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

Book 150 (finally!)
'Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge' by Lindy Woodhead

I enjoyed this. It's v much my sort of thing, although I didn't see the TV programme.

DD1 v pleased to hear that 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' is getting more notice!

Glad you got your Kindle back Cote.

17. My name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout.

Lucy Barton reflects back on a time when she was ill in hospital and her mother came to visit.

A short novel by the writer of Olive Kitteridge. I loved this book. It was one of those books where not much happens but the writing is so good it draws you in. It was an interesting look at the mother and daughter relationship. Looking back into the past took the stress out the read but added intrigue. Definitely would recommend it when it's released in January. This was a free advanced review copy.

94. The Moth Catcher - Anne Cleeves. Latest in the Vera series and one of the best in the series. This was gripping and I couldn't put it down. Much as I've enjoyed the Jimmy Perez Shetland series, I think the Vera books are superior and get better each time.

Welcome back Quog

Ancillary Justice is 99p today on the Kindle. I resisted getting it until now because of the usual (a 1st novel, written by a woman) and also because it's said to be similar to Iain Banks's stuff and I wasn't a fan of those. Still, it's won many awards incl. Hugo & Arthur C Clarke, so I thought it can't be too much of a loss at this price.

97. Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

I am reading the secret Santa book, honest. It's just not really grabbing me so far and I felt in the mood for a re-read of some Terry Pratchett.

Verence, King of Lancre, has invited some vampires from Uberwald to his daughter's baptism. Unfortunately they've taken up the offer and decided to move into the kingdom. Now it's up to the witches to deal with them, but Granny is nowhere to be found so Nanny, Magrat, and Agnes/Perdita have to meet the challenge in her absence.

These are my latest:

60. Them: Adventures with Extremists – Jon Ronson. In this book Jon Ronson spends time with political or religious extremists and writes about his experiences. The book itself is a bit dated being pre 9/11 and looks at figures like Ian Paisly, David Icke, Alex Jones and groups such as neo-nazis and klansmen. I find extremism in any form very scary and some of these people were scary in their extreme beliefs and conspiracy theories about the world order and the ruling classes. It was hard at times to separate the fundamentalist from the person with clear mental health issues and that in itself is worrying. It would be interesting to see what Ronson would change or add to this book if he were writing it again in the current political climate.

61. Swan Song - Robert R. McCammon. This is a post-apocalyptic novel which focuses on three groups of characters in three different parts of the USA after the nuclear button has been pushed. This book is about the age old struggle of good and evil and the repercussions of what can happen in a world where the status quo and order have been devastated. The characters were phenomenal and the story really flowed along. Definitely one of my stand out books of the year and I will be eagerly looking out for more from this author. It

62. Jingo – Terry Pratchett. Audiobook read by Nigel Planer. This was one of the first DW books that I ever read and was always one of my favourites. Still a great story but the audio was awful. Would love to hear it read by Stephen Briggs.

63. Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal – Jeannette Winterson. I have Oranges on my kindle for ages and have still not read and then this came up on an Audible deal so I bought it and started listening immediately. It was so compelling, emotional and raw. JW in an amazing writer and her use of language to portray the pain, grief, trauma and sometimes joy of her childhood took my breath away at times and made me just want to grab my kids and tell them how much they are loved. Sometimes we have no idea of the suffering and the lives of others. This book will stay with me for a long time.

64. The Golden Compass – Philip Pulman. We listened to this on the school commute. It is the first of the His Dark Materials books which sets the scene where 12 year old Lyra Bellacqua who is brought up in Jordan College, Oxford which is a centre for research excellence in experimental theology, sets out to try and find her friend Will who has been taken by the Goblers. Lyra receives an alethimoter from the master of Jordan and she instinctively knows how to use the instrument which acts as a guide and powerful tool to keep her safe. Lyra discovers that Lord Asriel who she always believed to be her uncle is actually her father and the enigmatic but dangerous Mrs Coulter is her real mother and both of them are trying to discover more about ‘dust’. Lyra’s daemon is called Pantalimon and in her world your daemon takes the shape of an animal or bird and is the outward manifestation of your soul. In this first book of the trilogy we meet Gyptians, armoured bears, zeppelins, witches and cliffghasts. There is tragedy and sorrow as Lyra discovers that Mrs Coulter in her role as church representative is carrying out experiments on children and cutting away their daemons. Lord Asriel is also behaving in a manner that is horrifying to Lyra and in the end of this book Lyra steps from the world she lives in into another world to escape from both her mother and her father who are both trying to find her for different reasons.

65. The Subtle Knife – Philip Pullman. This is the second book in the HDM’s trilogy. In this book Lyra meets Will when she steps into another world which connects her world and his (which also has an Oxford which is similar in parts but very different in other parts). . Will is on the run as he accidently killed a man who came into his house trying to find out more about his father’s movements and frightening his mother. Will is also looking for his father who disappeared and as the story develops it is clear that Will’s fate is intertwined with Lyra’s. Will comes to be the keeper of The Subtle Knife which can open a doorway from one world to another.

We are now listening to the Amber Spyglass in the car which is the last of Pullman trilogy. On kindle I am reading The Winter Ghost by Kate Mosse and in paperback I am reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens. Audiobook walking dogs and around the house is The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer.

125. You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. I listened to the audio book version of this, read by the author. Lots of food for thought about humiliation by all forms of media.

126. Danny The Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. Now I feel fully equipped to go poaching pheasants :o

127. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. My first (and last) Sophie Kinsella. Utterly daft, but quite sweet.

DS has said he wants a break from the Roald Dahl novels, to explore the world of Moomins. So we will be reading one of those next.

And for me, just started a re-read of Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.

I'm reading Wilkie Collins' 'Moonstone' and just invested the huge total of 50p on yet another book set in Berlin.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This really isn't as good as the rest of the series, which is such a shame! JKR really struggles outside the Hogwarts framework, IMO. That said, I've read the earlier ones a million times and have a girl crush on Professor McGonagall.

High Rising by Angela Thirkell. I got this after someone on another thread said it was similarish to Nancy Mitford. It is sweet! 1930s golden era literature is just so comforting.

(Having joined so late in the year I'm not going to count - I'll start counting on Jan 1st)

Quog, I wish my kids were old enough for Roald Dahl! I love Danny the Champion of the World. But I also love the Moomins.

Lots of Terry Pratchett on this thread - neither DH nor I have read any (well, I read The Colour of Magic about 12 years ago), despite both being big fantasy geeks. I've bought The Wyrd Sisters for a Christmas present for DH - is that an OK place to start? I read somewhere that TP didn't really hit his stride until a few books into the Discworld series, which is why I didn't go for The Colour of Magic. Seriously hoping we like it - there are millions of them and I love a good series!

Next up: Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell. These are £5.99 each on Kindle and I think there are lots of them - I may have to pause for my bank balance to catch up. I somewhat rashly bought the 7 Northanger Abbey 'Horrid' novels - I thought it was £1.99 on Kindle until I checked my online banking and discovered it had been £7.99, oops. Given that they are all out of copyright I bet they're free on Project Gutenberg. Anyway, they sound like the ultimate in Gothic romantic horror so I'm going to have a bash at them.

TooTooextraImmatureCheddar if your kindle purchases were recent you may still have time to return them. I an not sure what the kindle return timeframe is but I have successfully returned books before that were purchased in error.

Yes you can return Kindle books.

35. Script Doctor - Andrew Cartmel

Autobiographical account of the years Cartmel spent as script editor on Doctor Who (while Sylvestor McCoy was Doctor). Some quite interesting behind -the -scenes stuff, rather too much not -very -interesting BBC gossip and nothing at all about the major event of his tenure, the cancelling of Doctor Who. One for completists only, I'm afraid.

Three of Phil Rickman's "spiritual thriller" books are 99p just for today. Has anyone read any of his books? Exorcism, spirits, murder mystery etc. Sounds like it could be interesting or awful.

Haven't read any Phil Rickman, but exorcism/spirits/murder mystery sounds good.

Thank you for the tip re returning Kindle books, Calfon and Cote. I think I've missed the bus for returning it as I read the first couple of pages, but I will know next time not to do that!

I think you can still return them. Reading a few pages doesn't mean you can't return them.

I didn't mind the Phil Rickman books but I remember Remus hating them .

Well, I didn't buy them in the end. I have so many lovely books on my Kindle now that I couldn't bear the thought of some exorcism mystery stuff there

TooExtra, Angela Thirkell sounds right up my street, and I've just reserved a couple at the library.

Terry Prattchett is fantastic - as a way in, I think Lords and Ladies or Guards! Guards! are good starting points.

Phil Rickman - I gobbled down a few and enjoyed them, and then abruptly had enough.

122. Broken Harbour, Tana French. I was totally immersed in this. Crime fiction set in post-recession Dublin, in a bleak gerry-built housing estate, unfinished and miles from anywhere. I guessed whodunit, but this book had so much more to offer than the cheap thrill of the reveal. It's firmly in the camp of recession literature (rec lit?) and worked very well on this level.

I didn't know that there was a sub-genre called "recession literature". Every day is a school day on MN

The Tana French sounds interesting, biblio. Is it part of a series, or a stand alone novel?

I didn't know there was a genre/sub-genre of recession lit, either, but thinking about it - Donal Ryan's The Spinning Heart fits firmly into that category - set in and around a ghost estate (abandoned unfinished) in Ireland. And John Lanchester's Capital also fits partly into this category too. What else might fit?

Finished The White Dragon (Anne McCaffrey) last night. Meh. The last 100 pages are totally action-free. I picked it up because my phone battery died and I couldn't get on with Angela Thirkell.

I didn't know there was recession lit either! Just in Ireland, or world-wide?

I think I just invented recession lit (you were here at the birth, people!)

The Tana French is part of a series, I gather, but each has a different protagonist and can be read as a stand-alone book.

Some of Anne Enright's stuff would fit in with the recession theme (The Forgotten Waltz is one I'm thinking of. I think).

Doesn't have to be just Ireland - you could make a case for Gone Girl fitting into this category.

Is Phil Rickman the writer responsible for the travesty that was Merrily Whatshername? I may never recover from that experience!