50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Two

Dickens is not shit! Glares. I mean, okay, his big ones are soap opera rather than novel, but there's nowt wrong with that. And no one does creepy like Dickens. And if it wasn't for Dickens, we wouldn't have The Muppets Christmas Carol, and THEN where would we be?

(I wouldn't inflict Bleak House on A Level students though, God almighty. Give the poor sods a bit of Great Expectations.

Nice to see you back, Joyless. Have missed you.

Book 11
Ashes of London by Andrew taylor
By the author of The American Boy (which I enjoyed) this one is set during the Great Fire of London. It’s okay but nothing ground breaking. V derivative of CJ Sansom, but not as good, and the man sure knows how to labour a metaphor. I lost count of how many times he repeated ashes and blood but let’s just say it got pretty wearing. Glad I only paid £1.99 for it.

Welcome back joyless.

I finished His Bloody Project this morning. It has been reviewed many times so I won't repeat but I will say that I loved it. It has left my heart a bit sad to be honest. The unfairness of certain aspects and the lingering sense I have of an injustice. I genuinely loved it and felt quite emotional at the end. Beautifully written.

Not sure where to go next. I could go for The Rosie Project maybe or A God in Ruins on paper or could go for The Essex Serpent which has been waiting patiently on my kindle.

I popped The Strange and Beatiful Sorrow of Ava Lavendar straight into my wish list. It sounds great.

Welcome back Joyless, sorry to hear about your dad xx

Been missing for a while, although I've been keeping up with the thread and have added more to the TBR list (as always), so thanks to all for the recommendations. Losing my Dad and being his executor has caused my reading to slow almost to a halt but I need my reading to keep sane, so fighting to find time.

So far this year, it's been:

1. The Skeleton Cupboard - Tanya Byron : really good. Especially the difficult relationship with her supervisor and the supportive nature of her friendship group.
2. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque : utterly brilliant. Such a thoughtful and thought-provoking read. No wonder it was banned by the Nazis. At this rate I may have to re-visit Lord of the Flies which I loathed, simply based on thread comments.
3. Where the Eagle Landed - Peter Hanning. I read this as a re-visit of Jack Higgins' book to see if there was any truth in the rumours of a landing. The early part was heavy going, but it picked up and is a decent read if you're interested in the subject.
4. The Sellout - Paul Bellamy. Clever & sharp - breathtakinginly so at times. But it didn't really go anywhere and I ended up finding it just a collection of brilliant observations. A tad disappointing in all honesty.
5. A Journal of the Plague Year - Daniel Defoe. I really struggled to get through this, even thought it was short. I found the constant relgious references cloyingly pious (although I accept they were of the time). But when he started to judge the poor for being reckless in taking on the dangerous jobs of handling/being near the infected, whilst praising the Lord Mayor & his sheriffs in ensuring that those awful jobs got done, I got . The only bit I liked was the story of the two brothers and their escape into the Essex countryside to avoid the plague at it's height.
6. The Great St Mary's Day Out - Jodi Taylor. A St Mary's short story which was really light, but great fun. The other half will be another short story from the same stable, but I'm having trouble with the kindle edition I've downloaded.

Then on to Golden Hill which is this month's book club read. Am looking forward to this one as I seem to recall reasonable reviews on here.

11. Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe. Cheating slightly as I am still reading this. It's about a girl who was a nanny for Stephen Frear's kids and ex-wife in the 80s. Lots of 'glittering literati' turn up to the house on a regular basis (Alan Bennett comes for tea almost every evening) and she doesn't have a clue who they all are initially. It's refreshing and has made me smile, although as yet, I haven't fallen about laughing as some critics have said. Enjoyable though especially for those of that generation!

Lady and Satsuki, the Trump threads on here are great, very informative - there's a bit of levity alongside the doom and gloom.

I think I'm actually doing more reading - a case of hiding my head in the sand.

15. The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth

All about the origins of words, with each word leading onto the next. I really enjoyed this and found it really interesting. Did you know that castor is an old word for beaver, and castor oil used to come from the groins of beavers?

Fistbumps the Dickens haters. I've never got over having to do Bleak House for A level, he just goes on and on, get to the point! A bit like Way of the Kings with less angst.

"classic comics when I was a kid. Did anyone else have those?"

Yes, those were the only Dickens I've ever read - one of the benefits of being schooled entirely outside the UK

ladydepp yes same here. I'm finding reading a very welcome respite from the world at the moment. And yy re: Obama, a president (and FL) that were well read and supportive of the arts. A great thing

I read The Road a few years ago, it was ok, but it didn't really stick with me. Enjoyable enough at the time but I found it a bit nothingy.

I still haven't finished another book, but thought I should check in and see what others are up to. I am finding the first days of Trump so gripping that I am having to tear myself away from newspapers and Twitter to make myself read books.

I really loved the poetry jam video, thank you Satsuki! (makes me miss Obama though ). I am also jumping up and down about Hamilton the musical and am planning to read more about him before next January, possibly just a bit of Wikipedia rather than a massive doorstop book!

I have tried and failed with Dickens many times over the years. Read Hard Times as part of my degree and also Christmas Carol but that is it! Great Expectations is on my to read pile. Agree about Wilkie Collins - Woman in White is one of my favourite books.

I would agree with All Quiet and Lord of the Flies being two of the best of all time. The writing in LOTF is so good that the island was vivid in my imagination for years after I first read it. The first time I read really lyrical descriptions in a novel I think sorry fortuna

I used to hate Dickens , but I have him another go and now think it depends which Dickens. I don't love him, and found him very difficult to write about as my heart wasn't in it, but it's not all shit. "It's a far, far better thing I do now, than I have ever done. It's a far, far greater rest that I go to, than I have ever known".

1. American Gods Neil Gaiman.

A present from DS and not the sort of book I'd normally go for.

A strange mixture of fantasy and mythology .. I'm not sure I understood all the references tbh. Shadow, the main character, has just been released from jail and finds himself working for Mr Wednesday, who is a reincarnation of Odin (I think). There seem to be various ancient gods still existing in disguise across America, and also new gods who reflect America's obsession with celebrities, drugs, technology etc. The two groups are enemies as far as I could make out.

Some memorable stuff and some really daft stuff IMO. Entertaining in parts but a huge unwieldy monster of a book which I felt myself getting bogged down in half-way through. Glad I gave it a try but pleased it's over!

Oh thank heavens I am not the only one that doesn't get on with Dickens. I always feel such a cultural outcast.

Although I quite enjoyed the classic comics when I was a kid. Did anyone else have those?actually rather brilliant at introducing the classics.

"Dickens = shit."

That's the kind of high quality thoughtful reviewing you just don't get on other book sites ;)

Dickens = shit. Read Wilkie Collins instead.

Clueless I agree that the simplicity of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is the point of it. It feels so innocent. I also didn't suss out the ending until just before and when it dawns on you it's horrifying. I have never been able to bring myself to watch the film.

I definitely won't be reading The Road. I still haven't got over being given Stephen King's The Stand to read when I was seriously ill with the flu as a teenager. I will never forgive my brother for that little gem of wisdom.

I've just realised why I've been being confused all this time by posts about The Road . . . have been thinking of The Crow Road by Iain Banks (and possibly getting that somewhat muddled in my mind with The Bridge - it's a long time ago I read them).
I've now read reviews of The Road, and your discussions make a lot more sense!

The Road is ... Not cheerful.
Read All Quiet for the first time last year. Was surprised by how much I liked it and how modern it felt. Made me realise how rare it is to read a contemporary early-twentieth-century novel about working-class characters. I think that's why I felt like I was reading a historical novel IYSWIM. But yeah ... Wow. Powerful book.
I did Lord of the Flies for GCSE. #nostalgicface

Meanwhile, we are coming to the end of the 2nd thread of the year

@southeastdweller - Are you around? We will need you to set up the new thread soon.

Me too. 2017 is turning out to be a year of post apocalyptic fiction for me. I hope it's not prophetic.