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.

39. Ulverton - Adam Thorpe

An epic novel which tells the story of a Berkshire village from the 1600s to the 1980s through the voices of its inhabitants, taking in the huge changes to rural society along the way as it weaves the stories of the village families along with its myths and legends. I really enjoyed this and would recommend to anyone fancying a 'big' read.

122. Lethal White - Robert Galbraith This was long and there were moments when he could have done with a more ruthless editor. However I really enjoyed it. Rowling can tell a tale and it's the first book in a long time that I have read with that 'I want to get to the end but I don't want it to stop' vibe. Over 600 pages and I read it in a manically busy week at work. Speaks for itself .

159. The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous by Jilly Cooper

I’ve read this a few times, but listened to this on audible as they’ve just released Jilly’s books on audio. I think this is my favourite of hers although it is a close run thing with Rivals and Appassionata.

160. Take Nothing With You by Patrick Gale

Eustace is in his 50s and has become ill. The book is set a bit in the present but is mainly looking back at his teenage years in the 1970s, learning the cello and coming to terms with his sexuality. There is a lot in there about playing the cello so if you’re not particularly interested in the technicalities of music you might not find this interesting but I liked it. I understand this book is a bit autobiographical hence all the music references (I know Gale plays in an orchestra). I enjoyed this and am still thinking about Eustace a few days later.

I am really enjoying Lethal White. I don’t want to get to the end either.

Pleased you are enjoying it best - not sure why said 'he' meant 'it' . Like I said long week.

I have Lethal White on hold at the library and I can't wait. Haven't updated for ages. Latest few:

25. Mount, by Jilly Cooper. Oh dear. I really love Jilly, and like Chessie, Rivals is one of my favourites so I was really looking forward to a Taggie & Rupert read. I would say I enjoyed about half of this book but there was quite a bit of casual racism and sexism played for laughs that genuinely shocked me. I don't remember her previous books being like this so I'm not sure if it's selective memory on my part or not.

26. Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett (Re-read). I'm not sure if we're supposed to count re-reads or not but it's many years since I first read this so I don't feel too guilty. Really enjoyable book featuring Discworld's witches, with a story of what the Elves are really like. I love the way he plays with myths and legends and Granny Weatherwax is my hero so meeting up with this book again was very enjoyable.

27. Conversations With Friends, by Sally Rooney. Much reviewed on this thread so I don't have much to add, except to say that for the first third of the book I thought "I don't get it and I don't care about any of these people", and then I suddenly got really involved in it and was sad when it ended. Will definitely read her next one.

28. Soho Dead, by Greg Keen I think I bought this in a 99p deal and it's a good detective/ investigator novel if you like that sort of thing (which I do, very much). A disreputable investigator is hired by his former gangster boss to track down his missing daughter. Set in Soho, which in all its seediness and splendour is treated as another character in the book.

29. Soho Ghosts, by Greg Keen Next in the series. Again very enjoyable although I would probably have done better to space these out a little.

30. Our House, by Louise Candlish Bought at the airport and devoured in more or less one go on my flight. A woman arrives home one day to find strangers moving into her house - which is not for sale. I found it taughtly written and an extremely easy but gripping read. Oh, and with a twist at the end that really was genuinely startling.

31. Black Widow, by Christopher Brookmyre. I love Chris Brookmyre's books - this is one of the Parlabane series. A couple marry, but when he disappears six months later, his sister asks Parlabane to investigate whether his death is more murder than accident. I didn't love the 'reveal' on this one but it's very well written and cleverly plotted.

32. Celine, by Peter Heller (Re-read). I only read this last year but I adored it and recommended it to a friend. He didn't like it so I had to re-read to find out if on a second reading I agreed with him - I didn't. Celine, an aristocratic artist turned investigator, is hired to look into a photographer's death in Yellowstone, where he was supposedly killed by a grizzly bear. Some of the more far-fetched plot points in this turn out to be inspired by the real life of the author's mother, who sounds like an absolutely fascinating character.

Sorry for the somewhat epic update, will post more frequently for the rest of the year!

44. The Colour Purple by Alice Walker.

An Audible purchase narrated by the author, I was a bit sceptical about the author rather than an actor narrating
but Alice Walker was great. Although I’ve seen the film, it was 15 to 20 years ago so I only remembered snippets of the story. Set from the 1930s, it follows primarily the life of Celie, an African American woman, and her close family through the medium of a series of letters. Evocative of the South, what it was like to be poor and black, love, forgiveness and suffering, essentially what it is to be human. Excellent.

“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder, to ask. And then in wondering about the big things and asking about the big things, you learn about the little ones almost by accident but you never know nothin more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, he say, the more I love.”

76. Robin Lane Fox - Pagans and Christians

Or, to give it's full title, Pagans and Christians in the Mediterranean World from the Second Century AD to the Conversion of Constantine. Very interesting although a bit dense. It has taken me ages to read this one!

Basically, it's examining pagan civil life in the Roman world, whether there had been a decline in belief in the Roman and Greek gods (apparently not) before the rise of Christianity and whether there was major growth in the numbers of Christian believers before Constantine converted and so influenced huge numbers of people in the Empire. Although there were increasing numbers of Christians prior to his conversion it would not seem to have been on its way to becoming the dominant religion by any stretch. There appears to have been an increase in the activity and consultation of the various oracles in the 2nd century, for example, and it was fascinating to me just how many there actually were. You mainly hear about Delphi and maybe one or two other significant ones. The various persecutions of the Christians are looked at, as well as the behaviour of the martyrs and the views of the developing church, and indeed the development of the church with its various internal arguments, schisms, and councils.

So it is an interesting read, it's just that there's such a lot to get through!

Noodle I totally agree with you about Mount. I read it as my holiday read but was really disappointed (however, it is years since I last read one of hers).

64. Faking Friends by Jane Fallon

Actress Amy takes a surprise trip home to London from her job in New York, only to discover that her fiancé Jack has been living with another woman in her absence - her best friend Melissa.

And while Jack and Melissa don’t know that Amy knows, Amy is out for revenge.

An entertaining read, although the last exchange between Amy andMelissa didn’t really seem consistent with the way Melissa’s character had been presented before then.

After two long books I positively zipped through

42. You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke.

An enjoyable chiller and a clever idea, although I guessed what was coming before the end, albeit not the precise motivation. Writing a bit laboured in places but definitely made me want to read to the end.

Wilderness, Jilly is my go-to for comfort reads so I think I'll just pretend I never read Mount and stick to the older books when I need them

Jilly’s earlier books are definitely the best! From Pandora onwards are weaker as far as I’m concerned (Jump! was ok). I did like the bit in Mount! where all the old characters popped up again at a party so you got to find out what had happened to them.

For anyone that likes crime novels about serial killers who kill their victims in elaborate ways (think Seven rather than Midsummer Murders ), lots of Richard Montanari’s Byrne and Balzano novels are in the Kindle daily deal, and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read of his, mostly gruesome murders with a strong Catholic flavour. I’m sitting on my hands despite being tempted so hoping I can buy books vicariously through you guys.

Well, Remus, I hope my friend feels differently! She's already dubious about my recommendations after I urged her to read The Stand and she ploughed through it before throwing it on the table in the pub declaring it "dumb with an even dumber ending" (she may be right about the ending...). This could be the end of a beautiful book sharing relationship if I get this wrong.

Meanwhile...

103 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I did it! It took weeks. And weeks. And weeks. I think perhaps that was part of the problem - I had no idea who everyone was because most of them had the same name, and any coherence to the plot got lost in between reads. Despite all the whimsy and oddness, and beautiful leopards and terrible deaths, it was quite charming in the end and I didn't hate it. I just felt quite bemused. I wonder if it would have been better if I'd been stoned. I wouldn't rule out rereading it in the future, and there were lines that made me laugh and laugh.

104 From Source to Sea by Tom Chesshyre
Man walks from the source of the Thames to its mouth. I've walked the Thames Path in the other direction so it was comfortingly familiar. And a comfortably entertaining and diverting read. I particularly enjoyed his accounts of the different lime and sodas he drank along the way.

105 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I finally finished this also, having kicked off several months ago, had a burst of enthusiasm then a lull. Anyway, I was travelling for work last week so used the downtime to power through the last third or so. It was...a struggle, although I do enjoy Tolstoy’s voice and way of thinking about the world. But Anna was deeply tiresome. I would reread War and Peace in a heartbeat. This is one for the “glad I’ve read it and don’t have to again” pile. I realise I may be a bit of an outlier in this regard.

She doesn't like The Stand?! What's the friendship equivalent of LTB?

I like The Stand a lot, but that whole hand of God thing near the end was a bit silly TBF.

Yes Chessie, the old ones are the best - guessing you're a fan of Polo?

I have been missing off a few threads as life just seemed to get in the way. Still been reading and have just started book number 50. Off now to catch up and no doubt add a lot more onto my wish list.

(1) Witch is When Life Got Complicated by Adele Abbott
(2) Witch is Where It All Began by Adele Abbott
(3) Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller
(4) Die Last by Tony Parsons
(5) Restaurant Babylon by Imogen Edwards Jones
(6) The Sugar Men by Ray Kingfisher
(7) The Hospital by Barbara O'Hare
(8) Fade Out by Rachel Caine
(9) Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
(10) Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
(11) Would You Like Some Magic With That by Annie Salisbury
(12) The Ride Delegate by Annie Salisbury
(13) The Magdalen Laundries by Lisa Michelle Odgaard
(14) Just What Kind of Mother Are You by Paula Daly
(15) Amber Earns Her Ears by Amber Michelle Sewell
(16) Breathe by Sarah Crossan
(17) Kiss of Death by Rachel Caine
(18) Ghost Town by Rachel Caine
(19) A Pocketful of Holes and Dreams by Jeff Pearce
(20) Dead Man Running by Martin McGartland
(21) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
(22) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
(23) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
(24) Cell 7 by Kerry Drewery
(25) Day 7 by Kerry Drewery
(26) Final 7 by Kerry Drewery
(27) Unwind by Neal Shusterman
(28) Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
(29) Unsouled by Neal Shusterman
(30) Sleepers by Lorenzo Caraterra
(31) The Plane That Wasn't There by Jeff Wise
(32) Why Was Queen Victoria Such A Prude by David Haviland
(33) Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds by Nick Albert
(34) Bite Club by Rachel Caine
(35) The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks
(36) Cast Member Confidential by Chris Mitchell
(37) Marked by Rachel Caine
(38) Betrayed by Rachel Caine
(39) Denali's Howl by Andy Hall
(40) A Year In Treblinka by Jankiel Wiernik
(41) The Pharmacist of Auschwitz by Patricia Posner
(42) No Further Questions by Gillian McAllister
(43) The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
(44) Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen
(45) Auld Hands by Tom Thompson
(46) Chosen by PC and Kristin Cast
(47) Lost At Sea by Jon Ronson
(48) The Party by Robyn Harding
(49) The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

The hand of God was a bit ridiculous but I forgive it each time I read it because of what comes before. But yes,Remus, we are on shaky ground. I hope Longbourne doesn't finish us off.

The Stand is the only Stephen King book I've read and I loved it. I'm wary of the horror ones. Any recommendations for other King books that are more like The Stand and less like It?

45. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne. This follows the life of Cyril Avery, and what it was like to grow up as a homosexual in Ireland in the 1950s/60s. It's been recommended on this thread by several people, and I loved it. Apologies for the cliché, but I can honestly say it both made me laugh out loud and brought tears to my eyes.

WelshWabbit, I'd suggest 11.22.63. It's absolutely not horror (though I'd argue very few of King's books are pure horror - even IT is much more than just scares). It's about time travel and the Kennedy assassination, and is a terrific story, well told. Also Misery (horrifying, though not horror as such) and Under the Dome which has a silly ending but is otherwise a bit Stand-like in the way it has multiple characters and stories dealing with a single disaster.

123. The reading cure: How books restored my appetite- Laura Freeman This was an incredible book. The author details her 15 year long battle with anorexia, having been diagnosed at 15. She talks about how reading sustained her when she was bed ridden and incapable of sleeping due to the incredible hunger she was feeling. Her descriptions of what the illness feels like are poignant. She likens anorexia to the Jabberwocky, and through reading about food slowly fights against it. Her progress is torturous and slow with many ups and downs. The uprise of healthy eating, fad diets and the trend for 'free from' foods suddenly reawakens and validates the voice of anorexia and triggers the third major crisis of her illness. Her diet is still restricted, each new food has to be planned in advance and she cannot overcome her terror of eating chocolate.
I have a very close family member who has suffered with anorexia for longer than the author of this book and who is currently in crisis. Although this was a painful read at times, it was also illuminating and heart warming to hear that it is possible to beat back the voices of anorexia.
Would recommend.

32. The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
My knowledge of the bible is fairly ropey and I generally shy away from 'religious reads' but I was totally absorbed by this reinvention of Dinah's story. Rich characters, love stories, tragedy and the power of women. FAB!