50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Seven

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh, and possibly final, 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, the fifth one here and the sixth one here.

How've you got on this year?

150. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher - Hilary Mantel
     A selection of short stories. There was no link through these, so they were a bit of an odd group. The writing was excellent, but I didn't really find them all that engaging. The one about a girl with an eating disorder was heartbreaking, but the rest were largely take it or leave it. I know I don't like short stories, so I don't know why I read them.

151. Snobs - Julian Fellowes
     A social climber marries into the gentry and struggles in her new surroundings. Mindless fluff set in the 90s.

152. Woman Hating - Andrea Dworkin
     Written by a radical feminist in 1974 this deals with the depictions of women in fairy tales and porn and how insidious they are. Plus looks at the historical practices of foot binding and the witch trials as a means of controlling women. She didn't mince her sparse words. It is just as relevant today as it was when it was written. I found it really interesting, although the part on androgyny at the end doesn't really sit with the rest of the work and seems confused.

153. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson (Jackson Brodie #1)
     A PI is tasked with looking into some cold cases that initially appear unconnected. I know I am very late to the party with this one and preaching to the choir, but this was a cracking page turner.

154. The World I Fell Out Of - Melanie Reid
     Much reviewed already and as marvellous as promised. Well worth the read.

155. Agnes Grey - Anne Brontë
     A young woman becomes a governess to help support her family, but the reality of her situation is far from her expectations.
     I think I prefer Tenant but this was also very enjoyable. Again her own experiences shine through.

59. For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell. Although I like sf and fantasy, I would never have picked up this book based on WarHammer characters (I have seen WarHammer but have no idea what it actually is), but a lovely work colleague lent it to me and I very much enjoyed this scifi saga - rather as if Blackadder was in a space war. Unusual for me at teh moment to have a rec that wasn't from here.

Bit late, but anyone enjoying Frankenstein lately - there was a really good RI podcast, described here : www.rigb.org/whats-on/events-2018/january/public-frankenstein-and-its-legacy and available on apple podcasts and sound cloud (RI podcast 21).

Hello, have been largely absent lately but back with

73. Big Sky - Kate Atkinson.

Has she gone off the boil? I love Jackson Brodie, there were a couple of good characters (Crystal and Harry) but frankly this was a lazy mess.

Clearly she assumed you’d read the other JB books (I have but so long ago that I haven’t a clue who most of the (many) characters who’d appeared in previous books were) and if you hadn’t then half the book didn’t make sense.

Her last book was just rubbish too.

Having said that, I may have to go back and read the previous ones because it’s now annoying me.

Ok, tara, space, I have a copy of Ulysses, and two hours sitting in a gym watching children climb. I’m going in! And shall report back. Thanks Satsuki for the words of encouragement. I’m going to treat it like a long prose poem and try and enjoy the language without worrying too much about meaning. Plenty of help online if I get stuck.

I downloaded Ulysses onto my kindle and got started last night. Currently on 1%

Best I'm reading Big Sky at the moment. I'm finding the same thing . I'm treating it nearly like a collection of short stories that will overlap. It's not a page turner plot wise but I'm enjoying the characters' motivations

80: On Chapel Sands - Laura Cumming

Laura Cumming's mother, Betty, grew up in rural Lincolnshire, the child of older parents - a gentle, oppressed mother and a controlling, angry father who did his best to box the child away from contact with the outside world. She had no recollection, until later life, that she'd once been called Grace and that she'd lived with another family. This book is the unravelling of that story but also a meditation on family, love, belonging, and art (Laura Cumming writes about art and both her parents were artists).

I'd read a couple of slightly lukewarm reviews of this book so I was a bit apprehensive about it - in the event, I was completely captivated. It's beautifully written, thought-provoking, and the central 'mystery' (easily guessable though it is) ends up being genuinely page-turning.

I'm now annoyed that I didn't buy Laura Cumming's book about a lost Velázquez painting when I saw it in a charity shop the other day - I'm going to go back and see if it's still there!

49. Uprooted by Naomi Novak. Another adult fairy story from Novak. Very similar but nowhere near as good as Spinning Silver by the same author. Maybe I read them too close together, but whereas I was completely captivated by SS, this one I just wanted to finish, already!

I'm 25% through Hamilton by Ron Chernow, which I'm dipping in and out of, it may take some time.

I'm 33% in but have given up for now on The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. An epic tale following three families over a century and set in Burma, India and Malay. This started well, with the British overthrowing the ruling monarchy in Burma in 1885 and exiling them to India. But as the action moved away from the royal family I've felt less enthralled. The writing feels a bit clunky to me and I'm not invested enough in the various characters to want to pick it up again.
I've now started Ma'am Darling, picked up on daily deal, which I'm enjoying and the short snap shot chapters are suiting my mood far more than the epic sweep of TGP, not to mention it being a great companion piece to the latest series of The Crown which I'm currently binge watching.

43. Home Work - Julie Andrews. The second memoir from the actress and this covers the years from 1963 to 1986. There's very little here about the films she's made. Instead there's way too many bland anecdotes, lots of moaning and ruminating about the logistics of having several homes worldwide and moving many family members to and from countries. Disappointing.

Desdemona, Ma’am Darling is an excellent companion to The Crown, isn’t it? My children are going out this afternoon with my sister and I am planning on a long hot bath with episode six of the new series.

Way behind with reviewing.

51. How to live with Autism and Asperger Syndrome by Chris Williams and Barry Wright Re-read due to attending a course using this as the course book. This is particularly good on theory of mind, i.e. how difficult it is for autistic children to understand what others are thinking and to see things from others' points of view. Realistic yet positive, with practical strategies.

52. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon Two young men from immigrant families in a dog eat dog 1930s /40s/50s New York trying to make their fortunes in the new commercial artform that is comic books. Larger than life characters, a dizzy and dramatic story, escapology, risk taking, but all tied together with deep emotional connections. This was a beautifully written, long, immersive, magical tale.

53. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn I'm a bit puzzled by the success of this. I've read many walking memoirs, and this basically follows the tried and tested formula: why I went for a walk (lost house, husband has terminal illness), some anecdotes highlighting how ill prepared I was, then how I got the hang of it, interesting people and places encountered, how it changed me. I didn't particularly warm to the author as she had an air of being a bit better than other people, although I'd have a heart of stone not to sympathise with her plight. I thought it was a competent book of this type, but not outstanding. Maybe it's the author's demographic and backstory that resonates with the book buying public.

54. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarcsuk An eccentric older woman, living in a remote Polish village narrates events beginning with the murder of her neighbour, a keen hunter. An animal lover and vegetarian, she prefers to live simply in her own company, but increasingly has contact with neighbours and the authorities as events unfold. This is funny, quirky and brutal. Yes, I saw the twist coming, but maybe that was intended. Loved this.

55. Walden and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau His famous account of living in the woods for two years. Which, if he'd stuck to that, would have been interesting enough. Plus a load of wiffle waffle (sorry his thoughts on just about everything in 1850s essay style) I never wished to read. I can imagine him, like Darwin, being very engaging in person. For 19th century American nature writing I think I'll stick to local export John Muir.

56. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne The unconventional life of Cyril Avery, born in Dublin in 1945, in snapshots at seven year intervals. I zipped through this, and there is no doubt he tells a very readable story. However I can only take so many coincidences, so many tragic and dramatic events designed to manipulate your emotions and evoke a sense of injustice, and to be quite frank, so much gay sex. And even after Cyril stops having so much gay sex, still almost every conversation manages to squeeze in the fact that he's gay. We know.

@welshwabbit thanks for that review of Different Class, I've got both it and G&P on my to be read pile but haven't started either, I'll tackle G&P first.

Coincidentally I am part way through The Strawberry Thief at the moment, despite having loved the Chocolat series I just can't get in to it.

@FortunaMajor thanks re The World I fell out off, I bought it a while ago but have put off reading it as I read her weekly column for a while before I stopped buying newspapers. She and I both had a life changing (though mine was less intense than hers) at the same time and so I identify with her from that respect. I'll make a start on it soon.

MuseumofHam I struggled with The Salt Path and eventually gave up after two attempts. Maybe one day...

Talking of salt, if audio books count then I'd throughly recommend Salt on your tongue: women and the sea by Charlotte Runcie. I came across it on a long haul flight recently and loved it, so much so I've bought it as an xmas present for somebody who I hope will love it as much and also put it on my kindle wish list to read it 'properly'

Sounds like the perfect Sunday afternoon Pepe, I shall be watching episode 8 (and 9 and 10 ) once I've got my Dahlias tubers tucked up in the garage for the winter 🥶

Book 82 The Last by Hanna Jameson. A post apocalyptic And Then There Were None, with fewer deaths, a sillier ending and in need of an editor to control the dialogue, reduce the characters and obliterate the clichés.

Nearly but not quite a turkey. Only saved by being a page turner at times.

This weird thing keeps happening. Last week I sent DH a text with the word fisticuffs in it and then two pages later in a book , up it popped.
Today, I was reading about Utilitarianism in a tedious philosophical moment in The Last re killing a character as punishment. DS2 requested help with his revision and one of the RS concepts was Utilitarianism. Cue Twilight Zone music...

69. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
    Re-read. Narrated by death tells the story of Liesel growing up in Second World War era Germany. I enjoyed this first time round and it’s stood the test of time. I listened to the audio and the narrator is excellent as death. It really added something different to the book.

70. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Ursula’s life story told again and again surging longer and longer each time. Her and her family experience 2 wars and lots of different situations. Another re-read. According to Goodreads I gave this 3 stars previously. I’ve no idea why as it was excellent. Looking forward to checking out the sequel which I’ve not read before.

71. The Secret Commonwealth by Phillip Pullman. Having struggled with Belle Savauge I was apprehensive to say the least but I very much enjoyed this. Set when Lyra is 20 studying at Oxford. Her past adventures weigh heavily on her heart and she battles with big philosophical questions and distance from her daemon Pan. This distance takes them on a big adventure which kept me griot throughout.

72. Shopaholic at Christmas by Sophie Kinsella. Latest from Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood. Joyful.

73. The Huntress By Kate Quinn. Nazi Hunters search for a personal target across the Atlantic. I enjoyed Nina’s story of Russian female pilots however, Jordan’s 1950s Boston felt a bit clunky. Decent enough.

Space, I really like the sound of Salt on Your Tongue - have added it to my wishlist. Thank you!

62. 11.22.63; Stephen King

This is my second listen of 11.22.63 this year, but it's my favourite Stephen King book and it's great on car journeys and walking the dog. The narrator is okay - he occasionally suddenly switches his tone, which can be a little jarring, and he gave the main female character this annoying simpering tone. She is a naive character, but only because of the era she lives in, and actually she's pretty tough and she deserves a stronger voice. Apart from those niggles, the narrator does a good job. I love time travel stories and I love Stephen King, so this is a probably up there as one of my all-time favourite books - it's one I've reread several times. I don't like the ending of the book, but there's 30 hours of terrific storytelling before that, so I can forgive the ending!

As an aside, this thread is costing me a fortune. I keep reading people's reviews and thinking "oo that sounds good"!

noodlezoodle I'll be interested to know what you think of it. I was planning to treat myself but it's metamorphised into a pair of new school shoes for the resident giant.

226. Peas and Queues: The Minefield of Modern Manners by Sandi Toksvig

I was expecting this to be a funny look at why we behave the way we do and the history of what is considered good manners. There were some funny anecdotes but this was mainly common sense advice about how to act in various situations and therefore got rather dull. A shame, because I am currently listening to Toksvig’s memoir Between the Stops and loving it!

69. The Silence Between Breaths by Cath Staincliffe

70. Found by Erin Kinsley

Two relatively quick crime reads, both of which were well-written page-turners. Interestingly, in both what was going to happen was pretty clear, and the focus was more on the characters and the impact of those less directly involved or "left behind". Very different in setting (one is the build up to and aftermath of a terrorist incident; the other involves child abduction) but a lot of their strengths were the same. Found had a bit more of the traditional whodunnit element, and that part wasn't particularly successful for me as at least one of the perpetrators was clearly signposted early on. But that's not the real focus of the book, and I felt both were successful in evoking the feelings of all the protagonists without too much melodrama or flashbacky nonsense.

MuseumOfHam I felt the same as you about The Salt Path but remember saying vaguely nice things on here as it was still quite new out and if she googled I didn't want to feel I was kicking while down. Other people I know IRL said the same thing. I think there a definite marketing ploy to pitch it to the polite.

spacepyramid I never read Melanie Reid's column, so I can't comment as to how original the book is if you have, but it was very highly praised on here but I forget by who. I have a very minor in comparison spinal injury which ended my military career and I am in awe at how she handled life afterwards and feel quite whiny in comparison. I appreciate her honesty and her humour.

156. The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot - Robert Macfarlane Macfarlane walks the ancient tracks of Great Britain and beyond, discussing the geology, flora and fauna and significance of the area/ route, the effect of the landscape on the individual and any notable local characters he meets as part of his walks.

This contained everything that I enjoy; walking, history, nature writing, quotes from poetry and literature and despite all of that I could not engage with it and found it a real chore to finish. It is beautifully written and completely and utterly boring. Sadly the author is far too busy trying to show off his far superior intellect (Cambridge English Lit fellow) that he fails to be in any way personable. I really wanted to like this but couldn't. If I met him while out walking, I'd run the other way.

157. The Various Haunts of Men - Susan Hill (Simon Serrailler #1) A 'Met' detective transfers to a small town police force and investigates a series of missing women. This was slow paced to start while it set the scene, but well worth persevering with.

I was one - but not the only one - of the people who spoke highly of The World I Fell Out Of. I have read some of her columns but the book I think is more of a coherent narrative, and touches on lots of more personal issues. I have a very minor operation scheduled for Wednesday and was reminding myself just this morning how very very much worse it could be as I found myself indulging in some self-pitying wallowing about my plight.

Thank you Fortuna and Pepe, I'll be looking forward to reading.
I hope you have/will be recover well from your health issues.
Self pity is acceptable at times, you should have heard me being a pathetic whinger this morning.

Thanks space. It really is quite trivial, so I am going to be brave - and entirely my own fault for ignoring it for longer than I should have done. I get so bored of looking after everyone else that I seem to have forgotten to look after myself.

I know that feeling too Pepe