50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Two

[southeastdweller]

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?

9. A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles

Not a quick read, this one, but a lovely book. Count Alexander Rostov is placed under house arrest in Moscow's premier hotel in the early days of Communist rule - and the book is an account of the life he makes there. It's not a page-turner and the plot is perhaps not the main point, but there is one and I don't want to spoil it so won't reveal details here. The main joy of the book is in the writing; it's like a beautifully turned piece of furniture from the 1930s. And despite its subject matter, it is a happy book; the story of a man who is spared through what is revealed at one point to be a lucky chance, but who also turns what to others would be a prison into a rich and fulfilling life. A book to be savoured.

I haven't been on here for the past couple of weeks (and this entire thread) as I am tied up with Infinite Jest - not only is it over 1,000 pages long, including footnotes, but each page seems to take at least twice as long to read as a page in any other novel, as the prose is so dense (and the font is tiny). I am sort of enjoying it, so far, and have actually laughed out loud a few times; some aspects are a little irritating, but probably not enough so to stop me carrying on. I have to say there is a lot more about tennis than I expected.

I have taken a few breaks from it, and so have also finished a couple of non-fiction books over the past week or two:

5 A Sense of Direction - Gideon Lewis-Kraus
The author is approaching 30 and frittering his time away in Berlin (smoking, drinking, clubbing, hanging out at art gallery openings and having casual sex) with no real idea about what he is doing with his life, as well as having some unresolved issues with his family (e.g. his father, a rabbi, came out as gay in his 40s and embraced a totally new lifestyle, abandoning his wife and two sons), so he agrees to do the 800km Camino de Santiago walking pilgrimage in northern Spain with a friend. Despite the pain and tedium he finds it (mildly) transformative, so decides to tackle the even longer 88-temple pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku, Japan, as a solo traveller. And finally he joins a huge gathering of Hassidic Jews celebrating the Jewish new year at the tomb of a mystic rabbi in Ukraine, this time with his father and brother. The trip does not resolve everything, but by the end, he and his father and brother have gone some way towards mending their relationship or at least accepting each other's flaws.

The book is partly a travelogue, but mainly about how the idea and practice of pilgrimage can be meaningful even as a non-believer: it forces you to surrender to an established routine and set of practices that take you away from everyday life and makes you examine your responses to pain, tiredness, other people and your own life. In a way, the longer and more pointless the pilgrimage, the better. That all sounds very worthy, but it is not written in a heavy, soul-searching, self-improvement-type way at all.

It has occurred to me that reading Infinite Jest could be seen as a kind of stationary pilgrimage - anyone who does it is probably doing it not for fun but as an endurance challenge, and it is as much about how you cope and persist as about the book itself. Not as many blisters, perhaps, but the risk of wrist and eye strain from holding the book at a readable angle in bed...

And 6 To Throw Away Unopened - Viv Albertine
Second memoir by the former punk musician (The Slits), after Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys.

This one is mainly focused on the death of her mother (one strand of the narrative takes you through the night of her death almost minute-by-minute), breaking out into Viv's complex feelings about her parents, sister and upbringing, as well as her current life as a divorced, 60-ish mother of a teenage daughter, her disastrous relationships, and her feelings about men, women and the myth of romance. She is brutally honest about everything and everyone, and it is a painful but brilliant read.

Read all about it is 99p at the moment so I've snapped it up, thanks for the recommendation.

I haven't read Eats, shoots and leaves - it's said to be funny but my perception is that it's quite dry? Is it worth a go at £1.99?

Thanks for the heads up toomuchsplother.
I'll dig out my Kindle and take a look.

Brizzle, Eats, Shoots and Leaves is an entertaining read, as is Talk to the Hand (Lynne Truss's plea for good manners and politeness), but then both are right up my street!

Thanks Fran, I'll go for it.

2019 is providing me so far with books that are a bit of a slog. I have now finished number 5 The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Crikey what a brain hurter this book is. I really can't decide if I liked it as I was so embroiled in trying to remember who everyone was and the clues scattered behind. The ending was a bit silly : but that was almost certainly intentional ,as Turton openly credits his homage to Agatha Christie.

A curate's egg of a book. At least it is definitely different!

The random number generator has now treid to give me A Suitable Boy. Not sure I am ready for 1000 pages so may leave that til half term and squeeze in the new Catherine Chidgey before it.

Also, cna anyone solve the mystery (less deadly) of why there is a hardcover edition of this called The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle?? When? Why? How? What? Wherefore??

10 Any Old Diamonds by KJ Charles

Duke's son Lord Alexander Pyne--ffoulkes - more generally known as Alec Pyne, struggling artist working for the illustrated papers - commissions jewel thieves the Lilywhite Boys to help him steal his step-mother's famous diamonds as revenge for what he sees as his father's betrayal and abandonment of his first wife and children.

A nice change from the over-long Cassandra Clare I read last, this was proper grown-up romance. Short, sharp, with a plot that never quite goes as you expect (but of course with a Happy Ever After). Perfect reading for a cold winter weekend.

Piggy From the horse's mouth

Stuart Turton : Yes, 'Seven Deaths' and '7 1/2 Deaths' are exactly the same. We had a clash in the US and had to change the title there, hence 7 1/2. Don't worry, you're getting exactly the same amount of murder for your money, though.

toomuch Thanks for the puppy love. She's mostly an arsehole, so she's lucky she's pretty.

I have just spent a very confused half hour reading the opening to The Luminaries, only to figure out I got it mixed up with The Immortalists and it isn't the book I thought it was. Astrology/ Fortuneteller/ Mumbo jumbo, it's all the same January was obviously longer than I realised.

The clash was with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

FTR Haven't read either, just clicked on the GR link as a friend has just finished it and it's in the update feed.

But Piggy!!!! Surely if the random number generator says A Suitable Boy it must be obeyed!!??!!

I say this as someone who is seriously thinking of putting a random number generator in place and holds you in high esteem as you seem to follow it to the letter, err number.

Ah, I thought it might be a US thing but Amazon didn't say!!

I am a bit ashamed but , in my defence, tomorrow is Sunday and I don't own A Suitable Boy yet and Amazon won't deliver it til Monday to my work address really bad excuses as own a Kindle

5. My year of rest and relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
A young woman decides to spend a year mostly asleep with the help of prescription drugs. It’s set in Manhattan in 2000/1.

It was an interesting premise with some good writing but I found it a bit dull in the middle. I just couldn’t care about the horrible poor little rich girl. Nice bits of nostalgia but there is an inevitability of any book set in 2001 in New York which is a bit boring to read again.

exexpat, I am so glad you liked To Throw Away Unopened . It was such a beautiful and angry book, and I really value women being given space to have such thoughts and views.

And yes, there is a lot of tennis in Infinite Jest. Like you I am interspersing it with (in my case) lots of other books but am getting sucked in so suspect at some point I’ll go all in and abandon everything else. It is very funny but does require a lot of attention.

Good reviews exexpat - To Throw Away Unopened and Infinite Jest are both on my tbr list.

Infinite Jest sounds like it serves up a treat then, I must look out for it.

PIggy I like the idea of a random number generator, I might give that a go. I'd be a bit wary of it making reading feel like a chore though!

Oh no, it adds jeopardy! All good fun!

I've deployed the random number generator and next up is Light This Candle: The Life & Times of Alan Shepard--America's First Spaceman - good job RNG, I approve.

Thanks for that list Remus, I’ll have a look. I think I may have read Touching the void years ago and didn’t enjoy it but not certain if I’m thinking of the same book. I’m very impressed you have an exploration shelf!

My TBR pile (well, virtual pile as they're on the Kindle) isn't huge, but I am forcing myself to read them in the order I bought them. Which means that, if I stick to it, I have coming up The Wife by Meg Wolitzer, Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, Home Going by Yaa Gyasi and Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King. I feel that's quite a variety to be getting on with...

4. Juror No.3 - James Patterson and Nancy Allen

Ruby is new to the bar and new to Rosedale, a small town in Mississippi. When a socialite from one of the towns oldest families is murdered its her job to defend the young black football player. When a second murder also breaks Ruby is fast to learn the rules of the defence and that in small towns you may not be able to trust anyone. Even the 12 members of the jury.

I enjoyed the premise of this and the character of Ruby. However I felt the actual stories within the book were very very rushed. Not sure if books written in partnership with James Patterson just seem to be a little more lacking in detail. I think the book could have been better with just one case and a lot more filling out.

Seems I may have got my reading mojo back. First book I’ve completed in a day this year

Latest books I've read are

1. Before Her Eyes - Jack Jordan

6. The Silent Child - Sarah A Denzil 7. Beware the Past - Joy Ellis Before her Eyes - Naomi, a woman who has been blind since birth stumbles across a murder being committed. Good plotline, but some parts were a little far fetched, e.g. even though she was blind she had a job as a waitress, despite being attacked, opened her front door without putting chain on door. Good finale to the story though. Don't think I would read anything else by this author. The Silent Child Aiden, a six year old boy fell into a river in flood and was drowned. 10 years later he returns but is too traumatised to speak. There was a very creepy undertone to this story, lots of plot twists and didn't work out who had taken Aiden till the reveal at the end. Beware the Past Set in the Fenlands, Detective Matt Ballard, is about to retire but is haunted by the murders of 3 young boys which happened 25 years ago. Then he is sent photos of the crime scenes from 25 years ago, taken just before the murders were committed. I really enjoyed this book, it has a hectic pace, with many twists and turns with an ending I did not see coming.