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?

That's exactly how I feel about them too, Best. I was so wrapped up in the Cat/Chris storyline that everything else faded out.

29. Stewart Lee - How I escaped my certain fate...
    Slightly annoying/confusing to read because of the vast quantities of footnotes, and the literal transcriptions of performances which include many pauses and some repetition. An interesting insight into the 41st funniest comedians' background. Don't read this if you want a quick and easy read. Do read this if you like Stewart Lee!

30. David MacGibbon - Elizabeth Woodville
    Quite dry in places but interesting to hear the 'true' story, having read a few fictional accounts of her life. EW does not come across as a particularly pleasant woman, but, she had an awful lot to contend with during her lifetime. Paints the mother of the princes in the tower in a slightly more positive light.

31. True Summit - David Roberts

An investigation into what really happened during the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950, and a debunking of Maurice Herzog's account of events in his bestselling book about the expedition. An interesting read - bit of a hatchet job on Herzog (I suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two accounts) but it was very moving and well researched on Herzog's fellow climbers Lachenal, Terray and Rebuffat, all of whom are heroes of mine.

84. The Jupiter Myth, Lindsey Davis. I used to love this series (Falco, a detective in Ancient Rome) but got a bit bored and stopped following it. Must try and catch up with one of the latest ones to find out what's happening with his various family members.

Currently on (85) Written in my Heart's own Blood, Diana Gabaldon. The usual sprawling mess, intriguing and frustrating as ever. Not a place to start if you're new to the series - you have to have a grasp of a huge list of characters and the previous storyline or it will be incomprehensible. But if you do follow this series, you'll know that it does somehow draw you in.

Book 56 The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

The last in the All Souls trilogy. Historian and witch Diana and vampire scientist Matthew have returned to the present from their travels in Tudor London, and the seach for tthe magically protected manuscript Ashmole 782 continues. Their enemies are upping their attacks and all sorts of political shenanigans between witches, vampires and daemons are going on.

I think this one was probably better than the second in the trilogy, although I still get the impression that Deborah Harkness really wants to be Diana Bishop.

75. Deborah Harkness "The Book of Life". Not often I read a book at the same time as someone on here!!! I enjoyed it - good end to the trilogy

33. Her, by Harriet Lane.

This is the kind of book that is better experienced when you know very little about it so although there’s no spoilers in my mini-review but Duchess and others may not want to read on.

This is a dual-narrative thriller that isn’t very thrilling about two women in contemporary London who’re in their late 30’s and who become friends, one of them remembers the other from 20+ years ago and the other one doesn’t. She’s very good on the minutiae of the world of the SAHM she writes about here, a bit too good, and the book gets bogged down with this at the expense of fleshing out the Nina character. Even more irritating is that I couldn’t get past two plot holes, which took me out of the story several times. Over-hyped but I’ve got her other book on my shelf so will read that soon as some people are saying on Amazon that that's better than this one.

Now on the Ruby Wax book about mindfulness which is disappointingly obvious so far.

Well, The Book of Life has only just come out - there must be a few who have picked it up!

Book 57 Nemesis by Agatha Christie

It's interesting to see the differences between the novels and the TV versions. I think that the TV versions shoehorn in Miss Marple's nephew because the story is very much about her own thoughts and reasoning otherwise, so unless they show her wandering round talking to herself a lot it wouldn't be easy to show how her thoughts are progressing. Good read.

Meg That sounds good.

Book 76 - 'The Legacy of Cain' by Wilkie Collins
Not his best, but still an entertaining and gripping read. Wilkie Collins is a god, as far as I'm concerned!

71. The Shadows in the Street (Simon Serrailler no.5) by Susan Hill. Not quite as good as the previous one, but still a wonderful novel.

Have a bit of a wait before I can get the next one so will get on with Her by Harriet Lane next. Avoiding your review Southeast :) Thought Alys, Always was excellent - chilling side of it creeps up on you very slowly.

34. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Wonderful - a real treat. I hadn't read it before, although I remember loving The Waves when I read it many years ago.

76. Brendan Gisby "Ping Time and Other Tales of Revenge". An interesting collection of sport stories.

I wondered how you read a book in one afternoon and checked that book Remus. 68 pages? Seriously?

I'm still plodding through the Samurai history book. It's good but Oh My God is it long!

What are you talking about, Cote? The Pursued = 219 pages and the Collins = 326.

Book 77 - The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. Very silly but perfect for an afternoon in the garden.

Ah sorry, that was the book Wednesday read since yesterday.

You know I like to tease you about your 150-books-per-year record and the Samurai history is killing me

Sorry - by 'What' I meant, 'Which book' rather then, 'What the heck are you on about?'

:)

Meanwhile, has anyone here checked out the Booker Prize longlist that was announced yesterday?

David Mitchell's new book The Bone Clocks is on the list and it hasn't even been published yet. It sounds similar to Cloud Atlas in its themes.

Next time, try "WTF are you on about?"

:)

Booker lists bore me nowadays - but I quite fancy, "J" out of that lot.

J does look interesting.

I'm surprised that a book called We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves made it into that list. [prejudiced]

71. Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph. Lots of common sense, nothing revelatory. Didn't learn anything I (or DH) didn't know already . Interesting read though.

I quite fancy the Niall Williams and Joseph O'Neill books on the Booker list. Strange, as I normally avoid Irish authors (I'm Irish - it tends to feel too close to home).