50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Two

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second 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, 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.

What are you reading?

remus Do you think they just compare it to Sarah Waters because of the lesbianism? Because I agree that Delaney is much lighter and prettier than her.

Did you find it a bit homophobic towards male gayness at all? That was my only discomfort with it, once I had got over all the maypoles!

1. Seeker by S G Maclean

Set in the 1650s Seeker works to keep Oliver Cromwell safe from the many and varied plots aimed at overthrowing him. One of his close allies is murdered and Seeker is involved in finding out who killed him and why. Good story, moves along well, evokes a London full of suspicion and danger where saying the wrong thing can land you in prison. I don't think it's quite as good as the Shardlake books but enjoyable nonetheless.

1. Keeping on Keeping on' by Alan Bennett

The next set of Alan Bennett's diaries plus a few short pieces at the end which are mostly introductions to some of his plays. This books covers 2005 to 2015. Don't agree with everything that he says but there is some wonderful writing on the value of libraries and free education. Have also realised that I haven't read the previous set of diaries although I have read the first set so I shall have to look those up.

My list so far ...thinking I am going fairly slowly ...I like a bit of a pause after a good book & have really enjoyed everything read this month. Anyway..

1. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
2. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders
3. Fingers in the Sparkle Jar:A Memoir - Chris Packham
4. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
5. The Little Book of Self-Care - Mel Noakes
6. Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie

Liked the Little book of self care - Kindle sale for 99p easy, accessible advice with good worksheets to put it all in to practise. Short, not mind numblingly deep..basically look after yourself people - make time to do the things that make you happy!

Murder on .. loved this - have previously avoided Christie, not a crime fan & possibly was a bit snobby about them in my younger days
Anyway - like the famous five but with more facial hair. Did not guess the ending which made me happy.No wasted words. Will happily read more.

27. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - Imogen Hermes Gowar. This book was a delight from start to finish. Beautifully written, and not a unnecessary word or phrase to be found.
It is the tale of a middle aged, widowed merchant in the Regency period whose's ship is sold by his captain in exchange for a Mermaid. The story takes in the excesses of high Regency society; think Duchess of Devonshire, The Prince Regent, specifically the high class madams and bordellos.
The characterisation is vivid and compelling. It is full of colour and humour. This novel is crying out for a good costume drama adaptation.
Something I loved about this the strong female characters. There is real purpose and conviction in their motivation. The drive this pacy novel along.
Loved this!!

Remus and anyone else:

Open the web page and select all. Then copy and paste to a Word document and save.

Then email the Word document to your kindle email address with 'Convert' as the subject title and it will automatically convert the Word document to an ebook.

If you don't know your kindle email address, go to Manage Your Content and Devices. From Settings, scroll down to Personal Document Settings. Under Send-to-Kindle Email Settings, your Send to Kindle email address will be listed.

On Gutenberg UK it's even easier, as it gives you the option to download the book as a kindle book. You then save it to your computer and simply email it to your kindle. I read loads of Gutenberg books on my kindle (and work documents, as it's easier than lugging a laptop abou) - I bloody love it.

Thank you, Cheerful, I did not know that!

7. Mariana by Monica Dickens

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It is warm and witty, and people, places, clothes, and food are all delightfully well observed throughout. The book begins with Mary anxiously awaiting news of her husband, whose ship has been sunk by a mine in the early months of the war, we then go back through her childhood and follow her growing up and the past romances and events that led her here. It is a love story, a somewhat rushed, though still extremely satisfying one, but it is primarily the story of how a child becomes an adult, how from birth “you were given a trust of individuality that you were bound to preserve” and of the ways in which your involvement with others informs that individuality until “you became a person”. The descriptions of Mary’s childhood form the strongest parts of the book, her sojourn in Paris as a young woman I found a bit long, but her exploits at drama school were very entertaining and there are lots of funny lines all through it. When she gets an unfavourable school report her Uncle exclaims “These school marms give me the pip. Why can’t they just say: at the moment, she’s a blister, but there’s hope?”. A first night out at a fancy restaurant is described in great detail: ”They took a long time to choose the rest of the meal...It was difficult to know quite where to fit the sardines on toast. “Perhaps at the end” said the waiter, raised his eyebrows, bowed,and withdrew.” She is self absorbed in the manner of young people, sometimes uncharitable and mean towards other girls, and there is a fair bit of snobbery on all sides, but it all tends to make the character and surroundings feel the more real. There is a passing anti Semitic comment near the end by a minor character, and also the (sadistic and disliked) drama school teacher is alluded to in homophobic language, but this was published in 1940, and it is interesting, and sobering, to see the prejudices that were being treated then in a lighthearted, throwaway fashion, knowing what was just on the horizon in Europe. These are small moments in the book, but I feel it is important to acknowledge such things. Overall I really liked it and would recommend it to those who like their escapism to be full of detail, sharp around the edges, but with nothing to scare the horses.

Thank you Cheerful!

mermaid is on my pile so no spoilers please!

Really looking forward to it but need to finish Secret History Got halfway last night : (could Donna Tartt maybe have not recorded minute details of inane conversations?). Might even overrule by random number generator to start Mermaid next ,as it is hardback. I have a 'read hardbacks before they come out in paperback' rule!

Piggy I chose Almond For A Parrot for my bookclub last year solely on the basis it had a pretty cover. Good job we all know each very well or it could have made for an awkward meeting.

That’s very useful, cheerful thank you.

piggy people usually open separate threads if they want to talk more in-depth about a book so you shouldn’t have to worry about spoilers.

Sorry you’ve been ill remus but @ There were many, many proud members and a lot of body fluids but all of this was done with the tongue very firmly in cheek

I very much hope that sentence is not wholly literal. Giggling also at vista’s awkward book group meeting.

1. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro.

The 1989 Booker winning novel about an ageing butler looking back on his work and his relationship with the housekeeper at the stately hall they both worked at in the 1930's. What fabulous craftsmanship there is here. The writing is exquisite and the themes (including self-delusion and repressed sexuality) are subtly portrayed yet are hugely emotionally impactful. The actual story is heartbreaking, haunting and very real and recognisable. I loved this book and rewatched the film on Netflix the other day which holds up really well - Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson really did become Mr Stevens and Miss Kenton. What next can possibly live up to a book as accomplished as this?! Can anyone recommend more Ishiguro books? This is the first I've read of his.

Southeast I lived Never Let Me Go - very different from The Remains of the Day but imo a great read.

Loved not lived! Typing while eating - not a good idea

I know satsuki but I have seen two reviews and I was bit scared 'lalalala.. not listening!' went I!

I teach film studies and we used to have a spoilers disclaimer on the wall, written by an angry student.

He wrote ' If you intend to completely RUIN a film for others in the class, you must shout SPOLIER ALERT before you speak so I can leave the room!'

Bless him.

Note SPOLIER was his spelling.

Oh I understand your feelings. My 6 year old came home from school with a spoiler for the new Star Wars film on the day dh and I were going to see it. I had thought we were safe with a 12a!

southeast I’ve only read A Pale View is Hills but remember liking it if not much else about it. It was his first, about a Japanese family in England, quite sad and written with spare and elegant prose. A short read. I think I mentioned that I quite liked Remains but enjoyed the movie more as they really brought the emotion to life.

Southeast I enjoyed Never Let Me Go as well. But it has been roundly dismissed on these threads. I'd say read it and see what you think.

I didn't enjoy The Buried Giant. I could see what he was trying to say in the themes but I just didn't like it. Perhaps I ought to reread it and see if I change my opinion.

Have got A Pale of Hills and When We Were Orphans tbr.

*of

Oh highlandcoo, you just inspired me to go away and watch this.... glorious...

Jeremy Thorpe book sounds good. I also found The Virgin Suicides almost unreadably boring (I read it with my normal head on, not my English Lit one, so most of the stuff about the male gaze etc went over my head) and I haven't been able to go back and give him another go, even though I have Middlesex here on my shelf and everyone says it is good.

10. Them: Adventures with Extremists: Secret Rulers of the World by Jon Ronson

Very readable though a bit of a mish-mash. Written in the late '90s (so pre-9/11), this is Ronson's account of hanging out with, and interviewing, a variety of extremists and conspiracy theorists, from Islamic fundamentalists to white supremacists. They all seem to share this theory that the world is being run by a shadowy elite, who meet in secret, and bizarrely (apologies for spoilers) Ronson actually finds that this is true and infiltrates one of their meetings. Frustratingly lightweight for a book that touches on serious content.

11. Women and Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard

Blimey, she's good, isn't she? I've seen Mary Beard on the TV but not read any of her writing before. She knows her stuff and she writes clearly, and entertainingly, without dumbing down. V interesting and some great points about how our cultural heritage feeds into the way that women who speak out are treated, including her own awful experiences of Twitter.

Piggy don't think I gave an spoilers. Was trying really hard not to...

No I am sure you didn't. I am just excited to read it! You made it sound worth it! :}

keith I read The Marriage Plot and found it a bit nothing, not been bothered to read Suicides but I did enjoy Middlesex. Different than I expected, very good read.

Thanks, Cheerful. Will give that a go.

Piggy - I did think it was a bit odd that there wasn't a 'fun' male/male relationship, just the one that didn't even seem to have much point, was unnecessary to plot/character. I'd have liked there to have been a male equivalent to Mercy, for example, or a couple of Lords living the love that dared not speak its name.

Satsuki - glad you appreciated that line; it was the best I could do in my flu-fuddled haze!

Didn't like Middlesex or The Marriage Plot yet, but love Virgin Suicides.