50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Seven

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the final thread 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, please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read, and to anyone who hasn't posted, feel free to de-lurk and share with us what you've read so far this year.

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

Cote you can't?

The Life / Lives of .

Ah well, I guess the confusion was mine alone!

Welcome back, banana and that's certainly an eclectic mix!

I really need to update my full list. There are quite a few books that i have omitted but will try and fix this over the next few days. In the meantime these are my latest reads:

76. Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret – Judy Blume. I had fond memories of this from my own preteen years so bought it for my preteen DD and couldn’t resist a reread. Still enjoyable and as much a relevant read for girls of that age now as it was for me nearly 30 years ago.

77. The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat – Oliver Sachs. In this book Sachs presents a selection of case stories about some of his neurological patients and their diagnoses. The people in the pages of this book were drawn beautifully and their stories told with compassion, empathy and understanding.

78. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet – David Mitchell. I read this during the summer but somehow forgot to add it to my list. Set on the trading island of Dejima, Japan in the18th century this book follows the lives Dutch trader Jacob de Zoet and his colleagues and their interactions with the Japanese shoguns and other officials. This was a bit of a slow burner for me and I read it in starts and stops. I enjoy good historical fiction and this one definitely hit the spot once I got into my stride.

79. Burial Rites – Hannah Kent. Another 19th century historical novel. This story is based on Agnes Magnúsdóttir, who was the last person to be executed in Iceland. Beautiful and bleak.

OJ is a celebrity psychologist - enough said!

Realised I failed to say I meant not a library copy in the county of the Henrietta book. I'm sure there's plenty in the bookshops!

Oh poo! Typed long-ish post and then fluffed it

Biblio I'm so glad it's not just me with the reading ennui. Here's hoping to a better 2017, or a flurry of fabulousness in what's left of 2016.

whippet that Hare with Amber Eyes was one of my favourite reads from last year (or the one before). I can understand you holding back from ending it.

Cote fantastic musical interludes, just fantastic! Thank you

Grifone another of my past read favourites was Jacob de Zoet, but then I love Mr Mitchell's work. Slade House is just about to hit the top of that list ... I also have an Oliver Sachs waiting which I think will be leapfrogging it's way up that same list which thought makes me smile.

Oh & Stitches hope all goes wonderfully well with the arrival of 'little stitches'

101. Cartimandua Queen of the Brigantes by Nicki Howarth

A short examination of the life and times of Cartimandua, who was queen of the tribal federation of the Brigantes in northern England during the first century AD. She was queen in her own right and she ruled for around 26 years, which was an unusually long time. Unfortunately, not a lot is actually known about her other than in the accounts of Romans like Tacitus, who wasn't a fan. She chose to support the Roman invaders, handing over Caratacus for example, and they in turn supported her when her ex-husband staged not one but two rebellions against her. It was this arrangement with Rome that ensured the Brigantes' territory was not taken over by the invaders until after she was forced from her throne.

The book itself is a bit lightweight and inevitably speculative, and some of the pop culture references are a bit unnecessary (including Star Wars comparisons) but it was interesting.

My goodness banana that's a stonking list - you've caused me to add more to that TBR list!

69 Mystery in White by J Jefferson Farjeon This is an old 1930s murder mystery story. Train gets stuck in a snowdrift just before Christmas. The passengers in one compartment decide to try to walk to the nearest station. They get lost and instead come across a house where all the fires are lit, the kettle is boiling but no-one is home. Great set up to the story but the plot was solved with a bit of psychic nonsense - one character has visions of what has happened when touched with the potential weapon for example.

70 Antidote to Venom by Freeman Wills Crofts another 1930s murder mystery. In this one the first half is told from the point of view of the murderer, the second half from police point of view. First half is more powerful - you are in the head of the villain and can see how an honest man is led into temptation and then worse. Second half is more about the puzzle. Characters aren't as well drawn. Good read though.

I'm also reading A Victorian City by Judith Flanders which is taking me a bit longer - partly because the book is too big to carry on the train where I do a lot of my reading.

What a great list banana - I totally agree with your assessments of the ones I have read, so based on this I have also added more to my wish list! However, hearing the voice of Miss Jean Brodie in a Glasgow accent is just wrong; she'd be birling in her grave

Ditto - have wishlisted woman in the polar night crapfatbanana

Am I the only one not have got on with Jean Brodie? Tried it again recently and just find it really weird!

Hoping to get thousand autumns for Christmas so glad you liked it grifone

I suppose she would Ham! Oops. Sorry, Muriel.

The first thing I've put on my tbr list for next year us We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, after listening to the reviews on A Good Read the other day. I won't make a complete tbr in 2017 list, just choose a few things I really hope to get through: usually a classic I want to tackle and probably a couple of things that have gathered lots of dust on the shelf, the rest I pick willy nilly as the mood takes me. I have a tiny notebook crammed full of titles that I gather like a magpie from various places, including here, but I only use it as a way of reminding myself to read the synopses and reviews.

If any of you haven't seen the Historical Ponderings threads that have been running on here for the last few days, then Rustybear has put together a fantastic reading list here with lots of great suggestions.

There is selection of "award winners" on Kindle deals today - inc The Three Body Problem and All the Light We Cannot See amongst others, previous Booker winners etc all for under £2. Today only I believe.

Thanks for list, best will have a peruse.

Link please Satsuki? Had a few drinks and can't find it myself

It's here cote (I hope) I only stumbled across it. It was in a banner in top of the Kindle store page, or comes under 'Deal of the Day'

105 Mr Nice by Howard Marks

Autobiography of the well known dope smuggler. It's quite a remarkable story, assuming any reasonable proportion of it is true. I'm not any fan of the war on drugs, nor large scale incarceration, but I was left by the end of the book both slightly stunned, and feeling that it was probably a very good thing that he was locked up for a reasonably serious period of time.

Thanks Satsuki

And today we have quite a few film tie-ins as Kindle specials. Alan Turing:The Enigma is 99p!

The Godfather is also a good read at 99p

I can recommend The Railway Man too.

The Lady in the Van and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are my picks from today's Kindle sale.

Book 121
City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
It seems to be my year for books that are far longer than their contents actually merit (The Luminaries, The Fifth Heart plus various others) and here’s another. This is the third of the trilogy which began with The Passage, and they’ve got progressively worse as the series has continued, I’m afraid. This one didn’t really seem to know quite what it wanted to do or be, so it spent ages on Tim Fanning (the viral Zero) when he was a man, presumably to make us sympathise with him but really not doing much in terms of story. Then it had lots of stuff that was some sort of alternate version of reality, so Amy and Peter in some sort of dream cottage, and Carter (another viral) in some sort of dream garden etc. It was all pretty repetitive and dull. The final section too, just felt like pretty silly and unnecessary padding. Where it was strongest was in the sections where things were actually happening in the ‘now’ – a viral attack, for example. Overall though, this was a huge disappointment and I wouldn’t really recommend it, even to people who enjoyed the other two books.

I liked Into The Wild and The Book Thief from today's deals. Love The Virgin Suicides. Wallflower okay but I thought the ending was ridiculous. The Road is okay but pretty much a rip-off of The Stand in someways, and I thought the ending was a cop-out.

I'm currently re reading Call The Midwife. I've read it before and the stories of childbirth in the East End are fascinating but I'm a bit at some of the author's opinions.

For example, about a man who had gone to fight in the Spanish Civil War she says

'It is doubtful if he the faintest idea of what he was doing, as foreign affairs rarely penetrated the consciousness of working people in the 1930s . Political idealism could have played no part in it and whether he fought for the republicans or the Royalists would have been immaterial.'

I mean never mind the hundreds of miners who went to Spain to fight Fascism for example (including a relative of mine).

There are a couple of other instances of appalling snobbery and I'm afraid it's colouring my view of the book.

Remus - Good to know that I don't have to rush to read City Of Mirrors for 10 quid.