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.

I think Misery has some of his best writing in it, and works really well as a straightforward thriller without any supernatural nonsense. I think a lot of books have taken from it since.

63.The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern The night circus is the venue for a competition between two protagonists. Really enjoyed it although it is written in the present tense which is a bit annoying after a while.

64 Falling in Love by Donna Leon Another of her long series of mysteries set in Venice, this one concerning an opera singer who is being stalked. Was enjoyable but slight - the plot in very simple without much in the way of red herrings, etc. Also finding it increasingly unbelievable that they are reliant on one person to do all their computer searches because even though it is set in contemporary Italy none of the police officers seem to know much about computers.

65 Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr American writer from Idaho gets the chance to work in Rome for a year. Arrives with wife and very young twin sons. This book is an account of their time. Enjoyed it. Interestingly he arrived working on a book with the ambition to get more of it written but it actually took him years to complete and publish the book.

I haven't read much new King but enjoyed 11.22.63. My old favourite was It, and The Stand & The Shining. Found Carrie a bit ten angst even when I was an angsty teen.
I've only read one Jin Butcher but think so far I prefer Benedict Jacka Chillie

Remus can't remember how you feel about Le Carre. You may like A Perfect Spy ( or may hate it!)

Thanks, Stokey. I really liked The Spy who Came in from the Cold, which is the only one of his I've read so far. I need a break from war and spy stuff at the moment though, as it's been pretty much my entire reading list this year!

64. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre

My husband has taken the children on a fun trip out the local tip so I could finish this. It got the half way point and I was physically unable to stop reading it. But goodness, it was bleak. Great, sparse writing, female characters not well drawn, but par for the course for the time. I only read one or two Le Carre before, The Constant Gardener a few years ago, going to look out some more of The Smiley series, but need something more uplifting next!

My kindle went rogue earlier and began talking to me, and I was unable to shut it off. Was all a bit 2001 for a minute there, but may mean I finally get a Paperwhite for Christmas

Le Carre is brilliant, but I agree with Satsuki about how bleak he can be. His characters can be quite unlikeable as well. I remember reading The Tailor of Panama and only finding two characters (both women) in any way sympathetic.

Dug out my Spy who Came in from the Cold review:
The Spy Who Came in from the Coldby John le Carre
My gosh this was depressing. I’m glad I read it. It was gripping and terrifying and twisty and turny, as you’d expect a critically acclaimed book about espionage and counter-espionage to be, but my word it was relentlessly, horribly grim. None of characters come out of it terribly well, and the treatment of women is v much of its time and context – a bulldozer of a book.

Interesting fact of the day: did you know that Nick Harkaway (who writes dystopian fiction like Angelmaker) is Le Carre's son?

51. A Mother's Reckoning by Sue Klebold. The memoir of the mother of one of the Columbine killers, this is a terrifying book for a parent to read. It's terrifying because the author comes across as such a normal, engaged, loving mother - how could her son have turned into a mass murderer? And that is the question she sets out to answer herself in this book, reflecting on her journey of discovery over the past 17 years since the shooting. It's not sensationalist; there is not much detail about the actual events. She now does a lot of work with suicide prevention organisations, and interviewed many experts while writing the book. Recommended if you are interested in books about mental health.

Le Carré's earlier books were pretty good. He was of that time and that was the espionage era he actually knew about.

He hasn't adapted well to the end of the Cold War and is not really familiar with the new world of intelligence. I was terribly disappointed his later books, though: Absolute Friends, and especially A Most Wanted Man. Nothing fucking happened in that book. Nothing. I was when I saw they made a film out of it. What can the film possibly be showing for 2 hours?

I feel like I've just parroted your review remus

The book read so well and was very entertaining, but at the end you are left with this melancholy world view that is a bit at odds with how enjoyable the experience of reading it was. If that makes any sense.

And the women largely don't know what they're about really, unless typing, letting slip confidential information, cooking, or bursting into tears.

It was v good though.

Satsuki - totally agree re the ending.

new thread - yay! and Yay! Finally got to 50 - didn't think I'd manage that this year.

50. Heavenfield - LJ Ross - another of the DCI Ryan books. The rumbling storyline with the Circle comes to a head. Glad that has come to a head, although the end seemed rather rushed.

I've just trying to decide if I'm going to abandon Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black - I just can't get into it at all, has anyone read it and is it worth sticking with?

My 50 list (hits in bold, misses in italics):
1. Whispers Underground – Ben Aaronovitch
2. The Monogram Murders – Sophie Hannah
3. The Crow Trap – Ann Cleeves
4. An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth – Chris Hadfield
5. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
6. The Affair of the Bloodstained Tea Cosy – James Anderson
7. The house on the Strand – Daphne du Maurier
8. Watership Down – Richard Adams
9. Broken Homes – Ben Aaronovitch
10. Telling Tales – Ann Cleeves
11. Agent Zigzag – Ben McIntyre
12. Night after Night – Phil Rickman
13. The Last Kingdom – Bernard Cornwell
14. The Mangle Street Murders – MRC Kasasain
15. A Meditation on Murder – Robert Thorogood
16. The Pale Horseman – Bernard Cornwell
17. The Curse of the House of Foskett – MRC Kasasain
18. Death Descends on Saturn Villa – MRC Kasasian
19. The Cold Calling – Phil Rickman
20. The Versions of Us – Laura Barnett
21. The Hungar Games – Suzanne Collins
22. The Master of the Priory – Annie Haynes
23. Mean Spirit – Phil Rickman
24. The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan
25. Foxglove Summer – Ben Aaronovitch
26. Just One Damned Thing After Another – Jodi Taylor
27. The Ocean at the End of the Road – Neil Gaiman
28. After me Comes the Flood – Sarah Perry
29. The Janissary Tree – Jason Goodwin
30. The Constant Princess – Philippa Gregory
31. Holy Island – LJ Ross
32. Dissolution – C J Sansom
33. The Wine of the Angels – Phil Rickman
34. The End of the World Running Club – Adrian J Walker
35. Sycamore Gap – LJ Ross
36. The House by the Lake – Ella Carey
37. The Secrets of Gaslight Lane – MRC Kasasian
38. A Short History of England – Simon Jenkins
39. The Lords of the North – Bernard Cornwell
40. Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones
41. Night Blind – Ragnar Jonasson
42. The Immortals – S. E. Lister
43. The Lake District Murder – John Bude
44. The Lady in the Van – Alan Bennet
45. We Are Liars – E. Lockhart
46. Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan
47. Slade House – David Mitchell
48. Persuasion – Jane Austen
49. Morning Star – Pierce Brown
50. Heavenfield – LJ Ross

Looking at my list, I've clearly done better than in the past with far fewer 'crap' books read to the end, I'm getting better at abandoning!

My list so far:

1. The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marion Keyes
2. Whatever Love Is by Rosie Rushton
3. Summer of Secrets by Rosie Rushton
4. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor
5. Like a Virgin by Aarathi Prasad
6. Her by Harriet Lane
7. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor
8. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo
9. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

10. Username: Evie by Joe Suggs 11. The Death of Wolverine by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven 12. Nyctophobia by Christopher Fowler 13. Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School by Josephine Chase 14. In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware 15. Techbitch by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza 16. Armada by Ernest Cline 17. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis 18. X-Generation 1: You Don't Know Me by Brad Magnarella 19. Variant by Robison Wells 20. Our Lady of the Streets by Tom Pollock 21. The Winter Children by Lulu Taylor 22. The Duke Can Go To The Devil by Erin Knightley 23. The Unquiet Past by Kelley Armstrong 24. Stepping Back by Shelby Locke 25. The O.D. by Chris James 26. Brood by Chase Novak 27. The Medium by C.J. Archer 28. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster 29. Unenchanted by Chanda Hahn 30. Night Shift by Stephen King 31. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett 32. The Coming of Age of The Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer 33. A Genius at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer 34. Chalet School Fete by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer 35. A Problem for the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent-Dyer 36. The Chalet School Reunion by Elinor M Brent Dyer 37. Mr Mercedes by Stephen King 38. The 100 by Kass Morgan 39. The 100 Day 21 by Kass Morgan 40. The 100 Homecoming by Kass Morgan 41. A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah 42. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor 43. Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama 44. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino 45. The Martian by Andy Weir 46. Bedbugs by Ben H Winters 47. No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill 48. The Cure by Stephanie Erikson 49. Under Ground by S.L. Grey 50. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris 51. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers 52. The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer 53. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige 54. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

And

55. The Narrow Bed by Sophie Hannah

Pairs of best friends have been murdered, with each of the victims receiving a small white book before they die. Comedian Kim Tribbeck, who's also received a white book, contacts the police after she sees the news reports and fears that she's a target.

Interesting enough throughout, but unfortunately let down by the ending. The killer and their motive is revealed at the end, and it's an unbelievably ludicrous motive for murder. I can't remember ever coming across a motive as bizarre and unbelievable as this in any other crime novel I've read.

Ooo, Dinosaurs, I have read Beyond Black. So has my mum but DP abandoned it so you're not alone. I think there's some wonderful writing in that novel but it's an odd story and I'm not sure it quite works. I was actually thinking about this book the other day as it did make quite an impression on me. Life's too short to stick with it if you really don't like it though

I hated Beyond Black. Thought it was even worse than Wolf Hall (which means I really, really hated it).

Still laughing at Satsuki absentmindedly typing 'a bit of Cox' into Google

29. Secret History of the Blitz, Joseph Levine

An essay style nf book, which was informative but not really suited to bedtime reading. The author bases much of his evidence on real people and how they reacted to various scenarios, which gave an interesting perspective. However he swaps rather quickly to a new point, or a new event, which when tired and skim reading, meant I got a little lost. My fault really. Also as an FYI to anyone reading on a kindle. The book actually finishes at 75%. The remainder are his acknowledgements / references etc. Which is why it feels like he is concluding rather early!

Am rather jealous of those of you who keep a master list. Definitely going to do that next year as I too have been convinced to keep going as I'm loving the challenge! Still feel that I will comfortably make 40 which as I started a bit late, is fairly good going. I just need to find enough books that I want to read!

Bringing across my list so far whilst taking a break from my current book, The Shifts and the Shocks: What we've learned - and have yet to learn - from the financial crisis. Good so far, but I need to take care not to lose concentration & skim, because it's easy to miss important points.

Anyway, list to date, with highlights in bold. I'm a serial abandoner, so don't have too many real duds on here, but I've put sad faces by those which didn't live up to expectations (or the odd dud that I finished due to lack of other reading material / optimism that it might improve).

1. Island of dreams
2. Dark star
3. Ready Player One
4. Regeneration
5. Help!
6. Inequality: What Can be Done
7. The Hearing Trumpet
8. Viper Wine
9. Grief is the thing with Feathers
10. Deep Sea and Foreign Going
11. The City and the City 11.5) Witch Week 11.75) The Magicians of Caprona
12. Dark Intelligence
13. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August 13.5) The future of the Euro
14. The First Casualty
15. Europe in Autumn
16. Spark Joy
17. Nothing is true and everything is possible: Adventures in Modern Russia
18. Starship Troopers
19. Lean In
20. Fair Girls and Grey Horses
21. The Three Body Problem
22. Fated (Alex Verus)
23. Girl in a band :(
24. How to be Both
25. The invisible library :(
26. Europe at Midnight
27. Cursed (Alex Verus)
28. Thinking fast and slow
29. The Dark Forest
30. Taken (Alex Verus)
31. Fever and Spear (Your face tomorrow)
32. The Humans
33. Night School
34. Legacy (Night School 2)
35. Fracture (Night School 3)
36. Resistance (Night school 4)
37. Endgame (Night School 5)
38. Social Class in the 21st Century
39. Storm Front
40. Sorcerer to the Crown
41. Names for the Sea
42. The Best of All Possible Worlds
43. The Precariat, the new dangerous class :(
44. The Lie Tree
45. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making
46. The Life Project
47. The Girl who fell beneath Fairyland and led the revels there
48. Bad Science.
49. The New Spymasters
50. Do No Harm :(
51. Behind the Beautiful Forevers :(
52. Clockwork Angel
53. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
54. HHhH
55. Clockwork Prince
56. Undercover: The true story of Britain's secret police
57. Fanny and Stella
58. Soulless
59. Changeless
60. Blameless
61. Heartless
62. Timeless
63. Stasi Child
64. Stasiland
65. Prudence (Custard Protocol)
66. Curtsies and Conspiracies
67. The Demolished Man
68. Postcapitalism :(
69. Waistcoats and Weaponry
70. Clockwork Princess
71. Manners and Mutiny
72. Unquenchable Fire
73. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
74. Between Two Thorns
75. Alex's Adventures in Numberland
76. Any other Name
77. Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes :(
78. Interworld
79. All is Fair
80. Gemsigns
81. The Difference Engine
82. Binary
83. The School for Good and Evil
84. Quicksilver
85. The Pedant in the Kitchen
86. The Wolf Border
87. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
88. Stet
89. King of the Vagabonds
90. Wide Sargasso Sea
91. Planetfall
92. First Bite
93. The Examined Life
94. The Iron Trial
95. The Copper Gauntlet
96. Evicted: Poverty and profit in the American city
97. Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate
98. Factory Girls
99. Paranormality
100. My Antonia

Well lads!

I come to you as Songbird, Disappointed of the North West!

I have just finished A God In Ruins and thought it was utter shite. Loved Life After Life so much thought it brilliant and beautiful everything I loved about it missing from this.

Viola is a hideous, despicable character, and there is just so much cliche and jarring real world nods (inc a Mumsnet shout out)about the modern day segments

Even the slight end twist didn't save it and I didn't even bother to read the tedious Augustus excerpt at the end.

Gah! SO ANNOYED

Oh I didn't think it was awful. I thought it did quite a few things very well; the descriptions of the air war were fantastic. Viola was meant to be hateful - it increases the impact of the revelation about her childhood IMO, when you realise why she was set on the course she was, and you've been complicit in hating her when she was a victim too.

I also thought it was good at showing how the trauma of war lives on in some respects for generations, and doesn't end with the conflict; there are many types of heroism, and even blighted, complicated, unheroic lives, have value and meaning and potential; and heroes themselves can be flawed. I did think the ending parts with Viola in the modern day were weak, though, but she writes about war exceptionally well.

90. Into the Wild – John Krakauar
I didn’t enjoy this as much as Into Thin Air, although it’s a genuinely interesting account of the life of Chris McCandless, a graduate from a wealthy family who became a drifter/traveller/hiker. The book follows his life and what happened when he decided to live off the land in Alaska. I felt there wasn’t enough material to justify the length of the book and it would have been better for being more of an account of people who decide to live alternative lifestyles as travellers/explorers of the American landscape (which is was to some extent) rather than being largely based on one individual. He obviously did capture the imagination of many people he met however, and the book is well written and well researched.

91. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs
YA fun. I did enjoy this, as much as you can enjoy a YA novel, and it’s an imaginative story, based around actual photographs of unknown individuals, which lends a clever and unique element to the story. Some of the language jarred however, largely that of the children in 1940s England – their speech was just too American and modern. Will definitely read the next instalment soon however. Well reviewed on this thread already.

92. Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell
Oh dear. I fancied something light to read and this was pure fluff! Cather and her twin sister Wren are freshman at Nebraska state University. Cather is the socially awkward fanfiction writer, Wren is the outgoing, confident one. This was cliché after cliché of first love, kissing, nights at the library, endless description about how and why the love interest was cute (really bloody endless) and included huge, tedious chunks of Cather’s fanfiction writing about Simon Snow (a thinly disguised Harry Potter) which was mean to get thousands of hits, but is truly terrible and dull imho. This was pretty bad but I did polish it off in a weekend and read it till past 1.00 in the morning. The literary equivalent of watching America’s Next Top Model – you know you shouldn’t but yet you do…

I fell off the thread sometime earlier this summer, but have been inspired to add my list to the growing collection! With highlights in bold and stinkers in italics, the books I've read since I last posted are:

29. The Westin Game - Ellen Raskin
30. Last Days of the Bus Club - Chris Stewart
31. Get out of My Life - but first drive me and Alex to town - Tony Wolf and Suzanna Franks
32. Sweet Caress - William Boyd
33. Emma - Alexander McCall Smith
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Jonathan Unleashed - Meg Rosoff
36. A Good Man is Hard to Find - Flannery O'Connor
37. Orange is the New Black - Piper Kerman
38. In My House - Alex Hourston
39. A Very British Murder - Lucy Worsley
40. Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith
41. The Exclusives - Rebecca Thornton
42. L'Assomoir - Emile Zola
43. Uprooted - Naomi Novak
44. The House at the Edge of the World - Julia Rochester
45. The Examined Life - Stephan Grosz
46. When the Music Stops - Peter Robinson
47. The Pendragon Protocol - Philip Purser-Holland
48. The Girl in the Spider's Web
49. Half a Crown - Jo Walton
50. Ha'penny - Jo Walton
51. Farthing - Jo Walton
52. The Muse - Jessie Burton
53. the Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerje Divakaruni
54. Olive Kitteredge - Elizabeth Strout

Damnit Whippet Woman, I've just started Fangirl

I found Cather and Wren as twin names

I loved Eleanor and Park by her though. GORGEOUS.

I think Fangirl really is aimed at teenage fangirls . . . 14 y/o dd loves it (and Carry On, the novel version of Simon Snow she then brought out).