50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Three

I can't find my list to carry over but after abandoning Love, Nina halfway through (enjoyed it at the beginning but then it just began to feel 'same-y'), I restarted no.11 with The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty.

I really enjoyed this - it is her first novel; a 'coming-of-age' story told through the protagonist, the poor but academically gifted Evelyn, who is about 8 or so at the start of the story. It charts her upbringing in Kansas with her unconventional single mother, Tina who seems to have had her share of bad luck with men and a strained relationship with her parents but manages throughout the novel, to stick to her own set of values. It is really well written, manages to be 'gripping' despite the fact that it charts everyday life. Poignantly describes the transition from childhood to adolescence and all the tangled issues that ensue. My only gripe is that I turned over the page to find myself at the end - the last quarter of the book was reading group questions and the first few chapter of her next novel. Grrrrr. Hate that as I wasn't expecting it to just end the way it did and felt a bit cheated.

Just started number 12: The Outrun by Amy Liptrot which is a memoir (in similar vein to H is for Hawk) of a young woman who has suffered alcoholism throughout her 20s and returns to her childhood home in Orkney to recover).

Good to see another fan of The Devil in the Marshalsea, Museum. I read it last year and really enjoyed it too.

I'm not keeping up with the threads very well, atm - still moving very fast. Which is a good thing - lots of people reading :) I'm being distracted by the car crash that is the Trump administration, on Twitter.

Nevertheless, I finished reading Regeneration by Pat Barker, which was very good. I do like books about WW1, and this was one of the best.

Also, We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which is short but brilliant. Highly recommended. And Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote. Loved this and A Christmas Memory, but the other two of the three short stories in my edition, House of Flowers and Diamond Guitar were not quite as enjoyable.

All in all, not a bad reading week. Not sure what I'll get read next week - half term, and then the builders arrive to start major repair works to our cottage. We are going to be living on a building site for several weeks.

11. Goldenhand, Garth Nix
    Another in the Abhorsen YA fantasy series, this follows Lirael and Nick. Enjoyed it but felt it wasn't one of the strongest.

12. Closer to the Chest, Mercedes Lackey
    Saw this cheap, and wondered how Mercedes Lackey would read now. Fantasy set in ye classic medievalish fantasy land (i.e. picturesque medieval with hot running water and magic). Magic horses, heralds etc. Mind candy basically. One element I did find jarring was the numerous jolly references to brothels, inc a viewpoint character proposing to take a 16 yr old to one.

13. Whose Body Dorothy L Sayers
    Lord Peter Wimsey mystery. The contrast with previous book made me even more appreciative of how well written this is. I also liked seeing Bunter in action, deftly extracting information.

Monty I agree with everything DrD says about One Hundred Years of Solitude despite absolutely loving it. I also love audio as a format, but somehow, for me, I don't think this book would work on audio. And if you're looking for a plot, it's buried fairly deep within the dreamy strands.

I was fairly rude about Coffin Road yesterday. I've got a bit more into it today, and would only be moderately rude about it now.

1. The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson This was on my Dad's kindle. I knew nothing about it, but absolutely loved it. Set in 1727 London, Tom is a real Hogarthian rake, who gets flung into the notorious debtors' gaol at Marshalsea, and almost immediately becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. It's pacy, the dialogue is sharp, the research the author has done on everyday life at the time, and specifically on the gaol, is outstanding, and woven seamlessly in to really evoke the place. It's not perfect in every way - the plot is a teensy bit silly (but fun), and although the main characters are beautifully drawn, there are too many confusingly indistinguishable, yet still potentially relevant to the plot, minor characters. It's the first of a series, which follows the main character, rather than stays with the gaol. I'll miss that gaol, but will definitely read on. Recommend.

Under the Dome is fine until the ending, which is nonsense. It's not his best.

I read all the James Herriots last year. I'd forgotten how lovely they were.

The only King book in my library seems to be Under The Dome. Worth a read or not?

Ah Remus, ta. Thank you Cote - you both have excellent taste

I recently finished book no. 3 (I'm making fairly slow progress just now) which was Leap Year, a loose sequel to The Year of Living Danishly. I would say it's very much more of the same, and I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads. It irritated me more than the first one, as it seemed like a blatant attempt to cash in by writing a book, whereas the first one did have appeal because of the culture shock etc of moving to Denmark.

poetry is not meant to be read silently...you have to read it aloud, even if to yourself.

Dead right Poetic

If I'm reading poetry I almost always read aloud (often do with other books as well, as it calms the dogs down - - they like being read to, daft as it may sound)

monty when I read the Marquez, much to my surprise I quite enjoyed it. Can't imagine liking it as an audiobook though, the pacing wouldn't be right. Plus it would be too slow overall.

We have Cote to thank for Ready Player One. She and I both enjoyed it, so hopefully that's a good sign for anybody else embarking on it!

Crapfat (Awesome name btw) - I LOVE The Long Walk. Horribly depressing but a great story, v well told.

at Futura's review

I'm also a great fan of Anne Hathaway, I have it up, in my house, nice to meet fellow fans:

'Item I gyve unto my wyfe, my second best bed'

I'm so far behind on these threads but will try and catch up over half-term.

1. The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson - Read for book group - this is a children's book about a 12 year old boy with severe OCD, who can't leave the house. He watches his neighbours from the window, making notes on what they're up to. The toddler staying with his grandfather next door goes missing and Matthew decides to investigate. This was a quick read and I quite enjoyed it. DS also enjoyed it. I wasn't sure he'd really get the OCD aspect but he seemed to. (I have mild-moderate OCD but make a really conscious effort not to make the DCs aware of it.)

10. The Sellout by Paul Beatty - Booker winner last year and the 4th of the shortlist I've been working my way through. This has won praise as a satire on race in America and opens with a black man facing the judges in the Supreme Court for his act of attempting to re-segregate schools in his home town in California. There were some brilliant passages in places but I felt like I was missing something in the book as a whole. It wasn't as good as I'd expected overall.

11. Mad Girl: A Happy Life With A Mixed-Up Mind by Bryony Gordon - Off the back of reading The Goldfish Boy, I read this about the author's experiences of living with OCD. A lot of this was familiar to me and it was interesting to realise how much of an impact it had on me, when I was younger. Hers is much more severe than mine, so it was an interesting read.

Am now reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to finish before we go to see Cursed Child in a couple of weeks. Am also reading a couple more books on Kindle at the same time.

I don't know who it was who recommended Ready Player One this year but I am enjoying the audiobook (on Audible) of it SO much, so thank you . I'm actually excited for tomorrow when I can do some work as I always listen to books while working. I found it initially a little claustrophobic but am now utterly hooked and the narrator is very good indeed. Brilliant stuff!
This thread is great for book recommendations.

Ah! monty I read all the James Herriot when I was on Maternity leave with my first born- nearly 16 years ago. It was like comfort reading!

Bringing my list over to the new thread. Highlights in bold.

1. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
2. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, Hendrik Groen
3. Slade House, David Mitchell
4. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
5. The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu
6. The Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie
7. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
8. Best Served Cold, Joe Abercrombie

And to add to that:

1. True Grit, Bear Grylls. A selection of survival stories that have inspired his way of life. The premise of this was good – a brief account of some of the most amazing and awful stories of survival from mountaineering and polar exploration to crossing deserts, oceans, and jungles. A mixture of famous stories you’re likely to know about already (Shackleton, Amundson, Scott) and others that, for me at least, I was unaware of. The stories themselves are incredible. Grylls’ way of telling them however, is not. I get it, he’s excited and inspired by what happened to these people. It led him to where he is today. But he describes the events with such a boyish sense of drama that it got on my nerves a bit. He made out that the natural world is deliberately out to get you, and used overly theatrical language when describing the “true grit” of the people involved (a phrase which, as Remus warned me, is used rather a lot). Overall, interesting stories if you can look past the telling of them.

Has anyone read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez? I’m listening to it on audiobook at the moment, 25% of the way in, and although it’s beautifully written, the story isn’t grabbing me. I don't know whether or not to continue.

Am also reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot, which is lovely.

I might give that one a miss then, Fortuna

Books 6-8 for me:

The Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre. The 7th Jack Parlabane book I believe. First for me. Found it pretty gripping, but the ending was a bit ludicrous. Would certainly read more Brookmyre though.

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell. I liked this a lot. It made me feel very jolly and upbeat.

The Establishment (and how they get away with it) by Owen Jones. This quickly got rid of my jolly feelings.

Next up - The Long Walk by Stephen King. It's more than 20 years since I last read any Stephen King, but I've read so many threads about him that I feel drawn back to him.

1. The Mask Of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler

Wow, this was very good I'm quite surprised to have loved it so much, since it was written over 80 years ago and I have no patience for 'old style' prose, with its prim & proper characters and stuck up, turgid dialogues (I'm looking at you, On The Beach).

In contrast, this book has aged very well. It is the story of a detective fiction writer who heard of an international crime lord called Dimitrios whose body washes up on the shore as he is visiting Istanbul. He then embarks on a journey that covers Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Paris etc to discover Dimitrios's story, which leads him to many unpalatable lessons about the politics and economics of the world we live in.

This is a spy book or perhaps a crime fiction book, but it is an introspective, contemplative one. It is what every John Le Carré book wants to be and dies trying I heartily recommend it to everyone here.

And bringing my list over:

1. The North Water by Ian McGuire
2. The Snowden Files: Inside Story Of The World's Most Wanted Man by Luke Harding
3. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
4. The Cambridge Companion to Handel by Donald Burrows
5. Revelation by C. J. Sansom (Shardlake #4)

Fortuna's review

Loved that review, Fortuna.

13. Time after Time, Molly Keane
Four ageing siblings live in rancorous disharmony in a crumbling Anglo-Irish big house, when into their lives sweeps a long-forgotten cousin, blind, charming and spiteful, and everything changes.

Not sure how I felt about this - their world is vividly evoked, but the humour is very bleak. I did like the end, when she suddenly softened towards her characters and gave at least some of them hope for the future.

7 The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald
Frank Reid lives in Moscow in 1913 with his wife and three children. At the beginning of the book - completely unexpectedly - his wife Nellie packs herself and the three children off back to England. The book is about what happens next. It's a beautifully written book and Fitzgerald really created a strong sense of place - of a city waking up at the end of the long hard winter. And there is the underlying hints of trouble brewing. Reid is an insider and outsider. He was brought up in Moscow and has lived there most of his life but he is still a foreigner and nothing is certain for him. There's lots of humour in it. It's not a long book - only a couple of hundred pages or so - but I did feel as if I was there with them.

Am now reading a history of Arbella Stuart who was once seen as a potential heir to Elizabeth I.

So in my stupidity i posted on the old thread instead of this one, which wouldn't be too bad if i wasn't doing to to mark my place!

Still plodding along with Code by Kathy Reichs, finding it a tad slow and the short chapters a little grating but overall enjoying it.

runs off to catch up with thread

13. The Dark Net by Jamie Bartlett

Fascinating. Lots has been said about this; suffice to say that I think everyone with children should read it.

1. The One We Fell in Love With - Paige Toon
2. This Is Where It Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
3. The Girl Who Lied - Sue Fortin

1. Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton - Sandra Gregory
2. Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
3. Trust in Me - Sophie McKenzie
4. Close Enough to Kill - Beverly Barton

10. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Finally finished book ten. This took a little longer than average to read as knowing the ending and where it was heading made it a difficult read. I think everyone should read it at least once and that was my aim and I can't believe it's taken me so long to do it! Saddens me that had she survived a few more months in the camp she may have went on to be freed and live the life she dreamed of but of course we will never know how that would have turned out.

To whoever mentioned the play about Anne as a journalist up thread that sounds very interesting!

no 5 : Golden Hill - Francis Spufford

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I enjoyed reading it, and absolutely loved the atmosphere of 18th century New York. A lot of the humour is in the juxtaposition of the overly flowery language of the times and the situations being described. I genuinely laughed out loud several times.
But, now that I've finished it, I'm not sure what the point of the book was. The over-arching mystery of the reason why Mr Smith is in New York is revealed suddenly and abruptly 15 pages short of the end, and I personally found it a bit of an anti-climax. I also found it very hard to flesh out Mr Smith in my imagination. Considering he is in every single page and tableau, he is a bit of a cipher personality-wise! I much preferred Septimus and Achilles as fully drawn characters.