50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Seven

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh 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, the fifth one here, and the sixth one here.

My birthday twin is Michael Gambon so I am going with the fact I share a birthday with Dumbledore.

I’ve got Michael Crichton.. never read anything of his. And Ryan Reynolds. Think I know which I prefer!

Been a while since I updated so adding my latest reads:

32. The Child - Fiona Barton - recommended by one of my DC. Quite a page turner to start with but I could see the ending coming from a mile off but an easy read and I would be prepared to give something else by her a go.

33. Let me Lie - Clare Mackintosh - this was a real page turner after a slow start with a couple of twists I did not predict. Better ending than I See You to my mind.

34. Marina - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I loved the Shadow of the Wind series but sadly did not love this. I think this is his teen fiction and is billed as gothic horror. Whilst I liked the relationship between the two main protagonists and their stories. I disliked the backdrop to their storyline which was the gothic horror element. It ranged between being tiresome and repellent (for me).

35. A Question of Upbringing - Anthony Powell - this is the first of twelve books in A Dance to the Music of Time series which I downloaded on my kindle as it was a special offer. This book focuses on the school and university days of the main protagonist and a few key friends. Whilst I did not dislike it, I did not really care much for any of the characters either and just felt fairly indifferent towards the book - not sure I will make it through the series unless anybody can persuade me it gets better.....

36 is Wild Swans - Jung Chang - started last night and loving it so far.... embarrassing that it has taken me so long to get round to reading it!

TimeforaGandT I once read the whole of the A Dance to the Music of Time series with my husband and a couple of friends as a sort of reading project. Personal view only of course, but if you don't like the characters in the first one, they recur throughout the series and so it's unlikely to get better. I think my favourite ones in the series were probably somewhere in the early middle (Casanova's Chinese Restaurant maybe? Anyway, the ones that had more Moreland in them because he was the only one I liked). But given the choice again, I wouldn't bother.

I was really disappointed when I read A Question of Upbringing as I had looked forward to reading the series, having read so many people talking about how iconic and wonderful it is, and it similarly left me a bit cold. Well-written but just meh. I'm in two minds over whether to persevere or whether to spend my reading time reading other wonderful and long books which I might like a bit more.

82. The Bones of You, Debbie Howells
Didn't like this at all. I know that psychological thrillers are often dark but this was stuffed with lingering descriptions of physical, emotional and sexual abuse against women and girls, and after a while just became unpleasant to read. The plot was holey and it didn't grip me. All round fail.

The only writer I seem to share a birthday with is Rachel Billington, whom I know nothing about. I also share with Salvador Dali, Jeremy Paxman and Holly Valance. Quite a range there!!

The Man Booker shortlist was out today. I'm really disappointed that Normal People isn't on there.

Only read one of them South and was underwhelmed with Washington Black.

I am on the library waiting list for Normal People. Unfortunately I think I'm in for a long wait! Looking forward to it though.

I haven't read any of the Booker shortlist yet, but I have been a massive fan of Richard Powers for years, and The Overstory has been on my wish-list since it came out (waiting for the paperback, or Christmas, whichever is earlier...).

exexpat ha I just looke The Overstory up as I thought it sounded intriguing. That’s the one I’m interested in too. What else has he done?

Have refused to read Normal People or her other one, because she came across as really horribly smug in a Guardian interview, and I'm also tired of the Guardian banging on and on about her. If it's brilliant, it'll just have to be brilliant without me!

I am about 15% into Conversations with Friends and underwhelmed to be honest. Will have to pick up considerably before I am tempted by Normal People

71 The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Locke Lamora and his friends are the Gentleman Bastards - expert con-men and thieves who can talk their way out of any situation. Things get complicated when a feud turns their criminal underworld upside down.

This should be exactly my sort of book, but I found it much too long, with too many extended fight scenes and unnecessary padding. The bits I liked most were flashbacks to Locke's childhood, and the way he and his gang learnt their skills. I did finish it, to see how it would all unfold, but I definitely wouldn't bother with the sequel.

Thanks Welshwabbitt and KeithLeMonde - glad it’s not just me! I’ve now realised that I have bought the first three in the series with a special offer so may have to persevere. I had seen the series listed in Time’s Top 50 books to read (or similar) and heard them referred to and felt I was missing out but now wonder what the fuss was about. It wasn't bad - just not worth a recommendation - and I feel there are other books I will enjoy more!

63. Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

First book I’ve managed to finish in about a month, my reading has slowed right down recently.

Jules returns to her childhood home after her sister Nel is found dead. They say it’s suicide. But there’s more to it than first meets the eye.

It’s okay. Didn’t love it or hate it. Fairly easy reading but not particularly memorable.

37. Between The Woods And The Water - Patrick Leigh Fermor

Crikey, it's taken me a long time to finish this book. Not for want of enjoyment - the second part of PLF'S epic journey across prewar Europe, it's every bit as wonderful as its predecessor A Time Of Gifts. But I've had a hell of a few weeks with work, school and illness so my reading energy has been low. Anyway, this is beautiful and heartbreaking writing and everybody should read it.

Satsuki - Richard Powers has a strong science background, and clearly knows a lot about classical music, so those are common themes in his books. I somehow always think of him and Barbara Kingsolver as similar in some way, probably the science/nature themes, but also the big-picture humanity stuff.

I think my favourites are some of his more recent ones: The Echo Maker, Generosity or Gain. I have been reading his books since the 90s (started with Galatea 2.2 and The Goldbug Variations) but it is probably time I went back and reread them, as I don't remember much beyond thinking they were brilliant...

There's a list here: www.richardpowers.net

50 Territorial Rights by Muriel Spark
Young man arrives in Venice, following young woman that he has fallen for. He stays at a hotel run by two eccentric old ladies. Then, to his horror, his father turns up with his mistress - checking into the same hotel. Awkward social moments follow. Other characters also converge on Venice. The book has a dark humour running through it. She writes so well - it is not a long book but somehow creates a whole gallery of memorable characters. Very funny descriptions. Lina - young woman who has defected from Bulgaria - was drawn to the West by her cousin's descriptions of a visit to London when he stayed with a wealthy family where the wife didn't have to work and never bothered to do her hair. She thinks, that's the kind of life I'd like to have.

51 Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler
Charlotte has decided to leave her husband. She is in the queue at the bank when the man behind her robs the bank and takes her hostage. As she is forced to travel with him she reflects on her life, her family and marriage. Tyler writes so well about how people don't feel they fit into society. It is a very simple story, not long, but I really felt as if I knew Charlotte and the people she lives with, they are so well described.

Not sure what I am going to read next. I have two Mary Beard books - one on Pompeii - waiting to be read so it might be some non fiction for a change.

Commenting on the discussion upthread I wasn't that bothered by A Dance to the Music of Time books. I read the first couple but haven't rushed to see out the next one although I know the library has them.

74. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
    Even better the second time around. Read poor dear Amelia in a very different light. Funny how that happens sometimes on a reread.

75. The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien (Audiobook narrated by Rob Inglis)
    Just as good the, hmm, no idea, 20th maybe 30th time around. Lost count a long time ago. This is my first time listening to the unabridged audio books (on long car journeys en famille). They’ve not captured my dd's hearts like they did mine, for which I am a little sad. I guess Harry Potter has done for them like for Tolkien did for me and dh.

I keep falling behind on keeping my list updated.

58 The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes
A book group pick. Retired man is forced to confront his youth and re-examine his own interpretation of events when he gets an unexpected inheritance. I saw the film when it came out a year or two ago (Jim Broadbent was excellent), which slightly ruined the book for me, as it meant I knew all the facts from the start, rather than muddling through with the narrator trying to make sense of his own past and the sudden upending of what he thought he knew.

59 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
My other book group's pick. You've probably all read this by now so no point in doing a plot summary. This was OK for a quick and easy read, but I was underwhelmed and found Eleanor a very unconvincing character. You could see most of the plot coming a mile off; there was only one minor surprise at the end for me, and that was only because I assumed the extremely-unlikely-sounding phone calls were a symptom of bad writing/plotting, not a deliberate ploy. There were some funny parts, in a kind of 'martian poetry', human-behaviour-as-observed-by-an-alien sort of way, but it was very uneven.

60 The Lonely City - Olivia Laing
I should have paid more attention to this book's subtitle, "Adventures in the art of being alone", or maybe they should have put the word 'art' in capital letters, as this was much more of an examination of the lives and work of various lonely New York artists than I was expecting. There are long chapters about Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol and several less well-known figures of the New York art scene in the mid/late 20th century. This was all interspersed with Laing's description of her own life and loneliness in New York, but made it a much more narrowly-focused book than I had anticipated. Still worth reading for interesting observations on the psychology of loneliness, and the NY art world.

31. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday
This was a surprising read for me. To be fair I'd heard nothing about the actual story line prior to getting it in a book swap but found the title intriguing.
A tired, sad, fisheries scientist gets embroiled in a Sheik's crazy plan to introduce salmon fishing in the Yemen. Let madness and mayhem commence.

Has anyone read anything else by this author?

Thanks exexpat I have ordered Overstory from the library (long wait) and have made a note of those to look out for. I like science/nature threads in novels. It looks like a couple
of his older ones are coming through on the Kindle, I guess because he made the shortlist!

Everything I Never Told You is 99p on the Kindle today for those who liked Little Fires.

Fab! Many thanks for the heads up Satsuki. Have just bought Everything I never told you :)

Ooh thanks Satsuki