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.

The reason Secret Garden was suggested was because you said children don't live in a adult world with adult concerns. This presents an adult world of death, grief, loneliness, and gardening through a child's eyes. I was too busy reading Pride and Prejudice at 10 to tend to my borders I like the symbolism in the fact the dissolution of the family, and its restoration, both take place in the garden of Eden. And I always wanted a pet raven, or whatever it was.

I move on straight away, and like remus have more than one at any one time, unless I don't fancy anything I've got and that is a disaster.

"Secret Garden was suggested was because you said children don't live in a adult world with adult concerns. This presents an adult world of death, grief, loneliness"

No, it doesn't. Mary's mum & dad suddenly die but she doesn't grieve at all (perhaps understandably, since they weren't present much in her world before). "Ayah" also suddenly disappears but Mary doesn't grieve for her either, which is harder to understand.

As I said, death and "grief" through the eyes of a child (a particularly insensitive one like Mary, at that) is not the same as how an adult would live them.

Best - The book and v wonderful postcard just arrived safely. So glad you enjoyed the book and the postcard now has pride of place on the fridge!

I actually had in mind the father's grief (her uncle?), the process of helping him to face his helps Mary to come to terms with her own, despite her not being able to recognise it as such. (Cutting off 'gardening' from my comment does rather change the tongue in cheek tone though )

Interesting debates on this thread! As usual I don't have time to keep up with the thread and with reading books. I normally start another book straightaway unless I've been reading something particularly thought provoking in which case I might have a couple of days off while I choose what to read next.

1. Arbella England's Lost Queen by Sarah Gristwood.

A history of the life of Arbella Stuart who was a cousin of both Elizabeth I and James I. In her early life she was bought up to believe that she might one day be Queen of England. Interesting on the ins and outs of life in the Royal Court and the difficulties that she faced - neither found a husband or a proper position within the Court. She was really desperate to have her own life but it wasn't to be. I did find in some places it wasn't entirely clear what Gristwood meant - in some places she quoted original texts without giving an explanation of the context. So not as well written as Antonia Fraser's books.

1. The Children of Dynmouth by William Trevor

A teenage boy hangs around the seaside town of Dynmouth. He sees things going on and stores up this knowledge. There is going to be a talent competition at the local church fete and he decides on an act that requires costumes, etc that he tries to get from various local people, using the knowledge he's gain. He is drawn as the kind of boy that people feel sorry for but don't like because there is something different about him that makes them feel uncomfortable, and part of that is because even when he is being unpleasant he doesn't seem aware that he is. This was a creepy read without ever descending into melodrama. I enjoyed this one.

10. Miss Buncle Married by D E Stevenson This turned out to be the second book in a trilogy but I don't think it matters too much not having read the first one. It's a light hearted read about a very comfortably off married couple who move to the countryside and meet various people. A couple of farcical situations develop. It made a cheery change after the previous book. Enjoyed it and will look out for the others.

I didn't think Mary grieved at all, consciously or not. Probably to be expected, as she has such little relationship with her mother as to think of her in terms of "that lady with nice dresses".

I didn't get "garden of Eden" symbolism, but rather that of one's heart being locked away after loss of a loved one and then opening up to love and life again after it is "tended" with care and affection.

All of which is great... for children

I'll stop now cote as you are beginning to have a thematic discussion about a children's book and I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable

Goodness, this has fallen off my Threads I'm On. How time flies. Am still reading, so will post those soon, and enjoying the debate on children's books.
I enjoy reading children's books, particularly classic ones, on occasion, but I am aware that I read them very differently from adult books. I think I like reading in the spaces of children's books - all the things I am aware of as a an adult but aren't written about, or are just alluded to. I think a really well-written book allows that. I guess for me it is the same as certain composers; some have everything you need in the work to understand and perform it, others expect the performer to be the last link in the chain. I love both.
Okay, so that probably makes no sense at all. I'm a bit sleep-deprived!

I see reading children's books as the same as listening to pop music. I wouldn't want to listen to Wham all the time, but I enjoy it when I hear it. I don't need to think much about the lyrics but I've had three minutes of fun bopping around the kitchen.

I don't watch much television at all, so sometimes a fairly non-taxing read is exactly what's needed to relax, and I'd rather get that from a children's classic than from chick lit or airport thrillers, as the former were generally at least written by people who knew how to punctuate.

I am still plodding along but the thread has left me behind. I lost a post at the weekend and have been too lazy to post since.

I finally finished 1. A Brief History of Seven Killings and the less said about it the better I think. Not bad, but pointlessly long and in need of serious editing IMO.

1. The Egyptian Years by Elizabeth Harris was godawful. Just cliché bingo really as nice middle class girl is saved by grieving country gentleman who is unable to express his feelings, with a crap family mystery involving laughably inaccurate depictions of late 19th and 20th century Egypt thrown in.

1. Loves and Doubts: What is left of Christianity by Richard Holloway. Not finished this yet, but really enjoying it so far. In the part I have read so far he stresses the importance of being able to read the Bible as allegory and metaphor, which is not new, but he applies Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to religious thought which, since I had not heard of Kuhn before now, I found novel and interesting. I am not a Christian but was raised in the Episcopal Church and still have a soft spot for it, plus I wish literalist interpretations of the Qur'an in particular were less widespread and hope that mainstream Islam heads in the direction of reinterpretation relevant to life as we now live it sooner rather than later.

As an irrelevant aside, it really pisses me off when people talk about Islam and Muslims being medieval or backwards, because Muslim societies are just as modern really as European or North American ones, and certainly in Egypt most women work outside the home, drive cars, have mobile phones and Facebook accounts, and control family finances. It's just that religious discourse is stale and sterile and is used as a form of control over both Christians and Muslims (see Church refusal to grant divorces, as well as restrictive custody, divorce and inheritance laws amongst Muslims) . Standards of educational and health services are another issue but IMO are related to failure of government rather than being backwards. Rant over.

sometimes a fairly non-taxing read is exactly what's needed to relax, and I'd rather get that from a children's classic than from chick lit or airport thrillers

Yes, this.

I start a new book as soon as I've finished the last, but often pick a "chewing-gum for the brain-challenging one" after an absorbing "heavy" read.

I've recently finished a Hamish Mackbeth and am now into an Agatha Raisin by the same author. I really don't know why I bother as they are trite, cliched, repetitive, under-researched and poorly-written, but my brain needs a day off. I think that I will take the advice of Muddler and others to re-read some children's classics when I feel the need.

I finished The Paying Guests and it was wonderful - definitely a book to be savoured and relished.

I'll finish the Agatha as it will only take a couple of hours,, and then move on to 12 Years a Slave, I think, or We Need to Talk About Kevin, both of which are in my tall, wobbly pile of Books To Read (and it's getting taller and wobblier by the day!)>

23. E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton

Next in the alphabet series featuring Kinsey Millhone. In this one someone is trying to frame Kinsey and another man. Not bad but I found the end a little confusing - it wasn't clear to me why Kinsey was involved.

24. The Marvelous (sic) Misadventures of Ingrid Winter by J S Drangsholt

This is one of those 'quirky' Scandinavian books along the line of The Ancient Person Who Escaped And Met Someone Famous And Had Some Adventures. This one is about a 40 year old mother of three and her daily troubles including some ridiculous work politics and game playing. However nothing much happens - she buys a house she can't afford, gets sent to Russia on a business trip where she overdoses in cough syrup. That's it. Luckily it was short, easy to read, and free as it was a Kindle First. If you don't mind the quirky Scandinavian books this one is ok as a filler but not one to rush out for. If you hate the quirky Scandinavian book oks this will do nothing to change your mind!!

I enjoy reading children's classics too, mainly for the reasons Remus said above but also for nostalgia - I enjoy finding and rereading books I enjoyed as a child/teenager (although they don't always stand the test of time!). I think I read enough adult stuff to balance it out!

I quite like to have two or three things on the go at once so when I finish one I can carry on with the others. Suffering a serious drought atm though as the last two books ordered from ebay haven't turned up :( and I've got 8 days to go for my next Audible credit. I'm still reading Bitch in a Bonnet, but that definitely works better a bit at a time, and reduced to listening to The Prime Minister by Trollope from the library audio. It's very well read by Timothy West, and I love how a lot of the political sections might as well have been written now - but my god I'd forgotten the painfulness of the slow motion car crash which is the plot.

It's a while since I have been on so have a few reads to update on:-

7 Ruby Wax - Frazzled - I really enjoyed this and thought it was a really accessible and humorous introduction to mindfulness.

8 - I See You - Claire Mackintosh - Following the hit and run of a five year old boy Jenna Gray's life is plunged into a nightmare and she feels her only chance is to run away and start afresh. Just as it looks like she has found happiness her past catches up with her with almost disastrous consequences. I absolutely loved this book and finished it within a couple of days. I didn't see the twist coming and it had me hooked throughout. I felt that Girl on the Train was over hyped but this definitely lived up to the reviews.

I was a voracious reader as a child and am very grateful for some of the beautiful, thought-provoking books for children which remain nestled deep in my psyche to this day........... I have to say though. I can't remember ever having the desire to re-read any of them. If I were stuck in a holiday cottage in the rain for a week with only Little Women, We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea and a few Peter Dickinsons then no doubt I would be very happy, but without that scenario I think I would rather read grown-ups' books

I have lost track of numbers..... will pick it up again at some point. I've just read The Burgess Boys. Elizabeth Strout seems to be everywhere at the moment, and this was the first of her books that I've read. In some ways she reminded me of Anne Tyler in her descriptions of family life - it's like there are lots of little threads, and she pulls one, and then another, and you never quite know which one might make the whole thing unravel. I liked this, it was an intelligent book, gentle in some ways - certainly low-key- but actually deceptively hard-hitting. Lots of isshoos but none of it shoved in your face.

Now whizzing through All That Man Is by David Szalay, which was Booker shortlisted last year but is a surprisingly easy read. Nine sections (each 3-4 chapters long) about different men at different stages of life, which (I've reached the fourth I think) intertwine in some ways although they are all completely separate stories as far as I can tell. Really enjoying it so far.

vista isn't your number 8 I Let You Go? Plot sounds very familiar but I haven't read I See You yet!

Somebody today told me that The Muse is better than The Essex Serpent. Has anybody read both and can offer an opinion?

Yup. I think I need a bit of froth after my last two books. Might get myself a wee crime thriller. It shows the state of my life that tomorrow I have two medical appointments 1.5 hours apart and I am actually looking forward to the waiting room sit to do some reading!

I'd be interested in that too remus, neither The Muse or her other one - The Miniaturist? - have appealed, but maybe I'm dismissing them unfairly.

Well, I've had an awful week, dh has been very ill and has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which was a bit of a shock, but things are on more of an even keel now. Thanks very much to this thread for being a welcome distraction when I couldn't read, but I've managed to finish:

10. Revelation by CJ Sansom

More of the same with Shardlake and Jack Barak. This time they are trying to hunt a serial killer who is using the book of revelation like an instruction manual, and unsuccessfully to stay out of the political machinations surrounding the court of King Henry VIII. I enjoyed this more than Sovereign, an easy read with familiar characters.

I'm moving on to either Ready Player One or Handmaid's Tale next, got about 3 non fics on the go I'm dipping in and out of." as well.

Remus I would disagree that The Muse is better that The Essex Serpent. Enjoyed the Muse when I read it, which was only a few months ago but it hasn't made a lasting impression.

SatsukiKusakabe. Sorry to hear of your diagnosis.

Sorry to hear that things have not been great satsuki.

I adored The Miniaturist and really liked The Muse. I haven't yet read The Essex Serpent but am interested to hear people's thoughts.

I am going to go for Ready Player One. It sort of works beside my distopian short stories last read I suppose.

Sorry to here that, Satsuki. We have Type 1 diabetes in the Muddler house, so do PM me if you want to ask anything.

Hear! Aargh.