50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Four

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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, the second one here and the third one here.

How're you getting on so far?

Funnily enough, it was a Mumsnet thread about the delights of Butlins, and it's the nearest one to us, so we shall see. Dd should like the waterpark, at least, and I'll have a pile of books, so better destinations may be wasted on me....

Its very true, a waterpark to provide peace & quiet, someone to cook and a pile of books sounds idyllic.

Adrian Mole went to Skeggy because it is the nearest seaside to Leicester but I think you will be sorely disappointed unless your home living conditions are barbaric.

In bed in Krakow feeling poorly and sorry for myself. Just popped in to say I love CCM more than life itself. Not the ending and not the beginning. But Carlo. Oh my.

Is very true, Skeggy was the default seaside option back in the day when I grew up in the East Midlands - Mablethorpe if you were posh . (Fortunately as my DPs aren't originally from there we used to go to north Wales for our holidays, so my Skegness outings were on the bus with my friends.)

I'm guessing the fish and chips must be cracking in Skeg though?

29 Wilding by Isabella Tree

The story of the 'Knepp experiment', the rewilding of the 3,500 hectare estate owned by the author and her husband. The book tells the story of the transition from highly intensive chemical agriculture to a minimally managed ecosystem.

This is absolutely beautifully written, & the descriptions of the land, the wildlife coming back to it and its regeneration are wonderful. The author freely admits that she & her husband only made the decision to re-wild because their previous highly intensive farming was financially disastrous - and experiencing her change of relationship to the land as the project develops is particularly lovely.

I am deeply sceptical about much/most of the re-wilding movement, and this book hasn't changed my opinion greatly. I did spend quite a bit of the book mentally shouting at the author (they 'couldn't possibly have afforded the £150k' to do the fencing work needed without a grant from DEFRA.... with agricultural land at say a pessimistic £8k an acre, they'd only have needed to sell

How odd, I was discussing CCM with DH this morning. Not read it but I’d mentally put it on my TBR pile.

20. The Stone Circle - Ellie Griffiths Excellent latest Ruth Galloway adventure.

Just downloaded Crazy Rich Asians

I'm another East Midlander whose whole childhood was based on daytrips to Skeg. And yes, the fish and chips is magnificent.

I loved CCM and didn't mind The Island but dear lord VH needed her pen taking off her afterwards.

I finished Agatha Christie's A Caribbean Mystery a quick 150 pager which was satisfying enough.

Started The White Queen by Philippa Gregory which seems to be a Mills and Boonesque heaving bosom'd romp thus far. Sharon Penman it ain't but it's still filling in gaps in my Kings and Queen's knowledge which is woeful.

My Kindle "only" has about 100 unread, and my bookshelf about 40. Most of them a result of this thread. I annoy myself wasting time deciding what to read so have self-imposed an arbitrary and daft rule (that I'll break the minute I get to something that I'm "meh" about) of reading latest thing bought on Kindle, followed by oldest thing languishing there, followed by first on pile of unread real books and back again.

ever late to the party, I've just finished
13. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gower
Angelica, an 18th century woman of ill-repute, lurches from one financial disaster to the next. She is therefore persuaded to marry the rather Pepys-like Hancock, who has made a few bob peddling tickets to see his mermaid brought back from voyage afar. Hancock finds, in a rather laboured extended metaphor, that neither his wife nor his curio are quite as captivating or enjoyable when ensconced in the suburbs.

I wasn't bothered about this, and actually didn't fancy it at all on publication, but DH left a copy lying around so i had a go against my better judgment. I thought the world of the Georgian bawd was well-drawn, but the characters not so much, to the point where the assorted harlots were pretty much interchangeable. The bits from the mermaid's perspective were annoying. And as a definite literary prude, I found the soiree where all the great and good are having a public fiddle in front of the dancing girls a bit grim and unnecessary.

16. Dark Pines by Will Dean
Thriller following journalist Tuva Moodyson as she tries to track down a serial killer in small town rural Sweden. Another book that I first heard of on here, another good read. Liked the main character and the setting in particular, keen to read the follow-up.
I've had two weeks off work, have read three good books and listened to one short audiobook. It's been lovely! Back to work tomorrow.

Place marking. Currently bookless.

Thanks for sharing the memoir list. Reminds me I’ve been meaning to read Keith Richards’ book since I came across it on the last day of a holiday on a bookshelf and thought it looked good. The Claire Tomalin and Viv Albertine are both excellent reads.

44 Ordinary People by Diana Evans
Not Normal People, which is what my friend thought she was buying - I inherited this from her because she realised after the first five pages it wasn’t by Sally Rooney. Not a problem for me, as I didn’t love Conversations with Friends. This was an entertaining and moving account of two couples’ evolving relationships set in a very well drawn South London. For me the city was as much the attraction as the characters, although I had intense feelings of “oh yes, that!” much of the time when she described post-baby relationships.

45 NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
Charlie Manx snatches children and takes them to Christmasland where it’s always Christmas in his vintage Rolls-Royce (the car was the scariest thing about this). Vic can retrieve lost things by going over the Shorter Way Bridge to where they were left, and after an encounter with Manx in her childhood from which she escaped she’s going to need to go back to retrieve her son from Christmasland. This has “I’m Stephen King’s son” written all over it...and although it managed a better ending than King often pulls off, the journey didn’t have the same energy, or intrigue, as King at his best or even at his average. And the length really showed - I wasn’t exactly bored but I did think Vic could have got on with it much more efficiently.

46 At Lady Molly's by Anthony Powell
Fourth in A Dance to the Music of Time. I have to confess I’m still a bit baffled by the cast of thousands and all the young men (though less young than in book one) in particular. But it’s soothing and entertaining and I’m thoroughly into the swing of my monthly Powell fix now.

47 They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
Picked up at a book festival last year and haven’t got round to it until now, but what a find. Set just before the Second World War it's a story of three sisters, their marriages and their children. The dysfunctional relationships are sad and chilling, particularly Charlotte and her vile and emotionally abusive husband. It's definitely "middle class people living their lives" but so gently and astutely written and totally engrossing. It reminded me a little of Fleabag (bear with me, Whipple fans) which is fresh in my mind, because of the relationship between the sisters. Lucy would definitely "run through an airport" for her sisters, though I am not sure they'd do the same for her.

There's a great film of They Were Sisters , have you seen it, Pepe ? James Mason is the abusive husband, and it's genuinely, properly chilling. It sometimes crops up on the Talking Pictures channel - I may have mentioned it before, can't remember. It's been discussed over on the classic films thread here (on MN).

Thanks for the reminder about Dorothy Whipple. I really enjoyed the one of hers I read last year and must hunt out some more.

The White Queen is being abandoned.
Utter drivel.
It actually IS Mills and Boon but 600 years ago.
Going to see if I can get my 99p back. Question of principle. Humph.

48. the Cut Out Girl. - Bart van Es Having been to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin this weekend, if felt right to start this one which has been sitting on my Kindle for a while.
It is the story of Lien, a Dutch Jewish girl who was hidden in non Jewish families within Holland during WW2. After handing her over to the Resistance both her parents were killed. Lien is moved several times within the war but at its conclusion is adopted into the first family she stayed with. The book is written by the Grandson of this family and his motivation is trying to understand the rift that developed when Lien was married.
This is a very moving book, whilst there is a descriptive of Lien's wartime experiences there is also a focus on its long term effects and how Lien moves forward with her life. It is an honest book, it's style is factual and analytical. As an account it is far superior than The Tattooist of Auschwitz. There is none of the cloying sentimentality, just the bare bones of an incredible story which are more than powerful enough.

I woke up this morning with a line from the Adrian Mole books running through my head, which I had to Google:

^I asked Pandora if she would like to come to Skegness. She said "Darling, I would follow you into hell, but I draw the line at Skegness"......

[later]
....then Pandora whispered, "Take me to Skegness, Adrian". It was the most romantic sentence I have ever heard.^

I will report back in due course.

I think you will be sorely disappointed unless your home living conditions are barbaric.
They may well be, Pencil, they may well be.

Piggy, sorry to hear you're ill in bed in Krakow. Sounds miserable.

43. One Hot Summer: Dickens, Darwin, Disraeli and the Great Stink of 1858, by Rosemary Ashton
Recommended on here. Normally I'd say it's my kind of book, but possibly I just wasn't in the mood for an exploration of the intricacies of the legislative process alongside the engineering challenges of sewage disposal. I get days like that. There was enough in there that I did like - husbands attempting to incarcerate wives in madhouses, disputes in gentlemen's clubs and I did appreciate knowing more about the very civilized exchanges between Wallace and Darwin about how to allocate credit for their ideas on evolution.

44. Dreaming in Chinese, by Deborah Fellows
Short essays by an American woman who spent three years in China and grappled with the language. She's an informed observer (she has a PhD in linguistics) but is honest at how overwhelming she found it. It's a wry and affectionate account, and moving in her brief description of the 2008 earthquake and the national response.

45. A Walk along the Wall, by Hunter Davies
His account of walking Hadrian's Wall in the mid-70s, before it was a recognised National Trail. Very dated - I found it of interest purely because I'm planning the walk for this summer.

47. The River by Peter Heller A wilderness survival story and study of nature and human nature. Two US college friends set out on a canoeing expedition in the wilds of Northern Canada. They spend glorious days off grid slowly paddling the meandering river, fishing and foraging and encountering few other people. They become aware of a forest fire in the distance and after hearing voices through the fog one night have to make a decision whether to go back and warn the other people.

Gorgeous nature writing and a pace that mirrors the river itself, slow flowing, bursts of rapids and culminating with a raging torrent. Calm but compelling, the lyrical descriptions make even the boring (for me) fishing details forgivable. The two main characters are well drawn, but I found the people they encounter lazy caricatures to further the plot. A very gently told thriller that ramps up in tension and despite the twists being fairly obviously signposted it doesn't detract from the overall effect. I'm guessing it will not be long before this is turned into film.

possibly I just wasn't in the mood for an exploration of the intricacies of the legislative process alongside the engineering challenges of sewage disposal. I get days like that

Another big fan of Captain Corelli's Mandolin here. Get well soon Piggy

Completely missed you were poorly Piggy! What a shame, hope you manage to enjoy at least some of your trip.
I am waving the CCM flag here but have never been able to get into anything else he wrote!!

24. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock Imogen Hermes Gower @TheTurnOfTheScrew Coincidently just finished this as well. I’m inclined to agree with your review however, I did listen to the audio book narrated by the very impressive Juliet Stevenson. It’s quite a dialogue heavy book and her narration elevated this for me.

Get well soon piggy!!

splother I'm exactly the other way around - didn't get on with CCM but really liked his Latin American trilogy. The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts made me laugh a lot.

I can't keep up with this thread, but here's my list so far:

1. Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
2. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
3. Islam and the Future of Tolerance - Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz
4. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
5. Fuck Anxiety - Robert Duff
6. Food Politics - Marion Nestle
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
8. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North
9. The Sign of Four - Arthur Conan Doyle
10. The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
11. This is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay
12. Romantics and Victorians - OU Textbook
13. Why Mummy Swears - Gill Sims
14. Differently Normal - Tammy Robinson
15. Calypso - David Sedaris
16. Dubliners - James Joyce

Just finished

17. The Lonely Londoners - Sam Selvon - This is another uni set text so I can't do a proper review. I give it 4/5 - marks lost for the deliberate (but loathed by me) 9 page sentence that didn't even have any commas. Yes this was a stylistic choice, yes I understand why it's there and see the literary point, but my god it was horrid to read.

Extremely belated thanks for new thread @southeastdweller.

12. Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
13. Emily of New Moon by LM Montgomery
14. The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope

I've been enjoying reading the thread so much, my Amazon wishlist is quite full...