50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Four

bookmarking

I haven't sold it well, have I?

I just started Keith Richards' autobiography which is exactly what I need atm.

Thanks keith for the note on Sisterland, just seen it, much appreciated. Will pick it up if I see it, I think.

I don't know. I might read the rest of the series at some point if I have nothing else to read, but I'm not really looking forward to it at this point. That's the spirit, cote

Remus - All those "GLAD"s are making my eyes bleed

Love you, too, of course. If not for you, who would I sit up in the balcony with?

12. Wolf Of The Plains by Conn Iggulden

I already had this on my Kindle and started reading it after someone recommended it on the previous thread.

I have a personal (cultural, historical) affinity to the whole Turkic/Mongolian history and enjoy reading about Genghis Khan etc so this book was theoretically right up my street. It wasn't badly written and it got a lot of stuff quite right, but I have to say it failed on a number of accounts which meant I was quite Meh about it in the end.

My main problem with this book was that the author has changed many aspects of Genghis Khan's life. Bekter was his half-brother, not his mother Hoelun's son at all, and so not in the line of succession. There was never any doubt that Temujin (Genghis) was their father's heir, as the eldest son of the #1 wife. That part of the story where Bekter is supposedly the heir and Temujin just another son is rubbish.

There are quite a few fabrications like this. Temujin's wife Börte was kidnapped by the Merkit tribe, not Tartars. She was held captive for many months and was heavily pregnant by the time she was rescued, which led to her firstborn son' legitimacy as heir being questioned.

The book is full of flat out lies like the above. The author has actually changed the names of some of the key players because (wait for it...) they are too hard There is no such man as Eeluk in Genghis Khan's history, for example.

And where is Jamuka??? Temujin's best friend, "blood brother", who then becomes his mortal enemy. He is a major figure in all stories about Genghis Khan. Not this one, though

This book wasn't badly written, and it could be a good story. But it was just full of nonsense. How dare he rewrite Genghis Khan's story? For reasons as trivial as "His name's too hard", no less!

I don't know. I might read the rest of the series at some point if I have nothing else to read, but I'm not really looking forward to it at this point.

you've not you're

And aren't you GLAD that you're learned that now? I'm GLAD that I have such a lovely friend in my computer to argue about books with. And I'm GLAD that you disagree with me so often, because it wouldn't be half so much fun otherwise.

Is that what it was called?

Now, now, Cote. You're not playing the Glad Game very well there.

Oh ffs are we back with Pollyanna again?

Not for a tenner on Kindle though!!!

So glad you enjoyed Bitch in a Bonnet, Joyless.

Please don't throttle Pollyanna, Diva. She's a nice little girl, despite her faults!

Book 25
Black Plumes by Margery Allingham
A proper ‘old fashioned’ detective story, published in 1940. This features a family still rather in awe of the Victorian matriarch grandma, who isn’t as frail or confused as she might occasionally appear. When a murderer strikes, and then strikes again, everybody – even grandma - falls under suspicion. I really enjoyed this – it’s v much of its time but it was gripping and exciting and had me wondering right up until the end which one of them actually ‘done it’. Recommended to fans of Christie.

Quite fancy that Dancing Princesses one, Compost.

I'm going to go against the grain here - I actually prefer books that have been well read. I mostly read library books or second hand books. Equally I don't hang on to books unless I am totally in love with them, I would rather pass them on to someone else to read or donate them to Oxfam. I like the idea that I'm just one of a series of people who've had pleasure from reading that book.

Shocked at all the feckless book borrowers

I have lots of questions for Patrick Gale too - maybe one day I'll get to one of his author events, or meet him via the boss (whose wife is a friend) - but certainly Harry from of A Place called Winter is based upon Patrick's maternal great-grandfather.

As for the lending of books ... very few people are reliable, so I rarely lend books. I've had family send much loved books to the charity shop, friends put them into their own bookcases (from where I have rescued them) etc. So that's one reason for loving kindles ...

Oh bloody hell, I'm adding more to my TBR list than I'm reading at the moment! Not that I'm not grateful for the recommendations you lovely lot just frustrated with my lack of reading ...

Book 12: Bitch in a Bonnet Oh my, what a lot of fun! Thank you Remus et al for the recommendation. I kept reading extracts out loud to the bloke. He did laugh, if not actually thanking me for the interruptions. It may even make me read Mansfield Park even though the author doesn't recommend it as one of her better offerings.

Book 13: The Improbability of Love Hannah Rothschild. A Bailey's short-lister. Loaded with details of the art world and with a piece of art who spoke - in the snottiest of voices (those were the bits I loved). The rest was just a shed load of characters, not overly stereotyped but not drawn with particular depth either. A good read if not a brilliant book, and I enjoyed it more than The Goldfinch probably because it didn't disappoint me.

Bought a 99p on Kindle the other day -Shooting Kylie by Tony Oudot. It's about a paparazzi photographer and makes me want to weep not in a good way. A waste of 99p and waste of a couple of evenings of my life.

Chessie I know what you mean about the ending of A Place Called Winter, I felt the ending was a little abrupt and could have done with a few more chapters just to tie things up in a more satisfying way for the reader. I liked it a lot, though.

Good to see I am not the only one with a Gollum-like attachment to new books.

I am behind in posting my reads, so here they are:
17 The Prisoner of Zenda - Anthony Hope Enjoyably daft.
18 The Hiroshima Maidens- Rodney Barker Despite its overly pro-American stance, this was really fascinating. It is the story of the 25 women who were taken to the US in the 1950s for plastic surgery on their injuries from the bomb. As the author was one of the very few people to whom the women themselves would speak, there are some truly moving and poignant stories. It covers from the day of the bomb to the 1970s. Well worth a read.
19 Gods and Warriors - Michelle Paver An Audible read. I enjoyed this - I am not good at listening to complicated plot lines; I either listen to YA or non-fiction. The narrator is by no means Ian McKellen, who reads the Wolf Brother series, but is still good! The plot is fairly similar in many ways, but I enjoyed the female characterisation as strong and capable.
20 Strictly Murder - Lynda Wilcox A light and fluffy read that whiled away a couple of hours in a waiting room. Notably wine-laced plot though - the grape and bouquet seem to get described every day!
21 The Last Romanov Icon - Carlos Mundy and Marie Stravlo
A load of total bollocks. The whole is-she-isn't she story of the Romanovs throughout the 20th century does really interest me, but this was a pile of horrendously-written, ill-thought-out shite. And the constant "she is so gracious and wonderful that she just be royal, because, well, ROYAL. And ARISTOCRACY. And ROYAL." I only finished it because I'd bought it!
22 The Burning Shadow - Michelle Paver Number 2 in the Gods and Warriors series. Not on audible, so I had to borrow it from the library. Much to the and of the librarian. I thought of the discussion on this thread re children's books, and nearly asked her if she was on MN!
23 Pollyanna - Eleanor H Porter I had never read the original. I would like to throttle Pollyanna.

Tarahumara I haven't seen the film of Still Alice, but will look out for it now I've read the book.

33. A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale

I was given this and it isn't something I would normally pick up. It was a little slow to get going, but by the end I was really enjoying it. I thought the ending was a little inconclusive though - I still had lots of questions!

13 The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine

Read this in a day. Maybe not something I'd usually pick up but one of the prompts for the challenge I'm doing over at good reads was a book recommended by a librarian, and a librarian on the discussion group/thread thing there recommended this. I loved it, a retelling over the fairy tale 12 Dancing Princesses set in 1920s New York. Maybe the characterisation was a little thin in places, and the resolution felt a teensy bit rushed and 'too easy' after what had gone before, but that's me nitpicking because I feel I should. It was glamorous and breathless and fab, and it did a good job of highlighting the darkness and captivity at the heart of the fairy tale, and giving a genuine sense of peril and believability whilst still having that sort of heightened reality/fairy tale feel. Definitely recommend.

19. Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penman.

This is the very well known beginner's guide to meditation/mindfulness including CD and I have loved it, although I am still very much a work in progress.

20. The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant series, Book 6) by Ben Aaronovitch.

The sixth in this urban fantasy series, Peter Grant continues to investigate and cause trouble and this one also carries forward some long running plot lines. I liked it, it's light-hearted fun.

Finished 10. Hurrah for Gin by Katie Kirby which I have been dipping into between novels over the past couple of months.
Have got Leap Year by Helen Russell on the go as an audiobook, looking forward to getting stuck into another novel too, maybe A Spool of Blue Thread by Ann Tyler which I stumbled across in the library.

11 A Boy Made of Blocks - Keith Stuart - This tells the story of Alex and he finally connects to and builds a relationship with his 8 year old son via Minecraft. I enjoyed this book and especially enjoyed the developing relationship between the father and his son. I wasn't quite as enthused about some of the other sub plots that happen in the book.

I finished book 23 yesterday, Bodies of Water by V.H.Leslie, a very quick read at only 130 pages. This sounded good, a gothic horror based in a waterside Victorian London women's hospital, alternating between two women's voices, one in Victorian times, the other present day now that the hospital is being converted to housing (but conveniently there has been a problem meaning that only two women live in the whole deserted, partially converted creepy old hospital) but fell flat for me.

I'm now reading Do No Harm and Nora Webster by Colm Toibin both of which are excellent.