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?

17. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovich
Fourth in the Rivers of London series about a partly-magical London. I am still enjoying this easy-reading series where Peter Grant is trailing the Faceless Man. More faeries, trolls and wizards.

18. Dragonflight; The First Chronicles of Pern by Anne McCaffrey.
Classic fantasy where man and dragons fight history and ancient evil. Good fun. These kind of books always hold a nostalgia for me as I loved them when I was in my teens and they are still a comforting read now when I'm stressed and tired from work.

LadyDepp -I also enjoyed reading This much is true after it languished on my shelf for years.. It was a very heavy paperback..

Bringing my list over, highlights in bold:

1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.

2. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

1. Instrumental by James Rhodes.
2. Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
3. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett.
4. Written in Fire (Book 3 of the Brilliance trilogy) by Markus Sakey.
5. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.

8. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler. 9. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. 10. Monsters of Men (Bk 3 of Chaos Walking Trilogy) by Patrick Ness. 11. The Mime Order (The Bone Season series) by Samantha Shannon. 12. The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. 13. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. 14. Restoration by Rose Tremain. 15. How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. 16. The House at Pooh Corner by A.A.Milne. 17. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovich 18. Dragonflight; The First Chronicles of Pern by Anne McCaffrey.

18. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson- I think you lot all reviewed this last year, but I found the writing flowed beautifully, although I would have been quite happy without the twist- I felt that was implied anyway from Life after Life.

I enjoyed The Shock of the Fall, would get it for 99p!

Also agree that Mercedes Lackeys magic series was far better at the time than it is now, if that makes sense- it does rather read like fanfiction these days, but of course predates the explosion in the latter.

Woohoo southeast I'm glad Eileen did it for you. Weird, innit? It's a mercy it's so short, I'm not sure I could take the tension over a longer pagespan.

I forced myself to do a tech sabbatical over the long weekend and am so glad I did, since I got to read three new books!

31. A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson. Was very grumpy about reading this and spent a good fifteen minutes muttering about how annoying WWII novels are before actually cracking it open. (Before you tell me I didn't have to read it: I'm pretty sure it's going to win the Baileys Prize this year, and I've enjoyed everything else of Kate Atkinson's that I've read.) I was so wrong!! It's not really a war novel, although in other senses it definitely is (there's a lot of exploration of how the war affects those who survived it and the subsequent generations). I was a bit disappointed by the ceaseless authorial hatred for Viola, whose only crime as far as I could tell was that she was an imperfect and selfish mother. Obviously not a role model, but the book seemed surprisingly judgmental of her. Other than that, wonderfully fluid writing and characters that jumped off the page, in a convincing way. Very pleasant surprise.

32. Hubert by Ben Gijsemans. A graphic novel with almost no words, by a Belgian artist, about a lonely middle-aged Belgian man who visits art museums and barely ever talks to anyone. It can be devoured in a single sitting, or pored over at leisure; Gijsemans's drawings are plain at first glance but full of detail the longer you look. Hubert is a wonderful creation. His sad little face and glasses do the same thing to my heart that Wall-E's character design did (i.e. stomp on it). This is also a great book to read in conjunction with The Lonely City, since it's basically a case study of how individuals medicate their own loneliness with art. It's really beautiful and made me all sad and hopeful at the end.

33. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild--sigh. Also longlisted for the Baileys Prize, hopefully won't win. It's a sweet idea (a down-on-her-luck woman finds a priceless Watteau painting in a junk shop; everyone in the art world decides they want it) but executed in a very Eat-Pray-Love sort of way. The main character's mother is an alcoholic and the conversations they have are so full of psychological jargon that I wasn't at all convinced two people would talk to each other like that. Also, Rothschild doesn't get contractions: all of her characters say things like "I will do this" or "You do not see that", instead of "I'll" or "You don't". It's not for emphasis, either, and it happens for 404 pages, first to last. Do trade fiction editors even turn up to work anymore? grump grump That said, it was cute and distracting and there were heavenly descriptions of food in it, which is all good stuff.

grendelsmother I thought the censorious tone toward Viola in God in Ruins was a very deliberate strategy to increase the impact of a certain incident (don't want to spoil for others who haven't read) about two thirds of the way through the book. It draws you in to viewing her a certain way and then the moment where all that 'bad motherhood' (and it wasn't great!) the reader has been implicit in the judgement of is suddenly seen through a different lens. For the rest of the book you are then invested in the idea of whether she is able to find redemption. I did find flaws in the novel but thought that particular part was cleverly worked, and I didn't think the 'author' was showing hatred at all, rather she was reflecting Viola's own feelings of self loathing to an extent whilst bringing the reader to the full understanding of the context. The part where Viola thinks about having three wishes and they are all the same thing was so poignant because of this.

"Also agree that Mercedes Lackeys magic series was far better at the time than it is now,"

I think that's true - there just weren't that many other people writing mainstream fantasy that included gay characters / strong female leads / etc - which meant that she was a find even though her writing isn't actually that great.

I'm now re-reading Magic's Promise, which IMO stands up much better - I'm enjoying an older Vanyel making some kind of peace with his family, and coming to understand them a bit better. (Of course, this may be because I'm now less sympathetic to over-emotional teenagers )

20. Camp Six - Frank Smythe

An excellent account of the 1933 Everest expedition - the first after the doomed 1924 attempt. Smythe is an engaging writer and really gives a clear impression of the trials of high-altitude mountaineering, so although this expedition may not have had so many strong characters or such high drama as other attempts, it's well worth a read for those with an interest in Everest history.

Oh dearie me. It's 10.30 in the morning on payday and I have bought 3 books already - The Bettanys on the Home Front, a Chalet School prequel, Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey and Lady of Letters by Josephine Elder. Must. Stop. Buying. Books. This is why Amazon shopping lists are a bad idea.

41. Where Demons Dare*, Kim Harrison. These are all starting to blur into one - in a rather good way. Um, I liked the gargoyle. Rachel and Trent bond a bit, more Ceri, always good, and Rachel discovers something about her parentage/genetics. I still don't feel like I'm really getting the Rachel/Ivy storyline - am I supposed to want her to get together with Ivy? When is Ivy going to develop as a person?

Remus - Another novel we both like! What is the world coming to?

Lord Of The Flies was the 1st book we read in school that felt 'real' to me. Up until then, everything we read felt diluted and made kiddie-friendly (read: YA). Of course I had been reading adult stuff for many years until then, since I had unencumbered access to my dad's rather extensive library. This book was very refreshing in that respect.

Aahh, Satsuki, that's a good defense. I am willing to entertain that possibility, in fact. Although I did feel as though the sense of conservatism spilled over to Bertie, who seemed to share her grandfather's dislike of modern trends rather conveniently. In my experience, young people may humour their grandparents when they start to complain about younger generations, but they usually don't actually wholeheartedly agree!

Yes, but Bertie never knew why her mother pulled away so strongly from Teddy and his values, and bore the brunt of the consequences of her mother's unconventionality, that for her it was a much more straightforward choice between being cared for on one side and neglected on the other. In a sense it was history repeating itself as Bertie disassociated herself from her parents and their values in much the same way Viola had from hers, without nuance or understanding. (I would argue as well that Teddy was much more of a father figure to Bertie than a grandfather, the only stability they knew, which narrowed the generational divide between them.)

Having said that I didn't enjoy much of the latter part of the book with Viola, I felt her narrative did get a bit flabby towards the end.

Satsuki Oh, yes! I suppose, now that I give it a moment's thought, that if I'd been raised in a commune by Dominic and Viola, I might well rebel by becoming conservative too.

This is going to sound dreadful but it has been ages since someone else's commentary (IRL included) improved a book for me, so thank you!

I've just finished A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki and loved it.

An American writer, Ruth, living on a remote Canadian island comes across the washed-up diary of a Japanese teenager, Nao. Nao's diary covers her life after coming back to Japan after having lived in the USA, the bullying she is faced with at school, her dad's many suicide attempts, her relationship with her buddhist 104 year grandmother, her great uncle's experiences in the 2nd world war, her grim "dates" with older, schoolgirl-obsessed men, her own suicidal feelings.. It packs a lot in but doesn't feel unrealistic (worryingly!). The chapters alternate between Nao's diary and Ruth's reaction to what she's just read, as well as going into her own life and how the diary has ended up on her beach. Has it washed up after the 2011 tsunami? Was Nao a victim? I thought the contrast between the two countries, cultures and main characters was really well done. Has anyone read any of her other books?

Next up is Ghostwritten by David Mitchell. Also starts off in Japan although at least it's moved from slightly grim Tokyo to sunny Okinawa. It's my first of his I've read, so I'm looking forward to getting into it.

Finished so far: (with favourites highlighted)
1) The City and the City - China Mieville
2) The Guest Cat - Takashi Hiraide
3) Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde
4) John Dies at the End - David Wong
5) Childhood's End - Arthur C Clarke
6) The Humans - Matt Haig
7) A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

Daphne, I really liked A Tale For The Time Being, and I've read My Year of Meats, which is about beef production in America. It was good too, but not quite up there with A Tale For The Time Being.

42. White Witch, Black Curse, Kim Harrison. I should really stop reading this series all in one go - it's all blurring together, but I want to know what happens next. I am a glutton for punishment. This one was about a banshee and a ghost who clearly features in a novella, but was introduced as someone you should already know, which bugged me. Rachel is struggling with the definition of white v black witch, and is shunned by the witch community. Annoyingly, she ended this book fancying Pierce (I think the exact description is that he's 'Rachel candy') but by about page 3 of the next one she's decided that she doesn't because he's too cocky. Hmm. Bet she gets off with him anyway.

Book 41
Playing to the Gallery by *Grayson Perry enjoyed this. A short lecture on the art world, what makes art, and Perry sticking two fingers up to art pseudo-intellectual twattishness. Some great illustrations too. I’ll admit that I didn’t understand every single word of it completely, and I need to go back and read it again with a highlighter soon, but I’d recommend it. Here

Really enjoyed this. A short lecture on the art world, what makes art, and Perry sticking two fingers up to arty pseudo-intellectual twattishness. Some great illustrations too. I’ll admit that I didn’t understand every single word of it completely, and I need to go back and read it again with a highlighter soon, but I’d totally recommend it.

Cote - I'd go so far as to say that Flies is a work of genius. Sadly, I haven't found any of Golding's other works to come even close to it.

I enjoyed listening to his Reith lectures, Remus, a couple of years ago - www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00729d9/episodes/downloads
for free if you're interested in catching it via audio. Had initially been rather underwhelmed by GP but he's an excellent and informed orator. And I quite like some of his pots and that Walthamstow tapestry too.

I think the book is a re-hash of his lecture. LOVE the tapestries - the pots I can take or leave.

Yes, there were 3 or 4 lectures, I think, from memory. Love how he debates what constitues contemporary art, even claiming that it has lost its ability to shock/challenge (true). Anyway, realise am rather wandering off the main thrust of a book thread... Think he should be on the national curriculum, personally .

I'm interested in that Grayson Perry book too - I loved the TV series he did on class, and find him really eloquent and enjoyable to listen to, although I don't much care about the pottery!

21. The Lady In The Van - Alan Bennett

A very short read (got through it this afternoon while ignoring the DC), the true story of Miss S. who ended up living in a van in his front garden for many years. Written with his typical wry humour and sense of compassion. Must get round to watching the film.

27. Make Me by Lee Child

Jack Reacher has gone to Mother's Rest to find out why it's called that. He expects to find a lonely pioneer tombstone in a sea of nearly-ripe wheat at the remote railroad stop on the prairie but instead encounters a woman waiting for a man who never turns up. She is a private investigator, called in as back up by a colleague who has disappeared. Reacher inevitably ends up joining forces with Michelle Chang to investigate, and discovers that Mother's Rest conceals the heart of darkness.

I do like the Jack Reacher novels as an easy read. You know what you're going to get - lots of guns, bad guys, some form of conspiracy, and Jack Reacher comes out on top in the end. This is reasonable enough, maybe not one of the better tales, but good enough.

Yes, I enjoyed the GP lectures too. Will look out for the book.

Forgot to say - no sign of any Robertson Davies today.

grendelsmother that's nice of you to say! In turn your critical view led me to think it over a bit more deeply than perhaps I did at the time I read it. I didn't 100% love God in Ruins but find much to admire in KA's writing, and I particularly like the way she uses tone.

daphne I quite liked Tale for the Time Being, though it felt a bit over stretched with ideas toward the end, for me anyway, but would read more of hers. She wrote the teen voice especially well I thought.

Also - half way through Luminaries now and thoroughly enjoying it, especially as I've been able to guess a little how the characters align with the zodiac, it's a very satisfying conceit, and very well written too so far, looking forward to seeing if it pans out as well in the second half.

And sorry RD is proving elusive remus

Satsuki - I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying The Luminaries. I'm also psyched to see that I finally know someone who might be able to to tell me what all that horoscope business was about