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?

Thanks expat And Dottie will certainly look those up. I must say that lots of people raves to me about Hillybilly and while it was interesting and has got me thinking, I can't say it was as heart shattering as others have made out x

No idea where the 'x' came from?!

exexpat thanks for the recommendations will look those up.

I'd second the recommendation for Poor Economics, I thought it was sensible and balanced.

Sadik thanks. TooMuch Justified was a television series btw set in Kentucky managed to cover opioid crisis/ environmental blight/job loss/ the mining industry/ the fate of transient hill people, despite being a crime drama very well-researched. Set around Harlan County which is the Flint, Michigan of that area. But it's based on a series of excellent books by Elmore Leonard centred on a character named Raylan Givens.

59. Edward de Bono - How to Have a Beautiful Mind

Never having read anything by Edward de Bono before, I picked this up out of curiosity in a charity shop. It's basically all about the art of conversation, and to be honest is probably of most use to someone who has never spoken to anyone else before. Much of it is completely obvious (e.g. asking what someone does for a living as a conversation opener - how novel) while other bits of advice about attempting to structure general conversation would be completely irritating to anyone on the receiving end, possibly because the way he phrases suggestions as to how to do it come across as rather dictatorial. I can't say I'm feeling inspired to pick up anything else by him after reading this.

exexpat, I’m reading The Lonely City just now. Only a third of the way through but am liking it so far.

*23. The Reapers are the Angels
*
Post-apocalyptic fiction. It's at least 15 years since the zombie apocalypse. Temple is a 16 year old girl out on her own in an America where society no longer exists, except in pockets, and even when she finds places of safety, she feels like she doesn't belong.
This was okay, fairly readable. I particularly enjoyed the unexpected section in the middle featuring some giants.
I was annoyed by the fact the author doesn't use punctuation to indicate speech. Why do some people do this?? There were also a few bits about the post-zombie world that didn't ring true, there was still petrol available fairly easily and also electricity in some random places. Both highly unlikely after 15 years I would have thought.
Otherwise, fairly enjoyable. I do like well-written and well thought out dystopian fiction, so if anyone has any recommendations, do shout out.

Shakeitoff I will look forward to your review (and hold off buying it for another week or two, though I am meant to be on a book-buying fast at the moment anyway).

I’ve been lurking and reading everyone’s great reviews without updating for a few weeks. Life and endless (minor) illnesses got in the way of reading but I made it to 50 books somehow!
My most recent:
46. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears recommended to me by DH, this was SO clever! Very long and required effort (I couldn’t concentrate enough to read it last thing at night at all if I was vaguely tired!) but very much worth it. Set mainly in 1660s Oxford, this excellent historical mystery is told by four very different narrators, each giving their version of events around the mysterious death of a college fellow and a young woman’s conviction of his murder.

47. The Woman In the Window by A.J.Finn very Girl On The Train-like; an alcoholic, agoraphobic, very troubled woman watches her neighbours closely and witnesses a horrible crime taking place through her spying. I guessed the inevitable massive twist early on but this was entertaining enough and an easy, light read after Fingerpost!

48. The Cartography of Others by Catherine McNamara well written, vividly set short story collection with a common theme of travel and displacement, I enjoyed these.

49. (Yay!) The Trick to Time by Kit de Waal Very good and extremely moving; telling the story of an almost sixty year old doll maker Mona, from her childhood in Ireland to her present life in Birmingham. Moves back and forth in time gradually revealing her heartbreaking past including the “trick to time” itself.

I’m now reading A Confederacy of Dunces and am enjoying it so far.

So far I have read -

1. Don't wake up
2. Good me bad ma
3. Everything everything
4. The house
5. One little mistake
6. Never let you go
7. Eat up
8. The reunion
9. One of us is lying

10. Tattletale 11. Obsession 12. The birthday girl 13. Snap 14. Cross her heart 15. You were gone 16. The treatment 17. The fear 18. Let me lie 19. Th1rt3en 20. Guilt 21. Bring me back 22. The death of Mrs Westerway 23. The snowman 24. The craftsman 25. The house swap 26. Sweetpea 27. The woman in the window 28. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine 29. Our kind of cruelty

And I'm currently reading
30. Mine

53. Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
    A YA book I read to see if suitable for my niece. Familiar tropes but a good plot and nothing wrong with a book for teenagers about being careful who you vote for and the dangers of lies being spread.

54. The Pisces by Melissa Broder
    I liked this but a lot of people won’t. It’s a love it or hate it book. For starters it involves sex between a woman and a merman. Fins and all.
    The plot is a young woman moves to LA after a break up to house and dog sit for her sister. She attends a codependency support group and then falls for a man she sees swimming out by the rocks near the house.
    There are some funny scenes with the support group but overall this is fairly dark. It’s about the need we have to love and be loved. The point of it all when we all die anyways. It’s about depression, love, life and death. The main character is not immediately likeable. Her internal monologue is unforgiving about herself and others.
    It’s a strange book and if the merman thing bothers you then do not read it. It’s also sexually graphic including a bit where she has incredibly depressing sex with a guy she meets on Tinder.
    Overall I liked it but I suspect there will be a lot of people who won’t

40. The Trophy Child - Paula Daly

Karen expects perfection. Her son Ewan is a bit of a disappointment and she won’t make the same mistake with Bronte. Bronte will be exceptional. Around her her family begins to crumble as her husband gets lost in work and her stepdaughter becomes more unstable. Would she know when to stop being a pushy parent or not?

Another thriller I thoroughly enjoyed and another book off the TBR pile. Had a few wrong guesses at who I thought was involved in the twists but it all makes for a good read while trying to decide if something is a clue or just a red herring

Now onto Watching You - Lisa Jewell as I couldn’t wait to buy after seeing all the hype. Hope it lives up to it!

I can tell it's summer the garden and allotment are taking centre stage and the reading rate has gone right down!

30. The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins, read by Ian Holm on Audible. An enjoyable classic if a tad overlong, and the constant 'I'm only a woman but I'll try my hardest' schtick got a bit tiresome to the modern ear.

31. Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. Obviously a children's novel but as I've been reading it with a pupil from beginning to end I'm claiming it! Managed to hold it together when the 'Killer Men' came on this reading, Morpurgo always goes in for a bit of heart string tugging and it's never a good look to be in tears in class!

Now listening to The Muse On BorrowBox and reading The Days Of Rain but very slowly!

Murine, Confederacy of Dunces is terrific - so unexpected and funny. I recommend it lots, and am always surprised at how many people hate it! I hope you don't, obviously.

67 American Gods by Neil Gaiman

This was a tricky one. I listened to it on Audible, and that always affects my experience of a book as I find it much harder to listen than to read. The narration was wonderful but it does, as a story, drift along and get a bit lost in places, so it was hard to focus (I missed two fairly key incidents completely which was a bit baffling). The idea of immigrants bringing their gods with them is well done and the road trip element is great. I was glad ds had encouraged me to read Norse Myths and other books along with him during his ancient myths obsession as it helped - I think I still missed lots. Would go back and read (not listen!) at some point.

68 World War Z by Max Brooks

I loved this! Purports to be the oral testimonies of those who fought and won (sort of) against the zombie plague. The detail and execution was terrific, and I’m a sucker for apocalyptic fiction. I watched the movie last night - beyond the title and zombies it bore almost no relation to the book but was enjoyable nonsense.

69 From Russia, With Love by Ian Fleming

I read this to check suitability for a pre-teen - think I will hold back for another couple of years. I loved the Bond novels when I was young and I do think this is one of the better Bond novels. It's pacey and cool and the Russians are brilliantly evil.

70 In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott

The story of Stott's childhood as a member of the Exclusive Brethren, a particularly odd and extreme protestant sect. Actually, a lot of the book is about her father and his story, his life in the Brethren and after leaving. It was interesting to compare and contrast with Tara Westover's Educated. I can see they are trying to do slightly different things but Educated had the edge for me in terms of an emotional connection to the author.

71 The Secret Barrister by the Secret Barrister

I am definitely guilty of the charge the author levels at everyone who has never had much to do with the criminal justice system. I've never given it or its strengths and failings much thought so have never had a view. This was a highly partisan but really effective polemic and passionate that rails against systematic budget cuts, political indifference and meddling and misreporting by the press. I have no idea what the case for the defence would look like (to borrow a legal analogy) but this is certainly compelling and provocative. Highly recommended.

I couldn't read Confederacy Of Dunces. It is one of the few books that has ever defeated me.

Maybe I could have found something worthwhile in it if I read it in my 20s. It was unbearable in my 40s.

Hound Have you tried California by Edan Lepucki? It’s post-apocalyptic and dystopian, thought it had some great elements, but read a while ago so hazy on detail.
Pepe I enjoyed World War Z too book and movie, isn’t there a sequel coming out some time? The scenes in Israel were pretty hair-raising. I read Bond as a teenager too, From Russia was my absolute favourite, I bought some a while ago to re-read but haven’t been in the right mood yet. Haven’t tried the Gaiman but OH loves it and thought the telly version wasn’t bad.

49 to 57 - I haven’t been able to settle with a book for a while. When I realised I had eight books all started but none holding my attention I decided to go back to some old favourites.
I think most people will be familiar with Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series so I’ll just do a brief outline. Maupin’s saga started life in the 70s as a serial in the ‘San Francisco Chronicle’, these were gathered together and published in book form. The early books introduce a core cast who live at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco, as well as a host of recurring characters. No. 28 is owned by the eccentric, mysterious Anna Madrigal and infused with the aroma of her pot brownies and marijuana. The central characters are Mary-Ann new to the city and looking for the perfect man; Mona looking for the perfect job and the perfect man; Mona’s friend Michael also seeking the right man and the right job; Brian a radical lawyer turned waiter who’s drifting and dissatisfied. All of them view Mrs Madrigal as a mother figure. The books follow their lives and loves, as well as chronicling American culture, over a period of decades. They’re poignant and amusing books which often contain soap-opera level revelations and plot twists. They’re well-written, fluid, easy reads that don’t shy away from tackling difficult issues
The first books were adapted for television a while ago. Netflix is currently filming the later ones for release next year. There are nine books in the series.
49. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin – published 1978
50 More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin – published 1980
51. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin – published 1982
52. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin – published 1984
53. Significant Others by Armistead Maupin – published 1987
54. Sure of You by Armistead Maupin – published 1989
55. Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin – published 2007
56. Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin – published 2010
57. The Days of Anna Madrigal
by Armistead Maupin – published 2014

58 No Turning Back: Life, Loss and Hope in Wartime Syria by Rania Abouzied – Published in 2018. This has had rave reviews. It’s been recommended, by a range of international/war correspondents, as the best book to read on the conflict in Syria. Rania Abouzeid covers Syria from 2011 to 2016/7, she bases her account on extensive interviews together with on-the-ground reports. Abouzeid takes a small number of interviewees and charts their personal experiences of life and war in Syria over this period. She carefully details the political landscape of Syria prior to the conflict, constructing a convincing portrait of this authoritarian regime, where even minor dissent could lead to imprisonment and torture. She then charts the development of the Syrian uprising and what followed, using her chosen representatives to focus on the personal cost of civil war. She also relates developments in Syria to wider issues facing the region, as well as the different vested interests competing for control of the country. A dense, beautifully written book that provides an excellent overview of the Syrian conflict, it took a little while for me to get used to each person and their perspective, as the chapters alternated between 'characters'. I’ve mainly been following events in Syria as they're reported, so I found it really helpful to be able to piece things together and get a more coherent sense of what’s happened/is happening. Not, I thought, as compelling as Christina Lamb’s excellent book on Afghanistan Farewell Kabul, perhaps because Lamb’s perspective provided a clearer point of identification for me as a reader, but excellent nonetheless.

Dottie, have you read Armistead Maupin's autobiography, Logical Family? It's one of my highlights of the year so far, and I think particularly interesting for a Tales fan.

I’m only about 5 pages into A Confederacy of Dunces at the moment, it’s my next book club read and it didn’t sound like the sort of thing I’d usually go for at all, I missed our last meeting and must admit to thinking “oh no, who chose that?!” when I was texted the next book choice! I’ve been pleasantly surprised for those first few pages!

I found A Confederacy of Dunces unreadable too, but maybe ought to try it again...

Anyway, talking of book clubs, the next choice for mine (though not picked by me) is my 46: Canal Dreams - Iain Banks

I rather enjoyed this, as a matter of fact, although it’s quite an odd book. Hisako Onoda, a renowned cellist with a disabling fear of flying, has at last agreed to give concerts in Europe, but this means travelling slowly by ship, as a passenger on an eccentric route aboard a tanker. When a war breaks out involving America, her ship is one of a group stranded in the Panama Canal.

Nothing much happens in the first half of the book - we learn about Hisako’s past, her character and feelings, her on-board affair with Philippe, the French engineer of one of the stranded ships, and hear detailed descriptions of her vivid and often violent dreams. But in the second part, Panamanian terrorists invade the boat and suddenly the book becomes the literary equivalent of ‘Kill Bill’. It’s all very peculiar, but I was drawn in by the character of Hisako and Banks’s writing (which is relatively new to me; I’d only read ‘The Wasp Factory’ before).
Sadly, I don’t expect a good turn-out for the book club to discuss this, given its violence and some graphic incidents. My fellow book-clubbers are a rather prudish lot

Reading another quite long book so nothing to report, but just marking place so I know where I've read up to!

I might have to give that a go Terpsichore! I love Iain Banks and thought I'd read all of his but that doesn't sound at all familiar. I was completely traumatised by The Wasp Factory but The Crow Road is one of my favourite books and I've read and re-read some of his others (Stonemouth is also a favourite).

Thanks Dottie, I've had a look at California on Amazon. I think it definitely sounds like something I'll like. I'm going to check if it's available from the library before parting with £8.99 though

Oops, I miscounted. Canal Dreams is actually 48 on my list so I'm inching closer to the magic total.

I thought I'd give Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine a go, as so many people have raved about it....and, more importantly, because I spotted it in a charity shop for 99p . I started reading it then managed to leave it in the house where I was staying over the weekend, and I won't be back there for another fortnight at least. Annoying.

noodle, if you're keen on Iain Banks I'd give Canal Dreams a go. Apparently he wanted to write a geo-political thriller, produced this, and considered it his least successful book, but I thought his portrayal of Hisako, the Japanese cellist - an outsider whose life has been full of quiet struggle, and who draws on her reserves of strength and courage in a most surprising way - was very touchingly done. It's not a convincing book in terms of plot, I don't think anyone could claim that, but the writing itself is very enjoyable.