50 Book Challenge Part Five

[southeastdweller]

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

What are you reading?

Me too Satsuki. I've now had to buy The City and The City to find out what it's all about.

I've had to buy it too. It was pretty cheap on Kindle today.

"Imagine the Berlin wall. You're on one side of it and I'm on the other. We're separated. Now take the wall away physically but keep it there in your head and in the fact that you'll be 'disappeared' if you don't. Still separated."

Sorry but that sounds like absolute nonsense dipped in crazy to me Wall (physical or "removed") would actually separate people into two groups. In this book, people actually live in the same place, just pretending they are not (?)

I think I liked it a little when I thought it was actually two separate universes, somewhat translucent, where people could perceive each other but not cross over except in some places. The way you are telling it is completely bonkers

I read The City & The City as allegorical, or maybe as a commentary on how city dwellers largely exist in a certain sphere, willingly ignoring or othering those in the same physical location but differing social/socioeconomic spheres.

I don't think 'my' version and the 'two different universes' version are different tbh. They live in the same place geographically but not on any level - so it IS two different universes - in the same place. I honestly don't understand what you're finding so confusing or weird about it!

Gives up...

Exactly, VG.

A metaphor.

"It IS two different universes - in the same place. I honestly don't understand what you're finding so confusing or weird about it!"

I'm talking about actual, scientific, mathematical Multiverse theory as first proposed by Schrödinger - parallel universes, occupying different dimensions, by definition not in the same "place" although it may be possible for them to perceive each other.

You are talking about something else. People with different cultures or political convictions living in different "universes" etc.

Oh well if you're going to bring maths into it, I'm out of here! . I guess it's going to come down to if people prefer maths or metaphor!

Sunset and Best - please hurry up and read it and report back!

The 50 Books threads are a fascinating study in reader response theory.

Very true, VG.

Enjoying the City and the City debate. I have it in my audible queue, and am now going to bump it to the top, especially as I'm off to Berlin next week, and sounds like it will be an appropriate listen, with Remus's Berlin Wall / divided city analogy in mind.

25. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card An odd one, didn't love it, but am glad to have finally got around to this sci-fi classic. Precocious child Ender has been identified as potential space commander material in the war against an alien race, and is whisked away from his bullying brother and much loved sister to embark on military training mostly consisting of games pitted against a computer. I'm not particularly interested in military strategy and space battles, so the long, long, mid section during his training years flagged somewhat for me. However, the concept, world building, psychology and sibling relations were interesting, and it was worth persevering, as things came together nicely at the end.

Doing a little halfway to 50 books dance.

I've just finished Olive Kitteridge (interesting structure, liked the idea, overall positive though found the plots slightly underwhelming) and started CJ Sansom's Winter in Madrid so there may be a slight delay...

42. Capital by John Lanchester this had been unread on my kindle for 4 years, I'm glad I finally got around to this. A long, enjoyable read following the residents of a fictional London street, Pepys Rd, in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis. Mysterious postcards with photographs of the houses bearing only the words "we want what you have" begin to appear through the letterboxes of the diverse range of people living on the well to do street, closely followed by DVDs showing videos of the outside of the homes. The strands of the diverse characters lives gradually became entwined in unpredictable ways and the identity of the postcards sender revealed. Easy to read and very enjoyable!

I'm also almost finished with Commonwealth by Ann Patchett which I'm very much enjoying :)

Ham
It's perfect reading for Berlin - and Berlin is an amazing city. I am very jealous!

Just joined, may I share my books so far this year?

1. The girl in the red coat, Kate Hamer
2. The secrets we share, Emma Hannigan
3. Trade, Oliver Bishop
4. The cosy Xmas shop, Caroline Roberts (light relief!)
5. The food of love, Amanda Prowse (child with an eating disorder)
6. happy ever after, Patricia Scanlan (very light relief!)
7. The reading group, Della Parker
8. The child's secret, Amanda Brooke
9. The affair, Amanda Brooke

10. The marvellous adventures of Ingrid Winter (not very memorable) 11. The Cry, Helen Fitzgerald 12. Can we live here? (non-fiction, clueless authors!) 13. The lost art of letter writing, Menna van praag (you should all read this) 14. It comes, (no idea what comes, I can't remember) 15. ANswers to rhetorical questions, Caroline Taggert 16. His kidnappers shoes, Maggie James (recommended) 17. The teatime islands, Ben Fogle (fascinating) 18. The house near a river, Barbara Bartholomew 19. Dead to me, Lesley Pearce (predictable but good) 20. Lock the door, Jane Holland (do what it says!) 21. Mad Love, Nick Spalding (hilarious) 22. Games people play 23. FInding your way in Seville, Steve Carter (utter dross, don't bother) 24. The summer seaside kitchen, Jenny Colgan (light weight time filler) 25. The last bookshop in America, Amy Stewart (odd but ok) 26. The stranger in my home, Adele Parks (good) 27. The MIlliner's Daughter, charlotte betts (good, not as good as some of hers) 28. All you need to know about foreigners, Oliver Hollingsworth (yawn) 29. The Olive branch, Jo Thomas (light weight diversion) 30. Emma's baby, Abbie Taylor (excellent) 31. Packing up, Brigid Keenan (she comes across as very unintelligent, infuriating and small minded) 32. Land of the midnight sun, Alexander Armstrong (excellent) 33. The apple orchard, Veronica Henry (a diversion, ok) 34. The Beekeeper's Secret, Josephine Moon (odd but ok) 35. A mother's confession, Kelly Rimmer 36. Silent Child, Sarah Denzil (couldn't put this one down) 37. Stealing Jenny, Ellen Gable (good but far fetched) 38. Chosen Child, Linda Huber (couldn't put this one down) 39. The secret of happy ever after, Lucy Dillon

Thanks Remus I am very excited as I have never been, so am going to run around doing unashamedly touristy things. What else should I read (apart from The City and the City )?

Will DM you!

Grifone I've read the first Demon Road and really enjoyed it, but haven't got round to the other two yet. He cracks me up too. Another fan and I managed to crack him up, when we got to the front of the signing queue and he saw us again - it was the third signing in less than a week the person I was with had gone to, and this day we'd been at the start of the queue and then hung around to rejoin at the very back Absolutely no regrets though, he drew a cartoon Scapegrace in one of my books as well as signing everything.

1. The Girl With All The Gifts by MR Carey

Has been reviewed a lot on other threads I think, so I'll just say that overall I really enjoyed it. There were a couple of places I think it slowed down too much but it more than made up for it. I found the premise really interesting and I loved the ending.

1. The Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain by Ian Mortimer

This is his third Time Traveller's Guide and the best so far IMO. These books aim to bring various time periods to life by speaking to you as if you have been magically transported there. Chapters cover what London and the rest of England, Wales and Scotland are like, what you wear, what you eat, how you entertain yourself, the legal system and so on, from the sights to the smells. It was engaging and very well written with warmth, more than a little humour and an evident love of the subject. I was able to create vivid images in my head while reading. Obviously it was packed full of really interesting information, and the real joy of these books is that you are having enough fun reading that you don't realise how much you are learning.

I've just started Auschwitz and After (Charlotte Delbo)

Oh and I've also added The City and The City to my reading list

I'm really looking forward to reading all your reviews of The Cuty & The City

Sadik - I am a reader like you! Longer literary "boring" books interspersed with short trashy ones.

I've been rubbish at keeping up with this thread this year, luckily managed to speed up a bit by refusing to be drawn into the debate about NLMG! Been there done that.

15. Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman. This is a fab little adventure about a kick ass 16 year old called Sally Lockhart who gets herself involved in a Victorian murder mystery. Great YA novel, first in a four book series.

16. You've been publicly shamed by Jon Ronson, interesting but rather unsatisfying book about people (sadly mostly women) being savaged on social media for saying or doing something a bit inappropriate. People do seem to love being outraged and social media gives them a great forum for their craziness.

17. Seven dials mystery by Agatha Christie. No Poirot or Marple and the book is the worse for it. I didn't really enjoy this one much, not her best.

18. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith - insubstantial and blessedly short novel about a man's search for love and meaning in Italy. Pleasant and instantly forgettable. This was a gift and I reckon it was purchased because the cover was pretty .

LadyDepp - The Ruby in the Smoke is lovely, isn't it? The others in the series are v good too.

MissEDashwood and InvisibleKittenAttack Cornwell's Arthurian trilogy are my favourite of his novels, and I'm a big fan of his generally. The first book is The Winter King and the series is the Warlord Chronicles trilogy.

30. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

I read this in a day, having been recommended it by someone at book club. Warning - do not read if you're in any kind of romantic personal crisis, you will be in bits! Or at least I was, having had something of a let down yesterday. But it is a lovely story and well told, of a 50 year old man working through the loss of his first love 20 years previously. Jean Perdu runs a 'literary apothecary' on a barge on the Seine. He has a talent for sensing which books will sooth his customers' souls, sometimes refusing to sell them what they have chosen because it is the wrong book for them and offering an alternative. He himself has a closed off portion of his own heart after Manon, his lover, left him suddenly 20 years previously. He has kept himself apart from other people but the arrival of a new neighbour in his apartment building, a woman reeling from the sudden end of her marriage, inspires him to unmoor his bookshop and go looking for his past, along with a motley collection of people he picks up along the way.

Oh, and I loved The City & The City as well. Unfortunately the only other China Mieville book I've read is Kraken which I thought was awful.

I think I gave up on Kraken, Chillie (or if I didn't, it made no impression on me). I found Embassytown interesting - but I do like books that think about how language works, so it was right up my street.

Perdido Street Station is fantasy/steampunk, and I thought had a lot of good things about it but rather too long and not quite enough plot for it's length. I think I'd have liked it more if I was reading it on a long train journey or listening to it on audio while working - both cases where I'm happy to enjoy worldbuilding and not worry so much about actual plot.