50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Eight

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth (and probably final) 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 and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.The lurkers among you are also very welcome to come out of the woodwork and share with us 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, the sixth one here and the seventh one here.

How have you got on this year?

Not to worry; I’m fairly robust!
The fantasy element was a little silly, I agree. And I certainly don’t think the characterisation was anything like as good as King. But I did think the “what would happen in the event of nuclear holocaust” scenario was really well done - no one even attempted to get the lights back on, but just reverting to scavenging and grotting around in the dust.
I’d be interested in other recommendations that you think are better, though. It’s not a genre I know that well - apart from a handful of books read a while ago - but there’s something about bleak and dogged survival against all the odds I find quite appealing at the moment. Maybe it’s the thought of picking up some post-Brexit survival tips

Good Apocalyptic/Post-apocalyptic books I can recommend:

World War Z by Max Brooks

Flood by Stephen Baxter

Seveeneves by Neal Stephenson

The Passage by Justin Cronin

SF is a genre that I like very much and have read loads in, which is why I can be hard to please. In particular, I hate YA rubbish where good people are 100% good and pretty/handsome while bad ones are 100% bad and ugly as hell.

I like stories with great world building, where the author has thought long and hard about plausible scenarios about how and why the sort of world he is describing might actually come about. I can forgive shortcomings in character development and literary ability if the story is good and details are plausible, but I can't forgive superficial nonsense like Station Eleven, The Girl With All The Gifts, and Swan Song.

Thanks - I loved World War Z when I read it this summer, and did not like two out of the three books you didn’t like (we can disagree on Swan Song ). I will check out the others you recommend; a friend raves about The Passage so perhaps I should try that.

42. Split Second by David Baldacci

A presidential candidate is assassinated, ruining the career of the secret service agent who was protecting him at the time. Year later, another is abducted and there are clues suggesting that the two are linked.

This started out well and got pretty interesting at one point but then got really convoluted and silly. Baldacci's books no literary masterpieces but they are usually much better than this.

Having been quite disappointed with recent Kindle monthly deals, I've had a bit of a feast this month.

Three were already on my wishlist - Help me: One woman's quest to find out if self-help can change her life, because I read an excerpt of it in a magazine and it made me laugh; Blue: A Memoir, which I think might have been recommended on this thread, and Sorcerer to the Crown which has been on my wishlist for an absolute age, since I heard the author on an episode of late night Woman's Hour.

I also grabbed The Immortalists which I'd borrowed from the library but didn't manage to read before it had to go back, and The Vanity Fair Diaries because there's nothing I love more than gossipy diaries, except possibly gossipy diaries that involve the magazine industry.

I've sort of given up on the Kindle monthly sales because they've been so poor recently, but I did notice - because it's been on my wishlist for ages - that Karoo by Steve Tesich is down to £1.99.

If anyone else, like me, listens faithfully to A Good Read on R4 and finds themselves suddenly wanting all sorts of new books as a result, this is one that was discussed a while ago. I seem to recall it divided the panel and seems to be a real 'love or hate' book but I'm going to give it a go.

I started City Of Mirrors (The Passage #3) and realized I have completely forgotten the plot of the 2 previous books in the trilogy I've been reading their summaries on Wikipedia.

Moral of the story: Don't wait 2 years for a book's price to drop to 99p, lest you get no pleasure from reading it.

De-lurking (again) to say that I have just finished Seveneves and it is without a doubt book of the year for me. I loved that it was totally plausible & found Part 3 very thought provoking.

Hello, long time lurker here. I was on course for 50 books in 2018 but my reading practically stopped in September due to illness unfortunately. Looking to get back on the wagon now, is it ok if I post a belated list?

*The reading wagon that is

Hi cakemonger. Sorry to hear you weren’t well. Are you feeling better now? I think we are all very relaxed about the “rules” here and everyone is welcome, so post away! And welcome!

Much better PepeLePew, thank you for asking. Here's my list (favourites in bold, stinkers in italics):

1. Brooklyn, Colm Toibin – just ok, the film was better in my opinion (I hardly ever say this). The writing was soooo spare and soooo gentle it almost felt that there was no authorial voice at all.
2. The Witchfinder’s Sister, Beth Underdown
3. The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert – Read due to rave reviews but found it strangely flat. Learned some interesting things about the period but never cared that much about the characters. There was a LOT about moss
4. Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert
5. Keeping on Keeping on, Alan Bennett
6. Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys – vivd, original and disturbing; I found the writing style difficult, but am glad of the new perspective on Jane Eyre
7. The Dry, Jane Harper
8. Educated, Tara Westover – amazing, life affirming; my book of the year
9. The Lie of the Land, Amanda Craig

10. Fates and Furies, Lauren Groff – I found this pretentious, didn’t enjoy it at all. 11. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte 12. This Must be the Place, Maggie O’Farrell – my first Maggie O’Farrell and I was underwhelmed. Planning to read her much loved earlier books and hopefully see what the fuss is about. 13. Dissolution, C J Sansom – enjoyed this, a gentle read, looking forward to the rest of the series when I can fit it in 14. Darkness Visible, William Styron – exceptionally vivid account of depression and mental illness 15. Spain, Jan Morris – outdated but enjoyed it for the language. Want to read her famous book about Venice next 16. Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney – very readable and perceptive but overhyped I thought 17. My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout – liked this a lot 18. Delusions of Gender, Cordelia Fine – fascinating, challenged my preconceptions, highly recommend 19. The Whole Woman, Germaine Greer - ye gods this was bad 20. The Year of Living Danishly, Helen Russell 21. Giving up the Ghost: A Memoir, Hilary Mantel 22. A Place to Live: selected essays, Natalia Ginzburg 23. The Winterlings, Cristina Sanchez-Andrade – enjoyed this, it has the feeling of a folk tale 24. Stay With Me, Ayobami Adebayo – very interesting on political instability in Nigeria in the 1980s. I wouldn’t say I was gripped; it was more of a gentle, sad read. 25. The Past, Tessa Hadley – my first Tessa Hadley and a bit dull. Again, I did not see what all the fuss was about - I need to read more of her writing. 26. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – liked this a lot, charming and quirky as well as being epic and satisfying 27. Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life, Yiyun Li – quite dull to be honest 28. Notes from an Exhibition, Patrick Gale – gave up 2/3 of the way through, dull and depressing 29. The Ode Less Travelled, Stephen Fry – a sort of teacherly ‘poetry for beginners’. Enjoyed this and learnt a lot. Wouldn’t recommend to someone who already knows their stuff however, feel it could be a tad hectoring

I seem to have had quite a few misses this year - things that just didn't live up to the hype.

On a separate note, I detested Karoo and regretted reading it. I was also underwhelmed by the Nora Ephron book mentioned earlier, although I have retained a quote from it which helps me to this day: 'People have only one way to be'.

I should say that I'm in awe of the quality of the reviews on this thread. I only seem to be able to muster a few words on each book!

Glad you're feeling better, Cakemonger, and thanks for adding your list. Interesting to hear you hated Karoo I've bitten the bullet and bought it so I'll see what camp I fall into.

Just got the sample of Seveneves.

Hi, Cake. Glad you're feeling better and glad you've delurked before the new year and a new list!

I also hated Karoo, as did my entire book club. I couldn’t finish it it was so toe-splayingly awful. Couldn’t believe my ears when I heard it being reviewed on a Good Read, seriously wondered if we’d read the same book.

106: Oranges for Christmas - Margarita Morris

I think this was recommended by somebody on here ages ago, and it came up in the Kindle sale. It’s set in Berlin at the time the wall goes up, and follows a family who are divided with mum and two daughters in the east and son in the west.

It was okay. I liked recognising lots of the streets and events, and the dual narration of older sister and brother worked pretty well.

However, it was also quite clunky – the writer made a number of famous photographs/events of divided Berlin be seen by the central character, despite the fact that it’s pretty incredible to think they’d be just in the right place at the right time for so many of them. Quite a lot of it was very predictable too. It was also entirely in the present tense, and regular readers will know exactly how I feel about that.

I've just finished book 45* - what are the chances of my making it to 50 by the end of December?

• The silence of the girls by Pat Barker, which was excellent. Particularly enjoyable if you've read Song of Achilles.

Just adding books 44 and 45 below and like hackmum wondering if I will manage to get to 50 by the end of the month!

44. I Don’t Know How She Does It – Allison Pearson - this was a re-read for me as I read it when I first came out and was trying to juggle a job in the City and young children so it resonated strongly at the time. Re-read because the author is speaking at an event I am attending soon. I think it's stood the test of time quite well - there are still some bits I found very relatable and amusing. However, I don't think the City is as male dominated now as it was when this was originally published. Entertaining.

45. The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne - fairly sure this has already had many recommendations and reviews on here. So, I will be brief - I loved it!

Five more to go....

37. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

A perfect murder takes place on the Orient Express - everyone has an alibi, so nobody can be the killer. Pacy throughout and keeps you guessing to the end with a few nuggets so you think you've worked out whodunit, only to be very wrong.

I loved this. I wanted a quick easy read. I read all the Marples about 15 years ago, but never fancied the Poirots for some reason. This was perfect, I had forgotten how good Christie is.

Hi to all the new posters and all those quiet Lurkers out there! From the latest reviews I’ve added Seveneves and Delusions of Gender to my To-Read List.

Cake, I’m looking forward to reading Educated. It’s sitting on my Kindle but I’m just in the mood for easy reading books atm, any more challenging reads are via Audible, until the New Year and a new list begins.

Here are my latest two reads:

51. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. Audible.

I really liked this story told from the point of view of five characters. Passionate, relevant and modern, there is classic-style family tragedy so I was not surprised to read that the author was strongly influenced by the Greek tale of Antigone (which I promptly Googled). Really very good.

52. The History of Britain in 21 Women by Jenni Murray.

Concise biographies of 21 preeminent women from Bodacea to the present day. I agree with a previous reviewer that the title is misleading as the 21 women featured are women who have inspired Jenni Murray, who she admires and feels have improved the lot of women in Britain, moving closer to gender equality. A very personal choice then; most of the women she chose from the last 100 years are/were involved in politics and I would have liked to read about a successful scientist or sportswoman.

Scribbly I honestly felt tainted by Karoo. I have a low tolerance for extreme bleakness and books about middle aged men ruining other people's lives and not learning anything (this is partly why I hated Fates and Furies also). Good luck Terpsichore!

hackmum You can totally do it! I can't wait to read the Silence of the Girls and also Circe - I loved Song of Achilles. Waiting for the paperbacks.

Thanks Remus. I'm due a good reading year after so many misses in 2018.

Thanks all for the good wishes - what a nice thread.

Meg, I also read and loved Castle. I very much admire Shirley Jackson's work.

Shakeitoff Educated was just astonishing. I felt so uplifted by the end and have a huge amount of respect for the author. I plan to reread at some point.

Home Fire is on my list.

There was a LOT about moss
You only needed a few words to tell me everything I needed to know, Cake!

Any and all lurkers are welcome to join in - if you've read a book, you've earned your stripes as far as I'm concerned.