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?

It also helps if you are an antisocial sod Ah, the secret to my success.

I'm a lone parent and dd tends to be tucked up between 9 and 9.30pm, so the rest of the evening is my reading time. (Fran, fist bump for getting rid of useless boyfriend in favour of reading time!)

I read mainly print books at home, but my kindle lives in my bag for train journeys and any other waiting around. I haven't take to audiobooks (yet?)

Oh, and sorry you've had such a tough year, Terp

it also helps if you are an antisocial sod went for a coffee with a friend yesterday - rare time away from my toddler. I kept thinking I’d rather use the time for reading.

I’ve found listening to audiobooks at least 1.25 faster (mostly 1.5) works as it matches my own reading speed.

Also having only used my kindle for years I’ve gone back to real books / library this year and am finding that satisfying. Now need to get back to my kindle as so many 99p deals on there.

44 Travels with my Aunt Graham Greene
She was funny, yes, but I don't know if she was worth a whole book...

Then I went to Japan, so I read two short things...

45 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Very brilliant observation of a convenience store. If you want to be right there in the convenience store, this is what you need to read. The reasons why the observation is so brilliant make up the plot of the novel. Good stuff

46 Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Time travel stories set in a Japanese coffee-shop. The writing in this was so pedestrian that it really got in the way of the tale telling. There was a satisfying variation on the theme at the end, but it was a slog to get there. Thin stuff.

47 Handywoman Kate Davies
Excellent. Memoir written following the author's experience of a stroke and consequent brain injury at the age of 36. Her writing is first class, and she really has things she wants to say about her stroke, about disability, about her craft (knitting) and about product design. These two things add up to a very powerful book.

I'm currently on Before the coffee gets cold, Yes

I like it best when I picture it as a Studio Ghibli film. There are some useful tips, eg. if you want to force a ghost to leave her seat so you can use it for time-travelling, simply ply her with coffee until she is forced to go to the toilet.

terpsichore I feel the same. When I’m feeling ok I can get through 5/6 books in a week but then I might go through a few weeks or more not settling to or finishing anything. I’ve recently begun to try audio books, usually when running or ironing and as I try to avoid both as much as possible I don’t get through them very quickly! Hope things even out a bit for you soon.

I listen to audio books while driving, which makes good use of 'dead' time.

if I listened to them while ironing it wouldn't have much of an impact on my list

Thanks for the good wishes, biblio and Satsuki - the fraught political situation hasn't helped various existing personal worries, I have to say.

It's a great feeling when you're in the zone with a book, though, and even better when you know that the next one - and perhaps the next - is lined up and waiting. One of life's greatest pleasures.

Ooh here we all are. Last thread of the year?? Surely not... I'm not even at 30 yet

25. Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl 26. The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien

_27. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
I will admit, I'm stupidly proud of myself for finishing this, just because I lived with this book for about 10 years and kept trying to read it and never could, and eventually decided that I Hated Magical Realism, which kept me away from all sorts of good stuff, purely as a sour grapes coping mechanism. Anyway, I'm way past that thanks to Gabriel Garcia Marquez converting me, and someone recommended this to me seriously, and - well, what do you know! It's AMAZING. I am really stunned by the tenderness of it and the funniness, and the huge range of characters. I did get a bit lost in the individuals at times, but it never really mattered - it feels an immensely forgiving and welcoming novel, with strong threads running through it, all of which to me seemed to boil down to, how do you live with loss? When you have been separated, when you no longer have what you never even considered having to live without, what happens next and how do you cope? It's like a huge rather overwhelming hug. But it's very helpful that the chapters are short - about 20 pages each - you can pick your way through it bit by bit. It's sort of the opposite of a novel you can't put down, but you can always pick it up again, and I'm so glad I did.

I read so much because I read fast and I also read at any possible opportunity (I feel twitchy if I don’t have anything to read). I commute by train so read then, and I listen to audiobooks on my walk between the station and the office. I also read before going to bed. Like others here, I don’t watch much TV. I also have very little social life. I’m also lucky because DH is a SAHD so he does almost all the housework. My DD also loves reading so spending time with her usually involves reading.

205. How Hard Can It Be? by Allison Pearson

I have read these books at the wrong time to truly appreciate them. The first, I Don’t Know How She Does It, is about a woman with young children trying to hold down a demanding City job. I read this before I had children so while I enjoyed it and found it funny I didn’t really get it. In this new one, the main character is now going through the menopause and has teenage children. I’m not at that stage yet so again don’t fully appreciate it. I did enjoy it though.

206. Clear My Name by Paula Daly

Tess is working to clear the name of Carrie, who was convicted of murdering her husband’s girlfriend. This was ok, but not really gripping.

I’m about 10% of the way through Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and really struggling, which is not like me. Every time I pick it up I read a couple of pages then get bored and go and read something else. I remember a debate on here not too long ago and seem to recall it was a bit of a marmite book. I’m tempted to give up - but is it worth continuing?

I loved Captain Corelli's Mandolin, but I can believe it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.

I enjoyed Captain Corelli’s Mandolin when I read it - except for the ending, which I found immensely frustrating - but, the older I get, the more I’m feeling that life’s too short to persevere with a book that’s boring me or that I don’t like.
So I’d probably put it to one side for now and read something more interesting instead.

I loved Captain Corelli chessie, read it when I was 18 and it was one of the first contemporary literary fiction books I’d read. My mum tried it after me and couldn’t make head nor tail of it and gave up. Film was awful.

I really enjoyed the love story, the father-daughter relationship and learning about parts of the War I hadn’t known about, and found it quite comic.

I’m another huge Captain Corelli fan. I loved it when I read it at uni, though my best friend I eagerly pressed it onto didn’t. I reread it a couple of years ago on holiday in Kefalonia and still loved it.

What I will say is that I recall the first few chapters at least being completely different to the rest of the book, I think skim or dare I even say skip a bit, until you actually get to Kefalonia with Pelagia and co. If you’re still not feeling it then give up!

Persevere Chessie, persever! It's a really amazing book but you have to get to the chapter entitled 'L'Homosexual', if memory serves me right, before it really starts to take wing. By the time you get to 'The problem with eyes' you'll be well and truly hooked. Yes the ending is frustrating but the middle (majority) of the novel is more than worth the beginning and the end!

I'm

Captain Corelli is my favouritest book in the world.

45. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood on Audible. I think I enjoyed this more than most who have read it on here. Obviously it doesn't stand up to comparison with The Handmaids Tale, but then I think that is widely held to be the most influential and outstanding book in her canon, so perhaps that's not so surprising. I enjoyed my return to Gilead, I was particularly interested to learn of Aunt Lydia's back story and found hers the most interesting narrative thread of the three featured. (It was a nice touch to have the actress who played Aunt Lydia on the TV adaptation also voice her for the audio book.) The two teenage girls featured had authentic voices and I was impressed that an almost octogenarian could get inside a youthful mind, it did give the book a YA feel for much of its length, but superior YA. I also liked the way in which the three narrators stories, at first so separate, started to intertwine at a certain point. I did feel that the scenes dealing with getting into and out of Gilead were a bit perfunctory and flat, not much tension. However the claustrophobia and constraints of living within the Gilead system once there were well drawn.

I'm currently reading Heartburn and The Glass Palace on my Kindle and listening to Station 11 and Got To Get Theroux This on Audible. I've also just discovered that Ron Chernow's Hamilton (source material for the musical) is free to download to Kindle for Prime members, so I've started that as well So I'm basically skipping around all over the place and not really settling to anything! Two months to read another 5 books 📚I've got this!

136. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro An aging and repressed butler reflects of his life in service while on a road trip to visit the love of his life who he failed to pursue in his younger days. He looks back on the events he has witnessed between the wars and realises the master he served with great dignity and duty was unworthy of the sacrifice of his own family and feelings.

Incredibly well written with a lot of depth and subtlety, but ultimately quite dull.

137. Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier If you were disappointed by The Essex Serpent this is the book you should have read instead. A fictionalised account of the life of Mary Anning an 1800s palaeontologist and her friendship with Elizabeth Philpot a middle-class spinster relegated to Lyme Regis by her family. Mary comes from a very poor family that searches for and sells fossilised curiosities to tourists. Mary discovers some of the first full pre-dinosaur fossils in the UK and her discoveries are soon sold on and appropriated by men, failing to give her the credit for her work. Elizabeth attempts to guide her, deals with many of the scientists on her behalf and encourages her to request payment for the work she provides to those requesting her help. The book deals superbly with the place of women in different classes in society and the clash between religion and science in the face of new discoveries. While this lacks the literary quality and prettiness in prose of Sarah Perry, it more than trumps it in terms of plot and pacing. A very entertaining and informative read.

Thanks for the Captain Corelli feedback - sounds like I should give it a bit longer! I will stick with it and report back.

207. Travels with Rachel: In Search Of South America by George Mahood

Newlyweds travel round South America. This was funny and I really enjoyed it.

208. The Fear by C L Taylor

At age 14, Lou was groomed by a man in his thirties and ran away to France with him. Years later, she discovers he’s doing the same thing. She tries to warn people but nobody listens so she takes matters into her own hands. While the subject matter obviously isn’t easy to read, I did find this gripping, wanting to know what happened to the man. However, there are a lot of errors (it’s mainly set in 2007 and there are references to Instagram, the 5p plastic bag charge and songs that weren’t released yet) and these were very annoying.

Fortuna - The Remains of the Day is so, so dull. I hated it but thought it might be just because I'm a horrible person!

Remus it's not you! Or I'm horrible too. So bloody dull.

54. Death in a White Tie Ngaio Marsh I’ve only read one other Marsh which was Tied Up in Tinsel and I found that rather flat (and forgettable- read it at the start of the year and typing this now I can’t recall a thing about it). This I listened to on Audible and enjoyed much more, very much helped by the narration by Benedict Cumberbatch.

I do feel I’m hugely over-relying on audible books for this year’s count, must get back to some ‘proper’ reading.

The Colour of Murder - a British Library crime classic. Began well but then lost its way and veered between dull and silly in the second half. And I guessed the twist too.

40. The Fourth Protocol by Frederick Forsyth

This was an excellent spy thriller. A deep cover Soviet agent sent to the UK hatches a meticulously conceived and executed plan to topple the government and bring about Communist rule.

Gripping and full of fascinating details, I enjoyed every one of this book's 450 pages, including the surprisingly comprehensive political analyses. Recommended.

And bringing my list over...

1. A Game of Thrones (A Song if Ice and Fire #1) by George R. R. Martin
2. Avenger by Frederick Forsyth
3. Mr Spaceship by Philip K Dick
4. The Collectors (Camel Club #2) by David Baldacci
5. Longitude by Dava Sobel
6. The Wandering Earth by Cixin Liu
7. Total Control by David Baldacci
8. The Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein
9. Call For The Dead by John Le Carré (Smiley #1)

10. Other Minds: The Octopus and The Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey-Smith 11. The Negotiator by Frederic Forsyth 12. Dune Messiah (Dune #2) by Frank Herbert 13. Children of Dune (Dune #3) by Frank Herbert 14. God Emperor of Dune (Dune #4) by Frank Herbert 15. Heretics of Dune (Dune #5) by Frank Herbert 16. Chapter House Dune (Dune #6) by Frank Herbert 17. Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4) by J K Rowling Robert Galbraith 18. Tombland (Shardlake #7) by C. J. Sansom 19. On the Cantatas of J. S. Bach - Vol 1 by Hendrik Slegtenhorts 20. Head On by John Scalzi 21. A Brief History Of Classical Music: A Tale Of Time, Tonality and Timbre by Arthur Wenk 22. The Deceiver by Frederick Forsyth 23. Thin Air by Richard Morgan 24. True Grit by Bear Grylls 25. Stone Cold (Camel Club #3) by David Baldacci 26. Divine Justice (Camel Club #4) by David Baldacci 27. Masterpieces on a Weekly Basis: Bach's Start in Leipzig by Bach Museum Leipzig 28. Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos #1) by Dan Simmons 29. Past Tense (Jack Reacher #23) by Lee Child 30. The Man Between by Charles Cumming 31. Last Man Standing by David Baldacci 32. Recursion by Blake Crouch 33. Slade House by David Mitchell 34. Fist of God by Frederick Forsyth 35. Judgment by Joseph Finder 36. The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham 37. Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez 38. Change Agent by Daniel Suarez 39. Delta V by Daniel Suarez