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?

Finished no 27, Sovereign by CJ Sansom, the third book in his Shardlake series, I enjoyed this book although I felt the story was a little slow at the beginning, picked up later in the book.

Also finished no 28, The Provincial Lady goes Further by E.M.Delafield, I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book in the series but still a good read.

Now starting And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. Lovely being on holidays and able to read more.

33. The White Spider - Heinrich Harrer

A history of the north face of the Eiger, from one of the team who made the first ascent in 1938. The writing style is rather antiquated and he lacks the inspiring tone of Rebuffat or Terray, and I had to clench my teeth through his comments about female climbers. But still an informative and thought-provoking read.

Have to give up on The Restoration of Rome as it's due back at the library today, can't be renewed, and while I'm quite enjoying it, I haven't gained enough traction to get through it.

Finished Book 54 - Blacklands by Belinda Bauer - A great read and I am alreadt looking forward to the next two in the trilogy :)

Started Book 55 last night and quite topical for the events of today. It is Zennor in Darkness by Helen Dunmore

Meg - I enjoyed, 'The White Spider'. I assumed that part of its tone was due to him being an Austrian at that period in time! :)

I've just bought this which might be your sort of thing, if you haven't read it already.

36. The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith.

Can anyone recommend excellent detective fiction? I don't know where to start. Read a lot of Christie (Poirot) last year. Everyone keeps recommending PD James, but therecare so many I don't know where to begin! Is ann Cleeves any good (heard some people rate her Shetland series).

75. Prophecy by S J Parris. Second in her Giordano Bruno series, I enjoyed this one better than Heresy.

Next up - We Were Liars.

Id like to join if I may though I am an exceptionally fast reader and can easily read a book or two a day. However I used to read all the time and barely read anything anymore so would like to get back into it.

I read cathy glass daddies little princess today. Had me in tears by the end but really enjoyed it

Calling what did you think of The Silkworm? I enjoyed the first one in the series and bought The Silkworm on Kindle thanks to a recommendation further up the thread.

Definitely try Ann Cleeves' Shetland quartet and also Peter May's trilogy set in the Hebrides. First book is The Blackhouse. Both excellent.

I also enjoyed Susan Hill's Simon Serailler series and Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache books.

None of the above are overly gory, but focus on intriguing crimes and interesting characters.

43. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole - Sue Townsend
44. Sand - Hugh Howie
45. The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole - Sue Townsend
46. Between Silk and Cyanide, a Code Makers War - Leo Marks. The best book this year!
47. True Confessions of Adrian Mole - Sue Townsend
48. Strangers - Dean Koontz

48. Just One Evil Act(inspector Lynley) - Elizabeth George.

I do love Inspector Lynley but this was very long and a bit rambling with far too many characters.

The Silkworm is £1.99 on Kindle so just downloaded it despite all the reviews on here.

80. Vanessa Diffenbaugh "The Language of Flowers". Another great read.

Callingallengels my best reads of the last year hands down have been the two Pierre Lemaitre books translated into English - Irene and Alex. There is some gore but the stories are just amazing and the detective, Camille Verhoven, intriguing.

For police procedural types I've really enjoyed Brian McGillloway's Lucy Black novels. There have been 2 in the series so far - Little Girl Lost and Hurt. Set in Northern Ireland.

I thought the silkworm was okay, though was more interested in the progression of strike and robin's characters than the case itself. I think it's still worth a read.

Thanks for the recommendations provencal and highland .

Read this last night...

37. Knots and crosses by Ian Rankin and really enjoyed it

31. The Toyminator - Robert Rankin. When I picked this up, I didn't realise it was the second book in a series. It probably would have made more sense if I had read the first book. Silly, lots of 'in' jokes (some of which I got, some washed over me). Requires a massive suspense of normality of thought, but is entertaining. A written car chase though, I'm not so sure about. Clever idea, but a bit hard to read and follow.

Books 32-41 all lined up!

37. Alys, Always by Harriet Lane. Not a fan. The main character really irritated me.

36. The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith

I can't find anything good to say about this book. It was pretty awful and left me with the feeling that I never want to read another Cioran Strike book again. A shame, since I had quite enjoyed the 1st one.

The author can clearly write but it feels like she doesn't really want to. Among my myriad grievances with this book:

• too much of the book is about Strike's amputated leg and related cramps, hurt, hobbling, aching, creaming etc.
• plot doesn't flow at all
• characters are pathetic, with the possible exception of Robin
• a lot happens by pure luck or accident

... And worst of all, what I seriously can't stand:

• Strike solves the murder at about 80% of the book, tells Robin and others about it, but us the readers are left in the dark. At the end, when we are finally told, it all sounds pretty contrived and hard to believe.

Book 81 - 'The Clocks' - yet another Christie. I enjoyed this until the end, which was stupid. I felt cheated by it and am not tempted to read any more Christies for a long time now!

Oops, Cote - well, don't say I didn't warn you! SUCH a shame though, because the first one really did feel as if she was onto a good thing. I also feel as if I don't want to read any more of them, but I do still like Strike and Robin as characters.

Agree that the leg stuff took up too much time - most of it was just padding. What annoyed me more than anything though (other than the fact that the dead man was so unbelievably awful that I didn't really care why anybody had killed him, and therefore most of the book was pointless) was the cardboard cutout wetness of the Matthew character - the whole, 'Matthew doesn't like Robin working for Strike' stuff is all so unrelentingly dull. Clearly she's setting it up for the fact that nobody will later judge Robin for dumping him, but in that case, what's the point of even having him in the first place? Yawn.

Yes, you did warn me, Remus

Now I'm on to an even worse book - already at 40% and can't wait to finish. Jack Reacher will feel literary after this one, I fear...

I'm about three quarters of the way through the Everest one I mentioned below. Am enjoying it.

I downloaded "Confessions of an English Opium Addict" which is free on Kindle at the moment, if anyone is interested. It's a bit of a classic, apparently.

Let me know how you get on with it. It's one I've always meant to try but haven't yet done so.

Cote, have you read Reamde? I need a chunky holiday novel but it gets decidedly mixed reviews, even from Stephenson fans. I tried the first chapter of Zodiac on my kindle but that didn't really grab me...

Finished. Book 82 - 'Coronation Everest' by J. Morris. I really enjoyed it.