50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 4

I hate to have to admit it but I have given up on Fingersmith Sat out in the garden with it yesterday and managed to read over halfway but found it pretty hard going. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the plot and thought the twist at the end of part 1 clever but I found my mind drifting off when reading through the slow bits so have decided to put it to one side for the time being which I absolutely hate to do I started Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty last night - feel I need something a bit lighter

15. Finally finished a short biography of JMW Turner by Peter Ackroyd. Very disappointing as the book is very badly edited, with odd repetitions of ideas appearing throughout. Having said that it was interesting to learn more about Turner's life and enormous collection of paintings. Sad to say I was relieved when I finished it, and it's only 148 pages!

On to some holiday fiction!

Thanks, Gail and Duchess. Today has been better - I quite enjoyed the rain (Never thought I'd say that)!

I'm reading, 'The Girl with all the Gifts.' Not loving it at all, but will -probably finish it, as it's the only actual book I've got at the moment.

Had missed your post, Remus - hope you start to feel better soon. We've had a cooler day here today, and I've managed to get some housework done but will probably flake out later.

gailforce - a friend of ours has MS and he's been struggling this past week too.

Remus do hope that you will feel better now that the weather is cooling down. I have MS and the heat really effects how I feel.

The Sunday Times Summer Reading list has some interesting-looking books. A non-fiction that caught my eye was The Weather Experiment by Peter Moore.

24. Rags and Bones. Edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt

A collection of short stories by fantasy writers. Each one is based on a different old story (fairy tale, classic novel etc). Some more entertaining than others, but generally enjoyable to read. The biggest criticism would be that if you're familiar with the old story it's based on, you'll have a good idea of where the short story in the book is going to end up.

It was nice to read a collection of short stories for a change though, as it's been a busy month and the short story format meant dipping in and out was a lot easier than it would have been with a long novel.

70. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - 5/5 stars

Well that was good. Brilliant plot that twisted and turned all over the place. Fast paced, thrilling story, and some of the most memorable characters ever. Superb writing. The best Sarah Waters novel I've read so far - I loved it from beginning to end.

Not sure what to read next - quite fancy a thriller, or perhaps some short stories. Have also got Fallout by Sadie Jones lined up to read soon.

No 58
Maggie O'Farrell
Instructions for a heat wave

Brilliant brilliant novel set in the 1976 heatwave (topical !) when a husband goes out to buy the paper & doesn't come back
The three adult children reunite and a their differences and problems get aired
Fantastically written , can't recommend it enough

I've just bought The Marrying of Chani Kaufman. I rented a flat in Golders Green for a few years and was always fascinated by the Orthodox Jews I saw around the area.

Kindle Daily Deal today is The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris. It was long listed for the Man Booker in 2013. I've read it and thought it was rather good. It's set in the very tight knit Orthodox Jewish community of North London, which I knew very little about and found fascinating, but also rather claustrophobic.

Whippet - I'm okay, thanks. It appears to be something long term, but this week has been particularly bad after a couple of good-ish weeks. I don't think the heat has helped much.

Re: Marquez - I enjoyed, 'Love in the time of Cholera' and, 'A Hundred Years of Solitude' but haven't read any others of his.

If anybody can think of anything as good as, 'All Quiet on the Western Front' I'd really like to know. :)

Remus, I hope you're feeling better now. It can be so comforting reading children's books sometimes. I really did think All Quiet on the Western Front was very good indeed. I'm amazed I have read a book you like as well! Tis a miracle...

I am reading a Marquez novella now. Bet you don't like this one

Book 27 Horns by Joe Hill.

I enjoyed his debut, A Heart shaped Box and whilst I'm not a huge horror fan, he can write well and the plot dances along.

This one is less straightforward. There are a number of scenes told from various points of view, which I'm not sure added a great deal.

But the scenes are very visual and vivid and the dialogue good.

Books 83, 84 and 85 have been re-reads of children's books. Haven't been terribly well this week and have needed something to just look at without having to think much.

Just got, 'The Girl With All the Gifts' from the library, although the present tense thing might mean I don't get on with it. Will give it a chance, at least, as I have nothing else except on the Kindle.

Still reading Fingersmith here too - am nearly halfway. Enjoying it but finding it a bit slow in places

69. The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett - 4/5 stars. Enjoyable, well-written. Have reviewed on the thread for this book.

Still continuing with Fingersmith. Am nearly two-thirds of the way now. Still enjoying it.

52. The Green Roads of England by R. Hippisley Cox

First published in 1914, this is a survey of the Stone Age ridge roads roads of southern England, with details of the hill forts and earth works found along the way, as well as the relationship of their siting to the watersheds. It's a fairly dry kind of survey with only the very occasional anecdote about King Alfred or beliefs about King Arthur, but it is interesting to see how it all connects together and just how visible these centuries-old tracks still are, or were a century ago.

Whippet - I thought, 'All Quiet' was astonishingly good. One of the best books that I've ever read.

56. All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque

I’m so glad I have finally got round to reading this classic German WW1 novel. It was banned (and burned) in Nazi Germany, probably because it was deemed unpatriotic. All the horrors of trench warfare are here, along with the sense of alienation felt by soldiers on leave and the intense comradeship of men thrown together in the worst circumstances imaginable. Powerful writing. I couldn’t put it down.

I agree, Bad Pharma is excellent. Quite an eye-opener.

I read Bad Pharma a few years ago wiltingfast. It was absolutely fascinating! Especially in the tactics that pharmaceutical businesses use to try and get their drugs on the NHS lists - I've been watching the campaign behind the meningitis vaccination and seeing pretty much every step Goldacre identified coming into play.

55. Out by Natsuo Kirino. A woman kills her abusive husband. three of her co-workers help her by disposing of the body. As well as having to outwit the police they end up with a yazuka loan shark and a dangerous casino owner on their trail. I loved this. There weren't many plot twists and it's not really a conventional thriller-it's much more than that. All of the characters are so well drawn that I was completely caught up in the story. You get a real sense of what life is like for women struggling to make ends meet by working night shift in a Tokyo factory. I'd highly recommend it but with the warning that it contain a lot of extremely graphic violence-it's not a Miss Marple type mystery.

tumble - Yes, it's astonishing that 1 in 200 of the world's men are direct descendants of Genghis Khan, and not just in Asia, either.

I thought I knew quite a bit about his story but reading this book, I realise that my knowledge was very superficial. It is absolutely fascinating.