50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Four

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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, the second one here, and the third thread here.

What are you reading?

Satsuki

Satsuki

Satsuki and Happy pleased I am not the only woman be who HATED that book!

Satsuki. My SiL gave me The Da Vinci Code - I can only imagine she hadn't read it as she generally has good taste and picks things I'd like.

Gone back to The Essex Serpent - writing still beautiful, still not gripped by story. I can't decide whether to abandon or whether I should stick with it.

Stewart Lee: it's only to be hoped that Dan Brown never gets a job where he's required to deliver bad news. "Doctor, is he going to be alright?" " The seventy five year old died a painful death on the big green table. It was sad."

Have just finished reading you. Its use of Dan Brown at the end made me smile.

Satsuki happy and gin

17. Exposure by Helen Dunmore Took me a few goes to get into this but I'm so glad I persevered. Set in the Cold War period, the novel is an excellently written period piece and has really well drawn and complex characters. It's not a spy novel as such, though it has elements of it. There's a real sense of menace throughout. My only niggle is that the ending seemed a bit 'easy' in some ways, not a cop out exactly but I was expecting more somehow. Still well worth a read.

Satsuki - brilliant. Several English teachers, who ought to know better, recommended The Da Vinci Code to me. Absolutely terrible. I managed about 70 pages, through gritted teeth.

Updating.

20. The Last Chronicle of Barset (audiobook)
21. Death's End: Liu Cixin
22. Sapiens: Yuval Noah Harari. I thought this was thought-provoking and well-written. There were a few times where I thought that he just declared something without really justifying it ('wheat domesticated us' comes to mind) and I thought he was rather disingenuous in claiming not to understand why patriarchal societies were so dominant. Two of the reasons that he gave but dismissed were so clearly, to me, the reason. But no spoilers...

Now on His Bloody Project and enjoying it so far (about a fifth of the way through). I'm slightly irritated by the fluency and detail of the 'confession' but I was impressed with the way the author character anticipated and excused that at the start, knowing that readers like me would be querying its plausibility.

Satsuki

You are obviously a very talented author in your own right/write .

I particularly like this sentence:

He wore blue socks, one on his injured leg, and one on his uninjured leg, and another waited in his drawer

as there is just a hint that what is awaiting in the drawer may not be another blue sock. It may be another LEG!

(Seriously though - you have a gift. Promise me you will use it only for good . . . )

Love the "Charlie Parker' review Remus

Satsuki . I remember one reviewer who said that the DaVinci Code was to literature what SPAM was to food.

DH wouldn't eve think that's funny. He already complains that my Kindle gets far more attention in bed than him

Point out that your Kindle never fails to provide an outstanding performance Cote

Thanks, Happy. What a pity I had to read a Charlie Parker book in order to write it.

I read The Da Vinci Code on a holiday somewhere and seem to remember I quite enjoyed it but alcohol may have been involved. I read Angels and Demons too but in my defence I was in hospital on that occasion and on painkillers.

It has been so long since I updated that I had fallen off the thread! These are my latest:

12. Reconstructing Amelia – Kimberly McCreight. Amelia died after jumping from the roof of her school. The coroner’s verdict is suicide. Kate then receives a note to say that Amelia did not jump and so begins the journey to uncover the truth about what happened to Amelia and why. This is not a bad story though certain elements such as Kate investigating alongside the police were ridiculous. I liked how the author addressed bullying on social media and the impact on young vulnerable kids. All in all, readable but not memorable.

13. The Wolves of London (Obsidan Heart – Book 1) – Mark Morris. I had this in my Audible library for ages and finally got around to listening to it. In this first book of a trilogy, Alex Locke finds himself in a situation where he has to steal an obsidian heart in order to help his daughter who is in a spot of bother. When his younger daughter is taken and held hostage, he very quicklyrealises that all is not as it seems as he gets caught up in the criminal underworld. This is an urban fantasy with a bit of mystery, science fiction, steampunk and time travel thrown in. Probably not for everyone and may work better as an audiobook than a novel, but I enjoyed it and will definitely see the series through. I would say this might appeal to people who like Neil Gaiman and Ben Aaronovitch.

14. Vigilante- Kerry Wilkinson This is the second book in the Jessica Daniel’s detectives series. Someone is killing criminals and the forensics point to a man who is already in prison. I bought this on a kindle deal a year or so ago and while it is a better read than the first in the series, I really did not engage with the story or the characters.

15. Rosemary’s Baby – Ira Levin. Rosemary and Guy move into the Bramford which is an old New York City apartment building and quickly build a close relationship with their neighbours, Roman and Minnie Castavet. Rosemary gets pregnant and as small events happen that start to make her uneasy she slowly becomes aware that all is not as it seems. Full of suspense and drama this was one of my favourite books of the year so far and it is hard to believe that it is was published 50 years ago. It still feels fresh and contemporary and I would highly recommend it.

16. Prisoners of Geography – Tim Marshall. This is a book about geopolitics and the impact physical geography and location has on the governing of many of the world’s nations. Geopolitics is very complex but this book makes it really easy and is clear, concise, well researched and presented.

17. A Commonplace Killing –Siân Busby. Set in London after WWII, this is a thriller/murder mystery about a woman who was found strangled to death. I enjoyed the descriptions of London and the time period in which it was set. It was somewhat bleak and dealt with some of the social challenges that many working class people faced at this time. It didn’t gel for me at the end but I feel a bit bad saying so as she died while writing it and it seems her husband (Robert Peston) found her notes and transcribed them so the novel could be published posthumously.

18. Snowblind – Ragnar Jónasson. Set in Iceland, this is the first of the Dark Iceland books. Ari Thór is a newly graduated policeman who is posted to the small fishing village of Siglufjördur. A famous Icelandic novelist falls down a stairs and soon the rumours start to circulate suggesting that he may have been pushed. Soon after a woman is found semi naked in the snow with severe injuries. At the beginning these cases seem unrelated but as the story develops Ari has to ask some uncomfortable questions in the small community he is living in, in order to close the case and bring the perpetrators to justice. I think this is a first book and another ending I found a little unsatisfying, however I enjoyed it enough to consider reading the next one in the series.

19. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell. This was one of my reading targets for 2017 and I am delighted to have finally read it. I know this has been reviewed extensively on these threads so I am not sure that I can really add anything of value other than to say it was truly a masterpiece. I just loved it. Mitchell is an incredible wordsmith and I am still thinking about this even thought I finished it some weeks ago. This is definitely one for a reread and I think this is one that would work really well as an audiobook so I will keep a lookout on Audible for a Daily Deal or 2 for 1.

20. High Force – L.J. Ross. This is the 5th book in the DCI Ryan series and follows on from the last book where the Hacker has escaped from prison and taken Detective McKenzie. Ryan and co have to find her before she it is too late. This is the best of these books so far and the characters are well drawn and realistic. I am on a bit of a murder mystery/police procedural role this year and this was probably the best of them so far.

21. Lock In – John Scalzi. A flu-like virus spreads globally and kills many. However, 1% of the population experience ‘lock in’ where they are conscious and aware but cannot move their bodies or physically respond in any way. Technological advances mean that Hadens can fully function in society again through the development of a complex computer programme that allows them to control a robot like body. It is also discovered that there are a number of people (known as Integrators) who had developed Haden’s and recovered that are receptive to having their brain controlled by ‘locked in’ Hadens. Chris Shane is a Haden and an FBI agent. On his first week on the job he has to deal with a Haden related murder. As the story unfolds Chris and his partner have to solve more murders against the background of political intrigue and corporate corruption. It was slow to start but then the pace picked up and it kept me intrigued to the end. I was expecting more sci fi than murder mystery but the two worked really well together. I thought this was quite clever and the world building worked for me. Interesting and entertaining read.

Next up is Marcus Sakey's Brilliance trilogy and Pompeii by Mary Beard on Audible.

Neal Stephenson's brilliant book Seveneves is £1.99 on the Kindle

Finished number 15

1. The Muse - Jessie Burton

1. Gone Without a Trace - Mary Torjussen
2. Flesh Wounds - Christopher Brookmyre
3. Phantom: a Harry Hole Thriller - Jo Nesbo
4. Dead Simple (Roy Grace Series) - Peter James
5. All Good Deeds (A Lucy Kendall Thriller) - Stacy Green
6. The Turtle Boy - Kealan Patrick Burke

8. His Bloody Project - Graeme McRae

1. The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

10. The Last Day of Christmas: The Fall of Jack Parlabane (short story) - Christopher Brookmyre 11. Tales of Protection - Erik Fosnes Hansen 12. The Wall of Sky, The Wall of Eye - Jonathan Letham 13. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline 14. The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

15. Gallows View (inspector banks series) - Peter Robinson

Utter bilge.

Next!

I'd forgotten all about Rosemary's Baby. It gave me nightmares as a teenager Grifone. I think it was the first 'horror' story I ever read and almost the last.

What a pity I had to read a Charlie Parker book in order to write it

We all have our cross to bear Remus.

Yours is obviously a heavy one.

Ooh thanks Cote, DH is a big Neal Stephenson fan so I've just bought Seveneves for him.

I loved Rosemary's Baby as well. I think Ira Levin is really underrated, and agree that his writing feels very fresh. I picked up A Kiss Before Dying in a charity shop at the weekend, and will read after my current Susan Hill.

22. Indemnity Only (VI Warshawski Book 1) by Sara Paretsky.

A light and easy read; VI Warshawski is a PI and investigates. It was light and fairly entertaining, I will keep going with this series, it's always nice to see a strong (fairly) independent female character. I'm also half way through The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood but I'm finding it all a bit depressing and have started The Vegetarian by Han Kang instead. Interesting.

The Da Vinci Code is the worst book I have ever read. No question.

Grifone, I listened to Cloud Atlas as an audiobook and thought the narration was very good.

14. The Odessa Files by Frederick Forsyth

I went straight from The Day Of The Jackal to this one, by the same author. I should have known that it was not going to be exactly the same kind of book when I struggled through 50-odd pages of a concentration camp survivor's diary and still I couldn't believe the plot's glacial slowness. I know some on this thread said this is among their favourite books ever, but imho the story wasn't terribly convincing and it was nowhere near as good as Jackal.

Cote - I loved the Odessa File, I think I found the protagonist very attractive (it's probably 25 years since I've read it though!). Can't remember much else other than an old man and a diary. Please don't read any more Forsyth, it's properly all downhill from the Odessa File!

Satsuki - genius bit of writing, careful or Dan Brown will be plagiarising you !!

I'm currently reading Imperium by Robert Harris. Anyone read it? My feelings are mixed so far...

Grifone- Cloud Atlas is comfortably in my all time top 10 books. Definitely deserves a reread. I still haven't seen the film though.,