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?

Bringing my list across (not posted for a few weeks)

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) 9. 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 28: Empire of the Sun by CG Ballard. (Audible) 29: A Place Called Winter - by Patrick Gale. *30: The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (#1 of the Arthur Warlord series) on Audible 31: Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell (#2 of the Arthur Warlord series) on Audible 32: Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell (#3 of the Arthur Warlord series) on Audible* 33: The Gunpowder plot by Sinead Fitzgibbon (Audible) 34: The 39 Steps by Richard Hanney 35: The King's Speech by Mork Logue 36: The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

37: Macbeth: A novel by AJ Hartley (Audible)

Based on the Shakespeare play (which I love), I knew I would give this a go, but have to admit I was very dubious about someone trying to redo it. I was pleasantly surprised though, a good Scottish narrator who created the right atmosphere without caricaturing the Scottish accent, and was gritting enough to make it real. An enjoyable listen,

38: 1984 by George Orwell

Much reviewed, and an absolute classic, thoroughly enjoyed it, and OMG Orwell is a genius, you can re-read it and see how he is predicting how people can be manipulated by the media and crowd mentality. Scary stuff, still totally relevant today (if not more so)

39: My Antonia by Willa Cather

Read this as I had seen it so often reviewed and recommended on here, Not something I would usually pick up, but quite enjoyed it.

40: Her Father's Daughter by Alice Pung

I had high hopes of this being in the same vein as Wild Swans but found it quite frustrating. I was expecting an account of the family's struggles under the Khmer Rouge and their subsequent lives in Australia, but there was an awful lot about the Australian born daughter settling into uni, and barely a chapter in Cambodia. Bit odd.

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.

That's the principle I work with too for children's books. So rereads of Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl yes, picture books or bedtime stories no.

I'd be up in the 100's by now if I counted every book read to the DC. Just today, we've had Peepo, Hairy McLairy's Caterwaul Caper, That's Not My Train, Look Inside Space (actually very informative), and a sodding Brio catalogue.

"Where do you all find the time to read so much"
I suspect you'll find that most (all?) of us with longer lists have older / no children

I'm a single parent with one teenager - she definitely increases my reading tally as we often swap books & discuss them. I also listen to lots of audiobooks both at work (work in horticulture so plenty of routine jobs) and washing up etc.

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.*

😂😂 oh brilliant! I spend far too much time on Instagram and am clearly taken in by all the wonderful mummies on there and admire their beautiful bookshelves that I insisted on buying ds2(5) The Book With No Pictures for Christmas as every insta-child has to own it. Oh my frickin god! He loved it so much he made me read it to him every sodding night for two months. The first couple of times it's great, by the 20th+ you just want to cry when they pick it out

Where do you all find the time to read so much"
My children are older now. No way I could have read this much when they were younger. Having had some mental health issues in the past I am now making a conscious effort to find 'me time.' So if that means reading at the expense of housework so be it. Think I have said before that in the last year my husband has started working away during the week, and as a consequence I seem to have stopped watching much TV. I have also taken to carrying my book / Kindle everywhere, it's amazing how much time I seem to be waiting for things - usually teenagers!! I also have started to listen to audio books in the car and while out running.

I do have small children (3&5) and I work full-time (compressed hours) but I manage to read so much by ignoring housework and not watching TV (apart from Game of Thrones).

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.

Hilarious!
There are some picture books I can still relate word perfect without the book even being in the same country. And there were definitely books that I hid!!

87. The History of Wolves On holiday now so racing through books guilt free. This one was beautifully written but oh so depressing! Without giving spoilers it's hard to review. Although the outcome is obvious on the first page, it's just one of those books where you are reading to find out how the awful, inevitable thing happens. If you are looking for something cheery and uplifting don't try this!

RMC I think Ali Smith is generally non-linear. I like some of her stuff but tend to find the lack of plot a little frustrating. How To Be Both is worth a read, didn't get on well with The Accidental but others love it.

Loved the Shirley Jackson book Turnofthescrew, very enjoyable.

42. All That Man Is - David Szalzy. Insecure, sex-obsessed naval gazers apparently. I hoped for better from this. It's nine seperate chapters following men at different stages of their lives from 18 to 73. I hoped for some clever link up, or point, I didn't get it. Very surprised it made the Booker shortlist last year.

57. Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo

Another novella, and a well crafted one which covers a surprising amount of ground. First person tale of Jon, a small scale drug dealer and failed fixer for Oslo's biggest crime lord, the Fisherman. Failed because he couldn't actually bring himself to kill his first target. Instead they faked the death, split the money and drugs the target had stolen from the Fisherman and, when Jon found the deception had been discovered, he heads to an isolated region in the far north of Norway in an attempt to hide. There he meets Lea, recently widowed, and her son Knut. But the Fisherman's men are getting closer and in a remote wilderness there are few places to hide.

112. Windhaven, GRRM and Lisa Tuttle. Written in the late 70s as 3 novellas and then revised as one book in the early 80s, this is the story of a girl's longing to be a flyer (think Anne McCaffrey but with glider-type wings instead of actual dragons) and the political and social ramifications of that wish. I really liked it - the original story was your standard challenging of status quo type thing, but then the next two followed that through logically in a very mature way, I thought. Compelling characters as well.

113. Have His Carcase, Dorothy L Sayers. Re-reading for the hundredth time - sexual tension abounds!

I'm now on Gaudy Night and intend to go on to re-read Busman's Honeymoon as well. I have Thrones, Dominations but I've only read it once - is it worth reading the other Jill Paton Walsh sequels?

My TBR list now goes Gaudy Night, Busman's Honeymoon, I Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Luminaries, Affinity and The Night Watch, Fate's Edge (Ilona Andrews) and then possibly the Dark Tower series.

106. Around Britain By Cake by Caroline Taggart

I had to buy this as it covers two of my favourite things - travel writing and cake! As it sounds - she went round Britain tracking down people who still make traditional British cakes. Lots of gingerbread and fruit buns, and very little chocolate! Didn't find out much about the places she visits, but will probably make some of the cakes featured (recipes are included).

107. The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion

I really liked his debut, The Rosie Project. This was ok - middle aged man is contacted by the one who got away. The first part was ok, looking back over their time together, but it all got completely ridiculous when they met up again.

108. The Greatest Inventions of the past 2000 years edited by John Brockman

Scientists, mathematicians and thinkers were asked just before the millennium to nominate the greatest invention. Some predictable - computers/internet/telephony - others less so, such as hay and reading glasses. Interesting and thought provoking to read the reasoning for their nominations. Would like to see if any would nominate something different now, almost 20 years later.

I only have my six year old stepdaughter every weekend so plenty of reading time during the week when not watching tv or at the gym. As someone mentioned I ask carry current book or kindle everywhere. Read on buses, waiting for apopointments and while stepdaughter does dance class etc.

Don't think I'll manage as much if/when I have my own kids full time I may be knackered

Oh wait until they are 19 and older and you will go all misty eyed when someone mentions Hairy Mclairy

TooExtra Categorically not. I loathe Paton Walsh's Lord Peter with the fiery rage of a woman who still hasn't forgiven DLS for not spending the rest of her writing life writing about Harriet and Peter solving crimes, shagging in French and fighting about feminism. Peter, I admit, is a hell of a difficult character to write well, but her version is ... Eugh. Shudders.

68 The Many Selves of Katherine North by Emma Geen (listened to on audio)

Near-future set SF novel - Katherine is a phenomenaut, a teenager whose consciousness is 'projected' into various lab-grown animal bodies as part of research studies aiming to understand different species. ShenCorp, an academic spin-off company from Bristol university runs the projection business & employs the phenomenauts, and their (sometimes less than ethical) efforts to extend their markets provide a corporate thriller-style backdrop.

I wavered back and forth on this one. I loved the underlying concept, though I thought some of the descriptive passages when Katherine is projecting could have done with some serious editing (possibly not helped by having the book on audio). The thriller element felt a bit bolted on initially - at one point I nearly gave up when it seemed too implausible - but in fact it did all tie up, and actually came together remarkably well. (Unlike too many thrillers I've read that are great as they go along then a massive let-down at the end.) It's the author's first book, & I'll definitely look out for her future work.

Back from holiday, so lots of reading time, and ready to update:

47. The Secret Life of Bees: Sue Monk Kidd. Meh.

48. See what I haven done: Sarah Schmidt. Well, I wanted to like this more than I did. I actually found it really confusing and rather dull.

49. A Little Life: Hanya Yanagihara. I know this has been much reviewed, so I'll keep it brief. Fascinating enterprise but deeply flawed - and far too long. I was very gripped at the beginning and thought, contrary to some reviews, that the writing was pretty good. I enjoyed it. I think she's a good writer. But....I get all the fable/parable rather than social realism stuff, but then what was the point and what was the message? A fable or parable needs to be short with a clear message, no ambiguity, and not hundreds of repetitive pages. It's as if she started off trying to write a realistic book with proper characters and then thought Oh What The Fuck. The plot was ultimately completely unbelievable, everyone just adored this rather irritating genius-like main character and for the last 400 pages you were basically just reading to find out what exactly the ludicrous back story was.

50. When Breath Becomes Air: Paul Kalanithi. This was a moving brief read, but, callously, I didn't think it was that brilliant. The real life story is really the most interesting thing. I suppose ultimately writing it he came up against what he described - the impossibility of understanding that diagnosis until you are living it.

51. The Underground Railroad: Colson Whitehead. Another worthwhile and ambitious but ultimately not completely successful book. I felt rather cheated by the 'magical realism' or 'science fiction' elements of the book. I kept thinking that I didn't know something only to find out it wasn't true anyway. I know it's fiction, but it felt to me a bit like adding gratuitous details of what might have happened to a story about the Burma Railway, when the actual facts are horrific enough. The characters didn't really have any force and the writing style was very "contemporary US writer." It was a salutary reminder though of how creative people can be in thinking up hideous ways to humiliate and torture others.

52. Utopia for Realists: Rutger Bregman. Very easy to digest look at, among other things, whether universal salaries are a realistic proposal to tackle poverty.

53. Phineas Redux: Anthony Trollope (Audiobook). I only have two more Parliamentary novels to go and I won't know what to listen to next. Very satisfying.

Now reading The North Water and about to listen to The Prime Minister.

On carving out reading time, I have young-ish children (primary age) which does cramp my style somewhat. I do however always read for 30mins at night, and like others I carry my book everywhere, often grabbing 15-20 mins reading on the days I can make time for a lunch break at work.

28. My Name Is Lucy Barton Lucy is recovering from illness in hospital. Her mother, estranged for her for many years, has agreed, perhaps under duress from Lucy's husband, to stay with her at the hospital for a few days. Both begin to process Lucy's childhood, was was poor, neglectful and abusive.

Didn't think much of this, surprised at the Booker longlisting. The narrative was disjointed, ideas and themes unexplored. And is it me, or are books where the main character is a writer often a bit wanky?

I'm off on holiday fairly soon - does anyone have anything light/warm/funny that they'd recommended as a beach read? My Kindle is pre-loaded with plenty of Le Carre but I'm not sure that's what I fancy.

Re frustration with children's books, I agree with Best (as ever!) DD is 9 and safely launched on her own reading, but I was buying picture books for younger nephews recently and getting all misty-eyed at "Not now Bernard!" and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt". I rather fancied myself as a narrator. I don't remember too many horrors, but memory may paint a rosier picture than it actually was.

Finding time to read - I've said it before, but one of the benefits of single parenthood is not having to make conversation in the evenings - as soon as DD is in bed, I can get an hour or two of reading done.

Had a go at Europe in Winter by David Hutchinson, but it was the third in a tightly-plotted trilogy about Europe in the near future, which has broken into small principalities. There is some parallel world thing going on that I only vaguely grasped. I struggled to work out who was who and what was happening. Would have been sensible to read it in order, but as it was, I ended up skimming and I'm not going to add it to my official total.

Currently read Adventures on the High Teas by Stuart Maconie. Sub-Bryson meandering around middle England. It's okay, but all fairly predictable.

Agree with you re Lucy Barton. She's a good writer but this wasn't quite there somehow.

Reading time - I don't have much at moment as school holidays and a toddler. When I worked full time I read loads more as I had a public transport commute and lunch break. Like tooextra if it's not Game of Thrones don't watch TV or do a lot of housework and dh is a reader too so often happy to spend evenings reading. I find it varies though - I can read 4 books a week sometimes or go several weeks without finishing one if I'm having health problems or other things going on, so can't compare situations as everyone has different routines and time. The thing is if you want to read more is make it a habit. Read while queuing, drying hair, waiting for things to cook, nap time, kids watching tv etc and always have a book with you for unexpected dead time.

Some kids books I love reading again and again some are hateful Mister Men.

I was just bemoaning Mr Men last night, they're so badly written with rubbish plots. How they ever got published is beyond me.

I've just started reading Exposure by Helen Dunmore. I'm really enjoying it so far, I'd not read anything by her before. Think it's in the Kindle sale if anyone's interested. Seems to be about spies in 1960, but am bowled over by the writing.

If only I had the chance to read even a badly written picture book to my 6 year old DS. Despite my best efforts he doesn't like fiction and instead he prefers the Lego Star Wars Minifgure Dictionary (I have read the thing at least three times cover to cover), children's encyclopedia or various sports books.

In terms of time for me to read I am also a single parent so read when my son is in bed and also find extra time when he at his Dad's. Like others have said I always have a book on me and it surprising how much you can read whilst waiting for things or on the bus.

I feel your pain a little though luckily my ds does prefer fiction generally but nights when only the Pokemon encyclopedia will do require a bit of endurance.

Up until relatively recently, have mostly read on my phone while waiting for DS to drop off to sleep. (Which also makes it easy to read a bit on the bus, in queue etc). Now I can read real paper books again - mostly in the evening after DS is asleep & before I go to sleep.

29. Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times Alice Duer Miller ^It's hard upon occasion to be forceful and sublime When you're treated as incompetents three-quarters of the time. But it's women this and women that, and women's like a hen, But it's do the country's work alone, when war takes off the men.^ Short (very short) collection of poems and humorous observations on the theme of women's suffrage, first published in 1915. This popped up on my Twitter feed from someone who said Duer Miller would be good at Twitter. She really would. Most of this book is spent pointing out the inconsistencies in anti-suffrage arguments, gently mocking the self-satisfied 1915 male, and generally being wry and rather annoyed by it all. Not great poetry by any stretch of the imagination, but showed that many Edwardian women were just as annoyed by their situation as we would have been. And - sadly - several of the poems are still relevant today. Also free on project Gutenberg. Probably only worth reading if you're actively interested in early feminism, though.

bibliomania - I really like the Europe in Autumn trilogy, but I think they definitely need to be read in order!