50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Five

Um. And Wide Sargasso Sea. 'S ok, I'm packing my bags...

I also like Margaret Atwood although not so much her sci fi/dystopian stuff. Cat's Eye is my favourite. Should I leave the thread?

37. Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. A father's account of his teenage son's addiction to crystal meth. Sobering read. The son has also written a memoir, the first couple of chapters are previewed at the end of this book. Yikes. Gave me the heebie jeebies. Haven't seen the film but not sure I really want to after reading the book.

I don't remember any nipples in The Terror. I do remember that it was at least 300 pages too long and that the final section was ridiculous.

Loathed Wide Sargasso Sea.

As far as breast watch/bingo is concerned i gave up on The Terror by Dan Simmons for the repeated mentions. The detailed descriptions of nipples left me colder than Franklins expedition.

I remember reading Wide Sargasso Sea for uni and it driving me to rum. I'm glad I'm not the only one who wasn't a fan.

26. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Jane Eyre prequel set in Jamaica.

Very dull. Assuaged some of my guilt about not reading any classics recently.

27. Lost connections: why you're depressed and how to find hope by Johann Hari
A look at more societal reasons for depression and the effectiveness of anti depressants.

Some interesting ideas in here about work, people and nature. Though this is the disgraced journalist who plagiarised work so I'm not sure if I believe him.

28. How to build a girl by Caitlin Moran
A fictional account of Caitlin's teenagehood in Wolverhampton and in the music industry. Lots of sex references.

I wasn't keen at first as I'd heard much of this before from Caitlin's non fiction but Dolly grew on me. I'll read the next one when I see it in the library and looking forward to volume three when it will be fiction when politics comes into it. Hoping for Jess Phillips fan fiction.

Number 50 milestone reached! I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell. Much reviewed on here, it is indeed excellent and moving in places. I figure I have had two brushes with death and my children have had none so I am doing a bit better (or worse?) than Maggie.
By way of coincidence, DS2 has just finished The Gifted The Talented and Me by William Sutcliffe who turns out to be O'Farrell's husband!

I couldn't really see the point of the Grimm Tales. Didn't think they added anything at all to the many versions I've read before. It seemed spectacularly lazy and cynical to me.

Piggy - At least I've managed to finish a couple recently. Will probably start My Sister, the Serial Killer tomorrow. DP has just finished it and loved it, although we often disagree on books, so we'll see.

Yes, that was me remus

Found a book you like yet??

28. When All Is Said by Anne Griffin on Audible. This book came to my attention when I heard the author speak at The Scottish Borders Book Fair the synopsis is: Over the course of a single evening in 2014, 84 year old Maurice lines up five drinks and proposes a toast for each, instigating extended internal monologues dedicated to the five individuals who have most closely shaped his life and experience. The first toast is raised to Maurice’s elder brother Tony, whom he idolised but who died of consumption at an early age. The second monologue is dedicated to Maurice’s stillborn daughter Molly, and the third to his disturbed sister-in-law Noreen, considered in the language of the time to be suffering from “melancholy” and committed to an asylum. The fourth toast goes to Maurice’s only surviving child, Kevin, who left rural Meath to pursue a journalistic career in America; before he finally raises a glass to his beloved wife Sadie, whose death two years ago is still raw in his memory.

I felt this was an excellent premise for a novel, and on the whole it was an enjoyable listen, initially I had high hopes, but I felt the sub plot of a valuable coin sort of petered out and the ending felt a bit telegraphed. Perhaps though, having seen the author speak about the novel, too much of the plot was given away before I read the book for it to hold any surprises.

29. The Tattooist Of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Well covered on here and much criticised for the poor writing. I listened to this free via Borrowbox and many of the issues of the writing were well masked by Richard Armitage's excellent narration. It was a horrifying and gripping story that reduced me to tears at the end, no mean feat with an audio book when I'm usually multi-tasking and therefore not giving the story the 100% concentration demanded by reading a book. The atrocities witnessed by the protagonist are so numerous and so frequent that as a reader you almost find yourself, like the characters, becoming desensitised to the horror they are encountering on a daily basis. As always when reading WWII set novels I wonder where the good Germans were, many must have been dragged into this situation appalled by what was going on around them, yet here even the minor characters seem to have psychopathic tendencies. I also wondered how much the main character was an unreliable narrator, I don't think many would have blamed him for keeping himself alive in this hellish reality by what ever means he could, but here he is painted as an angelic figure who helps those around him and selflessly shares what extra rations he can obtain despite being on the point of starvation himself. (But maybe that's a reflection on my own mean spiritedness and a hope I'm never put to the test as Lali was!)

OT, but I remember watching a bit of a survival themed reality TV show hosted by Bear Grylls a few years ago.
He made some minor celebrities drink their own piss as part of the show. So that they’d know what to do if they couldn’t find a safe water source....
Not sure if that’s better or worse than camel piss!

Fortuna I read Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales a while back and enjoyed them.

It’s a fairly faithful retelling of the Grimm Tales so if you’re familiar with those there’s no surprises. He’s left in the more gruesome bits, but they’re not really dwelt on.
The (mostly) short stories means its also a book that’s very well suited to a reader dipping into it here and there.

I hated the single Atwood book I read. She is that inexplicable kind of author who writes in a genre she despises and does not understand, falsely claiming that her books are not in that genre because they are "realistic"

I love a bit of Attwood. I think she bangs her drum beautifully.

24. True Grit by Bear Grylls

I don't know who the author is but I didn't like his writing style of exaggerated half-phrases full of adoration. Some of the stories were amazing and inspirational, but I really couldn't see what was so admirable about being a slave and having to drink camel piss because nobody gives you water, for example.

"Hmm. Shall I go for a flood? A plague of locusts? Wipe a few characters out in a bout of cholera? An amputation? Blindness? Decisions...decisions... "

I hate misery lit nearly as much as I hate chic lit.

I enjoyed the *Alias Grace " review. Was it you, Piggy? I'm with you on the Attwood not doing it for me thinking. I hope she meets a few nice men before she dies, because it might actually mean she writes a few decent novels, instead of just going in with a shovel to bash the same old drum.

I'm on my Kindle and find it really hard to read mumsnet on it, so apologies for not naming people who've said anything I'm now about to comment on!

Book of Lost Things Read this when it first came out and been really looking forward to it but thought it was very poor. I think the writer also writes crime books and the series was really cheap on kindle few years ago. I read the first and it was utter drivel.

I ended up really disliking A Fine Balance because the unrelenting misery ended up getting ridiculous and became comedic rather than pathetic. I found myself trying to guess what terrible thing the writer might do next - "Hmm. Shall I go for a flood? A plague of locusts? Wipe a few characters out in a bout of cholera? An amputation? Blindness? Decisions...decisions... "

PowerBadgers DH has just read Under the Skin and loved it. He was very taken with the film, too, but said exactly the same as you - they're completely different.

22. How I live now - Meg Rosoff
I read this as it's a common denominator on both of my DDs' summer reading lists and I'd never heard of it. I will be recommending my 12 year old steers clear of it (too harrowing) but I look forward to discussing it with my 14 year old if I can convince her it's worth her time and effort. (Blessed with 2 dyslexic and pretty reluctant readers!)
There's plenty to consider as Daisy, the 15-year-old anorexic protagonist, arrives from the States to stay with her British aunt and cousins in the countryside. War breaks out, romantic relationships are formed and children are left to fend for themselves in violent and uncertain times. Would recommend for teens (I believe it has won plenty of prizes).

Fortuna that's my preferred method too. Go in as ignorant as possible, take the book on its own merits, then read the reviews.

I got utterly caught out with The Luminaries, where I failed to spot the structure which underlies the whole thing, and just thought it was a bit rambling and repetitive.

76. The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly David loses his mother aged 12 and has to come to terms with his father remarrying, moving home and a new baby brother against the backdrop of WW2 starting. He retreats into his books and soon they start talking to him. He develops fainting fits and he gets lost in a fantasy world, drawn in by the crooked man.

This opened beautifully, the first few paragraphs were a joy to read and I had really high hopes for it, but sadly it devolved into a mediocre fairy story for adults with some pretty dark and twisted parts. Supposed to be a loss of innocence/coming of age type theme, but was gruesome and unnecessary in places. The writing was simplistic as though written for children, but the content was far from suitable. Sadly grim and not Grimm. I really had to battle through to the end and I'm baffled that I didn't abandon it.

I like to try and read books fairly blind without knowing too much about them, but if I feel like I've missed a trick somewhere I'll look it up afterwards to see what others thought/ what the hell was going on. I loved the end of this review about it that I found in The Guardian

• The result is less a novel in any genre than a catalogue, a dispiritingly detailed outline for something Connolly might like to write, if he only had the time, or the talent, or a decent editor. Quite.

I have also got Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales from the library and this has really put me off wanting to read it.

Finished off a few in the last few days.

Under the Skin by Michel Faber
The book is vastly different to the film of the same title. I really enjoyed it. The author builds up the plot very well to reveal the reason behind the protagonist's actions as the story develops. There is a lot of discussion of the protagonist's boobs but as it is genuinely important to the plot and characterization I think that's just fine.

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
Rightful king gets betrayed by family and gathers a group of misfits to get his throne back. Classic fantasy plot. This was pretty good but I don't think it's one of his best books to be honest. By the end it just left me a little bit flat and I had to push through the last couple of chapters which is never a good sign.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
I believe this is her first fantasy having previously written SF. I really loved this. The worldbuilding is superb with a wonderfully complex and interesting set of laws based around the doings of big and small god's and how they work alongside humans. I listened this on audiobook and the reader was fabulous which is always a bonus.