50 Books Challenge 2022 Part Seven

66. Jane Eyre: Charlotte Brontë.

I thought this was good, but the pace was slow throughout and it lagged a lot. I felt I was wading through paragraphs of convoluted prose much of the time. The story picked up at the reveal of Mr. Rochester's secret, but the excitement was short-lived.

I didn't particularly like Jane, although I admired her sense of independence and her resolve to be her own person. I certainly felt she was alone in the world and her position as governess was a difficult one. This was portayed well in the book, particularly during the scene in the drawing room when one of the ladies is very dismissive of her and can't bear to look at her out of pure snobbery.

I thought the male characters were unlikeable on the whole, particularly the religious zealot who wanted to take Jane to India with him. Mr. Rochester was possessive but at least he had some affection for Jane, especially at the end of the book. He mellowed out a lot.

Overall, I'm glad I read it, but I preferred 'Wuthering Heights' by a long mile. I'll read 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' in the new year at some stage.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit no complaints, I'm very very grateful to my family and lovely best friend 😊

Indeed! For years I've seen all the debates flying back and forth but haven't been able to contribute as I haven't read the books! Going to fix that next year (and possibly kick the hornets' nest in the process)

Welcome @Zireael

Some controversial choices there!

@RomanMum

Well, at least the effort was there!

Hello, and belated merry Christmas fellow 50 bookers 🎄. I wasn't expecting so many books but my family knows my weakness.

It's the year for duplicates 😁, one is going back tomorrow. Also I have the Pinch of Nom book already. Lots to get stuck into.

Good evening 50Bookers, I've been following the threads but not posting, although have added plenty of your reads to my TBR list.

Massively busy job means I do not get as much time for reading as I would like, so will never achieve the 50+ books in a year. So far I have managed 21. Currently reading Nigel Slater's Christmas Chronicles.

It is my birthday in January and I would like to get a new kindle - does anyone have one they would particularly recommend?

In 2023 I am going to read some of the much debated titles from these threads: Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go as well as This Thing of Darkness

More full of cold than festive cheer, alas, but it's a chance to lounge around with a book:

136. Remainders of the Day, Shaun Bythell
If you've read his previous diaries of a bookseller, there's nothing new, but it's soothing stuff.

137. The Quantum Curators and the Enemy Within, Eva St John and 138. The Quantum Curators and the Missing Codex, Eva St John
Escapist adventures in a parallel universe, where curators working for the Great Library of Alexandria struggle with treachery.

139. Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd
On my Kindle for years so pleased to have read it at least. Intriguing account of visitors to Germany in the 1930s, not just the usual Mitfords, but Chinese students and African-American scholars and others.

140. The Moving Finger, by Agatha Christie
Miss Marple flits in and unravels mysterious poison pen letters leading to murder.

I wasn't given books but treated myself to a few kindle titles I'd been eyeing for a while.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie😆

Merry Christmas to all the 50 bookers! No new books for me but that's fine, I've not yet read a single one of the books I got for my birthday back in January 🙈

Have managed to break through my reading block finishing a book today after a gap of several weeks. Dont know if I'll squeeze another in before new year - will have to see.

17. Black Sunday,Tola Rotimi Abraham

This is a portrait of twin sisters who after living a relatively comfortable life in Lagos are flung into poverty. Abandoned by their parents they are left in the care of their grandmother along with their two younger brothers. Their diverging lives are followed in episodic narratives that alternate between the viewpoints of the different siblings. After intially struggling to get into the opening chapters, I found the episodic structure effective. In some ways the gaps between the chapters and the disappearance of characters viewpoints
tell the story. I was unsure about it when I started, but it drew me in. The emotional reactions of the siblings to their abandoment are incredibly well drawn and the focus on the impoverished choices the girls have struggling to survive in a patriarchal and explotative society is unflinching. It isn't a comfortable read, but I'm very glad I stuck with it. Would recommend.

I now fully intend to scream non-stop when OH insists on taking the tree down before New Year's Day.

I didn't get any books this year but I love seeing what everyone else has got. My Kindle seems to be unwell and keeps rebooting itself, so I may have to buy a new one soon.

58. A German Christmas - Festive Tales from Berlin to Bavaria
Lovely collection of Christmas stories, ranging from the charming (boy gets lost in the woods and is rescued by the much-feared Moss Lady) to the more challenging (the aunt who screams non-stop when the tree is taken down). Definitely found a few stories to revisit in future.

59. My Body - Emily Ratajkowski
A series of essays/articles by model Emily Ratajkowski, who is known partly for her appearance in the Blurred Lines video. Insightful and surprisingly compelling. Ratajkowski has clearly grappled since her early teens with the issues thrown up by being beautiful and having a body of a certain type. It allows her to earn money, but does that give her real economic power, if it is entirely dependent on the approval of men? Does she ever own her own image? While she puts herself at one end of the spectrum of "compromise" - there are lines she would never cross - she nevertheless acknowledges that she is still on that spectrum. She is clearly still working through these issues and she writes eloquently, so this was a surprise hit for me.

I will probably finish one more book this year to take me to a round 60.

Well in laws did buy me some books. Philip Larkin's poems from my wish list then some rogue choices!
The companion book to the Crown tv series, a massive coffee table hardback but I am interested in reading it. And a chick lit book Wedding Bells at Villa Limencello. I don't generally read chick lit so this is a very unusual choice but I'll give it a go at some point

Also finally finished a book!
40) The Borgias: History's Most Notorious Dynasty by Mary Hollingsworth
God this was terribly written. It's actually a previous dnf and I really had to force myself to finish it this time so I can clear it off my list. My own stubbornness in insisting on reading everything on my Kindle often ruins my own reading experience. This is just a list of things that happened. Absolutely no analysis or discussion or original thought. Literally just a list of facts that don't even join up. Sometimes she'll just throw in a completely unrelated thing that happened. "A local farmer lost seven cows to an unpleasant disease" just randomly added in when the previous paragraph was about how much certain cardinals paid for their promotion. I honestly don't know how this was ever published but this woman should not write books. I'm actually angry at how bad this was

@noodlezoodle It ought to have been perfect, but most of it is actually about after it’s gone wrong and is dicking around with language in a way that is maybe trying to be Eliot or Becket-esque. I can cope with that in plays or poetry but not when I just want a good story.

@ChannelLightVessel Looking forward to seeing what you make of TTOD

Happy belated Christmas 50 Bookers.

I didn’t get any books this year - which is maybe a good thing as I’m still sleeping in with a toddler which is making it hard to have a lamp on/ read actual physical books - but I’m still a bit disappointed. Loving seeing everyone else’s haul!

Love the culture bonus! Was wondering what to give DD for her birthday- perhaps a culture bonus voucher.
Will check back in later - didn't get any books but did get a book token and am in North Yorkshire in a town with an independent bookshop so am going to go for a mosey later on. And will update, obviously!

Bugger! I saw "When an Antarctic expedition goes wrong..." and thought ah, I think Remus might like that 😀

84 Charing Cross Road is always a good call.

A Belated Merry Christmas to one and all!
As you can see, my requests were also very influenced by these threads.

@cassandre I'm reading Glory at the moment and finding it quite hard going. It's just too much polemic and lecturing so far and not enough plot. I'm only about 20% through bit have read another book in the meantime which is never a good sign.

Happy belated Christmas to all you lovely people on this thread.

I didn't get any books this year but am tempted to treat myself in the waterstones hardback sale.

I tried it, but it's not for me so have returned it.

Instead, I re-re-re-read 84 Charing Cross Road which was just beautiful - obviously.

Happy Boxing Day 50 Bookers. Good to see everyone's Christmas selection. Just a couple for me this year from lovely MIL, but I'm about to upload an Amazon voucher to buy Lean, Fall, Stand and Another Year of Wonder - hopefully one or two of you will keep me company with the latter.

My reading ground to a halt this year, only managing 20-odd, but I really hope to get back in the groove tomorrow - two more days' leave before going back to work.

Oh @JaninaDuszejko A Place of Greater Safety is in my top 10 of all time. And The End of the Affair my favourite GG.

The Culture Bonus is great, but was introduced as an attempt to get young Italians reading as their parents don't. Which is a sad state of affairs. I can't count the houses I've been in without a single book and often tell the tale of my niece being given a storybook for her 4th or 5th birthday and my SIL being very very offended. What the fuck am I supposed to do with a book! Etc.

I'm pleased to say lots more of my students are to be seen with books than when I first came here almost 30 years ago though.

Rumour has it the bonus may become means tested under the new govt.

@JaninaDuszejko

I know it's a doorstop but I have to scream PLACE OF GREATER SAFETY as your first! It's really good. Had a bit of a quibble with the ending, but I loved reading it.