50 Book Challenge 2014

[juneybean]

Hopefully nobody minds me starting this thread.

The idea is to read 50 books in 2014 (or more as many people have achieved this year!)

Please also check out our group on Goodreads if you're stuck for ideas of what books to read!

www.goodreads.com/group/show/59438-the-book-vipers

1. The Safest Place. Suzanne Bulger

Enjoyed this, very easy reading 8/10.

Me too mumslife! What the hell was said? nosy

1. The Circle - Dave Eggers

The bit with the turtle made me feel sick. Am questioning my FB use now! Though not my use of MN funnily enough...

Still to finish:

1. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett
2. A Teacup in a Storm: An Explorer's Guide to Life - Mick Conefrey

You don't have to use goodreads of it isn't working for you. I only use my challenge in the vipers and my personal challenge target number thing. It isn't a condition of this thread, but I do personally enjoy the challenges.

Oh thread deletion!!!

Mumslife, I wondered that too.

And I agree about goodreads, it seems like a messy website IYSWIM?

I am off the mark with....

1. The snake, the crocodile and the dog by Elizabeth Peters.

Book seven in the Amelia Peabody series. For those who haven't tried them they are warm, witty and lighthearted detective novels featuring Victorian feminist and archaeologist Amelia Peabody - who is rapidly becoming one of my fictional heroines.

Ooh good thread. I'm aiming for 60 this year. I managed 54 last year but a lot some of those were the entire Jilly Cooper collection total trash. I also read a lot of fantasy fiction. I had no idea I would enjoy vampires and druids.

I'm going to check a lot of the recommendations on Amazon, so thank you MN

I enjoyed The Pact mumslife, one of her better ones I thought!

I loathed The Little Friend, I just got so bored, I never finished it, and that's rare for me!

My guess on the deleted post was that it was an author promoting their own book. Seen it before on here. Is frowned on by MN

This is the Goodreads main reading challenge which is run by the site, not by the individual groups on there. You can set the number of books you want to challenge yourself to read during 2014. It can be any number and you can alter the target number during the year if you find yourself getting ahead of the challenge, or falling behind.

You can also set up individual bookshelves on there to log the books you read each year, separately from the main Books Read shelf.

I use Goodreads quite a lot, now that I have got to grips with it, but don't bother with the Listopia, or Book Recommendations very much.

Happy to help if anyone has any questions or is confused about something on there.

I find it works well if you have a look at the various groups on there, find one or two that you like the sound of - like Book Vipers for example :o, join them and chat on there. You can then make friends with some of the people you get on with on there and see what they are reading, give and receive personal book recommendations from people who actually know what you like to read rather than the computer-generated Goodreads recommendations.

Hope that helps.

Though slightly late to the party, please can I join too?

Thanks to my shining new kindle (Christmas pressie!) I've read two books so far this year, the first of the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard (really enjoyed) and She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb (unsure what I thought about this, found all the bits about the obese girl's affinity with the beached whales quite contrived).

On to the book for my book group now, which is very much NOT what I would normally pick - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Book 1 - the Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
Book 2 - The Blackhouse - Peter May
Book 3 - The Universe Versus Alex Woods.

I adored this (book 3)! A really easy, engaging read with a very easy to love protagonist. I loved his mum, Isaac and Ellie too. A real 'brain break' book despite opening up a dialogue about a very emotive and divisive issue.

Anne, the crimson petal was looong. I found a sections in the middle to be especially dry and felt that some of the sub characters could have been omitted but I generally enjoyed it. The despair of the life of certain sections of Victorian society was evoked well enough but I'm not convinced that the author stood back enough from being a man when describing some of the detail of life as a prostitute. Brave to try as a modern day author I guess, but hard to do.

1. Rubbernecker - Belinda Bauer 8/10

Loved this book and her writing and charactisation made me overlook the v. convenient coincidences towards the end.

And thanks for spotting the Bill Bryson on the 99p deal - have already bought several including The Goldfinch. I'm going to have to up my own target at this rate to get through my to-read list (and am trying not to look at my nearly 300+ Amazon wishlist )

Going to start the Luminaries now for book club. Can't say I'm particularly looking forward to it. Here's hoping I'm going to be pleasantly shocked!

dragontrainer, I LOVED the fault in our stars.
V moving, I hope you enjoy it.

DBXmum I actually got to about pg 500 if I remember correctly so perhaps should have just ploughed on.

remus for re-reads I've had to pick different editions as it doesn't let you record it twice for the same book, if that makes sense.

oh yes count me in as I love reading!! I'm on my 3rd book as of today :)

Makes perfect sense, thanks - and is another reason I don't like it! :)

1. Robert Galbraith - The Cuckoo's Calling
2. Megan Abbott - The End of Everything
3. B.B. - The Little Grey Men
4. Rachel Abbott - Only The Innocent

Enjoyed Cuckoo's Calling and Only The Innocent. Just started

1. Cecelia Aherne - One Thousand Names and finding main character irritating. Living up to my expectations as been disappointed in all of her books since PS I Love You. Can only get better

1. The Sick Rose by Erin Kelly.

Book 3 finished - The Dark Tower (7) - sob. :( So that's three huge books done - will move onto a shorter non-fiction one now!