50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Eight

whippet I'd DNF How to Stop Time if were you. Was seriously underwhelmed by it which came as a bit of a surprise as I've enjoyed several of his other books. Found it cloyingly over-sentimentalised and dear god the ending was all manner of eye rolling ffs.

Whippet, just keep reading till you get to the bit where he tells you how to stop time - that should solve your library return issue

Sprinted through:
122. Shakespeare's Landlord and 123. Shakespeare's Counsellor, both by Charlaine Harris. Crime capers featuring female central character who is a martial arts expert cleaning lady with a traumatic past. Quick reads - murder victims are briskly dispatched in a paragraph or two (at one point, the heroine evinces more horror at the prospect of eating fried food twice in one day than at the discovery of a corpse) A bit too much info about the heroine's workout routines. Her past as crime victim does add a layer of interest. The kind of book I'd pick up in the library if I happened upon it, but wouldn't go out of my way to look for.

Currently on 124. A Life Discarded by Alexander Master
This author writes biographies about the strangeness of ordinary human lives. A friend of his finds over a hundred volumes of a diary discarded in a skip. He makes comic capital out of his incorrect guesses about the writer and her life, so I'm annoyed that I read reviews at the time it came out that gave a lot of this information away. I'm liking it.

whippet, skip ahead just to get it out of the way? It's all tied up ridiculously quickly in about three paragraphs at the end, although there's a short epilogue afterwards.

Or you could just stop reading. You won't be missing anything life-changing, I can promise you that.

I am reading How to Stop Time by Matt Haig and it is making me Lose. The. Will. To. Live. I just can't stand it but I am now 136 pages in and it will be a waste if I stop now. It's an ebook from the library that will expire tomorrow. What to do??!! What to do??!!

slightly - Thanks for the heads up. I had bought Artemis 2 days ago in a moment of madness for 7.99 so today I returned it. I'll buy it again soon at the reduced price

Ooh, just noticed that the guy who wrote The Martian has another book out - Artemis - don't suppose anyone's read it? It's down to £4.99 on kindle at the mo.

98. Under My Skin by Sabine Durrant a London set, page turner of a thriller with some good twists that I hadn't seen coming. Gaby, a morning tv chat show host, seems to have it all, until she stumbles upon the body of a young woman whilst out running one morning. Some descriptions of people and scene setting were very wordy, and I'm not sure why Gaby tries to think about the life cycle of a frog so much to take her mind off things, but I enjoyed this fast paced read overall.

Argh, yes. He can be God's gift to women with the body of a Greek God, but FFS a man who lives without deodorant?

*from me

No snogging from then, Jack Reacher.

No, he doesn’t have toothpaste or floss. There’s a bit where he actually explains how toothpaste is unnecessary (yuck!)

Man alive, he must be tough. I hope he has a little pack of tooth-floss too.

Germs wouldn't never dare alight on Reacher (or his toothbrush!). Do you think he has a little tube of toothpaste too? (Love a Lee Child!).

I've never read Jack Reacher, Cote, but I do hope he has a proper toothbrush cover if he's carrying it around in his pocket. He'll pick up all sorts of germs otherwise. [Frets]

48. Pour Un Histoire des Doigtés Anciens by Dominique Ferran

This is a book that talks about the fingerings Baroque music was played with. These days, we play an octave by passing the thumb under the third finger: 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5. Back in the 17th & 18th centuries when there was no piano and keyboard instruments were mostly the organ, harpsichord, and the clavichord where 2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3 was preferred, to give a sort of unequal swaying feeling to notes that followed each other.

I know you are all fascinated but I did find it interesting that the author had found examples of fingerings from the manuscripts of Bach and Couperin's works, as well as Italian pieces.

47. Zero Day by David Baldacci (John Puller #1)

This was a pretty OK dick-lit holiday read. Thanks to whoever recommended it on here as an alternative to Jack Reacher books.

The hero here is remarkably similar to Jack Reacher (military police, etc) but he has clothes, gadgets, and can put long sentences together. I have to admit that I was getting a bit tired of Reacher and his toothbrush in the pocket (Why? FFS, why? ). I'll continue with this series.

120. The Further Station, Ben Aaronovitch
Latest instalment in the Peter Grant series, mingling police procedural with the supernatural. I enjoyed this, but it reads like a novella rather than part of the series proper. There's no Lesley or the Faceless Man and it's very short.

121. The Seagull Ann Cleeves
Latest in the Vera police procedural series. Competent story-telling, although I find that her plots leach from my brain within hours of being read.

64. Every last one by Anna Quindlen. First book I've read by this writer and I enjoyed it. There is a twist but it's a well-written account of an average American family who seem to have it all: they are well-off, nice house, healthy, good jobs etc. Quindlen cleverly writes about their mundane lives but there is an unsettling undercurrent which leaves you feeling that something 'bad' is just around the corner...

Reminded me a little of Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler.

159. Howards End by E.M.Forster

I wanted to read this before watching the TV adaptation. I quite enjoyed it, but I did feel it was left a bit late before anything really interesting happened.

160. Blood Sisters by Jane Corry

Story of two sisters. Ali is an art teacher hiding something in her past. Kitty has a brain injury and can’t remember the accident that caused it. I really enjoyed this and couldn’t put it down, but the end was a little convoluted with twist upon twist.

96 Acadie by Dave Hutchinson

Duke Faraday is the unwilling president of a utopian space colony (which chooses it's ruler on the wellworn principle that those seeking power are the least suitable). The colony is in hiding / on the run from the 'Bureau' - or earth colonisation authorities - and the novella starts with a probe turning up in the system where they are currently based. Neat little story with an interesting twist at the end.

47. Eeny Meeny by M J Arlidge. Modern police detective drama set in Southampton, along the lines of Peter James's Roy Grace books. A very easy read.

97. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman this has been reviewed a few times I think, I really enjoyed it. I was worried it might be a bit of a twee, 'heartwarming' read but I loved it and the character Eleanor, and thought it struck the right balance between bittersweet humour and sadness.

65. Missing Pieces - Heather Gundenkauf

Sarah and her husband have to return to his home town to visit his aunt after an accident. Jack hasn’t been home in twenty years after bein cared for by his aunt and uncle after his parents died in a car crash. But Sarah discovers that Jack’s past isn’t what it seems and the town holds a lot of secrets.

Another book from the wish list borrowed from the library. It took me a while to really care about anyone but i was gripped by the end and luckily had two hours with nothing to do but finish it.