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?

54 LIngo: A Language Spotter's guide to Europe by Gaston Dorren

Entertaining 'tourist's guide' to the languages of Europe. This was a perfect bedside book, with short self contained chapters on each language gathered into sections (quirks of grammar, politics & language etc). I'll definitely follow up some of the author's suggestions for further reading.

20. The Beast Alexander Starritt

Tabloid journalists spirals out of control as their paper becomes the story. Initially I thought this was simply unpleasant, but it got funnier as the story got wilder.

22. Officers and Gentlemen Evelyn Waugh

Volume 2 of Men at Arms. I enjoyed this as much as the first one. More good jokes - I loved this description of trying to tune a radio at a dinner party.

There was a brief knock-about turn such as Scots often provide for their English guests, between the laird and his butler, each displaying feudal loyalty, independence, pure gold uncontrolled crossness and ignorance of the workings of modern science.

And an amazing description of horror as British troops are routed out of Crete. Waugh draws together viewpoints from sane men as well as those losing their minds without losing his place as the writer, very memorable.

Oh ffs, autocomplete believes that the only pure thing is gold. There should be no gold in the above quote. The pure uncontrolled crossness is pure.

*25. Never Coming Back - Tim Weaver
*
Fourth novel in a series of thrillers, all featuring a private investigator David Raker.
These are enjoyable, easy reads. Raker is a likeable hero and the stories roll along at a good pace. Definitely best enjoyed for what they are rather than examining the plot too closely.
This one features a family of four who seemingly just vanish from their home one evening; dinner still in the oven, dog left walking around the house etc. Raker sets out to discover what happened to them and naturally, before you know it, his life is in jeopardy as well.

And that's me halfway to fifty, and only slightly behind schedule. Time to get off MN and pick up the next book!

Just popping on to say that both When I hit you and I I capture the Castle’ are 99p on Kindle daily deals today.

30. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
A cache of jewels is hidden during the overthrow of a Middle Eastern Government. Shortly afterwards, a series of sinister events occur at a prestigious English girls' school. Everyone's favourite moustachioed Belgian establishes the link.

Poirrot's in this one mcuh less than usual, but that's not bad thing. And there's a manly and attractive gardener thrown in for good measure. Not one of Christie's best, but certainly diverting enough.

Have been flicking fretfully through my reading options, finding it hard to engage with any of them. Had been looking forward to House of Fiction: From Pemberley to Brideshead, Great British Houses in Literature and Life by Phyllis Richardson but I didn't feel that the author was telling me anything very interesting, so abandoned that.

Have now embarked on Who we are and how we got here : ancient DNA and the new science of the human past, by David Reich and am feeling more hopeful.

Finding The Alienist a bit long winded now. Am 60% through though, so will finish it.

66.) Fools and Mortals, by Bernard Cownwell — and not, as I called it in a previous post ‘Gods and Mortals.’ Another historical novel, but this time set during the Elizabethan period, centering around the growth of the theatre. The narrator is Richard Shakespeare, brother of William, and a player in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, who are preparing to put on a play to celebrate their patron’s daughter’s wedding day. The play: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Richard, sick of playing women, is promised a man’s part by his brother but is furious when he finds out the part promised to him is that of bellows-mender, Francis Flute, who spends most of the play dressed as a woman. He’s angry enough to pay a visit to the new theatre being built in Southwark, The Swan, where he is offered employment — but there’s a price: the theft of his brother’s new play.

Lots of period detail, but it’s very light-hearted. Very fun to read, once it had warmed up a bit, and a fair bit of humour. The plot, such as it is, is fairly tangential next to the celebration of the play and the players. An awful lot of it revolves around rehearsals and life in the theatre, so particularly recommended if you have an interest in AMND especially.

Sounds fun, Corvus. I watched AMND on Sat, so it's all fresh in my mind.

42. The Girl I Used To Be - Mary Torjussen

Gemma is tired of doing all the work while her husband is a stay at home dad to their son. When a handsome stranger comes into her estate agents to view properties and then he invites her to dinner when they meet at a work conference he is the perfect gentleman. However, Gemma can’t remember how the night ended and he has disappeared into thin air. To protect herself and her family she will need to delve into secrets from her past and unravel the truth.

I found this a little slow to start however once I got into the thick of it and the plot started to unravel I was keen to find out how all the pieces slotted together. Also had it all pinned on a totally different character . I believe the author is also on mumsnet so thank you for the book .

Two books both by the same author

55. You Think It I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld Collection of short stories. With a lot of short story collections, I find it can be a mixed bag and there are often some I skip. With this I read every one and they are all different, and all great. My favorites were the one written as Hilary Clinton being interviewed by a female journalist before election night. Also one about a gender studies professor and her one night stand with an Uber driver. Highly recommend.

Then because I love Curtis Sittenfield but hadn’t read her first book ....

56. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld A young girl attends a private boarding school near Boston. The story is told from her point of view about her time there. Some things I loved about this were it captures adolescence perfectly. The time when everything is very intense and awkward. The feeling that your whole world is this very tiny environment. She also does awkwardness very well and I cringed in recognition at some of the things the main character does. It doesn’t have too much plot and I have read some review that really dislike the main character, but I really liked her. I thought it demonstrated perfectly that moment, as a teenager, where how we see ourselves conflicts with how others see us. I just love her writing and I really like how she makes her characters feel like real people. American Wife is still my favorite of hers but I will read anything she writes

51. Perception by Terri Fleming

Romance. Pride and Prejudice sequel, focusing on Mary and Kitty Bennet and their love lives.
Average, predictable and I suspect I’ll have forgotten this book completely by this time next year.

The Man Booker longlist has been announced:

www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/24/man-booker-prize-2018-longlist-nick-drnaso-sabrina-ondaatje-graphic-novel

I'm surprised a graphic novel is on the list as well as Belinda Bauer. Also, no Ali Smith!

Was just popping on to see what anyone else thought about the Manbooker list. I can't really comment this year as I haven't read any of them.
I too was surprised to see a graphic novel there, Southeast. Not a bad thing though; my DS will be thrilled!
Has anyone read any of the books on the list?

I'm really surprised to see the Belinda Bauer on there, although I haven't read that one. I've read a couple of her books, and I've enjoyed them a lot, but I would never have said they were Booker Prize material. (That's not necessarily a bad thing.)

Also surprised to see Sally Rooney on there (based on Conversations with Friends as I haven't read this one) - not Booker material IMO.

Two more for my list:

34. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny. Recommended on here by HoundOfTheBasketballs. Thanks Hound, I really enjoyed this. Jojo Moyes is quoted as saying "I have rarely seen modern marriage reproduced so faithfully in print" and I concur with this review. Narrator Graham is married to Audra and they have a 10yo son, Matthew. Themes are Audra's overwhelming sociability, Graham's relationship with his ex-wife Elspeth, and Matthew's friendship struggles (he has Asperger's), but this is reminiscent of Anne Tyler in that it is more about the characters than the plot, so none of these details are as important as the overall picture.

35. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. Dystopian fiction. The economy has collapsed and Stan and Charmaine find themselves living in their car, after losing their house and jobs, and fending off thieves and prowlers. They are tempted by the promises of stable employment and guaranteed food and accommodation inside the new community of Consilience. For a while their life seems perfect, but soon it becomes clear that sinister plans are afoot. Good, but not as good as The Handmaid's Tale.

Haven't caught up with the thread yet - just posting my extremely low-brow collection of recent reads!

100. End of Term, Antonia Forest
101. The Chalet School Goes To It, Elinor M Brent-Dyer
102. Lavender Laughs in the Chalet School
103. Gay From China at the Chalet School
104. Tom Tackles the Chalet School

My sister is doing a re-read of the Chalet School in chronological order and has sucked me in! I have about 4 'proper' books waiting on my Kindle but I keep reading these. I have also read a collection of fanfic, some dire and some hilarious - I particularly liked one where Miss Wilson is a monster hunter and has to keep the school environs monster-free.

Were there no big obviousl 'Booker prize fodder' books this year then?

Was Ministry of Utmost Happiness not eligible for this list? I know it's an acquired tatse but surely Roy is a superior writer to Bauer and Rooney, for example?

Hi everyone. I could lie and say I'll check out the booker list but I'm unashamedly 2-5 years behind everyone else when it comes to reading!

Update to my list:

1. Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims.
2. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
3. Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie.

4 Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie.

1. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.
2. "Blink" Malcolm Gladwell.
3. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig.
4. "Persepolis RIsing" by James SA Corey.
5. “Guernica” by Dave Boling.

10. “Harvest” by Tess Gerritsen. 11. "Grit" by Angela Duckworth. 12. "The Hive" by Gill Hornby. 13. "The Nix" by Nathan Hill. 14. "That's My Boy" by Jenni Murray. 15. "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K Le Guin. 16. "Room" by Emma Donaghue. 17. "No Logo" by Naomi Klein. 18. "French Children Don't Throw Food" by Pamela Druckerman. 19. "The Martian" by Andy Weir. 20. "Freedom Climbers" by Bernadette McDonald. 21. "From Dictatorship to Democracy" by Gene Sharp. 22. "Children of Time" by Adrian Tkchaikosvky. This was recommended on here (sorry can't remember who!) and I loved it! It is tricky to give a review without spoiling the plot though...Suffice to say I love any kind of attempt to look into the minds of other creatures (not humans). I also enjoyed the way that time was almost its own character. Kind of hoping the author writes a follow up.

Piggy - Ministry was on last year's longlist.

I'm glad you remembered who recommended Standard Deviation, Tara - thanks to you and to Hound, whose review made me go straight to the Kindle store to buy it. It also brings me tantalisingly close to the big 50 as it's my book no. 49

Plot has been sketched by Tara so I won't repeat, but I too really enjoyed it and often laughed out loud in public (although I could happily have strangled Audra on numerous occasions). It did remind me of Anne Tyler but also of Elinor Lipman, another US writer some on here may have read (and if not, I recommend her). There was a melancholy and truthfulness to this book that lifted it well above the usual run. I especially liked the conflictedness of Graham (from whose viewpoint it's written) over his son Matthew, whose Aspergers made life a constant challenge for the whole family but also made him especially beloved.

ah, splother, thought I might be a year out. It does seem a very low key list...

I have just finished The Illumination of Ursula Flight. Very much in the vein of Mermaid (but less refined in style) and Almond for a Parrot (some mild filth in this one : I was alarmed when a maypole was mentioned but it seemed innocent! There is a whle page of anmes of sex positions , though...) . There must be a name for this genre! The Witchfinder's Sister is also like this, but miserable. This one is frothy, entertaining, and easy read and plays about with form and font in a way that is diverting but also distracting and breaks the narrative flow. The writer wrote this for her MA , much like so many authors these days so , again, it fells a bit 'workshopped'.
But, by God, it was better than the pile of shite Val McDermid served up as a version of Northanger Abbey!

73: The Alienist – Caleb Carr

Time and place-wise, this was a good follow on to The Devil in the White City. It’s set in 19th century New York and somebody is killing and mutilating boy prostitutes. A group of friends including a psychologist, the ‘alienist’ of the title, a woman who refuses to be content with being a mere secretary, two Jewish police inspector brothers and Teddy Roosevelt, plus the journalist narrator, set out to solve the crime.

This began really well, but I thought the writing quality declined as it continued, and by the end I was reading it just to finish it and not because I particularly cared how it was going to end. It needed to be about 25% shorter, have more showing and less telling, and have a narrator with a bit more oomph.