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?

Eine by using conspiracy you are unfairly accusing it of having a plot.

1. The Sober Diaries, by Claire Pooley. Enjoyable, quick read about Pooley's decision to give up drinking and how she gets through her first year of sobriety. I am a sucker for diaries in general but I thought this was a really well-written mix of her story and research about women and drinking.

5. Nine Elms, by Robert Bryndza. Oh dear. I have enjoyed most of his previous books but started to find them a bit exploitative, and this was no exception. In this he introduces a new heroine, who I absolutely adored, but halfway through the plot turns utterly ludicrous and I spent a lot of the remaining book with very raised eyebrows.

6. Fleishman is in Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. This was hugely hyped when it came out, and then swifly subjected to a backlash by disappointed readers who didn't see what all the fuss was about. I'm firmly in the first camp - this is the story of how Toby Fleishman manages his job, love life and caring for his children when his wife Rachel leaves him and then vanishes. It's incredibly sharp on midlife and marriage and made me wince in places. There isn't a great deal of plot AND the characters are all pretty unlikeable, and yet I still loved it.

7. The Vagina Bible, by Jen Gunter, MD. Excellent. I first became aware of Jen Gunter when I heard about her crusade against Gwyneth Paltrow's 'jade eggs and vagina steaming' recommendations. She's an OB/GYN and her writing is always very clear, properly medically and scientifically referenced, and often very funny. This book is no exception and although it's a bit tiring if you read it all the way through in order, it's a fantastic reference resource.

8. Long Bright River, by Liz Moore. Wow. I feel a little bit broken by this book. Reviewed up thread by @VanderlyleGeek, this is a combination of mystery and family drama, beautifully written and bleak but still immensely readable. A finely drawn love letter to Philadelphia and a lament for the opiod crisis, I think this one is going to haunt me.

@mackerella

If it’s the A S Byatt Ragnarok you’re talking about, that was one of my favourite reads from last year. Loved it. Better than Neil Gaiman’s retelling in Norse Mythology IMO (although Gaiman’s book was still a good read).

Stephen Fry’s books on Greek mythology ( Mythos and Heroes ) were also two of my favourite reads last year, I’d recommend both of those if you’re planning reading about myths and legends.

It’s years since I read The Penelopiad so I don’t remember the details of the plot well, but I did enjoy reading it at the time.

Although sorry to say that I wasn’t keen on The Song of Achilles. My main problem with that was the way Patroclus was written.

Thanks for the reassurance, all. Yes, it's the AS Byatt one, Stitches, so I'm glad that you liked it! I loved American Gods when I read it a couple of years ago, so I'm hoping for more of the same with Norse Mythology. I have Mythos on my bedside table at the mo (a birthday present I haven't read yet) - that was actually the book that sparked the whole myths idea off for me. I've got another few books on my list: the Mary Stewart books about Arthur, Mary Renault, and maybe things like The Blue Salt Road, The Essex Serpent and Once Upon A River. I'm also going to catch up with the two most recent Rivera of London books in the grounds that they contain mythologised versions of the rivers

(I'll never manage all of these books and will probably get distracted by some crime fiction halfway through.)

The Mercies a debut novel for adults but the talented children's' and YA writer, Kiran Millwood Hargarve.

This was reviewed a couple of pages back and I would love to discuss the last paragraph with that PP!

It's a very fine novel, although I wasn't too keen on the shoe horned in love plot. It is a bit of a slow burner (that's an awful and unintended pun) but very atmospheric and well written and based on factual accounts, which is horrendous, of witch burnings. The passages describing the ducking, trial and executions are spectacular. It is a little similar to Burial Rites and I liked it as much. Hannah Kent devotees might well argue Burial Rites is better. Some of The Mercies needed more critical editing : she uses the word 'heft' maybe 20 times. It does very successfully foreground the horrific misogyny of witch hunting.

My main gripe is with the cover design. The cover is a thing of beauty but is so wrong for the book : and it is rather Stacey Halls like , so this is obviously the trend. Those tapestry like covers suggest superior chick lit with a literary/creative writing bent to me now, and this book is far, far better than that. I hope the paperback gets a more appropriate cover design. There are even two women in red dresses in the design , and the only dress that matters in the book is incongruous yellow. And there should be a whale.

First book I have really devoured this year. Got up at 6am to finish it!

13. The Lady in the Lake
14. The Little Sister

both by Raymond Chandler

Well, I am glad I persevered. I probably should have started with Chandler's better known Marlowes (and now I will read them some day). I enjoyed The Lady in the Lake, but I absolutely loved The Little Sister. I think the key to reading Chandler's books is to accept that the plot isn't the point; it's all about the atmosphere and the writing. This is tough for me as a lover of crime novels and was made harder by the fact that I didn't much like the styling - and the misogyny - in The High Window. The problematic attitude towards women is still there in my two most recent reads, but it didn't bother me as much, perhaps because I slowly came to find Marlowe more sympathetic, and at least the women in these two were a bit more well-rounded.

What I really liked about The Little sister was the jaded, world-weary feeling it had, together with the odd spark of good in some of the characters which stopped it being too depressing. And some absolutely razor sharp musings on addiction, several of which really resonated with me based on past experiences with a close friend.

WelshWabbit - I'm so glad you've fallen for Chandler.

I probably will avoid the Ready Player One film. I dont tend to like it when films deviate too much from the book and I loved Ready Player One so much. I dont want to spoil it.

I liked both film and book of Ready Player One.

@mackerella I would love a link to that fan fiction!

I also had a bit of a myths theme last year, and would second the rec for the Stephen Fry books- I had them on audio, with him reading, which was lovely. I also liked Circe much more than Achilles, and it goes well with The Penelopiad.

If you read children's books, I would also very highly recommend Odysseus, retold by Tony Robinson; and 8 Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones (Norse myth), which is my favourite "myth update" ever and knocks Percy Jackson way into a cocked hat!

'Twas me Piggy.

I know what you mean about the UK cover, the US edition is much better. I think the pretty cover is to cash in on The Essex Serpent effect. It didn't belong on this book at all.

I really enjoyed it, because despite being very slow moving the atmosphere build up was really well done.

In that last para, are you wondering - did she, or didn't she? I don't think she did. Although my initial reaction was, What? Whoa, did she?

21. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Two middle-class black Americans, Roy and Celestial, have been married for just over a year when Roy is arrested and wrongly imprisoned for rape. The novel covers the 5 years that Roy is in prison, its effect on their marriage, Celestial's efforts to make a life without her husband, and the fallout after Roy is released.

This was definitely a novel of two halves for me! I found the first half engaging - the romance between Roy and Celestial is genuinely touching, and Jones has quite a turn of phrase. The second half sagged badly, however: the narrative drive had largely disappeared and I just didn't care much about the characters, or about who ended up with whom. I felt that the form didn't work, either: the first-person narratives at the start were fresh and interesting, but the later, epistolary sections were too long and bogged down in exposition (it's really hard to push the narrative through letters in a way that doesn't sound false). The novel also ended up falling between two stools subject-wise: despite being billed (by Barack Obama, no less!) as "A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple", it didn't have enough detail or punch to be a novel about mass incarceration ... but it was also too unfocused to work as a novel about relationships. If it's about anything, it's about what it is to grow up as a black man in America, and about the relationships between these black men and their fathers. I do think that Tayari Jones is an interesting and eloquent writer, and would read more by her - I was just disappointed by this novel, which seemed to be somehow less than the sum of its parts.

22. Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
Urbane legal crime thriller written in 1950. This was entertaining in a terribly British, detached and lightly ironic way. I didn't guess the killer until the last few chapters, thanks to the tangled plot(s) - but I also remain slightly baffled by their motivation . What really struck me was the period detail: the action takes place in a firm of solicitors and, although they are portrayed as rather stuffy, it's still notable that the men are all clerks and partners, and the women (some of whom are very silly indeed) are all secretaries. I enjoyed the references to post-war rationing - and the way that a city-wide "electricity cut" played a key part at one point.

Coming up, Tanaqui: Marlows fanfic and Charioteer fanfic!

I have Byatt's Ragnarok on my bedside table. I keep starting it, and then putting it down again; I usually love Byatt so I don't know why I'm having a problem with it. It's also a subject I'm quite interested in anyway so double confusion re the difficulty. I'll give it another go when I've finished Tim Leach's Smile of the Wolf which is set in Iceland and also deals with Norse Myths. I might have to separate the two with a bit of light detective reading or maybe some Pratchett (or even a Diana Wynne Jones!), depending upon how the Leach plays out...

I also have Fry's two books on my wish list, but am hesitating about them. I'll be really interested in your opinion of them, Mackerella - well everyone here's opinion!

I've just finished Circe, which I loved.

@Jux

I've only read one Byatt, The Children's Book which I absolutely loved and wish there was a sequel to.

I tried and DNFd Possession several times, couldn't get on with it, I don't know why.

What would you recommend?

Thanks fortuna :that was my question indeed! I am glad you wondered, as that means it must have been meant to be ambiguous!

That cover is considerably better : it has the whale!

Piggy I was leaning back with my eyes closed listening and sat bolt upright at the ending. I had to go back to check.

Eine I also didn't get on with Possession, I've tried print and audio.

Jux I think I am one of the very few who wasn't keen on Mythos. I switched to audio half way through and found that a lot better. It was everything I should have loved, so I'm not sure what put me off.

34. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
    Just as good second time around.

35. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
    A murder mystery in a medieval monastery in which the author dumps all of his research and drags out a weak plot for over 600 pages.

I've added Smile of the Wolf to my rapidly lengthening list, Jux! I'd also be very interested to hear what you make of Ragnarok (if you do finish it).

Eine, I am also very keen on Byatt and did enjoy Possession (but that was when I was an undergraduate and had more stomach for ersatz Victorian poetry than I do now). I was captivated by Still Life and The Virgin in the Garden when I was about 18 and pleased with myself for reading Proper Serious Literature, and would love to revisit them now I'm middle-aged, to see if they still stand up. (For a contrary view, you might like to read this article )

Wolf Hall and The Name of the Rose back-to-back, Fortuna? You must have time on your hands (and well-developed biceps). I enjoyed your review of the latter, btw

AS Byatt awarded me my degree . She did not crack a smile for the entire ceremony.

I keep picking up Circe and putting it back which tells me alot

I couldn't get on at all with The Name of the Rose.

New thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/what_were_reading/3829196-50-Book-Challenge-2020-Part-Three?watched=1

Piggy I got mine from Peter Ustinov, when I thanked him, he said, "Don't thank me dear, you did all the work".

mackarella I'm recovering from pneumonia, so have been told to do nothing (and I can't do much even if I wanted to). Audiobooks are keeping me sane.

Remus I really wish I'd ditched it. I don't understand how it is so widely praised.