50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Ten

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the tenth (and final?) 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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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

I've just checked and these threads this year have moved more quickly than any other year since they started back in 2012! We'd never reached ten threads in any other year.

mackerelfa - I think it's a good one for a book group, lots of different points for discussion in there at least

WhiI I didn't love Queenie, I did find it pretty readable and thought-provoking, with the main thought it provoked being "Thank God I'm not 20-something anymore".

I loved Queenie but also came away with the - thank god I'm not 20 something feeling too. I think there's a lot in there to talk about for a book club.

197. Circe by Madeleine Miller

No need to synopsis as everyone here has either read it or knows about it.

I loved A Song Of Achilles and bought this years ago. I had a 2 year reading hiatus before this year but I still don't know what took me so long to read this.

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Easy Top 10 this year.

100: Creed Country - Jenny Overton

To my surprise, I've somehow managed to reach my goal of hitting 3 figures this year, which I honestly never thought I would do. In typical style, though, I managed to read two books in the wrong order so, as mentioned above, this is actually the first of Overton's novels introducing the Wentworth family, first published in 1969. The central figure here is Sarah, middle child in this 8-strong brood, who strikes up a slightly prickly friendship with neighbour (and only child) Stephen, son of the local vicar.

Their bond is sealed by a joint interest in Tudor documents from a local family discovered in the church and which Stephen is transcribing, slightly furtively since he isn't supposed to be keeping them. Together they trace the story of three siblings who met sad fates in the turbulent 1570s.

This was an interesting read and as with The Nightwatch Winter had undeniably strong echoes of Antonia Forest (large families, Catholic vs Protestant, a girl and boy sleuthing through historical documents - JO even uses the quintessentially AF expression 'a huha' at one point). But the sub-plots were a bit dull (eg a music competition that didn't really add much to the narrative), and most of the relationships within the Wentworth family centred around constant bickering and argument, which got quite wearing very quickly - I could quite cheerfully have throttled the youngest child, Monica, who seems to be a complete brat.
I'm still pleased to have tracked it down and read it, though.

Thank you @EineReiseDurchDieZeit, I have added it to my Overdrive requests.

87. Then by Morris Gleitsman Sequel to Once; again I read this to my class and they were gripped. The narrator is a 10 Yr old Jewish boy in Nazi occupied Poland, and horrible things do happen, but there is some positivity and humour too. I think I skim read this a while ago and didn't think much of it, but it reads aloud really really well, a definite recommendation if you have 10-12 year old.

88. Passing by Nella Larsen. Tbh I am glad I only paid 49p for this; although I thought it was a great topic, I found the writing overly stylised- I don't like that kind of distanced narration- and the ending was a bit weak. Would not rule out looking for more by the same author though as there were interesting moments.

Oh my goodness, the relief of finding I'm not the only person in the world that didn't like Queenie. I do like Sally Rooney so I don't think it's just that I'm too old for angsty twenty-somethings.

I liked both Queenie and Normal People a lot, despite the fact I'm hurtling downhill towards 40 at an alarming rate. It might be because I'm passionately nostalgic for the headier days of my 20s (and possibly a prime candidate for some sort of tragic midlife crisis ).

My annual plea for recommendations for shortish, easy reads!

4 books short of my magic 50 although I hope to finish Ann Patchett's Bel Canto tomorrow night.

I usually get a head start with the New Year break and then lose ground over the year. Barack Obama's autobiography took a bit longer than I thought - worth it though!

Recommendations gratefully received!

@OllyBJolly Adam Kay's This Is Going to Hurt is an easy read about the life of a junior doctor, as is A Bit of a Stretch, I can't remember the author, but it's about a film producer who ends up spending time in one of London's roughest jails. it's a bit grim and depressing in parts, as the system is rundown, and can be manipulated, but in other places it makes prison sound like a jolly jape
on a more meaningful level We Should All Be Feminists by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie is v short and interesting, as is Alastair Campbells The Happy Depressive.

Thank you, @ClosedAuraOpenMind. Read all of these except Alistair Campbell which I will add now.

@OllyBJolly

I did similar earlier on to get me through the 170's

The Guest Cat
Before The Coffee Gets Cold
The Lonely Postman books by Denis Therault
Daddy by Emma Cline
Lanny by Max Porter

84 Charing Cross Road is a short and wonderful read.

Christy Malry’s Own Double Entry by BS Johnson is short, funny, sad and completely unlike anything you have ever read before.

Ooh - thank you.

I think 84 Charing Cross Road isn’t on kindle but I’ll order the book seeing as I’m not going anywhere anytime soon! Thank you @southeastdweller

I’ve listed all yours@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

On that recommendation @PepeLePew that one is next up!

That should keep me going into 2021 - very much appreciated!

I'd second the recommendation for Christy Malry - on a rather different note, if you enjoyed the What Katy Did books when you were small, the the later (& aimed at adults) sequels Clover and In High Valley are available for free on Kindle & are charming short reads.

OllyBJolly I started the year with Kate Atkinson's Festive Spirits, which is a very small book (about 80 pages, iirc) of 3 short stories with a Christmas theme.

I bought Passing a few months ago, immediately after I'd read The Vanishing Half and was looking for other (better?) treatments of the same theme. It was a paperback version, though, and I paid considerably more than 49p for it!!

OllyBJolly - there are some short easy Nancy Mitfords including Christmas Pudding which would be a timely read....

If you want very very short (and again timely) there is A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.

Sorry things have been so rubbish @InMyOwnTier4ChristmasIdiom

161. Anthony Horowitz - The House of Silk

Waited ages for this - reserved it but of course library closures meant they weren't processing reservations - then had to race through it as someone else was waiting for it, only for Boris to plunge us into tier 4 and the library to close again anyway, so I can't return the book. Bah humbug.

This is Horowitz writing an 'unpublished at the time' Sherlock Holmes story; it's written from the POV of Dr Watson as usual and explained as being kept from publication due to the scandalous nature of the case. It's true to form - there were a couple of things which I wasn't sure were accurate but will accept that the proof-reader/ editor had checked them before me! - and jolly good fun really. I will add that I preferred Moriarty by the same author as I didn't think this was quite as good, plus I saw the twist coming (the one in Moriarty took me completely by surprise!), but still a worthwhile read.

Currently ploughing through The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle which I'm hoping will get more interesting/ understandable fairly soon, up to page 70 of 500 on my Kindle edition...

Don't hold your breath on that front Clara

198. Relentless by Wudasie Nyzagi

Earlier in the thread I read I Will Not Grow Downward by Yikealo Neab, the story of an Eritrean refugee conscripted into the army of his nations failed state.

This is the same story told from the point of view of his wife Wudasie.

When their daughter Titi is diagnosed with a heart complaint Wudasie secures a lucky break to get her to America for treatment. She leaves behind her husband and toddler. Upon leaving she fully means to return and reunite her family but once there it becomes clear America can offer her and her family more.

I think it's worth reading stories about places about which I know nothing, it reminds you of how lucky you are.

@mackerelfa, sorry- I actually think I was a bit harsh on the stylised writing in Passing, for some reason I thought it was written recently (either being stupid, or misread the 1920s for 2020!), and that style was (I think) more common/normal then. And it was interesting!

89. Crossing heart by Lisa Evans. Noel (from Old Baggage) is evacuated during the war- I really enjoyed this, it is easy to read, but it is also a slightly different ww2 story, yet also feels fairly authentic, and is very charming. Just waiting for the last one from the library.

Well done on reaching 100, Terpshichoreindeer!

I made more sense of Queenie when I got into the later parts of the book which address the issues of her self-destructive behaviour, but yes, I think I commented at the time that I felt I'd had enough of the Carty-Williams/Rooney/Moshfegh heroine, with her utter self-absorption, inability to communicate, and relentless self-abusive behaviour. I did like the humour, and would be interested to read what Carty-Williams writes next.

91. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

If you want a quick, Christmassy read then this is just the thing - it's free via Gutenberg too. Two things I especially loved: the vivid descriptions of how London people spent Christmas in the 1840s, and the amount of genuine Dickens which turns out to have made it into the Muppet version. Yar boo sucks to all the Muppet haters, it's an excellent adaptation!

92. The Other Americans, Laila Lalami

One night in a small town in the Californian desert, a Moroccan man (immigrant, local business owner, father of adult children) is run over and killed at a badly-lit junction. The police treat it as a hit-and-run, his family (in particular his younger daughter, Nora) believe it was deliberate.

This book is a successful hotch-potch of family drama, crime novel and state of the nation. As Nora navigates her life after the loss of her father, Lalami uses a diverse cast of characters to probe some of the divisions in modern American society - class, race, politics, gender. Good satisfying ending too which doesn't happen very often.

I've been wondering whether I can push through to 100 before the end of the year but just had a notification that the library ebook of Apeirogon is ready for me (I love Colum McCann and this has had great reviews everywhere including here) so I think it'll be that and maybe 1-2 others and that will be me for 2020 :)

Well done on the 100 Terps.

Keith I'm having a similar dilemma. My next milestone is so close and yet so far. I could manage it with short easy books if I don't talk to anyone over Xmas. I think I'd rather read something of more quality than reach an arbitrary target that ultimately nobody but me cares about. It's not like books expire on 31st Dec. She says to convince herself.

I really enjoyed The Other Americans and her non-fic on the immigrant experience in the US.

I've got a few updates to do, but they'll have to wait until later.