50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 and the second one here.

What are you reading?

Thank you for letting me know about Dune being in the sale, Decumus. Both ds and I will read that over the Easter break.

And tara, I loved the Claire Tomalin too. Fascinating to see a biographer turn her attention to her own life; I agree it had a big influence on the narrative.

33 L’Assomoir by Emile Zola
Having managed a degree in French without reading any Zola I finally put that right. Albeit in translation, and a slightly overwrought translation at that. It's the story of a couple's short rise and then long fall into grinding poverty and alcoholism in working class Paris in the 19th century. There are some very entertaining set pieces - the many and varied feasts when things are going well - and some almost unbearable descriptions of hunger, misery and illness as well as terrible behaviour by people to each other. I feel this would have been better read (by me) in French so may give Germinal a go some time.

34 If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino
I have tried reading this several times with no success and even on this occasion had to stop and go back to the start. After chapter 5, I relaxed and went with the flow, and appreciated the flair and creativity, and stopped trying to fight it. It's unlike any book I've ever read, and is playful and provocative while also having lots to say about how and why we read. I’m team Ludmilla all the way, I have to say.

35 The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

So many of you have read and reviewed this. I was slightly reluctant as I had a (wrong) view of what it would be like, and I am often out of step
with others on “must read” type books but this was indeed wonderful, and a stand out of this year so far. I couldn’t read it fast enough and didn’t want it to end.

36 The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan

With thanks to Terpsichore for identifying this for me after I glimpsed it in Waterstones, didn’t buy it and forgot the title...this was a short and clever account of the arc of a relationship. It was frustratingly vague at times but felt like a very accurately observed account of love gone wrong and almost put back together again.

Had a bonkers week so little time for Mumsnet or reading for that matter.

Still finished#23 Watcher in the Woods the next in Kelley Armstrong’s very enjoyable Casey Duncan series. I didn’t work out who did it but the plot made sense and as usual she didn’t cheat. Left open for a 5th book which is also pleasing.

Moved on from that to #24 Dark Fire the second in the Shardlake series. Shardlake is looking into a missing Medieval WMD. Stretches reality a bit. The atmosphere of London is well written and I’m continuing to enjoy the series.

Looking back at my list I think I'm definitely a fan of the ongoing series I seem to read a lot of different ones.

I'm trying not to buy books until I've reduced my backlog to only 20. This is a bit of a challenge. As such I've not gone through the Spring Kindle Sale. After all if I don't know it's there I'm not tempted.

Hope you enjoy The Western Wind, Scribbly. Will be interested to hear your thoughts!

In the spring sale, I bought Homage to Catalonia, Valley of the Dolls, and The Division Bell Mystery (by Ellen Wilkinson - the MP who led the Jarrow march).

The latter was picked up by a current female MP (to my shame I cannot remember who it was and Google isn't helping) and I heard her on the radio saying that while the plot isn't wonderful, the descriptions of HoC life are - and are very realistic even now. That was enough to tempt me (plus Wilkinson was obviously a very interesting woman).

Scribbly have you read Bruce Chatwin's Songlines?

Just seen that The Bookseller of Kabul is 99p for the Kindle.

@PepeLePew, warning, I found Germinal to be one of the most depressing books I have ever read - even more than L'Assomoir. So grim, but so good also. I am a complete wuss though and am terrible at reading distressing events.

I can't remember where I've got to with reviews but I have read:

26. Waiting for the Last Bus: Reflections on Life and Death - Richard Holloway - I enjoyed this meditative look on the way death is perceived in modern life and how we shy away from contemplating our own demise and that of our loved ones. The book is based on a series of talks he gave on Radio 4 which I didn't hear initially but will seek out now if possible.

27. An Isolated Incident - Emily Maguire - not really a whodunnit, more of an examination about how the death of a young woman in Australia affects those around her while the police struggle to solve the case. Good descriptions of small-town Australian life. I liked but didn't love this but it's a easy, quick read that kept me turning the pages. It's also won a number of Australian literary prizes.

28. The Taming of the Shrew - William Shakespeare I read this due to seeing a production at the RSC last week. It's a hard play to put on these days but the production at Stratford was utterly brilliant and an excellent re-interpretation of this story.

I'm loving my current read, which is Darling Days: A Memoir by io Tillett-Wright, all about her chaotic and often deprived upbringing in New York by her unstable mother. It's so well written; one of my stand-outs of the year so far.

I read Germinal when I was 16 and loved it but agree whippet

Is Io Tillet Wright the photographer/artist?

19. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

This was a sledgehammer of a book (in impact terms, rather than bluntness!) that took me a while to read and despite that, I think I'll have to read it again fully to absorb what's going on. It is a novel about the Vietnam War and its aftermath, written from the point of view of a man who, only half Vietnamese, is caught between two worlds and two views. The writing is astonishing. The early descriptions of the war are harrowing and extremely effective. We then follow the (unnamed) "sympathizer" through his life after escaping Vietnam, which is no less eventful. I was never, ever bored by this book, although some parts of it felt more laboured than others. I wouldn't say I exactly enjoyed all of it (although I certainly enjoyed parts of it), but the best way I can describe it is that, after reading it, I felt a bit like I do after coming out of those ice cold plunge pools. You look at everything in a slightly altered way. So that's a recommendation, I think (it won the Pulitzer prize, which might be a more reliable indication of quality!).

I know virtually nothing about the Vietnam War so having read this, I was pleased to find The Things They Carried by Tim O' Brien for £1.99 in the spring sale, so have snapped that up. Although I am still doing my reading by strict order of purchase, so next on my list is Stuart, a life backwards, which I thought sounded interesting years ago when it first came out, and popped up in a recent Kindle sale. Living up to expectations so far.

Glad to see your old name back Satsuki - it's our go to film in times of sickness and enforced indoorsness, and one of the few films DS can watch without upset, so it always makes me smile.

12. The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway #9 and another good one. This series continues to deliver with intriguing scenarios and character development from book to book.

13. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell Short and tense. Two sisters with former stage and screen careers are now bound together in a reclusive, claustrophobic and abusive relationship. As the former child star Jane becomes more erratic and unsafe, the reader is played with, as there are numerous missed opportunities to rescue her vulnerable disabled sister from the situation. The ending was quite unsatisfactory and abrupt - I thought I still had a way to go, but there were a couple of short stories at the end - but overall this has stood the test of time.

14. Energise You by Oliver Gray Rubbishy and bleeding obvious self help book. Not recommended.

MuseumOfHam really interested to see your thoughts on Baby Jane. I picked it up on a whim in the library last month, but returned it unread as I decided it would be a bit too creepy and I don't do horror any more. The porcelain doll on the cover put me off. Would you say it is worth fishing out again?

34. Reader, I Married Him - ed. Tracy Chevalier 21 short stories inspired by Jane Eyre and the line Reader, I Married Him. Commissioned for Charlotte's bicentanary and containing stories by award winning female authors.

Very hit and miss. A few gems and authors I now want to read more from, but largely very tenuous links and nothing special. I wouldn't really recommend it. I don't think short stories are for me, I always feel a bit let down by them. Can anyone suggest where best to start with any of Helen Dunmore, Tracy Chevalier, Elif Shafak and Susan Hill (please don't say Dolly)

Fortuna I'd say Baby Jane is pretty creepy but is not full blown horror. The level of creepiness is probably on a par with a modern psychological thriller. There is some violence but it's not described in an excessively gory way. I'd say the creepy doll image on the cover is a pretty good indicator of the 'feel' of the book. Not sure if that helps you decide or not!

Maybe I should read Germinal in French, then...it’s rusty enough that the full impact may be a little muted. L’Assomoir was brutal enough.

I’ll be keen to hear what you think of Stuart, welshwabbit. I’m about to start The Genius In My Basement by the same author. It’s about Simon Norton, an eccentric but brilliant mathematician who died a couple of weeks ago. Masters wrote his obituary in the Guardian which was beautiful and eloquent.

Thanks MuseumOfHam I thought it sounded really interesting and maybe a bit like Misery, but that cover really put me off. I'm such a wuss.

Pepe, I think Simon Norton gets a passing (affectionate) mention as the landlord in Stuart. Let me know what you think too!

MegBusset yes I read Songlines about 20 years ago when I was living in Australia. Can’t remember much about it now apart from it was good, so probably due a reread again.

Fortuna, my favourite Helen Dunmore is A Spell of Winter, which won the Orange prize. Without giving too much in the way of spoilers, there are some disturbing family relationships in it though, which might not be for everyone. Helen Dunmore always has quite a lot of darkness in her books. The Siege about the Siege of Leningrad is also very good.

I am a very big fan of Dunmore but I think she is a marmite author. That slow, poetic style, in which often not much happens in a non-chronological way, suits me but drives some of my book club friends round the bend.

29.) Final Girls, by Riley Sager -- Entertaining and twisty thriller, centred around Quincy, the sole survivor of a horror film-style massacre, in which her friends were murdered. It kept me guessing, and it'd make a great film.

30.) Nelly Dean, by Alison Case -- tells the story of Wuthering Heights from the POV of Nelly Dean. I really enjoyed this, although I hesitated before starting it since it had been a while since I read Wuthering Heights and I was a bit iffy on the details. It didn't matter all that much though; it mostly leaves Cathy and Heathcliff alone, and focuses on the relationships between Nelly, Hindley and Hareton. I loved the revelation at the end that it started off as fanfiction.

31.) The King's Justice (Stanton & Barling Book 1), by E. M. Powell
and
33.) The Monastery Murders (Stanton & Barling - Book 2), E. M. Powell - Murder mysteries set during medieval times, featuring Aelred Barling, a clerk for the King's justice, and his assistant Hugo Stanton. Enjoyable enough, and I like the main characters.

32.) The Bones of Avalon, (The John Dee Papers, Book 1), Phil Rickman -- John Dee, advisor in matters of the unseen to Queen Elizabeth the First, is despatched to Glastonbury along with his old friend and pupil Robert Dudley in search of the bones of King Arthur.

I've seen a lot of historical murder mystery series compared to the Shardlake books, but IMO this is the only one I've seen that comes anywhere close in the quality of the writing, the slightly hapless and basically lovelorn protagonist (although John Dee gets his end away more than poor old Matthew ever does, I must say), and the slow-as-treacle pace. And since it's written by Phil Rickman, there's a never quite confirmed supernatural edge, which I love. I'd suggest that anyone who enjoys the Shardlake books gives this a go. Only two books in the series, at the moment. I really hope he writes more.

Just checking in to keep this on my active convos list. RL has been a bit busy, so not much reading time lately. I'm enjoying the second Fractured Europe book (Europe at Midnight) as my bedtime reading, and currently listening to Why We Get The Wrong Politicians on Audible (easy listening but sadly little new for anyone who's watched The Thick of It / Yes Minister).

Lovely review, Welshwabbit.

I thought the first half of The Things they Carried was stunning, but it worked less for me in the second half iirc.

I enjoyed Baby Jane. Going to try to find my review of it to jog my memory!

12. The Stranger Diaries - Ellie Griffiths stand-alone gothic influenced thriller. Very enjoyable if a bit unbelievable in parts.

13. All that remains - Sue Black stories from a forensic anthropologist. Not an easy read, some of the cases she has dealt with are particularly harrowing and heartbreaking, but nevertheless fascinating.

Now on to Caroline Criado Perez - Invisible Women which is making me cross - so true!

*12 - Narrow Road To The Deep North.

Another I suspect most people have read, I LOVED this until the last 80 or so pages and felt it really really tailed off.

14. Big Bones. Laura Dockrill.

Bluebell is a 16 year old with more body confidence than I most have at 16. However, she also has problems with her Asthma and is encouraged to keep a food diary and join a gym.

This was a lovely YA book and perhaps also a love letter to food itself. Teenagers need more of these stories. BB loves herself and doesn’t want to loose weight (rather get fit).

If I’m honest I found the screechy teenage speak a bit much and skimmed a few sections. I’m also reading Ruby Tandoh’s Eat Up at the moment and found the descriptions of food didn’t work well in some places in both. A food to describe every single emotion and narrative situation means they all lose meaning and jumble together. Except for Bluebell’s ode to bread. Man I want some bread.

in a dark dark wood Ruth Ware

Nora gets an invite to Clare’s hen do at a cottage in the woods 10 years after they last spoke. For some implausible reason she decides to go.
A fun and silly thriller. I quite enjoyed this and the setting did give a few shivers. A little thriller by numbers but good fun.

@lastqueen I loved Narrow Road can’t remember the ending though. Tbh all I can remember now is the torturous POW scenes which I hadn’t read much like before.

Has anyone read “The Binding” by Bridget Collins? I’ve just finished it and I’m blown away.

12. A Month In The Country by JL Carr. Many thanks to everyone who recommended this wonderful book. Two First World War survivors find themselves working in a Yorkshire rural idyll where they begin to heal. Both are traumatised by their combat experiences in a world that doesn't recognise PTSD and expects their veterans to keep a stiff upper lip. The halcyon summer of 1920 is described by main protagonist Birkin looking back on it nostalgically 58 years later. It's palpable that he's describing the end of an era, church attendance is mandatory, farming is labour intensive, horse drawn transport is the norm and the highlight of the social calendar is the Sunday School outing. It's short and very sweet, there's some beautiful characterisation and despite my fears not too poetic at all! I'm looking forward to watching the 1988 movie starring a young Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh as Birkin and Moon on Amazon Prime, I hope they do it justice.