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?

OK, maybe not Remus , just thought of your interest in WW2 history, and it's always useful to know how to perform, for example, a thumb hold or Japanese strangle hold on the enemy (quaint 1940's line drawings included).

I'm a teacher - we learned all those in training.

77. The Romanovs 1613 - 1918 easily the longest read of the year. Made longer by the fact I was forever flipping back and forth to consult family trees and 'cast lists' to work out who everyone was. Don't think I can honestly say I took half of it in but it was fascinating. Russia is certainly a country like no other and the past still looms large.
Certainly need a much, much lighter read next.

Cote, good call, I do have Shardlake 3 waiting on Kindle, just have to wait for my mum to finish with it (and she reads a page a day).

Shantaram sounds good but will have to come down in price a bit.

I might raid DH's pile of books to see if there's any Jack Reacher in amongst the Bernard Cornwall and Robert Ludlum.

Currently reading Jane Eyre for the umpteenth time but by gawd, it's hard going.

I am indeed on the beach & reading Shardlake #6

(Somebody please say that it's not the end of the series)

25. Bringing in the Sheaves - Rev Richard Coles. A huge name dropper and an easy read. Quite a lot of religious references in his second autobiography, must admit to skip-reading through these a little...
26. Capital by John Lancaster. Loved reading this, reminded me of some of Jonathan Coe's books. Great range of characters all interlinked by living on the same street and receiving strange postcards and DVD's through the post. 27 Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie. Description of Stuart Maconie's early live loving pop music and his career as a NME journalist, made me re-live a lot of the music I used to listen to.

Best, I am currently reading The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer , which you might enjoy as a good sunlounger doorstop. It opens with a group of teenagers at an artsy summer camp in upstate New York in the 70s, then follows them as they grow up, pair off, become either successful or disillusioned etc.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through and finding it a bit meandering (she hops about a bit in time and it's a bit slow) but she's a good witty writer, the characters are great and I love their interaction with the social changes from the 70s into the 80s. It's about 500 pages long.

BTW, Hot Milk is in the kindle Daily Deal today, 99p

Thanks Keith, I've downloaded a sample of The Interestings.

Cote, just looked at DH's books and lo and behold,

That's you sorted, Best

Your dh obviously shops at the Manly Men's Bookshop for Men looking at that stack best

cote you're on the last Shardlake! Hell's teeth - I thought you were ekeing. You'll be stuck with Tears at the Cupcake Cafe on the beach next year. I am very sensibly going to be on 5 for my holiday this year and not reading 6 until he looks like writing another.

remus conclave is not historical and very rarely thrilling if that helps Also did you ever get round to reading any Robertson Davies? I could post you the Cornish Trilogy if you haven't been able to get hold of him, see what you think. I'd like it back at some point as would probably like to reread - was only a youngster first go round - but in no hurry.

I have got the wrong prescription in my glasses currently thanks to awful chain opticians so am miserable and barely reading anything in the evenings which is the only time I get. However have begun Rush-Oh slowly and I'm enjoying so far.

Sadik and that's just a small selection. Just as well I didn't marry him for his literary tastes. Though to be fair his favourites are books about the Mafia and scurrilous Hollywood biographies .

Sorry Satsuki, not Sadik

Oh gosh, that sounds miserable re the glasses

Best Attached are a couple of screen shots of my DH purchases on our joint Kindle account!! He actually did an English Lit degree but says now he just reads for escape!
Satsuki what a pain about the glasses !

Ok here are the pictures!!

"cote you're on the last Shardlake! Hell's teeth - I thought you were ekeing."

God's death! I was indeed veeery slowly reading them one by one over many months. This one has been in my Kindle for so long that I had forgotten that it was there!

"You'll be stuck with Tears at the Cupcake Cafe on the beach next year."

Doubt it, as I wouldn't touch a book by that name for love or money

I'm on the beach for another 5 weeks so would love some recommendations, as well.

Yes it's the second mistake they've made - just one eye slightly off but enough to drive you mad so lost all faith in them to fix it - my proper optician is a distance away (hence using supposedly convenient local option) so not going to take a while to sort it. Got contacts for day so not completely mr magoo but it's starting to sink in that I would never have survived in the wild.

Ha ha rmc I'm getting strong sense of foreboding from those titles. At leas yours choose their own books; we share a Kindle account and I'm his personal shopper. Sansom/Chandler/Amis/Harris order of the day. I do manage to sneak in ones he wouldn't go for normally. He loved Middlesex, The Secret History, Pride and Prejudice and the American Wife recently

Those look right up DH's street RMC.

If you are looking for something post-Shardlake, have a look at Susanna Gregory's Thomas Chalenor series.

Out of favour government spy - check
Time of political unrest - check
Old injury that invades the story - check

Set in Reformation London for the interested. I'm halfway through the first on audiobook. I wouldn't rave about it, but I wasn't that fussed with the first Shardlake either.

it's starting to sink in that I would never have survived in the wild.

Satsuki, I think you need to read that Commando Manual Ham was talking about.

Had good intentions of posting here regularly but been very lax over the last few months. Hope to contribute more often in coming months.
Read so far

1. Punishment by Anne Holt
2. The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
3. The final murder by Anne Holt
4. Holding by Graham Norton
5. Those who leave and those who stay by Elena Ferrante
6. Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent
7. Cheer up Love by Susan Calman
8. The power of habit by Charles Duhrigg
9. Story of the lost child by Elena Ferrante

10. The subtle art of not giving a xxxx by Mark Manson 11. All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr 12. Death in Oslo by Anne Holt 13. The blind goddess by Anne Holt 14. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter 15. Borrowed Time by Robert Goddard 16. The Breakdown by B A Paris 17. Lie with me by Sabine Durrant 18. The couple next door by Shari Lapena 19. Liar Liar by M A Arlidge

20. A dangerous fortune by Ken Follett
    Picked this one up from the bookshelf in the hotel I was staying in in Corfu. Not an author I would ever have chosen to read. Always thought of him as a churner out of one dimensional adventure sagas but I was gripped. Great pace and well written. About a crime committed involving a 19th century banking family, part family saga, part historical novel, part crime novel. Great on detail of banking in 19th century England, believable characters and some very satisfying plot twists. Thoroughly enjoyed it, especially it's historical setting. As a lover of crime fiction, it also ticked those boxes too. Ideal sun bed reading. Would definitely try another of his. Notice I've got Pillars of the Earth on Kindle. Must have been going cheap.

21. The last anniversary by Liane Moriarty

22. Call after midnight by Tess Gerritson

23. Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd

24. Darkest Fear by Harlan Coben

25. The kept woman by Karin Slaughter

26. You can't have my daughter by Elizabeth McDonnell
    A harrowing first hand account by the adoptive mother of a 14 year old mixed up in the Oxford child grooming scandal. Very honest and measured, there were times when I thought I'd need to stop reading as what this girl and her mum went through was so horrifying. Getting a phone call from the police to pick up her raped and abandoned underage daughter from a seedy London apartment or hotel was a regular occurrence. The police, social services etc all knew but treated it at times like it was nothing more than a risky lifestyle choice. What has stayed with me is how, no matter how extreme her daughter's behaviour, this mum never gave up on her. It made me understand more about how extreme behaviour in children and young adults which seems designed to push you away is actually a sign they are desperately seeking help. This book will stay with me a long while.

27 A boy made of blocks
28. The Bat by Jo Nesbo

29. Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale
    I've enjoyed every book I've read by this author and this was up to his usual high standard. I think I like his writing because you get right inside the heads of his characters, experiencing things with them.

30. The examined life by Stephen Grosz
    31 Home by Harlan Coben

31. Promise me by Harlan Coben

32. The legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark

33. Remember me this way by Sabine Durrant

34. The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood
    Been trying to read this book for years but never got past the first few pages so the tv series was the final push and I persevered. I think I got put off by the way it starts with such a detailed description of setting. I struggle to see things from a description and generally lose interest if books start this way but I'm glad I persevered and I'd probably read it again after I've had a think about the issues (and there are many!) it raises. Having been in my 20s when this book was written, I did recognise all the little details that date it like the Jane Fonda workouts and leg warmers etc so that was a bit of light relief. Not sure if I'll watch the tv series now. At least not till I've reread it and mulled things over a bit more.

Phew. Well that's me up to date and on track for 60 books by the end of the year.
Am reading Ruby Wax's A mindfulness guide for the Frazzled at the moment but I'm having to skim the first four introductory chapters as her constant jokey asides are starting to annoy me and make me doubt whether it's worth reading on. It seems to trivialise what I know is the result of a lot of research and academic study to a very high level.
Inspired by the brilliant Versailles tv series I got hold of a copy of Antonia Fraser's Love and Louis Xiv .The women in the life of the sun king which I might move on to.
Sorry this post is so long. Little and often is what I'm aiming for in future!

Best your DH's book pile greatly resembles my Dad's, except that the Gaiman/Pratchett one would be considered too highbrow and intellectual.

I am chuckling at the thought of you on the beach with Tears at the Cupcake Café Cote. Cruel and unusual punishment.

I have totally lost track of my reading now but came back on the thread because I finished Snow Crash. Turns out I have read it before, perhaps twice, and I remember really enjoying it. This time I hated it with a passion. Sorry Cote. I just thought that the female characters were given such a raw deal and even Y.T. was really only there so that the male characters, and presumably readers too, could get a hard on. That's my major problem with Neal Stephenson. His female characters are superficially liberated, but really they are only kick-ass and smart and funny to feed male sexual fantasies. Juanita got an even worse deal than Y.T.

Also minus a million points for the non-ending. And breathe!

Thanks, Satsuki. That's very kind of you. Let me see if I can get the first one from the library first. Otherwise I might take you up on that at some point.