50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Seven

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh 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, the fifth one here, and the sixth one here.

What are you reading?

Moving my list over:

1. Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra
2. Viral by Helen Fitzgerald
3. The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
4. The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle
5. Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land
6. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
7. ADHD Nation by Alan Schwarz
8. The World's Worst Children by David Walliams
9. Starborn by Lucy Hounsom

10. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 11. Allegiant by Veronica Roth 12. Bridget Jones's Baby by Helen Fielding 13. The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly 14. Finders Keepers by Stephen King 15. Spark Joy by Marie Kondo 16. The Silence of Ghosts by Jonathan Aycliffe 17. A Dream of Ice by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin 18. Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick 19. How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber & Julia King 20. The First Book of Calamity Leek by Paula Lichtarowicz 21. The Jewel by Amy Ewing 22. Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan 23. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman 24. Watching Edie by Camilla Way 25. How to Help Your Child With ADHD by Beverly Davies 26. Strictly Between Us by Jane Fallon 27. Half Wild by Sally Green 28. Just After Sunset by Stephen King 29. Endgame: The Calling by James Frey 30. The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen 31. The Three by Sarah Lotz 32. Snow Blind by Christopher Golden 33. No Time Like The Past by Jodi Taylor 34. How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst 35. Someone Out There by Catherine Hunt 36. An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman 37. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida 38. I See You by Clare Mackintosh 39. Autism Life Skills by Chantal Sicile-Kira 40. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion 41. Flawed by Cecelia Ahern 42. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 43. NOS4R2 by Joe Hill 44. The Thing Itself by Adam Roberts 45. The Fever by Megan Abbott 46. Marrying Harriet by M.C. Beaton 47. Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne

42. The Sympathiser by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Pulitzer Prize Winner in 2016, this story takes place during and after the fall of Saigon and is told in the first person by the unnamed protagonist, a double agent for the Viet Kong. I wanted to love this book but didn't. I appreciated the writing but found the first person view point and subject matter hard going. Deception, spies, death, torture. I've tried a few spy novels and I don't think they are for me.

43. Shadow by Kelley Armstrong.
Book 2 of this urban fantasy/werewolf series has now introduced witches, vampires and demons into a very silly story but, hey, during the misery spy fest I needed some light relief.

Bringing my list over whilst I'm on the computer, it hasn't been a bad year but there have definitely been peaks and troughs reading wise.

1. It -Stephen King
2. Swing Time -Zadie Smith
3. Pandemonium – Daryl Gregory
4. The Mirror Crack’d from Side to side – Agatha Christie
5. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd -Agatha Christie
6. The Essex Serpent – Sarah Perry
7. How to be Both – Ali Smith
8. The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson
9. The Word for World is Forest - Ursula Le Guin
10. The Merchant’s House – Kate Ellis
11. Commonwealth – Ann Patchett
12. The Year of our War - Steph Swainston
13. No Present like Time – Steph Swainston
14. Wishful Drinking – Carrie Fisher
15. Wolf Winter – Cecilia Ekback
16. To Kill A Mocking Bird -Harper Lee
17. Go Set A Watchman
18. The Passage – Justin Cronin
19. The Twelve – Justin Cronin
20. A Day in the death of dorothea Cassidy – Ann Cleeves
21. The deaths – Mark Lawson
22. The Humans – Matt Haig
23. The Power – Naomi Alderson
24. Breakfast at tiffany’s _ Truman Capote
25. The Hydrogen Sonata – Iain M Banks
26. Surface Detail – Iain M Banks
27. My sister and Other Liars – Ruth Dugdall
28. The KLF – Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned A Million Pounds - John Higgs
29. The Dust that Falls from Dreams – Louis de Bernieres
30. Gone Without a Trace – Mary Torjussen
31. Sea Stirred – Caroline Williams
32. Planes Runner – Ian McDonald
33. The City of Mirrors – Justin Cronin
34. The Devil’s Feather – Minette Walters
35. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
36. The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim – Jonathan Coe
37. Imperium – Robert Harris
38. He Said/She Said – Erin Kelly
39. Number 11 -Jonathan Coe
40. A Spool of Blue Thread – Anne Tyler
41. The Child Garden – Catriona McPherson

My current list:

1. Paul Cartledge - The Spartans
2. Rae Beth - The Hedge Witch's Way
3. Terry Pratchett - Mort
4. Phil Rickman - Mean Spirit
5. MJ Carter - The Printer's Coffin
6. Karen Maitland - The Raven's Head
7. Bernard Knight - The Sanctuary Seeker
8. Rachael Weiss - The Thing About Prague
9. Neil Oliver - Master of Shadows

10. James Bennett - Chasing Embers 11. SJ Parris - Conspiracy 12. Ian Rankin - Even Dogs in the Wild 13. Terry Pratchett - Night Watch 14. Mary Beard - Pompeii 15. Sarah Lotz - The Three 16. Phil Rickman - The Cold Calling 17. Robert Graves - The White Goddess 18. Phil Rickman - December 19. Kate Mosse - The Taxidermist's Daughter 20. Matt Haig - Reasons to Stay Alive 21. Jasper Fforde - Shades of Grey 22. Wilke Collins - The Woman in White 23. Benedict Jacka - Bound 24. Lee Child - Night School 25. Ed Halliwell - Into the Heart of Mindfulness 26. Bernard Cornwell - The Winter King 27. Sarah Perry - The Essex Serpent 28. Ruth Whippman - The Pursuit of Happiness 29. Bernard Cornwell - Enemy of God 30. Nina George - The Little Paris Bookshop 31. Michael Howard - Mysteries of the Runes 32. Bernard Cornwell - Excalibur 33. Saroo Brierley - Lion 34. Kate Morton - The Secret Keeper 35. HP Lovecraft - The Whisperer in Darkness 36. George RR Martin - A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms 37. Alfred Watkins - The Old Straight Track 38. Richard Matheson - I Am Legend 39. Alexandre Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo 40. Daphne Du Maurier - Jamaica Inn 41. Llewellyn's 2017 Witches' Companion 42. Deborah Rodriguez - The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul 43. Samuel Richardson - Clarissa or, The History of a Young Lady 44. Sophie Hannah - The Monogram Murders 45. Naomi Novik - Black Powder War 46. Ian Rankin - Rather Be The Devil 47. Frances Hardinge - The Lie Tree 48. Naomi Novik - Empire of Ivory 49. Ben Aaronovitch - The Hanging Tree 50. Naomi Novik - Victory of Eagles 51. Jonathan Haidt - The Happiness Hypothesis 52. David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas 53. Charlaine Harris - Shakespeare's Landlord 54. Kate Summerscale - The Wicked Boy

And just completed 55. Stalker by Lars Kepler
A link to an online video is sent to the National Crime Investigation Department in Stockholm. It shows a woman in her own home going about her everyday business and completely unaware that she is being watched. Shortly afterwards she is found brutally murdered, her face destroyed. When the next link to a video arrives the police frantically try to identify the woman, but there are no clues and in any case - the killer is already in the house. Really well done, a gripping story with a high level of tension.

And a short one makes 56:

Shakespeare's Trollop by Charlaine Harris

Lily Bard, karate student and cleaning lady, finds the murdered body of Deedra Dean, a local woman of ill repute, in the woods. Deedra's lifestyle brings more than a few of the men in town under suspicion, but as her cleaner Lily is more familiar than most with her habits she could be next. Very short book and an easy read. Pretty entertaining and with a well-drawn cast of characters.

I am reading Lincoln in the Bardo at the moment, not really enjoying it. Should I persevere, does it get better

Minsmun I would definitely say persevere with Lincoln but then I openly admit I am completely and utterly biased as I loved it.
86. Autumn- Ali Smith Another ManBooker one. I have never read any Ali Smith before and to be honest I am still making up my mind whether I enjoyed it or not. Written about the period around and immediately after the Brexit vote but also with sections in the past. It largely focuses on the relationship between an art history lecturer and her friend, 101 year Daniel who was her neighbour as a child and introduced her to art appreciation and changes her view of the world. Through this connection then the female pop artist Pauline Boty is introduced. The writing is stunning, if challenging in places. There are certainly sections I am still wondering what the hell they were all about. It is not a linear novel by any stretch and at times it feels disjointed and quite strange. It also ended very abruptly.
This is the first in a quartet of novels apparently, each named for the seasons. I will read the others.

I largely enjoyed Lincoln but it doesn't change as such - it is more of the same style wise, all depends if you're intrigued enough by what is unfolding, which I was. It gets pretty weird, you have to decide to go with it.

I've put the Le Carre to one side for now.

27. We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson. Mary Katherine is from an Old family, which has always set itself apart from the village. However, recent events mean that she and her remaining relatives, her sister Constance and Uncle Julian, are increasingly more isolated on their family estate.

I won't detail more of the plot, as its gradual unfolding is part of the delicious gothic creepiness of the book. I hadn't heard of Jackson before I picked this up on the Kindle Daily Deal, but will read more. On the basis of this she's a bit like Donna Tartt with a more assiduous editor.

Gosh, this thread is bad for my bank balance! Just bought We Have Always Lived In The Castle, based on Turn's review.

I commented on an earlier post but under a different username. I've finally read my 5th book! So I won't read 50, but I'd like to get to 12 this year. So far I've read:

1. Everything that remains - Joshua fields-Milburn
2. Time and time again - Ben Elton

3&4. 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury street - Helene Hanff

1. My not so perfect life - Sophie kinsella

I also have bill Bryson - neither here, nor there, on the go but I'm finding it rather boring and can't seem to get past the second chapter. I shall try and preserver but in the meantime have ordered L'art de la simplicitie by Dominique loreau and Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur.

Thanks, I will keep going with it and see what happens

Ooh, happy to have found this thread. I try and read a book a week each year, but I'm inspired by the huge amount of reading going on here, and will try and up my game a bit.

My books this year so far:

1. How not to disappear by Clare Furniss
2. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
3. Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale
4. Autumn by Ali Smith
5. The sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt
6. My Life in Houses by Margaret Forster
7. Isa and May by Margaret Forster
8. The Light between the Oceans by M L Stedman
9. I let you go by Clare Mackintosh

10. Nightwandering by CJ Flood 11. The Muse by Jessie Burton 12. Margot and Me by Juno Dawson 13. Remix by Non Pratt 14. All these puny sorrows by Miriam Toews 15. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot 16. How to measure a cow by Margaret Forster 17. All grown up by Jami Attenberg 18. Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead 19. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler 20. Paper Towns by John Green 21. Fell by Jenn Ashworth 22. Dadland by Keggie Carew 23. This must be the place by Maggie O'Farrell 24. One by Sarah Crossan 25. Falling by Julie Cohen 26. The Travelling Hornplayer by Barbara Trapido 27. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry 28. Modern Lovers by Emma Straub 29. The Party by Elizabeth Day 30. Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance 31. Rain by Melissa Harrison 32. I found my tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice

It's funny looking back on the list now to see which ones I remember well, and which I don't. It doesn't seem connected to how much I enjoyed them.

Also I don't think it's been an outstanding year for books for me. The Essex Serpent, The Outrun and Dadland are probably my favourites.

Anyway, I will be looking at your lists for inspiration for the final part of the year.

48. Julie Myerson - The Quickening

Newly weds Rachel and Dan go off on holiday to the Caribbean island of Antigua. They're hoping for a lovely holiday, but things take a sinister turn almost immediately. Things flying across rooms, bad dreams, a man no one else can see haunting newly pregnant Rachel, a spate of murders, and strange behaviour from Dan. Or alternatively, is it all in Rachel's head? It's all deliberately ambiguous, with lots left unexplained.

66 Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal

Fascinating book about the study of evolutionary cognition, or the interplay between evolution, thought and learning. There's a lot of information about the ways in which research takes / took place both with wild and captive animal populations, which I thought was particularly interesting. Definitely a book for anyone who loved reading Konrad Lorenz as a child (or indeed adult).

Catching up with reviews here:
67 The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Reviewed a few times on here, bought as a kindle cheapy. This interweaves two stories; the story of the explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett who made extraordinary journeys through the Amazon in the early 20th century, vanishing on his final trip, intercut with an account of the author's quest to find out what happened to the Colonel.

I've been reading this on and off for a while - enjoyable overall, but I didn't find it particularly gripping. The author is a New Yorker journalist, and it did read rather like a series of magazine articles - actually ideal to have on my phone & dip into & out of.

I'm trying so hard not to feel intimidated by the size of some of these lists! Where do you all find the time to read so much [envious]? I find it difficult with a pre schooler under my feet and a managerial level job that often involves bring work home.

I'm making steady progress with In Plain Sight - it is a chilling book, difficult to put down, despite the unsavoury topic.

Also, I know from when I was previously on the thread that we can 'claim' nearly any book we read, including children' books.

I read to DS (4) every night, usually re-reads of his favourites, but often new ones from the library. I'm not happy adding these to my list though! What do you all do?

grey I know the feeling! With 4 dc and working 32hrs a week, plus a ddog that needs walking an hour a day, I don't get much time to read hence my measly 5 books. Still I'm here for the inspiration.
I don't include children's book personally. Well maybe if it was like an Enid Blyton book like the faraway tree as I really enjoyed that book, but not stick man or dear zoo

Updated list below. It's been a disappointing year in general but I've high hopes for the two novels I'm reading now.

1. Even Dogs in the Wild - Ian Rankin
2. Cheer up Love - Susan Calman
3. The Noise of Time - Julian Barnes
4. I'll Have What She's Having - Rebecca Harrington
5. Leap In - Alexandra Hemingsley
6. The Goldfish Boy - Lisa Thompson
7. Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher
8. The Liar's Chair - Rebecca Whitney
9. Shockaholic - Carrie Fisher

10. Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class - Owen Jones 11. Letter from New York - Helene Hanff 12. Jonathan Unleashed - Meg Rosoff 13. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson 14. Adventures of a Terribly Greedy Girl: A Memoir of Food, Family, Film & Fashion - Kay Plunkett-Hogg 15. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool - Peter Turner 16. A Month in the Country - JL Carr 17. Let's Make Lots of Money: Secrets of a Rich, Fat, Gay, Lucky Bastard - Tom Watkins 18. Keeping On Keeping On - Alan Bennett 19. A Survival Guide for Life - Bear Grylls 20. The Pier Falls - Mark Haddon 21. The Indian in the Cupboard - Lynne Reid Banks 22. The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher 23. Into the Water - Paula Hawkins 24. A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara 25. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman 26. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying - Marie Kondo 27. The Girls - Emma Cline 28. Significant Others - Armistead Maupin 29. The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas 30. A Very English Scandal - John Preston 31. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life - Mark Manson 32. A Manual for Heartache - Cathy Rentzenbrink 33. Adele - Sam Smith 34. The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop - Clare Balding 35. The Silence Between Breaths - Cath Staincliffe

And book 36 was My No Spend Year by Michelle McGagh: How I Spent Less and Lived More. Non-fiction book about a journalist who decides to save money by only paying for essential items for a year and eschewing things like public transport, eating out, holidays and drinking in pubs. It was a bit shallow and obvious but she's made me think about how and why I fritter away money, which can only be a good thing.

Currently reading Swing Time by Zadie Smith, which I'm loving apart from the West Africa section in the middle. Days Without End is really good so far, too.

Christmas - I think if it was a children's book that I chose to read for myself, then absolutely I would add it to my list. Chapter books, like Enid Blyton, Harry Potter, Roald Dahl definitely!

I'm actually hankering for some Famous Five now!!

I have a lot of children's books on my list, but I draw the line at picture books, of which I also read a lot to DS. I have friends who write Facebook statuses more literary than Maisy the Sodding Mouse. (Maybe next year I'll compile an alternative list of every book I actually read to comfort me when faced with all your gargantuan lists. I could do tallies of every time she's driven that sodding bus to town. And then drown myself.)
Me (pre-child): Oh, I shall read to my child every day! We shall share all my favourite books! It will be so wonderful!
Me (post-child): Hey, SmallCheerful! How about you watch some Peppa Pig while Mummy burns Maisy's Bus on a ritualistic pyre while wailing, gnashing her teeth, and handing back her Middle Class Parent card.*

*Really hopes 50bookers have a stronger sense of hyperbole and dramatic license than other parts of Mumsnet.

Thanks South for the new thread.

Transferring my list over:-

1. The Kingsmakers Daughter - Phillipa Gregory

2. Girl with a Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson

1. How to Be Both - Ali Smith
2. The Observations - Joanne Harris
3. The White Princess - Phillipa Gregory
4. The Heart Goes Last - Margaret Atwood
5. Frazzled - Ruby Wax

8. I Let You Go - Claire Mackintosh

1. The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair

10. Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller 11. A Boy Made of Blocks - Keith Stuart 12 The Tea Planters Wife - Dinah Jefferies 13 - We Were Liars - E Lockhart 14 - Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee 15 - Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe - Milly Johnson 16 - Belgravia by Julian Fellowes 17 - The Mother by Yvette Edwards 18 - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell 19 - The Black Water LIllies - Michael Bussi 20 - 1984 - George Orwell 21 - Her - Harriet Lane 22 - The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry 23 - Everybody Brave is Forgiven - Chris Cleave 27 - The Hand That First Held Mine - Maggie O'Farrell 28 - Rush Oh - Shirley Barrett 29 - I See You - Claire Mackintosh 30 - Me Before You - Jo Jo Moyes 31 - Words In her Hands - Guinevere Glasford 32 - Birdcage Walk - Helen Dunmore 33 - Dear Amy - Margot Lewis 34 - A Year of Marvellous Way - Sarah Winman 35 - My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout 36 - The Trouble With Goats and Sheep - Joanna Cannon 37 - The Summer Before the War - Helen Simonson 38 - Behind Closed Doors - B A Paris 39 - My Cousin Rachel - Daphne Du Maurier 40 - Wrong Place - Michelle Davies 41 - The Distance Between Us - Maggie O'Farrell 42 - Swimming Lessons - Claire Fuller 43 - Conclave - Robert Harris 44 - Truly Madly Guilty - Liane Moriarity 45 - The Circle - Dave Eggars 46 - Mussolini's Island - Sarah Day 47 - The Dark Circle - Linda Grant 48 - The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena 49 - The Nightingale - Kristian Hannah 50 - The Power - Naomi Alderman 51 - We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler 52 - Burial Rites - Hannah Kent 53 - Gone Astray - Michelle Davies 54 - The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern 55 - The Girl Before - J P Delaney 56 - The Shack - Paul William Young 57 - Anything is Possible - Elizabeth Strout 58 - The Girls - Emma Cline 59 - In the Darkest Corner - Elizabeth Haynes 60 - The Fault in Our Stars - John Green 61 - The Poison Tree - Erin Kelly

Yes to children's books but like Cheerful, I don't think it's right (personally) to count picture books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, for example.

Oh Cheerful I did something to a Postman Pat book once. Not burn it on a ritualistic pyre, though that would have felt good, but by other means ensured that it would never blight another bedtime.

42. The North Water by Ian McGuire A 19th century whaling journey into the frozen north was never going to be delicate or genteel, but this book tests the limits of depravity, grimness and desperation. So many descriptions of bodily functions, the stench, the cruelty, both casual and calculated, to humans and to animals, the oppressive feeling of not just one, but multiple disasters waiting to happen, and bad luck heaped upon bad decisions. Oh and did I mention the bodily functions (because the author certainly did. A lot). I was surprised that this was quite a short book - I think I had it in my head that to match its grim content it would also be a long slog of a read - but the brilliant writing actually made this a real page turner. I don't quite understand how a book so repulsive could be so outstanding, but it was.