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.

249. Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime by Val McDermid

This was brilliant in a really gruesome way. It talks about lots of the methods used to solve crimes and identify bodies. There’s a whole chapter about how insects colonise dead bodies and how that can help work out how long it is since someone died. Other chapters are less obviously gross e.g looking at the info they can get from phones or facial reconstruction, but all chapters contain accounts of how the technique being discussed was used in real life cases. It’s not a book for the faint hearted as inevitably all the victims mentioned in the cases died in not very nice ways but very interesting if you want to know more about these methods.

250 Why Mummy’s Sloshed by Gill Sims

Fourth in the Mummy series - don’t think this was quite as good as the previous ones but still very funny, particularly the bit about her babysitting the toddler from hell, and nice light relief after the previous book! Gill is definitely a mumsnetter as the penis beaker thread gets a mention.

Eine - yes, I was really disappointed with it, having thoroughly enjoyed World War Z.

I liked Forensics a lot. One of the best of that type I've read, if not the best.

76. Diary of a Somebody by Brian Bilston I love him on Twitter, but this not so much. The fictional Brian Bilston populates a mundane world through a year where he underachieves and awkwardly handles social situations with poorly fleshed out characters, interspersed with poems. Even his poems barely raised a smile in this context. Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones did the whole in some ways charming but lacking self awareness diary thing better. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't the amusing treat I thought it was going to be.

75. A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie. One of her best, imo- although the "mittel Europa" is described very stereotypically (if you have read this, there is an interesting contrast between Mitzi, educated but working as a cook, and described as a liar; and Philippa, a 'lady', but working as a gardener, and also a liar- the latter gets rewarded with a husband and an inheritance, the former only gets to be helpful!), the lesbian couple are sympathetically done and the plot is a good one.

I was similarly disappointed Museum, it wasn’t what I hoped either - I also love him on Twitter.

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath This comes up so often on those lists of classics that I felt I really should have read it. Beautiful writing.

Thanks BestIsWest, I remember you not loving it either, so that reassures me that I'm not just a lone voice of grumpiness. It just seemed such a pointless exercise to wrap up his otherwise funny and insightful poems in that plodding pedestrian prose.

I've just started Old Baggage and in contrast that is zinging along in a most refreshing manner.

Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum Thought-provoking and worrying look at how democracy is being affected by increasingly polarized politics and the rise of authoritarian and nationalist ideas. She looks mainly at America and Europe, and cites examples of leaders appropriating history, pedalling conspiracies and neutering the independent media and judiciary. (She also seems to attend some very grand parties, although the guest list is constantly changing as they fall out over their political allegiances.) Following on from Luke Harding's Shadow State which I read earlier this year, I was left with the strong impression that we have absolutely no room for complacency in this country.

Returning to Reims by Didier Eribon This is a memoir of the author's return to Reims and the story of his life growing up in a working class family in the 1950s and 60s before "escaping" to Paris where he was able to pursue his intellectual life and come out as a gay man. He describes the very difficult life that his grandparents and parents had and the constraints on, and expectations of, people growing up in 20th century working class France. He also discusses how these entrenched circumstances impacted on his own life and broadens out his experiences to consider - with compassion and understanding - ideas of family, class, sexuality, gender and the changes in political allegiances of the French working classes.

I really enjoyed most of the book, but it did occasionally get bogged down in some very French intellectual philosophising ("It is undeniable that Althusser's concept returns us to an old fashioned Marxist dramaturgy - or better, an old fashioned Marxist logomachy ..."). This was a shame as most of the writing was very accessible. I read it as an Advanced Reading Copy which I picked up at a second-hand book sale and I did wonder whether some of the more impenetrable language might have been edited in the final copy. Anyway, don't let that quote put you off what was mostly a Good Read.

I felt the same about the BIlston book, like Best and Museum I like him on Twitter and have his book of poems which I enjoyed, the Diary just didn't do it for me.

96 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

I think this has been much read and reviewed on here. I really liked the combination of pastiche Victorian novel with the fantasy element. It really did feel like something that could have been published by the month in Household Words or similar (including some rather over-long & under-plotty chapters that felt like the author had a word count to meet on a short deadline ). Overall very enjoyable. Has anyone read her new book Piranesi - wondering if it'd be a good one to put on the Christmas list?

182. The Trauma Cleaner- Sarah Krasnostein Previously discussed on these threads, this audiobook describes a fascinating life but I should probably have chosen something more cheery at the moment.

183. Different Seasons- Stephen King An excellent compilation consisting of three novellas and a short story, only one of which (the latter) is in the horror genre. Predictably, I particularly loved Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body, upon which are based the superb films The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me respectively. I have since watched the films again and enjoyed them even more this time.

184. Finding Jasper- Lynne Leonhardt Set in Western Australia, partly around the time of the Second World War, this novel started well but didn’t really hold my interest.

185. The Hangman’s Daughter- Oliver Pötzsch This also didn’t really hold my attention, but I can’t complain too much as it was free on Kindle First.

186. Eleanor and Park- Rainbow Rowell I loved this- I raced through it and felt somewhat bereft at the end. I particularly enjoyed the bits about The Smiths and Joy Division and would have enjoyed even more references to music!

187. The Leather Boys- Gillian Freeman A Morrissey favourite of the kitchen sink genre, this describes a doomed love affair between two young men. Short, sweet and influential.

188. The Vinyl Detective: Victory Disc- Andrew Cartmel The third in the series, I enjoyed all the references to records (and cats) but I’m not sure how much longer I will continue with these.

47 Love is Blind - William Boyd
I really enjoyed this, starting in the Scottish Borders & Edinburgh, places I know well, it sweeps through Paris, Nice, Biarritz, St Petersburg & the Andaman Islands at the turn of the 19th century with a young Scots piano tuner and his passion for a Russian opera singer. He has a tyrannical, alcoholic, minister for a father, a recognisable trope of Scottish fiction and life, but all the places are well described and I really enjoyed the journey.

If anyone fancies helping me out, I started a books for Christmas presents thread.

@Sadik

If anyone fancies helping me out, I started a books for Christmas presents thread.

See you there Sadik, I just bought my Mum a book for Xmas.

Hi everyone. I'm just popping back to let you know that Neal Stephenson's spectacular cyber punk novel Snow Crash is Kindle Deal of the day. Don't miss it

Sadik, I enjoyed Piranesi. I thought it was strange and atmospheric. Quite different from Dr Strange and Mr Norrell, although you can feel the same sensibility at work.

86. Hotel Iris - Yoko Ogawa

Disturbing Japanese novel that you wouldn't want to give to your granny. Troubled 17 year old Mari works in the crumbling Hotel Iris, where she becomes intrigued by a guest, a much older man with whom she falls in a brutal S&M relationship. The sun-drenched beauty of her seaside town shines through the crisp, concise imagery, but this same visual power is used to illuminate things that most readers probably really don't want to see.

On a completely different note, my 4 year old has started to listen to audiobooks in the car, could anyone recommend any for that age group? So far she has enjoyed Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh stories. She can't read yet (still at nursery) but can follow stories at that level.

251. Doing Time by Jodi Taylor

Spin off from the St Mary’s series focusing on the Time Police. As someone said upthread, if you like St Mary’s you will like this. I do and I did!

Evening, 50 Bookers.
I fell off the old thread, just found the new one - thanks South. I'm not sure I've read anything since the last thread. At this rate I'll be asked to had my 50 Booker badge back. I'm firmly on Team List, so:

1. March Violets by Philip Kerr
2. Ring The Hill by Tom Cox
3. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
4. The Lost Man by Jane Harper
5. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.
6. Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver

7. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

1. The Secret Barrister - Stories of the Law and How It's Broken
2. Enigma by Robert Harris

10.Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata 11. Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner 12. The Citadel by AJ Cronin 13. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel 14. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid 15. Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner 16. A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe 17. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams 18. Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman 19. The Five by Hallie Rubenhold 20. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 21. In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott 22. Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins 23. Peaches for Monsieur le Curé by Joanne Harris 24. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins 25. Bone China by Laura Purcell 26. Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge 27. The Familiars by Stacy Hall 28. The Benefit of Hindsight by Susan Hill 29. The Murder of Harriet Monckton by Elizabeth Haynes 30. Elmet by Fiona Mozley

31. Inheritance by Jenny Eclair
Kittiwake is a Cornish mansion that has been handed down as a holiday home through the generations of one family. The main present day narrator is Bel, an adopted daughter we meet in her late middle-age, but the main focus of the story is on tragic events several generations back.

A relatively light read, but not too cheesy. I like Eclair's writing, and while she's obviously good at comic pieces I think her writing is well nuanced.

Current read is Jeremy Hutchinson's Care Histories, which is boring me somewhat. However I am 65% in, so consider myself committed.

166. Putin's People by Catherine Belton

I started this 4 months ago. It's only 480 pages. I had to dip in and out - absolute trudge, drains what should be an interesting and intriguing subject matter of any life whatsoever. Absolute beast of burden.

In a nutshell :

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely

But nobody needed this book to know that. Lots of boring financial shenanigans basically.

Welcome Back Screw

Eine That's a shame about the Catherine Belton book. I put her in the same stable as Luke Harding and Anne Applebaum and had been eyeing up Putin's People.

36. The lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch

Follows the story of Locke Lamora; the thorn of Camorr, a man who is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a friend to the poor and a ghost in the walls. Ever since he was a child, Locke had had a knack for stealing as he becomes highly recommended at the beginning. With his friends, the “Gentlemen Bastards” they steal things for enjoyment, yet don’t seem to give back to the poor instead deciding to keep things for themselves. A secret war threatens to destroy Camorr, and someone named the Grey King is at the heart of this. Locke and his friends were only used to stealing yet now find that they may have to add murdering to their agenda.

I rather enjoyed this. Following a young boy and his friends through a admittedly not the best choice of life yet it’s all they’ve ever known, only to see them be torn apart was heartbreaking. Secret identities, betrayals and murder along the way, these types of book tend to be my favourite type and while somewhat hard to follow along with at times, rather enjoyed it in the end

64. Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin

Got a new phone that didn't mess up the reading order of my books and found that I'd completely missed this, which I bought ages ago. Rebus' resurrection (not literal) continues following Exit Music and his return in Standing In Another Man's Grave , and he's managed to wangle his way out of cold cases and back into CID, although for how long is anyone's guess. Really enjoyed this foray back into the world of Edinburgh's pubs, seeing Siobhan Clarke taking charge and the introduction of a possible new "big bad" to replace our old friend Big Ger Cafferty. An enjoyably complex plot with far too many characters, but some fun twists and turns - and also a return for Malcolm Fox (who I understand features more in the later instalments). I am now looking forward to reading the next four novels. I understand why Rankin finds Rebus hard to let go.

Welsh I think he's flogging a dead horse with these latest ones, but I still keep getting them. I love the character and the world he inhabits. I've got the most recent one ready, but I haven't quite got round to it. I must though as an easy book to get lost in. He did go off and try a Malcolm Fox series, but I couldn't get into them. I think a series centred more on Siobhan could run and run though.