50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 4

wilting - I haven't read any Pierre Lemaitre books. I just checked out Alex and it sounds a bit graphic but I do enjoy serial killer stuff on TV like Criminal Minds so might read it at some point. Thanks for the recommendation

Good to hear that your operation went well, Best. My best wishes for a speedy recovery

Evelina is okay, but it doesn't half go on! I think sticking with Christie is a v good plan.

Good luck with your foot Duchess, hope you don't have to wait too much longer

Remus, I have

Landmarks - Robert McFarlane
The Observations - Jane Harris
Murder in Mesopotamia - Agatha Christie
Round Ireland in Low Gear - Eric Newby
Evelina - Frances Burney

I've read the first few pages of each but nothing is grabbing me. Might stick with the Poirot.

Glad to see you back Best.Pleased to hear all went well. Enjoy your time off work . I'm still trying to sort out consultant appointment to get my foot looked at. Taking forever

What's in your pile, Best?

all for the good wishes. What a lovely bunch you all are .

Glad to say the operation was a success and I'm feeling a lot better already.

I have a few weeks off work and a pile of books to read but nothing is grabbing my attention at the moment.

Bloody wi-fi ...

*maybe even (sigh)

*maybe

Oh & I meant to say, hope your post-op recovery is going well Best and may even

My inability to concentrate has continued meaning that whilst I have read a little, its mostly inconsequential stuff.

Book 39: Best Staged Plans - Claire Cook
Book 40: The Other Side of the Bridge - Katharine Swartz
Book 41: Body Blow - Dianne Pugh

But have broken the back of it and am now back ...
Book 40: On Being Mortal - Atul Gawande is one I'd really recommend, especially if you have elderly parents and are having to think about the inevitable. It really examines the "living a good end of life" subject and has helped me to deal with a subject that is hammering on my door and has caused much of my low mood.

I am now reading Go Set a Watchman ...

On the subject of favoured writers, my 5-star listing on Goodreads is split 18 male, 10 female. I used to prefer dick-lit as my sorbet reads, but chick-lit is appearing more, especially when my mood is low.

Book 93 - 'Life in the Freezer' by Alastair Fothergill
A natural history of the Antarctic. Interesting info about whales, seals, penguins etc and some absolutely glorious photographs. It cost me thirty pence from here. If anybody is near Lichfield I recommend this as a second hand bookshop that has more interesting stock than ten copies of, 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and a couple of battered Harry Potter books.

Book 92 - 'The Existential Detective' by Alice Thompson

This was ridiculous and I really didn't like it. I should have stopped after ten pages but carried on because I haven't got many 'real' books at the moment. She appears to be unable to write a sentence with more than seven words in it; the plot was (although I suppose this was deliberate) implausible and the whole thing had an air of the writer thinking she was really clever and a bit of a poet, whilst never really being either. Absolutely NOT recommended.

Cote have you read the Pierre Lemaitre thrillers? I read Alex and thought it was vg. A bit graphically violent for me so haven't read any others. I'm recommending it based on your love of jack Reacher but I warn you there are some feelings in the book

Hah I had typed in "dicklit" and then decided I didn't want to be offensive heh heh should have known better!

23. the Gathering by Anne Enright. Sat on my bookshelf for years, I think it was a gift. Booker prize winner.

So after reading this book I have the following questions: WHY do so many writers who have amazing skills with words insist on writing about unsympathetic fictional characters with utterly miserable lives? Why do they insist on writing about a terrible family secret that comes to light and has a massive impact on all and sundry? And why do they insist on throwing in a few horribly coarse words and sex scenes which have no relation to the story, and are presumably just there to shock? And why do these books win major prizes?

ARGH - you can probably guess I did not really rate it

23. The Wicked And The Witless - Hugh Cook

Book 5 of my favourite ten-part fantasy series. I won't bore everyone with the details but if anyone ever gets as far as digging out books 1-4 of the series then you'll want to keep going!

Re: female writers, I have to agree that sadly very few of the books on my bookshelf are written by women. But I love Hilary Mantel and also Angela Carter who is one of my very favourite writers in the world.

40 Into The Wild - Jon Krakauer

This was disappointing. A very long-winded, repetitive, ultimately less-than-enlightening account of a young man's very ill-prepared attempt to live off the land in Alaska, within 120 days of which he managed to kill himself of starvation. I had high hopes for this book because I had loved the author's book Into Thin Air, his personal account of the 1997 Mt Everest disaster, but its only truly interesting part was where he talks about his own climb of The Thumb, as wilting said.

What I got from this book was that Chris McCandless was an affable idiot, and that I must get the DC's youthful energies channeled into some relatively safe sport or hobby before the end of their schooling, lest they find some exciting, romantic, creative, and possibly delusional way to quickly kill themselves.

I think Raymond Chandler might be the closest I get to dick-lit.

wilting - I'd love a recommendation, thanks

"Have to say I hate that chicklit seems to have become a derogatory term. Nothing wrong with reading about romance, love, children, marriage, family, divorce"

The problem with chick-lit imho is not the topics but the light, superficial, and quite often dumb way in which it portrays them. Not that I would read about those topics anyway myself.

"No one talks about of books with more "male" themes in a derisory way"

Yes, they do. I believe you are talking about "dick-lit"

Personally, I'd read dick-lit rather than chick-lit any day. Quite enjoy my Jack Reacher books once in a while.

56. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

The Met's first and only apprentice wizard in decades is sent off to Herefordshire to investigate the disappearance of two young girls. Since there does not appear to have been magical involvement, PC Peter Grant stays on to offer his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get in the search. But he begins to suspect that things are not all they seemed, and that the invisible friend of one of the missing girls may possibly have something to do with it.

This one feels like a bit of a filler before the hunt continues for the rogue wizard in London, but it was entertaining enough.

Oh Remus, you didn't like GoT??? If I recall, the third is where the story really starts to come together. Did you read the one with the Red Wedding?I'm afraid I devoured them .

Cote you're not having much luck! Into the Wild is nothing as good as his mountain book. There is a bit later in the book where he recounts his own effort to climb The Thumb somewhere in Alaska I think which is riveting but otherwise I was disappointed. I must flick through my kindle and see if there is anything I've read recently that might interest you....

Am reading a book about Walmart at the moment. Not bad, but very much their voice and their narrative which is interesting of itself. A lot of it is told in form of quotes from managers etc which works better than usual for that type of thing. Hope to finish it soon.

I must check your list biblio acerbic women are always interesting to me, if they can be funny as well even better ! Is there anyone you'd particularly recommend?

Have to say I hate that chicklit seems to have become a derogatory term. Nothing wrong with reading about romance, love, children, marriage, family, divorce, these are huge topics and perfectly valid subjects for books and readers to explore

No one talks about of books with more "male" themes in a derisory way yet plenty are very poorly written and executed. Bad writing is not the preserve of women alas. I am glad of this thread to weed out some of the chaff!

I did a quick tally, and slightly more than half of the books I read are by women. I prefer female voices with an acerbic take on families/relationships, both in fiction and non-fiction - there are plenty of them out there.

Women's writing is not co-terminous with chicklit (and I realize that nobody here actually claimed that).

Morning Cote and Remus,

Yes, I guess I do generally prefer family/relationship/historical novels (quite like Hilary Mantel and Phillipa Gregory) and have absolutely no interest in sci fi/game of thrones/post apocolyptic type novels so I guess it does come down to personal taste and subject matter. Going on about feelings is a bore I agree!

Also agree with you Southeastdweller it is hard to be selective when you get pulled into recently published books that everyone is talking about that just aren't that good.