50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Four

ontopofthesunset I was briefly acquainted with Denise Riley a long time ago, won't say how, but she is a lovely person as well as a wonderful - if, yes, at times very difficult! - poet.

Thanks for very helpful review - I am waiting for the dark forest at the library, going to order death's end as well so I can read them both in succession, as I worry I'll lose the thread too.

I got a Kindle for my birthday last year and bloody love it. I had a giddy period downloading free classics and out of print books from Gutenberg.
Also, I live in a tiny two up two down and it's full of books. So there's that.
I have a couple of friends with similar reading taste to me, which is nice, as we lend a lot of good books to each other. But I also love my library. Particularly the Library Reserves, which are full of out of print hardbacks from the fifties which I can order in for a pound. One of my favourite things about it is how often one of these books will already be out to some other weirdo with a fondness for 1940s children's literature. Which I love.

1. Rillington Place (Uncovered Editions)
2. An Evil Cradling: Brian Keenan.
3. John Profumo and Christine Keeler (Uncovered Editions)
4. The Secret Agent: Joseph Conrad
5. The Watergate Affair (Uncovered Editions)
6. The Russian Revolution (Uncovered Editions)
7. The Assassination of John F Kennedy (Uncovered Editions)
8. Falling Awake: Alice Oswald.
9. All the Presidents' Men: Bernstein and Woodward. R
10. Dr Thorne: Trollope (audiobook)
11. Framley Parsonage: Trollope (audiobook)
12. Saplings: Noel Streatfeild.
13. A Murder of Quality: John le Carré.
14. All the light we cannot see: Anthony Doerr.
15. Some rain must fall: Karl Ove Knausgård.
16. The Way of Wyrd: Brian Bates
17. The Small House at Allington (audiobook)
18. The Dark Forest: Liu Cixin. I read The Three Body Problem last year and it would probably have been better to read this hot on the heels of that as I found myself having forgotten lots about the sophons and the Trisolarans. But very interesting even if the sciencey stuff is over my head. Have moved straight on to Death's End so I don't lose any advantage I currently have.
19. Say Something Back by Denise Riley: this collection includes her very beautiful long poem about the death of her son, A Part Song. I think she's a very deft poet though I found some of them too 'difficult' for me.

Next up is The Way of Wyrd by Brian Bates that I've been lent.

Remus I'd agree with you about A Place Called WInter, I felt the bits at Bethel were very weak indeed and the parts on the land describing the work and the interactions between people there were the strongest. I really got bired for the first of the book as it seemed like an elaborate set up designed to eventually place him where he needed to be. I wish that bit had been shorter and more time could have been spent on the 'working the land' bit as that was what I thought the whole book was about when I bought it!
I liked Harry a lot and was moved by the basis in fact and the photograph at the very end of the real Harry. But I did want to shake him at times.

I'm very selective about which books I lend and who I lend them to. I'm still disappointed that someone borrowed my copy of the Shipping News and didn't return it some years ago.

I keep toying with getting a Kindle as I can really see the usefulness of them particularly when on holiday. But then I look at the pile of unread books in the house and think 'I'll do it when I've read those' Which never happens of course because I keep adding to it

bibliomania that tour sounds as if it must have been very interesting. I might have to dig out some of my Agatha Christies and have a re-read.

I'm another one who doesn't lend books easily. I worry about them coming back in a bad state or not coming back at all. I do quite happy get rid of books I did not enjoy though.

I have read many Agatha Christie's and I think my favourites are And Then There Was Non and Why Didn't They Ask Evans. The only one I really didn't enjoy was Endless Night but that might have been because I read something with a very similar plot twist just before it so it felt a bit samey.

Sometimes I would finish all of mine and have to read DH's awful books .

Quelle horreur!

I'm with Cote in hesitating to lend books I love. I'll happily give away books I wasn't that keen on, but if I want a book back, I do find myself fretting about its return.

Without having read E L James, I have the impression that words generally do fail her, or vice versa.

Re Agatha Christie's Murder in Mesopotamia, I did a British Museum free tour of the Middle Eastern antiquities, and was told that her account is a very recognisable account of the archaeological dig in Iraq that her second husband undertook.

tangential

Fascinating article, Satsuki. Rather tangental, but I have previously thought of words used commonly by authors that rarely (if ever?) crop up in spoken conversation (e.g. roiling, rheumy). And I have noted Ian McEwan's fondness for mentioning e.g. wines, cheese and olives across several of his novels.

"a friend gave some books I'd lent her away to a charity shop"

How did you punish her?

I don't lend favourites but it's a nice conversation starter if you can lend someone a book. I mainly lend to my family who don't have kindles - I bought all the Shardlakes in paperback so I could pass them around; I shall never want to reread them.

Thought I'd share this article here, it's about the words, phrases, and cliches that particular authors use the most, and the idea that their most frequently used words can sum up their style. Interesting as an article, don't know if the topic would sustain me through a whole book, though this guy's written one, using statistical analysis of word usage. Nabokov wrote his books in colour, Ray Bradbury infused his with spices, and I enjoyed the fact E.L James's most used cliche is "words fail me"

I stopped lending books out after a friend gave some books I'd lent her away to a charity shop

I pass on books that I've finished with and have no interest in keeping, but books I'd like to see again never get lent out these days.

Murine, I do that too for my DH. He doesn't have a kindle but has the app on his tablet and I occasionally nab a 99p deal for him when I see something come up that he would like.

I keep very few books. If I've enjoyed it, I give it to someone nice to read. If I haven't, it goes in the charity shop pile.

I have three bookcases full of books that I haven't read yet but want to (I think I may have a bit of an issue with book-buying). So all books that have been read go straight on to new homes with a very few notable exceptions.

I've never wanted to lend books - can't part with them, don't want to think of how they will come back (if they ever do!), and not many people want to read books I do anyway.

Then again, I have no interest in smelling books either, and have been about that being given as a reason why people prefer print books over Kindle.

I much prefer books because (a) you can get them from the library, or secondhand for 20p (or free from the station if you're lucky!) and (b) they can be given, lent, or donated after reading :)

However, I bloody LOVE my kindle for holidays. I remember pre-kids beach holidays filling half my case with heavy books and spending the whole week paranoid about running out of reading material. Sometimes I would finish all of mine and have to read DH's awful books .

Now I have one diddy little thing that fits in my pocket and is full - FULL - of amazing books that I want to read. It's just struck me all over again how bloody wonderful that is :)

My list so far:

1 Confronting the Classics by Mary Beard
2 Midsummer Night in the Workhouse by Diana Athill
3 Sidney Chambers and Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie
4 The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan
5 Viper Wine by Hermoine Eyre
6 The Case of the Hail Mary Celeste by Malcolm Pryce
7 The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald
8 Arbella England's Lost Queen by Sarah Gristwood
9 The Children of Dynmouth by William Trevor
10 Miss Buncle Married by D E Stevenson
11 The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
12 The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald

The Blue Flower is set in 18th century Germany and is based on the life of the writer/poet known as Novalis. Young man has ambitions to be a poet/philosopher but has to learn about the salt mine business. He falls in love with a much younger girl. Fitzgerald has a way of making you feel like you are there even though she uses very sparing language to describe things. I didn't enjoy this one as much as The Beginning of Spring but it is still a good read.

My favourite Agatha Christie's include Death on the Nile, Murder in Mesopotamia and The Body in the Library.

You can share books on Kindles if you sign up for Amazon family sharing - not sure how many people you can share with, but DH and I share using this - which would be more useful if we liked the same kind of books, which we don't!

murine thanks, my dh and I log out devices to one account so we can share books, I just miss the random book swapping with other people.

I don't know if it's any use but I've sort of managed to lend my kindle books to my husband: he's downloaded the app onto his phone and logs into it as me to access the latest book I've persuaded him to try (currently The North Water).

I love my Kindle and use it all the time, but still use the library a lot and buy books. I am able to read a lot more because of the Kindle, but I still prefer a real one - I love swapping books.

That should be 'lend out' not 'lead'

Agree about the Kindle and the frustration of not being able to lead out. Call me a Luddite but I still prefer proper books. Kindle comes out for holidays and journeys. For some reason I can read on the Kindle and not feel travel sick!

26.Apple Tree Yard - was wary of reading this having seen the TV adaptation but it was a good read with some subtle differences. I didn't find the main character that convincing though and back to our discussion much earlier on this thread, I have to have some kind of engagement with a character to truly care or be interested in what happens to them. I don't have to like them - just believe in them.

I agree, HappyFlappy. Would love to be able to lend some of my kindle books to people!

15. The End We Start From - Megan Hunter

This was a proof copy read for work. The book is due out in May.
It was an intriguing story set in the aftermath of a huge flood. The full extent of the flood is never revealed but it deals with the experiences of a new mother. She gives birth to her son just a few days after the catastrophic event and the novel follows her experiences and feelings.

Some of the descriptive language the author uses is really quite beautiful and she captures some of this more visceral experiences of motherhood well. It is extremely short-only 123 pages- and is written in short paragraphs. However, I found it very absorbing and finished it all in one go. I think it is a story you need to immerse yourself in to get the full effect. Worth keeping an eye out for later in the year.