50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 1

[Southeastdweller]

Thread one of the 50 Book Challenge.

The idea is to read 50 books (or more!) in 2015.

Who's in for this year?

hackmum - re Elizabeth Is Missing:

I've been seeing this book mentioned on various websites including MN but I didn't even look up what it's about because it ticked several boxes on the minus side:

• First book of a...
• female author that is...
• heavily marketed.

You convinced me to try it, though. It sounds like the film Memento, which I loved.

I'm just about to start reading Elizabeth is Missing. Keep reading good things about it. Have just finished reading Us by David Nicholls. Will update properly tomorrow.

Elizabeth is Missing I thought was the one of the most overrated books I've read of the last few years. The two parallel stories didn't gel, the main story was slow, and the characterisation in general poor. I'm hoping the TV series will be better.

condolences to MIN that is a hard loss and very sad

I finished book 6 last night Children of Eve by Deirdre Purcell .... a simple light nice story....sort of like Maureen Lee...that type of genre....it won't rock your world but it is easy reading and pleasant enough. I did feel the whole issue of abandonment was not dealt with deeply, sort brush aside.

Wish I had Girl on a Train to start but I don't :(
I do have a pile up of books by the bed ...oh what to pick next?

1. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins

Rachel takes the same commuter train every day and becomes obsessed by the occupants of one of the houses along the track. When the female occupant goes missing, Rachel quickly becomes embroiled in the unfolding drama.

Unlike other readers, I didn't find the novel gripping. I think it's because I didn't warm to any of the characters and that I found the actual writing style very dull. I didn't enjoy Gone Girl for the same reason. But it was well-plotted and I can see why it's been a hit. But for me: well, meh.

Hmm, her train must be going very slow if she gets time to see the occupants of houses. I quite fancied a read of that as I spend two hours commuting on the train. Maybe I will download a sample.

1. Scruples, Judith krantz. Loved this as a teenager and I'm not ashamed to say I enjoyed it this time as well. Good escapist fun.

7-12 Diary of a Provincial Lady - E M Delafield. I loved the first book but liked them less and less as they went on. Semi autobiographical diary of upper class lady living in Cornwall in the 1930s. All about her troubles with Cook and engaging maids, what to wear to dinner with Lady B and chairing the WI. They are very funny and sweet in parts. I liked the third book where she goes to America but the war one was quite irritating as was the Russian one.

I'm recovering from a horrible chest infection (this is week 5 now) and I need something gripping and easy to read next.

Sending good wishes your way, Min.

Book 14 - 'The Circle' by Dave Eggers
This imagines a world where a company, 'The Circle' has pretty much taken over everything. If seeing people sitting together in public all on their phones and not speaking to each other bothers you, then this book would probably interest you. It's a pretty terrifying vision of what a world obsessed by social media might become. Unfortunately, the central character is so stupid that it was a bit hard to sympathise with her, and the ending annoyed me. Generally though, I enjoyed this - Eggers can certainly write, and the concept was an interesting one. Not a patch on, 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' though, which I adore.

Book 15 - 'The Poison Belt' by Arthur Conan Doyle
A novella, rather than a full novel - I read it in one sitting this morning. The world is being poisoned by ether, and a group of friends sit together in a room, supported by an oxygen supply, and watch as the world dies. I really enjoyed this, until the final denouement, which I thought was ridiculous and which spoiled it for me. Can't say anymore without spoilers, but, if anybody has read it, I'd love to talk more about it.

1. A Single Man - Christopher Isherwood

The 1960's novella which depicts a day in the life of an English professor adjusting to life after the recent death of his partner, I found the style of this book pretentious, the plot (what there is of it) very slow but the ambiguous ending was interesting. I felt the 2009 film was more powerful and more successful in expressing the main character's feelings and motivations.

1. A Taste of Honey - Shelagh Delaney (with commentary and notes by Elaine Aston and Glenda Leeming).

The famous 50's play set in Salford about a teenage girl who becomes pregnant and the relationships she has with her mother and gay friend, this amazed me when I realised how timeless some of the themes are so many years on, and the dialogue remains in some ways very fresh and at times hilarious. The notes and commentary were fascinating to read and has inspired me to read more plays and critical essays. I'd recommend anyone who's interested to read the Methuen Student Edition of this, published by Bloomsbury.

Aiming to read at least five this month as I'm starting the Jonathan Strange book in early March and I think it'll take me three weeks to finish. Kicking off February with the recently published Curtain Call.

Cote - I know what you mean about Elizabeth is missing and the over marketing. But I do think it is remarkable.

Southeast - Are you a fan of The Smiths, by any chance? Morrissey stole several lines from Delaney. 'I dreamt about you last night and I fell out of bed twice' is my favourite.

Book 13 - I Let You Go - Clare Mackintosh

It's readable, but the writing (and the plot!) is very clunky in places. Tries too hard to be 'different' and most of the twists you could see coming a mile off.

A small boy is killed in a hit and run. Part of the story is told in the first person of various characters connected with the crime, the rest is told in the third person.

Still plugging on with Wolf Hall as my paperback book - finding it a bit heavy going though. Thinking I would maybe get into it more if I watched the tv adaptation.

On my kindle, currently reading To Kill A Mockingbird.

10. Us by David Nicholls

After not particularly liking One Day, I was a little sceptical about trying another novel by David Nicholls. But I am glad I did try it, because I absolutely loved it.

It is an honest portrayal of a marriage in deep trouble.

I found it an engrossing page-turner but often an uneasy read. I thought Douglas a great character and, by the end of the novel, he was someone with whom the reader could have a lot of sympathy. He misunderstood so much over the years, made so many painful mistakes but understood and had learned from them by the end.

All in all an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable novel.

Next up, Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey - so far ok, not loving it yet - am getting quite frustrated by Maud.

Also, reading My Family and Other Superheroes by Jonathan Edwards (winner of the 2014 Costa Poetry Award) - loving this, very good.

And The Reboot With Joe Juice Diet by Joe Cross (looking for a solution to chronic fatigue, but not sure if this is it).

And Lancaster & York - The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir (mostly interesting, but getting a bit bogged down with all the detail).

Book 8 -Dragons Lair by Sharon Penman
Book 3 in the Justin De Quincey series. Entertains enough and a good plot around the ransom of Richard the lionheart but nothing to write home about.

Not sure what to read next. Have the new autobiography of Thomas Cromwell waiting but fancy a good fiction story.

Southeast- I studied Taste of Honey at A Level years ago and loved it. Saw a great live production of it as well.

Duchess - can I recommend reading Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr for chronic fatigue? Ignore the awful title it's actually a really well researched book on eating for health. She has a website which is very good as well. I have been following the plans she suggests and feel so much better

Min I lost someone very close to me before Xmas and have found it really hard to get into a lot of reading since. Certain topics are just off limits at the moment

Thanks Ellis . I'll take a look at that. Open to any suggestions, getting so fed up with feeling so tired.

southeast I saw 'a taste of honey' at my local theatre last summer - thought it was fantastic.

1. Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage - Hermann Buhl

Brilliant memoir of the Austrian climber who among many famous climbs made an Alpine-style first ascent of Nanga Parbat, solo and without oxygen, a climb unparalleled in its day. Sadly out of print but worth tracking down for mountaineering fans.

1. The Orphan Masters Son - Adam Johnson - a novel set in North Korea. Read as a book group choice, I found it well written, thought provoking and a good plot. The main area of interest for me was the main character 'Jun Do' and also the details of North Korean life. I would recommend if you have an interest in the subject.

1. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling

Continuing my reread of the series, loved it! Couldn't believe how much I'd forgotten.

1. Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime - Val McDermid

Good introduction to the various topics discussed with an interesting range of case studies. However, it was not in depth enough for someone studying the topic.

1. We Were Liars - really addictive read, read it all in one sitting. Basically a 17yr old girl goes back to the island where her whole family summers after an accident which resulted in amnesia and tries to piece the whole thing together. Really compelling read and just had to finish it

That sounds really interesting whitewineandchocolate. I am fascinated by North Korea and have Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea waiting on my Kindle, so will add your recommendation to my huge list of books to read!

I have just finished number 3: The Book Thief. I loved this, to me it felt really unique in terms of writing style. Even though Death, the narrator, had warned that most of the main characters would die in the book I was still rooting for them all to survive and was gutted when they didn't. I felt particularly moved by the relationship between Liesl and her papa, and her mama's rare moments of emotion. My only minor criticism was with the ending. I am the kind of reader who hasn't much of an imagination and in most books I do prefer all loose ends to be tied up. I do know that for many readers being able to imagine your own ending is a large part of the joy of reading, but I would like to have discovered how Liesl ended up in the place where Death eventually found her at the end of the novel and what happened to her and Max after the war.

I am now reading something quick and light before my next real life book group meeting this week: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. It is perfectly readable but I'm not feeling the love for it so far.

EleanorRugby - I loved The Book Thief but many people thing is terrible, I didn't even realise that it is in the category of YA literature!

Another, 'Book Thief' fan here - I thought it was excellent, and re-read and thought it was excellent again!

God, I hated The Book Thief with a passion - no doubt you have all heard this multiple times, but YA books that con me into reading them because they are NOT marked as YA make me a bit stabby. Death droning on like a moron about the color of this, the color of that.... You would think that an eternal being would have something slightly more insightful to say