50 Book Challenge 2014 Part 3

[Southeastdweller]

Thread 3 of the 50 book challenge. Here are the previous threads...

The idea is to read 50 books in 2014 (or more!)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/adult_fiction/1951735-50-Book-Challenge-2014

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/adult_fiction/2000991-50-Book-Challenge-2014-Part-2?

I am both of those things - Cote, you have been warned. :)

I might get around to it at some point although, as I'm sure you agree , picky readers should and do try not to read books that are likely to get on their nerves.

All I said was that the premise of plants attacking people is silly. And it is (sorry) They have no brain or even a central nervous system, so how/where do those thoughts & strategies get formulated? How does a "comet shower" (meteoroid shower, I would have thought) blind everyone in the Earth, wherever they live? Surely, there might be some parts of Earth (like, on the other side of the world from where the meteors come from) where these meteors wouldn't have affected, unless they are defying gravity and flying around the earth?

As I'm sure you agree , picky readers should and do try not to read books that are likely to get on their nerves.

For example, re On The Beach, if you had told me at the time that it was about a group of dummies who just hang out, do fuck all run from certain death that is months away, and instead gibber foolishly about next year's fish population and who will get married and have babies, I would have avoided that one, too

Wednesday - That's exactly how Remus made me read On The Beach. And we all know how well that turned out

25. Sold as a Slave (Penguin Great Journeys) by Olaudah Equiano

Another interesting one from this non fiction series - a slave from West Africa taken to the USA.

26. Harvesting the Heart) by Jodi Picoult

Second one of hers I've read. It was ok, good in places.

I can't be bothered retyping my list at the moment....

Unfortunately I found a pile of half done puzzle books so working my way through those at the moment, and a new job with an early start so not got through many reading books recently!

I'm hazarding a guess you didn't enjoy it?!

I've had a 50% success rate with you, I think - you liked, "The Worst Journey" and, "This Thing of Darkness" and didn't like the Shute and Pullman. I hated what I managed to drag myself through of, "Cloud Atlas" and detested, "Dune" - quite liked, "Enders Game" and really liked, "Do Androids Dream." So I reckon we're about equal at the moment!

Halfway through the Skull Mantra and I am giving up.
Picky.

Suspense of disbelief over life (?) sentenced gulag inmate doing investigation into the death of government official in Tibet is fine but he is boring.. unforgivable.
Too many explanations of Buddhism and Tibet and not enough getting on with the story.

Sorry you didn't like it, Molly. No, it's not fast-paced

I don't remember having to suspend my disbelief while reading the Skull Mantra and iirc he wasn't doing the investigation from within the gulag.

Remus - I would have liked Pullman's His Dark Materials if I read it in my teens. It's just that I have very low tolerance for YA stuff. The last book was a bit silly, though, with the souls in hell and all that. Not sure I would have like that one even as a YA myself.

When are you going to read Measuring The World? That score has been equal for too long

For the sci fi fans, the classic serial on Radio 4 today was part one of Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep?, with part two next Sunday. Not a bad listen, James Purefoy is playing Deckard.

"All I said was that the premise of plants attacking people is silly. And it is (sorry) They have no brain or even a central nervous system, so how/where do those thoughts & strategies get formulated? How does a "comet shower" (meteoroid shower, I would have thought) blind everyone in the Earth, wherever they live? Surely, there might be some parts of Earth (like, on the other side of the world from where the meteors come from) where these meteors wouldn't have affected, unless they are defying gravity and flying around the earth?"

I'd love to explain all this to you Cote, but finding out the answers to such questions is kind of the point of reading a book, and optimist that I am, I don't want to answer them and so spoil the book in case you do stop being such a pig-headed moo and read it.
I'll just join in with Remus and say RTFB

I've started Mr Mercedes on Audible (whilst I do dull Sunday chores around the house) and am enjoying it very much so far!

You wouldn't spoil it, because I already read what little there is in way of explanation here

I've started Ender's Game. Inspired by the sci-fi talk here.

It doesn't have to be fast pace per se to keep me amused but it wasn't doing it for me.. The Shan person is still an inmate, even though he is not confined to barracks or behind bars or whatsit.

Thing is also, I've been in the region, know a thing or two about the politics and religion and the good intentions aside, his story is quite predicatable and slow moving. I guess it's a style thing more than anything else.
Ah well.

You didn't like His Dark Materials?!

Cote, you and I are destined to never she on a book. Ever.

I was over 40 when I read them for the 1st time, so no, they didn't work too well for me. As I mentioned before, I can't stand YA. (Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is a singular exception to this)

I would have liked at least the 1st book if I read it in my teens, though.

Never agree. Not she

It's hard to tell how you'd feel about a book if you'd read it at a different time in your life. I read His Dark Materials when it came out, so I was 13, and it definitely spoke to me at that age, I was absolutely hooked. And I had to wait two frickin' years for the Subtle Knife after the first book ends on such a cliff hanger!!
If I first read them now, I don't know how I'd feel about them, but it probably wouldn't be anything like my own initial reactions.
It's like everyone raves about Dirty Dancing because they were in love with Patrick Swayze when they were 12, but having watched it first at age 25, I have bad news - that is one crappy film!

Dirty Dancing

If I watched it now, I would probably fixate on how the teenage girl is lying to her parents and buzzing off to "dirty-dance" with a bunch of strangers and how I would track down DD if she ever did such a thing while we were on holiday

Have been reading and abandoning books recently - here are the ones I finished:

60. My Criminal World, Henry Sutton (crime fiction author becomes suspect in real life. Extracts from his latest book interspersed with vignettes of his home life. Doesn't really gel)

61. On the Map, Simon Garfield. Non-fiction. Enjoyed this one - he writes really well.

62. Bones of the Lost, Kathy Reichs. Lots of clunky exposition, but the forensic anthropology part has its usual morbid interest.

63. Dark Continent, My Black Arse, Sihle Khumalo. I've read a few African travelogues, and this is interesting by virtue of being written by a black South African. He doesn't write particularly well or notice particularly much, and the attitude to women is problematic, but it's fast-paced and vivid, and I did feel like I'd been on the trip by the time I finished it.

64. Belle, Paula Byrne. It's an expanded version of the chapter she wrote on Lord Mansfield in Jane Austen: A Life in Things. The chapter in the Austen book was better, as this does feel padded out, but it's still interesting to get a glimpse of the black population of Georgian England.

65. Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg. I liked this more than expected - calm, wise and surprisingly endearing. She's honest about her own mistakes, she acknowledges the limitations of her advice, and it's more about being your authentic yourself rather than tricks to get ahead. Worth reading, even if you're not trying to break into the boardroom. It's also worth thinking about how and why we might be holding ourselves back, whatever it is we want to achieve.

66. The Light Years, Elizabeth Jane Howard. I expected to adore the Cazalets, but didn't. Just too many characters and I didn't really care enough to want to know more.

55. Fortunately The Milk by Neil Gaiman. Read to my daughter. Bizarre but strangely entertaining. Love the illustrations. 4/5.

Next up, a reread of The Lord of The Flies. Supposed to be reading The Shock of the Fall, but don't fancy it just yet

23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling

Bedtime reading to DS1 over a few weeks (I read it when it was first published). I don't think it was quite as good as the first one but it had its moments and DS1 loved it.

24. British Sign Language for Dummies, by City Lit Faculty of Deaf a Education and Learning Support. It's helping with my course but I've realised an interactive resource would be even better to understand a new language.

25. Consumed, by Harry Wallop. A non-fiction book that links consumerism to social class in Britain. Too many obvious or shallow arguments combined with a snobby tone made this a disappointment.

22. Trespass by Rose Tremain - an enjoyable easy read, not perhaps her best book but I liked the French setting.

Mumslife just downloaded a sample of 'We that are left' - WW1 is appealing up me at the moment. Will add to my TBR list.

Ah, Wyndham - not read him since I was a teenager - fancy a re-read now!

Just finished book 36 (I think) - The Unknown Bridesmaid by Margaret Forster. An enjoyable read but not the best of her books I have read.

Just about to start book 37 - Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Sorry, Rivers of London is my book 36