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

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella. I really only read this one because DD had left it in the sitting room & I fancied a light read. It's not really my sort of book (nor dd's either, I think, she's reading books through school as part of the Red House Children's Book award, and this was one of them). I thought it was ok, but quite slight, and while I liked the characters & the portrayal of Audrey's anxiety/depression felt realistic, I found it all a little predictable.

81. The People's Songs - Stuart Maconie. Maconie takes 50 pop songs over a period of 70 years and tells the history of not just the song but of modern Britain. This is as much a book about social history as it is about music. A pleasure to read and brought back many memories for me.

Career Of Evil is £9.00 as hardback and £9.99 for the Kindle? Why?

82. The Perfect Puppy - Gwen Bailey. We have a new puppy so I was recommended this on another thread a while back.

Gosh you 'listen' quickly Duchess - I still have 11 hours to go
Yes, he reads it beautifully - I find I do struggle with some narrators!
Any other Audible recommends Duchess with a good narrator please?

I know Cote, I've been shocked at the price of new releases on Kindle recently.

The Peoples Songs sound interesting Best

Thoroughly enjoyed it Sonnet' especially when accompanied by YouTubing the songs. Apparently there was a Radio 2 series to go with it, I wish I'd known.

Will def. look out for The People's Songs, thanks for the recommendation, Best

88. A Fever of the Blood by Oscar de Muriel

The second novel featuring Ian Frey and 'Nine-Nails' McGray, this time investigating a murder and escape from a lunatic asylum, where McGray's sister has been living mute since she murdered their parents. Their hunt for the killer takes them to Lancashire and into direct conflict with a powerful organisation of witches.

It's kind of like a 19th century X Files, with Frey in the Scully role. Although I still enjoyed this one, I am finding McGray's character more irritating.

45. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

I loved this book. Follows a boy in his early teens growing in the 80's with lots of references to being young at that time. Evocative writing, recreating and reminding me of all the highs and lows of being that age.

46. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

The third book in the Locke Lamora fantasy series. Enjoyable and fun in a medieval fantasy setting. Will continue onto the fourth.

I 'read' Capital last year on audiobook and thought it was great. It'll be interesting to see the TV adaptation.

I have also been struggling to find something I want to read and have begun and discarded several books and audiobooks. Maybe it's that time of year..

And lastly, welcome to all the newcomers, I hope you love this thread as much as I do!

Best - Yes, they are milking the Kindle market at the moment. But HOW can the Kindle copy of a recent book be HIGHER than the hardcover version?

I had a couple of days at home catching up with housework, so could listen to a big chunk of it, Sonnet. I love to get completely absorbed in a good audio book.

A couple of favourite narrators are Juliet Stevenson (The Paying Guests) and Adjoa Andoh (Americanah, Summertime). Steven Pacey read the Simon Serrailler series well too. And Alex Jennings read A God In Ruins wonderfully.

The price of The Silkworm on Kindle dropped to £1.99 last year a couple of months after publication so perhaps Career of Evil will be reduced after Christmas. I never pay more than £7 for a Kindle book.

I'm not that desperate to read it, to be honest. The second Galbraith book was a bit of a disappointment.

Definitely looking forward to the Kindle Xmas Sale, though. Every year I get fantastic recent books there for pennies.

There was a feature on Radio 4 recently and they were discussing the prices of Kindle books - apparently the agreement with publishers ended and this is an experimental phase to see how much people are willing to pay. At the same time,sales of physical books has risen although the rise in colouring book sales is a part of that. I have recently gone back to buying paperbacks as I can't justify the kindle prices.

I just make a list of books I am interested in eReaderIQ and wait for prices to fall. There are enough books on my Kindle to keep me reading until prices of new books fall. No way will I pay £9.99 for #3 in a murder mystery series which I wasn't even particularly impressed by. That is just madness

Yes - that's insane. I might buy it for dp in hardback for Christmas. So far I'm hearing that it is better than, 'The Silkworm.' If this one turns out to not be as good as the first, I doubt I'll bother with anymore.

I had a charity shop splurge yesterday. Got, 'The Twelve' so think I'll read, 'The Passage' and that before the third comes out. Also a load of kids' books which should suit me nicely as we get into December and I'm getting tired and crotchety! I also have an enormous history book about the last days of the second World War, which will keep me quiet for some time if it's good. And I've got quite a bit on Kindle too.

I thought you had read The Passage & The Twelve or would have recommended them to you long ago!

I have read them - want to re-read before the new one!

26. Affinity - Sarah Waters. Some beautifully written passages and a few lines that really stood out for me. I liked the flips between the different characters' points of view. Took me a while to work out that there was more to Selina than met the eye and I liked the twist at the end...although I can't help thinking that if I read the book again, I'd be a bit more aware of the little clues along the way.

51. Jack and Jill - James Patterson - chisel for book group by a friend who is a big fan. I enjoyed this very typical American thriller but won't be rushing to read any of his other books, they are written in quite a formulaic way.

52. The Light Between Oceans - ML Stedman - story of an Australian lighthouse keeper and his wife who keep a baby who washes up in a boat ad the repercussions of that decision, perfectly acceptable read but not as in depth/interesting as I had been expecting as the book had been recommended.

Now on What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty which is intriguing so far.

Thanks everybody for all your recommendations and reviews, I very much enjoy reading them all. Just need to read more and mumsnet/watch tv less!

90. Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto. He's the creator of True Detective which I haven't seen yet as we only have the free-to-air channels. I thought this would be a standard detective novel but it's actually a very touching and sad story about a New Orleans gangster who ends up on the run with a vulnerable teenage runaway. It has excellent characters and a good plot and brought tears to my eyes a few times. Highly recommended.

91. In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume. Judy Blume grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The town used to be on the flight path into Newark airport and in 1951 three planes crashed there. This book is a semi-autobiographical and I wanted to read it as I heard her being interviewed on the radio recently and she was just lovely. It took me a while to get into the story as the book has a dizzying amount of characters but it was worth sticking with.

92. Clerical Errors by Alan Isler. Comic novel about a Hungarian Jewish Catholic priest, his alcoholic Irish mistress and a missing Shakespearean manuscript. Not my usual type of book but very clever and funny.

I am also waiting (not very patiently) for Justin Cronin to finish his trilogy. I checked out of real life altogether when I was reading The Passage. Does anyone know if he has actually finished writing it?

Thanks for the narrator recommends Duchess. I have actually "read" The Paying Guests, Americanah and most of the Simon Serrailler series but will look out for those Narrators. Funnily enough A God in Ruins is next up on Audible after Career of Evil

Book 71 - Cold Justice by Lee Weeks - a Charity shop find and the first I have read by this author.
Synopsis: A killer seeking revenge. A community protecting its own.
Cornwall, 2000. Jenna wakes up after a drug-laced party to the realization that she has been raped. And it looks like it involved her new boyfriend, who has come down from London for the summer. But the case is assigned to a corrupt local police sergeant, who knows he can extort money from the boy's father, prominent London MP Jeremy Forbes-Wright, in return for his silence.
Fifteen years later and Jeremy Forbes-Wright is found dead under highly suspicious circumstances. On the same day, his two-year-old grandson Samuel is kidnapped on a London street and DC Ebony Willis and DI Dan Carter are called in to find the missing boy. They soon realize all roads lead to Cornwall and to find the little boy they must finally get justice for Jenna. But someone is murdering the people they need to speak to and time is running out …

Yes I enjoyed it and became intrigued about how all the different strands interlinked but it wasn’t gripping (despite my post on Saturday) and I wouldn’t hurry to read anything else by her. Also there was a strand not tied up – whatever did happen to Ella in the end?!

Carrying on with Career of Evil on Audible and will find another book from my charity shop pile tonight.