50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

[Southeastdweller]

Thread three of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2015, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. It's still not too late to join, any type of book counts, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

First thread of the year here, and second thread here.

Mamapain your list looks good to me I didn't like The Shock of the Fall either. I thought it was pants.

29. How to be Alone - Jonathan Franzen

A collection of his essays, mainly from the mid-1990s to 2001.
There were few here I found interesting; one about his fathers death from Alzheimer's and one about the prison system in the USA. There was also an interesting bit on smoking and lots about the place of fiction and reading/writing novels in the age of technology. The trouble is, technology has moved on a lot from 1997 so the writing already seemed dated.

I couldn't help thinking that Jonathan Franzen had too much time on his hands when he wrote these. There's far too much introspection going on and I can't believe he started smoking because he felt that nuclear war was almost inevitable and therefore what did it matter if he smoked a cigarette or two?! Riiiiiight....

28. Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
    Superb account of a young girl growing up under the violent fist of her fanatically religious father and in the aftermath of a Nigerian coup. Beautiful descriptions of Nigeria and the complex feelings of a daughter for her father.

29. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
    In a small American town in Iowa in 1956, a dying preacher in his mid-70s writes letters to his only child, a six year old boy, letters that won't likely be read until the boy is an adult. "While you read this, I am imperishable, somehow more alive than I have ever been." A beautiful and lucid meditation on spirituality, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, family history, the natural environment and more.

30. Every day is for the Thief, Teju Cole
    A young man returns to Nigeria after 15 years in New York and observes the changes he sees with acerbity and disenchantment. A brilliant and heartfelt account of belonging and displacement, with poignant asides to the healing power of literature, art and poetry.

Have added Major Pettigrew's Last Stand to my TBR pile thelittlebooktroll.

I hope you will enjoy it

Two easier, though not particularly short, reads:

14. The Ask and the Asking (Bk 2 in the Walking Chaos Trilogy) by Patrick Ness
    Part of a YA series about settlers on an alien planet where all the thoughts of men (not women) are heard out loud. It has a good engaging plot and I like the characters. I think you can tell this is YA- there are interesting themes but you are hit over the head with them. The majority of the time you can see where it is all going a mile off. Saying that, I am enjoying the story and interested to find out where it leads so will definitely read the third.

15. A Discovery of Witches by Barbara Harkness
    Stressful times at work (for me) lead to fantasy epic novels about witches, vampires and daemons at war - goodies, baddies and a central love story. What more could you want to whisk you away?

36. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. No need to review it as it's already been done on here. Surprisingly good. A good old fashioned thriller with lots of twists and turns. Very enjoyable.

Book 47 - 'Hollow City' (The second of the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children) series
As I expected, the writing was a bit inconsistent and the plot deliberately far-fetched, but what makes these books so fascinating is the vintage photographs that they are based around. I'll definitely be looking out for the next one.

Shake - I really enjoyed the first two of the Ness trilogy, but was really disappointed by the third. Worth a read but not a patch on the others, sadly. :(

Book 48 - A guide to Berlin as we've just booked our next holiday! This was useful in the sense of helping me work out where things are etc, but I'd have liked a bit more about the city's history.

Can anybody recommend any good fiction or non-fiction about/set in Berlin, please?

Christopher Isherwood set some stories in Berlin. Can't remember which as a teen when read them. Pre-WW2? Anyway...

I googled fiction set in Berlin and this link looks good
theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/10-books-that-will-make-you-fall-in-love-with-berlin/

Thanks, Bssh.

23. How to be both - Ali Smith

A book of two parts, one being the story of a Renaissance artist in the 15th century, the other the story of teenage girl in the late 20th century. This book was very slow-moving, too florid, I couldn't discern a connection between either parts, and the structure was thoroughly irritating. I've zero interest in art history, so that probably didn't help with engaging with this book. The masochists among you may be interested to know that the paperback is out later this month.

24. Family Life - Akhil Sharma

A semi-autobiographical novel which tells the story of a family from Delhi moving to America in the 70's, this is told through the eyes of one of the two son's and offers at times a devastatingly honest look at the dynamics of his family but I felt the brevity of his writing hurt the book and it lacked depth. I liked the touches of black humour and it is very moving occasionally, however.

Currently nearing the end of an Alan Bennett anthology and a surprisingly decent chick lit novel.

Might have already recommended this earlier in the thread but Beatrice Colin's The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite is set in Berlin. One of the best books I've read in recent years.

Incidentally, I was listening to a podcast recently and this walking tour was very highly recommended www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187323-d3747792-r262385676-Isherwood_s_Neighbourhood_Walking_Tour-Berlin.html#REVIEWS

Have a great time in Berlin - I loved it.

I have Family Life on my bookshelf. It does look slight.

Thanks, Olly. Have read that!

Thanks for the link too. Feel free to PM me with any recommendations for restaurants etc. :)

The FT review of Berlin was terrific. I love Berlin but it's been years since I've been. I used to love looking at photos and videos of when David Bowie and Iggy Pop lived in Berlin in the mid-70s.
howtospendit.ft.com/destinations/155-a-long-weekend-in-berlin

Wow, been away for a few days and just had to read 6 pages to catch up!

Three to add:
16. The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro
This one was a real slow burner for me, it felt gentle and ever-so-slightly odd - maybe because I kept trying to relate it to anything else I've ever read about Anglo-Saxon times and Arthurian stuff, and it really doesn't feel like any of that. Elderly couple Axl and Beatrice are on a quest to find out what happened to their only son, but are hampered by a collective amnesia which affects the whole country. They go on their journey against a backdrop of an uneasy peace between Britons and Saxons which threatens to break down at any time. There are also dragons and giants, but they feel rather incidental - it doesn't read like fantasy to me, but rather a meditation on loss of memory, both individual and as a society. Beautiful, unshowy writing. This is my first Ishiguro and I'll look out for more - I like the sound of his Japanese novels from earlier up thread.

17. Where'd you go, Bernadette, Maria Semple
    Loved this. Very funny, lots of good observations about the differences between Seattle/Microsoft and LA/Apple. Underneath the comedy it's also a moving story of mother/daughter bonds.

18. A visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
    Mixed feelings about this. Set in America between the 80s and the near future, this is one of those novels with lots of characters, each chapter following one character then passing the baton to another. The writing is sparky but it feels like a collection of short stories as you don't get to know any of the characters well, and I found it hard to warm to any of them. The basic premise seemed to be that everyone is damaged in some way (drugs, sex, rock'n'roll), but some people are survivors and others are not. Hmm. I'm sure Egan is saying something profound about modern society, but to me it just felt unsatisfactory.

Now reading Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behaviour, which is wonderful.

So envious of your trip to Berlin, Remus. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go but not likely to now for the foreseeable future. Was due to go years ago with an old family friend who was from Berlin but he died suddenly and we never got there. One day maybe

Duchess :(

30. Waiting for the Barbarians - J.M Coetzee

This powerful and allegorical novel is set in a frontier settlement of an empire and focuses on the character of The Magistrate who governs the outpost and what happens when the 'powers that be' launch attacks against the barbarians. The time and date of the novel's setting is kept deliberately vague, it is more a study of crime and punishment and of the machinations of an empire. We never really learn who the barbarians are, but the most barbarian behaviour is not displayed by them, but by the soldiers and torturers of the empire. Grim but gripping.

I'm feeling a bit disheartened about my reading today, I'm not sure why! ghee's so much I want to read but I am only ever at the tip of the iceberg. It seems like an impossible (self-imposed) task.

Hmmm nearly bought Family Life in Waterstones today, but not so sure after your review SouthEast.

Remus, I love love Berlin. Put on at least 2 stones in one weekend when I was there last
October. The food is divine. Lucky you!!

Feel a bit bad about putting a dampner on the Berlin posts, Remus - sorry. Hope you have a great time :)

Don't be daft!

Troll - I'm veggie. Will I be okay for stuff to eat, or doomed to live on pizza and chips?

27. Druids A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe

I bought this out of curiosity about the quality of this series of short introductions - I've read other books about the druids before. I must say, I was impressed. Cunliffe is an expert of course, but he crammed an awful lot if information into 139 pages. He looks at the archaeological evidence as well as evidence from classical sources, and even touches on the emergence of modern day druids, from the 18th century through to modern pagans. This is a good introduction for anyone new to the subject.

Remus, I don't really eat meat and still got fat in Berlin.

The Jewish monument which I think is fairly new is worth a visit. Beautiful and haunting.....