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?

Yes, there's also the CIA guy and the clueless jouent but they all say more or less the same thing.

It was interesting the first 50 pages of so but got boring now.

1. Evacuee - Peter Hepplewhite

10. Evacuation - Simon Adams I read these as background for a simplified understanding of personal experiences as I'm fleshing out some characters I'm writing. Some quite harrowing experiences told matter-of-factly as these books are aimed at KS2 children.

11. A blink of the screen - Terry Pratchett. A collection of short stories/essays by the late, great author. There was a very funny account of a robot which he and his wife bought his daughter for Christmas which had me laughing out loud. Interesting to read his own thoughts on his fame, popularity and world view.

"KS2 children?

Who's the 'clueless jouent'?

As mentioned above, I like the ex-secretary (although maybe the above is a typo for her?)

1. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

2. The meaning of everything; the story of the OED by Simon Winchester;

3. An astronauts guide to the universe by Chris Hadfield and

4. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro;

5. The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar

6. The Skeleton Cupboard: The Making of a Clinical Psychologist by Tanya Byron

7. Golden Son by Pierce Brown

8. The Hot Zone: The terrifying true story of the origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston

9. The Day Without Yesterday by Stuart Clark ;

10. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan ;

11. Overlord, D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings; This was vg but it does assume a certain easy familiarity with not only who is who, but with various unit names in the army etc. So I did have to do a bit of toing and froing to check which side we were talking about occasionally The maps on the kindle are also totally indecipherable which is a pity as it made the points being made about poor strategy and tactics hard to follow. I did plenty of googling though and there is loads of that kind of thing online. I thought it provided a good analysis of what it was like for a soldier caught up in the battle on both sides as well as the generals leading it. There as good analysis of why the German Army was so successful even when facing utter defeat. I cam away with a much more detailed picture of the successes and failures and flaws of the plans, not to mention the sheer scale of the operation. The description of the landings on each beach was riveting. I previously read the Battle for Germany which was harrowing in places. The war in the West was not so viciously fought and it was an easier read from that perspective. If you've any interest I'd recommend .

12. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson; I picked this up on a daily deal. It is a Finnish classic apparently, it is set on a tiny tiny island in the Gulf of Finland where a girl Sophia lives with her grandmother and father. It is really about the relationship between the girl and her grandmother. The father is a completely silent presence. I found you had to read this very carefully. Sophia's mother has died but this is mentioned early on and never explicitly alluded to again. Yet the death clearly overshadows the lives of Sophia and her grandmother and we watch a little girl trying to come to terms with it in a world where no one talks about it. Yet it is not angsty or overwrought. Very ordinary everyday living, beautifully described, the grief is apparent only in the behaviours, questions and actions of the little girl and her grandmother's sometimes brittle but ultimately very careful efforts to respond. It is a series of vignettes rather than a straightforward story line. Philosophical and completely unsentimental, I really enjoyed it.

Now reading a Year of Living Danishly but I have to admit I'm a bit bored with it. She is doing too much talking to various "experts" as if she is doing a throwaway piece for Cosmopolitan. Plus she comes across to me as immature with her narration of various internal defensive comments and the list of "lessons learned" at the end of each chapter. Hmm. I think you can tell I'm not really enjoying it, can't you It's nearly 500pp. Not sure I'll carry on tbh though generally sheer stubbonrness makes me finish

I mean Cote if you're not loving it then there's no moral obligation to carry on! For me the dialect worked brilliantly, didn't feel especially hard to follow once I'd worked out what some of the patois meant, and was far more evocative of the time and place than any standard grammar could have been. But if the style is irking you - life is just too short.

Clueless journalist My auto-correct is confused because I text in 3 languages.

Ha wilting I know what you mean the chapters are very magaziney, I don't think I could sit and read long swathes of it, I'm kind of dipping in and out. I get the feeling she did write lots of ex pat lifestyle pieces to flog to mags, and then turned them into a book, hence the tacked on 'thoughts for the month' to try and pull it together. Is it really nearly 500 pages?! I hadn't looked (on kindle). I find the actual Danish life stuff interesting though, like the dancing cows and the number plates thing, and anything that goes on in Lego hq.

Oh, I see, Cote.

wilting, I ADORE The Summer Book. It is utterly beautiful; the girl's confusion and grief is so delicately dealt with and her relationship with her grandmother is touching and true and, as you say, never sentimental.

I love when the little girl complains about the water being cold and Granny says rather crisply, 'Of course it's cold.'

Onlylovers slightly OT, I haven't seen the film version of Brooklyn yet but will try to soon. Regarding similar quiet plotlines, I saw 'Carol' (with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara) recently. It's something similar, nothing much happens but I was totally emotionally invested and really enjoyed the not-happening moments and how the characters could say so much by saying so very little.

I finished book #10 yesterday. I've realized that listing and counting how much (or how little) I read is really stress-inducing for me, so my goal for now is just to try to finish a library book in the next few weeks. Or if I get totally stuck, there are a few titles on my Kindle that I'd also like to finish.

wilting I really like The Summer Book. It's meditative and unhurried, and your description really makes me want to revisit it.

Cote KS2 = Key Stage 2; children aged 7-11 (both my 'wartime' books were intended as National curriculum support materials).

What do we think of the new font, book gang? I find it a bit gappy and long. It is something that frustrates me a bit on Kindle though, I'd like more font choice. Bit of a random font geek.

A couple of favourite Agatha Christie's that haven't been mentioned: Three Act tragedy and Peril at End House, but in general I love any Poirot or Marple, less keen on her thriller types.

20. Divergent - Veronica Roth - YA dystopia that was a free offer on Kindle because I spend so much. Some interesting ideas here, a society split into five factions by dominant character traits, so they're brave, honest, selfless, friendly or wise. But it is very YA and I got pretty bored with the angsty teen love.

Frugal, I'd say Brooklyn is quieter than Carol; I think Carol is by its nature (same-sex romance) more dramatic than Brooklyn. The film of the latter is not as good or subtle as the book; IMO the screenplay overeggs it a bit at times and plays for laughs things that in the book read more tensely – but overall it's very good and worth seeing just for Saoirse Ronan, who is magnificent.

And the 50s clothes, hair and make-up, obviously.

Managed half of Girl in a Band and cba with any more of it. Giveaway or not, I'm bored senseless.

Book 33
The Lady from Nowhere by Fergus Hume
Another Black Heath Crime novel, from the author of ‘Mystery of a Hansom Cab’ which I reviewed last year. This was good, enjoyable crime – a murder victim who probably deserved it, a fair few possible suspects and a likeable detective. I guessed the killer fairly on, and it was all a bit overblown and histrionic, but perfect for a light read for the commute.

I hope you like the lost Tudor princess starlight Alison Weir is a very able writer who excels at bringing the Tudors back to life. Margaret Lennox is a very interesting woman who was extremely ambitious for her dc and dgc.

I agree with Stokey about the new font being too long and happy, but I like that the usernames are lighter.

It shrieks temporary and work in progress to me. I thought I'd accidentally pressed a button until i read all the posts. Hate it!

I also hate the new font. It seems really small and faint, or maybe I'm just getting old?

Loads of wasted space around the sides too, which I assume will be filled up with more stupid flashing adverts.

What new font?

The one you're looking at right now.

The font i'm looking at looks exactly the same as the font I was looking at yesterday, and last week, last month, etc...

I'm with you Stitches. The font is the same for me!

15. How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.
    An excellent non-fiction parenting book recommended on Mumsnet that I bought a few years ago. I have read a couple of chapters here and there but now have finished it all. I can be quite shouty and have a flash temper. I think this book gives you real options to try and improve the way you approach your children. Excellent.

16. The House at Pooh Corner by A.A.Milne.
    I have read this over the past couple of weeks with my 3-nearly-4 year old and loved it! Funny, touching, lovely. Eeyore being my favourite.

MuseumOfHam - I also found that fascinating in Americanah.

Cote- I got to ~100 pages and gave up. My DH really liked it but I found it, like you, quite samey.

Shake I was a huge fan of that when my two were young. A really sensible and useful parenting book.