50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Two

1 The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
2 Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller
3 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audible)
4 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
5 Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
6 Still Life by Louise Penny (audible)
7 A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker
8 The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
9 Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
10 The North Water by Ian McGuire

11 Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. This was recommended more than a few times on a podcast that I listen to which is usually pretty reliable. I really did not like this. There were stereotyped characters, awful dialogue and a predictable twist. It's the story of the passengers on board a private jet that crashes with only 2 survivors. Each chapter is the back story of a passenger up until the time of the crash and the cause of the crash is thus revealed. I can't recommend.

However, have started Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter and I am loving it so far. And I You Go by Clare Mackintosh on audible.

Oh God no Rite of Spring riot for me, thank you! The setting was an old church - lovely, indeed

And captivity not captor!

I might need a snooze...

And my late night means I can't count properly; they are actually 7 and 8!

My reading has slowed down as I'm back to studying but I've finished another couple of books.

6. A stolen life by Jaycee Dugard. An account of her 18 years of her captor. Not normally my cup of tea but it was on the Kindle daily deals so I thought I would give it a try. It was written quite quickly after her release and I found the story of her discovery and the how psychologists helped her adjust to her new life really interesting. The early chapters are difficult to read; the simplistic childlike view of what was happening to her seemed to make it worse.

7. The revenant by Michael Punke. So, so far removed from my normal reading material but encouraged by mentions on here and a good Kindle price I thought I would give it a go. I loved it. It's real 'Boys Own' stuff, tales of derring-do and survival and vengeance. I know almost nothing about the US during this period and have no idea of its historical accuracy but I found it fascinating and will read more. I read it in one sitting and finished in the early hours of this morning. Slightly disappointed by the ending but otherwise very good. And apparently it has been made into a film but a few minutes research shows that the film plot is very different to the book.

19 Lord of The Flies -William Golding - well, where to start? This was my O Level Eng Lit Novel ( yes I'm old enough to have done O levels) and I grew pretty tired of it by the time we'd finished and decided I'd never read it again. Inspired by the comments above I thought I'd give it another bash.

It was bloody brilliant!

First off, I thought the descriptive writing was lovely, gorgeous descriptions of the lush paradise of the island and lagoon. The World War II/ rise of Hitler allegory of the book is well known but it was also easy to see similarities to today's political situation with the rise of Trump and the ignoring of reason and expertise.

Is this book still taught in schools? If not, it bloody well should be.

cote it looks lovely. To be fair if I jump up and down at the actual show I'm likely to plummet from the grand circle to a chorus of tuts, so I'm getting it out of the way beforehand.

It wasn't a jumping up and down kind of concert

I sometimes wish we could return to more historical audience etiquette for classical concerts, especially in the proper music salons, where performers and audience got to have proper conversations about the repertoire. Jump up and down if you get excited and thrilled. Tell the performers in no uncertain terms if they are rubbish. Maybe not to the level of rioting in the Rite of Spring premiere though.

Looks like a lovely setting for a Baroque concert!

Satsuki - "Feel free to jump up and down too cote "

It wasn't a jumping up and down kind of concert

My list so far:

1. The Essex Serpent Sarah Perry, previously mentioned
2. Murder 101 Faye Kellerman - I've read all the books in this series and like them in general. I liked the change of setting here from LA to upstate New York, and the first half of the story, but felt it got a bit muddled towards the end.
3. Eat Nourish Glow Amelia Freer. I bought a few books in the Kindle New Year New Me sale to inspire me for the new year, this was one, I liked it, not too hectoring, advising on eating to feel well first and foremost rather than weight loss. 'Packets and promises' has stuck in my head!
4. Lying in Wait Liz Nugent. I was glued to this, a real page turner, and a clever ending that I didn't guess! I'm Irish though and I'm wondering if it would work as well for someone not Irish? It's set in the early 80s and reminds me of crime stories read in the Sunday World as a child (when I wasn't supposed to be reading it!)
5. Rather Be The Devil. Ian Rankin. Another one where I have read and like the whole series. This was a good instalment, and as usual made me want to go and visit Edinburgh!
6. The Year of Living Danishly Helen Russell. I enjoyed the author's own experiences but got a bit weary of the consulting of experts and quoting of statistics, like others have said, a bit magazine-ey.

A very late response back to Cote on ava lavender. The wings weren't functioning wings - they were seen by Ava as a burden when she wanted to live a normal life. Her family kept her hidden away to protect her, partly because of the treatment they had suffered from the community. The few people who did see them were fascinated by how beautiful the wings appeared. I know the book sounds utter trash but it was written well and I engaged with the characters.

This is so exciting! Irl no one has heard of it so it's been a pretty muted response

I also have Hamilton tickets.

SQUEALS.

I am going to remember unsustainable read for when I next can't be bothered to finish one, ThereAreNoGhosts

Stupid autocorrect. An unputdownable read NOT unsustainable. And "responsible" for her mother's death....

Meg I'm not convinced that anything could be as cringe-making as the Moz's autobiography. I thought the first ten pages or so were brilliant and then it went rapidly downhill. I absolutely hated it and only finished it because both a friend and dd2 had lapped it all up and loved it. I'm a huge fan of The Smiths and can forgive Morrissey a lot, but not even I could forgive him that self indulgent, self pitying, self aggrandising pile of arrogant tosserness.

Finally getting round to updating my list.

1. Dadland by Keggie Carew. This was an audio book borrowed from the library. It's her account of growing up with a father who was a member of the SOE in WW2. At the time of writing, he was in failing health, with dementia making life very difficult for the family. She had all his papers, and accounts of what he did during the war and retells it, interspersed with tales of her own childhood, her mother's struggles with mental illness, and coping with a stepmother unwilling to share her father's time. It does go on a bit and I got bogged down in the fine detail of his undercover war work in Burma, but it will definitely appeal to anyone with an interest in WW2 history.

1. Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon. This is a very honest account of her struggles with mental illness in many forms throughout her childhood and up to present day. She is incredibly brave for laying bare her illness like this and, whilst it made for difficult reading at times, I can only applaud her for encouraging openness.

1. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. This is another hard going book. He was a neurosurgeon, about to complete his qualifications when he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He had never smoked, and was initially in denial. His marriage nearly ended over the diagnosis, but didn't. It's no spoiler to say that he has since died; the book was completed by his wife. It is a thoughtful meditation on what is important in life; what really matters and why you should still go ahead. He and his wife were keen to start a family even after the diagnosis.

10. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild. A quick read, unsustainable read. I needed something lighter in tone after the previous three. Set in the art world of London, written by someone who knows a lot about it. It was entertaining, an amusing satire on what goes on behind the scenes, with dealers, collectors, auctioneers, Russian Oligarchs, a Rap artist, and even a Nazi or two. I don't think the romance side of it was absolutely necessary. It would have made a much tighter novel without that, but it was still entertaining.

11. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. An enjoyable tale of coming of age in 1960s South Carolina. Lily, the protagonist, is a teenager who grew up with a violent abusive father, believing she was possible for her mother's death. She gets unwittingly caught up in the violence surrounding the civil rights movement when Rosaleen, the woman employed to look after her, is arrested when she attempts to register to vote. The novel details their lives after that point. I really enjoyed it. It would appeal to anyone who liked To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Help. Strong, independent women unafraid to stand up for their rights, in the face of threats and racial prejudice.

Feel free to jump up and down too cote

I'm going to a Handel concert tonight so ner

We've got tickets too Satsuki!

cheerful I've got it on kindle so not quite so obvious, but I've read 25% and have still got 18 hours left apparently

I've got tickets for 2018, I may have finished it by then...

Satsuki We're big Hamilton fans in the Muddler house. I got DH that book for Christmas.
Him, opening parcel: It seems to be ... an enormous non-fiction tome ...
Me: Well, you asked for it.
Him: I did? Oh! I did!
I don't think he had expected it to be quite such a doorstop.

This was what he performed a few years ago at a White House poetry event, before he wrote the whole thing.