50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Four

@KateF I’ve just skipped back and seen your review of Tidelands after I posted mine!

Agree with you about the ending.

Agree with your summary of the Jane Harper books highland. The Lost Man is the best.

Book 25
Tidelands by Philippa Gregory

Set in 1600’s England this is the story of Alinor and her children, living in poverty and under fear of judgement. As a single woman scratching a living as a healer and midwife, she is both dangerously independent and a social outcast. In a similar vein to books such as The Familiars this story highlights the injustice to women throughout history. The story is blowsy, historical high drama full of fair maidens, jealous wives and plotting gentry. There’s a hot, wealthy traveller, sworn to celibacy but in need of assistance (!). The mystery of the missing husband; trepidation as her beautiful daughter comes of age in a world ruled by men of low morals and few consequences and the tantalising future prospect of a better life through her son’s companion placement to the wealthy landowners. Entertaining historical fiction, not my usual bag but much needed escapist fluff.

MuseumOf Ham I enjoyed The Dry, found Force of Nature much weaker, but JH really returned to form with The Lost Man. Imo it's her best book.

I hear you MuseumOfHam - my kindle tells me I have 18h 56m reading time remaining in The Stand. Loving it so far!

I hope you enjoy Lonesome Dove - I loved it. Loved Heartburn too.

I've got about twenty samples to work through today, and must decide on at least three of them to buy.

Have given up on Zone One - really irritating.

Finished a couple of books that are generally much loved and already well reviewed on these threads.

26. Heartburn by Nora Ephron Entered this with some trepidation, as the Venn diagram of people who loved this and people who loved Standard Deviation seemed to be pretty much a circle. I can still seethe about how much I disliked Standard Deviation (even more so with hindsight) so I was pleasantly surprised to find I loved this. In this pretty-close-to-autobiographical short novel, a sassy urbanite cookery writer discovers her second husband is cheating on her when she is seven months pregnant. Without diminishing the betrayal, shock and heartache she felt, she proceeds to turn this into a hilarious, gossipy, sparky story, with recipes. Raced through this in a day.

27. The Dry by Jane Harper Can totally see why this thriller is so popular. The oppressive small town in a drought is the real main character of this, with so many intrigues and simmering resentments woven through. The shocking murder of a family gives a returning cop the opportunity to pick over the whole tapestry of events from the past and present, as seen through the eyes of people whose families have been there for years, as well as people who have rocked up more recently and stayed. Not hearing such great things about the follow up to this, so I might leave on a high, as this was a really good thriller.

Started Lonesome Dove this morning. My kindle says I have 25h 19m remaining in book. Might have to intersperse it with some shorter reads, otherwise, see you all in a while.

45 The Dark Side of the Mind by Kerry Daines

I picked this up as I've seen it recommended somewhere (maybe on here?) & it's on 99p deal atm.

The author is a psychologist, mainly working within the criminal justice system, but also in secure hospitals and elsewhere. The book talks about her experiences through her career (including her own experience of being the victim of a stalker). I found it really interesting & definitely worthwhile. The Heartland by Nathan Filer was one of my top reads last year, and this was a good additional perspective. I particularly appreciated the author's suggestion that rather than getting tied up in labels, it's more helpful to think about what someone is experiencing and the effect this is having on them (eg not 'they're schizophrenic', but 'they are hearing voices regularly that they are finding frightening').

I've fallen off this thread so far I don't think I'll get back!! I've been mainly re-readind as concentration is shot. Really enjoying a re-read of Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies trilogy atm.

But I popped on to say that on BBC4 tonight at 10pm they are showing the first 2 episodes of Wolf Hall, the 3rd & 4th tomorrow & the final 2 next Sunday. Just thought it might be a nice escape for Hilary Mantel fans.

@bettybattenburg. Pleased that you enjoyed Sealwoman's Gift so much. I was lucky enough to find it in the ships's library whilst on a cruise around Iceland. Gave me a better understanding of how remote and harsh life must have been. .

Oh @lastqueenofscotland

That has been on my TBR as long as I've had a Kindle, so 10 years

I have been determined to box it off this year

Worth it you say?

10. the Memory of Love - Aminatta Forna Not read in about 6 weeks due to work going mad with the whole situation, so got some catching up to do. This was good, Sierra Leone love with a touch of war. Readable but not groundbreaking. Hag-seed by Margaret Atwood next which I’m enjoying so far but not finding it as gripping as others I’ve read

1. Pet Semetary by Stephen King (2/5)
2. The Outsider by Albert Camus (5/5)
3. Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter by Carol Ann Lee (3/5)
4. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. (4/5)
5. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. (5/5)
6. 4321 by Paul Auster. (4/5)
7. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. (3/5)
8. The Devil's Teardrop by Jeffrey Deaver. (1/5)
9. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor. (3/5)

30. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor. A reread of the second book in the series and it's definitely the weakest of those I have read so far. Some of the parts in Mary's court made for uncomfortable reading. (3/5).

It is now Betty !

I love writing and receiving letters so this really appealed.

Have you read The Lost art of letter writing by Menna Van Praag (or is it Von Praag - I can never remember!) ?

And yes, I was reading the book lovers companion.

This is my list
1- Days of Wonder by Keith Stuart
2- Once in a Lifetime- Chrissie Manby

I rarely get the chance to sit down and read these days. Apologies if my list is rather short.

@bettybattenburg - The Missing Ink: The Lost Art of Handwriting - Philip Hensher was a recommendation from this thread quite a while back. It had several lively reviews iirc. I love writing and receiving letters so this really appealed.

I think your goodreads request went through - are you currently reading The Book Lovers Companion ?

23. My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay. Devastating autobiography of the poet's childhood in foster care and care homes. He is only 4 years older than I am and this has made me really focus to try and recall how the 70s really were and how much (I hope) some things have changed. I would absolutely recommend reading this.

Thanks @Boiledegg. I got Literary Review after it was recommended on this forum. It's really good but I feel like choosing what to read next is like choosing something to watch after Breaking Bad. Think I'm going to read a short novel from my stack of paperbacks.

I am sorry to hear about your experience; as you say, sadly I suspect it is one that will resonate with many more.

Thanks for your review Roz. I had also seen it in Literary Review and added it to my wishlist, so will definitely go for it now.

1. My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russel

Saw this book favourably reviewed in a copy of Literary Review and had to read it immediately. I have to preface this review with the information that I have personal experience of the premise of this novel. I didn’t have a relationship with a teacher but I did have a similar experience with a different figure in my life. I think, sadly, I will be one of many that can identify with this book and feel stunned and contemplative by the end.

In essence this is a story about a girl/woman who is groomed under the guise of ‘love’ by a teacher. She never feels abused and struggles with the labels of victimhood and the responses of those around her when hearing about it. The book goes forward and back in time and tells the story of how it began, how it continued, and how it affected her forever.

I couldn’t leave this book alone. It was so well written and so compelling. I know I will forever buy whatever this author puts out. It’s early in the year but I feel this will remain the standout by the end.

I finished The Sealwoman's gift last night. What can I say - 5 stars.

I have been to the places in Iceland where it was set so really identified with that part of the story and enjoyed the parts set in Algiers, particularly the women on the roof tops. It was a part of history I knew nothing about, I'd be reading the translation of the book about it if it wasn't £20 for the kindle!

And now for something completely different - Jane MacDonald's Riding the Waves. I watch her tv programmes and find her to be quite ditzy and irritating, I want to know if it's an act or if she's really like that so I'm reading her book.

44. Summerland by Hannu Rajaiemi Alt-history spy novel, set in a 1938 in which the afterlife is very real, in day to day contact with the living worlds (through ecto-phones and other technology) and thoroughly colonised by the great powers of the day. SIS agent Rachel White follows a lead on a potential Soviet mole, only to find her investigation shut down, and her career sidelined.
    This was OK, but it didn't really come off for me - it's a bit of a funny mix of pastiche spy novel (featuring all the Cambridge spies) and diesel-punk alt-tech. The characters were a bit thin, and the world building wasn't really enough to carry it. Having said that, there was enough plot & interest that I read it reasonably quickly, and looking at reviews of his other books I might give them a try some time.

I've enjoyed reading through the thread and taking notes as to future reads. I've not read so much recently as lacked concentration and found myself getting too addicted to nonsence on my phone. I've taken that in hand over the last few days and am back reading again.

My list so far:

1. Missing by Karin Altvegen
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
3. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
4. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
5. To the Land of Long Lost Friends by Alexander McCall Smith
6. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
7. Circe by Madeline Miller
8. Girl Woman Other by Bernadine Evaristo
9. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Just finished today Tidelands by Philippa Gregory. I enjoyed this, essentially a story about how women's lives are shaped and dictated by men. Set at the end of the English Civil War it tells the story of Alinor, a poor woman who acts as midwife and herbalist to a small fishing community and is suspected of having 'the sight' as her mother did before her. One night she meets James, a Royalist spy lost in the Tidelands, and helps him to safety. There begins a relationship which alters the course of Alinor's life. I liked that there wasn't a contrived happy ending as it would have been unbelievable and that all the characters were flawed.

Next I'm going to read To Kill a Mockingbird which one of the dds had for Eng Lit and I've shockingly never read.