50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Two

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second 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, it's not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The previous thread is here.

How're you getting on so far?

I can't remember where I am at now. Either 7 or 8.

Anyhow, finished The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver which I enjoyed. Took me a while to get 'involved' with a couple of the characters (namely Garrett and Nannie Rawley) but really liked them at the end. I will definitely read The Poisonwood Bible.

1. Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty. Got this on Kindle as I am watching it on iplayer and am too impatient to wait to see what happens. In a similar vein to Before I sleep, Gone Girl, Girl on a train et al. Readable but not memorable writing. I zoomed through it 100 mph whereas with The Prodigal Summer I could read a chapter here and there and just enjoy the quality of the prose. That said, I enjoyed her descriptions of the trial.

1. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. Never read her before.

1. The One We Fell in Love With - Paige Toon
2. This Is Where It Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
3. The Girl Who Lied - Sue Fortin

4. Girls on Fire - Robin Wasserman 5. The Heat of Betrayal - Douglas Kennedy

1. Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton - Sandra Gregory

7. Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

1. Trust in Me - Sophie McKenzie

9. Close Enough to Kill - Beverly Barton

This was a book I didn't want to put down. A serial killer who sends romantic notes and gifts to his victims prior to kidnapping, torturing and eventually murdering them in a small town. I liked that all the lives were intertwined due to it being a small town and that I guessed the killer at least twice but changed my mind multiple times and was kept guessing.

Also the backstory for the main characters made them very likeable!

Book nine is officially done and all borrowed books can now be given back and I can concentrate on my TBR list!

9. The Year of Reading Dangerously - Andy Miller

I listened to this on audible. It is the account of someone coming back to reading classics after a lengthy gap. The books themselves are intertwined with autobiographical musings that they elicit. I enjoyed much of it, but I did find it faintly self-satisfied and congratulatory. I doubt I would read many of the books from his Year of Betterment.

Hope you enjoy Commonwealth EmGee. Ann Patchett is one of my favourite authors.. very insightful and intelligent writing.

Bel Canto and State of Wonder are also well worth reading if you like Commonwealth.

1. Master of Shadows by Neil Oliver

It's a bit boys own adventure. Set largely around the Siege of Constantinople, it follows John Grant from his home in Scotland as a young man escaping the vengeance of the local laird in the company of a formidable Moor. He learns to fight and the pair survive as mercenaries, until Grant's path takes him to a fearsome female warrior (whose identity I spotted early on, as improbable as it is) and on to Constantinople on a promise to find and take care of a beautiful young orphan girl due to marry a crippled Byzantine prince. Oh, and John Grant can feel the earth moving and also knows when people are approaching.

Huge suspension of disbelief required for this one, but it's okay.

7 Longitude, Dava Sobel

I've been meaning to read this for ages, and it didn't disappoint. It was lovely, fascinating and well-written. I'd forgotten (after reading This Thing of Darkness last year) about Captain Fitzroy and his collection of chronometers.

I have Suite Francaise and The Outrun on my TBR pile, will get round to them in due course. I've just embarked on Marking Time (Book 2 of the Cazalets) as I felt in need of some comfort reading.

Thanks to Satsuki for mention of the February Kindle deals. I like the look of Ashes of London (I liked The American Boy a lot). Also The Good Immigrant (been on my wishlist for ages) and The Burgess Boys.

I love books.

I was chatting to a colleague last week about the 50 book challenge. I have known the colleague for 17 years but we have never really talked about much beyond work.

This morning I found The Rosie Project on my desk and when I saw him later he was beaming at being able to "contribute one towards the challenge". He has also asked that I pass the book on when I am done with it. Spread she pleasure

It really made me smile.

1. The Cambridge Companion to Handel by Donald Burrows

This nicely scratched my Handel itch but it did not rock my world like the Bach book and the Rameau book. It did, however, teach me some interesting facts about Handel's rise life and music, such as his incredible luck that he was allowed to practice his music in a privileged position in England because he was not Catholic and yet had vast experience with Italian operas.

Parts of this book are dedicated to various different kinds of his music (opera, keyboard music, etc) and those parts are written by different authors who are specialised (authorities?) in those areas. Yes, they were informative, but they were rather dry & scholarly, and did not lead me to discover loads of fantastic music like I did while reading the books about Bach and Rameau.

The impression I am left with is that Handel was an incredibly talented harpsichord/keyboard musician and his keyboard suites in particular are works or genius, but his opera music was not as singularly brilliant as Rameau. IMHO only, of course. He did, however, dominate England's musical scene for decades between 1710-1759 (and indeed for many years after his death) which imho may have been because other great contemporaries were frowned upon due to suspicions regarding their Catholic faith.

I normally read one book at a time only, but paired this one with Shardlake #4 which went down very nicely together indeed

And here is what I've been up to on the piano while going through this period of Handel obsession. (Keep in mind that I'm a middle-aged amateur, not a concert pianist ) I've been going through his keyboard suites, especially enjoying the ones in D Minor.

- This is one of my favourite pieces, and it took me a LONG time to master well enough to play at this speed. I love how right hand and left hand answer each other. from the same Suite as the Allemande above. It's very satisfying to play. . This is a rather simple but beautiful melody. It can be quite tricky to play on the harpsichord, actually, going up and down the two keyboards. (I'll see if I can make a video of that, too.)

13. The Brontes by Brian Wilks

Not bad, but didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. If you've never read any previous books about the Brontes this wouldn't be a bad place to start, as it's not too long. However, I read the Kindle edition and there were so many grammar and punctuation errors it was painful to read and in some cases I had to reread a sentence several times to understand what it was saying!

How funny, I've also been reading a book about the Brontës (sort of).
3. 'Peter's Room' by Antonia Forest
Children's book - fifth in the Marlow family series. Ginty Marlow is doing a school project on the Brontës' childhood fantasy world Gondal, and suggests the younger Marlows have their own Gondal. Sort of a mediation on the dangerous power of storytelling and how it can take over your life and whether it's a good thing or not.
Also an interesting read having watched To Walk Invisible because her Brontës are so different to Wainwright's. She's much more interested in their animals and fantasies and is wonderfully dismissive of Branwell. "All he wanted was the lady's lolly - oh yes he did, Gin - you read his letters."
It takes a while to get going and it is awfully dated, but the countryside writing is glorious. And there's a brilliant, if slightly mad, description of a fox hunt, which I enjoyed despite my sympathies being firmly with the fox.

I love the idea of mumsnet through the ages. Or fictional characters' mumsnet.

AIBU - have just discovered my fiancé's been keeping his mad wife in the attic. He tells me it's not bigamy because she doesn't know any different and wants me to run off with him. AIBU to just run off into the night with only the clothes on my back?

Bursts into a round of the Hallelujah Chorus...

1. 11.22.63 by Stephen King The start and end were gripping. The middle was long. Long to an extent that no-one should be able to get away with, but SK is an amazing storyteller. I found myself simultaneously getting wrapped up in the long detailed descriptions of what was unfolding, and life in 50s and 60s America, and feeling mounting frustration that it was all so unexamined (though this is put right nearer the end). The main character didn't think too much about why the mission he set out to complete was the pivotal event that it was within his power to change; he had clear evidence that each trip wasn't a 'complete reset'; despite yakking about the butterfly effect he didn't really think about potential consequences, and he had very rigid thinking about how to carry things out - and he had a LONG time to think about these things. Overall I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it more if it was half the length.

Dr Jekyll finished- forgot how short it was!

Cheerful - your Mumsnet through the ages made me laugh out loud!
My contribution-

AIBU - Husband says he is sick of me and want me to slip away quietly and become a nun. By doing this I stand to lose the throne and have my child declared illegitimate. He says it is for 'religious reasons' . (By the way I was married to his brother and may or may not have slept with him) I believe he has a new wife lined up, in fact he has given her a room in my house and my jewellery! Too be honest I am a bit pissed off! Thoughts ?

Back to reading - Anyone Brave is Forgiven next.

To be honest I am a bit pissed off!

Love this, RMC123.

Cheerful and Happy there is a wonderful book of poems called The Worlds Wife by Carol Ann Duffy - which is very similar to this. Wives of famous historical and literary figures. Worth a look !

February Kindle sale: Story Of Your Life And Others - I read this not long after it came out in 2002, and I still think about the title story. It would be a good collection even without "Story of Your Life" but the rest didn't get into my head and stay there for 15 years. I don't see how a film could really do the story justice tbh.

Others: for non-fiction, Bad Science, Predictably Irrational, and An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth are worth looking at. If you like YA fantasy then Garth Nix's Abhorsen and Lirael are on sale.

10. A Slip of the Keyboard Terry Pratchett A collection of articles, speeches, columns by Pratchett. It's a bit of a mixture - some excellent "The God Moment", and many not so good.

1. The Coroner M R Hall
2. The Essex Serpent Sarah Perry
3. Private Peaceful Michael Morpurgo
4. Strange Shores Arnaldur Idradason
5. The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood

1. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Jeanette Winterson (audiobook)

Read by JW herself, this is an account of her experience of growing up as an adopted daughter with a very difficult, inflexible mother. She describes how precious books became and how she found her voice and own identity as a gay woman. As well as her childhood story, the description of Manchester and surrounding towns and how they developed as the social fabric of Britain changed was particularly interesting.

1. Homegoing Yaa Gyasi. I read this in time for the author's talk at my local Waterstones.

A novel about slavery and its effect down through the generations, this starts with the stories of two half-sisters from Ghana. One becomes the mistress of an English slave-trader while the other is transported to America where her descendants grow up. The author follows the two strands of the family throughout the centuries until the present day. You become involved with the fate of each family member in turn and each person's story is engaging and different. It's an ambitious book and I think it works well. Recommended.

1. Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury (audiobook)

Famous dystopian novel which many will have read but new to me. The image of firemen being employed to burn anything contravening the ideology of the regime - and particularly books - was particularly chilling. At the same time people live isolated lives in front of huge screens, pacified and controlled and unquestioning. Like The Handmaid's Tale this was a straightforward idea, well told. And very relevant in the current political climate.

Oh, and plodding on with American Gods which I seem to have got bogged down in. Only 40 pages to go and I can't wait ..

Lovely, Côte!

Thank you for that, Cote. I love Handel's music :) I was lucky to have a friend sing at our wedding and I originally wanted her to sing "Lascia ch'io piagna" until I read the words: "Let me weep over my cruel fate and sigh for my freedom"

1. The Case of the Hail Mary Celeste by Malcolm Pryce

This follows the last of the railway detectives as he tries to solve some mysteries including what happened to a group of nuns who disappeared from a train in 1915 and were never seen again. This was a funny, enjoyable read of a spoof detective novel.

highlandcoo am loving Commonwealth. Started last night, had bout of insomnia due to kids waking up in night so carried on til half way through. Brilliant. Reminds me a bit of Anne Tyler (descriptions of family dynamics).

I know it well, RMC123. Love Carol Ann Duffy.

Thank you Vanderly I don't dare share my musical bumbling efforts on Facebook. Somehow the probability of getting laughed at anonymously bothers me much less than ridicule from RL friends (some of whom are professional musicians who play in orchestras), so it's you lot who get to laugh at my sausage fingers