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

I think you'd like it. It doesn't 'feel' 50 years old. Hope it comes down son, because I'd be really interested to hear what you think of it.

*soon

19. The Hanging Wood by Martin Edwards

One of a short series set in the Lake District. I enjoyed the setting, and it was well written, but the murders were almost comic (one involved a slurry tank, and another a log chopping machine). Decent enough read.

20. The Good Girl, by Monica Kubica

Really enjoyed this. Interesting character's, who narrate in turn, in dual locations. Didn't see the twist coming at all, and didn't find it completely logical or satisfying, but it didn't detract from a well plotted thriller. Far superior to Girl on the Train

20. The Walrus And The Warwolf - Hugh Cook

More classic fantasy fun. Quite long and I've had a busy few weeks hence the long reading time!

71. Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer. An interesting take on the psychological thriller.

Patrick Fort, the central character, has Aspergers and is in his first year of studying anatomy at medical school. His reasons for doing so are complex, and he doesn't want to become a doctor. He finds it difficult to adjust to student life, but is clearly good at his subject. For his dissection course, the cadaver he is presented with appears to have died in mysterious circumstances. Patrick is obsessed with finding out how this person died. He takes on the task of doing so at the cost of his studies.

I enjoyed it - it was quite a quick and undemanding read, with a satisfying ending, but didn't think it as good as her first novel, Blacklands, which was a tense and thrilling read.

72. The American Lover by Rose Tremain - a collection of short stories.

There were a couple of stories I didn't enjoy but the rest were so good that I'm still giving it 5/5 stars.

When you get an author who can write short stories this well then I am persuaded that it is a genre I should explore further. Having recently enjoyed Hilary Mantel's The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher as well I feel happier to do so.

53. In Search of the Trojan War by Michael Wood

Originally published in 1985, this edition was extensively updated to take account of the later excavations of the site of Hisarlik, the site believed to be the location of the legendary Troy. It's fascinating stuff, especially seeing how Homer's epic fits in with the typography of the area around Hisarlik, and how the information unearthed in the discovery of archives of the Hittite empire sheds more light on the Bronze Age Aegean and ties in with what legend tells us of the circumstances around the fall of the great palaces, including Troy. Whether Troy actually existed is not proven, but with the weight of evidence Hisarlik certainly seems to be a very strong candidate.

That sounds like an interesting book, Chillie. Thanks for the recommendation

About this, though:

"Whether Troy actually existed is not proven"

Is that what the book says? I don't know if more clarity was shed on this issue since this book was published in 1985, but by the time I visited in early 1990s there was no doubt that it is where Troy once stood.

In fact, it is in UNESCO's World Heritage list and it's described on the UNESCO website in no uncertain terms as the same Troy that Homer talks about in Iliad.

Ender's Game is £0.99 on the Kindle

I think Michael Wood was hedging a bit Cote. The excavations in the late 1980s, which were rather more of an acceptable scientific standard than the likes of Schliemann's when he basically drove huge trenches through everything, have strengthened the case. Those took place after Wood's original book came out though, and there has been more evidence from other empires as more of the Hittite archive has been translated. I have an impression of Wood not quite wanting to risk saying "Yes, this is definitely it!", but I'm not aure when the revisions to the book happened. The 1988 excavations and findings are mainly dealt with in a chapter that is a post-script to the original, with additional notes dropped in relating to the assumptions and findings of the earlier excavations.

Also I think he was avoiding saying "Homer was right true" because while it would seem that this is Troy and that one of its incarnations was destroyed following a major battle, the stuff about Helen and Paris isn't something that can be proven unless something else shows up in one of the archives of a neighbouring empire to indicate the reasons behind the war, even if they have managed to identify the likely candidate for Paris. Although I do like the suggestion that one grave has potentially been identified as that of Achilles.

47. In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile

This is a fantastic book. I knew Savile was awful but this really details the extent of his awfulness - sexual abuse, rape, violence, bullying - but also goes some way to explaining how he got away with it. There were missed chances to prosecute which must be dreadful for his victims. Interesting, shocking and a real eye-opener

DP bought the Saville book in Oxfam today. He's pleased to hear that you rate it!

31. The Silent Tide - Rachel Hore - downloaded on my kindle some while ago I fancied a light end of term read. In fact I really enjoyed this book and will read more by the same author, a decently written reasonably engaging read.

44. Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian

This is the first in the Aubrey/Maturin series of nautical adventures set during the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Jack Aubrey is the newly appointed captain of the brig Sophie. Stephen Maturin is a physician persuaded to turn naval surgeon by Aubrey. They swiftly become firm friends.
They roam the Western Mediterranean attacking merchant shipping and, in one piece of action take a 32 gun Spanish frigate.

This is chock-full of almost impenetrable nautical terminology but beautifully written all the same. I started off googling the terms but eventually found it best just to go with the flow and glad I did so as it was immensely enjoyable. Not my usual fare at all but I get the picture this book is setting the scene for the rest of the series and I will be reading more.

45. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess. This has been on my to read list for ages, recommended by my DS and Remus.

A striking similarity to Master and Commander is that this too is written in language that is not easy to read at first - Burgess uses a made up teenage slang he calls Nadsat. Again, I spent some time at the beginning looking up words but much easier to just go with it.

14 year old Alex leads a life of violent crime, lands in prison and agrees to undergo revolutionary treatment. Some of the violence is hard to stomach and Alex is deeply unlikeable for most of the book. Reminded me a bit of 1984. Amazing writing though. There's a passage early on where he is alone in his room listening to Mozart that I though was brilliant and quite moving. A hard book to read. You'll either love it or hate it I think.

Couple more!

36. Red Rising - Pierce Brown - thank you Cote for this recommendation. Was a bit YA, but I liked it enough to download the next book!

37. To Kill A Mocking Bird - Harper Lee. A classic for a bloody good reason - I guess 'enjoyed' is not quite the right discription of my feelings for this book. I think presenting the story through the eyes of a child was inspired, it meant that so much of hte story you had to read between the lines to understand. If you haven't read it yet, do!

Now, do I want to go back to Mars with the next Pierce Brown book or a murder mystery (with the recommendation of SouthEastDweller's of Curtain call) or something like David Mitchell's book to make me giggle...

Best Glad you enjoyed, 'A Clockwork Orange'. Deeply unsettling but astonishing writing. I'm due a re-read. Our local indie cinema is showing the film in a few weeks, but I don't think I could stomach it.

I've never seen the film. Not sure whether I could watch it. Thanks for the recommendation. I will need to read it again in more depth at some point. There's a lot in there that deserves further attention.

Have you read Master and Commander, Remus? I though it might be the kind if thing you might like. Very Boys Own in some ways, snippets of medical history, Jane Austen period. You'd probably hate it .

I tried, because it really ought to be my sort of thing - I love anything maritime/medical etc, as you know - but I just didn't get on with the writing style. Maybe I should give it another go?

It was my second attempt. Once I got past the first chapter this time I loved it. No idea what all the nautical stuff meant though.

27. Cat Sense by John Bradshaw
    Non-fiction history of cats and discussion of cat nature. Thinking of getting a cat and this caught my eye over 6 months ago and I've just got round to reading it. Interesting and informative.

28. The History of the Rain by Niall Williams
    This has already been reviewed on this thread, I think. History of a girl and her family going back to her grandparents. Irish and eccentric English characters. Lovely writing. I feel I may have to re-read this at some point.

29. Clothes, clothes, clothes, music, music, music, boys, boys, boys by Viv Albertine.
    Very good autobiography of Viv Albertine of The Slits. Very evocative of her life and times through which she has lived. Organised into short chapters. I really liked this book, I think it's honest from her point of view. Pushed herself to reach her goals and inspirational - she's certainly lived a life!

tessie - I also didn't enjoy Fingersmith that much. I read it a few years ago and was not inspired to read any more of hers, however, as there have been positive reviews of The Night Watch on here I'm going to give it a go!

21. To Have And Have Not - Ernest Hemingway

Classic tale of liquor and people smuggling between Cuba and Florida during the Depression. Unflinching in its depiction of violence and hopelessness, not a cheery summer read but brilliant nonetheless.

I have just read I am Pilgrim, best book of my year so far.....

I need some recommendations for books to get on my kindle for the holidays; not your typical holiday reads but books that are fairly short, compelling and very well written. I like: classics (not Jane Austen type stuff), classic genre fiction esp noir and SF, biography, exploration, weird American stuff like Pynchon/Vonnegut. Quite a high crossover with Cote and Remus.

Anyone recommend anything?

Book 89 - 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Keasy

A re-read, and a sublime one too. It's a beautiful, funny and devastating book and I highly recommend it. It's set on a psychiatric ward, and is narrated by one of the inmates, a half American Indian known as Chief Bromden, who believes that he has shrunk - part of the novel is the way that he is made 'big' enough again to escape his own demons. Alongside and connected to Bromden's regrowth, the novel focuses on the arrival to the ward of a newly committed patient, who has faked insanity to escape prison, and examines the impact his arrival has on the ward, and the power struggles between him and the head nurse, a 'joyless fucker' if ever there was one!

Please read it - it is truly a great book I think - and, as those of you who know me well will know, I never say that lightly!

Book 88 - A book about the Mutiny on the Bounty. Decent enough, but it didn't tell me anything I didn't know already.

Shake - I didn't like, 'Fingersmith' at all, but thought, 'Nightwatch' was much, much worse.

Meg - Have you read any of the Philip Kerr Germany books? They are quite noir. Assume you've read Chandler?

Doyle's 'Lost World'? I know I bang on about it all the time, but have you read, 'Into the Silence'? I suspect yes! I was surprised how much I enjoyed, 'Around the World in 80 Days' - it's a light read and rather daft, but worth a shot, I think.

Thanks Remus. I've read (and love) all those mentioned, apart from Kerr who I'll check out now.