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?

83. The Modigliani Scandal - Ken Follett Art forgery caper. Lacked depth. I’ve been spoiled by Fake or Fortune.

Reading the Harriet Harman.

I had to laugh, I've just abandoned The Bonesetter's Daughter.

80 pages in, there has been no bonesetter, very little daughter and a bit to much whiny granddaughter. Apparently the crux of the book is that the daughter refused to become the Coffinmaker's Wife.

NEXT!

fortuna. I did laugh at The Sausage Maker's Daughter referenced in that article - I mean really?!

Just remembered The Partisan's Daughter by Louis de Bernieres wasn't great either.

"cote did you see the author of that article? You like something Emily St John Mandel wrote "

I know! I have to say, though, anyone who makes graphs isn't all bad in my book. A shame that she can't write good SF, though.

Tarahumara - I haven't read the Einstein book yet although I have it on my Kindle. DD (12) says it's very good, too (odd preteen, with reading habits resembling mine at that age).

82 The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Very enjoyable fantasy, set in a world where demons and gods are real entities that act upon the characters. Many thanks for the recommendation for this series TooExtra, I will definitely read the others.

To be fair to Georgette Heyer, the title of Faro's Daughter is a pretty good reflection of the point of the novel - that the heroine is judged by the world on the basis of her position as mistress of a gaming hell, rather than as a person in her own right.

Does anyone know why Marian Keyes' The Break is £9.99 for a Kindle edition? I know books are normally that price when only the hardback is available, but the paperback's out now - and even that is over £9! There is no way I'm spending £9.99 on a Kindle edition!

The paperback of The Break isn't out - the hardback only came out a month ago.

74. A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab

Once the boundaries between the four worlds were open, connected by the magical city London, but now there are only two travellers remaining. Kell is one, raised alongside the heir to the empire in what he calls Red London, where magic is revered, and able to travel by magic between there, Grey London under George III where magic has disappeared, and White London, a violent world where people fight to control the remaining magic. Once there was Black London, where magic took control and the fall of which was the cause of the barriers between the worlds. But on one of his journeys as messenger between the rules of the three worlds, Kell is tricked into transporting a talisman of Black London to his home world, and now he has to try and repair the damage by returning it to Black London.

I liked this a lot. Interesting worlds and reasonably well paced.

In that case please thank your DD for the recommendation Cote.

Chessie, that's what I thought, but it's on sale on Amazon - people must be selling proof copies.

Yes sadik I don't think the general current thing about those titles really applies to Heyer, different era.

42. The Owl Service - Alan Garner

A darker read by far than the Brisingamen books, though tapping into the same veins of the connection between British (in this case, Welsh) myth and landscape. Tensions between three young people thrown together in an isolated valley (two English step siblings, and the Welsh son of their housekeeper) unlock an ancient force that threatens to repeat a mythical tragedy. Not as easy as read as his other books, but absolutely compelling.

Yes Disguise must be people selling proof copies or airport editions. I note you can only buy them from third party sellers not Amazon direct, so it's not the 'proper' paperback.

Ha ha I remember seeing The Sausage Maker's Daughter in WH Smiths and thinking it was a piss take of all the 's Daughter titles, sadly not!
I've noticed recently an abundance of books with Lie, Lies or Liar in their titles too: The Lie, Big Little Lies, Lie With Me, The Good Liar.....

82. Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves another excellent Vera novel, a murder mystery set in a small, bleak fishing village. I'm binge reading the Vera series at the moment and thoroughly enjoying doing so!

We're just looking out for The Liar's Daughter now. Or The The Girl Who Went to the Liar's Wife's Daughter's Post-Apocalyptic Book Club and Me.

Lol at the Liar's Daughter!

35. Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve. Lovely idea, bit nilhilistic for a children's book (wouldn't really have called it young adult even), think I got the rec from earlier on here.

Cote, I have about 1/6 of 7eves left, and Overdrive snatched it back (thought I had till midnight but it went at lunchtime and now I am in a queue!). Finding the second part (the future bit) less convincing than the first part, loved the initial idea, not convinced at all that people would still be working in hotels and restaurants while waiting for the world to end though- I don't think I would!

What is Overdrive? And how does it snatch books from your Kindle?

I wasn't that impressed with the last 1/3 of Seveneves, either. Still a very worthy book, imho.

I've just come to the horrifying realisation that I am a Sausage Maker's Daughter. They were award winning artisanal sausages though.

Sigh, I'm going to have to read it now, and hope it's about one of my sisters.

43. Neuromancer by William Gibson

I loved this book in my 20s and thought rereading it would be like a warm & fuzzy feeling of coming home. It wasn't. I understood nothing for the longest time (and shockingly remembered nothing at all about it) so had to read its Wikipedia page to understand WTF was going on. It did get interesting towards the end but still was very vague and difficult to understand.

I can't believe I'm not recommending this book Neuromancer is an important book, which started an era - previously, SF was mostly about space ships, far future etc. With this book, some very smart people started writing about the very near future and the influence of technology and computers and human society.

I really like the Mortal Engines series.

Fortuna

It might have been you that recced it Remus- it was ages ago! I did like it, just realised I didn't say that! I liked that there wasn't a happy ending.

Cote, Overdrive is an app for borrowing library books, I have it on my phone but I think it will go on new kindles (not in my very old one!). It's great for borrowing books (I'm not that close to the real library), the stocks in ours are a bit limited, but as far as I can tell there is no way to renew a book, so you have to get on and read them, and I ran out of time! It's very annoying if you are waiting for a few and they all come at once!

17. Wolf Of The Plains by Conn Iggulden. Loved this, so evocative of a time and place I had no real knowledge of. Charting the hard early life of Temujin, the second son of tribe leader Yesugei, who would later be known as Genghis Khan. The sights sounds, and experiences of the 12th Century nomadic Mongol Tribes are brought to life on the page. It's based on the few surviving texts covering this period and where the author deviates from the historical evidence he let's you know in the Afterword. It's been great to have a book I prioritised reading over other activities and that's evidenced by the fact that this was read in a matter of days. Definitely my stand out (non-reference) book this year. I'll be reading the second instalment at some point and hoping it's as good, but for the minute I'm reading:
18. Bridget Jones's Baby (99p on Kindle) because I picked up 'Mad About The Boy' at a charity shop for a quid last week and want to read them in order. My kindle assures me this can be read in 2 hours 20 minutes - hurrah, maybe I'll make my 25 book target by the end of the year after all!

fortuna.