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50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 4

991 replies

southeastdweller · 01/06/2015 22:15

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 Smile

OP posts:
wiltingfast · 07/07/2015 07:06

Not sure if anyone is interested but the Roy Jenkins biography of Churchill has dropped to £1.25 :)

Churchill

tessiegirl · 07/07/2015 10:00

After reading all the great reviews for Fingersmith I can't believe I have given up on it! I was expecting more! Although slow, I enjoyed part 1 but part 2 going over old ground was just mind numbing in parts....oh well. Thanks southeast I have The Paying Guests on my tbr pile so will give that a try at some point. I want to like Sarah Waters, I really do!

I am enjoying Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty's writing style is so effortless and captivates you from the first page.

whippetwoman · 07/07/2015 10:33

  1. Alys, Always – Harriet Lane
    I didn’t like this at all. An unlikeable woman witnesses a car accident and attempts to get in with the family of the victim. It reminded me a little of Notes on a Scandal, but about 100% less good. Sorry Harriet Lane, but you can rest assured it was better than The Buried Giant by a long way if that’s any consolation.

  2. Memories of My Melancholy Whores – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
    There’s a rather dodgy premise to this novella (about 116 pages all in). A 90 year old man decides to spend a night of love with an adolescent virgin! Don’t worry, it’s not as dodgy as it sounds. I did quite like this because it was so out of the ordinary, and although it is about decline, as Marquez novels tend to be, it was also about regeneration.

I am currently reading The Versions of Us as I got a rather beautiful hardback copy from Mumsnet and I’m still going on Sophie’s World on my kindle which I am loving.
Plus, I spent ages last night wondering which books to take on holiday. I could have read about 10 books in the time it’s taking me to make up my mind!

DuchessofMalfi · 07/07/2015 12:16

tessie-if it's any consolidation, a well read audiobook goes a long way towards pushing me into keeping going and also reading books I might not ordinarily pick up, including some classics .

And I wasn't that fond of The Little Stranger.

tessiegirl · 07/07/2015 12:28

Yes Duchess I can imagine an audiobook is helpful and I think I would enjoy listening to them especially in the car/out for walks etc. May give these a try!

Galaxymum · 07/07/2015 12:40

I have enjoyed reading some new authors recently and I am enjoying pursuing my 50 reads. I think I am on target!

26 Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - this was so believable! If you have ever been on the PTA and seen the playground politics of suburbs and villages this will definitely resonate. Very good twists and I like all the voices of the main characters. This was my first read by the author and I was very impressed by this thriller.

27 Station Eleven - I LOVED this. I didn't want it to end to be honest and I felt overwhelmed by the emotions of this dystopian novel. I particularly liked the liks between the period before the flu and what happened to those characters linking to the future. I am definitely going to read another by this author.

28 The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty - again, a very good atmospheric thriller. The author understands the characters she writes about so well - and understands her readers. I felt like I was a part of these events and the emotions and enjoyed the story very much.

29 Now readuing The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell - very intelligent epic novel which I need to concentrate on! I tried Cloud Atlas and didn't take to it but I like the concept of The Bone Clocks. The writing and characters are so well executed, but I do need to concentrate! I will keep going but may then need a quick thriller to read afterwards!

DuchessofMalfi · 07/07/2015 12:46

Another Station Eleven fan :) I really enjoyed it too, Galaxy.

And I've got The Bone Clocks waiting to be read on my Kindle, but think it won't combine well with the school summer holidays and two noisy children demanding my attention, so I'm lining it up for September when peace descends again :o

wiltingfast · 07/07/2015 13:31

Another here with The Bone Clocks waiting for her patiently!

Ah seem to have miscounted my books somewhere, goodreads says 32, pinterest says 29 and MN says 28!!! Must keep better track Grin

33?) Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart; This was ok. Was really expecting much more as I thought it was supposed to be a bit of a classic of the genre? I might be mixing it up with something else. Those Provence books maybe? Anyway, v generic, cliched account of moving to live on a subsistence farm with the locals. V easy read but v unsatisfying. He totally romanticizes the whole thing, this is supposed to be a remote rural farm without a proper house, no running water etc etc yet there is no sense of any of it having been any kind of struggle. It must have been TOUGH GOING surely???! After reading the book I'm not ever sure how they learned the language for example? How did they cope with schooling their daughter? What exactly did they grow on the farm? There's just no personality to the book. All v bland. I have read much better books of this sort of thing, really, don't bother unless you are v stuck!

Better traveller abroad books imo would be... French Leave" by Liz Ryan was good for example, Almost French by Sarah Turnball I also enjoyed. McCarthy's Bar* by Peter MCarthy (a trip around Ireland) also vg.

Am now onto Red Rising which is a ripping story so far! Thanks for the recommendation cote!

DuchessofMalfi · 07/07/2015 13:40

Maybe we should have a Bone Clocks read along when we're all ready to start it? Like we did with Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell earlier this year.

tumbletumble · 07/07/2015 14:04

I've also got the Bone Clocks on my 'to read' list.

Galaxymum · 07/07/2015 16:16

Oh I would love a discussion about The Bone Clocks. It is a book I am savouring and do need to concentrate - but I feel I am taking in something special. It would be a great discussion book. I am in awe of Mitchell's narrative voices. I really need to have another at Cloud Atlas.

esiotrot2015 · 07/07/2015 17:32

Tumble - of course! I'm in p46 & gripped already

tumbletumble · 07/07/2015 17:52

Loved her books as a child / teen Smile

DuchessofMalfi · 07/07/2015 17:54

If I set up a separate discussion thread for The Bone Clocks/general discussion of David Mitchell's novels, aiming to for those of us taking part to be ready by, say, the end of September would that be ok?

Galaxymum · 07/07/2015 18:47

That would be great. Good idea. Yes, I am planning to read his other novels as well. I was reading that he has linked characters between novels so a discussion with other readers would be very enjoyable.

esiotrot2015 · 07/07/2015 19:26

Me too ! My fave was Are you there God, it's me Margaret :-)

CoteDAzur · 07/07/2015 21:13

wilting - Enjoy Red Rising (as I know you will Smile)

I snapped up the Churchill biography. Thanks for the heads-up!

mumslife · 07/07/2015 21:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
southeastdweller · 07/07/2015 22:15

I read yesterday in this article about new books that are published over the next six months that David Mitchell has a new book out in the autumn so I think it's time for me to give him a go before then, maybe with Cloud Atlas.

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 07/07/2015 22:19

Ooh that's great news re new D Mitchell book!

ladydepp · 07/07/2015 22:27

I finished Bone Clocks already but would love to follow along with you all while you read it in September! David Mitchell is such a skilled writer, he just blows me away. I am so pleased that he has another book coming out!

Glad to hear others are enjoying Station Eleven, definitely one of my favourites of 2015.

Also glad I'm not the only one miscounting. I am trying to reconcile my Goodreads count with this one but still seem to be out by one or two, I blame those confusingly sequenced Game of Thrones books!

CoteDAzur · 07/07/2015 22:29

I'd be interested to follow the Bone Clocks thread, too. I read it a while back but would love to talk about it with all of you.

tumbletumble · 07/07/2015 22:33

Mumslife, you're thinking of Forever Smile. Noel Streatfield was a great favourite of mine too.

Duchess has set up the Bone Clocks thread - cone and join us!

Original poster
southeastdweller · 07/07/2015 22:34

Then again, the cover for The Bone Clocks is so pretty Grin

But as Galaxy and the writer in that article say, some of the characters in his books are linked, so is it best to read Cloud Atlas before The Bone Clocks, Cote/anyone else?

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 07/07/2015 22:40

Both stories take place in the same "universe" but they are not sequels. They deal with almost identical themes in an almost identical format, but imho Cloud Atlas is a far superior novel. In other words, you might enjoy Bone Clocks more if you read it first.