50 Books Challenge 2022 Part Seven

Continuation of my list from last thread;

48. Bel Canto: Ann Patchett
49. Wuthering Heights: Emily Brontë
50. Wolf Hall: Hilary Mantel
51. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking: T. Kingfisher
52. Black Narcissus: Rumer Godden
53. All the Light We Cannot See: Anthony Doerr
54. Oh William!: Elizabeth Strout
55. A Gentleman in Moscow: Amor Towles
56. Left For Dead: Jane Casey
57. A Start in Life: Anita Brookner
58. Je Suis Là: Clélie Avit
59. The Queen of Dirt Island: Donal Ryan
60. The Woman in White: Wilkie Collins

• *This was a good and enjoyable installment. I highlighted the ones that really grabbed me and the ones I might read again.

Thanks for the new thread Southeastdweller.

Thanks @Southeastdweller.
Recent reads...
48. 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam
Time management/productivity non-fiction - 168 is the number of hours in a week and this book has the subtitle 'You Have More Hours Than You Think'. I really like Laura Vanderkam's work, but some parts of this book were more interesting than others and as an overall experience it was just fine. I will stay completely loyal to her blog/podcast and thinking about how I can apply her ideas to my life, but don't really recommend this book.
49. The Winners by Fredrik Backman
Recent release, third in the Beartown trilogy that I have loved reading this year. Set in rural Sweden, we are back in the ice hockey obsessed communities of Beartown and Hed as Backman catches us up on the lives of key characters from the previous books and points us towards the destinies that he has been planning for each individual since first introduced them to us in the first book, Beartown. It's clear that he didn't want to leave any thread hanging loose, he had a vision that he wanted to turn in to reality, so where the previous two books were fairly average length novels, this was 670 pages long. It never dragged but it did take me weeks to read. I loved it, as I did the earlier two books, and would count all three up there with the best fiction that I have read this year.
50. The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts
Gentle, fascinating non-fiction telling the story of Annie Wilkins who, as a 60-something farmer living with illness and poverty in 1950s Maine, decided to set out on horseback with her dog Depeche Toi to ride to California to see the Pacific Ocean. Letts fills us in on Annie's background and that of her family, and then takes us through the ups and downs of Annie's journey across the USA at a time of considerable change (enormous increases in car use, for example, and the changes to landscapes, communities and lifestyles that came with that). I thought this was a really good read - it has a gentle pace and is not intended to be hard-hitting but I think a lot of it will stay with me and I enjoyed the journey.
51. Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott
Also non-fiction - in this case I didn't always enjoy the experience of reading the book but also think this will stay with me and influence my understanding of the world in really important ways. As a New York Times journalist, the author was interested in the experiences of homeless families living in New York and began to spend time with the family of Desani, a young girl living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. She followed Desani's life for over a decade as she grew up in poverty, struggled to stay in school, and supported her mother and step-father as they strived to care for Desani and her seven siblings. While I thought I knew a bit about the challenges faced by children in low income families, looking after siblings, this also opened my eyes in lots of different ways. An important book.

In December I'm hoping to read a few short Christmassy books and to clear a few titles off my TBR pile so that I'm not going into the new year with the same stack sitting beside my bed. And as always, I'm probably intending to read twice as many as I will actually have time for! Might make it to 60 by 31st Dec...maybe!

Remus

I loved both Corelli and Lincoln In The Bloody Bardo, We, The Drowned might finally get off TBR next year

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller ! I'll save my list for the end of the year.

I saw some chat at the end of the last thread about the RSC Hamnet adaptation with sounds fab!

The Colleen Hoover phenomenon fascinated me. I'd never heard of her until a few months ago the Instagram algorithm started aggressively promoting posts about her books to me. I think it's very interesting the way her books (as I understand it) got big on tik tok, then filtered through to older social media, then finally got picked up by the traditional media.

Anyway latest read for me:

63. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Jess turns up to visit her brother Ben in Paris only to find he's disappeared and his apartment block is full of strange characters, all of whom have something to hide. A pretty decent read if you want a very quick, easy thriller.

Thanks. Is it the Russian folk tales? I suspect I've read them in some version or other.

Thanks. Yes, I'll keep it on my wish list and keep an eye on it. Will also check the library. I really enjoyed the opening.

I also read the (incredibly long) sample of We, the Drowned. It reminded me of a mash up of Captain Correlli and Lincoln in the Bloody Bardo. I didn't hate it but not sure I liked it enough to read more. I'll keep it in the wish list and see how desperate I get!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Stick it on a Wish list and hope it drops in price? It's about 10 years since I read it and I gave it 5 stars at the time I haven't read any other of hers. You also might get lucky in a charity shop. I don't have it or I'd send it.

Go with God @noodlezoodle

<Sign Of The Cross>

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie Ransome did a collection of Russian stories with a definite wintery feel - no idea if it's on Kindle as I have a paper copy.

@stokey Sounds like an Oscar award just made me do a terribly undignified snort whilst sipping my Earl Grey.

Fell Farm books not on Kindle, sadly. Have got the sample of the Ransome - I actually have only ever read one of his (the obvious one) so that could potentially be a whole new world to explore.

Sticks head above parapet...I don't think I can cope with Sebastian Barry, based on previous experience. Ducks...

Thanks @Southeastdweller

Thanks for the recs at the end of the old thread, everyone. Will check them out later.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit You have unwittingly placed me in a puzzle and a quandary and a dilemma. I read and liked the sample of Jamrach's Menagerie but then I realised the author wrote one of the worst books I've ever finished: Review below.

Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch
I hated this. Only finished it because it was a freebie and I had to review it. I have absolutely no idea how it was Booker shortlisted because it is very badly written and, considering that its subject matter (19th century freak shows) is right up my street, it was very dull. So – there’s a woman covered in hair who looks like an ape but sings and dances like an angel. So far, so good. She sings and dances her way through about 250 pages, however, so not so good. Interspersed with that is some really dull stuff about another woman, this time a v uninteresting modern woman, who is a hoarder. Cue lots of boring stuff about her shelves of crap, and even more boring stuff about two men who seem to love her anyway. It all comes together in the end, but not in a way that makes the journey at all worthwhile. I see the Guardian reviewer didn’t like it either. Frankly, I’m astonished that a publisher was prepared to sell this drivel. The cover was beautiful though.

And now I feel like I can't spend even a mere six English pounds of my hard-earned dosh on Jamrach's, even though it has the history and sea voyage I yearn for. Bugger.

Thanks Chessie - fingers crossed!

@noodlezoodle I really liked The Twyford Code so hopefully you will too!

The update royally cacked up the numbering @nowanearlyNicemum. I can almost wrangle it into the corret format, but for some reason the first item in the list is always out.

Phew! Got to the end of the last thread and panicked - thanks @Southeastdweller.

I've been saving The Twyford Code so now I'm feeling somewhat crestfallen, boooooo.

Almost no chance of me reaching 50 this year (currently on #31, although I am halfway through about 5 other books) so I've stopped hoping.

Snorting at bollocking toshfests which is so much more poetic than stinkers.

WIDMERPOOL!

What is going on with the numbering??

Thanks southeast.

New thread, new list.

1. Unorthodox – Deborah Feldman
2. Me - Elton John
3. Pies and prejudice – Stuart Maconie
4. Winter – Ali Smith
5. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 6. How to build a girl – Caitlin Moran
6. My name is why – Lemn Sissay
7. Life after Life – Kate Atkinson 9. Toast – Nigel Slater 10. Open Water – Caleb Azumah Nelson
8. The Lie – Helen Dunmore 12. Banish clutter forever: How the toothbrush principle will change your life – Sheila Chandra
9. Watermelon – Marian Keyes
10. Hungry – Grace Dent
11. Case Histories – Kate Atkinson
12. Diary of a bookseller – Shaun Bythell
13. Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart 18. Foster – Claire Keegan
14. Peaches for Monsieur Le Curé – Joanne Harris
15. Early morning riser – Katherine Heiny 21. Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
16. Rachel’s Holiday – Marian Keyes
17. The Island – Victoria Hislop
18. Seven days of us – Francesca Hornak
19. One August night – Victoria Hislop 26. I thought it was just me (but it isn’t): telling the truth about perfectionism, inadequacy and power – Brené Brown DNF : The devil in the Kitchen – Marco Pierre White & James Steen 27. The man who died twice – Richard Osman
20. Frugal Food – Delia Smith
21. Public Library and other stories – Ali Smith
22. Moon Tiger – Penelope Lively
23. Half-baked idea – Olivia Potts 32. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

Currently reading Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie and am surprisingly underwhelmed so far, having loved both Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. I'm also listening to Taste by Stanley Tucci - and loving it!

Thanks for the new thread, south. I think I’ll leave my list till the year’s end too.

Increasingly doesn't look like I'll make it to 50 this year...

1 The Dutch House - Ann Patchett
2 Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr
3 Life at the Top - John Braine
4 The Mermaid of Black Conch - Monique Roffey
5 Ducks, Newburyport - Lucy Ellman
6 A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson
7 The Watchers on the Shore - Stan Barstow
8 A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz
9 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
10 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
11 Mr Foreigner - Matthew Kneale
12 A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian - Monica Lewycka
13 My Mate Shofiq - Jan Needle
14 Red Shift - Alan Garner
15 Dogs of War - Adrian Tchaikovsky
16 To Calais, in Ordinary Time - James Meek
17 Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
18 Burial Rites - Hannah Kent
19 The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng
20 Arthur & George - Julian Barnes
21 Life Isn't All HaHa HeeHee - Meera Syal
22 The Collected Short Stories of F Scott Fitzgerald - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor
24 Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
25 The Chosen Ones - Steve Sem-Sandberg
26 I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
27 Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel
28 Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile - Alice Jolly
29 The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Anderson
30 The Hundred and One Dalmations - Dodie Smith
31 Headlong - Micheal Frayn
32 Little Altars Everywhere - Rebecca Wells
33 The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureshi
34 Pereira Maintains - Antonio Tabbuchi
35 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

@PepeLePew I loved Action Park but also was horrified at the health and safety/legal aspect. I grew up in an environment where jumping off garage roofs/bridges was normal teenage behaviour, so I understand why some of the employees acted the way they did. What was shocking to me was that the park could opt out of having insurance, meaning people had absolutely no comeback in the event of accidents. It's an eyeopener of a book, that's for sure.

And thank you southeast!

Hello everyone, checking in. You don't need my list - will save it for the end of the year.
maud, what did you think of Action Park? I loved it, and gave it to several people who I thought would love it but they were all horrified and saw it as a cautionary tale about what happens if you don't have good health and safety legislation in place. Which, to be fair, it is as well.
Did you ever read the Wikipedia article about it? It's quite special.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park

Just marking place.
bollocking toshfests [Grin]

Am reading The Postscript Murders - Elly Griffiths.
I don’t think it’s anywhere near as good as the Ruth Galloway series which I loved but it’s ok. Too many characters maybe.

Bringing across my list:

1. The Long and Short of It - Jodi Taylor
2. The Manningtree Witches - A K Blakemore
3. The Passenger - Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz
4. Midsummer Mysteries - Agatha Christie
5. Real Tigers - Mick Herron

1. Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne
2. A Springtime Affair - Katie Fforde
3. Love is Blind - William Boyd

And adding my latest book:

80. The Colour Purple - Alice Walker

I am probably the only person on the thread who had not read this or seen the film.
The story of Celie is told in letters to God and then letters to/from her sister Nettie. It’s set in the early 20th century in the Southern USA and Celie is poor and black and has a grim life populated by unpleasant men: father/husband/stepson. Notwithstanding Celie’s tough life, I found this an uplifting book because Celie avoids self-pity and there are some great female characters. Recommended!