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?

BestIsWest Santa's definitely bringing you The Testaments!

Fortuna I'm also wondering about whether to read his others but still on the fence.

Sorry about The Testaments, Best, I'm another one that thinks your DH is buying you a copy for Christmas

Well, I shall let you know on Christmas Day. Maybe it won’t be that bad. Will it?

73. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Goodness me this has taken a long time to read. It started off really well - I loved the characters and writing at the beginning - but then shot off in all directions like a particularly disobedient firework display. I kept meaning to give it up but some of the writing was really spectacular and I kept hoping we'd get back to the characters we started with, which we did, after a fashion. Sprawling, messy, but there's definitely something there if you can persevere long enough to find it.

244. Pages & Co: Tilly and the Lost Fairytales by Anna James

Children’s book - second in the series about a girl who can ‘bookwander’ - she can go in and out of books and interact with the characters. This was good but not as strong as the first.

247. Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness- Jon Ronson

and

248. What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness- Jon Ronson

I’ve read these 2006 and 2007 collections of Ronson’s Guardian writing before, but they are very enjoyable (I would buy them as audiobooks too if they were available!). They include such interesting characters as Nicky Gumbel (who founded the Alpha course), Major Charles Ingram (who cheated on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’), Jonathan King (the fallen pop impresario), Dave McKay (of the Jesus Christians, who encouraged members of his sect to donate a kidney to strangers but didn’t actually do it himself), Noel Edmonds (re: Deal or No Deal) and Paul McKenna (the hypnotist). Also included are various charming anecdotes about Ronson’s home life, in which not a huge amount happens but that is kind of the point. I seem to remember Ronson later had to stop writing about his son Joel because the child objected!

Glad the first one is good, Chessie, as I’ve just bought and wrapped four copies for the eight year olds I know!

They’ll love it Pepe!

129 Solaris by Stanisław Lem
Kelvin, a psychologist, is sent to a space station orbiting Solaris to investigate the death of one of the crew. He discovers the ocean on the planet has a consciousness of its own that brings out repressed memories when he is visited by his dead girlfriend.

I'm still thinking about this one. It ticked two boxes - a novel in translation (from Polish) and sci-fi. I've been trying to read more of both this year and it seemed a good way to wrap up. I think it merits re-reading, and quite soon. There's a lot going on and a lot of complexity. I discovered that the version I read is an indirect translation - from a French version which the author disliked - and would be interested in the direct translation which came out a couple of years ago.

130 How To Survive A Plague by David France
This is the story of how gay activists took on and eventually won round the scientific community and how their efforts led to drugs that have made HIV/AIDS a chronic survivable disease. While it's a well researched and weighty book which does justice to the science and epidemiology, what makes it stand out is the fact that France lived through the epidemic and lost friends and lovers to the disease. This brings a passion and perspective that means it flies along, driven by anger and sadness. I listened to it as an audio book and will confess to getting the names of the different people confused from time to time - that's my failing, though, as I find it harder to listen than to read. And I can see that it is a narrow and somewhat partisan account of the epidemic - he limits his story largely to East and West Coast activism and ignores the other ACT UP chapters outside the US, or the outbreaks in sub Sahara Africa and elsewhere. But that is fair enough in my view as it’s his story to tell, and his choice of narrative. Outstanding, and one of my books of the year.

Now to try and get through a couple of half read books before the family arrive tomorrow. I have a couple of long-awaited books at the top of my TBR pile that I am saving for the couple of days of calm after Christmas, and want to be able to tackle them with a clear conscience knowing I've not got half finished ones lying around.

I never thought I'd be one of the people who "fell off the thread" but here I am and I did :( For the sake of completeness, here is what I have been reading since I last posted:

86. The Lost Man, Jane Harper
87. How to Fail: Everything I've Ever Learned From Things Going Wrong, Elizabeth Day
88. My Cousin Rachel, Daphne Du Maurier
89. Upbeat: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, Paul Macalindin
90. Educated, Tara Westover
91. The Sign of Four, Arthur Conan Doyle
92. Chinglish, Sue Cheung
93. U and Non U Revisited, Richard Buckie
94. The Hours, Michael Cunningham
95. The Overstory, Richard Powers
96. Fen, Daisy Johnson
97. Everything I Know About Love, Dolly Alderton
98. Hinch Yourself Happy, Sophie Hinchcliffe (Mrs Hinch)
99. Imagined London: A Tour of the World's Greatest Fictional City, Anna Quindlen
100. American Spy, Lauren Wilkinson
101. The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper
102. Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America, Christopher Wylie
103. Daisy Jones and the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid

My favourites from this list were:

Educated : I thought it was going to be a bit of a rehash of things I'd read before: a bit of Hillbilly Elegy, a bit of Days of Rain etc. But I enjoyed it a lot more than either of those, mainly because Westover is a thoughtful writer and a great storyteller. Found this absolutely gripping.

The Hours : beautiful writing, and such elegant plotting. Will seek out others by the same author next year.

The Overstory : overlong but lovely and thought-provoking. Inspired me to go and hug a tree (literally) the day after the General Election, which truly did make me feel a bit better.

American Spy : not perfect (the pacing is a bit all over the place) but a great idea executed with subtlety.

Mindfck (I had to leave out the asterisk to get the MN formatting to work): I've been recommending this to everyone I know. If you have any interest in politics, or data science, or how companies are using our data, or identity and what makes us believe in what we believe in, this is a book you should read. I was actually less interested in the (scandalous, and horribly fascinating) story that he tells about how the Brexit and Trump votes were allegedly influenced through foreign interference and breaking of electoral law, and more in the how it was done: how do data scientists work out what might make you behave slightly differently, and what tools do they have to use this influence on you? Where do our beliefs about ourselves come from, why do we decide to support a particular candidate in an election, why do certain political issues push our buttons more than others? Wylie writes well too, which isn't always the case with books written by non-authors, and his thoughts about the things he's been involved in are well worth a read.

Just bought the first of the Cazalet Chronicles. I'm a bit scared that I'll hate it and be banned from MN forever.

Hi Keith. I haven't hugged a tree for a very long time. You've reminded me of the importance of releasing one's inner hippy.

Remus, my SIL lent me the first Cazelet book a while back, and after getting through a third of it, desperately wanting to love it, I binned it off.

Another one here who abandoned the Cazalet books. Perhaps I made it through the first one, but certainly not much further. Mind you (whispers), I did the same with Elena Ferrante so I'm clearly a lost cause.

Hi, Keith. I've got The Overstory lined up for next year. And Mindfck sounds fascinating too.

Hated the Cazalets btw but I think I’m in a minority here.

Or maybe I’m not

I couldn't get on with Elena F. Will give Caz a go in the bath tonight, but am not feeling hopeful.

I want a lovely Christmassy read.

65. From Source to Sea: Notes from a 215-mile Walk Along the River Thames by Tom Chesshyre Does what it says. A straightforward walk account which includes plenty of interesting facts about places along the route. Tom completed this walk in the summer of 2016 as the result of the referendum sunk in, and this adds a modern context to the many sites of historic and literary interest he describes. His writing style is a touch pedestrian, but the upside is, all the encounters and situations he recounts have a ring of truth and integrity about them, unlike some other travel writers I could mention (but won't because it's Chrismas and joy to the world etc). I enjoyed this a lot.

Did you ever get around to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Remus? You’d probably hate it but there’s a Christmas bit in that which always makes me cry.

remus, I have just finished Ghosts Of Christmas Past, a collection of festive ghost stories, some better than others but I did like the contemporary ones in the selection and the de Bernieres.

I liked the Cazalets, but I am rather easily pleased

I have finished 126. Olive, Again - Elizabeth Strout
I like this and I rate her writing. I'm fond of the character of Olive, who can be kind and horribly difficult in one go. There is one extremely touching chapter in this novel about a character called Cindy, who has cancer and is visited by Olive. It's very well written. Some old friends pop up during the course of this novel, including Helen, Jim and Bob from The Burgess Boys and Amy and Isabelle from the novel of the same name. Having tied up lots of loose ends, I wonder if she will move away from writing about Shirley Falls and do something different? I will be there to read it when she does.

The Cazalet Chronicles are among my favourite books, I’ve read them all several times!

245. Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye

Prequel to A Christmas Carol, telling the story of Jacob Marley’s childhood and early adulthood from the POV of his sister Clara. Short, sweet little book although the ending is rather miserable (it has to be to get Marley into the position he’s in at the start of ACC!).

I started A Tree but it wasn't really calling to me. Not in the mood for short stories (rarely am, tbh).

Cazalets not doing a great deal for me thus far! Children are either irritating or cutesy or both; women hate sex and like buying too many dresses because they're too stupid to decide which one they like best.

I read all the Cazalets after they were mentioned often on here, so I must have quite enjoyed them, but I can remember precisely nothing about them now! I have most count, but 65ish) Dark Sacred Night by Micheal Connelly I like a good detective story, and this passed the time- tbh I haven't found any of the recent Connelly novels as well plotted as the earlier ones, but I guess one does get used to a particular author's style. I need a new detective series to hook me! I've done Christie, Allingham, Marsh from the golden era, loved Desmond Bagley and Dick Francis in the 80s, have done all the Lee Child- any recs? I dont like too much of a last minute twist (cheap!), or too gory- is it PD James or Patricia Cornwall whose forensic scientist gets stalked/attacked/tortured on a regular basis?

I found The Cazalets reasonably good, not the most amazing thing I've ever read, but I did read all of them so they obviously kept my interest. I wasn't all that keen on the last one - it felt unnecessary tbh.