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

16. The Hours, by Michael Cunningham (re-read).

Beautifully written and I strongly related to the Laura and Clarissa characters but this time round I didn't 'get' Virginia Woolf and found her tiresome. Maybe I'll read the Hermione Lee bio.

Next one is Maggie and Me, a MN book of the month. Anyone else read this, or reading it now?

Man you lot read a lot
A couple of suggestions from my book group
Room - strange but interesting
Not without my daughter - gripping if not abit depressing
Broken heart syndrome - funny, heart warming, romance

I found two more Edmund Crispin books in the charity shop the other day. Sonnet - The Moving Toyshop is now in a jiffy bag, at least!

Thank you Remus! Eagerly awaiting now

Just finished book 21 Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter. A gentle comfort blanket read although I didn't guess 'who done it'.
Pondering what book next...

30. Labyrinth Kate Mosse Didn't really enjoy this. It was a long book and felt it! Wouldn't recommend. i was tempted to give up a few chapters in and wish I had now.

I agree, mum2jakie - can't stand Kate Mosse.

14 - the 100 year old man who jumped out of the window and disappeared. I really enjoyed it, interesting and funny.

Next is The Paris Wife.

bibliomania try Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland also by Sarah Moss. It's a lot more like Night Waking - I really enjoyed them both.

31. Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle. Absolutely loved this novel - totally gripped by the tale of Katherine Parr's marriage to Henry VIII. It covers, briefly the death of her second husband (and the potentially controversial events surrounding that), right through to her own tragic death following the birth of her daughter (by Thomas Seymour).

Not one to read if you don't like present tense narration, though. I didn't find the style intrusive, or irritating - it kept the pace of the story flowing quickly.

42. William Shawcross "Counting One's Blessings: The Selected Letters of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother"

Sonnet I enjoyed the Harkness - it's not exactly highbrow literature but I liked the story and was gripped for most of it. I hope you enjoy it!

Cote I get the impression you didn't enjoy "Wolf Hall"? I'm slightly regretting paying 99p for a kindle copy after reading your review

Book fifty (Hurray!) - another Edmund Crispin. I think I love him!

Ha ha ...not only do I feel behind Mumslife I loved Kate Mosses Labryrinth mumtojakie although to be honest I save Kate Mosse for holidays sunbathing by beach or pool ??

Just started 'white is for whitching' and loving it so far

Book 50 Remus - how jealous am I !

Must catch up! I've been away on holiday, and in anticipation of sipping wine after dinner, and reading a good book in front if the fire, I took four with me. In reality I ran around all day, walking, swimming, cycling and horse riding. After guzzling half a bottle of red I was in bed by 9pm most nights. Bloody kids

Oh I am just a stupidly fast reader, but then I forget it all immediately! I should have read more by now tbh, but keep wasting my life on MN and Twitter instead. :)

Wish I was a 'stupidly fast reader' then my "To Read" book shelf/kindle list may go down rather than increasing... So many books I want to read but so little time. Wishing for retirement here ..

My 'Stupidly fast' is coupled with, 'Bloody awkward.' Tis not a good combination.

Remus - Could it be that you 'read' too fast for proper comprehension? That might be why you forget the books you read so quickly and has to be how you can go through 50 books in 4 months

Wednesday - I got my Kindle copy of Wolf Hall for 99p, too.

It was awful. There was no plot in the first half - blah blah blah King lusts after Anne blah blah People not happy blah blah blah King lusts after Anne... for over 300 pages. One snippet of a conversation, then another conversation between different people 6 months later. No story to speak of. Most characters named 'Thomas'. It got a bit more coherent towards the end but by then I just wanted it to be over.

The Other Boleyn Girl was much more interesting and took only 2 hours of my life.

Also, Hilary Mantel doesn't care to write meaningful sentences & can't punctuate. Nor does she have an editor who can. Or possibly, they both think this writing 'style' makes her books speshul. An example:

Finally, he thinks, I must end this: can it be true, he wonders, that as a subject should, I really love my king?

Another:

^Christophe rides beside him and pesters him: you have said you will tell me who is Cicero and who is Reginald Pole.
'Cicero was a Roman'
'A general?'^

Ffs

I was in India with scant access to proper books. No kindle yet. When finding a bookshop with a reasonable selection of paperbacks I stocked up, Wolf Hall was one of the books I found. I had to give up! And that faced with not much else. Gah. Horrible book, really don't get it.

Cote - I assure you that I comprehend very well indeed, thank you. I am an English graduate and an English teacher!

I like to be lost in the 'world' of a book for its duration, but then move straight onto a new world. Immediately after reading a book, I would pass a comprehension test on it - then I forget it ready to move on to the next.

You've actually made me a bit cross.

I do the same, I read very fast ( although not at your speed Remus - though a book a day not unusual on holiday). I'd remember everything for a week or two but after that, I almost completely forget. It's why re- reading is such a joy.

Thanks, Best. Glad it's not just me.

Sonnet - I have finally posted the book! Sorry it took so long.