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?

Pterobore, my favourite Christie is The Secret of Chimneys- it's an Inspector Battle one. However, the best ones are probably the best known- Orient Express, Sparking Cyanide and Murder at the Vicarage especially good if you haven't seen the films!

Am currently struggling with the second Jackson Brodie :(

Have just got the first Kate Harrison on the library app, but based on Cheeses reviews, perhaps I should start with the second one?!

Brooklyn - the film is meant to be fab, but honestly I found it so dull!

20 Brooklyn - Colm Toibin so dull I can't be bothered to say any more.

I loved this but most people I know thought it was deadly dull. I think it is a book written for emigrants tbh. It captures exactly the constant feeling of having two possible lives - the one here and the one at home and the realisation that you will always wonder what would have been if you chose the other (not very well put - sorry).

the lost Tudor princess by Alison Weir book 11. I really do enjoy reading Alison Weir books. While this one is very factual and I have learned an awful lot about Margaret Lennox there does seem to be a bit more padding than is actually necessary (imo). Weir quotes at length from Margaret's correspondence. Therefore you get bogged down with the whole letter rather than useful excerpts. That aside what a fascinating woman who really didn't learn from her mistakes.

16. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up 50% completely bats, and 50% potentially brilliant- will let you know when I start actually doing it!

So relieved there are others who didn't enjoy Brooklyn. I actually found myself getting annoyed by it.

Remus, I really didn't get on with Girl in a Band - I think she's a better musician/artist than she is writer! If it hadn't been a MN giveaway, I wouldn't have finished it.

Canyouforgiveit I agree that Brooklyn is written for emigrants. I'm a serial expat and I found it searingly, heart-stoppingly beautiful because it described so well what it feels like to be in a new place. A very quiet book, but I'd love to reread it.

7. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

YA. A book about first love. Set in an American high school. Weird, awkward girl with a troubled home life meets biracial, cute boy from a loving, stable home on the school bus. A quick read; I was surprised by how enjoyable this book was.

8. We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

I loved this book as much as I loved the author's previous book The Language of Flowers, but both in different ways. The lives of a young single mother (Lettie) and her two children get turned upside down when Lettie's parents (who have been functioning as parents of the two children) leave the U.S. to return to Mexico. A well crafted story about family, relationships, and immigration issues. I loved the characters and the story line.

9. Do No Harm by Henry Marsh

I read this after seeing it discussed on these threads. It was an interesting read and overall I liked it, but the version I read (on Kindle) was badly edited and it became a distraction. Made me want to watch his documentary though (The English Surgeon).

9. The Teacher - Katerina Diamond

This book was 99p kindle buy and was a little darker than I expected! And there's a loose end that bugs me but I didn't like putting it down!

Tanaqui, Kim Harrison? The purist in me doesn't like the idea of skipping the first one! But she does recap the world-building bit in book 2, so you probably would have enough background. How about skimming the first half and starting to read it properly from when she turns herself into a mink? (Btw, mink/minker used to be a big insult at my school, so reading about an animal mink is a bit confusing!)

I'm struggling through A Brief History Of Seven Killings. It's well-written and all that but each page is very much like the previous one is like the next one. I'm at 13% and already bored. Does it get a move on later on or is it just the musings of some illiterate tough guys?

I also loved Brooklyn. I think both book and film get a rather bad rap, and I think they're both badly misunderstood.

The book is very very quiet; I did spend a fair bit of it thinking 'When's it going to do something?!?', but gradually realised that I was completely invested in Eilis's life and feelings. By the end I was devastated but totally satisfied in a way that happens to me very rarely.

The film has also been criticised for being dull, sentimental, 'easy' etc but I think it's better than that and, crucially, absolutely NOT played or presented for sentiment.

Cote, as I've said on the previous thread, I gave up on A Brief History.... It isn't just the tough guys whose voices we hear, and actually if I liked anything about it it was probably the range of voices and lives the reader is given access to. But in the end I just had to admit I didn't have enough background understanding of the historical and political setting to be really following it.

No, it doesn't get a move on later on, and yes, it's just the musings of some illiterate tough guys! Perfect summary. I read the whole thing and will never get those hours of my life back again.

Just pleased to be agreeing with you about a book, Cote.

only, I think A Brief History presents itself as having a range of voices, but in reality the different voices are all quite same-y. And so are the different perspectives.

I'm struggling at the moment with reading - toddler DD has a cold, which means I was up 3 times in the night with her, and so my brain doesn't work. I have a kindle full of books that require intellect or involve lots of violence which I think I need to be in a non-sleepy mood for. Can I have some fluffy recommendations? Nothing that would lead to me reading the same paragraph 2/3 times before I get what they are trying to tell me in my sleep deprived state?

(Also has anyone read the 3rd and final "Red Rising" book? Debating downloading as a treat for next week, but it's still a tenner...)

marfisa, I agree, I think some of the voices were quite samey, but the perspectives were actually distinct from each other IMO. I really enjoyed the perspective of the young woman (can't remember her name) – ex-secretary, from the middle-class family. And I liked the ex-FBI guy (again, forgotten his name!).

11. Absolute Pandemonium - Brian Blessed. As expected light-hearted autobiography. Ordered in chapter themes rather than in chronological order the book covers Brian's early life, various stages of his long career and many of the friendships he made along the way. All told in his particular style.

Number 12 is going to be The Lost Princess - Alison Weir. I haven't read any Alison Weir yet but have seen her take part in a few historical TV programmes and was lucky to get one of the MN giveaway copies.

Dinosaurs you have my sympathy - I hate having to be lovely and sympathetic to little people when all I want to do is sleep! Hope the toddler gets rid of the cold quickly and without seeing the need to share and care her germs. Would re-reading an old favourite work - at least that way you can guess what you missed picking up on?

1. the Wolf Border by Sarah Hall - an ex pat returns to her home county to supervise the reintroduction of wolves to the British Isles. I really enjoyed this, and wanted to find out what happened - it managed to achieve that nosy too elusive double whammy of being well written and a page turner.

10. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson - two people meet on a plane and plot the murder of an adulterous wife. This managed to be a page turner, but wasn't particularly well written and the plot was ultimately ridiculous.

11. The Disappearance of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell - a girl is confined to a psychiatric hospital for sixty years for displaying unconventional behaviour interpreted as mental illness. On the closure of the hospital, she is put in contact with her niece. I really enjoyed this.

PS I normally post as Dragontrainer, but for some reason have reverted to an old username and lack the technological skill to change back without loosing the post!

dinosaursroar I'm in exactly the same situation as you (in fact I I had to double check I'd spelled dinosaur correctly.)

I'm getting through it at the moment by inching through Year of Living Danishly (or something like that) about what makes Denmark such an apparently happy nation. I find light non fiction easier to dip in and out of when my brain isn't firing. I'm enjoying because I love Lego and it's a dream destination of mine, but maybe a non fiction on something that interests you to keep you in the habit?

The Uncommon Reader was recently short and completely non taxing. Hope your dd feels better soon.

The Jean Webster ones rec up thread were very easy, too, if you haven't read them (and free).

Cote NOOOOOOO I loved A Brief History! Honestly the voices do change, and especially in the parts of the book that are set in New York, you get an amazing insight into how the "illiterate tough guys" are incredibly vulnerable in some ways and have to maintain this show of bravado literally in order to keep their lives (wait until you get to Weeper's experiences in Brooklyn, seriously.) I do think it could have done with a few more women's voices directly, but pleeeez persevere a little longer!

dinosaursroar Would 100% recommend anything by DE Stevenson, Elizabeth Goudge (Linnets and Valerians, The Little White Horse), or Terry Pratchett for non-taxing!

44. Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella

Well, it's not great literature but is very easy to read and doesn't require any brainpower (might suit you Dinosaurs!). However I do think the series is running out of steam. I didn't enjoy this as much as the earlier ones.

Now rereading Riders thanks to the Jilly Cooper threads!

I'm not saying I don't like it, I do see the merits, but very samey. I mean, how many hours of gangsta talk devoid of grammar in street dialect can we reasonably be expected to suffer?

Honestly, Cote, it's not just the gangsters who get to speak!