50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 4

I got that book too,Lammy. I've bumped it up my list, but still need to clear some of the backlog of library books waiting to be read. It's lovely getting free surprises in the post, especially books.

oops the Jane Hill book is called "Can't Let Go"....actually I let it go very easily

I had a lovely surprise this morning: a free book from Mumsnet (thank you) The Girls from Corona Del Mar by Rufi Thorpe! So nice to get a parcel in the post :)

35: Jane Hill thriller "Never Let Go"....bit dull and repetitive I found. Girl goes to San Francisco when she is 18 and has "affair" with 40 year old man who she kills. She gets away with the murder and now she is 35 and in London and someone is stalking her and telling her she will be punished! I guessed the twist mid way through but the final little twist at the end I didn't guess and it was good. A light, quick read but not brilliant!

36: Anita Notaro A Moment Like This: Her last book she wrote in 2012 before she died in 2014. Simple, quick read about a mousy type woman who has an amazing singing voice and wins an "X Factor" type of competition in Ireland.

37: Am going to try Night Circus next :)

38 - The Bed I Made - Lucie Whitehouse
Kate meets Richard in a bar and starts an intense relationship. However, everything is not as it first seems and 18 months later she flees London and rents a cottage on the Isle of Wight. Richard hasn't given up on her and is trying to find her. An OK read. Lucie Whitehouse has been compared to Daphne Du Maurier by some critics, I would say that she is no where near as good.

39 - Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
Very clever book. Based on the relationships between three women whose children have just started Kindergarten. The story opens six months before the school trivia night. You know from the start that someone dies, but you don't know who, or how. The Police are investigating and interviews with the parents and teachers are interspersed with the story. I would highly recommend.

Well, I finished Hannibal, and found it rather more enjoyable than the first time round.

Now onto The Luminaries. Took my a little while to get into it seems like it took an awful lot of unnecessary blather to actually get going but it's got my interest now. Only a little way into it though.

Esio I read the Blake Morrison book years ago. Remember being really touched by it

40. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

I bought myself a Miss Marple omnibus the other week, and while I've seen the Joan Hickson TV adaptations many times I've not actually read the stories before. But while I knew whoddunit, it's still a good read.

Rex Fortesque dies suddenly in office at the heart of his business empire, and a handful of rye is found in his pocket. Suspicion instantly falls on the family, particularly the young wife who has an overly friendly relationship with her golfing partner. But when Adele is also poisoned over tea in her parlour, and the maid is found dead in the garden with a clothes peg on her nose, Miss Marple finds herself in the hunt for a murderer basing his killings on a nursery rhyme.

No 52
Blake Morrison And when did you last see your father ?

Has anyone read this ?
It's quite short , easy to read very evocative portrait of family life & the relationship between a son and his dad - it jumps between the present ( where his dad is ill in hospital ) & recounting his childhood holidays etc

It's poignant & made me laugh & cry

I finished number 21 yesterday - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. This was a re-read for me, but I wanted to read it again after watching the first episode of the BBC adaptation and realising it would be a good idea to try and refresh my memory of the storyline. I loved it just as much second time around, and I even felt a bit tearful at the last page and the ending.
Now looking forward to watching the 4 episodes which I have waiting on my Sky planner.

46. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

Tragic Nigerian tale of the downfall of a man whose fate is finally sealed by the coming of the missionaries. Nobody comes out well here, be they native or incomer, as the flaws and superstitions of both groups are laid bare.

47. The Testament of Mary - Colm Toibin Very short (104 pages)! but quite interesting fictional account of the time of the crucifixion from the point of view of Mary. It certainly presents an alternative view of events, especially the bringing back to life of Lazarus.

Back on the go-slow trying to read two novels at the same time now but I will be raiding the library this evening for more good stuff...

Bugrit I've just come on to log my next completed read as I'll Have What She's Having by Rebecca Harrington and couldn't agree more with your views. An easy and trivial way to while away an hour or so. I think the book could have been vastly improved by setting the author's word processing package to automatically delete the words "literally" and "actually" together with the exclamation mark, all of which were massively overused.

Can't remember last time I posted (it's been a busy few weeks) so just going to do my full list.

1. Life by Keith Richards
2. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein
3. The King's Curse by Phillippa Gregory
4. The Book of You by Claire Kendal
5. The Constant Princess by Phillippa Gregory
6. We Were Liars by E Lockhart
7. The Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill
8. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
9. The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

Stand outs for me are:

The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Aloft
East of Eden
Do No Harm
A God In Ruins

Margaret Atwood's book of short stories Stone Mattress: Nine Tales is £0.99 on the Kindle today.

33. Echopraxia - Peter Watts

Well, this wasn't good. It's the sequel of Blindsight, which was pretty interesting. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen and was ultimately disappointed. Some interesting ideas but not enough to recommend it.

I'm on to Crash by J G Ballard - one of his few books that I haven't read, and that is because I watched (and was in awe of) the film directed by David Cronenberg.

Book 74 - 'Finders Keepers' by Stephen King
This features the same trio of 'investigators' as in, 'Mr Mercedes.' It's not King's best book but I enjoyed it much more than I did, 'Revival' and even when not at his absolute best, I'd rather read King than most contemporary writers. I won't say much about this, as some of you will probably be wanting to read it soon, but it would be good to talk about it later. It looks as if there will be another one of these, judging by the way it ends.

24 The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. This was a very thoughtful book about a young girl sent to an asylum and is not spoken of again in her family. But when the "asylum" is closing her great-niece is asked to take responsibility. As my mum worked at an old hospital that had been an asylum she dealt with the same situations in the early 1990s this felt quite personal to read. The structure is fascinating with little interjections from Esme's sister Kitty who has dementia. The author manages the thought processes of both sisters very effectively. Recommended!

25 The Book of You by Claire Kendal. I couldn't put this down! I feel I've been spoilt by reading such great books lately. This book about a stalker was quite scary as the incidents built up. The inclusion of the jury service was different and added an interesting sub plot. I liked the character of Clarissa very much and was rooting for her - she felt real and vulnerable but also taking control of her situation. Great little added interest in her hobby of sewing and designing. I would definitely recommend this to people who liked Girl on A Train. This is superior in its writing and structure.

Next up.....aaargh trying to decide now!

53. Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Very much enjoyed this. At its core, it is a love story between Ifemelu and Obinze, but it touches on much more, such as the nature of African hair and what it means to be an immigrant in America and Africa.

54. I'll Have What She's Having, by Rebecca Harrington -- I know a couple of people have read this. It's extremely short, and padded out to look longer with wide spaces between each paragraph to make it look longer. I think if I'd bought this I would be pretty irritated and I blasted through it in less than an hour. It's an enjoyable diary-style account of living on different diets for very short periods of time. It's funny, but very scatty, and shallower than a slate tile.

55. The Torso in the Town, by Simon Brett -- another cosy South Downs murder mystery. When the dessicated torso of a woman is found in the cellar of a house during a dinner party, Jude and Carole set to solving the mystery. Another light, fun read.

Next up, I'm rereading Hannibal.

61. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion. 2/5 stars. Whilst I enjoyed The Rosie Project very much I thought this one had run out of steam. It was a lot more serious in tone with very little to laugh at. Don Tillman was just a bit dull now.

Struggling to find a good book atm, going to try The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel next.

The Janissary Tree (Yashim the Ottoman Detective Book 1) by Jason Goodwin is £0.99 on the Kindle. I wrote about these books before - genuinely well-researched murder mysteries that take place in 19th Century Istanbul of the Ottoman Empire. Don't miss it if you would be interested in this sort of thing.

Biblio - I think you would like this book.

No 51
Putting Alice Back Together by Carol Marinelli

Alice is the friend you wish you had . The girl who makes a party more fun and makes you laugh when you're crying over your ex. But Alice has a secret....

I really enjoyed this book , it's about self discovery , a quick read , probably a good holiday read too . It is a bit confusing though because the narrative jumps backwards & forwards to demonstrate how Alice is the way she is & lead up to what the secret is

I really liked Owen Meaney.

39. Martyr by Rory Clements

I do seem to read a lot of Tudor era murder mysteries, for which I am blaming CJ Sansom entirely. This one is Elizabethan (1587), and the hero is John Shakespeare, brother of William, who is one of Walsingham's intelligencers. A plot to assassinate Sir Francis Drake is uncovered, and the would-be assassin is believed to be a Jesuit priest. A high-born young woman is found murdered and mutilated in an illicit printing house, and as Shakespeare investigates he finds links between the two. He also comes up against one of the Queen's men, Topcliffe, who has a hatred of Catholics and believes torture is the way to investigate anything.

Sansom and Parris are better writers in this genre but then this was Clements' first and it's reasonable enough. I will probably read more of his.

Owen Meaney not controversial - just tedious and stupid and having his usual obsession with sex. It would have made a half decent short story but it makes a very dull novel.

I loathed, 'A Fine Balance' - thought it was even worse than Owen Meaney.

Book 73 - 'More Than This' by Patrick Ness
Well, I didn't know where this was going when I posted about it yesterday, and, I'm sad to say that I still don't where it was going, and I don't think the writer did either. I thought the ending was an absolute cop-out, and made me think badly about the book as a while, even though I'd really rather enjoyed it up until then. I knew it was all going wrong when I realised how close to the end I'd got and how there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion in the time available. It was like he'd got tired OR (even worse) as if he was sticking two fingers up to the reader and saying, 'Ner' at us.

Lammy - Don't bother with this one! Read, 'The Knife of Never Letting Go' instead.