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

Thursday I did enjoy it, not as much as some of his others, but it was still good!

31. Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds

11. The Spy by Clive Cussler

A real boys own adventure set in turn of the 20th century USA. Features a little cameo role by a seven year old Fred Astaire. Not to be taken too seriously methinks.

16. Lady Oracle, Margaret Atwood

I read this book for the first time about 10 years ago as part of a Feminist Literature module I took at university. I loved it then, and it served as a great induction into the works of Margaret Atwood, of whom I am now a huge fan. However soon after I finished the course, I lost my copy of the book so had been prevented from rereading it until now, when I caved in and bought a fresh copy.

It's such a great novel, a bildungsroman of sorts about a girl/woman who struggles with her own identity and her own image. Like all of Atwood's novels, it manages to be incredibly thought-provoking, intelligent, literary, poetic and challenging whilst never feeling like a heavy or difficult read. I was so happy to come back to this one, though I had forgotten that the ending is somewhat frustrating!

Double figures at last!

10. Cider With Rosie - Laurie Lee

This has been sat on my bookshelf for ages, glad I finally got round to it.

I got a load of books from the library today but having seen the thread on comfort reads I'm tempted to dig out my What Katy Did books and read those next instead.

I haven't updated for ages, but:

29. Madame Bovary

30. Killing Pablo- Mark Bowden

31. Undercover; The True Story Of Britain's Secret Police (found a few references to shady groups of my past )

32. The Little Friend- Donna Tartt

33. the Jewish Candidate- David Crossland

34. I Feel Bad About My Neck- Nora Ephron

35. Do You Think You're Clever? The Oxbridge Questions

36. Fractured- Dani Atkins

37. Broken Dolls- James Carol

38. The Romanovs- Robert K. Massie

39. Under The Skin- Michelle Faber (a re-read after seeing the film)

40. Arguably- Christopher Hitchens

41. The Hell Of It All- Charlie Brooker

42. The Cuckoo's Calling- Robert Galbraith (I think JKR? Not quite finished, but loving it).

DBXmum - I read that last year; loved it!

Book 1 - the Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
Book 2 - The Blackhouse - Peter May
Book 3 - The Universe Versus Alex Woods.
Book 4 - Mad About the Boy
Book 5 - My Life - David Jason
Book 6 - Paper Towns - John Green
Book 7 - We Are Water - Wally Lamb
Book 8 - American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
Book 9 - What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty
Book 10 - The Personal History of Rachel Dupree - AnnWeisgarber
Book 11 - The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng.
Book 12 - The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith
Book 13 - Greyhound of a Girl - Roddy Doyle
Book 14 - Gangsta Granny - David Walliams
Book 15 - The Rosie Project
Book 16 - 12 Years a Slave
Book 17 - Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
Book 18 - Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
Book 19 - The Impossible Dead - Ian Rankin
Book 20 - Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone.
Book 21 - The House We Grew Up In
Book 22 - The First Casualty - Ben Elton
Book 23 - Big Brother - Lionel Shriver
Book 24 - Perfect - Rachel Joyce
Book 25 - 11/22/63 - Stephen King
Book 26 - The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

I don't know if I'm a bit saturated with mental illness/syndrome type literature at the moment but this didn't move me as much as it possibly should have. I felt empathy with the main character and I loved the relationship he had with his grandmother. I don't know that his mother was explored enough and I've read books about grief and its aftermath that touched me more. An easy, accessible read.

Book 15: Bridget Jones: Mad ABout the Boy - Helen Fielding

Some LOL moments and kind of like meeting up with an old friend after a long time - a bit predictable but a nice easy read...

#9 - Life After Life.
I loved it. The premise, the writing, the era, the characters, all get a thumbs up from me.

Now re-reading Badenheim 1939 by Aharon Appelfeld. I read this at uni and didn't feel like I got it at all. Hoping it won't be too subtle for me this time around.

22. A Town like Alice - Neville Shute

Love, 'A Town Like Alice.' Adds to re-read list. Have had a headache all week, so not done much reading, other than dipping into a couple of teaching books. :(

Must read more Shute. I read them as a teenager.

31. Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch

32. Further Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin

16. The Hell of It All by Charlie Brooker. It was interesting to read back over the social and political commentary of 2007-9.

12. The Red House by Mark Haddon. The worst novel I've read for months. Pretentious and too descriptive, it wouldn't have been published if the author didn't have a proven track record. It's going to the charity shop tomorrow where I bought it.

Book 42 - The Rough Guide to Happiness. It was rubbish.

best I absolutely loved The Children's Book. I didn't want it to end either, and I found the ending so moving, it still makes me well up thinking about it.

Two finished this week:
13. Harvest - wonderful writing, but was unsettled by the vagueness of time and place, and I wanted more from the ending.
14. The Hours - a reread of one of my all-time favourites. Still finding new things in it.

Currently reading Oryx and Crake, finding it surprisingly enjoyable, science fiction/dystopian not really being my thing.

southeastdweller I wonder if you bought it from the charity shop I resonated The Red House to :)

1. 1339 facts to make your jaw drop
2. A 1950s housewife
3. Behind palace doors
4. Better than chocolate
5. Bundles of Joy
6. The class ceiling
7. Goodbye dear Holly
8. The guestbook
9. I should know that Great Britain

10. The little book of London 11. A little love 12. Lotties Luck 13. Love and Limoncello 14. Love on the rocks 15. Mad about you 16. The magic of Christmas 17. Make my wish 18. Marriage and other games 19. The midwifes here 20. Mums like us 21. The oyster catcher 22. The real Katie Lavender 23. Second time lucky 24. Survivor 25. Ten pound ticket 26. That close (Suggs) 27. This child of mine 28. Town and Country 29. With all my love 30. At Home (Bill Bryson) 31. Bats sing, mice giggle 32. Concretopia 33. A history of the world in 100 objects 34. Looking for adventure, Steve Backshall 35. One summer (Bill Bryson) 36. The Twins 37. Wordsmiths and Warriors

23. Harvest by Jim Crace. This was for the MN Bookclub. Liked, but not loved.

13. Restoration - Rose Tremain

Lent by my mum, and not the kind of thing I would have picked up myself. I did enjoy it - some of it was excellently written- but I didn't find any of the characters likeable and the constant fawning over the king, who was a total asshat, got very annoying.

22. Chalet School in Exile (Wanted something quick and easy after the previous tome! Think this was probably better left for childhood memories.)

23. A Girl Called Jack - Jack Monroe. (Read from cover to cover and felt really inspired.)

24. Love in the Present Tense - Catherine Ryan Hyde
    (Absolutely loved this. A real weepie about a young boy whose teenage mum disappears but a surprisingly positive read. Highly recommended.)

14. The Happy Prince & Other Tales - Oscar Wilde

A kindle freebie, a collection of beautiful little stories which I've loved since childhood.