50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Four

You can't lend your kindle books out either Satsuki - that pees me off no end, because some are as dear as a hard copy.

24 Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher.
Much reviewed already on here - short but enjoyable.

whippet that's what the Kindle can't replace - cover curiosity!

It was a very cool setting, remus

whippetwoman 14 y/o dd really liked Ready Player One, so I don't think it matters if you don't get the 80s refs.

Looks like I get the lovely Bernie Gunther to myself then! I just love being able to picture all the streets and then go to Berlin and say 'Ohh Bernie lived here' etc.

1. Try not to Breathe - Holly Seddon
2. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
3. Revenge- Martina Cole
4. The Breakdown - B A Paris.
5. Only the Truth - Adam Croft.

BestIsWest I really enjoyed Peril at End House, it's the third time I've guessed the murderer! I'm not really reading them in order, I just choose them randomly but lately I have started to fill in the gaps of the ones I've not read. Are you reading them in order?

whippetwoman I think a lot of people enjoy Murder on the Orient Express (which is good). My particular favourites have been The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Big Four and The ABC Murders. I think as long as you don't read the last Poirot book, I have found it quite flexible in that you can choose any title from the series and just read it.

1. The Secrets of Gaslight Lane M R Kassassian
2. Harpole & Foxberrow, General Publishers, J L Carr
3. The Brontes, Brian Wilks
4. Four Dreamers and Emily, Stevie Davis
5. Do Not Pass Go, Tim Moore
6. The Brontesaurus, John Sutherland
7. Hand to Mouth, Linda Torado
8. Rhapsody in Green, Charlotte Mendelson
9. Not Just Jane, Ellen De Wees
10. Weatherland, Alexandra Harris
11. The Dead Student, John Katzenbach
12. Time after Time, Molly Keane
13. The Year of Living Danishly, Helen Russell
14. Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life, Samantha Ellis
15. Books for Living, Will Schalbe
16. Victorians Undone, Kathryn Hughes
17. My Beautiful Genome, Lone Frank
18. The Story of the Human Body, Daniel Lieberman
19. Take Six Girls, Laura Thompson
20. Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens was a lucid and wide-ranging account of how modernity came about. A key part is our shared fictions: states, laws, money. I thought it was a good synthesis of existing popular science/history books by other people, but I’m not sure it brought anything original to the table (although I’m not particularly familiar with the Cognitive Revolution material, so who knows, maybe he added something new).

pterobore, I haven't read a single Agatha Christie! Could you recommend me a good one to start with?

I was reading Ready Player One last night while the eldest was doing Taekwondo and a young lad came up to me to ask me what I was reading. I think he was intrigued by the title and cover. I told him all about it and promised to read it quickly so he could borrow it from the library after me. It was really nice! I'm not sure he'll get the 80s references though.

Welcome, pterobore

Welcome pterobore. I'm enjoying Poirot at the moment too. Just finished Peril at End House myself. Are you reading them in order?

I didn't enjoy March Violets either, meg, agree the voice verged on parodic and I only stayed with it a few chapters.

11. The March Violets - Philip Kerr

A recommendation from Remus, but I'm afraid I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped :( The setting (Nazi Germany) is an interesting one for hard boiled detective fiction, but the prose is pure Chandler pastiche (or tribute if I'm being kind), and just made me want to read the real thing. Sorry Remus!

HappyFlappy, alas no cake! Not even a madeleine.

I’ve meant so many times to join the thread for this year and I’ve finally got round to it, in March. Here’s my list of books I’ve read so far this year. I am continuing with my efforts to read my way through Agatha Christie’s Poirot books. I think I’ve read 23 out of the 45 Poirot novels.

I’ve just downloaded Stephen Fry reading Sherlock Holmes. And whilst I’m pretty sure I’ve read all the Holmes books, I really liked Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter, so I thought I’d give this a try. More detective novels!

1. The adventure of the Christmas pudding – Agatha Christie
2. The uncommon reader - Alan Bennett
3. The big four – Agatha Christie
4. The third girl – Agatha Christie
5. Elephants can remember – Agatha Christie
6. Dumb witness – Agatha Christie
7. Cards on the table – Agatha Christie
8. The ABC murders – Agatha Christie
9. Precious and Grace – Alexander McCall-Smith

23 On Liberty by Shami Chakrabati

Short and to the point examination of the changes to British laws since 9/11, and the consequent effects on civil liberties. The writing style isn't particularly amazing (fair enough - she's a lawyer and campaigner, not a professional author), but she makes her points thoroughly and well. I'd thought I was pretty well informed on the subject and follow the news, but I definitely felt I knew more and it was particularly helpful seeing the strands brought together in one place. Depressing, but well worth a read.

1. The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
2. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding - Agatha Christie
3. Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller
4. Love Letters of Henry V111 to Anne Boleyn (totally counting this even though it's only about 70 pages, I'll read an extra long one at some point to balance it out!)
5. How to be Both - Ali Smith
6. Toast - Nigel Slater
7. A Man Called Ove - Fredrick Backman
8. Chess - Stefan Zweig
9. Beauvallet- Georgette Heyer

Today finished 11. The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante - in much the same way as the first spent a big part of it thinking it was overly long and then suddenly utterly immersed in it and feel a bit bereft now it's finished.

Still working on The Glorious Heresies

Cote - I don't think you'll like Winter. It is pretty much all feelings, and not like The North Water except the bad guys (imvho) are not v well drawn - just cartoon villains.

Remus - Not sure if that was the effect you were going for but I just bought A Place Called Winter for 99p. I was attracted to it by you likening it to The North Water (which I loved) and just overall hating it, tbh, given how totally opposite our tastes in fiction are

LadyDepp

Bloody Project better than Wolf and Golden Hill, although flawed, probably better as well. Fingersmith not as good.

Throws down gauntlet - let me know if Cloud Atlas ever costs pennies on Kindle. It's too heavy for me to read in book form in the bath, and I refuse to spend much on it.

Book 23
A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale
This had all the elements of something I should have loved – it’s the right time period, it’s got madness and the treatment of patients with mental health issues, it’s got a place on the edge of civilisation and some good, hard manly labour. What it hadn’t got was the ability to drag me into it and hold me captive in the world created, and committed to the characters I’m journeying with. Why? Well, part of it was to do with the fact that the central character, Harry, is almost entirely passive, other than when he’s busy digging holes and shoving fences in. The few times he does actually make a decision are moments of real strength from a generally weak and rather frustrating character. Gale can certainly write and knows how to drive issues home without ramming them down people’s throats: there were some sections of really good writing and (unlike many books generally) I liked the ending, but overall this felt like a bit too much effort for a bit too little outcome, with the sections with the ‘baddy’ being as cartoonish as The North Water. The sections in Bethel (the ostensibly more benign institution for those with mental health issues) were by far the weakest and the sections on his homestead with a neighbouring brother and sister infinitely the strongest imho.

People swan about plotting love affairs and then having love affairs whilst smoking and reading Sartre in cramped Parisian attics or on the beach in Cannes etc. What's not to like?

The only thing that could make this better is if there was cake.

Is there cake?

The Goldfinch is on my TBR pile too.

Have now got two books on the go:
The Poet of the Black Chair - the story of Hedd Wyn by Alan Llwyd
The Summer Book - Tove Jansson

Have also just ordered The Map and The Clock (Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke) which I am very excited about.

Oh yes. Remus and Cote. Time to step it up people.

In the meantime I have had the full French experience by reading:
22. Bonjour Tristesse and a Certain Smile - Francoise Sagan
People swan about plotting love affairs and then having love affairs whilst smoking and reading Sartre in cramped Parisian attics or on the beach in Cannes etc. What's not to like?

Copying over my list

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

I thoroughly enjoyed book 15. Maggie Rose is a crime writer/lawyer who fights for the release of criminals. Her latest potential client is a charming, former surgeon, serial killer. Will she be charmed by him? Is he innocent? And even if he isn't could she get him out?

This was a gripping read and I was desperate to keep reading. Making a dent in my TBR pile too!