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?

tanaqui I would add to your Dorothy Edwards recommendation that both mine have enjoyed them from about 4/5 if they can sit still for a longer story - the first long form chapter books I read to them. They are so close to the little sisters antics themselves yet get a sense of wonderful superiority We’ve been through the whole set a few times and I never get enough of the wide-eyed wonder at what she is about to do. The old fashioned domestic details are wonderful too, I remember explaining the coal man to my son and his utter surprise that they were not modern stories. I felt enormously comforted by the fact they recognised so much of their own childhoods in them despite the lack of gadgetry and expensive days out in there.

Satsuki My son was worried by a Secret Seven plotline in which the boys were out late at night and trapped by some baddies. After some thought he reassured me they would be fine because they would all have their phones with them!

I'm another one who adored the My Naughty Little Sister books as a child and enjoyed reading them to my own DC.

I liked the My Naughty Little Sister too, plus the Magic Faraway Tree books.

Avoided joining last year as it's too tempting to add to the already massive to-read list - but am going to give it a go this year with the proviso that I'm going to aim for 50 books exactly - no more, no less. I'm hoping that this will mean I'm less likely to splurge on massive series and 99p Kindle specials and read a few more of the longer books that have been lurking on my Kindle for years, (and possibly read more technical stuff for work which I'm not going to count).

So...

1-3: The Legend of Eli Monpress, Rachel Aaron.
inc: The Spirit Thief, The Spirit Rebellion, and The Spirit Eater
4-5: The Revenge of Eli Monpress, Rachel Aaron.
inc: The Spirit War, Spirit's End

Fun fantasy series - they're reasonably light hearted and a quick read. The world building is decent - the idea for how magic works in this universe is that all objects possess "spirits", and some humans can persuade or bully spirits into working for them. The main characters could have stepped right out of a role-playing game: thief, swordsman, and demon-possessed magic user with amnesia.

1. Heaven's Queen, Rachel Bach

Same author as above, but this is her space opera series. Last book in the series. This is basically Knights In Spacesuits, with a bit of saving the universe and some romance themes mixed in.

Currently reading Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting which is currently on Kindle deal - seems reasonably useful so far. Not sure what to pick as a fiction read - I've burned through 12% of my allowance this year already, so might try The Dark Forest.

indigo. Yes, I love Anne Tyler now. And I’ve only read 3 of her book, so loads of treasures left to discover! She’s written about 20 I think. What are your favourites?

Piggy His publishers like to think so - he's got a book out in October about his experiences as a Doctor at Christmas time:

www.thebookseller.com/news/new-adam-kay-christmas-2019-885006

I agree Satsuki- I have also had a year 3 class absolutely hooked on them, but that might have been a particular coalescence of children. Magdalen Nabb’sJosie Smith books are lovely too, of a more 70s/80s childhood!

4. The Late Show by Micheal Connelly. I find his books reliably enjoyable, although possibly prefer the tighter complex plotting of the earlier ones - however the later ones are probably better written. This is his new character, Renee Ballard- pretty much she reads just like Bosch, but he has had a good go at thinking about writing as a woman. (He has written from a women’s POV before but I can’t remember what I thought about it!). Bosch in Amazon Prime is pretty good too- bit of a slow burn but I like that it takes time and does the plot justice, not just “monster of the week”.

Oh taht's interesting southeast. Eventually, his experiences will become too distant to be relevant. Maybe he'll be the next James Herriot...

tanaqui my niece brought one to a big family gathering at restaurant to read when she was around 8/9. They can put themselves in the position of the narrator or the smaller child. My dd covers her ears at some bits when she knows what’s coming - she cannot bear them attacking the trifle

Another fan of My Naughty Little Sister books; also Alfie by Shirley Hughes. She does such amazing atmospheric illustrations.

1. Agamemnon - Aeschylus
2. LIbation Bearers - Aeschylus
3. Emma - Jane Austen
4. Eumenides - Aeschylus

Wow - the Oresteia might be a compact trilogy, but it sure packs a punch. It deals with conflicting oppositions, and how these can be resolved (or not) - so male/female; mother/son; daughter/father; family ties/social obligations; right to personal revenge/resolution through the political system etc. All this in powerful language which veers from the extremely poetic and lyrical to the coarse and proverbial. It has been called the charter myth of patriarchy and male domination, as well as the charter myth of the state. So it carries a lot of weight on its little shoulders!

Nuffaluff so far my favourite Anne Tyler is Breathing Lessons. I think she won The Pulitzer Prize with it. The whole novel describes the life of a couple over the course of just one day, so a bit different from her others. It's just brilliant imho. Pure Anne Tyler.

I agree Indigosalt, Breathing Lessons is my favourite. I love that novel. I also think Saint Maybe is very good too. I like them all a lot actually!

Thanks indigo and whippet. I’ll put those on my list. (List that is already far, far too long).

Indigo, I love Breathing Lessons too. I must admit I find some of her novels where the characters exhibit more extreme eccentric behaviours a bit harder to take - what she treats as whimsical I often find a bit more....I don't know, pathological? But maybe that's just me.

Tanaqui, the latest Bosch book, which a couple of us have read recently I think, puts him together with Ballard and is a lot more successful in my view. I was quite impressed with the thought Michael Connelly's put into the female mindset in the newer book.

I'm another one who hasn't had a flying start to the year. That's mainly because my little dog got seriously ill at Christmas and, after improving with medication for a week or so, went downhill rapidly in the first week of January so I had to have her put to sleep. I know I did the right thing but it has been a rubbish time since and I haven't felt like reading much.

I finally finished Dorothy L. Sayers' The Nine Tailors on January 11th after starting on New Year's Day. It was a re-read but it is quite a few years since I last read it. This is her best in many people's opinions - it's not my favourite but I do like it. Lord Peter Wimsey gets stranded in a village in the Fens on New Years Eve and is rescued by the rector of the parish and is subsequently roped(!) in to ringing a nine hour peal because one of the regular ringers is ill. Three months later Wimsey is contacted by the rector as the mutilated corpse of an unknown man has been found in Lady Thorpe's grave which has just been opened to receive the body of her husband.
The plot is fairly complex with lots of people doing dodgy things for various reasons in classic whodunnit style. The cause of death is ingenious, although I have heard people express doubts as to whether a person could actually be killed in that way.
I enjoyed the re-read but I am a Sayers fan and I can see it wouldn't appeal to everyone.

ii) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.
All my children have left home bar the youngest and I have lots of stuff to get rid of. I enjoyed reading this decluttering book which people were raving about a few years ago; however I'm not sure if it will be enough to motivate me. I don't find the more weird suggestions (e.g. talking to your house) as off-putting as some people have but I finished the book several days ago and have yet to start actually clearing out. In fairness to Kondo that's probably because I'm a total procrastinator and somewhat of an idle mare.

I'm currently reading Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher and also The Breathing Book by Donna Farhi.

MrsArabin

So sorry about your dog, MrsA.

MrsA so sorry

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog MrsA

MrsArabin that’s awful, I’m so sorry

Wow this thread moves quick, I forgot I was one it.

1. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - I really enjoyed it and it's complex world of motherhood, race and privilege from different perspectives.

1. Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig - I always enjoy Matt's writing and this book is essentially telling us how bad an impact our overuse of the internet/social media us having on our lives, which I think most of us know. It's not preachy and has some good insights, I laughed and cried at various points.

Haven't selected book 3 yet.

Thank you all for your kind posts, I'm really touched.

for MrsA

Yes Tanaqui and Terpsichore - I thought The Late Show was good but had a faint whiff of "cut and paste if Bosch was a woman" - but enjoyed Dark Sacred Night so much more. As well as enjoying the interplay between the characters I agree with Terpsichore that some of Renee's thoughts and reflections seemed much more realistic this second time around.

MrsA My MIL had to have her little dog pts a few weeks ago, too. And we've been through it too, having to make that heartbreaking decision with our cats in the past