50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 and the second one here.

What are you reading?

I know Tooextra and Satsuki it is a bit brain hurty I think it's meant to demonstrate his lack of 'book learning' so lots of words are spelt phonetically but I did find myself having to re-read those bits to get the sense of it, and I wasn't really enjoying the book enough to make so much effort. Lazy girl.

17 . Tall Oaks Chris Whitaker : better than I expected for a thriller picked up in Waitrose. It was actually quite well written; ending was a little telegraphed but not too corny. Some of that characters were likeable and it did have funny bits. A few too many shoehorned in 'issues' but I'd read another by him. Preferred it to The Dry .Although I am sure that is a superior book I didn't like it and really did find it contrived.

1. Don't Point That Thing At Me - Kyril Bonfiglioli

First of the Charlie Mortdecai books, a kind of gleeful cross between PG Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler, in which the degenerate art dealer Mortdecai and his faithful, but brutal servant Jock end up in a spot of bother over a stolen artwork. A quirky, darkly funny and entertaining read - will definitely be reading more in the series.

37. When you disappeared - John Marrs book club read. Resented every single second of it. Was so bad I don't know where to start. Loving husband disappears without trace. Heavy hints about secrets. Book opens with husband returning after 25 years. Then goes back in time and alternates between what is happening to each partner. And it is all ludicrous; totally unbelievable and terribly written. And in some places just down right nasty!! Classic case of someone filling their book with 'issues'. Awful, awful, awful!
It's going to take one hell of a 'palate cleanser' after this one!

(1) Witch is When Life Got Complicated by Adele Abbott
(2) Witch is Where It All Began by Adele Abbott
(3) Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller
(4) Die Last by Tony Parsons
(5) Restaurant Babylon by Imogen Edwards Jones
(6) The Sugar Men by Ray Kingfisher
(7) The Hospital by Barbara O'Hare
(8) Fade Out by Rachel Caine
(9) Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
(10) Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
(11) Would You Like Some Magic With That by Annie Salisbury
(12) The Ride Delegate by Annie Salisbury
(13) The Magdalen Laundries by Lisa Michelle Odgaard
(14) Just What Kind of Mother Are You by Paula Daly
(15) Amber Earns Her Ears by Amber Michelle Sewell
(16) Breathe by Sarah Crossan
(17) Kiss of Death by Rachel Caine
(18) Ghost Town by Rachel Caine
(19) A Pocketful of Holes and Dreams by Jeff Pearce
(20) Dead Man Running by Martin McGartland
(21) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
(22) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
(23) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

As much as I enjoyed reading this trilogy I am glad to have finished. They were nice easy reads and served their purpose to get me out of my slump. I have decided I can not read more than one book at once, it causes me to slow down far too much and I end up not enjoying any of them. Any that I started I was only a handful of pages into so I have put them all back into my pile and will start again, just one at a time.

8. 84 Charing Cross Road. Much reviewed non fiction book detailing the correspondence between a funny, brash American writer and her (initially) buttoned up English contact at a London second hand book shop. A re-read knocked off in a few hours, I last read this as a library book around 35 years ago but returned to it following all the glowing reviews on here. It is indeed a sweet, heart warming book (perfect antidote to book no. 7 The Gallows Pole!) It's very slight (all the better for getting my book count up!) but by turns funny, touching and sad. I managed to find a second hand copy for £2.59 inc postage from Abe books which I felt was good value and quite in keeping with the narrative!

Ellis I think you're being really harsh on Anjelica Huston in Watch Me! I had a lot of sympathy for her after reading Nicholson got one of his floozies pregnant when he knew AH wanted kids (but was infertile), some of their friends dumping her when her and Nicholson split, and before then when she was in an abusive relationship with Ryan O'Neal, and also having such an exacting father as she did. I agree there's little depth in the book but for me the perceptive comments on people she's met and films she did made it an entertaining read.

14. The Darkness Within - Lisa Stone

Critically ill Jacob receives a heart transplant that will save his life. But as his personality changes his once grateful parents are forced to wonder whether this was always part of their son or if he has been changed by the transplant.

This was an intriguing read. A little far fetched at times but the concept of transplants containing personality traits of the donor is an interesting one. Last of my library books so now officially time to start on my very large TBR pile!

TooMuch sorry, I'm not sure it's entirely clear from your review - so did you like that book?

TooExtra and Cheerful, another Antonia Forest fan over here! I haven't read the Marlow books in years but I'd love to give them a re-read. I think somewhere in storage I may have a copy of End of Term that is falling apart, but I'm not entirely sure. I wish they'd publish them as kindle books - I sometimes hopefully click the 'Let the publisher know you'd like to read this as a kindle book' button on books that aren't available on kindle but I don't know if it actually makes any difference! I suspect not.

Just finished 15. A death in Valencia by J Webster. About a rather dodgy member of the Policia who gets upset a lot, uses spliffs, downs brandy, and visits prostitutes. Rather enjoyed this as it added considerably to my ability to swear in Spanish. Now reading A feast for Crows George many Rs Martin

I was a big Antonia Forest fan too! Pretty sure I have battered, well-read copies of Autumn Term, End of Term, Cricket Term and Attic Term lurking around somewhere (my parents’ house?), but I’ve never read Peter’s Room or Falconer’s Lure. I’ll have to hunt down a copy!

I know, noodle, I don’t understand why GGBP don’t automatically do Kindle editions of everything! It’s very irritating because the books go out of print so quickly. I would have probably bought the whole Monica Edwards Romney Marsh series by now if it was actually possible to do so, as well as Antonia Forest and anything else I fancied. They’re actually losing money by sticking to paperback!

10. Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary’s) Jodi Taylor Read for the time travel prompt on popsugar reading challenge, was really not my thing I just found it silly, repetitive and not as funny as it thought it was.

It was awful wasn't it Alias? I really don't get the appeal. I thought it was very underwhelming.

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh is daily deal on Kindle.

@mamapants Have to admit to skim reading the last half, just wanted it finished! Lots of really tired chick lit cliches in there too, and the pacing was bizarre.

southeastdweller maybe I was a bit harsh! But i did get frustrated reading it as I think she has a lot more she could have said rather than just focus on the men and what they did. I stand by watching her interviews instead though, she describes things that happened to her a lot better than she has written them down.

I am currently reading The Shining and I don't recommend reading this at night especially when your 6 year old son wakes up with a nightmare and is seeing things that are not there. Book in the freezer time ...

I have bought Scoop on daily deal.

33. Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Listened to this on audible. I love this series, one of my real comfort reads. The narrator, Jill Balcon, is very good too.

I love Scoop. "Up to a point, Lord Cooper."

20. Earthly Remains, by Donna Leon
Recent instalment of crime fiction set in Venice. Does the job effectively, although her preoccupation with environmental issues, while laudable, is a bit of a downer when I want to think about beautiful buildings and good food.

Have just bought Scoop too as I watched a bit of Brideshead with DH the other day but had come in too late and was a bit lost. I've never read any Evelyn Waugh so am curious. TBR list now includes Anna Karenina, Scoop, An Almond For the Parrot and a book called Fresh which has something to do with chickens and serial killers lent to me by my dad, who hardly ever reads but says this is good.

"A little far fetched at times but the concept of transplants containing personality traits of the donor is an interesting one"

A little? At times?

Thanks Satsuki for Scoop...
9) My Cousin Rachel - Daphne duMaurier loved this, almost as much as Rebecca. Du Maurier writes flawed characters so well - misogynistic young man becomes obsessed with mysterious older woman who then poisons him...or does she? Superbly dark.

1. A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind - Shoukei Matsumoto. Non-fiction guide based on the Buddhist approach and written by a monk. He does go a bit O.T.T with the frequency of cleaning he recommends but I agree in principal with the philosophy.

10. Inside the Wave - Helen Dunmore. Can't get into poetry no matter how much I try and this collection didn't help but the final one is very moving to read.

11 A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

Finally managed to get this finished as half term got in the way, loved it, never read any of hers before and took the recommendation to read them in order. Great romp and insight into how we used to live. Looking forward to reading some more.