50 Book Challenge Part Five

24. A Symphony of Echoes, Jodi Taylor. Second book in the time travelling historian series. Kept me entertained for a couple of evenings, not exactly rushing out to find the next one but if I come across it in the library I'll read it.
25. Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces, John Harrison
26. Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve. Bought this after a recommendation on here (by Remus maybe?). Loved it. YA, set in a steampunk future, after a war that caused huge geological problems. Cities and towns are now mobile, fitted with wheels and engines, and roam around the world "eating" other cities for their resources. Victorian steampunk London, adventurers, airships...thoroughly enjoyed it.
27. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens. No need to say anything about this. Read about half of it when I was a teenager, but didn't get on with Dickens then. Loved it this time.
28. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler. Surprised myself by liking this. I don't usually enjoy family dramas set in modern times, but the unusual nature of this family made a difference. I won't spoil it in case others wish to read it.
29. Neither Here, Nor There, Bill Bryson. About his travels around Europe. Funny, enjoyable, very of its time attitude-wise. I never quite know where I am with Bryson, I like his writing for the most part, but some of his jokes and descriptions, whilst obviously lighthearted and written for comedic effect, start to grate on me after a while.
30. The English Countryside, Ruth Binney. Gift book-style fact book, covering everything you might imagine to do with the English countryside.
31. Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field, John Lewis-Stempel. Lovely nature writing about a year in a meadow near the Welsh border in Herefordshire. Beautiful descriptive writing.

Currently reading The Revenant by Michael Punke, Moby Dick, and The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. Enjoying the first two, less sure about the third so far.

Crawling through The City and the City. I am in cote's camp on this one I think. It was an intriguing idea but I feel the execution is deadly dull and increasingly ludicrous. I find his writing style has some infelicities that are a bit jarring as well; some of his sentences are a bit odd if you read them aloud, the grammar doesn't seem to quite flow. I have given up on so many books at the 50 per cent mark recently that I am soldiering on but it's not pleasurable.

There are several books in the monthly sale that I've been wanting to read so hopeful there may be an upturn in my fortunes.

Lincoln in the Bardo is in the daily deal today so I've gleefully snapped that up.

Also interested in Five on a Wooded Plain (sorry that sounds a bit Blyton but can't remember full title) Here I Am by Safran Foer and Bossypants by Tina Fey. Also heard Andre Agassi's autobiography supposed to be good and Born to Run has had a lot of positive reviews on here but not sure about it.

Also I bought Eleanor Oliphant in Tesco the other day as the hardback was cheaper than the Kindle version so looking forward to that.

I think I've lost track a bit recently, and may have forgotten a book or two.

DNF: An Inventory of Heaven, Jane Feaver
This had a gushing quote from Michael Morpurgo on the jacket, which pulled me in, but I gave up after the first few chapters - found it hard to keep track of the characters and didn't find the writing style enjoyable to read.

35 Golden Hill, Francis Spufford
Has been reviewed here many times. Enjoyed it a great deal.

36 Nobody has Sex on a Tuesday, Tracy Bloom
Picked this up in a charity shop after seeing it recommended somewhere (here?) as being very funny. Sadly, it wasn't for me - silly plot about a woman who falls pregnant and doesn't know whether the father is her childhood sweetheart ex-boyfriend, with whom she has had a one-night stand or her current toy boy. Disliked all the characters intensely.

37 The Stars at Oktober Bend, Glenda Millard
Another Carnegie YA book. Like all the books on the list, we have to deal with ISSUES, so this one told the story of the blossoming friendship/romance between a teenage girl who has suffered a severe head injury (and is living with the disabilities that has caused) and a teenage boy who has come to Australia from Sierra Leone where he has suffered the dreadful traumas of war. Not much happens in the book until the end, and the plot (such as it is) doesn't really stand up to scrutiny, however, the use of language is lovely.

38 The Sellout, Paul Beatty
Again, has been reviewed quite a few times here. This was very funny and very clever. Sometimes a little bit too much - like having a brilliant friend who NEVER SHUTS UP. Every paragraph was a series of complicated jokes and allusions (some of the more US-pop-culture ones I am sure went straight over my head). Worthy Booker winner and one I am going to be thinking about for a long time.

Currently half-way through 39 Testimony, Anita Shrieve - very readable so far. I am interested to see where she is going with this one - so far it makes uncomfortable reading.

27. Spectacles by Sue Perkins. Good fun and endearing, this is one of the better celeb autobiographies I have read.

Southeastdweller many thanks for the heads up and link to the Alan Bennett books in the Kindle sale. I've bought both and will probably read one next as light relief having just finished Douglas Murray's The Strange Death Of Europe. Subtitled 'Immigration, Identity, Islam' this right wing polemic asks lots of questions but has few solutions to the mass movement of millions of people into Europe, a depressing read that leaves you wondering what the future holds.

I always thought that Lovecraft would be right up my street, although I didn't get round to trying him for years. Maybe I had too high expectations. They were decent enough, but for ghostly/horror short stories I much prefer MR James.

Gosh have slightly lost track, ,Will just update for now & catch up later:

32. Planesrunner - Ian Mcdonald - Dh recommended this - it's a bit YA for me. Sci-fi, multi universes, based loosely in London. OK

33. The City of Mirrors - Justin Cronin. Found this free on the street so thought I may as well finish the trilogy. Slight improvement on The Twelve but not a patch on The Passage. Glad I didn't pay for it!

34. The Devil's Feather - Minette Walters. Psychological thriller picked up while staying in a cottage for HT. Ok but not as compulsive as some of hers, struggled to care about the main character.

Have just started The Handmaid's Tale for book club. I need to finish it before I start watching the TV series, which I hear is excellent.

Struggling to concentrate on reading much with all the election hooha and attacks though.

I couldn't get on at all with Lovecraft, so you'll probably love him, Cote.

Chillie, that Lovecraft book sound interesting. I'll get it now

35. The Whisperer in Darkness by HP Lovecraft

A collection of stories in the Cthulu mythos, tales of the Old Ones who came to Earth millions of years ago and who sleep in darkness, awaiting their wakening by human followers to take control once more. Lovecraft had a weird imagination, certainly. While these are horror stories he tends to give hints and glimpses of the creatures, which is always the better approach, although Cthulu is probably the best described by virtue of a statue appearing in one of the tales. Not a bad read but maybe not as enthralling as I had hoped, given his reputation.

36. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin Three short stories following the adventures of Dunk, a tall and naive hedge knight, and his 10-year-old squire Egg, better known as Aegon Targaryen who features as an old maester in A Song of Ice and Fire. Enjoyably undemanding read.

I think he's lonely and disillusioned and world weary - more misanthropic than misogynistic or racist. I think he dislikes himself as much as he dislikes anybody else.

Interesting what you're saying about the Bernie Gunther books Remus . I'm not sure I do like him very much, with his objectifying attitude to women, and, yeah, good for him, he's not anti semitic, but he's still pretty racist. I'm two thirds through Berlin Noir and I guess I could count it as having completed two books, as it's a trilogy, but I am going to count the whole thing as one, as technically it's a re-read (though so long ago I can't remember anything about it), and those first three books always seem to hang around together, not really available separately. I am enjoying reading about 1930s Berlin, just not always enjoying Bernie's shenanigans.

Here I am again after a while (but I've continued to read a lot, a few books almost finished at the moment). So far, this year I've read...

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
15. Elin Hilderbrand The Rumor
16. William Styron Sophie's choice
17. Diane Ackerman the Zookeeper's wife
18. Leap in: A woman, some waves and the will to swim by Alexandra Heminsley

Leap in by Alexandra Heminsley is a sort of sequel to her popular & inspiring book Running like a girl. In this memoir, Heminsley discusses her journey from being someone somewhat scared of the water / sea, to becoming someone who regularly goes open-water swimming, including in the winter, after a series of swimming lessons, and ends up swimming from Cephalonia to Ithaca in Greece, as well as in the Lake District, the River Arun in West Sussex and Brighton pier at night.

I love swimming & particularly open-water swimming, so this book was very inspiring & enjoyable for me, urging me to swim even more. Heminsley has a conversational, direct style of writing, and links her journey in open-water swimming to her heartbreaking struggle with IVF failure.

At the end of the book Heminsley abruptly (it seemed to me) ends the description of her own experience & provides a brief history of swimming, particularly in terms of suffragets achieving the right to swim. Finally, the author provides a very useful, practical description of equipment and advice to start your own journey in swimming. The historical bit in the book is less enjoyable than the memoir bit.

All in all, if this book doesn't get you to rush to the nearest lake or river to leap in, not sure what will!

Indigo -Glad you enjoyed The Descent of Man and hope you like Playing to the Gallery too.

I've just started the book about a guy exploring the Amazon, which is in the Kindle monthly deals. All good so far.

Um, Cote, I think I've already said that I got muddled. I must be thinking of a completely different review written by someone else. That's a bit different to not understanding whether a review is positive or negative. I will read your review - thank you for the link, Tarahumara.

Next I shall be reading The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt. The Secret History is one of my all time favourites. However, I didn't like The Little Friend quite so much. Good as it was, for me it was not in the same league iyswim? Am trying to keep an open mind about The Goldfinch!

26. The Descent of Man – Grayson Perry
    
    Really enjoyed this one and would recommend to anyone with even a vague interest in equality issues/gender politics. Very accessible and thought provoking. Also found the bits of autobiographical detail fascinating. Remus - I have now added Playing to the Gallery to my wish list...

27. The Power – Naomi Alderman
    Continuing with the theme of gender politics and equality. This one has been widely reviewed already; teenage girls suddenly develop the ability to deliver electric shocks through their hands and so starts the ascendancy of women. A great concept, very clever at times but not executed as well as I wanted it to be - I'm afraid I nearly gave up at times. I found the characters a bit flat and at times I felt the progress of the story wasn't really plausible. For example, disparate characters from different continents conveniently bumping into each other in order to take the plot in a certain direction. At times it felt forced. Having said that this was full of action and a real page turner.

Book 54
Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr
The latest in the Bernie Gunther series, set in 1938 Germany and 1956 Germany. This was decent but not the best one. I really like Gunther as a character, but I think Kerr is knocking them out too quickly and they are getting a bit formulaic and predictable. Some of his dialogue isn’t very believable either, and I’m sure some of Gunther’s set pieces are pretty much word for word across several books now. All in all, an enjoyable read though, and far better than the travesty that was The Japanese Lover that I abandoned after 30% and should have abandoned after 3%.

When Ballard is good, he is fantastic. My favorites of his are Vermillion Sands, The Atrocity Exhibition, and Super Cannes.

He did repeat himself a bit with later books, though, and many have similar themes & plots.

Ballard's autobiography Miracles Of Life is brilliant. He has had a fascinating life, starting with childhood in Shanghai and internment there in a PoW camp, as in the story of his book Empire Of The Sun.

25. High-Rise - JG Ballard

I've read a fair bit of Ballard over the years but somehow not this one before now. It's quite an incredible piece of dystopian fiction in which the moneyed residents of a new London tower block, following a series of technical failures, begin to turn against each other with increasing violence as their microcosm of society breaks down. Like Lord Of The Flies, it's a chilling reminder of how thin the veneer of civilisation is, without ever descending into schlock or melodrama.

The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair is 99p today. Anyone read it? To buy or not to buy? It's 658 pages!

I seem to have missed out a book:

23. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. I know many of you have read it already and I found it very pleasing and enjoyably brief. For those who don't know it, the premise is that HM The Queen takes up reading with a passion, resulting in her questioning the world around her. Recommended.

Off to peruse the kindle sale, - not sure why as I still have loads to read...

34. I Let You Go - Clare MacKintosh

I can imagine this has been reviewed quite a bit previously. I devoured this book as much as I could while working full time and I absolutely loved the wish in the middle. Very excited to read more from this author.

Just checking in to keep this on TIO. Still listening to Adults in the Room on audio (good, but definitely one that needs to be taken a bit at a time) interspersed with Quantum: a guide for the perplexed (ditto).

Real book - a little way into The History Thieves by Iain Cobain (about the ingrained British habit of secrecy in government) which is excellent but depressing.

I've got the new Cassandra Clare book lined up to go next on audio for a bit of light relief (!)

29. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson

Already much discussed I'd imagine. I'd put off reading this because I didn't totallylove Life after Life and then several people had said they didn't like this 'companion piece'. I actually liked it better than Life after Life, but still liked, or maybe 'admired' rather than loved. I think Kate Atkinson writes beautifully, and I can see what she's doing with the sort of spiralling, non-linear narrative that reveals characters and events to us in glimpses, but I also found myself irritated by it at times.