50 Book Challenge 2020 Part One

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2020, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

Who's in for this year?

1. The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides (audio)

An famous artist married to a fashion photographer is living a seemingly perfect life in London until one day her husband returns home late from work and she shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word. She is placed in a secure psychiatric facility where a young and idealistic therapist is convinced he can help her.

Told from the alternating perspectives of the artist about the events leading up to the murder and the therapist and his attempts to treat her afterwards. This is a typical fast paced psychological thriller with a twist. Decent enough plot idea and it rattles along, but for me the characters sre never really developed enough despite a lot of 'issues' being thrown in. I thought the big reveal was fairly obvious, there were a few false leads which were never really explored or resolved, and it had a very rushed ending, but overall it was an easy and entertaining enough read. This won the 2019 Goodreads Choice Award in the Mystery/Thriller category voted for by readers. The masses are easily pleased. It wouldn't surprise me if it ended up as a film. Enjoyable if you are not expecting too much from it.

I'll have a go. Currently reading The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by Le Carre. It's brilliant. Almost never read spy stories but this one is so well-written. I keep stopping to gawp at how brilliantly he sums up characters or scenes in a couple of sentences.

I think it's only the finished date that counts on Goodreads as I've carried some over in previous years.

Thanks EineReise they sound just up my street!

I'd love to join! I read quickly and choose YA fiction quite often (easy to pick up and put down - my DC are only little and I don't get much uninterrupted reading time!), would love to hear other people's recommendations too.

My contributions so far are:

1. Dianne Freeman - A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder - enjoyed this, a whodunnit set in the early 1900s, easy read and not too challenging. I've ordered the second book from the library.
2. Ali Sparkes - Frozen in Time - YA book about children who are woken from a 50 year frozen state - interesting premise. I thought it ended a bit abruptly but otherwise a good read.

@Piggywaspushed I'd be interested in a David Copperfield group too!

1. The Book of Dust vol 1: La Belle Sauvage

Loved it though it had a couple of chapters that were a bit unexpected in content. Thought The Secret Commonwealth was another prequel but (embarrassingly) turns out it’s about a decade on from Amber Spyglass. So now I am re-reading the original trilogy, as I’ve forgotten loads about what happens.

Hi I am another former lurker who is going to join this year but I am a bit intimidated by how fast this thread moves.

I read 48 books in 2019 and am aiming for 50 this year.

First book just finished:

1. A Pocketful of Rye by Agatha Christie

Not one of her best, it is Miss Marple and I prefer the Poirot ones as he explains how he worked it out. The characters were unlikeable and the ending was weak. 3/5

Now on to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series over the last year and am really enjoying it.

The thread will slow down in a few weeks so don't worry. If you can't keep up with the chat at this stage then just turn up when you can with your updates. Nobody minds even if it's months inbetween.

Don't be shy to jump in if you've been lurking or have just found us. For any late comers you don't have to take part from Jan, join in any time when you find us.

Nobody minds what you read or how many or in what format I draw the line at interpretive mime just tell us about it so we know what to look out for or what to avoid.

Enjoy it - no pressure, no rules. Occasional good natured bunfights.

I'm in!! Started book one of 2020 yesterday and finished it this evening!

I read Fifty Shades of the USA by Anna McNuff. She cycled across all fifty states in six months. I've got The Pants of Perspective lined up next, she ran the length of New Zealand (yet to find out which island or if it was both). I used to follow her on IG (before I came off) as she was doing 100 marathons across the UK barefoot. Amazing, down to earth woman.

Just finished book 2 (I've been up with a poorly DD for the past few nights so have been reading a bit more than usual).

1. Pet Semetary by Stephen King (2/5)
2. The Outsider by Albert Camus A random act of senseless violence provides the lynchpin but this relatively short novel covers so much more. The narrator, Meursault does not conform to the social norms and seems incapable of even paying basic lip service or telling lies, even white lies. This was just as good as I remember but I found it an even richer read this time around. (5/5)

I'm using a random number generator to select which kindle book to read next otherwise I spend ages paralysed by the choice. My next book is Nod by Adrian Barnes.

Hello everyone, I'd love to join in. I aimed for a book a week last year but didn't get anywhere near. I need to put my phone away and just read!
I'm currently reading Regeneration by Pat Barker on my kindle and listening to Becoming by Michelle Obama on audible, which is great but it's taking me ages, as I only tend to listen in the car.

@PrincessFabian it will definitely slow down. No one minds how often you post or don't. I fell off the thread late summer last year only reappearing in the last few days.
No one minds or judges what you read, obviously not everyone is going to like the same stuff and quite often people will post very different reviews of the same book. It's a good natured and friendly thread, only sometimes fatal for your bank balance and TBR pile.
I have just started wolf hall , a reread for an online bloggers read along in preparation for the release of The Mirror and The Light . Also The Offing by Ben Myers which was a Xmas present

I have finished my first book, which I listened to.

1. The Five: The Untold Stories of the Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Haillie Rubenhold.

I really enjoyed this. A very well researched account of these poor women’s lives, of the circumstances that lead them to becoming vulnerable, to living on the streets. It focuses on their hopes and disappointments and avoids the sensationalism that always surrounds these murders. There is only evidence that two of the women were engaged in prostitution, but the police and the media were heavily invested in the idea that all the women were. It was also very good in terms of making it clear and interesting how different industries and systems at the time worked, such as the Workhouse.

@PrincessFabian I can only echo what Splother has said - the thread always goes crazy in January and rockets along at an alarming pace. It always settles down though so do stick around.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is my favourite of the series. I have such clear and fond memories of devouring it in a day during a difficult period in my life at the time and it was an oasis of comfort.

I'm in! I had an original goal of 24 last year, and managed 42 in the end, so I'm going for 52 this year!
I got so many fantastic suggestions from the MN threads, really looking forward to lots more.

PrincessFabian the Half Blood Prince is my favourite of the series as well. Such a clever and satisfying book which shows JKR's talent at plotting at its best. I also love the way she gives the "evil" characters unusual depth for a children's series. Draco is so hateful yet has such vulnerability at times. I'll look forward to reading what you think of it.

Okay bitches, it's on!

I'm another who is vowing to tackle the books I already own, so my first read of the year is The Warm South: How the Mediterranean Shaped the British Imagination, by Robert Holland I'm finding the first couple of chapters (the eighteenth century Grand Tour, Napoleon) to be somewhat heavy going, but I'm interested enough to keep going.

I'm simultaneously reading How Not to Diet, by Michael Greger. The author and his team of -elves- research assistants have digested the scientific literature on weight loss, so you don't have too. Flicking ahead, it looks like no eating after 7pm and sprinkling turmeric on everything, so we shall see. I am currently full of January virtue, so feeling receptive.

Both are quite weighty tomes, and in order not to be crushed in bed, I'm also reading a comic crime caper by Judith Flanders, Writer's Block. It's nothing amazing, but I'm enjoying the setting of a publishers' office.

I'm up for the David Copperfield read - I seem to have read more about Charles Dickens (that emblem of the Victorian age) than by him.

@bibliomania, have you read Michael Greger’s first book, How Not to Die?
I liked it a lot.* He apparently donates the proceeds of his books to charity and doesn’t sell supplements or anything.

*not enough to follow all his recommendations but I’m getting there!!

Anyone else going through this post making notes on book titles?!

Hi Joe, yes, I did read How Not to Die and I liked the emphasis on all the good stuff you should be eating rather than what you should be avoiding. I like what he's doing - I was struck by his point that there is a time lag of around 17 years for translating research findings into changes to clinical practice. Hoping to get something good out of this one.

The Little book of Hygge by Miek Wiking

I've abandoned this book, it didn't engage me. It was interesting to see how things are done in Denmark and elsewhere but degenerated into descriptions which weren't really practical to implement in your own home.

I then started It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer by AA Milne with high hopes for a fascinating read. I got to chapter 5 before giving up, he is far better as a fiction writer. I'd be interested to know what others who have read it think about it. I haven't ruled out finishing it in the future, maybe it just wasn't the right book for the time.

I'm now reading the excellent, if sad, The World I fell out of by Melanie Reid. I avidly followed her newspaper columns until I stopped buying newspapers but have had the book for a while, it jumped out at me last night when looking on my kindle for a replacement for the disappointing Hygge and Milne books and hasn't disappointed. It''s obviously very sad during the earlier chapters when she describes her mental turmoil but it's very readable. You might need a box of tissues.

Thanks for all the Dickens and Hardy recs @ChessieFL, @DamnItsSevenAM and @KnucklesMcGinty. It's looking like maybe Oliver Twist and Jude are the way to go. I've read Great Expectations: I liked it, but not a patch on Copperfield for me personally.

@Sadik Good to know Cage of Souls is worth a read. I loved Children of Time (Team Spider!) and have Children of Ruin and Dogs of War lined up for this year.

@namechange49 I quite enjoyed all the twittering about farming in Anna Karenina

I have finished 1. The Dutch House - Ann Patchett. I started this last year but I couldn't get into it and had to return it to the library as it had been reserved by someone. The nerve of them! I've borrowed it through Borrowbox instead and finally finished it this time round.

Although I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads, for me it's more of a 3.5. There is some very good, subtle writing in this novel paired with an interesting plot that centres around two siblings and their relationships with each other and the extraordinary Dutch House in which they were raised. The house and the events that happen there shape their lives through the entirety of the book in an affecting way. It was the ending that let it down for me - but I don't want to give any spoilers. I am, on the whole, very fond of Ann Patchett and this was a decent first book for 2020 to get me going.

Hi all, I’d like to join again. I started last year and got to 29 by about June but then I gave up. Would really like to get to fifty this year while I’m off on mat leave. First read of the year is The Bertie Project by Alexander McColl Smith

I'm trying to spend less this year as well as read more - have reserved a book from the library The First Five People you meet in Heaven so will be reading that as soon as it comes in. I'm currently reading a Kindle 'freebie' The Single Mums Mansion - very very easy chick lit type reading, it won't take long I shouldn't think 🤔
Keeping an eye on here for recommendations and really must read all the unread books on my kindle too!