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50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Six

993 replies

southeastdweller · 05/06/2017 21:26

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?

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MuseumOfHam · 04/07/2017 12:57

Don't tell me I have to read the footnotes as well. I mean, I noticed there were some, but couldn't be arsed clicking on them. I'm not starting again.

Don't know if it's part of the monthly deals but all Sarah Waters books are on at £2.99 at the moment. I've had a few on my wish list for ever and they have never dropped in price before so I've snapped them up. Uninspired by the rest of the monthly deals.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 04/07/2017 12:58

I quite liked JS and Mr N. It's a long long time since I read it, though - might have another bash. I liked The Ladies of Grace Adieu as well. I've started The Essex Serpent and it's inspiring me to do a big Victorian gothic re-read - Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Carmilla, that thing Bram Stoker wrote about white wyrms that I've forgotten the name of, the Hound of the Baskervilles...I spent the whole drive home yesterday thinking of more I could re-read! I could probably shoe-horn in The Moonstone on the basis of the plotline about the Brahmin priests and the boy with the pool of ink.

ShakeItOff2000 · 04/07/2017 13:00

Compostoleana - I didn't hate Animal (the Sara Pascoe book, isn't it?) but I wouldn't recommend it either. I loaned the book from the library after listening to Sara Pascoe on Adam Buxton's podcast- she was funny and engaging but her book just felt a bit ranty.

Tried to read On the Road a few years back and gave up. It's nice to hear others also don't rate it.

I've planning to read JS and MN on holiday. I loved the TV adaptation but wanted the memory to fade somewhat before I read the book. Interested to see which camp I'll fall into!

CheerfulMuddler · 04/07/2017 13:14

I'm with Cote and Kitten. JS&MN is one of my favourite books ever (though it also took me a couple of goes to get into it). And yes, you do have to read the footnotes, they're genius!
In my opinion, it improves massively once Jonathan Strange appears.

CoteDAzur · 04/07/2017 13:18

"Don't tell me I have to read the footnotes as well. I mean, I noticed there were some, but couldn't be arsed clicking on them."

Noooo Shock That's where most of the story is!

No wonder you couldn't get into the book.

CheerfulMuddler · 04/07/2017 13:25

Tabby, not Kitten, sorry.

SatsukiKusakabe · 04/07/2017 13:36

I read the footnotes and beyond the appearance of Strange, and, no Smile

cheddar I loved Essex Serpent and love the sound of your gothic reread.

Ontopofthesunset · 04/07/2017 13:43

JS and MN is much better as a paper book than on Kindle because of the footnotes and the nature of the reading. I really enjoyed it, but haven't reread it.

Recently I've read:
Keeping On Keeping On: Alan Bennett - well, very Alan Bennett. Could have been substantially edited for my taste.
Call for the dead: John Le Carré. I always enjoy a good Smiley book and it was interesting to see the relationship with Anne first introduced. Not one of the finer Smiley books but still good.
The Eustace Diamonds (audiobook): I really liked this one. Lizzie Eustace is marvellously amoral and there was more plot than usual. On to Phineas Redux.

Cherrypi · 04/07/2017 16:18
  1. Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller.

Ingrid writes her husband letters about their marriage and hides them in his books. Then she disappears. Twelve years later her youngest daughter returns to the family home in Dorset after her famous author Dad had an accident.

I loved this book. It's alternating chapters of the mum's letters and the present day about her youngest daughter. I love an epistolary novel but I found both voices interesting. It was a lovely read and also a page turner as I neared the end trying to answer the mystery.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 04/07/2017 18:42

JS&MN spectacularly dull. Have tried and failed several times with it and cba to try again.

Tarahumara · 04/07/2017 19:40

I'm a fan of JS & MN and also currently reading (and loving) The Essex Serpent.

Original poster
southeastdweller · 04/07/2017 20:55

Couldn't get along with JS & MN, despite reading the footnotes. So, so dull.

Museum mentioned the Kindle sale for Sarah Waters' books. I very much recommend The Little Stranger, The Night Watch and The Paying Guests.

OP posts:
TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 04/07/2017 21:02

I've bought The Night Watch and Affinity - have read the other Sarah Waters already. I might have read The Night Watch a long time ago, but I'm not very sure.

SatsukiKusakabe · 04/07/2017 21:38

18. Conclave by Robert Harris

Vatican shenanigans surrounding the election of a new Pope. This was good, the ending was frivolous, but I saw it coming a way off so it didn't throw me. It was all well researched, nicely written and quietly intriguing and I raced through the last few chapters. Surprisingly pacy really considering the subject matter. I would read more from him definitely; an easy read in a safe pair of hands - enjoyable enough.

MuseumOfHam · 04/07/2017 21:53

DNF. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke OK I give up. Went back and read the sodding footnotes and felt no less bored and annoyed for it. Lots of men wittering on. Waited in vain for a female character to be introduced. When a woman was finally allowed to 'speak' it was in the form of a letter, which served to show (or 'shew', grrr, either write the whole thing in olde spellynge or don't; don't spring random oh so whimsical shews on me) up her poor spelling and general silliness. It was shortly after that I decided to give up. I wanted to like it, I really did. Strangely enough, the cover endorsement is from Neil Gaiman, another author that I feel I should like but often just works me up into a whimsy with underlying misogyny induced rage.

SatsukiKusakabe · 04/07/2017 22:12

museumofham you won't regret it. And ditto NG.

CoteDAzur · 04/07/2017 22:15

"Lots of men wittering on. Waited in vain for a female character to be introduced."

I don't care about or even notice that sort of thing at all Confused Who cares?

The author is a woman. Were you upset because you thought she was a sexist man?

MuseumOfHam · 04/07/2017 22:19

I do notice that sort of thing and I do care. I am aware that the author is a woman.

CoteDAzur · 04/07/2017 22:40

So, you don't ever want to read a book without notable female characters?

What does it mean that Susanna Clarke's story didn't feature a female character early enough in the book, and when it did, she wasn't intellectual enough? Is she misogynist?

CoteDAzur · 04/07/2017 22:41

To each her own and all that, but I wonder how many of you who found JS & Mr N "dull" enjoyed The City & The City Grin

SatsukiKusakabe · 04/07/2017 22:43

Sometimes, as in the book I've just read, there aren't going to be a lot of female characters because that's not what that setting demands.

However, it is noticeable in books where there's no reason for the one-sidedness, as, with half the population missing, it can make the world being built in the novel seem unrealistic and two-dimensional. I found this in the Name of the Wind; it wasn't something I was thinking about or looking for necessarily, but nevertheless it stood out as a weakness.

SatsukiKusakabe · 04/07/2017 22:44

I found both boring cote, hth Smile

MuseumOfHam · 04/07/2017 23:03

To be honest, I was giving up on the book anyway, so I have focused on the particular thing that made me cross enough to stop. If it was less boring I would have forgiven it more. But generally speaking, in novels that I read for entertainment I'm not really interested in having a patriarchal view of the world endorsed or normalised, either by female or male authors. Historical novels, including historical fantasy, can be prone to taking an attitude of 'well, that's just how society was back then' and I do judge them on how they choose to handle that.

CheerfulMuddler · 04/07/2017 23:04

I agree with Satsuki. I don't mind that The Great Escape doesn't have any female characters, cos it's set in a bloody POW camp, of course it doesn't. I do mind when an author has chosen not to write about half the population, whether consciously or unconsciously, for no apparent narrative reason.

Having said that, it didn't bother me in JS&MR because I think there are several great female characters and I think it's a deliberate decision not to introduce them until later, because she's writing about the worlds of a. Fairytale and b. Regency England, and women have a very specific place in both of those worlds. Part of what the book is about is power, and Lady Pole and Annabel's power - or, let's be honest, lack of it - is one thing the book is interested in. You start off with an incredibly male world, and then you start to see women wrestling with it.

In contrast, most of the fairytale stories are about women, and the female characters in the footnotes seem to fare pretty well. Which is a contrast she's interested in.

I think you're supposed to notice it, tbh. Like all the stuff about how differently Stephen and Lady Pole are treated with exactly the same condition.

MegBusset · 04/07/2017 23:10

It took me a couple of goes to get into JS&MN but I did really enjoy it in the end. I can see why it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea though.

Speaking of which, I am loving Lincoln In The Bardo so far. Strong contender for book of the year if it keeps it up.

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