50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 2

[Southeastdweller]

Thread two of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

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

Previous thread here

5. The Lighted Rooms by Richard Mason - a very well written book about a lady suffering from Dementia. It did take me a while to get into the story, and it was quite confusing at points, where the past is jumbled with the present and that of another family, but its one I would recommend.

Will re-read The Remains of the Day next as I am going to An Audience with Kazuo Ishiguro in March.

Meant to say I won't bother summarising the plot of the book

I've started, 'I Am Pilgrim.' Not at all taken with it thus far. Between that in book form and, 'The Martian' on Kindle, I'm not feeling like reading at the moment!

southeast - we normally have similar taste in books However I really enjoyed The Miniaturist. I thought it meticulously researched. It isn't going to win the Booker Prize but it's a rattling good story that entertained me from start to finish without annoying me, which is more than I can say about Elizabeth is Missing!

Sorry I should have said I'm on number 10 - Elizabeth is missing :-)
I've watched fault in our stars so might read that

I've got some Colette mcbeth ok order from the library if anyone's tried them ?

My list so far is

1. The Casual Vacancy
2. Miranda's biography

3.hilary Boyd - a most desirable marriage

1. Lucy Diamond Summer with my sister
2. Lucy Diamond sweet temptation ( I apologise chick lit helps me destress!)
3. The book of you - Claire Kendall
4. Jane Schmelt - Daughter
5. Watson - Before I go to sleep
6. Gone Girl

Was the casual vacancy any good? I have it downloaded but watched half of it on tv last night and was disappointed so don't know if I should bother.

#8. Merivel: A man of his time - Rose Tremain. This picks up the story of Robert Merivel, court physician fifteen years after the story in 'Restoration'.
Merivel is endearing, frustrating, pathetic and laudable in equal measures. All I can say is that I loved it. If you've read Restoration, you will too. If you've not read it, give it a go.

There are so many well-crafted scenes, so much authenticity in the historical settings and yet Merivel is a man of OUR times too.

14. Winter Trees - Sylvia Plath

I found this slim volume of poetry next to Ariel on my dad's bookshelf so decided to read it. All the poems were written in the last 9 months of her life. There's also a radio play included in the collection called Three Women. I found the poems strange and dark, sometimes the meaning of certain lines seemed unintelligible, but I certainly came away with a good sense of the complexity and depth of her poetry. There's lots about childbirth and motherhood here that fascinated me.

15. The Most Beautiful Thing - Satya Robyn

Oddly, after reading The Miniaturist, here is another book set in Amsterdam with a character called Petronella. This is modern day Amaterdam and venters on Joe, a 14 year old boy who spends a summer with his Aunt in Holland while his mother suffers a breakdown. Years later he returns with his own mental health problems and things do not go as expected. I didn't like this at all and wonders if it was YA fiction in disguise, but I think it was just bland writing. The voice of the narrator was unconvincing although I didn't see a twist. Basically, I didn't rate this.

Sorry about the typos, typing on my phone which has gone autocorrect crazy!

Book 6 Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.

Waters at her absolute best, this book is a gripping tale, superbly written and guaranteed to keep those pages turning. The story starts in London with the introduction of Sue Trinder, a poor orphan girl who has been raised in a household of thieves, fencers and pickpockets. She is persuaded by the enigmatic 'Gentleman' Mr Rivers to take part in a plot to con a gentle woman heiress out of her fortune, by working as her ladies maid and encouraging Maud Lilly to accept Rivers' proposal of marriage.
Twists and turns aplenty, I can highly recommend this book so won't give away any more plot details.

Book 8 - a chick lit rom com by Freya North, suitably easy reading so I can catch up with the double figured brigade!

Finished book 8 The Undertaking by Audrey Magee....good story of WW2, a short book (300 pages) but well written. Based in Berlin from the German's view, the characters were good and the story moved along quickly.

Book 9: keeping with the WW2 theme, started The Betrayed by Christy Kennealy. Set in Austria about 3 teenagers and how the war affects their lives. Bit involved and jumping from country to country with lots of characters but interesting so far

Bookworm - isn't Fingersmith just great? I love how twisty it is. I think it's probably my favourite Waters book.

1. The Paying Guest, Sarah Waters (Bit disappointed by this. I found it was overlong, and by the end I was skipping quite a bit because I wanted to move on to something else)

10. The Unwelcomed Child, by Virginia Andrews. (Described in the cover as her most shocking novel yet. I've seen episodes of Waybuloo that were more shocking. Absolute bollocks.) 11. I Think You'll Find it's a bit more Complicated Than That, by Ben Goldacre (Short essays from the author of Bad Science. An interesting and pretty quick and easy read.) 12. The Kill Call, Stephen Booth, (Another disappointment, I'm afraid. Was bored by the end, and didn't care who the killer was. Actually, I think I've already forgotten.) 13. The Debutante, Kathleen Tessaro. (I enjoyed this. Silly, lightweight and frothy, although I did want to slap the main character a couple of times.) 14. Revival, by Stephen King (Best book I've read in a while. I even liked the ending) 15. The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion (Took me a while to get into this, but enjoyed it once I did, although I do think it was a litt;e overhyped) 16. Farmageddon, Philip Lymbery + Isabel Dakeshott (Another 'where our food comes from' expose. Interesting and well worth a look)

Right, and that's me up to date. I'm going to try to post a little more regularly now. Aside from anything else, it's interesting seeing what everyone else is reading.

Oh crap, forgot:

17. My Dear, I wanted to Tell You, by Louisa Young (Superb, with wonderful characters I actually came to love (and I NEVER say that about books). It feels a little odd that there is a sequel, given that this feels so complete as a novel, but I will seek it out anyway).

Sirzy: The Casual Vacancy is very grim and depressing! I was sorry I read it to be honest

riverboat - agreed, it's fantastic!

I borrowed The Casual Vacancy from the library at the weekend, after all the meh reviews I may take it back!

16. The Lamp of the Wicked, Phil Rickman.

Now on (17) The Smile of a Ghost, Phil Rickman.

I got an enormous pile of books from this series from the library, so I'm working my way through them. As mentioned previously, it's a mash-up of crime and the occult as dealt with the Anglican church, set in a small town in the Welsh Borders. For a longish series, the author avoids getting formulaic. I'm on a bit of a roll with them at the moment, although I can see myself having enough soon.

11. Anna Karenina - started this one just after Christmas so have been reading it on and off which is why this epic has suddenly been added to my list.

It will take a while to digest this one really. It was long but the actions of the characters were built up over time and they all went on a kind of journey. Anna started off as some sparkly women full of live but eventually became more and more conflicted and insecure. But she wasn’t portrayed as some devil women which I expected, the main characters were quite well rounded really. Just took a long time to convey that.

I have now surrendered on, 'I am Pilgrim' which is dreadful. Next up are some stuffy work-based things, which I will count but not write about. Meanwhile, I'll plod on with, 'The Martian' and I have a couple of new exploration books too.

I gave up on Casual Vacancy (the book) very early on. I found it so dull and ploddy (is that a word?).

I also gave up on it. Ploddy is definitely appropriate.

Well I've finished The Girl On The Train, so that's my fourth book complete and here's my review:

1. The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

An emotive mystery told from the perspective of the main female characters. I was totally gripped from the beginning, my interest did wane just over halfway through, but I read the remainder in a second sitting. Unfortunately I only found one of the three key characters to be likeable or interesting. It was the suspense and mystery which kept me reading. A less slick Gone Girl is my best description.

I'm not sure what I'll start next, I fancy a comedy or anything but another murder mystery.

I Am Pilgrim really wound me up Remus although I did persevere. It's a bit of a generalisation but a lot of books seem to struggle between badly written page turners and beautifully written accounts that lack plot.

#13 To Rise Again At a Decent Rise - Joshua Ferris. This was a struggle for me. It follows a dentist in New York who is quite anti social media and the "me-machine", phones, computers etc. Someone sets up a website for his practice and then starts tweeting and facebooking in his name. It's reasonably amusing at first but then gets bogged down in a treatise on God, religion and doubt. I read the Finkler Question a few books ago and am not interested in these random authorial musings on religion. I really can't see why it was Booker shortlisted.

I loved the book of The Casual Vacancy and think about it often, more than most books I've read from the past few years.

remus my DB, DSis and sil all raved about I am Pilgrim, I think I got to page 10 and that was it. I also gave up on Casual Vacancy and haven't even attempted wolf Hall