50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Two

I read about a quarter of The Girls by Lisa Jewell yesterday, the previous owner of my charity shop copy has circled mistakes they found, such as "she said to him" when the character is talking to her daughter
It's very absorbing so far though, I'm enjoying it!

Had an author visit from Tammy Cohen at work today which was actually very interesting and discussing the books we’ve been reading with her and her publicist best hour at work in a while!

1. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer I have nothing to say that will diminish this book's undisputed crown of The Book Everyone Enjoyed. A totally fascinating tale of what can happen when extreme people meet extreme challenges.

1. The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte and the Hanoverians

I really enjoyed this, very accessible and easy to read, but there is a lot of depth and detail.
Very interesting account of the Hannoverian Kings starting with George I and finishing with George IV, but the bulk of the book dealing with George III and his queen Charlotte.
It is not a period of history I know particularly well, (I've read a lot on the War of the Roses), but found it absolutely fascinating.
George III is known as being the mad king, and his mental health did dominate the last years of his reign, but the lives of George and Charlotte were so much more than that, they had 15 children (most of whom grew to adulthood), but none of the girls were allowed to marry until much later in life. Their sons were mostly interested in the high life and kept numerous mistresses, so despite the 15 children, they only had two legitimate grandchildren, one of whom was the future Queen Victoria.
George is still the longest reigning King of Britain, the last King of the Colonies (America) and the first King of Australia.

A long read that really didn't seem long, very interesting

I recall enjoying A Thousand Acres as well, toomuchsplother, though it's a good few years since I read it.

I've got the chance to fit in a good amount of reading time this week so I’ve galloped though
9. The Party - Elizabeth Day

This is one of those books you read through your fingers with a sense of gathering dread, but can't quite tear yourself away. Martin is one of life's misfits, acutely aware that he's somehow not 'normal', not from the right background, not from the charmed circle. Sent away to boarding school after an 'incident', he meets the handsome, entitled, perennially self-assured Ben, and the entire course of his future life changes. The climax of the novel is at a party given by the adult Ben, but the narrative flips back and forth to build the whole queasy picture.

At one point I was tempted to give up because I disliked the main character so much, but I think persistence paid off, because it’s a page-turner with some nice turns of phrase and sharp observations.

19. A thousand acres - Jane Smiley . This was incredible. A modern retelling of King Lear based on a large farm (1000 acres surprisingly enough!) in Iowa in the last 1970's. The key Shakespearean characters and plot are very cleverly drawn and sympathies lie in very different places to the original play.
I reads trilogy by her a couple of years ago, Some luck, Early warning , Golden age about generations of one family, also based in Iowa. Very talented author.

Have discovered a copy of A God in ruins in the 'book cupboard' on my MIL street. It's where people put books and exchange them for others. So thrilled. Have a poorly DD today so a quiet afternoon reading awaits!

4.Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

This is a bit of a doorstopper so took me a while to get through. It's Hillary Clinton's account of her four years as Secretary of State. Her writing style is a bit dry in places (and the phrase 'clear-eyed' is repeated many times) but it's very interesting to read a first-hand account of high-level diplomacy and recent events. I also admire her efforts to promote the rights of women and girls and to recognise the importance of tackling climate change. And now we have Trump...

1. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. A re-read so not sure I can legitimately count this in my 50 but hey-ho. Brilliant book. A page turner and fascinating to boot. Couldn't decide whether I really admired Alice or whether she really got on my wick. I think this a much-read book on these threads but for those who don't know it, it tells the story of Alice who ultimately becomes 'First Lady'. Loosely based on the life of Laura Bush. Def one of my all time top 10 reads along with East of Eden, Jamaica Inn and The Map of Love.

6 restless William Boyd
Basically a spy thriller told in the 40s and the 70s.
A good man in Africa is one of my all time favourites and I've not read any other Boyd and I really didn't think this was up to much cop. An easy enough read but fairly average... I have any human heart and Brazzaville beach on my TBRlisg so hopefully they are a bit better!

Breadline Britain up next

Re. Bosch, no, noodle, I haven’t seen the series, for exactly the same reason as you - in my mind the actor playing him is just too young.....I’ve only glimpsed stills, I haven’t even seen any of the programmes. That’s how resistant I am! I really ought to try and make myself watch it sometime, though, as I’d probably enjoy it.

Did you read his new non-Bosch book, which I guess is going to be a new series? I thought that was good too.

I love Gerald Manley Hopkins, just beautiful. Emily Dickinson always makes me think of the Wendy Cope poem (Higgledy Piggledy / Emily Dickinson / Liked to use dashes / instead of full stops / Nowadays faced with such / ideosyncracy / Critics and editors / Send for the cops)

4 The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
Award winning fantasy novel (won the Hugo in 2016, shortlisted for various other SFF awards) with lots of good points, but sadly this didn't really do it for me.

The setting is interesting - an extremely seismically active world in which the culture is highly focused on surviving periodic 'seasons' when volcanic eruptions or quakes cause years-long crises. Some humans ('orogenes') have the ability to supernaturally manipulate & control seismic activity, and there are also non-human intelligent beings who come into the story.

Unfortunately I didn't find the writing style particularly engaging - it's written in the present tense, which for me has to be done exceptionally well to come off. There are three separate strands to the story - actually something I often like - but in this instance I felt it made the book rather fragmented. It was also just relentlessly down-beat - one of those books where you just know that if things are apparantly going well for someone, the world will crap on them comprehensively within a chapter or so. I won't rush to read the sequel, though I guess if dd brought it home (book is hers) I might pick it up.

4. They All Fall Down - Tammy Cohen

Hannah had everything until she found herself in a psychiatric clinic. And when the patients start dying she is in a race against time to convince someone that they are being killed before she falls victim to them.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as When She Was Bad but it was a good quick read especially after the Jilly Cooper book . I did guess the twist but not the full reasoning.

Terpsichore, really glad you enjoyed the latest Bosch, I thought it was excellent as well. Have you seen the TV series? I was a bit dubious at first as that wasn't how I'd imagined Harry, but I got over it pretty quickly and have really enjoyed watching it.

I finished my no. 8 today.

Two Kinds of Truth - Michael Connolly

This is genre (detective) fiction but of a pretty high order; the latest in Connolly's Hieronymus 'Harry' Bosch series. I’ve read them all and they’re old favourites that I love coming back to. Nobody would claim that they're of towering literary merit, but Bosch is a rounded character with a rich back-story, and I really enjoyed this one, in which he has to defend himself against accusations of botching a past case, whilst also going undercover to try and tie up a current murder investigation. Enough said!

I also made the possible error of investigating the ebook situation with my library card and have somehow ended up with two books on loan, so I’m halfway through one of them and impatient to get onto the latest Nicci Gerrard, another series I’ve read from the beginning and have been keen to continue with. More on those asap...

1. Alice Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll

Iris1 I have a pathological loathing of The Keeper of Lost Things since reading it for book club last year. Possibly my worst read of the year. Can not understand all the 5 star reviews for the life of me .

By the way, for those of us who do like Atkinson (although I too am not sold on God In Ruins/ Life After Life) she has a new one out in September.

She is one of the authors I always get on pre order, so I have done it. I feel loyal o her as I went to York and love Behind The Scenes. When Will There Be Good News? is fabulous. Emotionally Weird I agree is weird!!

1- This is going to Hurt- Adam Kaye
2- The Secret Garden

1. Call the midwife
2. Exit West - Mohsin Hamid.

I've read shockingly little Terry Pratchett and so as part of my challenge this year i want to read the Death series.
I think I'd like to read them series by series as i found The Colour of Magic hard going.
Also want to read a good nunber of classics and modern classics.

I abandoned The keeper of Lost things found it utter fluff /chick lit. Got through a few chapters but gave up.

A bit late to the discussion but just to throw in my twopence-

I adore the film of Remains of the Day - it’s one of my favourite films and IMO one of the few occasions when the film is better than the book.

Not keen on Life After Life. Not sure why really as it should be just my kind of thing. Not planning to read any more Kate Atkinson after trying that and Behind The Scenes at the Museum.

My DM's late husband (well, husband number three of five...) read Pied Beauty at their wedding which was rather lovely.

Gosh remus , are you trying to convert me to more smut?! It's all that Thorn Birds rubbing off on you! Fnarr.

Am happily ensconced in The Muse now which I am rather enjoying but fear Jessie Burton will let me down with a poor ending again...

3. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy. A mother and daughter in Southern Spain searching for a cure for the mother's mysterious illness.
I'm undecided about this rather odd book which I think is trying to be more profound than it manages to be. A nice worm-turning moment but mostly vague themes of family, abandonment but I'm not sure what else was going on. I think my ignorance of Greek mythology meant I missed some clues along the way. Great descriptions of Mediteranean heat, parched landscapes, sandy, salty beaches and sore skin. Not bad and I'll continue to ponder it until I start my next.A Girl is a Half Formed Thing

Thank you Satsuki, and to all for the Manley Hopkins recommendation.