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.

55. Sovereign by C. J. Sansom (Shardlake #3)

I really enjoyed this. It was a little bit light on plot in the beginning, but made up for it later on. Henry VIII's era truly comes alive in these books and I love everything about them - the flawed protagonist, attention to detail, the author's impressive knowledge about the period, its customs and ways of life, and the stories. A fine addition to this great series.

72. The Ice Child - Camilla Lackberg. Good crime series, I like the main protagonist who is a policeman's wife and investigative journalist. There's a bit of a back story which helps if you read them in sequence but it's not essential. This one was a bit darker than some of the others but a good detective story.

73. The Knot - Mark Watson. For some reason this was on my wishlist, I must have seen it recommended somewhere. Apparently it's a comedy but I didn't find it funny at all. It follows the life of Dominic, a wedding photographer, and his family, particularly his relationship with his sister. I'm not sure what he was aiming for but can't see much to commend here.

I got A Little Life out of the library so that it up next. I think it might be good for wallowing in the depression of Trump & Cohen.

66. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

I really enjoyed this, better than American Wife, she really nailed certain aspects of teenage life exquisitely well. I liked that the main character was a bit unsure of herself and unenthusiastic all the way through; there was no unlikely rags to riches triumph. Having problems with my eyes this week so slowed down but it was wonderfully escapist to disappear into a boarding school drama for a chunk of time here and there.

Stokey are you a Cohen fan? I read this lovely article on him from the New Yorker a few weeks ago; very poignant now. I saw him live when he did his touring a few years ago. He was amazing. New Yorker article

Oh Satsuki

I didn't like Prep, thought the girl a dreadful character, and the whole thing a bit miz.

"Miz"?

I'll assume miz is miserable? Otherwise I have no idea, but assuming it is, those were the things I think I liked about it and that elevated it from chick lit (that and the observational detail) The book was about being an outsider and a true weirdo; not a quirky type that finds their own place eventually, or has a dramatic breakdown or epiphany, or gets the boy, or wins a prize, but one that just really doesn't, and is an observer of their own life.

Sorry, yes, miserable it's a perfectly normal abbreviation round here As in Les of course

Hi all, wow on our final thread already?! Quick update from me:
11. Halloween Part - Agatha Christie - this was ok. I agree with someone in other thread that said there wasn't enough Halloween references though.
12. The Burning Air - Erin Kelly. This was very enjoyable and the twist was brilliant. However, I would say that the first half and the twist in the middle were the best parts of the book with the second half a bit weaker. But overall I would recommend.

Cote - every time you review a Shardelake book positively, I get a little glow inside. I feel ridiculously happy that you approve of them!

I'm currently on a re-read of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys which I enjoyed years ago and was 99p on Kindle. I'm quite enjoying it, but not as much as I did on first read - it doesn't half witter on a bit in places. You'd hate it, Cote.

Thanks for posting that article Satsuki, beautifully written. I think he was the first person whose words blew me away, although I do remember my parents complaining about having to listen to turgid depressing music, what did they know?

I especially liked the bits about Leonard & Dylan, both great poets.

Book 118
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Re-read. I enjoyed this tale of two brothers who are sons to the Spider-God Anansi. It’s rather silly but rather sweet too. It’s too long, with some unnecessary wittering in places, but all in all, Gaiman’s best imvho.

Remus - I love Shardlake books. Actually, I love the genre of historical crime fiction. It doesn't even have to be historical - as long as it is about a foreign land/culture, that's great for me

Yashim the Eunuch books about Ottoman Istanbul and Inspector Shan books about contemporary Tibet also scratch the same itch. Love them all.

152. In A Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
     Average psychological thriller - story was ok and I guessed the outcome quite early on. I liked the atmospheric setting of the glass house in the wood.

153. Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer

A student with Asperger's studies anatomy and believes the corpse they're dissecting was murdered. A bit different to anything I've read before and I enjoyed it but it was more of a crime procedural rather than a psychological thriller.

154. Friday on my mind by Nicci French

I like Nicci French books and have been enjoying the Frieda Klein series, but this was the weakest in the series. Nothing much happened and it felt too much like padding before they get to the big story leading up to the end of the series (I'm assuming of course that the series will end with Sunday!)

155. The Bones of you by Debbie Howells

Similar to The Lovely Bones. A young girl goes missing and the story is told through her flashbacks and the viewpoint of another lady in the village. Started well but lost my attention partway through and again I guessed whodunnit.

156. Buried In Cornwall by Janie Bolitho

I was keen to read this as I like books set in places I know, but sadly I didn't enjoy this. The characters were annoying, and the 'heroine' didn't even end up solving the crime! Won't bother with any more.

157. The Stranger in my home by Adele Parks

The premise intrigued me - what would you do if a man turned up one day as told you that your daughters had been swapped at birth? I did enjoy the exploration of this but the end really let it down as it wasn't what I was expecting from this genre.

158. Pretty Girl Thirteen by Liz Coley

An interesting book. A girl is kidnapped from camp when she is 13 and turns up three years later with no memory of where she's been. It turns out that she has dissociative disorder and created several identities to cope with the trauma. The book covers her coming to terms with all this in therapy. As I have an interest in psychology I was interested in reading this but i felt the cure was too neat and quick. I have no idea though whether this is realistic or not.

159. Sod Abroad by Michael Moran

A book about all the reasons why going on holiday is a bad idea and staying home is best! Funny, but joke wore thin and it felt repetitive towards the end.

160. Walking Away by Simon Armitage

Poet walking the south west coast path. I liked the parts about the places I know. This was nicely written and I liked it.

And on that note, Dan Simmons' new book The Fifth Heart is down to £1.99 on the Kindle. He is the author of Hyperion and Drood. I just bought it.

Amazon blurb:

In 1893, Sherlock Holmes and Henry James come to America together to investigate the suicide of Clover Adams, wife of the esteemed historian Henry Adams - a member of the family that has given the United States two Presidents. Quickly, the investigators deduce that there's more to Clover's death than meets the eye - with issues of national importance at stake.

Holmes is currently on his Great Hiatus - his three-year absence after Reichenbach Falls during which time the people of London believe him to be deceased. The disturbed Holmes has faked his own death and now, as he meets James, is questioning what is real and what is not.

Holmes' theories shake James to the core. What can this master storyteller do to fight against the sinister power - possibly Moriarty - that may or may not be controlling them from the shadows? And what was Holmes' role in Moriarty's rise?

Just bought that too, Cote. Hopefully it will be better than Drood!

Cool! I'm on a quick reread now and then will go on to this book.

56. Lexicon by Max Barry

This was the perfect counterpoint (ha!) to Rameau's under-serious biography that I'm reading atm. Lexicon is a fantastic story: fast-paced, intriguing, inventive, fresh, full of ideas. I heartily recommend it to everyone here.

A young hustler is approached by a researcher on the street who asks her seemingly inane questions: Are you a dog person or a cat person? What is your favourite color? etc. Then there is a strange test she apparently passes, and she is whisked off to an esoteric "school" for people talented in persuasion who are also good at resisting persuasion.

So far so Harry Potter...

What follows is a great story that weaves together Sumerian & South African legends about confusion of languages like in Babel, hacking the brain through language/words (Helloooo Snow Crash! ), "poets" who master the use of specific nonsense words to control each type of person. Figuring out which type each person is through their expressions, speech, actions, and especially their responses to specific questions. And how this is what Facebook questionnaires you are told to answer & share are really about.

No, it's not high literature but I loved the internal consistency and world-building in this book. The story is brilliant and it will make a great film one day to rival Memento and Inception, especially is Christopher Nolan directs it.

Don't even question, just read it. You can thank me later

49. Walking on Sunshine: 52 Small Steps to Happiness - Rachel Kelly. Short book about how to improve your quality of life, it doesn't offer much that's groundbreaking or in-depth but it's been quite helpful to me.

50. Nomad - Alan Partridge. Second memoir from Alan, this was entertaining but nowhere near as funny as his first book.

Posting my updated list now I've read 50, outstanding books in bold and the crap in italics:

1. Untold Stories - Alan Bennett
2. Levels of Life - Julian Barnes
3. A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled - Ruby Wax
4. An Awfully Big Adventure - Beryl Bainbridge
5. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
6. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k - Sarah Knight
7. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
8. The Good Liar - Nicholas Searle
9. Passenger 23 - Sebastian Fitzek

10. The Women Who Went to Bed for a Year - Sue Townsend 11. The Driver's Seat - Muriel Spark 12. The Widow - Fiona Barton 13. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman 14. Nice Work (If You Can Get It) - Celia Imrie 15. Mothering Sunday - Graham Swift 16. This is Me - Michelle Collins 17. Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson 18. Memoirs of a Professional Cad - George Sanders 19. Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh 20. Olivier - Philip Ziegler 21. Miss Lonelyhearts - Nathaniel West 22. Waist Disposal - Dr John Briffa 23. Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters 24. Not Working - Lisa Owens 25. Straight Up - Danny Dyer 26. Shop Girl - Mary Portas 27. Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith 28. The World According to Danny Dyer - Danny Dyer 29. Man at the Helm - Nina Stibbe 30. Respectable - Lynsey Hanley 31. Gentlemen & Players - Joanne Harris 32. Love from Boy - Roald Dahl/Donald Sturrock 33. Luckiest Girl Alive - Jessica Knoll 34. Charlotte’s Web - E.B White 35. The Muse - Jessie Burton 36. Out of Time - Miranda Sawyer 37. The Swimming Pool Library - Alan Hollinghurst 38. I See You - Claire Mackintosh 39. My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout 40. Peter O’Toole - Robert Sellers 41. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan 42. The Collector - John Fowles 43. The History of Us - Jonathan Harvey 44. Nutshell - Ian McEwan 45. His Bloody Project - Graeme Macrae Burnet 46. Bridget Jones’s Baby: the Diaries - Helen Fielding 47. Maggie Smith - Michael Coveney 48. Exposure - Helen Dunmore 49. Walking on Sunshine: 52 Small Steps to Happiness - Rachel Kelly 50. Nomad - Alan Partridge

Thanks for the recommendation for Lexicon Cote, it looks excellent. Do you know how well-known the author is? It looks like it would make a good xmas present for sci-fi loving BiL, if he hasn't read it already.

I don't think the author is terribly well-known among SF aficionados. I guess you would call it SF since controlling people through specific series of sounds doesn't exist (or does it? ) but the book has a very real and contemporary feel to it.

It is more like conspiracy theory than sci-fi imho.

Definitely read it before giving it to your BIL.

Will do, thanks. Have you read Europe in Autumn? I really enjoyed the near-future thriller element, though I was a bit disappointed by the more overtly sci-fi-y ending.

No I haven't but it looks interesting. I put it on my Amazon Wish List, thanks

I've made it to 50 so here is my list with favourites in bold:

1. The Health Delusion

2. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

1. 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet - Michael Mosely
2. A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J Maas

5. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

1. Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurer

7. The Paying Guests - Sarah Waters 8. Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

1. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

10. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 11. Queen of Shadows - Sarah J Maas 12. The Girl in the Red Coat - Kate Hamer 13. The Lie Tree - Francis Hardinge 14. The Versions of Us - Laura Barnett 15. A Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith 16. The Obesity Code - Jason Fung 17. Awakening Through Dreams - Nigel Hamilton 18. The Muse - Jessie Burton 19. Fairies in Tradition and Literature - Katherine Briggs 20. Becoming, Unbecoming - Una 21. Uprooted - Naomi Novik 22. The Gap of Time - Jeanette Winterson 23. The Chimes - Anna Small 24. Landmarks - Robert McFarlane 25. The Mighty Dead - Adam Nicholson 26. The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman 27. The Odyssey- Homer 28. Look Who's Back - Timur Vermes 29. The Epigenetics Revolution 30. The Crossing Places - Elly Griffiths 31. The Janus Stone - Elly Griffiths 32. The House at Sea's End - Elly Griffiths 33. Empire of Storms - Sarah J Maas 34. A Room Full of Bones - Elly Griffiths 35. Dying Fall - Elly Griffiths 36. The Outcast Dead - Elly Griffiths 37. The Ghost Fields - Elly Griffiths 38. In Her Wake - Amanda Jennings 39. Faerie Tale - Raymond E Feist 40. The Good People - Hannah Kent 41. Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert 42. Wolf Winter - Cecilia Ekback 43. The Forgetting Time - Sharon Guskin 44. Mr Mercedes - Stephen King 45. Finders Keepers - Stephen King 46. The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu 47. The Dark Forest - Cixin Liu 48. Death's End - Cixin Liu 49. Misogynies - Joan Smith 50. A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness

I've read a lot of enjoyable books this year - here's hoping next year has so many highlights too.

Book 119
Trek by Paul Stewart
Non-fiction – the story of a real life disaster in the Sahara in the 1950s. Four strangers set out together to journey across Africa in a Morris van. This was interesting and it makes a change for me to read a disaster in the heat, instead of the ice! I thought the writing style sometimes left a bit to be desired but I was interested in the people and their journey, especially as you know throughout that disaster is looming but are not sure where, when or how it’s going to hit.

Have wish listed Lexicon. Feel tempted by the Simmons, too, but not sure. I've got Hyperion 2 out of the library, finally, just got to try and remember what the hell was going on in the first one!

Persevered with All the Light We Cannot See and enjoying it now.