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?

185. Mr Dickens And His Carol by Samantha Silva

I loved this! It’s the story of Dickens writing A Christmas Carol. It’s written in a similar style to Dickens, it’s sentimental and probably not historically accurate in the slightest, but lovely to read at this time of year. If you read it as a tale that just happens to feature a real person it’s fine, but if you like books that feature real people to be historically accurate then stay away from this!

186. Murder Under The Christmas Tree by various

Collection of short stories. Mostly good but one or two I didn’t enjoy so much. Mainly classic crime authors (Margery Allingham, Arthur Conan Doyle) with a couple of modern authors (Val McDermid, Ian Rankin). Cover says it includes a story by Agatha Christie but it doesn’t!

Autumn is being reprinted? Oops owe husband an apology for not getting a copy then.

52. The Animators by Karla Rae Whitaker: Sharon Kisses and Mel Vaught are indie animators who have just released their first feature film based on Mel's tumultuous childhood with her mother and who have won a prestigious arts fellowship. The book follows them on the next two-three years of their personal and professional lives and how they navigate some quite rocky terrain.

I very much appreciate Whitaker's focus on working female artists and their creative process. If that's the sort of thing you like, I'd recommend this book.

Compost well done for getting to the end of A Place of Greater Safety - I couldn't! Just couldn't differentiate in my mind between the three main characters during the first quarter or so of the book so kept going back and re-reading until I eventually jacked it in.

I'd really enjoyed Wolf Hall and BUTB and am fascinated by France so very disappointed.

107 I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong

An exploration of how bacteria and other microbes interact with animals, insects and plants, and how they have contributed to shaping the history of life on our planet.

Very interesting read, although I found it a little over-long - it would have been a much tighter read with a bit more editing. Still, it was well worth the time, and I'd recommend (especially as it's currently only 99p on Kindle).

Well, that's what my m-i-l said on the Christmas card ... Really hope it's true as the hardback Winter is beautiful.

55. A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles. I thought this was much better than the first one in the series, and have downloaded the third already! A m/m romance (almost a Heyer slash fanfic), with a bit of historical back plot, and she almost pulls off a Heyeresque plot at the end. A good read if slash is your thing.

54. Conversations with Friends - Sally Rooney. Very engaging novel set in contemporary Dublin about a young female student in two relationships, with her girlfriend and a married man she meets who her partner knows. More broadly it's about figuring out who you are, betrayal, discontentment, which does all sound heavy but the author never labours or overdoes these themes. She writes with such clarity, intelligence and perception, and the characters feel three dimensional - she reminds me of Zadie Smith but Rooney's scope isn't as ambitious and her style is more accessible. It's very rare I say this but this book lives up to the hype. Fab.

55. Diary of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell. Until I read this I didn't think it was possible for a book about books to be boring but this was the case here. The author has no flair with his writing and the events he chronicles are damn boring and often repetitive. How this crap got published I don't know.

@highlandcoo I know what you mean! I got the three main characters down eventually (though there were lots of ‘he’s’ that took some unpicking which he was being referred to, much like Wolf Hall) but the endless parade of other characters got too much to keep track of. I think what stalled me for the first 60-70% of the book was constantly going back to check who was who, which was the convention and which the assembly etc. In the end I just let all that wash over me and powered through regardless!

Today was an official duvet day in this house, during which I read another book for a goodreads challenge prompt:
59. We Were on a Break Lindsey Kelk - standard chick lit really, though not badly written if that’s your thing. Wouldn’t have chosen it but it was a quick easy fill for the prompt and the characters were pretty likeable.

125. Madame Zero - Sarah Hall Short but quite brilliantly book of short stories. Beautifully written and left me wanting more. Short stories are not usually my thing at all. This was a book club read and looking forward to hearing what others think.

Ooo was fancying some new books then stumbled across this thread for the first time

This thread can be very bad for your to-read list Smiled - I think I need a year's holiday now to make a serious dent in mine

108 Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Ventakesh

Absolutely fascinating book following the author's many years of 'applied sociology research' (aka spending time hanging out with) gang members and other residents of the Robert Taylor housing project in Chicago. It's as much about the author as it is about the people he's spending time with - who over the years become friends - and I really like that. He's very honest about his initial naivety, the times he messes up and does the wrong thing, and the fact that his view of the situation is always partial and affected by his own upbringing and preconceptions. (Very much the opposite of books like Beyond the Beautiful Forevers where the author recounts events as if she were an invisible all seeing presence.) Great to end the year on a real highlight.

69. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers The follow up to A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet this picks up on two characters' stories from that book. I loved it for the same reasons - it is a warm and emotionally intelligent book, with themes of love, friendship and kindness throughout. Overall I preferred the first book, but this was a lovely cosy read for this time of year.

Will probably squeeze one more book into 2017!

56. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. This was one of the best books I have read this year, a gripping, harrowing, well written novel based on Antigone, and I would highly recommend. Thank you for recommending it!

48. A Surfeit of Lampreys Ngaio Marsh Golden Age detective mystery. Lord Wutherwood is found dead in a lift. His impoverished brother and his family are the obvious beneficiaries. But could the charming, eccentric Lampreys really be killers? First Marsh I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Unlike Christie, where everyone is a potential suspect, this one is mostly full of unlikely or you-really-hope-they-didn't suspects, with a few exceptions, which added to the tension. The mystery itself wasn't that great, but the characters were a lot of fun and it's immensely readable.

26. A Christmas Carol a freebie from Audible and Amazon Prime. Loved this, beautifully read by a cast of famous names including: Sir Derek Jacobi as Dickens, Kenneth Cranham as Ebenezer Scrooge, Roger Allam as Jacob Marley, Brendan Coyle as The Ghost Of Christmas Past, Miriam Margolyes as The Ghost Of Christmas Present & Tim Mcinnerny as The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come. A great seasonal listen that really got me in the Christmas mood. I've downloaded Mr Dickens and His Carol as recommended by a PP and available for 99p at the moment & the kindle freebie addition of the original novella so I can read them next December.

49. The Invisible Child/The Fir Tree Tove Janssen Two Moomin stories sold in aid of OXFAM's 'Invisible Child' campaign. A total blatant cheat read in order to give me a chance of getting to 50 books by midnight on Sunday, these were sweet and inconsequential and I read them over lunch. In my defense, they were one of my Christmas presents. And I've never really been into Moomins, so glad I've read them for general kids' book knowledge. Can't see me reading any more though.

90. Night After Night by Phil Rickman

Another re-read, this one on the spooky side. Knap Hall is a former Tudor farmhouse outside Winchcombe, although most recently it was the ultimate luxury hotel owned by an actress and former model whose guests pay for the privilege of mixing with celebrity. After tragedy strikes the house is back on the market but its recent history makes it unlikely there will be a quick sale. Enter a TV production company interested in creating a Big Brother for the paranormal - a mixture of well known people, some sceptics and some believers, will spend the week in an unknown (to them and the audience) house which is potentially haunted to see which side comes out on top at the end. Journalist Grayle Underhill, who has experience of such matters, has been hired as a researcher by the production company and comes to realise that the presence at Knap Hall is not the one the producer is hoping for.

Happy Christmas everyone :) I didn't get given a single book this year (sob) but a Paperwhite from DH so very happy with that :) I have way too many unread books already if I am honest.

87. The Devil in the Marshalsea, Antonia Hodgson

Decently-done historic thriller, set in C18th London. A young man falls foul of a creditor and is thrown into the Marshalsea debtor's prison, which turns out to be a fascinating underworld with its own coffee shops and bars, social structure and mysterious secrets. A fellow prisoner has been murdered and our hero sets out to find out who did it and why. More of a romp than a serious literary book (stock characters and a rather silly plot) but I did think the period detail stood up well, and I learned a fair bit about life in the prison which is all based on contemporary accounts.

I then started reading Cordelia Fine's Delusions of Gender, which is interesting but quite heavy going (a lot of repetition) so took a break to read

88 Friend Request, Laura Marshall

Standard psychological thriller (cf Into the Darkest Corner, Girl on the Train etc etc). Louise is a twitchy single mother who gets a friend request on Facebook from a school friend - a school friend who died 25 years ago. What did happen on the night when Maria disappeared, and is Louise in danger? Again, pretty standard stuff, and the identity of the killer won't be a huge shock to most. I did like the way that the author layered the various plots - there are several inter-linking mysteries here, and even if you work out who the baddy is going to be early on, there are still potentially some unexpected twists as you work out exactly what is going on.

I'm hoping to finish the Cordelia Fine by the end of the 31st, along with Ann Patchett's Commonwealth, which I am about 2/3 way through and very much enjoying.

I hope everyone had a really lovely Christmas.

I have finally made the 50 and managed a few extras in for luck. I didn't think I'd make it a few weeks ago. The puppy I said I'd consider in the spring materialised last month and isn't so much a bundle of joy as a bundle of teeth. Yours truly is the one left dealing with the carnage.

50. Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I'm only counting this as one as they are all so short it feels like cheating otherwise.

51. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. Much reviewed already. I enjoyed it but wouldn't rave about it.

52. Enemies at Home by Lindsey Davis. Second in the Flavia Albia series. The character is coming into her own finally. She is tasked with proving a group of slaves did not murder their master.

53. Deadly Election by Lindsey Davis. Next in the series. A decaying corpse is found on the premises of the family auction business. Albia investigates.

I don't think I'll fit in any more this year.

51. Rushing To Paradise by J. G. Ballard

This was another dissection of psychopathologies, like Ballard likes to do, about a group of eco-activists who start living on an island to protect the albatross from nuclear tests. But their leader has other plans that soon lead to killings and a unique social experiment.

There was a time when I would count Ballard as one of my favourite authors. This book is also interesting, albeit not his best (or maybe I've outgrown his "weirdness"), and I was pleasantly surprised at the feminist discourse that raged through the book towards the end.

46. The Deaths by Mark Lawson.
Story of four upper middle class families in leafy Buckinghamshire. From the outset we know that one family meets a grizzly end, but not which one. Part satire, part thriller, not hugely successful at either TBH. I don't expect that novels will always have likeable characters I can care about, but when they're all this awful then the plot needs to be more engaging than it was here.

On joining this thread, I never thought I'd get anywhere near fifty books, perhaps reading thirty, so I'm pleasantly surprised at how many I did read.

Thanks to all the people on here for your reviews, which were especially entertaining when the real stinkers were discussed, and which kept me motivated to read as often as I can. See you all on the 2018 thread (although I know I'll never make the 50 next year either).

My final list for 2017 before I start one on 2018, I managed to just scrape past the 50 mark. Good ones in bold, ones I didn't like in italic.

The Muse Jessie Burton
I'm Travelling Alone Samuel Bjork
Golden Hill Francis Spufford
The Girl Before JP Delaney
Her Every Fear Peter Swanson
The Scent of Death Andrew Taylor
The Breakdown BA Paris
Cold Earth Ann Cleeves
The Ashes of London Andrew Taylor
I Found You Lisa Jewell
Black Widow Chris Brookmyre
The Other Mrs Walker Mary Paulson Ellis
Black Water Lillies Michel Bussi
The Angel Tree Lucinda Riley
Skeletons Jane Fallon
Everything But The Truth Gillian McAllister
A Prayer For Owen Meany John Irivine (yes sorry I know it's a MN favourite)
I See You Claire Macintosh
The Seven Sisters Lucinda Riley
He Said, She Said Erin Kelly
The Storm Sister Lucinda Riley
Need You Dead Peter James
The Essex Serpent Sarah Perry
Where The Bodies Are Buried Chris Brookmyre
The Girls Emma Cline
Never Alone Elizabeth Haynes
The Lie Of The Land Amanda Craig
The Girlfriend Michelle Francis
Love Like Blood Mark Bllingham
The Shadow Sister Lucinda Riley
Watch Me Disappear Jill Dawson
The Hare With Amber Eyes Edward De Waal
Hearts And Minds Amanda Craig
Then She Was Gone Lisa Jewell
Good Me, Bad Me Ali Land
Commonwealth Ann Patchett
Hag Seed Margaret Atwood (can't believe I wouldn't like a Margaret Atwood book, I've loved everything else I've read by her, but not this one)
The Olive Tree Lucinda Riley
Dead Woman Walking Sharon Bolton
I Am, I Am, I Am Maggie O'Farrell
The People At Number Nine Felicity Everett
I Am Missing Tim Weaver
The Dry Jane Harper
Birdcage Walk Helen Dunmore
Autumn Ali Smith
Behind Her Eyes Sarah Pinborough
The Betrayals Fiona Neill
The Minuatrist Jessie Burton
When Mummy Drinks Gill Simms
Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman
Exposure Aga Lesiewicz

52, when I started I wasn't sure whether I'd reach the magic number, I'm glad I have and look forward to starting all over again.

Can't remember who reviewed it now but Chris Packham's memoir Fingers in the Sparkle Jar is 1.99 today on Kindle.