50 Book Challenge 2014 Part 2

[juneybean]

Thread 2 of the 50 book challenge. Here is the previous thread...

The idea is to read 50 books in 2014 (or more!)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/adult_fiction/1951735-50-Book-Challenge-2014

biblio - Yes, I read & enjoyed several books by Barbara Nadel. Her plots are plausible, characters & atmosphere feel 'real', and she is a good storyteller. Myriad spelling mistakes and the odd historical error do grate a bit, but I enjoy her books overall and will probably go back to reading more when (if) I run out of books to read on my Kindle.

I would also recommend Jason Goodwin's books about Istanbul during Ottoman Empire times, with a eunuch detective solving murder mysteries involving the padishah's entourage. Again, credible fiction rich in detail, with only the spelling mistakes indicating that the author is writing about a foreign land.

21. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood Chillingly plausible. This is a novel set in the near future, just after a plague has wiped out humanity. The events leading up to the plague seem so logical and easy to imagine them actually happening.

Cote, good to hear that Barnbara Nadel's books ring true to someone who knows the place. I've read and liked some of Jason Goodwin's books too.

Calling, the book on how to read like a writer sounds intriguing. I don't know if you ever read How Not to Write a Novel but I really recommend it - very, very funny.

So interesting to read everyone's recommendations

I am not on course to reach 100 as I'd hoped, having read one or two really long novels plus wading through a couple of French ones which has inevitably slowed me down. Just started The Goldfinch which I am really enjoying but it's not going to be a quick read either. So far ...

1. Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves
2. South Riding - Winifred Holt
3. Jubilee Lines - ed. Carol Ann Duffy
4. Dominion - C J Sansom
5. The Burning Soul - John Connolly
6. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
7. The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier
8. Clayhanger - Arnold Bennett
9. Swimming Home - Deborah Levy

10. Longbourn - Jo Baker

And short reviews on the last five ..

11. The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd. A MN giveaway. I loved this book. To anyone who enjoyed The Help, The Last Runaway or The Secret Life of Bees, I thoroughly recommend it. The theme is slavery, explored through the parallel lives of Handful, a young girl who is a slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy family who "own" Handful and her mother. Sarah's character is based on the real woman Sarah Grimke, an early abolitionist and feminist. Very readable.

12. At Break of Day - Elizabeth Speller. I read this because the author was visiting our book group. Particularly good if you are interested in World War One. Tells the story of four very different young men and their experiences during the conflict, and manages to sustain the various stories and narrative voices very well.

13. Le Confident - Helene Gremillon. I read this in French. A time-shift novel with a mystery at the heart of it - not my favourite genre and reading it in French added to the complication of it all but despite that I ended up enjoying this book. Thankfully the language was fairly simple!

14. The Boy with the Topknot - Sathnam Sanghera. Last year I heard SS discussing this account of his childhood in Wolverhampton, and of his dad and sister's schizophrenia. He was an amusing and engaging speaker, and this is a very readable book; interesting on the subject of mental illness and would also resonate with anyone who has ended up leading a life very different from that of their parents. His affection for his family and admiration for his mother in particular was really touching and he's quite funny about himself too.

15. Falling - Elizabeth Jane Howard. Read for my book group. Absorbing stand-alone novel by the author of The Cazalet Chronicles. Deals with questions of love and trust and apparently based on a real incident in EJH's life.

You've made me want to read The Boy with the Topknot, highland.

Haven't read that biblio so will add to my list. I'm an avid reader, a lax writer (not devoting much time to it atm), and an English teacher so lovereading about writing (and it made me chuckle that the book is written by someone whose surname is Prose!).

Oh good, hope you enjoy it!

Nipped out to the library at lunch and picked up The Boy with the Topknot. What a useful thread this is!

19. The Story of Before by Susan Stairs (audiobook)

Quite a sad little tale, not one to read/listen to if you don't like stories involving death of children. This isn't a spoiler, because the narrator says at the outset that the story will end with the death of one of them. It is quite clear from the outset which one of them it is, but when the end comes it is still very shocking.

All in all, a good story, albeit shocking in places, and quite upsetting.

27. Anathem - Neale Stephenson A very good sci- fi novel set on a world that is not earth but has some similarities. I would highly reccomend this.

27. Anne Rice "Interview With The Vampire". Liked it enough to start the second in the series :)

Foosey - Cote has been telling me to read that for ages. Must try it.

Foos - Also read Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age and Snow Crash. They are both very good. And Neal Stephenson is God. I'm pretty sure of it

13. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I liked the characters and the style of writing, but I found that the way it flipped between story lines made it feel disjointed. I realise this is the whole point though!

14. The Quantum Universe: Everything that can happen does happen by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. I love Brian Cox's ability to make physics accessible for the non-scientist (I did physics A level 20 years ago but haven't touched it since) and I found the first half really interesting, but then my enthusiasm for quantum physics waned and I struggled a bit to finish it. Looking forward to some fiction now!

It is really really good Remus, I would recommend it even if you are not so keen on sci- fi. I read Diamond Age a few years ago, I enjoyed it. It's very different from Anathem. I am reading an Alastair Reynolds at the moment which is very promising and I also have Wool on the go.

10. Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn. She's as good at writing books as she is at writing songs, and this book is one of the best autobio's I've read. An intelligently written book yet very accessible.

It feels good to finally be in double figures

3 more i've just read this past two weeks.

12 The Rosie Project
Really enjoyed this, very quirky and well characterised.
13 Quiet: The Power of Introverts...
Excellent book. Fascinating research and interesting points
14 The White Princess - quite disappointing. Very passive character.

26. Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones' Diary
27. Lee Child - Tripwire

You've made me want to read The Boy with the Topknot, highland.

biblio I see you've got hold of the book so hope you enjoy it. I also have on my to-read pile Marriage Material, a novel by the same author. When I heard him talk, he was describing the attempts of his mum to marry him off to "a nice Sikh girl" and I think this book has a similar theme. Looking forward to it

21. The Little Friend - Donna Tartt

I found this quite hard going at times and didn't really engage with it too well, which is a shame as it is quite a thick book! I also found the ending really disappointing. Not sure I'd give any of her other books a try after this.

mumtojakie I think that was an unfortunate first go at reading Donna Tartt tbh.

The Secret History is very easy to read and I am one third into The Goldfinch and really enjoying it.

Must admit I have avoided The Little Friend after watching DH struggling through it during the entire fortnight of one summer holiday - I think it is generally acknowledged to be by far her most impenetrable book.

1. Life, death and vanilla slices, by Jenny Eclair.

11. On Snow And Rock - Gaston Rebuffat

Out of print but well worth tracking down a copy if you're interested in mountaineering; a fascinating (if somewhat old-fashioned) overview of rock and ice climbing techniques, in Rebuffat's charming and poetic style. The real draw is the photos: colour and black and white plates, all featuring Gaston himself kitted out as if for a Sunday stroll, in the most balletic and gravity-defying poses up some of the Alps' toughest climbs.

Book 37 - Infernal Devices, the 3rd in Philip Reeves' Mortal Engines series, and another easy re-read. Just bought myself a pile of non-fiction in Waterstones, so likely to slow down again now!

I hated The Little Friend and was so disappointed as I think The Secret History is one of the best books ever. And I enjoyed The Goldfinch.

1. Ken Follett - Fall of Giants
2. Donna Tartt - The Goldfinch
3. The Never List
4. Light between the oceans
5. Apple Tree Yard
6. The Rosie Project
7. The Husband's Secret
8. Earth Heaven
9. The Colour by Rose Tremaine. Really enjoyed this. Has any one ever read any others of hers?

10 is Longbourn, just starting.

20. The Hare with Amber Eyes - Edmund De Waal

Took ages to finish this book, as I stalled at the end of the first section, but picked it up again last week determined to finish it. Actually it wasn't that bad. The family in Vienna's story was the most interesting part, and when it headed into 1930s and the rise of the Nazis it became heartbreakingly sad. Tailed off a bit towards the end though when the story moved on to 1960s Japan. Gave it 3.75 out of 5.

No.21 will be Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy by Helen Fielding. Need something a bit lighter read this week :)