50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Two

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second 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.

The first thread of the year is here.

What are you reading?

I'm not a knitter, but I understand they have an acronym of SABLE - Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.

I think we need a BABLE - book acquisition beyond life expectancy. (Or for some of us, BABBLE - book acquisition beyond biblical life expectancy, thinking of Methuselah)

Thanks for the validation, all. It's gone back to the library.

(Still considering a polite email pointing out that 'Max' Sennett was actually Mack, and if you're writing a book about film either you or your editor, or both, should make it your business to know this )

You may all know this already but I heard on the radio that, as part of their Novels that Shaped the World project, are uploading unabridged recordings of classic novels onto Sounds. They're being released in batches from the looks of things but lots there including Silas Mariner, Cranford, Frankenstein etc

I missed out the fact in my post above that it is THE BBC who are uploading these recordings

biblio, I’m adopting that. I am not quite there yet but not far off if you include my TBR lists for things I shall acquire in the future. I blame this thread, for so many recommendations which then lead to other recommendations and so on. Life was easier when I just picked up whatever was being promoted in Waterstones. I have massive reading FOMO now and dreams of a week on my own somewhere with just a stack of books and plenty of tea and cake.

Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck This is my third book by this author (following Visitation and End of Days) and is every bit as good as her previous novels.

It is a very empathetic story of a retired university professor who happens on a camp of African asylum seekers in Berlin and gradually forms a relationship with some of them. The writer is herself an East German and the book thoughtfully examines themes of migrancy and displacement across the world and closer to home. She covers a wide range of issues but never loses sight of the terrible and terrifying personal events that lead people to seek asylum.

I know this has been reviewed on a previous thread, but I think it is such an important book and is particularly relevant as we as a country look to define our own rules on immigration and, more specifically, asylum.

KeithLeMonde I didn't know so many thanks.

I am happy to abandon books, but if it's something broadly loved then I do like a bit of reassurance that I haven't spectacularly missed something. I also recognise the difference between something being a steaming pile of excrement and something I'm not in the mood for so the odd one does get resuscitated.

Keith completely agree re Salt Path and Robert Harris

biblio I am a knitter and so far beyond SABLE that it's accounted for on my home insurance and in my will. Knitters who read also use BABLE (and CABLE for cats). My tall bookcase is known as The Tower of BABLE. A nearby charity shop was doing 5 books for £1 last year and had such a good selection that I was walking out with an IKEA bag full at a time. As of 1st Feb they put them up to £1 each so It has curbed my wanton purchasing habits. I'm cross and thankful in equal measure.

I pruned my Goodreads want-to-read list back to 400 last year and is now at 900, largely due to you lot.

Lots of classic audiobooks also available free via Librivox who now have an app, but it can be very hit and miss for narrators. Fab to know about BBC Sounds.

Oh and I finished a book too...

32. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain Picks up where Tom Sawyer left off. Ragamuffin Huck decides to run away and sets off down the Mississippi on a raft. He picks up Jim, a runaway slave along the way and they encounter many characters as they try to get to freedom.

A satirical farce wrapped up in a boy's adventure story that gets quite OTT in places. Covers a lot of themes dealing with life in slavery era southern states. Amazing writing with some very vivid descriptions of the landscape. Written in dialect so works well as audio, but a bit of a shock to modern ears as the middle section seems to contain the N word every other sentence.

A satirical farce wrapped up in a boy's adventure story that gets quite OTT in places.

That's a good example of why books read when you aren't old enough for them are not always a good idea - I read TAofHF when I was at late primary/early high school and didn't realise until I read your post that it was satirical. Maybe it's due a re-read if I have enough years left!

85 I think the issue is that Tom Sawyer was written for children, but Huckleberry Finn was not. As one follows the other it's natural to assume it is also a kids book. I do vaguely remember a TV series too that was largely aimed at kids.

I put forward last year that some books should come with an age recommendation eg Catcher in the Rye only really works for disaffected teens and later in life readers tend to hate it. Someone posted an excellent list of books to read at certain ages, but I forget who (sorry) and what the site was. It was really interesting.

That's interesting, and probably why I enjoyed HF less than TS.

Is it this list?

Yes, that's the one!
Just a shame it was limited to one book per age.

Ah, and there was I think I was being original, Fortuna. 900 books on your wish-list does feel something of a challenge....

Hmm. In a few months I will be old enough to read The Remains if The Day Can’t wait, given the recent discussions on here .

In the meantime I’m thoroughly enjoying What Katy Did At School

*OF

How old do you have to be to read Remains Of The Day ??

Bibliomania - 'ingenuity rather than plausibility' is the perfect description for Sophie Hannah's endings! I still keep reading them though...

How about Must read books for seniors ??

or books to read each decade

57 according to 85notOut’s link.

Some good books on that list of books for seniors.

Fortuna as you have read 32 books this year so far, if you continue at that rate, you will only have to live for about another three and a half years to complete 900.

What a timely discussion on abandoning books. I rarely do it, but was thinking about it for my current read. So, thank you, thank you, DNF enablers.

DNF. The Dinosaur Feather by Sissel-Jo Gazan Scandi-bore. Academic at the University of Copenhagen is murdered, seemingly over his stance on whether birds are descended from dinosaurs. Sounds interesting? It's not, and no-one is very nice, as we are long-windedly told not shown. 13% was more than enough.

Thank you, Remus, I've just bought Circe - have been meaning to for ages. Oh how easily I forget that I'm not buying any more books this year

Idiom, I'm sure I'll go back for Sophie Hannah's next one in due course!

Ahh Ham you make it sound so easy, but people keep writing more books and then you lot tell me about books I didn't know about, or say good things about books I didn't think I wanted to read. Being on here is like fighting the Hydra, for every book I finish at least two more get added to my list.

I also only add the first (or next) to go in a series, so if I like an author who doesn't know when to give up then I'm stuffed.