50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Six

David Ignatius's spy book Siro is 1.99 on the Kindle today.

Anyone know why I have this book in my EReaderIQ watch list? It must be because of a recommendation on here.

Am also reading Lincoln in the Bardo but I'm torn between thinking it's quite clever, and thinking it's too bloody clever for it's own good and actually rather annoying. Not sure if I'll finish it or not, but will definitely give it some more time.

Book 56 - Another one who's just read Call for the Dead by John Le Carré, after the cheap Kindle deal!

Not as good as The Spy who came in from the Cold but I did enjoy it. I like Smiley as a character, and some of the writing is excellent. At times I thought it strayed into too much back story, but well worth a read.

Kitten - if you liked this, I'm pretty sure you'll love Spy.

30. Call for the Dead - John Le Carré - thank you for the recommendation that the early Smiliey books were on the daily deals on Kindle a few days ago, I picked up this (the first of the George Smiley books), and am now kicking myself for not getting the rest. I enjoyed this - more of a murder mystery with spies than a normal spy drama book.

19 Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave.
Tells how The Second World War affects the lives and relationships of Mary, an upper-class young woman volunteering as a teacher; Tom, who wants to join the war effort but is not released from his post at the Ministry of Education, and Alistair, who is posted predominantly in Malta.

I wasn’t sure about this one. I felt each of the plot turns were fairly predictable. I also felt that the attempted levity of the (clunky at times) dialogue was overdone. I think the sense was to invoke the Keep Calm and Carry On ethos but it just felt a little too much. Felt similar in subject matter to Small Island or The Night Watch but much less successful than either of these.

Posting my list in celebration of the fact that I have completed 20 books, which was my total for the whole of 2016! I knew that this thread would inspire me to read more but could never have guessed how much. I also thought it would help me to reduce my TBR pile and list...oh, how wrong I was on that one!!

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. Killing Kate by Alex Lake
3. Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott
4. Lessons I've Learned by Davina McCall
5. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
6. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
7. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
8. The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
9. The Skeleton Cupboard by Tanya Byron

Have got a non-fiction book on Audible which is proving a bit of a slog at the moment, and The Great Gatsby sitting beside my bed as my next fiction read.

Skim-read Bleaker House by Nell Stevens.
Memoir by young would-be writer who has nothing to write about and wants to get away from distractions, so goes to one of the Falkland islands for a few months. The kind of book to make you chunter in middle-aged irritation about the narcissism of millennials. The entire world is a backdrop to her navel-gazing. Slightly pointless narrative of her stay interspersed with chapters of her even more pointless novel. Self-indulgent to the nth degree.

The whole thing made me resolve that once I become Supreme High Commander, I will outlaw creative writing programmes with immediate effect. You may thank me at your leisure.

Now onto book 54. The Shadow Land, Elizabeth Kostova. This writer had a big success with The Historian a few years ago - a book that tended to divide opinion, although I rather liked the Mitteleuropa air of melancholy resignation she conjured up. This book is similar in tone, although I'm not yet sure if vampires are involved. A young American woman arrives in Bulgaria - there's a mix-up with bags, and she's left holding a bag full of human ashes. What happens next? She's a particularly humourless writer, but as I said, I quite like a bit of bittersweet gloom, so I'm up for the ride.

RMC123 did you know there are two further Nella Last books? There's Nella Last's Peace and Nella Last in the 1950s, if you're interested in reading more. I haven't read them myself yet so can't say whether they're worth reading or not!

81. The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium by Gerald Durrell

Another collection of short stories. This is my favourite of his books and I have read this numerous times. Still find it funny though!

82. Fillets of Plaice by Gerald Durrell

Yet another short story collection. I don't remember reading this one before and I enjoyed it.

83. Every Day's A Holiday by George Mahood

The author sets out to celebrate all the weird and wonderful days there are throughout the first half of the year, such as Chocolate Cherries Day and Canned Food Month. Good idea, but he didn't do anything very exciting to celebrate each holiday and the book ended up more just a story of his family life with three young children. OK read but could have been much better.

Now reading Commonwealth by Ann Patchett and have Never Let Me Go on audiobook.

I see Another Day in The Death of America is a MN monthly giveaway for anyone interested in it.

52. I'm Travelling Alone by Samuel Bjork good, engaging Norwegian psychological crime thriller. A six year old child is found dead hanging from a tree, one of the very few clues the detectives have to work from is that she is wearing a luggage tag reading "I'm travelling alone". Felt a bit rushed at the end as if the author had to tie up all loose ends from the many characters and plot threads quickly, an engrossing read nevertheless : I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.
53. The Good Neighbor by A.J.Banner A not so great, predictable thriller that wasn't particularly thrilling or suspenseful, set in the perfect Shadow Cove, Washington, where tragedy strikes the consistently beautiful, cliched characters and sheds doubt and paranoia on the wonderful neighbours and their relationships. The books blurb says the main character discovers a horrifying secret but I can't actually remember what it was, it can't have made much of an impression whatever it was!
54. Black Water by Louise Doughty Espionage agent John Harper hides in his hut in remote Indonesia in fear of his life after making a dreadful mistake and reflects on his past work in the country decades ago and his childhood in California. When he ventures into civilization he meets a woman with her own secrets and tragic past and unburdens himself a little but cannot bring himself to share everything. I chose this because I had recently enjoyed Apple Tree Yard, however this thriller is very different and not what I had expected at all, in a good way! It is much more slow moving,descriptive and thought provoking than I'd anticipated. The historical context and Indonesian setting very well researched too, I really enjoyed it.

I'm now reading Lincoln In The Bardo on my kindle and have Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore to begin tonight.

Update, which shows I have pretty much immersed in WW2
61. Marking Time - Elizabeth Jane Howard- listened to the second of the Cazalet books which I have read numerous times before. Was reminded again how these improve over the course of the first 4 books.
62. Nella Last's War - War diaries kept by Nella Last, a housewife in Barrow-in Furness as part of the Mass Observation project. These were televised with Victoria Wood several years ago. Interestingly the Nella I found in the books was very different to the Nella Wood portrayed. Nella was a very intelligent and insightful woman. Creative and skilled at managing and running a home, the war years brought out the best in her. It is clear from her diaries that up until this point she had suffered from significant mental health issues, referring to several breakdowns and fraught relationships with her husband and in- laws. It is interesting her husband is never named in the diary . She dotes on her two grown up sons. The war helps her to move from her cloud of oppression to showing how capable she is, not just within her home, but in the wider community too.
Barrow was badly hit in the Blitz due to the ship yards and it brought home to me how hard live was in those conditions. Constantly cleaning, making do, stretching food etc. No NHS or welfare state; there are numerous references to people being ill but not being able to afford the doctor. It really made me reflect on how when we are banging on about Broken Britain, or poor health care and Education that life has moved on so much. The last two generations (possibly three) have no idea what it's like to live in war torn conditions. And how grateful we should be for even simple things.
Definitely recommended reading

56. A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee

Crime novel set in 1919 Calcutta. Captain Sam Wyndham survives WW1, loses his wife to the flu and moves to India to join the police force.
End of the Raj, important white bloke gets murdered most horribly. Investigations, misunderstandings and intrigues ensue.
It was OK, rather tropey but the writing style was easy to listen to and the mystery wasn't too bad. Liked the historical background of India as the British hold started to crumble.

Just added Miracle of Life to my wish list

I read The Kindness Of Women and wouldagree that it is not very good.

Just read Miracles Of Life. It really is very good.

Thanks Cote, I was aware it was based on his own childhood, I'll look into the autobiography, I was looking at "The Kindness of Women", which wasn't reviewed that well.

52. Gardens of the Dead, William Brodrick
The second outing of his monk/sleuth/lawyer hero. While I liked the comic glimpses of life in the priory, I wasn't keen on this book. The plot strained credulity (female lawyer wants to remedy an old injustice after her death, so leaves a trail of clues. Unexpected old relationships emerge yadda yadda). The plot moved slooowly, with characters failing to meet each other at the right moment. And the author contrived happyish endings for certain characters which involved women giving up freedom and any hope of having their own needs met in order to ensure men are looked after. I don't think this was deliberate by the author, just part of an unexamined mindset that really bothered me.

Was out for a walk by the Thames, so flicked again through Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat. Now deep into

53. Closed Casket, Sophie Hannah, one of her new Hercule Poirot stories. Set in Ireland in 1929, it does not evoke Ireland in 1929. I do want to find out whodunit, though.

TooExtra - Snow Crash is an amazing, wild ride which first used the term "avatar" in fiction, predicted mass immigration by boats to developed countries as well as Google Earth, and ushered the age of Cyberpunk as a sub-genre. It's utterly mind-blowing.

fatowl - The author's name is J G Ballard and Empire of the Sun is based on his own life. He was a child in Shanghai when Japanese invaded & he spent years in the internment camp there, in conditions described in the book.

If you are interested in finding out more, his autobiography Miracles Of Life talks extensively about his life in Shanghai before and during the internment camp. It's a great book.

Sorry have not posted for weeks, and just bringing my list across. Have four to review at the end.

List so far (Highlights in bold, low points in italics)

1. The Wolf and The Raven - Steven MacKay

1. Greenwitch - Susan Cooper

1. Crosstalk - Connie Willis (Audible)

27: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
Read for Book Club. It has been reviewed many times on here, so not much I can add, but certainly and engaging and interesting read. There is so much unsaid, that I found quite frustrating but I do realise that is part of the appeal of the book to so many.

28: Empire of the Sun by CG Ballard. (Audible)
I saw the film many years ago, but had never read the book. The story of a boy living a life of colonial privilege with servants in 1930s Shanghai, whose life changes when the Japanese invade. He is separated from his parents and spends a while hiding in abandoned houses in Shanghai, until he is befriended by first some Japanese soldiers and then some Americans also in hiding. He is eventually caught and sent to an internment camp. A good story, told through the eyes of a child, bit grim in places. I did want to know more about how he adjusted to life after the war, and there is a sequel but it doesn't have great reviews.

29: A Place Called Winter - by Patrick Gale.
The story of Harry Cane in the early 1900s who is brought up as an English gentleman and has never worked. He is married and has a daughter, but has a homosexual affair and leaves his wife and family and emigrates to Canada to escape prison and disgrace. The Canadian government are offering free land to whoever can farm it, so he decides to become a farmer. He spends a year as a farmhand for board and lodgings learning how to farm and then sets out alone. Interesting story that kept my attention, when the book begins he is in a mental asylum and he cannot remember why he is there, the story comes out as he talks to his psychiatrist.

29: The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
First in a trilogy about Arthur, narrated by one of his warriors, Derfel, as an old man. I first read these about 20 years ago, so listening on Audible is techincally a re-read, but enjoying it. Different from many of versions of the Arthur stories, Arthur is not a King but a Warlord, sworn to protect the boy-king Mordred. Morgan is a minor but intriguing character, Guinevere is a cow and Lancelot is a prat. Merlin is there, so is Galahad. A grown up version of Arthur, less chivilrous lords and ladies at Camelot, more blood and guts of Dark Ages Britain.

Currently listening to Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell (#2 of the Arthur Warlord series) on Audible
and currently reading The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd on Kindle for next month's bookclub

TooExtraImmatureCheddar - tbh the Lady Trent books don't change that much in style during the series, so if it isn't grabbing you now, I'm guessing it probably won't.

26. Eight Months On Ghazzah Street - Hilary Mantel

A shortish but powerful novel based on Mantel's own experience of living in Saudi Arabia, with the main character a British woman who moves to Jeddah when her husband gets a building contract. It's a claustrophobic, disturbing read dealing with the oppression of Saudi women and the hypocrisy of a system where private morals are considered a public business. My only criticism is the lack of resolution of the mystery which makes up the book's central plot, although this fits with the theme of a society where nothing is ever fully revealed, particularly if it's a woman asking the questions.

Anyway, the writing is first-class as ever, so if you like Mantel (I know not everyone on here does!) then you'll enjoy this.

Sorry I don't have a proper list but books I've enjoyed so far this year are:

His Bloody Project
The Ruby in the Smoke
Golden Hill
Slade House
Wolf of the Plains
The Essex Serpent

The only terrible one so far was The Secret Life of Bees which I couldn't continue with, though it was an audiobook so that might make a difference.

24. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson - a cheap audio book about Bryson's attempt at hiking the 2000 mile Appalachian trail in the Eastern US. I like the way Bryson mixes a bit of natural history and human history with his own narrative, but I confess to being a bit bored at times. He is amusing too but not laugh out loud. This was fine for something to listen to while walking the dog or sorting the laundry (not sure they'll put that quote on the front cover ).

28. The Road to Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson - that's not my normal type of book, but was a book club one. It's an amusing writer and does seem to find interesting gems to talk about in different parts of the country (although this is very Southern based book), but I found it a harder slog after a while, it was a bit too samey to read each 'adventure' one after another. Would be better to perhaps have this 'on the go', read a chapter, then leave it for a week then read another chapter. (Thought that it's clear he built his career as a journalist, this felt like a regular column in a weekend paper that I'd make an effort to read and enjoy each week, but was a bit much to read one after another).

29. Pantomine - Laura Lam - YA fantasy book with a fair amount of steampunk references, but not that bad. 'Gene' is a young noble woman/girl in a imagined world (think meant to be ours in the future). She is getting to be a debutant, expected to marry well, all the usual cliches. However, Gene is intersex (with possible magic powers), her parents are trying to hide this, stopping her from showing male traits. She runs away dressed as a boy and joins the circus. This has the potential for being a 'teen angst' novel, but keeps just on the right side of not beign complete mush by being well written. It's the first of a trilogy and I can see me reading at least the 2nd.

95. The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan. Book 2 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent. Again, didn't quite gel with this one. Isabella goes somewhere jungly (the place names are bugging me) and spends a lot of time not doing very much to forward the cause of draconic natural history. Lots of foreshadowing about a major discovery looming, if you buy enough of the sequels to get that far. I am torn between not being massively gripped but also wanting to know what this big reveal is (are the dragons sentient?). Taking a pause to read some of my other recent Kindle purchases before deciding whether to pursue this series or not.

Next up: Snow Crash.

28. This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell. I read and loved O'Farrell's earlier books, especially After You'd Gone and The Hand That First Held Mine, but was a bit disappointed by Instructions For a Heatwave. This is a return to form with an absorbing, multi-layered novel about the familiar themes of love and loss in various different forms. Really enjoyed it.