50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Ten

I listened to that too @Stokey and there was a lot of love for The Wager too which for some reason made me think of Remus.

@MegBusset I was listening to The Rest Is Entertainment which is a new podcast with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman. She was raving about the Werner Herzog book.

@GrannieMainland Burntcoat by Sarah Hall went down well at my book club this year. It's quite short but literary and lots to talk about. Or what about Claire Keegan? My favorite is Foster but Small Things Like These is set at Christmas.

Another one that was interesting was Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenback which is about refugees in Germany.

I agree with The English Patient. I have yet to read a Michael Ondatije book that I haven't struggled with.

113. The Wych Elm - Tana French. This is narrated by Toby, a 20 something charmed man in Dublin, who is goodlooking, well off and generally lucky. One night his house gets burgled and he is assaulted, leaving him physically changed & vulnerable. He goes to stay at his uncle's family house where a skull is found leading to a murder enquiry. This was very long! The start took ages and I found the part between Toby being attacked and the skull being found particularly hard work. It picks up pace in the second half but i find the whodunnit part a bit obvious, and Toby rather self pitying.

63. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Me Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

I assume everyone knows the basic plot, but this was still worth the read as the detail had passed me by.

I enjoyed letting go of reality and reading about drugs which completely alter your body shape and the old fashioned way of describing things. When I read books set in these times I find myself wondering at how society has changed when it seems that no one now gives a second thought to being a gentleman. I also love the word countenance!

For anyone looking for quick reads to up their numbers, this was 90 minutes and a page turner.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I stumbled on the Backlisted for Trustee the other day. I love it so much.

@GrannieMainland a few years old now but I remember my book club loving The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor?

Trustee from the Tool Room is still only 99p, if anybody fancies a gloriously old fashioned and LOVELY book!

I'm also in the market for winter reads. I've not been well and am at that stage now where I'm not asleep, but not really fit for much other than sighing and lying on the sofa.

I'm after some recommendations too! I have to suggest a book club book at my fairly new job which feels like a bit of pressure. Any suggestions for things that have gone down well at other book clubs? I think not too long but quite literary is the vibe.

83. Mischief Acts by Zoe Gilbert. This was very inventive, a series of linked short stories tracing the Pagan god of the hunt Hern through different iterations over the years, stretching from the 1300s up to the 2060s. The myth is that he was killed at a hunt then resurrected with giant antlers, and pops up in various guises, perpetrating some kind of mischief or chaos each time. He is associated with the Great North Wood in South London, an area I know really well, so it was nice for all the stories to be set around there. Really clever and playful, overall not for me as I just prefer more character and plot, but I really big achievement.

Lucky Girl - Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu
Coming of age as a Kenyan girl with an overbearing religious mother leaves Kenya for New York to study. Torn between her mother's expectations and her own preferences, she navigates cultural differences, relationships and 9/11.
I really liked this. It has a strong voice, likeable main character and a decent pace. It reminded me of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but isn't quite as well written as Americanah.

38 The Plague and I by Betty Macdonald
There are re-reads, and then there are books you know better than your own body. I've been reading this for decades. And how many books can you say you still belly laugh at after that long? This was a stone-cold bestseller in the US in the late 40s, following her debut The Egg and I. Betty Macdonald was diagnosed with tuberculosis in the 30s and went to a sanatorium to be treated. That's the plot. Her schtick is taking frankly shit situations (early death of her father, stuck on a remote chicken farm with the wrong husband, life-threatening illness, scraping a living in the Depression) and making you laugh like a drain. She doesn't exactly do one-liners, they tend to be paragraphs long but they're zingers all the same. There is a nice liberal background to her books (single parent, anti racist) though it is not the way those things would be written about now. All the same, enjoy.

What about "John Grisham's Skipping Christmas*? A couple decide not to do Christmas one year because their adult daughter is not coming home for once. There's lots of fallout from those around them. It's not typical Grisham and I really enjoyed it when it came out.

84: Trustee from the Toolroom - Nevil Shute

Subject of a recent 'Backlisted', in which Richard Osman waxed ecstatic, and I remembered I’d bought this for 99p ages ago. Humble, ordinary Keith Stewart - a practical maker and mender of quiet genius - lives with his shop-assistant wife in Ealing and devotes his life to his weekly column in Miniature Mechanic. Together they scrape by on their modest salaries, contented with their humdrum lot. But when Keith's sister and her husband go missing during a sea-voyage and the childless couple find themselves taking responsibility for their niece, ten-year-old Janice, Keith sets out on a daunting journey to the other side of the world, determined to be worthy of the trust placed in him.

I galloped through this in about a day - a great, old-fashioned yarn, totally unbelievable in many respects but written with such total conviction that you inhale every word.

Any recommendations for wintery or (even better) Christmassy short reads? Could be novella length or even a longer short story. It's a family book club type-thing and I completely forgot it was my turn to choose. Previously we've done MR James, A Christmas Carol, A Child's Christmas in Wales and some kind of Agatha Christie festive murder thing.

66 Every Man For Himself And God Against All - Werner Herzog

A beautiful and extraordinary memoir of an extraordinary life and outlook on the world. Herzog states openly that he’s more interested in “ecstatic truth” - what reveals the underlying truth of the world, even if that’s fiction - than a mundane list of facts, so if you’re looking for a straightforward autobiography you won’t get that here. But you do get a series of vignettes, told with deadpan humour and integrity. Highly recommended especially in the audiobook.

71. After Hello - Mhairi McFarlane
This is a free, what-happened-next long short story/short novella following up the characters in You Had Me At Hello, which I loved. Unfortunately this reads like it was written by an editorial assistant with some signature MMcF zingers thrown in. Strictly for superfans and completists.

I was thinking the same after reading your review welsh, that one of the Burgess boys features in Lucy By The Sea or Lucy in Lockdown as I thought of it :) * I liked the references to Olive as well in that book. I must put TBB on the reading list for next year. *

@Welshwabbit I'm looking forward to reading The Burgess Boys after your review. Their story also overlaps with the fourth Lucy Barton book which includes the circumstances around their father's death.

70. The Darkness Manifesto – Johan Eklöf
Short and thought-provoking series of linked pieces on the theme of darkness, the part it plays in natural cycles and the dangers of encroaching light pollution. Some of the most beautiful passages describe his observational forays at twilight and beyond in rural Sweden (Eklöf is a bat specialist), and I can imagine this being read in a sonorous Max Von Sydow voice – just imagining it was restful. I had no idea that the daily hormone cycles of so many organisms, especially insects and plants, are dependent on the cycles of light and darkness. When these cycles are interrupted it can mean, for example, that the male and female of a species miss their window to reproduce. It did get a bit repetitive, but it was short so definitely worth a read if you are interested in the environment and ecology.

Thanks for the new thread south

Here's my list

1. What You Did; Claire McGowan
2. Me; Elton John
3. She Lies in Wait; Gytha Lodge
4. Watching From the Dark; Gytha Lodge
5. Lie Beside Me; Gytha Lodge
6. Little Sister; Gytha Lodge
7. Broken Summer; J. M. Lee
8. Secrets of the Sea House; Elisabeth Gifford
9. The Mysterious Affair at Styles; Agatha Christie
10. Gallows Court; Martin Edwards
11. Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family; Omid Scobie & Carolyn Durand
12. Stealing the Crown; T. P. Fielden
13. City Dark; Roger F. Canaff
14. An Eye for an Eye; Carol Wyer
15. The Housewarming; S. E. Lynes
16. Return to Fourwinds; Elisabeth Gifford
17. The Duchess; Amanda Foreman
18. The Importance of Being Kennedy; Laurie Graham
19. Habits of the House; Fay Weldon
20. Long Live the King; Fay Weldon
21. The New Countess; Fay Weldon
22. Her Last Holiday; C. L. Taylor
23. No Home for Killers; E. A. Aymar
24. Twilight; Stephanie Meyer
25. Midnight Sun; Stephanie Meyer
26. New Moon; Stephanie Meyer
27. Eclipse; Stephanie Meyer
28. Breaking Dawn; Stephanie Meyer
29. Mortmain Hall; Martin Edwards
30. The Stroke of Winter; Wendy Webb
31. Wheel of Fortune; Susan Howatch
32. Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters; Laura Thompson
33. The Lies We Tell; Meg Carter
34. The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath; Jane Robins
35. The Memory of Lost Senses; Judith Kinghorn
36. Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All; Candace Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, M. T. Anderson, Linda Sue Park, Jennifer Donnelly, Lisa Ann Sandell
37. The Last Summer; Karen Swan
38. The Emerald Affair; Janet MacLeod Trotter
39. The IT Girl; Ruth Ware
40. Perfectly Impossible; Elizabeth Topp
41. The Dinner Guest; B. P. Walter
42. The Hunting Party; Lucy Foley
43. Divine Lola; Cristina Morato
44. Taming Mr. Walker; Rosa Lucas
45. Resisting Mr. Kane; Rosa Lucas
46. Fighting Mr. Knight; Rosa Lucas
47. Silent Vows; Jill Ramsowner
48. The Princes in the Tower; Alison Writ
49. Harriet; Jilly Cooper
50. Savage Collision; Gwyn McNamee
51. Tortured Skye; Gwyn McNamee
52. The Appeal; Janice Hallett
53. Real Ghost Stories: Haunted Castles, Inns and Mansions in the UK; Carole Somerville
54. The Sapphire Child; Janet MacLeod Trotter
55. Fifth Avenue Fling; Rosa Lucas
56. The Rescue; Julie Weaver
57. The Diamond Daughter; Janet MacLeod Trotter
58. Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing; Matthew Perry
59. Guilty Pleasures; Kitty Thomas
60. Renishaw Hall: The Story of the Sitwells; Desmond Stewart
61. Random Acts of Unkindness; Jacqueline Ward

62) The Turn of the Key - Ruth Ware
This was my second Ware this year having read The IT Girl following recommendations on here. I didn't enjoy this as much as IT Girl but the twist certainly took me by surprise. One of the resolutions didn't make any sense so that was frustrating but overall it was a well planned and executed book. I have some more of Ware's books on my tbr and am looking forward to getting to them next year

68 The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

I think Strout's genius is creating characters the bare bones of whom are clearly unlikeable, but somehow getting you to understand and empathise with them. No-one in this book is straightforwardly likeable; some of them are actively unpleasant, but you are drawn into their lives and their feelings and all of a sudden you care about what happens to them. Strout also does a wonderful job of depicting Shirley Falls, a run down post-industrial Maine town which has seen various waves of immigration over the years, and is struggling with the recent arrival of a number of Somali refugees. The events in the novel are relatively mundane, but have a cataclysmic effect on the lives of Jim, Bob and Susan Burgess, siblings both drawn together and pushed apart by the tragedy of their father's death after the family car in which the children were playing ran him over. The cracks and fissures that developed as a result are sensitively explored throughout the book, towards a resolution of sorts. Beautifully written and full of quiet revelations, I enjoyed this nearly as much as the Olive Kitteridge books.

To be honest, I didn’t really take on board that With Nails was controversial, as I was so busy just enjoying its witty, gossipy charms - but after finishing, I googled some reviews and saw that it had upset a lot of Hollywood types, notably Bruce Willis, whose mega-flop 'Hudson Hawk' REG gleefully/despairingly chronicles during the making. Apparently he’d transgressed the unwritten code of never revealing what actually goes on behind the scenes. I guess Bruce didn’t welcome having it made public that George Lucas's special effects team had been brought in specially to paint in his receding hairline in a particular scene at a cost of many thousands of $$ 🤔

I loved With Nails and will definitely read his more recent book at some point. Like Rupert Everett, he takes apart the Luvvie world he finds himself in with a keen eye for its absurdities.

For anyone who likes all things Withnail, there’s a book called Smoking In Bed which is conversations with its director , Bruce Robinson. His own books are an acquired taste tbh - I found the Jack The Ripper one unreadable. Apart from The Obvious Elephant which is an absolute classic of a picture book that every child should have on their bookcase .

62. Christmas Magic by Cathy Kelly

When I was in the library I spotted this and thought some Christmas fluff would be ideal.

I got three chapters in and was wondering how the hell the author was going to tie together this cast of characters and their separate lives (a death and a random will perhaps?) when I realised it's a collection of short stories.

Most of which are not set at Christmas.

Some of them made me smile a little but most are just nothing.... You meet a character, follow them for a couple of days and that's it.

I felt bad, but I gave it 2.5 out of 5 on storygraph.

I've got a lovely big train journey on Wednesday, so I'm thinking of picking up a fiction and non fiction. I'm expecting to manage another 3 or 4 books this year as I don't have a lot planned after I finish work on 22nd.

I really enjoyed his recent book and have got With Nails on my wish list.

@Terpsichore I shall certainly seek that out. Despite the obvious sadness of his second book, his delight and disbelief at the world he finds himself in is joyous.