50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Eight

Welcome back, Scribbly and Murine!

Just finished listening get to Dave Gorman Vs the rest of the world. I really enjoyed this. If you like playing games not video games but board games, pub games that sort of thing I would say give this a try although may want to like Dave Gorman too, if you do read this book to the end that sentence will make more sense.
I laughed out loud a few times which I rarely do and smirked a lot.
I learnt some new pointless but enjoyable facts and now have a healthy board game wish list for Santa.

Also finished La Belle Savage by Philip Pullman. I loved the first half, the second day half was OK but I was left unsatisfied. I didn't mind the chasing or the woo bits so much as it seemed so disconnected to the first half. The little hints you get in books that make you feel you know a trick or two just weren't fulfilled.

Starting To the lighthouse by Virginia Woolf tonight.

Wow Cote you really didn't like The knife of letting go. I really enjoyed the first one. I like the dog and noise and Viola. Todd I admit is tedious. I liked parts of the second two but not as much as the original story.

I'm really late to this, sorry! I'm trying to get to 100 books this year which I would never have thought possible, these threads have meant I've read some wonderful books and discovered new authors that I never otherwise would have.
I've never been very confident expressing my thoughts about books but doing so on here has given me much more confidence to do so, thankyou everybody

My list (those I most enjoyed in bold)

1. Frog Music by Emma Donaghue
2. After the Crash Michel Bussi

1. The Kept Woman Karin Slaughter
2. American Gods Neil Gaiman
3. Everyone Brave Is Forgiven Chris Cleave
4. Detour from Normal Ken Dickson
5. The Comfort of Strangers Ian McEwan
6. Our Endless Numbered Days Claire Fuller

Phew! I'm about to start My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent and hoping it lives up to the hype.

That sounds great, Emgee, though I'll leave it a while before reading, having already read Ghosts of Everest this year.

Apologies for massive gap since last posting. Bloody rl. Have enjoyed lurking and catching up on everyone's reads over the last couple of days.

My list so far

1. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
2. The Sellout by Paul Beatty (audio book)
3. Armada by Ernest Cline (audio book)
4. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
5. The Light Between Oceans by M. L Stedman (audio book)
6. Y: The Last man, Vol.1: Unmanned by Brian K Vaughan (graphic novel)
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
9. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey (audio book)

Don't need to review my last two reads as I think they have been discussed plenty on previous threads. Rather glad I don't have to hear the word Breach! again. The City and the City is probably best not listened to when unwell, lying sweatily in bed and likely to drop off to sleep regularly throughout the proceedings. No idea what the hell happened apart from Breach! Breach!

About to start 41 hours of The Crimson Petal and the White audio book

Ripped through no 60. The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest by Conrad Anker and David Roberts. This is a compelling account of the discovery of George Leigh Mallory's body on Mt Everest in 1999. Told in two 'times' - the actual discovery and subsequent successful summit by Anker in 1999, and the piecing together of Mallory and Irvine's last attempt in 1924 using historical material.

Absolutely fascinating.

Book 107
The Villa, The Lake, The Meeting: Wannsee and the Final Solution – Mark Roseman
I found this in a charity shop earlier in the year but wanted to wait until a) I’d visited the villa and b) the dark nights were drawing in. The book was fine, but not a patch on a visit to the actual place where these horrors were discussed in one of the most beautiful places imaginable. Not at all a fun read, but a very important one.

The pictures show in exactly what beautiful surroundings those bastards made their vile plans.

44. Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer. Another jolly Christie-esque murder, great for a dark evening! Not a patch on Faro's Daughter though Remus.

Book 106: Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz by Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev
Had been wanting to read this for ages but couldn’t find a copy of it. Recently discovered it on Kindle so snapped it up. It’s an account of the Ovitz family of seven dwarfs, who managed to survive Auschwitz and countless ‘medical’ examinations and texts by Nazi ‘doctor’ Mengele. Their story is interesting, but I was really rather disappointed by the book itself, which I thought was quite poorly written and contained an awful lot of padding. A few sections were well done and moving (especially when the writers describe their visit to the Auschwitz camp museum) but overall I thought this trivialised and patronised, and also that it could have been half the length and better for it.

111. The Crow Girl - Erik Axl Sund. A long, dark and intense crime thriller which was actually written by two authors in collaboration. Set in Sweden it begins with the discovery of a child’s body, the first in a chain of seemingly unconnected deaths.
The subject matter is very very dark - systematic child abuse, and at times it is hard to read. There are the usual twists and turns, nothing is quite as it seems and it does explore how abused becomes abuser.
I am not sure I could say I enjoyed this book but I couldn’t put it down. And sometimes that didn’t make me feel particularly comfortable.

51. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. This is set in Russia in the 20th century (1922 to 1954). It’s told from the perspective of Count Rostov, confined to house arrest in the Metropol hotel in Moscow. Recommended by a couple of people on this thread already (sorry, I can’t remember who), I adored this. In turns funny, tragic, shocking and heartwarming, it is beautifully written with wonderful characters and interesting historical details. I read it quite slowly (it’s fairly long and I’ve been busy at work) but it’s a book best savoured, I think, not rushed. Definitely one of the stand outs of the year for me.

92 Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Light urban fantasy police drama - re-read of the first in the series. I enjoyed this - I read it from the library years ago when it first came out, and had pretty much forgotten how the plot played out. It's currently 99p on kindle if anyone hasn't read it and is looking for something light.

59. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
    The elves are trying to get back into Discworld and the witches are trying to stop them. This was a reread for me. I do like this one, it's got lots of drama and funny parts, and Shakespearean references.

60. Mapp and Lucia by E F Benson
    Another reread. Set in the interwar years is a comedy about the social rivalry between Mapp and Lucia as they jostle to lead their local community. I enjoy the awfulness of half of the characters.

Now part the way through The Essex Serpent which I am enjoying so far.

38. The Book of Dust Part One: La Belle Sauvage Philip Pullman Malcolm Polstead is the son of the landlord of the Trout Inn in Godstowe (also a favourite of Inspector Morse). One day, the nuns across the river take in a guest - a baby girl called Lyra ... Mixed feelings about this. I started off being SO excited to be back in that world, and he's a wonderfully competent storyteller, which was thrilling. But it's a much slower, smaller story than HDM, and I felt like it was saying/doing a lot of things that had already been said/done in HDM - lots of familiar preoccupations and character types, which was annoying. And the world feels much less fantastical - Malcolm reads Agatha Christie and Lyra wears disposable nappies, which jarred a bit. It does get a bit more magical towards the end, which I liked. Definitely enjoyable and worth reading - by any other author I'd probably be raving - but I expected a bit more, I think.

48. The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper

Somehow had never really been aware of this children's fantasy classic, but was alerted to it after a mention by Robert Macfarlane, who likened it to Alan Garner's books for their setting in the eerieness of the English landscape. This is actually much, much better, I think - a gripping and beautifully written tale of a boy (the seventh son of a seventh son) who discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones with powers to fight against the ancient forces of the Dark.

It's set at Christmas which makes it even more enjoyable to snuggle up with, and I'd heartily recommend to fans of His Dark Materials, Box Of Delights, Narnia etc. Apparently this is book two of a five-part series (though works as a standalone read) so will be checking out the others.

LadyDepp my DH is slowly ploughing through the Chernow Alexander Hamilton biography, and thinks it's brilliant. I need him to hurry up and finish it so that I can read it before we see Hamilton in April.

The Lost Words sounds fab whippet

59. In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin Classic piece of travel writing from the mid 1970s in a distinctive style. Bruce mooches round Patagonia, charming the best stories out of all the most interesting folk he meets, and remodelling (possibly embellishing?) them to weave into his own tapestry, giving a feel for how the land was peopled and how it feels to live there but feel strong ties to another 'homeland' you may never visit. If you are looking for an account of the flora, fauna, geography, tourist sites, or even a straight travel narrative of how he got from A to B and what happened on the way, you won't find it here. A lovely, intelligent, dreamlike read.

60. The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri Mercifully short police thriller featuring Sicilian Inspector Montalbano. Silly plot, too many underdeveloped characters, none of which were likeable, horrible attitude to women. Rubbish.

Cote - your review of Knife of Never Letting Go really made me laugh, thank you. And I have no desire to read any more about Master Gormless.

I was coming on to share the fact that Morning Star is 99p on Kindle, but I see you beat me to it. I have been holding back, possibly for over a year for the price to drop

I just started an Alexander Hamilton biog, but it's 860 pages so I might need to have something fictional to alternate with it. Morning Star should fit the bill! The only small problem is I can't remember exactly what happened in the last one: there were space ships and some sort of planet, and a fancy party, a few people weren't who they seemed to be and quite a few people died -

I read it a couple of months ago Remus, completely agree, it’s up there with the best. Going to see the film at the weekend, glad to hear it’s enjoyable. The trailers look sumptuous. Unfortunately I now remember the ending though.

85. The Moon’s A Ballon - David Niven. I had read this before many years ago but had absolutely no recollection of it. He can certainly tell a tale. What a life.

He writes about his schooldays, Army life, his early days in Hollywood, his experiences in WW2, it’s a book full of stories (not all his own apparently). It’s funny, tender and heartbreaking.

The first two thirds are a brilliant read. The last third becomes a bit tedious. There is loads of name dropping - but what names.

Hi guys. Missed you loads and haven’t posted since before the summer. I started a PhD so no time for leisure reading but have just given it up…as no time for leisure reading!

The last few books I have read are:

90. Wonder – R.J. Palacio
91. The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Charles Dickens
92. The Gunslinger – Stephen King
93. I Am, I Am, I Am – Maggie O’Farrell
94. The Murders in the Rue Morgue – Edgar Alan Poe
95. The Halloween Tree – Ray Bradbury
96. The Lost Words – Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
97. The Clock Winder – Anne Tyler

I’ve enjoyed them all although the Clock Winder is not her best.

I went to hear Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris talk about The Lost Words and got a signed copy for my youngest so I actually got to speak to Robert Macfarlane which is great because he is a brilliant nature writer -and also lovely-

105: Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie
A re-read, but I read it over twenty years ago. I saw the film recently, and really enjoyed it (had forgotten most of the novel!), so I thought I’d re-visit the text to see how the film compared to it (I haven’t seen the original film). This was a light and entertaining read, and it was easy, in retrospect, to see how Christie ‘clues us up’ to the revelations and decisions at the end of the novel.. One of her best, if not THE best.

Morning Star (Red Rising #3) is 99p on the Kindle, just for today

63. Friend Request - Laura Marshall

Louise gets a friend request from a girl she went to school with. However, this can’t be right as she has been dead for 25 years. Who is it on the other side?

For a debut novel this was rather interesting to see how social media can be used against you and for the insight into the heirachy of teenage girls. I must be getting terrible at guessing the twists though as I had no idea and had suspicions about all the wrong people.

Rosehip, I enjoyed Blue too.

114. Did you see Melody? by Sophie Hannah
Normally I get sucked into her plots only to despise the ending. This time I didn't even get sucked in at the start. Silly, and not enjoyably so.

EmGee, I also loved Ordinary Grace.

Right now I'm reading The Power by Naomi Alderman. When I'm able to muster a shred of concentration, that is.