50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 first thread of the year is here and the second one here.

I'd be interested to read a book on Criminology. Did you like it? I wasn't sure from your review.

Enjoy Cloud Atlas 😊 I might be due for a reread soon.

Sorry you're right that review was poor! It's a good book, very thought provoking at least. I had an idea that Criminology meant vaguely CSI type things: but not so. I certainly had my eyes opened to the many ways in which feminist theory impacts on Criminology (viz, men perpetrate crimes on women, essentially) and also to the existence of the sibling discipline, Victimology. Crime prevention and recording are also covered from a criminological point of view, e.g. how our preconceptions about crime and criminals drive policy.

Overall I'd recommend!

Just catching up with thread, but had to laugh about David Mitchell confusion. I love them both and this is what comedian David Mitchell has as his Twitter description:

"This is the David Mitchell who's in Peep Show and things, not the novelist or the Cumbrian origamist."

I remember reading an interview with him and he said he hadn't read any of his namesake's books, he is really missing out!

Murine

"Nora Webster" by Colm Toibin was lovely. It's very much a "feelings" story, about a woman learning to cope with grief and loss after her much-loved husband dies at only 50-ish, and very painfully, leaving her with four children.

It's really beautiful written and believable. There are one or two loose ends which doesn't seem to be tied up, to me - but I think this is the author's intention. Life is full of loose ends - it's only in American films that everything is neat and tidy. She is not a saintly woman, nor a bad one, but a real human being with faults and virtues and I kept worrying about her, which I think shows the quality of the writing.

Read it if you get the chance - I loved it. it

It was just so... French

Thank you Cote. That says it all.

Flowers in the Attic- had a whole spell of reading Virginia Andrews when I was about 14

Same here - I read then because all my mates thought they were amazing, but even then I thought they were sh*te.

I mean, the main character who is telling the story is trapped in an attic with her siblings, and yet teaches herself to become a Prima Ballerina (she is much sought after by the world famous ballet companies when she emerges from her incarceration as I remember). She goes en pointe at the early age of about six or something - to the admiring gasps of Madame Who-the-flip who wants her in her company.

What a load of bollox!

However I have to confess to a guilty rubbish author that I thought was the cat's knackers at about the same time as the Flowers crap. DennisWheatley! (Remember him? The Acceptable Face of Satanism? Every book began with a warning against Tampering With The Dark Arts, if you Valued Your Soul). I used to think he was brilliant.

A friend lent me four of his books. Last night I began reading one - what a crock! So I went on to another - awful! Really, really awful!!!

Even at 14 I had realised he was hideously racist (put it down to being a Man of His Time), but seeing his writing again today - racist, sexist, snobbish, entitled, up-his-own-bumness - I feel ashamed to have read him with eager enjoyment as recently as half a century ago.

He is a serious contender for The Dan Brown Award For Pretentious Literary Sh*te.

Thank you emmgee and Getthingthere.

As you can see - I loved Nora Webster.

And Glad you are enjoying Trollope Gettingthere. He is such a wonderful writer with none of Dickens' cloying sentimentality. The Warden is an ideal starting point and if you read the others in order they form a wonderful series (but each book stands alone, so don't worry if you have to read them out of sequence.

Right - having kicked DW into touch (and stamped on him!) I have started a Russell Hoban - My Tango Wth Barbara Strozzi. Only just started it because of the satanist fiasco, but am enjoying it so far.

audio - As I am ploughing through Penguin Classics on audio in the order they come up in the pile, I have had to listen to Oliver Twist (oh, dear God - it's worse than I remembered). Am I the only person who feels for Fagin? I mean, I know he's got all of these kids thieving etc, but he puts a roof over their heads, food in their bellies and clothes on their backs - no social service provision for abandoned and orphaned children then. They lived and died on the streets in their hundreds. It's not Fagin who was evil - it was the society. And that man ended up being hanged! Why? He didn't murder anyone like Sykes did. He was hanged for being Jewish as far as I could see, Okay - he wasn't the nicest character in the world, but he was struggling to survive as a member of a poverty-stricken underclass in an anti-semitic world with no benefits system and no pensions.

My heart ached for poor Bullseye, too.

No - I'm fine - just got something in my eye that's all

Next audio book is Middlemarch.

HOORAY!!!

Books update:

1. amok by Sebastian Fitzek - utterly ridiculous audiobook thriller about a hostage taking in a German radio station. Natasha Mcelhone plays the suicidal alcoholic hostage negotiator . I liked that it was fully dramatised, but it had me eye rolling at all the twists, turns and neat coincidences near the end. I also think Fitzek has a very disturbed imagination, there is copious gratuitous sex and violence, some involving teenagers. NOT recommended. (And I need to stop downloading audio books just because they are cheap/free)

1. A Dance with Dragons 2 - After the Feast by George RR Martin - the last published Game of Thrones book. Nothing much to say other than that if you love the other GOT books you will like this one too. I'm also v sad that this is my last GOT book until George pulls his finger out and finishes the next one!

1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte - I can't believe I hadn't read this before, this is Anne's second and final novel. It has 2 narrators, the first is gentleman farmer Gilbert Markham and the second is the mysterious Mrs. Graham (the Tenant) who moves into Wildfell Hall near his farm. I found the first half of the book quite slow moving but once the story moves well into the female narrative it really takes off. Her reasons for her secrecy and mysterious behaviour at Wildfell Hall are incredibly moving, and this book has been called one of the first feminist novels with good reason. I think the novel is over long and it could have used some judicious editing, but what a brilliant and shocking story by a young female author writing in the early 19th century. Highly recommended for anyone like me who has read Jane Eyre several times and never read this.

Oh I've also never read the Tenant of Wildfell Hall - think I'll add that to my "to read" list.

That's the best bit of this thread- all the great suggestions i don't think I'd pick up if you didn't talk about it!

Have had a 2 day hangover headache so not read much for a few days, nothing new to add myself.

Have had a 2 day hangover headache

It's all the reading Kitten - you did right to take a break.

This thread is going at a serious pace - I can hardly keep up with it! Anyway my update is:

7. Under Heaven –Guy Gavriel Kay. Set in an alternative 8th century China this story is told around the character of Shen Tai who receives a gift of 250 Sardian horses as a reward for burying many of the dead after a war that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of warriors. What follows is a story of politics, conflict, love, intrigue, betrayal and loyalty. Wonderful book with beautifully drawn characters and a well-developed, intricate plot which could be a historical novel and there were certainly parallels but kept a hint of magic and fantasy running through. I have had a few of GGK’s books on my shelves for a while. I don’t know why it took me so long to get started on them but I look forward to reading more. This is the book of the year so far.

8. End of the World Running Club – A.J. Walker. Dystopian novel about a man who has to make his way to Cornwall from Scotland to try and reach his family who are being evacuated after the UK has been destroyed and devastated by an asteroid hit. This was without question the absolute worst piece of fiction that I have ever had the misfortune to finish. It was complete and utter drivel with the most obnoxious and clichéd characters ever. It was all over the place as if the author just decided to throw every bloody idea he got at it with no clue as to how logical it was or if it was in any way realistic or added to the story. I couldn’t have give two hoots as to what happened to any of them. I love dystopian fiction but why I didn’t give up after the first half hour and return to Audible is beyond me. I only paid £2.99 for it on a daily deal but I feel robbed! I am perplexed by all the good reviews. I must have been reading a different book!

9. Made in America: Am Informal History of English Language in the United States – Bill Bryson. Another audiobook. This was read by William Roberts who is just not as good a narrator as Bill himself. I enjoyed this but not as much as some of his others. I have realised that he does recycle a fair deal of information and I was a bit surprised by some of the errors. I enjoy etymology and felt that he took the easy route of explaining the origins of some words and expressions while not exploring others as much as he should. So it was okay but a bit of a let-down overall.

10. Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookshop – Robin Sloan. Clay Jannon gets a job in Mr Penumbra’s bookshop and after a few days he realises that there are curious goings on. There are only a few customers and they mostly seem to check out books from the back of the store rather than buy the limited selection at the front. His curiosity gets the better of him and as he delves further he starts to uncover the store’s secrets. It was an enjoyable read.

11. Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church: The findings of the investigation that inspired the major motion picture Spotlight – The Investigative Staff of the Boston Globe. Excellent book which goes into great detail of the abuses against children in the Catholic Church in the USA and how the church did everything it could to protect itself and did not give a jot about the safety and protection of children. This was horrific and I am stunned at the lack of humanity, care, decency and compassion towards victims that so many in the church demonstrated when confronted by paedophile priests. It is exceptionally sad and heart breaking and the stories of all the young lives destroyed will stay with me for a long time.

I also have the Goblin Emperor on the go in paperback and The Wolves of London on Audible. I also have a Skullduggery Pleasant book on the go for the school runs. I think I will pick a murder/psychological thriller from the many unread books on my kindle next.

10. River of Ink, Paul M Cooper

Set in Medieval Sri Lanka. A court poet is caught up in the tyranny of a new ruler. He's a timid character, and to begin with he does what he is told, to keep himself safe. It's a book that asks what you would do if you were living under a brutal regime - would you be brave? Would you fight? What would it take for you to take a risk?

The narrator is a poet and the book is lyrically told and full of historical and literary detail including excerpts from beautiful classical poems from the region. Have to be honest and say it wasn't exactly a gripping book but the tension was built effectively during the second half.

11. Talk to the Hand, Lynne Truss

Lynne Truss's rant about the rudeness of modern society. She's perceptive and often funny but I find her snobbishness and old-fogey attitude rather annoying, even when I agree with 90% of what she says.

Oh and if anyone is interested in Bitch in a Bonnet after seeing it mentioned above by Chessie, it's 99p on Kindle. Haven't read it yet but read a couple of favourable reviews and decided to give it a go :)

I really enjoyed Bitch in a Bonnet - a bit repetitive in places, but a good laugh. Well worth a read if you're an Austen fan.

Just seen that The Revenant is 99p on Kindle.

Grifone I hated End of the World Running Club last year, for much the same reasons as you. I still feel quite sullied by it. I also felt it was mis-billed as being a self improvement and triumph through adversity kind of tale. It really wasn't. And it also didn't have much running in it.

Thank you Keith

Bought it!

Am about to begin "The Hiding Place" (Corrie ten Boom). Corrie, her father nd sister hid Jews from the Nazis in Holland. They were arrested. Her father and sister died in a concentration camp. Corrie survived and wrote this book (and others) offering her experiences from a Christian viewpoint.

toking forward to it.

I've just bought We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (recommended by ThereAreNoGhosts upthread) - also currently 99p on kindle.

I enjoyed Bitch in a Bonnet too.

End of The World Running club has to be the worst book I've read in years. Dire.

22. Murder on the Orient Express classic Poirot.

I just reserved Nora Webster at the library after reading your review, HappyFlappy, it sounds like I'd really enjoy it.
I'm still reading This Thing of Darkness and have finished book 13 on my kindle, Silent Child by Sarah A.Denzil which was fairly dire. An easy read to keep me awake during night feeds chosen because it was at the top of the kindle bestseller list. A psychological thriller in which a six year old boy vanishes during a flood in a small Yorkshire village, his coat in the river is the only trace of him found.
Ten years on, after he has been declared dead, he reappears emaciated and unable to communicate in a nearby woods. His mother tries her utmost to get her son to talk to her to reveal where he has been held and what has happened to him to no avail.
It reminded me a little of Girl On The Train as I could guess what was coming a mile off, only the narrator in this one is unreliable because of her pregnancy hormones, much is made of her baby brain
I've started The Detectives Daughter by Lesley Thomson as my next middle of the night reading on the kindle book now, and have The Revenant and The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout waiting to be read now on there after spotting them in the kindle sale for 99p.

20. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver. I enjoyed this despite it being quite slow to get into. I then thought the ending was a bit rushed. I did find it starting to get a bit preachy at one point, but it didn't belabour it. I found the underlying themes of poverty and beliefs more interesting than the main one of climate change. I wish the relationships between the characters had been a little more developed. You could see them starting to come out and then it didn't take them anywhere.

1. Papillon - Henri Charriere

Reread after many years, and a fabulous read. For those not familiar with it, it's based on his incarceration in, and many attempted escapes from the penal colony in French Guyana in the 1930s and 40s - I think historians now consider some of the events to be composites from other people he knew, but even if not 100% true it's an irresistible tale of the triumph of the human spirit under extreme adversity.

I've never read Papillion, Meg. Would you recommend it to me?

Which book would you say it is similar to?