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50 Book Challenge 2019 Part One

999 replies

southeastdweller · 01/01/2019 09:28

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?

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7
StitchesInTime · 01/01/2019 11:50

I’m in Smile

Thanks for the new thread southeastdweller

Passmethecrisps · 01/01/2019 12:06

Happy new year all.

I am kicking off with The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

Enjoying it so far.

While I have yet to meet the 50 book target in he two years I have followed the group one habit I have got into and will definitely continue is writing down every book read. I absolutely love looking back over a list of books read

ArtemesiaDracunculus · 01/01/2019 12:10

Would love to join in. I did try last year, but life and other stuff got in the way. I kept reading and updating Goodreads but fell off this threadBlush Will try again.

Starting Anatomy of A Scandal by Sarah Vaughan today.

Spieluhr · 01/01/2019 12:11

I've just finished my first book of the year. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

I'm terrible at reviewing books but this book left me stunned. I feel that I need to read it again later this year to really do it justice but it was so powerful and poignant. There are so many wonderful quotes from it that I want to make a note of. It's one of the most distressing books that I've encountered but it's also an incredible piece of work and although it isn't the most cheerful way to start my reading year I'm very glad to have read it.

I think that my next read will have to be something a little lighter though.

Matilda2013 · 01/01/2019 12:16

Thanks for the new thread southeast . Been here a few years but stuck to it more last year. Only managed 61 last year but I fell out of the habit a little the second half of the year as I had a lot going on. Aiming for 80 this year. Starting with The Secret Barrister as I managed all of a chapter over Christmas and it’s a library book.

Indigosalt · 01/01/2019 12:17

Happy New Year everyone Grinand thank you for the new thread Southeast.

1. Everything Under – Daisy Johnson

I’m carrying this one forward from 2018, having finished it this morning.

Not quite sure what to make of it really. The plot is a modern day re-working of the Oedipus story. Gretel lives off grid with her unconventional and free spirited Mother Sarah on a canal boat and latterly in make shift lodgings at a riding stables. When she is 16, her Mother abandons her and she enters the care system and “normal” life. Adult Gretel tries to make sense of the events of her childhood, particularly those surrounding the appearance of homeless teenager Marcus.

I enjoyed the way this book was written. Daisy Johnson has a quite unique style, it’s very beautiful and lyrical, but also quite brutally honest and direct. However, I found the shifting time line difficult to follow and thought the plot stretched the limits of credibility at times. It was a short book but I did not find it an easy read.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 01/01/2019 12:18

@spielhur that is on my tbr pile, I read it years ago but feel the need to revisit it again

ScribblyGum · 01/01/2019 12:19

I’m in again too.

Thanks for the new thread southeast

Carrying Bookworm over from last year. Was absolutely loving it but I fear Lucy and I are about to part ways as she has just dissed Tolkien.
Also listening to Their Lost Daughters which is decidedly average and predictable but is narrated by Richard Armitage so is therefore a most pleasant experience upon the ears.

Thesearmsofmine · 01/01/2019 12:20

Hello! It is my mission to get back into reading this year so I hope there is room for a little one! I might not make 50 but I will give it a go!

lastqueenofscotland · 01/01/2019 12:21

I’m in! I managed 50 last year but fell off the thread in July or so.

Reading the ragged trousered philanthropists at the moment Smile

Spieluhr · 01/01/2019 12:23

I'd love to know what you think of it if you do, FiveGoMadinDorset. It's such a short book but there's a lot to take in. I really do feel stunned after reading it. I love the writing style. It's seemingly relatively simplistic but packs such power. It definitely warrants a second reading and I have the TV adaptation which I might have to watch once I've recovered.

brizzledrizzle · 01/01/2019 12:24

falgelednl I went through a phase of reading books about North Korea too. The Michael Palin programme was fascinating, though he came across as being swayed by the propaganda and really believing it. I expect he wasn't and didn't as I think he's an intelligent man but there is probably the requirement not to do a warts and all programme about North Korea.

Piggywaspushed · 01/01/2019 12:26

scribbly are you going to report back to Bleak House thread today? I feel like it is just you and me on there now! Grin

JalepenoMeano · 01/01/2019 12:28

I'm in. I'm starting with Lethal White and have set my good reads target to 50.

Moominfan · 01/01/2019 12:29

Read 16 last year, think 50 might be a it much so will shoot for 25. Currently reading Stephen fry mythology :)

Spudina · 01/01/2019 12:30

I'm in. I got **Becoming by Michelle Obama for Christmas which I am about to start. It's my first ever autobiography, which is not usually my thing.

brizzledrizzle · 01/01/2019 12:35

Spudina let me know what you think please, I'm wondering whether to read it. It'll be a while though as I'm trying not to buy books in 2019 as I have so many unread on my kindle.

TolpuddleFarter · 01/01/2019 12:41

I'm in.

I lurk every year, and take your recommendation, but have never participated.

Can I ask how many hours you dedicate to reading a week to get through 50 books?

My first book of the year is The Milkman, which at the moment is a pure joy to read.

Thatsnotmybaby · 01/01/2019 12:51

Joining this thread for the first time, although I often read it to look for recommendations. 50 is probably a little over ambitious for me if I'm reading properly, as opposed to rereading my old Agatha Christie's; but I'll give it a try.

MissisBee · 01/01/2019 13:29

Joining in for the first time. I doubt I'll be able to manage 50 but it'll be interesting to see! Currently halfway through little drummer girl - like all John Le Carre I find the tv/film adaptations thrilling but the books quite hard work

DaphneCanDoBetterThanFred · 01/01/2019 13:30

A shiny new thread! Grin So far, I’ve started Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde Book 4 of the Thursday Next series, as bonkers as the rest of them. Thursday’s battling with motherhood, battling with Goliath to un-eradicate her husband and trying to work out how to throw a croquet match that the future of the country is dependent upon. Full of the usual fiction related cleverness, and so far a better read than book 3 of the series.

Also reading The Lonesome Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya A Japanese short story collection which is surreal, magical and strange. I have no idea what I can compare it to (possibly some of Haruki Murakami’s weirder short stories). Disconnected relationships (especially husband and wife relationships) feature quite a lot, and disconnection from reality is a common theme. I’m really enjoying the strangeness! A husband and wife start morphing into each other, a business woman cracks because of a curtain, a boy learns why people carry umbrellas in a typhoon... Definitely worth a read if you like surreal short stories.

DaphneCanDoBetterThanFred · 01/01/2019 13:36

IndigoSalt I read and really liked Fen by Daisy Johnson, which was a short story collection. I love the style of her writing and the stories were quite creepy and unsettling. In a good way! You might enjoy it if you liked her style but not the book of hers that you read (iyswim!)

DangerMouse17 · 01/01/2019 13:41

I always lurk but time to step in and join if that's ok?

Used to read a lot but find Netflix getting in the way. Definitely time to get back to what I love and 50 seems like a good number to aim for. Smile

Sadik · 01/01/2019 13:41

Happy New Year all, I'm in again.

Having a slow day after a late night, & just finished book no. 1:

Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer
A strange mishmash of SFF, philosophy, psychology & political intrigue, this is the sequel to Too Like the Lightening, which was one of my top books last year. I enjoyed it enormously, but as someone who loves all those things this series was always going to be a good fit for my tastes. (To anyone considering reading them, I would point out that even wildly positive reviews tend to include words like 'maddening'.)

I've got book 3, The Will to Battle, also a christmas present from dd, but I think I'll have a gap & read something a bit lighter before moving on to it.

FortunaMajor · 01/01/2019 13:59

Spieluhr I felt the same about All Quiet on the Western Front it's devastatingly beautiful. If you enjoyed that then there is another book called Not So Quiet which is about a group of female ambulance drivers working on the Front. The writing isn't as good, but is an interesting perspective.

For those who don't usualy track what you've read then GOODREADS may be useful for you. There is no way to export a list easily though, so I keep a running word doc through the year with my list on.