50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Seven

Thanks for the welcome everyone, hello!

bibliomania I thought one thousand white woman was an interesting read, I never knew the American government agreed to provide native Americans with white brides but apparently it's true. Worth a read I think. I've also read his book apache girl. Both are written in a diary format.

Alteredimages. Yes I've read both of those books. And see what you mean. I think the invention of wings is less of a cliché. Although there's a friendship between rich white lady and slave, Sue monk kid doesn't gloss over the awful lives these slaves had to endure. The main character is also based on a real woman who went on to campaign against slavery, as she does in the story. I thought it could have been longer as I was enjoying so much. I liked the format of one chapter was Sarah Grimke and one chapter was the slave Hetty.

I forgot to start a list this year, so am busy going back through my Amazon Kindle purchases to see what I have read. I think it's about 60 books, mostly crime fiction, thrillers or urban fantasy/ paranormal. ChillieJeanie your list looks interesting. have been meaning to get into Jim Butcher.

This thread has motivated me to do my 2016 list properly and make sure I keep one as I go along in 2017.

Haven't updated in ages, not been reading much tbh, real life interference

First old list! Hope ye don't mind my cluttering up the thread with it!!!

1. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
2. The meaning of everything; the story of the OED by Simon Winchester;
3. An astronauts guide to the universe by Chris Hadfield and
4. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro;
5. The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar
6. The Skeleton Cupboard : The Making of a Clinical Psychologist by Tanya Byron
7. Golden Son by Pierce Brown
8. The Hot Zone: The terrifying true story of the origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston
9. The Day Without Yesterday by Stuart Clark ;
10. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan ;
11. Overlord, D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings;
12. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson;
13. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym;
14. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood;
15. Brilliance by Marcus Sakey;
16. Agent Zigzag by Ben MacIntyre;
17. Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull.
18. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
19. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
20. A French Affair by Katie Fforde
21. After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry;
22. Dark Eden by Chris Beckett;
23. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet;
24. The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell;
25. A Female Genius: How Ada Lovelace started the Computer Age by James Essinger;
26. The Settlers by Jason Gurley
27. Where'd you go Bernadettte by Maria Semple
28. Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery
29. The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
30. Genghis Khan & the making of the modern world by Jack Weatherford
31. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
32. Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys by Viv Albertine;
33. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
34. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
35. The Bees by Laline Paull;
36. Hitler by Ian Kershaw
37. The Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey.
38. High Rise, JG Ballard
39. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
40. Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
41. It Starts with the Egg by Rebecca Fitt
42. Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas
43. Afterparty by Daryl Gregory
44. Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova
45. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
46. Death's End by Liu Cixin
47. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
48. My Grape Year by Laura Bradury

new reads

49. Sweet Caress by William Boyd; really enjoyed this. Story about an unusual woman and her life path. It's related as a memoir really, includes photos etc, really excellently done. Amory is a compelling character and the clarity of detail gave the book real substance and depth. Absorbing good read.
50. Anne of the Island by LM Montgomery - nostalgia read. Enjoyed it.
51. Anne's House of Dreams by LM Montgomery - ditto
52. The Almost Perfect People by Michael Booth - This is another book about Scandinavians, it was ok. He visits all the Scandinavian countries and offers commentary with varying degrees of insight and interest. It was all a bit pedestrian. The section on Sweden was the most interesting.

Whew. Work done for the year

I'm currently reading His Bloody Project so will report back in a few days.

Thank you to everyone who recommended some shorter books. I've now caught up and on schedule to complete my 50 by end of the year. (from 6 books behind a few months back!)

I've read it too, altered. Can't remember when I last posted an update on here - will have to scroll back to check. I got it from the library, after a very long wait. Loved it, and bravely tweeted the author to tell him so. And he replied :) :)

Oh no, of course ask, it's a right pain to go scrolling back through to see if anyone's read it

Ah, sorry, I should have looked back through the thread. Thanks Satsuki!

There have been a few review of it on here altered, mostly positive iirc. I've just got it from the library but haven't been in the mood for it yet.

Has anyone read His Bloody Project? I just noticed that it is available on kindle unlimited so I might sign up for the free trial to read it.

Yes remus I know what you mean, I felt that way too briefly, but decided it was more meaningful to take it in a different direction, anything else would have been unsatisfying I think.

I'm feeling North Water envy now too.

Hi debs and welcome

Nothing much (to my mind) in the monthly kindle deals - wonder if they're saving some good ones for the twelve days of Christmas sale they usually do. Did spy Brideshead Revisited which is worth a read if you've not got to it yet.

LadyDepp I also liked The North Water a lot. I would have made it one of my favourites as it was so well written. I really felt cold, even in the 30 degree heat here and had to put on a jumper.

It was not an enjoyable read, but the tightness of the writing and the way in which it created a believably claustrophobic state of mind in me as a reader was incredibly impressive.

I bought it in the deal on 31st July too. Sorry Remus!

I am glad you liked Rubicon ChillieJeanie. I have wanted to Tom Holland's books for ages but they never seem to come down in price on the kindle.

What did you think of The Invention of Wings, Debbs87? I read The Secret Life of Bees, which I wasn't sure whether I liked or not. I appreciated the place it gave to female characters but I also was uneasy at what seemed to me quite clichéd racial stereotypes.

Welcome, Debbs - I think you need a space before the star to make the bold work. You made me google One Thousand White Women, which I'd never heard of. Sounds fascinating.

103 Rubicon by Tom Holland

A narrative history of the fall of the Roman Republic, covering Rome/Italy from 140BC through to Augustus. It is wonderful how much information survives of the likes of Cicero, Cato, Pompey, and of course Julius Caesar himself. Holland is a very good story teller too, so I will be moving on to Dynasty next, which is his account of the rise and fall of the House of Caesar, so presumably overlaps Rubicon to begin with.

ah, bold didn't work, doh!

Hello, I've been a long time lurker on this thread and finally I've decided to join...right at the end of the year!
I've not managed the 50 books and don't think I will before January but hope to do 50 plus next year :)

Here's my list so far, ones I've really enjoyed are in bold
1)How to make a journal of your life by Dan Price
2)Moonlight Chronicles by Dan Price
3)Snowflower and the secret fan by Lisa See
4)The owl Killers by Karen Maitland
5)Rabbit stew and a penny or two by Maggie smith-bendall
6)The four streets trilogy 1 by Nadine Dorries
7)Hide her name book 2 by Nadine Dorries
8)In the light of wat we see by Sarah Painter
9)The Ballymara road book 3 by Nadine Dorries
10)The girl on the train by Paula Hawkins
11)To the bright edge of the world by Eowyn Ivey
12)Me before you by Jojo Moyes
13)one thousand white women:the journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
14)Original Wisdom by Robert Wolff
15)These is my words by Nancy E Turner
16)Writing down the bones by Natalie Goldberg
17)Where ever you go there you are by Jon Kabit Zinn
18)Full Catastrophe living by Jon Kabit Zinn
19)The miracle of mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
20)Mindfulness: a practical guide by Mark williams
21)Sarah's quilt by Nancy E Turner
22)Enuff by Kate Carpenter
23)Simplify by Joshua Becker
24)Victoria by Daisy Goodwin
25)The star garden by Nancy E Turner
26)Everything that remains by Joshua Millburn
27)The places that scare you by Pema Chodron
28)The woman who breathed two worlds by Selina siak chin yoke
29)The invention of wings by Sue Monk Kidd
30)The outrun by Amy Liptrot

I'm currently reading Ross Poldark by Winston Graham and In the land of the long white cloud by Sarah Lark.

Satsuki - Trying not to give spoilers, but am sure you can imagine why, whilst the ending was obviously done the way it was, I might have wished for something slightly different!

Rub it in, why don't you, Cote?

Yes - The Revenant could well be another in our slowly increasing collection of fiction that we wouldn't come to a fist fight over. Thanks for the recommendation. I want us to find one that we both adore though, not just like!

I bought The North Water for £0.99 on 31 July 2016. I think it was the Kindle Deal of the Day or some such

I'm glad you liked it LadyDepp! I might read it next, if The Fifth Heart ever ends

Didn't love but liked? Can this be another fiction book we both liked, Remus?

I really liked the ending and the backstory of the characters in The Revenant

Ladydepp I've been waiting for The North Water to come down in price on Kindle. And now you've made me want it even more!

Book 123
The Revenant
Reviewed several times already. I liked this but didn’t love it, although at times I thought I was going to! Liked the concept a lot, liked the writing style especially when the plot was moving forward (less keen on the backstory of various bit part characters). The only thing I found disappointing was the ending, which felt rather abrupt. I realise that this was a deliberate choice made by the writer, and know exactly why he did it, but it annoyed me!

I finished my challenge - happy days!

49. The North Water by Ian McGuire - rather gory, dark and violent book about a murderer aboard a whaling ship. I liked it a lot! I found it well written and gripping and the detail is great (almost too much at times). I read this while doing some travelling recently; a very unusual thing happens in the book near the end which also happens during the film The Revenant (v good film by the way) which I happened to be watching on a flight during which I was also reading this book. Twas a weird coincidence!

50. Magpie Murders by Antony Horowitz - a whodunnit within a whodunnit. Diverting but only in a very mediocre sort of way. It felt too long. I prefer Agatha Christie.

Thanks altered - they've got it in the county library system now (didn't have last time I looked for it) so I've splashed out £1.30 to order it!

Sadik, I really liked Prisoners of Geography and I felt it did offer a new perspective that I hadn't previously considered when following news and current events. I did feel that some chapters were stronger than others. I especially enjoyed the one about Russia for example, and some regions don't get much attention at all but overall it was definitely worth buying. It was a pretty quick read too and easy to dip in and out of without losing the overall thread.

Sometimes I do think I am a bit easy to please though.

To be honest I'd use the library more, except that it costs £1.30 to reserve a book, and if I can buy it for under £2.50 from ebay, I'm often tempted to have it straight away and not wait. Our library is very tiny, so there's relatively few books on the shelves that I want to read (and haven't already read).