50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Four

Thanks. I can’t work out what I was reading before American Pastoral but I know I definitely started reading that after Trump was elected so we’ll start there (20th January)

1. American Pastoral – Philip Roth – started reading this after Trump was voted in. Scary stuff and so relevant to today’s politics. Read it.
2. The Plot Against America – Philip Roth – haven’t seen the film yet but fancied another Roth. Slow paced, family focused but reflecting questions and issues relating to politics, democracy, family secrets, marriage, the distance between generations, the disintegration of industry, success etc.
3. Lynda La Plante – Clean Cut – I really didn’t like this. Found the main character to be a bit of a drip. Too many police clichés. Just horrible. I like a good crime novel. This was not one of them. Not tempted to read another La Plante after that.
4. The Glass Castle – Jeanette Walls – awesome, please read it if you haven’t already. Childhood in poverty in the USA in 20th Century. Heartbreaking. Beautifully drawn characters (I know that they’re the writer’s actual family!) Real life, autobiography.
5. The Zookeeper’s Wife – Diane Ackerman – a true story of an unlikely heroine. Quite dry but fascinating look at the story of Warsaw Zoo in World War II and how the Poles helped Jewish Poles when the Nazis took over. Very heavily draws on diary entries and the writings of the people involved. Like Hidden Figures in the fairly academic approach.
6. The Carousel – Rosamund Pilcher – I’m guessing this was a bit “blah” because I can’t remember anything about it.
7. Lion – Saroo Brierly – brilliant tale of family, identity and place. Honest and simple. Recommend. Real life, autobiography.
8. Hidden Figures – Margot Lee Shetterly – very hard work. I’m clearly too used to reading novels. A lot of repetition, didn’t feel like I really knew the characters (I know they’re real people!) important part of 20th century history but quite dry and academic. Real life.
9. Sue Perkins – Spectacles – witty and warm, I like her even more having read it. Real life, autobiography.
10. The Gun Seller – Hugh Laurie – decent holiday read about a guy who gets tied up with an arms dealer. As you’d imagine it’s written in with a good dose of wit. Fiction, thriller?

What next... probably a thriller that I've got rattling around in my kindle already. Need to stock up on some good holiday reading so open to suggestions!

Yes, plotting not the main driving force of RC books, for sure.

Welcome megmez. As above, just list whatever you read with a short review. You can read more or less than 50, too

altered I have had a wisdom tooth infection this week too (low five) and I've been terribly slowed down. Antibiotics have done the trick for me this time thankfully. Hope you feel better soon.

14. Seeing Things As They Are - Selected Journalism and Other Writings - George Orwell

I've slowed right down this month because of being away and not having as much time to read. But have loved dipping in and out of this, a collection of features and columns dealing mainly with politics and WW2. The standard of writing is predictably exceptional and it's fascinating to see the development of many of the ideas that made it into 1984 and Animal Farm.

Just any book you like MegMez. And let us know what you thought.

It was me who reviewed The Big sleep previously. It sounds like you have had the same experience sunset. Enjoyable prose but my word I struggled to follow what was going on. So many gangsters and so many women all being referred to by a physical characteristic! Like I said at the time though, aged in every way better than a detective novel from the 1980s I read prior to it.

Late to the party - is there a list you select from or is it just ANY 50 books?

1. A Brief History of Seven Killings
2. Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity by Richard Holloway
3. The Essex Serpent
4. The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin

I really enjoyed The Janissary Tree, so thanks for the recommendation. It was really gripping and I loved the food references. I would like to write a fuller review, but I am still whacked out from sedatives and painkillers after wisdom tooth removal this morning. I finally have time to read but I can't concentrate on anything, so it is very frustrating.

I started American Gods yesterday, which I am enjoying very much so far. This is the first Neil Gaiman novel I have read, and I always felt a vague antipathy towards reading his books, but so far (15% in) I am glad I did.

I actually still think Raymond Chandler sounds fresh and inventive now; not a dead metaphor among them. Much copied but never bettered imo.

25) The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler inspired by an earlier poster. Never read any Raymond Chandler. Had little idea what was going on for a lot of the book (so many men shooting each other!) and found the 1930s LA slang impenetrable at times. But it was wonderful to read the author on whom so many pastiches have been based and I was laughing out loud at the deliciousness of the style, which was fresh and inventive then but now sounds like a pastiche of the pastiches.

I agree totally re. The humans, a classic example of sci fi done badly by a non sci fi author I thought. The 'alien' particularly annoyed me.

Tarahumara I was a bit baffled by all the 5* reviews!

Composteleana I agree with your review of The Humans. Lots of people seem to rave about it, but I found it cliched and unsubtle, exactly as you describe.

BestisWest I I think Being Mortal is a really good book and in fact I've thought it should be essential reading for all of us, if that were possible in some way. I am sorry to hear about the worries concerning your parents, I know how that feels--Atul Gawande's book really brings worries about mortality and health to the fore, but I think ultimately rightly so, and in a gentle, compassionate way.

His other book on checklists is surprisingly good too.

Right on to my list.

1. Bee Wilson, 'this is not a diet book'
2. Harry Potter & the chamber of secrets (with DC)
3. Jennifer Weiner, 'all fall down'
4. Lauren Sandler, 'one and only'
5. Rene and Goscinny, the Nicholas Book (children's book)
6. Katja Rowell, fussy eating book
7. Nicola Yoon, 'everything everything' (YA book)
8. JD Robb, 'echoes in death'
9. JD Vance, 'Hillbilly elegy'
10. Jonathan Kellerman, Heartbreak Hotel
11. Haemin Sunim, The things you can see only when you slow down
12. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie We should all be feminists
13. Sarah A. Denzil Silent Child
14. Anna Bell The bucket list to mend a broken heart

Number 14 was Anna Bell's A bucket list to mend a broken heart.
Classic chick-lit, with a totally predictable ending (as most of them, but not all) and far too long for some reason--more than 400 pages long, when this could be done & dusted in 100 pages under that. I'm normally not a chick-lit person but have kept reading a chick-lit book or 2 every now and again.

The premise is quite fun I suppose. Abi is dumped by posh boyfriend Joseph, discovers his bucket list & decides to do every single item in a month to win him back. If you're into bucket lists / life goal lists etc (which I admit are guilty pleasures for me, compiling such lists), then this book holds some appeal. There is also a laugh out loud chapter on windsurfing. Haven't read anything else by Anna Bell, but I hear she's a regular chick-lit writer, but I don't think I'll go back for more.

20. The Humans by Matt Haig

The Humans is about an alien sent to Earth to prevent one man's mathematical breakthrough being shared and ultimately leading to the destruction of the universe, for the breakthrough will lead to progress beyond human ability to manage. In the process, the alien learns what it is to be human.

The, very heavily laboured, point is that there is beauty and wonder in being human despite our propensity towards destruction, violence and greed and our ultimate mortality. A very nice point to make, but I didn't really need whacking over the head with it every other page. Parts of the book were enjoyable, but ultimately not for me.

14. Finders Keepers by Stephen King

Crime thriller. Follow up to Mr Mercedes. A famous author is murdered. The killer hides the stolen stash of money and notebooks containing unpublished novels in a trunk, before being jailed for another crime. 30 years later, a boy finds the trunk. 5 years after that, the killer is released from jail and planning to collect the hidden treasures, which leads to lots of violent trouble for everyone.

This was okay, but didn't really grab me. And the destructiveness of the ending made me wince.

44. Being Mortal - Atul Gawande. This is a marvellous book on a very emotive subject - aging, death and dignity, looking at different ways of helping the very elderly to live a good and fulfilled life and how to have a good death.

I have to say I found it a bit difficult from a personal POV, my own parents are getting on and though they are very independent and active (DM is 80 in November and is still a local councillor although she is standing down in the May elections), I can see that they have slowed down in the last year and their world is getting smaller. I worry about their future but it's given me a lot to think about.

24. Night School by Lee Child

A tale from Reacher's past - 1996, when he was still in the army. After returning from a secret mission which earned him a medal, Jack Reacher was given orders to take part in a training course, which turns out to be cover for another secret mission with an FBI agent and CIA analyst. They are searching for an American who is aiming to seel something to a terrorist cell, but they don't know who he is, where he is, or what he's selling.

This one's a good one.

1. The Muse - Jessie Burton

1. Gone Without a Trace - Mary Torjussen
2. Flesh Wounds - Christopher Brookmyre
3. Phantom: a Harry Hole Thriller - Jo Nesbo
4. Dead Simple (Roy Grace Series) - Peter James
5. All Good Deeds (A Lucy Kendall Thriller) - Stacy Green
6. The Turtle Boy - Kealan Patrick Burke

1. The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

18. As the Crow Flies - Damien Boyd

I bought a whole bundle of books in this series on a whim as they were 99p each on kindle daily deal. I am glad I did as I really enjoyed this.

Yet another police procedural, this one focusses on DI Nick Dixon who moves from the Met down to Somerset. He is faced with investigating the death of his old climbing partner in an apparent climbing accident and uncovering some unsavoury truths about that person.

A very short read at not even 200 pages, well worth picking up for a straightforward detective story.

Bedelia I quite like Liane Moriarty's books. A bit darker than your average chick-lit. I think she's quite clever.

1. Bee Wilson, 'this is not a diet book'
2. Harry Potter & the chamber of secrets (with DC)
3. Jennifer Weiner, 'all fall down'
4. Lauren Sandler, 'one and only'
5. Rene and Goscinny, the Nicholas Book (children's book)
6. Katja Rowell, fussy eating book
7. Nicola Yoon, 'everything everything' (YA book)
8. JD Robb, 'echoes in death'
9. JD Vance, 'Hillbilly elegy'
10. Jonathan Kellerman, Heartbreak Hotel
11. Haemin Sunim, The things you can see only when you slow down
12. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie We should all be feminists
13. Sarah A. Denzil Silent Child

Sarah Denzil's Silent Child. I actually read this in one day which I rarely am able to manage. This was a real page-turner, I discovered it as it was number 1 bestseller on Amazon for some days last month. It's a fairly standard, not high literature, crime novel, the ending of which is fairly predictable.

Basic premise is, a young woman is still grieving, 10 years down the line, the disappearance of her 6 year old son who apparently drowned during a flood in Yorkshire, but no body was ever found. She is now remarried, pregnant & about to give birth, at which point something massive happens (to do with her lost child). I will not say any more to avoid spoilers.

Generally enjoyed this for the type of book it is; obviously not great literature. The ending was a bit disappointing in some waysas I said, quite guessablebut overall a quick page turner.

Thanks all for the welcome I'm loving these threads, still reading through the first three (while adding yet more books to my "to-read" list!).

I have just finished reading:
24. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Which began as a lovely, dream-like story following the relationship between Saeed (conservative and restrained) and Nadia (fiercely independent and sensual) from when they meet in an unnamed Middle Eastern country on the brink of war through to a subtly dystopian future. I rather enjoyed the magical-realism element, and also the social commentary which is very current and hugely insightful considering what is going on in our world today, particularly during the first few chapters.

However, just before halfway through I found my reading experience was a little bogged down. While beautiful and evocative, sometimes I felt the writing was more style than substance. I read it on my Kindle, and some sentences were a page, or a page and a half long!

Overall, I feel it is an important book, and I sincerely hope many many people read it. Personally though, I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.

On my previous list, I had missed out
25. Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty
In bold, because I rather enjoyed this one Particularly as I'd first dismissed it as chick-lit (not my favourite genre) and found it to be surprisingly engrossing.

Next read: Ready Player One!

Happy holidays DrDiva
14. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Previously mentioned on this thread, the story of nine-year-old Oskar who lives in New York City and is grieving for his father who died in the World Trade Centre on September 11th. I enjoyed this, found the characters and plot interesting. It made me think, quite sure some of it went over my head though.
Change of volume, next book is Quiet by Susan Cain!

• seen = see

37. Heartstone - another Shardlake. Easter holidays and feeling under the weather meant I indulged myself in reading all day. Didn't seen the answer to the main mystery in the story but did work out the subplot. Screaming all the time as they edged nearer and nearer to the ill fated Mary Rose.
Final Shardlake next - too far gone to stop now and then The lesser Bohemians for book club

^that was to drdiva

Sounds like the jacuzzi is well deserved!