50 Book Challenge 2014 Part 4

[Southeastdweller]

Thread four of the 50 Book Challenge.

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

Here are the previous threads...

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

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

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/adult_fiction/2094773-50-Book-Challenge-2014-Part-3?msgid=49151537#49151537

Night Circus is an OK-written simple YA story.

JS & Mr Norrell is a beautifully written, intricate, amazingly detailed and imaginative story for adults.

You will have to read the latter to understand where I am coming from, I guess.

I have it on kindle to read but reserving judgement for now as don't agree with your view of NC. Will report back when I've read

I couldn't read, "The Night Circus" because the prose style and especially the use of present tense, was driving me batshit.

Then again, I couldn't read Jonathon Strange, either - found it tedious, although I have vowed to give it another chance at some point.

Best - nice to find somebody else who enjoyed Louis Drax. I'm always recommending it on here - it's her best one by far, although "War Crimes For The Home" is really good too.

Book 111 - Murder on the Leviathon Really enjoyed this. It's a Victorian-esque whodunnit, written by a Russian, with a French policeman and a Russian sleuth. It's very tongue in cheek and laugh out loud funny in a couple of places. It's got sections from various viewpoints, including diary entries etc. I recommend it!

I loved both The Night Circus and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. May have to re-read both soon actually, some of my reading matter has been a bit dark of late.

Book 84 Ancestors of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson

Long before The Mists of Avalon, this tells the tale of the destruction of Atlantis and the refugee priestesses, priests, princes and others starting a new life in a new land. Tiriki, princess and priestess, is separated from her priest and prince husband Micail in the escape. Micail's ship lands where intended, and he joins his cousin Prince Tjalan in his dreams of founding a new Atlantean empire and fulfilling an ancient prophecy to build a great temple - which will become Stonehenge. Tiriki's ship is blown off course and the small group forms a new community in harmony with the local population at Glastonbury Tor. Several years on, the two groups become aware of each other, and the scene is set for conflict as Tjalan seeks to use the power of the growing temple to make the people of the Tor join his group by force.

Decent telling of the back story, mainly redrafted and finished by Paxson after Bradley's death, but for me it didn't have the same power as Mists did.

I'm not sure what to do about the sequels to The Mists of Avalon to be honest. I am interested in reading them, but the revelations earlier this year (I had bought this book before I heard about the allegations) of her abuse of both her daughter and son do rather give me pause. Bradley died in 1999 of course, so it's not as if she would benefit from royalties, but I'm not sure how I even feel about The Mists of Avalon anymore in the light of the reality of the author. As a book I found it extraordinary and really spoke to a part of me, but elements of it are tainted by what Bradley herself did. It's a tricky one. I read this one on the basis that I already owned it; buying more now I know what is alleged about her seems more problematic.

Thanks Remus, I think it might have been one of your recommendations from yonks ago as I found it on my kindle already. Good call.

48. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

This was a bit of a waste of time (apologies to its fans ). You have all suffered through enough of my book reviews to know that I can't stand YA and especially abhor YA-in-disguise - i.e. YA books that are not advertised as YA. This is one such book

The premise of two competing magicians is promising and obviously nicked from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell but it is hardly developed at all. There are some good ideas on the side (like rêveurs) and the imagery is quite fine in parts, but there is practically no plot. I agree with Salon's book review that says:

"Plot is this novel’s flimsiest aspect, however, serving mostly as a pretext for presenting readers with a groaning board of imaginative treats. Morgenstern’s antagonists are not especially menacing and her efforts to indicate that something terrible might possibly happen are never more than halfhearted."

And now I'm going to make some comments that you might like to skip if you intend to read this book in the future:

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER --

Some characters were interesting and convincing, while others were neglected. Surprising, since two such underdeveloped characters were the magicians, Marco and Celia. They hardly say a word to each other and they both fall head over heels in love - what?! And why can't they live a long and happy life toning down the competition and taking it easy with their creations? Jog or even walk rather than run, since neither is interested in winning anymore, I mean.

The whole Bailey story was nonsense, too. All those chapters about Bailey walking around the circus did nothing for the plot but just served to tell the reader about all the tents of the circus. Then somehow, circus people decide that teenage Bailey is such a great magician that he is asked to take care of the circus, apparently a very difficult task that even Marco and Celia have struggled with. How?

Oh and please say that I'm not the only one who thought "Oh Gosh, they will start hating each other fairly quickly, now that they are alone together forever in some parallel dimension

Erm... I think Tolkien did competing magicians long before Jonathon S.

But I suspect you hate all that Gandalf crap.

90. Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. This is an account of her year of reading and re-reading books she already owned. Most are old favourites she wanted to revisit.

Feeling inspired by this book to catch up with all my already owned books and not buy anything new. Exception for library books, of course

Remus - Competing magicians rather than warring enemy magicians, as was the case in Tolkien's LOTR.

And no, I didn't read LOTR (only managed about 5 pages) but did suffer through the films and wondered what the hell I'm missing

53. More To Life Than This, Carole Matthews

I needed a bit of light reading after Jonathan Strange, and you can't get much lighter than some good old-fashioned chick-lit. I like Carole Matthews: her books are formulaic but the detail of the characters (female and male) and the plot always engage me if I'm in the mood for fluff.

Ready to lose myself in some Dickens now.

The books are deffo better then the films, but you would absolutely hate them.

Guess what I've just started btw? Do you approve?

I can't tell. Sci-fi from 1949? This is going to be another On The Beach, isn't it?

The Year of Reading Dangerously was pretty awful, all told. Where was the editor? A bit of a clanger to write a book boasting about being a good reader, and then dropping the clanger that Jane Austen wrote the sentence "Reader, I married him".

Started Val McDermid's version of Northanger Abbey, but don't think I'll finish it. It's not hitting the spot for me.

Went to collect Silkworm from the library, only to find I'd accidentally ordered the CDs rather than the book. I find it harder to listen than read, but I'm giving it a shot. Annoyed at Robin's stupidity. The women in the first few chapters don't do much except make coffee for men. And have none of the characters heard of the Data Protection Act?

Remus apologies if this isn't your thing or you have already read/reviewed this but Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel has got great reviews on Goodreads and Amazon and is a sort of post-apocalypse type novel. I haven't read it but it's on my list. I am hoping the price might drop on Kindle!

Ignore if I am way off the mark though...

Thanks, Whippet. I'll have a look.

Cote - I haven't read much of it yet, only 40 pages or so, but so far it's looking good. I reckon Stephen King had read it before he wrote, "The Stand."

47. First Steps in Counselling (fourth edition) – Pete Sanders

Good introduction to this subject but I found it hard-going mainly due to not having read a textbook for years.

Starting the new Grayson Perry book tomorrow as it has to go back to the library next week and then it’s back to The Goldfinch.

42. Ask The Dust - John Fante

Third in the Bandini quartet and one of my favourite books when I first read it as a teenager... loved it just as much this time around.

44. Sex & Punishment - Eric Berkowitz. This took quite a long time to read, balancing it in between other books. Sometimes amusing, sometimes horrific, sometimes just astounding but always human nature (albeit at it's absolute worst in some cases). It shows how far we have come in understanding sexual nature and desire, but it shockingly illustrates how far we have yet to go.

Ooh, I read that one, MrsCosmopilite. I liked it, but I seem to remember that it covered quite a lot of the same ground of Reay Tannhill's book Sex in History (which is a thoroughly good read).

Yes to both of those 'History of sex' books - read and enjoyed (?!) both.

This is brilliant, if you like that sort of thing - one of the best books I've read this year.

56. London by Edward Rutherford

Really enjoyed this. It tells the history and development of London by following a few interlinked families. Not great literature but really informative and interesting

Finished The Storyteller by Jodie Picoult. A fascinating but harrowing (at times) read.

Going to catch up with the rest of the thread now!

45. The Signature of all things - Elizabeth Gilbert. I like the way Gilbert writes - an easy, comforting flow of words on the page. This was a strange novel, but actually fitted in well with book 44 as it had a substantial focus on female sexual desire in a time when women were really considered to be either submissive wives/virgins or whores. I really liked the unconventional family that Alma came from, and the way that events hearkened back and forth across time as she matured.

Off on holiday on Saturday so hopefully plenty of time for reading.
I've just started #46. The Lady and The Peackock: The life of Anug San Suu Kyi - Peter Popham. So far it's tough - and speaks of a hard life lived with endurance, compassion, and acceptance.