50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Two

14. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A poignant story of a young girl and how her life is touched by the Nazi regime (and books). It is narrated by Death.

I listened to the audiobook, so I could get on with other things at the same time. I often found myself stopping to listen more intently. Despite death being a large factor in the book, it didn't come across as all doom and gloom. It showed that even during terrible times, human kindness can prevail.

It's aimed at Young Adults, but is still worth a read. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't rave about it.

The guy who wrote the musical was inspired by reading Ron Chernow's biography of Hamilton, which I am reading, to clarify further.

Yes, Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the U.S. There is a musical based on his life that has been selling out on Broadway and comes to the West End later this year - OST for original soundtrack. There has been much made of its being "hip-hop" but in fact it encompasses a lot of genres of music.

Satsuki - "I got the Hamilton OST for my birthday and am now plugging through the biography"

Is that a person?

"born with a pair of wings, her mother and grandmother were thought of as 'witches'"

Real wings, as on a bird? She could fly?

1. The strange and beautiful sorrows of ava lavender by Leslie Walton. The book tells the story of three generations of a family who are effectively outcasts of society. Ava Lavender, the third generation, was born with a pair of wings, her mother and grandmother were thought of as 'witches'. The book reads better than the summary sounds. I picked it up as one of the 'Books on the Underground' scheme where I will be returning it for someone else to enjoy.

As I read On Chesil Beach I was a little underwhelmed but the story has remained with me since. I might give Ian McEwan another go as part of this challenge.

PS ThereAreNoGhostsHere I LOVE Regeneration - read it a couple of years ago and was gripped.

I will be there too Cheerful !

emgee I admit I haven't read any after On Chesil Beach, which was ok, a bit bleak as they all seem to be. I suppose I feel the same about his books as I would about a Jodi Picoult - he chooses a highly charged, emotive subject, and it feels a bit manipulative which I resist, and it leaves me cold, especially as it is disguised as more "high brow", and "not just for chicks". It feels like a ceative writing exercise.

I won't say what belongs to which book in case people haven't read, but - euthanasia, obsession, child kidnap, incest, "the war", rape of a child, medical ethical problem, post 9-11. I know these are all good subjects, but it is the way he approaches them, quite cynically, I think, and not always from a place of emotional realism. I mean the letter in Atonement that kicks the whole thing off - really?! I will allow that he is a good writer, in the sense that if you pick one up you will find it well written and get into it, but he is just not for me generally.

I am a very much a crier who can get very emotionally involved in books, though, so I'm with you there!

Have done, Happy. Come and join me!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2845008-If-fictional-characters-had-Mumsnet

Happy, that's so nice to hear This thread has definitely inspired me to read much more widely and has got me really excited about books again which is lovely. And I have a squillion books I want to work my way through.

Got less involved with The Children's Act but found it a thought-provoking read especially the legal perspective regarding who gets to make life-changing decisions about a minor's future.

That was what I enjoyed about The Children Act, too Em. I couldn't get into Atonement but reading your comment I might give int another go.

Interesting to see how many Night Owls we have here.

Satsuki interesting comment re Ian McEwan. I just loved On Chesil Beach and yet so many hated it. I recommended it to a few people and they all said 'Meh'. I think I am quite an emotive reader in the sense that I can become totally swept up in characters so it almost feels like I am 'living' their life IYSWIM. I cried buckets at the end. It was just so devastating (to me) what happened to the couple. Ditto Atonement which I struggled to get into but once I was in it, that was it. Bawled and bawled at the end of that one. Got less involved with The Children's Act but found it a thought-provoking read especially the legal perspective regarding who gets to make life-changing decisions about a minor's future.

Highland finished Commonwealth last night. Great read. Loved her style of writing. Once again, got totally swept up in the characters and their lives. I must be the worst critic ever - I seem to to be enjoying everything I read at the moment!!

My feeling is that McEwan writes like someone who has technically mastered writing, but rarely gives you anything to think about, or stirs any sort of emotion or recognition.

That's a great bit of information about the neurosurgeon though, tarahumara.

happy that's great. I have issues with sleep too (see hallucinations on the other page, I also have pain) and my Kindle is like a comforting friend in the night This thread is great because it makes it harder to be without a book, there's always a suggestion.

Happy - I have difficulty falling asleep too, and find reading a relief. I'm glad the thread helps you, too

Tarahumara - That's very interesting! I'm a fan of Ian McEwan, too. Oh wow that man can write He rarely has any stories worth writing about though, which is a bit sad, and Saturday is a prime example of this.

Museum, I think you're right that Blue Lightning was a natural ending for the Shetland series. I've read the subsequent books, but she's lost the narrative arc and the new one feels a bit strained.

Happy, that's a lovely use about making positive use of the dark watches of the night.

Still on Weatherland and will be for a while. It's not endless descriptions of the weather (which I would find boring) but a tour through English art and literature over the last thousand years looking out how people have seen themselves in relation to the world - from ploughboys with cold, muddy feet to the medieval singers of spring love songs.

I'm so glad I joined this thread.

I have Sjogren's Syndrome, and among the 58,000 life-ruining (but happily not terminal) symptoms are sheer bloody exhaustion and difficult sleeping even though you're dead on your feet( due to problems i.e. pain, mainly, caused by other symptoms).

I am spending my nocturnal hours reading rather than lying there tossing and turning. I know I could have read anyway, but I just didn't have the impetus - now I am being bombarded with reports about amazing books I think "This one I'm reading is brilliant, but I must get it finished so I can get onto that one. It looks AMAZING"

Thank you all for your therapeutic intervention.

1. Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde

The story switches between the characters and in time (which seems to be very common in the books I read at least). It is a fairly easy read and somewhat thought provoking but I don't think the writing is quite good enough for me to recommend it - a 3.5 stars kind of book.

I picked this up off my bookcase when I was looking for something to read. It looks like I must have started it last time but not finished it - though I have no recollection of it. It was from the 2007 crop of Richard and Judy books which I think I bought all of. Worth a read if it is on your shelf but don't rush out and buy it.

Cote eye opener - gave me an entirely different view of alcoholism (what the book it about), my ex husband was an alcoholic (or so I thought because his drinking affected all aspects of our lives) I now think he was a mild alcoholic, still extremely glad he's my ex though!

EverySongbird my Mum had brain surgery in 2003 (to treat trigeminal neuralgia) and her surgeon was the man the McEwan shadowed while researching Saturday. My Mum has a kind of hero worship for him (the surgeon), because he completely cured her of a very painful condition, and she felt it was a good portrayal of him (although of course it was a work of fiction). However, I agree with you that it isn't among McEwan's better books (I'm a fan of his, although I know lots of people on this thread aren't!).

Hello to all newbies :)

Interesting fact - Adele Geras is Sophie Hannah's mum .

My books for this week have been Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and Regeneration by Pat Barker. I won't finish Regeneration just yet, but the other two will be over the weekend. Also still plodding along with Alan Bennett's Keeping On, Keeping On, which is interesting but am finding it a little downbeat with his accounts of deaths of friends etc, which I know you have to expect as you get older but still ...

What does "eye opener" mean regarding a book you've read, for example?

Sort of, Adory We only count books we have actually read, so don't list books you gave up on.

Also, please tell us a bit more about the books you read (because we are a curious lot)..

Newbie!

Here's mine so far this year -

1. The Missing Hours - Emma Kavanagh (good)

1. Another Love - Amanda Prowse (eye opener)

1. Love, Or Nearest Offer - Adele Geras (good)

1. The View From The Corner Shop - Kathleen Hey (hated, gave up chapter 4)

1. A Better Man - Leah McLaren (good)

1. The Olive Tree - Lucinda Riley (good)

1. The Butterfly Summer - Harriet Evans (didn't like, gave up chapter 4)

1. Little Sister - David Hewson (perseverance needed)

Have I got the right idea? New to this thread! Never done book club type thing before 😊