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50 Book Challenge 2015 Part Five

999 replies

southeastdweller · 01/09/2015 07:45

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 Smile

OP posts:
wiltingfast · 28/10/2015 09:38

And Michael Faber's Book of Strange New Things is £2.15, not quite a total bargain but better than Station Eleven I bet! Welcome Sadik, good to see you here :)

CoteDAzur · 28/10/2015 09:51

You'll have to pay me to read another Michael Faber book, especially one that pretends to be sci-fi Grin

whippetwoman · 28/10/2015 14:23

I am slowing down exponentially. I actually have an eye test booked later today as I think reading on electronic devices and reading generally is straining my eyes!

  1. The Listener - Tove Jansson
    This short story collection didn't make much of an impression on me at all, well, except the impression that living in Finland is cold and snowy. And dark. Plus there were no Moomins. I do love the last story in the book called The Squirrel. I've read it before and it's really funny. A squirrel turns up on her island and they have a battle of wills.

  2. Night and Day - Virginia Woolf
    God this was long and could have done with a ton of editing (in my opinion) but despite this I really enjoyed reading this novel. It's her second, much better than her first and in the form of a traditional novel unlike some of her later more experimental writing. It's essentially a love story with a love triangle so it kept me reading. I did enjoy the descriptions of omnibuses and foggy London with it's lamplight and dark streets but I didn't buy the "not realising you are in love and then suddenly realising and it all being amazing" aspect. I still enjoyed it though.

On to The Orchardist now. So far, so not great...

BestIsWest · 29/10/2015 00:17
  1. First Term at Malory Towers. Loved these books so much as a child. I think I can safely say I've grown out of them.
DuchessofMalfi · 29/10/2015 06:53

  1. Old Filth by Jane Gardam. It's the first in a trilogy about a retired Judge, a legend amongst Barristers, renowned for his work in Hong Kong. Not sure whether I liked it enough to read the two sequels. It seemed a bit dry and, at times, distancing. I never felt drawn into the story or really got to know him. There is a back story of his being a Raj Orphan, though, which was interesting. I knew someone years ago with a similar background, equally emotionally damaged.

  2. Father Father Burning Bright - a shortish novella by Alan Bennett. Not his best, didn't really enjoy it. Don't know what I was thinking picking that to read right now! Hmm

Just started Capital by John Lanchester which is satisfyingly long and should keep me occupied for a while.

CoteDAzur · 29/10/2015 08:32

Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II by Ben McIntyre is 99p on the Kindle Just for today Smile

wiltingfast · 29/10/2015 09:05

Aw Best, I loved those too! And The Twins at St Clares Grin

bookwormbeagle · 29/10/2015 10:00

Me too! Looking forward to dd being of an age to start on them - what age would they be suitable from do you think?

tumbletumble · 29/10/2015 14:52

Oh yes I was a Malory Towers and St Clare's fan too! My DD is 8 - I think she's probably ready for them now?

  1. Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes. This is the second Marion Keyes book I've read, and I was a bit disappointed tbh. The first one was Rachel's Holiday, which I'd describe as chick lit with a bit of punch to it, but this was more like just normal chick lit. Nice and readable though.

  2. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, which was just as wonderful as you lot promised it would be. An absolute pleasure to read, and a perfect choice for my 50th book of the year.

ChillieJeanie · 29/10/2015 19:06
  1. Hild by Nicola Griffith

Set in the seventh century at the court of King Edwin of Northumbria, this is a fictional account of the early life of the woman who later became Hilda of Whitby, founding abbess of a double monastery (with both male and female orders) which was the location of the Synod of Whtby, at which the church in England adopted the Roman calculation of Easter and turned away from the Celtic foundations of Christianity in this country.

None of her later life is covered, and we actually know little to nothing about her early life, aside from the fact that she was the daughter of Hereric, nephew of Edwin, who was poisoned when Hild was a small child, and she was brought up at Edwin's court. In this novel she is Edwin's seer, a precarious position, and also becomes a warrior and leader of men. It's a good story, centred both of the life of the women of the court but also with an insight into the politics of the time, the struggles for control of the various kingdoms of Britain. It's not a hurried tale, but there is a strong sense of threat hanging over both Hild and Northumbria at times. It's a world in flux, and a fascinating, brutal time.

While I suspect it's unlikely that Hild's early life was like this, I would quite like it be true!

Original poster
southeastdweller · 29/10/2015 19:47

84 Charing Cross Road is maybe the most delightful book I've read in years. Such a pity it's still not available to read on Kindle.

OP posts:
Pedestriana · 29/10/2015 20:49
  1. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff. Well, it wasn't what I expected, but I did enjoy it. Although, truth be told, I enjoyed the anecdotes/diary section more than the correspondence - possibly because there were some considerable gaps in the letters (dates of). A cheering read for chilly, dark evenings.
DinosaursRoar · 29/10/2015 21:20

I will have to add 84 Charing Cross Road - might need a pop to the library to pick that up.

My last few:
52. Thin Air - Ann Cleeves - the most recent Shetland book, a good cosy murder mystery, with added possible ghosts.

  1. Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch - second Rivers of London book - wizzard policeman does his thing again, this book is a bit darker than the first with alot more fun sounding sex with a rotund gluttonous jazz vampire. I highly recommend it.

  2. The Kings Hounds - Martin Jensen - set in Oxford at the early stages of King Cnut's reign, the Saxon nobles have all arrived to pay the victorious King - and a murder has happened, a half Danish noble who's lost his estate and an ex-monk who now works illustrating books are charged with solving the crime. There's a lot of language that sounds far too modern (although this could be due to poor translation), the half-Dane is a letch who spends too much of the book eating and the whole thing is very silly. oddly readable, but I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has a brain and is annoyed by historical inaccurancies.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 29/10/2015 21:26

Glad you're all enjoying, '84 Charing Cross Road.' I am going to put the DVD on my Christmas list. :)

BestIsWest · 29/10/2015 22:00

I must get hold of a copy. I'm in Hay-on-Wye again this week, there must be a copy here, will make it my mission to find one.

mmack · 30/10/2015 12:18
  1. Private Life by Jane Smiley. Historical novel about a very ordinary Missouri woman, Margaret Mayfield, who marries a famous and very egotistical scientist and moves to California. There is a lot in this novel. I enjoyed the early parts about Margaret and her family in Missouri very much. After she moves to California the focus of the book changes and the second half deals with her husband's growing frustration with a world that doesn't appreciate him. It is well written but a bit flat. A good book overall but I enjoyed Some Luck much more.
  2. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon. Very funny campus novel about Grady Tripp, who is dealing with a dead dog, stolen memorabilia and a gifted but troubled student in the same week that his wife leaves him and his mistress tells him some very surprising news. A lot of the comedy is slapstick but the characters are very likable and it's an effortless read.
mmack · 30/10/2015 12:29

Tumbletumble, I read a good few of the Marian Keyes books years ago and Rachel's Holiday was head and shoulders above the rest. I think it was partly autobiographical. I still remember it quite well-I think the parts about Rachel dealing with her alcoholism were very well written.

wiltingfast · 30/10/2015 13:42

Ah Lucy Sullivan is my favourite! I would say her first 4-5 are the best. Mostly writers only have a few good books in them imo and then the quality goes down....

tumbletumble · 30/10/2015 13:49

Maybe you're right there - I think I've caught Marian Keyes too late. I wouldn't bother with another of hers tbh.

DuchessofMalfi · 30/10/2015 16:13

I've read a few Marian Keyes novels and think she does, on the whole, write very well about the subjects which are personal to her ie semi-autobiographical - alcoholism and depression. She included these in This Charming Man along with domestic violence.

ladydepp · 31/10/2015 00:20
  1. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill - one of my dc's is doing this for English at school and left it lying around so I thought I'd give it a try. I really enjoyed it, a ghost story that was enjoyably creepy, it suited this time of year and I'd quite like to see the film now. A nice short book to keep me on target!
ChillieJeanie · 31/10/2015 06:59
  1. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Zacharias Wythe is England's first African Sorcerer Royal, raised by his predecessor in the role Sir Stephen Wythe and opposed by a malicious faction in Regency London who object to a black man leading the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers. He is also having to deal with the issue of the falling levels of magic in England, which will mean contacting the Fairy Court, and a government demanding that magic be used in its war with France. Into this mix comes an unusually talented young woman and orphan, Prunella Gentleman, who Wythe encounters at the school where gentlewitches are taught to surpress their magic, and where Prunella has lived her whole life. Magic is deemed to be too dangerous for women but when he witnesses her talents Wythe determines to teach Prunella, as part of his intention to reform English magic and encourage the magical talents of women. But Prunella has other secrets - she has just stumbled upon English magic's greatest discovery in centuries and she intends to make the most of it.

The book's blurb describes this as a cross between Georgette Heyer and Susanna Clarke, and that works quite well as a description. It is a debut novel and apparently the first in a trilogy, entertainingly written and not as heavy going as some people may have found Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It's good fun.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 31/10/2015 15:48

Not done much reading lately. Finally finished:

Book 132 'Golden Son' by Pierce Brown
The follow up to, 'Red Rising' which some of us read earlier in the year, after Cote recommended it. I really enjoyed it.

Pedestriana · 31/10/2015 19:07
  1. Hollow Man - Oliver Harris. This is the first book in a series about bent cop Nick Belsey, a world-weary, cynical Londoner. It's also Harris' first novel. Gripping from beginning to end. After a night with the boss' wife Belsey feels his career slipping away - he picks up a missing person report and finds himself entangled in a web of deceit, escort agencies, corruption and stolen identities.
mmack · 31/10/2015 20:57

Hollow Man looks like exactly my kind of book, Pedestriana. I'm always on the lookout for new crime series. I'm not buying any more books this year as I have a shelf load to read but it'll be first on my list for 2016.