50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Two

Finished my book 5; The Last Lie by Alex Lake. It was very good, I've enjoyed every book she's written.

5. The Diary of A Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
Listened to this on Audible. Much reviewed on here. At first I thought it was okay, with occasional funny anecdotes, but the overall tone grew on me and I found myself looking forward to returning to it each time I put it down.
No idea what's next. Work is silly busy and getting right in the way of both reading and life!

Mr Tom is one of my all time favourites but I think I was at least in my 2nd year of Secondary School when I first encountered it.
14. How to build a girl - Caitlin Moran - finished this at the weekend but haven't reviewed it because I honestly don't know whether I liked it or not. This is my first encounter with Caitlin Moran. There was lots I admired; the humour, the setting early 90's - my 6th form and early university days - the music. I did struggle with way the young heroine felt her only way to recreate herself and move forward was to become sexually promiscuous and generally unpleasant. Jury is still out ...

I haven't updated in ages, but here's my recent reads:-

1. The Bolds in Trouble by Julian Clary. The next in the series he's writing for children. I love these books. Of all the celebrities writing for children, he's definitely winning

Year 7 English Lit - Oliver Twist, The Hobbit, Goodnight Mr Tom. It's as if she were trying to put us off reading.

I love Goodnight Mr Tom but it is heartbreaking. Have been due a re-read for at least fifteen years, but not sure I'm strong enough!

Desdemona

12. Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian.

Don’t know about this one. Feel like a bit of a dick criticising a much loved children’s classic, I’m hardly the intended audience after all. My first time coming to this story of the abused evacuee Will who finds healing and love in the shape of a gruff country type Mr Tom. I knew it would be a tear jerker, at some points I did get a bit misty eyed but urgh, I just felt a bit emotionally manipulated by the whole thing. It was so lurchy in tone; sad things, happy things, sad, happy, sad, happy. Bloody hell the Very Very Sad Thing was so utterly awful I thought I’d strayed into a chapter of A Little Life. Couldn’t believe she’d put it in a children’s book and then 20 odd pages later for them all to be having a jolly lovely time at the seaside with scones and cider. The opening chapters are very good, where Will’s abuse is revealed through his behaviour, and how the slow quiet work of patient love and kindness can heal. Felt the second half of the book just retrod the same again, but with more in your face misery.

Glad to have read it but won’t be recommending it to the dds to read.

Oh God! William books

Oops, 39 Richard books that should say.

1. The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez light, easy read following the lives of 5 very different women who work in or frequent the titular coffee shop. Not really my usual sort of thing, though I liked learning more about Afghanistan, this could have been really insightful if it had gone into more depth into the issues facing the country. It was a pleasant enough read but predictable and frothy....it even had a “Yummy Treats for Your Bookclub” recipe section at the end!

I’m now trying to read all the books I’ve been lent over recent months so I can return them and create more space for books

Wilderness, I agree The Poisonwood Bible is a great book. I couldn't get on with the only other one of hers I've read though, Flight Behaviour, although a lot of other people love it I know. I've got The Bean Trees on my TBR list.

3. Just William. (The first of Richmal Crompton's 49 William books as referenced in Bookworm, which is what sent me on this trip down memory lane.) It was lovely to revisit William, the Outlaws, Jumble and lashings of liquorice water, and there were many wry smiles and a few laugh out loud occasions. I don't think this was one of the dozen or so William books I read in my youth as none of the stories were familiar. From an adult perspective his misdemeanours seemed far more extreme than I remember. In one story he invites 30+ neighbourhood children to an elicit party whilst his family are out and they proceed to break into the house lock up one of the hired helps and pelt the other with food on her return from an afternoon off, in the intervening hours they run riot and completely wreck the joint, not quite the lovable rogue I remember. This and the second book More William are available on Kindle for 95p and 84p respectively under the 'Classics To Go' banner, they have a bizarre Little Lord Fauntleroy virtual cover that would suggest the publisher has never actually read the content!

Whilst dipping in and out of Just William for light relief I have also been grappling with a fairly new translation of Les Miserables, (a clunky translation of which has been at 47% on my Kindle for a decade or more) encouraged to pick it up again by the fantastic TV adaptation, and listening to All The Things I Never Told You on Audible.

2: In One Person by John Irving
I used to be such a fan of John Irving but this was really quite dull, although I do love the fact that there is always wrestling and always a bear of some description.

3:Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Totally loved this book which was wonderfully narrated. Such an interesting story. I'm going to see which of her others I haven't read.

Work is crazily busy at the moment. I'm reading Reading Allowed at the moment, it's good.

BOOK 7 READ-TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf. Set in the early years of the 20th century. Fudamentally about a large family of 8 children and their parents in their holiday house and their struggles through the years of thier emotional relationship with each other, particularly with their father and mother. I enjoyed it once i didn,t try to understand every sentence! Let some parts go over my head !Painful relationships explored. Wonderful observations
BOOK 8 READ ALEXANDER,S BRIDGE by Willa Cather
Beautiful book about Bartley Alexander. chief engineer and famous bridge builder His life unwinds and finally there is the tragic demise of a newly constructed bridge and indeed of Alexander.Do read it!
BOOK 9 is going to be THE TOBACCONIST by Robert Seethaler

1. A History of the World in 21 Women - Jenni Murray (Audible)

Interesting short summaries of the lives of 21 women from Pharoah Hapshepsut to the present day, with a slant towards the twentieth century and women Murray has herself interviewed. Lacking in-depth analysis, it was still an inspiring listen (all the women overcame the disadvantages of sex/class/race in some way), helped by Murray's undeniable skill as a presenter. Will be listening to her History of Britain in 21 Women soon.

YesILikeItToo Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite books but I really didn’t like the Spike Milligan version!

Happy birthday whippet

19 The Rumour - Lesley Kara this was in the "Top 10 Bestsellers" at the library - can't think why. Yet another so-called "psycho-thriller" squarely aimed at a mum with young child demographic or even Mumsnet audience. The writer was apparently an alumnus of the Faber writing school but it barely reached women's magazine short story level for me. The plot centres around whether a long-ago child killer has been re-located to the seaside home town of the narrator. Again I get the feeling this has been written in the hope it will be taken up as a tv series or film. The best thing for me was the cover showing different types of women's footwear. but that's just me.
Erin Kelly - I agree she is a good light thriller writer/holiday read.

15. The Tattoist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

This has been reviewed a couple of times so I won’t go into detail. I will say this for me was a real page turner (hence why I am so tired today as I had to finish it!). I was a bit disappointed by the last few chapters as I felt there was more to tell and it felt a bit rushed. I liked reading the author’s story of meeting Lale though in later years and what happened to some of the key figures. A recommendation just wish it was a bit more detailed towards the end.

My good reads list is going ontip 700 if I’m not careful

Happy Birthday @whippetwoman

The only present I can think of that would be better than a £50 book token is... a £60 book token!

Just got a £50 book voucher for my birthday so I am off to the nearest giant Waterstones to spend it later as I can't wait and have a massive TBR list carefully nurtured on my phone. It has grown exponentially since listening to Backlisted though. Birthday day-off book shopping

Hope you feel better soon magimedi. Flu is awful.
I'm another one that's always avoided Room! I can't stand things where children are in peril.

Read 11. Less - by Andrew Sean Greer. I thought this was very well-written and I loved the ending, but as the famous Marie Kondo says, it didn't spark joy with me. Less, the protagonist, a 'failing' author, runs away from a relationship and takes up every offer to travel, including teaching abroad and being in the running for a book prize. Actually, thinking about it in retrospect, it is pretty good, just perhaps didn't quite appeal to me. I wasn't sure how I was meant to feel about the character of Less - sympathetic or amused.

I’ve started reading Riddley Walker thanks to the mention on Backlisted. It’s not an easy read as it’s all written in dialect. I’m having to really concentrate.

If you know the book well, I think you’ll be impressed!