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?

87. After the Funeral, Agatha Christie
Reliable old Hercule Poirot. You know what you're getting. As always, she tricked me.

88. Secret Gardens - The Golden Age of Children's Literature, Humphrey Carpenter
Chapters on 11 authors in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. I'm not sure if there was much of a central argument, but I enjoyed a reminder of the worlds they created.

Baileys prize for women's fiction is giving a way 25 ebooks Reclaim their name if anyone is interested,.

Ah, bibliomania, I first read After The Funeral when I was about 12 and thought it was brilliant. It had a spooky graveyard angel on the cover, if I remember. Might have to dig it out again!

Yes, Three, yakes a bit of time to grasp all of the characters, but then it's a reliable satisfaction

Thanks for the tip, minsmum. Well take a look.

Jealous of all the Angela Thirkill books, Mack. Where do you get them?

*takes

Latest update:

37. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. Historical fiction based around Shakespeare's family. I adored this. The character of Agnes and the evocation of late 16th century England were wonderful, and I enjoyed the quirk of not mentioning William Shakespeare's name and putting his wife and family at the front and centre of the story instead. Five stars from me.

38. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Jane has moved to a new area of Sydney with her young son Ziggy for a fresh start. We find out early on that a death is involved at some point, and the story leads up to it from several viewpoints. Good fun.

39. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge and 40. Black, Listed by Jeffrey Boakye. I read these consecutively to immerse myself in the issue and I'm not sure it was a good idea. They are powerful books about a very important issue, but reading them can be depressing at times (due to the white guilt referred to by Eddo-Lodge). On the other hand, reading them together allowed me to pick out the bits that were explained better in one or the other - for example, I felt that Eddo-Lodge did a good job with the issues of race in relation to feminism and the British class system, while Boakye handled mixed race people and toxic masculinity / homophobia within the black community well. If I had to choose one to recommend it would be WINLTTWPAR, as I felt that Eddo-Lodge really gets to the heart of the issue. Hers is a more serious book, while Boakye injects humour and light-heartedness into his.

I've got the wartime Thirkells on Kindle, biblio - they're the Virago ones, so decent editions (although I noticed a couple of inexplicable typos that suggested they had been scanned - mistakes of the bulh/bulb variety ). Most of them are between 99p and £3.99, so a fairly cheap investment if you want an easy, comforting read! (I've got other ones in paperback from a while ago.)

Secret Gardens has gone on the TBR list, although it's not in my local library catalogue, unfortunately and is very pricey otherwise. Will keep an eye out for a cheap copy. I've just looked at the Amazon preview, and it's reminded me about George Macdonald, an author I'd completely forgotten about! I used to love The Princess and the Goblin and At the Back of the North Wind when I was a child, both of which I read from my mother's own childhood copies. I've been reminded about so many wonderful children's books on the 50 book threads this year that I'm considering putting aside a few weeks to re-read some favourites (I've put off doing this for decades out of fear that they might not live up to my memories of them) .

Oh, and I've just started a one-month Audible trial, inspired by others on here! Because I'm a Prime member, I got 2 credits - and, because my trial coincided with a 2-for-1 sale, I managed to get 4 audiobooks for my trial:

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel (which, at 34 hours, represents fantastic value for money )
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre
The Hamilton Revolution by Lin Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter

I already listen to lots of audiobooks through my county library (which gives access to Borrowbox and RB Digital), but the selections there are quite limited, so I'm pleased to have access to such a vast selection through Audible! (Incidentally, if anyone has recommendations for things that are on either of those platforms, I'd be all ears.)

After my trial period expires, I assume I get moved automatically onto the £7.99/month subscription. I read something on here about a 12 credits/year subscription, which is better value, but I can't see how to get access to that through the Audible app. Do I need to contact customer services to be put onto that plan?

@Bettsbattenburg I don't want to spoil your lovely quiet campsite but any chance you could PM me with details please? We meet up with good friends who are scattered around the UK so always looking for recommendations in the middle of the country.

59. That Reminds Me, Derek Owusu

Poetic, fragmented, semi-autobiographical story of a young British boy of Ghanaian heritage, separated from his mother, fostered away from London, later returned to her, and growing up to experience mental illness. This is experimental and original, although not an easy read - it worked best for me, like Mlikman, if you could hear the words in your head as you read. There's a video of Owusu reading here which gives a good flavour of the book

60. The Address Book, Diedre Mask

Subtitled "What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power". I'd seen this mentioned before but someone here recently recommended it so thank you. An interesting examination of the unexpectedly varied history of the ways in which we identify people's addresses. Some parts of this were fascinating, particularly (for me) the sections on street names, on who streets get named after and how different societies have handled that. Other sections were rather less interesting but it was worth skimming those IMHO for the sake of the good bits.

Oops sorry for lack of bold in my last post.

@mackerella

I loved A Place Of Greater Safety very nonplussed by the choice of ending though.

Just finished 36. Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza. It's the first in a new series featuring Kate Marshall, a DC who left the force after catching a notorious serial killer amid a storm of scandal. She's teaching criminology when a private investigation request leads to her getting pulled into solving a grisly series of copycat killings.

I really enjoyed this. It was a quick, pacey read with quite a sparse narrative style that didn't overwork the main threads of the story. Kate's character is multi-dimensional enough to make her interesting without being totally unbelievable.

There's a second one coming out in November and I'll definitely be reading it.

[quote KeithLeMonde]@Bettsbattenburg I don't want to spoil your lovely quiet campsite but any chance you could PM me with details please? We meet up with good friends who are scattered around the UK so always looking for recommendations in the middle of the country.

59. That Reminds Me, Derek Owusu

Poetic, fragmented, semi-autobiographical story of a young British boy of Ghanaian heritage, separated from his mother, fostered away from London, later returned to her, and growing up to experience mental illness. This is experimental and original, although not an easy read - it worked best for me, like Mlikman, if you could hear the words in your head as you read. There's a video of Owusu reading here which gives a good flavour of the book

60. The Address Book, Diedre Mask

Subtitled "What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power". I'd seen this mentioned before but someone here recently recommended it so thank you. An interesting examination of the unexpectedly varied history of the ways in which we identify people's addresses. Some parts of this were fascinating, particularly (for me) the sections on street names, on who streets get named after and how different societies have handled that. Other sections were rather less interesting but it was worth skimming those IMHO for the sake of the good bits.[/quote]
I've sent you the details. I think that some of you will end up staying there at the same time as other 50 bookers as I've had several requests for the details. I noticed on pitchup that the site has suddenly had several bookings whereas when I booked it there hadn't been any for ages

Do we need a 50 bookers equivalent of the MN scarf?

Thanks Mack, have downloaded a 99p Thirkell. Have to do it one at a time rather than binge on lots.

I wouldn't fork out a lot for the Humphrey Carpenter, tbh. It might be cheaper and more satisfying to go back to the original books he writes about.

mackarella, the iPhone Audible app is quite limited in what you can do. Something to do with Apple not supporting purchases of digital content (maybe?). Anyway, try the website instead which I think has more options to manage subscriptions. I’ll have a look and see what I’d recommend - How To Survive A Plague by David France was the best of my recent choices.

Like the sound of The Address Book. I grew up in a street with an interesting historical name and since my Dad told me the meaning when I was little, I’ve had a thing for street and place names. Been doing my own research into local street and house names recently and yes, mostly named after men.

Bridget Jones’ Dairy yet again. Bliss

FFS Diary. Bridget Jones’ Dairy would be something else entirely.

I've finished these two this week:

54. Love After Love - Ingrid Persaud

I'm very glad I snapped this up for 99p after seeing it recommended on here - it never would have caught my eye if it wasn't for the 50-bookers! Young widow Betty and her son Solo form an unlikely happy family with their lodger Mr Chetan, until an intensely emotional night when both Betty and Mr Chetan reveal their deepest secrets, leading to an agonising rupture between Betty and her son.

Focusing on the ethnically Indian community in Trinidad, this novel enveloped me in a world I knew little about, incorporating themes of domestic and criminal violence, and brutal homophobia. But the warmth and kind-heartedness of Betty and Mr Chetan (as well as the delicious-sounding curries they can both cook up) mean this is a world that you want to keep returning to. It wasn't a page-turning read for me, but it was a very immersive one.

It wasn't perfect: the unusual use of tenses was distracting at first, until I realised that the characters seem to be narrating events that have happened very recently (something like diary entries from each of the three protagonists' POV?), and so some aspects of the situation are ongoing and therefore in the present tense. The pacing also sagged a little in the middle. But the impact of the last 20% or so more than made up for it, and I have to say my eyes almost leaked.

55. Biological Anthropology: an evolutionary perspective - Barbara J. King (Audible)

This was a lecture series from the Great Courses, giving a 101 overview of biological anthropology (i.e. the study of the evolutionary origins of human anatomy and behaviour). It covered our connections with our primate cousins, the history of the hominid line leading up to Homo sapiens, and the way some aspects of our modern lives can be explained by reference to the evolutionary past.

This may be a little out of date, given that it was recorded in 2002, and many more hominid fossil specimens have been discovered since then, not to mention advances in genetics which have shown the extent to which modern humans interbred with neanderthals and other extinct (almost) human species. Still, I found this an absorbing listen, with a serious but engaging delivery, and it has reminded me that this is an area which has fascinated me from a very young age (until my parents became Baptists and put the 'prehistoric man' books up on the high shelf -- long story...).

mackarella When I joined Audible, a few years ago now, I think the £7.99 monthly rate was the only way to pay initially but you could go into something like 'subscription options' or 'membership options' on the website later on to change it.
Over the past few weeks I have finished
27. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
28. Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig
I've started back to work this week (teacher in Scotland), and have barely read for the past ten days, struggling for time/energy but mostly struggling for brain space. I'm usually pretty easy going about a reading lull but at this time last year I got so out of the habit that I went almost 6 weeks without completing a book. Determined not to fall into the same pattern this year, posting on here to try to shake myself into a reading mindset for this weekend!

@BestIsWest I just came across some ebooks from ages ago by Elizabeth Elgin, maybe your mother would like them.
www.fantasticfiction.com/e/elizabeth-elgin/

@BestIsWest

Like the sound of The Address Book. I grew up in a street with an interesting historical name and since my Dad told me the meaning when I was little, I’ve had a thing for street and place names. Been doing my own research into local street and house names recently and yes, mostly named after men.

Me too Best, that kind of thing fascinates me.

My favourite road name is probably Swing Swang Lane, I can tell you more about it if you like or I'll leave you to do your research if you prefer.

25. Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad

I started reading this book with the best of intentions and ended up utterly bored and by the end. Racism exists, it is terrible and harmful. I stand with the author in condemning racial prejudiced and oppression. However, her woke insistence on "identities" rather than what people actually are (privileged identities such as able-bodied? How is having a functioning body an "identity"???) and her persistence on gender in particular at the expense of ignoring women's sex-based oppression was disappointing.

I have heard all about "When a black person tells you that something is racist, believe them", but how can it be racist 'appropriation' when a white person wants to tan under the sun when on holiday? How can it be a racist act when a white person touches a black person's hair in admiration? Hundreds of locals touched DD's goldilocks hair when we travelled in the Middle East. Was that racism, too, or was it just because they had never seen hair like that before? Is something racism only when white people do it to black people?

The author's answer to this question is that a black people can hold prejudice against white people but that is not racism because blacks don't have white privilege and the backing of a system of oppression called white supremacy, so can't hurt whites So, if a group of Asian men groom white girls with the prejudice that they will be more sexually liberal than girls from their own ethnic background, is that not racism? Is it not harm?

There is a lot of hard truth in this book, but there is also a lot of wishful thinking and the author assuming that her life and convictions can be generalised to the entire black, indigenous, and other people of color all around the world.

I'm not recommending this book because I can't believe that it is among the best of its kind but YMMV.

@bettsbattenburg , tell me more.

Has anyone seen this? Brilliant project. All novels free to download.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/12/george-eliot-joins-24-female-authors-making-debuts-under-their-real-names?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other