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?

Jeez Remus the pressure. It's short anyway.

Two threads would be too complicated in my opinion.

I'd really be sorry to see the lists go I'm afraid (jumps off fence).

I like the lists too.
Though am not posting mine this time round as it’s temporarily marooned on a desktop on a laptop with no power cable. So...next thread maybe :-)

Okay. Defeat accepted.

Finally taken the time to look at the Kindle Monthly deals. How very disappointing!! I did buy the The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain though.

I’m quite relieved it’s crappy on the monthly deals this month it was getting out of hand.

I'm reading the diaries of a well known person in the UK who was sent to present for four years. I met this person once and thought they came across as rather smug and arrogant, reading the diary has confirmed that and then some - they are even more arrogant than I thought they were from the brief encounter I had with them. They had a rough few years entirely of their own making and I am, uncharacteristically for me, thinking that they deserved it.

1. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
2. An inspector calls
3. Macbeth - Shakespeare

4. The Road to Avalon - Joan wolf 5. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy 6. A little life - Hanya Yanaghira

1. The castle of otrano - Horace Walpole
2. A simple favour - Darcey Bell
3. The trauma of everyday life - Mark Epstein

10. Dracula by Bram Stoker 11. Miss Perigrine’s home for peculiar children by Ranson Riggs 12. Labyrinth - Kate Moss 13. Food and Nutrition 14. Biology for Cambridge IGCSE 15. Edexcel IGCSE Geography 16. Cambridge IGCSE history option B 17. Wuthering heights by Emily Bronte 18. The catcher in the rye - J.D Salinger 19. Gone with the wind - Margaret Mitchell 20. ASOUE, the bad beginning by Lemony Snicket 21. The picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde 22. ASOUE the reptile room - Lemony Snicket

And adding my most recent read
23. The enchanted forest - Jeanne Willis

A book about children Eliza and Jack on their weekend to Alton Towers enchanted village resort. Eliza believes in fable folk and her brother jack and parents tell her that it isn’t real until strange things begin to happen!

I rather liked this book and managed to read it quite fast. Currently at Alton Towers for DB’s birthday and staying in the woodland lodges, they actually gave two of these for free! despite the fact that 16+ is an adult and I’m actually starting to look my age with my eyeliner and nose piercing It’s rather sweet and I’m tempted to read the rest of the series!

Book 47 The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

Newly widowed Elsie moves from London to her late husbands abandoned, country pile. Only just wed and now pregnant she is accompanied by her drab cousin Sarah. She finds the house servants surly and the house itself dark and unloved, with strange noises in the night and stories about how the villagers will not set foot on the grounds for fear of witchcraft.

Elsie explores and finds an old diary written by the former mistress of the house along with a realistic painted figure of a young girl. A gothic tale unfolds that reveals secrets held by the house and Elsie herself.

This is a spooky and atmospheric read in the classic haunted house style. A jolly good gothic romp.

What book @bettsbattenburg ? Sounds interesting

I can guess who it is.

bettsbattenburg is it Paddington Bear?

I like that we’ve now possibly spent more posts discussing whether we should have lists than we did posting lists. It’s good to have a review of how things are done every now and then, though it doesn’t surprise me that bookworms generally also love a list

It’s the consummate storyteller and matchless spinner of extraordinary tales, bestselling author beloved of his fans and former politician isn’t it?

Curtain Up by Noel Streatfeild
I don't think I'd ever read this one, which I found in a charity shop. If I had, it was as a child and I'd totally forgotten it.
It features siblings whose mother has died and dad is missing in action in World War 2. When their grandad also dies, they end up in London with an actress grandmother, and are sent to the same performing arts academy that the Fossils went to.
I found it quite disjointed, with far less of a sense of story and character development than Ballet Shoes. It started slowly and then ended all in a rush, and just felt generally a bit clumsy. Some ideas just seems to be lifted entirely from Ballet Shoes, and th e working class characters are horribly stereotypical.
Having said all that, the siblings were sweet enough and it was a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours.

@BestIsWest

It’s the consummate storyteller and matchless spinner of extraordinary tales, bestselling author beloved of his fans and former politician isn’t it?

The very same.

Never read a single one of his books, likely never will!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Never read a single one of his books, likely never will!

My parents liked them so I read them as I picked whatever I wanted off their shelves, I wish I didn't like them tbh.

@bettsbattenburg

I'm reading the diaries of a well known person in the UK who was sent to present for four years. I met this person once and thought they came across as rather smug and arrogant, reading the diary has confirmed that and then some - they are even more arrogant than I thought they were from the brief encounter I had with them. They had a rough few years entirely of their own making and I am, uncharacteristically for me, thinking that they deserved it.

Where did that present come from ?

I don't get chance to post often (although possibly that will change with the DC's imminent return to school ) but I like to read the lists!

1. Dianne Freeman - A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder
2. Ali Sparkes - Frozen in Time
3. Deanna Raybourn - A Treacherous Curse
4. Emily Organ - Christmas Calamity at the Vicarage
5. Michelle Paver - Wakenhyrst
6. Bella Forrest - Darklight
7. Bella Forrest - Darkthirst
8. Darkworld - Bella Forrest
9. Dianne Freeman - A Lady's Guide to Gossip & Murder

10. Meera Sodha - Made in India, cooked in Britain 11.Deanna Raybourn - A Dangerous Collaboration 12. Anthony Horowitz - Raven's Gate 13. Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing 14. Emily Brightwell - The Inspector & Mrs Jeffries 15. Emily Brightwell - Mrs Jeffries and the one who got away 16. Sarah Moss - Ghost Wall 17. Stephanie Garber - Finale 18. Enid Blyton - Five on a Treasure Island 19. Simon Barnes - Rewild 20. Rhys Bowen - Queen of Hearts 21. Elizabeth Peters - The Crocodile on the Sandbank 22. Prentice & Weil - Black Arts 23. Karen McManus - One of Us is Lying 24. Ann Patchett - State of Wonder 25. Karen McManus - Two can keep a secret 26. Enid Blyton - The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage 27. Terry Pratchett - Witches Abroad 28. Terry Pratchett - Maskerade 29. Terry Pratchett - Carpe Jugulum 30. Rhys Bowen - Love and Death among the Cheetahs 31. Mark Richards - Best Dad, the Beginning: 1 family, 3 children, 800 stories 32. Mark Richards - Father, Son & the Pennine Way 33. Louise Welsh - A Lovely Way to Burn 34. Marsali Taylor - Death on a Shetland Isle 35. Stevyn Colgan - A Murder to Die For 36. Ken McClure - Wildcard 37. Ken McClure - The Secret 38. PD James - Cover Her Face 39. Elizabeth Peters - The Curse of the Pharaohs 40. Clare Chase - Mystery on Hidden Lane 41. Rhys Bowen - Heirs & Graces 42. Emily Brightwell - Mrs Jeffries and the Missing Alibi 43. Clare Chase - Mystery at Apple Tree Cottage 44. Helena Dixon - Murder at the Dolphin Hotel 45. Helena Dixon - Murder at Enderley Hall 46. Ken McClure - White Death 47. Frances Lloyd - The Greek Island Killer 48. Frances Lloyd - The Bluebell Killer 49. Frances Lloyd - The Shetland Killer 50. Neil Forsyth - Delete This at Your Peril: The Bob Servant Emails 51. Lucie Whitehouse - Before We Met 52. Frances Lloyd - The Gallows Green Killer 53. Frances Lloyd - The Moon Killer 54. David Long - Bizarre England 55. JM Worgan - Life on the Spectrum. The Preschool Years. Getting the Help and Support You Need 56. Mark Richards - Father, Son & Return to the Pennine Way 57. Mark Richards - Father, Son & the Kerry Way 58. Alice Boardman - TOAST: Autism in the Early Years 59. Emily Organ - The Gang of St Bride's (Penny Green Series Book 9) 60. Laura Purcell - Bone China 61. Elizabeth Edmondson - A Man of Some Repute 62. Elizabeth Edmondson - A Question of Inheritance 63. Elizabeth Edmondson - A Matter of Loyalty 64. Maureen Johnson - The Hand on the Wall 65. Hazel Holt - A Time To Die 66. Hazel Holt - No Cure For Death 67. Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus 68. Emily Suvada - This Mortal Coil 69. Edward Marston - The Railway Detective 70. Bill Bryson - At Home 71. Edward Marston - The Excursion Train 72. Edward Marston - The Railway Viaduct 73. Terry Pratchett - Jingo 74. Edward Marston - Inspector Colbeck's Casebook 75. Edward Marston - The Iron Horse 76. Juno Dawson - Margot & Me 77. Jodi Taylor - Just one damned thing after another 78. Jodi Taylor - Doing Time 79. Edward Marston - Murder on the Brighton Express 80. Edward Marston - The Silver Locomotive Mystery 81. Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen - The Wife Between Us 82. Carole Lawrence - Edinburgh Twilight 83. Michael Siemsen - The Dig 84. Kayte Nunn - The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant 85. Agatha Christie - Poirot Investigates 86. Anthony Horowitz - Alex Rider: Skeleton Key 87. Anthony Horowitz - Alex Rider: Eagle Strike 88. Olivia Harvard - Confessions about Colton 89. Anthony Horowitz - Scorpia 90. Anthony Horowitz - Ark Angel 91. Anthony Horowitz - Snakehead 92. Anthony Horowitz - Crocodile Tears 93. Anthony Horowitz - Scorpia Rising 94. Anthony Horowitz - Never Say Die 95. Anthony Horowitz - Nightshade 96. Edward Marston - Railway to the Grave 97. Edward Marston - The Stationmaster's Farewell 98. Edward Marston - Peril on the Royal Train 99. Rachel Abbott - The Murder Game 100. MRC Kasasian - The Ghost Tree

And since then...

101. Elizabeth Peters & Joan Hess - The Painted Queen

The last (in terms of publication order) Amelia Peabody Emerson mystery. Such good fun!

102. Sophie Hannah - Haven't They Grown

I completely agree with the review of @InMyOwnParticularIdiom - a riveting read up to the implausible ending. Oh well.

103. Michelle Paver - Dark Matter

Much reviewed on here and spooky as can be! (Incidentally @JollyYellaHumberElla, I was so spooked by The Silent Companions that I actually had to leave the book in another room for a bit, what a wuss!)

104. Rebecca Tope - The Staveley Suspect

One of the Windermere murders series, chosen for me by the library. Entertaining enough although I could have done with reading at least one in the previous series to understand who everyone was

105. Freda Lightfoot - The Amber Keeper

A 99p Kindle read, bought because I'm interested in the Russian revolution and events around it. Found this frankly improbable though and annoyingly glib in places; a woman in the Lake District in the 1960s tries to find out the truth behind her grandmother's employment as a governess in Russia during the war years.

106. Frances Evesham - A Village Murder
107. Stella Cameron - Folly: A Cotswolds Murder Mystery

Readable but forgettable murder mysteries. In fact the second one was also irritating as it was written by an American author but set in England, and could have done with a good proofreading to remove the Americanisms

108. MRC Kasasian - Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire
109. MRC Kasasian - The Room of the Dead

The first two Betty Church novels, re-read because I enjoyed the third one so much. Bizarre but incredibly entertaining murder mysteries set during WWII.

110. Jodi Taylor - A Symphony of Echoes

Part of the St Mary's series of time travel books. Great fun

111. Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I'm sure most people have read this already - I had - but it was worth a re-read. I'd forgotten how entertaining it is!

112. Karen McManus - One of Us is Next

Sequel to One of Us is Lying, YA fiction at its best really. How do all these American teenagers get to live such incredibly glamorous lives though?!

113. Simon Brett - The Body on the Beach
114. Simon Brett - The Death on the Downs
115. Simon Brett - The Torso in the Town
116. Simon Brett - Murder at the Museum

I plodded through these books (they're quite short) whilst finding both the main characters quite irritating. Good plotlines though.

117. Suzanne Mulholland - The Batch Lady

Useful cooking/ storage tips especially if you are lazy short of time like me.

118. Debbie Young - Secrets at St Bride's

Billed as 'Malory Towers for grown ups' and only slightly more probable. Still, good fun and I'd read the next one if it was a free/ 99p read.

119. Ann Cleeves - A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy

Another library choice, passed the time on holiday, bit slow for me (never says in one sentence what can be said in three) but I got through it.

120. Ann Granger - Mud, Muck & Dead Things
121. Ann Granger - Rack, Ruin & Murder

'Countryside murders' series, lighthearted (if murder mysteries can be?!) and generally an easy read.

122. Lisa Riley - Honesty Diet

I imagine most people have seen Lisa's transformation and frankly I could do with some of her dieting magic! No 'quick fix' here and some interesting insights. I thought some of it was a bit idealistic - for example, she says she never snacks, and I would rather not but sometimes it's necessary after spending hours being frazzled by the DC! - but more inspiring than a lot of celeb 'self help' books.

123. Jodi Taylor - A Second Chance

Probably my least favourite of the St Mary's books due to the plot twist. I won't reveal it but the title is a bit of a giveaway!

124. Anthony Horowitz - Magpie Murders

A re-read before I can read Moonflower Murders; a really clever book, two murder mysteries in one.

125. Marie Browne - Narrow Minds

I have no idea why I enjoy these books so much but I really do. There's four in the series, a family move onto a narrowboat following financial difficulties and the books describe their lifestyle. I have no wish to live on a narrowboat but it's interesting to consider it!

126. Emma Kennedy - The Tent, The Bucket & Me

A re-read whilst on a camping holiday reassuring to read that someone has worse holiday experiences than me, as I sit in a tent in torrential rain...

127. Enid Blyton - Faraway Tree (three books)

I don't think I need to review these, but the book was 30p in a charity shop and it enabled me to roam down memory lane!

Haha RubySlippers yes it was certainly creepy! I liked Silent Companions better than Bone China.

45. Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins. A painfully shy 8 year old girl, the daughter of the Master of one of the Oxford colleges, has gone missing. Told from the perspective of the girl's nanny, this is a page turner with an interesting cast of characters and a well-executed unreliable narrator. Very enjoyable.

Or maybe the 70s and 80s series with Peter Davison is just my series and you can only have one

Museum I haven't watched the new All Creatures Great and Small yet; my memories of the old one are still very vivid so you could be right. Peter Davison as Tristan was my absolute favourite .. and I loved him in A Very Peculiar Practice too.

I'm finding JH's books - interspersed with more challenging reads - a nice escape from the pandemic and politics at the moment, and I think the large audience they had for ACGAS on Tuesday means that lots of people are looking for the same thing.

I finished the book by the arrogant one, I cost me 99p and was worth not a penny more nor a penny less. I'm glad I read it but because of the accounts of the experiences of others rather than the authors. I'd recommend it. The sycophantic reviews at the end are ridiculous. Pepys it is not

betts, I have to ask - and you were surprised that the 'master storyteller' and host of fabled Krug-and shepherds-pie parties was smug and arrogant.....why, exactly?!

I enjoyed the All Creatures revival very much and I am of the age to have watched the original series (had a crush on Peter Davison as Tristan). Although I loved Robert Hardy as Siegfried, I think Sam West is great casting.