50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Two

bigbadbarry I did watch Mapp & Lucia when it was on and enjoyed it, it's just taken me a while to get round to reading the book!

bibliomania the end of In The Woods annoyed me for the same reason, I was racing through the book to find out what happened and.... Nothing. I thought they had forgotten to print the final chapter! I've avoided her books since.

4 Born to Run, Christopher mcdougall. Non-fiction. An account of the greatest ultra race ever run, against a remote tribe in Mexico. Fascinating accounts of the lives and drives of the best North American ultra runners. Highly recommend.

8) In the Woods, Tana French
Annoyed that she left one of the mysteries unsolved - if you write a thriller, you're meant to tell all at the end. No fair otherwise.

The Skeleton Cupboard sounds interesting - I've reserved it from my local library.

Ooh, tempted by that Tanya Byton autobio. But still juggling the Dicken's biog, Northanger Abbey whic i revisit rvery few years and now also The Shepherd's Life which details (too much so at times) the life of a sheep farmer in the Lakes. I read more enjoyably and more when i have several on the go, weirdly. A nice, comforting fiction of a night-time, biog type work on my long morning commute. Works for me!

Chessie the BBC did Mapp and Lucia (which I love) very well last winter, with Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor. Worth a watch.

VanderlyleGeek, I wouldn't say it did, to be absolutely honest. Definitely do read it though, I'm sure you won't regret it.

Welcome Apples. Cresset, I really enjoyed the Viv Albertine autobiography too, even though I've never been a fan of punk music.

1. The Skeleton Cupboard: The Making of a Clinical Psychologist by Tanya Byron. Professor Byron now mainly works with children and is best known for The House of Tiny Tearaways, but this book looks back to her training, when she worked with a wide variety of cases - suicidal teens, adults with AIDS or dementia or sexual dysfunction, anorexics, drug users and so on. The cases are apparently not based on real people (for confidentiality reasons), but they are fascinating and believable and it is also interesting to read about her own learning journey as a trainee psychologist. Recommended.

Chessie I loved daughter of time. I do hope you enjoy it

wilting I gave up on The Unconsoled in the end, far too weird for me! I loved Never Let You Go by Ishiguru so have been disappointed that I've not particularly enjoyed any of his others.

Have finished book 9 Mapp and Lucia by E.F. Benson. This is set in the 1920s-ish (it's never made precisely clear when) and is about two women vying to be queen bee of their little town. It's very funny - if you like Wodehouse you would probably like this.

Book 10 is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, review to follow!!

Thanks, tumbletumble! I have The Children's Book on my to-be-read pile. I should probably give Possession another try.

AnneEtAramis, I've picked up The Pure Gold Baby several times, but I've always put it back. I'm not sure why, exactly, as it seems like the type of book I should like.

Sadik, I'm really looking forward to reading Grief Is The Thing With Feathers. Does its style remind you of Dickinson at all?

1. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor

Third book in the Chronicles of St Mary's series about time travelling historians. Mostly a good read. Trips to see the fall of Troy and Agincourt.

The ending of the book really stretched things a bit too far though. The happy ending felt very contrived and far too mystical to fit nicely in a book where the time travelling aspect is portrayed as scientific in nature.

1. Rock Stars Stole My Life - Mark Ellen

Memoirs of the former Word/Q/Select editor. Some of it was over-familiar and he's not the most exciting music writer but he comes across as very likable and there are some very funny anecdotes.

Sorry I should have said worth reading not sure what happened there.

book 5 the summer of blood by Dan jones like the other books that dan Jones has written this was thoroughly note rating although I have to say it was a bit slow to start. Dan Jones provides a superb narrative about the peasants revolt which really makes the character come alive.

Next on my list book 6 persuasion this a much loved novel I just felt I needed to read it again

Slightlyglitter - I'm sticking my head above the parapet briefly, wearing a hard hat, to say that I enjoyed Station Eleven. I readily admit that I haven't read much post apocalyptic literature and so didn't think too deeply about the plot holes others saw. I just read it and thought it a good story Am off to bed now so you lot can talk about silly Quog in my absence :o

Bugger, I bought Station Eleven because it was cheap and kept popping up in my Kindle recommended list. Oh well.

1. Earwig and the witch Diana Wynne Jones

1. Taken Benedict Jacka. Number 3 of the Alex Verus series. Story developing well from the first two but doesn't end on a cliffhanger. I like that the hero is often stymied by lack of power, it makes the plot more interesting. Trying to spend less on Kindle so not sure when I'll buy the next books.

wilting Yes I read Triffids and yes, the urge to berate Station Eleven is strong indeed!

hope you all appreciate how I resisted the urge to bang on about Station Eleven agsin

Wow cote, you read Triffids!!! I am daftly pleased

Can't believe we're on a new thread already it's moving so fast, lots of interesting reads popping up. Have marked Barbara Pym as an author I might like and the psychopath one too. Read ME Thomas previously and really enjoyed it.

My own list so far is:

1. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
2. The meaning of everything; the story of the OED by Simon Winchester; this was nothing as good as Krakatoa. V dragged out. The fundamentals were there and it was interesting to realise what an incredibly mammoth achievement it was and the level of work required to put it together. But the story of the characters and difficulties just weren't that terribly interesting. Would have a decent article in the Sunday Times but did not merit imo an entire book. Short read but I was bored with it so actually took me ages.
3. an astronauts guide to the universe by Chris Hadfield; again while the fundamentals are interesting the book for me was too long. The man is incredibly driven and focused but I don't think he appreciates how unusual he is or how lucky he was to find a partner who supported him in his aims. He offers insights into how he achieved his success and he definitely has good points to make, but the thought of working out in detail every step of my next working day to the point of acting it out makes me wither a bit inside, so I guess I won't be achieving greatness any time soon Again a short read but I was a bit bored so took me longer than it should.

I have tentatively started on The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro . I've read 3% and already encountered a 10 page monologue from the hotel porter that seemed pointless. Feels a bit kafkesque and joycean so far. I'm concerned I won't be able for it frankly, but feel I should buck up my reading a bit

1. Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter.

I imagine others will have covered this one before, and it's been reviewed a lot in the papers, so I'll be brief. This is a short essay/novella, dealing with the grief of a father and his two young sons after the death of his wife/their mother.

I'd recommend this unreservedly; it's a very short read, almost like reading a long poem, and I found it incredibly moving. It's also a very beautiful book physically (a friend lent it to me, but now I'm very tempted to buy my own copy, even in hardback).

So far this year, I have really enjoyed Viv Albertine's autobiography Clothes, Music, Boys and I am liking The Junior Officer's Reading Club which was lent to my DS, who sometimes wants to join the Army, by a friend. Have also finished the last Michael Connelly, The Crossing, which was well up to scratch, and something else, that was so unmemorable I can't remember the title.

cheddar your book club are clearly fools

I have chosen The princess bride by William Goldman for book 3 and my letter G author. Spent more then I usually do but really fancied something a bit light and silly as January is a tough month for me.

Tiresomely I have washing up and clothes folding to do before I can get started. Life can be annoying sometimes.

Hi everyone

Hope you don't mind me joining. I completed the challenge in 2015 but ran out of steam in terms of posting on the threads.

Just about to choose book 5 for 2016 having completed the following over the last few weeks:

1 The Promise - Robert Crais Crais fans will love this. He's had a lot of time to develop his characters and obviously has a fantastic team of editors. Snappy narrative and likeable, extraordinary main players mean The Promise is a real page turner.
2 A man called Ove - Frederik Backman Even more wonderful than I was expecting having seen/received lots of recommendations. This made me laugh and cry.
3 How I lost you - Jenny Blackhurst The premise - a mother who killed her baby and then receives a photo of him having grown up to become an older child - drew me in but this was pretty dreadful. The characters were unlikeable and the plot gratuitous and unbelievable.
4 Cold Killing (DI Corrigan series book 1) - Luke Delaney One for fans of Peter James and Mo Hayder, this South London crime thriller features gory murders, a main character who identifies with those he hunts and plenty of misdirection. I imagine the story wrote itself but it was enjoyable enough.

Oh, I loved We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves! I thought it was absolutely brilliant - so interesting and unusual. It started off like any average book about someone who doesn't get on with her family, and then BAM! But I picked it for my book club to read and they mostly hated it. Although it has become very obvious that my book club and I have very different tastes.

Onemouse, Little Dog Monday makes me cry every time! I actually really like Rilla of Ingleside, not so much for Rilla herself but for all the war chat.

1. The Invasion of the Tearling, by Erika Johansen. Sequel to Queen of the Tearling. Decent fantasy, not brilliant. Queen Kelsea is trying to work out how to stop the Mort invading, and much of the book is taken up by her strange fugue states where she enters someone else's life. I liked the bits with Lily much better than the Kelsea bits, which were mostly a bit muddled and dull. It ended with a cliffhanger, so I'll probably read the next one anyway.