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?

Just finished Wide Sargasso Sea. Loved this book. Interesting portrayal of Jane Eyre's 'mad' woman in the attic. It is economical with words, yet says so much. It would need it's own thread.

Have started reading The Dry by Jane Harper, a crime novel set in Australia during a severe drought. It is very engaging so far.

Am failing this month, have started two books and have no interest in picking up either.
I was also looking at Night Circus tempted to give it a go.

Clinky, Wide Sargasso Sea is one of my all time favourites. Have now put it on by TBR list as having read your review feel it merits a re-read. Thank you.

Just read the sample of The Night Circus again. It's definitely not for me.

Haven't posted for a while, so have a couple of reviews to post...interesting to see another review of Sugar Money as I've just started this. So far I am enjoying it, as I'm getting more accustomed to the narrator's voice, which I did find a little jarring at first. I actually ordered Sugar Money from the library as I was craving some more Joanne Harris, see below.

14. Gillespie and I – Jane Harris

I absolutely loved Harris’s earlier work The Observations, so began this with some trepidation, wondering if it could live up to my expectations. Happily it did, and this has been my most enjoyable read of the year so far. It’s a whopper of a book (605 pages long) but I sped through this is a couple of days. Thank you to the poster who tipped me off about this one in thread 1 or 2 – I think it was Too Much Splother?

It’s difficult to summarise the plot without giving too much away. This is a great page turner, so the less you know to start off with the better, ifyswim.

Harriet Baxter is now an elderly woman, living in 1933 Bloomsbury. She is writing her account of a series of events which took place in Glasgow in 1888, at the time of an international art exhibition. By chance, she meets the Gillespie family, who be-friend her. She gradually becomes more and more involved in their lives, until a shocking event changes everything.

The book flits back in time between Harriet’s present day (1933) and the events of 1888, and Harris builds the suspense perfectly in both periods. For me, this was the type of book you can really lose yourself in. I nearly missed my bus stop a couple of times on the way home from work so absorbed was i (!) - recommended.

Indigo it may well have been me who tipped you off on Gillespie and I. It's one of my favourite books of all time and one of those that benefits from a reread. Lots of layers and beautifully crafted. So pleased you enjoyed it. Have you read The Observations. by the same author?

I fancy G and I but it never seems to go below a fiver on Kindle. Will try to order from library.

Yes, Too Much I loved The Observations. I think Jane Harris is a very underrated writer. Thank you for letting me know about Gillespie and I or it may have completely passed me by.

I agree Gillespie and I is a fantastic book. I don't think Sugar Money is in the same league (but still well worth reading). I would like to know if English slave masters really were so much worse than French (or the slaves were being misled). Also another story to be told with the gap in events after the journal to the protagonists end of journey.

I think no one else had told the story so why shouldn't Harris? Be interesting to hear what your book club think Scribblygun

Alone in Berlin is a fantastic book. I'm a fan of most of Fallada's books. Wolf among Wolves and Little Man What now? are very different to Alone in Berlin but worth reading.When I heard Emma Thompson played the mum in the film of Alone in Berlin, I just couldn't watch it. Totally wrong casting.

15. Run – Ann Patchett

I find Ann Patchett’s precise, gentle style very soothing to read, and having had a stressful week trudging through the snow and ice this was the perfect antidote. The main action takes place as a snow storm hits Boston. There were some fantastic descriptions of snow and winter weather in general, which really chimed with me given my experiences getting from A to B for the last couple of days.

The story focuses on adopted brothers Tip and Teddy Doyle in present day America. There is very little action and the pace is slow and thoughtful. The book considers many bigger themes such as family, duty and what it means to be a Mother. It’s a book about the character’s inner lives and their attempts to reconcile themselves with their pasts and make the best of the future.

I’m a big Ann Patchett fan, and although this was a satisfying read I think Commonwealth was a more rewarding read overall, although this book has a similar pace and style.

I am a late joiner of the thread, but started the 50 book challenge on Goodreads. Until this week I was behind the GR ‘schedule’ but have caught up after a week in bed with tonsillitis and my heart problem.
So this week I read:
Close to Home , a genre that I hardly ever read (usually stick to 19th century novels). It was an excellent page turner which also set up lots of possibilities for the truth and plenty of twists. It also mademe think about what the McCanns went through at the time of Madeliene’s disappearance.
The Afterlives, contemporary US novel about a man who has a cardiac arrest and then becomes interested in near death experiences. There is also a ghost story and a lovely exploration of families and relationships.
The Invisible Man (H G Wells not Ralph Ellison?) This was unexpectedly frightening and sad. H G Wells is a new writer to me and I’m definitely reading more of him.
North and South Finally finished having started as part of a book club on here but lost heart when it was difficult to have a discussion without spoilers. It is a genre that I have read a lot of and enjoy a great deal. I was disappointed when it seemed to me that Gaskell wimped out with a sudden reversal of fortune/romantic end.
So far this year I have read 8 books and am now up to speed according to GR!
Anyway, I am reading the posts with interest and looking forwards to taking part.

IndigoSalt, I also loved Commonwealth. It was so insightful about siblings and families and how time passes. I had never read any Ann Patchett, so I’m looking forward to reading more of her work.

Hi Iris - I think Run is definitely worth a read if you liked Commonwealth as IMO it has a similar feel and tone. State of Wonder was one of my favourite reads of last year. It's very different from Commonweath as it's more plot driven and full of twists and turns, but still has Ann Patchett's distinctive insightful style.

16. Men Explain Things To Me: and Other Essays – Rebecca Solnit

Slim volume of 6 feminist themed essays. A quick and thought provoking read. I bought this for the first essay “Men Explain Things To Me” which ponders the phenomena of “mansplaining”, something which I’ve experienced for myself from time to time, although thankfully not all that frequently. Reading it made me smile and feel angry at the same time!

The other essays in the collection focus on themes such as the meaning of marriage equality, the overall progress of feminist objectives and how far there is to on the journey , global inequality and the IMF, the myth of Pandora’s box. My favourite essay from the collection considered Virgina Woolf’s writing, embracing the unknown and not fearing darkness. I’m a bit of a worrier, so this really made me think about my own attitude to letting go and being a bit more adventurous.

I enjoyed Rebecca Solnit’s style which I found very accessible. I have added her other books to my TBR list in my quest to read more non-fiction this year.

Gillespie and I sounds right up my street.
I was very meh about The Night Circus. Didn't think it was that great, sorry.

I think you can definitely have cultural appropriation on books - think all those books about native Americans that portray them as noble, mystical savages wearing feathers, without bothering to do any actual research. And then compare that to a book written by an actual native American like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and see how honest and vivid one is versus how fake and patronising the other feels.

However, I absolutely don't think that means white people can only ever write about white people. I think it's absolutely possible for a white writer to tell a black person's story well.

I just think they have to approach it respectfully and damn well do their research.

Checking in so I don’t fall off. The paperback of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race has just come out so I’m reading that and loving it so far.

Just finished #13 - Travelling to Infinity - My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking on which the film The Theory of Everything was based. It's an account of her 25-year marriage to Stephen Hawking and how she gave up her own ambitions to care for Stephen, run the house and bring up three children, becoming stressed and depressed by the physical and emotional toll of caring for him, arranging nursing care, and not being appreciated or recognised for it. Stephen's family were not particularly emotional or demonstrative, and on one occasion his mother told Jane that they had never liked her (they also bought a holiday cottage that was completely unsuitable for disabled people) although they appear to have made peace later on.

Reading it I was surprised she ended up staying in the marriage for so long, but pleased that they remain good friends and that Jane found happiness with her second husband Jonathan.

Cheerful - that sounds more like bad research/writing compared to good research/writing, rather than cultural appropriation.

35.The Hiding Places by Katherine Webb

I enjoyed reading this but found the end very confusing - it tells two stories but there’s an important point about one story that isn’t made clear and when it got to the end I didn’t twig what that was at first. Once I realised the ending made sense but I was confused at first. A good read though not as good as her earlier books.

36. Dangerous Days In Elizabethan England by Terry Deary

Horrible Histories for adults, with more focus on all the grotesque ways you could die back then. Good fun but I don’t think I learned anything new.

37. Nelly Dean by Alison Case

I don’t normally like books by modern writers that are sequels or companions to classics, but I did like this. It’s the story of the housekeeper, who is the main narrator of Wuthering Heights. I think it works because the main characters and events of Wuthering Heights aren’t really mentioned in this book other that to keep track of the timing of events in Nelly’s life. I’m now rereading WH as I haven’t read it for a while, to see how Nelly’s story fits in.

26. In The Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott

A memoir by the author about her upbringing in a British cult in the 60s, 70s and 80s and how her family came to be members of it and how they left.

This is fascinating primarily because I had no knowledge of this cult or the sucides and family separation it caused. According to this book the cult was in the news often in the 80s. The book is interesting and the highlights are where she describes herself and her father discovering literature and plays after escaping the cult and the reactions of teachers to her ignorance of the outside world. I would have liked to know more about her mother and there were other points that the author touched on but didn’t explore in more depth which is a shame. However it comes across that there are some areas of the past that are too painful for her to go into which is understandable especially as she writes the book as her father is dying and completes it whilst grieving.
Overall an interesting read about an area I knew nothing about and testament to the power of literature and human resilience.

Agree remus - I’m not convinced it applies to storytelling, or should.

OOOh... A book set In Glasgow?! I shall add this to my list forthwith!

Also agree Remus . Crap writing and research is one thing, but honestly don't think anyone should be excluded from telling any story as long as they are prepared to do their research and tell it to the best of their abilities.

wrt to Sugar Money, having spent this afternoon thinking about it there are a couple of elements of the book that I wonder step near, or step over the line into cultural appropriation. Harris uses creole (or kréolè - see I don’t even know which is correct given the book is written in English, set on a French colony with characters speaking French, English and well, creole/kréolè) regularly throughout the book. Is this the adoption of an element of a minority culture by a dominant culture in order to sell a book? Is it OK that she is using a language of the slaves and oppression, for financial gain, without having experienced it?

The other aspect is that the story is based on historical truth. The afterword at the back explains how the events described in the book go on to play a part in the history of slavery in Grenada. As such is it ethical that Harris, with her position if privilege (white, previously published and successful British author, with the backing of book deals/publishing house and promotion) should be the one telling and profiting from this story. Do writers from Grenada have the same opportunities to write, publish and make money from this story?

Dh says that the discussion strays dangerously into the world of censorship which I agree with too.

Still very much undecided but am finding it interesting having to think about the ethics of literature (is there such a thing?)

IndigoSalt Someone else mentioned State of Wonder to me, so that’s on my list, along with Run.

Just startd reading The Immortalists about four siblings who are told the dates of their deaths by a fortune teller and the impact that this has on how they live the rest of their lives. I love books set in NYC and those dealing with mortality, the meaning of life and other big questions so this should be ideal.