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 keith I really enjoyed Rush Oh

Keith thanks! Also should have said although Asymmetry is quite clever, it’s also very readable, and not at all dry in terms of style, just have to pay attention to little things – like names of jurors in jury service section. Thanks for the general tip on Rush, Oh hadn’t come across it, too much of a wimpy veggie type to read the whaling one – can’t get through Jaws as find fate of shark too hard to deal with. Never fully recovered from reading novel set in India, can’t remember name, where dog is kidnapped at end. But the next one sounds great, love Turn of the Screw and enjoyed Bernadette. Rook sounds interesting but if any likelihood bird will die, will have to avoid for obvious reasons.

Corvus thanks for review of Nicholson, her Among the Bohemians was very good read, as was the one about women during WW2, but missed this one, so you’ve added to my groaning pile now! Really sorry about your week, hope whatever’s happening lifts soon, is Sophie Kinsella fluff? Isn’t she ‘good’ chick-lit like JoJo Moyes and Lisa Jewell? Having a not-so-great week here too, so immersed in large science fiction novel., tend to do my ‘fluff’ in visual form so hidden from view, so when next Marvel series arrives on Netflix will not resurface for some time.

Sadik thought Factory Girls was really good, hadn’t heard of Peter Hessler, so will look that one up.

On books coming out, if there are any Mrs Gaskell fans, Nell Stevens is bringing out a book about her, has different title in US and UK, think UK title will be Mrs Gaskell and Me.

Dottie, without wanting to post a spoiler, I think you would like the ending of Rook. However, the opening, which is told from the rook's POV as he is attacked by a hawk, is a bit gruesome/disturbing.

to anyone having a tough week. Reading for escapism is a wonderful thing sometimes.

Thanks Dottie for the recommendation of the Backlist podcast. I have listened to the ones on My Antonia and Slaves of Solitude and found them both interesting.

33. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz A book within a book. Popular crimewriter delivers his latest novel but there is a twist towards the end. His editor is pulled into an investigation. Felt a bit frustrated with the format of this book. Didn't really believe in the solution to either of the mysteries. I find it hard to believe that an editor can work on someone's books without having much contact with them. Solution for the book relied completely on supposition - the murderer only needed to say 'prove it' and walk away as there was nothing there in the way of evidence. I was reading a hardback edition of the book and it had some terrible typos/proofing errors.

34 If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon Mcgregor
Half the action takes place on a single day when something terrible happens. This isn't revealed until the very end of the book. This part of the book is written in the third person present tense which I suppose it meant to give it a sense of immediacy. Almost none of the characters have names and after a while I got a bit bored with the detailing of everyone's day. Young man with earring gets up and looks out the window. He looks at the people in the street. Man from number 20 is painting his fence. He yawns and goes back to bed. And so on. It is interwoven with a first person narrative from a woman who lived in the street on the day when the terrible thing happened. Who a few years later is having a bit of a crisis.
There are some lovely descriptions in the story which was the part that made it worthwhile reading. I was disappointed with the very ending of the book which was extremely unlikely. An OK book.

41. Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig I finished this at last! It felt like a slog and a bit like the sort of thing I feel I should be reading rather than actually really enjoying. Slow paced (though I'm not sure how much of that was my doing as I knew little about Burma and its history and kept stopping to look things up) following the lives of Louisa (the titular Miss Burma; the author's mother) and her parents through WWII, Independence and civil war. Brutally violent and disturbing descriptions of the torture inflicted upon civilians and the slow paced, disjointed feel made this a difficult read for me, I think I'll go for something lighter next time! I'd been ploughing on with this since April and blame it for my failure to get through the women's prize list

Really sorry about your week, hope whatever’s happening lifts soon, is Sophie Kinsella fluff? Isn’t she ‘good’ chick-lit like JoJo Moyes and Lisa Jewell? Having a not-so-great week here too, so immersed in large science fiction novel., tend to do my ‘fluff’ in visual form so hidden from view, so when next Marvel series arrives on Netflix will not resurface for some time.

Thanks Dottie, and I hope your week picks up too. As for Sophie Kinsella, heh. I think her other books are very different, but the only way the Shopaholic books could get any fluffier is if the covers were made out of candy floss.

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57.) Foxlowe, by Eleanor Wasserberg -- An unnerving tale about two girls, Green and Blue, living in an isolated cultish commune on the edge of the (Staffordshire?) moors, protected from the outside world where The Bad roams free by ley lines and the nearby stone circle.

This was excellent, although it started very disjointed, and I was all set to be disappointed. Gradually I got used to the lyrical, off-kilter style of writing and, huh, turns out it managed to grip me in a way that few books have managed for a while.

I think she captured the world of the cult well. The abuse and neglect the children experience is all the more affecting for how it's shown through Green's eyes as completely normal. Some of the other adult cult members are pretty forgettable (deliberate perhaps, since they're little more than onlookers), but its portrayal of Freya, the abusive cult leader, and her mercurial relationship with Green was chilling.

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About to start Miss Burma now.

Lots of books which annoyed or bored me being discussed currently!

My Brilliant Friend = gave up on it for being dull
Wild Swans - gave up on it for being clumsy and badly written (or translated)
Rush Oh - finished it but thought it really lost its way
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - finished it but found it very boring - pretty but dull

Cedar - thank you! I'd had Backlisted on my podcast app for a while but hadn't investigated. But Slaves of Solitude is one of my top ten books ever - Hangover Square is a classic but I think Slaves is better - so I went to seek it out. It nailed it for me; their comment that he is "narrow but extraordinary" and observations about how he draws character were spot on. He writes about power and cruelty and alcohol which shouldn't be my thing at all but it's utterly compelling. I'm a Patrick Hamilton evangelist and this was an hour of bliss, listening to fellow enthusiasts.

66: The Outsider – Stephen King
Has anybody else read this yet? I thought it was middling King, rather than amazing King (It, The Stand, The Dark Tower) or crappy King (Needful Things, The Tommyknockers, that nonsense he just wrote with his son). The first third or so is a bit slow, then it picks up in the second half. I found a couple of sections of it quite creepy, and I quite liked seeing Holly from the Bill Hodges books again, but it was all a bit ‘King by numbers’ and I didn’t find myself desperate to pick it up. Holly isn’t very well developed – it’s basically: “she’s a bit weird and kooky but we can’t help loving her, they all thought” and it was obvious from early on which characters were likely to be the ‘spares’ who would die. So – better than no King, but not his best by any means.

Dottie and Toomuch - After I read Do not say I googled ‘Books about China’ and the most recommended are your recommended books (thanks for the recs btw) of Wild Swans and the Dikotter series, so they have been added to the To Read pile. I liked River Town by Peter Hessler and have Country Driving, A Chinese Road Trip on my Kindle waiting to be read.

Keith, I found the first book of the Elena Ferrante Neapolitan novels a slog as well - my favourites being the second and third books of the series, I loved them.

Have been reading the thread regularly but fallen hopelessly behind with posting! Here's a quick round up of my latest reads before I update my list proper.

32. Educated – Tara Westover

Autobiographical account of a childhood spent in an extreme Mormon survivalist family and her quest for an education. Much reviewed on this thread. Really wanted to like this one, as I’ve read lots of positive things about it. Unfortunately the misery was just graphically unremitting for me; I just felt a bit numb to it all by the end.

33. The Magician’s Assistant – Anne Patchett

Sometimes a book comes along which just seems to give you what you need emotionally at a particular time. This was one of those times for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this ultimately hopeful tale of loss, kindness and hope. I found this a really satisfying story about the complexities of relationships in families and marriages, told with Patchett’s usual gentle and precise style. Have nearly exhausted Ann Patchett's works of fiction now sadly.

34. Mind of a Survivor – Megan Hine

A quick and undemanding read. Megan Hine is a survivalist probably best known for working with Bear Grylls although she has worked on a number of endurance TV shows. This book interested me as she focuses on how to deal with adversity and stress in everyday life, and not just extreme survivalist type situations. Packed with anecdotes about surviving snake bites and the like, the book has a lively and engaging style. Inspiring.

35. Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward

One of my reads of the year so far. I found this horrifying and moving, a heart wrenching and emotional read. This is a book I feel I will need to read again to fully understand and digest all the different layers. Have put Jesmyn Ward’s other books on my TBR list as I found her lyrical, almost poetic style very beautiful. For me, up there with Toni Morrison’s Beloved. A shame she didn't win the Women's Fiction prize, I much preferred this to Kamila Shamsie's novel.

36. The Burning Girl – Claire Messud

I was a bit underwhelmed by this one, possibly because I think Sing, Unburied, Sing proved a hard act to follow. It charts the rise and fall of a friendship between two girls in East Coat America in the present day. A variation on the classic coming of age tale. This novel had the potential to raise some interesting points about the way society treats women and girls, but never seemed to quite get there. However, it was well written and absorbing enough.

37. The North Water – Ian McGuire

The gruesome tale of an ill-fated whaling expedition set in 1859. Sweary and violent – I loved this! A real page turner with vivid, larger than life characters and lots of exciting plot twists. Good versus evil set against an arctic backdrop, this had it all really. Action packed. One of the most gripping books I’ve read this year.

Remus, I've been toying with buying The Outsider but am ploughing my way through Insomnia without massive enthusiasm even though I want to like it because it clearly is a Dark Tower novel of sorts. But it's middling King, most definitely, and I think therefore I need a break before any more of that. And I also found Holly a slightly irritating character. So "no, not now you've said that", in answer to your question.

Pepe - definitely don't buy it at full price. I got it for a tenner. It was okay, but if you don't like Holly (I don't dislike her; just find her undeveloped) wait until it's a fiver on Kindle!

It's fine - not a terrible book, but just not doing anything particularly that he hasn't done better before.

17. An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones I really loved this. It's set in Georgia and Louisiana, and tells the story from the different points of view of Roy and Celestial, a married couple, and their friend Andre. Roy is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit, and we follow the path of how this impacts the three of them, and their families. It has a lot to say about the incarceration of black men and the American justice system, and the subject matter is far from light, but it's so beautifully written that I tore right through it. Possibly my favourite read of the year so far.

18. Cringeworthy, by Melissa Dahl This is basically a short history of embarrassment and awkwardness - why we find certain things cringeworthy and the psychology and sociology around it. I tend to suffer a lot from second hand embarrassment and thought this would be a good skim read, but actually I ended up reading the whole thing carefully as I found it so interesting. Very light and engaging - if you like more in-depth or meaty science books it might not be for you, but I really enjoyed it.

Interestingly I was very underwhelmed by Perfect Wives - I've just looked back to my 2016 review of it, and as I remembered I found it very lightweight, and just didn't think it brought much new to the table.

Foxworthy sounds very interesting Corvus, and Noodle I'm interested to read your review of Cringeworthy - I've seen it discussed elsewhere but like you thought it would be a skim read, will definitely add it to my TBR list now.

Finally finished 49 Logical Family by Armistead Maupin

AM's autobiography. I enjoyed this, it's quite a gentle read, very much in the way that the Tales of the City series covers serious subjects in a light-touch way. I listened to it on Audible read by the author which worked really well (I think the book actually started as a series of stand-up talks). Really only one for fans, I think, but well worth a read if you do like his fiction. (And incidentally I was fascinated by his family's links with Jesse Helms, & the fact that AM himself worked for him for a while.)

36 Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky – This is epic science fiction. The Earth is blighted and survivors search for a new world to inhabit. A distant ‘green’ planet, terraformed in the days of ‘old Earth’, seems to offer a safe haven. But it’s already inhabited by another species – one that’s familiar yet vastly different. A species that, thanks to a chance occurrence, is now developing beyond imagining. And this is not the only obstacle to founding a human colony. The story follows both groups through space and time, as it builds towards their inevitable encounter.

I found this a thought-provoking, enjoyable, and sometimes nail-biting experience. It was well-written and (mostly) gripping. I was impressed by how well Tchaikovsky deployed a mix of science and history to enhance and inform the narrative – for me it could have been a tad shorter, I flagged around page 400 but then the plot picked up and I was off again. Others may disagree, but I also thought that it had a really poignant, really satisfying ending.

I haven’t read any recent science fiction novels so not sure how to classify this one. I think I’ll have to use other frames of reference, so I’d say this was more in the vein of the Battlestar Galactica reboot – and shared some similar concerns – than it was akin to something ‘softer’ like Star Trek TNG (although there was a dash of its philosophy sprinkled here and there).

I loved Children of Time Dottie - I particularly liked the way AT leads you as the reader to empathise with the 'aliens', and the way he describes their thought processes.

There's some great recent sci-fi out there, if you liked CoT, I'd definitely try the Three Body Problem series, more proper hard sci-fi with a thoughtful edge. (And pretty generally enjoyed on here IIRC)

65 Insomnia by Stephen King
Ralph can't sleep, and is having hallucinations. And as he does he realises his role in stopping a plan that will ultimately end the world. And there are other worlds than this.

I find Stephen King a maddening writer. His writing is often terrible and meandering and things take forever to get anywhere. And this was a prime example; endless wandering around to no purpose, stupid italicised comments in brackets as is his trademark. And nowhere near as good as his best (The Stand, 11.22.63, The Shining)

But what he does with people is so extraordinary, I keep going back to him, and I really do think he is such a good story teller because of the people he creates. I cried at the end of this, and the only other book I've cried at the end of is Lord of the Rings which was similarly tedious and frustrating.

And this was a Dark Tower novel through and through. I've no idea what I'd have made of it if I hadn't read that series as I struggled at times even though I had read King. And I thought the subtle but nonetheless prominent links to IT were also well done. Derry seemed a mostly sunnier place this time round but nonetheless still very wrong.

Re Perfect Wives, it dragged a bit for me, but the author provided a list of recommended books by mid-twentieth century female authors that led me to some wonderful discoveries.

Finished X and Why by Tom Whipple, the non-fiction book about sexual strategies. To copy noodle's description of a different book, it's light and engaging.

Also finished All that Remains, by Sue Black. I had expected it to be mainly about her work in forensic anthropology, but it's more personal than that - she talks about her first dissection and falling in love with the subject, the deaths of her parents and grand-uncle, and ends with a surprisingly enthusiastic account of what she wants to happen to her body after death. While she talks about her experiences in Kosovo and the tsunami, it's not as focused on the subject as a book I read years ago, The Bone Woman, by Clea Koff. I think I preferred that one, on balance, but both are worth the read.

What I really liked about Perfect Wives was how relentlessly and unapologetically it centred women, and their own stories.

And this was a prime example; endless wandering around to no purpose, stupid italicised comments in brackets as is his trademark.

Ah yeah, those bracketed thoughts. I got a bit of a surprise seeing Jean Rhys using that technique in Wide Sargasso Sea. was a bit disconcerting to recognise something I associate so much with vintage King.

By the way, Pepe, have you read the Peter Straub collaborations? The Talisman and Black House are probably his most Dark Towery books after the Dark Tower books. I’ve been meaning to reread them both myself.

I agree about enjoying books that centre female experience, Corvus.

Corvus, I haven't read either of those - maybe I'll bump them up the list. I've got Hearts in Atlantis on my Kindle ready to go, so they can be next up after that.

Disappointed to hear that about Jean Rhys. I've got a copy of The Wide Sargasso Sea on my bedside table that I picked up from a second hand bookstore and I was quite looking forward to it. But the square brackets are a problem!

I never mind King's italics and brackets.

Really disliked Sargasso Sea - apologies to those who've had to read that several times from me!

I am reading The Terror by Dan Simmons. It's a whopper - over 900 pages - but I'm liking it so far. However, 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) and thought it got worse and worse as it continued - hope this one doesn't follow the same pattern.

Cote - have you read this one?

Shakeitoff Good luck with those, occurred to me there’s also Rana Mitter he’s written some Chinese history that’s supposed to be accessible, realised have one on my list, also he’s got one in the OUP Very Short Introduction series – love that series. If you read detective fiction then have you come across Inspector Chen? He figures in a series by Qiu Xialong, they’re set in China from 1990 onwards but often the crimes involve looking at China’s past, they’re not gory or desperately gratuitous, they’re slow-moving and as much about the characters and life in China as about actual crime - Chen’s assistant trying to find an apartment food, culture, history. The first one is called Death of a Red Heroine.

Sadik Yes, I did like CoT, I became totally invested in the aliens and also intrigued by some of their characteristics not just social but their genetic inheritance, is the ‘Understanding’ a reference to something with a scientific basis do you think? Sounded a bit like Jung’s collective unconscious. Also admired the attention to detail such as the planet being too young for fossil fuels. And I loved the ending, it was really affecting. I will put the Three-body Problem on my list, I also liked the look of Semiosis by Sue Burke, but I try to avoid hardbacks and the library doesn’t have it. Also, a book called Sea of Rust looked as if it might have potential. I do look at science fiction but a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of authors and subgenres - I tried a China Mieville novel once, could see it was good, reminded me of Gormenghast but not my thing, also tried Ada Palmer but couldn’t get on with the style, so abandoned early on.

Pepe FWIW I love Jean Rhys’s work, but can’t stand Wide Sargasso Sea I admire the idea behind it but her earlier novels, I think, are much better – although unrelentingly melancholy, so not to be read except when in a very optimistic mode.

Re books about China, I'm another big fan of Wild Swans and I also really enjoyed Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux if you like travel writing. It's over 20 years since I read it though, so I can't remember the details!