50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Eight

Hello again everyone! Had no internet access for a while so been off radar.

66. A boy called Christmas by Matt Haig. Read to the kids. Enjoyed it! I have also bought his next one to read to them next year (The girl who saved Christmas)

67. Every last time (or some such title...) by Jodi Picoult. Haven't read any Picoult for yonks. Quite liked this. Especially all the stuff about elephants and how they grieve/mourn etc.

68. The Strange last voyage of Donald Crowhurst - can't remember who recommended this, was it Meg or Murine? I found this a compelling read. Quite similar to Into the Air (albeit on the seas rather than up a mountain ;-) Although I was less taken on the last part of the book where the authors imagine what was going through his mind based on the logbooks found on the boat. Also educational, I now know what the horse latitudes are and did you know, that as well as the roaring forties, there are also the furious fifties and the screaming sixties?? That said, I'll stick to reading books about lone sailors from the comfort of my armchair and leave the real-life adventures to braver souls :)

69. The Siege by Helen Dunmore. Recommended on here. Great read. Just bought the sequel The Betrayal.

74. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

All about habits. How they work, how they drive our behaviour - as individuals, as organisations, and as society, how they’re created, and how they can be changed.

A very interesting read. And the advice about habits in here, if I manage to apply them to myself, might make next year’s New Year Resolutions a bit easier to achieve than normal

Judith is definitely more annoying than Worth.

Isn't Regency Buck the one with Judith? I can't decide which is more annoying, her or Worth.

Currently reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson and it's just gorgeous (overly self-consciously cool, but gorgeous all the same).

RMC - how about The Spy Who Came in from the Cold? It's a cracking read.

116. Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller This certainly didn't help to drag me out of my reading rut. Not sure I can even be bothered to properly review it. It was just 'meh' both in content and style. Really want to end the year on a reading high! Any suggestions? Something compelling and with a bit of pace?

I think Regency Buck is popular as it was the first regency one- its not a fave of mine though. Neither is The Nonesuch, though I was named for one of its villains! Still, even the poorer Heyers are generally readable!

i enjoyed Coraline Satsuki, and I am loving Lucifer on TV- I think I like Gaiman's stories better than his writing if that makes sense. He seems like a lovely man though!

Book 135 was The Meat Fix, so:

136. How hard can it be? Alison Pearson
I Don't Know How She Does It a decade or so down the line, with Kate grappling with teenagers, frail parents and the menopause. If you disliked/avoided the original, this won't change your mind, but if it rang a bell with you, this will too. It's exaggerated for effect, but there's a core of truth in there. The fairytale ending is classic wish fulfilment - why yes, there is a handsome multi-millionaire who has been pining for you for years - but she is frank about midlife in a way you don't always see.

114: Regency Buck – Georgette Heyer
Found this far too long and rather tedious, I’m afraid. Heyer’s are always predictable, and I don’t mind that, but this was predictable from page one and then filled up the ‘plot’ with pages and pages of descriptions of wallpaper and cock fights. I don’t understand why this one is so popular.

Gods War Kameron Hurley.
I stopped reading this partway through as it was just too bloody grim for me, but then finished it anyway. I really wanted to like it as the world building is really interesting - most of the action takes place in two countries at war, on a planet where the main tech is biological. The main character Nyx is essentially a superior sort of bounty hunter who hunts down deserters in order to neutralise any biological contamination from the war that they might be carrying and cuts their heads off. The two warring countries have very different social systems, having been populated by refugees from different planets. That bit is really interesting, but the description of cutting a boy's head off did me in.
I think this might have to stay as one of those books where I can admire the writing, but I'm just too squeamish for it. There is a sequel but I probably won't read it.

40. The Rat Stone Serenade, by Denzil Meyrick. Oh dear. I love this author and the first three books in this series, but this was BONKERS. The recurring characters were still great, and I thought we were in for another well-written police procedural, which we sort of were, and then murderous druids turned up all over the place. This stretched my credulity too far I'm afraid and I ended up reading the second half with a permanently arched eyebrow. (None of which will probably prevent me from reading the next one).

41. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. Read this for the "A book you loved as a child" category of the Goodreads challenge. It only took me a couple of hours to read but I was beaming throughout. I really do love Judy Blume.

42. Fallout, by Sara Paretsky. Latest V.I. Warshawski mystery. If you like this series, this is a very good installment. I wasn't too keen, as it's the first of her books set outside Chicago, but I really loved it.

I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm going to get through another 8 books in the next three weeks but I'm going to give it my best shot!

I liked American Gods in its initially published form, when it had been extensively edited. And I really enjoyed Anansi Boys.

Yes I was similarly bored by both The Goldfinch and American Gods in places I’m glad you’re enjoying it though cote someone has to

I wish I enjoyed Neil Gaiman as it would open up such a lot of books to me. Has anyone not liked AG but liked one of his others?

I think I will. It feels like much like The Goldfinch, for some reason. Yes, there is the story, the destination. But I'm enjoying the journey just as much.

Hmmmm. See if you still feel that way at 98%.

I'm 52% through American Gods and thoroughly enjoying it.

I have to say, though: It is exactly as long as it needs to be! If you haven't read it, definitely read this (long, original) version.

50. (Hurrah!) (if I've counted right!) Dance for Two by Jean Ure. This is an old favourite- I love all Jean Ure's early stuff, not so much the recent Jaqueline Wilson-esque ones- I watched The ROH Nutcracker at the cinema yesterday and it put me in the mood for a ballet book! This is genuinely funny and enchanting, if you enjoyed ballet stories at any point

Still on The Greedy Queen, which is good fun (what Queen Victoria ate). Took a break for The Meat Fix: How a Lifetime of Healthy Living Nearly Killed Me! by John Nicholson

The author was vegetarian and then vegan for 26 years, felt very ill (graphic description of his IBS and piles), then started eating meat and felt wonderful. It's a very ranty piece and he's not as funny as he thinks he is. His health problems seem to stem from eating highly-processed soya products multiple times a day for nearly three decades rather than from being deprived of meat. Still, okay for a different perspective.

68. Before He Finds Her - Michael Kardos

Meg Miller has been in hiding for all the life she can remember. When she was three her dad murdered her mum and the world was led to believe she was dead too. Now 15 Year’s later she wants to be free and stop hiding from her dad who was never caught and it’s time to find him before he finds her.

A kindle unlimited book whilst I have my three months free trial. Was quite enjoyable if not a little unbelievable at times.

54. The Little Book of Hygge by someone or other. About a year behind the times on this, it was a birthday present last year that I never got round to. Fitted the prompt ‘a best seller from 2016’ from the popsugar challenge I’m still persisting with despite zero percent chance I will complete the remaining 11 prompts by 31st December. Book itself had some pretty pictures, but I did think that with all the Hygge hype it would contain something more profound than ‘its nice to spend time with people and also to eat cake oh and candles and expensive chairs are good too’.

It's good to hear that you feel better, Satsuki. Thanks for the links. Wonder why links from AS don't work?

By David tennant you say? Hmm. Maybe I should buy them all and test them out. To ensure appropriate content, obviously. Thanks for the idea cheerful. I might have a wee listen myself and see what they are like. I think she has seen the film

Apparently the How to Train Your Dragon books are read by David Tennant, passmethecrisps. Several friends enthusiastically recommended them to me, but five might be a bit young?

Glad you are feeling a bit better Satsuki . I am easy reading all the way to the end of the year now, as, like many of you, work and life are seriously impinging. I'm even listening to some chick lit (Sophie Kinsella) on audible, and enjoying it!

64. The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins by Antonia Hodgson Set in a Hogarthianly portrayed 1720s London, this is the follow up to The Devil in the Marshalsea. This was well researched and a fun adventure / murder mystery. Too many characters, not well enough developed, but overall a very good read.

65. The Visitor by Lee Child Only the second Jack Reacher book I've read, and I enjoyed it. I came to realise that the folding toothbrush clipped into his pocket is deeply symbolic of the 'hobo demon' spirit dwelling in him, telling him he should free himself of the shackles of a settled life: a house, a regular girlfriend, toothpaste. There are about half a dozen Jack Reachers on my Dad's kindle, and they seem pitched about right for where I am at the moment, so should see me nicely through to Christmas and beyond.