50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Two

Spot on, but I don't call that a plot

Yes, I also didn't think there were lots of feeeeeeelings. I thought it was more sort of scientific/dispassionate observation than histrionics and emotions.

I have finished my first book of the year American gods which I enjoyed but I'll need to read it again with a list of the Gods as my knowledge is limited. I am half way through my second book so making progress. No new books have been purchased this year but I did peruse the charity shelf in our local coffee shop on Saturday and nearly picked up a couple.

Satsuki: Ivy Leaguers and the permutations of their couplings, with a side of deep thoughts?

I thought the Essex Serpent was more feelings than feeeeelllliiings, and that was secondary to the other stuff. It was unsentimental I thought and dealt with various forms of love - platonic, marital, sexual, same sex, as part of the general exploration of ideas rather than as a focus. I really loved it.

1. The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

I won't give too much away plotwise as I think a few of us might have picked this up in the Kindle Christmas sale! But I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Set in the Victoria era, it centres around a widow who moves with her young son to a tiny village in Essex where there are rumours of an ancient monster on the loose. It takes in various subplots and side characters, with themes including friendship, reason vs superstition / faith, and social conscience. Some of the stories/characters are more believable than others and the plot verges a little on soap opera at times - Cote, I don't think you'd approve of all the feeeeelingz - but what rescues it and makes it a great read is the quality of her prose - she is simply a tremendous writer especially in her invocations of place.

Will be interested to see what others thought of it.

Just noticed that Ranulph Fiennes' Captain Scott is only £1.99 on Kindle. It's a decent read, for anybody interested in polar exploration.

Thanks, Satsuki. Don't think I've read that one but must admit I haven't liked any of his others that I remember!

The Stand would be my favourite SK swiftly followed by The Dead Zone

But I have read none of the horror. And I have not been able to get into 11.22.63 despite trying twice!

I might brave The Shining this year! It's a great movie.

remus I looked up The American Boy on Amazon after you recommended it on the other thread and there is one by the same author for £1.99 The Second Midnight, you've probably read it but thought I'd give you a heads up anyway.

Still on Number 2 Michael Robotham Shatter, which is an excellent read. Also trying to keep up to date with this thread and not ordering any of the recommendations.

I'm still going with number 4, Did You Ever Have a Family

Read 11.22.63 last year, it's the only Stephen King I've ever read (because I'm a wuss and I think they are all scary). I thought it was an extremely silly book, but thought the descriptions of time and place were well done and enjoyed the middle of the book once I'd bought into the silly premise.

Lady McNet, Eileen has been on my TBR for a while. Thanks for the review - still intend to read it some time this year so will let you know what I think.

the title does make the plot rather obvious

The plot isn't that obvious even after reading the whole thing!

Had a very lazy day reading

1. The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side - Agatha Christie. One of her newer ones set in the 60s. Change has come to St Mary's Mead. There's a new housing estate where once there lay meadows, vacuum cleaners and washing machines have replaced parlourmaids, and an actress has moved in to the old hall. There are some almost mocking moments in this, people keep asking Miss Marple who the modern characters remind her of, and past stories are referred to, but in the end human nature is as it always is, and the crime is satisfyingly solved.

Stokey, I felt the same about S & N and The Night Circus.

The Marriage Plot, I think I read a chapter or two before I stopped. The title does make the plot rather obvious.

I didn't like The Marriage Plot. Didn't seem to know what it wanted to do/be.

Satsuki

I realised I only had a couple of pages to go, and was like, BUT this isn't the end, it isn't even close to the end, there's a final act missing!

Teabreak time from decorating so:

7 The Dark Net by Jamie Bartlett, listened to on audio.
Reviewed several times upthread, so I won't summarise, but will add that the audio narration was very good.

I enjoyed this a great deal. While there wasn't a great deal explicitly new to me, I found it very thoughtprovoking, and thought the author did a good job of looking at things from all sides.

(I was also rather tickled by the "I took the tiny quantity of cannabis I bought online to a friend who assured me it was very good quality" - yeah, right Jamie )

Now moved on to Slouching towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion on audio - not something I'd normally pick, but was looking for anything available immediately on the library system to keep me on track through my painting.

I like the sound of This Boy Wex - another one to add to my Goodreads 'To Read' list, it's growing like topsy with this thread!

Yy The Marriage Plot just didn't bloody go anywhere!

I liked all 3 Jeffrey Eugenides books

Virgin Suicides
Middlesex

and

The Marriage Plot - but the marriage plot just ends unresolved in mid air, like it cuts out in a fade to black were it shouldn't. Random. I really enjoyed it up to that point.

This Boy by Alan Johnson
Former Labour Home Secretary who I always thought comes across as decent bloke on TV .
The first volume of his autobiography / memoires and this covers his life up to age 21.
He grew up in London in circumstances of such poverty and hardship that were positively Dickensian. Hunger and deprivation were a daily struggle. The book is really about the writer’s mother and his sister. His mother was in poor health and left penniless by his feckless father, never managed to scrape enough money for food and warmth. His sister at the age of 15 pretty much brought up her younger brother.
Nothing in this book would lead you to imagine he was destined to be a politician but it was a fascinating account of life in the poorest of families in the 1950s.

I didn't get on with JS & MrN, too Dickensian for me, not a good thing although I know lots of people love vast Victorian novels. On the other hand I loved The Night Circus.

The Shining is definitely my favourite King book, though haven't read much of his newer stuff. I read 11.23.63 last year which I enjoyed but could have done with a bit more editing. I felt the same in my reread of It and *The Stand. Maybe time is just more precious to me these days!

I just can't get past the really bloody boring opening of *Strange and N" although people tell me it's great after the 1st 200 pages or so. It would definitely feature as a bone of contention in the Venn diagram.

So, what can I buy now on Kindle? I'm still slogging through bloody Stalin and have a couple of other non-fiction books, but I need something easy-ish for commuting.

Right caught up now by skim-reading very quickly and have added Ready Player One to my to-read pile. Thanks!