50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Thread three 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.

First thread of 2016 is here and second thread here.

How're you getting on so far?

Oh, yes, see what you mean!

Thinking we need to start at least 2 new threads here, the lovely reads and the punch things reads. I rather need the latter right now.

Would The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo count as a "punch things" book?

ElleSarcasmo p&p is a fave but I also have a soft spot for Emma. I think when I first started reading Austen that I found it easiest. Funnily enough I find S&S my least favourite although I know a few people will disagree there!

southeast oh thank Goodness. Both me and my Mum found the 1st half boring too but I was very worried we'd missed something. I understand that it's got a great message and themes, especially for the time it was written, but I just don't understand all the fuss. My husband watched 5 mins of the film before turning it off.

My guilty pleasure is Sophie Kinsella. Whenever I need some light relief I turn to her or Michael Connelly. And I don't even pretend to use my son as an excuse to read Enid Blyton. Ginger beer anyone?!
I was a bit horrified they changed the names in the Faraway Tree series :-(

MamaBear - me too re. the Faraway Tree. The big problem we have is that DD has just read the first two which are my copies from when I was a child. But the third one had fallen apart so my Mum bought her an updated copy - and I am now going to have to come up with a reason why the names have changed.

Ooh tricky onemouse would DD even know the names were 'rude'. I assume that's why they were changed, but it's a bit ridiculous really!

I don't know how I'd even tackle it actually!

That's what has really annoyed me most MamaBear - DD wouldn't even realise the names are 'rude' right now. Bah.

Good luck finding a reason onemouse

6. Mitosis by Brandon Sanderson
Short novella bridging between Steelheart and Firefight. This was actually shorter than I realised, especially if you take out the preview chapter of Firefight. But like Steelheart, it's nice and pacy and the writing flows really well making it an easy read (wouldn't expect anything less from this author) He's packed a fair bit of action into those few pages! Firefight is on my to read list, but have other books I want to tackle first.

I did consider Game of Thrones but reading recent comments makes me think I'll leave it.

*pacy or pacey? I never know!

Remus, do look out for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, even if it isn't on Kindle, it's hilarious and I think would hit the spot.

I'd also second JL Carr although personally A Month in the Country isn't one of my favourites - I'd go for What Hetty Did as a cheering book. I adored Hetty as an 18 year old, and was always amazed that she'd been written by an elderly man (and a very lovely one - he used to come into the bookshop where I worked and was utterly charming).

Re the name changes, couldn't you just say that the publisher thought the old names were a bit old fashioned?

Suppose it depends on DD age blue and whether she would understand old fashioned. I'm sure it's easy to explain away really, I just don't think it was necessary to change them personally

The first couple of Marion Keyes' books are quite lovely and uplifting (and actually made me laugh out loud - at least when I first read them - which is sadly unusual). Ballet shoes? Ooh, I know! Rafael Barker's Hens dancing. Fabulous, funny, moving.

22 Midsummer Night In the Workhouse by Diana Athill This is a Persephone press collection of her short stories. I love her memoirs and liked these. the beginning ones are about "youth and buried time" the middle ones a bit about affairs/disillusion etc. and then the last story, Buried, I just loved. It is about a brother and sister in their late 40s, both married - he safely within their upper class/county milieu and she to a foreignish/jewish economist so far from her upbringing. They are coming back together from a dinner and their car breaks down and they end up hiking cross country home together. it is just a lovely discourse about siblings and childhood and memory, and funnily enough, also about the loss to siblings left behind when boys went off to prep school. It was worth reading the book for this story alone.

Just ordered Eileen from my library - I love this thread.

21. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

Didn't love this, but it's a well written and for the most part enjoyable coming of age tale; Adrian Mole with actual literary talent and fewer laughs. It reads like twelve (maybe 13?) interlinked short stories each from a month of Jason Taylor's 14th year. There is nothing wrong with any of them, but all together it felt a bit overlong for the amount it had to say perhaps. Tons of 80s references, music, movies, products. Dripping with great metaphors, as would-be poet Jason hasn't learned to use them more sparingly; maybe David Mitchell hasn't either, but he is undeniably a brilliant writer so I'll forgive him.

Onto Flight Behaviour next I think.

Sadik, you met J L Carr!

I read Byron Rogers' biography of him, and he came across as an interesting man.

I've been looking out for his other books, but they're not that easy to get hold of.

Canyouforgiveher HOORAY!

biblio - he used to come in quite often with stock, we sold a lot of his little 'pocket books' that he printed. You can still get most of his books www.quincetreepress.co.uk/page4.html direct from his press, they're lovely editions :)

Remus - am I right in thinking you're a teacher? If so, can I revise my JL Carr recommendation to The Harpole Report (mind you, that's not available for Kindle either!)

Ooh, I'm tempted by What Hetty Did and The Harpole Report. I rarely buy full-price books, but may have to make an exception.

Just reading back through this thread and I'd missed the sad news about Margaret Forster. I wanted to echo what other posters have said about her background and what a marvellous writer she was. Hidden Lives is a marvellous book. She and her mother and her daughter are exact contemporaries of my own mother, grandmother and me and from very similar backgrounds so this book has a huge resonance for me. Unlike Margaret, my mother failed the 11 plus by one mark and had to leave school at 14. Didn't hold her back but I wonder what she could have achieved had she had the chance at a better education.

Also re the Lippizzaner love, I was lucky enough to visit the farm in Lipica years ago. Fantastic horses. Was just before the 1991 war.

Hetty and Harpole not on Kindle.

Have read a lot of these. Some I loved and some I hated. HATED (loathed, detested, abhorred Dragon Tattoo. Don't like Marian Keyes. Have read all of the children's books mentioned iirc, and just about everything Wilkie has written. Read She Devil. Have bought Enchanted April although women wittering around in a castle doesn't quite sound like my idea of fun. I guess I'll either love or hate it!

Thanks all. I fancy more Persephone books but too expensive on Kindle and I'm only allowed to get real books fiction from charity shops or the library!

I didn't even realise Persephone published on Kindle as well - surely much of the pleasure in reading them is the beautiful binding and paper? There are bloody expensive though.

Stitches I enjoyed the Doomsday Book but not as much as I absolutely loved To Say Nothing of the Dog, do give it a go. It has all the time travel and history ... but with humour added. Sadik I also loved How to be Both and read them in the same order as you did. I wonder if the reviews were influenced by the order in which they were written. I rather felt the publishers/author would try to establish if it made any difference, otherwise, why do it? I also have bought HHhH for that lovely low price, so thank you to whoever highlighed.

Am currently close to the end of The Woman in White. Thanks to Remus for the enthusiastic recommendation. I'm really enjoying it, but had hoped for a ghost story (oops). Can anyone recommend a good chilling (rather than horrifying) ghost story - preferably a classic but definitely not YA?

Can't wait to see what you all think of HHhH!