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?

4. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

I really enjoyed this. It has elements of humour, particularly the first half. It is based around Tony and starts when he is a school student in the 60s. He and his friends are intelligent, pretentious (as he clearly states) and not in the least bit cool. The book follows Tony to university and looks at his first relationship with Veronica and his friendship with Adrian. The book then jumps rapidly to Tony's retirement where he reconnects with Veronica and tries to unravel the lead up to certain events and how much of an influence he had over them.
It's an interesting read and has mystery about it without it overplaying the 'cliffhanger' aspect. Quite an easy read too.
Next on my list is *The Minister's Wife by Huntly Gordon'.

Managed 49 last year as had to delete the Kindle app on my phone during the summer and never got around to reinstalling it. Never realised just how much I read on it compared to paper books. Didn't pick a book up from late August until 1st January this year.

Anyway, two down so far

(1) Twelve Years A Slave by Solomon Northup
This was a really good read and finished in two nights as I couldn't put it down. I remember watching the film a few years back and I think the book follows the same storyline.

(2) The Magdalen by Marita Conlon McKenna
This was ok but I think a lot of this genre is so similar that they can all blur into one. I am trying to clear my Kindle of all the 99p buys from last year before buying anymore so at least it is one that I can delete.

1. Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear - I wasn't blown away but I did enjoy this and would probably read a sequel. The characters were good, the plot was interesting and twisty enough to keep me reading (although parts were a bit far fetched) and I liked the writing style overall. I'm generally not keen on a police procedural where the main protagonist is so personally involved in the crime but that's just me. A good first book for 2019.

First book of the year finished:-

1. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

I really enjoyed this account of running a bookshop in Wigtown. It's populated by quirky book buyers and eccentric staff. Very entertaining.

Finished my first book of the year,

1. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie, an enjoyable reread inspired by the BBC Christmas adaption.

1. The Odyssey by Homer trans. by Emily Wilson

Odysseus tries to return home from a 10 year war, but his journey takes him years as he is at the mercy of the gods and gets sidetracked. Meanwhile at home after 10 years all assume he is dead. His son sets off in search of news of him, while his wife fends off a number of suitors who have invaded her home determined she will marry one of them.

I went with the audiobook and I am glad I did. It would originally have been told in the oral tradition. I tried to read this about 15 years ago straight after The Iliad, but couldn't get into it at all. This version is a new translation out last year that has been modernised in language and tries to keep to the spirit of the original poem. It is read beautifully by Claire Danes and flows wonderfully. It was a joy to listen to. It loses nothing for it's age.

The only thing I would say is that the intro by Emily Wilson, while informative, does go on a bit. I would recommend diving straight in and going back to it later, especially if you have no idea about the story. Let her tell you how she did it after you have enjoyed it.

I've pushed Mythos to one side for now while I read Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. Not sure what's up next as audio accompaniment to the dog walks, but probably something non-fiction as it's easier to follow when out and about.

1. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite . Korede’s beautiful little sister has a bad habit of phoning her to get her out of a jam, including the clean up of three murder scenes. Her loyalty is stretched yet further when her sister turns up at her work and starts flirting with the handsome doctor Korede is obsessed with. I enjoyed this short, light read full of macabre humour.

Just starting this. It’s been in my reading pile for a while.

I've decided to do this in 2019. Used to love reading, and I can happily devour a book in a few hours if it catches my interest. Off the back of this thread, I have ordered several books- why be happy when you can be normal, the unexpected joy of being sober, behind the scenes at the museum and the Cows.

1: Lee Child: Past Tense, a Jack Reacher novel
I look forward each year to the latest Reacher installment, and I enjoyed this one- definitely better than last year's.

Next on the list is Dawn o Porters The Cows, which is arriving on Sunday.

Second book read: Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Bought it as it was a 99p kindle deal & I wanted an easy read as am filled with the New Year lurgy.

Wish I hadn't wasted my time or my money. Badly written and I sussed the plot/motive when I was a third of the way through.

I think I've already spoken about the 99p kindle temptation - this book will remind me not to go for it again.

I now have Susan Hill - The Comforts of Home to get into bed with (!). Am sure it will be SO much better.

First book of the year completed is:

Lucinda Riley - The Pearl Sister

I really can't remember why I picked up the first book in this series because it's really not my usual sort of thing, but I did enjoy it and I will end up reading the whole lot, once they have all been published. It has as its basis the idea of the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters of Greek myth. In this case they are the (six) adopted daughters of a billionaire who each came from a different part of the world and were brought up together in Switzerland. When Pa Salt dies he leaves each of the women a clue as to their origins, so each story in the series is one of the women going to see if they can find out where they came from.

This story is about about CeCe, who has never felt like she fitted in anywhere. Her search takes her to Australia and the story of Kitty McBride, a Scottish clergyman's daughter from a century before. As CeCe learns about Kitty's life she starts to uncover long-forgotten secrets, but how are the two women connected?

1. Queen of the North by Anne O'Brian
A hefty historical fic following Elizabeth Percy as Richard II is deposed and Henry IV comes to power. Enjoyed it although it was a bit on the long side for my patience this week. Have picked up a couple more on the strength of this one. 4*

2. The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
YA dystopia bordering on horror is my reading of this as an adult - the abuse of beauty magic taken to a far extreme. The author was certainly exorcising ghosts of her own here. I'm not sure how much teens will get out of it, though, the setting is so sumptuously detailed that I found it obscured the message somewhat. Plus I'm a stickler for an internally logical magic system and found this aspect unsatisfying. 3*

I've read two more for work this week as well, which I'm not counting here. Up next, The Little Princess by Frances Hodgeson Burnett, and an advance copy of All The Lonely People by David Owen, which is due out on 10th Jan.

Still on my hols til Mon and making the most of the time off.

So far I've read...
Anthropologist on Mars
Minds eye
Hallucinations all by Dr Sacks.
Then
When I did by Philip Could and When breath becomes air by Paul Kalinithi
And now Trust Me I'm a Junior Doctor.

1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

A pop science book about snap judgments and decisions and how sometimes they are right but in certain circumstances can be very wrong. It was easy to read and some of the anecdotes were quite interesting but it felt a bit woolly and it wasn't really clear exactly what point Gladwell was trying to make.

I finished Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman today. Uni reading will recommence now, so next up (as previously guessed) is Frankenstein. I currently cannot sleep, so I may go and get it from by bookshelf now.

2. - the unquiet dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan. A Canadian crime novel with a young female sergeant detective and her Muslim inspector partner. Liked her character but he appeared to have all the police instinct and common sense of a cockroach, especially when it came to beautiful women. A couple of the female characters were cardboard stereotypical beautiful women who used their feminine attractions to destroy men; disappointing from a female author who’s a lawyer with a PhD. Can’t say too much about the storyline without giving away the main plotline. Found the book a bit meh. Probably won’t read any more from the author.

1. A Game of Thrones (A Song if Ice and Fire #1) by George R. R. Martin

800+ pages of intrigue, politics, outstanding worldbuilding and characterization - This was brilliant I watched GoT series on TV and enjoyed them for the most part, but I now know that I had not actually understood how and why events unfold the way they do. The whole story is practically a multi-player chess game. Nobody is 100% good or 100% evil (which is my usual problem with fantasy books & movies), everybody is out to survive. Slightest weakness is the end.

I can only compare A Game of Thrones to the Dune books I so loved in my teens and early 20s - the same amazing worldbuilding, many and incredibly well-drawn characters, an epic story line that is basically a multi-player chess game. A Game of Thrones is Dune for my 40s - the epic, intelligent, gritty fantasy I have been looking for these past two decades

DrMadeline - Would you post a short review of the books you have read so far? It would be interesting to see what you thought about them.

I have read. Couple of books by Oliver Sacks but not that one. Did you like it?

I couldn't sleep last night so finished So Disdained and started and finished Cruise Ship SOS:The life saving adventures of a doctor at sea by Ben MacFarlane. Both were well worth a read.
Next up is 101 Bets you will always win: the science of the seemingly impossible by Richard Wiseman

Thanks for the list Stiches. I’ve read 47 but not included The Bible or Shakespeare as not read them in their entirety. Agree there are some odd entries....

I thoroughly enjoyed I Pilgrim when I read it a few years ago. I recommendation from my DH. We don’t read the same genres but I know if he recommends a book it will be a good yarn!

I read 'This Thing of Darkness’* too last year (I rec from this thread even though I’d fallen off ). I found it a fascinating read and lurked on here to read all your reviews

I’ve been following the Cormoran and Robin story so I’m looking forward to Lethal White this year.

Lol Scribbly - it sounds like a crime series book my DH would read - they are all the same

Agree cote you get so much more detail and character background in GOT book and yet they are surprisingly easy to read for all that. I’m going to read be reading them
over the next couple of months before the last tv series.

Whoops.. sorry about the bold text - I blame my phone

I like your comparison of the world building in Dune and GoT series Cote. The only other fantasy series that has come close for me are the Robin Hobb novels.
I’m not going to start a final reread of the series until we have a set in stone publication date for the last book in the series. I listened to A Game of Thrones on audio a few years ago and while the record breaking Roy Dotrice (greatest number of characters voices in an audiobook: 224) did a sterling job, he made the Lannisters Welsh which is obviously wrong. The men of The Vale of Arryn are Welsh.
I’ll stick to the physical books for my reread when it eventually happens.
Dh recieved Fire and Blood the House Targaryen prequel for Christmas which looks good (if somewhat enormous).

Sonnet The Jackman and Evans police procedural is part of a series, so your dh can fully immerse himself in Lincolnshire crime idiocy if he so wishes

to start: The woman in cabin 10" Ruth Ware was quite a competent thriller/crime novel but as usual about 80 pages too long and written as if the author expected to sell the film rights (set on a boat so could be cheap to make). Her first book has apparently been snapped up so perhaps not unreasonable. it compares favourably however with until you're mine by Samantha Hayes which I couldn't finish. The usual formulaic chic-lit/grit-lit with cardboard cutout characters and much description of people doing ordinary things like getting on a bike or opening a door and to boot, written in the present tense. The worst aspect of this book however is the superfluous grisly description of the pivotal crime which made me put the book down swiftly.

Peter Benson The Levels is like a school "rites of passage" set text with the adolescent hero growing up in a village which is changing from an agricultural way of life (his father weaves baskets) to modern ways. He has the usual eccentric mother & meets a posh girl newcomer to the village for a romantic interlude. I have not read Laurie Lee or a Shropshire Lad but can't help thinking it has been heavily influenced by these.

The Beautiful Indifference is a volume of short stories by Sarah Hall which reads as if someone has penned it at a creative writing course and is a bit selfconsciously written rather than an easy read. Also realised half way through I had read it before so that was a waste of time.