50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Five

Hello, wise fellow 50 bookers. I wondered where on MN to post this, and thought I’d start here for advice as I know you all.
I have a reluctant 15 year old reader. She’s more than capable - doing well at school, and has read lots of what I would consider to be good choices, and some quite challenging. But she’s stalled completely and now barely reads - she’ll pick up something I recommend and reject it as boring. She says she's just not "in a reading place" right now.

To be clear, I’m not worried about her generally. She’s a smart and thoughtful girl who is very engaged in activities at school and out. She is slightly dyslexic with poor visual memory but she has found strategies for coping and as I say, used to read lots for pleasure.

As the holidays approach I’d really like to find ways of re-engaging her with reading. But don’t want to push her so hard that she decides she hates it forever.

Any thoughts or tips or book recommendations welcome. Or indeed being told to let her be and she’ll sort it out herself would also be fine - part of this is my own possibly misplaced belief that reading has some intrinsic moral worth, compared to playing Sims and watching Love Island. I am prepared to be told I am wrong about that!

Great review scribbly.
Nearly the end of term and feel like my head is mashed!!
74. The Warlow Experiment- Alix Nathan
Really liked this one. The author based this story on a genuine advertisement she saw in old papers, asking for someone to live underground without human contact for 7 years as part of an experiment. Apparently the document she found said someone had come forward and was three years in. She could find no further information.
Set in 1790 this is her fictional account of the experiment and its consequences for all those involved. Warlow, the subject is a labourer with a family and limited education. His family is provided for by Powyss instigator of the experiment for his time away and then he will receive £50 a year for life.

It is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution and universal suffrage.
Lots to make you think and unexpected consequences.

Very interesting review of the Macintyre book, Scribbly - I bought his Spy Among Friends on the strength of your write-up! (yet to read it, though...maybe next).

Interestingly, Private Eye has often featured Gordievsky and if they're to be believed, many of his claims should be taken with a shovel pinch of salt. They reviewed the Macintyre book recently and took issue with quite a few of Gordievsky's assertions, including the ones about Michael Foot. Not sure if I still have the issue but I'll look and see.

Many thanks for The Spy & the Traitor review Scribbly, sounds well worth a read.

Biblio I'm not surprised you found Woman on the Edge of Time a bit hard going - it's very much of it's time I'd say, and hasn't worn as well as say Ursula K Le Guin.

Rather than Sheri S Tepper I'd personally go for some of the fantastic current sci-fi that's around. Thinking of a couple of books that have been generally popular on these threads I'd suggest something like Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky or The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu - both proper hard sci-fi but not too space-opera-y.

Anyway, on to
56. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Reviewed a few times already, I loved this, a modern re-telling of a fairy tale told through several distinct and well-constructed voices. I listened to it on audio, and it worked really well - I thought the reader caught each of the characters beautifully.

Cote - the new one! Fall, or Dodge in Hell. I’m getting through it - like several Stephensons before it, it’s a game of two halves...

"left my big Neal Stephenson hardback at home"

Which one?

Due to travel, I have books on the go all over the place - left my big Neal Stephenson hardback at home, took a paperback, and another on my phone. None completed as yet.

I tried to post when I finished this, but messed up pressing the "post" button - so my only update is this:

28 One on One by Craig Brown

101 encounters between famous people, linked together as a chain, so everyone encounters two other famous folk. The research is impressive, and he has put a great amount of work into relating each story in 1001 words. Each is interesting enough, but I found over time that nothing was "sticking", it's all by it's very nature a bit random. Three points to take away: (1) I hadn't appreciated how European Russia was before the revolution, the chain flows in and out of Moscow very easily; (2) Gossipy diaries and letters used to be very gossipy indeed, all a bit shocking really to see what people were writing about each other; and (3) Famous people like to party late into the night. Many meetings take place in the small hours - Proust is asked to join a dinner party after the meal, and arrives at 2.30am

Thanks for the Bach recommendation Cote. Have also put A Brief History of Classical Music on my want to read list.

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre
Audiobook narrated by Ben Macintyre

Last year I listened to and loved Macintyre's A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal. This book is in many ways is the mirror to his book about Philby, and charts the life of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB careerist who in 1968 decided to switch sides and become a double agent for MI6. Just as with the book about Philby I found myself repeatedly with jaw open or muttering “bloody hell”. It's full of shocking ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ events and explains beautifully how sometimes spycraft is an essential component of maintaining or cultivating peace as well as, perversely it's role in undermining it.
I enjoyed how much of the spying occurs in the late 70s and 80s (rather than the historically murky-to-me Cold War 60s) and includes political figures who I remember from my childhood. Lots about Thatcher and Gorbachev and a seriously bloody hell section about Michael Foot. Plenty of women in senior roles too which made a nice change.
Macintyre does a great job of explaining the convolutions, paranoid overthinking and plans within plans that went on both within the KGB and MI6 as they ran their overseas agents. He also examines the cost to Gordievsky and his family of his secret double life.
The final section which covers Gordievsky's exfiltration from Russia by two members of the British Embassy, their wives and a baby is gripping stuff. As good as anything you'll read by Le Carré or Forsyth but with the completely bizarre addition of a packet of cheese and onion crisps and a dirty nappy.

A fantastic listen. Macintyre narrates and his frightfully British jolly hockey sticks accent actually works beautifully, particularly in the (few) moments of humour in the book. There’s a wonderful scene between the private secretaries of the Queen and Thatcher which should they make the film of the book absolutely has to feature.

Though saying that if you really hated Iain M Banks then it might be a bit space opera for you. I'm afraid I adore my SF big and spacey.

On the SF front I can heartily recommend Ann Leckie, her Imperial Radch series is absolutely superb.

22. The Deceiver by Frederick Forsyth

This was another great spy book by F Forsyth that combines good stories with outstanding historical and geopolitical understanding. It can be seen as a collection of short stories featuring the same character, as we revisit the more fascinating stories from the life of a top spy towards the end of the Soviet empire.

21. A Brief History Of Classical Music: A Tale Of Time, Tonality and Timbre by Arthur Wenk

This was a great summary of Western music's development, starting from Antiquity, on to Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and finally Modern periods. It was interesting, clear, and well-researched, with an analytical approach. I enjoyed it and learned a lot from it.

I especially applaud the author's decision to focus on a handful of composers and very few works in each period (Purcell, Buxtehude, Vivaldi, and J S Bach for Baroque. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven for Classical) as this allows his points to be made in a clear and concise manner.

I recommend this book to everyone.

@Welshwabbit You could try “Occupy Me” by Tricia Sullivan. Pearl is a powerful angel (literally, has huge muscles.) There’s also a Quetzalcoatlus, but don’t let that put you off. It is thoroughly bonkers in places, but the main character is brilliantly done.

Scribbly - re "That he [Bach] might not have been a devout Christian is fascinating, is there much debate amongst Bach scholars about that?"

There has been some debate but there just isn't much data either side can base their viewpoint on. Those who believe he was extremely religious bad this opinion on his copy of the Bible which was heavily corrected in his own hand, but he sounds like an obsessive man, a pedant even, and correcting errors would be just normal for such a person. Gardiner takes a different view and portrays Bach as a rather progressive man in his book on Bach called Music In The Castle Of Heaven.

Just from what we understand about the man from his huge body of work, he was very methodical and mathematical, even geometric in his way of thinking. I would expect him to be a scientist and philosopher rather than a man of blind faith.

"Are there any other Bach biographies you could recommend that give further insights into his personality, preferably as engaging to read as Palace?"

I enjoyed Sir John Eliot's book mentioned above. Other than that, I read the Forkel biography Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work which is significant because it was written so soon after Bach's death, but otherwise rather dull and full of errors.

Welsh - re "My husband (a big SF fan) has recommended Sheri S. Tepper as a good feminist SF writer. Anyone on here a fan? I would like to give one more book a go before deciding SF is not for me!"

Why don't you just read some very good SF without worrying about the feminist angle? I can't think of a single female author who has written a great SF book in the last 20 years. My advice would be to ask your DH for his favorite Neal Stephenson book and go from there.

whippet - The first book in that series Annihilation was weird and interesting but the sequels were just dull and pointless. I'm not planning to read that last installment.

54. Ammonite by Nicola Griffith

Centuries ago, on the colony planet Jeep, a deadly virus struck the colony, killing all the men, and forever changing the surviving women (who are still having babies despite the lack of men).
Now, the planet has been rediscovered, and the surviving members of the company team sent there have been abandoned for fear of spreading the virus to other worlds. Marghe, an anthropologist, has been sent to Jeep to test a new vaccine, but as she learns more about Jeep and it’s inhabitants, she finds herself changing.

I enjoyed reading this, and following Marghe as she travels through Jeep, trying to find her place in this new world as an outsider.

55. Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge

A superhero novel. It’s set in a future where some people are born with superpowers, and are trained in a superhero academy for a life of heroing.
It’s told between 2 viewpoints, hero Jet and villain Iridium, who were once best friends at the academy. For years the two have been at odds with each other, but now a looming evil threatens them and their world, if they can’t find a way to work together.

A lightweight easy read.

Welshwabbit I’ve read a few Sheri S. Tepper books. They also tend to have strong ecological themes running along with the feminism.
Out of the ones I’ve read I liked Beauty and The Fresco the most.

my tbr list is now bigger than the biggest, bounciest, skyward pointing bosoms imaginable

grim, I did find myself stalling a bit with This Thing of Darkness. I thought it was worth the read, but I'll confess to not finding a complete page-turner.

whippet, what did prose ever do to Vandermeer that he should abuse it so?

I have taken nearly a month 'off' the thread and have spent the last couple of hours catching up and enjoying all the breast talk - thanks everyone!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I definitely think menopause (or peri-menopause in my case) versus reading is a "thing", since my mood swings and anxiety, after 30 years of horrendous PMT that I thought couldn't get any worse, are now peaking at levels where some weeks netflix under the duvet is all that is bearable. But also I must confess to having got a bit stalled in This Thing of Darkness and being too ashamed to admit this terrible fact to the thread. Thankfully Darwin and Fitzroy have now reached the Galapagos and the pace is picking up again so I am hopeful that I shall be released from the thread naughty step before too long.

Thank you all too for the excellent recommendations - my tbr list is now bigger than the biggest, bounciest, skyward pointing bosoms imaginable

I have just read the following sentence in Acceptance:
"The waves came in small and half curling like the froth of malformed questions."
WTF Jeff Vandermeer? WTAF?
I should just give up but I find it impossible to give up on a book, so I'm going to moan on here instead and be miserable as I drag myself through it page by incomprehensible page.

Now I realise I've been saving everyone else from it. A public service really.
Thanks for taking one for the team, Fortuna.

No SF recommendations from me, I'm afraid welsh. I'll occasionally dip in a toe at the softer end, but Iain M Banks nearly finished me off. A wacka wacka wacka, beep beep bloop. The vast entity glides through space, distance suns reflecting from its sides. Bingly bingly bong.

Finished In the Days of Rain, by Rebecca Stott. I really enjoyed the parts relating to her father, but was less enthralled by the parts dealing with the divisions in the religious sect they belonged to and then left.

Fell off the thread in a major way because my husband was away for 2 weeks and I was working and doing all the childcare - plus I got completely bogged down in book #45 and it took me an absolute age to finish. So...

45. Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

I bought this because it was recommended as a classic of feminist SF (not by my husband, of which more later) but I just couldn't get into it. I did finish it but it was a real struggle.

It's the story of Consuelo (Connie) Ramos, a Mexican- American woman who is held - it seems unjustly - in a psychiatric unit after beating up her niece's husband/pimp. She "catches" Luciente, a "sender" from the future, who can come into her world and bring her to the future. Through Luciente she learns about and experiences a utopian world which contrasts strongly with her own. She also at one point experiences an alternative dystopian future.

Parts of this were really well written and engaging/frightening (especially the parts in the psychiatric unit) and I liked the concept. I also liked the characterisation. But a lot of the description of the future utopia was clunky explication and I found the ending impenetrable and a total let-down. It wasn't what happened as such, more the complete lack of explanation of the future story. I don't mind an ambiguous ending (was it/wasn't it all in her mind) but the wholesale abandonment of the alternative story here really annoyed me.

Boobwatch: I remember a couple of breasts, one in particular revealed by an asymmetric outfit, but they were feminist breasts so I don't think they count.

My husband (a big SF fan) has recommended Sheri S. Tepper as a good feminist SF writer. Anyone on here a fan? I would like to give one more book a go before deciding SF is not for me!

Fortuna you seem to be plagued by authors obsessed with breasts! Thank you for your reassurance on A Column of Fire. I tend to lower my literary standards on a pool lounger so it sounds as if I should give it a chance.

73. A Grave Concern - Susanna Gregory (Bartholomew Chronicles #22) You know the drill - medieval monks, murder, intrigue etc etc. Only one left in the series so you won't have me banging on about them for that much longer.

I have just abandoned The New Achilles by Christian Cameron at 100 pages in. Set in Ancient Greece this is the start of a series about Philopoemen, a hero to rival the legend of Achilles. This is a very blokey book written by a rubber sworder battle re-enactor who has obviously undertaken extensive research into every last type of soldier, his every last piece of clothing and battle dress and has shoe horned this into every last sentence of a very long battle scene with the greek words for each item in a long glossary. I am happy to know that a foot solder with helmet and sword ran down a hill. I do not need to know that his shield was made of x and weighed this and was that wide and curved by exactly how much, or that his neighbour had an older style a foot wider and x heavier. Or that the hill was one of a pair -

"conical, like a young woman's breasts, and behind the hills ran a ridge that was taller than either, like a woman's shoulders above her breasts".

Just no. This was on the new books shelf at the library and I was feeling bad that I've had this out for ages on several renewals as I hadn't got round to it. Now I realise I've been saving everyone else from it. A public service really.