50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Eight

I second the rec for Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It's wonderful. I had heard whispers of a sequel, but it seems unlikely now.

Scribbly - You must read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell if you haven't already. If you thought The Night Circus was good, you will be blown away by JS & Nr N.

I read it years ago, then gave it a year before reading it again. I'm still grieving that there is no sequel

I really wish there were a prequel about the Raven King.

RMC Wow! (It is definitely growing on me - I can't stop thinking about it. I just wish it wasn't so sentimental.)

Hi everyone. I wasn't all that enthused by yesterday's selection for the 12 Days of Kindle sand, although I was a bit tempted by The Spy Who Came in From the Cold since I enjoyed Call for the Dead far more than I was expecting to, but I held off. Today however I caved and picked up SS-GB and The Ashes of London.

I'm currently resisting some of the first instalment in fantasy trilogies that I've never heard of. I used to read a lot of fantasy, and always did have great luck picking things up on a whim. But nope, resisting, since I've got far too much to read already.

If anyone's interested in bottom-up history, The Time Traveller's Guide to Mediaeval England is only 99p, and I really enjoyed it. (Also, ooh, didn't realise there was a new one out for Restoration England. It's pricy still as the paperback isn't out yet, but I will be adding it to my keep-an-eye-out for list. The Elizabethan one is good too).

3.) Call for the Dead, John le Carre -- After a supposedly reassuring informal interview with George Smiley, Sam Fennen returns home and kills himself. Smiley visits the widow, but finds discrepancies that suggest Fennen's death may have been murder.

Really enjoyed this. My first and last encounter with JLC was an Audible version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which I had trouble following. I kept missing details. With le Carre I think I'm far better reading rather than listening. It's half-murder mystery, half-spy thriller, although John le Carre is no Agatha Christie. The solution (to the puzzle that snags Smiley's interest) is fairly simple, but the real heart of the novel is the depiction of life as a spy and Smiley himself, who is humane and decent and beautifully rendered.

Next up I plan to reread Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, the second in the Gentleman Bastards sequence, and the sequel to the Lies of Locke Lamora (which I reread earlier this year, and loved).

Glad you enjoyed Home Fire RMC. I’ve thought about it a lot since finishing it. Hope you enjoy reading Antigone, it’s well worth reading the original to see how Shamsie has altered the story to fit a modern retelling.

107 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Two magicians are chosen by their mentors and set against each other in a mysterious challenge of magic, the setting of which is Le Cirque des Rêves, the Circus of dreams.

Usually wouldn’t enjoy a book like this. It’s fairly light on the plot and there is hardly any character development. The main characters of the book areng really the two magicians, it’s the Circus itself, and it’s the descriptions of the Circus that fill the book. The prose is opulent and detail saturated. Food, lights, smells, fabrics, costumes and most of all descriptions of the magical contents in the many individual tents that make up the Circus are pretty much what the book is all about.

I think if I’d read it in March I would have been annoyed with it. Reading it now though has complemented the season and I surprised myself by just enjoying just being swept away by descriptions of beautiful magical things within a sparkly elegant story.

Cheerful I have a real soft spot for The Snow Goose as it is based on the Lighthouse on the edges of my Grandparents village. It was a deserted ruin of a place when I was growing up but we used to go all the time. Right on the edge of the marsh it was the home of Peter Scott, naturalist and first husband of Elizabeth Jane Howard ( Portrayed as Michael for any Cazalet Chronicles fans) He set up a Wild Fowl reserve there. My Nan used to take him milk and provisions when she was a teenager/ young woman. He asked her to be his housekeeper but she refused as the place was remote. Scott illustrated the first edition of The Snow Goose.

Chessie - The Christmas Mystery is a beautiful book, last year I read it as an advent calendar. A page day until Xmas Eve.

After an initial glance at the Kindle sale I went back and bought
When Hitler stole pink rabbit - Judith Kerr For both me and my daughter
The music shop - Rachel Joyce - enjoyed Harold Fry
Swimming lessons - Claire Fuller - giving her one more chance on the recommendation of a friend. Was underwhelmed by Our Endless Numbered Days
My Family and other animals- have never read and hoping for the Herriot vibe
*The lie - Helen Dunmore
Night waking - Sarah Moss
Gut symmetries - Jeanette Winterson
*
Overflowing Kindle, but happy RMC

Have just finished 120.Home Fire - Kamila Shamsie. Found this a really extraordinary read. I wasn't familiar with the story of Antigone so had no idea what to expect. Beautifully constructed book, although I agree with Scribbly further upthread that the balance of character experiences doesn't always feel right. I have just downloaded Antigone to compare the two.
Think this has become one of my highlight books of the year.

47. The Snow Goose and The Small Miracle Paul Gallico Bit of a cheat as they're basically two short stories. A girl falls in love with a hunchback on a lonely marsh over a wounded goose, then watches him sail off to Dunkirk, and a small boy asks the Pope to let him take his sick donkey to the crypt of St Francis. Can't quite decide what I thought of these. On the one hand, they're overblown and sentimental, full of liquid brown eyes, simple faith and wild Saxon spirits, etc. On the other hand, they are exceptionally well done - the Snow Goose in particular is wild and eerie and beautiful. I feel like there's a poet and a realist in my head and one of them is sighing happily and other is going "Bah! Humbug!"

Well that should keep me busy! My kindle buys:
I Contain Multitudes Ed Yong
The Good Daughter Karin Slaughter
The Boy On the Bridge MRCarey
Testosterone Rex Cordelia Fine
Whatever You Love Louise Doughty
The Ashes of London Andrew Taylor

Got the Arnie, Cote. Thank you, I remember you recommending it before.

I’m glad you liked A Tale for Time Being too, Keith. I enjoyed your review, that’s what I thought too! It was a surprisingly good read.

60. Temeraire by Naomi Novik.

A sweet (dare I say, slightly dull) dragon fantasy where the goodies are good (a flaw, no sir!) and the nastiest the baddies get are a few shouty words and raised swords.

Off to look at the Kindle sale.. 😊

Ooh thanks for posting about the kindle sale, I must go and look!
I'm already a third of the way into I Am Watching You by Tessa Driscoll after just one evening; I read Matilda2013's review of it and remembered it was languishing on my kindle, very compelling!

I also read:
105. The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan read for book club: ridiculous, predictable and oversentimental but nowhere near as bad as expected! A very easy, light "cosy" read which suited me just fine at the time.
106. Mindhunter by John Douglas A reissue of the FBI's Behavioural Science unit leader's memoir detailing his 25 year career profiling serial killers. Some interesting accounts of how the science was developed and its role in catching high profile killers, however Douglas comes across as rather arrogant and condescending (and writes his life story outside the FBI like Alan Partridge talks)

54. In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume. Fiction based on the true events of 1952, when three major plane crashes occurred within a matter of weeks in a small town in New Jersey. I loved Judy Blume as a child / teen, but this didn’t work for me I’m afraid. Blume’s amazing skill of writing characters that you grow to know and love and identify with seemed almost entirely absent. Disappointing.

46. Tangleweed and Brine Deirdre Sullivan Feminist retellings of fairytales (by which I mean she takes familiar fairytales and uses them as a jumping off point to some surprising places). Well written and unexpected, and looks very hard at some of the more unsavoury parts of traditional stories. I liked.

Thanks, Cote :)

Sooo excited about my new Paperwhite!

I would totally recommend Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography Total Recall for 99p on the Kindle.

179. The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaardner

This was lovely - a boy buys an advent calendar and within it is pieces of paper telling the story of Elisabet and what happens when she chases a lamb.

180. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

Ok it’s not Christmassy but it is set in winter and there is snow! A fondly remembered book from my childhood.

181. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend

Listened to this on audio - have read it several times and still find it funny although obviously dated now.

182. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Another festive re-read!

I have bought a compilation of Christmas detectiv3cstories and Thi Mitford Murders. Still dithering over Shogun.

Fab thank you Satsuki

Does this work for you?

Can someone post a link to the 12 days of Kindle? Drawing a blank... thanks

105 A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles

Sequel to 104 above - not quite as fluffy (set around the events of the Cato St affair), but a good read. If nothing else it's hard not to warm to a trash romance novel in which the characters quote William Blake at each other when arguing.

There's nothing at all I fancy. Would definitely recommend The Spy who Came in from the Cold. Golden Hill is (imho) flawed, but lots of good stuff in it. The Forensics book by Val whatshername is there too, and an interesting read.

I haven't read The Good People yet but really enjoyed Burial Rites (though it made me cry on a flight from Reykjavik).

Thanks for the heads-up on 12 days of kindle (flexes credit card).

So far I have bought

Night Waking
Everyday Sexism
Vindolanda (Adrian Goldsworthy) - visited the camp there this summer for the first time so quite fancy a historical novel with this setting
Swimming Lessons (Claire Fuller - author of Our Endless Numbered Days)
The Ashes of London

And the Economist quiz book for my geeky DS :)

There are some Vonneguts too - not a huge fan but I seem to remember Sirens of Titan from teen-hood so might reread.