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

36 Alys, Always by Harriet Lane. A chillingly good read. I love an unreliable narrator and this one, Frances, is brilliant. She is devious, and manipulative and doesn't care who she hurts if they get in the way of her achieving her goal.

19. Fever by Mary Beth Keane

15. Persuader - Lee Child

Jack Reacher #7. Short sentences, action, very very unintellectual. Perfect beach read for those who prefer dick-lit to chick-lit, like yours truly

sorry about you dog river..
30. cross and burn Val McDermid that was alright after the former one's bleakness. Anyway, series done. Onwards.

31. Karen Joy Fowler We are all completely besides ourselves. Lovely book, surprising reveal.

Book 52 done - a re-read of Coupland's, 'Girlfriend in a Coma' as mentioned below.

He frustrates me tbh - bits of his books are beautiful but overall this is too long and ultimately rather pointless in places. At his best, he's sublime - but he's not yet managed to write a book that isn't at least flawed, and he's getting worse, not better as time goes on imho. This is an earlier one, and he had more promise then than he's managed to live up to, I think. Such a shame. :(

I much prefer dick-lit to chick-lit Cote. I get a lot of my books passed on to me from my Dad, which is probably why. He has been giving me his old Tom Clancys and Clive Cusslers since the year dot.

15. Whatever Happened to Billy Parks by Gareth R. Roberts.

This is a fictionalised memoir about a first division footballer from the 1970s. It charts his life through the good times, the fame and adulation through his subsequent fall into alcoholism, womanising and gambling. Funny and yet in places utterly heartbreaking, I'm sure although it's fiction it could easily form a base plate for many real live footballers memoirs. Highly recommended to anyone (if there are any on this thread) who enjoys the Beautiful Game.

25. The Universe Versus Alex Woods. Great little book, is it meant to be for teenagers though? I was unsure.

It's been so long since I've been on this thread I think I have some catching up to do!

18. ADoll's House 19.Disgrace
19. And the Mountains Echoed

Lots to crack on with.

44. Anne Rice "The Tale of the Body Thief" - really enjoyed this, it's my favourite of the series so far

Is that #4 in the series? I think I quite enjoyed the first 6 books.

31 - The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
32 - Diary of an Ordinary Woman - Margaret Forster

Two excellent but very different books on a similar theme. Both follow the lives of women born in the early 20th century who live to a great age.

The Carol Shields book is beautifully written, although quite sparely. this is set on Canada and the USA.

The Margaret Forster book is much more detailed and follows the life of Millicent King, teacher, social worker from WW1' through WW2 to Greenham Common. It reminded me a lot of Kate Atkinson's Life After Life.

They were both re-reads for me, from the box of books I found in the loft. I will be putting them away again to read in another 10 years or so.

Have you read them all Cote? Yes, that was book 4. It had a lot more action than the first three, though I did enjoy the second half of the third book.

I just checked and think I have read the first 5 books in Anne Rice's vampire series. That was about 20 years ago, though, so I can't be sure. I kind of remember the first two as pretty good, then getting less and less interesting in the sequels, but I don't remember anything about them, either so might be wrong on that.

I would recommend Anne Rice's Mayfair witches series for you, starting with The Witching Hour.

1.Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo's Calling
2.Mad About the Boy, Helen Fielding
3.Tangled Lives, Hilary Boyd

1. I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes
2. The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion
3. Killer's Wedge, Ed McBain
4. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce
5. The Silent Wife, ASA Harrison
6. Divergent- Veronica Roth

10. Going Limp in Orlando - Craig Williams 11. Guilt- Jonathan Kellerman 12. Apple Tree Yard - Louise Doughty 13. The Light Between Oceans - M L Steadman

Loved this last one, beautiful and moving.

21 Island Beneath the Sea - Isabel Allende
22 Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

I thought this challenge would be a good way of getting through some of the boxes of unread books under my bed, but these two were a library book and one I bought from a charity shop a few weeks ago. I need to stay away from both places! At least I thought they were both quite good.

cote I adore the Mayfair Witches, it's one of my comfort reads.

#16 How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahern.

Forgettable. Not recommended.

I'll add them to my list Cote, thanks.

Turn - After the 3 books in the Mayfair witches series, did Anne Rice write other books with the same characters? I remember hearing (reading?) something of that sort. Or did later vampire books feature the Talamasca?

So sorry you lost your dog river
35. The Likeness. - Tana French
First book I have read of hers and really enjoyed it. Sure it was a little inplausible but still I loved it and give it a 9/10.

Finished 17. The Journal of Dora Damage, Belinda Starling - I rather skimmed this, it was good but lots of description but not loads of story. Good but I need to reach my 50 target!!

I enjoyed, 'Dora Damage' as a holiday read a few years ago.

Unfortunately, I've not had much time to read this week. We're in the midst of redecorating some rooms so evenings have been taken up with that

28. The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald. This was fine. Fitzgerald's characters are pretty well drawn but there's nothing about the book which would make me urge others to read it.

29. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. This is the first Gaiman I've read & I really enjoyed it although it did drag a little towards the end. The Hempstock women are wonderful, very human, caring and kind yet otherworldly and immensely powerful.

No 30 will be Rivers of London which I'm enjoying even though I find it a wee bit disjointed.

Duchess - I bought Alys, Always a couple of weeks ago as I've been meaning to read it for a while. Glad to hear it's as good as I'm expecting

MotherBluestocking - what did you think of Dept of Speculation? I saw the blogger John Self raving about it and I'm very tempted by it.

I've slowed down a bit, mainly because I've got stuck into a non-fiction book on the Celts and as I think I've said before, non-fiction always seems to take me a lot longer to read. However, I have had a bit of light relief over the weekend with book 31 Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch, the fourth in the Rivers of London series.

This one seems a bit darker than the previous novels. There is more focus on the big bad which has emerged in the earlier books and has the feel of setting up for the big finale which I believe will be in book five. So it's more about the story arc and feels a bit of a linking novel rather than a tale in its own right. It's still a good read, but should be read within the context of the series otherwise might just be confusing.