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?

Responding to the Agatha Christie question, Five Little Pigs is one of my favourites - it's a Poirot but he's reconstructing an old crime so it's a bit different. My favourite Marple is The Moving Finger. I also love Towards Zero.

brizzle I read all of Dick Francis books when I was at school, I haven't read any of Fekix Francis ones as I was very judgemental and decided that they wouldn't live up to his father although I think his mother actually did the writing. I will try and find one and give it a go.

I have The ABC Murders and And then there were non in my tbr pile

I've just finished book 4 Frankenstein - Mary Shelley the 1818 text I give it a 3/5. Parts one and two dragged a bit, part three was great. I can't give much of a review as this is a text for uni, and I don't want to be accused of plagiarising my own post on here .

Joan Aiken - Wolves of Willoughby Chase anyone?

Yes, fantastic book. i liked most of her books but A necklace of raindrops (short stories) was another favourite.

I read all of Dick Francis books when I was at school,

That's when I read them. I also avoided Felix Francis for the same reason as you but thought it worth a try at 99p. My favourite Dick Francis is Banker, which is yours?

^ name change fail!

4. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford Story of the eccentric and aristocratic Radlett family, as told by their cousin Fanny. It focuses mainly on the most beautiful Radlett, Linda, and how her hopelessly romantic leanings lead to a series of love affairs, each doomed in different ways.

I really enjoyed this. Mitford is on great form, sharp and witty. Admittedly it's somewhat limited historically in that the only non-aristocratic characters are sketchy, and largely just foils for the capers of the upper classes. However, it's not all froth, with some very poignant moments, and an ending that I didn't see coming at all.

You are stretching my memory now as it was 35 odd years ago, although I did re-read them, I liked Whip Hand

4 A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin why oh why haven't I read Thisbe before. Without giving too much away this is one mans quest to marry a rich woman, three sisters and some planned murders along the way. It took me until towards the end of the second part that his name hadn't been mentioned. This really was a page turner, beautifully
written when the author was 23, oh to have his talents.

Not sure where to go from here

I just looked up Whip Hand, that was one of my favourites too. I think we must be about the same age as it was about 35 years ago that I read them.

1. Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Blimey. After putting too much happiness in the title it appears there was none left for inside the book.

A collection of 10 short stories that are generally hard hitting and deal with some quite difficult topics. Some were just odd.

The writing is very good, there are some searing insights and quotable lines that hit you, but I can't come away saying I enjoyed it. The writing is quite compact and the author leaves you to do a lot of the work yourself. Definitely thought provoking. Left me feeling like there should be an essay question on it. As if it were written to be studied rather than enjoyed. Maybe a bit too brain hurty for my meagre mind.

I also got into Dick Francis at school but carried on reading when Felix Francis took over as he did some jointly with his father before he died and has remained pretty true to the style of the original books. I have enjoyed the Felix books but having said that, I did review Pulse (the latest Felix in paperback) in the 2018 thread and struggled with that as the protagonist is a woman with issues (depression, eating disorder) and, for me, it detracted from the plot. Not sure whether he is as good writing a female lead as a male lead.

Meant to say, my favourite Dick Francis is probably High Stakes - the man who makes toys. But like both Banker and Whip Hand too!

oh yes, high stakes was great, I'd forgotten that one. I'm going yo have to do some re-reading though I don't have any of the books any more

3. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng I basically am the last person to read this so won’t spend an age appraising it on here, but it was fantastic. I adored Everything I Never Told You, and the style is similiar. Really gripping and well developed.

Next up is Oryx and Crake - Margret Attwood

I haven’t read Little Fires Everywhere so you’re not quite the last, lastqueen!

Also read Dick Francis as a teenager. I loved them. I think I still have a few but must not give in to the temptation to reread as I usually do.

10. The siren - Alison Bruce. The second book in a series of crime novels set in Cambridge. I like the main character, the story is interesting and keeps you hooked. I like the way Bruce writes. In this one a toddler goes missing following a house fire that kills his babysitter and the team race to find him.

I haven’t read Little fires everywhere either.

I haven't read Little Fires Everywhere either. Why is it a book that everyone seems to have read? #ignorant.

1. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie I loved the concept of this. The main character is an ancillary, the last remaining piece, in human form, of a spaceship's AI, after the rest of that ship has been destroyed. Chapters alternate between what she is up to now, and the back story of how her situation arose. The latter involves an awful lot of dialogue and internal politics concerning the proud and cruel race, the Radch. I felt like the author launched into this part without setting up why it was important or we should care, and I spent the first half of the book not feeling very invested, and thinking the most interesting thing about the Radtch was their use of pronouns. However, I became invested, and will now definitely at some point read the next two in the trilogy, and probably also Provenance, set in the same universe, which I see someone on the thread has already read and enjoyed this year.

It was one of the most reviewed on her last year, amongst others like Eleanor Oliphant, This is Going to Hurt etc hugandroll

It’s one of the few that I know people IRL to have read.

Thank you, Satsuki.

I've never even heard of Little Fires Everywhere It sounds like "Women's Lit"

Oh haven’t you cote? you’re correct you’d hate it

Little Fires Everywhere was a decent read but ultimately I felt it was rather contrived, which lessened its impact. That might just be me though

Meanwhile, I have finally got around to reading book number 7 The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin and am rather disappointed not to have loved it as much as I thought I would. On reflection, I think it's because I failed to warm to the central character Helen. However, I liked the interactions between her, her mother and grandmother and how their unhappy relationships are brought to the fore by them being thrown together to care for Dylan, Helen's brother, who they discover is very ill. The Irish coast is a good setting for a novel, but for me, this was a three star read I liked but didn't love.