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?

@HugandRoll, Norse Mythology alludes to nine worlds. There is confusion over Svartalfheim (realm of the dark elves) and Nidavellir (realm of the dwarves). If these were counted separately that would give 10 worlds (which doesn't fit the tricentric pattern). So overtime, it has

The missing ninth world depends on the source. The two most frequently cited are Svartalfheim, realm of the dark elves, and Nidavellir, realm of the dwarves. As there are supposed to be exactly nine worlds, not ten, the conclusion is that Svartalfheim and Nidavellir are the same. Thus dark elves and dwarves refer to the same creature.

@HugAndRoll - sorry, post loaded whilst I was still editing - but you hopefully get the gist that the dark elves and dwarves and their respective realms are often considered interchangeable.

Confused me too at first, but I have Norwegian family who put me right!

I enjoyed that article Cheerful. I counted my unread books the other day and have 216 physical books and 168 kindle books! Many of the kindle ones I don’t even recall buying (damn you, daily deal!!). I will count up again at the end of the year and I hope to have made significant inroads into those numbers!!

I too enjoyed Transcription, merryMuppet

I've added Me to my wish list exexpat. Thank you for the great review

I'm too trying to get through my TR pile both physically and on my Kindle. 10 read from the TR pile before I buy 1 new one sounds like a workable plan

pepe I love that this book doesn’t need me to read it so true about a lot of contemporary hit parade books.

hugandroll usually only post full lists at the top of a new thread, and review each as we go, either one at a time or in a batch

Oooh, thank you DotOnTheHorizon, that does explain it. I feel a bit bad popping that in my review now, but then again they're only referred to as Dark Elves once in a fairly long story, so perhaps if they're interchangeable Gaiman should have used both descriptors throughout so it didn't look like an error.

Thanks, Satsuki, I'll do it that way too.

4 Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott

Reviewed a few times on previous threads. The town of Rotherweird & it's surrounding countryside have been a self governing unit isolated from the rest of the UK since Elizabethan times. Few outsiders are allowed in, locals rarely leave, and no study of the town or it's history is allowed. As the book starts, two new outsiders have arrived, a teacher for the local school, and a mysterious billionaire, who has bought the local manor house.

Overall I did like this - the basic premise is great, and there's a good underlying plot. The writing didn't quite live up to them though, and the whole thing felt a bit dated. It's recently published, and meant to be set in 2017 - but computers, mobile phones, google maps etc appear not to exist in the outside world any more than in Rotherweird. The characters - local and outsiders - also feel like they've fallen through a bit of a 1970s timewarp. I probably would read the sequel if I came across it in the library, but won't rush to seek it out.

sonnet I will be very interested to hear what you make of Me when you get round to reading it.

nowanearlyNiceMum - I read Three Cups of Tea a few years ago and thought it was very inspiring - but then almost immediately stumbled on an article detailing all the dodgy stuff around Mortenson - see the Wikipedia summary of various controversies. I am sure he has done some good work, but it sounds like he is better at writing inspirational books and talks (not necessarily 100% fact-based ones...) than running charities.

Not exactly off to a flying start but first book done!

1. The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton I was waxing lyrical about how wonderful this book was on the last 50 book thread of 2018 and it was certainly a unique, big concept premise. A time travelling, body swapping Agatha Christie homage. Sadly it all fell apart for me from about half way in and became a confused hot mess. I couldn't remember which of the protagonists 'hosts' had done or said what, and time frames and events became completely confusing. (Probably didn't help that I was reading it over the hectic holiday period but I felt like I needed a spreadsheet to keep up with who was who when, and who did what as whom!) Even the conclusion left me confused until I'd done a bit of revision by skipping back through the book. There was no proper explanation of other worldly characters such as the Plague Doctor and the murderous Footman, who just seemed ciphers to move the plot along and create peril. It seems to have taken me an age to finish because I basically lost interest and it became a chore, such a shame given my initial enthusiasm.

Book 2 - Sofia Khan is not obliged by Ayisha Malik I enjoyed parts of this and it was interesting to learn something about a different culture but it was overly long and I didn't invest in the characters all that much.

I have just started Roar by Cecelia Aherne and so far it's very promising.

@HugAndRoll - glad it was of help

2. A God in Ruins – Kate Atkinson

I think I’m probably the last person in the world to read this. I read Life After Life when it was first published, and found it quite a harrowing read. The description of the devastation reeked by the blitz in London was so uncompromising and well, real I suppose that I didn’t feel emotionally up to picking up A God in Ruins which follows the fortunes of Teddy, the younger brother of the main character of Ursula in Life After Life. This is not a sequel to Life After Life and stands alone as a novel in its own right, although it does focus on broadly the same group of people over the last hundred or so years.

This book follows the life of Teddy Todd, but not in a linear way, and the plot moves about all over the place, from 1925 when Teddy is a small boy to more or less present day, in no particular order. The effect of which is you know what is going to happen, but you don’t know quite how it is going to happen, which I felt worked really well and held my interest.

At the centre of the book is Teddy’s role as a pilot on a Halifax bomber flying raids over Germany in World War 2, but the main story is interspersed with chapters covering his life post war, and the lives of his daughter and grandchildren. The book considers big themes such as the nature of war, the fleeting nature of life itself and our own mortality, the importance of living a good life. At points I had to stop reading to go away and think parts of it over to digest them properly.

I particularly liked the main character Teddy. He is such a thoroughly good person who deals with some very difficult situations, doing the best that he can. I can’t say that I really enjoyed this book, because at times it was a difficult read. Like its predecessor, I found it moving and thought provoking. A great start to my reading year.

3. Little Fires Everywhere I'm looking forward to the adaptation, I'm not surprised Reese Witherspoon is doing it as it did remind me a bit of Big Little Lies. Next up is Prisoners of Geography

Desdemona - Agree entirely re The 7 Deaths

Hello - loved the much less swashbuckling comment about Tombland. Exactly this! And there is always room for more swashbuckling in fiction (real life too?!).

Ooh nice swashbuckling segue straight into

1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

Everyone has seen the film no doubt, well the book is naturally even better. Romance, sword fights, Cliffs of Insanity, Rodents Of Unusual Size, fire swamps, the Dread Pirate Roberts, a six fingered count, Fezzik the giant and of course the finest line in all of the history of swashbuckling stories ever told...

“Hello... my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father... prepare to die.”

Awesome stuff. My lovely dh gave me this gorgeous Folio edition for Christmas. I’ve taken my time reading it as I wanted to spread out the fun.

The story is constantly interrupted by Goldman’s thoughts and amendments on the “original” text by S Morgenstern which makes the whole read even more enjoyable and daft.
Highly recommended for anyone lacking fictional sword fights in their life at the moment.

Wonderful timing!

I've read The Princess Bride before and it's one of my favourite films. I bought it some time ago when it was 99p on Kindle, so will be re-reading it at some point soon.

And the only acceptable reply to my previous post is, "As you wish".

3. Past mortems: life and death behind mortuary doors by Carla Valentine. An account of life as a mortuary technician. Unsurprisingly, it contained some graphic details of post mortems. I don’t have a particularly weak stomach but even I had to skim a couple of sections. It was interesting but not spectacular.

I’m also part way through Prisoners of Geography and Michael Palin’s Travelling to work but I fancy something really captivating as everything I’m reading at the moment is a bit lacking. Have an extensive TBR list so will try and find something I can lose myself in.

I watched The Princess Bride for the first time at the weekend! Not sure how it passed me by when I was younger. I have added the book to my tbr list.

Pencilmuseum Jill Paton Walsh did write for children. Knowledge of Angels is an adult book and a cracking read.

I’ve been wanting a rewatch of The Princess Bride to see if the kids are ready for it. I might also buckle some swash in print this year in memory of Goldman. I rewatched Drop Dead Fred recently as my dh had never seen it, and the stuff that went over my head at age 9! Dh was completely dumbfounded by it, but it spoke to me as a child.

Bloody Hell; I can't keep up! In my defence, I have gone back to work, am reading a long book, am tired and DH is forcing me to research holidays...

Am on book 2. Just checking in to keep thread active...

I'm in, not sure how many i did last year, i started listing but dropped off when life got busy! Ive got a to read pile that seems to just get bigger not smaller. Hopefully get through them this year.

Oh yes, great idea to introduce the kids to The Princess Bride!

1. Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy. This is the first part of Levy’s ‘living autobiography’. It is set in present-day Spain, but most of it takes the form of remembering her childhood in South Africa. It is rather hard to follow at times, but I loved it. The writing evokes a real sense of being a child and not understanding the things happening around you.