50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Two

I finished book 4 last night, The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter (I've a soft spot for her books, and finding out the latest in the soap opera-esque lives of Sara and Will) It's a fast paced crime thriller with many big reveals connected to the previous novels in the series, I'm not sure how much sense a lot of it would make if you hadn't read any of the others! A body is found in an abandoned nightclub which happens to be owned by an elite basketball player. It transpires that the dead man is a retired crooked cop, and that there is evidence of another victim at the scene who is nowhere to be found. An easy to read page turner, I borrowed it from the library because it's not the sort of book you can read more than once!

I'm also midway through Anerican Gods on my kindle, and will be making a start on Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave later tonight.

Re: Red Rising

Cote - exactly right. It is a sci-fi beach read and that's why I was so flummoxed as to why I didn't like it. Sometimes you can't tell what you're going to like...and vice versa.

MuseumofHam - I should have trusted my instincts too! I've started it several times and given up. I'd say that if you don't like the Kindle sample, you won't take to the rest of it.

Thought The Night Circus was entertaining and yet to read JS & Mr N but very much enjoyed the TV series so I am waiting until that memory has faded.

Passmethecrisps - I like the Jasmine Sharp books as well. Part of my appreciation comes from the settings in Scotland and the Glasgie chat!

Has cote set the record for the most expensive Kindle book of the year? Still if It takes ages to read.

Satsuki the time travel through a portal in his mate's diner makes me wonder whether SK had been watching Goodnight Sweetheart.

I have a real aversion to reading SK though I don't really know why. I had to read Pet Sematary and Dolores Claiborne at school and maybe that element of compulsion is what put me off. I have a DS not far off the son in Pet Sematary's age and I couldn't read it again.

Ladydepp I agree with everyone else that The Secret Life of Bees is tiresome. I felt as though Sue Monk Kidd must be a real admirer of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston so ended up with characters that were a really bad pastiche of theirs.

I may have to give up work in order to keep up with this thread.

Potato (WAS it Potato?)
Holes is a great story and I recommend the film too.

I'm now reading this. Interesting enough but padded (this seems to be a theme now).

Meanwhile, I can't keep myself from the Handel book any longer and have just bought the Kindle copy for.... £17.94!

< wails >

1. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

This was sort of OK. There wasn't much of a story - it was more of an 'atmosphere' piece, I felt. Five blond girls, each just a year apart, commit suicide while boys of the neighbourhood obsess about them in a rather creepy & stalkerish way.

I think it was symbolic but I don't want to go into spoilers here. So Remus, Ladydepp, EverySongbird, Happy, and others who have loved/hated it, please come & talk to me about The Virgin Suicides on this thread.

Keith - John Updike & Arthur Miller were a while ago, though. Can you think of any contemporary author writing bestsellers about boring men's boring everyday lives in boring cities? I can't.

Remus - thanks for the Scott book tipoff (cheap Kindle deal on Ranulph Fiennes bio). Have read it but would recommend to other polar fans. Also while I'm at it the Fergus Fleming books are a great read.

3. Penelope Fitzgerald, The Gate of Angels Like all her novels reads way better than it sounds (semi-comic romance set in early C20 Cambridge). Fabulous read - vivid characters and setting, and her wry, clever style. Genuinely sad I've read all her novels now, saved that one up for a tedious bus trip

ROAR @ "I could practically hear the violins in the background and that irritated me hugely."

I'll use this line in the future. Not often, I hope, as I avoid this sort of book

Booked = books. Must learn to proofread before I post!

biblio you are very bad for my resolution not to buy any booked this year, that's another one added to my wish list!

I would say i'm not into the 'cosy cottage' type books but then i realise the vast array of books i have read. Although not my go to there have been a few i have enjoyed in spite of the cheesiness of them.

Oh ffs, just went to the library armed with a list off this thread, and three of the four books I wanted were not on the shelf, despite the catalogue insisting they were. Oh well, I managed to get The Dark Net, which I am looking forward to.

Yowza, this is fast-moving.

I'm on book 5. Four Dreamers and Emily, by Stevie Davies. It was published in 1996, which suddenly seems a long time ago (smoky pubs, parents casually inflicting "mild violence" on children in public, university professors taking their pick of their more nubile students). The four main characters take refuge from their unsatisfactory real lives in the world of Wuthering Heights - they're all brought together at an academic conference in Haworth, where mildly comic hi-jinks ensue.

I'm quite enjoying it, although I don't think it would be everybody's cup of tea. Anyone who has been at an academic conference will wince in recognition at certain parts.

Book 2: The Accidental Life of Greg Millar Aimee Alexander

Easy to read, and tackled a tricky subject of bipolar disorder - but I felt it lacked depth. I didn't think any of the characters were particularly well formed. 5/10

I liked The Secret Life of Bees a lot, but read it a long time ago. I seem to recall I was very readily engaged by it though so if you are not liking it now Ladydepp , I suspect it won't improve.

1. The Life Project by Helen Pearson

2. Gone to Ground by Marie Jalowicz Simon

3. The Dreaming Void by Peter F Hamilton; I really enjoyed this. It's a densely plotted Sci-Fi thriller that builds on previous characters and world building in other books so leading to a very rich narrative, but does mean you benefit more if you have read prior works. Specific to me, it meant this books actually contained a lot of spoilers for a book I haven't read yet as I am waiting for the never coming price drop .

This particular story is in respect of "The Void" which was previously thought to be a black hole at the centre of the galaxy but is now understood to be an artificial construct, purpose unknown, but which periodically enters destructive expansion phases which if left unchecked will shorten the normal life span of the galaxy.

In the meantime, humans being humans, a huge religious cult has developed around The Void and the dreams which emanate from it. These dreams are interlaced as separate chapters in the book. They concern a medieval type world where people have telekinetic and psychic powers. It is not at all clear to me why this world is so compelling to humans of the 36th century, but a pilgrimage is planned and the powers that be (and various alien species) are v concerned it will precipitate a new devourment phase.

To be honest, that all sounds quite mad and yet it is only a tiny portion of what goes on in this book. There are different types of humans, and ANA (sentient artificial intelligence) itself appears to be divided internally and fighting over the future of the humanity's direction. It's great fun and full of politics and action, but it is not high literature . This book is also in no way a stand alone. It literally ends mid air. And the sequel is currently over £6 not sure how long I'll manage to wait for a price drop Don't shoot me if the science is dodgy either I suspect it might be . I take that stuff at face value

Finally, if you are interested in Hamilton, I wouldn't start with this series. Pandora's Star predates this and is definitely an easier starting point, and harder sci-fi. I would think anyone who enjoyed the Red Rising series might enjoy Hamilton. They are far bigger books however, and no YA feel to them.

I couldn't complete Secret Life Of Bees. I could practically hear the violins in the background and that irritated me hugely.

The Bees, on the other hand, I enjoyed immensely

Yes, I suppose I don't make a lot of distinction between those authors you mention at all actually, every, perhaps that's unfair but none would interest me more than the others and I would no more pick up one than another.

Likewise I hate Tony Parsons and that type of thing.

I think there is a place in literature for family, and finding moments of transcendence in the everyday, but that is a different type of book again, I think, and requires a particular skill that few have.

Oh god, I remember The Secret Life of Bees. I used to know an absolutely lovely American woman with a very . . . meaningful . . . taste in books (Bel Canto / Secret Life of Bees / that sort of thing). I was living in a non-English speaking country, so used to read pretty much anything I was lent regardless, but that style of literature is still known as a Noela Book in this household.

I don't think I've ever seen a book about a man just working in a boring job, then coming home to a dysfunctional marriage and kids waking in the night etc.

John Updike? Arthur Miller?

Not comparing these to "The Little Beach Cupcake Shop for Broken Hearts" but don't they go into that category of "normal people living quiet desperate lives" - shit job, dysfunctional marriage, difficult parenting, unsure of place or role in society?

Is there a male equivalent?

Yes!

Examples :

How To Be Good - Nick Hornby
Man And Boy - Tony Parsons
The Man Who Forgot His Wife by John O'Farrell

Lady - I read Secret Life Of Bees some years ago and found the forceful heartstring-tugging tiresome.

Ladydepp

I listened to The Secret Life of Bees a few moths ago- I quite enjoyed it, but if you're finding it tedious now, I imagine it's not going to improve for you. There is one death (If I recall correctly), but nothing really earth shattering.
I quite enjoyed the narration, and it's not that long so I listened to most of it one afternoon, if i"d listened over a long time in shorter sections, I might have got a bit bored.
It was recommended to me by someone who knew I'd enjoyed Americanah - it's not a patch on that, but it's OK

living normal lives, even.