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?

Clear and concise, Keith. I like it

There’s a few books in the kindle sale I’ve got my eye on, and I think I’ll almost certainly get Travellers in the Third Reich and the Joe Abercrombie, maybe one or two others, but goodness me, what a lot of dross.

I do sort of like the look of the Richard Ayoade book because I find him mildly amusing, but not at that price. One for the library I think...

remus yes there is! It’s called Lucky Jim. Only beer instead of water 🍻

I’ve got Gentleman and Players

Oh no stitches. It is so hard for children that don’t do well with change at this time of year, so busy and a lot being talked about ahead of time.

Thankyou South for mentioning Ma'am darling - just bought it on Kindle. Looking forward to this!

For info, just seen the following on the (rubbish) Kindle Summer Sale:
Where Eagles Dare - Alistair Maclean
Ashes of London - Andrew Taylor
The Girl from Venice - Martin Cruz Smith

I haven’t seen anything I particularly want in the sale . Probably a good thing, though.

Anyway, I’ve just started and finished a book in about 2 hours flat, but then it’s very short indeed. I also completely loved it.

46: Cheerful Weather for the Wedding - Julia Strachey

Dolly is getting married and her mother, Mrs Thatcham, fusses ineffectually while a gathering of eccentric guests assembles, and Joseph, Dolly’s ex, agonises over whether to say something to her. Meanwhile, she sinks the best part of a bottle of rum and makes plans to take her pet tortoise with her in a biscuit box when she and her new husband sail off to South America.

This is a perfect little novella, published in 1932, by a member of the Bloomsbury group (Lytton Strachey was her uncle and she moved in Bloomsbury circles). The language is wonderfully original and it’s also very funny. Couldn’t recommend this highly enough if you like this sort of thing.

(Btw, it has a preface by Frances Partridge, fellow Bloomsbury-ite and Julia’s lifelong friend. I once met Frances P when she was about 100 - literally, she lived to 103 - and it was so extraordinary shaking the hand of someone who’d known Virginia Woolf, Dora Carrington, L Strachey and a host of other luminaries.)

48. The Lido.

Uplit.

It is what it is.

Tepsichore, I've developed a bit of an interest in the Bloomsbury circle in the past few years, so I'm definitely going to search for Julia Strachey's novel. Thanks!

31. The People We Hate at the Wedding, by Grant Ginder : lit fic dysfunctional family drama about a widow and her three children. The eldest daughter is from a posh paternal background and is getting married in a posh English wedding, and her strictly middle-class (in the US sense) half brother and sister use the occasion to work out their issues with her, their mother, each other, and themselves. Meh.

32. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson : much reviewed here. I enjoyed it, even though I put it down for months.

33. Ship It, by Britta Lundin : Claire, a teenage fanfic writer, causes a stir at a comic con panel for her favourite show. The show, which is on the brink of cancellation after its first season, sees a major uptick in its social media mentions and popularity. The PR team decided that Claire should join the cast members and show runner for the next two stops on their convention tour to keep up interest, but she quickly butts heads with the show's young star and the showrunner. Told in alternating narrative viewpoints, Ship It is a fun YA bit of fun that deal not just with fandom but also issues of sexuality and self. The author is herself a fanfic writer as well as writer on the Netflix show Riverdale.

So, I think I'm back into reading, but I want to read genre fiction this summer. Good genre fiction. Any suggestions? I'm pretty much open to anything.

Satsuki - I've never read Lucky Jim but it's one of dp's favourites.

Have bought Gentleman and Players - thanks. I liked Chocolat then something about oranges of hers didn't do much for me, and I've not read anything by her since.

EmGee - Have you read Where Eagles Dare? I loved The Guns of Navarone and wondering if Eagles is in a similar line.

17. This is going to hurt by Adam Kay A memoir written in diary form by an NHS obstetrics doctor. I enjoyed it. Lots of comedy mixed in with poignant moments. Good one to dip in and out of. It’s being made into a sitcom.

If there are any other Jilly Cooper fans around, I've just bought Mount for 1.99 on Kindle. Actually I'm usually a completely unapologetic Jilly fan but I'm a bit dubious about this one. Still, I'm ready to suspend disbelief and critical faculties if it means I get to enjoy a Jolly Good Romp.

It's going to be made into a sitcom.

Wonder how they'll deal with his very-carefully-played Pronoun Game. (Anyone else spot that? Or was it just DH and I who were impressed with it?)

Hi I read at least 7 books a week love fantasy books and have kindle unlimited of anyone can recommend any books for me I would love that I seem to be running out and have around 20 series that I am waiting for the next release for don't mind paying for them either so all recommend books welcome

Terpsichore I loved Cheerful Weather I even sought out the film which is not bad, but not as nuanced as the novel. I envy you meeting Frances Partridge, I read her diaries a while ago and thought she was a fascinating woman.

Remus I hesitate to recommend anything to you as your tastes are quite decided I think but Lucky Jim is hilarious, and not as misogynistic as some of Amis's later stuff, I have never forgotten the description of Jim's hangover after an unfortunate night at his boss's (?) house, although last time I encountered it was the film with Ian Carmichael, haven't read the book for ages.

Lucky Jim is a good short amusing read. The scene where he is trying to hide evidence of a drunken mishap in his host’s guest bedroom had me in fits of giggles. Very well written.

17. The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne
Much reviewed on this thread. Opinions seem divided. I am definitely in the thumbs up camp for this one.

What pronoun game cheerfulmuddler? Anyone else joining Robert Macfarlane’s latest readalong - The rings of Saturn by W. G. Sebald? Starts Monday.

It's a game played by gay people. You just talk about 'my partner' a lot without saying he or she - usually so as not to have to come out to Great-Uncle George.
Kay talks a lot about his partner 'H', but never says he or she once in the whole book - which is pretty impressive. All the minor characters are given Harry Potter psydonymns (his best mate is called Ron) and, as DH points out, H works v well as it could be Harry or Hermione.

remus I can recommend Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris. I remember I loved it more than Chocolat although I have not got round to re-reading it, so I'm not quite sure what that says.

56. Max Adams - Ælfred’s Britain Covering the period from the first recorded attack on the south coast of England in 799 through to the 960s, it's less the creation of England or the survival of the Saxon kingdoms from the Wessex point of view and more an overview of what was happening across the British isles and a bit of Europe. There's more of a focus on the north of England and also the different kingdoms and monarchies in Scotland, the evidence for different forms of Scandinavian settlement in northern Engaldn rather than just through battle and conquest, and the warring elements of the Norse and Danes themselves. It's intended as a companion volume to Adams' other books The King in the North and In the Land of Giants and like those is a very interesting read.

Thanks, all. Have got the sample of Lucky Jim (which dp has in book form too, if I like the sample( and also some Joanne Harris samples. What I really need is something set in the Arctic snows though, I think.

Fans of Georgette Heyer - is The Toll Gate one of her good ones?

Sorry Remus - I haven't read Where Eagles Dare.

I do like the sound of that Julia Strachey book though Terps.

43. The Truth - Michael Palin. Quite enjoyable. Keith Mabbut is a fifty-something writer who is a bit down at mouth (was once an acclaimed investigative journalist but now reduced to writing about an oil company, wife wants a divorce, not on the best terms with his kids). He gets the chance to write a biography of a famous underground eco-activist Hamish Melville, who lives an underground existence and has never been interviewed or appeared on TV. Off Mabbut sets to India to try and find him. But all is not as it seems and Ron Latham, the publisher, has his own ideas how he wants this biography written.

44. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett. Read this to my kids. Think they liked it. I thought it made a nice change from some of today's more contemporary kids' books. Think I managed to pull off a fairly decent Yorkshire accent by the end!

30. The True Deceiver Tove Jansson More adult Jansson. Reclusive children's illustrator Anna lives alone in her big house in a small Swedish village. Clever, blunt, devastatingly honest Katri lives in the village with her brother Mats and determines to use Anna to fleece enough money to give Mats the things she thinks he deserves. The catch? She must do so without betraying the principles of honesty by which she's lived her whole life. Throughout the long, frozen Swedish winter she wins her way into Anna's life and finances. But how much will both of them be changed by the encounter? I'm not sure I exactly liked this, but I'm glad I read it. It's interesting and it's doing interesting things with honesty and trust and hiding truths from yourself. I'm not sure how plausible the dog storyline is - but then I don't know much about dogs. And it is definitely very cold and icy!

Iirc Remus, The Toll Gate is an early one and a bit patchy, but does have charm.

Loved reading Cote’s “Turk-pick”(?) of Pilgrim- things you would never notice if you didn’t know, and must leap out at you if you do.

57. Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella. Bit of a disappointment as I usually find her amusing, but I couldn’t buy the heroine in this- she felt like 22, not 32. Still, it was an easy read in this heat!

Thanks, Tanaqui - will give it a miss.

I found I am Pilgrim unreadable, so impressed at Cote for actually managing to finish it.