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?

Oh thank heavens I am not the only one that doesn't get on with Dickens. I always feel such a cultural outcast.

Although I quite enjoyed the classic comics when I was a kid. Did anyone else have those?actually rather brilliant at introducing the classics.

1. American Gods Neil Gaiman.

A present from DS and not the sort of book I'd normally go for.

A strange mixture of fantasy and mythology .. I'm not sure I understood all the references tbh. Shadow, the main character, has just been released from jail and finds himself working for Mr Wednesday, who is a reincarnation of Odin (I think). There seem to be various ancient gods still existing in disguise across America, and also new gods who reflect America's obsession with celebrities, drugs, technology etc. The two groups are enemies as far as I could make out.

Some memorable stuff and some really daft stuff IMO. Entertaining in parts but a huge unwieldy monster of a book which I felt myself getting bogged down in half-way through. Glad I gave it a try but pleased it's over!

I would agree with All Quiet and Lord of the Flies being two of the best of all time. The writing in LOTF is so good that the island was vivid in my imagination for years after I first read it. The first time I read really lyrical descriptions in a novel I think sorry fortuna

I used to hate Dickens , but I have him another go and now think it depends which Dickens. I don't love him, and found him very difficult to write about as my heart wasn't in it, but it's not all shit. "It's a far, far better thing I do now, than I have ever done. It's a far, far greater rest that I go to, than I have ever known".

I have tried and failed with Dickens many times over the years. Read Hard Times as part of my degree and also Christmas Carol but that is it! Great Expectations is on my to read pile. Agree about Wilkie Collins - Woman in White is one of my favourite books.

I still haven't finished another book, but thought I should check in and see what others are up to. I am finding the first days of Trump so gripping that I am having to tear myself away from newspapers and Twitter to make myself read books.

I really loved the poetry jam video, thank you Satsuki! (makes me miss Obama though ). I am also jumping up and down about Hamilton the musical and am planning to read more about him before next January, possibly just a bit of Wikipedia rather than a massive doorstop book!

I read The Road a few years ago, it was ok, but it didn't really stick with me. Enjoyable enough at the time but I found it a bit nothingy.

ladydepp yes same here. I'm finding reading a very welcome respite from the world at the moment. And yy re: Obama, a president (and FL) that were well read and supportive of the arts. A great thing

"classic comics when I was a kid. Did anyone else have those?"

Yes, those were the only Dickens I've ever read - one of the benefits of being schooled entirely outside the UK

Fistbumps the Dickens haters. I've never got over having to do Bleak House for A level, he just goes on and on, get to the point! A bit like Way of the Kings with less angst.

15. The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth

All about the origins of words, with each word leading onto the next. I really enjoyed this and found it really interesting. Did you know that castor is an old word for beaver, and castor oil used to come from the groins of beavers?

Lady and Satsuki, the Trump threads on here are great, very informative - there's a bit of levity alongside the doom and gloom.

I think I'm actually doing more reading - a case of hiding my head in the sand.

11. Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe. Cheating slightly as I am still reading this. It's about a girl who was a nanny for Stephen Frear's kids and ex-wife in the 80s. Lots of 'glittering literati' turn up to the house on a regular basis (Alan Bennett comes for tea almost every evening) and she doesn't have a clue who they all are initially. It's refreshing and has made me smile, although as yet, I haven't fallen about laughing as some critics have said. Enjoyable though especially for those of that generation!

Been missing for a while, although I've been keeping up with the thread and have added more to the TBR list (as always), so thanks to all for the recommendations. Losing my Dad and being his executor has caused my reading to slow almost to a halt but I need my reading to keep sane, so fighting to find time.

So far this year, it's been:

1. The Skeleton Cupboard - Tanya Byron : really good. Especially the difficult relationship with her supervisor and the supportive nature of her friendship group.
2. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque : utterly brilliant. Such a thoughtful and thought-provoking read. No wonder it was banned by the Nazis. At this rate I may have to re-visit Lord of the Flies which I loathed, simply based on thread comments.
3. Where the Eagle Landed - Peter Hanning. I read this as a re-visit of Jack Higgins' book to see if there was any truth in the rumours of a landing. The early part was heavy going, but it picked up and is a decent read if you're interested in the subject.
4. The Sellout - Paul Bellamy. Clever & sharp - breathtakinginly so at times. But it didn't really go anywhere and I ended up finding it just a collection of brilliant observations. A tad disappointing in all honesty.
5. A Journal of the Plague Year - Daniel Defoe. I really struggled to get through this, even thought it was short. I found the constant relgious references cloyingly pious (although I accept they were of the time). But when he started to judge the poor for being reckless in taking on the dangerous jobs of handling/being near the infected, whilst praising the Lord Mayor & his sheriffs in ensuring that those awful jobs got done, I got . The only bit I liked was the story of the two brothers and their escape into the Essex countryside to avoid the plague at it's height.
6. The Great St Mary's Day Out - Jodi Taylor. A St Mary's short story which was really light, but great fun. The other half will be another short story from the same stable, but I'm having trouble with the kindle edition I've downloaded.

Then on to Golden Hill which is this month's book club read. Am looking forward to this one as I seem to recall reasonable reviews on here.

Welcome back Joyless, sorry to hear about your dad xx

Welcome back joyless.

I finished His Bloody Project this morning. It has been reviewed many times so I won't repeat but I will say that I loved it. It has left my heart a bit sad to be honest. The unfairness of certain aspects and the lingering sense I have of an injustice. I genuinely loved it and felt quite emotional at the end. Beautifully written.

Not sure where to go next. I could go for The Rosie Project maybe or A God in Ruins on paper or could go for The Essex Serpent which has been waiting patiently on my kindle.

I popped The Strange and Beatiful Sorrow of Ava Lavendar straight into my wish list. It sounds great.

Nice to see you back, Joyless. Have missed you.

Book 11
Ashes of London by Andrew taylor
By the author of The American Boy (which I enjoyed) this one is set during the Great Fire of London. It’s okay but nothing ground breaking. V derivative of CJ Sansom, but not as good, and the man sure knows how to labour a metaphor. I lost count of how many times he repeated ashes and blood but let’s just say it got pretty wearing. Glad I only paid £1.99 for it.

Dickens is not shit! Glares. I mean, okay, his big ones are soap opera rather than novel, but there's nowt wrong with that. And no one does creepy like Dickens. And if it wasn't for Dickens, we wouldn't have The Muppets Christmas Carol, and THEN where would we be?

(I wouldn't inflict Bleak House on A Level students though, God almighty. Give the poor sods a bit of Great Expectations.

Am in awe at how many books some of you are reading. Must prioritise an early night with a book over wine and crap TV that I'm not really watching anyway. Not least because I have a huge TBR pile from a recent library trip as recommended by people on here!

Gave up on The Power - Naomi Alderman I can see why people would enjoy this book but it just wasn't for me. Too bleak and not gripping enough to make me keep going back to it plus someone else has reserved it at the library so I couldn't renew it

10 In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park

Finished this morning. Feel I need some time to recover - a shocking but heartbreaking and engaging description of a North Korean family and their bid to escape what is the most appalling life under a dictatorship. Don't want to say too much as someone upthread has it as a "to read". I'm glad I read it, and gave the book 5 stars, but doesn't feel right to say I "enjoyed"

Now have to choose between two classics that have escaped me but highly recommended on this thread (thank you!) A Town Like Alice or All Quiet on the Western Front.

10. The Lewis Man by Peter May a crime thriller set on the Isle of Lewis where a well preserved body is found in a peat bog. They are initially presumed to be an ancient "bog body" like Lindow Man, until an Elvis tattoo is found on their arm and it becomes evident that a brutal murder took place in the last century,and that the perpetrator could still be alive. The novel follows a ex policeman, Fin, who has recently returned to the island, and his attempts to discover who the victim was and solve the vicious crime. An engaging page turner, I enjoyed this and read it very quickly. I seem to have jumped in on the second novel of a trilogy but felt it didn't make much difference.

I'm working my way through the old books on my kindle during night feeds (I'd purchased this one in 2012 apparently!) and intend reading The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin next on there.
I'm also about 100 pages into This Thing of Darkness on paper which is fantastic.

4. The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle

Thriller filled with secrets, mysteries about humanity's origins, double crossings, and numerous death defying escapes for our heroes, as they find themselves embroiled in a struggle to stop a secret organisation from unleashing catastrophe on the world. It's the first in a series of 3 books.
An entertaining read.

Just given up on Beloved by Toni Morrison.

Welcome back Joyless

I'm here to stick up for Dickens too you horrible lot. I blitzed his work in my late teens (admittedly when I prob had more time for ponderous literature) and a tale of two cities and nicholas nickleby are still two of my favs of all time

I just finished listening to
5. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. I hated the readers so I think that tainted the experience for me. Normally Atwood can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned but this was repetitive and laborious even though the subject matter was fascinating and well developed. I'm going to step away from audiobooks for a bit I think

6. Hillbilly Elegy brilliant memoir of a bloke who grew up very white working working class poor and eventually made it to Yale Law School. Very interesting in these times particularly to read about the plight of poor white people in the rust belt, and no holds barred about the violence he grew up in, the addictions and incarcerations but how difficult it is for this section of society to escape. He didn't go into politics at all, I wonder how different it would be if he were to right it now....

I read Hillbilly Elegy, didn't listen to it

Dickens = shit. Read Wilkie Collins instead.

Totally shit Remus.

Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, Mrs Gaskell, Mrs Oliphant - all FAR superior writers.