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.

Satsuki hope things are improving

Sorry to hear that Satsuki

Glad you liked the postcard Remus

Satsuki - hope that the diagnosis helps your dh/his doctors to be able to manage his symptoms and to feel a lot better

1. The Hanging Tree - Ben Aaranovitch - had a lovely Saturday evening with small people in bed, dh out watching rugby and a glass of wine and Peter Grant (the protagonist of the book) for company. I really enjoyed this tale of a policeman who polices the supernatural in London while having an affair with the spirit of one of London's rivers. It sounds absolutely bonkers, and great literature it ain't, but the book was a brilliant way to spend a cold Saturday evening!

10. The Time Machine - HG Wells - the tale of.a Victorian scientist who travels to the future to discover how evolution has split the human race into two different creatures. While there were parts of the tale where I felt real menace, I found the story too cold and intellectual for it to really resonate with me.

11. Leap In - Alexandra Hemingsley - as summarised upthread, this is mainly a guide to open water swimming but also partly an exploration of how not to be self defined by an inability to have children. I can see why some feel it would have made a better magazine article, but did feel the lure and appeal of the open water came through in the writing.

12. There will be Lies- Nick Lake - a teenage girl discovers that the life she has known with an over protective mother is not all that it seemed. In this journey of discovery, she is helped by a parallel narrative set in the Dreaming, an alternative reality that has been borrowed from Native American culture. Although I found myself turning the pages to see if my initial guesses were correct, I think this would appeal more to a young adult market.

Sorry to hear about your dh, Satsuki.

Must admit The Muse isn't appealing much and The Miniaturist didn't appeal at all. Might give them a miss.

I'm sorry to hear of your DH's diagnosis, Satsuki. I am sure that it has been a shock to everyone in your family, but these days it is possible to manage it and live a normal life. Take it a day at a time

Satsuki, I'm sorry about your husband's diagnosis, too. I hope his medical team is able to find (or has already found) the best therapeutic regimen for him asap. Please do take care of yourself, too. 💐

I don't particularly want to reread my childhood favourites either Keith . I have my childhood copy of Treasure Island, which I like to sniff from time to time, as it smells wonderful, but have never felt the need to read again.

11. The Hit by David Baldacci This was about shooting people, and CIA types and what makes them tick, but mostly about shooting people. The plot arrived late, but was decent enough when it did. I quite enjoyed the terse language. And short chapters. And short sentences. The body count was a bit too high for my liking, but otherwise a decent easy reading thriller.

Sorry, hadn't refreshed the thread before I posted. Satsuki There is a rather lovely novel How to be Brave by Louise Beech, about, amongst other things, a mother coming to terms with her daughter's type 1 diabetes diagnosis, so not the same situation as you, but might resonate with you at this time.

SatsukiKusakabe Wishing you and DH all the best. May your book choices be worth your time!

The concept of a serial killer using Revelation sounds interesting, think I'll add it to my list!

What a shock for you and DH, Satsuki. I hope things improve soon

Thanks everyone, how lovely of you all

He is over the worst and starting to get on top of it now. We have experience of it in the wider family and are aware of the potential impact, which made it initially hard to get our heads round. However, we are living in a very fortunate time in terms of the treatment available, so grateful for that and quite optimistic now.

And yes to worthwhile books

That must have come as a shock to you all Satsuki. As you say there is a great deal of understanding now about how to stay healthy with diabetes which is the positive part of it.

I've reread some of my childhood favourites with my daughter. It can be risky because sometimes I really want her to enjoy a book because I know I enjoyed it and sometimes she doesn't like it as much. And sometimes the book doesn't have as much depth to it or is slower than I remember. It is interesting which parts stick in your mind. From 'The Secret Garden' her parents dying at the start didn't make much of an impression on me at the time and it's not surprising because it's dealt with in a few pages. This is not unusual in children's books where often the author gets rid of the parents in order to start the real adventure.

My daughter still enjoys being read to aloud (she's nearly 10) and we've read some books I either didn't tackle or gave up on as a child. For example Treasure Island - I'm not sure she'd have managed to read it all by her self (or perhaps understand it properly). She benefited from having me to explain some of the language some of which is quite obscure. I'm fairly certain I hadn't read it before and enjoyed it. So I'm enjoying reading children's books I didn't read when I was a child

satsuki
Am still reading but can't find the book that I'd started! So am on with Everyone brave is forgiven now.
dragon I really like the Ben Aaronovitch books too

Wondered if I could ask for some help? Dd is 12 and for her library challenge at school has to read some non fiction but we're struggling to find something suitable. Wondered if anyone knew of anything but not blooming youtubers life stories

So sorry to hear that satsuki - I hope you are getting support, too.

cedar yes, I enjoy reading children's books I didn't get to read as a child - having been brought up in an extremely strict religious household, an awful lot of fiction was forbidden. I still feel a little deliciously guilty reading these!

The first thing that sprang to mind was The Diary of Anne Frank, mogloveseggs, though I'm sure those with pre teens onward will have other suggestions.

Mo - my year seven DD has recently read I am Malala (possibly an edited children's version, but it was from the school library so I can't check), something called Chinese Cinderella about growing up in China, and the Diary of Anne Frank. She finished them all, so presumably found them ok, but if I am honest, there was no raving commentary like when she reads things like the Hunger Games . . .

mogloveseggs what about 'My Family and Other Animals' by Gerald Durrell?

I'm currently reading Ready Player One. I'm about half way through and although it's a very light, easy read, I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
I may go for something a bit chunkier for my next read. I've got Bring up the Bodies waiting on my tbr pile so will probably go for that.

mogloveseggs What about Persepolis? Just part one where she's a child if you're not sure she's ready for part two where she's an adult. Or - inspired by your username - Judith Kerr's Bombs on Aunt Dainty is good. It's the sequel to When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, but it starts when she's fifteen and it's about her living through the London Blitz etc. (Actually, if you're Mog fans, her Creatures is a really beautiful book - it's a mixture of autobiography and collection of her paintings and picture books and would be a really interesting non-fiction book to talk about.)

Great suggestions thank you all so much! I shall put them to her and see what she fancies.
cheerful that creatures book sounds lovely i shall put it on my list thank you

Satsuki sorry to hear about your DH's diagnosis. I hope things improve soon

Chessie You are right my number 8 should be I Let You Go. I ordered I See You from the library yesterday and I obviously got confused between the two.

Satsuki Sorry to hear about your H's diagnosis.

Mog If she's at all interested in animals, maybe she'd enjoy James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small. I lapped them all up aged between about 10 and 12.

Oh yes to James Herriot. I have the whole series in second hand copies scavenged from car boots when I was a kid, and love them so much.

DD reads quite a bit of non-fiction - thinking of what she was reading a year or so back she liked The Philosophy Files (aimed at young teens/older pre-teens), also The Lion Children by Angus, Maisie and Travers McNeice (written by three 'home' educated children who live in Botswana with their mother who studies lions about their lives and the lions/other wildlife around them).