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?

Thank you to whoever upthread recommenced the mandibles it’s been one my TBR list FOREVER. Might need to finally order it.

Also I saw that someone was attempting Middlemarch. It’s worth the first 30 page slog. I have never loved a book quite so much!

lastqueen I read The Mandibles last year and thought it was really good. Worryingly plausible dystopia though!

1. Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin

1. If Cats Disappeared from the World - Genki Kawamura
2. Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi
3. Lies Sleeping -Ben Aaranovitch

5. The History of Bees - Maja Lunde 6. Severance - Ling Ma and reading 7. NOS4R2 - Joe Hill

The History of Bees follows the story of three people - William in England, 1851, trying to make his name and his fortune with a new style of beehive, at least when his depression isn’t leaving him bedridden; George in America in 2007, desperately tending his bees as colony collapse disorder breaks out around him; Tao, in China in 2098 where bees have died out and humans have to take over the back breaking, enforced work of pollinating. The three parts of the story link together as we go back and forward through time and while the bees are the centre of the story, the family relationships (especially parent and child relationships in all their awkward, overwhelming, tense glory) are so well written and moving. Also, if you love bees, you’ll probably cry. Absolutely loved this.

Severance was another great read. And a worryingly timely read as the book is set around the after effects of a deadly “plague” that originated in China and spread around the world. In this book, it’s a fungus, its spores carried around the world with goods manufactured in China. People who fall ill don’t become zombies in the traditional sense, but instead fall into a zombified but peaceful, routine led trance with all shreds of consciousness gone. The chapters switch between the New York life of first generation immigrant Candance, from her first arriving to later becoming the near sole survivor in a rapidly emptying city, and her escape with a group of strangers. Beautifully, gently written. (And without wanting to start a war, it knocks the absolute socks off Station 11 )

17. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Well....

This won the Pulitzer Prize

To be honest I actually mostly enjoyed the "Olive" sections of the book, and was really interested in the relationships in the Kitteridge family

Henry and Olive each show the fact of their marriage great loyalty and deference, when it is clear to the reader that they have both loved other people and quietly resented each other for years.

Equally Henry and Olive view Olive as a great mother, and Henry feels redundant. Their son however, remembers an unpredictable volatile mother who was hard to please and whom his peers were scared of.

BUT

The Olive sections comprise about half the book, and the other stories are random tales about random townsfolk.

They are all, without exception, eye glazingly dull, why am I reading this, this adds nothing to the story and more to the point :

I DON'T CARE

The frequency of these interludes, just made me hate the book, and want to scream Get On With It, and for me the interesting germ of a story that existed with Olive, was ruined by them because I started skim reading and only really properly reading her sections.

I'd advise anyone to copy, you won't miss anything.

There is a sequel, but I have read its Wikipedia so that's as far as I'll go, don't have the time for it, especially as I discovered she has used Olive, Again to create a connected universe between all her novels and I don't think I'll be reading another

It won The Pulitzer though, so what do I know?

I seem to be having such a slow start possibly because I've picked two books I didn't like. So far I've read

*1.	The Castle by Franz Kafka
2.	Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner*

I had seen the general view that Fleishman was overrated before I started to read it but I had already bought it on the back of the reviews so thought I may as well read it. I think it's another one for the charity shop. The only thing that I can say is at least it was light

9. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

There were parts that were a bit verbose and some of the political discussions made my eyes glaze over, but the way Tolstoy describes personal relationships and feelings really made an impact with me. Overall I really liked the book.

Just checking in to keep this on my TIO. I'm trying to tackle my pile of physical unread books and either read or charity shop them. They're all either gifts or hand-me-downs, and several have been sitting there for months if not years. First up was Vacuum Flowers, which I DNF-ed after about 2 chapters - a bad case of what DD describes as Male SF Author™ (as opposed to the many great SF authors who happen to be men, and who are able to get through one if not several pages without mentioning breasts).

Back to the Rivers of London series for light relief (and no breasts - or at least not mentioned)

13: Odd One Out - Lissa Evans

Efficient, organised 40-year old dietitian Netta returns to her childhood home to try and oversee a house-move for her mother (dance-teacher; impervious to reality; lives in a world of her own) and adult brother, Glenn (on the autistic spectrum; laser focus locked onto his rigid rubbish-collecting schedule). Along the way Netta briefly crosses paths with junior doctor Paul, struggling to adjust to life at Shadley Oak hospital. Hilarity ensues.

First published in 2005 but recently reprinted, so there's a stack of new reviews on Amazon - I picked up a secondhand copy of the original edition thinking it would be a quick and fun read. And to be fair, it was, in parts - after a rather hectic opening it settled down and made me laugh a few times. There's not really much in the way of plot and I think Lissa Evans might have been feeling her way in terms of the sort of fiction she wanted to write (one of the blurbs compares her to Tom Sharpe), but it's enjoyable, if not laugh-out-loud (although I find very little is, so that may not say much).
Oh, and wed wabbit gets a fleeting mention so it was obviously already in her mind at that early stage as the germ of an idea.

6. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: and Other Lessons from the Crematorium - Caitlin Doughty

Mortician Caitlin Doughty details her experience of working in a crematorium, advocating revised funeral practices that will allow us greater contact with the reality of death and acceptance of our own mortality. This is very powerful stuff, although balanced with a mordant humour - not for the faint-hearted (although perhaps Doughty would argue that it is the avoiders who need it most).

Skimming The Body, by Bill Bryson but I don't think I'm interested enough to do a proper read. Will give it one more chance tonight and then it's back to the library.

Thanks Terpsichore for your review of the Barbara Pym. I love her novels and shall add to my wish list.

1. Keeper by *Andrea Gillies.

An outstanding, painful & (at times) very funny book about caring for someone with Alzheimers.

Andrea Gilles moved to a remote part of Scotland with her husband, children & parents in law in order to be able to afford a house big enough for them all so that they could care for her mother in law, Nancy, who was in the mid stages of Alzheimers.

It is the story of Nancy's worsening dementure & how they dealt with it.

My mother had Alzheimers & I haven't read anything that gives so true an insight of what it is like to care for someone with that hideous disease. I wish I could have read it when I was caring for her - it really would have helped.

The book was published some 12 years ago so some of the references to research & drugs may be a bit out of date but I would still recommend it to anyone who wants some understanding of the illness.

Definitely the best book I've read so far this year, even though it ewas very harrowing in parts.

Just updating here and gathering some ideas for more reading!

1. Darklight - Bella Forrest
2. Darkthirst - Bella Forrest
3. Darkworld - Bella Forrest

Read them as I only had a short time left with Kindle Unlimited (although I think there's a further two in the sequence). Billed as 'Twilight for grown ups'. Just enjoyable, easy reading really with some interesting ideas about human/ vampire relations in difficult situations. Sadly our library has no Bella Forrest books at all or I'd read more!

1. A Lady's Guide to Gossip & Murder - Dianne Freeman - sequel to one I mentioned upthread. Murder mystery with a widowed American countess as the detective, set in the 1920s. Again, easy reading and good to pick up and put down, with two small DC I don't get much reading time

10. Made in India, cooked in Britain - Meera Sodha - beautiful cookery book with some delicious recipes.

@Sadik I've reserved the Rainbow Rowell book at our library, sounds fab! They had no Ben Hartman though, which was a shame.

@Heathercob I'll have to re-read The Wise Man's Fear at some point. Was waiting for the third book to come out before I re-read the first two, but it's been a long wait

@AdaKirkby what did you think of the Stuart Maconie book? I loved Pies & Prejudice!

My Cousin Rachel was one of my standouts last year. I almost couldn’t bear to read it, it was so tense. I need to read it again now I know what happens.

My DF is struggling with Bill Bryson’s The Body too Biblio. I’ve been waiting to borrow it off him. Seems like I’ll have a long wait.

9. Mightier than the Sword, Clare Bevan

It feels a bit like cheating to include this in my 50 challenge as it's a kids book and I read it in under 2 hours, but oh well. I remembered that I had read this as a child and loved it so ordered a copy for my ds. I thought I should re-read it in case it actually wasn't any good before I recommended it to him! It was very enjoyable, a great example of childrens literature done well. A mixture of adventure, suspence, humour (without just resorting to poo and fart jokes) with a positive message to boot.

I liked The Body , must say. Found it a quick read but I am the queen of skimming.

1. The Green Mile by Stephen King.This is a wonderful book, I'm sure most people know the story from the film if not from the novel. Decent and likeable old people's home 'inmate' Paul Edgecombe recounts the events of 1932, the year he was chief prison officer on 'The Green Mile', Cold Mountain Penitentiary's name for death row, where all the most depraved convicted killers are kept before their date with the electric chair. The newest resident is John Coffey, a giant black man convicted of the brutal murder of two little girls. But nothing is as it seems with John Coffey, and around him unfolds a bizarre and horrifying story.

I re-watched the movie recently and was intrigued by the fact that not much effort seemed to be put into righting the terrible wrong central to the plot. I was hoping the novel would explain the reasons for this, but it really didn't, not to my satisfaction anyway.
Because the novel was originally published in a serialised format there is quite a bit of repetition at the start of what would have been each monthly instalment, a written equivalent of the 'Previously on....' section at the beginning of TV serials. (In the introduction King said he took a leaf out of Dickens' book and incorporated this recap into the plot rather than writing a précis of the previous instalment. It has to said that Dickens must have managed this in a slightly less clunky manner as it's not a device I've noticed in his novels.) But that aside it's a magical book (in every sense) with a page turning plot, great characters that you really care about (or detest) and a satisfying ending with a twist for good measure. I loved it and wish I had read it before seeing the, also excellent, film.

I have to credit this thread with bringing me back to Stephen King, he's an author I always associated with my teenage years when I devoured the likes of Carrie, Christine, Thinner, Misery and The Stand. I subsequently relegated him, and other horror writers such as James Herbert and Dennis Wheatley, to the past. I'm glad the 50 Bookers have shown me the error of my ways and I have quite a few of his books on my TBR again.

InMyOwnParticularIdiom - I loved Smoke Gets in your Eyes. Her next one isn't as good, sadly.

I'm really struggling with The Body. Maybe I need to skip past the bacteria and see what's next.

Have read a couple of re-reads, and am reading a crappy detective thing, so nothing really to report here.

I need something really gripping, that's easy enough to read on the bus and won't suffer from having to read in short bursts. Any ideas?

Desdemona - It's just wonderful, isn't it?

I really enjoyed TheBody. I found it fascinating although not up to the standard of AShortHistoryOfNearlyEverything which is one of my all time favourite books. Still I loved it and will definitely be giving it a re read.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief I love Stephen King too, so glad you've rediscovered him. I'm gradually, in between other books, reading all of his book in order and am really enjoying the vast majority.

I have just finished Midnight's Children. I am rather drained from concentration and intensity. Not sure I have the words to review it! I appreciate its mastery and am glad I read it. But I am also a bit bewildered, overwrought and bombarded by words words words!

Book 11
The Wych Elm by Tana French

This is a cross between a psychological thriller and country house murder mystery.
Both charmed and charming, Toby considers himself a happy go lucky guy until he’s attacked by strangers and suffers brain trauma. He goes to the family’s rambling ancestral home to recover. Family and friends circle around and then a gruesome discovery is made inside a tree in the garden.
Beautifully dark and mysterious the book develops each character around Toby, from the detectives examining the case to his benevolent bachelor uncle to Toby’s old school friends and the memories they all think they share of visiting the house.

I haven’t read any Tana French before this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it and after reading a few rather limp crime novels recently the Wych Elm was deliciously unpredictable, atmospheric and cleverly written.

Hi everyone can I join in? I didnt read anything for the second half of last year and missed it so much. I love everything, as long as its well written, my guilty pleasure is fantasy books with sexy elves.... and my all time favourite books are sunset song, little women, and the amazing adventures of kavaleir and klay. I want to try and read stuff that's on my bookshelf and unread, and maybe be a bit braver about the more scary stuff this year! Heres my list so far:

1. 16 eays to defend a walled city by tom holt- not something I would normally read, but it really caught my imagination, and I loved the protagonist and learning about seige strategy- felt weirdly like Astrid for grownups!
2. Throne of glass- sarah j maas- sexy elves. I make no apologies.
3. City of brass- s chakroboty- this is kind of middle eastern fantasy. I loved it- the adventure was spot on, had a lot to say about what happens to people on occupied places, and had, erm, sexy djinns. I am nothing if not consistent.
4. Stories I only tell my friends - rob lowe. This guy has been around. A little bit name droppy, but tbh if my first gf/bf was Cary Grant's child and he sent me away with a years supply of soap on a rope, or if my next door neighbor was Martin Sheen, you are damn right I'd be name dropping. Seems like a genuinely nice guy, and reading it made me watch some brat pack classics I hadnt seen.
5. The sudden appearance of hope - claire north. This is part thriller, part philosophical treatise on the dangers of putting all our information into apps which are trying to sell us stuff. Well written and quite gripping, but sometimes it disappeared up it's own bum. The heroine is an international jewel thief (COOL) who people forget 10 seconds after seeing her. Definitely worth a read.

Currently reading Kingdom of copper, which is the sequel to city of brass on audible, and I'm about to go and pick something off my bookshelf!

@Piggywaspushed I feel that way about everything Rushdie’s ever written. I always come out respecting him but not certain whether I’ve had a good time or not. Apart from The Ground Beneath Her Feet which I loved throughout.