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

Well I swore that I would read nothing but work related stuff (which I don't count here) until the start of term.

But I've cracked. I needed some happy fiction and so I've sneaked in a cheeky audio book.

Book 34 Golden Son by Pierce Brown.

Sequel to Red Rising. Bloody brilliant. War and violence and revenge and intrigue and sex. And more violence. Love it.

78. Meadowland ?? John Lewis-Stempel
    I really enjoyed reading this book, especially after having read A Buzz in the Meadow. It was interesting to compare the two books, one by an academic entomologist and this one by a farmer/author, so very different perspectives on a similar theme. I feel I know quite a lot about meadows now, which is a surprisingly good thing! What I liked about this book is that he quotes a lot of poetry, especially John Clare, who is someone I would like to know more. I have The Quickening Maze to read, which is about his life, so will try and fit it in this year. So thanks for a great recommendation Duchess as I love nature books like this.

79. Three Men in a Boat ?? Jerome K. Jerome
    Another of those pesky classic books I have never read. This was fairly amusing and I liked the stories of river-based ineptitude and the exploits of the fox terrier especially.

80. The Five People You Meet in Heaven ?? Mitch Albom
    This was so unbelievably pants. It??s one of those books people go on about, like The Alchemist, and it??s supposed to be meaningful blah blah but instead it??s just trite drivel.

I really don??t think I??ve read the right books this year somehow. I read better books last year. Where am I going wrong???

Not sure where all these ????? came from!
Sorry about that

Really pleased you enjoyed Meadowland, whippet :) I would say I enjoyed it more than the ones I've read by Robert Macfarlane.

Hi Duchess. Yes, it really was very good. I do like Robert MacFarlane too. Though I can't help wondering what their wives are doing while these men spend ages wandering around meadows/climbing mountains/staring at insects etc.

:o I've often wondered that too!

Book 117 - 'Behind A Mask' by Louisa May Alcott
This was a very silly story of a 'young' governess, who is not all she seems to be. She infiltrates a wealthy family, with the intention of securing a husband and her financial future, and rivalry and passions follow. It was ridiculous, but I rather enjoyed it and liked the fact that it lacked the awful pompous piety of the 'Little Women' books.

Am now bookless once more. Arrghhhhhh.

Whippet woman
I have give. up on 5 people you meet in heaven
Agree was pants

I have given up on an Angela Carter one, about 100 pages in. 'Heroes and Villains' - anyone read it?

40. The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling

I gobbled this up on a lengthy train ride. It's ridiculously over praised, but a hugely enjoyable read. The end packs a punch. It also feels like a very sombre Jilly Cooper in a bizarre way. Not sure it's our generation's Middlemarch though. It was good though - and a charity shop find! I love used books, I wreck my books, wrench the spine open, turn down pages, the lot. I love the physicality of books, feeling the heft and the paper. I don't like kindles at all! Plus there is something about browsing random books and picking up gems.

I need some new books on my to read pile. I've got some worthies, I am Pilgrim and some that aren't grabbing me at all. Will have a browse tomorrow :)

I also hated the five people you meet in heaven - absolute tosh, 100% agree!

I was thinking today about The Casual Vacancy. Such a good book, really haunting and pertinent.

A while since I've had a chance to update on this thread.

Book 38 The Last Policeman by Ben H Winters
Policeman investigates a possible murder in the backdrop of a world where a comet is due to crash into earth in 6 months time. Lots of questions about what would happen if you know that there is only 6 months left - do you stay in your job, go off to do your bucket list, go on a religious crusade. Enjoyed this one.

Book 39 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.
Never read anything by her before. Written in the 1950s its set in a post war world, is very funny.

Book 40 The Dead Mountaineers Inn by Strugatsky brothers. I bought this for H on an impulse because it said that it was the writers attempt to write a Sherlock Holmes style mystery. It starts off well - man arrives at an Inn where someone has died. Who did it. It has a very very unexpected ending - and a ridiculous one at that. But it was worth reading.

Book 41 The Sussex Downs Murders by John Bude. Was quite entertaining although I worked out the solution quite early on. It also suffered a bit by not having a slightly dim side kick because some of the ideas the detective seriously considered were ridiculous. A dim side kick could have come up with those for him. Anyway, it was good for holiday reading.

Book 42 Mrs Palfrey at the Clairmont by Elizabeth Taylor. This was very good if a little sad too. Would recommend it.

Book 43 The Long Utopia by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett. Pleased they had time to write another one. Always feel there are more than one story trying to get out of this series of books.

Book 44 Countdown City and Book 45 A World of Troubles by Ben H Winters. These are the second and third books in the Last Policeman Trilogy. Really enjoyed reading them. The destruction of earth is getting nearer, society is breaking down in many ways. I think some plot points weren't developed as well as they could have been but enjoyed overall.

34. The Street Philosopher by Matthew Plampin - novel taking in the Crimean War, some journalists, corrupt soldiers, various murders, a missing painting and an art exhibition in Manchester. Quite good but not great. I did learn a bit about the Crimean War, I never really realised quite what a pointless slaughter it was...

I read a Casual Vacancy a few years ago and found it unbelievably depressing; interesting to hear that others enjoyed it. I don't remember a single sympathetic (adult) character.

Time to catch up with my reviews. I am woefully behind so this is going to be epic. Hold onto your hats, here are books 51-64 (favourites in bold, as usual):

51. Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I loved this book about Auggie, a child with an extreme facial abnormality and his journey through school. Moving and funny, this is a starkly honest depiction of both the cruelty and wonder of childhood.

52. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. More of Lockhart??s preppy, teen-based, exclusive-US-East-Coast, boarding school fare. I enjoyed We Were Liars, which was far more successful, but think I might have had enough of this author for a while now.

53. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. The first of Ferrante??s Neapolitan series of novels tracing the friendship and lives of Elena and Lila through the mid-twentieth century in Naples. Epic in scope, brutal at times but also touching and brilliantly accurate on the nature of friendship, I loved this book and plan to read the remaining four volumes.

54. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. Reviewed to death here and elsewhere. To be honest I didn??t see what all the fuss was about. Not a highlight of the year for me I??m afraid, though I did find some of the descriptive language very effective.

55. Vermeer to Eternity by Anthony Horowitz. A (very) short story about the possible discovery of a Vermeer painting in a lady??s house. A lovely, compelling, light and extremely quick read. All 27 pages of it.

56. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Rubin chronicles a year devoted to discovering what makes people, and specifically her, truly happy, devoting each month to a different project (marriage, work, parenthood, leisure, friendship, etc. etc.) and setting goals to help chart her contentment levels. Very readable and, dare I say it, inspiring. An entertaining read.

57. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson. A holiday cottage find that turned out to be a hidden gem. Jansson is far less well known for her adult works of fiction than she is for writing The Moomins, which I remember from my childhood (not altogether fondly, I found them a little dull). Her adult writing style, however, has stayed with me; spare and precise, she depicts vivid scenes and complex characters using very few words. Not a bad story either. Recommended.

58. The Wrong Knickers by Briony Gordon. Blimey, Gordon??s twenties were rather more wild than mine, though many aspects of this book still resonated with me. Makes me thankful I??m safely in my thirties, I??d already forgotten how exhausting the whole thing is. Exhausting, cringe-worthy in part but a strangely wonderful and uplifting read.

59. After Me Comes The Flood by Sarah Perry. Ah, the start of this book was wonderful and I thought I??d hit on a masterpiece but it never quite fulfilled its potential. Such a shame; I was utterly entranced by the first third. Still, worth a read, and the premise of a man assuming another man??s identity by accident as he stumbles upon a house in the woods is excellent.

60. The Pupil by Caro Fraser. A slightly dated but enjoyable legal romp. Lovely if you??re into that sort of thing.

61. Judicial Whispers by Caro Fraser. Second volume of the above romp. Again, good if that??s your bag.

62. My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff. Loved, loved, loved this book charting a year in the life of the assistant to Salinger??s literary agent. Warm and uplifting, I ate it up. Did one of you recommend it? If so, thank you.

63. How to Write Fiction: A Guardian Masterclass by The Guardian & Geoff Dyer. Enough said. Aspiring author? Nope. Never. As you were.

64. Feminism: A Graphic Guide by Cathia Genainati. This was terribly badly formatted for kindle, practically unreadably so, and the content wasn??t great either. I don??t want to slate it completely, as I did get something out of it in terms of knowledge, but the graphic element of it just didn??t work for me and it seemed very poorly edited. Not a favourite.

Whippet, It looks as though I'm having the same issue as you with ????s appearing everywhere. Not sure what the cause is...

No 74

Another YA

Moira Fowley-Doyle the accident season

the accident season has been part of 17 year old Cara's life for as long as she can remember : a month of mysterious injuries and tragedies, which casts a constant shadow over Cara and her family .

Brilliant book couldn't put it down

72. Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer. This is a very clever, entertaining thriller. Patrick is an anatomy student who has Asperger's syndrome. A big part of his course involves dissecting a corpse and Patrick isn't convinced that the cause of death has been properly diagnosed. Sam is a man in a coma who is trying to wake up and who thinks he might have witnessed a murder. Belinda Bauer ties in all the strands of the story seamlessly. Highly recommended.

73. The Green Road by Anne Enright. Disappointing family saga. It's being discussed on another thread so I won't review it here.

74. The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. Family saga set in Maine and New York. Two brothers with a difficult relationship spend time with their sister when her son is accused of a hate crime. I loved Olive Kitteridge and this book was OK but a bit flat in comparison and I struggled to care about the characters.

75. I'm currently reading The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter and I'm not overly impressed so far.

72. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

It's steam engine time on Discworld, or rather it's probably not but steam trains have arrive nevertheless. Invented by Dick Simnel, supported by Sir Harry King, and drawing crowds in Ankh-Morpork, the railway is the future, and Lord Vetinari puts Moist von Lipwig in charge of the city's interest in it. Elsewhere, the Grags (deep-down dwarfs with a fundamentalist attitude to dwarfishness) are stirring trouble and trying call a halt to the onward rush of technology. With the position of the Low King under threat, Moist von Lipwig, the Watch, and the railway combine forces to try and prevent the dwarfs being plunged into civil war.

One of the later novels and so one in which the alzheimer's could be seen to be having an effect of Sir Terry's skills. Some people really don't like this one because it isn't up to the heights he could attain, but I quite enjoy it really.

Atticus really pleased to hear you enjoyed My Brilliant Friend. Having bought the first three novels for two different people as presents this year, I decided I'd read them myself this summer. Haven't started them yet but due to soon.

Book 118 - A re-read of, 'A Town Like Alice' by Neville Shute
This is an old friend but it must be at least ten years since I last read it. It's lovely, but I did find myself thinking that the first half needed to be shorter and the second half longer, if that makes sense!

wow, lots of fabulous reviews and books to add to my list! I'm a bit slower than a lot of you, and made worse by seemingly constant migraines and headaches and generally not wanting use my eyes much over the last week.

Anyway, last 2 -

46. The Princess Bride - William Goldman - a light and fun book, yes, it's as silly as the film. I rather liked it - it follows the story of buttercup, the most beautiful woman in the world, who falls for a farmboy, who goes to seek his fortune but is killed by pirates. She then gets engaged to the Prince/future king of their country, but is kidnapped just before the wedding and is supposed to be murdered by the trio (a giant Turk, a cunning Scillian and a Spanish sword master), but a pirate turns up and ruins the plans. There's a count with 6 fingers, lots of silliness and it's all rather fun. Just what I needed!

47. The Enchanted April - Elizabeth von Arnim - I can't remember who on here recommended this, but I would not have chosen it otherwise, so thank you! It's a lovely book that I wasn't sure I'd like but left me just happy.

Hope you feel better soon, Dinosaurs. Migraines are miserable - I suffer from them too .

Love the film of, 'The Princess Bride.' One of the v few occasions when the fil is better than the book imho. Another example is, 'The Help.' I liked the film but found the book quite annoying.

73. Veiled by Benedict Jacka

Alex Verus is caught in the cross fire between Light and Dark mages, trying to protect himself and his friends from his former Dark master while being distrusted by the Light mages for having been the apprentice of a Dark mage. He associates himself with the Keepers and begins investigating a seedy underworld which has ties to the highest powers of the Council. Being part of the magical police force may not be enough to save him.