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?

Sorry to hear about your mum Bookwitch

@StitchesInTime

I’d have thought shower gel was a safe, boring topic!

(Unless you were asking about that tingly mint and tea tree shower gel, I can see a thread on that veering wildly off sideways)

(Unless you were asking about that tingly mint and tea tree shower gel, I can see a thread on that veering wildly off sideways)

DS loves that, so do I but I once had an Unfortunate Incident with that particular shower gel. It was at night but thankfully didn't involve a dog.

Bookwitch I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum, it must be very hard. I hope she's getting good care and that there is support for you too.

Sorry to hear about your mother Bookwitch - I found, when I went through the same thing last year that I couldn’t read anything challenging and took comfort in easy reads.

51. In the Frame - Dick Francis

Still working my way through these. I didn’t remember this one at all. The unwitting hero is an artist who mainly paints horses (but not exclusively) who gets sucked into events when his cousin is burgled and the cousin’s wife is murdered when interrupting the burglary. His investigation ends up in Australia with some tense moments. No time in the stables and limited time at racecourses but an enjoyable read.

Bookwitch

I'm so sorry about your mum Bookwitch. I hope you have love and support around you.

53. Two Rogues make a Right by Cat Sedgewick. More gay regency romance- who knew this was such a busy genre? Modern version of a Mills and Boon I guess, undemanding reading but perfect for a tiring day travelling.

Bookwitch

I hope you find something that helps you through this tough time, whether in book form or not.

Sorry to hear your news bookwitch

I have just finished The Address Book by Deirdre Mask. This is a non fiction book which I bought because I thought it would be all about street names and word derivations. Occasionally it is but its scope is much wider and, therefore, more interesting. She looks at how addresses create, or cement, social identities and create community or make divides. She is America, but lives in London. The book does have a slight US leaning but she also travels to India, the UK, South Africa, Paris and beyond.

A really interesting book and well written. Not convoluted at all. Some interesting stuff in there about Trump and about American black (and other) identities, too, so very timely.

That's on my wish list Piggy....I'm hoping it comes down to 99p one day as it sounds really interesting!

I'm so sorry bookwitch.

Oddly I found The Essex Serpent kept me engaged in difficult times, though i know it's a bit marmite.

Sorry about your mum, Bookwitch. Hope you can share some positive time together.

Terp, I quite like Romantic Moderns, but I preferred the other book by the same author, Weather land: Writers and Artists under English Skies.

Sending love, Bookwitch.

for Bookwitch.

When I was feeling really low and struggling to read earlier this year, I had some excellent advice from the lovely 50-bookers suggesting I re-read a favourite. For me that was 84 Charing Cross Road which is not only comforting but is a book of letters, so even if I could only manage a page or two it was easy to pick up and put down without a lot of effort.

Bookwitch

sending love, Bookwitch

Bookwitch, I’m sorry. I hope you’re able to spend some calm and happy time with her and she’s being well looked after.

105. Don't Lets Go To The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

Alexandra Fuller's memoir of a White African childhood in countries experiencing intense social and political upheaval inc. war. Initially living in Rhodesia which becomes Zimbabwe, the family also lives in Malawi and Zambia

I am not sure how unusual it was to be poor and white in Africa but the family are no strangers to financial worries, dysfunction, tragedy and chaos.

I did find the non-linear piecemeal storytelling difficult at times with strands picked up and left hanging but such is memory. The ending too is rushed, with the girls going from teens to married quite quickly.

However, it got me thinking, that along with Lara Prior-Palmer's Rough Magic and Allegra Huston's Love Child I increasingly think that the kind of autobiography I want to read is the kind written by someone relatively ordinary with an out of the ordinary tale to tell.

They don't need to be similarly themed but suggestions welcome.

Sorry to hear about your mum bookwitch sending unmumsnetty hugs

@BookWitch 💐

52. Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey

A Scotland Yard officer confined to a hospital bed passes the time by considering the claim that Richard III murdered his nephews, the Princes in the Tower. With the assistance of a researcher at the British Museum he reviews contemporary material to understand when the deaths were reported, the motives of key players and the people involved. He discusses his findings with his researcher, visitors and hospital staff. A very accessible review of this historical incident and interesting assessment (for me as it’s not a period I know much about).

166. The Gustav Sonata - Rose Tremain
     Set just after the war in Switzerland, two young boys become friends despite their differences. Their friendship transforms over the years. Their parents come to terms with post war life and the past that makes them judgemental towards one another. I enjoyed this, good characters and often neglected topics looking at how prejudices are formed. I know there was a lot of discussion not so long ago about Rose Tremain so I am glad I gave one of hers a go.

167. American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson
     A black FBI agent recounts her career during the Cold War with all of the barriers to progress due to her race. She eventually gets chosen for a mission to Burkina Faso with a view to her seducing the revolutionary President. Things don't go to plan, so she needs to go to ground in fear of reprisals. God this was dull. Based on real events and could have been good in better hands.

168. Human Acts - Han Kang
     Multiple POV telling of a violent student uprising in 1980 in South Korea and the after effects on the lives of those involved. Very well written but quite arty and heavy. It focuses on the death of a 15 year old boy so is distressing in places.

169. Intimations - Zadie Smith
     6 personal essays on modern events including her experience of lockdown and the death of George Floyd. I haven't read any of her fiction as I wasn't living in the UK when it was a thing. However I really enjoyed this and the observation of the little things within the bigger picture.

170. The Novice's Tale Ann Swinfen
     Second in the Oxford Medieval Mysteries series set about 5 years after the plague. A young woman is placed in a convent against her will to do her out of her inheritance. She needs to escape before swearing her final vows and being trapped forever. I really like these as a very untaxing bit of entertainment. Each tale leads on from the next and I immediately wanted to pick up the next one.

I'm currently listening to Ali Smith's Winter and given my reaction to Autumn* I am surprised to find I don't hate it. I don't know if I would have had the patience for it in print.

Your reading rate is enviable Fortuna, is there a secret to it? x

Bookwitch I'm sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time at the moment . I usually turn to Anne Tyler when RL is hard. I find her books are not too demanding but very well written.

Eine a couple of suggestions for books about ordinary people with out of the ordinary tales. Have you tried Persepolis? An unusual and thought provoking graphic memoir/novel about growing up in Tehran. I also loved Viv Albertine's autobiography Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys set in the punk scene of 1970s and 1980s London.

56: The Chief Inspector's Daughter - Sheila Radley

Random whodunnit whose chief attraction was the £1 price tag in a charity shop in the olden (pre-Covid) days. Actually this was a pleasant surprise. Chief Inspector Quantrill works the rural-ish East Anglian beat of Breckham Market, lives in Benidorm Avenue and is married to Molly, a devotee of romantic novels. So far, so Midsummer Murders.
But Quantrill and Molly have a less-than-secure marriage, their daughter Alison isn't close to either parent and when she comes home reluctantly in the wake of a failed relationship, she gets a job with a romance writer which ends with a horrific discovery.

There's not much in the way of plot but Radley's writing is rather good, and undercut with a wry humour, which now makes me pleased that I bought another in the series for £1 as well.

I’ve never enjoyed Zadie Smith’s novels but I do like her essay writing. I’ve tried very hard with them as well!

@BookWitch I'm sorry about your mum. Wishing you both well.