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

CoteDAzur If it's a book, I stick my hand as far from the shower head as possible and get on with washing body & hair with the free hand. I'm not precious about the books I own so I don't mind a few water spots on the pages. With kindle I have recently experimented with sticking my hand out of the shower doors and reading through the gap. It's working OK at the moment but I suspect it will be too cold in the winter. I don't like baths.

I also read while brushing my teeth -it's the perfect way to ensure I brush for at least 2 minutes.

That sounds like a great way to get my Kindle and the entire bathroom dripping wet. Also would double the time I take in the shower. I'd rather shower quickly, and then sit on the sofa to read, I think.

Do you have very short hair? I couldn't wash mine with one hand.

Bit of a place marker as I haven't actually finished yet but really enjoying
44. The universe versus Alex Woods

I cant believe you can read while showering! Isn't it more hassle than it's worth?

A couple of updates for me:

26. The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway.

Less than one hundred pages. Very good and poetic and pure and everything, but it's my least favourite Hemingway of those I've read so far. Too short and fable-esque for me to really get into it.

27. Madaddam, Margaret Atwood

I was worried about reading this since it's a good 6 years since I read the first in the trilogy, Oryx and Crake, and a couple of years since I read the second. But there was a handy recap of the story at the front of the book, so that was nice. Great book, really interesting and I think the Crakers and the characters of Toby and Zeb were wonderfully written. The ending...well I don't want to spoil anyone but it did throw me slightly. Anyone else read this book and been slightly disappointed and 'why??' with the thing that happens at the very end.

I definitely want to read this trilogy again, back to back, in a year or so to really take it all in properly, since it's such a far reaching, twisty story. And all the more interesting as all the technologies that have lead to the dystopian future imagined in the books apparently already exist today...

CoteDAzur, thankfully the design of my shower means there's no water on either kindle or floor. I'd prefer to read on the sofa too but, with 2 children under 3, my daytime reading is seriously limited to times that they are sleeping or being entertained by someone else - hence shower reading

Oh I just spend a lot of time in the toilet with my Kindle

Just finished by last exam for the year so hoping to get on in earnest. Currently not very far on with The Count of Monte Christo and planning The Constant Princess after that. I am still trying to read Shimon that I promised to review and the author contacted me on GoodReads for feedback and I am trying to find something good to say, but everyone I gave a copy to has not been able to find very much positive to say.

My perception fwiw in the audiobook conversation is that everyone is compiling their own list and I am not bothered by how they access their books. I thought the point of this that there were no rules really. The title says 50 books, I was here last year and didn't quite manage it and have a busy year so am doing 25. It's up to me I guess.

I have never listened to an audiobook but if I did then I probably wouldn't read the hard copy because the book has been read iyswim? So I would count it for my personal list. I might try one actually.

I read everywhere when using my kindle as I have a case that stands up, but when I am reading a print book I find it far more difficult to keep dipping in and out of.

19. The Mote In God's Eye - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

This is supposedly a much revered sci-fi classic so I thought I'd give it a go but it was quite dire and very badly dated, especially re its casual misogyny & shockingly patronising treatment of its single female character. In fact, all human characters appear feeble-minded and stupid. Not recommending this one, in case it's not clear

19. Empire of Gold by Andy McDermott.

This is part of a funny, silly series featuring an American archaeologist and her husband who is an ex SAS commando. In the first book they discovered Atlantis and in this one they are looking for El Dorado. Far-fetched doesn't even come close!! Enjoyable nonetheless.

I don't listen to audiobooks, I am too easily distracted and they seem quite expensive. As someone has previously said I think this thread is more about a shared love of books and setting ourselves personal goals to reach. What media we count is of our own choosing, it's fun - and definitely not a competition. (Although if it was, Remus would win, obvs.)

OK, my plan to update every 5 books and write short reviews on each ground to a halt after the first ten. Here goes with catching up:

1. Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves
2. South Riding - Winifred Holt
3. Jubilee Lines - ed. Carol Ann Duffy
4. Dominion - C J Sansom
5. The Burning Soul - John Connolly
6. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
7. The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier
8. Clayhanger - Arnold Bennett
9. Swimming Home - Deborah Levy

10. Longbourn - Jo Baker

11. The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd. Highly recommend this book. Fascinating account of two sides of slavery depicting the lives of a young slave girl and the daughter of the wealthy family who own the plantation. Based on a true story.

12. At Break of Day - Elizabeth Speller. WWI told through the lives of four very different young men. Well-written and the various strands are cleverly pulled together.

13. Le Confident - Helene Gremillon. I read this in French for my language class. A time-slip mystery; not my favourite genre and even more confusing in a foreign language! Still quite enjoyed it.

14. The Boy with the Topknot - Sathnam Sanghera. Biographical account of The Times' journalist's childhood in Wolverhampton with a dad suffering from mental illness and an amazing mum holding the family together. Warm and affectionate - recommended.

15. Falling - Elizabeth Jane Howard. I love the Cazalet Chronicles by this author. Falling wasn't as good but it was fine.

16. Le Chapeau de Mitterand - Antoine Laurain. In French. Great little book, amusing and original .. Francoise M leaves his hat in a restaurant and it is found and worn by a succession of people; this tells their various stories.

17. Running Like A Girl - Alexandra Hemingway. A MN giveaway. Easy to read, not my usual sort of book and you need to be interested in running to enjoy it really.

18. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt. Really enjoyed this, particularly the early part of the book. Will stay with me for a long time. Didn't want it to end.

19. Cannery Row - John Steinbeck. Evocative anecdotal account of a small community. Excellent as he always is.

20. The Cold, Cold Ground - Adrian McKinty. A young Catholic detective living and working in a Protestant area of Belfast. Enjoyable.

To be continued ..

45. Hillary Green - We'll Meet Again. It was okay.

44. Ash - James Herbert This is not at all scary and really quite silly in places ( although one of the really silly bits near the end did bring a tear to my eye). The characters are a bit 2d, however i enjoyed the mixture of conspiracy theory / supernatural and found it an easy and entertaining read.

Book 37 The Good, the Bad and the Undead by Kim Harrison

Second in The Hollows series, in this one Rachel Morgan is dealing with having a human boyfriend who dabbles in magic, the difficulties of having a vampire roommate, and hunting a killer of witches. Turns mildly pornographic in places, which if I remember rightly increases as the series progresses. It's the whole sexy vampire thing at play.

26. Chocolat by Joanne Harris - this was recommended by my uncle and I enjoyed it very much. Thought her evocation do the senses was wonderful and really bought into the characters. Going to try more of her books.

27. Rivals by Jilly Cooper - this was a book group throw back pick which I've read before. Do love her stuff but it is so of its time.

54. Philippa Gregory "Lady of the Rivers". I think this is my favourite in the series so far.

55. Veronica Roth "Divergent". Loved this.

WN I really enjoyed Lady of the Rivers. There is a new Cousin'a War book out later this year

Heard Divergent was good

22. The Forgotten, by David Baldacci
23. The P45 Diaries by Ben Hatch

Keeping on track, which is good. I only read about 30 books last year, mostly due to too much time spent pissing about on the internet, which I am trying and failing to cut down on. So if I make 50 I will be pleased with that.

I've also cut down massively on the kindle buying, so will hopefully get to the end of the year having made a dent in my virtual pile.

I keep meaning to read all the 50 books threads properly to look for inspiration for new books and if there is anything in my to be read pile that isn't worth bothering with.

Oh skinnysunshine, I haven't read Chocolat but the film is one of my favourites! Maybe I should read the book too!

skin I didn't know the series was still going! Thanks for the advanced warning.

I highly recommend Divergent

14. Between Silk and Cyanide: A Code Maker's War 8/10 - Leo Marks

Another big (NF) book but absolutely fascinating and immersive story about WW2 and SOE's coders. The test of a good NF book for me is if it leads me to want to research the subject and/or characters further and this definitely fulfilled that.

Quick update: finished book 28 - The Inn at the Top. Half way through I am a Pilgrim and loving it!!

Oh and my kindle has broken....

20. Shock Of The Fall - Nathan Filer

I read this because I saw people raving about it on here (Adult Fiction topic, not this thread) and because we will be chatting to the author about it next month. And also because I like reading about narrators with MH issues.

It was OK. A "woman's book", for those who would know what I mean by that. The author used to be a MH nurse and you see in the details that he has observed people with MH problems knows what it is like in a care facility, but I felt that he didn't really know what goes on in the head of a person with schizophrenia. For comparison, I would recommend J G Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition and Will Self's Umbrella.

I'm now on to what feels like a pretty awesome book about people who use specific words to "persuade" others & make them do what they want. There is kidnapping, death, and intrigue. There is a school for especially persuasive children. There is suggestion that this is what the witch hunts were about, to hunt down people who had this knowledge/power. There is social media, questionnaires, and coding. It's called Lexicon.