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

Just over a month, and we are already in the second thread

Eleanor - I thought The Bone Clocks was a bad imitation of the perfection that was Cloud Atlas. Similar format, six stories with same characters, very similar message to Cloud Atlas, etc. Of course it is still a well-written book because the author is David Mitchell and he is just brilliant, but there is just nothing original about it because he did it all (and much better) already with Cloud Atlas. Besides, I couldn't see the point of the huge fantasy section and the post-apocalyptic story was nowhere near as good as the one in Cloud Atlas.

Yep, looks like I am going to have to read Cloud Atlas Molly :)

molly oooh I'll be looking into those Dan Jones books. I love anything to do with the Plantagenets and Tudors.

Tempted by Cloud Atlas but thinking of saving it for when I go on holiday...

Book 19 'The Wide Window' by Lemony Snicket
Read in desperation, having given up on four Kindle books in disgust (mostly obscure Conan Doyle ones).

1. The Dinner by Herman Koch - this was a book club read and I really, really disliked it. It is the story of two brothers and their wives getting together over dinner to discuss the behaviour of their children. Over the courses the story flashes back to give context and the backstory while addressing the current crisis presented by the actions of their children. None of the characters with the exception of the politician brother were likable. But what I really objected to and was very upset by was the implications that the author made regarding the main character who was diagnosed with a neurological condition named after a German neurologist. He doesn't name the condition but it is very easy to figure out. Koch could have done a bit of real research instead of taking the easy option of crude caricature. I mean why bother representing something correctly when you can sensationalise it for the sake of a story. I have two kids with this diagnosis and life is hard enough for them without this sort of sloppy and dangerous (IMO) misrepresentation.

1. Christmas at Thornton by Lynn Marie Hulsman - a different book club read and it was the usual chick lit formula of girl let down by boy who takes on a job with the rich and famous and finds out her dad is this famous chef and all ends well with love and family. Not my cup of tea at all!

1. The Hobbit by TolkeingI read this with my kids. This is the story of Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit who gets up to all sorts of adventures with Gandalf the wizard and the dwarves. It has dragons, treasure, dwarves, wizards - what more can one want in a book. One of my favourite books ever. Always worth a reread.

1. The Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett. This was an audio book. A glass clock has been built to freeze time. Pratchett at this best read by the wonderful Stephen Briggs.

Next up is Stoner and on audio The Night Watch by TP.

whippetwoman - I wonder if those books can only be read on a tablet via the App?

Could you paste here name of the file as it gets downloaded on your phone?

Can you find it on your phone at all as a separate file?
Do you have option in which format to download it?

Herman Koch gave me the rage too..

Thanks to all who offered opinions on The Bone Clocks. I have decided not to buy it. I love Cloud Atlas, have read it three times, so I think I might be disappointed with it. Besides I have loads of ebooks and paper books to get on with. I would like to re-read Jonathan Strange before the TV adaptation airs but I don't think that I'm going to have time. I know there is a separate thread for this particular book. Does anyone know when it is due to be shown on TV?

#4-Brass Ring by Diane Chamberlaine
#5-A fox under my jacket by Harriet Graham.This was a book I read as a child and have been trying to find it for years,and, after a thread in 'chat' about mysteries being solved,i asked if anyone knew it and they did! Got it off ebay, and finished it today-it made me cry!! Brought back my childhood though!
Starting 'Flowers in the Attic' tonight-read it years ago, and want to read it again!

I know that I can read library ebooks on my nook because they're in epub format. I assume (don't know for sure as I haven't done it yet) that I would just download it to my laptop and side load it on to the nook. I think the problem is that kindle doesn't support ePub.
I wonder if it would be possible to change the format in calibre?.. But probably not as they will be protected to stop people from just copying them.

hooker I read Flowers in the attic (and the following books) when I was about 14. They've stayed with me my whole life! At that point I hadn't read anything like them before. I recently got the whole collection at a car boot sale

If I enjoy it, I'm going to get the rest!

I remember really enjoying the Heaven books by VA too

Virginia Andrews and Stephen King are the authors that really got me hooked on reading

1. Curtain Call - Anthony Quinn

This is a murder mystery/social commentary/love story combo set in 30's London and a very enjoyable one. The characterisation is good, the period detail excellent and the story very engrossing. It's the first novel I've loved since reading The Goldfinch last autumn and I highly recommend it. I read the book but the abridged version is still available to listen to in ten episodes on BBCiPlayer.

Next up is The Stepford Wives.

1. The Universe vs Alex Woods.

Loved this book, thought the friendship between Alex and Mr Peterson was brilliant. I even enjoyed the physics/maths bit (never thought I'd type that out!).

A touching and thought provoking tale about the right to retain your dignity when faced with an incurable disease. Would recommend.

Book #6 Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Spotted this at the library and thought I'd give it a go after enjoying The Paying Guests.

LOVE Fingersmith, I think it is her best one (have read them all except The Paying Guests which is waiting for me on my kindle).I read Fingersmith when I was stuck in bed recovering from really nasty chicken pox, which I caught the day before my 30th birthday. This book stopped me from feeling sorry for myself as I was so engrossed in it! Full of twists and turns, which I love in a book.

Am really enjoying it so far Eleanor. Was so tired last night I didn't get much past the first chapter before eyelid failure but it defo looks like a book that keeps you interested.

I'm another one for whom Virginia Andrews and Stephen King (amongst some others) got me hooked on reading as a teenager MyIronLung.

Hi antimatter I think you meant to ask that question of bookwormbeagle as I am not at all techy and don't understand about phones and files!

11. A Very Easy Death - Simone de Beauvoir Very short (only 93 pages) and readable account of the death of her mother. Moving and emotional at times, and at others almost clinically detached, it details the relationship she had with her mother and how that changed when she knew she was dying.

I am trying to get a few titles under my belt this month before I launch in on Jonathan Strange in March which will take me forever.

Oh me too, I remember reading Flowers in the Attic and I'd completely forgotten about the Heaven Casteel books until mentioned upthread. Just had a little trip down memory lane reading the plot summaries!

Flowers in the Attic really takes me back, I remember it being passed round at school aged about 13, that and its various sequels. I think I remember the plot getting more and moer convoluted til they end up back in isolation by the final book.
And the first book I read off my parents' bookshelves was a Stephen King compendium of Carrie, Salem's Lot and The Shining. I reread The Shining every year through my teens.

#9. The Last Anniversary - Liane Moriarty. Reasonable page turner with an obvious twist about two sisters who find an abandoned baby on the little island they live on, and turn it into a commercial enterprise.

#10. The Departure - Neal Asher. This is dark sci-fi set about 100-150 years in the future where the population has exploded to 20 billion, resources are scarce and the world is run by a corrupt totalitarian government. People who don't follow the party line are brainwashed or tortured to death. The plot follows someone who wakes up in a box with his body about to be disposed of after torture with an AI in his head. It's the first in a trilogy but I defnitely need a break from the darkness.

11. The Secret of Chimneys - Agatha Christie. This is her first novel and I picked it up for £1 in a second-hand book shop. It does have a murder but is a bit boy's own adventure with jewel thieves, a Balkan revolution and a Red Hand gang. She's another of my childhood reads and every now and then I'll buy one that I don't have yet, real comfort reading.

I've just started the Bone Clocks and am really enjoying it. I agree with Cote that it is Cloud Atlas lite but still a good read (so far).

Southeastdweller I am glad you enjoyed Curtain Call too. I read an uncorrected proof and enjoyed it so much that I bought another book of his straight away