50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Six

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the sixth 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, the fourth one here, and the fifth one here.

What are you reading?

Remus - Re next book. Another of my stand out books this year was The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride.
Might be worth a look.

Sure, RMC, but there's not an awful lot of Willie either (member excluded), other than him being covered in creepers a lot, or whatever the heck it is!

I share your weird graveyard thing - but I still didn't like all the spirits. Just found them tiring.

Will look at that book now, thanks. Have got the sample of The Icefields.

Remus I see what you mean about Willie not being physically present a lot but his presence and the dilemma it causes is the catalyst for the who novel.

Of course, but I still think far too much time is spent on silly and very repetitive stuff, at the expense of the actual whole point of the novel!

Remus agree to differ Time!
By the way if you are looking at the lesser Bohemians I should warn you that the prose at the beginning might drive you insane!! It's worth sticking with it though.

The Icefields begins with a man falling into a glacier's crevasse. When it was boiling here, I imagined that I was that character.

RMC, I'm really appreciating your analysis of Lincoln. Spot on!

Just read the opening of Bohemians. It did indeed drive me insane!

Crevasses sound perfect right now. Excuse me whilst I come over all Kenneth Williams for a moment.

Remus
Vander Loved it! Now got to find something to follow it!

24. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - slightly shocked myself that I hadn't read this before and had no clue whodunnit. Very short and very good. I believe there's a film coming out soon with that gorgeous Russian ballet dancer in. Looking forward to that.

Remus have you read Terra Incognita?, apologies if I've recommended it before and you hated it. I read it on the beach on a hot summer holiday and loved it.

I'm listening to the audiobook of Into Thin Air at the moment, very weird to listen to climbers on Mt. Everest trying to survive in subzero temperatures on the side of a mountain while I am baking in this heat.

I'm also reading a book that has been on my TBR shelf for so long that the pages have discoloured: A Quiet Belief in Angels. So far I'm gripped.

Thanks, LadyDepp. I didn't get on with Sarah W, unfortunately, but you certainly don't need to apologise!

Just remembered that I got a lovely copy of this in Oxfam recently. Should hopefully cool me down a bit!

Have read A Quiet Belief. Must admit it didn't do much for me, but a friend loved it.

Cheddar there used to be a pub in Hull called The Land of Green Ginger. Never went on it but loved the name. That is definitely going on my to read list!

Thanks rmc and vanderley for your reviews, I was beginning to feel a bit unsure about Lincoln but hopeful I might like it now! Going to get to it next.

vanderley I missed an opportunity to see George Saunders talk about the book when it was released, and was really disappointed but just couldn't get there. I'd be interested in the talk too once I've read it if you wouldn't mind.

Book 59
Wild – Cheryl Strayed
This was okay. Some of it was interesting and fairly well written, but lots of it was rather dull and very self-indulgent. I found the drugs and sex stuff boring, and could have lived without so many descriptions of drinking Snapple Lemonade. The best sections were the ones describing her mum dying, the ones about her husband, and the ones on the history of the trail, I thought. The worst were the endless (endless!) descriptions of how much she wanted to shag somebody/anybody, and the waffling about her (silly) name. Overall, this was fine for a 99p emergency buy, but I wouldn't go out of my way to read anything else by her.

Of course, Satsuki. I'll PM you the link.

I'm filing Remus' book away for when I need a frigid diversion.

Vanderly just watched the link. So interesting, especially what he had to say about the Reverend!! Thanks so much for sending it on.

My pleasure, RMC! Most of the interviews in the series are available on YouTube, if you're interested. I've seen many, many wonderful authors be interviewed and feel very lucky that I have access to this series (for free!) through through my library.

52 Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Easy reading urban fantasy/romance - nothing special, but rattled along pleasingly enough. I'll probably read the next in the series sometime when I'm in the mood for something mindless.

Updating my list:

1. Promises in Death by J. D. Robb

2 The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

1. Fractured by Karin Slaughter
2. Broken by Karin Slaughter
3. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
4. Don't Tell by Karen Rose
5. Deadline in Athens by Petros Markaris When an Albanian husband and wife are found dead in their home, Inspector Costas Haritos, a veteran junta-trained homicide detective on the Athens police force, is called to what seems at first to be an open-and-shut case.
6. The Lion and The Rose by Riccardo Bruni - A series of grissly murders take place in Venice in the 1600s. Why? Who dunnit?
7. No one Left to tell by Karen Rose

10. Make Me by Lee Child 11. The Bat by Jo Nesbo 12. The Unlucky Lottery by Hakan Nesser - A syndicate of 4 win the lottery - then one by one they are murdered... 13. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman 14. The Hand that first held by Mine Maggie O’Farrell - A confusing book about 2 women, living in different eras, but whose lives overlap – living in the same building, the younger woman, a Finn, married to the adopted son of the other woman. 15 Genesis by Karin Slaughter 16.Never Go Back by Lee Child 17 We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, written in 1924, this dystopian novel takes place 600 years in the future, where people have no names, just numbers; no feelings; no imagination. This was a difficult read but ultimately very satisfying. 18 V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton 19 When Breath becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi A very moving story of a 37 year old neurosurgeon who has cancer – his life and death, written by the doctor himself. A truly profound and moving book. 20. An Unkindness of Ravens by Ruth Rendell 21. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 22. Parallel Lines by R.J. Mitchell 23. The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 24. Keep the Midnight Out by Alex Gray 25.The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 26. The Return by Victoria Hislop 27. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

35. Eligible Curtis Sittenfeld. Modern rewriting of Pride and Prejudice.

Enjoyed this and rattled through it quickly. I read somewhere that it is like marmite and you love it or hate it.

I thought it was well-written (perhaps lost its way a bit with the reality TV show bit) and clever. Some snort out loud moments (mainly Mr Bennet's one liners).

No idea what to read next.....

....Perhaps I should reread the original P&P?!

I agree about Eligible, EmGee - this was the only one of the Austen rewrites I managed to read all the way through. I liked the update of Mary, endlessly doing online Masters degrees (although I'm somewhat haunted by the giant dildo).

59. The Long and the Short of It, Jodi Taylor
The collected short stories of the St Mary's crew. The usual jolly japes of time-travelling historians amidst historical tragedies. I find these stories appealing mainly because the camaraderie amongst the characters. It's a fantasy of what working life might be like if it were full of adventure, risk and fun.

60. Blue, by John Sutherland
A working life full of adventure and risk, although perhaps less fun (nice segue, eh?) A memoir of his life in the police, his rise to a very senior position by his early forties, and then his sudden breakdown.

I really liked this. His sincere commitment to the ideals of policing shines through. Interesting observations on the social harm created by domestic violence. And his description of the debilitating effects of depression creates an impact since it is such a contrast to the way he was before - full of energy and enthusiasm and competence. I think this description makes it sound really bleak, but it's not at all - he portrays the thrill of the chase and the excitement of always being where the action is, and his appreciation for his colleagues and family. I think it's an important book, particularly at the moment when the police are being asked to do the near-impossible without the resources they need to do it.