50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Two

Finished book 7. Mythos - Stephen Fry on my drive home tonight (audiobook obvs!) I really enjoyed this, I had some knowledge of the myths before but not an extensive one, most of what I knew was snippets so it was nice to get a sense of how things all connected. Last year I really loved Madeline Miller’s Circe and The Song of Achilles which both made me want to explore the Greek myths a bit more, and this was a nice easy way in to that (though both the latter two books seem to come later in the ‘timeline’ - looking forward to encountering those stories again in the next book).
I think the second one is out? Going to check that out now and use my audible credit to get it if so. There were times I wished for a ‘proper’ book with this so I could go back and check names etc I’d missed, and because I’d get a geeky amount of pleasure from the actual written words/names and tracing the roots through to our modern language. BUT I also know it would have taken me forever to read as I’d be constantly stopping to google and look things up, where the audiobook was great just to simply enjoy listening to the stories.

14: The Listening Eye – Patricia Wentworth

The last of my splurge on Wentworths at 99p a shot. I didn’t like this one. It consisted of irritating people being irritating whilst Miss Silver knitted and coughed. The reveal was stupid, and I’d stopped caring by that point anyway.

Finished #12 The Definitive Biography of Freddie Mercury not bad but have come to the conclusion that there is a reason I don't read celebrity bios. As it ends with Freddies and so many young mens untimely deaths from AIDS it has left me feeling a bit down.

Not sure what's next something but looking for something from my unread pile which will be cheerful.

I've picked up a few 99p Agatha Christies on Kindle but on Amazon I've also picked up omnibuses with 3-4 books in each for about £2.

16. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier Lady Dona is bored so flees London, falls in with a pirate and causes havoc on the Cornish coast.

I didn't enjoy this as much as some of her other work (Rebecca/ Rachel/ Jamaica), as it lacked the suspense and usual edge that I expect but it still contained some beautiful writing and had a very good sense of fun. I have a feeling my early teens self would have loved this. You could tell she enjoyed writing this and there was some very tongue in cheek humour.

More piracy on the way with John Boyne's Mutiny on the Bounty.

grimupNorthLondon I like the sound of Independent People. I've just had a look on Amazon and it looks like something I might want to read so I'm going to add it to my wish list. I might read it after I have read all the Knausgaard's. Let me know what you think of it.

grimupNorthLondon - The Mysterious Affair at Styles* is in February’s Kindle Deals

grimupNorthLondon I bought all my Agatha Christies from charity shops between about 1991 and 2005. Never paid more than £1.50 for one. However, it's possible they've gone up (and it might also depend on the charity shop!). It looks as though on Kindle most are £2.99 and up although you may be able to find cheaper. I'd take pot luck by going to the closest charity shop and seeing what they have. I managed to get pretty much everything she'd every written (at least in crime novel/short story terms; I only bought some of the Westmacotts later) that way. It's amazing how widely even some of her least recognised novels are available.

Book 6; Skin Deep by Liz Nugent. I loved this, as I did her earlier two, though the main character is a thoroughly unlikeable sociopath. A great read.

Finally finished book 4) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (2012 translation by Catherine Doughton.) It's only taken a decade or so! I started with an abridged paperback but feeling this was 'cheating', I moved onto Kindle and a free, but clunky, unabridged translation several years ago, only to stall half way through and give up.
Spurred on by Dominic West and the fabulous BBC adaptation I downloaded the praised Doughton translation for a couple of quid and tried again, starting at the beginning but skipping the infamous elaborate asides that do little to move the plot along. (Still cheating!)
It is of course a literary classic but, even more than Dickens, it relies on the readers suspension of belief to buy into the idea that so many coincidences could happen involving the main protagonists. Javert, it would seem, is 'the only copper in the village' initially a guard on the prison hulks, he becomes an inspector in Montreuil-Sur-Mur where Jean Valjean is living under an assumed identity, and finally ends up policing 240km away in Paris where despite the sprawling city he bumps into JVJ again. And don't get me started on how the Thenardier's, in their many guises, manage to be involved in every major plot point.
I know the story as told by the musical very well but there were a few surprises in the novel - Gavroche and Eponine Thenardier being brother and sister and the fact there are five siblings in total, Marius's indebtedness to Thenardier based on the mistaken belief he'd saved his fathers life, the way Marius and to a lesser extent Cosette, behave so badly towards JVJ at the end hastening his demise. I'm glad I've read the book and it's impossible to know how much more caught up in it I would have been if the plot has been unknown going in but it didn't grab me in the same visceral way the musical and the series have.
Now on to Birdbox which I expect to be a much quicker read!

Checking in as I'm unlikely to finish a book over the next few days after a non-reading weekend (I worked till the early hours Saturday morning then DH so work stressed that he ended up drunkenly dancing with chair on his head at Saturday night dinner party while I desperately tried to save friend's ornaments from his careering around - after all that I was no good for anything more than desultory sitcom watching on the ipad).

But this thread is very useful for mojo-restarting. Thanks to all of you for the recommendations. The Silence of the Girls", Troubles and Singapore Grip" (I love Siege of Krishnapur but somehow never twigged that there were more to be had where that came from!) and The Nightingale all added to my list.

My completed list so far this year:
1 - An Infamous Army - Georgette Heyer
2 - Zero Zero Zero - Roberto Saviano
3 - Milkman - Anna Burns
4 - The Bounty - Caroline Alexander
5 - The Sleep of Reason - David James Smith
6 - Moby Dick - Herman Melville
7 - Mike at Wrykyn - P.G.Wodehouse

Currently reading:
Winter by Ali Smith - loving this and spinning it out because my main criticism of her books is that they are over too quickly.

At Freddie's by Penelope Fitzgerald - one of my favourite authors and although this is a bit 'slight' and inconsequential in comparison to some of her other work, she is doing a great job of bringing to life the world of London theatre in the early 60s.
Independent People picked up in Iceland (country not supermarket) last year and it's the 'big-novel' by Iceland's first (and I think only?) Nobel prize winner. Am about half way through and it's really good, if exceedingly bleak...

Tempted to go for an Agatha Christie next, after catching up on December's LRB where John Lanchester made a good case for her writing - haven't read any since I was a teenager and he whetted my appetite. Do any of you know if she tends to be cheap on Kindle or am I better off trying a charity shop? Don't really mind which one I read.

10. The Wife by Meg Wolitzer

A short, quick read by comparison with A Gentleman In Moscow, but similarly defined by a very strong authorial voice. I read The Interestings by the same author a while back and found it just a bit meh. I liked this much more. The wife of the title, Joan Castleman, is the wife of an famed author who has just won a big international writing prize, and the story of their life together is told in flashback as they travel for him to accept the prize. I loved the way Joan's voice is written - bitter, angry and wryly funny, but occasionally with a sense of her own complicity in what she has become. I knew where the story was going from the first few chapters - I felt it was pretty obvious, and that spoiled it a little for me - but the pleasure of the writing carried me through and I liked the ending. It felt as though Joan was finally doing something on her own terms, even if it might not be what others would do in the same circumstances. I would like to see the film now. I think Glenn Close will make a great job of playing Joan.

Waving to CluelessMama for your post on Friday evening about the need for new happy endings (sorry, was offline till now).

Added two contrasting books:

16. Lizzie Siddal, by Lucinda Hawksley
A biography of the Victorian woman who was variously a Pre-Raphaelite muse, poet, artist, laudanum addict, drama queen, possible anorexic and, for s short and tragic period, Mrs Rossetti. Canters along fairly briskly, until it ends abruptly with Rossetti having her coffin dug up to retrieve the poems he had buried with her. She remains somewhat elusive and not particularly likeable.

17. The Whites, by Harry Brandt. Strongly recommended on last year's thread - sorry, can't remember by whom. Makes UK police procedurals look tame, as even when the police officer here has a maverick streak, he/she is mindful of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, takes his/her time to focus on the crime, and doesn't jeopardise the prosecution by say, beating a confession out of a suspect. The New York cops in this book, facing multiple murders over the course of a shift, are far more jaded and cynical - another killing means more paperwork, delaying the end of an already-endless night shift, and justice is elusive, leading to the siren song of vigilantism. It is a page-turner and I stayed up too late last night with it.

I agree with you entirely about Tin Man, BookWitch. I was very underwhelmed and similarly hadn't realised I'd also read When God was a Rabbit a few years ago and been underwhelmed by that as well - despite many friends recommending it to me.

To be fair I did read Tin Man straight after Hearts Invisible Furies which meant it paled in comparison.

That’s should be book 22 not 23

21. Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession
22. Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen Both by Alison Weir

Weir is writing a series of 6 books about each of Henry VIII’s wives, and these were books 2 and 3. These are, I think, the soap version of Tudor history. Weir admits in the author notes that some of the things she puts in the novel are just theories with very little evidence to back them up, so as long as you don’t treat these as a history lesson they’re OK. The Anne Boleyn one was better than the Jane Seymour one because Anne is a more interesting character than Jane. I’m interested to see how she deals with Anne of Cleves who was only married to Henry for about five minutes (but had the luckiest escape)!

10: Tin Man by Sarah Winman

I had such high hopes for this, so many five star ratings and I had a mostly free weekend to enjoy it.

It's the story of teens Michael and Ellis whose friendship develops into a gay love affair, Michael moves to London and Ellis gets married. Lots of long descriptions of working in car plants, and trips to France.

So many people seem to absolutely LOVE it, so this review might be an unpopular opinion, but here goes. I am quite happy to accept I am missing something.

I didn't love it. I can appreciate it was 'powerful' description and a 'wonderful bittersweet' story, but I got really bored. If it had been a longer book it would have been abandoned under my 100 page rule (if I am not loving it by page 100, it doesn't get finished. BUt at 100 pages, I was just about half way, so I thought I may as well finish it.
I found the lack of chapters and any speech punctuation at all both irritating and tedious, and felt it was trying to be far too clever. I am a big reader, have a literature degree and can follow a complex plot and literary devices, but this was just trying to confuse the reader for the sake of it. I spent most of the first 75 pages or so wondering what on earth was going on. It did pick up a little bit when the narration by Michael started, but it was not enough to save it for me.
The only character I was really interested in was Dora (the first two or three pages on how she won the painting and how she stood up to her husband about it were brilliant) but there was far too little about her, she was really only there to 'understand' Michael and Ellis. There should have been far more about Annie as well.

I only realised about halfway through that it is the same author who wrote When God Was a Rabbit, which I read last year. I looked back at my review of that, and I was a bit underwhelmed by that as well. She is obviously a writer I don't 'get' and won't read any more of hers.

Can I join? Am finally back in a reading mode after a long hiatus. My list so far this year:

1. The Essex Serpent- Sarah Perry

1. The Mars Room Rachel Kushner

1. Let Me Lie- Clare Mackintosh

1. Aquarium- David Vann

1. I See You- Clare Mackintosh

1. I Am, I Am, I Am- Maggie O’Farrell

1. Everything Under- Daisy Johnson

1. Manhattan Beach- Jennifer Egan

1. My Name is Lucy Barton- Elizabeth Strout

10. Do Not Say We Have Nothing- Madeleine Thien
    Hard work. Interesting subject (Chinese cultural revolution) but have preferred other similar novels eg Amy Tan

11. Have Mercy on Us All- Fred Vargas
    Disappointing as normally like her. Translation felt clunky

Currently on Commonwealth by Ann Patchett and loving every word so far

10. This is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay (audible)

Bit late to the party on this one. I liked the somewhat sick and twisted humour of this former junior doctor's secret diary (stories of inappropriately inserted objects are always welcome at my house). The tragic case that caused him to give up his career was devastating, and I have a much deeper understanding of the immense stress weighing down on doctors every time they go to work.

5. Part-time Working Mummy: A Patchwork Life - Rachaele Hambleton

I follow this account on Facebook and Instagram and got the book for Christmas as I wanted to find out more about her life and how she ended up with her blended family and helping domestic abuse victims. Despite not having the best of lives it seems she’s very good at being grateful for what she has and helping others get through the tough times. Bit different to most other facebook and instamums with perfect lives she tries to show the not so perfect parts. Was an enjoyable read and I will continue to follow her story.

And another book down today love a long weekend

ChocFreak books are always best aren't they ? For me the claustrophobia is not being able to see the sky and stuck in a box as much as the blindfolds.

I'm about half way The Definitive Biography of Freddie Mercury. It's interesting but as a Queen fan there's little that I didn't know already and I'm finding the name dropping a bit tedious. Still will push on.

8. Any Human Heart - William Boyd - this was in my TBR list on my Kindle. I can’t remember whether I bought it because it was a Kindle offer or if it was recommended on last year’s thread. It is extracts from the diary of Logan Mountstuart, who was born in 1906, from throughout his life. So we read extracts from his diary as a schoolboy, student, young man etc all the way through to his death. The tone and priorities change as he ages and it deals with current affairs of the time such as wars and the abdication crisis. Logan lives a full and varied life and at some periods is much more likeable than others but that’s because his diary reveals him warts and all rather than presenting the best version of him. I enjoyed this and will be looking to see what else the author has written. I think there was a TV adaptation of this a few years ago - but I didn’t see it.

Although I am meant to be working my way through my TBR list I did weaken and buy some new books from the monthly deal. Quite tempted to re-read A Gentleman in Moscow next after reading the review by Welshwabbit

1. Half of a yellow sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Book 5: Manhunt - Colin Sutton
Factual account of the murder investigation that led to the conviction of Levi Bellfield. I watched the ITV adaption of this, starring Martin Clines, recently. Interesting that the elements that the TV series emphasised were around conflicts between the DCI and his wife, whereas his wife was barely mentioned in this book.

1. The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith