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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?

OP posts:
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10
Sadik · 09/06/2017 10:48

BestIsWest your username always makes me smile. My heart always rises just a little bit as I come back over the Severn bridge heading west :)

Re. book prices - anyone on Audible, I often use my credits on newly out books that are ££s but not yet in the library. Esp. with new hardback non-fiction, it means I pay £7.99 for a book that might be £15 - £20 to buy in paper or kindle.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 09/06/2017 16:52

Book 55
The Lost City of Z – David Grann
I enjoyed this on the whole. It’s the story of Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett who spent many years exploring the Amazon and who maintained that a glorious city, a kind of El Dorado, could be found but disappeared with his son and son’s best friend during a trip to seek out said city. The mystery hasn’t been solved and I thought the book ended too abruptly, but it was overall quite interesting.

BestIsWest · 09/06/2017 20:44

Sadik It's what I say to myself every night when I get the train out of Cardiff to go home. I wanted to be WestIsBest but someone beat me to it and never posted.

Still reading Wexford in between the politics threads. I will catch up properly one day and look at all the lovely new reads you're all writing about.

slightlyglitterbrained · 10/06/2017 08:42

Just popping in to point out to the Le Carré fans that today's Kindle deal is "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", "A Murder of Quality", and "Call for the Dead".

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 10/06/2017 14:07

slightlyglitterbrained Thanks for the tip-off. I would absolutely urge everyone to by The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - it's the best thing I've read this year.

Composteleana · 10/06/2017 15:01

Hello, just checking in to keep this in my 'threads I'm on'.

I'm at a bit of an impasse - came back from holiday last Sun, whilst there, on the last day, I picked up Rivers of London by Ban Aaranovitch from the hotels book swap shelf. Not my usual thing at all but in the holiday setting it was quite enjoyable. Now I'm home it suddenly seems like a load of nonsensical shite and, with only the last quarter to go, I'm struggling to finish it, but trying to stop myself from starting anything else until I do.

I'm also listening to Elena Ferrante Those who leave and those who stay on audiobook on the drive to work, which I'm enjoying much more.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/06/2017 16:24

Thanks Glitter. Have bought all 3 - only read Spy so far - it's superb.

VanderlyleGeek · 10/06/2017 18:44

Passme, best wishes! southeast, thank you (belatedly) for the new thread.

  1. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Oliphant: I've not much to add to the previous excellent reviews, but I must admit I didn't find this book as charming as other 50 Bookites did, though I enjoyed it overall.
  2. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald's critical masterpiece which focuses on the Divers, a couple whose fragile life and marriage come undone over the course of the novel. The text deals with love, lust, class, money, psychotherapy, expatriatism, desire, image, creation of self, Hollywood, vanity, the vicissitudes of a certain group in the Jazz Age. I'm still pondering why Gatsby (which I admire) seems to have more resonance than Tender, which is quite arguably superior. Thoughts?
  3. Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid: standalone mystery featuring a professionally disgraced forensic psychologist who reconnects with her old Oxford tutor after the tutor's son in law is murdered. While interesting, the plot did plod in places for me, and the protagonist, supposedly brilliant, was not as canny as portrayed.
  4. The Bookshop by Penelooe Fitzgerald: a middle-aged widow opens a bookshop in a small community despite opposition from powerful residents. This novel was shortlisted for the Booker when it was released. Sadly, I am not sophisticated enough to enjoy its subtle charms.
  5. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders: since so many others are reading/plan to read this, I won't review it as I don't want to influence your experience. I will say that I've been thinking about ever since I finished and will surely return to the text soon.
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/06/2017 19:24

Have just started Lincoln and must admit that, so far, I haven't got the faintest idea what's going on!

HappyFlappy · 10/06/2017 21:10

Haven't been here for a while but have been reading.

Am onto book 70.

From the ones I've finished, I heartily recommend

Lunch with the Generals - Derek Hansen

and

The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry (This was lovely! I guessed the denouement, but it didn't matter - very bitter sweet and touching, I thought)

Sadik · 10/06/2017 21:20
  1. The Code Book by Simon Singh A history of ciphers and codes from the earliest known examples through to quantum cryptography.
    Absolutely fascinating, one of my stand out books this year. Very clearly explained, - amongst other things I now understand how public key encryption works (and why it is important), the specific role of very large primes, and also a great deal more about PGP. It's also made much more sense of the politics involved in PGP etc up until 1999 when the book was published. (Now I need to go away and find out more about what has happened since then both technically and politically . . . )

As a side note, even though I wasn't that enthralled by The History Thieves which I read a week or so back, it was actually an interesting combination with this book - and a salutary reminder never to assume that the apparant limits of encryption are genuine. I didn't know for example that public key encryption had been invented/discovered independently and some years earlier by researchers working for GCHQ.

(And I can't help but wonder whether Britain might have been rather better served in the post war period if more of the amazing research being carried out by our scientists/mathematicians/engineers had been channelled into commercial/public rather than military/secret realms.)

MuseumOfHam · 10/06/2017 22:46

Place marking. I've been trudging through Berlin Noir and The City and the City for weeks. Nearly there with both. Not that they are terrible or anything, just seem to have lost my reading mojo. Trying to get it back by picking up a quick read The Mountain in my Shoe by Louise Beech - seems to be working nicely.

SatsukiKusakabe · 10/06/2017 23:03

vanderley I think Gatsby is nigh in perfect in terms of subject and style, narrative mode, symbolism. I love Tender, but it is less tightly woven, he struggled with the composition of it and I think that comes across somewhat in the structure. It is more autobiographical so less carefully "artistic". These are not necessarily negatives; just my thoughts on your question. I think it has a depth and emotional realism that Gatsby doesn't have and goes deeper under the surface of the characters. Glad to hear you've enjoyed Lincoln can't wait to get into it but...

I am plodding with City too but don't want to give up. Having a bad spell.

VanderlyleGeek · 10/06/2017 23:59

Remus, I heard Saunders speak about the book before reading it, which I'm certain helped allay certain confusions at the beginning. Things will become more clear. Smile

Satsuki, I think you're quite correct: Gatsby is such a beautifully crafted gem, crystalline and contained in a way Tender isn't--Tender is dense. And, I too think it's impossible not to transpose Fitzgerald's life onto Tender, as much as he also based the Divers on Gerald and Sara Murphy. Gatsby is also more dramatic, whereas Tender's tragedies are more mundane and emotionally real, and therefore more uncomfortable to read. Anyway, I could go on for a while, so I'll stop now.

I too had a bad period for reading this winter. I seem to be on the other side of it and am greatly enjoying both The Poisoner's Handbook and The Essex Serpent.

boldlygoingsomewhere · 11/06/2017 08:38

29. Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb
30. Dragon Haven - Robin Hobb
31. City of Dragons - Robin Hobb
32. Blood of Dragons - Robin Hobb

Read all the Rainwild Chronicles. Love these books - Robin Hobb is brilliant at world building and this series is far superior to Game of Thrones. Would love to see a tv adaption of this. Bit annoyed with myself that I didn't read them in the right place in sequence with her other sets. May have to do a reread from the very beginning next year. Smile

MuseumOfHam · 11/06/2017 09:17
  1. The Mountain in my Shoe by Louise Beech Second outing for this Hull author, and I put her third, which is due out this year, on my wish list as soon as I finished. A lonely woman becomes a befriender to a boy in the care system, and slowly both their stories are revealed through alternating voices / sources, including the boy's life book, which is an important thread linking things together. Relies far too much on coincidence and main character is a bit of a wet blanket, but other that I thought she got lots right about children in care and their families, and how the system works (stretched a little for poetic licence). She writes emotions really well, and this touched a nerve with me (adoptive parent).
Composteleana · 11/06/2017 10:50

Finished 30. Rivers of London Ben Aaranovitch - as I said before, quite enjoyable at first but found it to just be convoluted nonsense by the end

SatsukiKusakabe · 11/06/2017 11:26

Yes well-put vanderley tempted to reread it now. I loved The Essex Serpent so hope you will too.

Tarahumara · 11/06/2017 13:23
  1. This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell. I read and loved O'Farrell's earlier books, especially After You'd Gone and The Hand That First Held Mine, but was a bit disappointed by Instructions For a Heatwave. This is a return to form with an absorbing, multi-layered novel about the familiar themes of love and loss in various different forms. Really enjoyed it.
TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 11/06/2017 15:06
  1. The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan. Book 2 of the Memoirs of Lady Trent. Again, didn't quite gel with this one. Isabella goes somewhere jungly (the place names are bugging me) and spends a lot of time not doing very much to forward the cause of draconic natural history. Lots of foreshadowing about a major discovery looming, if you buy enough of the sequels to get that far. I am torn between not being massively gripped but also wanting to know what this big reveal is (are the dragons sentient?). Taking a pause to read some of my other recent Kindle purchases before deciding whether to pursue this series or not.

Next up: Snow Crash.

InvisibleKittenAttack · 11/06/2017 15:45

28. The Road to Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson - that's not my normal type of book, but was a book club one. It's an amusing writer and does seem to find interesting gems to talk about in different parts of the country (although this is very Southern based book), but I found it a harder slog after a while, it was a bit too samey to read each 'adventure' one after another. Would be better to perhaps have this 'on the go', read a chapter, then leave it for a week then read another chapter. (Thought that it's clear he built his career as a journalist, this felt like a regular column in a weekend paper that I'd make an effort to read and enjoy each week, but was a bit much to read one after another).

29. Pantomine - Laura Lam - YA fantasy book with a fair amount of steampunk references, but not that bad. 'Gene' is a young noble woman/girl in a imagined world (think meant to be ours in the future). She is getting to be a debutant, expected to marry well, all the usual cliches. However, Gene is intersex (with possible magic powers), her parents are trying to hide this, stopping her from showing male traits. She runs away dressed as a boy and joins the circus. This has the potential for being a 'teen angst' novel, but keeps just on the right side of not beign complete mush by being well written. It's the first of a trilogy and I can see me reading at least the 2nd.

Ladydepp · 11/06/2017 16:52

Sorry I don't have a proper list but books I've enjoyed so far this year are:

His Bloody Project
The Ruby in the Smoke
Golden Hill
Slade House
Wolf of the Plains
The Essex Serpent

The only terrible one so far was The Secret Life of Bees which I couldn't continue with, though it was an audiobook so that might make a difference.

  1. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson - a cheap audio book about Bryson's attempt at hiking the 2000 mile Appalachian trail in the Eastern US. I like the way Bryson mixes a bit of natural history and human history with his own narrative, but I confess to being a bit bored at times. He is amusing too but not laugh out loud. This was fine for something to listen to while walking the dog or sorting the laundry (not sure they'll put that quote on the front cover Grin).
MegBusset · 11/06/2017 17:13
  1. Eight Months On Ghazzah Street - Hilary Mantel

A shortish but powerful novel based on Mantel's own experience of living in Saudi Arabia, with the main character a British woman who moves to Jeddah when her husband gets a building contract. It's a claustrophobic, disturbing read dealing with the oppression of Saudi women and the hypocrisy of a system where private morals are considered a public business. My only criticism is the lack of resolution of the mystery which makes up the book's central plot, although this fits with the theme of a society where nothing is ever fully revealed, particularly if it's a woman asking the questions.

Anyway, the writing is first-class as ever, so if you like Mantel (I know not everyone on here does!) then you'll enjoy this.

slightlyglitterbrained · 11/06/2017 22:40

TooExtraImmatureCheddar - tbh the Lady Trent books don't change that much in style during the series, so if it isn't grabbing you now, I'm guessing it probably won't.

fatowl · 12/06/2017 07:48

Sorry have not posted for weeks, and just bringing my list across. Have four to review at the end.

List so far (Highlights in bold, low points in italics)

  1. The Wolf and The Raven - Steven MacKay
2.The Hobbit - JRRR Tolkien (Audible)
  1. Greenwitch - Susan Cooper
4.Child 44 - Tom Robb Smith 5.Fellowship of the Ring - JRRR Tolkien (Audible) 6.Into the Heart of Borneo - Redmond O'Hanlan 7.The No1 Ladies Detective agency 8.The Two Towers - JRRR Tolkien (Audible)
  1. Crosstalk - Connie Willis (Audible)
10.^The Forest - Edward Rutherfurd 11.Tom’s Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce 12.1066 - Kaye Jones (Audible) 13.The Reformation - Edward Gosselin (Audible) 14.The Return of the King - JRRR Tolkien (Audible) 15. Lion by Saroo Brierley (for Bookclub) 16. The Muse by Jessie Burton (on Audible) 17. Henry VIII's wives - Julie Wheeler 18. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula de Guin 19. Fall of Giants by Ken Follet 20. Stig of the Dump by Clive King 21. Edward I - A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris 22. Nomad by Alan partridge (on Audible) 23. Saigon by Anthony Grey. 24: CHarlotte's Web by EB White 25: Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris. 26: The Light Years (The Cazalets 1) (Audible)

27: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
Read for Book Club. It has been reviewed many times on here, so not much I can add, but certainly and engaging and interesting read. There is so much unsaid, that I found quite frustrating but I do realise that is part of the appeal of the book to so many.

28: Empire of the Sun by CG Ballard. (Audible)
I saw the film many years ago, but had never read the book. The story of a boy living a life of colonial privilege with servants in 1930s Shanghai, whose life changes when the Japanese invade. He is separated from his parents and spends a while hiding in abandoned houses in Shanghai, until he is befriended by first some Japanese soldiers and then some Americans also in hiding. He is eventually caught and sent to an internment camp. A good story, told through the eyes of a child, bit grim in places. I did want to know more about how he adjusted to life after the war, and there is a sequel but it doesn't have great reviews.

29: A Place Called Winter - by Patrick Gale.
The story of Harry Cane in the early 1900s who is brought up as an English gentleman and has never worked. He is married and has a daughter, but has a homosexual affair and leaves his wife and family and emigrates to Canada to escape prison and disgrace. The Canadian government are offering free land to whoever can farm it, so he decides to become a farmer. He spends a year as a farmhand for board and lodgings learning how to farm and then sets out alone. Interesting story that kept my attention, when the book begins he is in a mental asylum and he cannot remember why he is there, the story comes out as he talks to his psychiatrist.

29: The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
First in a trilogy about Arthur, narrated by one of his warriors, Derfel, as an old man. I first read these about 20 years ago, so listening on Audible is techincally a re-read, but enjoying it. Different from many of versions of the Arthur stories, Arthur is not a King but a Warlord, sworn to protect the boy-king Mordred. Morgan is a minor but intriguing character, Guinevere is a cow and Lancelot is a prat. Merlin is there, so is Galahad. A grown up version of Arthur, less chivilrous lords and ladies at Camelot, more blood and guts of Dark Ages Britain.

Currently listening to Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell (#2 of the Arthur Warlord series) on Audible
and currently reading The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd on Kindle for next month's bookclub

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