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

alteredimages so you needed to let yourself dry off on a rock in between ice-cold dips into the MacFarlane - the key was in the book all along! we just had to listen

From this thread I've gleaned that when bookworms decide they need a declutter, they read a book about the best way to do it instead of just grabbing a bin liner. I love it; I've found my people

cotedazur read your wonderful collation of the themes of Cloud Atlas, it was very methodical and thorough and a pleasure to read through. Very much agreed with what you identified as the main threads, and especially enjoyed all the examples of loss of wisdom/knowledge. That was an obvious theme in one of the sections in particular, and picked up again in others (I won't go into detail here for those who haven't read it), but your discussion showed just how much it permeates the whole book, and is demonstrated again and again throughout by Mitchell in increasingly ingenious ways. Thank you

Also stray half sentence in my Railway Man review, not sure where that was going, please ignore!

I have been reading the thread regularly but haven't been very good about posting!

17. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell. I did quite enjoy reading this, but there wasn't much of a story to it, just a series of small events in the lives of women living in the town of Cranford. It was quite an amusing read, but I did struggle a bit to get through it simply because there was no plot to make me want to keep reading. I found out later that it was originally written as a sort of magazine column which made sense of the lack of plot.

18. Move Along, Please - Mark Mason. This is a non-fiction book about his travels from Land's End to John O'Groats by bus - local buses that is, not national coaches. I really enjoyed this as it was full of trivia about the places he travelled through and I enjoyed the little glimpses of people he saw on the buses. My only disappointment was that he travelled through my hometown yet barely mentioned it!

19. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie. This was only the second Christie I've ever read. I read the first, 'And Then There Were None', just before watching the TV adaptation that was on over Christmas, and I was quite disappointed with that book - I felt the writing style was amateruish and while I liked the device of all of them trapped on the island I was frustrated because you didn't really get any clues to work out whodunnit. I liked the writing style of Roger Ackroyd better and I liked trying to piece together the clues but the ending really irritated me - I can't say more without giving it away. I've got a couple more Christies that I will try but at the moment I am surprised by all the Christie love based on the two I've read.

20. C is for Corpse - Sue Grafton. This is number 3 in the Alphabet series featuring Californian private investigator Kinsey Millhone (a woman). I like these books - they're not great literature by any stretch of the imagination but good stories and a likeable main character. The early ones in the series are quite dated now as they were written in the 80s so you have to remember that they didn't have all the technology available now. In this particular story you have to suspend disbelief slightly with the ending but if you just take it as easy to read entertainment you won't be disappointed. I have quite a few of this series on my to-read pile so you'll see more pop up on my list later in the year.

21. No Second Chance - Harlan Coben. Wasn't feeling well so still fancied something easy to read that didn't involve my brain too much and Coben is always good for that. This is one of his stand alone books (rather than those featuring Myron Bolitar). This was a good story but again the use of technology flagged to me - this book was written in 2003 so there were several references to 'new' or 'newish' technology which amazed the book characters but is stuff we take for granted now!

22. The Birds and Other Stories - Daphne Du Maurier. Collection of short stories which I really enjoyed, some unusual and unsettling ideas in there especially the though of all the birds ganging up on humans. My only complaint about that story is that it ends while the bird attacks are still going on which leaves you wondering what would have happened in the end (which of course is the whole point!). I've read Du Maurier's novels before but not any of her short stories and I plan to look out more now.

23. Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ - Giulia Enders. I read this as I've been having some stomach problems recently and thought this might help with some answers. It didn't, but was a fascinating read anyway. It's amusingly written so isn't heavy going at all and I do recommend it if you have any interest in finding out more about how your digestive system works.

24. Who Is Tom Ditto? - Danny Wallace. I've always enjoyed Danny's non-fiction adventures (starting a cult, saying Yes to everything) but I was disappointed with his first novel, Charlotte Street. This was his second novel and I did enjoy it more than Charlotte Street but it was a bit odd. It's an easy read, about a man whose girlfriend suddenly vanishes one day but says she hasn't left him and he should carry on as normal. While looking for her he finds an unusual group of people and I can't really say more than that without spoiling it but the central idea of this group of people was odd. I did like the ending though which wasn't what I would have predicted for this sort of book.

Now on 25. The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert which is a haunted house story, very atmospheric so far!

Sorry for the epic post, I will try and post more regularly in future!

Chessie- am finding the same with North and South - it's fine but not riveting. Think it makes a better TV series than a read , does that make me a heathen?!

I have quite a lot of Dickens on my to-read list and I'm worried I'll find the same with him as I know a lot of his books were written as magazine serials. However I did enjoy Great Expectations and Oliver Twist so I'll see how I get on with his others.

While I didn't hate Cranford I can't say it made me want to rush off and read anything else Gaskell's written.

Yes, well been reading Bleak House off and on, mainly off for weeks, yet rattled through the other books I've been reading. Maybe they really don't work as one volume novels any more. And were never intended as such.

Updating here:-

7. Golden Son by Pierce Brown; I enjoyed this but I did think it stretched credulity a bit at times and felt a bit YA, Darrow's endless boring agonies about the war he is bringing to the Society and hankering to be back in the mine with Eo, just bored me and I did not find it all that credible and he went on with it far too much. Some of the plot twists also made me raise an eyebrow at times, his razor fight with Cassius for example. Indeed how the entire Bellona family is suddenly so apparently useless. But in the course of reading these are momentary annoyances at most, and it does have a great narrative drive that keeps you reading eagerly. I will definitely read the sequel to see how Darrow gets out of the latest bind for sure though at it's current eye watering £10+ pricetag !

8. The Hot Zone: The terrifying true story of the origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston; Great read, written like a thriller, all very Shock & Awe, I stayed up last night until after midnight desperately just trying to read a few more paragraphs! On a work night ! The descriptions of what the illness did in the outbreak in the Bumba Zone are barely readable they are so horrific. V interesting (and alarming) account of how the outbreak among monkeys in Washington was managed. Some of the casualness to the potential for catastrophe is hard to believe (several persons are exposed to the virus in the course of the outbreak, no one turns themselves in to "the Slammer" and another is allowed to carry on as usual). Overall, he possibly over-eggs it a bit (from the presentation, I constantly assumed the latest medic was going to DIE) and also unfortunately, the book has not been updated sine the Reston incident in 1990, which is a pity as I'd be v interested in knowing more. But still worth a read.

No idea what's up next... possibly Americanah... see if I feel like it later.

21. The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn trilogy. I picked this up because it was recommended on another thread some time ago as similar to Game of Thrones/Name of the Wind. It's set in a world where a thousand years ago the hero failed - lots of misery and serfs set against the privileged few welcome to Cameron's Britain but a resistance is stirring. It took me a bit of effort to get into this - a lot of the characters started off very formulaic, particularly Vin, the heroine. The writing is also quite clunky in places, but I eventually clicked with it and I've just strongly encouraged DH to get the next one if he's in Waterstones this afternoon. It quite suddenly seemed to hit its stride and got a lot more creative with the Mistings/Mistborn and the planning of the revolution. So I wound up loving it but it took me a while to get there!

I'm now on a collection of all Roald Dahl's short stories, and I'd like to apologise to whoever it was I argued with on the first thread about Roald Dahl's misogyny. These stories depict women terribly! They're all fortune hunting bitches and a whole section is devoted to stories about tricking women and entitled "Switch Bitch". If the women aren't horrible then they're merely decorative. I just finished a story where there's a woman called Josie who is described as "the girl" whenever she speaks (ie, "'what shall we do,' asked the girl") even though we know her name. I'm enjoying some of the stories regardless, particularly the ones based on his war experiences, but it's definitely been an eye-opener.

Book8. Elizabeth and her GermanGarden by Elizabeth von Arnim.
Written in 1898 and the title aptly describes the contents. love her humour and her obvious love of her rather grand garden. A good read!
Book9 is going to be a virago modern classics:On the Side of the Angels by Betty Miller

I've finally finished John Dies At the End and, while I did enjoy most of it, I thought it was twice as long as it needed to be and just got totally lost at the end. Still, it was good enough for a non-serious read about a lot of toss, really

Also stealth read *Lost in a Good Book" by Jasper Fforde, Thursday Next series. Really enjoyable and totally bizarre story of Thursday Next, a literature detective with a vanished husband that only she remembers, a time travelling dad and many travels into famous works of literature to solve crimes and track down her nemesis.

Next on the list is either The Humans by Matt Haig or Cloud Atlas or Ghostwriter by David Mitchell. Can't decide!

I am struggling with 'The girl caught in the spiders web'. The chapters feel long compared to my last reads, hoping the story picks up soon as there seems to be a lot of scene setting.

1. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. Mikey is one of the rest of us, the unheroic, not-Indie kid who just wants to graduate and go to prom. He's also, in his estimation, the least wanted in his group of friends, and he's trying to navigate that, a dysfunctional family life, mental health issues, and incrrasingly odd events in his town. I really liked it, but I supposed I'm predisposed to empathize with Mikey.

Book 9 will be Colm Toibin's The Master.

13. Matilda by Roald Dahl. DS's bedtime read. I have mixed feelings about Roald Dahl. He was a good story teller and children clearly love his books and yet I'm not sure he was as good as his reputation would have you believe. David Walliams is a far better writer of novels in that style imo. And yes I agree with the misogynist comments. Matilda's mother is often described in disparaging terms, and referred to simply as "the mother".

14. "Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth". Really enjoyed this. Her thorough knowledge of London's East End in the 1950s is fascinating. Often raw, upsetting, and shocking that people still lived in grinding poverty and squalor in condemned properties. The tales of prostitution and gangland violence in Stepney was horrific. Not always an uplifting read. Now on to Shadows of the Workhouse for Book 15.

That should be Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth. :)

Quog, I think you'd enjoy reading This Boy, by Alan Johnson. Or maybe you already have?

That looks interesting, Southeast. I haven't read it .... yet! Have added it to my tbr list. Thanks for the recommendation :)

7. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett. One of my favourites - I love all the stuff about stories, as well as Nanny Ogg, international linguist...

8. The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt, tr. Laura Watkinson. I've been reading this at bedtime with DS1. It's an absolute classic in Holland, but only recently available in English. High fantasy, but knights and swords, without magic. Full of adventure right from the start and we both highly enjoyed it.

The new thread is now up so come on over and mark your place

Very behind posting to this.Not done as much reading as I'd hoped this year but to date..

1. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier. One that I'd never read before. I have recollections of watching an old black and white film which I never identified, but having read this, I think it was the Hitchcock version of the story. I absolutely loved it. Gripping from the start and very hard to put down. May have to source a copy to keep a permanent 'dip back into' source.

1. 1536: The year that changed Henry VIII - Suzannah Lipscomb. Henry VIII and his court have always interested me. I've dabbled in reading around the period for a long time and have always been puzzed by his apparent personality change from a sprightly young man, fit and healthy and amiable, to a raging middle-aged corpulent tyrant. Suzannah Lipscomb looks at many sources and comes up with some plausible explanations for this.

1. Mrs de Winter - Susan Hill. I bought this in a second-hand bookshop, read the first page and realised I needed to read the original first. This picks up incredibly skilfully from where Rebecca left off, capturing perfectly the character of du Maurier's writing. Very well crafted story indeed and worth a read.

1. What the grown ups were doing - Michele Hanson. Hanson grew up in 1950s suburbia. The only child of hard-working Jewish parents this gives an insight into the difficulties of being 'different' and the idiosyncrasies of her family.

1. Wits and Wives: Dr Johnson in the Company of Women - Kate Chisholm. This has been a dip in and out of book. A bit heavy in places but puts a new slant on the attitudes toward women in the 1700s, and gives a more compassionate concept of the compiler of the dictionary.

1. The fruit of the lemon - Andrea Levy. I grabbed this as the blurb looked interesting. Faith Jackson's parents came over from Jamaica 'on a banana boat'. She and her brother Carl make their own lives in London, growing up in the 1970s. Disillusionment with friends and employment result in a trip to Jamaica to see family, which gives Faith a renewed sense of self.

I've read all four of the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante - absolutely loved all found! Extremely well written and there wasn't a dull moment in the story. I couldn't put them down, and had to read all four back to back. Definitely recommend.

oops *all four