50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Two

[southeastdweller]

Thread two 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, it's not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

Previous 2016 thread here

11. Death of Wolverine by Charles Soule & Steve McNiven

This is a trade paperback collecting the 4 part series. I'm counting it as a book. I don't think I'll be giving anything away here if i reveal that Wolverine dies at the end of this book.

For anyone unfamiliar with the character from Marvel comics or the X-Men / Wolverine films, Wolverine is generally portrayed as indestructible, with an adamantium (made up super hard metal) skeleton, sharp pointy adamantium class, and the mutant ability to heal from just about any injury. Kills villainous henchmen a lot.

Before the start of this story, Wolverine has lost his healing factor, which means he's screwed, because (a) his slightly radioactive heavy metal skeleton is poisoning him from the inside out, and (b) he's made a lot of enemies who would just love to kill him. Wolverine discovers that someone's put out a contract on his head, and sets off on a quest to find out who, which culminates in his death.

I'm sure the writers meant for this to be a terribly sad noble sacrifice - but for me, the whole death scene was stripped of any emotional impact by Marvel's habit of bringing back "dead" characters at the drop of a hat. My main emotional on finishing this was curiosity about just how long it's going to be before, in some improbable twist of fate, Wolverine is resurrected / revealed to have never actually died in the first place. But the artwork is lovely.

Forgive me reader for I have sinned so it's not going into bold.

6 The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous by Jilly Copper, just needed some comfort reading

13.5 Only part of a book, because I can't quite bring myself to buy it. The introductory chapter & conclusions of The Future of the Euro edited by Matthijs & Blyth.

Very interesting read - does what it says on the tin, and in particular explores the extent to which the political dimension is currently ignored and may or may not be integrated into the future of the single currency. The intro & conclusions are freely available as pdfs to download (as is ch 8 covering Italy & Spain, which I haven't yet read).

I haven't read his autobiography Sadik, I will look it up. Some of his other books (possibly Migraine) are a bit...noodly

Quogwinkle and tumble, I am all excited for you reading them! Hope you enjoy them. Quog I know what you mean about another life as a psychologist. You both might also enjoy Neurotribes which looks at the history of autism being recognised as a condition.

1. Written in Fire (Book 3 of the Brilliance trilogy) by Markus Sakey.

Book 3 of this sci-fi thriller in a world coming to terms with people with powers. I have really enjoyed this fast paced series. Recommended if you like this sort of thing.

1. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.

I really don't know how to describe this sprawling book. What did it want to be? Interconnected character driven stories, some thriller fantasy sci-fi action involving immortal souls who disagree with each other, a bit of dystopia future action and other stuff (maybe). Quite long; I think I enjoyed it. Cote, didn't you sort of enjoy it too?

I've read Neurotribes Elle, and tbh I was slightly disappointed. It's an interesting read, but I would have preferred a bit less detail on the history of treatment and diagnosis over the past hundred-odd years, and more focus on the latest research into the causes of autism.

I'd be a rubbish psychologist! It's definitely just an armchair interest for me

I gave up on the Bone Clocks, possibly prematurely, after a few chapters.. Have too many books piling up awaiting my attention.

ShakeIt - Yes, I enjoyed The Bone Clocks but found it to be a poor imitation of Cloud Atlas in many ways. See my review below:

49. The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell

I liked it and was definitely gripped by it, but I am not in awe of this book like I was of Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Yet, there are many similarities between these two books, to the point that this one feels like an imitation of Cloud Atlas:

• 6 stories
• ... all of which are first-person accounts
• ... spanning decades
• ... starting in the past (1984) and extending far in the future (2043)
• ... and ending on a roll rather than winding down, as if they were cut prematurely

The themes are similar, too:

• Man's selfishness & cruelty, especially towards each other
• The yearning for safeguarding our knowledge/self/experiences for posterity
• Growing old
• Dystopian future

Cloud Atlas was original, gripping, and well... perfect First halves of the stories marched towards an inevitable conclusion, with the dystopian and post-apocalyptic two feeling incredibly real. Then came the second halves, and the reader is locked into the epic ensemble, with no escape from the author's logic as shown over and over in a variety of ways across continents and centuries. People are cruel and exploitive, we kill and enslave when we can; we have not changed, will never change, and this will be our downfall. Our technology will disappear in a single generation, just like our experiences and memories do as we grow old and die. It is a powerful blow to the gut, made all the more painful because of the hopeful note it ends with (1st story, so 1850s... but the reader already knows how the human story will end because the last story was laid out in full in the middle of the book).

A similar theme plays out in The Bone Clocks in a similar format, but in a less effective way imho and for it I blame its fantastical/supernatural subplot of warring immortals. I'm not quite sure why the author has felt the need for this subplot, especially since it takes up almost 25% of the book and imho doesn't add much to it (or maybe I haven't figured it out yet), while the other 5 narratives take up between 14%-17%.

There is a lot I want to say but I don't want to give any spoilers. Suffice it to say that David Mitchell is a brilliant author and he knows it. He is a master storyteller who (1) manages to change his 'voice' with every character he is voicing the inner thoughts of and make the personal accounts feel truly individual, (2) keeps you hanging on every word (I hear this book is 600+ pages - seriously didn't feel like it), and (3) succeed at every level, be it the feelings and perceptions of a child or sweeping predictions about life half a century in the future.

I'm about 20% into Cloud Atlas at the moment. Slow going because I'm having a tough week and too tired for much reading, but I'm looking forward to having some time with it over the weekend. I kept falling at the first hurdle last couple of tries I had at it, but now I've read through the second section I'm already starting to appreciate what he was doing with the first one, so can't wait to get properly stuck in now.

I enjoyed The Bone Clocks though with the same reservations as others. The warring immortals thing got a bit flabby. In general though I love DM's playfulness as a writer, I find him really fun to read. He wrote a lovely, moving article about his son's autism a few years ago when he translated The Reason I Jump. What of his should I read next after Cloud Atlas? I read Ghostwritten some years ago.

Just finished book 3 The Lady who walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith.

Really light read which i enjoyed, would recommend earlier ones for someone new to the series. I know for many they seem to repeat and most problems are all tied up at the end which can be a bit superficial.

Now onto book 4 The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz. Interested to see how this 4th book works as it is by a different author but i really enjoyed the previous 3.

Just caught up with this thread after being away for a few days. It's amazing. Like Water for Chocolate - what a blast from the past, and can't believe I didn't read the book at the time as it would have been right up my street, so I now have that little treat waiting on my wishlist.

While adding to the groaning wishlist I checked for price drops - the Martian is £1.99 at the moment.

Cote I love your thoughts about Cloud Atlas in your review of Bone Clocks above. I loved Cloud Atlas but have been swithering about Bone Clocks: I think I'll read it, but with expectations suitably managed.

I have 3 completed books to review but will pop back later as I've used up all my available time catching up with this thread!

12 Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, found this a bit boring and wish I had'nt wasted valuable reading time on it,writes about herself too much.
13. All the light we cannot see, has been reviewed on here before, one of my favourite reads so far this year. Have a chest infection so hoping to read lots in between sleeping, recommendations please as I loved no 13. and would like something similar please.

Museum - If you are interested, I wrote my thoughts on the themes, symbolism, etc in Cloud Atlas over many posts here.

Hahahahaha FiveGoMad, that is SO NOT a sin in my book big Jilly Cooper fan though I wouldn't call that her best

5. The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar. Light enjoyable read. Felt v flat after The Unconsoled but it gave my head a well deserved break .

Now onto The Making of a Clinical Psychologist by Tanya Byron which is vg so far!

Meanwhile, I'm struggling with Rivers of London. I like the witty writing style but there just isn't anything to the story. Is there even a story? Not sure yet at 46%.

You've got further than me Cote.

I'm really struggling with A God in Ruins at 20%.

Cote - I treated Rivers of London as just setting the scene, introducing the characters. The second one, Moon Over Soho I think is where it begins to get more interesting.

Well, I'll push through it, then.

Still quite disappointing that absolutely nothing of any importance seems to happen. Several people die with exploded faces. That seems about it.

2. Endless Night by Agatha Christie

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller. A new one to me. Has reinvigorated me after Jerusalem

I quite liked Rivers of London. Its quite lightweight, but good fun. I didn't know it was part of a series. Must see what the other ones are like, then.

If anyone else on this thread has read The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, I'd love to chat about that briefly if anyone fancies it. About a third of the way in currently, and feeling a bit baffled. I don't want to read any reviews on it, as I want to try to figure it out myself , but would be interested to know how others have found it.

I like the Rivers of London books but am consistently baffled by their endings. I don't think I a, unusually thick but they just don't seem to make much sense.
OhPud I got halfway through the Buried Giant but no further. I didn't make a positive decision to give up, just sort of lost interest and fizzled out. I could be persuaded to use on through if you convince me it picks up.

Pudding - I hated The Buried Giant. Thought it a load of old tosh. Unfathomable and dull, with added elves or gnomes or whatever they were. Did start to wonder whether KI had been on something illicit at the time of writing

Book 17#Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon
I really enjoyed this spy thriller, set in Berlin in 1949. A Jew who had managed to escape to America during the rise of Nazism returns to East Berlin, steered by the CIA. The main character was very human and there’s lots of well researched historical detail. I was really drawn into the world and its intrigues, but did feel that the ending let it down.

Cote - you really won't like Rivers of London. Trust me. And they get worse - the first one was just about tolerable imho, but I soon lost patience. And I have a higher tolerance for stupidity than you do!

1. Transatlantic by Colum McCann. It's a collection of Irish/Irish-American stories, beginning with a transatlantic flight from America to Ireland in 1919 then moving backwards and forward in time to chronicle multiple generations of people who have moved between the two countries. Although it got rave reviews, it left me pretty cold. Hard to put my finger on, but somehow I find his writing both detached and melodramatic all at once. Having had the same reaction to Let the Great World Spin I think I will have to accept that his writing isn't for me.

10. These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. Chick lit set in pioneer-era Arizona, really, but quite a pleasant read, structured as a series of diary entries over a 20 year period.