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?

Hehe that would be easy in my case - I'm reading Orwell's Narrative Essays and he literally has entire essays on the perfect cup of tea and the perfect beer mug. Finding a cocktail bar that does draft stout in ceramic tankards might be problematic, however. (And disgusting - I'm an IPA girl myself, though always happy to try new prosecco cocktails.)

I'm currently reading a book about a teetotal Welsh Baptist minister so it would have to be water. On second thoughts make mine a large G&T.

Yes I would vanderley. I'm not a massive fan of Hemingway - have you read any? - find him dull in large doses, but I do quite like that one as it is very evocative of the time and place he is writing about - 1920s Paris and Pamplona - and so though I don't love the story or characters, I was left with a vivid impression of it all after that has remained with me. And the desire to drink, copiously and frequently, whenever the opportunity almost presents itself. Semi-Autobiographical, so all quite interesting in that regard, short, and with a memorable last line. I think if you want to read some H then a good place to start and finish

Cheers 🍻

Orwell on the perfect cup of tea . . . why have I never read this essay??? (Evidently not in my very, very well thumbed Penguin Collected Essays :( )

I have now read the essay and I am comforted that Orwell still remains Right About Everything (though I think stainless steel teapots do have their virtues).

The Orwell essays sounds great! As does the aperol spritz (never tried it).

On to my list. Doing much more reading these days which is great, thanks to this thread.

Number 12 is Nigerian author's Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's We should all be feminists. Now this is a bit of a cheat as it's a tiny book--50 pages or so I gather; I read it on kindle. It's a down to earth, simple & clear defence of why we should all (men and women) not just be feminists but call ourselves feminists. The book is based on a TED talk that Adichie (author of Half of a yellow sun and Americanah) gave. It describes some of her experiences growing up / living as a girl and then women in Nigeria, and the subtle, everyday sexism that goes unnoticed & unchallenged not just there but everywhere. It's not militant, obscure feminism (not that I necessarily have a problem with that) but just makes a clear, honest and persuasive argument about how the term 'feminist' is still very much needed.

I actually think this would make a nice gift for a teenage boy or girl-an easy quick read and one that's worthwhile--, and Adichie makes some really good points about raising a son (in particular) in a way that promotes gender equality. All in all, recommended, and you can just buy from kindle and (added bonus) you can return for refund very quickly after reading in a couple of hours.

Skimming all the drink chat as I am still recovering from a two day hangover! Out with much younger colleagues - bad, bad idea!
Book 36 - another Shardlake Revelation. For some reason this was a slower read, probably due to everything crazy that's going on in my life rather than the book itself. Still lapping these books up, but reading them on a Kindle means I am getting that familiar urge for a real book.

After that essay,sadik, I'm going to extend my apprehension of the term "Orwellian" to include pouring the tea before the milk. Dystopian indeed. I wonder if he ever would have come around to pyramid bags?

stillloving good review.

43. The Ends of the Earth by Robert Goddard

This was the third in a trilogy. James 'Max' Maxted is investigating the death of his civil servant father in 1919 Japan. It's all about busting a spy ring. Sadly not up to previous Goddard standard.

Satsuki

May I join in?

So far this year I've read:

1. The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena
2. I see You - Claire Mackintosh
3. In a Dark Dark Wood - Ruth Ware
4. Good Me Bad Me - Ali Land
5. The Red Notebook - Antoine Laurain
6. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
7. The House at the end of Hope Street - Menna van Praag
8. The President's Hat - Antoine Laurain
9. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery

10. The Girl Before - J.P. Delaney 11. The Housekeeper and the Professor - Yoko Ogawa 12. Caraval - Stephanie Garber 13. The Shadow Land - Elizabeth Kostova 14. Hell's Gate - Laurent Gaude 15. He Said She Said - Erin Kelley 16. One of us is Lying - Karen M. McManus 17. Dusk or Dawn or Dark or Day - Seanan McGuire 18. Gentlemen and Players - Joanne Harris 19. Different Class - Joanne Harris 20. The Secret History - Donna Tartt 21. Behind her Eyes - Sarah Pinborough 22. A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles 23. Beauty and the Beast (Gorgeous Mina Lima illustrated edition) - Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve

So far, Gentleman in Moscow is my favourite read. Utter bliss! (Other highlights are in bold).

Currently reading Exit West, as recommended earlier on this thread (I think). I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying it so far.

Welcome bedelia. I quite want to read the Amor Towles so glad you liked it.

welcome bedelia!

Oh, The Sun Also Rises! Yes, I've read it (and other Hemingway) more than once. Twas a lot of imbibing in that book. Booze, and also cheese. A Moveable Feast, his memoir about living in Paris while he was writing the book is very similar in some ways. Fun fact: he claims he and his first wife would occasionally leave their infant son with the cat as his babysitter!

Hi, bedelia! I'm looking forward to your review of Exit West. I saw the author speak and would like to read the book myself.

Los of Orwell essays well worth a read. I particularly enjoyed the Decline of the English Murder one.

vanderley ha I did wonder briefly after I'd written it whether I should have put the other title, but was ultimately too lazy I'm so familiar with it (had to write about it once and have a couple of copies) I forget which it goes by most often. Yy to Moveable Feast. I like reading about food and drink, and it is one of the things H does very well. I like some of his short stories too. Presumably the cat would have been sober, so maybe not such a poor decision

15. everything I never told you Celeste Ng - the aftermath of the apparent suicide of a teenage girl on her family. Although not the best book in the world, it was quite engrossing, and did make me think about the pressure to achieve academic success on the youth of today

16. American Gods Neil Gaiman - the Gods of Yesteryear are in modern day America and facing pressure from contemporary "gods" of social media and light entertainment. Some cringeworthy sex scenes aside, I really enjoyed this.

17. Hearts of Stone Simon Scarrow - a grandmother recounts the experiences of herself and two friends during the German occupation of a Greek island, with an archeological sub plot thrown in. There were parts of this that were brilliant, such as the claustrophobic rendition of the torpedo attack on a submarine. Others were full of cliche.

18. The Nest Cynthia d'aprix sweeney - the tussles of four siblings over the monies in their trust fund. What drivel! The first sentence is 125 words long and the writing style improves not one jot.

Didn't he also subtitle The Sun Also Rises, in a letter to Scott Fitzgerald, Like Your Cock If You Have One? I went through a brief Hemingway phase in my late teens when I was going through a phase of almost everything so was quite into all the macho 'glory' of the Fiesta. Haven't read any Hemingway for years, though.

ontop yes, I'll use that title when referencing it in future, it will save confusion all round.

I'm amused by the idea there are now possibly many people typing that line into Google to check

I like Orwell best when he's telling me a story or taking me through the insides of a prison, or a prep school, or boys' magazines.

When he's telling me when to put the milk in, he can do one.

8 Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker. Each chapter of this book is told from the perspective of an item of kit belonging to soldier Tom Barnes, for example his helmet, bandage and kit bag. Harry treads on an IED in the first chapter and the book is about his road to recovery. The novel, I read elsewhere, is based on Harry Parker's own experiences as a soldier.

Initially I found the narrative device intriguing: some of the accounts were gripping, others more mundane. The structure and plot was eventually a bit repetitive, although including the stories of locals and insurgents gave the book a more rounded plot. Overall an interesting read but I think it would have benefitted from being a bit shorter.

Next on my list is The Last Of Us by Rob Ewing.

Agree entirely re Anatomy of a Soldier - I don't think there was enough 'plot' to sustain it for an entire novel. Clever idea though.

21. Black Plumes - Margery Allingham - was recommended on here. It's a between wars murder mystery. Very gentle and puzzling but not too taxing. Quite nice. Might read some more of hers.

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 16. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

17. Dead Man's Prayer - Jackie Baldwin

I am a fan of books set in places which I know so a crime novel set in my home area really appealed to me. The first in what I think the author plans as a series, of books following the cases of DI Frank Farrell a Priest come detective.

Based in Dumfries and Galloway this has the opportunity to slip beyond the city grit that many detective novels have but I felt it suffered for an author who was too keen to shoe horn in local references at the expense of actually setting a proper scene. I am not sure if anyone not from the area would have much of a sense of where the story was set. This is a shame as I think it has a great deal to offer.

The actual plot was interesting and unique if a little daft towards the end. I enjoyed this and at 99p on the kindle I would recommend it to fans of British crime novels as well as look out for the second book.