50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Four

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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, the second one here and the third one here.

How're you getting on so far?

27. The Peasant in The Kitchen - Julian Barnes As recommended up thread. Quick bath time read. I am most definitely not a pedant in the kitchen mainly through not having enough patience to follow a recipe properly but enjoyed his description of his kitchen drawers. Just like mine.

PEDANT not peasant. FFS.

13. How Not To Be A Boy - Robert Webb

Autobiography of the Peep Show actor & comedian tackling his difficult upbringing (physically dominating, boozing and womanising father; mum who died of cancer when he was doing his A Levels) and the effect it had on his emotional development. A bit Worthy in places when bringing down The Patriarchy but admirably honest and moving.

I find myself increasingly picking holes in plots but it doesn’t always matter enough to make me dislike something. Great writing or characters or interesting ideas or formats can lift a book - maybe not to be brilliant, but certainly enough to remain in good solid enjoyable territory. After all, on the ridiculous plot line theme, one of the Stephen King novellas I read last month involved the hero killing the monster by sticking a ball of red licorice whips into its mouth so it strangled on the noxious fumes of its own guts.

I liked The Essex Serpent a lot, though like a few people have said, I wasn’t taken with Cora or Will. I loved Luke Garrett - at the start, I wasn’t sure, but by the end I thought he was brilliant. I really enjoyed all the scientific and medical stuff, and was interested in all the ‘topical’ debates that structured it, like feminism, socialism, Darwinism, etc. It was beautifully written, I thought - and sharp: I was left chilled by some scenes, and still remember them now - the classroom hysteria, and Cora’s husband’s cruelty. As to what it was about - change, I suppose? How we deal with social transformation or rapid advancements in science and medicine etc? Because it seemed to me to be about the confrontation between old and new systems of belief/knowledge, especially religion and science - and the preoccupation with the serpent was a symbol of people’s anxiety about change and the future.

I’m glad I found this thread; there are some great recommendations. I haven’t found a book I’ve been really taken with for a while, but there are some promising leads here!

59. Plot 29 - Allan Jenkins A memoir loosely structured around the author's year on the allotment. Jenkins is in search of answers about his childhood. He was largely brought up by older foster parents, during the 1960's. His foster father instilled in him a love of nature and gardening but it was far from a perfect relationship. Along with his brother the boys became too troubled and troublesome when they reached their teenage years and were ultimately rejected. This is a search for painful truths about his early life and birth mother. There are also veiled references to other abuses whilst in foster care. Despite the framing of the allotment season the narrative jumps around a lot and can at times be very confusing. Whether this is poor structuring or an attempt to show the chaos of the author's feelings is open to question. Much is made of the author's healing relationship with and solace in gardening/ growing. It reminded me greatly of "H is for Hawk". This has received some very good reviews but I feel lukewarm to it. I feel guilty saying this as it is clearly not a story for entertainment but almost a life laid bare. Like 'H is for Hawk' I feel it's primary function was a cathartic experience for the author, and who am I too argue with that. Interestingly it is only in the final chapter we become aware that the author has three of his own children. Throughout the book I had a very strong feeling he was childless. Not sure why but this seems important, would have been nice to have had some understanding of how his experiences have shaped him as a father.

Cheddar, that King book sounds subversive and hilarious.

I got much from The Essex Serpent for the reasons discussed, and would add that I found Cora's situation at the novel's end to be very true.

31. Andrew Caldecott - Rotherweird

The town of Rotherweird and the countryside immediately around it is an unusual place. It was made independent of the rest of England by Elizabeth I, subject to one condition - no one studies the town or its history. They don't really encourage visitors either, and in spite of the fascinating architecture, impressive and unusual scientific developments, and odd customs not even a guidebook exists. The history of Rotherweird conceals a dark and dangerous secret that must never be rediscovered. So Jonah Oblong, the new history teacher at Rotherweird School, has interesting restrictions on his subject (nothing local and nothing before 1800) and is trying to settle in. Meanwhile, sinister billionaire Sir Veronal Slickstone has somehow been given permission to buy and renovate the long-derelict Manor House, even though he is an outsider as well. Slickstone's motives lie in trying to unearth the secret of Rotherweird, and as hidden things come to light some of the locals and one outsider must try and prevent him finding it.

Entertaining fantasy, slightly comic, and I really enjoyed it. There's apparently a sequel out this year.

part of a great and illustrious tribe of readers - love this description, virginqueen!

Rotherweird sounds fun, Chillie. Have added to my library list.

Read a page or two of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock but was derailed by a sudden need to consult guidebooks and plot out my summer holidays.

I'm not talking about when the story is a little unrealistic and just written that way because it fit better with the characters or got the plot moving or whatever. Station 11's entire story made no fucking sense whatsoever. A viral infection that becomes symptomatic in a few hours & kills in a day is the easiest infection in the world to contain - just broadcast to everyone that they need to stay indoors for the next 48 hours. Problem solved.

Teaching kids about modern comforts like air conditioning rather than essential survival skills & scientific/mathematical knowledge of humanity made me LOL.

Of course they have no problem obtaining food & fresh water and have all this time in the world to whine about how much they miss air conditioning Seriously? Before human beings managed to get organised for agriculture & raising animals, finding food took up almost all of their waking hours. You don't get anywhere near enough calories from picking berries in the forest - and I doubt there would be any of that near an airport anyway.

It got me frustrated and yes, angry, because it was all bullshit - soft-brained, nonsense SF written for wimmin who of course couldn't be expected to think hard about what the breakdown of modern society would actually entail

32. An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales by Theresa Breslin.
    Bought on an idiotic whim that I would read these to my family while on holiday in the Scottish Highlands. Romantic visions of an open fire, cuddling up under blankets, whisky with the snow falling outside etc etc
    No bugger wanted to hear them naturally. Well I liked them. Thought the illustrations very lovely and the story of a sheepdog made my eyes prickle.

33. The Encyclopaedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg (graphic novel).
    Collection of short stories as a boy from the Arctic searches for a piece of his missing soul. Some nice touches but not a patch on The One Hundred Nights of Hero by the same author.

34. And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
    Can determine how much I have enjoyed a collection of poetry by seeing how many pages I have turned over by the end. Lots of pages turned over by the end of this one. Contains the wonderful poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise.

35. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesymn Ward
    Reviewed favourably several times already on here. Part road trip, part ghost story. Follows the characters of thirteen year old Jojo and his mother Leonie as they drive through rural Mississippi to collect Jojo's father from prison and their return to the family home and Leonie's parents. Leonie is a drug addict and dreadful parent so reading her pov chapters was difficult at times. Ward does a good job of climbing inside her skin but dear me I was happy to climb back out again when we moved on to another character. Poor Jojo, such a vivid sympathetic character completely at the mercy of his age, race, poverty, feckless parents, and responsibilities for his little sister and grandparents. His chapters aren’t much easier to read than his mother's.
    I can’t decide whether the ghost element worked. At times the prose she uses when describing the experiences of the ghosts is stunning but at others I was left wondering sometimes if Ward has just used this as a vehicle to demonstrate her poetic writing skills.
    Certainly a visceral, haunting and powerful book.

Sorry that you didn't get to live out your Scottish fairy tale fantasy, Scribbly.

Cote, I've always understood that hunter-gatherers work fewer hours than (early) farmers. Haven't read the book, though, so staying out of that debate....

21 - the invisible man by Ralph Ellison

I really really loved this.
In awe of everyone who’s at 50 already!

Thanks biblio. Pity the fool who thought dragons and selkies could trump YouTube

I'm keeping it out on the coffee table for my own personal pleasure as the art is so lovely.

26. When I Hit you by Meera Kandasamy powerful, important and difficult to read (yet also poetic and humorous in some parts, such as her mother's methods of working the marriage into conversation) account of the narrator's abuse at the hands of her husband and ultimate escape from the horrific conditions and brutality she has endured.

27. The Pumilio Child by Judy McInerney Historical fiction set for the most part in Italy during Renaissance times. Ya Ling is excitedly looking forward to her marriage however her wealthy, privileged and life in Beijing ends when she is kidnapped and sold in Venice at the slave market. She is bought and kept captive by the famous artist Mantegna who is not very positively portrayed to say the least! A free read from pigeonhole, I didn't think I would enjoy this at all at first but it was gripping, with interesting, well drawn out characters and surprisingly good (given its blurb describing how the artist "moved her into the harness room for pleasures of a private nature"ick...who writes this stuff(the blurb I mean, not the novel itself)?!

28. I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell I really liked this deeply personal, intense memoir told through the author's 17 near death experiences. Some are terrifying, others more mundane (that's not the word I'm after really, less heartstoppingly tense perhaps than the first tale of the author walking alone in the mountains for example though) but all extremely well written.

29: Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard - Sara Wheeler

In 1910 Apsley Cherry-Garrard, at 24, was one of the youngest members of Robert Scott's fateful expedition to Antarctica. The experience scarred him for life, both mentally and physically. He returned to a world on the brink of war and found it almost impossible to settle back into his old life as a fabulously wealthy member of the upper classes (he owned vast estates and lived in the family seat, a beautiful 18thc manor in Hertfordshire).

Sara Wheeler's biography is a triumph - especially her descriptions of the Polar expedition - but infused with a terrible sadness that his young man, so full of promise, had his entire existence changed and fixed forever by his terrible Antarctic experiences. His great achievement was his book 'The Worst Journey in the World', but the 40+ years after his return from the Antarctic were haunted by repeated breakdowns, and essentially he never found a way to move on from his guilt at the death of Scott and his companions. I'm feeling I need to find something lighter to read now after a run of rather dark fare....

That sounds almost too sad to read Terpsichore.

I have probably said this before Cheddar, but I liked Cassandra Clare’s fanfic better than any of her novels so far- they just aren’t as funny! I prefer Sarah Rees Brennan, have you read any of hers?

34. insidious Intent by Val McDermid. Latest in the Wire in the Blood series- I really like McDermid when I see her interviewed or on TV, but her books don’t quite do it for me- I read them if lent them, or if they are around in holiday rentals! I wasn’t keen on the ending of this, but it was otherwise perfectly okay, just didn’t quite seem to light up.

12. On a shoestring to Coorg by Dervla Murphy .
Travels in India in 1973 /74 with her 5 year old daughter. Really love her writing, so insightful into the difference between a romantic / hippy view of anti-consumerism and the poverty she sees. Her daughter is amazingly resilient, and there are some incidents that were probably pretty scary at the time but she downplays.

13. P.S. I Love You - Cecilia Ahern

Ugh. I must definitely did not enjoy this. Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of chick-lit but this was just turgid. Maybe I'm cold and heartless, but I didn't find it at all moving - I just wanted to give Holly a good shake. Straight to the charity shop - I won't even offer it to DM first, which says it all really.

26. The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah

A controversial columnist is found dead at his home, murdered in a most peculiar way.

Another one that, while very readable, also seems to be trying very hard to be clever and twisty.
I enjoyed reading it for the most part, but I did struggle to believe in the plausibility of the whole scenario, plus the identity of the murderer.

As an aside, this book features the only primary school I’ve ever heard of that will call up a parent to tell them their child’s been sick, and then say that they’re fine now, it’s policy to let parents know, and no need to pick them up, let alone keep them home for 48 hours (!!!)

27. Starflight by Melissa Landers

YA science fiction. Solara needs a fresh start in the outer realm of known space, but can’t afford a ticket for off world travel. Her only option is to indenture herself in exchange for passage to obnoxious rich boy Doran. But all too soon, Doran is framed for conspiracy, and Solara and Doran end up fleeing persecution on board the Banshee with its eccentric crew.

Ok. Obviously Solara and Doran fall head over heels in love, and are quickly accepted as one of the gang on the Banshee, despite minor considerations like Doran being declared the galaxy’s public enemy No. 1 with a massive bounty on his head.

24 An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles

Victorian set romance/melodrama, with foggy streets, knife-wielding villains, illegitimate sons, mysterious missing women & lots of nods to Wilkie Collins. Nothing earthshattering, but perfect reading for a wet weekend morning.

42 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

I have a list of books I 'should' read and occasionally, without much enthusiasm, try and knock one off the list. This book has been there for as long as I've had the list. I wish I'd picked it up years ago, as it's far more personal and focused than I expected. I also wasn't prepared for the beautiful writing and the spiritual nature of it. I guess there is a reason books become 'classics'. It's inspired me to revisit East of Eden which I loved as a teenager, but haven't read since.

diamantegal I read P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern a while ago and felt exactly the same. A few hours of my life that I will never get back!!

22. 3,096 Days - Natascha Kampusch

The story of a ten year old girl who was kidnapped and kept in a basement room for 8 years.

I couldn’t say I enjoyed this book and I don’t think you were supposed to. Natascha’s will to live shines through and not to let him win. Hard to read about how close she came to being discovered at points and a sad story to read.

*12. Loitering with Intent - Muriel Spark
*
I picked this up from a display of the author's work in the library, on a bit of a whim, having read nothing by Spark previously and knowing nothing about her.
It's a story about a young, female author in London in 1950. She has just finished her first novel, Warrender Chase, and has begun a job working for an eccentric gentleman proof-reading autobiographies of his equally eccentric friends while she attempts to get her novel published.
How much of this is semi-autobiographical itself, I'm not sure, but the central character, Fleur, is delightful. She is both witty and insightful whilst maintaining a sense of naivety.
Throughout the story, I was never quite sure who to trust. Who is honest and who is lying, including at times Fleur herself.
This was very unlike the sort of books I normally read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will seek out more by the author.