50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Six

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the sixth 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, the third one here, the fourth one here, and the fifth one here.

How're you getting on so far?

*19. A Berlin Love Song - Sarah Matthias
*
Max is a young German boy and Lilli is a Romani girl from the circus. They meet and fall in love as Hitler comes to power. Will their love survive, as Max is forced to join the Hitler Youth and the persecution of gypsies escalates?
This is a simple story, very well done. I was rooting for Max and Lilli throughout and their stories are touching and heartbreaking. I cried at the end, which is very unusual for cold-hearted old me. This is one of my favourite books so far this year.

I give up with copying and pasting from goodreads, I can’t do it .

I haven’t been to the theatre to see anything decent for yonks, usually it’s panto and that’s as exciting as it gets these days! Although dd (7) is getting to an age where we can go to things a bit more interesting than the 3 little pigs and the tiger who came to tea at last! Took her to ‘the play that went wrong’ for her birthday which was very funny.

I think its popularity is because it appeals widely beyond those definitions. I’ve never seen another musical and don’t listen to hip hop. It is very simply excellent, and as I said, 5 minutes into it, preconceptions will go out the window.

50. George Mann - Ghosts of Empire

Fourth in a steampunk series about rich American Gabriel Cross and his crime-fighting alter ego The Ghost. After the events of the last book, Gabriel and Ginny are taking a holiday in London with friends Felix and Flora to recuperate. The holiday is disrupted when a past ally and member of the British secret service arrives half dead at the restaurant where they were meant to be dining together. What was meant to be a time of relaxation becomes a battle to discover what a group of Russian occultists are planning to unleash on Britain.

A bit less overtly steampunk than Mann's Newbury and Hobbs books, although things like coal-powered vans and The Ghost's equipment still count. Easy read in a pulp fiction sort of way and quite entertaining.

Are there any other Lore Segal fans on here? Just ordered a reprint of her novel Other People’s Houses based on her life as a young Jewish refugee, reviewed in today’s Observer. Also her linked collection Shakespeare’s Kitchen is on offer online. It includes the brilliant and unsettling story The Reverse Bug which is also online read by Jennifer Egan - as a New Yorker podcast here –
www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction/jennifer-egan-reads-lore-segal

40. Gone With The Wind. - Margaret Mitchell. I did say I’d given up on this but then I had a long journey and nothing I fancied on my Kindle. The racism is far, far worse than I remembered, horrendous in fact (as discussed up thread) and Scarlett is very annoying but I’m almost ashamed to say I was quite enjoying it by the end.

39 Citizen: an American lyric by Claudia Rankine – In a tone that ranges from lyrical to angry to contemplative and analytical Claudia Rankine’s book explores and exposes the ‘quotidian struggles against dehumanization every brown or black person lives because of skin colour.’ Her address is broad, she wants everyone to think about these things, to take on responsibility – in one anecdote she recounts the ‘white novelist’ she meets a party who asks Rankine if she will write about the death of Mark Duggan in London, as if racism is not a subject he need be bothered with. Rankine uses a range of forms from prose poems, snippets of conversations, reflections, memories, observations, images and short scripts. She moves from the personal and the everyday ‘micro-aggressions’ at the supermarket, on the bus to discussion of the more public: Serena Williams on the tennis court; Hurricane Katrina, the needless deaths of black men such as Mark Duggan in London to Trayvon Martin. I don’t know how to adequately talk about a book that so brilliantly and eloquently speaks for itself. It’s lyrical, thought-provoking, searing and angry, an excellent piece. Rankine includes scripts for a series of multi-media works ‘Situation Videos’ created with her husband film-maker John Lucas – for me these were the only awkward sections in the book. I think they work better in the context of these videos, where they are voiced by Rankine, as the narrative framing their images, so I went back and watched these alongside the texts. I thought these ‘moving poems’ were beautiful, unsettling, sometimes tragic. You can find most of these at movingpoems.com/filmmaker/john-lucas/ where there are also extracts from an interview where Rankine discusses the ideas behind them. There are others at vimeo.com/channels/situations - Situation 8 (although not easy to watch) is a perfect representation of much of what Rankine is addressing in the concluding sections of the book. It’s a book to react to, contemplate, and return to, some aspects are direct, other sections more densely poetic. Even if you don’t think you’ll get around to the book then take a look at some of the videos, they’re more than worth the time. If you do decide to read this then there’s an excellent roundtable discussion of it online, with a group of writers talking about their responses to reading it lareviewofbooks.org/article/roundtable-citizen-american-lyric/#!

Citizen should have been number 36!

Or even number 37, never post while drinking tea and feeding treats to dogs, is the lesson I've gained from this.

Thanks for the recs, dottie. I have added the Ritter books and the first of the detective series to my to-read list. I quite like detective stories every now and then.

ShakeItOff thanks for yours too, I've started the Thien and just at the point where Ai-Ming is starting to recount the story of 'Big Mother Knife' and 'Swirl', so far totally engrossed.

Are you listening to the Goldberg Variations as you read it Dottie? I highly recommend doing so, her writing frequently mirrors the variation she references. Having Amazon Music came into its own when I read this book. For each the pieces she has her characters playing or thinking about I would stop and listen to the music. It added so much to my overall enjoyment of the book.
I remember hearing her interviewed on R4 today programme before the Booker prizewinner for that year was announced. Iirc she's a Goldberg obsessive, her love of the Glenn Gould recordings of the variations also comes across very strongly.

54. The Reindeer People by Meghan Lindholm
    My first foray into reading Robin Hobb writing as Lindholm and sadly I think I shall be stopping here as it has none of the depth or drama of her Elderlings books. A perfectly nice read though. There’s some healing and a prophesies and lots of reindeer and hunting rabbits.

55. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively.
    Picked this up on a whim as it was sitting on the Golden Booker display in Waterstones, and that it has been reviewed on these threads recently (and favourably). Fantastic writing by Lively, felt very contemporary particularly the switching between povs so that the same scene is seen through different characters eyes; a single sentence interpreted completely differently depending on who is speaking and hearing the words.
    The story of Claudia Hampton, an ascerbic, independent and unlikeable author and journalist and her memories of the relationships with her brother, daughter, daughter's father and the man she loved.
    The time line whizzes all over the place but centred within the novel is a stunning account of Egypt during WW2 where Claudia visits in an attempt to further her career in journalism.
    In many respects this reminded me of Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins but is much more focused on character evaluation than plot development.
    So glad I've read it. Its certainly made me want to read the other two books on the list I've not read ( The English Patient and In a Free State ).

29. Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín I’d seen, but largely forgotten, the film. This was an ok read, it didn’t emotionally engage me really, I thought it had almost a detached style and found the protagonist’s decisions and procrastination irritating, although on reflection I understood the reasons for both.

Remus - "The Terror by Dan Simmons. Cote - have you read this one?"

I don't think so. I know of it and might read it at some point. Dan Simmons is a pretty good at suspense/horror. I quite enjoyed his Carrion Comfort.

"I read his Dickens/Wilkie Collins one (which I've currently forgotten the title of - I want to say Snoop, but it's not that)"

Drood

I haven't been around for a while and forgot to update this thread. I've read a couple of books since my last update but still might be under 50 books this year for the first time since these threads started I'll post my recent reads a bit later when I have some time.

Bringing my (short) list over from previous threads:

16. The Escape (John Puller #3) by David Baldacci
17. Light by M John Harrison (Kefahuchi Tract Trilogy #1)
18. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
19. The Forgotten by David Baldacci (John Puller #2)
20. An Evil Eye (Yashim the Eunuch #4) by Jason Goodwin
21. The Midnight Line by Lee Child
22. Extraordinary Powers by Joseph Finder

1. The Harpsichord and the Clavichord by Raymond Russell
2. Music In The Baroque Era - From Monteverdi To Bach by Manfred f. Bukofzer
3. Deep State by Walter Jon Williams
4. Bach à Son Temps by Gilles Cantagrel
5. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
6. Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder
7. A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale
8. High Crimes by Joseph Finder
9. Would They Lie To You? by Robert Hutton

Scribbly I love Moon Tiger and also The Photograph by the same author. I've read lots of her books and found them a bit hit and miss, but those two are stand outs IMO.

Haven't caught up with the thread yet, but posting my updates - will go back and read through later!

82. Playing to the Gods, Melanie Rawn.

Final book in the Touchstone series. Melanie Rawn is really not brilliant at resolving plotlines! Some elements she had been hinting at for all 5 books just fizzled out. In particular, the drug issues just get sorted by characters deciding not to take drugs any more, very abruptly. I did really enjoy the first 3 books but now that I know how it all resolves I'm less keen.

83. Burial Rites, Hannah Kent.

I know quite a few of you have read this - I had a quick look back and some people loved it and some found it quite slow-going. I agree with both - it's got absolutely great writing and really portrays the life of 1820s Icelandic farmers/crofters, as well as the slow workings of a rather unusual justice system. I loved the metaphorical language and the use of superstitions and prophetic dreams. It is slow-going because it makes you concentrate on the writing, but that's not a bad thing - not everything has to be a quick read. I knew very little about Iceland and the conditions that prevailed in 1829 seem very different to conditions in Britain at that time, apart from maybe Orkney and Shetland - I'm thinking specifically of the fish gut windows and the practice of everyone sleeping in the same room/dormitory, from farmer/district officer down to servants. That's cultural and down to the climate, but to a modern-day reader, it really adds to the claustrophobia and emphasises the lack of privacy. Agnes and Toti must hold their discussions in front of the whole family because there is nowhere else to go. There's a theme around storytelling and myth - Agnes is already known in the area, so memories of her as a girl/youth are added to the sensational 'facts' of the murder, and then rumour and superstition begin to add to her legend as well. At the same time, the family live with her and their perceptions of her change throughout the novel. There's also a thread about birth and death - two childbirths are described, and both are mythologised by the characters watching. The importance of belief is key to the novel - ultimately coming back to whether or not you believe in Agnes' guilt, but bringing in religion, myth, fairy tales (eg Agnes' stone that her mother gave her) and gossip.

35. Don’t Close Your Eyes - Holly Sedden

Twins Sarah and Robin used to be close until their were pulled apart as children. Now Robin can’t leave her house and Sarah has lost custody of her daughter and she needs to find Robin and get her to help to get her back. But is Robin in danger if someone else finds her?

Finished this relatively fast. There are quite a few twists some of which I seen coming others I definitely didn’t. Enjoyable read.

Now onto 36. Thirteen - Steve Cavanagh which I was waiting on coming out in paperback.

Thanks Tara, I'll add The Photograph to my to acquire TBR. I was really surprised by how modern the writing felt. I know 1987 is hardly antique fiction (although the cover is bad, really bad frumperama) but I had quite wrongly assumed that the Golden Booker shortlist would be a shortcut to reading good fiction of its time. This stands up just as strongly against Lincoln in the Bardo and Wolf Hall from a contemporary literary fiction feel, it doesn’t feel dated at all, quite the opposite.

84. The Killings at Badger's Drift, Caroline Graham
85. Death of a Hollow Man, Caroline Graham

A friend gave me most of the Midsomer Murders books - he was clearing out his flat before moving away, and I went round to help and came back with a stack of books. I'm not a big reader of crime fiction but thought I would give them a whirl. I don't remember ever watching Midsomer Murders, by the way! In the first book the prose and dialogue were pretty clunky but by the second was better. Some very archaic attitudes - DS Troy is rampantly homophobic, for example. The English county town setting reminds me a lot of Jilly Cooper but it's not so well done! I will probably go through the lot - currently two-thirds of the way through Written in Blood. Enjoyable whodunnits.

Book 47. Circe by Madeline Miller

A retelling (telling?) of the Greek myth of Circe. I really liked this. I don't know much about the Greek myths at all, so although the names are familiar the story wasn't. I found the writing really beautiful and the passages where she is alone with her son really powerful. Highly recommend

Next up i am looking for a book with a really good story. Feel like I haven't read something with a really cracking plot for a while.

Scribbly Thank you I would never have thought of doing that, I have the 1955 recording but streaming while reading would work brilliantly. I have a huge affection for Glenn Gould, there is a short video on YouTube of Gould in a very disreputable dressing-gown playing some Bach, his dog is yawning in the background, it paints a vivid picture of what he must have been like.

BTW was scrolling through Telly threads – bit uninspiring – but noticed you’re a fellow Seinfeld fan, which is good because I think I have a few ‘Vincent picks’ coming on my list! Probably seems an odd segue but some episodes make me think of Bach, something about the way they’re constructed and the way the scenarios slowly build and play off against each other. I re-watch Seinfeld regularly, as well as following Curb (although not as satisfying) and anything Julia Louis-Dreyfus does, I’m not normally a celeb follower but was pretty devastated when I heard about her cancer diagnosis.

Derailed my own current reading in order to gallop through the highly amusing 43: Ma'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret - Craig Brown

I'm not a royalist in any way, shape or form, but I do enjoy Craig Brown's writing, so I grabbed this in the Oxfam shop on Saturday at the knockdown (and highly appropriate) price of 99p for the hardback edition. Brown lays bare the full horror of one of the royal family's rudest and most petulant members, arch-snubber of all who came her way, fanatical smoker and drinker, and bane of all society hosts and hostesses. There are indeed 99 chapters, some only a paragraph or two, many written as pastiches, parodies or fantasies. The one that tickled me most - for anyone who remembers A Very English Scandal and Jeremy Thorpe being annoyed that he didn't get to marry Princess Margaret - is an imaginary scenario in which Thorpe and Princess M did marry, and Norman Scott (nicknamed 'Bunny') is their butler
A biography unlike any other, certainly wittier and more entertaining than most I've read (and I do read a lot of them).

43. Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Fantasy. 2nd in the Reckoners series.

About 13 years ago, Calamity rose, and granted superpowers to some people, termed Epics. Only problem is, using the superpowers almost always turn the Epics into self centred power crazed evil doers, who’ll murder ordinary humans without a second thought. All Epics have a secret, seemingly random weakness that negates their abilities, something that a group of (mostly) ordinary humans are trying to exploit in order to fight back.

In the first book, newbie Reckoner David killed the tyrannical Steelheart, which has left a power vaccum in the city of Newcago. The Reckoners head off to Babylon Restored (formerly New York City) to try and tackle the Epic they believe to be responsible for sending a stream of Epics to Newcago. There’s a lot about the budding relationship between David and Megan, an Epic named Firefight who David is desperate to believe is a rare good Epic.

On the whole I found this a fun read - maybe more so as I’ve a fondness for a good superhero story. The only really irritating bit was the continual bad metaphors from David. Looking forward to reading the next one (once my library reservation comes in) and finding out what happens next after the revelations at the end of Firefight.