50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Five

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fifth 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, it's not too late to join, 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, the third one here and the fourth one here.

How're you getting on so far?

Just catching up on the thread and was interested in the Jane Austen discussion. I think Persuasion is the only book of hers that I really like. I didn’t mind Emma and Pride and Prejudice but I really hated Sense and Sensibility. Might have to give Northanger and Mansfield a go.

Also just to reconfirm my Station Eleven and NLMG love. So funny how these keep coming up.

Currently reading Skeleton Crew by Stephen King and not really enjoying it. I’m not overly keen on the short story form anyway and generally find them unsatisfying (Arthur C Clarke being the exception) and for me the joy of a Stephen King book is sinking into the world he has created and that just doesn’t happen with the collections. I did enjoy The Mist but that was almost a short novel, comprising 25% of the book.

Mama - Have you got to Survivor Type yet? King's best short story, in my opinion, but not for the squeamish!

38: The Tortoise and the Hare - Elizabeth Jenkins

At 52, distinguished barrister Evelyn Gresham is at the height of his powers, handsome, commanding and cultivated. His beautiful, gentle wife Imogen - 15 years his junior - spends her life tending to his every whim and trying to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as he demands (eg 'smoky China tea' poured out exactly five seconds after the hot water has hit the tealeaves ). She yearns for affection from him but knows that he finds her sexually unsatisfactory, and he doesn't hold back from belittling her tastes in books, antiques and decor. Their churlish 11-year old son Gavin is openly contemptuous towards Imogen and well on the way to becoming a carbon-copy of his father. Gradually Imogen becomes aware that Evelyn is spending more and more time with a neighbour, the 'ungainly' and 'frumpish' (but fabulously wealthy) Blanche Silcox, whose gruff demeanour and nifty handling of a shotgun he seems to admire. But what is really going on between Evelyn and Blanche, and is Imogen right to suspect that what he insists is a 'friendship' could possibly be more?

This was published in 1954 but could have come straight from a contemporary MN relationship thread as an example of gaslighting and how an abuser orchestrates getting his victim to walk on eggshells. I spent most of this novel getting more and more enraged at the appalling Evelyn and the excuses poor abject Imogen made for him (he was so brilliant - so hard-working - his tastes so refined - she mustn't make him disturbed or upset) that it was quite difficult to feel objective about the book as a piece of writing. Actually it is beautifully written, very precise and with particularly wonderful descriptive nature and landscape passages.

In terms of the emotional dynamic, I found it interesting that, in fact, Evelyn escapes with little censure despite the fact that he behaves disgracefully towards Imogen - the Old Boys' Club attitudes of the mid-50s are well to the forefront here (apparently it's based on characters Elizabeth Jenkins was involved with - she clearly couldn't bring herself to condemn whoever was the origin of Evelyn). As people are often advised to do on here, I longed for Imogen to find her anger, but it's all a bit too well-bred.

87. 84 Charing Cross Road/The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street- Helene Hanff I’m counting these as one book, as they are both very short and were both contained in the same, fairly slim volume. I’d never read 84 before, but it seemed very familiar as I’d seen the film which extensively quotes from the 30 year correspondence between the author and a London bookshop, which makes up the book. The book is quite charming. I also enjoyed the sequel, in which Hanff finally makes it to London.

88. Station Eleven- Emily St John Mandel Last year, I listened to the audiobook and was somewhat non-plussed. I decided the time was right to give it another go: I read it this time and I really loved it, partly because I was in exactly the right mood. I think I'm going to stop listening to fiction on audiobooks (unless I've already read the book), as I tend to get distracted, miss some important bits and then lose interest.

89. I Capture the Castle- Dodie Smith I’d never read this before and it took me so long to get into it that I almost gave up several times. Eventually though, I became hooked. Some parts of the book- the bits about love- reminded me of my own teenage diaries, which I occasionally re-read if I want to embarrass myself and have a good laugh. As a musician, several of my favourite parts of this book involved music- ‘Sumer is icumen in’ drifting down from the schoolroom, Debussy’s ‘Claire de Lune’ and Bach’s ’Sheep may safely graze’ being played on the gramophone, and Rose singing ‘Early one morning’.

90. Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East- Benjamin Law I found this audiobook- a tour around various Asian countries, meeting LGBTQ+ inhabitants- on BorrowBox and thought it would be fairly lighthearted. There was a disproportionate amount about trans people, and one part about the symptoms of AIDS was so graphic that I had to switch it off for a while (I was eating). The audiobook was quite illuminating (one female prostitute interviewed had only just discovered condoms), but not quite what I expected.

91. The Spanish Flu: A History from Beginning to End- Hourly History The Spanish Flu is often discussed at present, so it was good to be able to learn more about it from this new Hourly History guide, which was very informative. Covid-19 was mentioned several times, but it was difficult for the author to put it into the proper historical context, as we don’t yet have the benefit of hindsight.

I was also WTF for most of the book Fortuna! Glad to hear that My Year isn’t like Homesick as I’ve got that on my wish list.

Would have been reading it at arms length through squinted eyes waiting for the ‘whaaaaaaaat?’ bits!!!

I've got her others Eileeen and McGlue on my TBR, but I must admit Homesick has put me off. I think she's an exceptionally brilliant writer, but at arms length through squinted eyes sums up perfectly how I would read her work in future.

Remus no I haven't got that far yet, good to know there's something to look forward to.

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. (4/5) 28. Just One Damn Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 29. The Very First Damn Thing by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 30. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 31. When a Child is Born by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 32. Roman Holiday by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 33. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 34. Christmas Present by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 35. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (4/5) 36. No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor (3/5) 37. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths (3/5) 38. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (1/5) 39. Thinner by Stephen King.(2/5) 40. What Could Possibly Go Wrong by Jodi Taylor. (3/5). 41. Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings by Jodi Taylor. (2/5) 42. My Name is Markham by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 43. Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor. (4/5) 44. The Great St Mary's Day Out by Jodi Taylor. (3/5) 45. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. (4/5) 46. The Sudden Departure of the Frasers by Louise Candlish. (3/5) 47. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling. (3/5) 48. Raven Black by Ann Cleeves. (4/5) 49. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. (4/5)

50. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. I'm currently listening to the audible books narrated by Stephen King as having read them before I can listen while I'm doing something else and it doesn't matter if my mind wanders a bit. I enjoyed the audible version of this book more that I do when I read it (it's definitely my least favourite of the series). Not sure if it is just the way Stephen Fry is reading this but I'm finding Ron to be really irritating. (3/5)

34. It's Not Me, It's You - Jon Richardson

The comedian explores his perfectionism and OCD-like tendencies, and how they had prevented him from getting into a relationship for the previous seven years. I was definitely expecting something more light-hearted, but this snapshot of a couple of days in his life and insight into his thought processes is sometimes gruelling, although shot through with laugh-out-loud observations on the strangers he comes across in his travels.

He was clearly a troubled person at this stage in his life (the book was written in 2011), with a very negative inner critic which led him to isolate himself from his friends, who he felt no longer respected him, and avoid romance which he felt would inevitably decline after the initial honeymoon period. At first, I found this difficult to read as his patterns of thought are not always a million miles from my own (we could both be called perfectionist control freaks, although I have a slightly different set of psychological difficulties from him), but by the end I admired him for sharing so openly his inner conflicts. I felt this must be particularly difficult for a male writer; mental health memoirs generally seem to be more of a female pursuit. By the end, I had realised that his ultra-critical mindset is a double-edged sword, which allows him to observe others with a sharp comedic wit, but is very damaging when turned on himself.

It's made easier to read by the hindsight that he has married and had a child in the time since the book was written, so hopefully things have brightened up for him.

13. After Midnight by Irmgard Keun (1937) trans. Anthea Bell – It’s the mid-1930s and the Fuhrer is visiting Frankfurt. Keun’s short novel follows 19-year-old Sanna over two days, as she reflects on the world around her, her friendship with Gerti – who’s pining for her Jewish boyfriend – and her family which includes a writer recently banned by the Nazis. What starts as a relatively light, gossipy piece in a direct, conversational style descends into a feverish exploration of a culture dominated by despair, disintegration and malice. Keun’s, at times, deceptively simple style is shot through with memorable images of the grotesque and the tragic. I found the ending slightly melodramatic yet at the same time convincingly realist. Overall, I thought this was a powerful account of the period told from an unusual perspective. It was written in exile after Keun had fled Germany and so it was hard not to wonder what aspects paralleled her own experiences. Ending up reading it straight through from cover to cover. I've been wanting to read this for a while so was really pleased to find that Penguin have now reissued it in their Classics imprint.

I came across this article that might interest Didion fans

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v40/n01/patricia-lockwood/it-was-gold

Also found this entertaining, was the 95th anniversary of Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway a few days ago and a magazine reprinted original reviews of her novels

bookmarks.reviews/the-first-reviews-of-every-virginia-woolf-novel/

Finally, anyone else come across the Imperial Museum Wartime Classics series? Just ordered the Alexander Baron novel, but also very tempted by the WW2 crime novel Plenty under the Counter by Kathleen Hewitt.

"Don’t put cote off books she might not like as we all reap the benefits when she reviews them."

Now, why would you say that?

18. Smoke gets in your eyes – Caitlin Doughty Possibly not for the faint-hearted and certainly not for anyone who has recently been bereaved, this no-holds barred account of the ‘death industry’ made me laugh out loud in parts without ever showing any disrespect for the deceased and their families. The author, crematorium worker and death acceptance advocate, takes us through her thought process as she tries to come to terms with her own mortality and encourages us to do the same. Ultimately this was an informative read for me, issuing warnings about our modern-day relationship and reaction to death and it left me feeling strangely comforted and hopeful about new practices regarding funerals, body disposal and the like. Highly recommended.

I would never have picked this up if I hadn't seen the praise it received (last year I think) from several 50-bookers. Many thanks as always for broadening my horizons!

19. American Heart – Laura Moriarty Where to start? So much annoyed me about this book it’s difficult to know where to begin. I honestly believe the author meant well when she tried to write a story about a muslim refugee in a not-so-distant future America where tolerance of other religions, races, cultures has slipped even further down the toilet but in my opinion she failed dismally. There is no world-building at the beginning of the story – we have no idea how America has suddenly become to require Muslims to be registered and detained – and therefore we’re left to assume that this is a logical progression of the current state of affairs. The white teenage protagonist who is portrayed as the saviour of one such refugee, proceeds to work through a whole list of common prejudice and misinformation relating to Muslims but the way the author writes fails to dispel these prejudices. With every chapter I felt she highlighted and reinforced them further. None of the characters are appealing, and I felt no emotional investment in this story. It’s YA and I read it to discuss with DD as she had read it and was struggling to find enough material to write a book review on it. The language couldn’t be any simpler. So many other YA books have dealt with the topic of white privilege infinitely better than this (The Hate U Give which I read last year springs instantly to mind).

The Magician’s Assistant - Ann Patchett

Had sworn off Ann Patchett after the Paddington 2 debacle however it was languishing unread on my Kindle.

Confession - I quite liked it. After the death of her husband ( the magician of the story) magician’s assistant discovers he has a mother and two sisters in Nebraska. He’d told her he’d lost all his family in a car crash but the real story was equally sad. I had no idea where this was going at one point but ultimately it was a rather sweet love story with some nicely drawn characters.

I’m not sure I’ll read another of gets though.

34. Death Toll by Jim Kelly (Shaw and Valentine #3) This was the next book TBR on my Dad's kindle. Police procedural. Part of a series, none of the others of which are there, but worked perfectly well as a standalone. By a coincidence the last two quick crime thrillers I've read (this and Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves) have been set in the run up to Christmas and deal with complex family secrets in close knit east of England coastal communities. This one was set in Norfolk, which seems to be riddled with fictional crime. As well as the main story, there was another case being resolved which was personal to the pair of detectives who are the main characters. It was well done, but I'm not invested in this series. I'd pick up another if it happened to be around.

Sorry, I meant to say, Cote, I think you would absolutely love Darkmans and I think you should read it immediately. Be sure to come back and tell us what you thought.

That’s the spirit museum

cote

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

This is the first book I’ve read by Moss, the previous ones having never appealed. I wasn’t sure about the style - first-person, sparse punctuation can be off-putting (I’m I’m not convinced it wouldn’t have worked just as well with some more) but the voice of the teen narrator came over well and it did serve to draw you into her world. Silvie is used to reenacting Iron Age life with her meek mother and domineering and pretentious father, but on this occasion they bring along a University professor and his students who are taking an “experiential archaeology” course. Silvie is sharp eyed and witted, but conscious of the limits of her father’s temper, has to adjust herself to it. The students give her a glimpse of the freedoms that could exist for her outside the boundaries of family and class, but their presence also stirs dangerous insecurities in her father, and the rituals of the past take on sinister dimensions. I really liked the creeping sense of tension in this, and the overlaying of the modern world over the ancient which gave events a feeling of inevitability. It is a very short book, but is dense with themes and allusions. The treatment of women by men historically, social mobility and aspiration, self-sufficiency and environmental awareness, the danger of looking at a Nation’s past through rose tinted spectacles; all felt very pertinent to the current moment. I would really give it 3 and a half stars if I were rating it, as it was a good read but lacking a little something at the end there perhaps to really pack a punch.

Stasiland by Anna Funder

I’m sure I got the recommendation from this thread, because I was really pleased to see this on a charity book stall a couple of months ago, and must have had a reason. Anyway thank you to whoever it was - this was a brilliant read. The author is fascinated by the gaps and silences she perceives in the social history of the GDR, and seeks out people who lived in East Germany under the eyes of Stasi, and even ex-members themselves, to put together a more complete picture of lives lived within parameters so restrictive and destructive it defies belief. I knew very little about this subject, despite the fall of the Wall being one of the first big events I remember watching on the news as a child, and, whilst I’m not downplaying the part played by my own ignorance, after reading this I can’t help also feeling it’s because the secrets and lies which characterised the East German state for so many years pervaded long after the wall had come down. Funder zeroes in on a few compelling stories, and they are very powerful. Really recommend this to anyone, it draws you in like a novel, but hits you like only the truth can. It’s hard to reflect on what happened here, entirely without scrutiny from the outside world, how many lives were irredeemably tainted, without feeling outraged by it. It does give you every respect for the ordinary German citizen, forced to make high stakes ethical decisions just in the course of their ordinary lives that most of us could thankfully never imagine being faced with. It gave me a huge hankering to visit the city as well which won’t be fulfilled for some long time I expect; I may have to content myself with more books.

younghill & harlan - thanks - While not exactly a page-turner The Island was definitely readable, and interesting, even just for its setting and feel, Majorca has never seemed less like a holiday destination! I too got it on the Kindle deal, nice to see some different books come up from the classics imprint.

Glad to see a couple I really liked and have recommended several times on here being enjoyed, Smoke Gets in your Eyes and Stasiland.

I've started the new King, If it Bleeds and am also reading a couple of non-fiction books.

I noticed that the Flambards books are currently cheap on Kindle. I've only read the first, which I seem to remember enjoying. Has anybody read the others?

Sorry for the random drop in. I tend to lurk but just wanted to say that if anyone likes Sarah Moss, or is interested in Iceland, that her book "Names for the sea: Strangers in Iceland" is 99p today. It might not be the most in depth book perhaps, as she only spent a year living there, but it might interest some. It's been on my wish list for some time. Hopefully it won't disappoint.

It must have been you recommending it remus, thanks. I can’t often get swept along with non-fiction as I can with a novel so like the ones that hit that spot.

Thanks spielhur that looks interesting

I loved all of the Flambards books as a teenager Remus - The Edge of the Cloud was my favourite. No idea how they'd hold up as an adult read though.