50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Five

[southeastdweller]

Thread five 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.

The first thread of 2016 is here, second thread here, third thread here and fourth thread here.

How're you getting on so far?

After getting myself horribly off-track with lots of trash (about a dozen or so I don't want to count), I am back on for 50 enriching novels/works of non-fiction for 2016.

1. The Great Gatsby
2. Slaughterhouse Five
3. Housekeeping
4. Reasons to Stay Alive
5. The Sense of an Ending

museum my daughter is a dipper as well although has recently finished The Hobbit, she loves Horrible Histories and last year bought teach yourself Latin for beginners, I think she and your son are definitely on the same wave length.

For those of you reading the Shetland series, I love them and like Peter May's The Blackhouse I now have an urge to visit that part of our lovely isles.

And now to me, I am now half way through my challenge, woop, woop.

25 Don't Look now and other stories by Daphne Du Maurier.

Was intrigued by this when I heard the first story in this book on Radio 4 as an afternoon play. Five stories with twists which I really enjoyed. The language is dated and in the final story refers to children who are 'retarded' but if you can look past this and remember the era it was written in it is very good

It was good, Best. I wasn't aware of William Smith before. The author does jump around a little at times, and he does go off into descriptions of his own thoughts and experiences in various spots but overall it was fine.

25. Wolf of the Plains, Conn Iggulden. Thank you to Remus for reading and recommending this one, I absolutely loved it. I've never read anything by Iggulden before, but I'll be on the lookout for more of his now, and will read the second Genghis book soon. Was fantastic.

26. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë. I loved every word of this. I wish I'd read it sooner in life, but school put me off the classics somewhat, and I'm only just recovering and seeing them as feasible reading options.

I'm still reading Neurotribes, but only the odd chapter here and there as it feels like I'm working from home when I read it. Other than that I'm reading Ender's Game on the kindle app, The Humans in proper book form, and about to start a new audiobook, maybe The Time Machine.

Monty - I'd be interested to see what you think of the second one. I thought it was okay, but nowhere near as good as the first. I haven't read the third for that reason.

Wolf of the Plains is £1.49 on Kindle now, if anybody else fancies it.

Thanks Remus - another book to add to my enormous Kindle pile .

26. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler - my book club book. Anne Tyler is a wonderful writer, but her novels are firmly rooted in the mundane every day interactions of average people. I can see why people love her books but for me they are just too gentle and slow. I need dragons, dystopia, time travel or something that doesn't resemble my own rather average life!

I've given up on a book for the first time in a long time. It was a cheap audio book and a few chapters in I just can't stand it anymore, it's Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. For anyone who has read Red Rising, it's like a really crap version of that book. To be fair the thing I really hated was the narrator, so maybe reading the actual book wouldn't be quite as painful. It's definitely YA Fantasy as well, which is NOT my favourite genre. £2.99 wasted!

Five they do sound quite similar.

If you are an Audible member look out for an offer by email of 2 books for 1 credit. You have to choose from a specific list, but it seems to be mainly quality stuff, and includes several books that have been discussed on this thread. I managed to pick up 2 books that have been on my wish list for ages: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz

61. Read all about it, Paul Cuddihy

Another account of a year spent reading (see similar projects by Susan Hill, Andy Miller etc). He doesn't have much of a writing style, considering he works as a sportswriter and author, and doesn't give much of an insight into the books he reads, and there is too much filler about going on Twitter etc. Despite these reservations, I enjoyed reading this in short bursts during my lunchtime break. A few minutes of undemanding book-chat is a great restorer.

Just catching up on the thread, even though I have nothing to add. (Am 100 pages into Ulysses so it will be some time...)

Sadik - agree with you about the Patrick Ness. I really enjoyed hearing what all the students thought about the Carnegie list. Interestingly, they voted Ness in third, even though the small group I worked with didn't think it was good at all. The students' overall choice for winner was One by Sarah Crossan which I liked but wouldn't have chosen as the winner myself. Interesting to see the disparity between what teens pick compared to adults. Will be waiting to see what the actual winner is...

Have been reading everyone's comments on Harry Potter. DS and I have tickets to see The Cursed Child next year so am planning to start a re-read of the whole series soon in preparation for that.

To those whose children are also doing the 50 book challenge, my DS has also been doing it alongside me. He is 9, nearly 10 and, like many of yours, tends to dip in and out of books. He loves reading but will often have about 6 books on the go, rather than knuckling down and finishing a couple at once. He's doing well though - has read 28 books so far this year, balancing out some really long ones (HP Goblet of Fire) with some Wimpy Kid-type stuff.

I think it gets pretty mixed reviews on here but I've just seen that The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber is on Kindle daily deals today.

MuseumofHam
The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz

I really enjoyed this book - Grosz is a very good storyteller. Be interested to hear what you think when you've read it.

ladydepp

That book reminded me of a slightly deranged uncle who, if you have the misfortune of being seated next to him at a social event, starts out fairly interesting but quickly gets drunk and incoherent, loses the plot, and drones on for five hours about nothing at all. You end up going home thinking "WTF was he on about?!?" and feeling bad that you'll never get back those hours of your life that were wasted on his rambling nonsense.

27. Where'd you go Bernadettte by Maria Semple I really enjoyed this, a light intelligent read, quirky and humorous, just what I needed. I thought the characters were well drawn and engaging, the narration entertaining. Maybe it drifts into sentimentality at the end but hey, not so much I got annoyed I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a light break between tomes!

28. Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery This is the last of the Anne of Green Gables books. It was a nostalgic read for me but really, must be one of the weakest in the series. Very much of its time, quite hard to read the high nationalist sentiment around WW1. Wouldn't recommend unless you have a yen to revisit your childhood reads and even then, read one of the others!

Good news, my brother kindly bought for me the Hitler biography I mentioned up thread. Bad news, my dh promptly hightailed off with it so it'll probably be few weeks before I can get started!

Thanks SlightlyGlitter Sunshine looks good! I've added it to my ever expanding to-read list.

47. Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

A re-read. It was 99p on Kindle recently and I remembered enjoying it years ago. It's a fairy tale about a boy searching for a fallen star in the mystical land of Faerie in order to win the affections of the prettiest girl in his village. It's quite sweet and whimsical with a YA feel to it and I still like it.

I do agree with some of the criticism of Gaiman that's been made on this thread. I remember being really disappointed by the first novel of his I read, Neverwhere. From everything I'd heard about Gaiman I was expecting something amazing and special, and it was just OK. I think his books are fun, enjoyable reads, but not the great or important works of literature some claim them to be.

48. Bitter Blood by Racel Caine

13th Morganville Vampires book. Probably the best one in the series so far, with ghostly happenings, and the usual vampire stuff building up.

49. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

A man writing about the atomic bomb discovers the existence of something even more deadly. It's Kurt Vonnegut so of course it's good.

50. The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

Children's book about an 11 year old girl who is sent to a progressive boarding school shortly before the outbreak of WW2 and ends up visiting the fictional country Bergania and befriending the prince whose life is in danger. It's a fun book about friendship, doing what's right and finding your place in life. Probably best suited for children aged 7-11.

As I've made it to fifty books, here's my list so far, and I'm copying someone else's idea of putting highlights in bold.

1. A Dance with Dragons Part 1 by George RR Martin
2. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
3. Mother of Eden by Chris Beckett
4. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
5. Carrie by Stephen King
6. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood
7. Thornyhold by Mary Stuart
8. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquievel
9. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

10. World War Z by Max Brooks 11. Cross Stitch by Amanda James 12. Beloved by Antoinette Stockenberg 13. Bite Club by Rachel Caine 14. Breathe by Sarah Crossan 15. The Woman who Walked into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home 16. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly 17. The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman 18. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood 19. A Calculated Life by Anne Charnock 20. A Dance with Dragons Part 2 by George RR Martin 21. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 22. Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut 23. Chocolat by Joanne Harris 24. Take Me Home by Daniela Sacerdoti 25. Deathless by Cathrynne M Valente 26. The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker 27. Last Breath by Rachel Caine 28. This House is Haunted by John Boyne 29. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver 30. Clariel by Garth Nix 31. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter 32. Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine 33. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 34. Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut 35. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin 36. Every Day by David Levithan 37. Being Light by Helen Smith 38. Black Dawn by Rachel Caine 39. Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson 40. Set Me Free by Daniela Sacerdoti 41. I Have Waited and You Have Come by Martine McDonagh 42. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 43. The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey 44. Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge 45. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith 46. A Taste of Magic by Tracy Madison

Cote - I know what you mean about the Crimson Petal and the drunk uncle, but imagine I'm the even more wasted niece who's having a good chuckle along the way, as well as often thinking WTAF?!

Sometimes there are books that make me think "I really shouldn't like this", but I do. Crimson Petal is one of those....

Wilting - Where'd you go Bernadette is great fun, I really enjoyed it too.

30. Respectable - Lynsey Hanley.

Non-fiction book in which the author examines class in Britain, present and the past. From what I'd read of reviews of this book, I was expecting more about the author's own experiences of class, but in fact most of the content reads very much like a textbook, with lots of social theory brought in. Fine if you want to read a social history textbook but for me it didn't make for a hugely engaging reading experience and even though it's a short book it took me two weeks to read. I do very much empathise, though, with feeling let down by her education at secondary school and she's at her best when she writes about herself.

I'm currently reading Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris. Not that good so far but I'm half way through now, thanks to two long train journeys last weekend where I had nothing else to read.

27. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card. I've not read much sci-fi. Watched plenty of it in films and on tv, but didn't transfer that to books for some reason. I thought this was great, really enjoyed it. Loved all the Battle School stuff, less so the occasional hops back to Peter and Valentine, but I think that's just because I was too eager to get back to Ender, not because those bits weren't interesting. I hadn't realised it was a series, might have a look at the second one to see if it's any good. Has anyone read it?

I am thinking about getting the first Dresden Files book on audible, but not sure what else to get

May I join please?

1. Maus - Speigelman
2. Moranifesto - Caitlin Moran
3. Behind Closed Doors - BA Paris
4. 100 Days of Happiness - Fausto Brizzi

5. The Shadow of the Wind - Carols Ruiz Zafon 6. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

1. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
2. The mistake I made - Paula Daly
3. The Burning Air - Erin Kelly

10. A Fatal Inversion - Barbara Vine 11. Where they found her - McCreight, Kimberly 12. The kind worth killing - Peter Swanson 13. A line of blood - Ben McPherson 14. The Glass Palace - Ghosh, Amitav 15. When she was bad - Tammy Cohen 16. The Coma - Alex Garland 17. While my eyes were closed - Linda Green 18. Burnt paper sky - Gilly McMillan

Up next The Ice House Minette Walters, Whatever Love a Means David Baddiel and have Slade House David Mitchell on preorder, plus the new Scotland St book by Alexander MS.

Read a bunch of unsatisfying thrillers this year so far. Best books in bold.

Monty - Ender's Game is a classic Most people who read SF get to Ender's Game sooner or later. I thought its sequel was pretty OK, too. It got a bit silly at some point, though - I can't remember if that was book 4 or 5.

God I loved Ender's Game, must re read, it's been years

City of Mirrors is out but is £9.99 boo hoo

Holiday coming soon, think I am just going to have to grit my teeth and pay over the odds for some of these books... Oh well

26. Along the Enchanted Way - William Blacker - tells of the author's life when he moved to Romania and fell in love with a gypsy girl (or two!). I really enjoyed this, possibly partly because it got me in the mood for a forthcoming holiday to Transylvania

27. Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith - detective has to track down who from his past could be sending body parts to his PA/partner. I really enjoyed this despite the weak ending - it had a bit of the "will they/won't they" vibe of Dempsey and Makepiece that I watched in childhood!

28. The House by the Lake - Thomas Harding - the tale of a summerhouse built in the Berlin suburbs and those who lived there, from the wealthy Jewish family forced to flee the Nazi state to the family living there literally in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. This was fascinating as it bought a real personal perspective to the seismic events that have affected Germany's history over the last century. One of the best books I have read this year.

Has anyone read 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'? I'm 20% in and it's dragging. I need a recommend that it's all worth it in the end.

I hated A Prayer For Owen Meany with a passion! Lots of people seem to love it though!