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 fancy, 'How to be a Victorian.'

1. Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
2. The COming Race, Edward Bulwer-Lytton
3. The foundation pit, Andrey Platanov
4. What Matters in Jane Austen, John Mullan
5. Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte
6. The SHock of the Fall, Nathan Filer
7. The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
8. The boy in the suitcase, Lene Kaaberbol

1. Jamaica Inn, Daphne du Maurier

Really enjoyed this. I read it over the Easter bank holiday to coincide with the BBC adaptation. I thought it had suspense, great writing and brilliant (although highly unlikeable) characters. I will definitely be reading more du Maurier.

10. Meltdown, Ben Elton I would never have picked this up myself, but it was a book club choice and I was really pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it. I will read more, but more in if I come across him way.

Finally finished no. 21 which was Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, set in the Bombay underworld. I really enjoyed this and would recommend it. It reminded me of Papillon by Henri Charriere (for anyone who enjoyed that). Only if you want a long book though - over 900 pages and took me 3 weeks to read!

Book 32 The Celtic Realms by Myles Dillon and Nora Chadwick.

A survey of the history and culture of the Celtic peoples from their prehistoric origins to the Norman invasion of Britain. It's more narrative history to begin with, including the society and culture of ancient Gaul, then looks at the historical development of the British and Irish peoples, with specific focus on literature, poetry, religion, and art. Very interesting read, but it does assume a level of knowledge at times that I don't have, which can be a drawback with academic tomes.

Finished book 16, the thread. Enjoyed it, a good story, and set in Greece, which I love.

17. Is going to be The Cry.

48. Roger Mortimer "Dear Lupin: Letters to a Wayward Son" Quite interesting account of the relationship between a father and his son told through letters from the father.

37. The Never List. - Koethi Zan Not as good as I was expecting 6/10

Book 30 - Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. What a disappointment! A great premise ruined by pretty bad writing. There were too many paragraphs spent describing London, its buildings and even the clothes people were wearing. It was devoid of any tension or excitement. Even worse, i was so reluctant to pick it up that it took just over a week to finish it and now my predicted total for the year is 82 instead of 90. Balls!

Queen Ann – I loved Jamaica Inn too. I bought a complete works of Du Maurier a while back, and that one and Rebecca are really the only two I remember properly. The others weren’t as good, as far as I recall.

Anyway, I have just finished…

24. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte

Loved it, couldn’t put it down. The bad marriage at the heart of the story was very reminiscent of reading the mumsnet Relationships board. I was screaming ‘red flag, red flag!’ , ‘he’s giving you The Script!’ and ‘LTB!’ pretty much throughout. Anne Bronte was so ahead of her time.

24. Parenting: 50 Tips to Build your Child's Self-esteem by Jenny Loveless - was slightly baffled there were 60 tips despite title but was full of good common sense. Unfortunately feeling the need to use on DS.

Just starting Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Hadn't read any of hers until Book Group chose Life After Life. I loved that but everyone says this is better.

RiverBoat - I read TTOWH last year. It was very good, I even used it in an essay since it really just illustrated perfectly what I wanted to say. I read Agnes Grey by Anne this year and really was nowhere near as impressed although she is addressing contemporary issues again.

Book 54 - 'And The Mountains Echoed' by Khalid Hosseini - Absolutely awful. I only finished it because it was a MN freebie but I hated every second of it.

Agree that the, 'Rivers of London' series are badly written btw - and they get worse. I shan't bother with any more.

Gosh I couldn't disagree more about Rivers of London. I love his style, find the books laugh out loud funny and informative. Have read all of them more than once and have the one due out later this year in my wish list. They are big faves for me

I'm with skinmysunshine - I really like the Rivers of London series. It's not that I think the writing is particularly brilliant, but it's decent enough. Aaronovitch is a very good storyteller though, which is what matters. It's the same with the Harry Potter series. Rowling is by no means a great writer but she is a good storyteller and so it works.

18. The Crimson Petal and The White: excellent, if a little drawn out at the end.
19. The God of small things: first read it about ten years ago; appreciated it more now. I've no idea what to read now. I read the first few pages of One Day and was completly uninspired to keep going.So many people raved about this, but it was a bit weak.Maybe I've just got a book hangover from two really well written novels.

Lorna I know what you mean about following an excellent book with something rather mediocre. If you want to stick with novels from the Indian subcontinent try A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry or A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman.

To follow The Crimson Petal I'd suggest Fingersmith by Sarah Waters or The Observations by Jane Harris. I recommend the last one to everybody

I enjoyed

Gah bloody keyboard.

I enjoyed One Day but it's not great literature. You get to know and love the characters I think so for me it wasn't put-downable from the get go.

QueenAnne - I read Agnes Grey earlier this year, it was the first Bronte book I had read (other than the wonderful Jane Eyre), and I really enjoyed it. I liked it's simplicity and straightforwardness, and the love story was sweet too. But it's true, TTOWH packs a much bigger punch and is definitely a more powerful novel in pretty much every way.

Lorna - I didn't particularly love One Day either, not as good as his previous books IMO. The Observations is a great suggestion to follow up The Crimson Petal (I need to re-read that, I loved it but I can only remember the basics of the story).

Book 33 The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark

A tale of intrigue, conspiracy, and murder set in 1498 Venice. The city is abuzz with talk of a mysterious book said to contain the secrets of immortality, how to make gold, and all kinds of magic. A street boy is taken on as an apprentice by the Doge's chef and finds his life transformed as he gets drawn into the intrigues in the palace. Very good read, especially for a first novel.

26. The Light Years, on audiobook. Does an audiobook count? It feels a bit lazy :-)

27. The Goldfinch. It's taken me 10 days to slog through this bad boy, but it was just wonderful. I forgot how much I hate hardbacks, there is no potential for slouching, in bed, in the bath, one handed while I eat my dinner.

Thanks for the recommendations highlandcoo! Trotted off to the library with the DC and immediately found The Observations on the shelves, so it was obviously meant to be. I'll save the others for later.

I'll also save One Day for another time, when I'm in the right frame of mind maybe.

Turnover - audiobooks definitely count :) I listen to them when I'm out walking long distances (making big effort to lose weight this year), so definitely doesn't feel lazy to me :o