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?

1. Persuasion by Jane Austen
2. A life in death by Richard Venables
3. Clothes, clothes, clothes, music, music, music, boys, boys, boys by Viv Albertine
4. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
5. Somebody’s mother, somebody’s daughter by Carol Ann Lee
6. Becoming by Michelle Obama
7. Amongst the ruins by Ausma Zehanet Khan

8. Inside Broadmoor - Jonathan Levi & Emma French. Could have been good but poorly written and needed editing. Most shocking part was that Jimmy Saville was allowed unhindered access to the female detainees over a long period of time. The hospital authorities even allowed him his own sets of keys

9. Seven signs of life: stories from an intensive care doctor - Aoife Abbey. Beautifully written book with chapters based on emotions such as fear, grief, disgust and hope

10. Rosemary’s baby - Ira Levin. First read this many, many years ago when I was a teen. Enjoyed revisiting it - a quick read on a evening that needed an undemanding read

11. Face it - Debbie Harry. This was a strange read - lots of detail but also lacking in detail. Written with no emotion. I didn’t particularly enjoy reading it

12. Katherine of Aragon: the true queen - Alison Weir. I found the Tudors on Prime Video last week and have been binge watching. I love this period of history and I am becoming annoyed with the historical inaccuracies so thought I would have a break and read a history book. I’ve had this on my kindle for a couple of years but didn’t realise it was a novel until I started it. I still enjoyed it and Weir is, for the most part, historically accurate. A good read telling Katherine’s story from her journey to England until her death. I will probably read the rest of the series (there’s one for each of Henry’s wives)

Echoing opinions on The Green Mile and Midnight's Children

Midnight's Children is a great idea, but such hard work as a read, absolute slog, it remains the only Rushdie I've read.

I'm ambivalent about Stephen King, the horror genre isn't for me.

The ones I've read tend not to be horror ones, I do have IT on TBR because I've seen the films so I've an idea of what to expect

Of those I've read :

The Stand must be the most ripped off book in the history of books in terms of dystopia genre.

The Gunslinger is amazing, but I gave up on The Dark Tower midway through, found it to have diminishing returns

The Green Mile is great and I also enjoyed Delores Claiborne but I think that's as far as I've taken King off the top of my head. He has never "wowed me" as a writer, except for Gunslinger

Welcome thestuffofnightmares.
It is indeed Remus, and go you Mama, that's a LOT of books!

8. Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi

Well, I think that's quite enough French crime novels for a good long while. Are they all so melodramatic? This one had a central construct that I half-guessed part way through, and there was a lot of shilly-shallying around before getting to the big reveal. It's set in Giverny and Monet and his water lilies are woven throughout the plot, so there's a lot of description of the beautiful landscape and beautiful women (bit too much of both for me). The construct meant the author had to be careful about what he could give away when, so there's quite a lot of "I can't tell you about this now, but it's worth the wait" which became tedious after a while. I also found one of the central female characters deeply irritating, which made it difficult to care about her or her travails. I did get through it pretty quickly, wanted to read to the end and quite enjoyed the final few pages, but I don't think I'll be reading any more by M. Bussi.

This thread finally got me reading Stephen King and I have read the whole of the Dark Tower series over the past 2 years. I did get a bit annoyed with the meta stuff in the middle, but overall, I thought it was brilliant, and I'm so glad I read it. The only other one I've read is The Stand, which I also loved. My virtual TBR pile is huge and is likely to get me through this year, but I would like to read some more King, although like you @EineReiseDurchDieZeit, I am not keen on horror.

I got pissed off during Wizard and Glass and jumped ship

18. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

I almost DNF'd this. It was PAINFUL and the last 70 pages a genuine struggle.

Presented like a stream of consciousness, Alexander Portnoy tells a therapist about his Jewish upbringing and sex addict behaviours

Basically this is 270 pages of a very tedious egotistical man wanking constantly, treating women really badly, and harbouring incestuous feelings for his Mum, whilst resenting both parents.

Absolutely shite. Navel gazing tripe.

Have lost count of my numbers from the previous thread but I've finally finished my reread/relisten of Wolf Hall. It really bears up to the scrutiny of a second read but equally there were times around the middle when I felt really discouraged by the sheer length of the book. It is a masterpiece though, every sentence is so carefully crafted and you are just totally immersed in that world from the get-go. Time for a palette cleanser before I embark on Bring Up The Bodies for the second time at some point in February, so I've got a library book, On Chapel Sands - My mother and other missing persons by Laura Cumming, up next.

I think I may continue to avoid Philip Roth, although I loved your review!!! I picked A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly off my bookshelf, which I got from Oxfam ages ago. Seems pretty good so far, although I have the strangest feeling it's a mashup of Educated and As I Lay Dying.....

I thought I'd just post once a month to update but now realise that the thread gets too busy for that. I've just tried to read all of the first thread and catch up on this one ... fascinating to see what others think of books I've read in the past.
So far this year:
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling This is too long. Her editor needs to be firmer. The plot continues with the romance, unacknowledged, between the two main characters alongside a tortuous plot involving horses, murders and who knows what else. It was cumbersome to read even as a paperback.
Black Waterlilies by Michel Bussi I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this Welshwabbit. I found the plot device intriguing and admired the way the author used careful language to lead the reader astray. I read it in the original language, maybe that made a difference?
Exit West by Moshin Hamid This was a quick read (I needed one after the tome that was Lethal White) with a plot set in a war ravaged city where two young people fall in love and seek new lives. Enjoyable, well written and thought provoking.
The Chessmen by Peter May This is part of the Lewis series, a fairly standard mystery which had enough plot twists to keep me guessing to the end.

Einereise I completely agree with you about Portnoy. I chose The Plot Against America for a book group last year and truly regretted my decision.

Say it ain't so @Lizsmum

I have The Plot Against America in my backlog of paperbacks that I am trying to clear before I move.

(Weeps quietly) 😭

This is too long. Her editor needs to be firmer.

This has always been a problem with JKR, later Harry Potter's too, I think the publishing team are too awed and arse kissing to be honest with her.

Philip Roth is a very tedious man who takes himself far too seriously. I would be inclined to put Salman Rushdie also into that category except for the fact that I also loved The Ground Beneath Her Feet and may well reread it soon.

JK Rowling is also far too long winded but I can’t accuse her of taking herself too seriously. She would absolutely benefit from a good editor when it comes to the Strike books, though. I think there was something close to a consensus on that on this thread last year.

Longer isn’t always worse, though. I can’t see how it can end well but Ducks, Newburyport is quite excellent, 680 pages in. I have never read anything like it and am approaching it each evening with enormous enthusiasm - it’s too big for my work handbag.

Puts Ground Beneath Her Feet on Wish List

Felt compelled to join in. On a reading mission for 2020. Have just put down 'On Chesil Beach' by Ian McEwan. Felt utterly bored with it to begin with and am now sat feeling really heartbroken upon finishing! Would love to hear anybody else's thoughts.

Ishiguro is one of my favourite authors. I have read 'The Buried Giant' this month also, bringing my tally up to 2!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Lincoln in the Bardo and His Bloody Project were both featured on my Masters programme last year. Thoroughly enjoyed the latter yet struggled with Lincoln! Very brave concept however.

Ian McEwan seems very loathed on Mumsnet

I find him hit and miss, I've read Enduring Love, Saturday, On Chesil Beach, and Amsterdam

Loved - Enduring Love and On Chesil Beach

Boring and up its own arse Amsterdam

So try hard and trite and unbelievable I could have hurled it through a window Saturday

I don't think I managed a chapter of Atonement so I may try it again, I haven't been put off McEwan but he is inconsistent IMO

9. The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F Hamilton

Book 2 in his Night’s Dawn trilogy.

Not going into too many details to avoid spoilers about book 1, but briefly, it’s set in the future, a chance event has allowed the souls of the dead to possess the living, and this is causing a lot of trouble.

This is an immense read, following lots of different characters (over 1200 pages) but it’s a good read. Probably one that’s easier to read as an ebook. I’ve been reading the physical paperback and it’s been put aside several times while I read smaller and easier to carry books.

@Brookeborn

Oh I loved Bardo, once you realise it's basically a Greek chorus and give them all a distinct voice...

I think it was almost designed for the radio really.

Bloody Project got on my tits in the end.

I've just finished Susan Calman's book, I wasn't sure about it, probably a two or three star book until I read a hilarious line about a breakfast tv presenter who is 'much loved' on MN and nearly wet myself laughing, it went up to a five star review.

Remus how do you feel about Iain Banks? I love The Crow Road which might fit the bill.

@Lizsmum, I did wonder whether the translation was an issue with Black Water Lilies. I have reasonable French but don't think it would be quite up to the original. I read After the Crash last year and liked that more although I had some of the same complaints!

1. A Room with a View - E.M.Forster
2. Eleanor Oliphont is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
3. Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
4. The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty
5. One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
6. An Unwanted Guest - Shari Lapena - Reminded me of an Agatha Christie murder mystery, won't win any awards but it was enjoyable and easy to read. 3/5
7. Fractured - Karin Slaughter - I really enjoy Karin Slaughter books although none have been as good as the first one I read (The Good Daughter). I find her characters really likeable and will probably make my way through all of her books. 3.5/5
8. The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova - I have had this book for many years and it was one that I've started and given up on a few times. Decided to read it because I'd watched the Dracula series. I'm not quite sure what I think about it. At times it seems beautifully written and researched and for a while you become gripped, then at other times it just seems to long and waffley. It is hard to get into as the opening 100 pages or so skip between narrative too much and that's what makes it hard to get into. 2.5/5
9. The Girl who Lived Twice - David Lagercrantz - Just started this and already 100 pages in, I find this series really easy to read and they grip me so I'll speed through it. Will rate once finished.

@Brookeborn I read Lincoln in the Bardot as an audio book and for the first 10 minutes thought "what in God's name is going on here" and then it all made much more sense- as someone else said a Greek chorus- and hearing it out loud made it so much easier to follow. Consequently I ended up loving it- it's my recommended title to get people into audiobooks.