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?

7 Grandpa's Great Escape by David Walliams

A funny and poignant introduction to children on demntia. Grandpa has dementia, can't live on his own anymore and can't ,I've with his fa,ily so he is put in Twilight Towers. needless to say there is the great escape, based on the Great Escape. My DD aged 10 loved it, DS concentration veered at times (this was put read loud book) but he still enjoyed it. Another solid bit of writing from David Walliams.

I had a lovely hour in Waterstones. today and binge bought books so now have a huge pile to catch up on.

Great House - Nicole Krauss

Just a reminder that if anyone is in the Epsom/Sutton area there is a big book sale at the Methodist Church - 60,000 books starting Thursday ...

Updating with my latest:

11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – JK Rowling. In this second book in the Harry Potter series, someone has opened the chamber of secrets. Legend says that the chamber will be opened by the heir of Slytherin who will release the monster and as many muggles as possible will be killed. Many suspect that Harry is the heir and he along with Ron and Hermione set out to discover the truth and defeat the evil. This was an audiobook read by Stephen Fry and listened to on the school run. Superb.

12. The Gospel of Loki – Joanne Harris. This was a really enjoyable telling of the story of Asgard and the Norse gods told from the perspective of the mischievous Loki. If you like myths and fantasy then I would recommend this highly.

13. A Symphony of Echoes (St Mary’s Book 2) - Jodi Taylor. In the second book from St. Mary’s Max and her colleagues visit many different destinations, people and events in time, from Victorian London and Jack the Ripper to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (or are they?) to Mary Queen of Scots and 16th century Scotland. This was a bit of fun and I will probably read book 3 but not in a great hurry to do so.

I am listening to A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson while walking and pottering and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the school run. I also started Armageddon's Children which is the first in the Genesis of Shannara books by Terry Brooks. I loved the Shannara books year ago and recently found out Brooks had published a few more so am really looking forward to them.

13. Bite Club by Rachel Caine

Book 10 of the Morganville Vampires series. Daft YA that gets dafter and more nonsensical with every book. In this one there's a sort of vampire/ human fight club.

Five - I loved Grandpa's Great Escape too :). David Walliams writes so well for children. Dementia is such a hard subject to talk about wiith children. He got it spot on and I found myself getting quite upset whilst reading it to DS.

We're reading Billionaire Boy now and enjoying that too.

Only I've got the new Julie Myerson book from the library and planning to start it soon.

Rhu yes, it's marvellous. I know the translator and have been wanting to read it for ages. DS1 now wants to read the Wild Wood one too.

south, I'll be keen to hear what you think!

26. Blood, Sweat and Tyres: The Autobiography by The Hairy Bikers. They come across as really nice blokes with a genuine friendship. The book is funny and an easy read and it's nice to know more about them as I enjoy their programmes and books.

18 Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. This was recommended over on the 'books that have changed your thinking' thread.

It's a novel that recounts the story of a young man, Johnnie Rico, leaving school and signing up to become a starship trooper, following him through his training.

I have to say, I'm not sure it did change my thinking. Some of Heinlein's political perspectives I agree with, most I don't, but I don't think this book changed my views, or even really challenged them. IMO it was very much a book that could only have been written by an American and before Vietnam. I think most Europeans for example, particularly in 1959, would have taken pretty serious issue with the view that it is a soldier's moral duty to follow the orders of senior officers without question in all cases, leaving the ethical decisions up to politicians and generals.

Having said that, I did enjoy it. Heinlein writes well, and the protagonist was both convincing and likeable. The SF setting was pretty light - essentially it is the story of a young man becoming a marine - and well done for what it is.

book 8 Bill Bryson a short history of nearly everything I have been diligently ploughing my way through this book. What can I say except I really enjoyed it. It is so out of my comfort zone and yet so accessible achieved by bryson's engaging almost chatty narration. I will definitely be adding more Bill Bryson to my reading list.

for book 9 I will be reading It's in the blood this book looks at Henry v111 personality from a genetic and psychological view point. In other words was Henry bad or was he just born that way.

Thanks to whoever recommended Tanya byron's Skeleton Cupboard, hadn't expected it to be quite so fascinating and enlightening.

Book 20
Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey) by Dorothy L Sayers
I really enjoyed the first three quarters or so of this. It was very funny and very ‘English’ in a whimsical, self-deprecating sort of way. Having said that, I was a bit disappointed by the ending – the stuff in court was a bit dull and I thought it all got a bit silly and lost. Would probably read others of hers though.

I've only read one Julie Myerson one and absolutely detested it - was supposed to be a post-apocalyptic thing iirc, but it made me v cross.

27. The Visitors Book and other ghost stories by Sophie Hannah. This barely qualifies as a book as it only took me just over an hour to read. It's 4 short stories, all with a supernatural theme. They were good but they really were short!

1. A Man Called Ove - seems very popular both here and on Amazon but I have to say I really didn't like it. Rather tedious and formulaic for me. I could see what the author was trying to do (reveal Ove's hidden kindness) but I didn't engage with the story/characters. Southeast let me know what you think.

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer. This was a re-read for book group purposes and I actually enjoyed it more second time round. A lot of really sad information about Guernsey in the Second World War but the book is humorous and the story told through a series of letters.

whitewine - if you're interested in reading more about the history of Guernsey and its people from www1 up to the 1960s I'd recommend The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G B Edwards. I read it years ago and often think about it even now. Long overdue for a reread.

13. The Wild Places - Robert Macfarlane

A bit like Wolf Hall, I don't need to say too much about Macfarlane's writing, because you lot already know if you like it or not

Suffice to say that imo this is top-notch nature writing, thought-provoking but accessible, on the subject of wildness and whether there are still wild places in the British Isles, and what wildness means to us.

14. The Narrow Road to the Deep North

I didn't really like this. The writing style I found quite dull and didn't engage me. After the quiet dignity of the Railway Man it seemed lurid and the horrors of war rendered in a gratuitously graphic manner that was so relentless it left them devoid of meaning and real emotional impact. Took a while to get going, the middle part at the POW camps was compelling, but it largely faded away again toward the end. I found the relationships unconvincing, which took the heart out of it for me I guess. The plotting was contrived in parts, the main character didn't seem real. It felt like a bombardment of 'plot' at times, and at other times was very wishy washy, with lots of musings on things that seemed to come from the author more than any of the characters. Some of the different points of view were done really well, others seemed a bit, well, ludicrous - a poetry-loving Colonel who is obsessed with necks because he enjoys beheading, was one that didn't really work for me. Bit of a disappointment, was glad to finish it.

Don't know what next.

Glad I didn't bother carrying on with it, Satsuki.

Thanks Quog, that sounds very interesting and I've added to my wish list.

15. Stonehenge by Mike Parker Pearson

An account of the Stonehenge Riverside Project, which spent seven years from about 2004 conducting archaeological digs in and around Stonehenge to test a theory based on Pearson's that the neolithic peoples who built Stonehenge and the surrounding monuments saw it as a place for the dead. They found the remains of a neolithic village at Durrington Walls henge, which they believe to be where the crowds of people required to build the monuments lived in the periods around the summer and winter solstices, discovered the remains of what they call Bluestonehenge and the end of the processional avenue on the banks of the Avon, and were able to create a new chronology for the development of the sacred landscape over the centuries. Fascinating read.

My list for the year so far:

1. The Return of the Discontinued Man - Mark Hodder
2. The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman
3. The Masked City - Genevieve Cogman
4. The Inner Guide Meditation - Edwin C. Steinbrecher
5. Moriarty - Anthony Horowitz
6. Worlds of Arthur - Guy Halsall
7. Celtic Tree Magic - Danu Forest
8. Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square - William Sutton
9. Where Witchcraft Lives - Doreen Valiente

10. The Mangle Street Murders - MRC Kasasian 11. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle 12. The Quest for the Wicker Man - various editors 13. Britain BC - Francis Pryor 14. Inquisition - Alfredo Colitto 15. Stonehenge - Mike Parker Pearson

10. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. This was mentioned by more than one poster on last year's thread. The author's mother has been diagnosed with cancer. He takes her to chemo treatments, and while they're waiting they discuss books they have read (having agreed to read the same books beforehand) - a book club of two. There's a lot about their relationship and how they and the rest of the family are dealing with the diagnosis as well as the actual books they discuss, which gives it more human interest than some similar 'books about books'. I enjoyed it, and found it didn't matter whether or not you had read the books yourself (there were several I'd never even heard of). It's a sincere and moving account, although I did find it a little bit preachy at times.

11. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver. I read The Poisonwood Bible two years ago and it was definitely one of my top five books in that year. For a while, I thought this was an also-ran and I'd be writing a good-but-not-as-good-as review. Mainly because I couldn't see how a novel about a farming family in rural Tennessee in the early 21st century could have anything like the scope and complexity of one set in the Congo in the 1960s with a missionary family as the protagonists. But gradually I realised that the incredible skill of this author is how she tackles big issues (religion, politics and imperialism in one; the environment and social issues around the education / poverty divide in the other) and brings them to life by setting them into the context of a family that the reader grows to care about. An amazing book.

Book 21 Dead Street by Micky Spillane
A retired cop finds out that the girl he loved, who he thought had died 20 years ago, is still alive, having been blinded and lost all of her memories in the attack that he thought had killed her - and she's still in danger. Can he save her, and will she remember him? Have never read a Spillane before and would definitely read another based on this sweet little hard boiler. It’s modern (post 911) and was one of the last he wrote. It’s actually more a love story than a straight cut crime novel, and I really enjoyed it.

I'm on top of a mountain with very limited internet access but just wanted to pop in to thank whoever recommended Dissolution when it was Kindle Deal of the Day. I'm reading it now and really enjoying it

Saw Flight Behaviour on Mil's bookshelf the other day might ask to borrow it now having seen your review tumble. I quite enjoyed Poisonwood.