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.

26. Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche A powerfully realised novel about a young woman coming of age, growing into self-awareness as a girl, a woman, a lover, a Nigerian, an immigrant in the US. I rate this book as highly as the best of Franzen, Z.Smith, Tartt and Lethem. This was an all-consuming read filled with vivid characters and oh so full of life!

22. The Fear Index by Robert Harris

Alex Hoffmann is a legend in the circles of the ultra-rich. He and his business partner run one of the most successful hedge funds in the world, based around the algorithms developed by Hoffmann. The algorithm is based on fear - the way the markets react to panic - and placing thousands of bets a second. It generates billions of pounds. But then in the early hours of the morning he is attacked by an intruder who has breached the extensive security of his Swiss home. Over the course of a day Alex's life descends into fear and violence as he attempts to find out who is trying to destroy him.

This was really good. It's based around the financial markets and the crash in the US in 2010 but written in a very accessible way so I didn't get lost in the complexities of high finance. It also examines the reliance on the digital world, and is scarily plausible.

Ooh, The Fear Index sounds intriguing, Chillie. Might have to seek that one out.

A couple of great recent reads for me:

32. The Vanished Ones, Donato Carrini -- Mila Vasquez works in the Missing Persons unit of the police. When a violent crime turns out to have been committed by a man missing for years, she soon realises missing people are returning to exact vengeance on people who have caused them suffering. This was an Italian novel I stumbled accross in the library, and was a sort of sequel to another novel called The Whisperer. This novel is vague about events, but still was not quite stand-alone, and I wish I'd read The Whisperer first. This was well-written and atmospheric, and I will pick up more by the same author. I do want to know what exactly happened in the first book.

That said, I have a few niggles. Mila, the main character supposedly suffers from a lack of empathy (intended as a form of autism, perhaps? It's not clear), and I'm not sure how well this really worked.

I also thought it was a bit of a shame that the story didn't have more of a sense of place. I'm assuming it was meant to be set in Rome, but really it could have been any city anywhere. Perhaps this was deliberate, but I would have preferred something that felt a bit more rooted in its setting.

Otherwise good read, by an author I'd never previously heard of. Recommended, but probably try the Whisperer first.

33. Mr Mercedes, Stephen King -- I've really enjoyed the last couple of books I've read by King, and this was a great read. Fast-paced, disturbing, tense, even if his themes are a little worn. He has a thing for aging blokes, falling in love with much younger women, going on a 'quest' with a bunch of mismatched sidekicks. And there was a twist in it which was really too familiar, reminding me far too much of another of his books, although I won't say which one. Otherwise great read.

It is a good read, Bugrit, even though I realised where it was going reasonably early on. I had thought Harris' Fatherland was brilliant but then been disappointed by Archangel so it was a relief to find Harris on form.

I want to read Mr Mercedes, but can't bring myself to buy a Kindle book for £8.55

Ouch, it was a heck of a lot cheaper when I got it on the kindle!

Definitely one of the better ones of SK's more recent books I think. I really enjoyed it.

For anyone who liked Americanah, it might be worth giving Dinaw Mengistu a go. He came to the US from Ethiopia as a small child and he writes beautifully. I've read Children of the Revolution and How to Read the Air (very interesting child-eye's view of the tensions between the narrator's parents) but haven't read his newest one, All our Names.

Book 18: The Cat's Table - Michael Ondaatje. The story of a young boy's journey from Ceylon/Sri Lanka to the UK by ship to be reunited with his mother. He is sat at the "cat's table" - the worst table - with two other young boys and an interesting array of characters. The book focuses - largely - on the voyage and the adventures of the boys, with only brief forays into their futures.

I really enjoyed this book. I love a first person narrator and the story had a lovely combination of real drama, together with beautifully drawn tales of everyday life.

Bssh I agree with your review on Americanah and with your disbelief at my book group. To be fair, two hadn't finished it yet and one found it not his cup of tea (he's a sci-fi and thriller fan). I was most surprised by two who were most vociferous, saying it "went on a bit" and dismissed it as saying nothing relevant. With hindsight, its clear that they wanted a history lesson on Nigeria, rather than to be made to think about race. So, although they didn't miss the points being made, they simply found them irrelevant to their lives on the basis that they - themselves - do not hold racist views or behave in a racist manner. But as a big issue - nope.

Remus TM&M is on my kindle - I hadn't realised it was a bit out there. I shall wait until I'm in that sort of mood to gain maximum enjoyment. Chillie thanks for the Robert Harris recommendation - that sounds interesting and has been added to the ever increasing wishlist.

Oh biblio I missed your Dinaw Mengistu recommendation whilst I was typing up my tome. Thank you, it - too - shall be added to that list!

I would offer to send you my copy, Cote (worth reading, but probably not rereading), but it's a library book so I can't.

It's probably not worth 8.55 tbh, but I've seen it in a couple of charity shops recently so if you ever go into them it's worth keeping an eye out. Or the library if you use it.

Chillie, I don't think I've ever read anything by Robert Harris, and I'm on the lookout for new authors I've never read anyway. (I always get him mixed up with Thomas Harris -- dopey).

I really like Robert Harris's books. My favourite of his are his Roman books - Pompeii, Imperium and Lustrum. And he has a new one out in the series later this year called Dictator.

I'm reading The Far Pavilions at the moment. I wanted something similar to The Thorn Birds which I love, and I remember really enjoying the mini-series of this in the 80s. But I'm not enjoying it as much. I think the thing is that I don't really get the main protagonist. His motivations are annoying and childish and he's pissing me off somewhat at the moment. Will plough on but not sure it's going to be up there for me.

Bringing over my list so far:

1. The Woman in the Picture, Katherine MacMahon
2. The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton
3. Colour: A Natural History of the Palette, Victoria Finlay
4. Howards End is on the Landing, Susan Hill
5. The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde
6. The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton
7. The Voyage Out, Virginia Woolf
8. Jerusalem, Simon Sebag Montefiore
9. Coronation Everest, Jan Morris

10. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke 11. The Catcher in the Rye, J D Salinger 12. Not Dark Yet, Mike Harfield 13. Bodies of Light, Sarah Moss 14. The President's Hat, Antoine Laurain

and finished yesterday
15. Night Waking, Sarah Moss
which is about Anna, a historian living with husband and two young children on an otherwise uninhabited Scottish island, dealing with the frustrations of motherhood and trying to resurrect her academic career. There's a subplot about a 19th century midwife who tried to introduce healthcare into the island when it was still inhabited, and the skeleton of an unknown baby is dug up in the garden, but neither of these have that much bearing on the main story which is essentially about juggling motherhood and career, and as such offers no earth-shattering solutions. It's funny at times, sad at others - Moss is a good writer - but once you're past the stage of living with vomit and toddler tantrums on a daily basis, you probably don't want to read an entire novel about them. At least I don't. Much preferred Bodies of Light, which is set in the 19th century and vaguely linked to this by the character of the midwife, but both books can be read independently.

Now reading Michael Rosen, Alphabetical, and Ishiguro's The Buried Giant, which I'm not sure what to make of, so far.

Currently at 37:

30. A World without Bees - Brian McCallum (good)
31. The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett (very good)
32. Pyramids - Terry Pratchett (very good)
33. The Strange Library - Harumi Murakami (good if v short)
34. Retreat from Murder - Marian Babson (good)
35. The Ill-Made Mute - Cecilia Dart-Thornton (good)
36. The Better Mousetrap Tom Holt (good)
37. Those Above - Daniel Polansky (good)

Currently plodding through Jonathan Strange (can't take to work as too hefty), and The Oversight. Also planning to reread Discworld when I can find them all as my family seem to have pinched the early ones.

I have been out of action for some time due to the chest infection from hell which has meant a lot of time has been spent either coughing, sleeping or complaining/moaning on.
In-between all the complaining I have finally managed to finish:

24. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke

I agree with the review just upthread by ClashCityRocker to be honest. I really loved the first 65%, felt it lost it somewhat from then on it until nearer the end where it really picked up again. I loved the idea of the Raven King and felt the author really did create a plausible alternative mystical England full of spells and magic. I am not into books about magic/mystical things at all normally. However, I was continually frustrated by the characters of both Norrell and Strange and felt that if I ever had to meet either of them they would have driven me mad. Both were deeply flawed individuals.
I do love a book that stretches my imagination and transports me to somewhere else and this one really did, so I am very glad to have read it.

What with This Thing of Darkness and Jonathan Strange I feel the need to read something considerably shorter now…

This thread has really moved on and loads of people have read a huge amount of interesting things so I am going to read it all now and catch-up

Book 13 Dancing Backwards by Salley Vickers. Violet goes on a cruise after the death of her husband. She is planning to visit an old friend in New York. Part of the story is set on the cruise and part is her remembering the past. I think that this split wasn't as successful as it could have been. There was more that could have been said about the characters on the cruise. And this didn't give a chance for the past story to breathe either. I enjoyed reading it but it could have been better.

13. Mapping murder - David Canter An introduction to geographical profiling by one of its pioneers.

This was quite disappointing. I read this as preparation for an essay for my degree. It was very repetitive, and a lot of the cases were not cases that Canter had consulted on. It was bogged down with a lot of waffling, however the section on Jack the Ripper was great.

#13. The QI second book of general ignorance - John Lloyd & John Mitchinson. We've had this on the bookshelf for ages, but I needed a night-time thing to read that I could pick up and put down. This is essentially a number of items that have been covered in previous QI programmes, with some amendments where previously incorrect facts have been stated. A nice easy, educational read.

#14. The Ocean at the end of the lane - Neil Gaiman. This was recommended to me by a friend and I absolutely loved it. A fantastical story of a young boy meeting a family who live nearby and the way that their lives intertwine with his, when they inadavertently disturb an otherworldly being. I could see shades of Granny Weatherwax and of Tiffany Aching in the Hempstocks. Extremely well-written, and thought-provoking.

FWIW, I'm not including any books I read to my four year old DD. I'd be into the hundreds by now, if I did! :)

biblio thanks for the Dinaw Mengistu recommendation. I want to read more contemporary African fiction as it's a continent I literally and literarily know little about.

Book 43 'Whispers in the Dark' by Jonathan Aycliffe

This is by the same writer as, 'Naomi's Room' which I think quite a few MNers have read, but I haven't.

It's a ghost story and it was okay. It had lots of the elements I'm drawn to - Victorian elements, gothic elements, a workhouse, a mansion etc. It just had the same problem as I find with most ghost stories (and, indeed, with some of King's horror) that writers don't have the power to describe something indescribable, thus whatever the terror is gets reduced to a noise, or a creeping thing and thus isn't actually very scary!

16. Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler. I'm an Anne Tyler fan and this didn't disappoint.

17. I'll Have What She's Having by Rebecca Harrington. This was reviewed up thread by bibliomania and thelittlebooktroll, it's written by a woman trying out lots of crazy celebrity diets. Light hearted and amusing.

16. A Life Like Other People's - Alan Bennett. it's the story of his mother and her sisters. Focussing mainly on her mental health problems. It's a short and touching book.

I've taken the decision to read a selection of easy /fun / short /unchallenging books for the next couple of weeks, lots going on here and I think anything too hard work will just get left. Will rejoin the 'improving' set after the easter holidays!

I read that last year, Mary. Like you, I thought it very touching. Had no idea until then there was so much sadness and tragedy in his family.

8 The End of your Life Book Club

Moving and quietly powerful book about how essential books are, written by William Schwalb this is the journey from his mothers diagnosis with cancer to her death and the books they read and discussed at her appointments. His mother was an amazing woman who ended up being instrumental in getting the project and funding for libraries in Afghanistan which is one of the many countries she worked in for the International Refugees Committee, lots of ideas of books to read came from this as well

Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild and A D Miller's Snowdrops are 0.99 on the Kindle today.

Bssh I read a Buchi Emechata (sp?) book as part of my degree. Can't remember much about it now but do remember enjoying it.