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?

Oh, and I've also never read any Terry Pratchet, although I tried to read The Colour of Magic a few years ago and DNF - found it a total snooze-fest. Interesting to see the consensus that it's not very good (or typical of TP's later stuff); maybe I'll try Mort or one of the other books.

Love seeing everyone's shelfies! I actually sent most of my book to the charity shop last month after keeping them my whole life. Decided to free myself of books I've collected and will never read again. Not sure if I'm okay with the decision or if it hasn't become real yet! But will be much better for when I get my own place and can have a room of books that I love enough to keep!

Got the new Robert Galbraith delivered today... Its massive so can't read till I have time off as I can't carry it back and forth. And there's a lot of controversy going on over on twitter!

katef I really liked Nervous Conditions so interested in This Mournable Body too. I thought the Wilderness one looked quite promising. I also didn’t think I was interested in Real Life but heard an interview with the author on R4 and he came across so well that I would probably give that a go now and Burnt Sugar is one I’ve seen the least about so not sure.

I dont know that I'll bother - increasingly disjnterested in the Booker, had my eye on Nervous Conditions for a while though

Naked to the Hangman by Andrew Taylor
The final Lydmouth Crime novel
This was okay. It reminded me of the Galbraith Strike books in places, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. It was rather long-winded and clumsy at times, and didn't feature the two central characters enough. Having said that, the conclusion was okay, and he didn't I what I half thought he might do, so I was pleased about that.

I’ve also started the new Strike.

I didn't rate The Colour of Magic either, I'd go straight to Mort as I think it's the best of the ones I've read. I haven't read any of the later ones, I think I got about half way through before my reading tastes changed. I still would call my horse Binky if I ever got one though.

I'm another one who doesn't have loads of books at home. We've a small house, and so I try to cull often, and make use of the library or read on Kindle as much as possible. I have no organisational system whatsoever - everything's just shoved where it fits.

Thanks for the advice on Terry Pratchett and Discworld books.
I might try again, but not for a while, the TBR pile is big enough as it is.

Might try Good Omens, I know DD enjoyed that, and we generally have similar tastes.
I am loving the Shelfie pics. I'll post one in a sec

Here are my shelves (the tidier ones anyway )

On the subject of shelfies, an artist local to me takes commissions to paint portraits of your bookshelves - roowaterhouse.art/bespoke-shelf-portrait/. I keep dropping hints to DH that I really like them, but he's not taken the bait.

Resolves to tidy bookshelves instead of pretending to work. Honestly, I don’t know what’s happening with work but it’s suddenly gone very quiet and I don’t seem to have very much to do this week. Those bookshelves do need sorting in colour order.

I love all the shelfies! I was tempted to colour order mine until I realised just how many black or white covers I have so I think it would look a bit odd. Mine are vaguely themed for classics, lit fic, gen fic, historical fic, trash women's fic, trash men's fic, non-fic, reference. That way if anyone wants to borrow something I can waft them in the right direction. Size is the main consideration, I don't have it in me to alphabetise, but I do group similar authors or content together.

188. A Darker Shade of Magic - V.E. Schwab
     There are 4 parallel Londons which only a dying out breed of magicians can travel between. One rogue magician is smuggling items between the world with serious consequences.
     First in a trilogy of YA fantasy. I won't be reading the rest. An awful lot of words for not a lot of plot. It was for book club, I wouldn't have read it voluntarily.

189. Betty - Tiffany McDaniel
     1960s coming of age of a Cherokee girl with a difficult family. Set in the Appalachian mountains and based largely on the author's mother's life, this is beautifully written. It was very long though and would have benefitted from a bit of pruning.

Mine are pretty randomly organised anyway - i.e.just stuffed on to shelves and double parked (agree about the depth btw).

Sorry, not book-related but BookWitch I see you have Catan on top of your bookcase. Do you like it? I've played it a few times but never really got into it.

I'm more of a Carcassonne woman. And Ticket to Ride; US version.

Should I persevere?

I think it's largely gone unnoticed but Ken Follet has released a prequel to Pillars called The Evening and the Morning.

When/if I can face it (900 pages of misogyny) I will of course provide a comprehensive breastwatch, but a pre-emptive scan of a friend's copy provides
29 pairs of breasts - 6 used for the feeding of babies, 3 in relation to pregnancy
3 women are voluptuous, 12 are prostitutes , 20 are fucked and there are 16 explicit mentions of rape. 3 women are referred to as cows, 1 as a slut, 1 as a cunt and 10 are bitches.
Sounds like fun.
I check these things, so you don't have to.

Urgh!

Those paintings are great Turn, I love them, only problem is they're so realistic they look like photographs!

(Thanks for the responses ref The Glass Palace, NowA Nearly and Keith.)

@FortunaMajor

I think it's largely gone unnoticed but Ken Follet has released a prequel to Pillars called The Evening and the Morning.

When/if I can face it (900 pages of misogyny) I will of course provide a comprehensive breastwatch, but a pre-emptive scan of a friend's copy provides
29 pairs of breasts - 6 used for the feeding of babies, 3 in relation to pregnancy
3 women are voluptuous, 12 are prostitutes , 20 are fucked and there are 16 explicit mentions of rape. 3 women are referred to as cows, 1 as a slut, 1 as a cunt and 10 are bitches.
Sounds like fun.
I check these things, so you don't have to.

Urgh!

I wonder if he moonlights as a scriptwriter for the soaps or the tabloid press?

@Piggywaspushed You've just turned up in my DS's homework:

Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat and ass-mar,and specs, and a certain disinclination to manual labour

I'm sure you don't resemble that description

I am rather late to the shelfies but sharing some of mine now since I don’t have any book updates at the moment. Not much logic to any of mine except my Dick Francis one which is in chronological order...

On the subject of shelfies.....there's a very witty artist called Phil Shaw who specialises in prints of subversive bookshelves. A topical sample (the photo's from the Rebecca Hossack gallery):

I do like those personalised ones, though, Turn

I promised mine were untidy- here’s the ones in my so called office, most of which I can’t actually get to since DS came home from uni and dumped all his stuff in there. I promise the ones in the rest of the house are tidier.

Grr - mine are out of focus - maybe a good thing you can’t see my book titles! They’re in focus on my phone - did I pick the wrong size when uploading?

@highlandcoo
Well spotted, it's not mine, it's the DDs, they all play it. It's a bit of a mystery to me