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 felt like that about a Town like Alice, I loved it when I was younger but made the mistake of re-reading it last year, it hasn't aged well

I adore A Town Like Alice. One of my favourite regular re-reads.

I really liked His Bloody Project too, although thought the ending was a bit disappointing.

I love it too Remus, for some reason last time it just wasn't working it's magic

Interesting comparison to be made in the books I've read this weekend.

15. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I have read Celeste Ng's previous book, and I enjoyed it. This one has a forthcoming TV adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

Lady Bountiful Elena congratulates herself on "making a difference" by renting a home she doesn't need the income from to struggling single Mum Mia. Elena's life seems picture perfect, but she deeply struggles to have a healthy relationship with her youngest child Izzy, and when a local couple find themselves in a custody battle over their adopted daughter; both Elena and her husband find themselves embroiled in the drama. The entire town divides itself on the child's fate, with landlady and tenant on distinctly opposing sides.

I really enjoyed this, it was easy to engage with, and I read it in a couple of sessions, it really holds the attention.

16. The Girl With All The Gifts by MR Carey

Standard Zombie Apocalypse Fare. Saw the film a few years ago and the book holds true. I held off reading the book for ages, years, I think I had expected something poor, downmarket. It surprised me by being highly readable and very engaging.

But both books together left me debating in my head about racial representation :

In Little Fires Everywhere Mia's race is unstated and is presumed white, in the adaptation Mia is black, but the book as a whole is a conversation about white privilege so this alteration makes thematic sense. It isn't even really an alteration as Ng admits she deliberately left it ambiguous.

In The Girl With All The Gifts it surprised me to note that Helen Justineau is black, and her small zombie charge Melanie is white. In the film the races are reversed with Gemma Arterton playing Helen and it left me to wonder why those who made the film preferred to show a white woman nurturing a black child over a black woman nurturing a white child, and my internal questioning of that choice raises a lot of uncomfortable ideas of the "White Saviour" variety.

Both books vg 4/5

12: A Very Private Eye - Barbara Pym

Subtitled 'An autobiography in diaries and letters', but actually assembled after her death by her sister Hilary and friend Hazel Holt. I've become a Pym devotee over the last two years and this was a poignant read. The earliest entries date from her teens, just before she went up to Oxford and had what she'd probably term a 'glorious' time, though actually it was often unhappy thanks to her unreciprocated love for a fellow-student, Henry Harvey.

The years that followed didn't bring her lasting happiness in love, and although she did become a published author, she always worked full-time, feeling that she had to have a regular salary to fall back on. By her thirties she was mockingly referring to herself as the sort of spinster who appears in her novels, and despite the jokes and Pym-esque set-pieces, an undertone of melancholy runs persistently through her diaries. When she was abruptly dropped by her publishers in the early 1960s, after 6 successful novels, she put on a heroically brave face and quietly continued writing. It was almost 15 years before she was 'rediscovered', and in an especially cruel twist of fate, she had only a couple more years in which to enjoy this unexpected fame before cancer ended her life at only 68. So sad and so unjust. Reading this made me wish she could have seen how much her books are enjoyed nowadays.

Anyway, I've been inspired to I've look out the few Pym novels I haven't yet read - I've been saving them - and have added them to the tbr pile.

Bringing my list over
1 Sudden Traveller -Sarah Hall
2 Payback - R C Bridgestock
3 The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley
4 The Offing - Benjamin Myers
5 To the volcano and other stories -Elleke Boehmer
6 Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
7 The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep
8 our Fathers - Rebecca Wait
9 The Dreamers - Karen Thompson Walker
10 Marking time - Elizabeth Jane Howard
11 Three hours - Rosamund Lupton
12 The alphabet of Hearts desire - Brian Kearney
13 The Need - Helen Phillips

Way behind off reviews !!
But I have to say that my stand out read was Three hours . It is about a school shooting in the Uk at a liberal and progressive private school. It is not your usual thriller, although it is very compelling and a great page turner. It look far more at the emotional responses of everyone involved and how people react in this situation . It weaves in societal response and the plotting is some of the best I have encountered in years. The best book I have read this year.
Our Fathers is another book I really enjoyed. It is set on a Scottish island where a father shit and killed himself and wife and two of their children. One child was left alive. This book again looks at the events leading up to and after the event. It picks apart appearances and delves into the psychology of abusive relationships. In a similar way to Reservoir 13 this also concentrates on the effect one traumatic incident can have on a whole community in the following years.

@toomuchsplother. Thank you for mentioning Three Hours. I like Rosamun Lipton's writing and haven't read this one. I fancy a good, quick thriller.

@milliefiori It is the first of hers I have read. It is not your run of the mill thriller but it is so well written and plotted. Honestly I loved it

1. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers: Mary Roach
2. Circe: Madeline Miller
3. The Girl with all the Gifts: M. R. Carey
4. Odd Girl Out: Laura James
5. Their Skeletons Speak: Sally M Walker and Douglas W Owsley
6. The Royal Art of Poison: Eleanor Herman
7. The Boy on the Bridge: M R Carey

I just finished reading Rivers of London: Ben Aaronovitch Actually I'm not too sure what I make of this but I'm interested enough to have ordered the next book in the series. I found it a bit hard to follow at times and wasnt too sure I liked the frequent references to breasts and bums.

Hi everyone, been on the last few years threads and generally go for a personal target around 60.

This year though I’ve only read one book! Maybe the last person in the world to get into Shardlake, and have just read the first one Dissolution.

I’m 13 weeks pregnant, feeling pretty crappy and as soon as I start reading I just fall asleep at the moment. And with a baby due in July not sure how much reading I’ll get done after that really. So I was going to stay off the thread this year but I just missed the book talk too much! Perhaps I could join but with an unspecified target as yet - though I’m thinking 20ish might be doable? Is that ok?

@toomuchsplother - I agree she writes so much more subtly than a run of the mill thriller. I recommend Sister. There is a twist in it that I genuinely didn't see coming (I know people always say that but this one truly made me gasp and go back and reread. The twist wasn't just clever it was incredibly moving.)

You've all read so many books!
I'm constantly reading but unfortunately I only read my books at the weekend. All week I'm stuck reading very dry scientific textbooks!

Hi AliasGrape, I remember your Atwood inspired username. Many congrats on the pregnancy I remember that overwhelming tiredness of the first trimester it does get a bit better from her on in though and you have special dispensation to read as much or as little as you like! X

eineReise I read Little Fires Everywhere a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. It's funny because as I was reading it I understood that Mia and Pearl were of Asian origin. Obviously not!

So far this year:
1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen
2. Holes by Louis Sachar
3. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Since last update:

4.	<strong>The Girl With All The Gifts</strong> by M R Carey much reviewed best seller about a sentient Zombie and her teacher. I enjoyed this for what it was - a rip roaring page turner with non stop action. I certainly zipped through it in a couple of days. To me it felt very much like a novel written so it could be turned into a movie, in fact I was surprised to find it set in the UK because I had assumed it was an American author. (I haven't seen the film, does it move the action to America?) I agree with <strong>Eine</strong> that reversing the races of teacher/zombie for the movie was a strange choice. I thought the author may have made the teacher black to ensure a woman of colour was given the part in the movie, and this could have been a thoughtful or cynical choice (all the better to ensure movie rights) because after the #oscarssowhite scandal casting of movies is very much under the microscope. Given this was very definitely a black teacher why make her a white woman in the film. All very odd.

@nowanearlyNicemum

The trailer for it :

It's going to be on Hulu in the States, so strong chance of BBC or Channel 4 here as they've bought other things from Hulu

Congratulations on your pregnancy AliasGrape . When I was pg, I totally lost my concentration and found the only books I could read were cook books, mainly because I was constantly hungry. On the plus side, I now have a very impressive collection of cook books...

@DesdamonasHandkerchief

What I have found interesting about this thread is how many of us are reading the same books at the same time and not necessarily always by design as though we've all synched up with each other somehow 🤔

For example I'm currently reading Olive Kitteridge I've had it unread on shelf for about 2 years and yet at least 3 other people are reading it this January.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief

Just noticed your question

Very much a UK based film, and very true to book

I've had a very pleasing start to my reading year, liking everything so far. I credit this thread with helping me to make better reading choices! Highlights in bold, as usual.

1. Anatomy of a Scandal – Sarah Vaughan
2. Childhood: The Copenhagen Trilogy 1 – Tove Ditlevesen
3. Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi
4. Animal Farm – George Orwell
5. Hazards of Time Travel – Joyce Carol Oates
6. Ghost Wall – Sarah Moss
7. Florida – Lauren Groff

I've recently finished number 8.

8. This is Pleasure –Mary Gaitskill

This was so short (84 pages of large type face and small pages) I feel a bit of a cheat including it and duly resolve to read some huge tomes before the year is out, to compensate.

The story is told from the alternate perspectives of Quin, a successful male editor accused of sexually harassing his female employees and Margot, his female friend of many years standing. Both try to come to terms with the accusations and the consequences. Both examine their own behaviour and motives. Quin is portrayed as a complex, manipulative character who despite his often appalling behaviour also has his strengths; he can be kind and supportive for example. Margot considers whether she has been complicit by continuing the friendship. Where does responsibility lie, with the abuser to stop or the victim to put up a fight and stop them, as Margot herself has to, when he acts inappropriately towards her, in the early stages of their friendship?

I see this has got a bit of a slating on line for victim blaming, and possibly for blurring the lines and making Quin not a monster, but a fully developed character with strengths as well as weaknesses. I actually think that's a point in favour of the book. It's about those horrible uncomfortable moments when you're not sure if you're over reacting, being too sensitive, or failing to see the joke when someone who is a position of power over you abuses that power. The #metoo# movement acknowledges that we've all been there. A very thought provoking read.

Eine I'm one of the ones reading Olive Kitteridge but very s-l-o-w-l-y!
There are often lots of people reading the same books on here, I put it down to a favourable review or two on the thread that captures people's imagination, or because it's featured in the Kindle daily deals (I think that's the case with Olive K) or because it's a recent best seller (I'm sure they'll be lots of people reading the Hilary Mantel when it comes out for example) but I like the idea of a hive mind where we're all syncing our reading!

@DesdamonasHandkerchief

I am speed reading it slightly because I absolutely hate it

Good thinking!

1. The stress solution by Rangan Chatterjee

This is a self help book about making small changes to your lifestyle to reduce stress. I downloaded this from BorrowBox after hearing him interviewed on the fortunately podcast. I enjoyed this and there were some tips I'd not heard of before that really made me think such as turning your phone to grey scale to make it less visually appealing and touching your loved ones more. I'll look out for his new book at the library.

21. Death At Wolf’s Nick by Diane James

True crime looking at the death of Evelyn Foster, who was found with fatal burns next to her burned out car. This was 1931 and it’s awful how unprofessional the police investigation was. I did find bits of the book dragged though as it goes into lots of detail of all the potential eyewitnesses and I lost track of what car was where and when.

22. All The Rage by Cara Hunter

A teenage girl is abducted with a plastic bag over her head. Another girl is then taken in similar circumstances - what’s the link? Above average police procedural.

23. Haven’t They Grown by Sophie Hannah

Beth hasn’t seen her friend Flora for 13 years. When she finds herself near Flora’s house she goes to look and sees Flora looking 12 years older, but both her children look exactly the same as they did 12 years ago, when they should be teenagers. This kept me gripped as it’s an intriguing premise. As with most of Hannah’s plots, the explanation is a bit far fetched but she just about pulls it off.

24. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

Listened to this on Audible. Fabulous book. Philip is brought up by his bachelor older cousin Ambrose, who then marries suddenly and dies shortly afterwards. Philip then falls in love with Ambrose’s widow Rachel. However, is she what she seems?