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50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Two

995 replies

southeastdweller · 15/01/2019 21:31

Welcome to the second 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, it's not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of the year is here.

What are you reading?

OP posts:
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8
Tarahumara · 20/01/2019 14:41

brizzledrizzle how did you get a photo of my car?! Grin

brizzledrizzle · 20/01/2019 14:55

brizzledrizzle how did you get a photo of my car?!

I've been stalking you Grin

PerksOfBeingNorthern · 20/01/2019 15:27
  1. Rhiannon Navin - Only Child
  2. Khaled Hosseini - And The Mountains Echoed
Became quite invested in story and enjoyed this. Negatives would be too many different story strands and just when you’re engrossed in one it skips and you have to figure out where new people fit in which I don’t like. Also spent a lot of time looking up cultural references I was unfamiliar with but learnt a lot that way!
  1. W.Bruce Cameron - A Dog’s Purpose
Easy to read. Made me laugh and cry.
  1. Alex Marwood - The Wicked Girls
Two women who were convicted of murder as children meet again as adults when one of them finds a dead body. I guessed a couple of twists early on but kept reading to find out what had happened in the original case which is revealed in flashbacks.
  1. Fiona Gibson - The Mum Who’d Had Enough
Read in an afternoon as something light after wicked girls. I liked the character of the son who had CP and would have liked more from him.
SatsukiKusakabe · 20/01/2019 15:45

Yes we talk about books we didn’t finish but just don’t add them to the list.

likablum · 20/01/2019 15:50

I have just finished my second book which was a memoir called Name for the Sea by Sarah Moss about a year she spent living in Iceland.

I read Ghost wall by Sarah Moss last year and loved it so thought I would try this. I thought it would make me want to go to Iceland and if anything it put me off! It's very fascinating tho as she was there during the ash cloud and after the banks collapsed. It reads almost like a social anthropology piece on cultural differences.

I am now starting Never Mind by Edward St aubyn after the series being recommended on one of these threads.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 20/01/2019 15:55

Marking place. Nothing to add except I'm still reading Erebus.

FranKatzenjammer · 20/01/2019 16:00

I have now finished

  1. The Tattooist of Auschwitz- Heather Morris

The ending slightly annoyed me, but at that point I discovered it was a true story, so that was the actual ending!

I've got about six other books on the go now.

Terpsichore · 20/01/2019 16:01

So sorry MrsA. We lost our beloved cat some years ago and I still miss him terribly. Haven't been able to get another as it still feels like a betrayal somehow. Silly, I know.

Anyway. 8. The Dark Room at Longwood - Jean-Paul Kauffmann

Kauffmann is a French journalist who spent 3 years in captivity after being kidnapped in Beirut. In this book he visits St Helena and immerses himself in the strange, evocative atmosphere of Longwood House, where Napoleon Bonaparte spent his final years as a prisoner of the English.

I found this book completely compelling and somehow very French in its emphasis on place, smell, weather and what might now be called 'pschogeography'. What it didn't do was draw any parallels with the author's own experiences of captivity - perhaps he decided to leave those unvoiced. It didn't really matter; he evoked so well the terrible, oppressive inevitability of Napoleon's exile, and his gradual descent into despair and hopelessness as he realised that he would never escape this remote rocky outpost; never see France again; never be reunited with his loved ones.

In between the 'history' sections, Kauffmann recounts his interactions with the various people he meets on the island, which made for a good contrast. It was translated well, too, by Patricia Clancy.

toomuchsplother · 20/01/2019 16:09

No reading update but just had to pop on to say I have found 2 unused £10 Book tokens in a drawer. I know the good people of this thread will understand my glee!

Brizzledrizzle · 20/01/2019 16:10

I have promised myself that I can read one of the medieval series I like as every 10th book. Off to the 14th Century for a few days

That sounds intriguing, what series is it please?

I have just finished my second book which was a memoir called Name for the Sea by Sarah Moss about a year she spent living in Iceland.

This has been on my wish list for ages but has never come down to 99p so is still unpurchased. I've been to Iceland 4 times now and it's a wonderful country to visit, I wouldn't want to live there though.

I've just had a bit of a splurge in the kindle valentines day sale and bought each of these for 99p:

Mismatch: How Our Stone Age Brain Deceives Us Every Day (And What We Can Do About It)

Mismatch is about the clash between our biology and our culture. It is about the dramatic contrast between the first few million years of human history - when humans lived as hunters and gatherers in small-scale societies - and the past twelve thousand years following the agricultural revolution which have led us to comfortable lives in a very different social structure. Has this rapid transition been good for us? How do we, using our primitive minds, try to survive in a modern information society that radically changes every ten years or so?

Shadows on the Tundra

In 1941, 14-year-old Dalia and her family are deported from their native Lithuania to a labour camp in Siberia. As the strongest member of her family she submits to twelve hours a day of manual labour. At the age of 21, she escapes the gulag and returns to Lithuania. She writes her memories on scraps of paper and buries them in the garden, fearing they might be discovered by the KGB. They are not found until 1991, four years after her death. This is the story Dalia buried. The immediacy of her writing bears witness not only to the suffering she endured but also the hope that sustained her. It is a Lithuanian tale that, like its author, beats the odds to survive.

How to be happy (I might need this after Shadows on the Tundra)

^Annie has been sad for so long that she's forgotten how to be any other way. Until she meets Polly.

Polly is everything that Annie is not. She's colourful, joyful, happy. Because if recent events have taught Polly anything, it's that your time is too short to waste a single day.

Polly has one hundred days to help Annie find happiness. Annie's convinced it's impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. And on an unforgettable journey, Annie begins to realise that maybe, just maybe, there's still colour to be found in the world.^

The girl from lace island

^1989 When happy-go-lucky fifteen-year-old Leila is exiled from her exotic home on Lace Island to a cold English boarding school, it is just the beginning of her woes. Feeling that she's just too foreign to ever fit in, she's desperate to get back to her family and friends. But in her absence, her paradise island has changed beyond all recognition and the life she once loved is now just a memory. Worse still, everyone and everything she loves is now in terrible danger. 2016
Jess dreams of far off places, of white sandy beaches and warm tropical seas. When she gets her longed-for job as cabin crew, those dreams are suddenly realized - especially when she's swept off her feet by the handsome and charismatic Blaise. But Jess has a troubled past and her present is about to become complicated and dangerous . . .Two women, decades apart, their lives submerged in disaster and betrayal. Both are on a mission to find out the truth about Lace Island, but what if their search for paradise comes at too high a price?^

Owen - Book One of the Tudor Trilogy

^Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, OWEN is the epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience as he changes the course of English history.

England 1422: Owen Tudor, a Welsh servant, waits in Windsor Castle to meet his new mistress, the beautiful and lonely Queen Catherine of Valois, widow of the warrior king, Henry V. Her infant son is crowned King of England and France, and while the country simmers on the brink of civil war, Owen becomes her protector.^

Piggywaspushed · 20/01/2019 16:11

I found two £10 Next gift cards last week splother... only to discover they had expired. The anguish.

toomuchsplother · 20/01/2019 16:13

Piggy I was on the National Book Tokens website like a rat up a drainpipe to check and seems they are all good. Might have to spend them soon though... just in case!

Piggywaspushed · 20/01/2019 16:16

Can't take any unnecessary risks with such a blessed windfall!

BonBonVoyage · 20/01/2019 16:26

My list so far
No outstanding reads yet this year unfortunately

  1. Normal People by Sally Rooney
  2. The Core by Peter V Brett
  3. Murder never misses by Faith Martin (a Hillary Greene detective novel. I love Hillary Greene!)
  4. The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
  5. Cactus by Sarah Haywood. Fine, easy read. And I've started 6) Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. I've read the first chapter but stalled there

Does anyone else frame plots as posts on MN?

"my husband is a famous author but I think I'm going to divorce him. AIBU?"

Or "my DM has died and her will says x. AIBU to think that my DM (the golden child)....."

Or is it just me?

brizzledrizzle · 20/01/2019 16:29

No reading update but just had to pop on to say I have found 2 unused £10 Book tokens in a drawer. I know the good people of this thread will understand my glee!

Manna from book heaven! Do let us know what you buy with your treasure trove.

Piggywaspushed · 20/01/2019 16:30
Grin

I have sometimes wondered if MN is where chick and up lit authors get their own plot ideas from!

brizzledrizzle · 20/01/2019 16:35

I have sometimes wondered if MN is where chick and up lit authors get their own plot ideas from!

I think that's highly likely.

BestIsWest · 20/01/2019 16:37
  1. Becoming - Michelle Obama - I am a fan and really enjoyed this which was just as well as two of my nearest and dearest each bought me a copy for Christmas (you’d think they’d check with each other- What are you buying for Mum - oh me too!)
twiceinalifetime · 20/01/2019 16:38

Book no.3 finished - Small Island by Andrea Levy.

I must admit, I struggled with the first couple of chapters but after that it became very enjoyable.

Difficult to read how badly citizens from other Commonwealth countries who had fought in the war alongside us were treated in England once the war was over. Thought provoking.

BonBonVoyage · 20/01/2019 16:39

Fortuna have you read Karen Maitland's books company of liars the owl killers. Medieval thrillers though maybe not quite the period you mentioned. How do you rate them? I really enjoyed them, and pillars of the earth and its sequel. I'd like to read more books set in that period. Have you any recommendations?

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 20/01/2019 16:41

I dream of finding book tokens. How lovely!

BonBonVoyage · 20/01/2019 16:44

Apologies for poor capitalisation of titles and lack of commas in my prev post. I'll try harder next time!

Best my parents (who were happily married and living in the same house) once both bought me the same book for Christmas! Were you able to return one of your duplicate copies?

StitchesInTime · 20/01/2019 17:07

I love getting book tokens.

The only ones currently in my house are the ones my DC got for Christmas.

grimupnorthLondon · 20/01/2019 17:50

Sorry to hear your sad news Mrs A and congratulations on your exciting find splother

I’ve just finished 4. Caroline Alexander - The Bounty a non-fiction account of the Mutiny on the Bounty that I picked up in the (rather good) bookshop at the maritime museum in Falmouth. This was really interesting because not only does she do an excellent job of conveying ship/explorer/naval life in the 18th century but her research on notions of duty and authority being challenged in England at the time of the revolution in France are fascinating. The twisting tale of who got their version of their mutiny story into popular culture are intriguing - I knew virtually nothing about this story before but ended up feeling quite sorry for poor Captain Bligh!

FortunaMajor · 20/01/2019 17:52

Brizzledrizzle The C14th series is Matthew Bartholomew by Susanna Gregory. The first book is A Plague on Both Your Houses. MB is a doctor who teaches at Cambridge University with his friend Brother Michael, they become a crime fighting duo. The series starts towards the end of the first wave of plague. I really enjoy them, but I should mention that they can be complicated, she introduces a lot of new characters because she keeps killing people off and it can be hard to keep track. The clues are there, but there tends to a big reveal towards the end to pull it all together. I am on book 16 and am yet to work out whodunit before it is revealed. Either they are really hard to work out or I think I'm just a bit thick. There is definitely a formula to them which you start to notice if you read a few in succession. It doesn't stop me enjoying them though. They are similar to the Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, only set later.

Susanna Gregory is the pseudonym of Elizabeth Cruwys, a Cambridge academic who was previously a coroner's officer. She is also one half of Simon Beaufort, author of the Geoffrey Mappestone series set during the Crusades. Plus she is one of the original Medieval Murderers, the group name of a band of writers (Philip Gooden, Susanna Gregory, Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight, Karen Maitland, Ian Morson, C J Sansom) who do group performances and have written a series of books together.

She has also written another series set during the reformation with a character called Thomas Challenor. I think they are very like the Shardlake books in a slightly different time period. I have read the first A Conspiracy of Violence, and I liked it, but I am saving them for once I have finished her first series and all the Shardlakes. I am on the 6th Shardlake on audiobook, but the puppy has decided this week she is afraid of the dark and will not leave the house so it has halved my listening time as I usually walk her with an audiobook on.

BonBonVoyage I have read 3 Karen Maitland books. Some are in the time period I prefer most of all (1100s-ish), but I don't really like them if I'm honest. They still keep finding their way home with me from the library though. I think the time period is interesting enough without adding 'magic' to it. I don't hate them, but don't love them either. I've also read 2 of the Ariana Franklin - Mistress of the Art of Death series - I liked the first, but not the second. I was grumpy when I read it though, so will give the third one a chance.

I loved Pillars of the Earth, did you now there is a 3rd one recently released? A Column of Fire I haven't read it yet.

There are a lot of medieval series that I haven't yet got around to so I can't recommend them personally, but have a look out for any of the Medieval Murderers listed above, they each have their own characters and series. The books they have written together have a plot that links all of their characters together so they might be a good start to see which author and character you like best. Others to have a look at include:

Clare Alys - Hawkenlye
Cassandra Clarke - Abbess of Meaux
Catherine Coulter - Medieval Song
Paul Doherty - Brother Athelstan/ Hugh Corbert/ Mathilde of Westminster / Sir Roger Shallot
Margaret Frazer - Sister Frevisse/ Joliffe the Player
Martin Jensen - King's Hounds
Bernard Knight - Crowner John
Shirley McKay - Hew Cullan
Ian Morson - William Falconer
SJ Paris - Giordano Bruno
Sharon Penman - Justin de Quincey
Candace Robb - Owen Archer
Kate Sedley - Roger the Chapman
Mel Starr - Hugh de Singleton
Ann Swinfen - Oxford Medieval Series
Peter Tremayne - Sister Fidelma
Michael Jecks - Knights Templar

If you do try any of these, do let me know what you think as I don't know who to move on to next. Although with another 7 Matthew Bartholomews to go I could be some time.

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