50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Four

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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, the second one here and the third one here.

What are you reading?

This thread would be very dull if we all liked the same things Remus!

As Chessie says Remus it would be very dull but I completely see that these are Marmite books. I was in totally the right frame of mind to read something silly and distracting when I picked the first one up so it worked for me.

I was really disappointed that I hated it tbh. I like a bit of time travel.

Ooh I need to do some catching up on here! Lots of reviews since I last visited. Quick one to update in the meantime.

Book 24
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Got this on kindle and it has been a very quick read. I fancied something lighthearted and non taxing, as I’ve got zero concentration and even less time at the moment and this fit the bill.

The story is well known I think and has been reviewed and recommended on MN lots. I liked it overall and would recommend too. I had the same observations as many others about some ASD stereotyping being used to bulk up the main character.

I’ve got the next two books in the series actually, from a last minute emergency sweep of the library on the day it closed! I’ll definitely read them on the back of the first.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I love time travel books and although I love the St Mary's series there are definitely some time travel books that just weren't for me. The variety of taste and opinions on here is one of the best things about it, there's something for everyone.

I find it interesting how ecletic all our tastes are - when I look at the lists of books people post there are some books within the same list that I've enjoyed and others that I wouldn't have thought people would enjoy if they like the others.

I've never been able to get into the St Mary's series even though they look interesting on the blurb.

My list:

1. A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flag
2. Under a Mackerel Sky by Rick Stein
3. Me by Elton John
4. The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
5. Wham! George & Me by Andrew Ridgeley
6. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
7. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
8. Motherwell: A Girlhood by Deborah Orr
9. A Bit of a Stretch by Chris Atkins

10. Love is Blind by William Boyd 11. Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje 12. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 13. Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3 by Robert Matzen

Currently reading Unspeakable The Autobiography by John Bercow

The Night Circus was recommended by someone on this thread. I owe a huge thanks to whoever that was. What a wonderful read! Not a book I would have chosen from any summary so an extra special thank you. So absorbing and exhilarating.

A few other books I really enjoyed in bold.

Been a pretty good run. There are only two books I didn't enjoy that much.

The Carole Lombard story was interesting (only 33 when she died in 1942) but written in a disjointed way with chapters alternating with stories of airline logistics and other passengers. I feel she was an interesting woman who set her own path and challenged the norms of the time. It wasn't what I hoped which is no fault of the author.

I usually enjoy Michael Ondaatje but just couldn't get in to this one. Maybe because it's semi autobiographical but his fictional characters seem more believable. I found I was keen to get to the end so it would be over.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

I love the St Mary’s series, but I’ve often seen two other series recommended to those who like St Mary’s and I’ve tried both but couldn’t get on with them! It’s strange because based on the blurb I thought I would enjoy. One is Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series and the other is Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series. I’ve only tried one of each though, maybe I should try another. Or maybe I have a subconscious aversion to authors whose surnames start with repeated letters!!!

I couldn't get into the Thursday Next series or Rivers of London either.

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
2. The Girls by Lisa Jewell
3. I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell
4. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
5. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
6. I Found You by Lisa Jewell
7. The Sister by Louise Jensen
8. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
9. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

10. The Lost Man by Jane Harper 11. In a Dark, Dark, Wood by Ruth Ware 12. The Dry by Jane Harper 13. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 14. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 15. Deju Death by Kathy Reichs 16. Now You See Her by Heidi Perks 17. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay 18. A Proper Family Christmas by Chrissy Manby 19. The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green 20. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 21. The Death Sculptor by Chris Carter 22. One by One by Chris Carter 23. China Lake by Meg Gardiner 24. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 25. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver 26. Vox by Christina Dalcher 27. Sister by Rosamund Lupton 28. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss 29. Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich 30. The Time Traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger 31. The Island by Victoria Hislop 32. Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon 33. The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne 34. Seven Days by Alex Lake 35. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NG 36. The Narrow Bed by Sophie Hannah 37. The Blood of an Englishman by M.C. Beaton 38. Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz 39. Force of Nature by Jane Harper 40. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell 41. The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish 42. The Road by Cormac McCarthy 43. After the End by Clare Mackintosh 44. Take Me In by Sabrine Durrant 45. The Donor by Clare Mackintosh 46. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy 47. Brother and Sister by Joanne Trollope 48. Lying Game by Ruth Ware 49. Normal People by Sally Rooney 50. Surfacing by Margaret Atwood 51. The Caller by Chris Carter 52. An Evil Mind by Chris Carter 53. I Am Death by Chris Carter 54. Gallery of the Dead by Chris Carter 55. Munich by Robert Harris 56. Death De Jour by Kathy Reichs 57. Darkhouse by Alex Barclay 58. The Twins by Saskia Sarginson 59. Just Before I Died by S.K. Tremayne 60. After You by Jojo Moyes 61. Dead Simple by Peter James 62. The Omen by David Seltzer 63. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

March wasn't a great month for reading and the books I did read, weren't great. I'm reading a few books, depending on my concentration level.

Man of Ove
I am Pilgrim
The Butterfly Room
Persuasion

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but I just wanted to let you all know that Kathryn Mannix's With The End In Mind is free today. https://www.amazon.co.uk/End-Mind-Dying-Wisdom-Denial-ebook/dp/B074DPNGWH/ref=msxwsirnnv119??encoding=UTF8&pdrddi=B074DPNGWH&pdrddr=8468d907-8128-4907-b07e-f709c5aa7679&pdrddw=g9wsM&pdrddwg=vpb0J&pfrddp=2c73497e-0658-4f6d-8f3c-06c50c0881ec&pfrddr=VG3A0B990DWZJDXSBTX9&psc=1&refRID=VG3A0B990DWZJDXSBTX9

It was one of the best books I read last year.

I can't stand the Thursday Next books, and got bored with Rivers of London by the 3rd.

Absolutely ditto Remus

Avidly hated Thursday Next and Rivers Of London just constantly wastes its actually really good premise. Diminishing returns totally - I haven't liked a single one as much as the first, found certain ones a waste and haven't bothered with latest.

I'm the same, I just could not get into the Rivers of London or Thursday Next.

book 14 was Small World by Matt Beaumont.
this was an old one I found lying around on the bookcase, but I really enjoyed it, about the interconnected lives of a group of Londoners

I echo SpratsOnParade above - the Kathryn Mannix book is excellent.

I'm the opposite - couldn't get into the St Mary's books, but like Rivers of London (so-so on Thursday Next)

My sympathies on your bereavement @noodlezoodle.
I'm not bringing my list over this time as I don't think I've added many books since the last thread. I've started a couple of and put them down but eventually I settled on 23 The Words in my Hand Guinevere Glasfurd which I have enjoyed very much. It's set in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and is based on a documented relationship between Descartes and a very young maid working in a house where he lodges for a while. I felt the author had thought very deeply about the barriers to learning for a woman in her position and how she might break out of the entrenched societal norm that women can't be educated. I thought it was beautifully written with some lovely turns of phrase. It was recommended by someone on here but I can't remember who. Thank you , whoever it was.

MuseumOfHam I have the Alice Network on my list now as someone else has recommended it to me also. I can forgive cringy sex if the rest of the book is good!

Has anybody read Green Dolphin Country or The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge? Do I want to?

64. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid An unknown journalist is surprised to find herself chosen to write the book about a reclusive Hollywood siren famed for her many marriages.

This was a really entertaining and intriguing read with a very well written lead character.

65. The House at Sea's End (Ruth Galloway #3) - Elly Griffiths
    Archaeologist Ruth Galloway is pulled into another police case after bones are found on the beach. Untaxing to follow and likable characters.

66. If You Want to Make God Laugh - Bianca Marais
    Follows the lives of three very different women in post Apartheid South Africa. A suicidal socialite, a disgraced nun and a destitute teenager find themselves thrown together when an abandoned baby is found on a run down farm.

I thought this was outstanding, very well drawn characters with an interesting plot set against a changing political backdrop. Largely set in the early 90s this charts the issues facing women of different backgrounds as a new South Africa was emerging. It's not an era or country I could claim to know much about, it was interesting to fill in the blanks around the snippets of news that I was aware of as an early teen. The author has another book Hum If You Don't Know the Words which has now catapulted up my TBR.

43 The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
I found this a really charming read. On the surface it looks like real old-fashioned high fantasy with goblins, elves, magic, court politics and impenetrably long and complicated names. Once you get into it though, it's a much more domestic and rather more unusual book. There may be magic spells and oppressed peasants, but there is also the stirrings of industrial society with airships, bridges, and worker organisation.

The main character - the goblin emperor of the title - is as confused by the long and impenetrable list of courtiers with similar names as the reader, having unexpectedly inherited the title aged 18 after all of the main contenders are killed in an airship crash. The book follows him in the early weeks of his reign, as he desperately tries to establish himself at court, and avoid being deposed / exiled / murdered or simply sidelined by his advisors.

1. Pet Semetary by Stephen King (2/5)
2. The Outsider by Albert Camus (5/5)
3. Somebody's Mother, Somebody's Daughter by Carol Ann Lee (3/5)
4. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. (4/5)
5. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. (5/5)
6. 4321 by Paul Auster. (4/5)
7. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. (3/5)
8. The Devil's Teardrop by Jeffrey Deaver. (1/5)
9. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor. (3/5)

10. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. (4/5) 11. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 12. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 13. Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay. (1/5) 14. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. (3/5) 15. The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub. (2/5) 16. Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade. (3/5) 17. Black Ice by Michael Connelly. (2/5) 18. In the Woods by Tana French. (3/5) 19. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. (3/5) 20. Red Ribbons by Louise Phillips. (1/5) 21. The Girl He Used to Know by Tracy Garvis Graves. (3/5) 22. The Other Us by Fiona Harper. (2/5) 23. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. (3/5) 24. The Crow Trap by Anne Cleeves. (3/5) 25. The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. (3/5) 26. Guilt by Jussi Adler-Olsen. (3/5)

27. This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay. I think everyone knows what this book is about by now so suffice to say I thought it was brilliant, funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. I knew the NHS was stretched but the pressure put on the staff is inhumane. Appreciation for NHS staff is obviously high at the moment but honestly every single one of them is a total bloody hero at the best of times, I don't even have the words to describe how amazing they are right now. (4/5).

@southeastdweller thank you for the new thread.

for those of you ill and sadly who have lost loved ones.

I also did not enjoy St Mary's, and could not get into Rivers, despite in theory them being right up my street-. However, @Sadik, I really enjoyed The Goblin Emporor. Have you read her Doctrine of Labyrinths series? It's a bit uneven, but has some really excellent characters and world building. It's under her other name, Sarah Monette.

21. The Mercies by Kiran Milgrove Hargreaves I did find this hard work at the beginning, but overall I thought it was well done. Horrifying though- it's about witch hunting and life in 17th century Norway, and feels well researched.

I joined last year and then fell off the thread so joining again. My reading has slowed down considerably as I normally read for two hours a day on my way to work and back but am now having to work from home and homeschool 5 kids. So far this year:

1. Saltwater - Jessica Andrews
2. The Girl in Red - Christina Henry
3. The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls - Anissa Gray
4. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
5. Night Boat to Tangiers - Kevin Barry
6. My Friend Anna - Rachel DeLoache Williams
7. Lanny - Max Porter
8. The Futures - Anna Pitoniak
9. Grandmothers - Salley Vickers

10. Normal People - Sally Rooney 11. The Rapture - Claire McGlasson 12. Johannesburg - Fiona Melrose 13. Confession with Blue Horses - Sophie Hardach 14. Fugue for a Darkening Island - Christopher Priest 15. Remembered - Yvonne Battle-Felton 16. Poker Face - Josie Barnard 17. The Foundling - Stacey Halls 18. Things in Jars - Jess Kid 19. The Woman Who Didn't Grow Old - Gregoire Delacourt 20. The Great Believers - Rebecca Makkai 21. White Shadow - Roy Jacobsen 22. Kim Yiyoung, Born 1982 - Cho Nam-Joo 23. The Ice - Laline Paull 24. Dracula - Bram Stoker 25. Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams 26. Hold the Dark - William Giraldi 27. Me - Elton John

Biggest let down was Queenie - glad I only paid 99p on the Kindle for it!