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50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Five

991 replies

southeastdweller · 09/05/2019 22:08

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

OP posts:
Sadik · 16/06/2019 11:50

46 Widdershins by Jordan L Hawk
Victorian era paranormal who-dunnit romance - withdrawn & socially awkward academic specialising in ancient languages is approached by handsome PI to translate a mysterious book implicated in a murder, with predictable results. Fine as a light read, but I prefer more humour in this sort of book, I doubt I'll read more in the series.

  1. The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy by Mariana Mazzucato

This was really excellent - a pretty dense read (even on the last page I was going back & re-reading sentences), but well worth the effort, one of my best reads so far this year.

The key message from the book - and one that cannot be made too often - is that economics cannot be divorced from politics. The way we define key economic concepts is always underlaid with political choices, no matter how apparantly 'scientific' and neutral they are made to seem.

In neo-classical economics, which currently dominates conventional economic thinking, value is by definition equal to price. If someone will pay money for something, then it has value. (The classic illustration of the sometimes problematic result is that a polluting accident requiring costly clean up will show as a growth in GDP - gross domestic product.)

Evidently, in the wider world, 'value' has a rather different definition. And in fact earlier schools of economics have had very different theories of value, and different opinions on what is within the 'productive sphere' and what is simply extracting value without producing. (A classic example here is the distinction between a farmer, who carries out work which creates value, and their landlord who gains rent without engaging in productive activity.)

Mazzucato revisits these older theories of value, and uses them to demonstrate that choices made within the economy are heavily driven by the dominant values framework. She spends a fair amount of time discussing the financialisation of the economy - not to argue that all financial services are value-less, but that we need to distinguish between those that genuinely add value (perhaps providing long term finance to industry) and those that simply extract 'rent' (high volume computer driven share trading might be an example).

She also talks about the ways in which public sector is never seen to create value - despite the fact that in the real world most of us would consider hospitals, schools, roads etc to have value - and the way in which these stories about 'wealth creation' vs 'unproductive spending' have come to dominate.

I don't agree with all her conclusions (I'm less optimistic about the public sector than she is) but the framework she lays out sets the ground for conversations about exactly what we want the economy to achieve for us as citizens, and how we want it to be done.

StitchesInTime · 16/06/2019 11:56

virginqueen I read Uprooted a year or two ago and loved it. It’s the only one of Novik’s books I’ve read so far.

Sadik · 16/06/2019 12:10

I really liked Uprooted, & have Spinning Silver on reserve from the library. I enjoyed the first few of her Temeraire books, but got bored with the series after that (I know others have enjoyed all of them).

Piggywaspushed · 16/06/2019 14:59
  1. Submarine by Joe Dunthorne. I have seen and enjoyed the charming and quirky Richard Ayoade film. The book is a) very different from the film in nearly every way, as is often the case and b) lacks its charm. I don't really like rude books and this was a bit embarrassingly graphic in places, in a rather juvenile way. One of those rare cases of the film being better than the book.
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 16/06/2019 15:08

I couldn't read Submarine (love the film). I thought it was really unpleasant, and I'm not particularly a prude.

Piggywaspushed · 16/06/2019 15:18

It's puerile really. the film just reveals how clever Richard Ayoade is, comparatively. He put sweetness back into its core.

CoteDAzur · 16/06/2019 17:05
  1. Head On by John Scalzi

I really enjoyed this loose sequel to Lock In, further elaborating the near-future where a widespread virus has caused masses of people to end up with Locked-in Syndrome. Robotic "threeps" (play on Star Wars' C3PO) are invented so that these people can interact with the world, as in Bruce Willis's film Surrogates.

Among many consequences of this paradigm shift where the world adjusts to millions of locked-in patients walking/talking among us as androids is a new sport that is played with threeps, in which the goal is to rip the head of the "goat" in the opposite team and throw or carry it across the goal line. When a player dies as his threep is beheaded during a game, one of the two detectives on the scene is a threep himself.

This was a fascinating world built in convincing detail, exploring the possibilities of a world where humans might interact via machines. I would definitely recommend this book and its prequel Lock In.

BakewellTarts · 16/06/2019 19:06

Oops fallen off the thread...too busy irl.

Finished #52 Before They Are Hanged really good fantasy series and I particularly liked the ending of this one and the final book in the trilogy Last Argument Of Kings is on my wish list.

Moved onto another teen distopia (yes also reading this with DD1 again) #53 Secondborn, #54 Traitor Born and now on #55 Rebel Born. Quick reads but an interesting idea well done. A futire society is ordered so that the Firstborns have everything with the Secondborn serving them and having no autonomy over their lives. The books follow Roselle an artiscratic Secondborn and her struggles in this society.

@CoteDAzur I enjoyed Head On too, interesting world which is sadly easy to see happening.

InMyOwnParticularIdiom · 16/06/2019 19:48
  1. Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Story of a fictional 70s band, told in the form of a rockumentary transcript. This gripped my attention and I found myself picking it up whenever I had a spare moment (aka an episode of Fireman Sam). The format made it an easy quick read, like reading a play, and the love stories embedded in the bandmates' stormy relationships were compellingly bittersweet. Ultimately won't stick in my mind, but a solid 3*/5 page-turner.

StitchesInTime · 17/06/2019 00:36

45. Humans by Tom Phillips

Subtitled “A Brief History of How We Fucked it All Up”.
As described, a brief run through historical mistakes people have made. Entertaining and informative, but not a book that left me feeling very optimistic about humanity’s future prospects.

46. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck by Mark Manson*

Or, more accurately, the art of deciding what to give a fuck about (values, goals etc) and what not to give a fuck about.

47. The Magician King by Lev Grossman

Sequel to The Magicians.
Quentin is now one of the kings of Fillory, and he’s starting to get bored. So when he gets the chance to set off in search of adventure, off he goes.
I enjoyed reading this. There’s a lot of flashbacks to Julia’s backstory filled in as well. The ending was slightly downbeat, so I’m interested to see what happens with Quentin in the final book in the trilogy.

48. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

I loved reading this one.
Foundling Lazlo Strange has spent most of his life working in the Great Library of Zosma, searching for any texts that will let him learn more about the mythical lost city of Weep in his spare time.
And then one day, a band of warriors from Weep ride into town, asking for volunteers to help them with a mysterious problem they need solving. It’s an opportunity not to be missed for Lazlo, and one that turns out to be stranger than he could have imagined.

49. The True Queen by Zen Cho

Set in the same world as Sorcerer to the Crown.
Muna and her sister Sakti wake on the shores of the enchanted island of Janda Baik, with no memory of anything but their names.
When Sakti vanished during a journey to England via Fairyland, Muna is left to navigate Regency England alone. It’s not long before she’s dragged into Fairyland plots.
I enjoyed reading this, although I like Sorcerer to the Crown better.

YesILikeItToo · 17/06/2019 10:41

Last year I was on the thread just for the book lore, but this year I'm taking the challenge to heart, and the inevitable consequence is that I've been picking shorter books. But Neal Stephenson has a new book out *Fall, or Dodge in Hell" and that's not something I'd normally miss. It's around 900 pages long, it's taken me a week to read a third of it, so I'm just adding this to stay on the thread. Back soon...

MuseumOfHam · 17/06/2019 11:11
  1. English in 100 Words by David Crystal The author has chosen 100 words which he believes illustrate particular points in the development of the English language, through two millennia of invasions, migrations of people and cultural influences. The words are set out chronologically in order of first appearance in the language, and I found the earlier sections more interesting and less subjective. This was an easy read but felt like I was absorbing lots I didn't know.

  2. A Conspiracy of Violence by Susanna Gregory Thomas Chaloner mystery book 1. Set around the same bits of London that will be familiar to readers of Shardlake, but a century later, this was an all action thriller. Really all action. It gave me action fatigue, the symptoms of which include becoming beyond caring about any of the characters or what actually happens. Given how I was bemoaning the slowness of the last Shardlake, it may seem there is no pleasing me. There is, but not with this. The dialogue felt too contemporary, and I didn't get a good sense of time and place. I see Fortuna has recently read #21 in this series, and I do see how it could become a fun, quick historical fix, just not for me.

  3. The Hidden Ways by Alistair Moffat This was beautiful. I loved it. Alistair set out to walk along a selection of Scotland's ways which are no longer travelled for their original purpose. That purpose could relate to invasion or conflict, or to some obsolete industry or occupation. Some are now completely vanished and the clues and traces need to be sought for, while some have been reinvented, e.g. a train line now a cycle path. He manages to tie up Scotland's history and landscape (which are of course really inseparable anyway) in his beautifully written prose, balanced with just the right amount of detail about how he got caught on barbed wire or where he ate his cheese sandwiches. May emerge as a top read of the year.

  4. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson A beautifully crafted slice of gothic suspense. We know from the start that most of Mary's family are dead, and that she lives a sheltered and eccentric life in the grand old family home with her two remaining relatives. Although Mary is an unreliable narrator, we piece together with growing horror what happened in the past, as events in the present become more extreme. Not a comfortable read, but a good one.

fishonabicycle · 17/06/2019 11:41

Right. My list so far:
tombland, c j sansom:

in her shadow , mark edwards:

the return of captain john emmet, elizabeth speller:

the hunting party, lucy foley:

normal people, sally rooney:

A closed and common orbit, becky chambers:

The other lives, Adrian Walker:

Snowblind, Ragnar Jonasson:

The seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle, stuart turton:

No escape, Lucy Clarke:

From the storm, adrian walker:

Dark pines, Will dean:

Fragrant harbour, John Lanchester:

The mortal word, Genevieve Cogman:

Middle England, Jonathan Coe:

White Nights, Anne Cleeve:

Sapiens , Yuval Noah Harari:

The Wych elm, Tana French:

Red Bones, Anne Cleeve:

The Salt Path, Raynor Winn:

The Outcast, Sadie Jones:

The flower girls, Alice Clark Platts:

Daisy Jones and the six, Taylor Jenkins Reid:

Scrublands, Chris Hammer:

The taking of annie thorne, Tudor:

Blue Lightning, Anne Cleeve:

Rotherweird, Andrew Caldecott:

The underground railway, Colson Whitehead:

All at sea, Decca Aitkenhead:

Little, Edward Carey:

Mad Blood stirring, simon mayo:

Cruel acts, Jane casey:

The familiars, Stacey Halls:

Dark Water, Anne Cleeve:

The only story, Julian Barnes:

Little Darlings, Melanie Golding:

The amateur marriage, anne tyler:

the 13th tale, Diane setterfield:

Post mortem, kate london:

a thousand ships, natalie haynes:

The snakes, Sadie Jones:

We the survivors, Tash Aw:

fishonabicycle · 17/06/2019 11:43

Sorry about the formatting 🙄

UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe · 17/06/2019 21:55
  1. Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde
2. The Lonesome Bodybuilder, Yukiko Motoya 3. Vox, Christina Dalcher
  1. Suicide Club, Rachel Heng
5. Birdbox, Josh Malerman
  1. The Psychology of Time Travel
7. 11:22:63, Stephen King
  1. Futures and Fantasies, ed John Joseph Adams
9. The Bees, Laline Paull 10. The One, John Marrs 11. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Stephen King 12. The Terror, Dan Simmons

13 The Talisman, Stephen King
14 This Thing of Darkness, Harry Thompson
15 Me, Tomoyuki Hoshino

I feel like I’ve got through some epic tomes in the last month! Continuing my accidental 5 book streak of only reading books starting with “The”, I read *The Talisman”. It goes on FOREVER but it’s a classic King normal vs weird, strange people-creatures and a massive over arching save-your-mum-and-a-world storyline. Great read, but I had to skip a few chapters near the end so I had enough energy to eat and sleep Grin

This Thing of Darkness was another huge read which had me shouting at the pages at (the blatantly of-the-times) racist parts skipping a few boring parts, falling in love with both Fitzroy and Darwin, wanting to know more about Fitzroy’s meteorological findings and overall just angry at the entitlement of the times and the horrific ways they treated other peoples and lands. Very worth a read if you’re interested in the time period or areas covered.

Me is a Japanese novel about lack of identity and the fear it can bring. It was definitely an interesting concept, especially in a society like Japan where traditionally fitting in was a very good thing. I guess this book is asking what would happen if you fitted in so well that you could literally become someone else and no one would notice. Unfortunately (intentionally?) the characters and situations become quite samey half way through and the conclusion feels very dragged out and weird.

And thanks to these threads I have a huge tbr list! Great to read all the reviews!

FortunaMajor · 17/06/2019 23:47

Ham Different series! I'm neck deep in the Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles, the medieval monk equivalent to Midsomer. Not sure how C14th Cambridge has any residents left this late in the series. My go to easy read. They are getting samey but I like the characters.

I read the first in the Thomas Chalenor series and wasn't that keen. It felt like a cheaper rip-off of Shardlake.
Important person's bitch, check.
Life afflicting injury, check.
Trusty sidekick, check.

Pencilmuseum · 18/06/2019 08:13

two Australian Helens to begin with:-
The Spare Room by Helen Garner - the author has her cancer-suffering friend to stay so that she can pursue some alternative treatment for the disease. Well-written but upsetting and a reminder of how desperate people can be to try anything in in the pursuit of a cure. This is so vividly written that the author must be drawing on her own personal experience.
Dead Lovely by Helen Fitzgerald - billed as "black comedy/chic-lit" but a bit too grim for me although written in an engaging, page-turning style. The review on the back by "the Big Issue" says the book "succeeds thanks to an off-beat absurdist sense of humour that turns the book's disturbing and obscene topics into a startlingly original comic talent". My lips might have twitched once or twice but it certainly was not laugh out loud stuff.
Cockfosters by Helen Simpson - she has been turning out a volume or so of short stories every ten years more or less & they all seem to be in her voice. She has now reached middle age and reflects on all the drabness, grey hair, ill-health and bad-temper that so often accompanies it. Well written & observed & the sort of thing that makes you want to revamp your wardrobe and do new things - if only you could be bothered.

The soul of kindness by Elizabeth Taylor well written middle-class ladies' library book type of novel reflecting a time during the 60s when it was still commonplace to have a housekeeper or domestic servant and not go out to work either, if you were fortunate. Also evokes the tired & dusty feeling of ungentrified London & the struggle for those without a private income to get by which is something inconceivable for the title character, Flora as she does not acknowledge anything unpleasant or which might spoil her easy life.
Daisy and the six got such a panning upthread I didn't bother to open it. Likewise Viv Albertine - too much "warts and all" and "dirty linen in public" for me - as a self-acknowledged squeamish prude.

fishonabicycle · 18/06/2019 08:44

I didn't mind daisy and the 6!

MuseumOfHam · 18/06/2019 10:27

Sorry Fortuna!

DesdemonasHandkerchief · 18/06/2019 14:26

fishonabicycle what did you think of A Thousand Ships? I saw Natalie Haynes talk at The Borders Book Festival at the weekend and she was excellent, she read an extract from the book, which sounded interesting, but having read Circe and with Song Of Achilles on my Kindle I didn't give in to temptation.

MogTheSleepyCat · 18/06/2019 18:08

17. Lady Chatterley’s Lover – DH Lawrence

Whilst I can appreciate that this book was scandalous when it was written and caused quite a sensation with its subject matter and explicit content, I’m not sure if I have somehow missed the point of the book. It was ok, but nothing special. None of the characters were very likeable and the pacing was poor. I believe it was the author’s final novel and I don’t feel inclined to read any of his earlier works after this one.

Iamblossom · 19/06/2019 07:02

@fishonabicycle what did you think of the seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle? I gave up on that...

Terpsichore · 19/06/2019 08:31

The Spare Room packs quite a punch, doesn't it, Pencil? Iirc it was based on elements of Helen Garner's own experience - she often does this in her fiction. I really like her writing. I'd recommend her non-fiction books, which examine crimes or legal cases, and in those she gets very involved herself....they're fascinating though (because of the subject matter) certainly not easy reads.

southeastdweller · 19/06/2019 09:41

I'm very behind as I've been studying and working but have finished these two:

  1. Started Early, Took My Dog - Kate Atkinson. The fourth in the Jackson Brodie detective series. As with the third book, I thought this was convoluted at times and I struggled to keep up with all of the characters but generally this is witty, moving and compelling storytelling and I thought the characterisation of Tracey was impeccable - exceptionally well-drawn. Her new Jackson Brodie book, Big Sky, is out this week and I'll be reading that soon. Other fans may be interested to know that she's working on a couple of other books - interview here.

  2. My Brother's Name is Jessica - John Boyne. Nicely told but rather forgettable YA novel about a family's reaction to their son coming out as transgender.

Have these on the go:

Spring - Ali Smith
Machines Like Me - Ian McEwan
Logical Family - Armistead Maupin
Never Greener - Ruth Jones

OP posts:
UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe · 19/06/2019 13:31
  1. The 1000 Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

This was more Dutch and less Japanese than I (probably wrongly) anticipated. It covers the life of a Dutch man sequestered to Dejima, at that time Japan’s only trading point with the western world. There aren’t many likeable characters, or locations, but the love story amidst the despair keeps the story going. A will they-won’t they love story set amongst dodgy dealings, crooked people in power, and a worse than sinister temple/cult set up. Beautifully written, as it’s David Mitchell, although some parts seemed unnecessarily long and convoluted. That could have just been me being knackered when reading it though!

  1. Six Stories, Matt Wesolowski This is a book in a podcast style. Or a podcast in a book style? A pook? A bodcast? The story of a missing teenager is told in the style of a Serial- type podcast. I wasn’t so fond of the parts narrated by the podcast host, and some of the interviews were a touch awkward, but the parts which were written “normally” were much better. The story took a few interesting turns, and I like that the missing boy wasn’t written to draw sympathy, but was a bit of a twat from the start. Definitely a decent read if you like type of story.
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