50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Three

Dinosaurs you have my sympathy - I hate having to be lovely and sympathetic to little people when all I want to do is sleep! Hope the toddler gets rid of the cold quickly and without seeing the need to share and care her germs. Would re-reading an old favourite work - at least that way you can guess what you missed picking up on?

1. the Wolf Border by Sarah Hall - an ex pat returns to her home county to supervise the reintroduction of wolves to the British Isles. I really enjoyed this, and wanted to find out what happened - it managed to achieve that nosy too elusive double whammy of being well written and a page turner.

10. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson - two people meet on a plane and plot the murder of an adulterous wife. This managed to be a page turner, but wasn't particularly well written and the plot was ultimately ridiculous.

11. The Disappearance of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell - a girl is confined to a psychiatric hospital for sixty years for displaying unconventional behaviour interpreted as mental illness. On the closure of the hospital, she is put in contact with her niece. I really enjoyed this.

PS I normally post as Dragontrainer, but for some reason have reverted to an old username and lack the technological skill to change back without loosing the post!

11. Absolute Pandemonium - Brian Blessed. As expected light-hearted autobiography. Ordered in chapter themes rather than in chronological order the book covers Brian's early life, various stages of his long career and many of the friendships he made along the way. All told in his particular style.

Number 12 is going to be The Lost Princess - Alison Weir. I haven't read any Alison Weir yet but have seen her take part in a few historical TV programmes and was lucky to get one of the MN giveaway copies.

marfisa, I agree, I think some of the voices were quite samey, but the perspectives were actually distinct from each other IMO. I really enjoyed the perspective of the young woman (can't remember her name) – ex-secretary, from the middle-class family. And I liked the ex-FBI guy (again, forgotten his name!).

I'm struggling at the moment with reading - toddler DD has a cold, which means I was up 3 times in the night with her, and so my brain doesn't work. I have a kindle full of books that require intellect or involve lots of violence which I think I need to be in a non-sleepy mood for. Can I have some fluffy recommendations? Nothing that would lead to me reading the same paragraph 2/3 times before I get what they are trying to tell me in my sleep deprived state?

(Also has anyone read the 3rd and final "Red Rising" book? Debating downloading as a treat for next week, but it's still a tenner...)

only, I think A Brief History presents itself as having a range of voices, but in reality the different voices are all quite same-y. And so are the different perspectives.

No, it doesn't get a move on later on, and yes, it's just the musings of some illiterate tough guys! Perfect summary. I read the whole thing and will never get those hours of my life back again.

Just pleased to be agreeing with you about a book, Cote.

I also loved Brooklyn. I think both book and film get a rather bad rap, and I think they're both badly misunderstood.

The book is very very quiet; I did spend a fair bit of it thinking 'When's it going to do something?!?', but gradually realised that I was completely invested in Eilis's life and feelings. By the end I was devastated but totally satisfied in a way that happens to me very rarely.

The film has also been criticised for being dull, sentimental, 'easy' etc but I think it's better than that and, crucially, absolutely NOT played or presented for sentiment.

Cote, as I've said on the previous thread, I gave up on A Brief History.... It isn't just the tough guys whose voices we hear, and actually if I liked anything about it it was probably the range of voices and lives the reader is given access to. But in the end I just had to admit I didn't have enough background understanding of the historical and political setting to be really following it.

I'm struggling through A Brief History Of Seven Killings. It's well-written and all that but each page is very much like the previous one is like the next one. I'm at 13% and already bored. Does it get a move on later on or is it just the musings of some illiterate tough guys?

Tanaqui, Kim Harrison? The purist in me doesn't like the idea of skipping the first one! But she does recap the world-building bit in book 2, so you probably would have enough background. How about skimming the first half and starting to read it properly from when she turns herself into a mink? (Btw, mink/minker used to be a big insult at my school, so reading about an animal mink is a bit confusing!)

9. The Teacher - Katerina Diamond

This book was 99p kindle buy and was a little darker than I expected! And there's a loose end that bugs me but I didn't like putting it down!

7. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

YA. A book about first love. Set in an American high school. Weird, awkward girl with a troubled home life meets biracial, cute boy from a loving, stable home on the school bus. A quick read; I was surprised by how enjoyable this book was.

8. We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

I loved this book as much as I loved the author's previous book The Language of Flowers, but both in different ways. The lives of a young single mother (Lettie) and her two children get turned upside down when Lettie's parents (who have been functioning as parents of the two children) leave the U.S. to return to Mexico. A well crafted story about family, relationships, and immigration issues. I loved the characters and the story line.

9. Do No Harm by Henry Marsh

I read this after seeing it discussed on these threads. It was an interesting read and overall I liked it, but the version I read (on Kindle) was badly edited and it became a distraction. Made me want to watch his documentary though (The English Surgeon).

Canyouforgiveit I agree that Brooklyn is written for emigrants. I'm a serial expat and I found it searingly, heart-stoppingly beautiful because it described so well what it feels like to be in a new place. A very quiet book, but I'd love to reread it.

Remus, I really didn't get on with Girl in a Band - I think she's a better musician/artist than she is writer! If it hadn't been a MN giveaway, I wouldn't have finished it.

So relieved there are others who didn't enjoy Brooklyn. I actually found myself getting annoyed by it.

16. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up 50% completely bats, and 50% potentially brilliant- will let you know when I start actually doing it!

the lost Tudor princess by Alison Weir book 11. I really do enjoy reading Alison Weir books. While this one is very factual and I have learned an awful lot about Margaret Lennox there does seem to be a bit more padding than is actually necessary (imo). Weir quotes at length from Margaret's correspondence. Therefore you get bogged down with the whole letter rather than useful excerpts. That aside what a fascinating woman who really didn't learn from her mistakes.

20 Brooklyn - Colm Toibin so dull I can't be bothered to say any more.

I loved this but most people I know thought it was deadly dull. I think it is a book written for emigrants tbh. It captures exactly the constant feeling of having two possible lives - the one here and the one at home and the realisation that you will always wonder what would have been if you chose the other (not very well put - sorry).

Brooklyn - the film is meant to be fab, but honestly I found it so dull!

Pterobore, my favourite Christie is The Secret of Chimneys- it's an Inspector Battle one. However, the best ones are probably the best known- Orient Express, Sparking Cyanide and Murder at the Vicarage especially good if you haven't seen the films!

Am currently struggling with the second Jackson Brodie :(

Have just got the first Kate Harrison on the library app, but based on Cheeses reviews, perhaps I should start with the second one?!

Best My dp enjoyed it iirc. I thought it was astonishingly boring/awful and didn't finish it.

20 Brooklyn - Colm Toibin so dull I can't be bothered to say any more.

About a third of the way through Girl in a Band. I liked the first 40 pages or so but am now finding it increasingly boring, meandering and lacking in purpose.

Meg - does it pick up again?

21. Johnson's Life of London by Boris Johnson

A re-read for me. Boris Johnson gives an overview of the history of London by focusing on some of the characters who have impacted on it and also the wider life of the nation. Starting with a look at London Bridge and ending with the Midland Grand Hotel, he covers Boudica, the Emperor Hadrian, Mellitus, Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Geoffrey Chaucer, Richard Whittington, William Shakespeare, Robert Hooke, Samuel Johnson, John Wilkes, JMW Turner, Lionel Rothschild, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, WT Stead, Winston Churchill, and Keith Richards. Very interesting and entertaining read.

Talk of fashion in books makes me think of a novel I read a while ago, The Pink Suit by Nicole Mary Kelby.

It's about the pink suit Jackie Kennedy was wearing when JFK was shot. It goes into the working and personal life of one of the dressmaker/designers at the place in New York that made it for her, and the way they worked with Chanel (it was a copy of a Chanel but made in America – quite common so that Jackie could keep her 'patriotic' credentials intact, apparently.

It's full of fascinating detail like that, as well as the actual business of making clothes, and the lives of immigrants or second-generation inhabitants in New York at that time. Well worth a read.

For those of you who like good fashion detail in books, I'm currently reading Americanah and there is a huge amount of detail about hair, specifically black women's hair, it's fascinating. Will give a full review when finished, not just of the hair bits.

'Trousers that scream Paul Smith' They would get annoying after a while.