50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Nine

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the ninth 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 still not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The previous threads of 2020:

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Tanaqui the rejection by family was also a running theme in Our Bodies, Their Battlefields. Absolutely heartbreaking after going through such horrific experiences that they lack the support of their family.

I've just got to the 'me, me, me' part of I am an island. She really needs to get over herself doesn't she?

Not a lot of reading going on here unfortunately but I'm at least managing to keep up with this thread! Just wanted to share the Wild Swans love, though I too read it many years ago and have no idea how it would hold up to a re-read.

Piggy I still haven't started OMF but I have high hopes to join you at the end of the December

No Pepe, any you'd recommend

I really like M Train, Eine. I have a small crush on Patti Smith, so I was super excited to see her talk when it was published and get a signed copy.
I think Just Kids is just wonderful, though. I buy it for quite a few young adults (actual young adults, not YA as defined by the publishing industry!) who I think will appreciate it. I may be due a re-read. I’m off to see if there is an audiobook of it as I’d love to listen to Smith read her story.

1. Shine, Pamela! Shine by Kate Atkinson

This was a short story that was free so I thought it would be something nice and pleasant. Feeling very mistrustful of anything that’s free now. The book builds up the picture of a long term divorced woman generally unhappy with live and her grown up children then BANG a massive bizarre twist that had me flicking back to reread thinking I must have missed something but no, it was just that shockingly bad and bizarre and then finished.

1. The worst witch by Jill Murphy

Got this out the library for my daughter as I had fond memories of it. She turned her nose up at it so I decided to reread it. Definitely not worth a revisit as is very much written for a young child and as an adult I can see it’s not as great as I remember.

10. 11.22.63 Stephen King. Felt like this took me ages and now off to read something gentle and light hearted.

My TBR list is getting close to 50 from following these threads, obviously my actual read won’t be anywhere near that but I look forward to seeing how much I may read next year.

A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin I first read this some 40 odd years ago and had remembered enjoying it as a quietly and understated romantic read. However it is a far more bleak, and as such realistic, portrayal than I had remembered. It was published in 1947 and tells the story of a day in the life of German-born Katherine, now living in England, as she escorts a work colleague with toothache home (via a horrendous visit to a dentist) and then awaits a possible meeting with her former penfriend, Robin. The middle section relates to the summer she spent with Robin and his family, when they were both still at school.

The writing, as you would expect from Philip Larkin, is lovely but the emotions he describes are often quite desolate, as are the descriptions of 1940s England, and I found it a much more unsettling read this time. I listened to the Backlisted discussion on A Girl in Winter but was rather disappointed that they didn't discuss the significance of Jane (Robin's sister) or why Katherine was now in England, which is hinted at in the book and can certainly be imagined given the time in which it is set. A Good Read, but perhaps a bit stark for some at this time.

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell This was a terrific book, recommended upthread (I'm sorry I can't remember who by, but thank you). It tells the true story of Virginia Hall, an American woman with a wooden leg, and her remarkable work with the SOE in France. She was incredibly brave and achieved extraordinary successes which although not always recognised at the time, changed the course of the war. She also faced appalling discrimination as a woman (not surprisingly she kept her disability largely hidden) and her amazing achievements and integrity both during and after the war were only fully appreciated after her death.

Me and Fortuna are the Purnell ravers. Her Clementine Churchill bio First Lady was excellent as well

Eine there's a new book out in a similar vein called Agent Sonya that I'm waiting for from the library. I think it might appeal.

@FortunaMajor, thank you, I will try and get hold of that.

Ooo

Pricey 👀

I think I probably gave up on Wild Swans before the finger up the bum - although I'd almost certainly choose my finger up someone's bum, or, indeed, someone's finger up my bum, rather than trying to read it again.

49. Street Child by Beryl Doherty. A reread of a children’s book about how Barnardo’s charity started. Following the story of young Jim who faces lots of hardship and abuse. Just as powerful as I remembered.
50. Case Histories Kate Atkinson. A re-read. Atkinson is so good at that very British family / investigative drama isn’t she? Unlike Rowling I never think she needs an editor. So much of this novel had stayed with me - especially the horror of the crimes.

Phew happy to have reached 50. Was hoping for 100 before pandemic related distractions and a good portion of these are cozy re-reads / audio but also some gigantic tomes so I’m happy.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Me and Fortuna are the Purnell ravers. Her Clementine Churchill bio First Lady was excellent as well

Another one for the wish list.

@FortunaMajor

Eine there's a new book out in a similar vein called Agent Sonya that I'm waiting for from the library. I think it might appeal.

And another one for my ever expanding wish list. Thank you both.

Eine hopefully it will come down in price soon, or appear on a deal.

228. Rodham - Curtis Sittenfeld Much reviewed recently. This didn't really live up to my expectations. I wanted more from it. It fell a bit flat and I agree it was an odd way to deal with a living person.

1. Year of Wonder – Geraldine Brookes
2. 1984 - George Orwell

3.Into the Water – Paula Hawkins

1. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold – Jon le Carre
2. Nutshell – Ian McKewan
3. The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd
4. The Girls – Emma Cline
5. A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara

9.Love’s Executioner – Irvni D Yalom 10 .Beside Myself – Ann Morgan 11. Too Close – Natalie Daniels 12. The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides 13. Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng 14. Educated – Tara Westover 15. Lowborn – Kerry Hudson 16. The Woman in the Window – AJ Finn 17. The Hearts Invisible Furies – John Boyne 18. Different Class – Joanne Harries 19.The Family Upstairs – Lisa Jewell 20. The House we Grew Up In – Lisa Jewell 21. A Town Like Alice – Neville Shute 22. The Institute – Stephen King 23. A Nearly Normal Family – M.T Edwardsson 24. A God in Ruins – Kate Atkinson 25. The Binding – Bridget Collins 26. Something in the Water – Catherine Steadman 27. Mr Mercedes – Stephen King 28. My Lovely Wife – Samantha Downing 29.The Familiars – Stacey Halls 30.Transcription – Kate Atkinson 31.The Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris 32.Big Little Lies – Lianne Miriarty 33.The Beekeeper of Aleppo – Christy Lefteri 34.Blood Orange – Harriet Tyce 35.The Narrow Bed – Sophie Hannah 36.Cilka’s Journey – Heather Morris 37.Just My Luck – Adele Parks 38. The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield 39. Where The Crawdads Sing – Delia Owen 40.My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrente 41.Brooklyn – Colm Toibin 42.Love is Blind – William Boyd 43. The House of Spirits - Isabelle Alende (re-read) 44. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry 45. Invisible Girl – Lisa Jewell 46. I can't for the life of me remember 47. American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins 48. The Girl with All the Gifts – M.R. Carey 49. The Dutch House – Ann Patchett

50 Ordinary Thunderstorms – William Boyd
I usually really enjoy WB. 'Restless' is probably in my top ten books of all time but I found this a bit meh. It is presented as a thriller but on that basis, it lacked.... well thrills, I suppose. There were no twists and turns really (which is fine - not every thriller should rely on them) but the narrative was just to gentle for it to really grip.

Topline story is that a very normal middle class chap, stumbles into a world of Big Phara/Espionage/Military Hitmen and allsorts, so has to disappear in order to stay alive. As a result, he finds himself living on the fringes of society and WB attempts to explore the paradox between that lifestyle and the fat cats of the pharmaceutical world. The narrative/story is good enough but there are loose ends, unbelievable relationships and it just didn't feel as robust as a WB usually does.

77. Help the Witch - Tom Cox

Crowdfunded collection of short stories based around British folklore and the supernatural. Wasn't sure about this to begin with as the first story just kind of set up a spooky scenario and then... ended, and there were quite a lot of overly quirky metaphors that felt jarring. But I was glad I stuck with it as some of the later stories were much better. The final one, focused on teenagers in a Nottinghamshire village, really came alive and I suspect was based on Tom Cox's own youth (minus the uncanny old woman, hopefully). Although I can hold onto t'thought that I'm in t'North without quite so much literal transliteration of t'accent.

Hello all, I haven't been posting much recently as we're away from home on a much-delayed holiday! Have taken many books, obviously, but will leave the actual reviews until I'm back home and not typing on my phone.

Palegreenstars, snap - I've been (re-)reading the Jackson Brodie books this week! (Also, congrats on reaching 50!)

Thanks for the Britten tip-off, Fran. I've been toying with the idea of buying House of Music for the last few weeks, as I'm embarrassingly obsessed with the Kanneh-Mason family. Your review has just tipped me over the edge .

I've just finished I am an island. About all I can add to what has already been said is that it is not a book to read if you are lonely, it's not a book to read if you are painfully aware of your inadequacies and it's not a book to read if you are grieving. Towards the end of act 2 and most of act 3 is unbearably relevant.

Not sure where I was up to but I'll update the last two.
66. Lockdown - Peter May*
Basically purchased to read a book set in a similar lockdown that was felt to be unrealistic. A body is found of a child in London during a total lockdown of London due to bird flu. This was quite interesting although some of it seemed a little unattached to emotions. Definitely a book of the times and I'm sure will be purchased a lot due to current situations.

67. Troubled Blood - Robert Galbraith This I loved! I can't believe how many people will be missing out on this due to a slight reference of a man in womans' clothing. 927 pages long and I loved every minute of it! Completed in 5 days with just night time reading . Loved the investigation and Strike and Robin's stories in this book and I think it will be brilliant in the series too!

I had to come on and share the love for it because I felt some of the others lost me a bit but not this one despite it being so long!

Now what to read to follow this up?

Matilda2013 That leads nicely into my update!
35. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
I was so absorbed in Troubled Blood, listening to the whole thing in less than a week, that when I started this immediately afterwards I did feel that it would probably struggle to compare. I throughly enjoyed it though. The start builds up quite gradually, with lots of background on the type of neighbourhood and the characters. What I had heard was the main plotline, the controversy about whether a Chinese-American baby should stay with her adoptive parents or return to her mother, doesn't actually begin to develop until about halfway through by which time I was invested and intrigued to see where the novel was going. To me, the cleverness of the writing revealed itself gradually - issues of race are handled subtly but grow and the key theme of what makes a parent-child relationship was handled brilliantly I felt. It all felt light as the novel opened but this was an enjoyable read with depth.
Been reading The Dutch House this week but reading has slowed to 5 mins a day before I fall asleep so I think I'm only about 60 pages in.

@CluelessMama oh I'm thinking I may need a break from reading today. But I do have Little Fires Everywhere still to watch on Amazon Prime may give that a go!