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

And tonight I might have to resort to an Enid Blyton!

I was in a charity shop today and came very close to buying The Castle of Adventure. Loved the Adventure series.

Me too. But my very favourite is [[http://www.enidblyton.net/secret-series/the-secret-island.html this one]

Here

Ooh, yes, the details of how they made their own little home. Not a million miles from Yeats' Lake Isle of Innisfree.

Cos I'm all about the high/low culture, me.

Snort.

I always think of, 'Educating Rita' when thinking about Yeats.

Frank - Do you know Yeats?
Rita - The wine lodge?

72. Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
    Former Booker winner. I liked this - set partly in the Raj era, partly in late twentieth century India.

73. The Sisters Brothers - Patrick De Witt
    An unexpected gem that had been lurking on my kindle for ages - set in gold rush USA and full of mad lawlessness but cleverly written. Something different and I recommend it. Plus, it's short!

74. The Universe Versus Alex Woods - Gavin Extence
    The grew on me and had me in tears at the end. Sort of Mark Haddonish and reminded me a bit of Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (but not as good as that).

75. The Yellow Birds - Kevin Powers
    The author was a former US army soldier in Iraq - he's now a poet. This novel was set mainly during the war and contained some good descriptive writing, but it didn't quite gel somehow, it seemed muddled and confused but perhaps that was a reflection of the war.

76. All Change - Elizabeth Jane Howard
    The last Cazalet chronicle. I raced through this and was sad to say goodbye to all the familiar characters. Good to read in Dec as lots set at Xmas.

77. A Winter Book - Tove Jansson
    Had been saving this for Dec. it includes a brilliant bit of writing about her and a squirrel that lands on her island. Impossible not to love Tove Jansson!

Hmm. Will I hit 80? I am so busy and tired with work/family and Xmas I don't know - but I will try!

Here are my 71 to 80, with comments:

71. Clothes, clothes, clothes, Music, music, music, boys, boys, boys by Viv Albertine
    Memoir by Viv Albertine of The Slits - excellent and moving read, quite shocking and anger-inducing in places. She's a natural writer. Makes for an interesting compare & contrast with the Richard Coles memoir.

72. The narrow road to the deep north by Richard Flanagan
    This year's Booker Prize winner - slightly disappointing, tbh. Characters not very well-fleshed out, implausible love story, predictable plot twists. The bits set in Burma were good.

73. Funny girl by Nick Hornby
    Loved this book. Set in the 60s, a story about a young woman who becomes a sitcom star. Very funny but deftly told. Reminded me a lot of Michael Frayn and early David Lodge. It was so well told that at the end I felt as if it had all really happened, a feeling I remember form my childhood - don't get this very often from a book these days.

74. Curious by Rebecca Front
    Amusing, well-written and occasionally touching incidents from her life. I like Rebecca Front so enjoyed it, but it's fairly lightweight.

75. Lila by Marilynne Robinson
    The third book in the Gilead trilogy. I don't love Robinson like other people do but I dutifully ploughed my way through it. I can see why people think it's good and I didn't mind it but was glad when it finished!

76. Teach us to sit still by Tim Parks
    Very interesting memoir about the writer's illness: essentially he has a number of excruciating symptoms that appear to be prostate-related, but the doctors can't find anything wrong with him. Through a chance find on the internet, he gets better first through relaxation and then meditation techniques. This is much much better than it sounds - it's full of interesting ideas and literary allusions and a very thought-provoking read.

77. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
    From the Mumsnet goody bag at blogfest! A pacy psychological thriller, though I guessed the twist very early on.

78. Village of Secrets by Caroline Moorhead
    The true history of a village in Vichy France that protected numerous Jewish children from the Nazis. It's a fascinating subject, and the characters involved in rescuing the children are compelling, but I did find it difficult to keep up with who was who, and it was a bit long. Worth reading, though.

79. Granta 129: Fate
    I love Granta - always a good mix of short stories and non-fiction. I particularly liked a piece about transgender children in the US.

80. The Railway Man by Eric Lomax
    Was inspired to read this by Narrow Road to the Deep North. It's a memoir of the writer's time as a prisoner of war of the Japanese. He underwent terrible torture and deprivation, and it affected him for the rest of his life - he was clearly suffering from PTSD but never had any treatment for it until the 1980s. It's the most extraordinary book - I can't recommend it highly enough. At the end, he has a meeting with one of the men involved in his torture. One of those books that I think will stay with me for a long time.

Ah, ballet shoes! Lovely! One of my favs too. Personally I reread the Emily of New Moon trilogy from time to time. Still really enjoy them tbh.

Think this book

54. Wanderjahre: A Reporter's Journey in a Mad World by Lutz Kleveman - this was ok, got v bored with it towards the end. How many anecdotes about murderous despots can I read in one book? The hook that drew me to it really was the idea of engaging with an uncomfortable family history but he didn't do that particularly well.

And have jus finished

55. the rabbit back literature society by pasi ilmari jaaskelainen. Really enjoyed this magical gem of a book. Written with great ease and good humour, I think at bottom it is about the act of writing. Loved it.

Think I might have another go at Life after Life next...

I know what you're saying, biblio, about the Mapp and Lucia books, but I loved the 80's TV series and went to a preview last week of the first episode of the new BBC series and really enjoyed it so I'll persevere with the books, until the third one at least.

Managed to find a library copy of The Paying Guests that wasn't on loan (not easy, even in London) so that'll be the book that should hopefully get me through what may be a challenging Christmas.

81. The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde

Book 106 The Blackhouse by Peter May

Set on the Isle of Lewis and background given in first person flashbacks by the main character, Detective Inspector Fin Macleod, who has been sent to the island from Edinburgh to investigate a murder which bears similarities to one he was investigating in Edinburgh. The murder investigation is told in the third person, but it is interspersed with episodes of Macleod's life growing up on Lewis. It's an okay read but I didn't find it terribly gripping.

Book 87 was Broadchurch by Erin Kelly. Not having watched the TV adaption I did not know what I was letting myself in for when I picked up this kindle offer. After a slow start the tension built up well and I did not see the end coming. All in all an enjoyable read.
Book 88 is The Silversmiths Wife by Sophia Tobin

53. Do No Harm by Henry Marsh, about the career of a senior neurosurgeon. This is a really interesting read, especially (for me) the chapter on trigeminal neuralgia as my mum had it and was successfully operated on 11 years ago. I started to get a bit bored towards the end - I think I'd had enough of brain surgery by then!

Now reading Notes on a Scandal and loving it - sorry Remus!

Bad Pharma is only £1.49 if anyone's interested. It is a vg read.

74. The Old Ways - a Journey On Foot by Robert Mc Farlane. This is a lovely book in which McFarlane walks some of the old footpaths in Britain, Spain, Palestine and China. He is heavily influenced in his walks by the writer and poet Edward Thomas and the book contains an essay on him. His prose is beautiful at times.

75. Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck. Remus recommended this earlier in the thread and I am very glad she did. It was on the travel shelf in the library near the mountaineering/polar exploration section so when I spotted it I was delighted. I am enjoying it immensely. He writes with great humour about Charley, his standard poodle and I am a huge dog lover.Added to that some parts are fascinating to look back on, especially the section on trailer parks. I just wish it was a bit longer. Will be reading more Steinbeck in the New Year.

Have got two huge books on mountaineering and polar exploration to read next but tempted to download the Jan Morris Everest one first as the kindle sample was very engaging.

Glad you enjoyed the Steinbeck. :)

49. A Christmas Carol, nice quick read and good to read some Dickens again.

Thanks for the heads up, wilting. I bought Bad Pharma

118. We're All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. I had been putting off reading this after seeing some reviews on here and discovering the twist.

I had thought it wasn't my kind of book. But then decided to read it and I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed it.

Fascinating and horrifying in equal measures the way Rosemary's and Lowell's childhoods were used as part of the family experiment.

119. A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman. You wouldn't think a book about a grumpy old man grieving and trying to find a way to commit suicide would be so good but it is. It is funny and sad, touching in the way he finds new friends to love and be loved by and discover a new purpose in life. And all without being mawkish and sentimental - it's never that.

It is brilliant and I absolutely loved it. If anyone is looking for something quirky and very different to read then this ought to fit the bill.

Autocorrect fail - We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves ....

46 A journey to the End of the Russian Empire - Anton Chekhov
47 The Congo and the Cameroons - Mary Kingsley
48 Escape from the Antarctic - Ernest Shackleton

3 more from a set of classic travel books. Nice to have one from a female perspective. All 3 interesting journeys/travels to read about.

Neal Stephenson's mind-blowing book Anathem is £0.85 on the Kindle

64. Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
    Recommendation from a friend. Novel based on the story of real-life magician Charles Carter in the early 20th century. I really really enjoyed this. It's a fantastic story and the surprise at the end still sends shivers down my spine. Lovely book.

65. Dear Nina by Nina Stibbe
    Very much enjoyed this and it was enhanced by the knowledge that Alan Bennett is most perturbed by his description as a handyman. I found all the characters wonderful and her view of what is worth recording a delight. Very much enjoyed.

Book 66 is Life by Keith Richards, a book group book. It's ok but the stream of consciousness is getting on my nerves a bit. Will report back once finished.

I'm sorry but I really didn't enjoy MN and JS at all. I found it incredibly boring and unmagical. Some of the phrasing was lovely but overall it was such a dull book.

Someone was asking about non-fiction recommendations upthread. My two favourite non-fiction books are both by William Langewische and are concerned with aeroplanes. One is called Aloft and one is called Fly by Wire: The Geese, The Glide, The Miracle on the Hudson.