50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Four

[southeastdweller]

Thread four 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, second thread here and third thread here.

How're you getting on so far?

I am relatively new to reading Agatha Christie and I absolutely adore her writing especially when I want something non taxing. Her books are so easy to read and simple yet I have never guessed the culprit. Some of the stories are better than others - I have enjoyed And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express and The ABC Murders. My aim is to eventually read them all.

Did you know there is a suggested reading order for the Poirot and Miss Marple books?

I have always had a soft spot for Agatha Christie, I think the first I read was "Lord Edgeware Dies" - which is quite a good introduction. I think it's actually best to read them in the order she wrote them. Particularly the Marples, she's getting older and less firm in the later books, if you've read the others when she's such a busy body of the village, it is sad.

48. Boudica by Vanessa Collingridge

Described as a biography of Boudica of the Iceni, there's rather more about the foundations of the Roman empire, the period of Roman rule in Britain, and the cultural interpretations of Boudica since her re-discovery in the 15th or 16th centuries as the invention of printing enabled the writings of classical authors to become more widespread and better known. But that shouldn't really be a surprise since there's very little information about the historical woman herself and her rebellion against the Roman invaders beyond the writings of Tacitus and Dio Cassius, both of whom were writing decades after the events and with an understandable Roman bias. There is the archaeological evidence of the destruction of Camulodumun, Londinium and Verulamium of course, but little beyond that. Interesting read, if a little superficial in places.

Book 60
A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
This was the flip side to my previous review. I really liked the first two thirds or so, and then thought it was increasingly stupid. It’s a typical old fashioned country house whodunit (30s) with the typical racism, elitism etc. Not sure I’d read another of hers, although I did enjoy bits of it. Unfortunately the most interesting character was a corpse for most of it, which didn’t help.

71, 72 and 73. The Drama College trilogy by Jean Ure - Trouble with Vanessa, There's Always Danny, and Say Goodbye.

Rereads from my teenage years. These are very much of their time- lots of talk of AIDS. I do like how the main characters challenge the racist views of their parents though.

@ most interesting character was a corpse for most of it, which didn't help

Remus

27. Reaching Down The Rabbit Hole: Extraordinary Journeys Into The Human Brain by Dr Allan Ropper

This was brilliant, more detailed, informative, and simply FAR better than Do No Harm. It was like having (a much nicer) Dr House tell you about some of his most bizarre cases and how various scans, doctors, and patients themselves came together to understand what was going on in their brains. Truly fascinating.

Do No Harm was fine but it left me rather unsatisfied because of its overwhelming focus on navel-gazing and self-indulgent speculation à la "Am I touching someone's thoughts now? Wow!" etc. This one is far more comprehensive and satisfying. I would definitely recommend it to everyone.

ladydepp no I haven't ventured back for more, Alex was a good read but v borderline violence wise for me and the Irene reports finished any notion I had of reading any more!

43. Restless by William Boyd. Not really my cup of tea. I read Sweet Caress earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it so had high expectations of enjoying this one too. Maybe if this had been my first Boyd novel I would have rated it higher, but I just didn't think it was anywhere near as good as Sweet Caress. He can tell a better story than this. A lot of it didn't seem to make sense. It was partly a spy story, but just not done very well. Best left to Le Carre I think.

This seems to have fallen off my Threads I'm On.

Don't remember where I was numbers-wise, so guesswork:

38-42 Jodi Taylor's St Mary's time travel series. Discussed extensively earlier in the thread. Picked them up looking for a light undemanding read, and they're okay for that, but by the last book I felt like I hadn't actually read several books, but the same book several times.

43: Lindsay Davis, The Ides of April
I thought I wasn't going to like this, but warmed to it. It's a continuation of the Marcus Didius Falco books about a Roman private detective (or "informer"), but following his adoptive daughter Flavia Albia who has followed him into the profession. Set in the reign of Domitian - I don't know enough about Ancient Rome to know how accurate the details are.

Mermaid have you tried Any Humana Heart by William Boyd? It is a fictional memoir but i found it so well written that I googled to see if the protagonist was real. I also like the ones set in Africa, A Good Man in Africa, Brazzaville Beach and an Ice Cream War

No I havent, yet, Five. It's on my list to use an Audible credit for - I really like the sound of that one.

Sweet Caress is another of his fictional autobiography novels and I loved it. I think Restless had the potential to be a good story, but it somehow just fell flat for me. I was expecting a much more adventurous spy novel, bearing in mind the kind of rigorous training Eva had undergone when recruited, but it didn't seem to pan out like that. Disappointing.

30. The Martian by Andy Weir My main motivation for reading this was not wanting to be the only person left who hasn't. My view on space travel is that the resources ploughed into it would be better deployed elsewhere; my interest in science and technology only extends to the outcomes and benefits it can provide, not in how it works, and, as previously discussed, while astronauts may be chosen for their resourcefulness and optimism, I strongly suspect I wouldn't actually like one if I met one. So, I shouldn't really have liked this, but, as a work of fiction, I did. I liked the way the danger and suspense rose and fell throughout the book, and problem solving became a matter of life or death. I don't know of any other books quite like this, so it was refreshing to read something that doesn't follow the usual patterns of the genres I read.

44-48: Rosemary Kirstein, Steerswoman series:
The Steerswoman, The Outskirter's Secret, The Lost Steersman, and The Language of Power

This is intended to be a 6 book series, but books 5 & 6 aren't written yet. It starts off as one genre (epic fantasy, standard low tech fantasy world), but with hints that it's really science fiction about a colony world, that become more frequent as the series progresses.

Steerswomen (there are some steersmen but it's less common) are a group devoted to knowledge. They travel extensively, write and research and send their research back to their base. They play an established and valued role in their society - anyone can ask a steerswoman any question, and she has to answer truthfully - which makes them valued and respected. However, if you lie to a steerswoman, or refuse to answer her questions, no steerswoman will ever answer your questions again.

The books follow a particular steerswoman, Rowan, whose research leads her into conflict with the Magicians - a secretive, and solitary bunch who are almost all under the Steerswomen's ban.

I enjoyed the world building in this book. The details about the biology of the world build up satisfyingly, the different societies and the characters are well drawn. I also really appreciated that Rowan's love interest doesn't become a massive focus - I find it disappointing when promising SF books with lead female characters suddenly veer off into romance. Nowt wrong with a bit of romance but it just pisses me off that male leads don't do that. Not a problem with this series.

I really enjoyed Rowan working things out - there aren't The Martian levels of science, so it shouldn't deter those who found that too much, but if you do enjoy reading characters thinking about science and problem solving then there's a reasonable element of that, woven in with Rowan avoiding assassination, travelling to new lands, getting drawn into local intrigue etc.

Muskey - I hope you enjoy Birdsong, I remember loving it and finding it very moving. The BBC adaptation with Eddie Redmayne was lovely as well.

Agatha Christie is perfect for when a non-taxing quick read is needed. A bit like PG Wodehouse, you won't be kept awake all night trying to finish it or crying into your porridge about one of the characters. I can remain emotionally stable throughout!

36. Dark Fire by C J Sansom

The second in the Shardlake series. I won't write a detailed review because I think a lot of people on the thread have read these, or are going to and don't want spoilers. This was better than the first one I thought, much faster paced and more consistent action, better formed characters. I'll read the next one after a decent gap. Enjoyable and lightweight. I don't read a lot of light fiction, so this is what I would categorise as a beach read type book. Good to have a few still in waiting for when I need them!

I'm reading Dark Fire now, Satsuki

Satsuki - I left a big gap after reading Dark Fire before attempting Sovereign because I hadn't enjoyed Dark Fire particularly. I realise now that that was because I had it as an audio book. I should have read it instead - I found myself subconsciously playing Tudor curse bingo. How many times can you fit "God's teeth" or whatever into a paragraph! You don't notice them so much when reading. Sovereign is even better - fast paced and thrilling. Possibly my favourite of the series, tied with Revelation.

mermaid Yy re bingo! there are a few, erm, infelicities of style in it (and some of the dialogue doesn't always line up as a conversation) they are quick reads though and as you say easy enough to pass over it in a book without it grinding your gears too much. I forgave a lot as this second had sharpened up on a few things that I found annoying in the first, so glad to hear the upward curve continues. I do feel they are 400 page books stretched to c600. There was a lot of riding back and forth across stinking London (London really does stink, doesn't it? He might have mentioned it once or twice. To be fair, there was a 'stench' or two in there as well) and returning to the tavern for a chat that might have been trimmed but I'm nitpicking, they are what they are

I like the sound of the Allan Ropper one, Cote.

18. The Gunslinger, Stephen King. The first in the Dark Tower series. This was so-so, not as good as the first book of a fantasy series often tends to be, but King explains in the intro that it's not quite up to scratch. I've seen people on here say that you have to push through the first one to make it to the rest, which are much better, so I'll read the second one at some point.

I'm reading a couple of books at the moment, one of which is State of Wonder, which I've gone back to after all the love on here, having left it halfway through previously as it wasn't grabbing me. Also reading Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge, as I loved A Face Like Glass.

tumble - I would definitely recommend it for you.

Monty - I read only the 2nd book of the Gunslinger series (Dark Tower) and was very meh about it. Then again, I don't really enjoy fantasy and detest cowboy stories so in hindsight it was probably never going to work out for me.

I just remember thinking that the "monster" that was probably meant to terrify was utterly ridiculous.

72. The Name of the Wind and 73. A Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss. This was my 3rd re-read and I absolutely love them, which makes the wait for book 3 even more annoying! Kvothe is a hero who is now presumed dead, but is actually hiding out as an innkeeper in a small village, having lost all his powers. He is found and persuaded to tell his story, which he says will take 3 days, and each book covers 1 day. Complex, multi-layered fantasy, well-written, good characters, great plot, great world-building, reasonably original 'magic'. The annoying thing with these is that the author claimed all 3 books were finished in 2007 and laughed at GRR Martin for being unable to finish A Song of Ice and Fire. Well, here we are in 2016 and no sign of the supposedly finished Doors of Stone, which turned out not to be finished at all. I usually dive into a re-read, emerge in a daze and then spend 3 hours reading fan theories on t'internet. We know it's a tragedy. We know Kvothe gets expelled at some point. We know he kills a king. There's a complicated framing story going on as well with Bast and the scrael - is this all going to be resolved in book 3, or will there be a book 4 at some point too? Aaaaargh!

Monty - The Gunslinger is shite compared to books 2 and 3. Wizard and Glass was okay but not brilliant, and then I got bored by them after that, but I do like The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands a lot. I should probably go back and finish the series at some point, although I already know what happens at the very end and I'm not impressed.