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?

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is 99p today, in case anyone had missed reading it.

I liked The Knife of Never Letting Go too (always with the proviso that it is a children's book and I read it - very quickly - as a children's book). I didn't read the others though.

I've just finished Into Thin Air which I read twice as I looked up the 1996 disaster online afterwards and I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed any crucial details in the book, given the varying accounts. I never did understand the desire to climb tall things and this really brought out the physical misery of the climb even when nothing goes wrong. A good read, so thanks for the 99p recommendation.

Thank you, Joyless, for some heads up on Shardlake. I now have a long queue of reading but will put that on my long-burn list.

I've just started the controversial City and the City.

cote I laughed out loud at "no use so sugar coating it" - as if that's something you might do

I see the wanking vicar has made an appearance again too. I'm also reading city and the city and hope to actually finish a book as I haven't for ages now

Don't know where the so came from.

Satsuki, you know me too well How long have we been trashing talking about books together?

Quite a few reduced start of series books on Kindle today:
The Atrocity Archives Charles Stross - British Civil Service meets Lovecraft. Cthulhu and paperclips.
Fated Benedict Jacka. Alex Verus novel - if you like Harry Dresden, then this is worth checking out.
The Long Earth Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - sprawling SF epic. I found it interesting but sort of started running out of steam in the later books.
The Silver Pigs Lindsay Davies. The first Falco book. Roman detective. Also the first Flavia Alba book (the following series about Falco's daughter).

couple more to add;

25. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - story written predominately in the form of letters and diary entries following a London based journalist who is contacted by someone from the literary society in 1946. She corresponds, looks more into it and while being a gentle and whimsical story/book, does manage to touch on some pretty hard issues of the occupation. The German occupation and the hideous experiences of the Channel Islanders is an area of 'war time literature' that seems very under explored, this is "cosy" rather than hard hitting take on it, and some places the letter form didn't seem to work, and a couple of cultural mistakes making it clearer that the authors are American, but generally a lovely book.

Then I'm wading into the Cote vs Remus debate -
26. The City and The City - China Mieville - Sorry Cote, I'm team Remus in this one! I liked it, I thought it was a clever idea, and does have both shadows of cold war mentality and also the more modern "unseeing" of almost second cities of the poor/underclass within many highly developed cities across the world.

Ha! Two members of Team Remus re: The City and the City. Glad you both enjoyed it.

I liked The Knife of Never Letting Go. I liked the 2nd less. The third was crap.

I really hoped that the aliens would eat the wanking vicar. I think The Book of Strange New Things would have been a far more satisfying book with this addition. Maybe I'll write a sequel.

I'm bookless and therefore hideous to live with. Sorry, DP.

I'm 60% of my way through The City and the City and (unless the last 40% is v disappointing) heading towards Team Remus - sorry Cote!

I really hoped that the aliens would eat the wanking vicar now that's not a sentence you hear every day of the week.

But but but he hardly wanked at all! I think he might have done so twice, and it was all very tastefully done. This book was not about intergalactic masturbation.

It was twice, was it? Well, that was twice more than I wished to read. I agree that it wasn't entirely about 'Semen in Space'. It was also about the end of the world, except nobody really cared about that. But I mostly remember the wanking.

Oh no, I liked how no one cared about the end of the world and they were far more interested in raisin bread and greasing up engines (not a euphemism) and the back catalogue of Bing Crosby. Lovely and unsettling.

Stokey Radiance is science fiction amd more adult than YA. Catherynne Valente has written a fantasy children's series which my daughter loved and I have to read if I ever get Radiance finished .

'Greasing up engines' has just almost made me choke on my cauliflower cheese.

It must be years now cote. You've introduced me to obscure baroque music and everything.

This whole intergalactic masturbation discussion is killing me 😂 but but but he hardly wanked at all! Tell it to the judge.

"But but but he hardly wanked at all! I think he might have done so twice, and it was all very tastefully done. This book was not about intergalactic masturbation."

Did I just read that???

" it wasn't entirely about 'Semen in Space'."

Not entirely? That's OK then

Definitely thought I'd wandered into the wrong thread

Anyone read City of Thieves? Someone at work insisted I borrow it and I would like to know whether to bother with it. It doesn't strike me as something I would usually go for.

I am definitely adding The Book of Strange New Things onto my TBR list.

There's something rather melancholy about wanking vicars. Even in space.

21. Casting Off Elizabeth Jane Howard Fourth Cazalet book. I know there are mixed feelings about them on here, but I love them, and am feeling rather bereft. What's the general consensus on the best way to deal with this? Fifth later inferior Cazalet book, autobiography, or something else?

Aaaagghhh! Drafted a nearly finished review of A Little Life on here then under the influence of a glass or few of vino, closed the window and it's gone! Should have done it on Notes so it would have saved automatically - will try again tomorrow!

Cheerful another one who loves the Cazalets. I know the fifth book isn't as great but it's still worth a read. The autobiography also gives further insight into the books and shows just how much she took from her own life. Indulging myself by listening on Audible to them at the moment

FINALLY... 22. The Woman In White - Wilkie Collins

I won't say that I didn't enjoy reading this - it was well crafted (although with a rather silly subplot tagged on at the end to dispense with one major character) and with some memorable characters. But it seemed to drag on and on, and I have to say that the main heroine was rather wet and drippy, and the much more interesting female character didn't really get a fitting ending.

Overall I'm glad I read it but I wouldn't rush to read anything else by him.

11122aa

The devices ban will not take place.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39956968