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

Congrats, Tessie . What an extra special Christmas you're going to have

Lovely news, Tessie!

38. The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer, a page-turner about a child who is abducted by a man pretending to be her grandfather. Not bad.

39. Dead Babies and Seaside Towns by Alice Jolly. Despite the devastating subject matter, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the author's dark sense of humour and I felt she gave an interesting perspective on grief and loss. It's not for the faint hearted though!

40. The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes. Decent chick lit, but not nearly as good as her earlier book, Me Before You.

41. Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos. This is a super book! It's a lively, light-hearted explanation of a number of general mathematical concepts, with extra details about the history and/or personalities behind the maths. It's easy to skim over any sections which are either too easy or too hard to be of interest to the reader, and as a result I think it succeeds in appealing to a wide range of maths backgrounds - for example, I have a high level of mathematical understanding (sorry for the stealth boast!), but I was reading bits out to my primary aged DC.

Now reading a biography of Vladimir Putin, which makes for interesting but somewhat depressing reading.

51. The Bolds - Julian Clary

Diverting children's book, which reminded me of Roald Dahl's The Twits. I loved the two other books of his I've read (his memoir and Murder Most Fab) and think he's a terrific (and underrated) writer.

52. The Life and Loves of a He Devil - Graham Norton

Entertaining memoir from the comedian and actor, framed through the passions in his life. There was some repetition with his first memoir (published in 2004) but I didn't find it a problem.

Tomorrow I'm starting The Green Road, which I hope to finish over the long weekend.

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
World War Z by Max Brooks
Comfort and Joy by India Knights
This Boy by Alan Johnson
Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
The GIrl Who Fell from the Sky by Simon Mawer
Carry on Jeeves by P G Wodehouse
Katherine by Anya Seton
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Ann Fowler
The Last King of Scotland by Giles Fodden
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriaty
Lasting Damage by Sophie Hannah
The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce
A Street Cat Called Bob by James Bowen
Tickling the English by Dara O'Briain
Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Anne Fowler
The Language of Flowers
The Girl on the Train
Prep by Curtis Sittenfield
A Room Swept White by Sophie Hannah
The Confusion of Karen Carpenter
The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh
The Return by Victoria Hislop
Love Lies by Adele Parks
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The Liar's Diary by Patry Francis
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Book of You by Claire Kendal

The first 36 of the year :)

37 The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

This has absolutely blown me away, I feel very haunted by it. Best book of the year by far for me

67. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

13-year-old witch Tiffany Aching puts a foot wrong and attracts the attention of the spirit of winter, the Wintersmith, who thinks he's in love with her and showers the world with snowflakes and icebergs shaped like Tiffany. And since it was her mistake, it's for her to deal with the consequences...

I've skipped the re-read of I Shall Wear Midnight for now and gone straight to The Shepherd's Crown. It's already feeling very appropriate for Pterry's final novel.

SouthEastdweller I've read The Bolds to eight year old dd , we both loved it !

Congratulations tessie! Glad to hear your scan went well - I found out the sex of my two boys too..

37. Blood and Sand by Frank Gardner.
    Audiobook narrated by the author. Autobiography of this BBC journalist/broadcaster who was shot whilst on assignment in Saudi Arabia. He has a very dry voice that took me a while to get used to. This was an abridged version and recommended by a colleague. It was okay, maybe the actual version would have been better.

38. Red carpets and other banana skins by Rupert Everett.
    Another autobiography that I have been meaning to read for a while. On the cover of the book the Daily Mail says 'Funny, outrageous and extremely well written'. Not particularly funny, certainly not ha-ha out-loud funny, although saying that the last paragraph made me giggle. Sad in some parts - sent to boarding school at the age of 7, a fair amount of death from misadventure and illness. A LOT of partying, some drugs and celebrity, lots of travel and grand houses/apartments. It does seem like a very superficial world, full of fleeting friendships and highs and lows. Too long but overall a fairly entertaining read.

Haven't updated in a while so apologies in advance for the long post!

23. We are all completely beside ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler
    Covered a lot already on here and despite knowing a lot about the plot I enjoyed the story particularly the references towards the end about our own memories of events can be wrong

24. I let you go - Clare Mackintosh
    I really enjoyed this a good page turner with a twist I didn't see coming. Stayed up late to finish it

25. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson

26. Confessions of a city girl - anon
    True story of the girl who used to write the column of the same name in the Metro newspaper. Has some interesting things to say about the credit crash

27. Before we met - Lucie Whitehouse
    This was an ok thriller. Wanted to find out what had happened but was pretty forgettable and the main character got on my nerves!

28. Since you've been gone - Morgan Matson
    A YA novel that I really enjoyed. Captures that period between being a young teenager and a young adult well. A great summer read.

29. I capture the castle - Dodi Smith
    A classic that I had never read before and I really enjoyed it. Can see why it's so many peoples favourite novel

30. Leaving Time -Jodi Piccoult
    Warning - don't read this unless you like elephants ! A lot of elephant facts in this book I enjoyed it and didn't see the twist coming at all.

31. The girl in the photograph - Kate Riordan
    A time slip novel that was quite forgettable apart from the terrifying passages about how women with pnd where treated in the 19thc

32. The lie - C L Taylor
    Story about a group of friends who go backpacking and get mixed up in a cult. Ok but a familiar story that has been done better before.

33. Taming of the Queen by Phillipa Gregory
    Last in her Tudor series and this one is about Katherine Parr. I enjoyed this and it is very atmospheric about just how suffocating being married to Henry VIII was. Interesting scene involving Henry and some spanking! Overall a good read

34. The Handmaids Tale - Margaret Atwood
    Another classic I have only just read. Absolutely loved this book and it gave me the chills at the ending.

Next up is In Cold Blood but it's my birthday tomorrow and I have requested books so may end up reading something else !

Oh and congratulations Tessie that's wonderful news

68. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

The elves are coming back, and Tiffany Aching must summon all the witches to help her defend her land.

My heart ached a bit reading this one, but as the finale it is perfect. So many endings and beginnings, old friends seen again as well as old enemies. I don't think Pterry could have planned a better farewell to Discworld than this one, but I am still sad that there will be no more. The final few pages nearly had me in tears, which wouldn't have been a good look on my arrival at work this morning.

The Wicked Girls is 99p today on Kindle. I haven't read it yet but it's had some great reviews on here.

Just finished book 45 on Audible - Wish you were here by Catherine Alliott. And easy to listen to story perfect whilst I am cooking cleaning and ironing. I suspect I may have got bored though if I had read this as a book. I thought her character observations of family members were were spot on and they often had me chuckling away to myself . The story was about a family who had been lent a villa in the south of France which they immediately decamped to for the summer . Extended family members, boyfriends and hangers on all tagged along too. A predictable recipe with the spilling of family secrets .
I am about a third of the way through Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver but not enjoying it as much as The Poisonwood Bible.
Tessie glad the scan went well
Sorry you had to cut your stay in Hay short Best
Have a great bank holiday weekend everyone.

Congratulations Tessie! Best wishes for the safe arrival of your baby girl

Honey2006 - I read the Narrow Road many months ago and I still think about it, a fabulous book. I must read it again soon.

Congratulations Tessie on having a girl, exciting to get to 24 weeks too!

28. Farewell, My Lovely - Raymond Chandler

Peerless crime thriller, gripping and full of unforgettable phrases and dark humour.

Bloody love Chandler, and 'Farewell'is him at his finest, I think.

Book 111 - 'Cold' by Bill Streever
I really enjoyed this. It's basically a meander through lots of information about cold, taking in polar exploration, global warming, failures of weather forecasters, how animals cope with cold etc. People who like Robert McFarlane would probably enjoy it.

Peerless crime thriller with dark humour? Sounds awesome.

Someone please let me know if I would like it. Does it have any "women's fiction" characteristics, for example?

Was it published a long time ago? (Don't care much for "old-style" lit)

I see that it is the second in a series. Does one need to start with book #1?

Chandler is all man, Cote. Classic hard boiled crime fiction. I think you'd really like him. Start with either, 'Farewell My Lovely' or, 'The Long Goodbye.'

Not a series - can read in any order.

The Long Goodbye is #6 in the series. Are you sure that I won't miss anything if I start there? No character development or background building in the first 5 books?

Positive. I lied though - I meant, 'The Big Sleep' not, 'The Long Goodbye.'

Ah OK. I'll start with #1 The Big Sleep, then

69. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett.

Went back to this one for a re-read after The Shepherd's Crown so that's the whole of the Tiffany Aching series this week - even if slightly out of order.

Being a witch is hard, so Tiffany Aching isn't finding the time to eat or sleep properly, but being to be a witch is to be needed so she gets on with it. But a spirit of hatred and evil has awoken and suddenly to be a witch is also to be suspected and feared by the people for whom you work hard. And it's coming for Tiffany.

This one is really Tiffany coming into her own as a witch of her own steading, following her training in the mountains. It's kind of a coming of age novel, although by this stage Tiffany has already faced more than many witches have to deal with in their daily round.

oh I loved the Big Sleep when I read it years ago - not 'girly' in the slightest. (although some bits seem a little cheesy now, because the film with Bogart and Bacall was such a hit and many detective films of the time then tried to ape the style)

That might go on my 'to re-read' list - after abandoning so many books half read recently I need something I'll actually finish!