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?

63 Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing by Josh Ryan-Collins, Toby Lloyd and Laurie Macfarlane

Overall I was rather disappointed in this, especially given it got a rave review and a summer books recommendation in the FT. Nothing wrong with it as such, but I felt it could have made a much stronger and more coherent story with the information & analysis brought together, especially given the deeply dysfunctional state of the current land/ housing market. Overall I'd say the fact that this book comes across as groundbreaking speaks volumes about the way mainstream economics has ignored the role of land in the economy in recent years.

32. Lamentation (Shardlake #6) by C. J. Sansom

This was very good, arguably one of the better Shardlake books. The story was interesting and credible, the characters all brilliantly distinctive and alive. I love this series and am properly grieving having come to their end

It's so long since I posted here the thread dropped off my Threads I'm On list! I really must get better at updating regularly.

91. Sliver by Ira Levin

Woman moves into an apartment block and discovers she's being watched. I've enjoyed others of this but couldn't get into this one.

92. The Girls by Emma Cline

Seems to be everywhere at the moment, but another that I didn't enjoy - I felt grubby reading it!

93. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Originally read this years ago and loved it. Listened to it on Audible again following the discussion on this thread earlier this year. I don't want to reopen that debate, so will just say I was more questioning of it this time round!

94. Andy Murray: Wimbledon Champion: The Full Extraordinary Story by Mark Hodgkinson

DH got this for me from the pound shop as he knows I like tennis! Does what it says on the tin.

95. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer

A woman undertakes therapy for depression and wakes up living an alternate life, first in 1918 and again in 1941. This was a good idea but the book didn't make the most of it. I found it hard to work out what time period I was reading about - other than mentions of the relevant war there was nothing distinguishing the different times, and I got confused what characters were doing in each period.

96. I Can't Believe You Just Said That: The Truth About Why People Are So Rude by Danny Wallace

I really like Danny Wallace's book, and enjoyed this look at the effects of rudeness. Scarily, if a surgeon encounters rudeness they are 50% more likely to make mistakes during the rest of the day. I'm certainly going to make sure I'm very polite to anyone with my life in their hands!

97. Map Addict: A Tale Of Obsession, Fudge & The Ordnance Survey by Mike Parker

If you like maps, this is fascinating. If you're not interested in maps you probably won't find this interesting at all!

98. Billy Connolly's Route 66 by Billy Connolly

His tale of riding Route 66 by motorbike. I like North American travel writing so enjoyed this.

99. Blink by K L Slater

Psychological thriller, telling the story of a child's disappearance three years ago and the effects in the present day. Not bad - I didn't guess the twist by the ending was far-fetched.

100. Obsession by Amanda Robson

I hated this. It was billed as a thriller but wasn't. There was no twist, just horrible people having affairs with and doing horrible things to each other. All the characters were one dimensional and the writing was incredibly repetitive (if I had to read 'bitch-whore' or 'cherry-red lips' one more time I would have thrown the book through the window!). Avoid.

101. The Things I'd Miss by Andrew Clover

Spotted this in the library and sounded like something I would enjoy - a woman has a car crash and when she wakes up she's back at university with the man she loved at the time, and she sees she has a chance to change the future. Not the best example of this genre I've read, but not bad.

Now reading Victorians Undone and have A Million Years In A Day on Audible on the go.

Meanwhile, I'm still on the beach with very limited internet access and in dire need of some interesting reading material. If you have any recommendations except 1st books especially by female authors, chick-lit or others that bang on about feeeeeeeliiiingggssss, do share

I'm having another obsessive episode on music, especially Baroque and dead Baroque musicians such as Bach, Handel, and Rameau (if ever the previous episodes even ended) so ended up reading Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks (of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat fame). Reading of people who, in their 40s and 50s, suddenly became obsessed with music and took up an instrument which they practiced 2-3 hours per day (rather disturbingly like yours truly), I am now wondering if I had a minor and otherwise asymptomatic stroke 2-3 years ago Very interesting book, though. It is scratching my I-have-to-read-a-book-about-music itch quite nicely, indeed.

Flood by Stephen Baxter is £1.99 on the Kindle. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.

Cote
HOW can you review Lamentation and not !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! about the ending?!

I have excellent impulse control, Remus (hahahaha ).

More seriously, I thought there was no way I could mention it without spoilers. I was indeed very and re the ending.

I don't know if I will ever feel strong enough to re-read it. Glad you enjoyed the Shardlakes though - I would have had to hate you if you didn't.

17. Eleanor Olyphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman.

I loved this book about a quirky woman getting to grips with her past. I found it a real page turner. I enjoyed the main character.

Oliphant sorry. Definitely not one for you Cote.

Cote, have you read Prisoners of Geography? Not a single feeeling, but really very good & might be up your street.

Also, can't remember whether you enjoy books about maths, but if so have you read Simon Singh's books - the two I've read (The Code Book and Fermat's Last Theorem) both excellent - I had to prise the former out of dd's hands to take back to the library as she was trying to solve all the examples in the appendices.

Cote Have you read the Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, or Falco series by Lindsey Davis? Both are detectives in a historial setting. They might fulfil your beach read needs and are good long series if you like them.

Oooh recommendations! I'll check these out. Thank you

I'm not sure if they would be your cup of tea Cote but have you tried Patrick O'Brien's Master and Commander series? Adventures on the high seas during the Napoleonic wars. Not much in the way of feeeelings.

Vikram Seth's An Equal Music is a wonderful novel for wallowing in musicality, and there's lots of Bach and Handel, IIRC. And it's one of the most beautiful and well-crafted books I've ever read. There are also a lot of feelings though, and I did periodically want to punch the narrator, so may not be for you.
I assume you've read The Name of the Rose? Cos that's the only brain-hurty monkish murder mystery I got.

34. Love's Executioner by Irvin D Yalom.

Yalom is a psychotherapist, and in this book he discusses ten of his patients (with a few details changed for privacy purposes) and the psychological journeys taken over the course of their treatment. Interesting stuff. Recommended for those of you who like this kind of thing (Tanya Byron, Oliver Sacks etc).

35. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.

A private jet crashes into the ocean. The only two survivors are JJ, a four year old boy and Scott, a painter. The book is about the aftermath of the crash, as the investigation team - and the media - work to uncover what happened, while the survivors adjust to their new reality. Not bad - recommended to those of you who mentioned that you are looking out for a fairly undemanding page-turner for the beach.

Cote wonder if this is one you might find interesting?

44. The Thing Itself by Adam Roberts

I got this one out of the library. The blurb on the back references the John Carpenter film "The Thing", so I was expecting a story about murderous shape shifting aliens in Antarctica.

That's not what this is about. This was much more intellectual, and more interesting than a straightforward rewrite of The Thing would have been.

It does start out with two scientists on an Antarctic science base, but in essence, this is more about the nature of reality and the characters attempts to manipulate that. The book is heavily based on the theories of the philosopher Kant. I was struggling to wrap my head around the finer details of this, but the general gist (I think) is that reality is shaped by our perception of it, and that the real world, or the thing itself, exists independently of our concept of it.

There's also several short stories interspersed through the main narrative, which was a bit jarring at first, but does tie together, more or less, by the end of the book.

The Thing Itself looks right up my street, thank you

Prisoners Of Geography looks like it has lots of maps. Would it be a shame to attempt it on the Kindle?

Cheerful - No Kindle copy possible for An Equal Music, sadly.

Yes, I read Name Of The Rose. The author's Foucault's Pendulum was infinitely more brainhurty, if you are thus inclined

Best - I watched & quite enjoyed Master & Commander. Are the books worth a read?

I love math books, too.

And just saw I already have Feemat's Last Theorem

The Thing Itself sounds as if it could perhaps be my sort of thing too.

Cote - You may remember that I've always said that you and my dp have similar taste? Well, he just insisted on reading The City and the City even though I told him he'd almost certainly hate it....He loved it!

I wonder if you might find The Noise of Time interesting cote. About Shostakovich and the life of artists and composers under Stalin. I found it lost momentum a bit but it is only a couple of hundred pages. You might not like the style though - bit "literary"? - maybe try a sample and see what you think.

Good point about the maps and kindle cote, I think you're right and it needs to be a physical book