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've added that book to my wishlist , Remus!

Great writer Remus. Not read that one but have read a few others. I will look out for thst one.owing to Hay on Wye next week so I may find one with the original cover if I'm lucky..

Hadn't heard of before but would deffo consider others. V interesting personal story too.

Meg - I read Reamde but was pretty disappointed with it. It's not a bad book but it's not typical hyper-intelligent mind blowing Neal Stephenson. More of a 24-style action story.

36. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde.

Not my bag at all. One of the most original books I've ever read but the meta/fantasy combo did nothing for me and I didn't find most of it funny. The only reason I finished it was because of the likability of the Thursday character. Still, it was only £1 in The Works so I don't feel too hard done by.

Speaking of cheap books, I was thrilled to find Elizabeth is Missing and My Salinger Year in two charity shops last week for £2.99 each. They were published in hardback just two months ago .

Hmm, what shall I read as my holiday book then?!

I've got this to start next.

Meg - Have you read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell? I loved it, and more importantly, so did Neal Stephenson (said so in an interview)

That looks good Remus.

Just started 2nd Rebus book and having a sofa book day so will see how far I get!

Ooh, Remus, I really enjoyed that one. I love books about books.

Me too - have just added that one to my kindle and looking forward to it - thanks Remus!

Really liking it, so far, although would prefer less about the writer herself and even more about the books.

Book 61 Kitchen Witchcraft by Rachel Patterson

Just a short one, while also reading something else. It's a nice little book, bit lightweight and fluffy, and assumes some existing knowledge of witchcraft and magic. It's interesting to read about how someone incorporates their practice in their day to day life.

38 Hide and Seek - Ian Rankin

Enjoying Rebus. Onto the next.

CallingAllEngels I've been reading the Rebus novels too :) I'm up to the 5th and really enjoying them. Just waiting for the next couple to be free at the library

I'm making my way through the Rebus series by finding them in charity shops, reading them, then donating back. I really like them, but I can't collect yet another long series!

I have read some more!

24: The Luminaries
25: Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
26: A Kind of Loving - Stan Barstow
27: The Summer Book - Tove Jansson
28: Harvest - Jim Crace
29: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

I liked The Luminaries even though it took me an age to read as I am a slow reader. I thought it was an unusual idea for a novel and I had never heard of the New Zealand g

Oops, posted too soon damn phone! Meant to say gold rush! I would recommend The Summer Book, an adult book by the lovely author of The Moomins. No plot as such just an account of a grandma and granddaughter spending summer on a tiny island off the coast of Finland. Perfect to read now.
Sorry mumslife but I enjoyed We Are All Completely... I didn't guess the twist. A really interesting novel I thought, with an unusual idea. Off to read something old now I think.
Also, I must be the only person in the world never to have read a Rebus novel! I will remedy this now...

Cote I got that out from the library years ago but stalled after 50 pages or so. Have downloaded the sample chapter so will see how I get on with it.

I have downloaded Berlin: The Downfall by Antony Beevor for some light reading in the meantime :)

76. We Were Liars by E Lockhart. 5/5. Excellent. Great twist, didn't see that coming at all.

Ages since I've posted. Here's the last few I've read:
30. Anna Karenina: Tolstoy
31. Bitter Greens: Kate Forsythe (recommendation from someone way upthread, really fantastic book mixing historical story with feminist retelling of Rapunzel story)
32: The Cuckoo's Calling: Robert Galbraith
33: Park Notes: Sarah Pickstone (anthology of art and writing inspired by Regents Park - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Jackie Kay etc etc)
34: Beowulf, translation by Seamus Heaney
35: Birthday Letters: Ted Hughes
36: The Gallery of Vanished Husbands: Natasha Solomons
37: Down and Out in Paris and London: George Orwell
Now on Quiet by Susan Cain - a study of introverts and how to survive as an introvert in an extrovert world. Looks interesting so far.

Finished number 56 - Blacklands by Belinda Bauer. Not that impressed. Stephen's thought processes were well done, but clear from the outset what was going to happen.
On to we are all completely beside ourselves and avoiding all threads relating to it until finished.

Struggling a bit with A Clockwork Orange, more the language than anything else. Afternoon off today so will get through as much as I can - it's just 141 pages, thankfully.

37. Interrupt - Jeff Carlson

Suddenly much higher solar activity shorts out all mammals' higher brain functions, and global catastrophe follows. Sci-fi aspect is good, and even the theory about autistic people & Neanderthals works to a certain extent. Post-apocalyptic side is not bad at all and feels more "real" than most. However some of it is quite like autists turned Neandarthal suddenly coming up with ( only one of three) Neandarthal names, and especially the romance is just ludicrous and toe-curlingly awful.