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?

Oops, sorry for pasting fail on the list

Watching You by Lisa Jewell is a 99p deal today, so is The Keeper of Lost Things and The Rumour, also Crazy Rich Asians is 99p again for folk who didn't get it at 99p last time, ditto Snap

Thanks for the second thread southeast

Oh dear oh dear 2nd thread already and I’m already slowing up.Probably because I’m reading Cider With Rosie which, whilst it has beautiful poetic writing, there’s not a lot of plot! I’m a narrative girl through and through so I’m finding this lovely, but not exactly a page turner and so I only manage a few pages before drifting off.

I’ve read

1. Tied up in Tinsel - Ngaio Marsh
2. Nine Lessons - Nicola Upson
3. Bookworm - A memoir of childhood reading - Lucy Mangan

And today just finished 4. A History of Britain in 21 Women Jenni Murray - I listened to this on audible and enjoyed it. I don’t think there’s anything particularly new or groundbreaking so the chapters on Women I already knew quite a bit about weren’t wildly interesting although you can tell me the same stuff about e.g. Elizabeth 1 every day of the week I’ll still be happy to listen, but there were plenty of chapters on Women I knew (to my shame really) very little about so that was interesting. Reminded me a bit of listening to the In Our Time podcast (some of the women have been featured on In Our Time so I guess that’s why) - same level of information covered ie a good introduction and a few interesting extra bits, but not particularly in depth.

Wow new thread already

My list so far:-

1. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
2. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
3. Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans
4. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
5. Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets
6. How to Go Vegan by Veganuary

Currently reading Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan. So far, I'm enjoying this.

I was lucky to see *Waiting for Godot performed by Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellen and don’t think I can beat that. Absolutely nothing happens but it was riveting.

alias Cider is a family member’s favourite Book but I have to say I felt the same as you about it.

I will put Michael Frayn on the ever growing list, thanks

I mean thanks terpsichore and museumofham

I was lucky to see Waiting for Godot performed by Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellen and don’t think I can beat that. Absolutely nothing happens but it was riveting*

I can't think of any two actors better suited to these parts! So jealous that you saw them.

Gosh, these threads move quickly! So far I have finished:

1. Bird Box- Josh Malerman
2. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool- Peter Turner
3. The Road- Cormac McCarthy

and I currently have four books on the go:

Memory Songs- James Cook
Why Mummy Drinks- Gill Sims
In the Days of Rain- Rebecca Stott
The Tattooist of Auschwitz- Heather Morris

I'm now slightly confused about when to use bold type- can someone confirm please?!

FranKatzenjammer

Bold tends to be used when discussing what you have just read and what you are currently reading or talking about so it stands out.

When a new thread starts some of us like to bring across a list of what we have read so far, partly to keep track and also to placemark the thread in I'm On / Watching links. When doing a whole list we tend to use bold for books that are your standout reads and italics for anything you thought was dreadful. Normal text for any other books.

There are no rules though. These are just habits formed over time.

Thanks, Fortuna- some of that I'd figured out, but some I hadn't!

Hallelujah! Finished number 2 The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. If I read all books as slowly as this this year, I'm doomed!

I did enjoy it but it is very very convoluted : maybe the Spanish writing style is more intense? It was a dutiful read as DS1 and 2 both study Spanish; DS2 read this in English (I now feel a bit awkward having recommended it as it's quite sexual in places!). He has now just read one of Zafon's YA books which he enjoyed(again, he didn't read the Spanish.)

On to Michelle Obama after an education book : hopefully those will be more speedy!

We bold names and titles in conversations as lots of people might be having separate discussions about different books at the same time so easier to pick out.

Anyone not obeying these rules will be thrown overboard it won’t be mentioned

I know olly dh and I had a couple of years where we managed to see some pretty good theatre pre-kids and I’m glad because it’s gone completely out the window in the 8 years since. I also saw PS in The Tempest he was a wonderful Prospero and didn’t say “make it so” once.

KittyMcKitty I read every night before going to sleep too aboiut half an hour on average. But I also commute three times a week which is a hour each way. That adds up to quite a bit of reading time...

My list so far

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

And I've started 5) Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver.

No stand out books so far. In fact I've trudged through them except for the Hillary Greene one which is light reading. I liked the beginning and end of The Wife but I think the middle could do with being 40 pages shorter.

Next book is Cactus as recommended by a poster in thread one. Or maybe just mentioned and not actually recommended

The Last Hours by Minette Walters
A village try to survive as the Black Death arrives in Dorset.

Thanks to virginqueen for mentioning this at the end of last year and toomuchsplother for pointing out the sequel at exactly the right time. I really enjoyed this, good characters, plenty of intrigue and enough going on to keep the pace up. I will definitely be reading the next one.

I'm usually awake for three or four hours reading during the night as I either can't sleep or wake up about 1am.

Thanks for the new thread, South.

Grim, Dream of Ding Village looks really interesting, have added it to the list. I read Do not say we have nothing last year and a Peter Hessler non-fiction, set in China and have a list of books and about China to read recommended by posters on this thread. Too many books, too little time!

Pepe, Snap! I’m reading, and listening to on Audible (36 hrs 😮), a massive Stephen Pinker too - The Better Angels of our Nature*. What are you reading?

My list so far:

1. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson.
2. Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker.
3. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

4. No.More.Plastic. What you can do to make a difference. By Martin Dorey. 5. Once upon a time in the East: A story of growing up by Xiaolu Guo.

And
6. Milkman by Anna Burns.

Listened to this book on Audible with a Northern Irish narrator. At the beginning I really was not sure I was going to like it but by the end I was sold. Claustrophobic, threatening atmosphere of a community always under threat of violence which leaks into relationships. I loved the no-names, the characters, sad parts, funny parts, maybe-boyfriend, third brother-in-law, her mother in love with Real Milkman and stealing all her daughters’ clothes, the wee sisters. Loved it.

Keith, I missed your review on Bitter Orange - did you like it?

1. Killing Eve (current read)

Checking in.

1. Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce.

I enjoyed this book set in wartime London. Emmeline Lake wants to become a wartime journalist but finds herself working as a junior typist at Woman's Friend magazine. Her boss, the formidable agony aunt Mrs Bird, will not respond to any letters containing any form of 'Unpleasantness' eg women who have Gone Too Far with the wrong man or who are Not Good Sorts. Emmeline feels compelled to write back to these women signing herself off as Mrs Bird.

The book begins in a light-hearted manner but becomes deeper as the story unfolds.

So far:

1. Cassandra Darke by Posy Simmonds.
2. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino.
3. Milkman by Anna Burns - I absolutely loved this book. The author used language brilliantly to convey the double meanings behind that which was said and that which was unsaid, and it flowed so well, which made it pretty easy to read. I thought the book was funny, sad, inventive, scary, and wise. There aren't any chapters and I did find it hard to decide when to stop reading , so I fell asleep over it a few times.

Blimey these threads are whizzing by! Thank you for the new one southeast.

Only just finished my second of the year:

1. Dark Sacred Night, by Michael Connolly. I really enjoyed this - last year he published a book with a new protagonist, Renee Ballard, and while I quite enjoyed it, it didn't knock my socks off. This book combines Ballard and Harry Bosch, both detectives in LA, as main characters, which I found a great improvement. I've been reading the Bosch books for years and I still never get tired of him as a character. This was well plotted and whipped along at a good pace - I hope there are more of them in this crossover series.

I'm clearly going to have to read Milkman at some point but now I'm not sure if I should be going for the audiobook instead. I love listening to Northern Irish accents so that could be a deciding factor.

1. The Unexpected Joy of being Sober Catherine Grey

Need more time to consider this one.

I will say that I find it absolutely unbelievable that someone working in the media industry in London in the last decade with alcohol problems shares nothing of her experience with other drugs . It felt like part of the ‘journey’ was missing, in a book claiming to be authentic. Perhaps the author felt it would detract from the focus of the book but the two are so connected that I felt like some of the social commentary stuff didn’t work.

7. Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary - Ruby Ferguson

Finished during a wakeful spell in the night. Ruby Ferguson's 'Jill' books were a much-loved element of my childhood reading but I'd never encountered any of her adult writing until I bought this Persephone reprint of her short 1937 novel.

A group of three tourists stumble across a once-magnificent house, Keepsfield, on a tour of Scotland, and are shown round by the elderly housekeeper, Mrs Memmary. She tells them tales of the beautiful and spirited Rose, Countess of Lochlule, who grew up and lived there in the 19thc, and of the events that led to her exile abroad, leaving the great house empty and crumbling.

At first I found this a bit simplistic and over-sweet - it's described as 'a modern fairytale' - but it did grow on me, and the flashback structure's quite effective. Not one of my top reads of the year, I suspect, but a very acceptable diversion.

12 The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor

This came really highly recommended, including by Stephen King whose recommendations I generally like. Like a lot of King's work it's heavily focused on childhood experiences, but for me it was a world away from King's ability to convey childhood. And that's despite the fact the childhood he paints (small town 1970s southern England) was far closer to my experience than any of King's narratives. It's the story of a murder and the consequences of that further down the line for the adults who were caught up in it. It was pretty dull - I never felt any tension, I wasn't in the least interested in who did it (and discovering who did in fact do it was underwhelming) and I didn't actually care very much about any of the characters. Very much sub par King, and I am slightly disappointed I paid money for it, even if it was a reduced Kindle purchase.

To whoever was asking about reading opportunities and length of lists (sorry, the thread is moving so fast I can’t keep track) I do read fast but this year has been a combination of finishing books I started in 2018, short books, and a holiday at the start of the year. I’m going to slow right down now as I’ve got a few quite substantial books lined up that I haven’t yet started.