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

Thanks, Remus and Cote.

Am up to book 18. Got completely sidetracked by suite francaise which was pretty boring and difficult to get through.

Since then have read and thoroughly enjoyed:

The Sunrise
The Orphan Train
The Book of You
I Let You Go
The Girl on A Train

Am now reading The First 15 Lives of Harry August

Have bought Us by David Nicolls which will be next.

I wasn't at all tempted by Station Eleven when it was reduced on kindle. Read the summary of the story and it seemed really boring.

Hope all goes well tomorrow, Best.

Here’s a very overdue update covering books 41-51 (favourite books in bold). All going well here, DS2 is now six weeks old, I can’t believe how time has flown. Good luck for tomorrow Best, hope all goes well.

41. A Week in Paris - Rachel Hore. A relatively light World War II romance with some suspense thrown in. A comfortable page-turner but great literature it ain’t.

42. The Fault in our Stars - John Green. I highly recommend this book. Written in a deceptively simple style, it deals sensitively with the sticky subject of teenage cancer through a witty, light narrative (amazing, given the subject matter). Don’t get me wrong, it’s sad in part, but it avoids being patronizing whilst successfully challenging perceptions of teenage cancer. Enjoyable, not too too tear jerking, worth a read.

43. A Visit from the Good Squad - Jennifer Egan. Another great book (winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize). I selected this randomly from a charity shop and struck gold - I’ve had a lucky run recently, long may it last. A shocking and edgy, utterly engrossing, couldn’t-put-it-down read.

44. The Versions of Us – Laura Barnett. Good but not great. This book has been billed as the next big thing but I’m not completely convinced it is going to fly. Yes, Barnett weaves an excellent series of narratives and the sliding doors theme is fascinating, but it really needs to be read in a single sitting (or at least in the same week) in order to follow the three threads successfully. Perhaps I shouldn’t admit it but I found it an effort to recall the, at times subtly different, storylines as they wove their way through the book (perhaps this had something to do with me giving birth half way through, who knows).

45. So You’ve been Publicly Shamed – Jon Ronson. Interesting stuff. Ronson traces the phenomenon of trial by social media whereby the anonymous internet masses act as judge and jury to individuals perceived, rightly or wrongly, as having acted reprehensively. Ronson writes in his usual accessible style, which you might have encountered in the Guardian, and his investigative journalism is page-turning stuff. Recommended.

46. Swimming to Antarctica – Lynne Cox. Not high literature but a great book none-the-less. Cox is an absolute legend of open-water, long-distance swimming. If this is an interest of yours you’ll love Cox’s accounts of her various record-breaking swims in far-flung and usually extremely cold corners of the world.

47. Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller. After reading ‘The Crucible’ I was curious about this, Miller’s other most well known play. Bleak and a little dark, it follows the misfortunes of a delusional salesman and his relationship with his equally delusional family. Rather sad but thought-provoking (the nature of identity and self-perception etc. etc.) Short but interesting read.

48. The Vagenda – Holly Baxter & Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett. I’ve been trying to mix some feminist literature into my reading this year but was a little disappointed by this book. Baxter and Cosslett are champions of the modern feminist movement, but I found their writing style a little laborious. There are so many clever witticisms packed around their key messages that, in the end, I felt they didn’t actually say that much at all. Perhaps I’m being a little too critical as I did learn from the book and their style is amusing, but it just didn’t work that well for me.

49. The Hive – Gill Hornby. It was so interesting to read this straight after the Vagenda and I was much, much more reflective and critical about the women’s attitudes towards each other as a result. Its ‘school gates’ premise is a good one and I enjoyed the different characters and their exploits. A light, quick and fun read.

50. Ariel – Sylvia Plath. Earlier in the year I read ‘The Bell Jar’, which prompted me to pick up this, one of Plath’s volumes of poetry. As a total poetry novice I’m not sure whether this was a good place to start, but it gave me more of a sense of Plath the poet as opposed to Plath the novelist, so I’m glad I gave it a go. Her use of language is virtuosic and highly enjoyable. I had to read most of the poems twice to appreciate their full meanings; even then I’m sure there is a lot I missed so at some stage I will re-read, perhaps with some sort of critical guide to help me on my way!

Remus - I liked station eleven - but only once it got past the actual flu and got on with being 20 years in the future. If you are at that point and it's still not grabbed you, I wouldn't bother. If you are also looking for a proper sci fi book, this isn't for you as so much is going back over the life and loves and friendships of the dead actor before the flu.

Chilli - I've not read The Miniaturist for terribly snobbish reasons, all the people I know who've raved about it in real life are the friends who read at most 2-3 books a year, and tend to recommend I read the sort of 'chick lit' books involving shopping and 30-somethings having relationship angst more befitting a bunch of teenagers. Therefore when they say "you must read XXX" I nodd and smile and make a note never to read it...

"all the people I know who've raved about it in real life are the friends who read at most 2-3 books a year, and tend to recommend I read the sort of 'chick lit' books involving shopping and 30-somethings having relationship angst more befitting a bunch of teenagers. Therefore when they say "you must read XXX" I nodd and smile and make a note never to read it.."

I do that all the time. Surely it's just good sense not to take recommendations from people whose tastes are very different than yours?

Cote - I do sometimes think I might be missing out on a great book that's popular because it's really good, not because it's "mass market" as such...

Mind you I am current cursing you, you are currently the one who's tempted me to buy Red Rising so of course I've got to read the Golden Son now I've read that, so I'm getting nothing else done this week...

I'm holding firm on Golden Son! No way am I paying £8.99 grrr.

Good luck best, hope your op goes well for you

Otherwise I got through 37) Fermat's Last Theorem, can't say I enjoyed it or understood it. Thought it would be focused on one's man's obsession with proving it and his journey but that was only the LAST CHAPTER. The rest was a potted history of the theorem and efforts to prove it with sidetracks into other theories which (in fairness) did contribute to the final proof. HOWEVER I was a bit stunned (and disappointed) to realise they still haven't the faintness notion how Fermat thought he could prove it... on the whole I would not recommend this unless you are actually very interested in math theory and can grasp the technical stuff. That was all totally over my head and I got very tired of it.

56. Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and 57. Money by Martin Amis. I reviewed these two on my modern classics thread.

57. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I thought this book was very well written and I would like to read more by her. I couldn't totally get into this story though as I just don't believe civilisation would break down so quickly in Canada and the USA. Obviously the telephone network would go down pretty quickly but there would still be radio. Lots of people there own private planes and ATVs. None of the people around when the virus broke out seemed to have any initiative at all.

58. In a Free State by V.S. Naipaul. Three separate stories with the overall theme of displacement. I thought the first section about the Indian servant finding himself living in Washington D.C. was the best section by far. The London section seemed a bit flat in comparison. The African section was OK but I think because it was set in a made up country and because I read Half of A Yellow Sun recently this particular story isn't going to stay with me at all.

74. Fallout by Sadie Jones

Review posted on the separate thread about this novel for the Book of the Month read. Not bad. She certainly seems to know a lot about the world of theatre.

Also reading Outcast by Sadie Jones this week - I think on balance I like this one better so far.

Another one who'll probably read, 'Golden Son' but not until it goes down in price a LOT!

I've managed 25% of, 'Station Eleven' and will not be reading any more. Sorry to those who liked it, but I think it's bloody dreadful! I've been reading it thinking, 'Surely it must get better in a minute' but it hasn't - if anything, it's got even worse. I think it's really, really boring.

Today I picked up my audio version of Golden Son!

I also picked up My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Decisions, decisions.

In the meantime DD and I have just finished listening to Book 28 The Disappeared by CJ Harper.

Dystopian YA novel.

Interesting premise; boy from an academic Learning Community ends up in an Academy for the very unintelligent ( or so he believes ).

The language used by the academy children is fab. Harper uses a ludicrously limited vocabulary in incredibly inventive and credible ways. ' that's a bad, no, shouldn't thing.'

The plot becomes a bit teenage-daft towards the end but we still very much enjoyed it.

Ha! Yes, I do accept responsibility for all of you hooked on Red Rising. Its sequel Golden Son is indeed, to this date, the most expensive Kindle book I have ever purchased and I can't wait for the sequel Morning Star to be published in January 2016, currently on for pre-order at £10.99!

Remus - I'm currently at 75% into Station Eleven and have to say that it is bar none the daftest sci-fi I have ever had the misfortune of reading. It reminds me why I don't like books written by women that talk entirely about people's feeeeeliiiiiings.

Wow, it's amazing how different opinions can be! I thought Red ?Rising was really dull for at least 2/3 of it and have no wish to read any more of the trilogy. I was literally counting down the pages to finish it.

But I loved Station Eleven! Thankfully my closest mates like similar books as I recommended it to them and they loved it too.

I guess it would be very dull if we all liked the same things.

No doubt different people like different stuff. The sci-fi I enjoy is where there is great world-building and great attention to detail, where you sit back and say "Wow! How did the author think of that!".

What I don't enjoy is endless whinging and whining about everyone's feeeeeliiiiings, with little thought to what that world would actually be like. Station Eleven is just so badly done compared to all the other post-apocalyptic books I have read, so improbable and silly on every page, that frankly I can only imagine it being enjoyed by people who don't ever read speculative fiction. That's me being me, though (i.e. not terribly empathetic) and I do know that other people have other tastes, even if on a purely theoretical level

I was fine with everyone's feelings in Station 11 but there's no way that in a still operational airport someone wouldn't have been in radio contact with other airports trying to find out what was going on. The virus couldn't have gotten up to Anchorage and Juneau and places like that very quickly and the whole continent was still fully stocked with petrol and diesel. It wouldn't take that many engineers to get a few power stations up and running either.

Hope it's all ok for you Best.

I enjoyed Station Eleven, but then I don't mind reading about people's feelings... sorry, feeeellllllllings . I also liked the idea of the travelling players performing Shakespeare. I do think that they would have got back on the grid quite quickly though.

In the meantime I have read:

60. The Aftermath - Rhidian Brook
    Set in Hamburg in the immediate aftermath of WW2, a time I know little about, when the English, French, Americans and Russians were trying to rebuild the country. The family of an English military man moves into a requisitioned German house and the father takes the unusual decision to allow the original inhabitants to remain. This was actually ok, and it's an interesting premise, but it didn't go far enough somehow. All the ideas for a great story were there but it jusr needed fleshing out and developing in my opinion.

61. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
    I loved this. Sophie, aged 14, starts to receive mysterious packages in her postbox containing what is essentially a philosophy course. It's like philosophy for beginners with a bit of a story thrown in. Despite its simplicity, I still managed to lose the plot somewhere around Descartes but got it back for existentialism! Don't read this book unless you don't mind reading what is really a long lecture on the history of philosophy from the Greeks to Satre. I think people either love or loathe this book. I loved it.

80. Adventures in Human Being, Gavin Francis. Essays about various parts of the human body, written by a doctor. I admired this rather than loved it. He writes well, but I'm not sure the author and I share the same set of enthusiasms.

81. Wedding Babylon, Imogen Edward-Jones. Part of series of lightly fictionalised narratives about various fashionable occupations. I gobble these down like candyfloss (actually I haven't had candyfloss in years).

82. Bitter Experience has Taught Me, Nicholas Lezard. Journalistic articles cobbled together into a book about what it's like to be in your mid-40s and turfed out of the family home. As the author seems to think women enjoy domesticity, thus excusing him from ever having to get to grips with it, I sympathise with the former Mrs L. But I like real-life accounts of people facing up to a life-plan that's gone off-piste, and finding that life goes on, so this suited my mood.

83. Pretty Girls, Karin Slaughter. I tend to avoid serial killer narratives - why would I want those images in my brain? Sisters investigate the disappearance of their other sister many years ago, linked with disappearances still going on, and find the answer strikes close to home. I don't enjoy reading about snuff porn, but I did like the portrayal of a family, and this did keep me up half the night.

Also re-read Trouble for Lucia by E F Benson, an old favourite. Got a good way into The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers - Edwardian spy mystery, along the lines of The 39 Steps, but the characters spent so long messing about on a yacht that I got bored and abandoned it.

39 Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel

Well, this was very disappointing. Not that I held such high expectations for (1) a 1st book, that was (2) written by a woman, and (3) was much raved about by several friends who never read sci-fi and instead usually read "women's contemporary fiction". I can only imagine that people who have adored very weak sci-fi like Never Let Me Go might like this book. Or those who have never read any sci-fi.

It was disjointed, devoid of a real plot (let alone an engaging and/or clever one), improbable, and with complete lack of worldbuilding. A viral flu kills off most of the world's population and the the ones left alive somehow manage to find food, shelter, and clean water very easily which leaves them free to procrastinate and whine all day long. That's pretty much all the book talks about anyway.

None of it made much sense. A viral infection that becomes symptomatic in several hours and kills in a day is the easiest disease in the world to contain, since it would burn itself off very quickly. Just broadcast everyone to stay indoors for 1 day - what seems to be the problem?

The post-apocalyptic world rings completely false, as well. All of it falls apart too quickly, and the author has given no thought to what such a world of few survivors would actually be like. "Schools" where kids are taught about the lost world and its comforts made me laugh. Surely, you would try to preserve knowledge of math, chemistry, physics, biology etc rather than stories of past comforts.

I could write more, because there really was a lot wrong with this book, but I think I've spent enough time on it.

Ah cote you hated it. Listen to me next time

I think as a book it was mis-sold really. It is not some grand post apocalyptic sci fi drama. It did the book a great disservice to sell it as such. Personally I really struggle to categorise it as sci fi at all. Or even as speculative fiction. 'Cause the "apocalypse" is hardly necessary to what plot there is at all and the imagined "future" isn't that different from what is here now. And all those people living happily in an airport , maybe I've just read too much dystopian fiction to swallow it!

Trying now to desperately think of women writing good sci fi but struggle beyond Margaret Atwood and Ursula le Guin, neither of whom are writing sci fi currently and again, MA's certainly veers into more literary territory... Haven't actually read any UlG , there must be someone surely???

My sister has persuaded me to buy Daughter of Smoke & Bone which she says, despite a silly love story stuck in there, is actually vg I may live to regret it, will report back in due course It's £1.49 if anyone's interested but yes, it is yet another trilogy....

wilting - Yes, I should have listened to you

"Personally I really struggle to categorise it as sci fi at all. Or even as speculative fiction."

That's exactly what it is, though. There is no doubt whatsoever that a book talking about the aftermath of a great flu that kills off most of the world's population is post-apocalyptic sci-fi.

"'Cause the "apocalypse" is hardly necessary to what plot there is at all"

Of course it is. Take out the collapse of civilisation due to the flu and there is absolutely nothing left in the book except for some dull whining.

"and the imagined "future" isn't that different from what is here now"

That is the failure of the book. It should have been very different but the author couldn't manage it.

"And all those people living happily in an airport hmm, maybe I've just read too much dystopian fiction to swallow it!"

It's complete rubbish. Where is their clean water coming from? What happens to their waste? What is their social order? Who makes the decisions? 20 years passes and fucking NOTHING happens?

"Trying now to desperately think of women writing good sci fi but struggle beyond Margaret Atwood and Ursula le Guin"

Those are not great, either.

I haven't got to the airport, and will not be doing so. My biggest problem with it (other than the fact that it is boring as fuck) is all the banging on about that actor geezer and his love life. I don't object to feelings as such, but I honestly have no interest in feelings that happened years before the time that the story is supposedly set in, of a character who's dead on the first page.

And all that crap about the first cello likes the fourth flute but the fourth flute doesn't like the 17th drum and on and on and on interspersed with loads of lines from Shakespeare (so the writer can google Shakespeare quotes - awesome!) then meandering back to the night when an actor who's been dead for 20 years was having a glass of wine and a shag 20 years before THAT is really, really not what I want to be reading.

I'm getting angry just thinking about it, as you can see! Tosh.

I should have known better - other than Jane Austen and the occasional Liz Jensen, I'm struggling to think of a female writer who doesn't drive me to fits of rage.

I agree wholeheartedly, Remus. That whole section three pages long that went on and on and on about who doesn't like who and why is clear indication of why I don't like "women's fiction".

Donna Tartt and Eleanor Catton are good. I can't think of any other woman writer I'd want to read again.