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.

1. I Love Dick by Chris Kraus
2. The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy

3.Game of Thrones 1 by George R R Martin

1. The Nix by Nathan Hill

5. This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson 6. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent 7. Mariana by Monica Dickens

1. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

9. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 10. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers 11. You Play The Girl by Carina Chocano 12. Heartstone by CJ Sansom 13. Life Moves Pretty Fast by Hadley Freeman 14. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson 15. The Happy Prisoner by Monica Dickens 16. The Wild Other by Clover Stroud 17. My Favourite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris 18. Enigma by Robert Harris 19. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron 20. The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie 21. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood 22. You Think It I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

Updated reviews in next post.

Latest read is:

67. Stephen Fry - Mythos Re-telling of the Greek myths in a light style, with the occasional brief footnote, usually about how a certain name and attendant myth has come down into the English language. It's good fun.

The rest of my list is:

1. Stephanie Garber - Caraval
2. Jo Nesbo - The Thirst
3. Mercedes Lackey - Magic’s Pawn
4. Mercedes Lackey - Magic’s Promise
5. Mercedes Lackey - Magic’s Price
6. Neil Gaiman - Norse Mythology
7. Lee Child - No Middle Name
8. Sue Lloyd-Roberts - The War on Women
9. Genevieve Cogman - The Lost Plot

10. Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory 11. Mercedes Lackey - Arrows of the Queen 12. Mercedes Lackey - Arrow’s Flight 13. Mercedes Lackey - Arrow’s Fall 14. Lucinda Riley - The Shadow Sister 15. Susan Hill - The Travelling Bag 16. Charlaine Harris - Midnight Crossroad 17. Trudi Canavan - Thief’s Magic 18. Sarah Bakewell - At the Existentialist Café 19. Ernest Cline - Ready Player One 20. Virginia Woolf - Orlando 21. Jordan B. Peterson - 12 Rules for Life 22. Mary Beard - Women & Power A Manifesto 23. Laini Taylor - Dreams of Gods and Monsters 24. Sergei Lukyanenko - The Sixth Watch 25. Cordelia Fine - Delusions of Gender 26. Natasha Pulley - The Watchmaker of Filigree Street 27. Ben Aaronovitch - The Furthest Station 28. Val McDermid - Insidious Intent 29. Oscar de Muriel - A Mask of Shadows 30. Andrew Taylor - The Ashes of London 31. Andrew Caldecott - Rotherweird 32. Ali Shaw - The Trees 33. David Lagercrantz - The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye 34. Lee Child - The Midnight Line 35. Hannah Kent - The Good People 36. Kelley Armstrong - Dime Store Magic 37. Kelley Armstrong - Industrial Magic 38. Tom Holland - In the Shadow of the Sword 39. Naomi Novik - Crucible of Gold 40. Naomi Novik - Blood of Tyrants 41. Naomi Novik - League of Dragons 42. Jean M. Auel - The Clan of the Cave Bear 43. Alex Grecian - Lost and Gone Forever 44. JD Oswald - Dreamwalker 45. John Le Carré – A Legacy of Spies 46. JD Oswald - The Rose Cord 47. VE Schwab - A Gathering of Shadows 48. Kim Newman - Angels of Music 49. Tom Holland - Athelstan: The Making of England 50. George Mann - Ghosts of Empire 51. Albert Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus 52. Kim Harrison - The Turn 53. Robert Harris - Conclave 54. Alan Garner - Boneland 55. Ragnar Jónasson - The Darkness 56. Max Adams - Ælfred’s Britain 57. Benedict Jacka - Marked 58. Carolyne Larrington - The Land of the Green Man 59. Edward de Bono - How to Have a Beautiful Mind 60. Kim Newman - Anno Dracula: One Thousand Monsters 61. Charlaine Harris - Sweet and Deadly 62. Sarah Hawkswood - Ordeal By Fire 63. Attica Locke - Bluebird, Bluebird 64. VE Schwab - A Conjuring of Light 65. Pierce Brown - Iron Gold 66. Evelyn Waugh - Scoop

38. Guilt - Amanda Robson This was poo. A library one that I almost feel guilty including as I skim read the entire thing after the first few chapters. The story of two twin sisters and the man that comes between them with fatal consequences- the female characters are really quite one dimensional, the guy such a pantomime villain as to be laughable and the writing style was contrived. Do not recommend.

Bringing over my list - things I loved in bold, stinkers in italics.

1. Two Kinds of Truth, by Michael Connolly
2. In a Dark, Dark Wood, by Ruth Ware

3. Logical Family, by Armistead Maupin

1. Startup, by Doree Shafrir
2. My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand
3. American Heiress, by Jeffrey Toobin
4. The Child, Fiona Barton
5. Cold Blood, by Robert Bryndza

9. Missing, Presumed, by Susie Steiner 10. Persons Unknown, by Susie Steiner 11. The Lying Game, by Ruth Ware 12. Deadly Secrets, by Robert Bryndza 13. Theft by Finding; Diaries 1977-2002, by David Sedaris 14. The Past, by Tessa Hadley 15. Neon in Daylight, by Hermione Hoby 16. New People, by Danzy Senna 17. An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones 18. Cringeworthy, Melissa Dahl 19. The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer 20. Who Thought This was a Good Idea, by Alyssa Mastromonaco 21. Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, by Dan Harris 22. Sweet Caress, by William Boyd

And a couple of updates:

23. The Culture Code, by Daniel Cole I read this for work; it's about how culture make teams and groups work successfully together. It could have been a bit dry but ended up being a great read - a thoughtful thesis and masses of research, supported by really interesting stories and examples from teams ranging from medical teams to Navy SEALS, Pixar and basketball players. The main thesis is that there are three components to a high-performing culture - building a sense of safety, sharing vulnerability, and establishing a sense of purpose. I'd recommend this to anyone who manages people or project teams.

24. The Female Persuasion, by Meg Wolitzer Finished this a week ago and am still thinking about it and not ready to move onto my next read (which is a pain because I'm miles behind if I want to make it to 50 books). I read The Interestings a few books back and really enjoyed it, and this was similar in how engaging it was, but I felt it was even better written - many, many turns of phrase or sentences that just shone, as well as great characterisation and a gently meandering plot. It's about Greer, who is at college when she meets Faith Frank, a famous feminist, and how this meeting changes the course of her life. If you like a lot of plot this may not be for you, but definitely one of my favourites so far this year.

55: The Pumpkin Eater - Penelope Mortimer

Read inhaled hard on the heels of her slightly earlier novel Daddy's Gone A-Hunting. An interesting exercise because there were several clear parallels between the two books, largely on account of Mortimer once again drawing extensively on her own life. But this is written in the first person so there's none of the distancing effect of the earlier novel: the narrator ('Mrs Armitage', we're never told her first name) starts out as a twice-married woman, mother of a large family - exact number of children never specified either, but a lot - and about to marry screen-writer Jake. As time passes and his success increases, wealth and purposelessness render her increasingly unhappy. When there's yet another pregnancy, Jake pressures her into an abortion and sterilisation....then there's a bombshell (and one that was exactly mirrored in Mortimer's own life). But I won't go on in case anyone else's wants to read it!
I liked this a lot but not as much as Daddy's Gone A-Hunting. The casual sexism and denigration of women - standard eary 60's fare, I suppose - was jaw-dropping and while I sincerely loathed Jake, I wanted to give the narrator a good shake too. Thanks to everyone who recommended the film, which I'm now on the hunt for.

23. The Only Story by Julian Barnes

This was a typically beautifully written meditation on love by Barnes. It tells of a precocious young man’s relationship with an older married woman, and the impact their romantic entanglement has on the whole of their lives. The perspective changes as time moves on, mirroring the changes wrought on a person by time, with the reader held increasingly at arm’s length as events too become distant. Barnes is a witty and precise observer of the details of human interaction, and the inner life of his main character is conjured with tremendous skill. This was affecting and, though not perfect, and dragging a little on the home straight, I have thought about it often since.

24. The Guns of Navarone by Alistair McClean

Fairly well paced WWII action adventure, I wasn’t gripped by it totally but it was an enjoyable time passer of the kind I like.

25. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

This won’t be for everyone but I found this an enjoyable read about what it means to live a creative life, with the author talking about how she personally has navigated the fear of failure and criticism that often stops people from living a fulfilled life, doing what they want to do, artistically or otherwise. A fun read, inspiring, interesting, and idiosyncratic. I haven’t read her famous Eat Pray Love and don’t intend to - saw the movie on tv a while back and thought it was awful - and this book loses me where it wanders into the woo, but it left me wanting to go and make something and wanting to read her novel having read about her creative process.

26. Crooked Heart by Lisa Evans

This was a charming tale of the unlikely friendship that forms between an evacuee and the grifter who takes him in. 10 year old Noel is left devastated when his life with his godmother Mattie, an eccentric and formidable former suffragette, comes to end and he is relocated out of London. Vee has a grown up son and an elderly mother to take care of and makes ends meet in whatever way she can, legit or not, and sees Noel as a method of getting an extra ration and another angle to work. This was amusingly and sharply written, and though I didn’t feel particularly invested at first in the cast of misfits, I was wiping away a tear at the end and will look out for Old Baggage which delves deeper into Mattie’s past.

27. The Soul of an Octopus

This took me ages for a slim volume but I finally settled down to finish it. An interesting book about the alien intelligence of a fascinating creature, it was a little too, erm, spiritual for want of a better word, in places to hold my attention, but I did learn a lot about Octopuses and I enjoyed the anecdotes about the author’s experiences with them.

Apologies if everyone else knew this but just discovered that the British Library has a brilliant collection of online articles on books and literature. So now completely carried away looking things up. They break things down into category by period, then when you go to the main page for a particular category such as 'Discovering 20th Century Literature' along the top are the sub-divisions and for each category the sub-division 'Articles' takes you to an alphabetical list by author, book title or theme such as 'Weimar Germany'. Some really interesting material if anyone else is interested:
www.bl.uk/discovering-literature

Noodle I have the Wolitzer on order from the library so really looking forward to its arrival now, sounds great. Satsuki the opposite, have been thinking about reading the Octopus book but doesn't sound like my thing from your review, nice to cut the TBR list down for a change, so I thank you for your service!

27. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I was prepared to not like this very much as I found the style not really to my liking; it had the feel of reportage, and was very much of the tell and not show school, which at times felt heavy handed. BUT that aside I cannot pick it apart too much in good conscience as I fairly ripped through it and found myself very interested in the plot and characters despite that (and perhaps myself!). A good read about people, class, and race and how these things intertwine.

29. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

I really enjoyed this. Well written, involving sci-fi, that manages to encompass lots of interesting ideas about humanity in a deceptively simple plot.

30. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

This is the first novel I’ve read by Barry and I’m now quite excited at the prospect of discovering the others. I have a penchant for Westerns so thought it would be right up my corral (that doesn’t really work). The narrative voice is a deftly created thing of beauty, and the stark brutality of the world is realised from the start, however I didn’t feel fully drawn in until I reached the 100 page mark when the main characters really came to life for me, and I read the last quarter in a breathless, heart-pounding rush, and finally put it down misty-eyed and slightly rattled with adrenaline. Recommend.

Thanks for the Western recommendations Dottie and Satsuki. Have added Riders of the Purple Sage to my TBR list; it looks exactly the kind of escapism I'm looking for. Also added Shane for good measure. And recently treated myself to In the Distance a new one by Hernan Diaz which has received very favourable reviews - will report back. Yes Dottie I too felt a bit demolished by Blood Meridian a tough read but worth it in retrospect.

Satsuki, Days Without End was probably my favourite read of 2017. Western with a bit of a twist, will be interested what you make of it. Have also added The Brittle Star to my TBR list it looks right up my street, so thank you.

Now all I need is some uninterrupted reading time!

Satsuki - cross posted with you about Days Without End which you've just reviewed. Yes, I almost gave up on it too! But so glad I stuck with it - a great book.

noodle I’ve ordered the Wolitzer now too.

dottie octopus had its charm but I just feel there may be better books out there on the subject matter. It was ok as an introduction but it got a bit repetitive and wishy washy and I guess the clue was there in the title.

indigo oh yes shane - watched the film so much but never got around to the book. The Searchers is good but when I went to reread last year I just didn’t seem to have the stomach for the subject and the way it was handled so left it for a bit. I also recently got Butcher’s Crossing by the man who wrote Stoner. I did really enjoy DWE by the end of it, the relationships were so subtly and gradually built up, quite wonderfully done. I will look up the other one you mentioned. Riders is pure escapism. I might plough on with Brittle Star while I’m in a prairie mood

Satsuki thanks I was tempted by the Octopus reviews but couldn't quite commit, so glad I didn't. Hadn't realised The Searchers was a book, have seen the film many, many times. Used to feel embarrassed about Westerns and slight John Wayne addiction but then read a Susan Sontag essay praising Wayne, and found out that the philosopher Wittgenstein's guilty pleasure was watching Westerns, always in the front row so could be totally immersed in the action.

Not to mention Joan Didion's paean of praise to Wayne! Anyway will look out for the book.

dottie you’re among friends here I was raised with Western movies and raiding my dad’s pulp paperbacks, so they are the ultimate comfort watch/read for me. Interesting about Wittengenstein!

*wittgenstein phone got over excited

Think Searchers is on Kindle.

Oh, yes, I know what you mean, LadyDepp. I’d been eyeing up Middlemarch as my Audible pick, previously put off by the 35hrs 😲 of listening. But I read an interview in the Guardian with a famous author, who said she re-read Middlemarch every year, so I thought that must be a book worth reading. Excellent narration by Juliet Stevenson by the way.

Loved your reviews, Keith. Adding Purple Hibiscus to the pile, I’ve enjoyed Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun in the past.

Late to the vote but Jane Eyre for me, too.

Gulp, hope you both like the Wolitzer Dottie and Satsuki, I'm feeling the pressure now .

I've read a few reviews where people feel that it didn't go enough into feminist theory and the conflict between 2nd/3rd/4th gen feminists, but that was fine with me as I was much more interested in the characters and their relationships than with the feminist aspect of the book (which was just a bonus really). I think she's a fabulous writer and I'll certainly be reading some more of her back catalogue.

Withering Heights for me! One of my favourite books.

Haven’t updated for ages so will do so tonight and bring list over too.

Or Wuthering Heights even.

Withering Heights would be a completely different sort of book.....

Just getting started!

Satsuki if you do want to read Eat, Pray, Love, rest assured that it is much better than the film - especially the third set in India, which involved a lot of mediation and self-discovery that would be very hard to reflect accurately in a film.

tara oh I might if I see it then. She writes quite amusingly about it in Big Magic - how she got equal parts hate and love for it, other books that she worked equally hard on and was equally invested in didn’t get any attention etc, and so the reason for doing anything cannot be based on the outcome. I do want to read The Signature of All Things now having read about her research and inspiration. Despite being called “Big Magic” the magic is actually in sitting down and producing something - inspiration exists but it has to find you working.

noodle it had better be good I’ve been hovering around it for a while, your review tipped me into reserving it

noodle I really liked The Female Persuasion too. It was a much more character driven book than I was expecting and I really enjoyed the examination of the relationship between a mentor/mentee. Will definitely be reading more Wolitzer in the future.

Busily watching North and South on Netflix. I haven't seen it before; I thought I had. It wa son around when DS2 was born so I may have been exhausted busy.

It really is nothing like the book! And Daniela Denby Ashe is too sweet and pretty for Margaret really.