50 Book Challenge 2017 Part One

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2017, 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.

Who's in for this year?

Book 1: The Mistake I Made by Paula Daly

Roz is a physiotherapist that regularly gets propositioned by her clients. This book tells the story of what happens when she makes a series of decisions to try and address the mess of her life. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it but I really did. Well written, extremely easy to read, believable characters, even if the story was a bit far fetched. But that's ok in fiction right? 8/10

Finished book 2!

2. Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen
Finished this one in a few hours after plodding through book 1. It was enjoyable, page-turning stuff. I found the ending difficult actually. I think the first person narrative made it challenging. Overall though an interesting twist on the abandoned woman storyline.

Now off to tackle the Essex Serpent

Never going to make it to 50 but I'm marking my place to get some inspiration. Currently 10% of the way through Amercanah - but haven't picked it up since my summer holiday, mucking about on my iPad seems to take up what was my reading time. Setting my personal goal at 20 books this year.

Ha everysongbird I meant to comment on that but pages passed and I forgot. I love Much Ado.

I still haven't seen the Joss Whedon one, this has reminded me to look it up.

Blossom- I loved the mistake I made too! And instantly went to get her other books which were just as good!

It's very good Satsuki particularly the guy who plays Benedick

Just written a longish post that I've lost and my phone is now misbehaving. Aarghhh
1 The Drowning Pool by Syd Moore. Daft story about a young widow being haunted by her namesake,a 19th century sea-witch. Marketed as a ghost story, it read like chicklit. The writing was clunky, the characters were clichéd and there was a bizarre scene involving a shop mannequin. Oh, and the ending was ridiculous.
2 Dead Man's Grip by PeterJames.(audio book) Enjoyable police procedural set in Brighton. I would listen to more in the series but my library's overdrive only has this one and it's not even the first in the series.
Now reading Stuff Matters by Mark somebody and listening to Stella Remington book

oh are they muggle? Any you would particularly recommend?

Finished listening to Cheer Up Love by Susan Calman. Not quite what I was expecting. It is a combination of autobiography, self-help manual for depression and a campaign for mental health. I enjoyed most of it, although I thought some of the self-help stuff fell into her own trap of assuming that what worked for her would work for everyone. Still really good to see someone writing candidly about this stuff, actually particularly abut social gender assumptions. Overall it got four stars from me.

That's number 4 for me. I can't believe it!

Just saw this on Twitter - Alain de Botton

"Some 130 million books have been published in history; a big reader will get through 6,000 in a lifetime. Choose carefully..."

Good advice!

Ladydeep those sorts of statistics give me a panic!!

whippet, interested to see how you get on the The Sumpathiser. I found it whilst browsing in Waterstones last year and it's been on my wish list but trying get through my mountain of books first.

LadyDepp, further evidence to dump those books that you detest rather than soldiering on..

So many books, too little time!

Book 3 The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country Helen Russell

An enjoyable and witty exploration into what it's like to live in Denmark and why the Danes come top of a lot of happiness polls. Writing from her experience of moving to Denmark for a year Russell explores the different aspects of life and how they look in Denmark backed up by statistics and conversations with experts in the field. The last part of the book deals with how we can adopt some of the Danish way in our life. Definitely worth a read if you like memoir type books.

After enjoying this have decided to read The Little Book of Hygge next as want to further delve into what makes the Danish so happy.

Ladydepp, I like that quote! A good point.

Just starting number 4, Did You Ever Have a Family

Great to see some love for Breakfast at Tiffany's - I think it's an under-read and under appreciated little novel. Am v fond of it.

Good also to see yet more love for This Thing of Darkness and Captain Fitzroy. I don't think I'll ever be able to read the final section again - it hurts too much. :(

I do think Cote and MuseumofHam should give The Essex Serpent a go. It has a similar focus to This Thing of Darkness on big Victorian ideas about a clash/unbalance/unease between discoveries in science and belief in or doubts about God's place, if any, in the world.

Blossom - I liked just what kind of mother are you and if you like his genre I would definitely recommend Sabine Durrant particularly lie with me.

If anyone is quick it's today's audible daily deal for £1.99!

Loving the sister and downloaded this thing of darkness to read next after all the love on here..

So many interesting sounding books and I just spent half an hour catching up on this thread, only to add more!

3. The Big Four by Agatha Christie This isn't one of her best, and although when I picked it out on Overdrive I didn't think I had read it, in fact I had- or possibly seen it on TV! Only one to read if you want to bag all the Poirots.

1. The Moth - This is a collection of 50 true stories taken from a live storytelling event of the same name in the US. I'm not entirely sure I enjoyed it - the content of most of the stories is interesting and varied, but I think it suffered from a couple of things (1) the majority of the stories aren't by writers or journalists but raconteurs and I think several of the stories lose a lot by being read rather than listened to and (2) I was reading it for book club tomorrow so ended up rushing it and I think it would have benefited from being dipped in and out of. Not a thumbs up, but it did make me interested in finding a similar event here to go to.

I gave up on The Moth a year or two ago, just couldn't get into it and you've neatly encapsulated the reasons why. . I really wanted to like it as well.

I now have a quandary over what to read next. I had intended to go for the Essex serpent but I went back and read the thread from the start. No I have Christopher brookmyre's Flesh Wounds on my kindle and his two new Jack Parlane ones waiting on my wish list ( I didn't even know he had written those) and Peter James as he was mentioned, it was 99p and I saw him talk once and liked him.

I do have a soft spot for crime stuff.

What to do?

Are you less keen on The Essex Serpent now? Might still be worth a bash!

I still fancy it but my head has been turned by some easy read stuff. I feel like I need something page turny.

In the time it has taken em to decide I could have had 100 pages of any of them knocked out!

1. The Printer's Coffin by MJ Carter

Three years after the events of The Strangler Vine; Jeremiah Blake and Captain William Avery are both back from India and reunited in London in 1841. A couple of brutal murders of printers of seditious and pornographic material seem to be going uninvestigated by the recently formed police, and the religious and philanthropic Viscount Allington recruits Blake and Avery to investigate in an attempt to solve the crimes. His concern is in part because he fears the deaths and lack of investigation will stoke the fires of Chartism. Blake and Avery must go deep into the poor underbelly of London to find the motive and the killer, and find their path hazardous in the extreme.

Better than The Strangler Vine, I think, and certainly promising for future novels from this author and in this series.