50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Five

56 - The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
Girl goes to stay with grandparents in Kansas, grandparents are odd and all their daughters and granddaughters bar one have left or died. This was really tedious, with no real suspense or surprise.

57 - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

This was stunning and really beautiful. It tells the story of Angelou’s childhood in Arkansas and elsewhere in the 1930s. Her account of her experiences as a black child in the deep South is lyrical and almost entirely without self pity and she draws the picture of her family members with sympathy and humour. This was wonderful and easy read, and I’m delighted to find there are six more volumes.

58 - Friend Request by Laura Marshall
Must stop reading “the most gripping thriller you’ll read this year” type books, for “people who loved Girl on a Train”. Because I did not love Girl on a Train and these thrillers are never all that. Although this one was a bit better than most, and the main character was at least believable and acted in vaguely sensible and predictable ways. But not really worth the time it took to read.

Sadik I also do more tidying/cleaning/gardening when I have an audiobook on the go that I can't wait to get back to :)

I adored Valley Of the dolls EmGee. It was one of my top reads as a teenager and I re - read it last year. The original queen of the block buster novel.

OK thanks Scribbly, I haven’t reached the last third yet, which explains why this puzzled me.

And on a final note from me, I have just downloaded Valley of the Dolls on Kindle's daily deal.

Meant to add that I saw The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at the cinema and enjoyed it. Hadn't read (or even heard of) the book prior to this.

27. The language of others by Clare Morall. This is a good read. Jessica is a child who doesn't quite fit in but can't work out why. She is however a gifted pianist and ends up studying music at university where she meets her future husband, a talented but disturbed violinist. The book moves deftly between her past and her present lives.

28. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy. C Reichert. Entirely predictable. The only good bit is the recipe for coconut cake which does sounds delicious.

29. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. I've seen the other two on TV so was quite keen to read this. Not so keen on the chapters written from the killer's perspective. Enough to make me check under the bed and behind the doors before I went to bed!!

30. The Girl who fell from the Sky by Simon Mawer. Picked it up in a charity shop and remembered that I had enjoyed The Fall. It's a historical novel about Marion, a young British/French girl who is recruited as a secret agent for the 'Special Operations Executive' to carry out operations in Occupied France during WW2. I was particularly interested in how Marion is slightly disorientated by her bilingualism; as if she doesn't feel 'at home' in either France or England, and how she changes from one language to the other to express a particular emotion. I suspect that my kids may experience this as they get older - they are bilingual; from one culture but born and growing up in another.

31. The Men and the Girls by Joanna Trollope. Enjoyed this nice, easy read which didn't require any brain power.

I've spent most of today reading 'tin man' by Sarah Winman (when god was a rabbit author)
Really lovely book about intense friendships, growing up, growing apart, sexuality, love, loss and travel. Very easy to read with such a warmth and uplifting despite a sad story running through it (not a spoiler!)

Scribbly, what a beautiful cover. That sounds really interesting and I'm very tempted to get it, but I've just realised that I already have The Song of Achilles languishing on my kindle so perhaps I'd better start there!

Ah, just seen it was Keith and that you're looking for modern SA books. Forget my recommendation, I think it was based in the 20s or 30s.!

corvus I too was totally infuriated whilst reading Why Mummy Drinks but will probably succumb to the sequel as this did give me a couple of proper snort out loud moments which have been very few and far between in my recent reading matter!

I'm sorry I don't remember who was looking for South African reading matter. I haven't read a great deal of books set in SA but one of my all time fave books is The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay who is actually Australian. It's a lovely big chunky read. Don't stray far from the tissue box though.

Froglet I did like the premise but not the execution.
I think I received a similar comment on my dissertation come to think of it

Anyone read 'Other Minds' by Peter Godfrey? (About octopuses / evolution.) Just bought it at 99p on Kindle as it's been on my maybe list for a while.

best yes the twist was heavily flagged, but I found it pretty enjoyable anyway too.

Robert Harris not Richard

I liked high castle . It was a bit crazy but the premise was fabulous.

best yes the twist was heavily flagged, but I found it pretty enjoyable anyway too.

33. Conclave - Richard Harris Throughly enjoyed this short book about intrigue and plotting during the papal enclave even if I did more or less guess the twist at the end. Difficult not to as it was sgnalled well in advance.

Hope you enjoy it @dottie , brain candy is the perfect description!

Your list is so interesting, I’m jotting down a few of the titles!

Welcome dottie interesting list. Agree with you re: Pevear except I also liked their translation of W&P

scribbly great review, Circe sounds good.

It’s on my TBR list which is currently in three figures

Have you read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Queen? I really enjoyed it.

remus glad its not just me!

LastQueen - Agree re High Castle. Overall, I decided that a few good bits weren't enough to offset the weirdness and tedium, and by the end I wanted to burn it!

27. man in the high castle A book about a world where japan and Germany won ww2. I liked it in snatches and found it really tedious in others. Unsure