50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Five

32. La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. Audible.

Excellent narration by Michael Sheen. But the story itself was thin and didn’t catch my attention the way I wanted it to. The main characters are two children Alice and Malcolm who miraculously escape each problem/difficulty they encounter, with no real surprises. Where was the pathos? I like a bit of pathos in my fantasy and without it this felt more like YA than adult fiction. Saying that, I’ll probably still read the next one at some point to find out where the story goes, so it can’t have been that bad!

Number 38 The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J Harris

After a dubious start where I just thought this was a Curious Dog rip off, I did like this. It's not literary but is well written and it has an interesting concept and a likeable unreliable narrator. There are a lot of books with characters with autism at the moment (is there a name for this genre?) but this one is an original enough whodunnit to keep you guessing. I did see the main twist (as ever...) but quite liked the nastier earlier twist. There is a sort of Go between thing going on too. I did worry that it mined a lot of well worn seams : women as victims, women as manipulative predators, abuse etc and the religious bit towards the end added nothing.

But it's a proper page turner. I am not in a Book Group but it strikes me as an interesting one to discuss and a pretty quick read.

I suspect this one will be made into a film/ TV programme at some point.

Thank yo for the review of the Susie Orbach book SouthEast - another one for my list!

42 Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady by Florence King

Account of the author's childhood and early adulthood growing up in Washington DC, and her grandmother's fruitless efforts to turn her into a proper Southern lady.

It comes with cover quotes from Jeanette Winterson & an introduction from Sandi Toksvig promising an absolutely hilarious laugh-out-loud funny book, but I have to say it didn't really do it for me.

I did find it interesting (particularly the explanation of exactly what you were socially allowed to do with a boy sexually on each date starting with the first), but not that funny.

I've been listening to Armistead Maupin's autobiography, and I think it suffered in comparison - Maupin obviously genuinely likes and is interested in people, and his writing has a warmth because of it that I found this lacked.

Remus I think that is a good assessment of The Silent Companions. Which was 74 on my list not 73.
75. Women and Power - Mary Beard much reviewed . Excellent but short. An extended essay rather than a book.

After what feels like approximately 10,000 years, I've finally finished

39: Serious Sweet - A. L. Kennedy

I suppose I was doing quite well, not having stumbled across a single book until this point that felt like really, really hard going - then I picked this one up and for some reason just got grimly determined to finish it, come what may. A resolution complicated by the fact that I read it mainly in the half-hour or so after getting into bed at night, and it seemed to have magical powers to make my eyelids droop in seconds

Jon and Meg, two damaged individuals - he a senior civil servant, 'a good man in a bad world', who in despair has been secretly leaking information; she a bankrupt and ex-alcoholic accountant - try and fail and then finally succeed in meeting during the course of one long day in London.

I like and admire AL Kennedy and a lot of the writing in this book is very funny. But it's largely in internal dialogue, massively repetitive, takes forever to get to the point, and - given that the above summary is basically the entire plot - is JUST SO LONG - 515 pages.

I feel I've accomplished something but did I want to, really? Onwards...

43. Alex Grecian - Lost and Gone Forever

Nevil Hammersmith, former police sergeant and now private detective, has spent a year searching for his colleague Walter Day, who disappeared without trace while investigating Jack the Ripper. No one has heard from the Ripper in a long time either, but he has plans for revenge in motion, plans that involve the man he has been keeping prisoner - a man who has no memory and doesn't even know who he is anymore.

I quite enjoy this series. They are a bit silly in places, quite gruesome at times, and rattling good yarns.

I picked up Mermaid and Miss Burma from the library yesterday. After all the talk about Mermaid, I’m intrigued to see what it’s like.

81. Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

Typical fluffy chicklit about a couple who decide they need to enhance their marriage by surprising each other. Fun easy read for the first day of the holidays!

Currently reading The Lido but have Mermaid to read after that so am interested to see what I think after reading views upthread. I liked Serpent but wasn’t blown away by it. I also have The Silent Companions to read, not sure about it now after those last few comments. Oh well!

I thought The Silent Companions began well, got worse and ended up ridiculous.

61: Travels in the Third Reich – Julia Boyd – An interesting but depressing account of tourism in Nazi Germany. This took me a long time to read, and because there were comments from so many different perspectives, I had to keep clicking back to see who was who, which was a bit of a pain. I found it fascinating that so many people (from countries such as Britain, Norway, America, even China) still travelled in Germany after the 36 Berlin Olympics, and some even during the war. Not a happy read, but I found out some things I didn’t know (always a bonus, after having read so widely about this period!).

73. The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell A day of reading and nursing a summer cold! I have had this one for a while and was saving it as I enjoy a good gothic ghost / horror story. This one looked promising as the reviews in the blurb compared it it The Woman in Black, Turn of the Screw and Rebecca. Unfortunately it didn't live up to it's promise. Think Sarah Walters The Little Stranger but with much less suspense and skill. It was readable but never really got going.

I love Antonia Forest- hope you love Peter’s Room Cheddar!

Piggy, you certainly don’t come across aggressive on here; and it is surprisingly easy to sound a bit blunt when typing, so I would be very surprised if you were less warm in real life!

44. Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard. The fourth in this enjoyable series; again not as original as the first, but this is a saga where you definitlsu get fond of various characters and what to “catch up” with them all. Am slightly doubtful about reading the fifth and last, as I gather it was written rather later, but I expect I shall. Then must get back to Fatherland before I forget who is who!

of interest to no-one but for my own reference that was number 23.

London Under by Peter Ackroyd. Birthday present from my lovely MIL. A much slimmer volume than the brilliantly epic London: A Biography but no less enjoyable. It's a rattle along London's Roman ruins, sewers, hidden rivers, bomb shelters, secret government rooms and of course the tube. Informative and enjoyable.

That’s Antonia Forest, sorry, I was too excited to post properly.

Squeeee, my copy of Peter’s Room has arrived! Girls Gone By have republished it.

Panda glad you had similar impressions: had been wondering if I missed some deeper point as so many critics have been falling over themselves to praise Cusk's trilogy. However, it just left a bad after taste where I was concerned so excited to read Sally Rooney's article posted on Slate where she actually expresses exactly how I felt, if you haven't seen it, think it's worth a read here's the link

slate.com/culture/2018/05/rachel-cusks-kudos-reviewed-by-sally-rooney.html

Almost makes the cat fight that woke the dog who woke me bearable!

Corvus, I'd save your 99p.I've read both The Three and Day Four and thought they both suffered from having a great plot idea, but not brilliantly executed. Not awful, but not worth buying if you can get them from the library.

I've really been enjoying reading along, though I do think I'll skip the Mermaid book.

21. Moxie, by Jennifer Mathieu: fed up with the sexist culture of her Texas high school, Vivian Carter, inspired by her mother's past as a 90s Riot Grrl, starts an anonymous zine that spreads like wildfire and helps the girls fight the everyday sexism they experience through acts of civil disobedience at school. A great YA book that encourages action and the recognition that good people can be imperfect but also can grow. Loved it.

22. Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading, by Lucy Mangan: such a wonderful book that I discovered here; thank you! One thing that I really enjoyed was seeking where and how Mangan's childhood reading converged and diverged from mine. I'm so glad she came around about Anne and agree that the novel is really about Marilla's evolution.

23. Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng: Lydia, the middle Lee child, is dead. But why? This book traces the Lee family, both as a unit and as individuals, to see how this happened. This is a book about silence, disconnection, misreading, and desire. Excellent.

24. Radiant Shimmering Light, by Sarah Selecky: Lilian Quick is a talented but broke Toronto artist whose life changes when she reconnects with her cousin Eleven Novack, a wellness and empowerment guru for the Instagram age. Lilian moves to NYC to work for Eleven and participate in Eleven's signature Ascendancy program, experiencing the good and bad of the wellness world. I found the book interesting but uneven, especially as some of the narrative choices didn't ring true.

25. A Room Swept White, by Sophie Hannah: this book has it all: unnecessary POV switches, flimsy characters, a ridiculous plot, pro Andrew Wakefield propaganda, and an utterly unbelievable ending. I sat in wonder as I read, horror in my breast for the poor editor who surely recieved an even bigger mess of a first draft.

Half way there!

Chillie I read Clan of the Cave Bear when I was a teenager. I can't remember what I thought but I did finish it and it was a bit of a brick so I must have thought it was OK. My Mum was a big fan of the series, that and Stephen King were my literary inheritance!

Dottie I also just read a Rachel Cusk with a similar reaction to yours:
25. The Bradshaw Variations by Rachel Cusk It is the first one of hers I read, I found it in my library when looking for Outline (it was recommended on a podcast I follow - hopefully when it is back it is not tainted with yellow!). I found the writing achingly beautiful the whole way through, but almost too beautiful, like it was standing up and waving for attention instead of getting on with it! I was so distracted by the beautiful passages and observations I had to put it down lots. However at the end it felt ... unfinished. Characters slightly under-formed. Definitely unsatisfying.

I also got in 26. The Public Image by Muriel Spark. I would call this slim volume a novella, about a English movie star in Rome who becomes consumed with protecting her public image in the face of an increasingly loveless marriage. It is an interesting observation on celebrity culture, and so keenly observed it is still relevant now even though it was written in 1969. Halfway through, when she mentions befriending the children of famous people, I had to check the publish date as it really seemed so up to date. A light but interesting story which would make a good holiday read if you are on the lookout for one.

42. Jean M. Auel - The Clan of the Cave Bear

The first in a series set in prehistoric times, but it didn't really grab me enough to want to read more. Ayla is orphaned aged 5 when her mother is killed in an earthquake. She wanders aimlessly and nearly dies from an infection after an animal attack, but she is found and healed by Iza, the medicine woman of a Clan of Neanderthal. Ayla herself is an Other (Cro-Magnon) but as she grows she is slowly accepted by the Clan and learns their ways. Looked after by Iza and Creb, the holy man of the tribe, she makes an enemy of Broud who will one day be leader of the group. It's a slow moving sort of story, imagining the life of Neanderthal and although it was imaginative and an unusual period to choose it didn't really do it for me.

48.) Odd Girl Out: An Autistic Woman in a Neurotypical World, by Laura James -- The author was diagnosed with autism as an adult after a lifetime of masking her symptoms and learning to fit in, as women and girls with autism often do. Fascinating and very moving account, which touches on her childhood, how the condition has affected her relationship with her husband, depression and anxiety, executive functioning and Brexit.

49.) Day Four, Sarah Lotz -- Four days into a cruise, a liner is struck by an electrical malfunction, leaving the ship dead in the water. Gradually it becomes clear no one is coming to rescue them. Tensions mount, sickness spreads, and people begin to panic.

I'm a sucker for horror/thrillers set on ships (Deep Rising, Ghost Ship, Virus), and was excited to read this, but found it a bit disappointing overall.

It's the follow-up (not quite a sequel?) to The Three, which is currently 99p on Kindle. In an unprecedented turn of events, I'm going to hold off and get it from the library instead. I do sort of want to read it, because I did enjoy this, but ehhh. I don't know.

It reminded me a lot of Under the Dome, -- the same mounting panic, and a similar sort of WTFery about the ending, but it felt messy, and I'm not sure all the elements were handled as well as they could have been, with plot points that could have been used to build conflict just... sort of fizzling out. And the supernatural elements were a bit crap and pointless.

The jacket blurb misrepresented the plot as well, making reference to people 'falling ill from a mysterious flu.' Nope, that's just the blurb trying to make it sound more interesting than it really is, because that 'mysterious flu'? It. Was. Just. Noro. Which, granted, is horrible when the toilets aren't working and you're having to crap in plastic bags (this book is not one for people who aren't keen on lots of references to bodily waste, btw), but isn't terribly mysterious. Irritating, since this was so clearly an instance of the jacket copy writer trying to make a plot point more interesting than it actually is. I kept waiting for it to turn out to be some super-strain of virus and for the book to turn into The Stand set on a cruise ship. Sadly, that was not to be.

Enjoyable on the whole. I'm glad it was a library book. I'll certainly read a sequel if one appears and I'll track down the first book.

~~

Next up book number 5: This Thing of Darkness. Haven't started it yet but I'm actually quite excited. Is there anyone on here who read it and didn't think much of it, or are you just too scared of being lynched?

(Apologies for the essay. I do like to blather on)

29 The End Of the World Running Club
Not actually about a running club. Enjoyed it more than I thought I might 20 pages in. Not my usual thing though.

Virgin suicides is next on the pile

A couple more to add to my list:

24. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. This is based on the true story of Agnes Magnusdottir, who has been sentenced to death for her part in a murder and is being looked after by a local family (due to the lack of suitable jails in 19th century Iceland). It is a good book, but highly reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace in terms of the way that the story unfolds. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read the latter recently.

25. The End We Start From by Megan Hunter. A dystopian novel set in the UK in the near future when London floods. The nameless woman protagonist has just had a baby when the disaster strikes, so fleeing the floods is interspersed with caring for her newborn. I liked this but I didn't love it. The writing style (of brief, impersonal paragraphs) didn't quite work for me. It's described on the back as "Virginia Woolf does cli-fi" (I had to google cli-fi - a book about climate change, apparently) and I can kind of see what the reviewer means, but Hunter is a poor relation of Woolf tbh. Not that that is a problem in itself (after all, most authors are), but putting something like that in the blurb is setting it up for disappointment!