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50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

993 replies

Southeastdweller · 21/03/2015 17:46

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.

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 27/05/2015 08:05

Clash - Imo Remus has not yet read the parts where plot comparisons with Hunger Games become more obvious. I think she is still in the la-di-da pages in the beginning.

Remus - Once you finish reading Red Rising, I would be interested to hear if you think it is YA.

CoteDAzur · 27/05/2015 08:11

Soot & Remus - I think I'll give Lovecraft a go. His "complete collection eBook" is £2.34 on the Kindle at the moment.

CoteDAzur · 27/05/2015 08:14

Joyless - Great news! Meanwhile, my pelvic pain is almost completely gone. Onwards and upwards until the next injury. Oh the joys of middle age Grin

esiotrot2015 · 27/05/2015 08:35

I think I'll give only ever yours a go thanks Lammy - love the Handmaids tale, Margaret Atwood is one of my favourite authors

Pinkglow · 27/05/2015 10:01

couple more to add from me,

  1. Nourisment by Gerald Woodward - a better than expected read, quite enjoyed this
  2. Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard - have now added a load more books from this author to my list
CoteDAzur · 27/05/2015 16:50

Pinkglow - I love J G Ballard. He has a great style of writing with a brilliant "voice".

Be warned, though, that when you read other stuff by him, you will see that his books are generally very different in subject matter than Empire Of The Sun, which is largely autobiographical. His stories tend to be on the 'weird' side, and the term Ballardian has been coined to describe the particularly strange "inner landscapes".

His autobiography Miracles Of Life is fantastic, too.

riverboat1 · 27/05/2015 21:25

I'm so behind...

  1. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

It was good, but took me a long time to finish and it annoyed me that half way through I realised it was the second in the trilogy, not the first as I had thought. So now I don't know whether to go back and read the first one, or just read the third one, since I'm spoiled for the first...

  1. A Place Called Winter, Patrick Gale

Loved this, a great new novel from Patrick Gale. He rarely disappoints.

  1. Affinity, Sarah Waters
  2. Animal Farm, George Orwell
  3. The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters

These were all re-reads, and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting all of them.

ShadowFire · 27/05/2015 21:35

It's a long time since I read the Gormenghast trilogy, but as I recall the first and second books were much, much more enjoyable than the third book.

Lammy7 · 28/05/2015 11:19

32 for me is Perfect by Rachael Joyce: half way through and enjoying it. Set in UK about a boy who is 11 in 1972. 2 seconds have been added to time and he is convinced his mother made an awful mistake as the seconds were added. He becomes fixated on this. Flips to present time and (I think it is his school friend) is about a grown man with mental health problems. I didn't read her Harold Fry one but it got good reviews.

Lammy7 · 28/05/2015 11:20

Sootgremlin hope you are feeling better soon Flowers

TheWordFactory · 28/05/2015 12:51

Book 21 The Bone Clocks.

This had taken me ages to finish. It's far too long.

What can I say? In many ways this is a very good book. Mitchell, as always does 80s schtick to perfection and his near future world building is truly horrifying in how prescient it seems. Utterly believable.

However, the story line of body baton passing souls is very odd. I know it was a theme he was playing with in Cloud Atlas, and presumably he wanted to explore his further in TBC, but for me it strikes not the wrong note per se, but an incongruous one.

I guess the main problem here is that TBC isn't Cloud Atlas Grin, which remains to my mind a work of seminal skill and imagination.

TheWordFactory · 28/05/2015 12:54

And I think I going to order Red Rising as suggested up thread.

My current WIP is a YA dystopian thing which owes a lot to Brave New World.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 28/05/2015 16:54

I'm about 35% into, 'Red Rising' now, and still thoroughly enjoying it. It's reminding me of, 'Ender's Game' as well as, 'The Hunger Games.' So, not terribly innovative, but I really like the central character. It's nice and pacy and it's got some really good dialogue too. If you like YA and dystopian stuff, you'll almost certainly enjoy it, Word.

TheWordFactory · 28/05/2015 17:01

Thanks remus I've ordered the audio book from the library.

And some Lovecraft stories.

Calfon · 28/05/2015 17:01

It has been ages since I updated. MyIronLun I read Only Ever Yours last year and I really liked it and would highly recommend it. Yep you are right it is in the same vein as The Handmaid's Tale. Another great book.

  1. Snow White Must Die - Nele Neuhas. I bought this on a daily deal after reading the reviews. The story was around two 17 year old girls who disappeared and the guy who was convicted for their murder. I don't want to give away the plot so will keep this brief. The plot was good but the writing just didn't flow and I found myself getting confused with the characters. I am not sure if this was the author or the translator. Only that I wanted to see how it ended I would have given up half way through.

  2. The Darkest Part of The Forest - Holly Black. This was a YA book about a town in the US and the fairies who were part of the fabric of the town and the teenagers who lived there. The story opened with the description of the horned boy in the glass casket in the woods. I was really expecting something amazing but it was ok. I expect my 12 year old will love it though.

  3. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett. Audio book. "In the beginning was the word and the word was 'hey you'!. Classic Pratchett read by Nigel Planner. Loved it and laughed my way through it though is is quite dark in places. Vorbis is the real church villain - dark, menancing and terrifying because he really believes that he has god and right on his side.

  4. Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett - audio book. This one was read by Stephen Briggs and is the story of Polly who disguises herself as a boy and goes off to join the army and discovers that the world is a different place when you stuff a pair of socks down the front of your trousers. Polly is joined by other 'boys' seeking similar to her. Not my favourite of his books though it really shines in parts - still a cracking good listen.

  5. The Monk Who Vanished - Peter Tremayne. I liked this. It was a nice easy read with a good smattering of detail about the Irish Brehon Law system which was replaced by English Common Law in the 19th century. I was hugely interested in how progressive these laws were many years ago and I recently heard about Tremayne's Sister Fidelma books. I think they are similar to the Caldafel mysteries. The setting is the 7th century and Sister Fidelma is a nun according to the Celtic trdition and she solves mysteries. She is also a Brehon law court official or 'daili'. I will definitely look out for a few more of the books from this series.

  6. I Am Legend - Richard Mathiesen - I loved this. I had it synced between audible and my kindle. The narration was excellent and what a great story. Completely different from the film. If you haven't already read it I would highly recommend it.

I am still plodding away with The Goldfinch and have started listening to The Leopard. I have to read The Stranger by Harlan Coben for my book club but it is not really engaging me yet.

ClashCityRocker · 28/05/2015 21:24

Glad you're enjoying Red Rising Remus, I've just finished (number 48) The Golden Son, the second one in the trilogy.

I always think second books in the trilogy are often difficult as they tend to be 'bridging' books, but this was good, fast paced and enjoyable. Didn't find it as immersive as the first one though.

I think I may read The Handmaid's Tale next, I've heard lots about it but never actually read it, then maybe Only Ever Yours.

ClashCityRocker · 28/05/2015 21:27

Oh no I won't, the dratted thing isn't on the bloody kindle Angry

Hmm, what next then?

whippetwoman · 28/05/2015 21:49

Good news about your results Joyless!

I saw a brand new copy of Red Rising in a charity shop today for £1 but I just got it on my kindle, so let it be. I would be happy to go and liberate it tomorrow to send to a fellow mumsneter though!

I'm on a go-slow atm and it's taking me ages to read anything but I did finish:
43. Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel. I finally got round to reading this and I much preferred it to Wolf Hall. I can see why it won the Booker as it's such an interesting and complex portrait of Thomas Cromwell and his motives in the Boleyn debacle.

My quest to read every Booker winner continues!

Original poster
southeastdweller · 28/05/2015 21:55
  1. Life After Life - Kate Atkinson

I enjoyed the first half of this overlong family saga but the unusual structure of different alternate lives for one character eventually became wearying and confusing, the characterisation in general was poor, and I didn't understand all of the connections between each of the main character's lives or journey's. I also felt the Germany section contrived but I am going to read the companion book, A God in Ruins, because of the more traditional structure and I feel she can write well...sometimes.

OP posts:
ShadowFire · 28/05/2015 21:56

The kindle version of The Handmaid's Tale is on the Amazon website??

£5.90 though, so not cheap.

ClashCityRocker · 28/05/2015 22:15

How odd! It wasn't coming up on mine....

Never mind I'm due a car boot trawl before my holidays so will try and pick it up there..

ladydepp · 28/05/2015 23:16
  1. The wonderful story of Henry Sugar and six more - 7 short stories by Roald Dahl. This book was given to me by a friend and sat on my book pile for a year so before I picked it up last week. I've never been a particular fan of Roald Dahl but I really enjoyed these stories, particularly the true one about Dahl's early life. I would recommend to anyone who wants a break from novels. Easy to dip in and out of.
MegBusset · 29/05/2015 15:02
  1. The Women And The Warlords - Hugh Cook

Volume 3 of 'Chronicles of an Age of Darkness'. I absolutely love this book, it's been one of my favourite fantasy novels for many years. It's one of the very few I've read with fantastic and believable female protagonists (and not in a sexy fur-clad tits-and-ass type way). Out of print (like all the series) but well overdue a reissue.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 29/05/2015 15:20

Book 69 - 'If the Dead Rise Not' by Philip Kerr
Another Bernie Gunther detective story, set in Nazi Germany and also in post-war Cuba. Like the one I reviewed earlier, this isn't great literature but it's a decent read, with at least a nod or two to Raymond Chandler. It could have used some editing though, as it was a bit over-blown - to be properly Chandler-esque he needs to rein himself in more. I really like the central character though, and will definitely look out for more of these. I'm not reading them in the right order, but I get the impression it won't matter too much.

Books 68 and 67 - Two Enid Blyton's from the 'Secret' series. I hadn't read either of these and was very pleased to find them in Oxfam. Feel a bit naughty counting them, but hey ho!

BugritAndTidyup · 29/05/2015 15:46

I've been away from this thread for a while, so lots to catch up on, but in the meantime here's the last few books I've read. Oh, and I've hit 50!

  1. Thinking about it only Makes it Worse, David Mitchell -- essays on modern life. Aww, don't he and Victoria Coren Mitchell make a lovely couple, though? Also, I saw him in a pub once. This book? Bit forgettable, as evidenced by my inability to remember anything about it.

  2. Nyctophobia, by Christopher Fowler -- horror story about a young woman who moves to a vast mansion in Spain, half of which is in light, the other half in darkness. I found the twist a bit obvious: maybe it was meant to be.

  3. Gentle Giant, by Wendy Robinson -- a mother's account of her son's autism.

  4. Homeland, by Clare Francis -- story about demobbed Polish soldiers left in the UK after the Second World War. I got bored, and was skipping heavily by the end. The cover blurb made it sound more interesting than it was.

  5. The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins -- Okay.

  6. A Place of Safety, by Caroline Graham -- Another Inspector Barnaby novel.

  7. The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan

  8. Trick or Treatment, by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst Another non-fiction book looking into the evidence for and against various forms of alternative medicine, primarily acupuncture, chiropracty, homeopathy and herbal medicine. No prizes for guessing the results, but overall this felt very even handed. It's also an easy read, if a bit depressing at times the amount of money spunked by the NHS on homeopathy, for example. On the other hand, certain types of herbal medicine come off well.

  9. Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey -- Maud is suffering from dementia, and believes that her friend Elizabeth is missing. I liked this, found it sad at times, funny at others, but the underlying mystery was fairly guessable. I'm not sure to what extent it was meant to be a mystery story.

So that's my list up to date. I feel like I've missed some books off the list though... Oh well, onwards to 100 books.

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