50 Book Challenge 2015 Part Five

[southeastdweller]

Thread five 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, third thread here, and fourth thread here.

Happy reading

Hey cote, Max Hastings' Overlord (D Day landings) is £1.19 today.... new month, new deals ooohh yeaaaah

Reading The Three Body Problem and enjoying it

Someone else has recommended Pandora's Star to me, looks like space opera but only 99p today also so have chanced it too...

103. Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree by Andy Stanton. Next in the series. Nearly there - one more to go I think. DS and I have been enjoying these stories at bedtime.

104. The Memory Game by Nicci French. Quite a good thriller. Rather enjoyed it. Has themes of memory/false memory.

105. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Stunningly good. Really enjoyed this.

(Not including another failure - struggled through half of audio book reading of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Got completely lost with who was who. Narrator began to irritate me. Gave up.)

Crap, got my numbering wrong. Books 103, 104 and 105.

76. The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian

Captain Jack Aubrey is ordered to take his ship, the Surprise, to the south Atlantic and beyond in search of an American frigate which is on a mission to attack British whalers. If they don't catch up with the Norfolk before she rounds the Horn then the Surprise will have to follow into the Great South Sea and far into the Pacific.

This is very much about the life aboard ship on a long, and dangerous, voyage. There is little opportunity to go ashore, and it's actually quite fascinating in places, although O'Brian does tend to leap over long stretches of the voyage. Not much in the way of sea battles this time round.

31. Anger Is An Energy - John Lydon

Fabulous and inspiring autobiography. Occasionally repetitive, often rambling, but very entertaining and never boring.

Book 125 - 'A Man Without Breath' by Philip Kerr
Another Bernie Gunther WW2 novel, and in the same vein as the others. I enjoyed it - he's a great character and the historical stuff is really interesting.

Book 55 The Taxidermists Daughter by Kate Mosse. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A gothic novel starting in a Sussex churchyard. Villagers gather on the night when the ghosts of those who will not survive the coming year are thought to walk. And in the shadows, a woman lies dead. A cleverly written thriller with no obvious pathway to the end. Hard to say too much about this as I don't want to give anything away to anyone who wants to read this. Suffice to say if you fancy a novel with a real sense of atmosphere, weather and suspense try this one.

I struggle with Audio books Duchess - find them much hate to follow than the written word. Can only do 'light and fluffy' on Audi

Book 56 - A Song For Issy Bradley
A charity shop 50p find - shortlisted for the Costa 2014 first novel award and serialised for Radio 4 Book at Bedtime. Excited to start..

I've got The Taxidermist's Daughter on my Kindle - bought it a while ago for DH but quite fancy reading it myself. Sounds rather good :)

57. Did You Ever Have a Family - Bill Clegg

A fire in a small American town destroys a house and kills four of the people in it, though one person survives. In the following chapters, we see the points of view's of various people who are connected to the house and the dead. I lost a lot of interest 2/3 into the book and wish he'd cut down on the amount of characters which would probably have made the book much more moving an less confusing. Here and there, however, are some very powerful passages on relationships between children and their parents so I would tentatively recommend it.

58. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff

A wonderful book of letters between an American author in New York and a bookseller in London, which covers twenty years from the late 1940's. This was such a delightful read and the two voices complement each other beautifully. Highly recommended, especially for anyone after something light and short (95 pages). Remus is right - it is an absolute JOY to read [smiile].

59. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street - Helene Hanff

Sequel to the above book, in which Helene recounts her experiences visiting England in the early 1970's . I found this very enjoyable at first but it soon felt a little samey and dull.

Currently reading A Place Called Winter, which I hope to finish before picking up my library copy of the new Steve Coogan autobiography next weekend.

25. Just finished Us by David Nichol - was trepidatious as a good friend said she hated it, but inreallyenjoyed it. Sad, in places, laugh out loud funny the whole way through.

26. After Anna - half way through, gripping so far and well written. 5 year old girl goes missing when her mother is half an hour late picking her up.....

Duchess - I've just finished My Brilliant Friend. I so wanted to like it, but found it something of a slog and was very glad when I got to the end.

South It's just beautiful, isn't it? I wish I could remember who recommended it. Have been trying to track down a copy for a long time, and envy anybody yet to read it.

I've just bought her, 'Underfoot in Show Business' on Kindle. Hope it's good.

Glad it's not just me then, hackmum :). I hate abandoning books, but I just couldn't go any further with it. It looked exactly the kind of book I would enjoy, and I'd planned to read all four of them, but I couldn't take to the writing style either.

Did you get the feeling that she didn't particularly like her "friend" anyway? They always seemed to be at odds and falling out, being unpleasant to each other, displaying petty jealousies and rivalries that I began to think they would have been better off apart :o

It really is, Remus. I can't fault the book at all. It's such a shame it's not on Kindle.

77. Lamentation by CJ Sansom

Henry VIII is dying and the power struggle between Catholics and Protestants at court is stepping up a gear. At stake is control of the government of the future Edward VI. Heretics are being hunted across London, and the Catholic party focuses their attack on Queen Catherine Parr. She has a secret that makes her vulnerable - she has written a confessional book, Lamentation of a Sinner, that is so radically Protestant that if the King finds out it could put her life on the line. Someone has stolen the manuscript, and a single page is found clutched in the hand of a murdered printer. Queen Catherine and her uncle Lord Parr call on the services of lawyer Matthew Shardlake to track down the thieves and find the book, but it's dangerous work and it will be more than just the Queen's neck on the block if he fails.

Sansom's Shardlake novels are great reads, and this is no exception. At over 700 pages it's not short, but I started reading it on Friday and have spent most of today engrossed. It's quite a talent to hold the attention as well as he does for so long. I don't know if there will be any more, but I do hope so!

80. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki.

Beautiful book about four sisters living in Osaka in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The two older sisters, Tsuruko and Sachiko, have made suitable marriages and now have to arrange marriages for the other two. Tradition dictates that the sisters marry in age order but arrangements keep falling through for the painfully shy Yukiko. Meanwhile Taeko, who has already caused a big scandal by running away with her teenage boyfriend, is a modern girl who is trying to start a career and who keeps getting involved with unsuitable men.

Amazon kept recommending this to me as I like Japanese thrillers. I was worried that it might be hard going but the translation is excellent and it's easy to read. It's like a Japanese version of Pride and Prejudice and I think any Jane Austen fan would love it.

106. Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders.

This had been sitting on my kindle for a little while, waiting for the right moment to be read. It fitted the bill perfectly this weekend. Really enjoyed it, but will never be able to read the original E Nesbit novels now without thinking of this sequel and what's waiting in the near future for the children.

I think I quite fancy some Jane Austen this week, perhaps Emma.

Duchess: "Did you get the feeling that she didn't particularly like her "friend" anyway?"

Yes! I wasn't convinced by the brilliance of the friendship, but perhaps it changes over the next three books (if I can be bothered).

The Ghost Fields, Elly Griffiths

Latest installment of Dr. Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist in Norfolk who keeps getting involved in murders present and past. These are quite lightweight, but atmospheric reading. This one involves a WW11 plane found buried in a field being flattened for development on the edge of the marshes. There is a corpse to inside, who turns out to have recently been placed inside...
Reading four books simultaneously at present and not finishing anything quickly!

I fancy 5 Children on the Weston Front after Remus's review - not buying anymore books yet though so will keep it to look forward to {smile}

38. Fahrenheit 451 - I'm glad I finally read this! For those who haven't read it, it was written in the 1950s and is a dystopian novel about a "fireman" whose job is to burn books in a society where all books are forbidden. He has a crisis of faith and from there the story takes off. Very thought provoking.

39. Two of us by Sheila Hancock - I got this for 99p on kindle daily deals a few weeks ago. I bought it because it's about Sheila's life after the death of her husband, the actor John Thaw. I am planning to buy a copy for my stepmother as she has recently become a widow after the death of my father a few months ago. Sheila talks very honestly about her grief, subsequent loneliness and finding happiness again. It did make me cry several times, but Sheila is an engaging writer and a very compassionate person and I'm glad I read it.

69. Meadowland - John Lewis-Stempel. This has been reviewed several times up thread and I must say it lived up to the praise. I loved it. A beautiful book. I would love an illustrated version. It reminded me at times of Jilly Cooper's The Common Years which is one of my all time favourites - without the gossip and family trivia.

70 Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton. Sad tale of a New England Farmer, a quick read. Lovely writing.

Can't wait to get my hands on the new Bill Bryson and Sue Perkins autobiography both out on Thursday.