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50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

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Southeastdweller · 21/03/2015 17:46

Thread three of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2015, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. It's still not too late to join, any type of book counts, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

First thread of the year here, and second thread here.

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Original poster
southeastdweller · 14/05/2015 22:52

Took a break from The Secret History to read these two which had to be returned to the library this week.

  1. After the Crash - Michel Bussi

A plane crashes near France and all but one of the passengers die. The survivor is a baby and two sets of families later claim that she belongs to them, which causes lots of silly drama. Like many of the Amazon reviewers, I read this because of a rave review in the Sunday Times and the publisher should be grateful because I doubt this book would be the hit it currently is without that review. I was shocked at how puerile and clichéd the writing was, so much so I reinvented the book in my head as a comedy thriller to help me motivate me to finish it. The diary narrative by the unpleasant private detective employed by a family member to look into the case was another complaint as it distracted from the slightly more exciting present day story. Some (but not many) good twists in this but I don't recommend it and I won't again read anything that reviewer gushes about.

  1. God Help the Child - Toni Morrison

Multi-Narrative short novel about the influence of parents have children and how a child's death can change a sibling's life, there were some very powerful passages here and there, but I felt very unsatisfied at the end. Felt like it was just getting going when it ended at 178 pages and I felt it was overwritten at times when a more simpler approach would have been more effective. May read some of her earlier work which is probably better.

I'm having another break from The Secret History as it's too dark for me to continue at the moment (but her writing is superb).

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wiltingfast · 14/05/2015 22:10

Oh dear! Everyone's breaking down! Fingers crossed for you all Smile

apples I read John dies at the End and really enjoyed it, it inspires ahem diverse views tho Grin

24 Into the Wild by Jon Krauker; pretty good in the end but the first half was weak. Nearly abandoned it! Just seemed v superficial and unfocused, anyway second half really zones in on Chris, his family etch and was much more interesting, that said Into Thin Air is a much better book. There's a chapter where he writes of his own attempt as a callow youth to climb The Thumb which was excellent. Think he's better on mountains!

CoteDAzur · 14/05/2015 22:05

Can I be an honorary member of the club, without reading that book? I read 1000 Splendid Suns and am ready to hate all his future (and previous) books, sight unseen.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 14/05/2015 21:43

Today - I absolutely loathed, 'And the Mountains Echoed.' Nice to see another member of the club! :)

TodaysAGoodDay · 14/05/2015 21:38

  1. The First 15 Lives of Harry August - Claire North. A very well-written book which I enjoyed immensely. If you like justice in your books, this one has it in bucket-loads at the end. Deeply satisfying.

  2. The Year of The Flood - Atwood. Not as good as Oryx and Crake IMO, but readable though.

  3. And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini. I hated this. I thought it would be about the two kids trying to find each other, but most of the book concerned random people, and the story seemed to wander aimlessly round trying to reach some sort of (very unsatisfactory) ending.

  4. Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops - Jen Campbell. Does what it says on the cover, and very funny to boot!

  5. Adrian Mole - The Cappucino Years - Sue Townsend. A book I read donkey's years ago, and still love it as much now as I did then.

Just started 30. Her Fearful Symetry - Audrey Niffenegger.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 14/05/2015 21:23

Book 61 - 'Phantom Fortune' by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (writer of, 'Lady Audley's Secret')

I enjoyed this but it did feel looong and, to be brutally honest, not an awful lot happens. She goes into pages of rhapsody about interior decoration every now and then, which was pretty wearing, but I liked the love story element and it's got a couple of nice but fairly obvious twists. If you like Victorian sensation stuff, it's worth ago, otherwise stay well away!

Thanks for all the good wishes. Hope all of the old crocks are okay (and the non-crocks too!).

Original poster
southeastdweller · 14/05/2015 21:17

I think I'll have to read that thread by Cote too about The Bone Clocks, which I'm tempted to buy in paperback when it's out this summer. I read somewhere that it's similar to How to be Both, by Ali Smith, which was bloody awful.

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Original poster
southeastdweller · 14/05/2015 21:11

My apologies, Duchess, for not properly reading your post yesterday at 12.22 Blush. Sending positive thoughts your way.

Just gathering my thoughts on books 32 and 33...

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CoteDAzur · 14/05/2015 20:48

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BestIsWest · 14/05/2015 20:08

We are a bunch of crocks! Blood tests for me and DH tomorrow. Let's hope everyone is ok.

I'm reading Cloud Atlas. I can see it's going to take a while. I like it so far and I remember Cote did a marvellous thread about it. I'm off to look for it. I may be some time.

DuchessofMalfi · 14/05/2015 19:58

Been a bit too busy to listen to Lolita over the last two days but hope to catch up tomorrow. Should get MRI results back over half term. Keeping fingers crossed nothing bad Smile

Original poster
southeastdweller · 14/05/2015 19:35

Thinking of those of you on the testing merry-go-round Flowers

Duchess I'm glad your results were OK and how're you getting on with Lolita?

I was so bored this afternoon at work I did a date timetable for books to be read over the next month. I'm excited to start the last two ones by Kate Atkinson.

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Cedar03 · 14/05/2015 19:10

hackman Couldn't decide whether some of the wives were complicit in their husband's behaviour - or whether the wives just put up with it. Thinking of Laurie Lee who took her off on holiday with, apparently, his wife's knowledge. I wondered whether EJH just didn't care that much about other women's feelings. I did want her to get a grip! Anyway fascinating just how much of her life was in the Cazalet books.

mumslife · 14/05/2015 17:38

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mumslife · 14/05/2015 17:36

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hackmum · 14/05/2015 16:50

Cedar03: "It was a very interesting read except I did get rather fed up with her constant sleeping with married men and then wondering why she was always left on her own."

Yes! This is what I thought too. Hugely enjoyable memoir but she did seem to spend much of her life having affairs with married men. Most of them were quite famous so it was interesting from that point of view, but I couldn't help wondering why she couldn't find somebody single.

ApplesTheHare · 14/05/2015 16:00

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Suffolk I've enjoyed the Cormoran Strike series too but also found The Silkworm harder going than the first one due to the wide range of characters. It feels like JK is having fun with writing those books.

I'm ploughing on with Harry August (now halfway through) but eyeing up options for book 22 to give myself the motivation to finish it. Any recommendations welcome Grin On my list so far:

The Giver
John Dies At The End
Perfect People

Cedar03 · 14/05/2015 12:55

Welcome to the new people and good luck to those waiting for test results, diagnoses, etc.

Book 20 - 'Slipstream' by Elizabeth Jane Howard. This is her memoir. I hadn't realised just how much of the Cazalet stories was based on her own family until I read this. It was a very interesting read except I did get rather fed up with her constant sleeping with married men and then wondering why she was always left on her own. On the whole, she was very honest about her failings.

Book 21 - 'Death of a Snob' by MC Beaton. Murder takes place on a Scottish island and policeman investigates. This was a light easy read. Enjoyable without being demanding.

Suffolkelf · 14/05/2015 11:37

30 - The Silkworm - A Cormoran Strike Novel - Robert Galbraith

A novelist has gone missing, he has a habit of doing this from time to time, and his wife employs private detective Cormoran Strike to find him.

This is the second book in the series. I enjoyed it, but thought that there were too many characters and found it confusing at times.

DuchessofMalfi · 14/05/2015 07:54

Welcome ApplesSmile

ClashCityRocker · 14/05/2015 06:53

apples welcome!

I didn't enjoy the first few chapters of Harry August either and as another book arrived in the mail, I put it down and never got back into it. It's still on my kindle so might well give it another bash.

TheWordFactory · 14/05/2015 06:44

I am still reading The Bone Clocks.

It's interminable.

And I've read 374 pages so I feel like if I quit now ( and I never quit books, so the fact I'm even considering is Shock) I've had this much torture for nought.

ApplesTheHare · 13/05/2015 20:11

Hello everyone

Is it too late to join your challenge? I just found this thread and it looks great. I'm currently on maternity leave and making the most of the time off from work (I write and edit for work, so don't read as much as I'd like for pleasure!) to get some reading done. I was struggling to read adult fiction with a young baby so read a lot of YA earlier in the year. I'm currently reading Fifteen Lives of Harry August and if you discount the tens of thousands of baby books dd and I read each day, this is book 21! I'm only about one quarter of the way through, and wondering whether all the back story will come into play later in the book, or whether the author was torn between writing two different stories. Does that make sense to those who've read it?

Anyway, I hope it's not too late to join you Smile

tassisssss · 13/05/2015 20:10
  1. The girl on the train LOVED it!
ChillieJeanie · 13/05/2015 20:07
  1. Night After Night by Phil Rickman

One from the series featuring curmudgeonly Marcus, reporter with a taste for the mystical Grayle, and Cindy, the ageing Celtic shaman and transvestite. Grayle has been hired as a researcher for a reality TV series which is kind of like Big Brother but set in a house with a disturbed history. The seven guests, including Cindy, are split between sceptics and mystics and the producer is hoping that ghosts will put in an appearance. But as Grayle digs into the history of the house, its tragic recent past and more disturbing distant past, she and Cindy come to realise that there far more going on than even producer Leo Defford could have wished for.

Not one of Rickman's best, although it is a good tale and builds up quite nicely, especially once all the residents are in the house.