50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

33. Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party by Alexander McCall Smith.

Short and quite amusing. Not read any of his books before but perhaps will add to the long list

Just got the free short stories, cheers cote

Right book 27 - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray bradbury

I wanted to like this book, and I was really looking forward to reading it. Lots of people recommended it to me as a classic and i maybe had too high expectations...

But it was a bit....meh. It all felt very under-developed and I kept waiting for a 'wow' moment but it just didn't happen. It was, dare I say it, a little bit boring...I'm somewhat disappointed in it, although the ideas are interesting.

Me too! Just got them both
Because obviously I need more unread books on my Kindle!

34. The White Devil, Justin Evans -- After being expelled from his school in America, Andrew is sent by his despairing parents to board at Harrow. It quickly becomes clear that all is not well when he witnesses the death of another pupil and others point out his remarkable resemblance to Lord Byron. When more people begin to fall sick, he realises he has to solve a historical mystery before more people die. This is a ghost story, with one or two truly creepy moments. The underlying historical mystery was compelling, and the ghost itself chilling but it lost steam in the final push towards the ending.

35. Her, Harriet Lane -- When Emma's lost wallet is returned to her by a stranger, she has no idea that Nina knows exactly who she is, and holds her responsible for an (as yet) unspecified event in the past. This grabbed me straight away, and I found it a well-written portrait of two women, one harassed and tired mother, trapped in domestic drudgery, the other polished and manipulative. A shame then that I found the reveal disappointing (and not altogether believeable) and the final twist a bit predictable.

Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle is up next.

32. The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling)

A good story, interesting tale of murder set amongst the London literary world. I liked it in the main, but not nearly as much as The Cuckoo's Calling.

I think it could have done with some heavier editing. The story could have been told in at least 100 fewer pages. I started to get a little bored with how slowly the plot moved in places, and came close to skimming sections.

And I lost count of the number of reminders that Cormoran Strike has a prosthetic leg. I hadn't forgotten that from the first novel, nor how it happened, and really didn't need the reminders on nearly every page that his job is strenuous and he doesn't look after his leg properly. I think perhaps the reader could be trusted to understand that without hammering the message home quite so frequently. It started to become irritating.

Next up - Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party by Alexander McCall Smith. Never read any of his books before. Quite amusing so far.

And then, Maurice by E M Forster :)

Just bought, 'Into the Wild' and got the free Dick stories - thanks, Cote.

13 Short Stories by Philip K Dick is free today.

I loved The Luminaries - the writing is just exquisite.

Pompeii was indeed incredibly dull. A real achievement, considering what an apocalyptic event the book was leading up to. Even the description of the actual eruption was meh.

Provencal - Yes, I recommended Hyperion. Maybe you can just take my recommendations on sci-fi from now on

I love seeing the way we influence each other (or not) on this thread.

I'm going to give The Luminaries a go over Easter - will be travelling for a week and it seems a good chance to get stuck into something meaty. Not a book I would normally go for but enough enthusiasm on her to make me give it a shot.

Currently on another Agatha Christie. There's something very comforting about such an enormous back catalogue which you can just dip into at will, no worrying about reading them in the proper order or remembering characters.

Cote I think you and I might be never the twain shall meet on the books front as I found MN & JS extremely dull but loved Pompeii. But but but also loved Into Thin Air and very much enjoyed Hyperion which I think you recommended.

OllyBJolly my DH loves those two Amitav Ghosh books. I've not read them but as a fellow Indian Bengali I feel duty-bound to do so . Thanks for reminding me.

Provencal thank you. So my African authors to read list includes Dinaw Mengestu, Teju Cole, Caryll Phillips, Buchi Emecheta and more Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I'm halfway through The Buried Giant. Ishiguro's writing is impeccably fluid and graceful as usual. I'm finding myself drawn in by the questing story; the landscape is vividly portrayed; the question of whether it is better to remember or not is thought provoking.

Now I have wrestled the computer back from DC's I can make a list but will have to start at 4

1. The Boys in a Boat
2. A is for Alibi
3. B is for Burglar
4. Stig of the Dump
5. The End of your Life Book Club

wilting - I read Pompeii and was quite impressed by how dull a book Robert Harris could make out of one of the most epic and impressive natural disasters in the history of humanity

14. Girl in a band by Kim Gordon. I had enjoyed Viv Albertine's book a while back and though this is very different there are of course some parallels. It was alright, not spectacular though she does a lot of name dropping ha! She's obviously still heartbroken from her breakup with Thurston Moore so it was a painful read. Interesting woman, but I don't get the sense that I got to know her well. Recommended if you are into her music and art. Not so much if you don't know who she is.

Wow BshBosh, a powerful recommendation for *Americanah", I have added it to my watch list

Have never read any Robert Harris either, have added Fatherland and Pompeii to my watch list too thank you Chillie and Provencal!

Still reading Rendezvous with Rama and really enjoying it and its powerful depiction of man's first encounter with evidence of life elsewhere in the universe. Have already decided I will have to reread more Clarke!

Just finished

#10 Rivers of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh

It's a complex story and a gripping read. The plot has a few interwoven threads, but the way they author evokes the chaos, constraints, smells, noises of the times holds your attention all the way through.

I read this as the second in a trilogy. The first Sea of Poppies, I read a good few years back so didn't really get much continuation so would say that this works as a standalone. The third part comes out in May so I'll be interested to see how that picks up the story.

Thanks to SouthEastDweller , ClashCityRocker, and DuchessofMalfi for their recommendations for some shorter reads. Think my next one will be We Were Liars by E Lockhart

Bssh I read a Buchi Emechata (sp?) book as part of my degree. Can't remember much about it now but do remember enjoying it.

Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild and A D Miller's Snowdrops are 0.99 on the Kindle today.

8 The End of your Life Book Club

Moving and quietly powerful book about how essential books are, written by William Schwalb this is the journey from his mothers diagnosis with cancer to her death and the books they read and discussed at her appointments. His mother was an amazing woman who ended up being instrumental in getting the project and funding for libraries in Afghanistan which is one of the many countries she worked in for the International Refugees Committee, lots of ideas of books to read came from this as well

I read that last year, Mary. Like you, I thought it very touching. Had no idea until then there was so much sadness and tragedy in his family.

16. A Life Like Other People's - Alan Bennett. it's the story of his mother and her sisters. Focussing mainly on her mental health problems. It's a short and touching book.

I've taken the decision to read a selection of easy /fun / short /unchallenging books for the next couple of weeks, lots going on here and I think anything too hard work will just get left. Will rejoin the 'improving' set after the easter holidays!

16. Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler. I'm an Anne Tyler fan and this didn't disappoint.

17. I'll Have What She's Having by Rebecca Harrington. This was reviewed up thread by bibliomania and thelittlebooktroll, it's written by a woman trying out lots of crazy celebrity diets. Light hearted and amusing.

Book 43 'Whispers in the Dark' by Jonathan Aycliffe

This is by the same writer as, 'Naomi's Room' which I think quite a few MNers have read, but I haven't.

It's a ghost story and it was okay. It had lots of the elements I'm drawn to - Victorian elements, gothic elements, a workhouse, a mansion etc. It just had the same problem as I find with most ghost stories (and, indeed, with some of King's horror) that writers don't have the power to describe something indescribable, thus whatever the terror is gets reduced to a noise, or a creeping thing and thus isn't actually very scary!