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 have a DNF- A Prayer for Owen Meany - I'm about 25% through but finding it a slog...parts are charming but it just seems sloooow with nothing happening...do I persevere?? STATE of Wonder is on Kindle Daily Deal...my favourite Ann Patchett.

I don't get all the Owen Meaney love on here. Would have been a much better book if it lost about 400 pages.

Reni Eddo-Lodge's superb book Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race is just £1.29 on today's Kindle Daily Deal.

I really liked Owen Meany but agree it could have been shorter.

My DNF which seems to be loved on here is The Hearts Invisible Furies. I’ve had two attempts now.

Thanks, Chessie. I'm feeling reassured by all the DNFs on here (some of hem very big names), so have put Sarah Perry aside for another day. I've turned with guilty relief to YA supernatural fiction, and am already 80% of the way through The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

This thread is bad for my bank balance  thanks @southeastdweller

What happened to my emoticons went missing!

Ooo - alert Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver is free today for Kindle with Prime.

12 The Turning Tide Catriona McPherson The latest in a long series of cosy mysteries featuring a pair of detectives and set between the wars. I have really enjoyed this series, especially the warm and witty way the main characters are presented. Unlikely coincidences, illogical guesswork and holes in the plot are all there in abundance but I could forgive these shortcomings.

85notout My sympathies on your bereavement.

1. The Path by Malcolm McKay. Recommended by a friend, I enjoyed this. It is the tale of a group of people walking the 800km Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in northern Spain. It is different to other books about walking a trail because I'd say they tend to be autobiographical (Wild, The Salt Path and A Walk in the Woods come to mind) whereas this one is fictional and has lots of different protagonists. Each of them gets something different from the journey.

I hated Owen Meany by the way!

33. The Mercies - Kiran Millwood Hargrave Set in early 1600s in a remote Norwegian fishing community that is a mix of Christians and the indigenous Sami people. A freak storm wipes out the entire adult male population leaving the women to step up outside their usual roles in order to survive. As word spreads of their plight a new commissioner is sent to put things in order and push Christianity. He is originally from Scotland and brings a new Norwegian wife from the city. She struggles to fit in to island life but as she starts to make friends she discovers her husband was a witch finder in Scotland. The women of the island start to turn on one another with devastating consequences.

Based on real events. This is well written and character driven with beautiful prose in parts. It's very atmospheric, but also quite slow going for most of it making the ending feel very rushed in comparison. I think Burial Rites is always going to be the benchmark for anything Nordic and historical but this stands up well. The author is known for YA and this is her first adult novel, but that doesn't show in the writing. I liked this a lot.

Thanks for responses re Owen Meany - night have persevered if I'd for race reviews in response but life's too short and there are too many wonderful books waiting!

Book 15
Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

This is the first Jackson Brodie book of KA’s that I’ve read. A private investigator is following a run of the mill infidelity case, when he begins to get involved in something more sinister. He witnesses an unsettling event involving a very young hitchhiker and at the same time saves a man from suicide. JB finds a group of golf enthusiasts have a common link to a shady past. The story unfolds in and around the North Yorkshire coast and we find the sunny seaside holiday veneer is hiding an altogether more sinister world.

I enjoyed the humour in her writing and Jackson’s character (towing elderly Labrador dog!). I found the story bowled along at a good pace and with plenty of action. The seaside setting was familiar to me and provided a convincing habitat for some very unsavoury characters. There’s also a Mumsnet reference in the story! [waves to Kate!]

I’d seek out more of the Jackson B books on the back of this one. V entertaining.

@JollyYellaHumberElla

Arrrrgh I love the Jackson Brodie's but how can you read them out of order?!

The chaos!

The carefreeness!

The lack of anal anxiety!

EineReise I’m embracing the anarchy!

If you lot are DNF’ing then I’m introducing ROoO!
(Reading Out of Order)

ROoO is allowed for Reacher books, because Lee Child says so, but anything else feels dangerous and uncomfortable. Having said that, book 5 (only) of the Coroner series is on my Dad's kindle which I inherited, and I will be reading it soon, despite only having read book one of that series, many years ago. But that's because it is there.

I couldn't get on with Owen Meany, felt I should have loved it but didn't. I was sufficiently interested to look up the synopsis though and thought it was a good plot but as others have said too long.

Why I Am No Longer Talking... was excellent.
for Betty and Plornish (I've just caught up).
10) Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Hughes I loved this. The structure reminded me a little of Homecoming which I also really liked. I know the ways the stories linked was a bit contrived at times, but I thought the whole thing worked really well, and I suspect deserved to win outright (but i haven't read The Testaments yet). An excellent book.

Oh, didn't think to look up the Synopsis of Meany, will do that now! Feels like some resolution without having to slog through the book.

39. One Shot by Lee Child

Yesterday’s new author was John Grisham, today’s was Lee Child. I’m not quite sure how I’ve never read a Jack Reacher book before, but I haven’t. Is it great literature? No. Is it a page turner? Yes. I wouldn’t read this one again, but I expect I’ll read others in future.

Book 16
Wilding by Isabella Tree

Read on the back of my newfound interest in nature writing and other recommendations on here. The book describes the transformation of a privately farmed estate around Knepp Castle into a wild habitat. The whole area is returned to a semi untouched state, managed by feral ponies, cattle, deer and with minimal human intervention.

The descriptions of the change reveal so many myths around what we think of as being wild, or natural countryside. Also very revealing about how much ‘wild’ we are willing to tolerate as a society that wants control.

However I agree with other posters that there is something slightly niggling me about the way the project is framed. There is no doubt that there are hard questions about the many £££’s of public funds being invested in this entirely private family estate. Coupled with the irritation from the author when more funds are not immediately forthcoming or they are required to meet expectations. I think Tabby’s posted review above is fair.

Overall though, as a story of a successful wilding experiment, and a passionate argument for less intensive land use, its a compelling and fascinating read.

Thanks for the heads up southeast. Have just purchased Why I'm no longer... - why I'm no longer trying NOT to buy any more books ;)

This thread is very bad for my bank balance... just invested in the Ann Patchett book @RoseHarper! Hopefully half term will be a cheap one...

@Tarahumara The Path sounds really interesting. I would love to walk it in RL actually, a friend did it a couple of years ago and had an amazing time. Our local library doesn't have a copy though will keep an eye out for a Kindle deal.

I love the Lockwood books @mackerella!! I must have read them all through five or six times now. Jonathan Stroud took part in a literary festival near me last year and I was gutted that we were on holiday at the time and I couldn't go!

I'm really glad to hear that, Ruby! I'm certainly enjoying this one (but I suspected I would, because I loved the Bartimaeus trilogy when I read it about 15 years ago).