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?

So sorry, Waawo.

Welcome back Splother, Waawo, Grim,Meg and anyone else I might have missed! Sorry to hear you've had a rough year Waawo. I hope that you and your partner manage to get a proper break in 2020.

I didn't get any books for Christmas, but I did get £30 of book tokens so I'm looking forward to a bit of a splurge in the new year. I took the precaution of buying myself Idaho by Emily Ruskovich and the first book in The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen just to tide me over.

Waawo AI so sorry posting in the car and didn't read the thread. So sorry to hear about your Dad

Sorry to hear about your dad Waawo

Queens of the Kingdom sounds fascinating Pepe - I've got £30 of book tokens to spend so that can be top of the list.

253. The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove- Andrew Cartmel I finished this audiobook today: the second in the series, it was very enjoyable, and this time the story related mostly to rock music rather than jazz so it was more my sort of thing. I always enjoy the references to his cats! I didn’t like the way the narrator pronounced the word Gymnopédie as ‘JIM-no-PEDDy’: surely someone should check this sort of thing?

254. How to Cope with Mitchell and Webb- David Mitchell and Robert Webb A short and mildly amusing audiobook.

I'm sorry for your loss Waawo.

Condolences on your dad, Waawo. I hope you get a more cheerful child-free break some time soon - you will probably need it even more.

It seems to have been a sad few months for several people on this thread, so here's to a better 2020 for you all .

Sorry for your loss Waawo.

No books as Christmas presents for me, although I did get a decent amount of Amazon vouchers

And catching up on recent reads:

111. Girls Will Be Girls by Emer O’Toole

Discusses gender stereotypes and performing womanhood (how we dress, talk, conform DJ expectations etc).
Interesting and readable.

112. The Declaration by Gemma Malley

YA. Set in a near-future where longevity drugs have effectively cured old age, and reproduction has been banned for anyone taking the longevity drugs to prevent overpopulation. Anna is an illegally born “surplus”, being raised for a life of slavery.
While it was interesting enough to keep me reading, I did spend most of the book wondering why, given all the concerns about overpopulation, the authorities didn’t manage to make effective contraceptives or sterilisation a condition of getting the longevity drugs.

113. M is for Autism by The Students of Limpsfield Grange School and Vicky Martin

A short book written from the perspective of a teenage girl with autism, and one that seems aimed at that sort of age group.
A very quick read, but one that might be worth looking at if you find a copy in the library.

114. The Chalet School Wins the Trick by Elinor M Brent-Dyer

Light reading.

I bought The Writer's Map with some of my Christmas money today, after drooling over it for ages.

Did anyone watch Millionaire last night and see Clare Balding (Cambridge English degree) unable to identify 'Christmas won't be Christmas without presents

I did, I was pleased with my OU English degree

And hello too as I've found this thread tonight.

Hello Betty, join us in 2020 🥳 📚

sadik, and wawoo, I’m sorry to hear about your losses. It’s been a hard year for lots on this thread - thoughts to all of you.

134 The Golden Thread by Kassia St Clair
I know this was highly recommended by someone here a couple of months ago, and I was delighted to get a copy for my birthday last month. I saved it and read it yesterday, and really enjoyed it. It’s the story of fabric and how it’s influenced world events at various points - wool as an engine of British prosperity, linen in the Nile Delta during the pharaohs’ rein, high tech fabric in sports and space wear. It doesn’t pretend to be comprehensive which makes it very readable, as it is essentially a series of essays.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief Thank you, I will look out for the 2020 thread

Missed a couple off yesterday’s update:

115. Beswitched by Kate Saunders

While travelling to her new boarding school, Flora slips back in time to take the place of another Flora at a boarding school in 1935.
Enjoyable and undemanding.

116. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

Science fiction. A ships AI, Lovelace, has been given an illegal synthetic body and needs to find herself a place and purpose with the help of engineer Pepper.
I enjoyed this more than Chamber’s previous book set in the same universe.

69. Nothing to Envy : Real Lives in North Korea – Barbara Demick

I’ve always been quite intrigued by North Korea and how it continues to be so different and isolated from the rest of the world. Reading books by Jenny Erpenbeck earlier in the year, where the division of post war Germany is as an ever present theme, also renewed my interest in divided nations. This book ticks both boxes and I enjoyed it very much.

The writer builds the text around the stories of a number of defectors from Chongin, third largest city in North Korea, now resident in South Korea and living completely different lives. Life in North Korea is re-created in intricate and sometimes shocking detail; the sections describing the impact of the famine which killed hundreds of thousands of people as recently as the mid 1990’s particularly so. The ability of North Koreans to survive without even the basics needed for life – food, warmth and light really made me appreciate what I have and wonder how those who must continue to live in North Korea keep going.

The style of the book was very readable and I finished this in a couple of days. I think this was because I connected with the central characters very much just as if it were a novel, and felt invested in following their stories. All in all a great read, and probably my non-fiction book of the year. Highly recommended!

97. Dopesick, Beth Macy
    The story of the opioid addiction crisis in Virginia & the US more generally, starting with the heavy promotion of opiate based painkillers which then led many users into addiction & in many cases heroin use. The author is a journalist, & it is very much a newsy, fast moving read. It's a worrying story though, particularly with a quick google showing how much opiate related drug overdose deaths in the UK have been increasing in recent years.

98. All Systems Red, Martha Wells
    Fun novella starring a security bot that would far rather spend it's time downloading and watching soaps rather than doing it's job of guarding a planetary exploration team.

99. Everybody Lies: What the Internet can tell us about who we really are, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
    Interesting use of Google search data, tax records, and other 'big data' to explore social science questions. It reminded me in a lot of ways of Freakonomics when I was listening to it, and the author says at the end that he was inspired by that book to go into economics / data science. I think this is a considerably better book though, exploring more significant questions, and more willing to put in place sensible caveats and discuss the limits as to what the data can tell you.

100. Hello World: How to be human in the age of the machine, Hannah Fry
     Exploration of the use of algorithms in a range of applications, from justice (predicting criminality, suggesting prison tariffs) through to healthcare (identifying cancer cells) and transport (self driving cars). This was a Christmas present - I've looked at it before, but not gone for it because I thought there would be too much overlap with Weapons of Math Destruction, Algorithms to Live By, & The Most Human Human which I read just recently (and indeed Everybody Lies reviewed above).

I'm glad to have read it though, at least in part because unlike the other books I've read on similar subjects the author is British so writes for the UK & European context. She's also usefully balanced in setting out the pros and cons of reliance on algorithms.

I feel like I should make sure not to finish any more books before Wednesday now. Looking at my list it's pleasingly neat:
100 books
50 women authors, 47 men (3 multiple including both)
51 non fiction, 49 fiction
(Distribution of formats a bit less tidy - 35 Kindle, 32 paper owned or borrowed, 11 Audible, 9 library ebook, 7 library audio, and a big change from previous years, only 6 physical library books)

80. Hellraisers: the life and inebriated times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed - Robert Sellers*
*
Collection of tabloidy anecdotes on the drunken antics of three great, but troubled, actors... and Oliver Reed. Would have preferred a more nuanced biography with greater focus on their careers and achievements, but I'm fascinated by the life stories of actors of that generation so still enjoyed reading it. Sellers celebrates the whole circus as a anti-PC romp, but I can't agree with his conclusion that 'our hellraisers never drank out of desperation or loneliness or some psychological problem.' It seems to me that Burton, Harris and O'Toole were all medicating their insecurities with booze; Reed might have been too but I couldn't see him as anything other than a privileged violent bully.

90. The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories : many of these are a bit high brow , so not necessarily light reading, and too may American ones for my liking. However, it's a good anthology in the sense that the stories are mainly quite obscure so I haven't come across too many of them in previous collections. I did like the Truman Capote story which was quite poignant. But too many of them left me a bit cold. Pun not intended...

199. The Beekeeper of Aleppo - Christy Lefteri
     Moving tale of a couple who flee war torn Syria and their journey as migrants in the hope of reaching the UK. Well written and well paced.

200. The Glass Woman - Caroline Lea
     1680s Iceland. A young woman moves to a remote village to get married and is kept away from the villagers by her new husband. She discovers he buried his first wife alone in the dead of night and has an overwhelming sense of dread and mistrust about her new life.

Slow burner, quite atmospheric with a few twists. If you liked Burial Rites and The Miniaturist then I think you would enjoy this.

Like Sadik I am also enjoying a rather neat list.

200 total with 60 books I've physically read (44 print/16 ebooks) and 140 audiobooks. This puts me at about right for a normal year of actual reading and then the audio as a bonus. I'm back to reality next year though so I doubt I will ever have such a good overall total again. I also had 13 books that I did not finish.

90% fiction with 10% non-fiction which was my aim, although many of my non-fic were also my stand outs so I may have a rethink next year and up the non-fic target.

68% female authors. I was considering having an all female reading list next year, but I know something really good will come out and I'll be cross if I have to wait.

I was aiming for 30% 'great works of literature/classics' and managed a measly 16 books, so 8%. However I have read a lot of excellent recently released books this year and I'm not sorry about that.

I'm halfway through the latest Rebus which I will finish before the new year as I don't want to carry something like that over.

I've already got a list of 50 books I want to read next year, but I know that will go out of the window once the recommendations from here start flowing in. My 'want to read' list doubled this year based on this thread so it's now at a healthy 836 books long. Thanks folks!!! This thread makes me read better and I appreciate the company along the way. Once again it's been a cracking year with you all and I am looking forward to 2020.

I'll post my full list on Tues (space permitting) with my highs and lows just in case any more sneak on before the end of the year.

66. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths Dr Ruth Galloway #11. It's good to spend Christmas with people you love, so this latest instalment in this character driven series was just perfect. The next one is out in February.

Enjoying seeing people's final tallies and looking forward to seeing more over the next couple of days. I'm not done yet, so I'll also be back on Tuesday with mine.

248. Mr Dickens And His Carol by Samantha da Silva

Novel based around Dickens’ writing of and inspiration for A Christmas Carol. This is very sentimental but perfect for Christmas!

249. Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay

Not remotely sentimental! More of his diaries but based around Christmas. Mainly funny but some sad stories in there too.

250. Jeeves And The Yule-Tide Spirit by P G Wodehouse

Despite the title, this isn’t remotely Christmassy! It’s a collection of short stories. The title story is set at Christmas but it’s barely mentioned and is really just a reason to get lots of people staying in the same house together. Not all the stories feature Jeeves either. All very funny though.

Like Sadik and Fortuna I feel I should stop there as it’s a nice round number but there’s still 2.5 days of the year left and I suspect I may add one to the list, so I’ll wait and do my stats on NYD!

Chessie I only did the numbers now while it was easy

I love seeing everyone's end of year lists.

Probably my final review of 2019 as not likely to finish another book before NYE. I made it to 61 (well below my target of 80, I was well ahead at one point earlier in the year, but have fallen badly behind since the Summer)
Here are my 2019 books, highlights in bold, disappointments in italics:

1. This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
   2)Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O’Porter
   3)The Glass menagerie by Tennessee Williams
   4)Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

2. Endurance by Alfred Lancing

3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
   7)Animal Farm by George Orwell

4. Hagseed by Margaret Attwood

5. Tin Man by Sarah Winman

6. Heartstone by CJ Sansom

7. The Light Between Oceans by ML Steadman
   12)Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
   13)Weird Thing People say in Bookshops

8. Educated by Tara Westover
   15)Llywbrau Cul by Mared Lewis

9. Lamentation by CJ Sansom

10. Jane Seymour -The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir

11. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

12. 12 babies on a bike by Dot May Dunn

13. Everything I Never told you by Celeste Ng

14. Becoming by Michelle Obama
    22)Elizabeth II – The Life of a Monarch

15. A Month in the Country by JL Carr
    24)The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
    25)Eighty Days around the World by Michael Palin

16. The Librarian Salley Vickers
    27)Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve

17. Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson

18. Artemis by Andy Weir
    30)Just William by Richmal Crompton

19. Small Island by Andrea Levy

20. Take Six Girls by Laura Thompson

21. Mythos by Stephen Fry

22. Ffenestri (Short Stories in Welsh)

23. Monarchy by David Starkey

24. Hywel Dda by Catrin Stevens

25. LLywelyn the last Prince by Aeres Twigg

26. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullogh

27. The Queen and Lord M by Jean Plaidy

28. Trwy'r Ffenestri (Short Stories in Welsh)

29. Owain Glyndwr by Aeres Twigg

30. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

31. The Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

32. In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott

33. The Island by Victoria Hislop

34. Blott on the Landscape by Tom Sharpe

35. Fatherland by Robert Harris

36. Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward

37. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier

38. A Wounded Realm by KM Ashman

39. A History of Ancient Britain by Neil Oliver

40. A Column of Fire by Ken Follet

41. The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel

42. The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson

43. Llyfr Glas Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros

44. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

45. Do Not Say We have Nothing by Madeline Thein

46. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
    I'm proud I finally got around to reading all 1500-odd pages of A Suitable Boy.

The story revolves around Lata and her mother and their attempts (through different means) to secure a suitable marriage. Set in newly independent India of the early 1950s, the story follows Lata and her mother, as well as their extended family and Lata's various suitors, both "suitable"and "unsuitable'

I thought I would love it, I usually enjoy a family saga, and while it was OK, and did like some of the storylines, found huge chunks of it tedious and confusing.

Glad I have read it but won't rush to re-read.

59. Bookworm by Lucy Mangan I have been meaning to read this for ages, with various reviewers raving how amazing it was and how it took them back to their childhood reading favourites and all the nostalgia that brings. I wa really looking forward to it, and while it was well written, it would appear that Lucy Mangan and I had very different books as a child. We only really crossed over with some Enid Blyton, Narnia and The Borrowers. Many that she had read I had really never heard of, even though I think I was a fairly prolific reader myself.

I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was more familiar with the books being discussed.

60. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving One of my top reads this year. It's the story of a Johnny and Owen, who live in a small town in New Hampshire in the 1950s-60s. The timeline switches back and forth between the boys growing up and mature Johnny who now lives in Canada. In a tragic accident, Owen kills Johnny's mother with a freak baseball hit. The narrative follows illegitimate Johnny's relationship between his maternal grandmother and his recent step-father after his mother's death and his ongoing friendship with the eccentric Owen. The relationship continues through High School, College and the political events of the 1960s, culminating in the Vietnam War. The book opens with Johnny's assertion that the existence of Owen Meany is the reason for his religious faith, and there is a religious overtone to the whole book. Not being religious myself, I thought this would put me off, but it didn't.

Everyone loved Owen, I ended up loving Owen, and as in the prayer of title by the end, O God — please give him back! I shall keep asking You.

Brilliant read

61. Under a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan

I really enjoyed this, I'd got into a bit of a reading rut with a few average reads, but this gripped me from the start- a real page turner.
Based on the true story of the little known Pino Lella from occupied Milan in WWII. As a teenager he learnt how to guide Jews over the Italian Alps to neutral Switzerland. Later on, once he turns 18 and is forced to join the Nazi forces, he became a driver for a senior Nazi and becomes a spy.

Fast paced, well-written and an excellent story. Highly recommended.

Last book of the year (back to work tomorrow) is 43. Crooked House by Agatha Christie. A businessman is murdered, and the culprit can only be one of the family. Charles, son of a Scotland Yard detective, is courting Sophia, the victim’s granddaughter, and uses his family connection to solve the crime. Reasonably predictable but fun nonetheless.

So 50 is a near miss for me this year. My stats for the year are as follows.

1. Winter by Ali Smith
2. Help the Witch by Tom Cox

3. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell 4. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

1. The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

6. The Long Shadow by Celia Fremlin

1. The Reading Cure: How Books Restored My Appetite by Laura Freeman.

8.Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

1. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

10. The Ghost by Robert Harris 11. A Month in the Country by JL Carr 12. Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor 13. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gower 14. Paradise Lodge by Nina Stibbe 15. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie 16. The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell 17. If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin 18. Chocolat by Joanne Harris 19.Sophia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik 20.Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie 21. Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd 22. The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin 23. Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark 24. The Only Story by Julian Barnes 25. Melmoth by Sarah Perry 26. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey 27. Never Mind by Edward St Aubyn 28. Rachel's Holiday by Marion Keyes 29. Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris 30. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 31. My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 32. Spring by Ali Smith 33. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer 34. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver 35. Force of Nature by Jane Harper 36. Middle England by Jonathan Coe 37. The Comforts of Home by Susan Hill 38. Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn 39. Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris 40. Life, Death and Vanilla Slices by Jenny Eclair 41. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield 42. Love for Lydia by HE Bates 43. Crooked House by Agatha Christie

I’ve read 15 by men, 28 by women
5 Library, 29 Kindle, 9 purchased books either new or second hand
22 authors I’d not read before
4 non fiction
Only 5 non-white authors, and none read in translation, which I’d like to change next year.

Top five of the year, in no particular order:
Home Fire, Into Thin Air, The Pursuit of Love, The Long Shadow, and Curtain Call.
Stinker of the year, undoubtedly: The Woman in the Window.