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?

11. Paper cuts by Colin Bateman. I downloaded this through my library app as Amazon have recommended his books to me for ages on the basis that I like Christopher Brookmyre (he is one of my absolute favourite authors and have read everything by him except his latest). I had high hopes for this as Bateman's writing is described as humorous and he has been lauded by Ian Rankin etc...I was underwhelmed. Rob, a journalist for the Guardian, meets the owner of a failing newspaper in his native Northern Ireland when he is at a funeral. He agrees to help out and somehow ends up in deeper than he planned. Scrapes ensue. It was readable enough and mildly amusing. I wouldn't go out of my way to read more by Bateman.

Catching up; here's February's list.

1. The Illusionist, Andrew O'Hagan. Loved this. The story of Anne, living in sheltered housing and suffering from dementia, and her grandson Luke, an army officer on tour in Afghanistan. When he returns to Britain he decides to help Anne by taking her on a trip to Blackpool which has played an important part in her past. The writing is warm and generous and all the characters, even minor ones, feel like real people. Recommended.
2. Ragnarok, A S Byatt. Retelling of the Norse gods story, interwoven with the story of a child in WWII reading them for comfort while her father is away fighting. The sections with the child feel autobiographical though no sign of Byatt's sister Margaret Drabble! I haven't read any other Norse mythology so can't compare but this was a quick and easy read.
3. One Night, Markovitch, Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. An impulse Kindle buy. The story of a Jewish village in Palestine, before and after WWII, and the establishment of the state of Israel. Huge cast of characters, lots of drama and passion and feuds that last for decades - it reminded me a lot of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Funny in places, though at one point I thought if I had to read another description of 'whipped-cream breasts etc' I might well give up. Glad I didn't in the end.
4. A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James. Found this hard going. So many characters, and the story rambles around all over the place - politics and rival gangs in Jamaica, the CIA involvement through Cuba and communism, Columbian drugs cartels... it's grim, very grim. Very glad to get to the end of it.

Have got two rereads on the go at the moment - The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter, and The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern. Just what I need after the last one

10. My Own Story - Emmeline Pankhurst. Another read I'd seen recommended on MN. Written by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1914 it covers the foundation of the Women's Social and Political Union and the earlier days of the movement. What comes across particularly well is why they had to resort to activist methods to get their message heard as they had years of the government obstructing them when they tried to go through the official processes of getting their bill heard in Parliament and the established media didn't publish any details of their efforts. It is not an easy read, both in terms of the formal, essay style of writing and the description of forced feeding in Holloway prison but other than the bare facts of women gaining the vote thanks the efforts of the Suffragettes I felt I didn't really know much about the campaign and am pleased I now know more.

Now onto the very different Absolute Pandemonium - Brian Blessed. I sense I will hear his booming voice in my ear as I read it!

Oops, just realised the Andrew O'Hagan book I read was actually The Illuminations not The Illusionist. Too much reading about magic and circuses, perhaps

14. Nice Work (if you can get it) - Celia Imrie. The follow up to Not Quite Nice, this is about the same group of ex-pats in France trying to set up a restaurant. This was nowhere near as enjoyable as the first book - the story was weak and went on too long.

I love The Night Circus , Froglet, you've reminded me I must recommend it to DH. I haven't read that Angela Crater one but maybe I should, I 'd like to read more of her stuff.

17. All the birds in the Sky - Charlie Jane Anders. This is about a girl who discovers she can talk to birds and is a witch and a boy who is a scientific genius who builds a two-second time machine. They are both outcasts at school and end up helping each other out. The book moves on to them both as twentysomethings in San Fran meeting up again and both trying to save the world in a nature vs science battleground. There's a slight YA feel to this but it draws itself away once they leave school, becomes a bit hipster, reminded me of Douglas Copeland in parts. On the whole, I liked it.

I like the sound of All the birds in the Sky, Stokey - I'm not usually one for YA but the nature v science thing sounds interesting. Will look out for it.

The Bloody Chamber is one of my great favourites - short stories (some very short) retelling classic fairy tales with a sexy, sassy feminist slant. Hugely recommended.

I liked the Night Circus overall, although I did think it took until around page 100 to get going/grab me, it was a book club book last year and I don't think I'd have carried on if it hadn't been one I had to read. Glad I did as it really turned out to be a very good book.

Getting a bit behind myself and haven't posted here in a while, first two weeks of new job have been pretty intense.

Finally finished The Other Mitford - Pamela's Story by Diana Alexander (#9) this morning. This was a fairly light read for me as I'm a bit of a Mitford obsessive, but the book was pretty badly written - or maybe edited - to be honest. Lots of repetition throughout the chapters, and much less focus on Pamela's life versus the other sisters given the title. Still, enjoyable enough.

I'm also still listening to Bertie by Jane Ridley (#10). The narrator is annoying me a bit as she periodically shouts and then drops down seductively low, for no particular reason. I'm mostly listening in the car on my daily commute so this is really annoying!

Have also started The Silent Dead by Claire McGowan (#11) today. It's no 3 in the Paula Maguire series set in Northern Ireland. I know the author so have read all the previous, but have genuinely enjoyed them, would recommend to anyone who likes readable crime with a strong element of the crimesolver's personal life. Catching up as no 4 in the series comes out next week.

11. The Mime Order (The Bone Season series) by Samantha Shannon.
Second book of a fantasy series. People with special powers set in 'old times' with added supernatural action. I enjoyed the first one in an easy reading page-turner kind of way. This one was not so good and a bit dull.

12. The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. (Audiobook)
This has already been reviewed several times on this thread. Not much to add really; I liked, not loved, the stories and how they interlinked with each other and it is narrated very well.

Have read just over one hundred pages of A History of Seven Killings but it's just too grim, violent and male dominated. Just not feeling it atm. I have a feeling that if I did get to the end I would feel like you frogletsmum.. The Night Circus, which I read a couple of years ago now, would be much more my thing for my current mood and so on to something else!

I've forgotten which number I'm up to but I've read The Making of Home by Judith Flanders A book about the development of the home and modern concepts of home. Really interesting. One of her points is that we tend to overestimate the sizes of homes in the past - that the vast majority of people lived in tiny hovels, even wealthy people didn't always have huge houses. And things like heating even just by having a fire weren't considered essential for all the main rooms. Also all the paintings by Dutch artists in the 17th century of the inside of houses were not showing real interiors but were full of symbolism instead. We look at them now and think they are true to life but they weren't and viewers at the time would have known that.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman. This has been reviewed a lot on these threads so won't go into the plot. Really enjoyed it. Funny and sad.

The Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart. Catching up on this thread I see other people are coincidentally reading this book. Young woman gets caught up in an Austrian mystery when she spots her husband on a newsreel film from Austria when she thinks he's in Sweden. She heads out to Austria to find him. Exciting and still has charm even after all these years.

Am wondering how much of the disparate reactions to A Brief History of Seven Killings are to do with the season. I read it in August (just before Booker shortlist was announced) and it felt perfect--the sweltering heat chimed so well for me with the book's general atmosphere of humidity and random violence. Not sure I'd have coped with the violence if I'd read it in already-miserable February. Does anyone else ever wonder whether there are better or worse seasons to read particular books in? (In a similar vein, my first read of Bleak House was in a dark and chilly November. I'd have adored it anyway but I always wonder whether the atmosphere I was reading it in helped!)

I do enjoy matching books to seasons and environments grendelsmother.

Ulysses I read in May/June leading up to Bloomsday.

The Magus on a Greek Island it was perfect and enthralling.

I always feel drawn toward Victoriana in the Autumn.

Can it lift the book if you're not enjoying it though? I'm not sure.

Just wanted to mention one of my all-time favourites which I can't recommend highly enough - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. It contains a collection of (real) letters between the American author and an antiquarian bookshop in London over a period of about 20 years - about 1950 to 1970. Every page is a treat and it's a beautiful little snapshot of the time. It's so warm, funny and fascinating. Just a complete treasure of a book.

I absolutely loved the night Circus, so much so that I read it far too fast and it is on my list of books I hope to re-read this year. I like a re-read. There was supposed to be a film, which I was all prepared to be disappointed in - the trailer was going round on Facebook over a year ago. Then nothing.
12. The watchmaker of filigree street by Natasha Pulley. I saw Ms Pulley speak last month and oh my goodness she was amazing! So intelligent and articulate; she read a short passage from her novel then just talked, no notes, for nearly an hour. Obvs purchased her book. Not dissimilar to the Night Circus in some ways, it tells the story of a government clerk in Victorian times who receives a mysterious watch. I'm not sure her Victorian London was as realistic as it could perhaps have been (would a clerk have used the word 'bastard' to a well-to-do lady, the first time he met her?) but the characters were wonderful.

11 Colm Toibin's Nora Webster. Set in Ireland in the late 1960's, rumblings of the political troubles, Nora has been recently been widowed, left with 4children and her struggles and eventual triumphs overcoming her grief and loneliness.
Enjoyed it, a quiet read.
12 persephone's Greengates by RC Sheriff next.

Oh dear. Froglet, I just bought This Bloody Chamber after reading your post about it. I must stop buying books!

I'm a bit hazy on the numbering (and too lazy to go back and check) but my recent reads are:

1. ^TheFolded Earth by Arundhati Roy - bereaved widow flees her existence to the foothills of the Himalayas and juxtaposes her own relationship with that of a young peasant girl. Mediocre, with an utterly unsexy love interest, though a fantastic sense of place.

1. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. Semi autobiographical account of an animal mad boy's stay on Corfu. I read this many moons ago and found it hilarious; this time round it was merely mildly amusing. I am clearly loosing my sense of humour as the years roll by!

1. All the Colours of Darkness Peter Robinson. Another in the Inspector Banks series. I have really ruined this series for myself by watching the TV adaptations, as the actors play the parts nothing like I imagine them to be from the writing and I can't seem to get over this!

dragontrainer I never read durrell as a child but picked it up as an adult because of how funny it was said to be, and I wondered what I was missing too! Maybe it hasn't aged well, humour wise.

Totally agree re 84 Charing Cross Road - an absolute joy of a read.

Book 29 How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman
This was okay. If you’re interested in Victorian life but haven’t yet read an awful lot about it, this would be the perfect book for you. For me, I found that I’d read most of the information before and that it didn’t therefore add an awful lot to my knowledge. I also found the authorial voice rather too intrusive at times. All in all though, an informative and easy read. I particularly enjoyed the section on sport and leisure.

Oh I want to read 84 Charing Cross Road, but it never seems to be in the library when I go (and then find other things to read so don't get round to ordering it in!) and for some reason you can't get it on Kindle at the moment. I might just have to get organised and order it in the library shortly!

GrendelsMother - I completely agree re seasons/weather and books. I recently tried to read one that was set in the summer, and when it was cold and stormy outside, I just wasn't feeling it.

Ash1977 - I've never read any books about the Mitfords, but have seen a couple of documentaries that seemed very interesting, what "beginner" book about them would you recommend? Decided to add a few non-fiction in this year.

16. Into The Silence - Wade Davis

As predicted by Remus - to whom many thanks for the recommendation - I found this a wonderful book. It chronicles the 1921, 1922 and 1924 expeditions to Everest, culminating in the death of Mallory and Irvine near the summit, and puts them in the context of the Great War and the British Empire.

On a related note, Remus, have you read anything by Frank Smythe?

So glad that you enjoyed it, Meg. I thought you would!

I don't think I've come across FS. I decided last year though that I only like mountaineering books when full of mortal peril and ideally a fatality or seven. If his can offer any of that, then I'm in! :)

I am so behind with my list. Looking for some easy reads as my dad has just died so nothing too heavy as need some escapism, may reread harry potter.

sorry to hear about your dad, eitak. Definitely a time for some comfort reading.

Remus - Smythe is mentioned in the Wade Davis book as 'the greatest mountaineering writer of his century' and survived two nights in the death zone in the 1933 expedition (the first after 1924) - his book Camp Six is his account of that expedition so ought to have plenty of peril...