50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 4

[southeastdweller]

Thread four 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 can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

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

Happy reading

tumble The Go-Between is quite slow so far (deliberately?), but as I've seen the film I know the story gets more interesting.

Books 83, 84 and 85 have been re-reads of children's books. Haven't been terribly well this week and have needed something to just look at without having to think much.

Just got, 'The Girl With All the Gifts' from the library, although the present tense thing might mean I don't get on with it. Will give it a chance, at least, as I have nothing else except on the Kindle.

Book 27 Horns by Joe Hill.

I enjoyed his debut, A Heart shaped Box and whilst I'm not a huge horror fan, he can write well and the plot dances along.

This one is less straightforward. There are a number of scenes told from various points of view, which I'm not sure added a great deal.

But the scenes are very visual and vivid and the dialogue good.

Remus, I hope you're feeling better now. It can be so comforting reading children's books sometimes. I really did think All Quiet on the Western Front was very good indeed. I'm amazed I have read a book you like as well! Tis a miracle...

I am reading a Marquez novella now. Bet you don't like this one

Whippet - I'm okay, thanks. It appears to be something long term, but this week has been particularly bad after a couple of good-ish weeks. I don't think the heat has helped much.

Re: Marquez - I enjoyed, 'Love in the time of Cholera' and, 'A Hundred Years of Solitude' but haven't read any others of his.

If anybody can think of anything as good as, 'All Quiet on the Western Front' I'd really like to know. :)

Kindle Daily Deal today is The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris. It was long listed for the Man Booker in 2013. I've read it and thought it was rather good. It's set in the very tight knit Orthodox Jewish community of North London, which I knew very little about and found fascinating, but also rather claustrophobic.

I've just bought The Marrying of Chani Kaufman. I rented a flat in Golders Green for a few years and was always fascinated by the Orthodox Jews I saw around the area.

No 58
Maggie O'Farrell
Instructions for a heat wave

Brilliant brilliant novel set in the 1976 heatwave (topical !) when a husband goes out to buy the paper & doesn't come back
The three adult children reunite and a their differences and problems get aired
Fantastically written , can't recommend it enough

70. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - 5/5 stars

Well that was good. Brilliant plot that twisted and turned all over the place. Fast paced, thrilling story, and some of the most memorable characters ever. Superb writing. The best Sarah Waters novel I've read so far - I loved it from beginning to end.

Not sure what to read next - quite fancy a thriller, or perhaps some short stories. Have also got Fallout by Sadie Jones lined up to read soon.

24. Rags and Bones. Edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt

A collection of short stories by fantasy writers. Each one is based on a different old story (fairy tale, classic novel etc). Some more entertaining than others, but generally enjoyable to read. The biggest criticism would be that if you're familiar with the old story it's based on, you'll have a good idea of where the short story in the book is going to end up.

It was nice to read a collection of short stories for a change though, as it's been a busy month and the short story format meant dipping in and out was a lot easier than it would have been with a long novel.

Remus do hope that you will feel better now that the weather is cooling down. I have MS and the heat really effects how I feel.

The Sunday Times Summer Reading list has some interesting-looking books. A non-fiction that caught my eye was The Weather Experiment by Peter Moore.

Had missed your post, Remus - hope you start to feel better soon. We've had a cooler day here today, and I've managed to get some housework done but will probably flake out later.

gailforce - a friend of ours has MS and he's been struggling this past week too.

Thanks, Gail and Duchess. Today has been better - I quite enjoyed the rain (Never thought I'd say that)!

I'm reading, 'The Girl with all the Gifts.' Not loving it at all, but will -probably finish it, as it's the only actual book I've got at the moment.

15. Finally finished a short biography of JMW Turner by Peter Ackroyd. Very disappointing as the book is very badly edited, with odd repetitions of ideas appearing throughout. Having said that it was interesting to learn more about Turner's life and enormous collection of paintings. Sad to say I was relieved when I finished it, and it's only 148 pages!

On to some holiday fiction!

gail I agree about that list - I'm adding The Green Road to my tbr pile. Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart also looks interesting.

I hate to have to admit it but I have given up on Fingersmith Sat out in the garden with it yesterday and managed to read over halfway but found it pretty hard going. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the plot and thought the twist at the end of part 1 clever but I found my mind drifting off when reading through the slow bits so have decided to put it to one side for the time being which I absolutely hate to do I started Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty last night - feel I need something a bit lighter

I have to share with you all my excitment
Judy Blume's brand new novel ^In The Unlikely Event' arrived at the library for me - hardback & I'm the first to read it , love it when that happens !

That's a shame, tessie. I listened to the audiobook, which was very well read and kept me listening, eager to find out what was going to happen next.

tessie, I felt the same as you about Fingersmith (though I did manage to finish it). The Paying Guests, however, is much more gripping.

Talking of slow books, I'm going to be relieved to get to the end of The Go-Between.

'Fingersmith' just made me think that Wilkie Collins had already done it all, but much better! I didn't like it, but dp loved it.

It did make me think about a reread of The Woman in White. Quite fancy doing that soon.

Somehow lost my count there so:

18. Short disappointing biography of Turner (the artist of ships and storms fame)

And now 19. Counting by 7s, a YA novel in the same genre as Wonder. Story of a 12 year old girl genius who overcomes tragedy....etc.. I would give it only 2 stars out of 5 but I reckon some tweens and teens might really like it. I finished it very quickly though and it kept me amused for a day and a half. ('Twas a freebie from Mumsnet)

29. Mr Starlight - Laurie Graham, I like her books and this one was no exception. Story of a British Liberace type character set in LA. She is a very reliable story teller and they are very humorous.

30. Elizabeth is Missing - Emma Healy - I had this as an audible book which made it even more poignant. I also have a mother struggling with memory loss so to begin with I struggled with the sadness of Maud's narration. I found the whole book very engaging. The actual storyline was good to average but Maud's narration, gradual deterioration and relationship with her daughter and granddaughter was really gripping.

esio, can I join you in your Judy Blume excitement?!

34. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. Like whitewine above, I thought this was well written in that it evoked a real sense of confusion and frustration that must be common to people struggling with memory loss and their carers. However I just couldn't get interested in the plot, to the extent that towards the end I was finding it really tedious, so overall this rates poorly for me.