50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Eight

98 Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of Our Gendered Minds by Cordelia Fine
Winner of this year's Royal Society Science book prize - an examination of the idea that gender dynamics are an inevitable result of biological sex differences, and specifically the influence of sex hormones.

A bit disappointed by this. I didn't feel it brought much new to the party over and above the same author's earlier book Delusions of Gender (which is excellent, and should be read by everyone).

110: Footsteps in the Dark – Georgette Heyer
Heyer does ghost/adventure story. Loved this. It’s essentially Famous Five for grownups; it was very silly, very predictable, very snobbish and very good fun.

125. Vanilla Ride, by Joe R Lansdale
East Texas crime noir, with lots of shoot-outs and comic dialogue. I read the first of the series around the time it came out in 1990, and this more recent instalment is as gleeful as ever. The violence is more graphic than I like (although he doesn't do gloating accounts of violence against female bodies that I hate - this is "I kicked him in the balls then shot him in the head" type of thing). The two central characters are a pair of buddies, the white narrator and his black, guy friend - their affection for each other is a big part of what makes this series appealing.

A Boy Called Christmas is a genius concept for a book. Haven't read it, but I was given the sequel for Christmas last year and thought it was utter drivel. Sorry! I'm really, really not the target audience though.

EmGee I read Haig's A Boy Called Christmas to my dds last year and this year they have asked for his next one (The Girl Who Saved Christmas iirc). It's all sorts of warm feelings, sentimental, happy ending, talking animals, aaaaawww that's nice, which they really loved, and I rather enjoyed reading to them. Perfect Christmas evening fodder. Little do they know I'm doing that first and then cracking on with The Dark Is Rising (inspired by MegBusset) which is somewhat less of the warm fuzzies

I follow Matt Haig on twitter and he comes across as a really lovely guy. He still suffers badly with depression and anxiety and yet battles daily with the most hideous trolling from people calling him a snowflake liberal and much worse etc etc. I don't know how he continues to post with all the abuse he gets. I'm going to stick to reading his children's book from now on though. He writes kindness well, I'm just not a big fan of overdone kindness in my adult book choices (although I can understand why people would want to read nice uplifting books).

61. Exposure by Helen Dunmore Nominally a spy story, set at the beginning of the cold war in London. The spy plot takes a back seat to conveying the domestic life and feel of the times, and really developing a few key characters and their relationships. Enjoyed this, and didn't guess where it was going. Felt it ended a touch too soon, going out on a dramatic high note at the expense of clearing up a few loose ends and saying what happened to the characters as a result.

62. Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt Hated this. Set in the kind of feudal hierarchical society (with trains of course) that allows male authors who (I imagine) are either scared of women, or haven't met many women, to assign them only to the roles they feel comfortable with, e.g. the mother, the temptress, the crone, while their childish male characters can get on with having a boys own adventure. Drivel along the same lines as that Jasper Fforde thing. This is slightly better written, with slightly less try hard wit, which unfortunately meant I actually finished this.

Do Best!

Matt Haig....the same who wrote The Boy called Christmas? Just started reading this with the DC.

I love the sound of The Best Of Everything, EmGee. Will seek it out.

I managed about a page and a half of The Humans.

65 (I think): The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe. Fabulous book!
It’s NYC in 1952 (it was written in the early 1950s and was considered rather risqué for its time...) and the book follows the lives of four young women in their early twenties as they navigate their first jobs, workplace politics, lecherous bosses, engagements/broken engagements/marriage/affairs and friendship. It’s like Mad Men but in print. (Indeed Don Draper is seen reading the book in one of his scenes!)

40. Clouds of Witness Dorothy L Sayers Lovely comfort reread. Lord Peter has to clear his brother of murder. Exactly what I wanted - easy and a bit silly, (Peter's miraculously cured broken collarbone always strikes me as odd for an author who's so good at details), very satisfying. I'm very fond of early Sayers and silly-ass WImsey, and this was a perfect escape book.

I read Dead Fathers Club many years ago and rather liked it. I must go back in the thread to work out what the chat is

I got that Passme! I read virtually nothing for months when DD was first born, just couldn’t concentrate on anything longer than a magazine article.

I have the Matt Haig book on my wish list - doesn’t sound promising! I’ll still give it a go though as I’ve never read him before and I do like a bit of time travel etc. I’ll wait until it’s cheap though!

Urgh. My post reads horribly. What I meant was that I was proud of my achievement reading so much and how grateful I was of this thead for the encouragement, enthusiasm and new ideas.

Hello everyone! Gosh it’s been a long time.

I am a bit sad a frustrated that I won’t make the 50 book target as I was doing so well. But I suppose giving birth to a human does divert one’s attention somewhat. On a very positive note, I shared my read list with my post-natal group and many books have been bought, borrowed etc. So I suppose I should be proud of that.

Anyway. I finished a book. And here is my updated list

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

31. Telling Stories - Ann Cleaves

The first book I have finished in months thanks to the 4 month sleep regression/general bone tiredness.

I loved it. Weirdly as the second Vera book it was more like a first. We got more of Vera’s hidden character, her fears and anxieties which weren’t present in the first at all. The story was very compelling and I genuinely had no idea who done it until it was revealed. I will certainly keep reading this series as I found myself mulling over the plot in idle moments

97 The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles

Lucien Vaudrey returns from China after unexpectedly inheriting an earldom when his father and elder brother both die within months. He then discovers that he has inherited his families - magical - enemies, and needs help. Said help arrives in the form of magician Stephen Day.

Fabulously trashy m/m fantasy romance. Plenty of cliches, but it zipped along very pleasingly on a soggy winter evening. Definitely a well spent £1.51, and I might even splash out £3 or so on book 2 in the sequence.

Now moved on to the rather more classy Testosterone Rex by Cordelia Fine.

The only Matt Haig I’ve read is The Humans. Rubbish. I agree with Cheerful - let’s just stop reading him.

Ha! Thanks guys. Am going to speed read/skip and read the end. We do keep reading Matt Haig, fools that we are.
However, if I do get to the bit where he actually stops time I will let you know.
So SO pants.

Sorry that was regarding The Good People and not Matt Haig who has never provided any advice re analgesia in labour from days of yore in any of his novels afaik.

Totally had the midwives tying and untying my fingers in North Yorkshire, didn't even need gas and air. Bloody post code lottery.

Why do we keep reading Matt Haig on this thread? He's been reviewed four or five times, and none of us have had much good to say. And yet still we go on ...

Hmm. Now you mention it, I've always regretted not having somebody wave strong around me when I was in labour. Would have made all the difference.

Lots of useful herb lore though, plus top tips for pain relief methods in labour Remus.

109: The Good People – Hannah Kent
By the writer of Burial Rites which I loved. This followed a very similar pattern – remote-ish rural community, religion, women, based on a true life crime, bloody depressing. It was good, but I didn’t like it as much as BR, and it did all get a bit depressingly and relentlessly miserable.

Moving on to a Georgette Heyer, because my life needs a little more sunshine in it right now, and Kent certainly didn't supply any!