50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Eight

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth 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, the sixth one here and the seventh one here.

What are you reading?

50. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

My apologies to all Terry Pratchett fans, as I know this series has a huge fan base.

I used to love fantasy. I fact I still do, but I read it avidly as a teenager in the 1980s. I read Tolkien, David Eddings, Anne McCaffery, Terry Brookes etc, but I somehow missed Pratchett, and I always felt it was something I should read, as it was right up my street as it were.

A couple of years ago I tried to listen to the Audible version narrated by Nigel Planer (Also a fan of him, so I thought "Excellent, this is going to be great.") It was however one of the few titles I've ever returned to Audible, as I literally could not figure out what was going on, but reading other reviews, I think this may have been due to poor audio quality rather than the book itself.

Anyway, roll on a couple of years and I tried again, reading the book this time and it was no better. I understand the chaos is part of the whole Discworld experience, but I honestly found it exhausting. I couldn't connect with any of the characters because it was so hard to keep track of who was bashing who over the head. The only character I really liked was Death (who only appeared briefly)

I know The Colour of Magic is not really considered the best of the series, and others have been suggested as good places to start but to be honest after two decent attempts at the series, I am not sure I'll be trying again.

Bookwitch, The Colour of Magic is really, really not one of the best Discworld books.
It and The Light Fantastic are my least favourite of the series, they’re very different in tone to the other Discworld books.

If you do reconsider trying Discworld again, then it would be better to pretend that The Colour of Magic doesn’t exist.
Mort, Wyrd Sisters or Guards, Guards would all be better starting points, depending on whether you like the sound of Death, witches or the City Guard best.

How was your run Pepe? As a 5k runner I'm very impressed by 7!

80. Touch by Claire North

This is about an entity called Kepler, who has spent many, many years jumping from body to body after the body it was born in was murdered. All Kepler, and other ghosts like it needs is the slightest bit of skin to skin contact to leap to a new host and possess them. Once the ghost leaves, the original consciousness regains control, with no memory of what happened while they were possessed.

The novel starts with Kepler’s current host being gunned down by members of an organisation dedicated to hunting and destroying ghosts. Kepler escapes, and after an initial flight, spends most of the book trying to fight back.

This was okay, but not great.

81. What’s in a Surname? by David McKie

As the title suggests, this is a study of surnames.
How they began, how they became established, how they can change over time, and so on. With disclaimers about how there’s all sorts of uncertainties around origins of particular surnames.

This was a bit of a mixed bag. There’s some bits that were interesting, but also other bits that were very dry.

The Booker shortlist has been announced:

www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/15/most-diverse-booker-prize-shortlist-is-also-almost-all-american-hilary-mantel

I'm shocked Mantel didn't make it.

I'm not. It doesn't reach the other two and there was some frank discussion IIRC about vanity nominations and favoured authors a few years ago. Looks like avoiding that.

The trouble is the Booker is supposed to be for the best book. She doesn’t have to beat her own previous, but what else is out there and I’d be surprised if she didn’t. It would be a rare debut author that could compete with her years of craft.

I understand why they haven’t though. They seem to not quite know what their place should be in recent years. It’s nice to see some new writers up there, but very US-centric.

A couple I’m interested in when I can get hold of them.

37. Charlotte – David Foenkinos Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon had a pretty traumatic childhood. As a young adult, shortly after finally discovering her talent for painting, she fell in love, and then had to flee Nazi Germany to start over in the South of France.
    I reeeeeeeaalllyyyy didn’t enjoy this. It’s one of those stories that must absolutely be told, because it actually happened to real people and was completely and utterly horrific but I’m not sure I wanted to read a novel about it. DD1 has to read it for school and I confess that I’m dreading her reading it. After only 10 pages the author had already covered two suicides, and it didn’t get any lighter from there until the bitter end.
    It had two redeeming factors for me: one being the fact that it sheds light on a true story, about an artist who lived and died during a horrific period of recent history. The second is the simplistic way in which Foenkinos tells Charlotte's story. Her story is sad enough without any additional embellishment.

Need something considerably lighter right now. Have been reading Girl on my Kindle but that is obviously not fitting the bill (!) so I might have to put to one side for a while.

In other news DD2 had to take the COVID PCR test this afternoon so we are now all stuck at home while we wait for the results

I was interested to read your review nowanearlyNicemum. There was a very well received exhibition of Charlotte Salomon's pictures at the Jewish Museum in London earlier this year which I had hoped to go to but sadly didn't get there. Link here if you're interested www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/06/charlotte-salomon-life-or-theatre-review-jewish-museum-london-graphic-autobiography

Fingers crossed for your daughter's COVID test.

Thanks for asking, boiledegg. It was slow and ploddy and only 6.6km in the end as I ran through a short cut that Google Maps hadn’t predicted. But I wasn’t going to go any further once I got there! I reached my destination and realised I kind of need that to get motivated - going out on a circular run feels worse than “oh, nearly there, from A to B”.
I too am a 5km runner (well, I run 5km....) so this is about trying something new. My running coach (Nike running coach from the app, I don’t have a running coach of my own!) says I need to mix it up and as I have a bit of a crush on him I am doing what he says. I’m never going to love running. But I am getting better which is exciting.

Agree v much with stitches about Colour of Magic I actually am quite fond of those first two but can see they’re quite different and Mort really takes off. All of stitches suggestions are good.

Hope your dd gets a good result and you’re not waiting too long nowannearly

Well done Pepe! (I don't love running either but I like the feeling I get when I stop.)

Thanks for that link boiledegg. I did look up Salomon's artwork once I'd finished the book and was delighted to see how very vivid and unapologetic her work is. Her story was tragic but her painting, and I guess her legacy, is anything but. In the book's epilogue Foenkinos deplores the fact that her life's work was housed, but not exhibited, in a museum in Amsterdam so it's good to know this isn't still the case.

I never did Discworld because I am very anal about series order and I couldnt get through Book 1

Pepe - yes, the ending of Under the Dome is right up there with, "And I woke up to discover it was all a dream."

The Colour of Magic is dreadful. It put me off TP for ages, and then I read and enjoyed The Hogfather which got me going on his others. The Death and Guards ones are by far his best. I don't really like the witches ones.

I agree the first two Discworld books are... not good, I still get twitchy whenever I read one of the later ones and Rincewind shows up. But I love the Guards and Witches series, and if I have the option will be coming back as Gytha Ogg in my next incarnation.

Pratchett refusenik here. DNF anything of his I've tried which makes me sad as so many friends love him.

I’ve also got mixed feelings about SK although I loved It.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Pepe - yes, the ending of Under the Dome is right up there with, "And I woke up to discover it was all a dream."

The Colour of Magic is dreadful. It put me off TP for ages, and then I read and enjoyed The Hogfather which got me going on his others. The Death and Guards ones are by far his best. I don't really like the witches ones.

I was enjoying Under the Dome except for the fact that a character in it had the same name as somebody I knew, I ended up not finishing it as I just thought of that character all the time.

Completely agree about Under the Dome - wtf!

46. Oathbringer: The Stormlight Archive Book 3 by Brendon Sanderson.

Continuing this entertaining Epic Fantasy series with the fourth coming out this year. 1000+ pages!

47. Vital Conversations: Making the impossible conversation possible by Alec Grimsley.

Interesting look at improving communication skills. A bit over-whelming but the last chapter has good advice about taking it all one step at a time.

48. Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (Audiobook)

I also enjoyed this audiobook with the additional jingles, asides and ending with a chat with Joe Cornish. Memoirs are tricky to write and I think this had the right mix with a good dollop of self-deprecating humour. Left me with a smile on my face. I love his podcast as well.

49. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart.

Short-listed for the Booker Prize this year, Douglas Stewart has written an intense and immersive book set in Glasgow. A coming of age story and a portrayal of a dysfunctional and broken-down family and community suffering from the policies of the Thatcher government in 1980’s Scotland. Bleak and hopeful with Scottish dark humour, I was impressed by this debut novel.

Loving all your shelfies, btw.. 😊 Definitely the forum for me!

I used to like Pratchett well enough, but somehow these days I just find his style really annoying (with the same books, not that the style has changed).

sadik it is a point I’m speaking from fond memory and haven’t read any Pratchett for a good few years now.

My shelfie! Only got one bookcase in my house unfortunately

What do people fancy reading from the Booker shortlist? I'll go for the two African ones as I've been collecting African fiction for years. I've read Nervous Conditions but will need to read the second one before embarking on The Mournable Body. The New Wilderness and Burnt Sugar sound interesting as well, the other two not so much.

Hello all, have been ill (beginning of term lurgy, but times a million this year) so haven't been posting much or reading much. (Or running much - I'm doing Couch to 5k but am starting to think I'll never finish if I keep getting ill like this . V impressed by Pepe!)

I think we must be birthday twins, Piggy!! Happy birthday for last Friday. I got a few books: a biography of Robert Hooke, a couple of cookery books and several books about Lego (I'm an unashamed AFOL - look it up ).

I'm loving all the shelfies. Will post a couple in a moment, including my favourite shelf - a paperback bookcase that I had made specially to fit along our landing and store some of my crime fiction collection. It is a source of endless frustration to me that most bookshelves are c. 30cm deep, which is far too deep for paperbacks. They end up being pushed to the back unless you double-stack them as I've been known to and it's also a massive waste of space. Wish more people would sell shelves that are only 15 or 20cm deep.