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

Dragon I just found them a bit silly and a lot of the incidents mentioned have been in The Paris Wife, Mrs Hemingway and Z for Zelda (as I said I'm fascinated by this group). This was definitely the weakest of those but it was an easy quick read

No 65

Plague by Michael Grant

Catching up on the Gone series which I'm thoroughly enjoying

God I am sooo behind.

Book 18 - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.
really enjoyed this, different, clever, interesting, funny in places. Took me ages to read though.

Book 102
'The Invisible Library' Have forgotten the writer's name but it's mentioned below. I didn't love this by any stretch of the imagination but I did end up quite enjoying it in a, 'This really isn't very good but it's reasonably diverting' sort of way. I don't recommend it though, and I wouldn't read anything else by this sort of writer. It was attempting to be really clever and amusing steam punk, I think, but failing. I did end up rather liking the assistant though!

56. Thursday's Gone - Nikki French. Still being annoyed by Frieda Klein. I may as well read the next one, presumably there are only 3 more to come.

For anyone who is interested, Christos Tsiolkas' new book 'Barracuda' is 99p on Amazon's Kindle Daily Deals today, and the unabridged Audio version (for Whispersync) is only an additional 99p (Tsiolkas wrote 'The Slap', which I've heard from DH is very good but which I haven't read myself yet).

Sorry for the long silence, I'll update with my latest books when I can, DS2 is now nearly 10 weeks old and we are all doing very well!

62. The Queen's Conjuror by Benjamin Woolley

Biography of Dr John Dee, philosopher, scientist and magician, known to have been an occasional confidante of Elizabeth I. Woolley goes into most detail over the partnership with Edward Kelley and the communications with angels and otherworldly spirits which purported to reveal the lost language in which God and Adam communicated. But there was a lot more to Dee than this - he was a scientist, mathematician, and was involved in producing charts used in the exploration of the New World. In short, he was a genuine Renaissance man, but he remains best known as a seeker after mystical truths.

That sounds good, Chillie.

Book 103
'A Little Country Girl' by Susan Coolidge of, 'What Katy Did' fame.
This was okay. It has the usual Coolidge flaws of being overly preachy and being far too obsessed with interior design and flowers, but it was okay. The heroine was sweet and it had a happy ending - and sometimes, that's enough!

57. Sophie Jones - Fallout. Boring.

Book 33 A Legacy by Sybille Bedford. Story of three families related by marriage. Set mainly in Germany in the late 1800s early twentieth century. It's partly based on her family. Well written and I enjoyed it.

34. Yes Please by Amy Poehler. This was a gift. It was quite interesting, some bits were funny. But some bits I skipped because Zi didn't really know who she was talking about.

35. A Buzz in the Meadow by Dave Goulson. Interesting facts about various insects - perhaps not as well structured as his previous one about bees.

36. The Caravanners by Elizabeth Von Arnim. Read this as enjoyed An Enchanted April earlier. If that was a charming positive fantasy this is a farce about a holiday. The narrator - a German army officer and his wife decide on a caravanning holiday in England with a friend and her relatives. He is an awful character - expects his wife to do everything for him, won't help anyone else. The farce comes from his failure to see how others see him and also in how he tries to get something for nothing. Some of the timescale and distances travelled in a day don't work but apart from that very good.

37 Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party by Alexander McCall Smith. An easy read. Another farce - American couple go to Ireland for a holiday and various awful things happen mainly because he is very overweight. Took me about a couple of hours to read.

Book 104
'Pollyanna' by Eleanor H Porter
I vaguely remember watching the film of this when I was about seven, but couldn't really remember anything about it except a little girl in a tree and that she made everybody happy. Well, I absolutely loved this book! It's terribly old fashioned and sweet and could easily have been cloying, but it wasn't. It's beautifully feel-good, and I 'may' have needed to wipe away a few tears as I was reading it too. Just lovely (Cote - you'd absolutely detest it!).

I am feeling as if I need something meatier now though. Have given up in disgust on, 'Damn His Blood.' Any good non-fiction recs?

Lol you didn't have to say it, Remus. I was even when I read it as a child. I don't even plan to give it to the DC. I doubt if DD would take to it after binging on Percy Jackson anyway

Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is 99p on the Kindle today.

I was very surprised at myself. Must be getting soft in my old age!

I don't know Remus. How you can detest a masterpiece like Cloud Atlas and then love a sob-story for small children like Polyanna is beyond my powers of comprehension

Ha, I enjoyed Pollyanna as a child. I wonder what I'd make of it now.

I think I can cope better with things that are obviously NOT clever, than things that are trying so hard to be clever and rejoicing so much in their own cleverness...or something.

No 66
Sinead moriaty
Mad About You

This was about relationships , marriages , careers
I figured out the twist quite early on and found the book a bit predictable and rushed towards the end

It depends what kind of thing you want Remus. I have read and enjoyed Do No Harm by Henry Marsh, Inferno by Keith Lowe, In Plain Sight by Dan Davies and One of Us by Asbe Seierstad this year. About respectively brain surgery, the bombing of Hamburg, Jimmy Savile and Anders Brevik

53. The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller

Enjoyable easy read. Laugh out loud funny in parts. Enjoyed agreeing and disagreeing with him and picking up recommendations.

27. Cold - Ranulph Fiennes

Enjoyable account of the veteran explorer's many challenging expeditions including his crossing of both polar ice caps and ascent of Everest (he was the first person to do all three). Interspersed with plenty of interesting historical anecdotes.

Meg - Glad you enjoyed, 'Cold'. DP did v well when choosing it for me for Christmas!

Was it you who recommended, 'Conquistadors of the Useless' btw? Started it last week but then got distracted by other things. It's good so far though.

Yes it was, I love that book and was a bit in love with Lionel Terray by the end!

Not sure when last posted - reading rather tailed off when marriage imploded.

20 The Good Girl, by Monica Kubica
Really enjoyed this. Detailed, suspenseful writing, and likeable characters. Thought far superior to girl on the train. Young, idealistic teacher is abducted and held in remote cabin as winter approaches. Narrative moves between the girl, her captor, her Mother and the detective investigating. Plot rrather obvious in the middle, but didn't see the twist coming. Recommend.

21. Still life with breadcrumbs, by Anna Quindlen
    Recommended on this thread, and thanks to who mentioned it. Fading successful photographer rents remote house in upstate New York, and rediscovers herself. Will look out for more by this video.

22. In the light of morning, by Tim Pears
    Absolutely love this writer - In the place of fallen leaves is one of the most evocative books I have ever read. This was set in the early part of WW1, in Slovenia, where a small band of diverse soldiers are sent to assist the partisan resistance. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. The difficulty is that there are always battles, people die, and others fall in love, and it is hard to remain overly focused.

23. Remember me this way, by Sabine Durrant
    Excellent writing, interesting premise, but found the male character, who may or may not have died in a dramatic car accident, irrationally annoying, and it rather tainted the other characters. Absurd twist spoilt what was a good read, and the neat ending reduced it's impression on me

Book 32 Us by David Nicholls.

Just lovely. Laugh out loud funny, intuitive, sad and oh-so tender.

Just perfect.