50 Book Challenge 2016 Part One

[southeastdweller]

Thread one of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2016, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

Who's in for this year?

Best

I'm glad you liked Cryptonomicon. I think you would also like Anathem - even more scientific, more intense, and more brainhurty than Cryptonomicon

Think my brain needs some gentle relaxation first Cote.

Last night I finished my first book of 2016 which was State of Wonder by Anne Patchett. This is the first book I have read by this author.
Dr Marina Singh works as a pharmacologist for a big drugs company in the USA. Her old university teacher (Dr Swenson) is working in the Brazilian rainforest on a fertility drug., which if successful would revolutionise female reproductivity. However she is very secretive about her work and the drugs company want feedback on how far she is progressing and have sent one of Marina's closest colleagues to Brazil to investigate. The book starts with a letter from Dr Swenson advising the CEO of the drugs company that their colleague has died and has been buried out there.

Marina is sent out to investigate in his place, the drugs company want to know when they will start to see a return on their investment and her colleagues wife wants answers as to how and where he died.

I really enjoyed this, thought the characters were really well portrayed. The descriptions of life in the rainforest and the hunt for Dr Swenson reminded me of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad which I read for English A level. I really felt that I was in the hot, steamy jungle with her

My only disappointment was the ending which felt rushed. Also Marina does something right at the end of the novel which I didn't like her for doing and which spoilt the book a bit for me. However I'm still keen to read more by this author.

Best - And now you know why like to read Jack Reacher books every once in a while

museumofham I actually had to go to two bookshops to get it but it was definitely worth it. I haven't been able to pick up anything else since I finished it. I haven't felt this way since I discovered Louis de Bernieres who everyone else seems to hate

Book #1 finally finished! Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

I think I'm one of the last people to read this so I'll just give a brief outline.

This book follows Thomas Cromwell from his lowborn boyhood (1500) through to his ascension in Henry VIII ranks (1535). It could be argued that in this moment in time Cromwell was the most powerful man in England.

I loved this! It's well worth a read if you're remotely interested in the Tudor dynasty and 16th century England. What blood thirsty times they lived in!

YesEinsteinsMumDid it's like that for me too.

I see books recommended on podcasts, the paper, or come across interesting ones at work. I download the opening chapter, get sucked in, and when I hit a slow part, I move on.

I'm still flitting around but I've actually also finished one:

#4 Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There by David Brooks

I loved this American mini classic from the early 2000s - it's a light satire, describing educated people who love overpriced coffee, artfully distressed heirloom pieces and performance outerwear.

Gosh, the thread is galloping along. I have been struggling to read - family stresses, strains and demands mainly both on my time but also on my ability to concentrate.

Book 1 : The Last Letter from Your Lover - Jojo Moyles. Chick-lit at its best. Old love letters are found in a newspaper library and the modern day journalist tracks down the author and their recipient. Liked the idea, loved the letters, but the characters were all far too stereotypical.

Book 2: Man in the High Castle - Philip K Dick. Book club read which I read after seeing the TV adatation - bad idea! Wasted time trying to tie the book up with the programmes - which they didn't. Enjoyed the idea and loved the iChing link-up with the novel in the story. The stacato use of language was just plain annoying though ...

I've got two "on-the-go" books which I'm dipping in and out of. One doesn't hold my interest for long, but works well as a before bed option. The other is The Canterbury Tales in modern verse and so is rather dense reading. Doing it in chunks is working - so far!

Oops - forgot to embolden the book titles ... sorry! They are:

Book 1: The Last Letter from your Lover
Book 2: Man in the High Castle

See above post for reviews.

Stokey - yes, My Brilliant Friend was slow to start but once they got into being teenagers the story got much better. I'm actually looking forward to the next one! But then I think I am a bit partial to a slow story.

I read the Lewis Trilogy into 2014 and thought they were good as well. Spot-on review Quog, I think we read and enjoy similar books.

2. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.
Nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize this is an evocative and fairly harrowing book set in the Vietnam War. Written in the form of linked short stories, it follows a group of young men. They were just so young. Powerful stuff.

I'm a two books tops kind of gall and that's only because the second book is an audiobook I listen to on my commute to work. I like to give one book my full attention, otherwise, I don't think I would finish anything.

Only What a plonker! My only excuse is tiredness!

Book 5 - The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber

Long (stupidly long) and often v boring. Why did I persevere? Because I kept waiting for something to happen, but, other than the world pretty much falling to pieces (which we learn of second hand), nothing much really did. It was like a long fumble of perfunctory foreplay, and no climax. I don’t recommend it, but I quite liked the aliens. And if I live the rest of my life without ever having to read again about a preacher masturbating, that’s fine by me.

anneetaramis I like Louis de Bernieres actually he lost me at Birds Without Wings and everything since and you've just reminded me he has a new book out - something about Dreams...? Going to look out for it now.

"Too long, boring, nothing much happening" is a pattern I remember. I learned my lesson with Crimson Petal and decided to give a wide berth to Strange New Things. Wisely, it seems

Shake Thanks for reminding me of The Things They Carried - it's been on my 'to track down' list for a long time.

Cote - I have learned my lesson. Mr Faber and I shall not be meeting again.

#5 for this year: Wander Woman - How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction by Marcia Reynolds

I'm mid-career, feeling a bit restless, and read this coaching book to understand my situation a bit better. The title is truly awful but the content was actually quite good - the main point was that often you will need to change strategies at work as you age to truly get what you want. Lots of useful exercises and ideas - I underlined a lot and have already reread some parts.

Remus - In the name of all that's holy, stay far away from the film Under The Skin, as well. Its book is written by Michel Faber. "A sci-fi film starring SJ! What can go wrong?", I thought

I really hated The Crimson Petal and the White in fact it was the book that made he decide I would no longer read a book all the way to the end if it really wasn't working me. I had this epiphany about 450 pages through.

It's The Dust that falls from Dreams. I bought it the day it came out and met him recently and ended up in the pub talking about Turkish folk music. A bit bizarre. I loved Birds without Wings, in fact the only one I wasn't completely sure about was A Partisan's Daughter.

I saw the trailer for Under the Skin. That was about three minutes too long, so there's no way I'll be watching the film.

1. An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. This was recommended upthread by Cote, HairsprayQueen and ptero. It consists of lots of interesting anecdotes from his time as an astronaut, interspersed with motivational type stuff about how you can apply the lessons learnt to ordinary life. I didn't find it as inspirational as some readers seem to have, but it was a fun, lively read.

Book 3 The Invisible Libraryby Genevieve Cogman

Irene is a professional spy working for the Library, which exists between alternativee worlds. She is sent on missions to harvest fiction from different realities. She is posted to an alternative London to retrieve a book but when she arrives it has already been stolen. Soon she is up to her eyes in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies.

I quite enjoyed this and was a bit of light relief after my previous book. Would read the sequel, I think, although this is a genre I have to be in the mood for.

Book 2 - Slaughterhouse Five. Loved it. I'm working through books I should have read years ago.

Pm'd you Cote.

I've just started reading The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide It's a small novel by a Japanese poet/author and it does feel very Japanese in the sense that every thing is very beautifully described and even small objects and actions are given a lot of detail. The story revolves around a couple who have been together a while but have drifted apart, and how they grow closer when a local kitten adopts them. It's very slow and gentle, and might be easier to read if you know/enjoy a bit of Japanese culture. I'm about halfway through and absolutely nothing has happened in the story, but it's a very soothing read.

1. The City and The City, China Mievile
2. The Guest Cat, Takashi Hiraide

The Invisible Library sounds quite similar to Jasper Fford's Lost in a Good Book, in the Thursday Next series. which is also a great series if not quite as good as his "Shades of Grey" which is one of my favourite books (and is definitely not 50 shades of grey!)

Shades of Grey