50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Three

Hear hear! My DS's Walliams phase was flipping painful.

I think that David Walliams thinks he's the new Dahl, which he'll never be. I've never read any of his books, but I've read threads about it on here and the majority of posters don't rate them at all.

I read this a long time ago and came away with the impression that Georgiana was one of those women people either adore or find unbearably annoying. Sorry to say that I was in the second camp.

Sheila Newbury the girl by the sea forme now. A bit of good old light historical "that" kind of book.i like them.
Then debating to logan new one or one called A shoe story.

Sorry biblio

His body shaming is horrific!

Slightly disappointed, Tara - I thought you might have been offering to show us yours if we showed you ours.

I've never warmed to Dahl so I don't really care. I'm not always against changes to text. Lots of edits happen pre-publication so I don't see why publication is a bright line that means henceforth the text is unassailable.

Just finished The Ink-Black Heart, by Robert Galbraith. I groaned at the length, found the pacing off, and I really don't care will they/won't they, but I enjoyed the convincingly nasty characters and thought it was a valid portrayal of the risks of online pile-ons. Non-fans of the author will not be converted.

I do find it ridiculous that Dahl is being censored, who is very much of his time, while people like David Walliams get to write utter tosh that is lauded.

I think I'd probably drink it anyway. It's not going to do me much good but would be a distraction from what is going on below.

I wondered what you'd done, @Tarahumara ! It didn't seem very 50 books to get quarantined. I've seen a few references to this but life has been a bit tricksy the last week or so, so haven't really looked carefully at it. I shall go off and investigate - in general, I'm not a fan of revising texts, aside from the most egregious instances of offensive language.

Ah, that would be it - petitions are supposed to go in their own section, so it's not to do with the subject matter.

Sorry folks, I posted a link to a petition against the changes made to Roald Dahl's books, I think maybe links to petitions aren't allowed? I'm sure you can locate the petition if you're interested in signing it 😉

10. Les Cahiers d’Esther : Histoires de mes 11 ans – Riad Sattouf More of Esther's take on life as she negotiates her way through the tricky final year of primary school. Spoiler alert: she still doesn't have an iPhone 😉 I've joined the library queue for the next instalment and have just realised I don't actually know how many of these Sattouf has written!

Yes, imagine the exquisite torture of not having any guts left and so having to turn down a nice cup of tea.

A Very British Inquisition.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit The ‘Patrick’ thing was irritatingly awkward at first.

I now see it’s been made into a film with Harry Styles, so I will try to see that at some point.

It’s a great story and I think I’d find the ‘it’ that happens less annoying if not in first person.

Well that's a first for the 50 Books thread ... @Tarahumara Hope you're okay.

I remember I wasn't allowed to read Harry Potter because of the Christian Right reaction, which was rather silly considering the books I was allowed to read which would have definitely upset the Christian Right a lot more!

This was me as well Remus so close to a bold and yet so far!

But did she really have to keep saying Patrick? And him repeating the phrase? So annoying

My Policeman
I really enjoyed about 75% of this and was even willing to forgive the stylistic’things’ that @EineReiseDurchDieZeit thought I’d be irritated by. It was all set to be a standout for me, but then ‘it’ happened (avoiding spoiler) and I thought it went rapidly downhill from there. I also felt it suffered from having two voices to express the story of three people: I understood why the writer chose to do that, but it still annoyed me.

A brilliant idea, not executed as well as it could have been ultimately.

@PepeLePew I’m glad to hear someone else thinks Odysseus is a dick! I’ve been ranting that very sentence to DH while reading! I’ve heard the Emily Wilson translation is good. I read and liked the Lattimore.

Oh, and a DNF So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. Initially I felt like this was the material for a series of newspaper articles overly stretched to make it into a book. Then when he got into questioning why well connected, extremely rich, legally trained and able to afford excellent libel lawyers Max Mosely could mysteriously survive his public shaming so very much better than Ronson's other interviewees I metaphorically threw it across the room.

14 Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor by Dave Haslam
Memoir by the DJ & music writer. I think several other posters have read & reviewed this previously. I found it a very entertaining canter through the Manchester scene, & have enjoyed listening my way through much of the music he talks about.

15 Unraveller by Frances Hardinge
In the country of Raddith, wild things live in the woods, and if people become angry enough, they can curse their enemies. Kellen has an exceptional talent; he can unravel curses, and restore the victims to their original state. Nettle - cursed with her siblings, 'fixed' by Kellen - travels with him. But now someone powerful is helping the cursers Kellen has helped imprison to escape.
This was a fantastic read - a really gripping plot, and fabulous world building. Although Hardinge is marketed as YA / children's fiction, lots of her books stand up as well as any adult fantasy. This one definitely lived up to her earlier books like Fly by Night or A Face Like Glass, & I'm sure I'll read it again.

'When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.' WSC.

For those interested Meghan Phelps Roper's podcast featuring JK Rowling has been released today. The Witch Trials Of JK Rowling as it's getting underway is more at this point about the strength of the Christian Right reaction to Harry Potter originally and I assume will progress from there.