50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Three

Book 20
It by Stephen King
A re-read (probably the 5th?) but sometimes you just gotta. Re-reading this is like falling straight back into childhood – it’s not all golden but my goodness, it’s nice to think back on it sometimes. Like a lot of King, this could have done with a bit of editing/cutting down but what particularly impressed me on this reading of it was just how well structured it all is, moving cleverly in and out of childhood and adulthood as a team of people who had tried to defeat a monster as children, return as adults and try to finish the job. What’s it about? Well – a monster, of course. But also love and friendship and pain and fear and fun and joy and death and life and despair and hope and good and evil and light and dark sad endings and happy endings and probably various other binary oppositions that I’ve currently forgotten. I love it. There’s one weird bit that I’m still (After all this time? Always) not sure how I feel about and whether or not it was necessary, and a sad (except IS it sad, or is it actually a sort of happy?!) bit that I still wish didn’t have to happen, but this is overall King at his very finest.

I bought The Luminaries today so glad to hear that some people liked it! Is it very kiwi?...

10. Mindplayers by Pat Cadigan

This was part a "sci-fi classics" book I picked up when the price came down, knowing nothing about it except that it was about connecting minds and stuff. All that is right up my street, and I liked the non-feeeellz tone of the book à la Neal Stephenson & early-Gibson, but ultimately it just wasn't very good.

Then I realised that it is a (1) First book (2) by a female author, and we all know how I feel about those. Meh. There were some interesting ideas and all came together (sort of) in the end, but it just wasn't good enough to recommend.

14. 206 Bones - Kathy Reichs

First Kathy Reichs book I've read. Probably not fabulous to start on the 12th book of a series but was a library read. 206 bones covers the murder of four elderly woman whilst Dr Brennan has been accused of not carrying out investigations properly. Story continues to evolve and mishaps happen that she can't explain. Story was okay I wasn't completely gripped and not thrilled with the ending either. Overall a very so-so book for me.

Number 15 will be Daisy in Chains - Sharon Bolton.

bibliomania did he not pick up any clues as to what Elizabeth's journey to self awareness might have been in the and Prejudice bit It sounds awful.

I raged about that book, Sadik. Thought it was massively sexist - Pride & Prejudice portrayed as being mainly about Darcy's journey? Hey, women experience personal growth too! And he was horrible about the lovely Marian Halcombe, talking about doing her from behind if memory serves. Absolutely infuriated by it.

21 Faulks on Fiction by Sebastian Faulks.

TV series spin-off with the author writing about a range of book characters under the rough categories Heroes, Lovers, Snobs and Villains. I think I remember someone else reading this upthread and not being wildly impresssed. It did feel very much a selection made by a man of a certain age and class, and really rather dated (even though it is only a few years old).

Nothing particularly novel or earthshattering in the way of insights, but I found it amusing enough not least for the mental parlour game of figuring out what books / characters he really should have included.

That's a great load of books, happy, I'd have been giddy with that offer.

Thank you joyless, that's lovely of you I hope you are feeling well again soon yourself

I also see where you are coming from with the Essex Serpent. One of the things I was most impressed by was the emphasis on friendship, too. However, I decided that overall I liked that it bothered me so much, and gave me so much to think about. SPOILER I thought their actions "consummated" quite well the idea of the village and residents being under the spell of the serpent, and brought everything to a head. Also I can't help but think it was actually the more realistic culmination of all their back and forth relationship, as much as that jars with what I would "like". I would like to read it again.

whippet, I will report back. Someone here was reading it recently and none too impressed - sorry, tried to scroll back but brain a bit fried.

Have been lured in by all the Ready Player One love and have also reserved it at the library.

Happy, that's an impressive haul. Personally I really liked Beyond Black, although the love wasn't universal. Also liked H is for Hawk and Dissolution. Good stuff.

I am struggling to keep up with you lot, so much reading going on & I'm feeling much . Have been reading Slaughterhouse Five & Hallucinations without making much progress, so put aside for the following:

10. Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry. Much reviewed on here already and I largely enjoyed this with all it's various interlinking threads. I did think the [SPOILER ALERT] consummation of Cora & Will was both an odd scene & unnecessary. Worse, it was out-of-step with what I felt was a strong running theme of friendship. I feel the ending would've been all the stronger without it.

11. Ink in the Blood - Hilary Mantel. Barely a book, more a few pages in a diary, but a couple of interesting things to take from it as a writer.

Haven't feel properly well (as in not ill) since the New Year which might explain why I seem to be struggling on the reading front. Of course, there's waaaaay too much on the to-do list, but that's been the case for years! I know I've seen others struggling with difficulties but am afraid the only one I can now remember is Satsuki to whom I'm sending good wishes for your DH.

Hooray!

In honour of world book day local charity shop is selling 10 books for ONE SINGLE ENGLISH POUND!!!!!!!!

I got:
Christy Brown - A Shadow on Summer
Lee Child - Personal
Amitav Ghosh - The Hungry Tide
Hilary Mantel - Beyond Black
Helen MacDonald - H is for Hawk
Lisa Williams - The Art of Being Normal
Alan Bradley -The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (especially pleased with this one)
Jesse Kellerman - The Brutal Art
CJ Sansom - Dissolution
Simon Callow - Shooting the Actor

I can now barely reach the top of my Books To Read pile, in order to add these others.

Whippet Ready Player One is like a Smarties Easter Egg with lots of little Smartie packets inside

This thread is making me do strange things. I stood and stared at my bookshelves yesterday for about 20 minutes trying to work out which book were 'cakey' books.

I have Ready Player One waiting for me at the library. Really looking forward to it!

biblio, I fancy reading Sapiens, so you'll have to report back.

Cheerful, that book sounds right up my street and it's in my local library. Have reserved it.

Life a bit hectic at the moment so haven't quite kept up with thread.

Have been reading: My beautiful genome : discovering our genetic future, one quirk at a time, by Lone Frank. An exploration of consumer genetics and also a sophisticated review of the nature v nurture v choice debate about what shapes our characters. She takes a personal approach, so there's more about her upbringing and family background than there is pure science, but I liked that. Interesting, thought-provoking and often quite funny (particularly an account of an unflattering character profile of herself that she received).

The story of the human body : evolution, health and disease by Daniel Lieberman I've read a few books about human evolution, so this is all fairly familiar territory. Interesting in terms of the mismatch between our bodies as products of evolution and the unnatural way we use them now - our diet, shoes, even our reading.

I've started Sapiens by Yuval Harari and so fair it covers exactly the same ground as the above. I need to read on to see if it actually is as innovative as some reviewers describe.

I'm also simultaneously reading Take Six Girls by Laura Thompson about the Mitfords. She starts from the point that their story is already well known (so not the book to start with if you're new to the subject) and examines the differences between their perceptions and their accounts of themselves and each other. I'm enjoying it.

sunset I read on Kindle and thought I'd like a paper copy for that, but not sure if it's worth a reread yet. It was very good, but not a great deal of depth - however I did enjoy the horoscope patterning once I'd sussed it so might like it more second time round.

11. Ready Player One Ernest Cline

I enjoyed this. It is a light, fun, feel-good read, and if you have an ill concealed movie/gaming/comic book geek in you, it appeals very deliberately to that, taking place is a virtual reality world designed by a man obsessed with 80s arcade games and films, amongst other things. It is very silly at times POSSIBLE SPOILER though not sure since so out of context and paraphrased - "how do I get up there?" "How about using my trainers?" "Your trainers?" "Yes, I've never mentioned these before but one of the things they do is enable you to fly!" Handy. Full of very daft and convenient stuff like this but you've just got to go with it. Very entertaining and looking forward to the upcoming Spielberg adaptation.

12. Wishful Drinking Carrie Fisher

This was short and basically a written version of her one woman stage show. It is a funny, affecting memoir of being the daughter of Hollywood stars, a star herself, the wife of an iconic singer-songwriter, and her struggles with addiction and bipolar disorder, told with wit and self-awareness. I found some of the anecdotes very funny, though there is an underlying sadness to it all, and her desire to turn harsh reality into something comic is inspiring.

I really enjoyed The Luminaries too and that's a really good price. I did find (on my old Kindle) that some of the design features of the book (no spoilers) weren't really apparent - I didn't realise the extent of the craft until I saw someone's hard copy. Also some of the charts don't display well, but I have a basic old Kindle and this version might be better.

The Luminaries is £1.39 on the Kindle just for today. I really enjoyed this and good value at around 800 pages

10 The Sherlock Chronicles by Steve Tribe. Glossy coffee table book with lots of photos, written after broadcast of His Last Vow but before filming of The Abominable Bride.

Good points? Interesting if you're a fan, with descriptions of how various effects were done and some of the behind the scenes planning with interesting details like Derren Brown's actual involvement and that The Great Game was the first episode filmed after the never broadcast Pilot. Plenty of stuff that goes beyond standard interview/article fair. Various production notes chucked in, with props lists including "Bag of thumbs" etc.

Bad points: it was originally £25. At least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask. I got it for £4 in the Works. Technical details probably only contain enough depth to interest a lay person like me. The tone however...yes, I don't find reading middle aged men kissing their own arses much fun to read. Self congratulating from Moffat and Gatiss to the point it felt masturbatory. If you're too busy being proud of how clever you are then you stop being clever (as seen on TV). Pity because the stuff about all the little shout outs they had originally to former Holmes adaptions was actually clever. Interesting read for a non-techie Sherlock fan only.

8. Good Evening, Mrs Craven: the wartime stories of Mollie Panter-Downes
Twenty-one short stories written during WW2 and published in the New Yorker. Could also be subtitled upper-middle-class wartime problems. These varied from the annoying "I've got frightfully working class evacuees! And they keep trying to talk to me!" to the rather poignant, such as the woman who realise when she takes in a mother and baby how much of her life with her husband has been taken away from her, or the lonely spinster who misses the friendships of the Blitz. Very well observed, particularly about English restraint.

Another one you've probably read but if not might fit the bill - Period Piece by Charles Darwin's grandaughter Gwen Raverat. Definitely cake-y (though good tea in nice china with the cake).

I know our tastes don't often always overlap, but did you read pony books as a child, Remus? If so, have you read the Pullein-Thompson autobiography 'Fair Girls and Grey Horses'?

I prefer Bone Clocks to Cloud Atlas. Although CA is a work of pure genius, and to be marvelled at, I felt much more emotionally involved in the slightly messier and bonkerser Bone Clocks, and I think the closing section was my favourite, as I was so invested by then (and sobbed intermittently throughout, mainly on public transport).

13. Coffin Road by Peter May I was hoping this would do for the Western Isles what the Ann Cleeves books do for Shetland. It didn't. Annoying know all wanker type washes up on beach with amnesia and proceeds to narrate his life in the first person present tense with adjective overdose, including the bits that add no value to the story. I feel a bit of a meanie hating this, as there was an interview with the author at the end, and he seems like an awfy nice chap, but I won't be reading any more of his books.

Have read the latest messages again!

Making of a Marchioness Read/liked but didn't love - but yes, something like that is exactly the kind of cake I want!

Trollope To be continued...

Eggers - yes, will definitely read more of his, but not now. He fails the full afternoon tea test severely.

The Dumas - now bought. Have also bought A Place Called Winter from the March sale, but probably not to read immediately. Have got the sample of the Vine and Gillespie and I. If I've forgotten anybody, I apologise!

I'd love to reread Robertson Davies too. Weird they're not on Kindle.

Thought the second Ferris book was a bit rubbish, maybe just too American. I liked his first though.

"I can't say I'm dancing with glee at the idea of reading any more yet."

Better than 'Can You Forgive Her' - aka 'Just Make Your Mind Up Already'