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50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Six

998 replies

southeastdweller · 24/07/2019 12:23

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

OP posts:
Piggywaspushed · 30/08/2019 22:02

Yes have also read Auggie. I wish RJ Palacio would write something new!

MegBusset · 30/08/2019 23:21
  1. By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept - Elizabeth Smart

I adored this book as an emotionally overwrought, Smiths-loving teenager (Morrissey nicked several lines from it for lyrics) but hadn't read it since my teens so was fascinating to go back to it as a happily married 40-something. Sadly it's probably best left to teenage reading - although there are passages of great power and beauty, they're smothered by the weight of the prose and the whole premise of the autobiographical book (young woman gets knocked up by her lover then heartbroken when he goes back to his wife) makes my adult self think "for God's sake LTB!"

Tanaqui · 31/08/2019 06:22

I adored The Outsiders Piggy- it was a set text for the CSE class at my school (O levellers had something more "literary"!), and I only came across it because a girl I barely knew lent it to me in a History lesson! I can't even remember what the book we had was Blush, but I reckon I could quote whole chunks from The Outsiders. Terrible to think I could have completely missed it.

Welshwabbit · 31/08/2019 07:42

54. Black and British by David Olusoga

This book, unsurprisingly about the history of black people in Britain (and, more so in fact, the British Empire), is based on a TV series from I think a couple of years ago. I didn't see the series but the book is an interesting and very detailed account of in particular British slavery and role in the slave trade, the abolition movement and the subsequent treatment of "colonial subjects" in the UK and the colonies. I really enjoyed the detail in some parts - for example, the chapter about the role of English common law in limiting slavery in Britain itself was completely unfamiliar to me and hugely interesting. I felt there was too much detail in some other areas though, and quite a bit of repetition, which meant it was very slow going at times. I was also a bit disappointed that there wasn't more on the post 1948 history - the author makes clear at the end that he wanted to deal with the myth that there were no black Britons before Windrush but I felt a bit more on the later history would have balanced out the earlier detail. Overall flawed, but definitely worth a read.

Piggywaspushed · 31/08/2019 11:01

It is interesting to think isn't it tanaqui that any divisions in education such as CSE/O Level might been both sides losing out on experiences.

I never read Of Mice and Men until I started teaching , as we were 'too clever' . Hmm

Piggywaspushed · 31/08/2019 11:02

So, War and Peace has eventually been thrown up on the random number generator! Wish me luck; I'm going in...

Am going to read it a volume at a time.

nowanearlyNicemum · 31/08/2019 11:45

You're so disciplined, Piggy.
I try to use your method but then I look at what it's thrown up and decide nah, I'd rather read...
Good luck with War and Peace. It's on my TBR pile too!

Piggywaspushed · 31/08/2019 11:50

I am in thrall to the RNG!! Grin

SatsukiKusakabe · 31/08/2019 11:53

piggy it’s great. I hope you enjoy it.

KeithLeMonde · 31/08/2019 15:11

Good luck, Piggy! Andy Miller from Backlisted raved about W&P being the most amazing thing he'd ever read 🙂

Pepe, Our Lady of the Nile sounds really good, thanks for the excellent review

Piggywaspushed · 31/08/2019 15:47

37 pages in keith... chipping away!

InMyOwnParticularIdiom · 31/08/2019 20:21
  1. Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett

Slowly working my way through the few remaining Discworld novels I haven't yet read (don't really want them to run out).

Ankh Morpork's tyrant, Lord Vetinari, tries to civilise and contain the chaotic working class tradition of foot-the-ball. Meanwhile, the wizards of Unseen University realise they need to put forward a team so they can keep receiving a bequest which is vital to funding their extensive cheeseboard requirements...

Not the best in the series and took a while to get going, but I was quietly amused throughout. The excellent characterisation of Glenda (a kind-hearted cook who learns to speak up where she sees unfairness) and Nutt (a goblin with something to hide, especially from himself) were what grabbed my attention and drove the book forward for me.

BookWitch · 31/08/2019 21:50

Good luck Piggy, I am adopting the same approach with A Suitable Boy

I did enjoy War and Peace though, and Anna Karenina

KeithLeMonde · 01/09/2019 07:04

There is a selection of Virago Modern Classics in the Kindle Daily Deal this morning. Also What Red Was and The Wych Elm which have both been reviewed here recently.

Piggywaspushed · 01/09/2019 07:45

I actually read A Suitable Boy straight through and loved it. Took about two weeks. It hadn't occurred to me to read that one in instalments :silly me!

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 01/09/2019 08:23

Burial Rites is 99p if anybody hasn't yet read it (probably not one for Cote) though. Also the Western, Lonesome Dove. Can't remember who it was that recommended it, but I loved it.

Welshwabbit · 01/09/2019 08:23

Some good stuff in the monthly deals too - including (previously mentioned on here) Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, French Exit by Patrick de Witt, After The Party by Cressida Connolly and Old Baggage by Lissa Evans.

Welshwabbit · 01/09/2019 08:24

Partial cross post with Remus!

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 01/09/2019 08:29

I've bought The Confession of Fannie Langton and will probably get Old Baggage. Heartburn is fun.

Original poster
southeastdweller · 01/09/2019 08:30

The monthly Kindle sale is much better than usual. I'd recommend:

Man and Boy - Tony Parsons
Swing Time - Zadie Smith
The Help - Katherine Stockett

OP posts:
SatsukiKusakabe · 01/09/2019 08:38

French Exit and Old Baggage are two of the books I’ve enjoyed the most this year.

Will have a look now.

InMyOwnParticularIdiom · 01/09/2019 08:44

Fire From Heaven (Mary Renault) is one of the Virago Modern Classics in the 99p deal today. Covering the boyhood of Alexander the Great, this is one of my all time favourite novels and highly recommended if you are interested in the ancient world.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 01/09/2019 08:49

Frannie, not Fannie. Either way, have heard good things about it. Although I see it's been compared to Wide Sargasso Sea which I hated.

SatsukiKusakabe · 01/09/2019 08:54

I have heard good things about Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller (not the podcast Andy Miller) so have downloaded a sample. Historical novel set in the Napoleonic Wars compared to the 39 Steps and Jane Austen with the horrors of war.

SatsukiKusakabe · 01/09/2019 08:55

Have also got the sample of Fannie/Franny and the Mary Renault.