50 Book Challenge 2018 Part One

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2018, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

Who's in for this year?

Exexpat. Interesting to read your review of The Wall Jumper. I'll have to try and get that one soon. I think I'd love it.
I'm also very much in awe of your willpower. If I lived near Mr B's I think I'd spent every night camping outside the doors.

Tanaqui I'll definitely try that book. I'm very much interested in anything else set in Iceland. Ty for the recommendation.

KeithleMonde Thank you for thinking of us, but don't worry Satsuki you aren't ignoring anyone and everyone has their own battles.

I'll have to add The Dry to my list as so many people here have said they enjoy it. I'm not normally the biggest fan of books that are set in Australia but this one sounds like something I'd love.

I'm in something of a reading slump at the moment. I'm not reading with my usual enthusiasm. My concentration is so poor. Hopefully an easy read or two or an old favourite will get me back on track.

I read my 13th book today. My Son's Not Rainman by John Williams.
The author is a stand up comedian and writes about his life raising his son who has autism and cerebral palsy.

This I read as part of my Kindle Unlimited trial.
I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it. It was an easy read but a very enjoyable one. He paints a very balanced and sympathetic picture of autism and living with an autistic child. He doesn't try to speak for all parents or people with autism either which I appreciate. It's humorous and poignant. A few moments were a little too sentimental for my taste, but otherwise I loved it.

Just to step outside the common view , I didn't like The Dry... found it predictable, clichéd and dull. It was a quick read though. the opening is good.

I have read Book Number Two , which is a bit of a cheat. I read Julie Mullaney's very helpful and illuminating book about God Of Small Things. Learnt a lot from her and wish I had it in me to research and write such an erudite , through and well researched book.

The kids I teach think it is very odd that anyone would want to read 50 books in a year!!

I drained the battery in my car reading in a car park last night. I forgot to turn the headlights off....

That's devotion to the cause Piggy - were you hiding from the kids?!

Just finished book 2 of my year, Eleanor Oliphant on audible. I thoroughly enjoyed not just the book but the reading by Cathleen McCarron was excellent.

Need to finish book 3 by Tuesday as have book club so will get another one then. It's a cold dismal Friday afternoon so I'm off to the sofa with a cup of tea and a blanket until the hordes come home

It’s L1minal here with a speedy NC. I decided to have a new identity for the NY but forgot you have to put numbers in usernames now, and I just didn’t like my new name, so I’ve gone back to one of the old ones I luckily had in reserve

@Teufelsrad apologies if someone's already suggested it, but Yrsa Sigurðardóttir is an Icelandic crime writer who's worth seeking out. Arnaldur Indridason's rather good too.

CQ haha no! I was waiting for DS2 to finish football training which happily meant there were burly middleaged men to come to rescue and jump start the car!

You have to put numbers in user names now?? How dull.

It seems so, Piggy - or perhaps I misunderstood and someone else already had the username I was trying to change to...

Actually, scrub that, I just tried again and it let me NC without any numbers! Gah! I’ll stick with this now, though, otherwise I’ll drive myself and everyone else mad.

1. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann

Amazon blurb - In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to study in Europe.

Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. As the death toll climbed, the FBI took up the case. But the bureau badly bungled the investigation. In desperation, its young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. Together with the Osage he and his undercover team began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

Still continuing with the popsugar challenge, the next prompt was true crime. I don't generally read non-fiction, but this was really interesting. It's a subject I don't know much about, so I was shocked at the level of racism that used to exist - makes you realise how far things have, despite the fact there's still a long way to go. Well-written and researched, and definitely worth a read.

Argh, sorry about the lack of paragraphs. The app seems to randomly decide not to include the line breaks at times - no idea if it's just me, but they were there when I wrote it - honest!

Agree that the opening of The Dry is stronger than the end. I didn't like the end, but liked lots of the middle!

Loathed Two Brothers. It has everything I want in a book, except a decent writer and decent plotting.

Cote - no need to apologise. I think we actually agree about Winter. Nothing terrible, but not great either.

Book 6
The Berlin Wall – My Part in its Downfall by Peter Millar – too much Peter Millar and not enough Berlin. Too much ‘working at a newspaper’ and not enough Berlin. Too much ‘I feel like a real Berliner’ and not enough Berlin. Too many sentences that were inaccurately punctuated and not enough Berlin. Too much focus on other countries, and not enough Berlin. Too much ‘My’ and not enough Wall. This wasn’t hideous, but it could have been so much better. Some good photographs!

Diamantegal. Great review of Killers of The Flower Moon. I have it on my Kindle, and I'm not sure when I'll get to it, but I'm looking forward to reading it.

I've just returned Two Brothers for refund. I don't want to be disappointed and my library has it so I can be disappointed for free.

Thank you for the warning Remus.

I agree that there's too much of him in the book. I still enjoyed it but it would have been much better with more Berlin and less Peter.

My first time posting on this thread and realise you are all very fast!
**Book 1 The Dry - Jane Harper
I think the summary has been covered here adequately.
I like how this started and it was an easy read however just found it a bit too slow for me ultimately and I was disappointed with the reveal.

Book 2 Midwinter Break - Bernard MacLaverty

From the blurb: A retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly to Amsterdam for a midwinter break. A holiday to refresh the senses, to see the sights and to generally take stock of what remains of their lives.......And when memories re-emerge of a troubled time in their native Ireland things begin to fall apart.

Deliberately slow and unhurried, this style might not be to everyone’s taste however I really enjoyed the deceptively simple style prose. The portrait of the marriage and the love and relationship between the two felt really believable and it was a very easy and quick read.

Book 3 A Rage In Harlem - Chester Himes

This I suppose is recognised as classic crime fiction. It marks the first appearance of Harlem detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones and is the story of a love stuck simpleton at the mercy of a gang of swindlers playing out a con trick. It’s set in 50s Harlem and book paints a really believable picture of a violent and unregulated city. It’s supposed to be a comedy caper and although I really liked the book, I was so frustrated with the main character’s blind stupidity and the generally awful behaviour of the others that I found it more poignant than funny.

Book 4 Hag-seed - Margaret Atwood

My first purchase of the year has turned up which is Summertime all the cats are Dead by Phillipe Georget, I Rea this a few years ag and loved t but then forgot about it until I bought his Autumn book last year, so got this for a re read

1. Fire me I beg you by Robbie Abed - a quick read in contrast to the other things I have on the go at the moment. Robbie is a bit of an internet and LinkedIn superstar whose main schtick is quitting the job you hate and working towards doing a job (or something else) you love. I’d read much of the material before as each chapter is an extended version of previous blog posts. Robbie has a fairly forthright style but it’s thought provoking enough. Luckily enough I’m not in a job I hate and part of that is down to Robbie Abed’s internet advice - some time ago now - so I’m obviously a fan. I’d recommend checking out his website for anyone who is interested before shelling out for a book though!

Continuing with North and South along with many others here, and a longish biography of Beethoven, I think it will be a while before finishing that one. And tomorrow I have to collect The People Vs Alex Cross from the library, for discussion at work book club on Tuesday, eek!

Terpsichore I don't think that anyone has recommended those authors(I have a terrible memory though) but I'm very grateful to you for the recommendations even if they have. I'll certainly give their work a try.

Vinegar Girl - Ann Tyler. Meh.

My Two Brothers review:
Two Brothers by Ben Elton
Oh dear. Somebody on here recommended this to me ages ago and I finally tracked it down in the library. To be honest, I mostly wish I hadn’t bothered. It’s right up my street in terms of subject matter - two brothers (one who is adopted) growing up in Nazi Germany – one a Jew, the other not. Unfortunately, despite some interesting characters and some quite moving moments, he’s really not a v good writer. Most of it was exposition – lots of telling instead of showing – and there was an awful lot of Elton a) reminding us that the Nazis were very nasty and b) proving that he’s done some research that he’s determined to cram in. Oh and just in case you weren't quite clear about it, the Nazis really were very nasty. I’d have forgiven both of those if the story itself remained decent. Unfortunately it got more and more ridiculous. Oh and he should be hauled over the coals for his abomination of a ‘black person accent’ which was hideously embarrassing at best and horribly racist at worst. Terrible.

I read Vinegar Girl and was really disappointed as I love Ann Tyler

Have never managed to finish a Ben Elton apart from Dead Famous.

I was underwhelmed by Two Brothers. It was one of those frustrating books that should have been so good and in had flashes where you felt it was going to get there. But it never did.
I did like his book about First World War, The First / last (?) Casualty.

The only Ben Elton Book I have managed to finish was The First Casualty which I thought was very good, and struggled to read any more

1. Die Frau im Mond by Milena Agus. Translated from Italian and the English title is From the Land of the Moon .

Really lovely book set in Sardinia from 1943 onwards about a woman’s search for love, but not cliched like that makes it sound. Quite short and easy to read.