50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Three

It was Quog - thank you. :)

Shake I thought the last of the Ness trilogy was horribly disappointing, considering how good the other two were. I think he probably rushed it out too quickly. I also don't think that anything else he's done has been a patch on 'The Knife of Never Letting Go'.

Book 22 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
A YA book, the first in a series, which I’ve often seen recommended on MN. This was…okay only, and certainly didn’t leave me rushing to read the next in the series. I like the concept – once people turn 16 they are given plastic surgery and turned ‘pretty’ therefore, ostensibly, giving everyone an even playing field and making society fairer. Unfortunately the execution isn’t great – it’s extremely ‘adolescent’ if you’ll excuse that as a criticism of a YA book, and I found the central character a bit irritating.

Book 23 Max Carrados Detective Stories
A detective finds an old friend, who has lost his sight, and who wants to assist the detective in his work. Needless to say, the blind man turns out to be far more ‘seeing’ than anybody else. I enjoyed these - thank you to whoever recommended them (going to do a search now to see if I can find out who it was!).

Posted on the end of the previous thread and will update shortly on here.

Grey I'm on the fith book of this series and im loving them. You are correct about the forging of England although I do wish Cornwall had made king Alfred a bit more likeable rather than being a pious zealot with a very sneaky streak.

8. The Lords of the North, Bernard Cornwell

Uhtred settles some old scores and continues to build his reputation as a formidable warrior; in the process he is betrayed by a friend, loses everything and becomes a slave. Following his rescue he seeks bloody revenge (and is is bloody) on old enemies. At first glance these stories seem to be about the cultural clash between Saxons and the invading Danes, but it is also about religious and political differences. This period of history is about the making of England as a nation.

This is the third book in Cornwell's Saxon Stories and my favourite so far. The characters are very well developed, the plot is moving along nicely with some parts of the bigger story wrapped up and finished. New plot lines are opening up and I am looking forward to carrying on with the series.

So next up: Sword Song, Bernard Cornwell

I just heard this as well. Sad news. Foucault's Pendulum is one of my favourite books, and I've enjoyed everything of his I have read.

Oh crap. Foucault's Pendulum was one of the talismanic books of my teenage years. RIP

Posted before adding - may he rest in peace

I have just read that Umberto Eco has died. He is one of my favourite authors. Coincidentally I am currently about 100 pages into Baudolino which has been sitting in my tbr pile for years.

16. Prince by Rory Clements

Intelligencer John Shakespeare has his suspicions about the death of Christopher Marlowe, officially recorded as an accidental death in a fight in Deptford. But as a wave of bombing rocks London, targeted at the newly arrived Dutch refugees, he instead finds himself ordered by Cecil to persuade a Spanish nobleman to share the secret he claims Philip of Spain will have him murdered to conceal.

Lots of convoluted plotting and plenty of historical detail. Clements is a decent writer, maybe not quite in Sansom's league, but certainly better than a lot.

Sad news about Harper Lee and coincidentally I started reading To Kill a Mockingbird this week.

1. The Master by Colm Toibin. This book focuses on approximately 5 years of Henry James' life, 1895-1900, beginning with failure of his play Guy Domville and ending right at the commencement of the third period of his career. Toibin references James' works, but the novel is about James, his uneasy relationships with nearly everyone with whom he has some closeness, his perceptions, his mind, his self-imposed exile from Boston. I admire James' writing deeply, so I was a bit wary of reading this book. I was wrong to have felt so. Toibin's portrayal of James is, well, masterful. Highly, highly recommended.

Book 10 will be Francine Prose's Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932.

I've looked, and realised I've actually read two others - Country Driving, and Oracle Bones - both were good.

Happy to hear all the Kingsolver love

Sadik, can you remember which other Peter Hessler book it was you read and liked? When looking on Amazon I saw he has written a few other books and am quite tempted to read another..

9. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. (Audiobook)
I'm sure everyone knows what this book is about- just by the title and recent well publicised film.
Impressive narration and eloquently written story. I found it difficult and emotional to listen to, but what an important story to tell. My favourite book so far this year and highly recommended to anyone who has not read it.

10. Monsters of Men (Bk 3 of Chaos Walking Trilogy) by Patrick Ness.
Book 3 of a Trilogy of YA Sci-fi. Really liked the first two books set on another planet where the thoughts of all men (but not women) are involuntarily broadcast aloud in pictures and words causing problems and divisions. The main characters are The Mayor (the villain - or is he?) and a young pair called Todd and Viola. Wars, battles and politics. And then there are the indigenous people 'The Spackle' who become a main part of the third. I didn't get on so well with this third book. I'm not sure why, I found it all a bit boring. Maybe I couldn't engage with the characters and I do think it could have been shorter. Overall even with the 'buts' I'm glad I read them, some interesting ideas and world building.

And now my up-to-date list with highlights in bold:

1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.

1. Instrumental by James Rhodes.
2. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
3. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett.
4. Written in Fire (Book 3 of the Brilliance trilogy) by Markus Sakey.
5. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.

*book 11 behind closed doors by A B Paris absolute rubbish, laughably bad domestic thriller. Terrible characterisation, weak plot, predictable. I need to stop getting drawn in by these Amazon 99p thrillers!

Useful list of short novels in case we need to catch up! flavorwire.com/451825/50-incredible-novels-under-200-pages/view-all/

20. Fair Girls and Grey Horses by Christine, Diana and Josephine Pullein-Thompson.

A jointly written account of the Pullein-Thompson sisters' childhood - with the sisters taking it in turns to write a chapter each. I loved their pony books when I was growing up, so picked this up after I saw it mentioned on another thread.

Overall, I'd say it was a 6 or maybe 7 out of 10 for me. I didn't find their early childhood that interesting, and there was a lot of flipping back and forwards to try to figure out who was who amongst the various relatives mentioned. I liked the second half much better (once they started to collect ponies) and I thought it was a shame that they stopped once they reached adulthood, rather than writing more about their riding schools and novel writing years. Still, worth reading I'd say if you liked their books especially if you enjoy memoirs of pre-war childhoods.

Prodigal Summer is the Barbara Kingsolver I was talking about! I read it at least 6 years ago - think I'll revisit it soon.

I loved Flight Behaviour and the one about a woman living a hermit's life on a mountain as well. I did like The Poisonwood Bible but not as much as the mountain one. I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called!

Satsuki, A Tale For The Time Being is marvellous! I hope you like it. I loved it so much I picked it for my book club and it was one of the very few books that everyone enjoyed.

24. Nine Coaches Waiting, Mary Stewart. I love Mary Stewart books. They're so gentle. Happy endings, sweet love affairs, smart heroines, slightly old-fashioned...but utterly compelling suspense. This is one of my favourites. It draws strongly on Jane Eyre and Cinderella - and Macbeth - all are quoted frequently. Delightfully comfortable.

joyless yes I was aware while I was reading it I was in a minority with not loving deep north; it's hard when things have almost universal acclaim and it just isn't working for you. Who knows what chemistry makes things click for some and not for others?

I'm 30% into A Tale for the Time Being, which extends my unintentional Japan/WWII phase. It is very easy reading, enjoying some parts more than others (dual voices) so far.

Just seen the thread on Chat - Harper Lee has died, aged 89.