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?

[StitchesInTime]

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

[ShakeItOff2000]

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.

[Stokey]

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

[ChillieJeanie]

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.

[ChillieJeanie]

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.

[minsmum]

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

[RMC123]

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.

[SatsukiKusakabe]

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.

[TheTurnOfTheScrew]

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.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

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

[christmasunicorn]

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.

[minsmum]

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

[Aloneinacrowd70]

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.

[StitchesInTime]

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.

[Sadik]

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).

[Sadik]

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.

[Greymalkin]

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.

[Greymalkin]

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?

[christmasunicorn]

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

[southeastdweller]

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.

[Greymalkin]

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!!

[CheerfulMuddler]

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.

[Vistaverde]

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

[southeastdweller]

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.

[MuseumOfHam]

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.