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?

Quick update

175. Hidden Valley Road - Robert Kolker
     Non-fic about a family where 6 of the 12 children had schizophrenia. This was really interesting and was during a time when scientists were trying to work out if it was a result of nature or nurture. I did find it dragged a bit in place, but overall worth the read.

176. After Leaving Mr Mackenzie - Jean Rhys
     Set after the first war, a British woman living in Paris is down on her luck after the end of an affair. Middle class without the funds to sustain the lifestyle she is used to, she depends on men to maintain her. This deals with coming to terms with fading looks and a life of penury with no prospects.

Wonderfully written misery. You can't help but admire Rhys' writing. Simple profound prose that captures the fears of an aging woman. Superb.

Currently reading Joyce Carol Oates' latest book, Night, Sleep, Death, the Stars a loooooooong sprawling family saga that might appeal to Anne Tyler/ Ann Patchett fans. An elderly former mayor steps in to stop a racially motivated brutal police beating which has severe consequences. His dysfunctional family deal with the aftermath. I really enjoyed the first part, but currently in a bit of a slump in the middle.

After all of this impossibly humid weather I am genuinely delighted to be going camping in the rain tomorrow. I'm also a member of the nearly naked sweaty sewing club. I've been making a tent, so heaven help me if it's no good.

After all of this impossibly humid weather I am genuinely delighted to be going camping in the rain tomorrow

Good luck! We are camping soon too.

Hello! Haven't been on this thread yet because I've been ploughing through The Count Of Monte Cristo in between melting from the heat. I got a bit bogged down in a subplot about some Italian count trying to hire a carriage on a festival weekend in Rome so decided to take a quick breather with something completely different:

22. I Was Dora Suarez - Derek Raymond

Absolutely not for the faint of heart, this is the fourth of Raymond's Factory crime novels set in 1980s London and is as brutal as they come. Don't read if you are in any way squeamish about murder scenes BUT somehow it's not gratuitous - just unflinching but maintaining a compassion for the eponymous victim and putting her life at the heart of the story. And the quality of the writing is just incredible. So not for everyone but highly recommended if you like this kind of thing.

I've started listening to 50-bookers' favourite Into Thin Air, but the narrator's attempts at Kiwi accents are giving me the giggles...

Also started OMF but it's embarrassingly oblique so far. Maybe will try again later without Octonauts on...

The nearly naked sweaty sewing club should consider an outing to my little corner of Scotland. But please put some clothes on first. Just been for a walk along the beach and it's bracingly autumnal.

Just marking place as I fell off the thread, which isn't like me, but there's a lot going on. Still reading so I have a load of updates, back soon with them.

Ham - do you think they'll let me on the train with just my knickers and a vest, plus a cagoule?

remus I thought of you wearing a muslin dress by a North facing window embroidering a bonnet and shall continue to think so

Adds muslin and bonnet ribbons to next haberdashery order...

Ham Scotland! In midge season! Not a chance! I've practically got all of my unmentionables out. They'd eat me alive.

@KeithLeMonde

Amazon have all of the Mick Herron Slough House books (Slow Horses etc) in their deal today, 99p each. They've been popular here - I've only read the first one but thought it was clever and absorbing

Thanks for the heads up, Keith! I also enjoyed the first Slough House book (and had already bought the second), so I've just invested £3.96 into buying books 3 to 6 - bargain!

I’m just back from camping in Scotland, was amazing, and v hot! Now unpacking in torrential rain.

Quick holiday read update:

Book 41 Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Read this after positive reviews on here. I enjoyed it very much, particularly after finding that it’s based on some real life historical events. Atmospheric and a good ‘true grit’ tale if the endurance of women during that time in Iceland.

42 The Girl with All The Gifts by M R Carey

A class of children locked down in isolation, a strange and highly contagious global pandemic and the collapse of capitalism and civil society. Could have been a bit too close to reality! However i thought this was v good, would recommend. Much reviewed on here previously.

Also had my first DNF of the year with The Keeper of Lost Things. After thinking it might be a nice, fluffy bit of holiday reading I hated it. Dullsville.

I've started listening to 50-bookers' favourite Into Thin Air, but the narrator's attempts at Kiwi accents are giving me the giggles

I'm not surprised, most people can't recognise the accent let alone do it. It really annoys kiwis to be called Aussies, after all small flightless birds beat small bears with a STI hands down....

Agreed, that was a great review, Sadik (I had no idea you were a farmer!)

I'm also in the sewing club (although fully clothed, to the great relief of my family), as I've been plodding through an audiobook of Ali Smith's Winter while making up sets of scrubs. I'm enjoying it, but a bit disconcerted to find that I'm still on chapter 3 after what seems like ages . I think Ali Smith's a bit like that, though.

Also: you're making a tent, Fortuna? To go camping in tomorrow? Have I misread that?!

Yes, very impressed with tent-making - feels very Swallows & Amazons!

I'm a grower rather than a farmer mackerella but the issues & problems are very similar (also a lot of my friends are farmers!)

I’m just enjoying the phrase “bracingly autumnal”

Mack I may have over egged the tent making, more of a Frankenstein's monster of cutting up and adapting some old tents to fit a micro campervan. It could be marvellous or an unmitigated disaster. I've finished that and now just want to whizz up a chair caddy before I go. Before anyone gets impressed, I can't actually sew in a straight line and am purely winging it.

Still plodding on with the JCO.
I've packed 3 books so hoping I get to sit in the dry with them. I feel packing the parasol was a tad optimistic.

Mack I may have slightly over egged the tent making, more of a Frankenstein's monster of chopping up some old ones and adapting them to fit a micro campervan. I wouldn't be impressed, I can't actually sew in a straight line. It could be marvellous, or an unmitigated disaster. If all goes horribly wrong, I've packed books that will fit inside my waterproof map case.

Phone fail, though it had eaten my post.

You are my people. Camping, experimental sewing and books.

For the first time in ages there is a cool breeze coming through the bedroom window. After cancelling one camping trip because of insane heat I’m now hoping it warms up a touch before next weekend when we are meant to be camping in Suffolk.

Reading seems to have picked up here and I have been reading a lot of non fiction. I am very behind on reviews.

I think it may be time for a change of direction; I would not mind something completely escapist and fun. Wondering about a Jilly Cooper or something similar.

betts, I hope you enjoy Into Thin Air. It’s one of my favourite books. A map of the climb really helped me get my head round it, and photos of the Icefall showed me exactly why everyone is so afraid of it. Amazing to me that anyone would choose to do that.

35. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Anna, aged 12, is going with her father Eddie to visit Dexter Styles, his boss who provides preciouswork in Depression era New York. She is just old enough to sense undercurrents in their relationship, though her focus is mostly on pleasing her father and acting his daughter correctly. It is a pivotal day for them all. We catch up with Anna later on during WWII when she is working at the vast Brooklyn Navy Yard and developing an ambition to be a working diver. But Eddie has disappeared - and the complexities of Dexter's life are starting to catch up with him.

Despite huge flaws, I LOVED this. It is based on vast amounts of research, all of which is well handled, fascinating and kept in good balance with three riveting and engaging characters. Byt I think Egan has forced too many stories into each life. The result is a cavalcade of events that can be a bit overwhelming. I also think that Anna and perhher aunt and sister (ok thats 3) is the only female character allowed much depth, which annoyed me - those who lived more conventional lives still had passions and value - see the Cazalet Chronicles for deeper exploration of surface dullness. Id say that A Visit from the Goon Squad is much more groundbreaking. That said, Egan is a damn good writer; this is a damn good read and bloody hell it's gripping.

Thank you Keith for the tip off about the Mick Herron books. I have read 1 and had picked up 4 and 5 in daily / monthly deals so have now plugged my gaps with 2, 3 and 6. How do you know about these deals? They weren’t in my daily deals - am I missing something obvious? Probably!

@Tanaqui - whilst the main character in Trial Run, Randall Drew, is not hugely memorable, he is given a contact at Moscow University who is a British student on exchange, Stephen, and the relationship between them is developed well and Stephen features quite a bit in the storyline.

Remus how big is your cagoule?
Ella glad you got the good weather, tonight was the first time I noticed the 'bracingly autumnal' feel in the air.
Fortuna I'm in a pretty much midge-free area. Thank goodness, because they LOVE me.
Very impressed with everyone's camping and making things and growing things exploits.

Loved A Visit From the Goon Squad so not sure why I have never put Manhattan Beach on my TBR. I have now, thanks for the great review Permanent.

57. Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health by David Nutt Embarking on another dry few weeks to counteract pointless lockdown wine drinking. I do like to read something to encourage me, and this was a cut above the usual quit lit. David Nutt is the former government advisor and comes at this from predominantly science and policy angles. Readable and interesting.

58. Dishonesty is the Second Best Policy by David Mitchell Collection of newspaper essays. I read this a couple of weeks ago and remember finding it entertaining, clever and mildly amusing, but I can barely remember anything specific about it now. I remember it being very London centric. I also remember finding the beginning and middle of the essays strong with good points well made but then they all seemed to just fizzle out with the last sentence or two just being waffle.

59. Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie Short book of nature writing. I did wonder if I would enjoy her writing so much if it wasn't based on familiar territory. So here was a test, of the three substantive pieces in this book, only one was based in Scotland, on a dig at the Links of Noltland. Well I loved that one. One was based in a very remote part of Alaska, and though it conjured up intriguing portraits of the land, people and culture, I found myself getting a little bored and wondering what she was doing there, as she does seem to do a lot of wafting around on projects where other people are working. The third was looking back at a visit to the China / Tibet border as a young woman and I found that very interesting. The shorter pieces were a bit hit and miss, some very good, and some in the second person. You hate the second person, it makes you angry. Overall, probably the strongest of hers I've read.

60. The Whisper Man by Alex North Crime thriller focusing on a sensitive young boy and his dad who move to a village for a fresh start, without realising the place's link to historical child murders, and a recent child abduction. Far, far too driven by coincidence, and trying too hard to shoehorn everything into 'themes' , for example fathers and sons. However, this was truly suspenseful and creepy, and a real page turner.

61. The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves (Vera #7) Am reading them in order, and was a bit concerned that the last one didn't really add anything to the series. This was a great return to form. This is what Ann Cleeves does best, stages an intriguing murder, takes a bunch of bored middle class people who are superficially best pals, gradually exposes the cracks in that, adds a smattering of working class people, slowly reveals the connections between them all and what really motivates them. The Vera books only have a very small cast of constant characters, and only a tiny bit more is given out about them with each book, and there were some nice character development glimpses in this.

Autumnal air already?! Saying that, I left my windows open accidentally all day and my windowsill was soaked! I had some leaflets there too so they’re currently drying off refusing to let go of secondary school

Is it just me that feels as though this past year has flown so fast?! I’m supposed to be getting my gcse results on Thursday and thought it would be OK but after the a-level shambles I’m getting scared about it now