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?

BestisWest I think William Styron is a great author, perhaps try something else by him first to see if you like his writing before approaching Sophie's choice?

The discussion of The City and the City makes me think of Fringe, which is one of my favourite TV series ever. So will try this book.

cote's version of The Cuty And The City sounds rather more Debbie Does Dallas!

Love the sound of Ordinary Grace, too.

It would have been far better if it were actually talking about two parallel universes (in reality, not as a metaphor) as in Fringe.

But these "two" cities are actually the same place, with everyone perfectly capable of seeing each other, getting out of each other's way, trying not to get run over by each other's car, etc.

I just googled China Mieville as I don't know anything about him. He has some pretty impressive abs in his picture! I have The City and the City on my kindle and keep meaning to read it. I am inspired now - not inspired because of his abs, because of the discussion I mean.

Read:
42: Rush Oh - Shirley Barrett
This has been reviewed already so just to add that I found this rather sweet and readable. It's hard not to like the 19 year old narrator Mary, who describes one whaling season, that of the year 1908. It's quite a light read but is actually based on a real family of Australian whalers which I didn't realise until I read the notes at the end - although she admits she's taken a number of liberties with the family. However, the descriptions of whaling made me feel extremely sad. They were quite heartbreaking.

Thanks for your thorough research on China Mieville whippet. It's the kind of biographical detail I feel really adds to the discussion

Oooh time for me to join in!

So far this year I've read:

1. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
2. While my eyes were closed - Linda Green
3. The girl you left behind - Jojo Moyes
4. Denton's Little Death Date - Lance Rubin
5. Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
6. Purple Cow - Seth Godin
7. Me before you - Jojo Moyes
8. The secret - Rhonda Byrne
9. The subtle art of not giving a f*ck - Mark Manson

10. How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age - Dale Carnegie 11. The Cows - Dawn O'Porter 12. Elizabeth is Missing - Emma Healey 13. Love in the Present Tense - Catherine Ryan Hyde 14. The Universe has your back - Gabrielle Bernstein

www.goodreads.com/louiserogers

Satsuki, his abs were pretty inspirational if I'm being honest

I see what you mean Whippet

39 The Midnight Swimmer by Edward Wilson

Patchy spy thriller set in the lead up to and during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I thought his main character, Catesby, was very well drawn (the main thing that kept me reading), and I liked the concept of a 'spy thriller' where the reader knows perfectly well what the end result will be, but the characters don't. I thought the author caught the real fear of nuclear war well. Unfortunately there were too many parts where he wore his research much too heavily, and a good ending was spoiled by a pointless epilogue.

I won't bother seeking out more of the Catesby books specifically, but I'd probably pick one up if I saw it in the library or cheap on Kindle.

21 - The Story of a New Name - Elena Ferrante

I read My Brilliant Friend a couple of weeks ago and found it completely addictive, so much so that I am rationing the next 3 books so I don't gallop through all of them in a week. Like nothing else I have ever read, in a good way. Her writing is so honest and raw that at times I actually have to put the book down as I'm cringing for the characters. I am about half way through and so far this is even more gripping than the first book. Gripping and horrible at times, but completely unputdownable. Loving it!

27. Obsession - Amanda Robson

This was a 99p kindle pre-order. About a woman who asks her husband who he would love if he didn't have her. When he mentions her best friend a whole chain of events is kicked off.

I didn't particularly enjoy reading this or get excited about it not even as the book kept going. And I didn't like any of the characters and found some of it highly unrealistic. Wouldn't recommend.

"not inspired because of his abs, because of the discussion I mean."

We believe you, whippet

1. A Brief History of Seven Killings
2. Doubts and Loves: What is left of Christianity by Richard Holloway
3. The Essex Serpent
4. The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
5. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
6. Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
7. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
8. The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith
9. Ada's Algorithm by James Essinger

10. Gut Symmetries by Jeanette Winterson

I didn't enjoy Ada's Algorithm as much as I expected. I found it dragged quite a lot and barely mentioned any of Ada's work. It spent so much time saying how exceptional she was and describing her genius, trailing her "exceptionally productive year" of 1843, so I was quite underwhelmed when her work was skimmed over in favour of details of her ancestry and social life. I know that she was greatly restrained by her circumstances and didn't actually have the opportunity to produce much, but the author's thesis against her portrayal as an assistant or adviser to other more productive scientists and mathematicians seemed rather disproved by the correspondence he presented. I would much rather have read a biography of Mary Somerville I think. A big disappointment.

Gut Symmetries on the other hand was excellent. I have barely read any of Jeanette Winterson's books. I read Oranges are Not the Only Fruit many years ago and felt a bit neutral about it, so will try to reread it now. I just loved Winterson's prose. I don't care that it didn't make a lot of sense for the first third. It was beautiful and it came together well in the end. I especially enjoyed the passages on what it is to be born working class and suddenly find yourself moving in a different world, and also her passages about immigration and New York's identity.

Now reading Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor.

I didn't enjoy (or finish) Ada's Algorithm despite being interested in the subject; it wasn't very well written I didn't think.

Please may I join? I've been lurking for a while now and think I've got the gist of how things work.

My list so far

1. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
2. The Sellout by Paul Beatty
3. Armada by Ernest Cline
4. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
5. The Light Between Oceans by M. L Stedman
6. Y: The Last madn, Vol.1: Unmanned by Brian K Vaughan
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
9. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

10. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K Rowling 11. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry 12. The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester 13. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman 14. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 & 2 by John Tiffany, Jack Thorne and J.K Rowling 15 The Museum of You by Carys Bray 16. Giant Days, Volume 1 by John Allison 17. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 18. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur 19. How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran 20. Eucalyptus by Murray Bail 21. Giant Days, Volume 2 by John Allison 22. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande 23. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild 24. The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg 25. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry 26. Station Eleven by Emily St.John Mandel 27. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift 28. The Muse by Jessie Burton 29. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien 30. The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy 31. The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon 32. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler 33. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid 34. The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan 35. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling 36. Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo 37. Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 39. The Power by Naomi Alderman 40. Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field by John Lewis-Stempel 41. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel 42. Holes by Louis Sachar 43. How to Be Both by Ali Smith

44. Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal Winner of the 2017 Wellcome Book Award. Translated from the French novel . Occurs during a 24 hour period and follows a 19 year old surfer Simon Limbeau who is killed in a car cash and what occurs to him, and specifically his heart during the process of him being admitted to ITU and then his parents decision to donate his organs. The book finishes with his heart being transplanted into a donor. Had high hopes for this book but was rather disappointed when I finished it. For such a highly emotive subject matter it is horribly overwritten in parts, too many random side characters which get incredibly detailed backstories for a few pages and then disappear from the book altogether and (personal bug bear) endless paragraphs with minimal punctuation. Not sure if the translation worked perfectly either. Definitely had moments where I thought "I'm really not sure if medical staff would use that particular word of phrase in this context." Was expecting to be deeply moved but actually felt hugely relieved when it was all over.

I was quite looking forward to Ada's Algorithm

Welcome, Scribbly

What did you think about Snow Crash?

Just done some abs research. I like. Thanks for this useful addition to the discussion.

Would I like Ordinary Grace?

Currently reading Decline and Fall which is glorious so far, and an Agatha Christie - Endless Night - which isn't.

Hi, Scribbly. :)

Welcome argh and scribbly.

I missed Decline and Fall when it was on daily deal; pretty miffed about that.

Can I just recommend (again!) The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage to those interested in Ada Lovelace. The cartoons are fabulous, but there's also a lot of real information about her in the 'footnotes' - which actually take up at least as much if not more of the book than the drawings.

I'm irrationally annoyed that 3 books have disappeared from my Goodreads list!
43. (not 40, Goodreads!) Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, my first by this author, I was very impressed and will be reading more of hers. Excellent, insightful writing spanning over 50 years in the lives of two families brought together by an affair begun at a boozy christening party, the characters won't be easy to forget.
I'm now starting The Return by Hisham Matar after being lucky enough to be sent a copy from MN last week, it sounds excellent.

Just discovered this thread and now wishing I had kept a list of what I've read this year because I can't remember them all! Here are some:

1. The Janissary tree
2. His bloody project
3. The magic toyshop
4. Every day is mother's day
5. Vacant possession
6. The haunting of Hill House
7. We have always lived in the castle
8. The girl on the train
9. Stiff upper lip, Jeeves

10. Aunts aren't gentlemen 11. Elizabeth is missing

I really enjoyed all of these except 'His bloody project' which was so depressing and claustrophobic, although excellently written.

Yes thanks for the reminder sadik have wishlisted that.

23. Seveneves - Neal Stephenson

This is the first Neal Stephenson novel I've read. The premise is that something causes the moon to break-up which has a devastating effect on Earth. Humanity are under a death sentence and have 2 years to plan an escape. Hopes rest on the international space station and plans are made to evacuate some of the population there.
The story is divided into three parts - the first deals largely with the 2 year count-down, the second deals with the immediate aftermath and the final part is set 5,000 years later.

I found this a bit of a mixed bag. It was incredibly well-researched but the sheer amount of technical detail meant that I found the pacing of the plot too slow in places. I enjoyed the human politics elements and the descriptions of the New Earth. Personally, I would have liked more detail about the societies of the New Earth - how they were structured, what they believed, how they survived. I'm also not sure that the language would have been mutually intelligible after 5000 years.

A solid novel, especially if you are of a techy mindset, but I would have preferred more on the culture/philosophy. The Three-Body Problem was much stronger on these elements.

I would like to read more by him though.

Thanks Sadik, I will definitely look out for The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage. Ada's Algorithm was such a missed opportunity. I am sure that Lovelace's work was important but the gossipy tone and focus on social engagements/emotional attachments completely undermined it.

Looks like I am going to have another Neal Stephenson phase. I loved Cryptinomicon but it's been over a decade since I read it, so time for a reread I think. I have Anathem waiting for me on my kindle.

Welcome to Night Vale is going ok, light and funny, but I don't think I am in the right frame of mind for it so may move on to something else.