50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Two

Welcome monigheandonn.

Just popping to say how much I am enjoying The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock.

Thanks for the welcome - yes an Outlander fan I am. I finished book 1 in December and hoping to finish the rest of the series before season 4 premieres.

I do like a bit of Miss Read. I remember her praise for a girl doing a gymnastics routine at the village show wearing "commendably stout knickers".

13. This House is Full of Yogis, by Will Hodgkinson
1980s childhood turned upside down by father's conversion to mystical Eastern faith. Played for laughs, although it felt to me like there was an underlying anger at a child's helplessness in the face of parental life choices. An incidental pleasure was his portrayal of what it's like as the offspring of a Daily Mail writer mother who will cheerfully exploit family life for copy. I enjoyed this.

Completely agree that Death Comes to Pemberley is a shocker. I've erased it from my memory as much as possible. By contrast, I though Eligible by Curtis Sitfield did a reasonable job at riffing on P&P.

Chillie, I might give those Lucinda Riley books a shot. Fiction isn't really calling to me at the moment, but I'm up for discovering a new series.

Yielded to temptation and bought The Dig and What She Ate on Kindle. More expensive than I'd normally fork out for, but having done Dry January, I reckon I can splash out the equivalent of a decent bottle of wine.

Read 10. eye in the sky by Philip K Dick . Typical weirdness and I really enjoyed it although some of the assumptions about Islam and Soviet Russia were very much of the time. Staying on the SF theme for now with Terry Pratchett and A Blink of the screen which is a collection of his short stories. So far not enjoying it as much as the discworld novels but may be because I have been mainly reading it on overcrowded trains when very cross.

Good review of Stephen King Tooextra

Sorry Piggy - but I don't think I have ever read a book about teaching by a still enthusiastic long term teacher - maybe Miss Read?!

I will look for the sequel to Jump, thank you, Toomuch.

Remus, put down JPW and go to the library, charity shops, overdrive, for the originals - and if you possibly can, get them in order!

17. Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh Actually, Marsh does try to do a bit of Wimsey/Harriet with Alleyn and Troy - and there is the odd reference to Wimsey (and Holmes and Poirot) in her books, which I quite like. I enjoyed this with it's Marple like observations of English village characters (caricatures?) although I think she was pushing the time envelope a bit - it is really a between the wars story I think (must actually be set around the time of WW2, or just after, but only WW1 comes into the plot).

Welcome monigheandonn. I guess you're an Outlander fan? I've just been given the first two volumes for Christmas so looking forward to getting stuck in.

Stitches, I agree that Death Comes to Pemberley is a shocker. All the people from the literary establishment who wrote glowing reviews should hang their heads in shame. The Independent described it as a "joyous read" .. I've never heard anything further off the mark

I was disappointed with the Kindle Sale and slightly relieved as I have way too much to read. Only bought Alan Johnson's memoir as it has been recommended by my MIL Thought about Love in the time by have tried and failed in the past and have plenty of stuff I actually want to read.

Kindle Monthly sale - I may get the Nora Ephron memoir.

Other than that I would recommend The Revenant by Michael Punke a great read about survival and revenge in the wilderness.

There is also Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez if you like his stuff.

Otherwise an awful lot of movie novelisations and not much else that I could see. Anyone else?

Welcome monigheandonn

Hello, could I join please? My Goodreads goal is 40 but I've already read 17 so should surpass it - I would love to hit 100 but I've never actually managed it in the last 15 odd years. I read a mix of genres, with my favourites being YA/NA/Fantasy.

I'm also trying not to buy any more books as I have about 20 to read plus 5 on order at the library and who knows how many books on my kindle oops.

Current read is City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare as I'm doing the Shadowhunters read along.

(1) Witch is When Life Got Complicated by Adele Abbott
(2) Witch is Where It All Began by Adele Abbott
(3) Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller
(4) Die Last by Tony Parsons
(5) Restaurant Babylon by Imogen Edwards Jones
(6) The Sugar Men by Ray Kingfisher
(7) The Hospital by Barbara O'Hare
(8) Fade Out by Rachel Caine
(9) Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
(10) Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
(11) Would You Like Some Magic With That by Annie Salisbury
(12) The Ride Delegate by Annie Salisbury
(13) The Magdalen Laundries by Lisa Michelle Odgaard
(14) Just What Kind of Mother Are You by Paula Daly
(15) Amber Earns Her Ears by Amber Michelle Sewell
(16) Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Read this after seeing it mentioned on here. It is a YA book and a quick read but actually really enjoyed it and have already ordered the sequel.
Blurb reads....
Years after the Switch, life inside the Pod has moved on. A poor Auxiliary class cannot afford the oxygen tax which supplies extra air for running, dancing and sports. The rich Premiums, by contrast, are healthy and strong. Anyone who opposes the regime is labelled a terrorist and ejected from the Pod to die.

Sixteen-year-old Alina is part of the secret resistance, but when a mission goes wrong she is forced to escape from the Pod. With only two days of oxygen in her tank, she too faces the terrifying prospect of death by suffocation. Her only hope is to find the mythical Grove, a small enclave of trees protected by a hardcore band of rebels. Does it even exist, and if so, what or who are they protecting the trees from?

A dystopian thriller about courage and freedom, with a love story at its heart.

Oh.

I have no idea what happened there with the multiple posts

Sorry all

8. Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

My first attempt at writing this failed when my phone lost my post, and I can’t face writing it all out again.

So, short version - crime fiction sequel to Pride and Prejudice.

Sadly a disappointing read overall with flat cardboard characters and an unconvincing denouement. Not recommended.

8. Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

A crime fiction sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Set 6 years after Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage. On the eve of the annual autumn ball, a chaise appears at the door of Pemberley, and Lydia Wickham (Elizabeth’s sister) stumbles out, screaming that her husband has been murdered.

I wanted to like this, because I love Pride and Prejudice. But I couldn’t.

It didn’t really hang together well, either as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, or as a crime novel for me.
Lots of build up to the court case, but that’s about it. The characters don’t really have much life in them at all and are mostly dull.
We’re presented with one obvious suspect, and no credible alternative suspects, despite all the “I don’t believe X is the murderer” type statements from various characters.
Conversations that seem shoved in simply to highlight differences between the law in 1803 and present day criminal law - at one point, 3 characters are sitting around discussing the lack of any appeal system for cases where the verdict might seem unsound. Before the magistrate has even taken initial statements. The obvious suspect hasn’t even been arrested at this point, and they’re already chatting about how they wouldn’t be able to appeal a guilty verdict?
And the final denouement was very unconvincing.

Overall, a disappointing read.

8. Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

A crime fiction sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Set 6 years after Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage. On the eve of the annual autumn ball, a chaise appears at the door of Pemberley, and Lydia Wickham (Elizabeth’s sister) stumbles out, screaming that her husband has been murdered.

I wanted to like this, because I love Pride and Prejudice. But I couldn’t.

It didn’t really hang together well, either as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, or as a crime novel for me.
Lots of build up to the court case, but that’s about it. The characters don’t really have much life in them at all and are mostly dull.
We’re presented with one obvious suspect, and no credible alternative suspects, despite all the “I don’t believe X is the murderer” type statements from various characters.
Conversations that seem shoved in simply to highlight differences between the law in 1803 and present day criminal law - at one point, 3 characters are sitting around discussing the lack of any appeal system for cases where the verdict might seem unsound. Before the magistrate has even taken initial statements. The obvious suspect hasn’t even been arrested at this point, and they’re already chatting about how they wouldn’t be able to appeal a guilty verdict?
And the final denouement was very unconvincing.

Overall, a disappointing read.

12. Skeleton Crew, Stephen King.

My count is now correct! I love Stephen King, and the only one of these I’d read before was The Mist. He gives the best homeliness alongside the horror - that everyday quality that grounds all his work, particularly the Castle Rock stuff. He evokes time and place so clearly - brand names, slang, songs, current affairs, wildlife - I don’t know half the brands, cars or people he references, but I’ve read enough of his work that it feels like slipping back into a familiar world. If you’re an American of similar age to him, it must feel like coming home. And oh yes, with the real world delineated that clearly the monsters become terribly plausible.

14. The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

A bit of a change of pace. This is the third in a series about six adopted sisters, based loosely on the Pleiades. I read the first last year and surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it since it's really not my usual reading, but haven't read the second yet.

Following the death of their adopted father, the enigmatic (and very, very rich Pa Salt) each of the women was given a clue to their true origins. Star has always lived in the shadow of her sister Cece, not talking much and largely dominated by Cece, but needed by her as much as Star needs her sister. But she is now feeling stifled and even though she is scared of breaking out of her comfort zone she follows the first clue to an antiquarian bookshop in London and an eccentric group of characters tied to it. She has been told to ask about Flora MacNichol, who lived in the Lake District a hundred years earlier. Circumstances outside her control lead Flora to London to live in the home of Alice Keppel where she feels herself to be a pawn in a game where everyone but her knows the rules. The novel reveals the connections between the lives of the two women and Star's own voyage of discovery about herself.

I adore Miss Pettigrew. If you enjoy it, the film is good too.

Thanks sadik I’ve made notes of those, got a list to take to the library tomorrow. The Molly Hughes sounds interesting and think they have a copy in the main library so will order when I’ve got through my current batch of reservations. I’ve got Miss Pettigrew and Charing Cross Road coming from Abe books. And breathe.

Ah, so the Ted Chiang was your rec plus3 - thank you! I had to Google blind date with a book. I'm too mean to pay £7.99 for any book, let alone one of not guaranteed identity, however beautifully wrapped. I'm also not a big surprise fan.

Currently on a thought provoking Poverty Safari , bumped up the list as I'm going to hear the author speak in a couple of weeks.

Carried forward from previous thread:

1. Mythos - Stephen Fry
2. Origin Dan Brown
3. Mitford Murders - Jessica Fellowes

Paris - Edward Rutherford. It was ok. I thought that the sections about the Eiffel Tower were reminiscent of "Pillars of the Earth" and that the opening sentences of the chapters set during the Revolution were trying to be a homage to a "Tale of Two Cities" (but not quite working). Much preferred "London" but at least I read "Paris", have started "Russia" so many times and not got past the 3rd chapter. Very formulaic and the coincidences are far fetched, but a fun read.

Not sure what to read next - too many unread books to choose from! Think it will be a Phil Rickman - The Magus of Hay.
Off to find out what a 'magus' is......

Sadik I love Period Piece too. An old favourite.

WhiteWine - It's just beautiful, isn't it? Everybody should read it!