50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Six

[southeastdweller]

Thread six 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, fourth thread here and fifth thread here.

Now in a different holiday cottage. This one has a set of Peter James books. I've never read any of his. Would any one recommend any of them?

1. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
2. The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins

1. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
2. Skellig, David Almond
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
4. The Exclusives, Rebecca Thornton
5. The Day of The Triffids, John Wyndham
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
7. A God in Ruins, Kate Atkinson

10. True Grit, Charles Portis 11. The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt 12. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell 13. The Railway Man, Eric Lomax 14. The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan 15. A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki 16. Strange Weather in Tokyo, Hiromi Kawakami 17. The Nine Lives of Aristotle, Dick King-Smith 18. The Moving Toyshop, Edmund Crispin 19. Well Done, Secret Seven, Ebud Blyton 20.The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett 21.Black Swan Green, David Mitchell 22. Daddy Long-Legs, Jean Webster 23.The Secret Seven Win Through, Enid Blyton 24.The Year of Living Danishly, Helen Russell 25.HHhH, Laurent Binet 26.Brooklyn, Colm Toibin 27.Where'd You Go Bernadette, Maria Semple 28. The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton 29 Bad Science, Ben Goldacre 30.Dear Enemy, Jean Webster 31. Persuasion, Jane Austen (reread) 32.Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (reread) 33.A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan 34. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy 35.A Town Like Alice, Neville Shute 36. Dark Fire, C,J Sansom 37.Secret Seven Mystery, Enid Blyton 38.State of Wonder, Anne Patchett 39. Postcards from the Edge, Carrie Fisher 40. Secret Seven on the Trail, Enid Blyton 41.Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card 42. The Epigenetics Revolution, Nessa Carey 43. Go Ahead, Secret Seven, Enid Blyton 44. The Pedant in the Kitchen, Julian Barnes

I've been in bed this afternoon with a painful back, so took advantage copied my list. And read books, too of course. I definitely slow down over summer, and I've read just over half on kindle, half paperback.

I haven't read any Peter James, mainly because Crime isn't generally my genre, but I know people who do are devoted to him. His books are very well researched, I believe. Irrelevant, but I was once briefly acquainted with his wife; she is funny and nice, and he seems so too!)

Thanks for the reminder of 'Crossing Places', boldly - I keep meaning to get this especially seeing as forensic archaeology is very close to my heart

Want to try Peter James too!!!

I really enjoyed the Elly Griffiths books. Great as a quick read.

I like seeing everyone's lists. Here's mine:

1. A Summer Birdcage, by Margaret Drabble
2. City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg
3. The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness
4. Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
5. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
6. The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, by Anna North
7. The Improbability of Love, by Hannah Rothschild
8. The Crane Wife, by Patrick Ness
9. Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, by Max Porter

10. Funny Girl, by Nick Hornby 11. The Master, by Colm Toibin 12. Lovers at the Chameleon Club: Paris 1932, by Francine Prose 13. The Madwoman Upstairs, by Catherine Lowell 14. The Vacationers, by Emma Straub 15. On Beauty, by Zadie Smith 16. The Nest, by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney 17. Forty Rooms, by Olga Grushin 18. The Oxford Inheritance, by A.A. McDonald 19. Sweet Tooth, by Ian McEwan 20. The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin 21. Lost for Words, by Edward St. Aubyn 22. Modern Lovers, by Emma Straub 23. Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren 24. Farthing, by Jo Walton 25. The Big Rewind, by Libby Cudmore 26. When Will There Be Good News?, by Kate Atkinson 27. H Is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald 28. Ha'Penny, by Jo Walton 29. Half a Crown, by Jo Walton 30. Brush Back, by Sara Paretsky 31. Life, Death, and Vanilla Slices, by Jenny Eclair 32. The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047, by Lionel Shriver 33. Girl Waits with Gun, by Amy Stewart 34. Howards End, by E.M. Forster

Peter James books seem to come (in my opinion) in two different genres - crime police procedural (the Roy Grace detective series which all have Dead in the title) and others which are more psychological rather than police procedural. He's also done a few supernatural ones. Depending on your taste you may find you prefer some of his books while not enjoying others so much.

Thanks Chessie, I don't like supernatural stuff but love a psychological thriller or a police procedural. Will give one a go.

Cote, now on 27% with Turing.

Having finally put the list together, it seems I've been making a pig's breakfast of the numbering and I have reached the 50 total (although my goal on goodreads is higher). But here it is:

1. The last Letter from your Lover by JoJo Moyes
2. The Man in the High Castle by Phlip K Dick
3. The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
4. What I talk about when I talk about Running by Haruki Murakami
5. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
6. Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden
7. The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris
8. It’s Our turn to Eat by Michela Wong
9. Mrs Hemmingway by Naomi Wood

10. Red Love: the story of an East German Family by Leo Maxim 11. Just One Damned Thing after Another by Jodi Taylor 12. Outlining your Novel: Map your way to Success by K M Weiland 13. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 14. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor 15. A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War by David Boyd Haycock 16. Blame my Brain: the Amazing Teenage Brain Revealed by Nicola Morgan 17. Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World by Simon Callow 18. Roman Holiday & Christmas Present by Jodi Taylor (2 shorts) 19. Voices from Chernobyl: the Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich 20. Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Copeland 21. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson 22. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster 23. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor 24. Longbourn by Jo Baker 25. Man at the Helm by Nina Stibble 26. A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray 27. What Maisie Knew by Henry James 28. The People in the Photo by Helene Gestern 29. Either Side of Midnight by Tori de Clare 30. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman 31. The Very First Damned Thing & When a Child is Born by Jodi Taylor (2 shorts) 32. A Trail through Time by Jodi Taylor 33. Headhunters by Jo Nesbo 34. Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami 35. The Rowan Tree by Robert W Fuller 36. The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter 37-42. Harry Potter Books 1-6 on audible 43. The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin 44. William Shakespeare’s Phantom of Menace by Ian Doescher 45. The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management by Isa-Lee Wolf 46. Hystopia by David Means 47. Sane New World: Taming the Mind by Ruby Wax 48. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet 49. The Many by Wyl Menmuir 50. Never the Bride by Paul Magrs 51. Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

The books I've emboldened have been the stand-outs, but all are 4/5 reads, there's not been a 5/5 yet this year which is a huge disappointment.

41. The Stand by Stephen King.

Re-read. Unsurprisingly I remember only some of the story since I read it in my teens. Didn't remember the end at all! It's the usual rollicking adventure, the nature of good versus evil (never that black and white), well drawn characters. I didn't love it and I'm trying to work out why. Maybe slightly piqued about the lack of lead female characters, all of them seem to need to take the lead from the men. Maybe the story made me sad; the revolving door of human failings even when given a new chance to make a civilisation, the same story of self-serving greed or following the/any leader like sheep all resounds with me today with governments/politicians, war, refugee camps. Never ending. Grifone, I'm leaving It well alone!

My list for this year so far, bold for favourite reads and italics for real proper disappointments.

Books 2016

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. 19. Olive Kettridge by Elizabeth Strout. 20. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. 21. Flesh Wounds by Christopher Brookmyre. 22. Farewell Kabul by Christina Lamb. 23. Winnie-The-Pooh by AA Milne. 24. So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. 25. The Summer without Men by Siri Hustvedt. 26. Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive Book 2) by Brandon Sanderson. 27. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. 28. The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks. 29. The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle. 30. Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham. 31. Fool Moon (The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher. 32. Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon. 33. On Beauty by Zadie Smith 34. Red Moon by Benjamin Percy. 35. The Amber Fury by Natalie Hynes. 36. Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn. 37. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. 38. The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff. 39. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. 40. Purity by Jonathan Franzen. 41. The Stand by Stephen King.

It seems I'm more impressed with non-fiction this year.

53. Without Fail by Lee Child. Just another reread!

Book 96
Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
Yet another re-read of King’s Dark Tower. This one is my least favourite – I find the Susan backstory stuff pretty boring. I do like Blaine and the riddles though, and love the developing father/son-esque relationship between Jake and Roland.

It's really interesting seeing everyone's lists and how many are in bold. Normally about 9/10 out of around 50 books. I guess this means we all read a huge amount of books which are just fine and enjoyable, but there are never that many that really grab us. When I finish a book I love I am on a bit of a high afterwards, but that does happen quite rarely. I wonder if it's because of the high volume I am reading or if it's to do with the quality of modern fiction, of which there is a huge amount it seems.
Hmmm.

45 The Art of Fielding reasonably enjoyable read got a bit bored mid way but it picked up again, nicely written. Following a year in a college baseball team, and four students whose fortunes are intertwined with it.

The Pedant in the Kitchen sounds wonderful, Satsuki

whippet, I do sometimes think I should read fewer books but be more discerning about my choices. But even less-than-wonderful books can offer pleasure in the moment.

I agree that different books can offer different experiences. Sometimes you're in the mood for something mindless - there's still a pleasure in reading it, but it's never going to make it into your top ten. Often (not always) the best books can be quite an intense experience and you actively seek a fluffier book afterwards.

I find that the 50 book challenge works well, because for me (given my reading speed and available time) it means I can fit in a good mixture of the two. If I was aiming for 100 books I'd have to have a higher proportion of fluff! (Or great but short books I suppose!)

Good point, Tara - you can't remain at a high pitch of intensity all the time. Would be exhausting!

Yes, I enjoyed quite a lot of the books I've read; not many duff ones as such, but I only bonded the ones where the experience of reading it really stood out in my memory, where I had that feeling of 'got to get back to it'. I did my highlights retrospectively, I wonder if it would be different to if I marked them just after I read them? Some books seemed only ok in comparison to others looking back.

Also I'm not a particularly reliable witness - I loved the Pedant in the Kitchen, really enjoyed it, but something made me think not enough for bold type - perhaps because it was only short Really, we need a colour coded list with several different categories

I agree that it takes a fair bit for me to score a book at 4 or 5 out of 5. And yes, it would be exhausting if everything I read was at that pitch of perfection, as perfection - for me - is likely to be quite demanding (either in the brain hurty, or the emotional roller-coaster world).

My 3 star rating is probably a bit confusing in that it covers a wide spectrum. I rarely score 1 or 2 stars because as a novice writer, I find it hard to be that cruel to the author, although I do often wonder what the publisher was thinking!

Just finished book 52 Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves. Oddly, the whole story is in the blurb. Roscoe is an electrician by trade and vocation. His wife is a teacher whose parents are farmers and upon their death, she insists they take over. After a year spent hating it, Roscoe decides to divert electricity to the farm - illegally. It turns round their fortunes but also leads to a man electrocuting himself, for which Roscoe ends up in prison. A story of little lives, with duty, pride, responsibility, hopes and dreams all mixed in. A good read, but not a great one.

50. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Stunning, moving book which I had to read slowly to appreciate every little bit. A volatile, stubborn Baptist missionary takes his family to the Congo in 1960. Told through the distinctive, beautifully and cleverly written voices of his wife and four daughters, this is the tale of what happened to them, how it changed them and affected the rest of their lives. Loved this. So glad number 50 was outstanding.

Satsuki love your idea of a colour coded list with categories. I do enjoy most of what I read, but clearly boldening nearly everything would render it meaningless. Need categories like 'good fluff'; ' enjoyed and would have been bold but had some flaws' etc

I need a category for 'Absolutely bloody awful and I can't believe I actually bothered finishing the damn thing' plus another one for, 'So bloody awful that I gave up before page fifty and therefore can't count it in the challenge but need to record my pain somewhere anyway'.

So glad you enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible, Museum. I love Barbara Kingsolver!

I liked the Poisonwood Bible too, but gave up on Flight Behaviour and it went back to the library. Have Prodigal Summer to try on Kindle though.

Read a review of the new Jonathan Safran Foer today, and was quite intrigued by it.

@ remus's colour categories in 50 Shades of 'bloody awful'