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

48. Agatha Christie - Murder in Mesopotamia. Standard Poirot stuff.

49. Isobel Wolff - Ghostwritten. Ghostwriter records the wartime memories of an elderly lady. The sections about the treatment of the women at the hands of the Japanese were interesting but the surrounding framework lacked any real depth.

50. Not My Father's Son - Alan Cumming. Actor recalls his miserable childhood at the hands of his brutal father. At the same time he is recording an episode of a Who Do YouThink You Are in which the mystery of his maternal Grandfather's life is unravelled.
    Absolutely brilliant, great writing with a few twists along the way. Very very good.

25. Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton

Short but powerful classic novel about a poor New England farmer who falls in love with his wife's cousin when she comes to live with them. Recommended for fans of Steinbeck, Carver etc and free on Kindle.

I loved Not My Father's Son, Best. I listened to the audio book read by Alan Cummings, which added to the enjoyment. It really is superb.

Neal Stephenson's masterpiece Anathem is £1.19 on the Kindle just for today! Don't miss it. It will stretch your brain in ways you did not know were possible

Book 95 - 'Mother Tongue' by Bill Bryson
A re-read but a good one! I highly recommend this, if you are at all interested in how language/s develop.

Meg Just got that for my Kindle. Thank you.

Has anybody read, 'The Invisible Library' btw? Am about 25% in, but not loving it. I like the concept and the characters, but not v taken with the construction.

57. The Aylesford Skull by James P Blaylock

Spotted this in Waterstones the other weekend and was feeling in the mood for a bit of steampunk so picked it up. Blaylock was apparently one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre, although it's not easy to tell from this. That element is very understated and the story is much more character driven than some others in the genre where the key seems to be the fantastical inventions.

Set in 1883, it follows Professor Langdon St Ives, eccentric scientist and explorer, who is at home with his family in Aylesford. Not far away, a steam launch is taken by pirates and its crew killed, then a grave in Aylesford is robbed of the skull, accompanied by murder. The grave robber is an old enemy of St Ives, and when he kidnaps St Ives' four-year-old son Eddie, St Ives and his friends head for London to attempt to rescue Eddie from the clutches of the sinister Dr Narbondo.

The story doesn't just follow St Ives - Narbondo's activities are covered, as well as those of St Ives' wife Alice, and the various other players. There isn't so much of the fantastical machinery, but there is a hint of spiritualism and magic thrown into the mix. It's pretty decent.

I'm reading it Remus. Am 53% in. I find it engaging but the plot is incoherent so far. It just seems to be a series of fantastical events which happen to the characters without much rhyme or reason. What do you think of it?

I love Bill Bryson so much. I second that recommendation.

Wilting

So far, I'm finding it very clumsily written. Nothing has really happened, and the assistant kid isn't very well drawn. In fact, even the main character is pretty one dimensional thus far.

I have no objection to YA at all, if it's well crafted, and I don't even know if this IS YA, but it seems to have attributes of the worst of YA whilst seeming to aspire to something more complex and intelligent than that. Sadly though, all that the aspiration appears to have resulted in so far is a load of twaddle and made up pseudo-science. And in attempting to keep it 'pacy' the writer appears to be unable to construct many sentences longer than eight words, or to begin a sentence with anything other than a name or a pronoun.

I'll try again with it later, but right now I've got a couple of other things to read and this isn't really grabbing me yet.

I actually think there's far far far too much happening yet no real plot development. It's tiresome. Ive no clue why everyone wants this book. In fact there's so much constantly going on at times I forget they are all looking for a book!

No background or context to give it depth, who set up this library, why, how is it maintained, why did Irene choose it, did she consider not, etc etc.

The kid trainee is ridiculous, can't believe in supposed to take him seriously. Just a warning he gets more unbelievable if anything, not less!

Gosh I should not have started analysing my vague dissatisfaction cause I'm putting myself right off!

I think the actual writing is fine, it's the story that needs editing and reining in.

Is it YA? I actually hadn't noticed any effort at science assumed it was all magic

Sorry - by pseudo science I meant vague attempts to make magic sound as if it had a scientific basis - all that crap about chaos and logic. It's stupid, and you're not inspiring me to read on!

Yeah 89% in and I can tell you it does not improve, quit now and run away!

42 - Irène - Pierre Lemaitre

This started out boring, then had some interesting bits, but ended in an awful way with some unspeakable stuff being done to a hugely pregnant woman AND her unborn baby. This sounds like a spoiler but isn't really - since the name of the book is Irène, you know what is coming for her from the moment she is introduced early on in the book. I wouldn't normally give plot away but am doing it in this case to convince all of you NOT to read this book, lest you stay up until 4 AM like me, unable to sleep because of the awful images burnt into your brain about the torture and massacre of a newborn baby. I'll never be able to unread this book and would like to state here for future reference that I don't ever want to read about tortured babies again, so please don't recommend such books on here without a warning. (I'm not blaming you, wilting, I know you didn't read this book).

40. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Think I've said enough already about this. Just not enough internal structure or logic to really hold the story together. I found I read away as it flows along fairly well but then whenever I looked up I wondered what the hell all that was about? Very very silly in places and you are talking to someone who really enjoyed John Dies at the End. Read if you must but don't blame me if you hate it!

Really need something MUCH more sensible next. Hmmmm.

oh god cote, how horrible horrible HORRIBLE! I can't bear that kind of thing. Even the idea of it, I'm so sorry.

I did find Alex too graphic for me but it did not involve children never mind babies :(

I knew Irene had died but I didn't know ANYTHING about a tortured baby.

Hope you are not too traumatized, is it too early for ?

Cote even reading your post has made me feel panicky, so that's definitely not one for my read list!

That sounds horrible Cote . I will avoid.

Don't worry, wilting, I'm really not blaming you. You couldn't have known. I knew from the moment Irène was introduced that a heavily pregnant woman would die but the baby torture was way over a line in the sand that I never want to cross again, frankly.

51. A. J. Cronin - The Citadel. Re-read of an old favourite about a young idealistic doctor starting out in the Welsh Valleys who lets ambition get the better of him when he moves to London.

I've managed to get my hands on an Antarctic book, three mountaineering books and a historical murder book this week, as well as a load of free Kindle classics, so I may be some time! (And, 'The Invisible Library' is looking increasingly as if I won't bother finishing it).

That sounds like an utterly vile book - Cote and Wilting. I bought Alex a while ago in a Kindle sale - think I shall delete it without reading. I am sensitive to anything involving the death/injury of children, so that series will definitely be off my reading list.

34. Big Little Lies-Liane Moriarty - I had this as an audio book and thoroughly enjoyed it, good narration and a fast moving plot. She definitely has the knack of writing successful popular fiction, a good holiday read. The story of playground politics in a wealthy Sydney suburb. I think she really hits the nail on the head on how people actually feel about things compared to what they may say out loud.

33. Hyperion - Dan Simmons. I read this years ago. This time around it was on audible and it was fantastic. Six pilgrims have been sent to the planet Hyperion to look for help from the Shrike. Each tells their story and while at the beginning there does not seem to be any obvious connection as the stories unfold we see how they are all coming together. I will download the follow up The Fall of Hyperion soon and will give a more comprehensive feedback on both then.

34. Dwarves - Markus Heitz. I really enjoyed this. This is first in a trilogy and tells the story of a dwarf who was raised with men and is sent by his wizard boss to deliver some artefacts. On his journey he discovers other dwarves for the first time and an evil that is taking over the land and killing everyone in the process. Tingundil is charged with forging a sword to put an end to the evil and with a merry band of fellow dwarves and humans set out to complete the task. If you like LOTR type fantasy then you will like this. I am looking forward to finishing the trilogy (whenever I get through the pile of books beside my bed and on my kindle)!

35. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury. I have had this on my to read list forever and it came up as an audible daily deal recently so I bought it and listened to it around the house. I could not turn it off I was terrified and loved it in equal measure. This is the story of two boys Will and Jim and their battle against the evil that comes to town in the carnival of Mr. Dark and Mr Cooger. This is probably one of the most exquisitely written books I have ever read. I couldn't do it justice right now as I am still processing it and my stomach actually clenches with the memory but oh my it was fantastic.

I am off on my holidays tomorrow and have high hopes to read a lot. I have the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobbs, Anno Dracula, The Magpies, The Gospel of Loki and a few others on my reading list for the next three weeks.