50 Book Challenge 2019 Part One

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2019, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

Who's in for this year?

That "BBC" list is weird (I use quotes because various versions of lists supposedly from the BBC keep cropping up on these list sites). Da Vinci Code? Five People you Meet in Heaven? Yeah whatever... ;)

Oh dear I've only read 12 of the 100 books on that list

The thing that always strikes me about these lists isn't how many I have read, but how many of them I have sitting on a shelf waiting to be read. I've got to the point with some that they are more part of the furniture than anything else. Shame really.

Satsuki I bet there’s not many people who’ve read the complete works of Shakespeare!

I’ve definitely seen a lot more of his plays (including TV / film adaptations than I’ve read.

I am very under-exposed to the classics, and so have only read 30 from that list. Probably seen double the number adapted on telly though

Finished my first one of 2019, Lethal White, the 4th Cormoran Strike. It's massive and I got a bit lost in the intricate plot, but I love Cormoran and Robin. I would recommend reading the other books first as there's quite a lot of backstory in this one.

I went through a phase of reading classics in my late teens, otherwise I’d have done a lot worse on that list!

@Ladydepp Lethal White might actually be my favourite of last year. It's massive but I'm so into Robin and Strike as characters and their relationship that I was actually heartbroken to finish it!

Yes - would make more sense to stick Hamlet or Macbeth on there as solo entries, they are dense enough to compete with the Da Vinci Code on their own I would like to go back to Shakespeare his year and fill some (of the many) gaps.

I read a lot of classics and modern classics as a teenager then studied English. Many of the others I’ve read in the last few years when I made a concerted effort to catch up.

Hmm, I’ve read 54 on that list but agree it’s a very strange one and could have loved quite happily without reading some of them.

Finished my second today.

1. Nine Lessons - Nicola Upson This must have been on a kindle deal or something, because it’s been on my kindle for a while and I’m not really sure why else I’d have bought number 7 in a series without having read any of the previous! I was a little way in when I realised it was part of a series because things were being referred to in that way series author’s do. I briefly considered pausing and going back but decided I’d press on. It’s crime fiction, this one set in 30s Cambridge, and I found it well written, dark and twisty. The central case(s) were self contained and I liked the character of the police detective Archie Penrose - I could have done without Josephine Tey (a fictionalised version of the real historical author) herself and the various relationships depicted between Tey/Penrose and other recurring characters - I guess that’s the bit I’d have appreciated more had I actually read it as a series.

**lived quite happily

My DP always maintains he has read The Complete Works of Shakespeare but I am suspicious of his claims. Highly suspicious.

I have read 85 on that list. But honestly, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one of the worst books EVER. And I hated Atonement.
I must also be one of the few people alive not to have read all the Harry Potter books either.

Also apologies for other typos and stray apostrophes - it’s becoming increasingly impossible to type on mumsnet on my iPad I get such weird delays and the text seems to take a life of its own - deleting whole paragraphs when I only pressed one backspace, random capitalisation and odd switching of words. Anyway ....

There’s another thread running about that list and someone on there said the list was put together in 2000, so some of the inclusions might have made more sense back then. Shakespeare is an odd one - as everyone has said it’s probably unusual for someone to have read every play. I have read some, but nowhere near all! Also, if you have seen a play but not read it, does that count?! I think yes personally although I know others may not agree. Like others there are some that I’m not sure if I’ve read - Wind in the Willows is one. I know the story so well it feels like I’ve read it, and I may well have done so as a child, but I can’t definitely say I’ve read it. The Bible is another odd one - again I’m familiar with lots of Bible stories but have never sat down and read the whole thing cover to cover.

I’ve read 37 - but if you include those I’ve started but not finished that adds on another 5 or so. I’ve read the first in Philip Pullman’s series but not the others so didn’t count that, plus adding on Bible and Shakespeare (see above!) takes me up to about 45. I do have some of the others on my TBR pile though!

We read The Five People You Meet in Heaven for our work book club last year and honestly I thought it was the worst book I've ever read! I don't really understand how it got published. I mean, I'm aware lots of things that I don't like get published and are really popular, but I just couldn't see who that book was written for :/

Anyway, finished number one for 2019: Bad News by Edward St Aubyn. The second in a series, and has the same format as the first, in that the action takes place over just one weekend. This was just total escapism for me, since I never have and am pretty unlikely ever to spend ten thousand pounds on drugs and high class hotels in a weekend. I love the writing, and also the fact that not that much actually happens - which I think is sort of the point. Our (anti) hero Patrick imbues much that is trivial with great importance, while equally ignoring many of the important things in life.

On now to the first book club choice of this year, The Secret Barrister...

@CantstandmLMs They are such great characters aren't they? I follow JK Rowling on Twitter and I am pretty sure she has mentioned that she is writing another Cormoran Strike at the moment, so hopefully we won't have long to wait for the next one!

I must also be one of the few people alive not to have read all the Harry Potter books either

I've only book 1, that was when DD was 9 and wanted to read it, for some reason I read it first.

^only read

Finished my first books of the year:

1. Becoming by Michelle Obama
Fantastic read; well set-out and interesting. Truly emotional in parts (especially when detailing her father's health and dedication to his children). I left the book full of admiration for Michelle and rather depressed that the world is now without the Obama's in some form of leadership.

2. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (Audiobook)
A well paced thriller with great characters, particularly Laurel. I had guessed the "twist" in the tale quite early but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I think this book will stay with me a while, it was in parts quite haunting.

Alias I’ve given up using mumsnet on my iPad for the same reason. Completely unusable for writing posts. Have to use my phone now.

1. Their Lost Daughters by Joy Ellis, narrated by Richard Armitage

Sigh. Why do I never learn. Picked this up on an Audible Deal of the day as it was advertised as one of their top audiobooks of the year. Quite fancied a nice police investigation. Started well enough, girl is found dead on a beach and a second girl is found wandering confused in the Lincolnshire fens. DI Jackman (local accent, no psychological hang ups, lives in a windmill) and DS Evans (Welsh accent, misses her mum) leap into action to solve the crime. Along the way they discover illegal drinking clubs, corrupt coppers and a massive idiotic spoiler that I can’t describe. First third was promising but then of course, of course because this is a modern day crime thriller it descends further and further into lunacy in order to feed the beasts that are ‘shock value’and ‘twist’.
What would be shocking and twisty were if the forensic officers turned out to be Princess Anne and a talking circus bear. Maybe Jackman’s windmill turns out to be another door into Narnia. Even better would have been a giant tsunami hitting the Lincolnshire coast and all of them being swept away to the coast of Norway to start again in a foreign language that I can’t understand.

Utter preposterous nonsense only saved the ignominy of a one star rating by Mr Armitage’s most gorgeous voice.
That man could read me a Ron Liddell column and I’d think it was charming.

I must also be one of the few people alive not to have read all the Harry Potter books either

whippet I’m one of the few others. Haven’t read any of them; don’t have any plans to do so

That is an absolutely splendid review scribble, take a bow.

Hello folks, I am back on board after falling off the thread around September last year. I made it to 56 books in the end, and finished the year with what turned out to be my favourite book of 2018 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In spite of its brilliance, it's not a festive read for the Christmas / New Year break! I read it on NYE in a couple of long sittings and then went across the road to an exuberant dinner party. It was hard to come up from the ditch. Fortunately I was with a few literature professors, so had a chance to debrief on some of the shocking scenes. What writing! Beautiful and horrific. A masterpiece.

I am now catching up on my much neglected Bleak House chapters (only up to 21 today) as part of the read-along. Once I am caught up I have The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society from the library, selected as an antidote to The Road I hope! I am also reading Ready Player One to my sons, and we are coming to the conclusion finally after months of plugging along with various interruptions. I have surprised myself by enjoying it immensely.

My Goodreads Reading challenge is 53 books this year (last year 52), however my ACTUAL goal is to read more pages than 2018 (stats are available on GR if you are diligent with logging). I have a couple of big reads planned in the next twelve months and don't want to put them off in an attempt to up my overall count. I may also join the Infinite Jest team when you start.

How lucky are we in this life to have so many great books to read! Happy 2018 to you all xxx

Phew, glad it's not just me with the Harry Potter books then

ps: I concur with the negative opinions upthread regarding on The Five People You Meet in Heaven Utter codswallop.