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

Meant to press preview not post! If you can decipher my post above you get a medal.

So far this year I've read
1 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
2 Catch 22 - I can't say how much I love this book and I'm staggered I've only just read it this year. Potentially my favourite book of all time now.
3 The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules
4 Three Men in a Boat
5 The Casual Vacancy
6 When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
7 The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden
8 The Silkworm.
The rest are eight from the Number One Ladies a Detective Agency.

Currently reading We are all completely beside ourselves but not sure I am enjoying it much. So impressed that some of you are closer to 100 than 50!

Finished The Shadow of Death by James Runcie - a gentle old fashioned detective story, far fetched and implausible in places reminiscent of Agatha Cristie.

About to start Paris by Edward Rutherford )book 74). This is a 900 pager so I may be a while

57. My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young

Ok book. Similar themes to others I have read where WWI star crossed lovers are separated by war. Lots involving Gillies who appears in lots of books. Was a recommendation and am not sure why. Nice easy read I suppose.

I haven't done the 50 book challenge in years but just realised I have already read over 40 so should actually easily manage 50 this year. Last year I only read about 12!

49. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
50. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
51. Franny and Zooey - J. D. Salinger

Gone Girl and then two quite short, interesting novels which I have always meant to read. One Day in the Life, initially banned in the Soviet Union, describes a day in a prison labour camp from the point of view of a political prisoner about 8 years into a 10 year stretch. Although inherently grim, it wasn't nearly as depressing as I thought it was going to be and was an interesting study of the human condition in difficult circumstances, especially in how the prisoners manage to snatch moments of almost happiness by getting an extra portion of food or satisfaction from building a wall correctly.
There's a lot I could write about it but I don't want to bore anyone.

I read Catcher in the Rye years ago so was curious to read Franny and Zooey. Overall, I don't really know what to make of it other than it is about a brother and sister, from a family of child prodigies, who had been schooled by their older siblings so extensively that they have lost their way in life, unable to accept or find meaning in a commonplace or normal existence, unable to look at the world except through an overly critical lense. Strange book! And a lot of smoking. Everyone chain smokes constantly! Glad I read it though, it's really got me thinking.

I'm on to some YA fiction now and a non-fiction.

Provencal, I really enjoyed My Dear- I found all the stuff about the development of cosmetic surgery really interesting, and I do like well-researched historical novels.

I've just finished Zoë Heller's first novel Everything You Know - it's quite short and it only took an afternoon. It was deliciously misanthropic, with some great turns of phrase.

I'm trawling through my kindle now for an unread would-be gem to read in the bath.

49. The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell

I liked it and was definitely gripped by it, but I am not in awe of this book like I was of Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Yet, there are many similarities between these two books, to the point that this one feels like an imitation of Cloud Atlas:

• 6 stories
• ... all of which are first-person accounts
• ... spanning decades
• ... starting in the past (1984) and extending far in the future (2043)
• ... and ending on a roll rather than winding down, as if they were cut prematurely

The themes are similar, too:

• Man's selfishness & cruelty, especially towards each other
• The yearning for safeguarding our knowledge/self/experiences for posterity
• Growing old
• Dystopian future

Cloud Atlas was original, gripping, and well... perfect First halves of the stories marched towards an inevitable conclusion, with the dystopian and post-apocalyptic two feeling incredibly real. Then came the second halves, and the reader is locked into the epic ensemble, with no escape from the author's logic as shown over and over in a variety of ways across continents and centuries. People are cruel and exploitive, we kill and enslave when we can; we have not changed, will never change, and this will be our downfall. Our technology will disappear in a single generation, just like our experiences and memories do as we grow old and die. It is a powerful blow to the gut, made all the more painful because of the hopeful note it ends with (1st story, so 1850s... but the reader already knows how the human story will end because the last story was laid out in full in the middle of the book).

A similar theme plays out in The Bone Clocks in a similar format, but in a less effective way imho and for it I blame its fantastical/supernatural subplot of warring immortals. I'm not quite sure why the author has felt the need for this subplot, especially since it takes up almost 25% of the book and imho doesn't add much to it (or maybe I haven't figured it out yet), while the other 5 narratives take up between 14%-17%. I will think a bit more about this and post my thoughts on here. If you read this book, please do the same. It would be interesting to see what you think.

There is a lot I want to say but I don't want to give any spoilers. Suffice it to say that David Mitchell is a brilliant author and he knows it. He is a master storyteller who (1) manages to change his 'voice' with every character he is voicing the inner thoughts of and make the personal accounts feel truly individual, (2) keeps you hanging on every word (I hear this book is 600+ pages - seriously didn't feel like it), and (3) succeed at every level, be it the feelings and perceptions of a child or sweeping predictions about life half a century in the future.

47. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. I'm a great fan of Graham Greene, so I really enjoyed this. Probably not his best one though.

Whippet, I love One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Book 113 - 'Earth Abides' by George R Stewart. This has been recommended a lot on MN. It's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel, published in 1949. I really enjoyed it. It was flawed in that it was a bit repetitive in places and a bit melodramatic in others, but found it both gripping and thought-provoking, and some of the prose is really lovely.

Whippet - I liked F&Z much more than 'Catcher.' It seemed more innocent and less 'knowing' somehow, and sadder too. It's a long time since I read it though.

97. "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I thought it was just alright. I'm afraid I didn't see the attraction.

Ifemelu was a fairly rounded character but annoyed me, and Obinze just seemed shallow - there was no substance to him. It felt like his only point was as a love interest for Ifemelu.

"The Bone Clocks" sounds good cote

100. Drawing Conclusions, Donna Leon
101. Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years, Sue Townsend
102. The Year of Reading Dangerously, Andy Miller
103. Unconditional Parenting, Alfie Kohn (liked this)
104. Uniform Justice, Donna Leon

Nothing too demanding. Have another few Donna Leon's ready to go - always nice when there's a whole back catalogue to sink into.

44. League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1969

45. Insurgent , Veronica Roth
46. Allegiant , Veronica Roth

Definitely not a great ending to this YA trilogy, butbut overall I thought they were a pretty good read.

47. Homage to Catalonia , George Orwell.

I've read a couple of novels set or partially set during the Spanish Civil War this year, so when I saw this unread Orwell lurking on my bookshelf I thought it was time to get stuck in. Love his clear, conversational writing style and it was interesting to learn about the Barcelona fighting during the war. This book is also a good example of how much cleanliness (or the lack thereof) and bodily comfort plays on Orwell's mind and features in his writing - so I was tickled when near the end of the book he acknowledged this himself and wondered if it made him 'ignoble' to be so concerned with it at a time of war!

Cote can't wait to read Bone Clocks. It's waiting for me at my DH's office.

whippet One Day In The Life Of... sounds good. Have added it to my To Read list.

I am halfway through The Old Curiosity Shop. Depressing but wonderful detail. Am enjoying it.

Bssh I was wondering where you'd got to! I thought you must be into something serious for you not to post for a few days

riverboat1 I really enjoyed reading Homage to Catalonia a few years ago and funnily enough, Divergent is on my list - would you recommend it?
It's 2.99 on Kindle so I am tempted.

After Cote's review of The Bone Clocks I am going to have to read it.
So much to read, so little time!

Book 114 - "Boneland" by Alan Garner
On the surface this looks as if it ought to be a children's book, but it isn't. It's the follow up to his hugely popular "Weirdstone of Brisingamen" and its sequel which were published in the 1960s.

I expected to love it but, in fact, I absolutely hated it. I've been reading it on and off for weeks (and it is very short) but kept putting it down for something better. Finally finished it last night in desperation caused by a bout of insomnia.

It's trying to be mythical and poetic and other-worldly and ethereal and Hughes-like. In fact, it's wearing and irritating and repetitive and stupid. I was interested in the human character, Colin, but the attempts to parallel his life and his issues with all the mythical crap were laboured and ineffective. I felt cheated and cross when I'd finished it and I most heartily urge you all to stay well away from it.

Not the worst book I've read this year (that award is like to stay with Khaled Hosseini and the abominable, "And the Mountains Echoed") but even worse than Morrissey's autobiography and that, to quote the great Bananarama, is really saying something.

Book 88 Mean Spirit by Phil Rickman

I'm on a roll with Rickman at the moment - I've now got The Chalice on the go, having spotted it in a charity book shop this morning.

This one follows on from The Cold Calling. Bobby is uncertain about his future in the police and has become interested in spiritual practices. Grayle is living in England and working with Marcus to improve his magazine to make it one that people will actually buy, and Cindy has become a TV hit on the National Lottery show. Then Seffi Callard, one of the world's best known mediums, who Marcus knew as a schoolgirl when he was a teacher, gets in touch with a plea for help. She has gone into hiding following a sceance where a spirit with a definite air of evil appeared and she now can't shake it off. Marcus has flu so sends Grayle, and they all get drawn into a far more dangerous situation than any of them would have envisioned.

It looks like his next book Night after Night, out at the end of the month, features at least some of the same characters, so it is becoming another series of his. He's a really prolific author, and pretty high standard too. Crime fiction with a pagan element.

57. Untold Stories -Alan Bennett. As I said up thread, I loved this. It took me ages to read as I didn't want to miss any of it and now I feel bereft and don't want to read anything else. A good book often does this to me. I think I need some Jilly Cooper or something light hearted and racey next.

45. Dreams From Bunker Hill - John Fante

Last of the Bandini quartet. I can't express just how great these books are, just would urge anyone who likes Charles Bukowski, Knut Hamsun, or has ever dreamed of being a writer, to read them.

58. Lost & Found by Brooke Davis

Aussie friend sent me this as not available in UK yet. Was enjoyable easy reading. Good beach book. Story similar to the 100 Year Old Man . First book I've ever read that featured geriatric sex.

54. The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens An intense and memorable read with some wonderful characters and vivid descriptions. One of my favourite quotes describing a particularly awful character:

"He ate hard eggs, shell and all, devoured gigantic prawns with the heads and tails on, chewed tobacco and water-cresses at the same time and with extraordinary greediness, drank boiling tea without winking, bit his fork and spoon till they bent again, and in short performed so many horrifying and uncommon acts that the women were nearly frightened out of their wits."

Going to read some easy chick lit now (Carole Matthews) before immersing myself in Great Expectations.

I haven't read Dickens since school so it's a real treat to re-read him as an adult.

Remus, I've nearly really got Alan Garner. As a child I loved Susan Cooper and that kind of writing, but I never felt that Alan Garner had created a world that I could enter.

Bssh, that's a tempting description of The Old Curiosity Shop. I feel I need to give Dickens a shot one of these day. We inched laboriously through Hard Times at school, which pretty much put me off.

I'm still dipping in an out of Virginia Woolf's diaries, A Moment's Liberty - very cosy reading last night, with the rain on the roof and a hot-water bottle in bed. It's interesting to see the way she berates herself at her lack of success as she approaches her 40th birthday - makes me feel better about my own shortcomings.

I've also started reading The Plot: The Biography of an English Acre by Madeleine Bunting and I like it so far. It's so reassuring when you can put yourself in the hands of someone who writes well and with emotional honesty.

I still need to properly count where I'm up to (sorry), but I flew through David Nicholls' Starter For Ten , which was free on kindle. Very light read, dicklit really, but funny and sad in parts.

I'm a few chapters into one called The Interestings now- I can't make up my mind whether it is pretentious rubbish, or whether the writing is observant enough to make that unfair. It's very Jonathan Frantzen so far.

Biblio - I remember absolutely devouring, 'The Owl Service' aged nine or so.