the way they encounter Arthurian knight Sir Gawain, are attacked by various monks and monsters, team up with a vengeful Saxon warrior, and become embroiled in a plot to kill a powerful she-dragon. We also uncover Axl's heroic story.

Undercutting these adventures is the half-remembered, half-forgotten memory that an awful genocide once decimated the country, that indeed bloodshed is still around the corner despite appearances suggesting peace.

The questions that surface through the mist: Is forgetfulness (historical or intimate amnesia) a necessary condition for peace? Does life retain meaning without shared memories? But at the heart of the novel lies, for me, the tender, gentle love story of the elderly protagonists Axl and Beatrice.

A mesmerising, meditative, thought-provoking novel. I was swept away by it.

Duchess Thanks for the heads-up.

Sorry will give up now

Sorry about messy link - on phone app
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00NOPQU2K/ref=s9_ri_mh_bN7gvP_g351_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=mobile-hybrid-1&pf_rd_r=1XV9QX97TYYRNP99AMJC&pf_rd_t=30901&pf_rd_p=586956027&pf_rd_i=341689031 trying again

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00NOPQU2K/ref=s9_ri_mh_bN7gvP_g351_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=mobile-hybrid-1&pf_rd_r=1XV9QX97TYYRNP99AMJC&pf_rd_t=30901&pf_rd_p=586956027&pf_rd_i=341689031
The Girl on the Train is £1.79 atm on kindle. Tempted to give it a go at that price

23. The Sandman by Lars Kepler

Fourth in the series featuring Detective Inspector Joona Linna. It possibly could be read as a stand-alone novel because there are parts of the back story given to make it understandable, but probably best to see the four as a whole.

A young man called Mikael is found wandering injured and seriously ill on a railway track. Thirteen years previously, he and his sister disappeared without trace. Their bicycles were found beside a lake near their home in Sweden and it was assumed that they had drowned. Seven years ago, they were declared dead.

Linna had always believed the children to have been victims of Juerk Walter, a terrifyingly prolific serial killer Linna had captured who is kept in strict isolation at a maximum security psychiatric hospital. As the hunt for Mikael's sister begins, Linna knows he has to find a way to get close to the man who took his family from him, and who wants Linna dead.

This is a gripping series. Linna is an exceptional detective but still quite a credible character, and the killers created by the writing duo Lars Kepler in this and the other books do manage to get under your skin in a slightly disturbing way.