50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Seven

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh 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, the fourth one here, the fifth one here and the sixth one here.

What are you reading?

Talking of garment rending and despair, I have just finished A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. if I recall, come 50 bookers didn't rate this much. It may well be a bit overrated , I suppose, but I did enjoy it. I also liked Circe and Silence of the Girls and there is a danger they all merge into one as a form of feminist subgenre. I can't remember much about the other two to say which one was superior, although I feel Pat Barker's is the most serious and accomplished work. From book to book I forget all the stories anyway! This one is an easy read and very episodic, so a bit like Stephen Fry in that respect, telling the stories of perhaps too many women and keeping Helen rather shadowy considering the book's title, ironically rendering her voiceless.

I did like the Penelope chapters and the stories of Laodamia, Cassandra, Clytemnestra and Penthiselia were well told and are the ones that stick with me most. Briseis appears in both Barker and this and is an interesting woman to consider. Someone a man in an Amazon review says she makes all the male characters one dimensional and weak (which makes a change, hey?). Notwithstanding wanting to point out to this reviewer that that is rather the point, I don't feel this is true, particularly of Patroclus, who always comes out well in any retelling.

@OllyBJolly

I couldn't possibly of read the blurb let alone the book

I hope your degree wasn’t English @bettsbattenburg !

Feel free to correct my appalling English.

I'm a scientist not a linguist, the only bit of studying I did to do with English was one about the history of children's literature which was for fun.

I am not checking the Monthly Deals. August is about clearing the almighty backlog of books I have acquired. Or a partial clearance at any rate. The last couple of times I’ve been out we’ve gone into bookshops and bought books as some kind of “keep the book industry afloat” gesture even though books are the last thing we need more of. I’m trying to support indie publishers too - I’m eagerly awaiting my next book from Galley Beggar Press which sends subscribers limited edition copies of the books it publishes. So many books, so little time.

On the subject of indie book services, if anyone uses Goodreads but fancies a non-Amazon alternative, I’d suggest Storygraph which is lovely and will import all your lists across. And you can give half stars and it does fun analysis of what you like and makes recommendations which are pretty good, all things considered.

bettsbattenburg I'm also from a STEM background.

Broken Greek - Pete Paphides

Biographical look at his childhood through the the prism of the music of 1976-82. The child of Cypriot/Greek immigrants growing up in Birmingham it explores his childhood fears, the pressure of being the child of immigrants torn between two cultures, neither Greek nor English and his growing obsession with music.

It’s a well written book - my best friend insisted I read it because the music he loves and talks obsessively about in the book is the music we bought and listened to together as teenagers - ABBA, Grease, The Jam, The Boomtown Rats, The Specials, Joe Jackson, Madness, Dexy's etc. These are the bands we saw together. So it was lovely in that respect but I don’t know if I would have enjoyed it as much if I hadn’t shared a love of the music of that period. I also spent quite a bit of time in Birmingham in the early Eighties so it was easy to visualise the places mentioned.

61. Circe by Madeline Miller

This retells the story of the witch goddess Circe from Greek mythology from Circe’s point of view.

I’ve read a version of The Odyssey, where she turns Odysseus’s men into pigs after they land on her island, but didn’t know about any other myths featuring Circe. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

62. Sleep by C L Taylor

Anna’s traumatised following a road accident that left 2 colleagues dead and a third paralysed after a lorry driver fell asleep and crashed into Anna’s car. She’s plagued by guilt and insomnia, so takes a job at an isolated hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum.

And then what we end up with is essentially a set up where Anna and 7 guests are trapped in a hotel, with one of the guests secretly being a murderer who’s out to get Anna.
It’s very readable but all in all a fairly standard thriller.

63. The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

When preacher’s daughter Grace moves to a new town, she learns that the girl who previously lived in her house, Lucy, was run out of town after accusing 3 popular boys of rape.
Grace and 2 other misfit girls at her school (Rosina and Erin) form a feminist group called the Nowhere Girls, to try and avenge Lucy’s rape and challenge the rape culture in their school.

I think this is aimed at the older end of the YA range. There’s a lot of focus on serious topics - rape, sexual assault, sexuality, feminism. It’s told in alternating perspectives, mostly from the point of view of Grace, Rosina and Erin. It’s well written and absorbing, with believable, diverse characters, although the topic of the book does make it an uncomfortable read at times.

No deals jumped out at me this month thank goodness.

I have been picking off books that have been in my TBR for a while, which I hoped would be not too challenging but engaging, or at least entertaining, with mixed results.

54. The Sound of Echoes by Eric Brent Follow up thriller featuring Eddie Parks who is autistic and lives in a residential home. In the last book he successfully completed his echo box, which allows sounds from the past to be reconstructed. A shadowy, powerful and ruthless agency are aware of his work and will stop at nothing to get hold of the technology, The premise of this is basically a rehash of book one, with a working echo box instead of a developing one, so the author leaves himself nowhere to go except to pile on the action, violence and high stakes, to the point where it was ridiculous, and then added a ludicrous love interest for Eddie. Pretty trashy.

55. Tangerine by Christine Mangan Was put off reading this last year when many of you said it was a bit rubbish. Tedious Alice has recently married and moved to Tangier, only for her creepy room mate from college to turn up on her doorstep, a woman who has already (tedious Alice thinks) bumped off her ex boyfriend and got away with it. Given the plot, the Ripley comparisons are inevitable, but what made that such a taut tale was that there was barely a word wasted. This, however, was in need of a good edit. Tedious Alice's physical reactions to every little thing being edited out could have made the book considerably shorter. Her heart races, her fingers tingle, her breath becomes ragged, her stomach knots, waves of nausea wash over her, ad nauseam. The final outcome is unsatisfactory due to some really implausible mental gymnastics about who knows what and who believes who being required from almost everyone involved. All the above is a shame, because I do think there was a good book in there trying to get out.

56. The Only Way is West by Bradley Chermside An account of walking the Camino de Santiago. Typical long distance walk book sandwich. Bread 1: why he went. Filling: the walk, the practicalities (including the almost obligatory took too much kit, ditched some), the places, the people. Bread 2: how it changed his life after he returned. This is from the point of view of a young, single male still trying to find his place in the world, and figure out what relationships are all about. As I probably wasn't the target audience, I forgave him much for some of his viewpoints and embraced the positive attitude he had to the whole enterprise. Fairly good as a quick read.

Just back from a week in Anglesey and catching up with this thread, but I had to jump in when I got to Terpsichore's recommendation for Richard Holmes's The Age of Wonder to agree that it is a terrific read and he is a marvellous writer.

Sorry to hear of your troubles Noodle and Betts

37. Blue in Chicago – Bette Howland

A collection of short stories by recently rediscovered American writer Bette Howland.

I really enjoyed these cleverly written dark tales set in a crumbling 1970’s Chicago, particularly the way she focuses on the marginalised outsider, evoking them in all their fascinating and seedy glory.

I found her writing to be effortlessly brilliant. A number of times I went back to re-read a sentence, to savour a particular choice of words, to enjoy it again and work out how she captured the appearance, mood or motivation of a particular character so perfectly. One of the highlights of my reading year so far, definitely recommended.

38. Homage to Catalonia – George Orwell

Another re-read, this time as an audio book. A fascinating description of George Orwell’s experience fighting as part of the anti-fascist militia during the Spanish Civil War. As always, I enjoyed Orwell’s simple but elegant prose and dry humour.

I probably preferred the pacier and more idealistic first half, which focuses on life on the front line including a particularly gruesome (and undeniably gripping) description of the serious injury he sustains. The second, more political half sees Orwell become increasingly disillusioned as the different left-wing factions become consumed by infighting and begin to turn on each other.

I could probably have lived without appendix 2, with its very detailed and acronym heavy acount of which particular faction was to blame for what went on at the post office in Barcelona, but Orwell does warn the reader to skip this but if they’re not interested in political controversy, so I can’t say he didn’t warn me.

When I first read this as a teenager I didn't pick up on the fact that his wife was staying at a hotel in Barcelona during his time at the front. As an adult this situation struck me as quite odd; I wanted to know what she was doing the whole time, and wanted to hear things from her perspective. For example, what was she doing the whole time? Was she bored?

Overall, a very enjoyable read which worked well in the audio format.

47 A War of Flowers Jane Thynne
A thriller set in Germany against the backdrop of the Munich Agreement in 1938. The main character is an Anglo- German actress who is also working for the British secret service. Lots of detail about the political situation and life in Germany which sometimes feels heavy handed. The romance element veers into Mills and Boon territory at times! An easy read if you are interested in the period but probably not for anyone looking for a traditional,fast paced thriller.

At the risk of being escorted out of the room, can I recommend Queens of the Kingdom from the monthly deals.

The book is the results of interviews with different women in Saudi Arabia. The women are of all ages and range from an older Bedouin woman to a princess. Others are a journalist, a doctor, a runaway (a woman who studied in Canada via a marriage of convenience to give her a guardian to give permission) and one who is biologically intersex, being registered female but then discovering in puberty that she was going through male puberty.

It's really interesting to get a different perspective on the life of women in Saudi Arabia. They explain what their views of Western women are (not always what you'd expect) and their views on the restrictions placed on women in Saudi and their hopes for their daughters and the future.

You all know I don't really write reviews (especially with my appalling English!!) but this book was worth giving it a try.

1. Commander in Cheat by Rick Reilly.

A look into Trump’s golf game and the claims he has made about golf wins etc, the author having met and played with Trump and interviewed many caddies, employees, people who have played with with and so forth. Is shocking (but not really surprising) some of the claims he has made and gives you an insight into how his mind works. Interesting read although by the end the negativity of the author was a bit repetitive.

Finally finishing off some half read books from feeling spurred on by this thread (thumbs up)

Betts
I'm not sure, with your appalling English, that you will have even heard of novelists like Austen, Nabokov or Shakespeare BUT, in the slim hope that a scientist can read, have you read Reading Lolita in Tehran? I remember really enjoying it when it came out, and think you might like it based on your (obviously entirely illiterate ) review below.

Austen? You mean Austin cars surely?

You'll be amazed to know that this scientist has read and enjoyed Reading Lolita in Tehran - good recommendation.

Coincidentally I've lived in both Shakespeare and Austen territory and been to Nabokov's birth place.

I've spent a very pleasant afternoon helping 18y/o dd sort through her books to go back in her redecorated room. Sent a large pile (Ingo / Ribblestrop / Michelle Paver etc) next door to make space on her bookshelf, & found ourselves each some old favourites to re-read.

Neither of us could bear to get rid of my childhood set of the 12 S&A books, despite the fact that they're completely falling apart now and I think any attempt to read them would probably end up as some kind of post modern experiment in the death of the linear plot.

On a side note, she's headed off with The Fair to Middling. Anyone else remember that from their childhood?

How lovely Sadik, what a great way to spend an afternoon.

I've never read The Fair

You've reminded me, I have my Dad's childhood copy of Swallows and Amazons (1949) , it's on the piano with some of his other books - Five on a Treasure Island (1951), Toto and the Goats, The Tale of Tommy TipToes and A Christmas Carol. I've put his last pair of glasses on top

In other news...I am reunited with a truly waterproof Kindle which is now sparkly clean!

54: Boys in the Trees - Carly Simon

I'm a bit of a sucker for a showbiz memoir and this is an interesting one, written (I think?) by Carly S herself without benefit of a ghostwriter, though someone may be along to set me straight on that.

Born into an artsy, cultivated family, youngest daughter of the co-founder of the Simon and Schuster publishing firm, Carly grew up with no need to worry about money, but plagued by self-esteem issues, a severe stammer that made school a torment, and the awareness that her two elder sisters were the favourites with her beloved 'Daddy'. Sexual abuse by the son of family friends added to the misery, so it seems all the more impressive that she ever got on a stage at all (she also had intermittent severe stage fright and a horror of flying). Stardom, marriage to James Taylor and two children nevertheless followed, and the memoir ends as the relationship breaks down amid his infidelities and drug addiction. This second part was less interesting for me, but on the whole it's a worthwhile read if you like this sort of thing, and I thought she came over as surprisingly 'normal' for a megastar.

Betts - you reminded me of, "Do you know Yeats?" "The wine lodge?"
Brownie points for anybody who gets the reference!

Sadik The old S&A books could look amazing in a box frame.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Betts - you reminded me of, "Do you know Yeats?" "The wine lodge?" Brownie points for anybody who gets the reference!

Sadik The old S&A books could look amazing in a box frame.

Hang on, I'll go and ask Frank.

Well done!

Some of these may be a little familiar...

I just got worried when I realised some of the S&A books are missing

But it's all OK - they're on my shelf of children's books downstairs!

21. In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott Stott was born into a fourth generation Exclusive Brethren family. He memoir tells of the family's history within the sect, and her childhood, during which they left it.

I feel terrible saying this about someone's life story, but I simply did not find this very interesting. As Stott's family were no longer Brethren by the time she was an older child, much of the book draws on the experiences of her father and his ancestors, meaning that the personal touches you'd expect from a memoir are lacking.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Well done!

Thank you - and hopefully not given the game away too much for anybody else.

The Circus is Coming is probably my favourite Streatfield book, I recognise several of the others - your daughter has impeccable taste.

My Mum was a ruthless "this can go to the jumble sale" type

I have like 1 childhood book