50 Book Challenge 2017 Part Eight

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth and final 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 and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read. To anyone who hasn't posted, feel free to de-lurk and share with us what you've read this year.

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here, the third thread here, the fourth one here, the fifth one here, the sixth one here, and the seventh one here.

How have you got on so far this year?

I think I will. It feels like much like The Goldfinch, for some reason. Yes, there is the story, the destination. But I'm enjoying the journey just as much.

Yes I was similarly bored by both The Goldfinch and American Gods in places I’m glad you’re enjoying it though cote someone has to

I wish I enjoyed Neil Gaiman as it would open up such a lot of books to me. Has anyone not liked AG but liked one of his others?

I liked American Gods in its initially published form, when it had been extensively edited. And I really enjoyed Anansi Boys.

40. The Rat Stone Serenade, by Denzil Meyrick. Oh dear. I love this author and the first three books in this series, but this was BONKERS. The recurring characters were still great, and I thought we were in for another well-written police procedural, which we sort of were, and then murderous druids turned up all over the place. This stretched my credulity too far I'm afraid and I ended up reading the second half with a permanently arched eyebrow. (None of which will probably prevent me from reading the next one).

41. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. Read this for the "A book you loved as a child" category of the Goodreads challenge. It only took me a couple of hours to read but I was beaming throughout. I really do love Judy Blume.

42. Fallout, by Sara Paretsky. Latest V.I. Warshawski mystery. If you like this series, this is a very good installment. I wasn't too keen, as it's the first of her books set outside Chicago, but I really loved it.

I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm going to get through another 8 books in the next three weeks but I'm going to give it my best shot!

Gods War Kameron Hurley.
I stopped reading this partway through as it was just too bloody grim for me, but then finished it anyway. I really wanted to like it as the world building is really interesting - most of the action takes place in two countries at war, on a planet where the main tech is biological. The main character Nyx is essentially a superior sort of bounty hunter who hunts down deserters in order to neutralise any biological contamination from the war that they might be carrying and cuts their heads off. The two warring countries have very different social systems, having been populated by refugees from different planets. That bit is really interesting, but the description of cutting a boy's head off did me in.
I think this might have to stay as one of those books where I can admire the writing, but I'm just too squeamish for it. There is a sequel but I probably won't read it.

114: Regency Buck – Georgette Heyer
Found this far too long and rather tedious, I’m afraid. Heyer’s are always predictable, and I don’t mind that, but this was predictable from page one and then filled up the ‘plot’ with pages and pages of descriptions of wallpaper and cock fights. I don’t understand why this one is so popular.

Book 135 was The Meat Fix, so:

136. How hard can it be? Alison Pearson
I Don't Know How She Does It a decade or so down the line, with Kate grappling with teenagers, frail parents and the menopause. If you disliked/avoided the original, this won't change your mind, but if it rang a bell with you, this will too. It's exaggerated for effect, but there's a core of truth in there. The fairytale ending is classic wish fulfilment - why yes, there is a handsome multi-millionaire who has been pining for you for years - but she is frank about midlife in a way you don't always see.

I think Regency Buck is popular as it was the first regency one- its not a fave of mine though. Neither is The Nonesuch, though I was named for one of its villains! Still, even the poorer Heyers are generally readable!

i enjoyed Coraline Satsuki, and I am loving Lucifer on TV- I think I like Gaiman's stories better than his writing if that makes sense. He seems like a lovely man though!

116. Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller This certainly didn't help to drag me out of my reading rut. Not sure I can even be bothered to properly review it. It was just 'meh' both in content and style. Really want to end the year on a reading high! Any suggestions? Something compelling and with a bit of pace?

RMC - how about The Spy Who Came in from the Cold? It's a cracking read.

Isn't Regency Buck the one with Judith? I can't decide which is more annoying, her or Worth.

Currently reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson and it's just gorgeous (overly self-consciously cool, but gorgeous all the same).

Judith is definitely more annoying than Worth.

74. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

All about habits. How they work, how they drive our behaviour - as individuals, as organisations, and as society, how they’re created, and how they can be changed.

A very interesting read. And the advice about habits in here, if I manage to apply them to myself, might make next year’s New Year Resolutions a bit easier to achieve than normal

Hello again everyone! Had no internet access for a while so been off radar.

66. A boy called Christmas by Matt Haig. Read to the kids. Enjoyed it! I have also bought his next one to read to them next year (The girl who saved Christmas)

67. Every last time (or some such title...) by Jodi Picoult. Haven't read any Picoult for yonks. Quite liked this. Especially all the stuff about elephants and how they grieve/mourn etc.

68. The Strange last voyage of Donald Crowhurst - can't remember who recommended this, was it Meg or Murine? I found this a compelling read. Quite similar to Into the Air (albeit on the seas rather than up a mountain ;-) Although I was less taken on the last part of the book where the authors imagine what was going through his mind based on the logbooks found on the boat. Also educational, I now know what the horse latitudes are and did you know, that as well as the roaring forties, there are also the furious fifties and the screaming sixties?? That said, I'll stick to reading books about lone sailors from the comfort of my armchair and leave the real-life adventures to braver souls :)

69. The Siege by Helen Dunmore. Recommended on here. Great read. Just bought the sequel The Betrayal.

I posted on this thread regularly until a couple of months ago when life became somewhat stressful and reading seemed to fall by the wayside. Now that things are calming down I'm back and looking forward to catching up with the thread and finding out what you have all be reading.

Suggestions for light and easy to read but not romance greatly appreciated.

My list to date:-

Book Id Title Author
1 The Heart Goes Last Margaret Atwood
2 The White Princess Philippa Gregory
3 The Observations Jane Harris
4 The Kingmaker's Daughter Philippa Gregory
5 How to Be Both Ali Smith
6 A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled Ruby Wax
7 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson
8 A Boy Made of Blocks Keith Stuart
9 The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair Joël Dicker
10 Go Set a Watchman Harper Lee
11 We Were Liars E. Lockhart
12 The Tea Planter's Wife Dinah Jefferies
13 Our Endless Numbered Days Claire Fuller
14 I Let You Go Clare Mackintosh
15 The Mother Yvvette Edwards
16 Belgravia Julian Fellowes
17 The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox Maggie O'Farrell
18 Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Café Milly Johnson
19 Black Water Lilies Michel Bussi
20 1984 George Orwell
21 Her Harriet Lane
22 The Essex Serpent Sarah Perry
23 Everyone Brave Is Forgiven Chris Cleave
24 The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
25 Everything But The Truth Gillian McAllister
26 The Chilbury Ladies' Choir Jennifer Ryan
27 The Hand That First Held Mine Maggie O'Farrell
28 Rush Oh! Shirley Barrett
29 I See You Clare Mackintosh
30 Me Before You Jojo Moyes
31 The Words In My Hand Guinevere Glasfurd
32 Dear Amy Helen Callaghan
33 Birdcage Walk Helen Dunmore
34 A Year of Marvellous Ways: 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 Moriarty
45 Mussolini's Island Sarah Day
46 The Circle Dave Eggers
47 The Dark Circle Linda Grant
48 The Couple Next Door Shari Lapena
49 The Nightingale Kristin Hannah
50 The Power Naomi Alderman
51 We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler
52 The Fault in Our Stars John Green
53 Into the Darkest Corner Elizabeth Haynes
54 The Girls Emma Cline
55 Burial Rites Hannah Kent
56 Gone Astray Michelle Davies
57 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern
58 The Girl Before J.P. Delaney
59 The Shack William Paul Young
60 Anything is Possible Elizabeth Strout
62 The Poison Tree Erin Kelly
62 Fatherland Robert Harris
63 The Aftermath Rhidian Brook
64 The Witchfinder's Sister Beth Underdown
65 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders
66 All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr
67 Domina (Maestra #2) L.S. Hilton
68 The Little Drummer Girl John le Carré
69 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman
70 This Must Be the Place Maggie O'Farrell
71 He Said/She Said Erin Kelly
72 Babylon Berlin Volker Kutscher
73 A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen
74 His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae Graeme Macrae Burnet
75 The Keeper of Lost Things Ruth Hogan
76 The Dry Jane Harper
77 The Graduate Charles Webb
78 Ready Player One Ernest Cline
79 Atonement Ian McEwan
80 The Trespasser Tana French
81 Miss You Kate Eberlen
82 The Good People Hannah Kent
83 To Kill the President Sam Bourne
84 Cartes Postales from Greece Victoria Hislop
85 Norwegian wood. Tokyo blues Haruki Murakami
86 Where'd You Go, Bernadette Maria Semple
87 Only Ever Yours Louise O'Neill
88 An Almond for a Parrot Wray Delaney
89 The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Natasha Pulley
90 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer
91 Our Man In Havana Graham Greene
92 Dominion C.J. Sansom

I attempted to paste my list from excel and it is obviously didn't work as well as I thought it would, never mind.

Sadik - I really enjoyed William Gibson's earlier novels (Neuromancer, Idoru, Mona Lisa Overdrive etc) but thought he kind of lost the plot from All Tomorrow's Parties (2000?) onwards. I thought Pattern Recognition was where he really changed his style and honestly started making no sense whatsoever. If there was a story there, I snoozed through it. I came to the end of the book thinking Gibson may have just gotten too old to write good SF. It will be interesting to hear what you think of Pattern Recognition once you've read it.

Meanwhile I'm 60% through American Gods and still loving it

I'll let you know Cote. I don't have massive expectations but it was sitting there in the library so nothing to lose :)

Except days of your life

Sorry, I'm a bit bitter about how Gibson lost his way & started publishing rubbish (imho). I still bought his books after Pattern Recognition, though, but Spook Country broke me. Such badly-written, unbridled crapola

I'm a ruthless abandoner of books, so unless I'm gripped (or reviews / recommendations make me think it will improve) I just ditch anything I'm not enjoying. (Unless it's so annoying I want to finish it so I can slate it on here )

106. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Modern reimagining of Sophocles' Antigone. The story is told in five chunks, each from the point of view of the five main characters from the play. Isme and her twin siblings Aneeka and Parvaiz, and then Eamon and his father Karamat (who is the popular Home Secretary instead of a king). The Antigone story doesn’t really start until the final two characters take their turn to tell the story, but when it does I definitely had a little thrill of recognition from parts of the play, and also a ‘ooooh, so that's how she (Shamsie) is going to do it. Very clever and some beautiful writing, although I wanted much more Isme, who I think is a fascinating and underexplored character in both the play and this book, and could have done with a little less Aneeka, who although very brave and opinionated, is kind of a pain in the arse.
I think this may be my first ever book where all the characters were Moslem.
It’s a really enjoyable read. Shamsie explores contemporary politics, feminism, radicalisation, family and religious ties, and 'the law' vs 'justice' on the back of an ancient story with some really enjoyable solid story telling. Will definitely be reading more of her work.

Speaking of books being so annoying that you just have to finish them in order to slate them:

Book 115: Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Simon Windbag Montefiore, more like. I’ve been reading this book for almost the whole year and HATING it, but got to the point where I’d trawled through so much of the damned thing, that I wasn’t going to admit defeat. Not only was the subject matter, obviously, awful, the writing style was excruciating. Every character has got about five different names, and old Windbag can’t just stick to one but uses a different one all the blooming time, so I was constantly having to flip back to the ‘character’ list. I read this hoping to learn more about Stalin, but all it really did for me was to confirm that Stalin was a psychopath (v hard to reconcile the Russians as ‘saviours’ of World War 2 with somebody who was at least as bad as Hitler leading that) and to underline that I will never, ever read another book by this man (annoying, as I’m also interested in the Romanovs, but not as depicted by him!).

“Simon Windbag Montefiore, more like.“

It was good, then?