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?

Sure.

1. Anthropologist on Mars. A collection of chapters, each dealing with a different patient Dr Sacks has dealt with and their interesting neurological problem. As in his other books he delves into the cause and Where in the brain it affects. Then tells of the problems it causes the patient. It's one of his I like to 're read as the conditions are interesting. Someone with autism. Someone with no short term memory. Etc.

1. Mind's eye.

This similar book covers people who have lost one of their senses or an aspect of one. Someone with face blindness. Someone who doesn't see as we see. Someone who lost the power of speech or to read.

1. Hallucinations. One of the less interesting ones but still enjoyable. This time tales of people with conditions that give rise to hallucinations. Always accompanied with the science behind it (I learnt a fair few new words the first time I read them) and respectfully told accounts of meetings with the patient and often their families too.

My next 2 were quite sobering.

1. When breath becomes air is an autobiography of a neurosurgeon who develops lung cancer.

1. When I did. Very similar autobiography of a politician who developed cancer.

Both stories very well told by very strong and driven individuals.

Then I needed some light relief!
The last 2 are autobiographical accounts by a Junior Doctor of his first 2 years after qualifying. Interesting and funny.

All of these books are a break away from what I'm normally reading which is contemporary fantasy books.

2 Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson

Finally finished this after picking it up & putting it down for months. I picked ot up in a charity shop thinking it was historical fiction, but it's actually a partial biography of Isaac Newton looking particularly at his period at the Royal Mint.

It was OK - Newton was such a fascinating man, and the period so interesting (including the very first moves towards fractional reserve banking and paper money) that it would be hard to write an entirely boring book about him. But the writing was clunky, and the use of Newton's pursuit of the counterfeiter William Chaloner as a centrepoint to the book felt very forced.

1. The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

Lane is 16 when she has to go and live with her grandparents in Kansas when her mother dies. She soon realises that she is part of a dysfunctional family and leaves. 10 years later she returns when her cousin goes missing. This was a quick read, but I didn’t enjoy it. It deals with disturbing subject matter, and the twists were very obvious right from the start. I did like the descriptions of the Roanoke house and the small town Kansas life though.

I absolutely hated The Roanoke Girls, Chessie. The subject matter made me feel grubby. I sent it to the charity shop as soon as I'd finished it - didn't want it in the house.

3. An almond for a Parrot - Wray Delaney this was read and reviewed several times last year.
It's fantasy, erotica and historical fiction all rolled in to one, with maybe a hint of magic realism. I wasn't sure about this until about a 1/3 of the way in when I just decided to go with the flow and enjoy it. I am sure comparisons were draw with Sarah Waters in last years reviews and I can definitely see that.

Just finished:

1. A Very British Christmas by Rhodri Marsden. (Of Scritti Politti for those old enough to remember)

Great, light-hearted (mainly) snippets about how the Brits do Christmas. Funny little truisms that I hadn't thought about before, like when you stay at people's houses and it's bedtime they go through an elaborate explanation about light switches and plugs etc as if you're ET or something.

It's made up of 12 themed chapters. The last few were a bit weaker and felt rushed but I'll definitely read more of his witty observations.

Just listened to prologue of GoT book 1. I downloaded the audio because I know I'd never read the paper version properly.

I just gave up on in the dreary, dull nonsense that is Into The Water after 100 pages. It's by that woman who wrote Girl On The Train, which I thought was OKish. This one is just unbearable. I returned it to Amazon for a refund. It's not even with the 99p I paid for it. Gah.

I'd like to join though a little late! I've read my first one A Mother's Grace by Rosie Goodwin, nice and light to get me going. Now starting on Your Closest Friend by Karen Perry. Going to try and get some non fiction in as well!

I had forgotten how quickly this thread moves in January! I’ve maxed out my library holds and have spent 1/2 hour reading this thread instead of an actual book.

Just lightly placemarkihg!

Not sure if this has been posted already.

www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/05/2019-in-books-a-literary-calendar?fbclid=IwAR38kBn3kqrEtEXrIvEl4TZzw_kGVCiaFJmQP5jABt6D8w1qKWvtedI1GEI

1. The Happy Prince and other stories - Oscar Wilde

Sublime collection of short stories written with such grace, poignancy and love. Even after all these years the end of The Happy Prince makes me well up.

Not sure I've ever read so many books by day 5 of the challenge, but my next read is the mighty Foucault's Pendulum which ought to slow me down a bit! Cote, I've a feeling you ought to be an Eco fan...?

MrsD, I had the same response to Unquiet Dead, though I did appreciate her use of setting.

Côte, I love that you returned a £0.99 book!

Artemesia yes grubby is the right word for The Roanoke Girls. Mine was a library book luckily, glad I didn’t spend any money on it.
Cote I agree that Into The Water is rubbish. I did quite like The Girl On The Train though so probably will give the next one a go but will get it from the library!

Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery And Other Stories is 99p on kindle daily deal today - I think this was mentioned upthread. I thought I would give it a go for 99p!

The Happy Prince collection is just lovely.

I was going to buy The Lottery but then remembered that I haven't really liked anything else I've read by SJ.

@angieloumc I am quite a fan of Tosie Goodwin read quite a few of hers (and quite a few on the bookshelf to be read!) nice and easy reads in the bath or when I’ve got a quiet (as if) half hour

Rosie to Tosie

Meg - I read and loved Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum while at university - translated into Turkish, with a long Dictionary section and +300 footnotes explaining the Latin phrases and myriad Biblical, historical, and Hermetic references. This being pre-internet, I did wonder at the time that it would have been impossible to follow without those Appendices at the back.

I do remember that it was fascinating although the end was a downer. And years later, I knew where Dan Brown got some of his ideas in Da Vinci Code from.

"Côte, I love that you returned a £0.99 book!"

It felt good

Into The Water was utter shite dire. I had a copy from the library. Was glad to return it.

Finished My Absolute Darling I enjoyed it but feel like large chunks just consisted of naming plants and sealife and I got a bit bored! Now starting one I imagine lots of you will already have read: Little Fires Everywhere

The Roanoke Girls was dire, I gave up on it pretty quickly and I hardly ever do that.

Finished #2 Jane Austen at Home yesterday. Thought it was really good. I enjoy Lucys way of making her subjects human. Jane Austen is such a public figure it's interesting to try to remove her familys propganda and have a more realistic view of her.

#3 The House of Unexpected Sisters is next. African sun and Precious Ramotswe as an antidote to January gloom. Its not great literature but a nice easy read.

Just checked out the BBC list. I've read 42 of them. Not bad. I have loads of unread books at the moment and not tempted to add to it from this. The unread books on it are because I'm not interested in them.

I got 45 on that top 100 books quiz, although there were some where I decided I had read enough of, eg Harry Potter, Shakespeare to count.

Currently reading a German ‘krimi’ (in German); private peaceful (with DS), and; have just started listening to Becoming by Michelle Obama.