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

18. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

About an American high school senior with a drink problem. The voice was very similar to The Catcher in the Rye. It was pretty good though and has apparently been made into a film, which I will keep an eye out for.

I saw your review of it Remus :o. I think I will still read Mountains first, and work backwards through Splendid Suns up to Kite Runner and see his writing getting better and better :)

34. Letter of Intent - Ursula Curtiss. I really enjoyed this read even though it was just a random find on my bookshelf! One of the best crime stories I've read for a while, so much so that I've found another book from the same author from the library

35. The Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton. Classic children's story shared with my six year old for the past few weeks.

Film not much cop, Cardiff. I saw it a film festival last year.

I deliberated long and hard re whether I should post my review. Actually, I think I was quite restrained!

Your review is exquisite, Remus

Oh gawds. I did honestly try to be measured.

My only criticism is that you really didn't need to temper it with the likes of "Mine is just one opinion".

You should have said "I read over 100 books every year so know what I'm talking about"

17. The Cry. Really enjoyed this. A 9.

LOL, Cote. Sadly, I haven't ever managed to write one though!

And I didn't want to be rude (well, not very).

The rest of the reviews will probably be cries of adulation, so I doubt if the author will be heartbroken over yours

Maybe you should read it, and join me?

I would have to be paid handsomely to read another book by that man. 1000 Splendid Suns was arguably the direst, most idiotic, and least meaningful propagandist sob-fest I have ever read.

You're putting me off reading it now .

I don't hold back on writing a bad review if I don't like the book. But it does feel a bit awkward knowing the author's likely to read what's been said but I dare say he will take it in good part .

I've damned a few books on Goodreads but then authors are not so likely to see them. I've only had one review commented on by an author on there and was one I gave a good review to.

20. Britty Britty Bang Bang by Hugh Dennis
21. The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag by Kang Chol-Hwan

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 14. Reconstructing Amelia - Kimberley McCreight

43. Kennedy's Brain - Henning Mankell

Just checking in. I have to write a review for PR company who sent me some copies of a debut novel. It is terrible and I am struggling to plough on or find any redeeming features.

Currently reading The Count of Monte Christo to fuel my new found Dumas love.

I have today bought a box set of three Philippa Gregory novels. These books have essentially past me by so looking forward to giving them a go.

I am not sure of the order but I am sure a quick google will sort it out.

42. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker 3/5. It was an interesting idea for a novel - what would happen if the rotation of the world began to slow down, causing days to lengthen. I liked it, but thought it was probably aimed more at the young adult market - the narrator is an 11 year old girl.

Very well written, and I feel a bit mean only giving it 3 out of 5 but it did, as other reviewers on Goodreads have said, become more a "coming of age" novel, straying from the original intention. Some have criticised the ending, but I liked it - it doesn't offer any false hope, life on earth is unsustainable in those altered conditions and will come to an end. Everyone will die within a few years.

23. There's Always Tomorrow by Pam Weaver

24. The Way Things Look to Me by Roopa Farooki

Both quite easy, enjoyable reads.

From looking in my notebook last night, it appears The Casual Vacancy was my 18th book, not 19th, so I'm not quite on track as I thought. But I finished a short one today - A Curious Career, by Lynn Barber, a very enjoyable hybrid of a memoir and a guide on how to interview.

I start the new Michael Cunningham tomorrow and excited about going to his talk at the end of the month which seems to have sold out.

31. After the Armistice Ball by Catriona McPherson I really enjoyed this first Dandy Gilver. It's a cosy mystery with lots of period detail but without pages of extraneous information that the author just had to put in to show off their research (yes, Ben Aaronovitch, I'm still cross about the dreadfulness of Rivers of London). I can see Dandy becoming a charming and endearing sleuth, her relationship with Alex intriguing. McPherson's take on the reality of 20's aristocratic marriages and childhoods provides an interesting counterpoint to our (my) romantic vision of the Roaring Twenties. There are two mysteries in the novel and, even though the solution to one is obvious from early on, McPherson never completely spells everything out which is refreshing.

32. Poison by Sarah Pinborough Pinborough has written 3 re-tellings of classic fairy tales; this is the Snow White story. Don't expect an Angela Carter-esque tale but this has its own merits. Strong, independent female characters and a believable world make this an enjoyable quick read.

33. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
    I pretty much knew what the big reveal was before I started reading this but it's still an impactful novel. The subject matter is clearly something the author is incredibly passionate about so, in some parts, it can feel a little like propaganda but this is a minor quibble.

A while since I posted!
Finished book 26 - Love in the time of Cholera and book 27 - Love Hunt by Fiona Walker ( my guilty pleasure!)

Started I am a Pilgrim after a recommendaton by my DH but not really taken to it due to the mood I am in - will come back to it. I am in an odd mood re books I fancy at the moment. Just picked up "The Inn at the Top" by Neil Hanson for Book 28.