50 Book Challenge Part Five

Satsuki - I know! I am devastated.

Cote - I don't think I will ever forgive you for Dune!

I've re-read Jane Austen's novels pretty much every year or so since I was 16. I am a fully fledged Janeite. I think it must have just been too hot for reading about Lyme Regis in November, or something. If I can't turn to Jane, I'll never read another novel again.

remus wtf?!

That is why I'm quite scared to reread some books, but never Jane.

I'm done reading Jane Eyre I think as I've read it as an adult and appreciated it, but will never love it the way I did when I was nine.

"I don’t actually know myself anymore. "

Remus

Tastes do change over time. We start appreciating different things and then one day old favorites don't look as great in comparison.

Do you remember when I recommended Dune to you back in 2014 and reread it myself after you so thoroughly hated it? I couldn't believe how unimpressed I was by a book I would have counted among my top 5 and yes, it did feel like part of me was unrecognizable.

Thank you Satsuki. It was a good rec

Book 53
persuasion by Jane Austen
This must have caught me on an off week, because it just didn’t work for me. It was a horrible feeling to be reading a book I love, whilst not loving it at all. I found myself getting annoyed with the characters I’m supposed to be sympathising with, irritated by her multi-clause sentences, and unmoved by the ending. I don’t actually know myself anymore. :(

I recommended Papillon, probably amongst others. Agree it does go on a bit but is very entertaining generally and still a good read. I think it was somewhat fictionalised for sure, that's definitely how I read it.

56. Anne Boleyn: A Kings Obsession Alison Weir Think I might of finally reached saturation point with the Tudor thing, or maybe this was just poorly written . Either way I was just plain bored. Feel like I have had a pretty crap run of book lately. Need something to really grab my interest.

22. Papillon by Henri Charrière

Thanks to whoever recommended it on an earlier 50-Book thread. I really enjoyed this book. BUT OMFG was it long! It went on and on and on and on. I thought the "voice" felt authentic, the translation was pretty good, and the events described quite interesting.

I don't think it's meant to be 100% non-fiction, though, and was a bit about everyone he meets being super kind, helpful, and encouraging in his escape efforts, from the governors to their wives, from Venezuelans to Indians.

I would recommend it, though.

Remus . You must be sickening for something. Take some vitamins pronto.

Indigo
I really liked The Descent of Man. Am a bit of a Grayson Perry fan. I thought Playing to the Gallery was superb, too.

Another vote for Burial Rites - I really enjoyed it.

I'm not doing very well. Am still reading and still not liking Howard's End is on the Landing. I got cross because she criticised Jane Austen, and decided to read Persuasion in protest.

But...but...I'm not even enjoying that much either, which must mean I'm either ill, pre-menstrual or just plain horrible. I'm finding it all too sedate, and Mrs Smith (a mere Mrs Smith, an everyday Mrs Smith) is annoying me. I expected to find it comforting, but am currently finding it hardly even tolerable enough to tempt me. Usually a Remus in possession of Jane Austen is a very happy Remus. It will not do.

I almost bought The Gallows Curse today FortunaMajor, your review makes me glad I gave it a miss!

Murine I thought Burial Rites was great too. I loved the way she created such a complete and believable world, she must have done a lot of research!

24. A Long Long Way – Sebastian Barry
    Excellent but harrowing novel about the first world war and Easter uprising told from the perspective of a young Irish soldier. I thought this was well written, sad but with lots of (very dark) humour to balance things out. Thought provoking - made me want to find out more about this period in history, always a good sign. I got quite attached to the characters and was sad to finish this one.

25. The Bingo Palace – Louise Erdrich
    A love story which also focuses of family relationships, good and bad. This book was quite unusual in that the same story is told from multiple characters' perspectives. A bit confusing at first, but I stuck with it and was glad I did. Everything fits together nicely at the end when you finally see the whole picture, which I thought was clever. Might be more of a challenge if you have not read some of her other books which focus on the same group of families on a North Dakota Reservation, although there was a helpful family tree at the front of the book. I found I had to really slow down and think about this book. It has a restful, gentle pace.

26. The Descent of Man – Grayson Perry
    I don't really read much non-fiction, in fact this is my first non-fiction read of the year. I saw this reviewed favourably on this thread and thought I'd give it a go. So far it is very interesting and an easy read.

I really enjoyed Burial Rites too Murine, but got cross about the injustice of it.

30. The Gallows Curse by Karen Maitland. Medieval mystery woven with the supernatural, set during the reign of John.

This is my third of hers this year and I don't know why I keep picking them up. I enjoy reading about the medieval period as I studied it eons ago, but I feel several other people do it better. They are well researched, but start to get quite far fetched bordering on ridiculous. In this one the story bimbles along at no particular pace and then you get all of the loose ends of the plot tied up in about 3 pages at the end with no real conclusion. I won't be rushing to pick up another.

Screw - Glad I'm not the only one who just can't appreciate the Rivers series. I thought the first one was just about bearable, the second silly, the third ridiculous. Won't read any more.

s-l-o-w r-e-a-d-i-n-g here, because I've not really been enjoying 17. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. PC Peter Grimes ends up discovering the magical underbelly of London, focusing around a family of water nymphs in the Thames, after interviewing a ghost as a witness to a murder.

I like the lightness of the writing, and found some of the police procedural comedy pretty funny, so I raced through the first third. But ultimately I didn't find it very believable, and didn't really warm to any of the magical characters.

There's a new Kindle sale on this bank holiday weekend that's worth a look by the way too: I went a little overboard, The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver (£1.99) and The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson (99p) are amongst my haul.

47. Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty I missed the tv series based on this novel and thought I'd see what the fuss is about, I enjoyed this page turner.
48. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent absolutely excellent historical fiction based on actual events, stark and beautifully written. Set in 1828-29 Iceland, telling the story of Agnes, accused of the murder of her former employer, she is sent to a remote farm (whose owners have no choice in the matter) to await execution. Compelling and very well researched, I really enjoyed this.

I'm now reading The Woman In Cabin 10 on my kindle, this is an engaging psychological thriller but not a patch on the two I just read! I will be starting First Love by Gwendoline Riley soon in my attempt to read the Baileys Prize shortlist too.

27. Half Wild by Sally Green

This is the second in a series (the first being Half Bad ), and picks up pretty much where the first left off. Best read soon after reading the first one.

The series is set in a world with white witches warring against black witches under the noses of the unsuspecting human population. Nathan is half of each. He's on the run at the start of the story, fleeing white witch hunters out to kill him, and struggling to get to grips with his new magical Gift. Generally entertaining.

19. The Black House by Peter May This has been sitting on my TBR pile since I was given it as a present two or three years ago, so it felt good to finally read it and reduce one title from the far-too-big heap. I enjoyed it, have got the other two in the series on Audible in the hope that I'll get to them when I have some time off over the summer.
Ladydepp "I'm becoming rather fond of books where you mostly know what is going to happen right at the start." I agree! It's as if not having to figure out where the action is going frees up brain space to think about other aspects of the story.
Oliphant on my TBR list. Might get to it some time in the next decade.

And book 2 of the series (due out at the end of the month on audio, hence the freebie) is read by James Marsters (aka Spike from Buffy) :)

(though I bet he doesn't use his Spike accent . . .)

45 Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

An Audible freebie. I've read this previously, but enjoyed it more on audio - the narrator did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. Cassandra Clare is definitely one of my guilty pleasure authors. A bit like Georgette Heyer it doesn't do to examine the plots too closely, and she has a tendency to re-use situations & types Even so, I find her characters generally come to life for me, and I enjoy the stories in the happy knowledge that all will come out well and true love win out in the end

Just the thought of that book makes me want to cry Sadik

44 Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge

The author takes one day at random (Saturday 23 Nov, 2013), and recounts the stories of the ten children who were killed by guns on that day. Absolutely heartbreaking, really well written and about much more than just guns. I'd recommend this unreservedly.

Timothy Olyphant was lovely in Justified.

18. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley. This is the account of the black women who did the maths at NASA, recently a film. The book wasn't brillliantly written- a bit repetitive, overwritten in parts, and the story arc sometimes got lost; but the subject matter was fascinating, and if it was done well it's probably a great film. Worth a go if you are interested in recent American history, women's history, or NASA!