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

You might also like Benjamin Black (John Banville under a pen name)'s, 'The Black Eyed Blonde' which is his attempt at a Marlowe novel. It takes a while to get it right, and is a bit overwritten, but it's not a bad attempt.

Calfon

Have you read anything by Trudy Caravan? From the authots you seem to like, I would point you in her direction :)

This is a great thread, I am a big reader. I will start now and try to get 25 in by the end of the year.

72. You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum by Andy Stanton. An amusing bedtime story read to DS. Loved the humour which frequently reduced us to fits of giggles. Will be reading the rest of the series.

73. The Guernsey Literature and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Had been on my shelf a while. The bits about life under the Occupation were interesting but the romantic bits were a little lightweight.

Don't miss today's Kindle Daily Deals - rather heavy on Sci-Fi classics

Ender's Game £0.99
Starship Troopers £0.99
Red Rising £0.99
The City And The Stars £1.99
Childhood's End £1.99

Duchess I love the Mr Gum books. They are brilliant and make me laugh out loud. Sadly my older two have outgrown them but I will enjoy reading them again when the little one is big enough to appreciate them. We had a hamster called Steve for a long while, named after one of the goblins from Mr Gum and the Goblins, called Big Steve. There's a mumsnet user called Captain Ankles, which is another goblin name. I love the way the guy that runs the launderette is called Martin Launderette. Sorry, outburst of Mr Gum enthusiasm there!

59. The Versions of Us - Laura Barnett I have reviewed this on the book giveaway thread. I thought this was good but not great. It didn't set me on fire but it's a good summer read. The three different versions of the story did actually work, although I was doubtful that they would and the writing was good. I gave it 3/5 stars.

Book 31. The woman who stole my life by Marian Keyes.

Bit disappointed in this one really, which is a shame as I've loved lots of her earlier books.

This is a stand alone book featuring Stella Sweeney, a beautician from Dublin who contracts a mysterious and extremely rare illness which leaves her paralysed. A long stay in hospital brings about a close and unusual relationship with her neurologist who can communicate with her only by blinking. The book jumps back and forth a lot, from Dublin to New York, and gets quite confusing at times to understand what's going on. There are a few characters, her Dad in particular, that lift the book and show Marian's trademark wit, but overall this book lacks warmth, believability and a decent plot. Sad to say I would not recommend.

Still waiting for Rebecca on the library waiting list do have started on book 32 Jamaica Inn by duMaurier instead. Very good so far.

26. The Stranger - Harlan Coben. I had to read this for a book club and it was standard Harlan Coben type fare. Stranger approaches man with a story about his wife that causes a rift, she dissappears, he tries to find out what happened etc, etc, etc! I like a good thriller but this for me just wasn't.
27. The Leopard - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. i had been meaning to read this for ages and ended up buying it in an Audible sale so listened to it instead. This was one of my surprise favourites of the year so far. Fabrizio Corbera is the Prince of Salina and over 50 years we follow his life and the changing fortunes of the Italian aristocracy from the reunification of Italy through to the early 20th century. Beautifully written and very evocative in places. Definitely one to reread and savour. My Italian dh has never read it so I will be buying it in Italian for him this summer.
28. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - One of my favourites of all times. Gets better with every reread.
29. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman. This is the story of Fat Charlie Nancy and his brother Spider. Charlie's dad dies and he is reunited with his brother Spider. Subsequently Charlie's life spirals out of control and takes him to all sorts of strange and wonderful places. I had read this years ago but this time I listened to the Audible version read by Lenny Henry. Fantastic.
30. Just One Damned Thing After Another (Book One in The Chronicles of St Mary’s) - Jodi Taylor. This was fun. If you like historical fiction mixed with a little bit of time travel I would recommend this one. I have the next two on my kindle ready to read later this summer.
31. The Goldfinch - Donna Tart. I finally got this finished about three months after starting it. I know it has been reviewed plenty of times already so I won't repeat but I loved this story. Could have done with a good edit in the middle but having said that it was a great read. The reason it took me so long was because I had a hardback copy and it was just too heavy to read comfortably so I only read it when it was possible to prop it up with a good pillow.
32. The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett. Another Pratchett reread. Cohen the Barbarian and his silver hoarde decide to visit the mountain of the gods (Dunmanifestin) and blow it up. Lord Veninari sends a crew out to stop them and prevent the end of the world. Short read but great fun.

Next up is Hyperion - Dan Simmons on Audible and the Dwarves by Marcus Heitz. Both very promising so far.

charmed86 I have just read the Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan and enjoyed them immensely. I must read some more.

DuchessofMalfi if you can get hold of Andy Stanton reading Mr Gum do! The best of all is Mr Gum and the Goblins where his rendition of The Goblin King song can still reduce me to tears.

21. The Secret Place by Tana French - I'd never read any of hers before but this was a very enjoyable holiday/beach sort of read.

A teenage boy is murdered in the grounds of a girls' boarding school, the book moves back and forth in time very clearly and focuses on 4 girls who may or may not be involved. I really enjoyed this, it kept me hooked and it is quite a big book. Slightly worrying if you have a teenage girl, thankfully my dd is still pre-teen!

22. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupery

Somehow I'd never read this before; it's an absolutely lovely tale that reminded me of Oscar Wilde's children's stories. May have had something in my eye at the end...

25. Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau.

Last in a dystopian post-apocalyptic YA trilogy called The Testing. I enjoyed this. The trilogy is set some time after nuclear / biological / chemical warfare has devastated the planet. In order to make sure the best potential leaders are selected for further education and training, a lethal selection process (the testing) has been devised that puts teenagers against each other and has lethal penalties for failure. The trilogy follows Cia as she goes through the testing and gets a chance to change the system.

Book 90
'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' by Neil Gaiman
I found this distinctly underwhelming. It felt like a short story that had got out of control, and didn't really go anywhere. Lots of padding and little substance. I really enjoyed, 'Anansi Boys' and, 'American Gods' but I'm afraid to say that I think that Gaiman is getting to be a rather lazy writer. Not recommended, and it's a real shame because I think he can turn a phrase and has potential, but it's like his heart isn't really in it.

Still chomping through Genghis v slowly, but no longer loving it and I may not get through it. There's only so many times you can read how great the Mongol army were, and what an amazing leader he was. It's all getting very repetitive.

Have just started, 'Station Eleven' but only read a few pages, so too early to say if I like it or not. Am also re-reading, 'Dawn of the Dreadfuls' because I felt the need for bonnets and zombies, and zombies in bonnets, in my life.

43. The Go-Between - L.P Hartley

The modern classic, famous for the opening line 'The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there', the story is told at too leisurely for my taste and it didn't have the emotional punch I was expecting.

44. I Let You Go - Clare Mackintosh

A decent addition to the domestic thriller genre, this is about a woman trying to escape her tragic past but finds that she can't. I found myself turning the pages quickly in some parts, but as usual with books of this ilk, too descriptive now and then. I also felt one of the main characters was crudely written, but for a debut author she shows promise.

Next up is I Saw a Man, another contemporary thriller. I like to have a contrast from my last book to the next but this has to be back at the library by Saturday.

By the way - has anybody read, 'If On A Winter's Night A Traveller'? Do I want to?

I read it about 15 years ago Remus and I loved it then but a friend who also read it said it bored her tears. Give it a go .

Will do! Thank you. :)

I tried Remus and wilted with boredom within 10 pages!!!

That's terrible about Ocean at the End of the Lane as I've just snapped it up on offer from amazon :(

To update my own list

35. Red Rising by Pierce Brown; believe the hype, it's a great escapist rip roaring read and I really enjoyed it . Better written than a lot of adult books that try to do similar to be honest. Can't bring myself to pay £8.99 for the sequel mind you but it is definitely on my watch list. Great beach read, if you're tempted at all buy it!

36. Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn. Think I would have enjoyed this more if I knew the music better. Did have a happy time checking it all out on spotify afterwards. It's funny, you don't get any sense that she feels she was successful but she must be really surely? V low key, enjoyable read.

Am currently reading Fermat's Last Theorem, interesting enough but skating around the real subject a bit. Feels padded out tbh and I'm only 35% in!

Mmm - That's two votes against it then, and I'm not feeling terribly tolerant at the moment!

I've read about 10% of, 'Station Eleven' and am not at all hooked yet. Is it likely to make me any happier if I persevere?

54. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives at the house of her new husband Johannes Brandt in Amsterdam, 1686. She finds a house which seems full of secrets, and a distant husband who gives her a cabinet-sized replica of their home as a wedding gift. Nella starts to furnish it by commissioning a miniaturist who makes exquisite models - which are uncannily accurate models of the people, animals and furniture in the house. As Nella tries to navigate her way through her new world, the tiny creations seem to reflect the dangers facing the family.

I was reluctant to read this purely because I have heard so many people gushing about it and I didn't want to be disappointed. As it turned out, it's a reasonable enough read but I wasn't as swept away by it as some members of my book club, for example.

I agree, Chillie. I don't understand the love for that book at all and it led me to be dubious of books that are very heavily marketed...

46. Killing The Shadows - Val McDermid

Psychological profiler tracks down serial killer of crime novelists. This didn't really engage me and lacked suspense. Quite graphic too. I've enjoyed some of her books in the past but this wasn't one of them.

47. Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty. This is chick lit with a dark undercurrent. Yes, there are cupcakes but quite tongue in cheek. Deals very well with tough topics under the frothy surface. I really like his author.

Just started Robert McFarlane's Landmarks about the etymology of placenames and words for landscapes etc and a Merrilee Watkins book.

Having surgery on Friday so my concentration is not great at the moment but fingers crossed, all being well, I'll have plenty of time for reading afterwards.

Good luck for Friday, Best. Hope it all goes well for you .

Thank you Duchess, I'm having a Parathyroidectomy so not major surgery but tricky, but at least I'll have a few weeks of work.

Good luck for Friday, Best

Remus - I'm also reading Station Eleven. 60% in and it is as dull, uninspired, and whiny as the first 10%. I'll finish it now because that's what I do, but if you don't mind leaving books unfinished, you might want to turn away now.

That's not sounding promising, Cote. I'll give it another chance on my journey to work tomorrow and if I don't like it then, it's had it.

Best - Hope all goes well with the op.