50 Book Challenge 2018 Part Nine

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth (and definitely final) thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge was to read fifty books (or more!) in 2018, though reading fifty wasn't mandatory. 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, the seventh one here and the eighth one here.

How have you got on this year? Feel free to list your stats, full lists, favourites and disappointments!

I agree with you, satsuki. The book club reversion to the mean is one of the reasons I stopped going to mine. Some books are deservedly popular and get lots of publicity because of it but in an attempt to please everyone at ours we always defaulted back to the Richard and Judy-type "book of the month". Which was sometimes successful and rarely terrible but usually quite forgettable.

I've just started Severance by Ling Ma. An interesting mix so far of apocalypse zombies and millennial angst in New York. Hoping it will turn out to be one of the good ones; it appeared on a couple of "best of" lists I read.

My last book of 2018 now, unless I somehow manage to speedread another in the course of today (unlikely):

83: The Greedy Queen - Annie Gray

A marvellous read for the post-Christmas period because this treasure-trove of a book about the gargantuan meals served at Queen Victoria's table would reassure anyone worried about Christmas overindulgence that they'd barely eaten a thing.

Annie Gray pops up frequently on TV and radio as one of those ubiquitous 'food historians' (how do you get to be one? I'd have LOVED to be one!) but she's one of the best and this book is great.

The depth of research is impressive but not dry, and she paints a wholly sympathetic portrait of Victoria as a person who loved food, took a lively interest in it, ate with gusto and employed an army of kitchen staff to produce meals of the utmost refinement - as you'd expect from a major royal house. If you're interested in domestic history this is a really good read.

While I'm here, a couple of stats for the year based on my 83 books: female writers - almost 47%. Non-fiction - 27%. Read on my kindle app (on iPad): 21%

I'd like to read more non-fiction next year. And get to 100 books.

Sorry to spam the thread but just saw the comments about book clubs and wanted to agree. I'm in one but although I moan freely about it (see threads passim) we do at least get choices that are a bit out of the usual mould (having said that, we've had ' The Help' and 'One Day', both of which I think of as classic book club reads).

However, a charity shop local to me has a continuous display of 'book club books' - multiple copies of exactly the books you'd expect, generally in the editions with suggested topics for discussion in the back. Bit depressing when this thread proves what infinite variety there is out there.

museum Private Peaceful is very sad : much better for year 8 or 9, but schools are forced to be obsessed with 'preparing for GCSE' these days so will probably be doing Frankenstein and Macbeth by year 9 and watching 15 rated gore fest adaptations sigh

I have put my foot down about my school doing Of Mice and Men in year 9 after it was booted off at GCSE. It is too violent, too depressing, too (possibly) misogynistic and brutishly racist characters abound, never mind the language. These things make for very interesting discussion at year 11 ; in year 9 it just made my DS sob. Although he certainly remembers it more than any other books he has read at school, along with Animal Farm (which also made him cry)

A good Morpurgo for year 7 is A Medal for Leroy which sort of tells the story of Walter Tull, this dealing with heroism and the overlooked contirbution of black soldiers in an accessible fashion. It is also sad , but not bleak.

Keeper was a book club suggestion as well. I remember coming on to this thread to ask was it really as awful as I thought it was. Truly terrible.

museum I think private peaceful is a standard text for our S1. I certainly know that I have seen work related up on our walls frequently. It is certainly worth discussing what work they do around the text to support kids with it and how they intend to support your son specifically.

Pepe Richard Judy books were our staple, we also seem to read a lot of 'what's 99p on Kindle' (don't get me started!). We do have choices but there seem to restrictions - "nothing too long" being one. 'Too long' seems to be over 200 pages!
I love this thread but I do like to actually 'talk' to people about books. This is what I hoped to get from book club but sadly not.

Piggy and Passme thanks for your comments on Private Peaceful. P7 seems to be all about preparation for transition to S1, but that seems to extend to covering books and topics that require a level of maturity that would be best left until they get there. DS has been off school for most of December ( not entirely unrelated to the above, he just can't cope) so the book came to him 'cold' with no surrounding discussion and support. Teacher is consistently picking books that seem a stretch for the typical 11 year old never mind one that has the emotional processing skills of an angry wasp.

52. The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer
    Enjoyable tour of 14thC life.

53. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (JK Rowling)
    I wasn't sure whether to count this as I didn't bother counting 2 Enid Blytons. I read it years ago, but have the Fantasic Beasts screenplays to read so thought it would be worth having another look at first.

54. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
    Beautiful writing and snippets of fabulous. I shall now endeavour to be like Lady Henry, She was a curious woman, whose dresses always looked as if they had been designed in a rage and put on in a tempest.

Thanks for this thread southeast. I got a bit panicky as the previous one headed towards 1000 posts and we hadn't finished the year!!

This has been my first year on the thread and I didn't make the 50 book mark (see-what-I-did-there ?!). However, I have LOVED being on this thread and my TBR pile is unashamedly enormous thanks to you all :)

Here is my list from 2018 (most were good reads, one awful and several in bold that I thought were excellent)

1. Birdcage Walk - Helen Dunmore
2. Wonder - RJ Palacio
3. Why Mummy Drinks - Gill Sims
4. The Trouble with Goats and Sheep - Joanna Cannon
5. The Rosie Effect – Graeme Simpson
6. The secret life of bees – Sue Monk Kidd
7. The Cupboard - Rose Tremain
8. History of Love - Nicole Krauss

9. Two by two – Nicholas Sparks 10. Educated – Tara Westover 11. Any Human Heart - William Boyd 12. The boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne 13. Lion: A long way home – Saroo Brierley 14. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Anne-Shaffer & Annie Barrows 15. On Green Dolphin Street – Sebastian Faulks 16. A Patchwork Planet – Anne Tyler 17. The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne 18. The Endless Beach – Jenny Colgan 19. A Very Distant Shore – Jenny Colgan 20. Tin Man – Sarah Winman 21. The Talisman Ring – Georgette Heyer 22. An Equal Stillness – Francesca Kay 23. Spectacles – Sue Perkins 24. Then she was gone – Lisa Jewell 25. Dimanches d’août – Patrick Modiano 26. The Sea Lady – Margaret Drabble 27. Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng 28. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine – Gail Honeyman 29. The Snow Goose & The Small Miracle – Paul Gallico 30. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen – Paul Torday 31. The Outsiders – E H Hinton 32. The Red Tent – Anita Diamant 33. Faro’s Daughter – Georgette Heyer 34. The Pearl – John Steinbeck 35. Everything I never told you – Celeste Ng 36. Three wishes – Liane Moriarty 37. Les Fourberies de Scapin – Molière 38. Ordinary Thunderstorms – William Boyd 39. Scoop – Evelyn Waugh 40. The Cows – Dawn O’Porter 41. Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller 42. My grandmother sends her regards and apologises – Fredrik Backman 43. The girl on the train – Paula Hawkins 44. An Island Christmas – Jenny Colgan

TOP 4 (in no particular order)
Educated
The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Red Tent
The Sea Lady

Stats
64% female authors
45% paperbooks
7% non-fiction
4.5% in French
11% keeping up with my daughters’ set books for school ☺

Resolutions for 2019 - renew my library membership, read more non-fiction, more classics, more in French, more more more more reading...

The final list

1. A Wicked Deed by Susanna Gregory
2. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
3. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
4. A Masterly Murder by Susanna Gregory
5. The Graveyard of the Hesperides by Lindsey Davis
6. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
7. The Third Nero by Lindsey Davis
8. Revelation by CJ Sansom
9. Women and Power by Mary Beard

10. Why I am not a Feminist by Jessa Crispin 11. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett 12. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 13. An Order for Death by Susanna Gregory 14. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 15. The Muse by Jessie Burton 16. King Solomon’s Mines by H Rider Haggard 17. Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome 18. Different Class by Joanne Harris 19. Winter Siege by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman 20. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon 21. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks 22. The Sellout by Paul Beatty 23. Heartstone by CJ Sansom 24. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe 25. The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer 26. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 27. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger 28. A Summer of Discontent by Susanna Gregory 29. A Killer in Winter by Susanna Gregory 30. Dracula by Bram Stoker 31. The Hand of Justice by Susanna Gregory 32. The Mark of a Murderer by Susanna Gregory 33. The Tarnished Chalice by Susanna Gregory 34. To Kill or Cure by Susanna Gregory 35. 11/22/63 by Stephen King 36. A Very English Scandal by John Preston 37. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 38. Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward 39. A History of Britain in 21 Women by Jenni Murray 40. Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov 41. Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates 42. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin 43. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier 44. The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin 45. The Devil's Disciples by Susanna Gregory 46. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge 47. A Vein of Deceit by Susanna Gregory 48. Reservoir 13 by Jon Mc Gregor 49. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin 50. Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion by Michelle Dean 51. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier 52. The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer 53. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (JK Rowling) 54. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

TOP 5
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Women and Power by Mary Beard
Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Reservoir 13 by Jon Mc Gregor

STATS
Female authors 63%
Male authors 37%
Non-fiction 15%
Audiobooks 19% - much lower than last year
Ebooks 41% - I got a new tablet and decided digital isn't that bad after all.
Books by one author 20% - More variety required for next year.

I do have to say that the quality of my reading improves greatly when participating on here, this last month alone has been a vast improvement on the bulk of the year when I wandered off. Thank you for all your recommendations and reviews. I’m afraid you’ll be stuck with me again next year. I’ve got quite a list to get started with already.

I have managed 39. I knew I wouldn't manage 50 so I thought I would do 25, but I am closer to 50 than 25 so I am really pleased with myself. Here are my 39.

1.Engleby- Sebstian Faulks

1. I saw man- Owen Shears
2. To Kill a mockingbird- Harper Lee

4.The Girls- Lori Lansen

1. What a carve up – Jonathan Coe
2. Bone meal for roses- Miranda Sherry
3. A God in ruins- Kate Atkinson
4. One moment, One morning – Sarah Rayner
5. Elizabeth is missing – Emma Healy

10. The only story – Julian Barnes 11. The silent Tide – Rachel Hoare 12. A perfectly good man – Patrick Gale 13. Only time will tell- Jeffrey Archer 14. The Postmistress - Sarah Blake 15. The sins of the father- Jeffrey Archer 16. I see you- Clare Mcintosh 17. Left Bank – Kate Muir 18. Best Kept Secret- Jeffrey Archer 19. Perfect- Rachel Joyce 20. Be Careful what you wish for- Jeffrey Archer 21. The house at Riverton- Kate Morton 22. Mightier than the sword- Jeffrey Archer 23. My husbands wife – Jane Corry 24. We are all completely beside ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler 25. The only way is up – Carole Matthews 26. Number 11 – Jonathan Coe 27. The truth about goats and sheep- Joanna Cannon Tilly Grace 28. Cometh the hour- Jeffrey Archer 29. A dictionary of mutual understanding- Jackie Copleton 30. This was a man – Jeffrey Archer 31. Good Hope Road – Sarita Mandanna 32. A gate at the stairs – Lorrie Morre 33. Go set a watchman – Harper Lee 34. The Misbegotten – Katherine Webb 35. 44 Scotland Street – Alexander Mcall Smith 36. Eloise- Judy finnigan Eloise 37. The divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood – Rebecca Wells 38. Lie with me – Sabine Durrant 39. A little life - Hanya Yanagihara - current book

I am half way through A little life very harrowing but very unputdownable.

My favourites were Good Hope Road, The Divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood and What a Carve up.

I enjoyed the Jeffrey Archer clifton chronicles but got bored towards the end so was glad to finish them.

The ones that really didn't do it for me were Left Bank , Elizabeth is missing, and we are all completely beside ourselves.

This year I am looking forward to reading some more of the Scotland Street series , Eleanor Oliphant and The tattooist of Auschwitz.

I am sure his S1 teacher will be delighted museum when he or she discovers that a portion of their class has already covered the text!

Preparation should mean actual preparation. Not just getting fired into the work.

Anyway, that’s off topic

I just managed 50. I cheated slightly - yesterday I finished no 49, and realised I didn't have much time left, so downloaded the very short Women and Power by Mary Beard, and read that in a couple of hours. Worth it, though - an excellent read.

145. Rise up Women : The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes - Diane Atkinson Squeezed one more in, mainly because I had a mini strop yesterday and refused to do anything else after a week of singlehandedly entertaining guest whilst DH nursed manflu a cold.
This is well researched and readable. Definitely recommend.

1. All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
2. Closely Watched Trains - Bohumil Hrabal
3. Women and Power: A Manifesto – Mary Beard
4. The Road Home – Rose Tremain
5. No is Not Enough: Defeating the New Shock Politics – Naomi Klein
6. Home Fire – Kamila Shamsie
7. The Blackwater Lightship – Colm Toibin
8. Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism – Yanis Varoufakis
9. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
10. Thin Air – Michelle Paver
11. The Beet Queen – Louise Erdrich
12. Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels
13. Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of Our Gendered Minds – Cordelia Fine
14. Gillespie and I – Jane Harris
15. Run – Ann Patchett
16. Men Explain Things To Me: and Other Essays – Rebecca Solnit
17. Sugar Money – Jane Harris
18. Elmet – Fiona Mozley
19. Stay With Me – Ayobami Adebayo
20. Digging to America – Anne Tyler
21. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
22. The Lost Daughter – Elena Ferrante
23. Exit West – Mohsin Hamid
24. Conversations With Friends – Sally Rooney
25. Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
26. In the Days of Rain – Rebecca Stott
27. Midwinter Break – Bernard McClaverty
28. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant – Anne Tyler
29. Last Night at the Lobster – Stewart O’Nan
30. Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg
31. The Trick to Time – Kit De Waal
32. Educated – Tara Westover
33. The Magician’s Assistant – Anne Patchett
34. Mind of a Survivor – Megan Hine
35. Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward
36. The Burning Girl – Claire Messud
37. The North Water – Ian McGuire
38. When I Hit You – Mena Kandasamy
39. Troubling Love – Elena Ferrante
40. Future Home of the Living God – Louise Erdrich
41. What I Loved – Siri Hustvedt
42. Sight – Jessie Greengrass
43. The Round House – Louise Erdrich
44. Cosmopolis – Don Delillo
45. Heatwave – Penelope Lively
46. Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
47. There There – Tommy Orange
48. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
49. Lonesome Dove – Larry McMurty
50. My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh
51. Washington Black – Esi Edugyan
52. In the Distance – Hernan Diaz
53. Lullaby – Leila Slimani
54. On Canaan’s Side – Sebastian Barry
55. Hunger – Roxane Gay
56. Normal People – Sally Rooney
57. Warlight – Michael Ondaatje
58. Outline – Rachel Cusk
59. The Lacuna – Barbara Kingsolver
60. A Life of My Own – Claire Tomalin
61. American Wife – Curtis Sittenfield
62. Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver
63. Small Wonder – Barbara Kingsolver
64. Becoming – Michelle Obama
65. The Mars Room – Rachel Kushner
66. Snap – Belinda Bauer
67. The Long Take – Robin Robertson
68. To the Bright Edge of the World – Eowyn Ivey

Top 5 fiction

1. Lonesome Dove – Larry McMurty. 843 pages and yet it just didn't feel long enough. A great plot and a huge cast of interesting characters. Complete reading pleasure, I was so sad when I finished this one.

2. Stay With Me – Ayobami Adebayo Moving exploration of Motherhood. This one actually made me cry.

3. The Mars Room – Rachel Kushner Bleak but brilliant novel set in a Californian women's prison.

4. Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward The second book in my list about prisons. Not sure what that says about my reading tastes! This should have won The Women's Prize IMO. A successful combination of gritty real life and magical realism. I will be seeking out more of Jesmyn Ward in 2019.

5. In the Distance – Hernan Diaz A back to front Western which uses the story of one individual to tell the story of the birth of modern day USA.

Top 3 non-fiction

1. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race - Reni Eddo-Lodge - Changed the way I think about everything. Revelatory.

2. Becoming – Michelle Obama and A Life of my Own - Claire Tomalin - Two inspiring memoirs penned by very different but very inspiring women.

Did not finish...

The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne Everyone loved this. Except me.

I didn’t indigo! going to take a punt on sing unburied as it’s in 12 days of Kindle.

So what stats would people like from the book list? (if any!)

1. The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths
2. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
3. The Enemy by Lee Child
4. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
5. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
6. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
7. Poverty Safari by Darren McGarvey
8. A Death at Fountains Abbey by Antonia Hodgson
9. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

10. Amnesia by Peter Carey 11. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis 12. Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves 13. Murder on the Riviera Express by TP Fielden 14. Running Hot by Lisa Tamati 15. The Hard Way by Lee Child 16. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child 17. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross 18. The Play of Death by Oliver Pötzsch 19. The Spirit Level by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson 20. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 21. Neurotribes by Steve Silberman 22. Nothing to Lose by Lee Child 23. Daughter of Eden by Chris Beckett 24. Dead Water (Shetland #5) by Ann Cleeves 25. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald 26. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters 27. The Sober Diaries by Clare Pooley 28. The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu 29. My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir 30. How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish 31. A Spy by Nature by Charles Cumming 32. Lion: A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley 33. How to Live With Autism and Asperger Syndrome by Chris Williams and Barry Wright 34. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet 35. Hild by Nicola Griffith 36. Happy by Derren Brown 37. For Faughie's Sake by Laura Marney 38. The Life Project by Helen Pearson 39. A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths 40. Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban 41. The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer 42. Walking the Amazon by Ed Stafford 43. The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming 44. Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers 45. Dying Fall (Ruth Galloway #5) by Elly Griffiths 46. Maria in the Moon by Louise Beech 47. Never Forget by Lisa Cutts 48. Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine 49. Dreaming in Smoke by Tricia Sullivan 50. A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre 51. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman 52. Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child 53. The Outcast Dead (Ruth Galloway #6) by Elly Griffiths 54. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan 55. The Ghost Fields (Ruth Galloway #7) by Elly Griffiths 56. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 57. Any Human Heart by William Boyd 58. Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre 59. Safe House by Chris Ewan 60. Uniquely Human: A different way of seeing autism by Barry Prizant and Tom Fields-Meyer 61. Titanic: Minute by Minute by Jonathan Mayo 62. Either End of the Tunnel by Lannah Battley 63. America City by Chris Beckett 64. The Red Beast / The Panicosaurus by K.I. Al-Ghani 65. Lethe by Tricia Sullivan 66. Village Christmas by Laurie Lee 67. The Woman in Blue (Ruth Galloway #8) by Elly Griffiths 68. The Survival Guide for Kids With Autism Spectrum Disorders (and their parents) Elizabeth Verdick and Elizabeth Reeve 69. Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani 70. This Mum Runs by Jo Pavey 71. Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo 72. 61 Hours by Lee Child

34 by female authors (47%)
36 by male authors (50%)
2 by female / male co-authors (3%)

27 kindle (38%)
25 library (35%)
9 hard copy other (12%)
9 Dad's kindle (12%)
2 audible (3%)

51 Fiction (71%)
21 Non fiction (29%)

Brizzle I'd love a top five or ten of the most read books, if you can manage it (and thanks for taking the time to collate the info!).

Top 5 fiction:
Daughter of Eden
Hild
Riddley Walker
Record of a Spaceborn Few
The Little Stranger
Honourable mention to the Ruth Galloway series, even though I haven't individually starred any of them - there should be a different marking system for a much loved easy to read series (overthinks it).

Top 3 non-fiction:
The Life Project
Uniquely Human
H is for Hawk
Honourable mention to Into Thin Air, otherwise I'll have to hand my 50 booker badge back in.

Biggest disappointments (as in other people loved them, and I wanted to, but just didn't): The Cuckoo's Calling, His Bloody Project, Neurotribes.

Will do.

Yes, a top ten most-read in 2018 would be fascinating.

Agreed, that would be interesting.

Just done my stats

81% Female Authors
10% Non Fiction
53% Detective Fiction

I'm working on it..just holding fire for any new lists.

MuseumofHam I’ve almost completed a re-read of Ruth Galloway - got one more to go. I agree - they’re great comfort reads