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?

40. Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon. I enjoyed Gordon's first book The Wrong Knickers which is a jolly, funny romp through the crazy things she got up to in her 20s. Unusually, her second book is better. At the start, she confesses that she left out a huge factor - the serious mental health issues that she has suffered from since her teens. Still managing to be very funny, but far more interesting and honest, this sheds a light on mental health problems including OCD (surely one of the least understood conditions) and depression.

It's been so long since I last posted, that I truly believed you'd be onto the next thread by now (and you are only nearly there!) I'd been having a real struggle with reading and have three unfinished books behind me - Slaughterhouse Five, Hallucinations and Keeping On, Keeping On - all of which I thought would be right up my streeth. But here's what I have managed:

29. Barkskins Annie Proulx: the sweeping tale of two lines, that of Rene Sel who marries a native indian and that of Charles Duquet who becomes a Duke and forms a logging dynasty. The real story is of forests, how everyone believes they are so huge as to be ever constant, until they aren't. Slightly uneven in parts, but still a great read.
30. Second Wind Dick Francis: re-read of an old favourite, helped to get me going again.
31. Miracles of Life J G Ballard: recommended by Cote for which many thanks I found it a beautifully observed memoir of growing up in extraordinary circumstances, yet descrbing it such that it was clearly the only normal he knew. This rang so true, as something that is shared by all of us who had a childhood in the troubled world of "overseas", even if I not during a World War.
32. The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas: a book club selection and one I found disappointing. There was too much "hand of god, avenging angel" bollocks for me. It turned a detailed revenge tale into something altogether dense and hard work.
33. A Place of Greater Safety Hilary Mantel: her annoying writing tics are even more present in this early book - a tale of the French Revolution - but I still really enjoyed it. It cracked along at a good pace and let's face it, it's one hell of a great backdrop.
34. Faithful Alice Hoffman: I seem to have found myself in an unexpected online book club with two girls I was in school with who are FB friends. I really liked the premise - how do you keep on living when you're the girl who lived while your best friend remains in a constant coma ... especially when you were the one driving the car? Despite her early struggle feeling real - heavy, burdened, bogged-down, lonely and unconnected - there was too much which lacked realism. Nearly something good.
35. Eligible: A modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice Curtis Sittenfeld - witty modernisation, but ultimately lacking the sharpness of the original.
36. This Must Be The Place Maggie O’Farrell - what I call good quality chick-lit. The story jumps around time and POVs which could annoy some, but I found it a good examination of the consequences of loving a charming but ultimately weak man.

RMC - I'm looking forward to reading about your Booker read-along. I've done it for years but after last year turning into a hellish struggle, I promised myself I wouldn't this year. I totally get you wanting to find out first hand if anything beats your experience of Lincoln in the Bardo, that's how I got drawn into doing it

to all new threadees & to all the regulars - I've missed you guys, and see that I've missed a great Lincoln in the Bardo discussion

I plan to make sure I don't slip off the thread again ...

I also read Heart Of Darkness as part of my degree course, sounds like it must have been mandatory as so many of us did! I really didn't enjoy it although I'm glad I've read it and the classic line 'The horror! The horror!' does stay with you. I found it a very rewarding book to dissect and study but like many others I've given Conrad a wide berth ever since.
Just started My Family and Other Animals and finding it surprisingly well written and engaging, I think I was expecting a adolescent/children's book. Also have The Siege on the go, hoping to finish them both next week when I have a poolside holiday

I'm the only one who feels absolutely sure I'm right about the best book in the list despite never have read ANY of the others?! My way is a lot less work - judging by covers all the way

Desdemona, I love My Family and Other Animals!

I've never read any Conrad - doesn't sound like I'm missing much! Haven't read Mister Pip either. Uncultured! Thank you for the insight into A Handful of Dust, Remus and Satsuki!

Satsuki

I definitely won't be able to read the whole list, but I do want to read Underground Railroad, Reservoir 13, the Roy book. I'm on the fence about the Auster (so long!) and the Hamid (his interview at the library was v thorough).

Welcome back Joyless I'm glad that you enjoyed Ballard's Miracles of Life.

I'm going to read ST and the underground railroad I think but not sure about the others. Lincoln seems a slightly off beat choice, pleased to see it on there. I wasn't a huge fan of Roy's first and the title alone of her latest has put me on my guard - interested in what others think though (see, titles are all you need to make an informed decision)

Out of curiosity, how many of us here studied English/Lit at uni? And which degrees do the rest of us have?

I studied engineering, art, math, and economics at undergraduate + master's. So no Eng lit lessons after 18 for me, which is I have limited knowledge of classics and never read any Conrad until a few years ago (for pleasure)

I did Eng Lit at A Level (got a very undistinguished C grade!) then went onto do English Lit and History at Uni. Much preferred the Lit part of my degree and two of the modules were the American Novel and Feminist Literature which were particularly interesting.

Me - I got a C grade too. Economics degree (I still ask myself why).

Never read any Conrad.

I did degree & postgraduate English & American lit.

I enjoyed reading and studying Conrad and found him endlessly useful for references but I wouldn't want to be stuck with him on a desert island

I did Higher and CSYS English and got As in both (not often I get to boast about that! CSYS stands for Certificate of Sixth Year Studies and is a Scottish qualification considered to be equivalent to the first year of an undergrad degree).

Degree was Law and French, which included French Literature modules. Bloody hated Law!

I did Eng Lit for A level but then went on to do psychology for my degree. Never read any Conrad, although Heart of Darkness is on my kindle so may get round to it one day!

Misread Cote's question. I did A level E.lit.

vanderly I love that he talked you out of reading the book by giving too thorough an interview

No English Lit after GCSE for me. Maths, French, Economics A-levels (so studied French literature at a higher level than English Lit.), and a degree in Philosophy. So I'm another one who's not had much experience of the classics other than those I've chosen to pick up.

I did English Lit at A level and then an English degree with a QTS.
Re the ManBooker so far I have read
Lincoln in the Bardo - amazing
Underground Railroad- impressive, albeit harrowing
Swing Time - enjoyed it but quite average. Not a stand out at all
About half way through Days without End.
Have downloaded Reservoir 13, Autumn and History of Wolves. Also have a physical copy of 4,3,2,1 which is a doorstop of a book!!

So.

number 25 Running like a girl by Alexandra Heminsley
Not bad. A relatively well written memoir of Alexandra Heminsley's effort to learn how to run, from basic runs around the block to running numerous marathons. When I started this, I was hoping for a book describing the journey in running of someone who was truly a couch potato to start with, but my impression (I may be wrong) while reading this was that Heminsley was quite athletic already. I found it quite disconcerting how quickly she went from running 20 minutes to running marathon after marathon.

number 26. Paper hearts and summer kisses by Carole Matthews. Run of the mill, read-in-a-day chic lit book, quite fun while reading it but I've found that I've fortotten almost everything about it within a few days!

I have a chemistry degree and studied philosophy for the first two years as well. Probably explains my not so high brow reading choices. Reading has always been about reading for pleasure

My undergrad degree is in a lit adjacent field but included a lit concentration. My grad work was in literature; my interests were roughly in NA lit.

Thus, as a Certified Literature Professional*, I say read what makes you happy.

*Certification from VandyEd, est today.

I did English Lit A Level - a respectable B grade - nobody got an A in the whole year at my top-of-the-county grammar school. I blame having Jane Eyre as one of the set texts, which I found it impossible to conceal my disdain for in the exam essay

Didn't go to university for various personal reasons, but although I'd love to do a degree now, I don't think I'd choose English - not keen enough on the classics. Would love to read history - a subject I loathed at school and dropped before GSCEs!

I did maths, further maths, physics and chemistry A Levels and a degree in engineering. So I haven't studied English lit since I was 16 as you can probably tell from my reviews.

I'm struggling to remember a level texts I had for exam - I know we did Shakespeare and Ian McEwan but can't remember which classic novel. English lit always came easily to me and I sailed through it without much thought or effort. I am still haunted by the History exam though and can remember every single wrenching question.