50 Book Challenge 2022 Part Three

Grape

"Horrible, Ricky, horrible!"

8 Mein Rant: a Summary in Light Verse of Mein Kampf, by R F Patterson

Created to bolster the spirits of the British public in 1940, part of a tradition of ridicule. Written in Carroll/Milne - style doggerel:
The statesman who is sage and wise
Will not indulge in petty lies
For if he tells a mighty whopper
His conduct will be far more proper

A quick and easy read, even if you do have to go back and re-emphasise a few bits. Not exactly funny as such, and occasionally a bit uncomfortable as Hitler's thoughts on Jews are rendered (as his thoughts on everything else) without comment. An interesting little piece of history.

I still enjoy No 1 ladies but haven't read the latest one. It's on the TBR pile at the minute.

@MaudOfTheMarches I also reached that stage with the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency ! Sometimes even halfway through the book I’m still not clear on whether I’ve read it before. My ‘reading memory’ is all appalling to be fair, but I do think some of the blame has to go to the writing in this case at least.

18. Marion's Angels by KM Peyton I felt in need of a light read, & picked this one up prompted by the KM Peyton chat a while back.
    It's a sort-of-sequel to the Ruth/Pennington books, revisiting them a few years after the end of Pennington's Heir. I'm not sure why I didn't read it back in the day - it's classic KM Peyton with 'all the feels' as the youth might say (or probably don't any more).

@MaudOfTheMarches I gave up on the Ladies' Detective. I loved them at first but thought they got very samey and rather lazy.

@Piggywaspushed I’ve fallen behind already, I will be finish the ‘homework’ tonight and then be along to the Hard Times thread

The writing is a bit pedestrian but there's enough to interest me in them.

I think they fill that slot for me - diverting but not taxing. I hope he doesn't string it out too long, though. I'm not really one for series but once I've started I feel obliged to keep going. I'm still dutifully following the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, despite getting to the stage where I can pick one up and not know whether I've already read it.

I haven’t looked at the monthly deals yet but probably a good thing for me if not much worth buying!

17. To the Hilt - Dick Francis

Still ploughing on through my re-reads. Alexander is an artist and usually lives off grid in Scotland. However, he comes from a traditional aristocratic family and goes to the aid of his mother and stepfather when it’s discovered that the FD of his stepfather’s business has disappeared and all the cash is in Panama. Where are the horses? The plundered business sponsors a high profile race and his stepfather owns a racehorse. The racing content is almost non-existent (a regular gripe of mine) but it’s a decent thriller.

Remus I got that too - I've read the first couple in the series and enjoyed them.

The only thing I've seen in the Kindle sale is one I bought for £2.99 a few days ago, now 99p. It's got me reading again after a couple of weeks off though, so I'm not complaining! Nothing exciting - just an Andrew Taylor - number 5 in the Ashes of London series.

[quote merryhouse]@AliasGrape - worth it for "Must George be vulgar?" though [/quote]
Oh absolutely. To be fair I still inhaled it in 2 days

I very much appreciated Cedric too!

@AliasGrape - worth it for "Must George be vulgar?" though

10. Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

Whoa! This was a was a vividly created, phenomenal masterpiece from the author of The Queen's Gambit and The Man Who Fell to Earth It made me think long and hard about this entirely plausible scenario of humankind's downfall, seen through the eyes of its most advanced AI and two people who somehow "wake up" and see their world for what it really is.

I rate this book as highly as 1984 and certainly far beyond most SF I have read over the last 30 years. Highly recommended.

14. The Corinthian - Georgette Heyer Another from the ‘Heyer’ file on my kindle as I avoid reading anything ‘proper’, mindless escapism being the order of the day here. This is not one of the better ones, IMO. I’m not sure why I chose it for a reread other than I couldn’t really remember anything about it. Nearly 30 year old man about town falls for 17 year old ‘not yet out’ girl who is mostly portrayed as a child. All kinds of silliness and capers ensue, girl dresses like a boy and is worthy of love on account of being not like all those other stupid women who have to worry about their reputations and propriety and stuff, and try to find husbands what with that being the only way to guarantee their future security. Silly women, no wonder the Corinthian decides to marry a child, that’ll learn them.

7 The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

Book 24 in the Discworld series. Lifelong Policeman and reluctant aristocrat Sam Vimes is sent as the new Ambassador to a small area in the mountains where vampires werewolves and dwarfs are working out how best to be part of the Modern World (and the humans just hope to be still alive at the end of it). Someone has committed a crime - though quite what is uncertain, except that deaths are involved - and Vimes is determined to solve the mystery. Pterry at the top of his game. Jokes are almost non-existent except a tongue-in-cheek parody of them, and the subtleties all go somewhere. Not one to start with (especially if you don't want any spoilers) but a highly satisfying read.

Has anyone readKing Leopalds Ghost, I was investing in that

@bibliomania I have not read Invisible Women so may snap that up!

Oh well, I guess I should work through the huge stack of 99p deals already filling up my kindle.

Very slim pickings this month, although there are a number of good ones that have been in previous deals. I have bought Sea State and The Mad Women's Ball, both of which have had good reviews so I will give them a go at 99p each.

Oh yes, agreed Terp - Prairie Fires is worth the read.

Just a reminder that there are a few interesting things in the new monthly deals - well, I think they’re the new deals, they’re so hard to find! Quite a few decent biographies. Prairie Fires is 99p again (the Laura Ingalls Wilder biog), and I bought Anne Sebba's book about Ethel Rosenberg, which has had good reviews.

Didn't see anything I wanted to buy, Grannie. There seem to be a few repeat deals, so it's a chance to pick up Invisible Women for anyone who missed it previously. I bought it but haven't managed to read it yet.

13. Intimacies by Katie Kitamura This was a slight, curious book about a young woman working as an interpreter at the (fictionalised) international criminal court at The Hague. It explores various kinds of intimacy through her friendships and romantic relationships, and most interestingly through the strange bond that develops between a person on trial and their interpreter when they are communicating in a common language which no one else understands.

Very clear prose and enjoyable to read. It felt very heavy with themes and ideas though and I think could have benefitted from a bit more space.

On another note, any good tips in the kindle monthly deals? I haven't spotted anything I want to buy yet...

I'll be along in a while Piggy!