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?

Moving my list across. Given up on bold as every time I cut and paste it seems to lose the bold. Really can’t be bothered to go through it all again. Sorry

1.My name is Lucy Barton
2.Plainsong
3.Summer Queen
4.The winter Crown
5.The autumn throne
6.The Heart Goes Last
7.Twelve years a Slave*
8.My Husbands wife
9.The bolter
10.Winter ghosts
11. Essex Serpent
12.Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
13. Everyone Brave is Forgiven
14. His Bloody Project
15. Forgotten voices of the Great War
16. Love letters of the Great War
17. The trouble with goats and sheep
18. Victoria A life
19. The tales of Beedle the Bard
20. Dear Amy
21 Crown of blood
22.The food of love
23. Elizabeth and Mary
24. Last Train to Memphis
25. The silkworm
26. Apple Tree Yard
27. Young and Damned and Fair
28. the Missing
29. Three sisters Three Queens
30. Where my heart used to beat

31. First of the Tudors
32. Do no harm
33. Dark fire
34. Dissolution
35. Sovereign
36. Revelation
37. Heartstone
38. Lamentation
39. The Keeper of Lost Things
40. The Lesser Bohemians
41. The Cuckoos Calling
42. The Ashes of London
43. The child in time
44. The private lives of the Tudors
45. The Hare with the Amber Eyes
46. Love all
47. Just Henry
48. Daughters of the Grail
49. The Northern Clemency
50. The light years
51. Her perfect life
52. Take Six Girls
53. The Silent child
54. Georgiana - Duchess of Devonshire
55. The Love Letters of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
56. Anne Boleyn: The Kings Obsession
57. The Crow Trap - Ann cleeves
58. Telling Tales - Ann Cleeves
59. Hidden depths
60. Silent voices
61. Marking time
62. Nella Last's War
63. The Glass room
64. Girl A : My Story
65. Harbour street
66. The moth catcher
67. Lincoln in The Bardo
68. The Witches
69. A Dangerous Inheritance
70. Confusion
71. All the light we cannot see
72. Reconstructing Amelia
73. The last runaway
74, Holding
75. The Underground Railroad
76. The wonder
77. The Romanovs
78. A street cat named Bob
79. Casting off
80. In to the woods
81. The Power
82. Cousins
83. Swing Time
84. Days without end
85. All Creatures Great and Small
86. Autumn
87. History of Wolves
88. All things Bright and Beautiful
89. The improbability of Love
90. Reservoir 13
91. Hot milk
92. The Kings Sister Stone
102. The last Tudor
103. The seagull
104. Anatomy of a soldier
105. Exposure
106. Your life in my hands
107. The dry
108. Civilwarland in bad decline
109. Not Thoma

I've heard a few people criticise Essex Serpent for being overhyped - I read it early and fairly "blind"; I hadn't read much about it and chose it based on the subject. I wonder if expectations worked against it a bit after it picked up momentum. I loved it, anyway - it is a quiet, thoughtful novel - and I enjoyed it a lot. I also read it at the beginning of the year and have read little to match it.

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 48. Julie Myerson - The Quickening 49. Sarah Lotz - Day Four 50. John Scalzi - Redshirts 51. Sheri S Tepper - Fish Tails 52. Sophie McKenzie - Here We Lie 53. Stephen King - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams 54. A. R. Torre - The Girl in 6E 55. Megan Abbott - Dare Me 56. Joanne Blythman - Swallow This 57. James Dashner - The Maze Runner 57. Kelley Armstrong - The Masked Truth 58. C. L. Taylor - The Lie 59. Eloisa James - Three Weeks With Lady X 60. Rachel Caine - Two Weeks Notice 61. Sarah Pinsborough - The Death House 62. Stephen Lloyd Jones - The Disciple 63. Lucy Hounsom - Heartland 64. Katie Kirby - Hurrah For Gin 65. Alexandra Bracken - The Darkest Minds 66. Jodi Taylor - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Thanks for the new thread South.

Cba to compile my list from all the previous threads! Will have to be more organised next year and keep a spreadsheet

Anyway, I've just finished...

47. These Darkening Days - Benjamin Myers

Sequel to Turning Blue, reviewed on previous thread. Enjoyed this 'rural noir' tale of a series of slashings in a small Yorkshire town - prose trying a bit hard, and dialogue clunky, in places, but I do like the main protagonists Mace and Brindle, and hope there's a third book.

61. Pet Sematary - Stephen King

I don’t ever read horror so settled down with this and wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it. This book was unsettling and a little disturbing at times. Does leave you with a “what would you do?” to ponder although I know exactly what I wouldn’t do. Towards the end I was just desperate to read more and find out what happens. Definitely another Stephen King novel I enjoyed!

I will copy my list over on my next post and thanks for the thread!

1. The One We Fell in Love With - Paige Toon
2. This Is Where It Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
3. The Girl Who Lied - Sue Fortin

4. Girls on Fire - Robin Wasserman 5. The Heat of Betrayal - Douglas Kennedy

1. Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton - Sandra Gregory
2. Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
3. Trust in Me - Sophie McKenzie

9. Close Enough to Kill - Beverly Barton 10. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl 11. How I Lost You - Jenny Blackhurst 12. The Girls - Lisa Jewell 13. The Breakdown - B A Paris 14. 206 Bones - Kathy Reichs 15. Daisy in Chains - Sharon Bolton 16. Off Sides - Sawyer Bennett 17. The Loving Husband - Christobel Kent 18. Do No Harm - Henry Marsh 19. Silent Child - Sarah A Denzil 20. The Escape Artist - Diane Chamberlain 21. Holding - Graham Norton 22. The Things We Have in Common - Tasha Kavanagh 23. You Can't Have My Daughter - Elizabeth McDonnnell 24. Truly Madly Guilty - Liane Moriarty 25. The Escape - C L Taylor 26. The Butterfly Garden - Dot Hutchison 27. Obsession - Amanda Robson 28. Cut - Hibo Wardere 29. The Mistake I Made - Paula Daly 30. Little Black Lies - Sharon Bolton 31. Dear Amy - Helen Callaghan 32. Don't Let Go - Michael Bussi 33. The Cry - Helen Fitzgerald 34. I Let You Go - Clare MacKintosh 35. Sisterland - Curtis Sittenfeld 36. Misery - Stephen King 37. A Year of Being Single - Fiona Collins 38. Emma's Baby - Abbie Taylor 39. Ragdoll - Daniel Cole 40. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 41. The Girl Before - J P Delaney 42. The Wicked Girls - Alex Marwood 43. You Will Know Me - Megan Abbott 44. Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter 45. Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell 46. Brand New Me - Charlotte Crosby 47. All is Not Forgotten - Wendy Walker 48. The Power - Naomi Alderman 49. Needful Things - Stephen King 50. The Friend - Dorothy Koomson 51. The Perfect Girl - Gilly MacMillan 52. Into the Water - Paula Hawkins 53. You - Caroline Kepnes 54. After the Storm - Jane Lythell 55. Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng 56. When She was Bad - Tammy Cohen 57. The Lullaby Girl - Aly Sidgwick 58. When it’s Real - Erin Watt 59. The Thousandth Floor - Katharine McGee 60. Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard 61. Pet Sematary - Stephen King

Have put bold on the ones I remember enjoying most!

Hello, and thanks South.

Cote, I think it was that review of Seveneves that made me want to read it! I am looking out for Snow Crash now- would you recommend?

If Owen King is to Stephen as Felix Francis was to Dick, I wouldn't bother reading any more Remus!

Thanks for the new thread, South.

Bringing my list over. Highlights in bold, italics for the unsatisfactory.

1. The Story of a New Name (Book 2 of Neopolitan Novels) by Elena Ferrante.
2. Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter.

1. Beauty by Robin McKinley.
2. Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall.

5. The Last Policeman: A Novel (The Last Policeman Book I) by Ben H.Winters. 6. Red Rising by Pierce Brown.

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.
2. Any Human Heart by William Boyd.
3. The Pure in Heart (Simon Serailler Book 2) by Susan Hill.

10. Joyland by Stephen King. 11. Jerusalem:The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore. 12. How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to making Friends with your Mind by Pema Chödrön. 13. Lord of the Flies by William Golding. 14. Palestine by Joe Sacco. 15. Steelheart (Reckoners Book 1) by Brendon Sanderson. 16. The Girls by Emma Cline. 17. The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris. 18. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. 19. Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penman. 20. The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant series, Book 6) by Ben Aaronovitch. 21. Stasiland by Anna Funder. 22. Indemnity Only (VI Warshawski Book 1) by Sara Paretsky. 23. The Vegetarian by Han Kang. 24. The Wild Ways (Book 2 in the Enchantment Emporium series) by Tanya Huff. 25. The Magician by Raymond E Feist. (Audiobook) 26. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. 27. Roseanna (A Martin Beck novel) by Sjöwall and Wahlöö. 28. The Sellout by Paul Beatty. 29. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Book 1 of The Inheritance Trilogy) by NK Jemisin. 30. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. 31. Mr Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars Mystery) by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham. 32. Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe. 33. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson. 34. Playing to the Gallery by Grayson Perry 35. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. 36. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. 37. Countdown City (The Last Policeman Book 2) by Ben H. Winters. 38. Summer Knight (Book 4 of the Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher. 39. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. 40. Deadlock (VI Warshawski Book 2) by Sara Paretsky. 41. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. 42. The Sympathiser by Viet Thanh Nguyen. 43. Shadow by Kelley Armstrong. 44. Nobody Told Me by Hollie McNish. 45. The Broken Kingdoms (Book 2 of The Inheritance Trilogy) by NK Jemisin. 46. Those who leave and Those who stay (Book 3 of Neopolitan Novels) by Elena Ferrante. 47. The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. 48. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. 49. The Dry by Jane Harper. 50. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. 51. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. 52. Guilty Pleasures (An Anita Blake Novel) by Laurell K.Hamilton.

Number 53 is Sunshine by Robin McKinley.
Urban vampire fantasy. Fairly strong female character and good for this genre imo.

Still listening (and enjoying) Sapiens on audiobook. But have practically stopped reading otherwise. I’ve started several books but nothing is grabbing my fancy. 😱 Life, work and TV have got in the way!

Tanaqui - Yes! I would definitely recommend Snow Crash.

It’s not literature so don’t expect great character development etc but OMG the original ideas in that book! I have read a lot of great books, some of them SF masterpieces, but I don’t think any of them match the brilliance of that story that brings Sumerian legends & deciphered cuneiform tablets together with modern technology and hatches a plot that involves hacking the brain.

It’s the book that introduced the word Avatar to the English language. And it invented the concept of Google Earth (called “Earth”). And surprisingly foresaw the masses of refugees coming onto the shores of developed countries in makeshift boats.

I love that book & might be due a reread

67. Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

YA fantasy. Teenager Lily is pulled from our Salem into an alternate-world Salem by her alternate world self Lilian. Alternate world is ruled by witches and runs on magic. Lily’s identical other self in this world, Lilian, is the top witch and doing all sorts of nasty things. Mainly banning science and executing anyone who so much as thinks about science.

More or less readable enough. My main grumble was that the reason for Lilian bringing Lily across worlds isn’t explained at all.

Anyone recommend anything from the monthly deals? Lonesome Dove is there which I own in paper copy - it’s 900 or some pages. I also bought The Winter Book by Tove Jansson as I enjoyed the Summer Book. There are some Kurt Vonneguts and the second Shardlake: Dark Fire.

Otherwise slim pickings I thought. Maybe they are saving some for December. Also Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking which I’ve heard of - is it any good, anyone read?

I enjoyed The Snow Child when I read it a couple of years ago but I imagine that most people on these threads will have read it already.

Not much is grabbing me...

The Emperor Of All Maladies - A Biography Of Cancer is £1.99

No Country For Old Men is £1.19

Cold: Extreme Adventures at the Lowest Temperatures on Earth by Ranulph Fiennes is £0.99

Born On a Blue Day - Inside the extraordinary mind of an autistic savant by Daniel Tammet is £0.99

Thank you south for the new thread. I didn't finish reading the old one, will try to catch up with it.

75. Red Dust Road, Jackie Kay
I'm ashamed to say I hadn't heard of Jackie Kay until I heard her on the radio talking about this. It's a memoir about growing up adopted, and finding her birth parents, including a trip to Nigeria to find her biological father. She writes interestingly, generously and movingly about families, race and adoption.

76. Burial Rites, Hannah Kent
Was lucky enough to read this while on holiday in Iceland last week :) Agnes Magnusdottir has been sentenced to death for her part in the murder of two men in 19th century Iceland. While she waits for the date of her execution, she is sent to live in isolation with a farming family. The book vividly and viscerally portrays the members the household living in close proximity to one another as winter approaches, and also explores the issues around Agnes's life up to that point, her sentencing and the way that she is treated by society. I didn't know that it was a true story and didn't know how it would end - the last couple of chapters left me trying to hide tears on the flight home.

Both of the above get the thumbs up from me :) Currently reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart.

Not rock bottom cheap, but 'Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia' by Peter Pomerantsev is £2.89 in the monthly deals - well worth reading IMO.

I've read A Year of Magical Thinking. Didn't love it, but can't remember that much about it so maybe it's better than I remember. (Also disliked The Snow Child and was massively underwhelmed by Born on a Blue Day.)
What's No Country for Old Men like? Is it as good as the film?

Cote, I think you’d like The Emperor of All Maladies. Quite brainhurty.

I enjoyed Cold.
Breakfast of Champions is one of the worst books I've ever read, and I also hated No Country for Old Men. I couldn't find anything at all that I fancied.

Book 103
The Last Days of Hitler by Hugh Trevor Roper
Written in the aftermath of WW2 after enquiries to try to find out what had happened to Hitler. I read this because the Guardian had it in its 100 top non-fiction books of all time, but I was disappointed with it. I found it oddly structured and also it assumed a lot of knowledge of events and people which, even though I’ve read extensively about the period, I didn’t always know. The writer also seemed oddly fascinated by Albert Speer, whose behaviour is seemingly excused to some extent. The book picked up substantially in the latter half, and I enjoyed the ending much more than the beginning but overall I think there are far better books about this period.

Keith I really recommend The Adoption Papers by Jackie Kay if you at all lean toward poetry, or want to see another side to the story. I think it was her first collection. She writes about the adoption from the points of view of both mothers and the child of adoption, and well worth it.

Thank you, south.

Second The Adoption Papers. Brilliant poem.

Lots of people have told me they liked The Snow Child. Have got the sample, as I think I may find it a bit twee. Does anybody who 'knows' me well think I might like it?

Thanks cheerful that’s helpful, might keep in mind but hold off for now. I did quite fancy the Blue Day but non-fiction has to be really good to suck me in these days. I didn’t think the Road was all that and haven’t been tempted to read any others by McCarthy. I do like Western type stories though so interested if anyone loved it.

Just seen remus hated No Country maybe not then!

I do have The Emperor Of All Maladies and Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, although I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet