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?

Has anyone ever sold second hand books online? I have 100s of read books and we aren't really in an area with secondhand bookshops or charity shops which take books. I could take them to the tip but I would like others to make use of them.

I am not sure whether it is worth the hassle. A quick search suggests I might be lucky to be offered a couple of quid by an online bookseller for a recent hardback book.

If this link is correct, the British Heart Foundation would collect them, Piggy -

www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-goods/free-collection-of-clothes-books-and-more

My DH has sold CDs through Music Magpie and I think they do books as well - but it's a bit of a faff and doesn't make a great deal of money.

Here's the link though: www.musicmagpie.co.uk/sell-books/

I’ve used Music Magpie a couple of times. If you have enough books it can be worth doing. Paperbacks don’t get that much but some older books have been surprisingly high value. Worth downloading the app and having a quick scan of the barcodes if you want to sell them.

I looked at them : averaging about 20p a book! Except for one book DH doesn't want to get rid of.

At the moment my shit phone won't accept any apps so it's all manual!

Oxfam say they will collect books too but then I phoned up and they weren't very helpful about it. I am guessing they don't actually shift many books!

My copy of David Copperfield has arrived!

Will start a thread later today for those who are interested. It should be 19 instalments but I am thinking we might want to speed that up??

I've just finished The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. Is it worthy of The Booker Prize? I'm not sure... it definitely doesn't have the literary prowess of THT but it does provide an engaging, enjoyable and relevant read. I can understand the negativity surrounding it; it's certainly not as impressive as THT however I think taking it at face value - an excellent answer to a lot of questions THT left unfinished, a good, page turning plot, decent characters - it's an excellent and important book.

All in all, 4/5 *

Now, just what to read next... I am intrigued by The Witcher series and have The Five on order. I also have Wool by Hugh Honey on my bookshelf (FIL picked it up for me, not sure if it's what I'd like to read in honesty) - has anyone read it before?

Ooh I’ll join in with David Copperfield saw the trailer for the film and it looks fantastic.

I’ve downloaded the free version on the kindle which was alright for Nicholas Nikleby I think.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I felt exactly the same as you about Vox when I read it last year for (rl) bookclub: great premise, very poorly executed. The ending, after all we’ve heard about the competence and omnipotence of this organisation, was preposterous. My one takeaway though was the line “There’s always a resistance” which feels weirdly appropriate right now.

Right : sold some books online and will take rest to charity. The high tariff items were Book of Dust (£11!) and study guides and A Level textbooks. Which my DS never opened....

I'd like to join please! Have around 120 unread on my kindle so the plan is to work through those this year. Finished Unsheltered Barbara Kingsolver which I enjoyed a lot and halfway through Unbroken slow start but I'm really enjoying it now...brings home how horrific some people's experiences were in WW2...

First book finished

The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbo

This didn’t grab me as much as some of his others, a serial killer is on the loose in Oslo and the police are baffled, a few twists and turns and Harry Hole manages to solve the case, brutal as always.

BayHorse I read Wool a while ago, it was ok but I was a bit underwhelmed by it.

@BayHorse I read Wool and wasn't keen. Altogether too many stairs for my liking!

Finished book 1 last night, Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch (sorry, don't know how to bold it?) Really enjoyed it, struggled to put it down last night with just a few chapters to go and I pre-ordered the next one, due in Feb.

Looking at what to read next, I like using my kindle but got a few real books to go at too so might need to cut that pile down a bit first.

@StitchesInTime & @MamaNewtNewt this is my gut feeling on it. May pass in honesty. I don't like not giving books a try but my resolution is to only read what I really want to read and not just pick up something for the sake of it.

@BayHorse I'm with you on that. It used to be a point of honour to finish a book if I started it but now I'm thinking life is too short and there are too many good ones for me to stick with something that just isn't good.

I'm currently reading Nod which is about what happens when pretty much everyone in the world is unable to sleep, ironically the book is very much helping me to sleep! I'm going to give it another chapter to see if it improves.

Not sure how to link to a thread!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/what_were_reading/3786045-David-Copperfield-Dickensalong?watched=1

1. The Offing by Benjamin Myers set just after WW2. In the summer between school and work a coal miners son sets out to walk. He ends up in Robin Hoods Bay and meets an eccentric and intelligent women , Dulce Piper . She opens his eyes to the world of literature and poetry and demands that he thinks more of himself. He in return offers her practical help and helps her come to terms with grief. A short but quiet beautiful book with some stunning nature writing .

This quote - a short poem - I found especially beautiful- "Fortified by laughter, Galvanised by love I am forever In your atoms.” Would recommend

Hard to keep up with the usual January rush but I will say I enjoyed the farming bits of Anna Karenina too was surprised by the whole thing completely different than I thought it would be and one of my favourite reading experiences.

1. Black Hammer Vol 1

Comic book series about a group of super-powered former heroes stuck on a farm in a town they can’t leave due to some multidimensional anomaly. Wonderful, creepy artwork that is both original yet aware of its continuity with comic-book tradition - I got a big hit of nostalgia reading this and was suitably intrigued by the characters and where it is going, I’ll definitely look out for the next volume when I can get it cheap on Kindle.

2. Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson

I loved this collection of pieces about motherhood and the mundane from someone who usually deals horror. These were delightful and charming and made me laugh out loud, Jackson captures the voices of her children and the relentless absurdity of raising them perfectly. But there are whispers here too of what made her so adept at seeing the darker side of domestic life, the places where the familiar gives way to the uncanny - the peculiar games and sayings of children, the claustrophobia when sickness consumes a family, the sense of being an outsider in a community, and sometimes, in your own home. I read up a little about her life after reading this and it gave my reflections on this an almost unbearable poignancy. I had read and loved We have Always Lived in the Castle and The Lottery but will be making sure I get acquainted with her other writing over the course of the year.

Finished book 2 last night.

A long way from home by Cathy Glass.

The true story of two year old Anna who is adopted from abroad but winds up in foster care three years later. I thought it was well written and I thought about Anna when I wasn't reading. I was concerned that Cathy (the foster carer) would be portrayed as the saviour who would 'fix' the child where her parents failed, but I'm pleased to say that that wasn't the case. It read as her being incredibly supportive of a family who were having a really tough time.

There was a Shirley Jackson episode of Backlisted a while ago if anyone’s interested (I know there are a few fellow listeners here) and I will be going back for another listen.

@MamaNewtNewt completely agree. If it's something special that I really want to finish, a classic for example, I'll persevere, but for the sake of an underwhelming paperback I didn't even choose myself, I'm not bothered... as awful as it sounds...!

Book 4 let me lie by Clare Mackintosh

Slow to get going and i nearly gave up but the second half was much better and by the last third I couldn’t put it down

@SatsukiKusakabe Life Among the Savages was discussed on A Good Read a few weeks before Christmas as well, I added it to my “look out for” list then