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?

Hugs to everyone who has been going through a rough time. My DF passed away suddenly last year and for a while all I could read was light and fluffy novels, same with my tv viewing. I get the disbelief of never seeing a loved one again, the feeling would just creep up out of nowhere but things are much easier now. Stay strong! X

Have you read Vice Versa by F Anstey Chessie ? It's from the 1880s & has the same premise as Freaky Friday . I read both of them when I was a teenager, & remember enjoying Vice Versa - looks like there's lots of free to read ebook options of it, so I might re-read it once I've made a bit of a dent on my library & kindle deal purchases! (Not helped by whoever pointed out that Castle in the Air was on offer )

@Terpsichore Business As Usual sounds lovely but hard to get hold of - going to keen an eye out for it!

I haven’t Sadik but have added it to my wishlist, thanks!

I've also got his Literary Landscapes waiting for me (a v cheap but from The Book People just before they folded) - I think someone has already reviewed that on here?

That was me, funnily enough I also brought my copy in the book people choosing down sale

Awww, Book People RIP though. Such a shame. Found it so useful at Christmas.

@Palegreenstars I briefly considered a Kindle version but then I thought a paper copy would be best, given the illustrations - Blackwell's do it for £10.99 with free delivery, but I got mine slightly cheaper (and new, with free delivery) from a seller on AbeBooks.

116. Delta Of Venus by Anais Nin

Recently I was bought one of those book of books and this from 1978 is listed as 'essential'

The blurb states :

"Anais Nin excites male readers and incites female readers and she comes against life with a vital artistry and boldness...Her vibrant and impassioned prose evokes the essence of female sexuality in a world where only love has meaning"

This book is as erotic as sandpaper to the groin. Horrendous. Like makes you wish Fahrenheit 451's dystopia was real life just so you could burn it.

Erotic if you find any of the following erotic :

Paedophilia/Incest
Underage Gang Rape
Rape
Rape Apology
Misogyny
Sexual Assault
Sexual Abuse
Prostitution
Exploitation
Literal Objectivity

Nearly DNFd several times but it is short and I wanted to tick it off the list.

Feel sullied by it. Found it disgraceful. Don't think she'd have got it published today. Also feel like Mary Whitehouse.

Genuinely one of the worst things I've ever read.

Don't do it to yourself.

0/5

teaandcustardcreamsx

Some times of year can be hard, I often find the Spring quite difficult for one reason and another.

Another from me tonight

117. The Bitter Glass by Eilis Dillon

The title refers to my favourite Yeats poem

The Macauley siblings are young middle class people from Dublin who travel West for a summer break, with Ruth's stuffy fiance Colman and Paddy's friend Joe during the 1920's Irish Civil War. When an IRA strike disrupts train travel, their parents are unable to join them and they are left cut off and isolated, unable to summon help when the local branch of the IRA arrive in need of lodgings and their young cousins become ill.

A short, odd, but ultimately affecting novel that captures 'time and place' really well.

teaandcustardcreamsx

Persons Unknown - Susie Steiner
I liked the previous two Manson Bradshaw books very much but I wasn’t so keen on this one. Primarily because it focuses on modern slavery/anti immigration campaigns and I’ve read a few too many similar things recently I think.

That sounds really interesting Eine, the Dillon, not the Nin

182. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
     I know this is pretty universally loved on here, but I felt pretty ambivalent to it. It's one I've started and dropped a few times. The ending was a real let down from the rest of the book. I can see why others like it, but it wasn't really my thing.

183. Sisters - Daisy Johnson
     Two sisters 10 months apart in age have to move away with their mother after they try to deal with a bullying incident themselves at school.

I liked Everything Under, but enjoyed this a lot more. I feel I've been starved of quality writing for a while, and this really hit the spot. I was immediately captivated. Tight writing, not a word wasted. I have 2 sisters very close in age to each other and elements of this were uncanny. The blurb is deliberately vague and I'm not going to say too much either. Short but well worth a read.

184. Mother Land - Leah Franqui An American expat finds adapting to her new married life in Mumbai difficult enough, when her mother in law decides to move in and ruin her life.

I really enjoyed this despite it being quite predictable in places and the 'twist' being completely improbable. It explores two women learning to live together despite neither being willing to compromise. It rattles along and is a good light read.

Quickly posting my list so it isn't too far into the the thread. I've forgotten to post for a while and my bolds change depending on my mood when I post the list.

1.The Dilemma - B A Paris 
2.<strong>Dangerous Crossing - Rachel Rhys</strong>
3.The Testaments - Margaret Atwood
4.A Wedding in December - Anita Shreve 
5.The Other You - J S Monroe 
6.<strong>To The Lions - Holly Watt</strong> 
7.Here to Stay - Mark Edwards 
8.The Bigamist - Mary Turner Thomson
9.The Other Wife - Claire McGowan 
10.Finding Cupid - Bridget E Baker
11.All the Rage - Cara Hunter 
12.The Donor - Clare Mackintosh 
13.Who Did You Tell - Lesley Kara
14.I Wanted You to Know - Laura Pearson 
15.The Recovery of Rose Gold - Stephanie Wrobel
16.I Did It For Us - Alison Bruce
17.<strong>Half a World Away - Mike Gayle</strong> 
18.The Suspect - Fiona Barton
19.War Doctor - David Nott 
20.Tell Me Your Secret - Dorothy Koomson
21.<strong>My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russel</strong>
22.In Safe Hands - J P Carter 
23.Anything You Do Say - Gillian McAllister 
24.<strong>The Flatshare - Beth O'Leary</strong>
25.Keeper - Jessica Moor
26.Blood Orange - Harriet Tyce 
27.Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
28.How to Marry Your Husband - Jacqueline Rohen
29.The Chain - Adrian McKinty
30.Just My Luck - Adele Parks 
31.Strangers on a Train - Patricia Highsmith
32.<strong>Daisy Jones and The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid</strong> 
33.Little Disasters - Sarah Vaughan
34.The Craftsman - Sharon Bolton 
35.His & Hers - Alice Feeney
36.Missing Pieces - Laura Pearson 
37.Little White Lies - Philippa East
38.The Ice Cream Girls - Dorothy Koomson 
39.Pretending - Holly Bourne 
40.Seven Days - Alex Lake 
41.Those People - Louise Candlish
42.We Know You Know - Erin Kelly
43.All My Lies Are True - Dorothy Koomson 
44.The Dead Line - Holly Watt 
45.Just Between Us - Rebecca Drake
46.If You Could Go Anywhere - Paige Toon
47.The Volunteer - Jack Fairweather
48.Invisible Girl - Lisa Jewell
49.Last Lesson - James Goodhand
50.American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins
51.The Angel - Katerina Diamond 
52.The Promise - Katerina Diamond
53.Truth or Die - Katerina Diamond
54.<strong>Woman in the Water - Katerina Diamond</strong>
55.Missing, Presumed - Susie Steiner

Currently reading The Switch by Beth O'Leary

And after all that the bold failed

Palegreenstars I ordered it directly from the publisher for £12.99 (p&p free) at about 6 o'clock yesterday evening and had a lovely personalised confirmation email from them an hour later to say they would be posting it the following morning.

Thanks for the recommendation Terpsichore.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I totally agree about The Delta of Venus, I read it years ago, after hearing it was a feminist classic I thought it was so horrendous that I didn't even donate it, I had to throw it out.

Having got E. M Delafield in mind, I thought I'd read one of the Provincial Lady books I hadn't read before:

68: The Provincial Lady in Wartime - E. M Delafield

Actually this is so short it's more of a novella, but great fun nonetheless. At the outbreak of war our heroine is anxious to lend herself to the national effort, and leaves Robert and family temporarily behind when a friend offers her a small flat in central London (in Buckingham Street, just behind the Strand - funnily enough I used to have to go to meetings there and nowadays a flat in that street would be eye-wateringly expensive) so she can search for suitable war employment. The running joke is that everyone she knows is looking for 'something suitable' and everyone is constantly told there isn't anything, so she makes do by volunteering at a canteen for war-workers at the nearby Adelphi.

Much of the interest here is in the authentic historical detail of the phoney war period (it's set in the very early days of the war), but there's also huge enjoyment to be had from E. M. Delafield's trademark humour and character-sketches, which are highly entertaining.

Sadly, this was the last Provincial Lady book. Delafield's son died the same year this was published - 1940 - possibly as a result of suicide, and she herself became ill the following year and died in 1943, at only 53

@MamaNewtNewt

I have also strongly considered simply binning it.

@FortunaMajor

The Bitter Glass was a bit of a curio but I admired it. It sadly appears to be out of print, and not on Kindle/Audio mine was used.

Blimey, Eine - it sounds exhausting.

Thanks @Terpsichore and@Boiledeggandtoast going to definitely order that!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit that sounds like it might win the award for the biggest clanger of the year!

teaandcustaerdcreams my heart goes out to you

47. A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

I thought this was one of the best non-fiction books I've read this year. A very well-written and interesting account of the life of the little-known, but extremely talented Virginia Hall.
Brought up in a traditional well-off American family, she was expected by he mother to make a good marriage and become a society lady. After school, she showed no interest in marriage at all, and went to university to study languages and went to Paris in the late 1920s to complete her studies, where she excelled, acquiring fluent French as well as German and Italian.
In 1931, she joined the American diplomatic service as a secretay, and then lost her leg in a shooting accident. She was fitted with a wooden leg, which she called Cuthbert. She continued to work for the American consulates in Europe, but was constantly turned down for jobs as a diplomat, due to being disabled.
When war broke out in Europe, her mother tried to insist she returned home to the US, but instead she became an ambulance driver and after a fortuitous meeting, was recruited by the fledgling British Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a spy. After rudimentary training, she went back into France in 1941, under the cover of being an American journalist. While in occupied France, she almost single-handedly recruited and organised the people, and put in place the complex network of contacts that became the French Resistance. She was a master of disguise and an excellent judge of character, which contributed to her suvival. She went under many alias, and even though the Nazis knew that one of the most valuable member of the French resistance was a limping woman called Marie, she always managed to elude them.
She remained alive (and operational) until the end of the war, longer than any other agent of SOE.
After the war, she worked for the CIA, but her progress was always hindered by being a woman, and being disabled. She died in obscurity in the 1980s, with very few people knowing the enormity of the contribution she made to the French Resistance in WWII.
It was a very interesting read, well written and with enough accuracy to be informative but enough story telling to be compelling.
I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed The Alice Network.

teaandcustardcreams

It's 'interesting' (for want of a better word) how many of us have sadly found it hard to read when we are struggling with stressful times or bereavement. I was the same after my father died this year - I started many many books and abandoned them, i think it was weeks before I read more than 3-4 pages of a book. I think I read more on these threads than I read anywhere else.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie @Palegreenstars

It's only 220 pages..... of absolute torture

@BookWitch

A Woman Of No Importance is one of my standouts of the year also. I find it nearly criminal how I'd never heard of her and most people haven't when she single handedly pretty much held France for the Allies.

But she was a woman and disabled so who cares right?

And even today fat chance getting an Intelligence Services job as a woman with a disability due to ongoing prejudice

That whole side of it made me so fucking mad.

Book 48 Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins

I read this after seeing reviews on here. A little girl from a high profile but dysfunctional family goes missing. The nanny is the narrator as she is interviewed by police about a possible abduction.
Set in Oxford among the Town and Gown system of academia and civilian life. It made me want to revisit Oxford and explore the town.
A good mystery story and I particularly liked the intense and troubled character descriptions of Felicity (child) and the enigmatic nanny, Dee.