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?

Hello, I missed some interesting debates! I really want to read some of the above now- I wish Overdrive had more on as am currently a bit skint. Will have to try THe City.

I quite liked Knife of Never Letting Go but Patrick Ness never quite comes alive for me.

17. Pilgrim Soul by Gordon Ferris, post WW2 Glasgow, murder and Nazis, pretty good.

meg I found the Woman in White a page turner and such a fun read - so strange to me sometimes how someone can be affected completely differently by a book. I mean obviously tastes differ, but that's one I've always recommended with some confidence and you're the first person I know to find it boring

Fortunamajor you have made me a happy lady. Flying to the US next weekend and have been stocking my Kindle for weeks. It's the only thing that will get me through the flight!

I didn't get more than a chapter or so into The Knife of Never Letting Go, but I reckon Cote that if you're ever in need of a good rage, you read Patrick Ness's More Than This. I don't really get why he's so rated as a YA author TBH - I thought The Rest of Us Just Live Here was an entertaining premise but didn't really follow through.

But, I thought his scripts for the Dr Who spin-off Class were really excellent - loved Miss Quill, & the teenagers were suitably convincing. Usually I watch things with dd with 5% of my attention & a book for the rest of it, but I actually did watch that one properly.

Scribbly, I also listened to the audiobook and loved The Book of Strange New Things. In fact I've enjoyed all his novels, all different genres but all thought provoking, staying with you long after you've read them. Even if, like Remus, all you think about is the priest and his spare time.

I liked The Knife of Never Letting Go. I thought it had some interesting ideas but it was definitely YA. The next two in the series were not very good.

Another catch up:

16. The Separation-Dinah Jefferies Read it as was given it, along with Tea Planter's Wife. Ok story and was kept engaged enough to care about the ending but not an author I'll rush to read any more of.
17. Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James Probably not the best idea to read this so soon after reading Mansfield Park as the style is very different from Jane Austen. Again enjoyable but a strange hybrid of a murder mystery story and an Austen novel.
18. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. Wow! Inspired to read this by the 50 books thread from last year. Such an amazing read - so many of you have brilliant taste!
19. Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah A MN giveaway. I really enjoyed this - a good plot and fast-paced. Probably because the TV adaptions are all quite different I adapted to someone else writing a new story for a Christie character.
20. The Return by Hisham Matar. A MN book of the month. A brilliant book describing the authors return to Libya to try to find out the truth behind his father's disappearance. The book describes both this journey and lots of flashbacks to the events which lead to his father's capture. Tony Blair and his government's policy towards Libya do not come out well.

Now onto the lighter reading of Peggy and me - by Miranda Hart.

Cheerful I quite enjoyed reading the fifth Cazalet book but didn't like the direction she took some of the characters in it. It is worth a read though.

Starlight I thought Death Comes to Pemberley was just a bit weird. I'd rather P D James had spent her energies writing a book with her own creations in it instead as they were always so enjoyable.

Thanks, RMC and Cedar. I may give the fifth one a go then.

Is all this talk of wanking in space making everyone else think things about men on the international space station that they'd never thought before? I mean, wet dreams have got to get a whole other level of embarrassing in zerogravity , right?

Or is that just me?

I really loved The Book of Strange New Things and read it twice - and I can't even remember the wanking. I must re-read it. I've really enjoyed all of Michel Faber's that I've read.

Halfway through The City and the City....

I think Death Comes to Pemberley works best if you don't really know/love P&P, it's ok as a story by itself, but struggles slightly if you want to view it in the way it's expected to be, a follow on from P&P.

I'm currently trying to give myself permission to give up on a book that's only 200 pages and I've read over 80, but I'm not enjoying. Sod it, will start something else.

Yes I think that was what I found strange about Death Comes to Pemberley that it started off like a sequel and I was enjoying seeing how the characters stories had been 'developed' but then lost interest a bit when the mystery part really kicked in. It was my first P D James though so I'll try another properly in her genre.

Cheerful -

Meg - You didn't love Wilkie? I am broken.

22. The Essex Serpent – Sarah Perry

Really, really wanted to love this one...but to be honest I found it a bit of a slog. Some beautiful descriptions of the landscape and the seasons and very evocative. However, I found the writing style over wrought. I couldn't decide whether I admired Cora or found her really irritating and self absorbed. I found the other characters were a bit one dimensional, and never really came to life in my head, iyswim? And I love The Woman in White by the way, it's a great page turner! I didn't think this one was sadly, not for me anyway

23. Charmed Life – Diana Wynne Jones
One of my favourite books, this is a re-read with my 9 yo as a bedtime book. This is just perfect in my opinion. Full of plot twists and surprises, and vividly drawn characters, I think I've read this about 5 times. The first time I finished it (as a child) I turned right back to the beginning and started again to try and work it all out. I have also recently discovered there's a whole series of books and that Charmed Life is only the first, so am looking forward to working my way through the rest of them.

24. A Long Long Way – Sebastian Barry
Just started this one and so far so good - only about 20 pages in. I read Sebastian Barry's Days without End earlier in the year and thought it was fantastic, so I have high hopes.

Indigo I know what you mean about Cora. I ended up thinking that maybe both she and her son could possibly be high functioning autistic?

Ah yes, that would explain it. She seemed to lack empathy, be sort of emotionless at times. I thought she was pretty harsh towards the Doctor. He was my favourite character, I far preferred him to Will.

And the boy with all his collections etc . It was screaming Asperger's to me.

Son definitely somewhere on the spectrum, I'd say. Cora has been living with a violent and unpredictable man, which has affected her ability to maintain 'normal' relationships - and the son is that man's child, so maybe hard for her to fully connect to.

Agree that the doctor was the best character. I liked Will better before all the snogging stuff began.

I'm hating The City and The City. Very irritated so far.

One for TeamCote.

Remus definitely agree about the traumatic living arrangements but I do think that there was something about her character / actions before her marriage that made me feel that too. I haven't got the book so I can't look it up I am afraid.

23. In Watermelon Sugar - Richard Brautigan

The perfect palate cleanser after weeks of Wilkie Collins, this is a short, sweet and whimsical parable about human nature and its self-destructive urges, set in a community where the sun shines a different colour every day and people literally craft everything they need out of watermelon sugar. Its simplicity and beauty save it from becoming overly twee; it certainly wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea but if you like Kurt Vonnegut then I'd say give it a go.

21. The Indian in the Cupboard - Lynne Reid Banks. Read this as I liked the 90's film but the book about a cupboard that brings toys magically to life was much less engaging and moving.

22. A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara. Lengthy tale about the lives of four male friends from early twenties to late middle-age, mainly set in New York, the second half mainly covers the horrific experiences of one of them, Jude, from his childhood. At 720 pages, I thought this was a bit overlong, which for me hurt the impact slightly but even so this is definitely one of the best novels I've read of the past few years. Apart from the often beautiful writing and gripping story, what was remarkable was how she explored Jude's psychology so very deeply...I don't know how she did it. Many times reading this book I thought 'I could never write like that'. I felt that Jude's career trajectory and those of his friends seems a bit implausible at first but I agree with some reviewers who said the book is a fable. A very good book, told with empathy and intelligence, and one I know I'll be thinking about for a long time.

Indigo Charmed Life was a huge favourite of mine as a child.

RMC Not as happy as me. I have to sign the documents to say the aircraft is loaded safely for take off. I've literally had sleepless nights over this. Have a good flight.

I've just started A Conspiracy of Violence by Susanna Gregory, about a government spy at the beginning of the Restoration. I wanted to read her medieval series first really, as they are supposed to be similar to Ellis Peter's Cadfael, but this was what I had available.

Fortunamajor that certainly puts my rather selfish worries into perspective! Thanks for the flight wishes !