50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 and the second one here.

What are you reading?

Thanks, Betty, I've just bought The Private Life of the Diary - and also The House of Fiction, which has been on my wishlist for ages and is amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N8WO380/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_GouuEb3TJ0RD8 also currently 99p.]]

This thread is so bad for my fucking impulse control

Just bought House Of Fiction - that's like the fourth thing I've bought this week due to this thread.

Can we have an accompanying Support Group? 😂

I need that support group too.

Thanks southeast

1. Gods of the Morning by John Lister-Kaye
2. The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Grey
3. Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
4. Ten to Zen by Owen O'Kane
5. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver
6. The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner
7. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
8. Black and British by David Olusoga
9. The World I Fell Out Of by Melanie Reid

10. Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie 11. Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves (Vera #4) 12. Wonder by RJ Palacio 13. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 14. Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

And my latest completion:
15. The Chosen Dead by MR Hall (The Coroner #5) Pretty decent crime procedural. I read book one of this series many years ago, and remember the coroner, Jenny, having a pretty hardcore lifestyle, which was totally unrealistic and not sustainable. In the intervening books which I didn't bother with, she seems to have cleaned up her act. The idea of having a series with a coroner as the central character, should in theory allow a different and more measured take on establishing the causes of sudden deaths. However, this quickly descends into the kind of frantic high-stakes action shock fest peopled by too many characters that you could find in any old thriller, which seems like a missed opportunity. Not bad, but I'm not invested in this series, so wouldn't actively seek out any more.

You do know what will happen in the support group though, right?

Enabling

Thanks for the new thread southeast. Bringing across my short list and adding recent reads:

1. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
2. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman

3. Once upon a River - Diane Setterfield

1. Tombland - CJ Sansom
2. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas - Agatha Christie

Since last updating I have read:

6. White House Farm - Carol Ann Lee

I watched the TV series and then read this for more detail. The TV series followed the book very faithfully but the book gave more background on Sheila and Jeremy’s childhoods and general family background and relationships. There was also more coverage of the trial and evidence/testimony given by others besides Jeremy and Julie so interesting for anyone who watched the series and wants a bit more detail.

7. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson

I read and enjoyed We have always lived in the Castle last year so decided to give this a go. I haven’t seen the TV adaptation. I liked the writing and premise but struggle with the whole lack of clarity around what really happens at the end but that is my problem with supernatural matters rather than the fault of the book.

8. A History of Loneliness - John Boyne

I loved The Heart’s Invisible Furies but was disappointed by Ladder to the Sky ( mainly because I disliked Maurice so much). This fell in between the two for me. I thought the characters were well drawn and enjoyed reading about the Dublin childhood, Odran’s time at the seminary and in Rome and his family relationships. I found it difficult to believe that Odran would have stuck by Tom over the years since they were such different people but maybe I am being unfair since he had few or no other friends and they shared the seminary experience. Obviously, a difficult subject matter which impacted my enjoyment to an extent. However, I would recommend this.

I am now reading The Last Tudor - Philippa Gregory.

I love Jasper Fforde. I love the way he weaves the (apparently) two series into each other. I really enjoyed Shades of Grey too (NOT the awful 50! this one came out years before that dreadful stuff).

You managed to buy it despite my messing up the link deliberate sabotage, Eine

I would be well up for a support group - I joined this thread to get through my out-of-control TBR pile, but it keeps spiralling upwards faster than I can read...

I was doing really well at the start of the year, reading books that have literally sat on my shelves for years

But now I'm actually moving and all my physical books are packed - the instantaneous nature of the Kindle is my absolute nemesis

House of Fiction duly purchased.

Damn you, mackerella

I'm now feeling all smug because I didn't buy House of Fiction when I went on to Amazon earlier.

I'd already bought it a few months ago

Thanks for the new thread!

List so far:
1. Idiot by Laura Clery
2. Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
3. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty
4. She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
5. The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty
6. The Holiday by T M Logan
7. Force of Nature by Jane Harper
8. The Secretary by Renée Knight
9. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
10. The Chalk Man by C J Tudor
11. Standing In Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin
12. The Bigamist by Mary Turner Thomson

I've just finished The Bigamist and I found it a frustrating read. I understand that Will, the husband, was a master manipulator but I was alarmed by just how much bullshit his victims tolerated. The whole 'I work for the government' thing coupled with the highly unbelievable 'we are in permanent danger' routine was hard to swallow.

I also didn't like the writing style. I understand that she wrote the book because she had a story to tell, but it was quite unsophisticated. Maybe I'm being harsh.

Thanks for the new shiny thread Southeast
Bringing my list over and some new reviews:

1. The Five - Haillie Rubenhold
2. All That Man Is - David Szaly
3. The Carer - Deborah Moggach
4. Mothering Sunday - Graham Swift

5. Evil Eye - Joyce Carol Oates

1. The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twang Eng
2. Wilding - Isabella Tree
3. Reading Reconsidered - Doug Lemov
4. When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi

10. I’d Rather Be Writing - Marcia Golub 11. The Glass Woman - Caroline Lea 12. The Quickening Maze - Adam Foulds 13. Grit - Angela Duckworth 14. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel 15. The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley 16. The Art of Rest - Claudia Hammond

17. The Tidal Zone - Sarah Moss A father, a stay at home dad, narrates the story of how one of his daughters nearly died and how he copes with this, or rather, doesn’t cope. I didn’t enjoy this very much. A bit too try hard in the sense it was overwritten. For example, the beginning is a literary description of how a baby develops in the womb. It reads like a poncy version of a ‘what stage is my baby at’ website. The narrator tells us a lot about housework. Not interesting. There were some very good sections on the bombing of Coventry and the building of the new cathedral. Not for me.
18. The Field of the Cloth of Gold - Magnus Mills An interesting allegorical story telling 1000 years of British history in a whimsical way using some characters living in tents in a field. I listened to it on BorrowBox and it passed the time nicely but didn’t set my world on fire. 19. Transcription - Kate Atkinson Brilliant spy thriller. Juliet Armstrong is a young woman recruited for MI5. Brilliant main character. She does quite a mundane job to start with but soon ends up getting involved in exciting spy stuff. Later she works for the BBC and her past comes back to haunt her. Loved it - made me feel like a child reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the first time. 20. Morality Play - Barry Unsworth This was amazing. Quite an old book from 1995. Set in medieval times, a monk who has lost his way (morally), joins a band of players. They get involved in a local murder and perform the play of Thomas Wells, the murdered boy. A short, special book - I’ve not read anything quite like it, although you could say it was what ‘The Name of the Rose’ could have been if it was shorter and more entertaining. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the gestures they used when acting and the parts where they are performing the play - thrilling. It’s a good detective story, but that just provides the plot. I listened to this on BorrowBox but will get this in paperback. 21. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexandr Solzhenitsyn Loved this too. The author, who was imprisoned in hard labour camps himself, describes the minutiae of prison life in fascinating detail. Horrifying, but strangely not harrowing, the story is told in a matter-of-fact way. Now rereading Bring up the Bodies. Happy days.

By the way, I loved Morality Play so much it’s got me interested in the history of drama - plays and acting. Do any of you know of any good non-fiction books about this?

16. Conrad Monk and the Great Heathen Army, Edoardo Albert

I've read Edoardo's trilogy on the Northumbrian Kings and loved it, so was keen to read more. This is departure in style from the trilogy as it's a more of a comedy. The main character is Conrad, a complete self serving chancer, and the book follows his escape from the Danes and his following exploits. The comedy won't be to everyone's taste, it reminded me of the Millers tale type of humour.
Edoardo is such a master of this time period though, I just find myself transported back in time every time I pick up his work. It's obvious he has researched the era so thoroughly because it's rich with detail (without resorting to the annoying shoe horning in of facts to prove their research)

I also need the support group. I end up buying a few 99p kindle deals on the first of every month which is how I've managed to rack up an embarrassingly large number of unread kindle books over the years. I love diaries and bought Private Life of the Diary, and on the one hand I can't wait to read it and on the other am desparately trying to get through my pile of library books before they have to go back

Bringing my list over - I am having a very enjoyable reading year so far.

1. Me, by Elton John

1. Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, by Mike Isaac

3. Conviction, by Denise Mina

1. The Sober Diaries, by Claire Pooley
2. Nine Elms, by Robert Bryndza

6. Fleishman is in Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

1. The Vagina Bible, by Jen Gunter, MD

8. Long Bright River, by Liz Moore

@ThreeImaginaryBoys I struggled with that part of the bigamist. Working for the government never getting paid and the false wife and finding the passports. I try to understand that she was in love/exhausted due to children but it's hard to believe such dramatic lies

I'm currently reading, and really enjoying, Swimming with Orca: My Life with New Zealand's Killer Whales by Ingrid Visser.

I'm really interested in cetaceans and have been for years so I'm enjoying this book about orca, being set in NZ is the added bonus. Orca come in the harbour in my bit of NZ and catch rays, going into shallower water than you'd expect to see them. The book talks about that in part and looks at how orca behaviour differs around the world.

1 Book Thief
2 Autumn Ali Smith
3 Finistere by Graham Hurley
4 Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins - this may be an advanced copy. Its a "spooky" thriller set in Oxford. A young girl has gone missing, and through police questioning and the Nanny's memories, gradually what led up to the disappearance is revealed. The writer gets Oxford right, which is a big plus. I did guess the explanation quite early on, but it still kept me turning the pages.
I am also still reading Miss Miles by Mary Taylor a friend of Charlotte Bronte. Bits of which really bring Yorkshire of the early 1800s to life. But it does need concentration.

46. Conviction by Denise Mina

I know others on the thread have enjoyed this but I didn’t. It started well, with the podcast and the freaky dive video, but then just turned into a big mess with the main characters behaving in ways I just didn’t believe they would, and the whole additional podcast thing was weird as well. Ending was weak.

I've been offline for two weeks so have had a fair bit of catching up to do - its great to hear about all the lovely independent bookshops

@mackarella I live in semi rural Essex, so not far from you, and I do love it when I come across local places in books. I got quite a kick reading about my local town in one of the Rivers of London books. How lovely for you to have the bookshop; I’m quite tempted by the Alison Weir evening in May…

My visit to Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland, was one of the happiest, most uplifting days I can remember. The feeling of awe that washed over me within seconds of walking in, actually felt like what I imagine a drug high might do! The smell of the books, the rows upon rows upon rows of them, the overwhelming sense of things to be discovered, it was incredible.

@bettybattenberg and @plornish so sorry to hear you are both going through tough times.

Bringing my list over.

1. Marie Antoinette: An Intimate History – Melanie Clegg

2. The Hunting Party – Lucy Foley

3. Louis VI: A Life from Beginning to End - Hourly History

4. Marie Antoinette: A Life from Beginning to End - Hourly History

5. Love in a Cold Climate – Nancy Mitford

6. Seven Signs of Life: Stories From An Intensive Care Doctor – Aoife Abbey

7. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

8. The Princes in the Tower – Alison Weir

9. Broken Homes – Ben Aaronovitch

The fourth offering of the Rivers of London series following DC Peter Grant in these brilliantly written, supernatural police procedurals.
The world building, character development and exploration of London is what makes these books so enjoyable for me.

Unfortunately, the plot for this one was not as engaging or memorable (apart from that cliff hanger) which I put down to too much time being away from The Folly.

10. Dark Fire – CJ Sansom

This second in the Shardlake series didn’t quite live up to the first, Dissolution, but it was still very enjoyable. It felt a little too long and dragged towards the end, the Wentworth case made the book unnecessarily long. I like Shardlake as a character and look forward to the rest of the series.

Currently reading A Little Hatred – Joe Abercrombie which I am loving.

Morning.
As usual, I am reading slowly enough not to realise there is a new thread - thanks, South. I will catch up on all your recommendations after my run, but for now:

5. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. Elaine, a successful artist, returns to her home city for a retrospective of her work. Her return, and the paintings from the past, cause her to reflect on her childhood experiences of friendship that turned into bullying.

This was good in parts. The retelling of Elaine's experiences at the hands of Cordelia and other girls is chilling in its the everyday-ness of its cruelty. However, later parts concerning Elaine's reflections on how this still affected her were overdone, and I felt it limped a bit towards the end.

There was some discussion last month, when lots on the thread were not feeling the love for The Remains of The Day, about what else was Booker nominated that year. Cat's Eye was on the list, and in my very unpopular opinion comes nowhere near the gut-wrenching sadness of The Remains of the Day.

Chessie, I'm a great admirer of Denise Mina's writing, and while I read and (moderately) enjoyed Conviction, I don't think it's up to the standard of her earlier books, nor is it her usual style. I hope she's not moving away from the things she does really well.

On a totally separate note, can anyone help my cold-addled brain to work out what I'm doing wrong in Kindle books? I'm trying to send a book to someone as a gift, which I've done before. Apparently there should be a 'send this book as a gift' option (I vaguely remember ticking this last time).....but I'm darned if I can find it! Am I going completely mad? a distinct possibility

Here's my list:

1. Autumn Term – Antonia Forest
2. Mutual Admiration Society – Mo Moulton
3. Swan Song – Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
4. This Must be the Place – Maggie O’Farrell
5. The Bookshop – Penelope Fitzgerald
6. A Place Called Winter – Patrick Gale
7. The Reunion – Guillaume Musso
8. Black Water Lilies – Michel Bussi
9. Wilful Blindness – Margaret Heffernan
10. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos – Dominic Smith
11. The Farm – Joanne Ramos
12. The High Window – Raymond Chandler
13. The Lady in the Lake – Raymond Chandler
14. The Little Sister – Raymond Chandler

Currently indulging in some trashy crime.

@Sadik you asked about Raymond Chandler books - as you may have seen on the last thread (& above!), I'm not a long-time aficionado, but I read 3 recently. I think they are probably the three lesser known ones, and I would imagine most people would recommend you start with The Big Sleep, which I've still not read. But I can highly recommend The Little Sister, which I thought was fantastic.