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

51. Lost at Sea - Jon Ronson 4*
52. Back Story - David Mitchell 4*
53. The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson 4*
54. Broken Homes - Ben Aaronovitch 4*
55. Where Did it all Go Right - Andrew Collins 3*
56. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - Andrew Collins 3*
57. Wool - Hugh Howey 4*
58. Shift - Hugh Howey 4*
59. The Confusion of Karen Carpenter - Jonathan Harvey 3*
60. A Fucked Up Life in Books - Anon 3*

61. An Education - Lynn Barber 3*
62. Strange Bodies - Marcel Theroux 4*
63. Tony Benn Diaries 1940 to 1990 - Tony Benn 4*
64. The Universe Versus Alex Woods - Gavin Extence 4*
65. A History of the World - Andrew Marr 5*
66. The Unicorn Crisis - Jon Rosenberg 3*

38. Wait Until Spring, Bandini - John Fante

First of Fante's Bandini quartet which includes the more famous Ask The Dust. Proper straight-from-the-guts stuff.

Not posted for a long time - and completely lost where I am....
Trawled through the threads and complied my list -

1.Jamaica Inn -Daphne Du Maurer
2.The Oak Apple - Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia
3.Before I Go To Sleep - SJ Watson
4.The Machine Gunners -Robert Westall
5.Charlotte Grey -Sebastian Faulks
6.The Twins - Saskia Sarginson
7.The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
8.The Hangmans Song -James Oswald
9.River of Destiny -Barbra Erskine
10.Burning Bright - Tracy Chevalier
11.My Family and Other Animals - Clare Balding
12.Cold Granite - Stuart McBride
14.The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul -Deborah Rodrigueze
15.Harvest - Jim Crace
16. The Night Rainbow
17. Cuckoo�s Calling
18. The Light Between Oceans - M L Steadman
19. The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weusgarber
20. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filet
21. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
22. Last Bus to Woodstock � Colin Dexter
23. White is for Witching
24. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
25. The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
26. The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
27. Love in the time of Cholera
28. Love Hunt � Fiona Walker
29. I am a Pilgrim
30 - Instructions For A Heatwave - Maggie O'Farrell
31 - We Were Liars - E Lockhart
32 - Trespass by Rose Tremain
33 - The End of Mr Y
34: The Lie by Helen Dunmore
35 The Unknown Bridesmaid by Margaret Forster
36 - Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
37 - Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman
38 The Rosie Project
39 - 39 - Telling Tales - Ann Cleeves
40- Gentlemen & Players by Joanna Harris
41 - Sister by Rosamund Lupton
42 - Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
43 - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
44 - Perfect - Rachel Joyce
45- The Darkest Hour - Barbara Erskine
46 - Precious Things - Colette McBeth
47 - White Crow - Marcus Sedgewick
48 - The Absolutist - John Boyne
49 - The Various Haunts of Men (Simon Serrailler book 1) - Susan Hill
50 - The Pure in Heart (Simon Serrillier book 2) - Susan Hill
51 - One Night in Winter - Simon Sebag Montefiore
52 - Midwinter of the Spirit - Phil Rickman
53 - Eeny Meeny
54 We Are Completely Beside Ourselves
55 - Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
56 - Zennor in Darkness by Helen Dunmore
57 - Magpie by Mark Edwards
58 - 'Complicit' by Nicci French
59 - The Seige - Helen Dunmore
60 The Moneyless Man
61 A Crown of Lights Phil Rickman

Almost finished A Crown of Lights and need to get back on track with reading!

46 A Piece of Cake by Trisha Ashley
47 The Portrait by Willem Jan Otten I was given this by goodreads and absolutely loved it. It just pulled me in and didn't let go.

67. Improper Stories - Saki 5*

96. Enemies at Home, Lindsey Davis. Crime fiction in ancient Rome - this one focused on domestic slavery, so I found it quite thought-provoking.

Book 75 One of our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Set almost entirely in the BookWorld, this one centres around the written Thursday Next, living peacefully in her rarely read book series. But there are plots afoot, naturally. Peace talks are due to be held to prevent a potentially devastating genre war with Racy Novel and the real Thursday Next is due to be playing a key role. Her fictional counterpart develops a suspicion that the real Thursday has disappeared, and so sets out to discover what happened.

I think this one is better than First Among Sequels, and I like the idea of the fictional Thursday trying to live up to the real life version. They don't have the same personality even though you would think they should be identical.

41. The Golem and the Djini - Helene Wecker. I absoloutely LOVED this. As a child I loved fairy stories and this combines myth and legend in late C19th America beautifully. Very cleverly written, with engaging characters and some extremely interesting concepts and ideas.

68. Neuromancer - William Gibson 4*

Here are my 51-60:

51. The suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
52. Granta 127: Japan
53. Hack Attack by Nick Davies
54. We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
55. Far from the tree by Andrew Solomon
56. Do no harm by Henry Marsh
57. Upstairs at the party by Linda Grant
58. Man at the helm by Nina Stibbe
59. The Children Act by Ian McEwan
60. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

I really enjoyed most of these, but there are a few that stand out. (Mr Whicher was when I was on holiday in July, but that seems a long time ago now. I was late to the party on that one, but it's a good read.)

Far from the tree is a wonderful (and long) non-fiction book. It's all about parents and children, and what happens when a parent has a child that is "different": autistic, deaf, Down's Syndrome, schizophrenic, has dwarfism (and a few others). So each chapter discusses a different condition, both from the point of view of parents and adults with those conditions who talk about their parenting. The theme that runs throughout is the decision that parents make about whether to attempt to "cure" a condition or to accept the child as they are. (For example, do you teach deaf children to lipread or to use sign language? Do you fit cochlear implants or let them remain deaf and part of the deaf community?) Solomon is very empathetic and good at understanding the different points of view without being judgemental. I should warn you, there is one chapter on children born of rape that is deeply harrowing, but worth reading if you can stomach it.

I would also recommend Do no harm, which is a memoir by a neurosurgeon about his career. (He's married to the anthropologist Kate Fox, who wrote Watching the English.) He talks about some of the different cases he's dealt with, including the failures as well as the successes. For him a bad day at work is when you leave a patient dead or completely paralysed, which certainly puts my own bad days into perspective. Completely fascinating.

53. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

I really enjoyed this. It's laugh out loud funny in parts and inhabited by some wonderful characters

Just popping in to say, 'Hello' as I'm on a big go-slow again, now I'm back at work. I've done some work related reading (boos 102 and 103) but they were not at all exciting and I cba to talk about them on here!

Book 104 is a fantasy thing but I'm finding it quite hard work because I'm just not having the chance to read it in big enough chunks for it to keep my interest. I'll probably get it finished over the weekend, but I doubt I'll be singing and dancing about its brilliance.

In sympathy with the go slow/reading block posts, I think I'm going to give up on The Sunne in Splendour. I'm sure it's a fantastic book and I'll really enjoy it one day, but I'm just not in the mood.

Started to re-read The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs and it's more in line with what I can handle at the moment.

I'm also expecting to slow down as I've just started a new job after nearly 9 years as a SAHM! First week has gone well

Currently reading The Bonesetter's Daughter and enjoying it.

Thanks Hackmum, those sound really interesting.

Congrats on the job, tumble!

Congratulations, tumble!

I have also slowed down to a stop and blame the back-to-school mayhem for it.

I have sort of given up on The Prague Cemetery. I have no idea what it is talking about anymore and have little hope of mustering the enthusiasm to read it to the end.

On the other hand, I have discovered audiobooks and now my life is complete! I've been listening to Dracula's audiobook while cooking & doing housework and I'm really enjoying it. Can't say if that is due to the book's exceptional format of personal journal entries and letters, and the admirable acting talent of its voice artists, but it is going surprisingly well.

42: I Predict a Riot - Colin Bateman.

I picked this up on a second-hand bookstall, after chatting to the owner about fantasy, sci-fi and other 'odd' books.

Set in Belfast, it follows the events leading up to the retirement of Superintendent James Mallow. As the jacket says, "murder, extortion and carrot cake" are all covered in the plot which links the lives of a number of people in strange ways.

Clever, funny, and sad in equal measures. A very good recommendation from the bookseller. My only criticism is that swearwords were asterisked out. I found this a bit distracting as there was a fair bit of 'language', but it suited the characters. I suppose I just prefer my reading matter uncensored.

Thanks biblio and Cote!

o my god this thread has really moved on! Really struggled with the new mobile site so have not been on much :( but anyway, here is my list so far for the year with highlights in bold

1 - Carrion Comfort by Dan Sims
2 - A Perfect Proposal by Katie Fforde
3 - Loot, Inside the World of Stolen Art by Thomas McShane;
4 - Wool by Hugh Howie
5 - A Feast For Crows by George RR Martin - Game of Thrones
6 - A Dance with Dragons, Part 1 and predictably
7 - A Dance with Dragons, Part 2
8 - The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes.
9 - The Rosie Project.
10 - Road to Rouen, Ben Hatch
11 - Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
12 - The Light Years, Elizabeth Jane Howard
13 - Marking Time, Elizabeth Jane Howard
14 - The State We're In, Adele Parkes
15 - Confusion, Elizabeth Jane Howard
16 - The Last Letter from your Lover, Jojo Moyes
17 - Casting Off, Elizabeth Jane Howard
18 - HHhH, Laurent Binet
19 - The Taliban Cricket Club, Timeri Murari
20 - The Trouble with Marriage, Debby Holt
21 - Confessions of a Sociopath, ME Thomas
22 - The Sky's Dark Labyrinth, Book 1, Stuart Clark
23 - This Book Will Save Your Life, AM Homes
24 - The Speckled People, Hugo Hamilton
25 - The Borrower, Rebecca Makkai
26 - Sad Desk Salad, Jessica Grose
27 - The Thoughful Dresser, Linda Grant
28 - Alex, Pierre Lemaitre

29 - It's Got to be Perfect, Claire Allan
30 - Shoestring Club, Sarah Webb )
31 - Lexicon, Max Barry
32 - The Diet Delusion by Gary Taubes
33 - Anathem by Neal Stephenson
34 - The Fishing Fleet, Husband Hunting in the Raj by Ann de Courcy
35 - The Killing Floor by Lee Child
36 - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
37 - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Just finished The Luminaries. I'm not really into mysteries but this one was engaging enough. No heart to it though, structure a bit contrived and at odds with the more fanciful elements. A long long read. I did like that there was some time spent with each character so they weren't just players on a stage counting down to a big revelation. But I did find the plot very far fetched, piles of gold hidden in a dress and taken out when owner was asleep??? Really? REALLY? The astrology theme was over my head as I could not have less interest in it.

That said I read it all the way through with no interruptions. So while I could pick holes in it all day and am very unlikely to ever read it again it was a good read.

Whew! Sorry for the epic post!

ooh hackmum see you read Ian McEwans' new book the Children Act? Was it good?? It's on my wishlist

Far from the Tree sounds fascinating. Have put a watch on it...

43. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

It was great to get stuck into a massive big old novel. I really loved the first half, the sweeping and ruthless nature of the plot. There was a point during the last half when it was all getting unbearably bleak and awful and relentless and I didn't have much sympathy left for the main character. He started to feel less real and less believable. But the last section brought it back around, I thought the ending was pretty good. So overall a great novel that I think I will read again one day, but it's not quite as good as I was hoping for.

44. Divergent, Veronica Roth

I heard so much about this YA series that I thought I'd give it ago. It was pretty good, if a bit derivative and weirdly paced. But, I have a thing for dystopian fiction so couldn't help but enjoy it, and it's somehow quite comforting reading YA again after all these years, takes me back to being a teenager myself.

wilting - thanks for the review of The Luminaries, have been debating adding it to my next Amazon shopping basket but having read quite a few comments like yours I don't think I'll bother. Sounds quite tedious for not much payoff.

85. A Question of Identity - Susan Hill. This is the seventh book in her Simon Serrailler series. I think probably this is my least favourite of the series so far, but still looking forward to Book 8 out next month.

Does everyone know that Ian McEwan's novel The Children Act is being read (abridged version) on Radio 4 this week and next week for Book At Bedtime? It's available on I-Player. I listened to episode 1 a couple of days ago, but decided I'd rather wait to read it in full.

Book 86 will be Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (half way already).