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?

I have had The Shadow King on my to read list since reading a review of it several months ago, and got hold of a copy a couple of weeks ago, and finished it last night.

It's set during the second Italian-Abyssinian war in the 1930s, as fascism rises in Europe and the Ethiopians seek to defend their country from the Italian invasion. The book shifts between different perspectives, but focuses heavily on the experience of women as warriors, particularly Aster (the wife of Kidane, one of the leaders of the Ethiopian forces) and Hirut, her servant.

The reviews for this have been outstanding, and I can see why.
It's slow and meditative and really very beautifully done, even though the subject matter is often shocking. And it absolutely fits with my intention at the start of the year to stop reading books by white middle aged men. It would be a worthy Booker winner, and I'd be delighted if she won.

That said, it's not a quick or easy read, either in terms of structure, language or subject matter, and often demanded more of my attention than I was able to give it. Any frustrations I felt were more, I think, to do with my struggles with that sort of fiction at the moment than the fault of the book. I'm just not in the market for Booker-worthy fiction; I want pacey plot and gripping characters and I don't care about the language. It's probably time for another Jack Reacher, which is usually my go-to pick-me-up when things go this way for my reading.

Just to be a petulant child, I am not engaging with the Booker this year due to recent controversy and I thought last year was an absolute shambles. I've lost any respect for the prize and think it lacks any credibility.

Looking at the list, I don't think this is a bad choice.

I'm in a right old slump at the moment. I can't settle with anything. I think I might need to go back to a bit of mindless crime/historical fiction.

@bettsbattenburg. I hope you are successful in finding your Kindle soon. So frustrating!
@Piggy. Thank you for your review of The Ninth Child, which has reminded me to add it to my lengthy list of books to look out for at the library. A lot of recently published books are listed as being on order and I am concerned that because of a lack of funding they won’t be bought.
46 The Widows of Malabar Hill Sujata Massey
A cosy mystery , featuring the fictional first female lawyer in Mumbai , set in the first two decades of the twentieth century. The plot is not very original but the story is enriched with a lot of detail about life in the Parsi and Muslim communities at that time, with the emphasis on the way the laws and customs impact on the lives of women. An easy read which I enjoyed.

@FortunaMajor I used to go all out for reading the whole longlist, it rapidly wore thin, now I might read the winner, but only if it interests me

Eg I would have read The Testaments anyway due to having read Handmaids

I would have read the Mantels anyway because Tudor/Monarchy historical is very much my bag.

I cannot think of many winners I have truly loved, apart from the Mantels and I can think of many winners and nominees that have left me cold.

Like the rest of you, I have only read the two high profile nominations.

@FortunaMajor has there been controversy other than the prize sharing (really they thought The Testaments was worthy?). A few booktubers alluded to something else but I couldn’t work out what they were on about.

The Shadow King sounds lush @PepeLePew thanks.

The Booker hasn't been the same for me since they allowed in 2014 any any book written in English and published in the UK to be longlisted, though I adored Girl Woman Other. I've got Such a Fun Age on my kindle but can't muster any enthusiasm to get going with it.

I'm currently reading Me by Elton John, which is surprisingly dragging in places.

The Man Who Went Into the West: The Life of R.S.Thomas - Byron Rogers
Thank you, thank you to Sadik for recommending this biography of Welsh poet R.S. Thomas. I absolutely loved it. What an incredibly horrible, selfish man he seems to have been although his poetry is beautiful if brutal. A really well written biography and very funny in parts. Whether it helps to be Welsh in understanding the book more I don’t know, I’m from his despised South but recognise much similarity in places/people he encountered in his search for Welsh purity.

Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier re-read of the classic. Not my favourite of hers.

Thanks for the review, Pepe - that was definitely one of the more appealing-sounding longlisted books for me, so I'm glad to hear that you rated it. I'm in a similar state of heavy book exhaustion at the moment, but I'm hoovering up Angela Thirkell rather than Lee Child.

I was interested to see your review of The Widows of Malabar Hill, Blackcountryexile because I downloaded it as a library audiobook a few months ago and gave up after a few chapters. The premise did sound good, so maybe it was the narration rather than the book itself that I couldn't get on with? Maybe I'll try again in a while.

Are you referring to the way that they (imo quite shoddily) forced out Baroness Nicholson, Fortuna? Or something else?

Palegreenstars they recently expelled Baroness Nicholson from an honourary role due to her being "cancelled" by the woke crowd. Her late husband originally set up the prize and when it was in difficulty and in danger of finishing due to finance issues, she came up with the solution for it to continue. They falsely accused her of being racist, homophobic and anti-transgender. The most heinous of her crimes was voting against gay marriage in 2007 (bearing in mind she is a quite elderly religious lady) and recently she has been campaigning for women's rights which is seen as anti-transgender. However, the author who led the pitchfork waving mob has just been cancelled himself for much worse comments also made in 2007. What goes around, comes around.

Sadly there was no room for freedom of speech, expression or ideas. (Or the fact that people can change their minds and opinions over a decade later). This has lead to the accusation that the Prize is punishing people for 'wrongthink' and will only promote books where the author complies with the approved message. I don't want to drag this thread into all that, but there was plenty about it on the FWR board.

I thought last year was a joke with the way the prize was awarded. I also think it was a mistake to change the criteria for the prize as can be seen with 9 US books making the list this year. The Prize isn't living up to what it was created for.

16. Wuthering Heights by Emily bronte

mackarella exactly that. I listened to the currently head of the Prize speak about the decision on the Today show on R4 and the arguments were flimsy at best. For me now the Prize has lost any credibility or integrity.

Thanks @FortunaMajor I missed all that. Crikey.

Maybe it’s time for a new big money UK award to step up.

23. The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis

I started reading a book on the life and works of the brilliant Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (which I am sure that you can't wait to hear about ) but also finished this on the side.

I had watched and enjoyed the film starring David Bowie many years ago, but remembered just a vague notion of its plot. As happens often in such movies, the book did not disappoint - it was surprisingly interesting, realistic, and cynical about the human condition especially considering that it was published in 1963, just a few years after the ridiculous nonsense that was Nevil Shute's On The Beach with its "Oh I'll just drink sherry and respect fishing season while waiting for everyone to die in a few months" muppets.

This is the story of a humanoid alien who comes to Earth using up the last of his planet's remaining resources, in order to get rich with patents based on alien technology, build a rocket, and bring what is left of his species to Earth, and incidentally save us from ourselves by preventing a nuclear war and other manmade disasters. Humans being what we are, that is not what happens.

I enjoyed this book not only for its interesting story but also its characterisation and imagery. The flight of Icarus that appears as a painting in the beginning of the story proves to be ominous foreshadowing. The slow decline of the main character into alcoholism and depression as he assimilates to human society reflects the depression and alcohol dependence of the other characters in the story.

Actually, Cote, I genuinely can't wait to read your review as I am a tad obsessed with French Baroque music at the moment . So I am totally up for a book that discusses Les Indes Galantes or the Pièces de Clavecin in depth. (Charpentier and Marais FTW, though.)

I’m also swerving the Booker. Their behavior recently has been woeful. The Baroness has been very active supporting women’s rights and questioning gender ideology where it conflicts and for that she has been cancelled. Disgraceful of them.

I’ve just started The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan. Not sure it’s going to be for me.

mackerella - You are my new best friend If you AS "Baroque" under my name, you should find numerous posts on this subject. More specifically, I think you will be interested in this book about Rameau which was excellent.

I love Rameau's keyboard works - not just Pièces de Clavecin but its second book and the Nouvelles Suites. They are exquisite and I have been trying to play them since I started learning the harpsichord (clavecin) at the Conservatoire here. Here are some of my efforts from 2016-2017:
Gigue en Rondeau
Entretien des Muses
Rappel des Oiseaux
Gavotte et Six Doubles
Courante from the Nouvelle Suites.

They actually make me cringe because I now see how bad my technique was several years ago, especially regarding the ornaments I can play them a lot better now, even though I have not had access to the Conservatoire's lovely harpsichords since March.

@Palegreenstars

Thanks *@FortunaMajor* I missed all that. Crikey.

Maybe it’s time for a new big money UK award to step up.

I'd missed it all too. I concur with *PaleGreenStars.

Another one here disappointed by recent decisions by the Booker people.

54. The Most Fun We Ever Had, Claire Lombardo

This was a disappointment for me. I don't generally mind books about privileged, attractive white people in which not very much happens - I mean, it's not a genre of book that I actively seek out but when done well they can be great (see The Dutch House which I loved). But this one did nothing for me.

Firstly, it's way too long and repetitive - if it was half the length it would have felt sharper and more focussed. There's not enough going on to justify it being 500+ pages. Secondly, she makes use of the back-and-forth-in-time structure which, although overused, can be very effective when done well (see again The Dutch House - sorry!). But she builds up these big mysteries - who is the father of Violet's baby? What DID happen between Wendy and Violet? - and then you find out the answer and it's just not very interesting. Then you feel bad because the stuff in this book (Someone has an affair. Someone thinks someone is having an affair but they're not. Someone dies. Someone gets ill but doesn't die. Many many people are pregnant and some of those pregnancies end happily and others don't) is the stuff of life, and it's not trivial. But Lombardo tries to make it all SO VERY MEANINGFUL to the point where you (or at least, I) just go "Meh - is that all?"

Also what is with everyone smelling each other all the time? And walking in on each other having sex then stopping to watch? Weird.

cote sounds good to me. It must be so satisfying to play music like that.

Concur re: Booker losing its way.

Oh keith I have Most Fun on my tbr

Satsuki loads of people, including lovely 50 Book people whose opinions I respect, liked it a lot. And I can see its good points (although I was too grumpy to mention them in my review 😂)

Finished David Copperfield! Oh glorious, glorious!

My lips are sealed until Readalongers Reassemble on August 1st!

Keith, that review sums up my view about The Most Fun which I’m about half way through at the moment. I’m enjoying it but it’s definitely a little meandering. It’s more the individual chapters I’m enjoying than the whole if that makes sense. Some of the observations on relationships are well done but the characters are all quite irritating. And yes, a lot of weird sex watching already. I shall stay alert for sniffing.

1. The Dragonbone Chair: memory, sorrow and Thorn book 1. Tad Williams

Saw this on one of those googled ‘fantasy books you must read’ lists as I do love fantasy. However had I realised what I was letting myself in for I would never have started.
Set in a land I can no longer remember this tells the story of a lowly drudge and his journey during a time when the king turns to an evil/other worldly force and his journey to help the brother of the king defeat him. I felt hooked for a while until I realised the book was never ending but with no major drama to keep me hooked and too many characters that I couldn’t follow or care about. I ended up leaving the book for a while and came back to it and have finally finished. However being part of a trilogy (or more I haven’t checked) I feel like by finishing this book I have maybe just got to the beginning of the story where it might get good. Torn as to whether to go for the next segment or just leave it be. A break from it is definitely required (although I will inevitably forgot the rest of the characters if I pick it back up again).

@mackerella . I do think the author tried too hard to set the scene and it would be easy to drown in the ocean of facts. Personally I probably wouldn't go back. It was pleasant but there are so many better books!

https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk has some fascinating information about the Fuegians in TTOD if the book has piqued your interest.