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

I wondered if the second one might be due soon, as everywhere seems to have 'Cuckoo' half price at the moment.

18. Murder in Mesopotamia - Agatha Christie

11. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. A quirky tale set partly in Japan, via the diary of a teenage girl, and partly in a remote island in British Columbia, where the woman who finds the aforesaid diary lives. I enjoyed this but found the ending slightly bizarre.

Finished it. I enjoyed it - and I got it wrong!

Oh good. I have it on the Kindle - bought for £1.99 when it was Kindle Deal of the day.

Finished no 8, Dear Life, Alice Munro, a collection of short stories for book group next week. Not decided what is next yet, but I've got lots to choose from!

Which shall I read next?
Victorian City
Rhetoric
Pullman
Pure
Cote won't apprive of this one

I have Pure on my Kindle, too, and I'm looking forward to reading it. If you read it in the next 10 hours please don't post spoilers.

Why would I disapprove of that last book, except that it's written by Nevil Shute, of course? Just on the basis of that awfully moronic post-apocalyptic book, he made it into my "Worst Authors" list - the only man among a short list of female chick-lit writers. (Apologies to his fans)

My crystal ball shows me that his book on WWII will be about completely unrealistic and somewhat dim characters being all luffly and happy while misery rages around them and hope is nowhere in sight. They will be talking about tea parties while people are gunned down. Read it and tell me if I got it right

I think I'll start with the Shute - just for you. :)

I won't post spoilers re, 'Pure.' Tbh I'm not sure if I'll have chance to read it before it's due back at the library.

1. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
2. The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriaty
3. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
4. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
5. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
6. The Fault in our Stars - John Green
7. A Possible Life - Sebastian Faulks
8. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra
9. The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

I'm a bit men about the Rosie Project tbh, characters are well developed, but I found the story quite predictable. Seems to be everywhere at the moment though.

Should be 'meh', stupid autocorrect!

Feeling rather behind - just finished no 6: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. I enjoyed, despite some major reservations.

Yes, I read somewhere that the second Robert Gilbraith/JKR book is out this summer.

Pure - while I like Andrew Miller, I can't say that I got a lot out of that book.

Currently reading 15 (I think), Ammonite and Leaping Fish by Penelope Lively. What it feels like to be 80, the workings of memory. Elegant and comforting.

Currently staring down the two enormous Diana Gabaldon books that are due back at the library in the near future (with a waiting list, so can't extend). I don't particularly feel like reading them, but I kind of feel that I've invested so much time in the saga that I might as well find out what happens next.

I'd never heard of Miller before: I just chose, 'Pure' because of its pretty cover tbh! :)

I'm now reading, 'Here Lies Arthur' by Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines man).

6, Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walters. Would make a good holiday read I think. Raced through it (children permitting, blooming halfterm) was a bit disappointed. Good idea but messily done I think.
Next will be Ostland by David Thomas.

1. The Partner - John Grisham 6/10
2. The Story Teller - Jodi Picoult 9/10
3. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt 9/10
4. The Thirteen Problems - Agatha Christie 7/10
5. The Carrier - Sophie Hannah 3/10

Very disappointed with The Carrier, especially as I've enjoyed her previous books so much. The characters were all half-formed, not very likeable, and their motives made no sense whatsoever! It's like she dashed this one out without reading it back. I like the recurring character of Charlie, and her scenes rescued the book from being a non-finisher.

I'm amused that all my books so far begin with 'The'

19. How to be Good - Nick Hornby I enjoyed it but it was not as good as High Fidelity.

Remus, I liked The Cuckoo's Calling too. But I am a sucker for a detective with a back story.

:)

Ooooo, like this thread....but will have to check what I have read so far in 2014.

Currently reading 'The forth hand' by John Irving. It is weird and reminds me why I don't read John Irving books.....

Before that I read 'That much I know is true' by Wally Lamb. Really good- even at over 900 pages!

18. William Landay "Defending Jacob". I thought this was brilliant. I didn't see the twist coming at the end, and just thoroughly enjoyed it.

19. Jodi Taylor "A Second Chance". The third in a time-travelling historian series. I really enjoyed it.

12. Sense and Sensibility - Joanna Trollope - Austen's Sense and Sensibility retold in a modern day setting. Putting aside all reality and the fact that you really can't translate the powerlessness/marriage need of the Dashwood women from Austen's times to modern times, I enjoyed the escapism of this book and it made me smile - but, my goodness, how ridiculous it is when viewed in the cold light of day!

13. Her Brilliant Career - Rachel Cooke - the biographies of ten women who defied the perceived social norms by having very successful careers in the 1950s. I really wanted to like this book, but didn't. The author's comments on how she felt the subjects must have thought or felt at certain times in their lives particularly grated.

14. Marking Time - Elizabeth Jane Howard - the second in the Cazalet Chronicles series. Really enjoyed, so number 15 will be the third installment, Confusion (though the praise of Cuckoo's Calling is making me wibble slightly as it too is sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read!)

Number 27 finished - Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve. I enjoyed this, a re-telling of the legend of King Arthur.

I've also read another cookery book - More from the Accidental Vegetarian, by Simon Rimmer. Very good - I want to make lots of things from it.

Can't believe we are on the second thread already! Moving much faster than last year.

1. The Bourne Deception by Eric Van Lustbader

Got this one (and many of the books I read) from my dad. Number seven in the Bourne series and, I think, still just as good as they always have been.