50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Two

Thanks for Richard. You're right - he doesn't look like a wanker.

1. Moonrise by Sarah Crossan. I had had this reserved at the library and it turned up this week, just when I had started reading something else. It's always the way :) It was longlisted for the Costa Book Awards 2017.

Anyway, it is a very quick read - a novel written in short bursts of intense prose. Aimed at the young adult reader, it deals with a very emotive subject - a prisoner on death row, awaiting execution.

Ed is the older brother of Joe, the narrator. He was arrested for the murder of a police officer when he was a teenager, but claims that he didn't do it. There were no witnesses, and he says he was bullied into a confession and denied legal advice. All his appeals have failed and he has now received a date for his execution.

I really enjoyed it, even more than her previous novel One, which was about conjoined twins.

toomuch it was really good. A read that requires attention, though. Sarah Wise also wrote the excellent ‘The Italian Boy’, about an infamous case of murder (by unsavoury types who were supplying anatomists, but ran out of easily-obtainable corpses and decided to speed the process up).

toomuchsplother yes I was just pondering it in more in general terms because it comes up a lot - people seem to often find passive characters frustrating I think. I suppose it’s down to whether you find the consequences of their inaction interesting or not really.

scribbly that made me laugh. Certainly chaste. My mum was in love with him too. I think he may have been on the cover of the book. I have to say, even if I squint I can’t really see it myself (his great attractiveness I mean, er...)

Hope you feel better soon best and hope the sickness is over soon biblio

1. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan What I knew about this was that the main characters were in the music business, it used some innovative styles and always seems to be described as 'edgy', so I was prepared to find it superficial and try-hard. It wasn't. Spanning the 70s to the near future, the hidden lives of a huge cast of characters with overlapping lives is revealed. Each chapter is in a different style - one in PowerPoint - from a different character's point of view. Despite the choppy style, it had real emotional depth with a few truly moving moments. I liked this a whole lot more than I expected.

1. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke

Loved it and feel thoroughly miserable that it’s over. I had half an hour left to read this morning and wanted to eke out the wonderful immersive experience of this book for a bit longer so decided to go to the library before I finished it. Went into a gift shop next to the library and the first thing I saw was a picture of a raven.
So now I have a picture of a raven in my kitchen and every time I look at it will be reminded of Jonathan, Gilbert and John Uskglass.
Will be interested to see if anything I read this year gets anywhere close to how much I loved this one.

Satsuki I do take your point and I don't always dislike passive characters. If fact I didn't dislike Eilis. I just didn't feel the story line worked for me. Wasn't a terrible book though and Colm Tóibín can definitely write.

Terpsichore I like the sound of that book.

Best

Here he is looking contemplative, or maybe concerned, but certainly chaste.

Richard Chamberlain (playing Father Ralph De Bricassart).

Have bought The Thorn Birds and a load of samples. The Secret River and Beyond the Black Stump also firmly on the list.

He was in every mini series going in the 80s. My mum adored him as Dr Kildare. He wasn’t my type.

Still thinking of Richard never rummaged. But I don't know who Richard Chamberlain is.

Hope you’re feeling better soon Best

And oh how I loathed Howard's Bleeding End is on the Landing.

Wow, this thread moves quickly!

I'm sniggering over various wanks, fumbles, rumbles, members, horns and whatnots. So much so, that I've already forgotten who said what, who recommended what, and what I have/haven't read already.

So now I need to read it all again slowly.

Hope you feel better soon, best. Feeling gluey is just horrible!

I’ve just polished off 6. The Blackest Streets - Sarah Wise

A must–read for anyone interested in Victorian history and/or the history of London (both of which are very much my thing). A dense, fact-packed book but very well-written, telling the story of the Old Nichol, 15 acres of crumbling properties tucked behind the Bethnal Green Road, that made up the most notorious slum in East London in the 19thc (most of the landlords were wealthy landowners, including the Church of England, who didn't seem to see any problem with letting their desperately poor tenants exist in disgusting, vermin-ridden, insanitary conditions). There was much official hand-wringing over the criminality, unhealthiness and 'moral decay' prevalent in the area, but the authorities didn’t succeed in doing much to tackle it until the advent of the London County Council in 1889 finally led to the total bulldozing of the Old Nichol and its replacement with a new 'model' estate, the Boundary estate (which excluded most of the existing residents).

I had a quick look on Zoopla earlier and a two-bed flat in what's now one of the hippest parts of Shoreditch is for sale at £600k (if anyone remembers the TV series 'The Secret History of Our Streets' a few years ago, the episode Arnold Circus is about exactly this area).

I know it’s not everyone's cup of tea but history buffs, this is recommended!

*Fluey
*goes back to bed

Remus apologies I was having a forgetful moment yesterday. Of course I’ve read Ghosts of Everest.
I’ve got a horrible gluey virus at the moment and my brain’s not quite working.

Remus apologies I was having a forgetful moment yesterday. Of course I’ve read Ghosts of Everest.
I’ve got a horrible gluey virus at the moment and my brain’s not quite working.

Remus apologies I was having a forgetful moment yesterday. Of course I’ve read Ghosts of Everest.
I’ve got a horrible gluey virus at the moment and my brain’s not quite working.

1. Skellig Aww, lovely sweet story but lots of depth and meaning if you want to look for it.

pepe I enjoyed American Wife too. Surprisingly enjoyable as I had no expectations.

toomuch I often see the criticism that a character is “passive” and was thinking about it recently. I guess it’s easier reading about/empathising with assertive characters, because they are inherently more attractive and interesting, but isn’t there a place for writing about people who don’t have much agency. Some people do live lives that are largely dictated by others. I like Brooklyn and thought it gave her final act more impact that it had been preceded by a lifetime of being directed by others. But then I suppose I am a passive person myself so maybe that’s why I quite like those kinds of characters. As long as it’s done well I suppose is the key.

Book 9 Birds, Beasts and Relatives - Gerald Durrell

This is the second book in the Corfu trilogy. I have always loved My Family and Other Animals but had never read this before. It is not directly a sequel rather a companion as the family are still in Corfu and it is more of their adventures.
I loved it, and in the same way My Family did, it makes me want to live on a Greek island immediately. It is incredibly funny and I found myself snorting with laughter whilst reading (dignified as always). The book ends with short letters between the family as war breaks out. Funny but bittersweet as Gerry's childhood comes to an end.

15. Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín Picked this up cheap in the Works. Have read others of his but haven't seen the film of this. It was 'ok'. I do like his dialogue, it felt real and believable, particularly when Eilis was in Ireland with her girlfriends. Didn't like the fact that the central character was so passive. Her whole life was changed by her sister and mother deciding she should move to America without consulting her. She makes no move to stop this. She also falls passively into lodgings, job and to some extent relationships. Maybe it was to make a point about the lack of power women had at this point but it fell flat. Read to the end but lost interest about 2/3 of the way through.