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?

@Squiz81
I am enjoying it, or at least I think I will have done by the time I have finished it, if you know what I mean. I gallop through some sections, and some bits seem to drag a lot.

Thanks, South!

1. Empire of Wild, by Cherie Dimaline : Joan, a Métis woman in Canada, is mourning the disappearance of her husband Victor when she unexpectedly spots him in a revival tent in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Joan confronts Victor, but he insists he’s not her husband. Joan is determined to get Victor back, particularly when she realizes that he’s under the control of a Rogarou, a Métis creature similar to a werewolf. The book explores issues of Indigenous land rights, oil pipelines, and traditional practices through this lens.

@Cotedazur isn't what I said "damning with faint praise"?

1. Beneath The World, A Sea by Chris Beckett

This was a weird and interesting story, about a secluded part of the world where life forms are different, trees grow out of the sea, the forest draws people to itself, and local humanoid species "duendes" have psychic effects on the human population. Oh and passing through the zone surrounding it erases memories. So, tourists come to do what they don't dare do outside, knowing that they won't remember it. Those who life in there can't leave, lest they forget everything.

I enjoyed this book although it's ending wasn't terribly satisfying, and would recommend it especially to fans of The City and The City. It has the same weird feel, but it's much better written. The author wrote Dark Eden and its sequels, which were much appreciated by many of us on these treads.

1. The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross
2. L'Ambiance Va Être Chouette! - Dans les coulisses de la musique ancienne by Vincent Flückiger

@bookwitch I know exactly what you mean. My eyes have glazed over at some parts. Which translation do you have? I started with Maude, but then I read that Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation was better so I downloaded that too. I think it is better, not massively different from Maude, but certain phrases seen to have more depth/meaning. Although it doesn't have footnotes for any French parts, so I do find myself flicking between the two.

I'm listening on Audible, narrated by Anthony Horovitch.
I have 9 hours to go (out of 38!) - I started on New Years Day.

I did read it years ago for my degree, and remember some bits really well, others not.
Re the bits in French, it is annoying me a bit in that sometimes it's "he said X in French"and sometimes it is actually in French. I understand a reasonable amount of French, I'd like it to be consistent though

Finished 6. How Not to Diet, by Michael Greger, which provides an overview of nutrition research and suggests how you can make use of it in your own life. There's a free app if you want the short version.

Immediately picked up The Body, by Bill Bryson, another big hardback from the library. He seems to have had lovely writing career, apparently bumbling around writing about whatever he's interested in, and always coming out with a bestseller.

1. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach Underwhelmed by a re-read of this short fable on being different from the flock and striving for a higher meaning. First read as a child while staying the night (as we used to call sleepovers) with a friend with hippy parents, this was the must read talking point for liberal minded folks in the 70s. Now feels dated, male dominated (even though, yeah, they're talking seagulls) and preachy. Filing this in the same pile as Watership Down, but thankfully with less time invested in it.

My list so far:

1. Identity Crisis - Ben Elton
2. Elizabeth is missing - Emma Healey
3. The Institute - Stephen King
4. Lies Lies Lies - Adele Parks
5. Are you watching? - Vincent Ralph
6. Elevation - Stephen King

1. Everything I never told you - Celeste Ng This focuses on the story of an American family with a mixed Chinese / White American heritage after the teenage daughter is found dead. It jumps backwards and forwards a bit, from the parents meeting, through the children's childhoods and the present day as the circumstances around the death and leading up to it are explored. I enjoyed this one, even though it didnt feel very exciting. It deals with the family dynamics, particularly how two different cultures affect the relationships within the family and the ultimate effect on each of the children.

The blurb describes it as "a gripping page-turner, about secrets, love, longing, lies and race." - I wouldn't go that far but it kept me interested until the end.

1. Lady in waiting - Anne Glenconner I had this one on audiobook. I wasnt sure what to expect as it's not the sort of book I'd normally go for but someone recommended it. It's an autobiography, covering the life of Lady Anne Glenconner, her personal life and her friendship with Princess Margaret. It was an interesting book, and an example of how privilege doesnt always equal a happy or easy time of it. The author has had a number of personal tragedies and her husband sounded like a nightmare. I certainly couldnt have put up with some of his performances!

I found her reflections on her role as a mother when her children were young both interesting and sad.

Currently reading Last Day - Luanne Rice and Invisible Women - Caroline Criado-Perez. The first one I'm not sure about as the writing style is irritating me and the second looks quite good but I've only read the preface so far.

W0lverine, Colin Tennant does indeed sound like the husband from hell in all respects. Mustique aside (and even that sounds somewhat ramshackle in the early days), she must have had the patience of a saint to endure that marriage.

PepeLePew I got the impression they spent an awful lot of time on different continents which probably helped. The bit about the Opera...

Have read a bit recently.
8. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi A fascinating memoir from an ambitious, polymathic neuroscientist who, at the age of 36, discovered he had terminal lung cancer. Very well written. There is a description of brain surgery in there that had me there in the operating theatre with him. The afterword by his wife is pretty devastating, so bring tissues.
9. Reading Reconsidered. Read this for work. Still counts and it’s good. It’s about strategies for teaching whole class reading.
10. I’d rather be writing by Marcia Golub. One of those helpful ‘how to write’ guides. This was different because it covered topics such as how to find time to write when you have kids. I really liked the chapters on writing rituals and superstitions. Perhaps some magical object might help me to sit down in front of that screen more often! (I’m well aware of how my aim to read 100 books this year is a great way to aid procrastination, but the author said reading a lot is crucial, so there).

Have developed a strange inkling that I need to add Station 11 to my the pile.

Noooo @Nuffaluff SAVE YOURSELF BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

Book 10:
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

I listened to this as an audiobook. Read by Tamara Lawrence. This is a funny, raw and sometimes painful story of a young woman as she dates, carves out a career and deals with her own anxiety, social politics and the impact of a difficult childhood.
Sometimes hilarious and sometimes quite hard to listen to, the experiences of Queenie are at the same time relatable and distressing. There is real warmth and humanity throughout the story, although it paints a very bleak picture of the modern dating scene!

This is currently available free to listen online on Radio 4 audio books if anyone fancies it.

7. Blood on the Tracks: Railway Mysteries ed. by Martin Edwards

An anthology of fifteen short crime stories featuring trains/the Underground in some way, mostly by ‘Golden Age’ writers. If you like classic crime writing, you’ll find this an enjoyable read. There are the usual Golden Age tropes, e.g. foreigners are always sinister and/or hysterical (Jewish diamond dealers! American cardsharps! Jealous Italians! Er, Welsh people!). However, there are also some unusual twists: surprisingly effective use of the supernatural; an apparent gay couple in the late 19th century. The best stories make use of the way public transport throws people together with complete strangers - and those with whom they have past connections. And there are not too many don’t-try-this-at-home exits from moving trains.

Not the Welsh, Plornish!

The above was meant to convey terror at the mere prospect.

Squiz, I'll look out for Eduardo Albert, thanks.

Cote, I'm lagging on Stn 11. Getting bored. I think best thing I can say about it is that it's easy to read. I'm half way through already and will almost certainly finish it this evening.

I think I'd like to reread something next, but what? Tempted by The book of Dave, it's a long time since I read it. Or one of the Culture novels by Banks. Hmmm

Don't do it Nuffaluff you're too precious to us for such a dreadful fate

Don’t worry, bibliomania, a nice Englishman sorts them out. Actually, that one’s probably more about social class.

I didn’t find Station Eleven interesting enough to finish it - let’s face it, I could have reserved it from the library if I’d wanted after I had to return it when someone else reserved it - but on the bright side, I can now at least nod knowledgeably whenever the subject of Station Eleven comes up on these threads.

So there’s that to be said for adding it to your TBR pile Nuffaluff

So far this year:

1. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - le Carre - absolutely classic double-agent spy novel. Brilliantly written. Recommended. Read the essay in the front by William Boyd too as he makes some wonderful observations about the ending and whether there is an added twist.

1. The Man Who Knew Everything - Deborah Levy - surreal time-slip?Schroedinger's Cat sort of a novel where we are never sure if the protagonist lived one life or another. Recurrent themes of car crashes and comas, love affairs and betrayals. Levy's characteristic sensory prose. But not for people who love a good plot above all else.

1. The Testaments - Atwood. Life in Gilead and Canada after June's era as a Handmaid. June doesn't feature though you do find out whether she escapes in the end or stays put. Three narratives - one from Canadian-raised girl's POV (pretty obvious to HM fans who she is from the start but I won't spoil in case) A lovely narrative form Aunt Lydia and another Gilead woman. Some of it seemed a little overwrought and far fetched in relation to previous stories and I wish we found out what happened to Nick and whether he was a good guy in the end or not. Didn't hate this as much as many people but it really isn't Booker material. It was well-hashed fan-fiction by the author herself.

4.Miraculous Mysteries - Macmillian anthology - various authors - traditional locked room mystery short stories by classic authors such as Conan Doyle, Chesterton etc. Good fun.

Don’t worry, bibliomania, a nice Englishman sorts them out.

I would expect nothing less, Plornish

1. Thomas Hardy: the time-torn man by Claire Tomalin. This is the third of Tomalin's books that I've read (the others were her Austen biography and her autobiography) and I would like to read more. I think she gets the perfect balance between the personal life and the literary achievements of her subjects, and explains them in the context of the wider historical events of the time. This was so readable and interesting.

1. Lies Lies Lies by Adele Parks. This was okay - reasonably good chick lit.