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?

exexpat I headed to wikipedia straight after my previous post (and before I read yours) so that has somewhat marred my enjoyment of Three Cups of Tea.

Hi, can I join?
I read 88 books last year (plus abandoned one as it was so awful) which I’m really pleased with as I don’t get much time to read with a baby and toddler.

1. Eve of Man by Giovanna and Tom Fletcher. Eve is the first girl to be born for 50yrs and is now 16 so all hopes are on her to continue the human race. I liked this, pretty easy read and I’ll definitely read the next in the series.

1. In This Country We Trust by Diane Guerrero. Actress who has been in Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin. Story of how she came home aged 14 to find her parents had been arrested and shortly afterward were deported. She was essentially left to fend for herself. Really enjoyed this too, although her narration on the audiobook got a bit annoying at times.

Does anyone have kindle unlimited? £7.99 seems a lot per month but wondering if any one has it to see if they thought it was worth it?

Agamemnon - the first play in the trilogy The Oresteia by Aeschylus.
I'm trying to fill some gaping holes in my knowledge of the classics by reading some Greek drama. This is one of the earliest extant dramas and yet is an extremely powerful treatment of the themes of revenge and vengeance, inter-familial and generational violence, and conflict of 2 opposing, devastating choices. Amazingly it does all this through the power of expression since most of the dramatic action (murder of Agamemnon and Cassandra) takes place off stage.
I then watched via Youtube a National Theatre production which tried to be true to how it would originally be performed - minimalist staging, men taking part of women, authentic masks and costume. This really captured the spirit and passion of the play. One thing I did find really interesting was that the major nexus of action and passion is conveyed by the 2 female characters (Clytemnestra and Cassandra) which is hugely at odds with the situation of women in 5th century Athens, who were largely housebound and out of sight. Pericles said this of women in his funeral oration "Great will be your glory in not falling short of your natural character; and greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men, whether for good or for bad."

Apologies if this has been mentioned already, but Futurelearn are running a free online course on How to Read a Novel, www.futurelearn.com/courses/how-to-read-a-novel . It looks at the main devices deployed by writers, such as plot, characters etc and uses some classic and contemporary texts to illustrate the points being made.

They are also running a course on Jane Austen as well
which I'm looking forward to -www.futurelearn.com/courses/jane-austen

Have signed up for that Jane Austen course, thanks Achilles!

3. The Darkest Secret Alex Marwood.
3 year old girl goes missing while parents and their friends are partying. Yep, it's supposedly based on Madeleine McCann but aside from the salient fact of missing child, and one of the plot details, it clearly isn't. I enjoyed this, and there was more than one twist. It was well written, unlike a lot of twist in the tale crimey novels. Marwood is a journalist. Apparently there's another one "loosely" based on James Bulger but I don't want to read anything based on that case, loosely or otherwise.

Thanks bibliomania, I went ahead and bought the Language of Kindness and somehow the Michelle Obama book and the second Thursday Next book fell in to my basket too (that’s this months credits used already).

I also read This is going to hurt and found it a powerful book, full of a great mixture of tales, some moving, some informative and some funny, about an ob/gyn doctor and the years he spent in medicine - and the reason he left.

Books 6,7 and 8 were in the same theme. Trust me I'm a junior doctor . Also very interesting, they are autobiographies that track the first 3 years of a junior doctor's career on the ward as a junior doctor (the first book), as a doctor in the community in a drugs clinic (the 2nd) and back on the wards in pyschiatry and care of old people (the third). Very enjoyable. Very thought provoking and often funny.

I'm in a rut of genres though as my next 2 were 9 Blood, sweat and Tea and the sequel, 10 More blood, more sweat and another cup of tea which are accounts put together into a book from a blog of a London Ambulance service technician. Very funny. Not as well written as others, but that reflects the blog nature.

1. Beswitched by Kate Saunders

I would have loved this if it had been published when I was a child and I enjoyed it anyway! It’s one of DD’s books that she wanted me to read. A modern girl is on her way to boarding school when she falls asleep on the train and wakes up at boarding school in 1935. My disappointment with the book is that we only see things from that character’s point of view, and we don’t see anything of the 1935 character who has been sent into the future. I like time slip books so liked this even though it is a kids book.

To The Letter by Simon Garfield

A history of letter writing and the postal system. I found the first half a bit heavy going but enjoyed the second half better as it got more up to date. I loved the bit about the early introduction of the postal system where people were able to post themselves! Quite a lot of it is extracts from letters written by famous people so the interest level here depends on how interesting you find those people. Overall this was a bit mixed for me.

I’ve now started The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I’m about 10% in and very intrigued!

I think over the years I have bought three or four copies of The Child That Books Built - for me, as gifts, and to replace a copy I lent out that was not returned, so I'm glad to see other enthusiasts on here!

I am much closer in age and childhood reading habits to Spufford than Mangan, so I have never felt tempted to read Bookworm, and it sounds like Spufford is a much more thoughtful, analytical writer than what sounds like the purely nostalgic tone of Mangan's book - but if anyone can persuade me that as a 50-ish child of the 70s I will also appreciate her book, I am willing to give it a go.

I wasn't crazy about Bookworm. I'm pretty much the same age as Lucy but had mostly very different reading tastes when I was a child so I felt distanced from much of the content of the book, though her writing is great. Lucy mentions MN in Bookworm, so if she's reading this.

I read the sample of Bookworm and found the humour and family stuff rather wearing, so haven't bothered with it. Sorry, Lucy, if you're on here.

I read The Child that Books Built when it came out in paperback and haven't revisited it, but seem to remember that I enjoyed it. Speaking of which, is he likely to have a new novel out soon, does anybody know? I'd definitely be keen to read more from him.

My 8th book was a shorter story which was exquisitely written, old man and the sea by Hemingway. I'm not a fan of fishing and have never read any Hemingway before but really enjoyed it. I'm keen to try another Hemingway so any recommendations would be much appreciated.

9th up is James Acaster's classic scrapes which was slow to get going and nearly got abandoned but I'm glad I carried on with it as it's quite funny now I'm nearly half way in. Unusually for me, six of the eight books I've finished have all been non fiction.

My favourite Hemingway is Fiesta:The Sun Also Rises though by the end it makes you want to down a glass of something strong with ice with breakfast lunch and dinner.

2. john Steinbeck- the pearl A fisherman finds a perfect pearl worth a lot of money and it ruins his life. Is the bastardised premise. There is a line “Luck you see, brings bitter friends” which basically sums up the plot.

Loved it. It got really mixed reviews on good reads but I found it a gripping read with suspense built well throughout, and I couldn’t put it down for the last 2/3 chapters and would hugely recommend. It’s a short book too so easily polished off in a weekend or a lazy afternoon.

Next up is Little Fires Everywhere which I must be the last person on the planet to read.

Just finished reading Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeny. I really enjoyed it. A clever and intriguing book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers with lots of twists.

southwastdweller. You are welcome. There are a few books I am looking forward to reading on the list.

@chessyfl you might enjoy Charlotte sometimes which is another book about time swaps. I remember getting it from the library two or three times because I enjoyed it, though admittedly i haven't read it as an adult

Sorry meant @chessieFL

2. Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence

Sequel to Red Sister. I loved this. Loved the characters - plenty of intrigue and plotting, centered around trainee warrior nun Nona, set in a world slowly freezing solid. I’m looking forward to reading the next installation when it’s available.

And I’m abandoning Under The Dome. I’ve liked most of the Stephen King books I’ve read, but I’ve struggled through about 130 pages of this one and I just can’t get into it.

@SatsukiKusakabe thank you, I've put Fiesta on my wish list.

I’ve read CharlottecSometimes mynameismrg and agree that’s also a very good book!

BOOK1THE INVISIBLE BRIdGe by julie Orringer read. Rather long winded but still a very interesting and harrrowing read.
BOOK2 Under the paw, confessions of a catman, a secret santa book gift!

@ChessieFL if you like time slip books have you read Kindred? If I'm honest I probably thought the premise was a bit better than the actual book but still good!

@lastqueenofscotland I just finished Little Fires Everywhere good to hear I wasn't the very last person

No I haven’t Artisan, I’ll look it up. Thanks!