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?

Sorry, I should say Ukrainian magic realism as Kurkov is from the Ukraine although he writes in Russian.

Just marking place!

52. Great Britain? by Richard Abbot

A look at Britain and its place in the world through the lens of numerology, with the significance of the four elements and Tarot thrown in as well. Quite thought-provoking, although there is always a nagging question in mind about how much of it shows actual patterns and how much is a pattern being made to fit. My understanding of numerology is fairly superficial though.

Ooh I liked Death and the Penguin, meg, will look that up. I also read the follow up, can't remember the name now but didn't find it as good. Both went to the charity shop just last week as I thought I wouldn't reread, but I did really enjoy the first one.

So sorry - awful typo- Mercedes Lackey's Magic's Price is angsty fantasy, not nasty fantasy! Quite a different thing!

Satsuki - Am impressed you managed to get Ulysses finished in June by the 16th! I'm planning to start around then but really don't think I'll be done by the end of the month. I'd also love to go to Dublin and do the whole Joyce experience. Not sure I can convince DH though as he harbours huge resentment for Joyce after apparently hating Dubliners at A-level (we nearly fell out discussing that once) and has been to Dublin before with friends, so doesn't feel the need to go again! My secret plan is to wait until DS (9) is old enough and go with him...

My hats off to statsuki I tried reading Ulyses and failed miserably. I rarely stop reading a book but this beat me. It can say with total honesty that I couldn't make head or tale of it. I am not sure but I think joyce was on drugs or something when he wrote it. The dubliners I finished but that was not much better.

book19 Robin Hobb Ship of Magic this book is the best surprise of this book challenge so far. It was a freebie from Amazon and I chose it out of a whole load of books because I liked the cover .

What can I say about this. It's fantastic. Part 1 of a triology. A fantasy novel about ancient trader families, their customs traditions and the live ships. This novel focuses on the Vestrict family and their live ship Vivica their dealings with The strange River Wild people.

I loved making comparisons between the issues raised in the book such as a fear of foreigners, upholding traditions, slavery, ecology, gender stereotypes and immigration. I can't wait for book two.

Tanaqui thanks for clearing up your typo. I must admit after your first post I was a bit that YA gay nasty fantasy was a thing.

I'm a long way off having anything to report (Watership Down and The Bone Clocks don't have much in common apart from both being very long) but I like to pop in to see what everyone's up to.

at the nasty fantasy. I did wonder what you'd meant to say pre-autocorrect . . .

I remember that feeling Satsuki! If you don't start enjoying it more once you're halfway in then perhaps it's not the one for you, but I was definitely glad I persevered!

Ulysses is just. so. fucking. huge.

It's a great idea, fantastically done, but so fucking long.

Sorry for the vulgarity but James probably wouldn't mind

It actually holds up well to randomly dipping in, surfing it for a bit and then putting. it. down.

Ha looking I didn't actually finish it by the 16th, I think I overshot by at least a week I had severe spd from early on in my first pregnancy so I was off work from 3 months with lots of time on my hands where I could do very little except sit down, so it was Ulysses or death by daytime TV and online shopping. I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed it once I'd got into the rhythm of it. I had read the Odyssey, which helps a little as a framework, but really I tried not to worry too much about all the allusions as I was reading it and to think of it as an ordinary day in the life of an ordinary man, which is sort of what it is, really. I read the first half really quickly just to get into it, then slowed down towards the end as it does get dense - my copy is 933 pages. It definitely would break down well into its separate sections as wilting says. I didn't realise it was as funny as it was, so many good phrases and jokes. I'm pleased I read it, Finnegan's Wake would be a step too far though I think.

53. The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

This is a story told in the memories of a man looking back on his childhood with his mute brother in a religious family. Every year, the family takes part in the church pilgrimage from London to a shrine on a desolate strip of coast called the Loney in the north. It becomes clear that the family is the purpose of the pilgrimage - that the whole event is in search of a miracle cure for Hanny. The pilgrimages eventually cease, until the coming of a new priest after the death of the old. But there is something different this time, the Loney has changed.

I was actually disappointed with this. There's the potential to be really atmospheric and creepy, but it never quite gets there. Hurley tries to create a sense of paranoia and fear as it progresses but it's not convincing, and the great revelation at the end is pretty meh and obvious, in my view. Shame.

82. Read All About It: My Year Of Falling In Love With Literature Again by Paul Cuddihy

Another book about books! I enjoyed this one more than the Nick Hornby one, as I had heard of most of the books and read a few. Nice easy read, but he did mention his own books too often which was off putting.

83.The Good Mother by A. L. Bird

Psychological thriller. A woman wakes up in a room she doesn't recognise. She realises she has been captured and her daughter is captured in the next room. The first two thirds dragged a bit and I found it hard to care about the characters. However the last third was better after the twist, which makes sense of some of the earlier chapters. It was an unsettling read though with an unresolved ending which will stay in my mind.

Book 65
Facing Up by Bear Grylls
I really enjoyed this, Bear G’s story of his Everest ascent aged just 23 and just two years after breaking his back in a parachute accident. Much like a bid on Everest, much of the book (around 75% at least) is about the preparation and there’s quite a lot of sitting around being bored and waiting for the right weather conditions. I found him so endearing though, that this didn’t matter – he comes across as self-effacing and humble, and v much in thrall to those he was climbing with and those who had gone before him. What shines through, apart from his Christianity (which isn’t too wearing, considering how little patience I usually have for such things) is his love for his family and friends, his respect for fellow and former mountaineers and the Sherpas who support them and, more than anything, his respect for the mountain itself. Really glad I read this. I knew nothing about Bear G before this, but would definitely read something else by him now.

Very disappointed with The Loney. Felt it had a bit too much of the Hammer Horror about it. Amazed at the reviews it had printed all over the covers and feel your is much more appropriate, ChillieJeanie.

45. Just One Fanned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. Ok, so I bought this thinking that if I like Rivers of London, then I might like this. It started off all right, an easy enough undemanding read. But I got bored half way through, lost interest and just didn't care enough about the characters or their time travels. Not for me.

46. The Farm by Tom Rob Smith. I like unreliable narrators, usually, but somehow this one just didn't work for me. It was a pleasant enough story, a quick read. Had potential to be a really good twisty thriller but the ending was a bit weak, and disappointing.

Currently reading Shop Girl by Mary Portas which I'm loving. She writes really well and knows how to tell a good tale from her childhood succinctly. I like the way the book is laid out - in little sections with a nostalgic heading like Anne French cleansing milk, Vesta curry, Bronnley soap etc. A little reminiscent of Toast by Nigel Slater, and just as enjoyable a read.

Predictive text fail - Just One Damned Thing After Another ...

I enjoyed Shop Girl too.

Really must stop buying series just because they're 99p on Kindle. I feel obliged to slog on through them then even if they're crap.

45-48 ish. Charlie N Holmberg
The Paper Magician
The Glass Magician
The Master Magician
Fantasy series set in some indeterminate period in History where women wear long dresses and don't shag before marriage. Apparently set somewhere in England, by an American writer who apparently has an atlas to pick names out of, but hasn't twigged that England is a different country to America and has different vocabulary, food, and so on.

Fairly typical "trainee magician falls in love with tutor" beginning, with moderately interesting premise for the magic (magicians bond to a material, and then use that material for casting all their spells). The main character has the annoying trait of constantly ignoring all advice or sense to throw herself into pursuing various psychopathic magicians, resulting in various people getting killed. Her response to this is to angst a lot in a very teenage manner about how this must make her a bad person (to be fair she is 19-21 through the books so actually is a teen), but not change her behaviour at all. I think it's meant as an excuse for her dashing tutor to clasp her to his bosom in a comforting and sexual but ultimately chaste way because he respects her too much blah blah.

Anyway, I didn't like them. Too sloppy to be enjoyable even as easy reading fluff.

Satsuki - Ah OK, I think I might be able to manage it if I was pregnant and off work! As it is, I'll be starting GCSE exam marking from next week until early July, so there's no way I'll finish Ulysses at the same time! I've read The Odyssey but it was years ago, at uni, so I don't think I'll remember enough of the details to really make much difference. I'm thinking of reading a critical companion at the same time to try and pick up on all the things I'm pretty sure I'll miss. Would you say that's a good idea or do you think it's better to just treat it as a story, as you say?

15. Undercover in High Heels - Gemma Haliday ok this is chicklit thrillers if this is a genre. I did enjoy it and once the action kicks in it is a page turner but is no Christie, Reich's or gerristen. Plus i cant decide if i like the main characteras she is a bit of a nut case and really does just seem to end up in compromising or embarrassing situations every other chapter.

Next read is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, went to Oxford and want a comfort read at the moment.

32. Watership Down by Richard Adams This was a long slog. Pushed to finish it today to get it out of the way and move on. Odd of its time rabbity saga. Portrays rabbit society as being organised in a militaristic and male dominated way. Published in 1972, it made me remember how WW2 continued to dominate the lives of so many men of the author's generation for decades afterwards (my own father included) to the extent that your anthropomorphic rabbit creations behave and converse like a band of WW2 comrades. It included some odd rabbit folk tales which were tiresome in the extreme, and again made me think of the worthy folk tales which were fashionable in the 70s and always made me want to hurl as a child. On the plus side, the detailed descriptions of the natural world were beautifully woven throughout, and I did admire the author's ability to strike just the right balance between anthropomorphising his characters while retaining their rabbity characteristics.

Picked up books 3 & 4 of the Hangman's Daughter series for £1 today, and I'm tempted to bump them to the top of my list for a enjoyable easy read next. Off to see what else I've got on my kindle.

21 Or the Bulls Kill You -Jason Webster

Set in Valencia around the spring fiesta and bull fighting, the countries top bull fighter is murdered and the lead inspector is something of a maverick.

Decent but not going to set the world on fire crime, British author, Spanish police system. Picked it up for 99p, if any others come up for that price will get them but won't rush out to get the next in series at full price

Remus - I read Facing Up many years ago before Bear became Mr. Famous. I remember it being very good and then thinking he was the real deal when he ended up doing survival stuff on screen. I've recently given it to my teenage DS but he claims he's read "enough Everest books for now". He does read Bear's autobiog over and over though!