50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Eleven

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eleventh (and final!) thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge was to read fifty books (or more!) in 2020, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and it's still not too late to delurk and tell us your reading highlights and lowlights of the year.

Loving everyone's lists, and enjoying highlandcoo's glut of late reviews. So impressed with the sheer numbers of books read by so many this year. Have we ever had a year when multiple people have got into 3 figures (including several people at 200+)? And has anyone other than Fortuna hit 300 before? I am very happy with 83, my highest total ever, despite losing a month's reading time to a DNF that started well but rapidly soured.

1. Gods of the Morning by John Lister-Kaye
2. The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Grey
3. Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
4. Ten to Zen by Owen O'Kane
5. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver
6. The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner
7. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
8. Black and British by David Olusoga
9. The World I Fell Out Of by Melanie Reid

10. Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie 11. Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves (Vera #4) 12. Wonder by RJ Palacio 13. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite 14. Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky 15. The Chosen Dead by MR Hall (The Coroner #5) 16. This Book Will Change Your Mind About Mental Health by Nathan Filer might have been boldened if still called The Heartland, but it didn't really change my mind, so. 17. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot 18. A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale 19. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy 20. The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves (Vera #5) 21. The Affair by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #16) 22. Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit 23. The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry 24. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn 25. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris 26. Heartburn by Nora Ephron 27. The Dry by Jane Harper I do remember enjoying books 25-27, but they haven't really stayed with me, so haven't boldened them. However this could be because 2020 was being particularly rubbish / distracting at the time of reading 28. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry 29. Dry by Augusten Burroughs 30. The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly 31. Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky 32. Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves (Vera #6) 33. Darkmans by Nicola Barker 34. Death Toll by Jim Kelly 35. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies by Rhena Branch and Rob Willson 36. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver 37. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami 38. The Dead Season by Christobel Kent (Sandro Cellini #3) 39. High and Low: How I Hiked Away from Depression Across Scotland by Keith Foskett 40. Regeneration by Stephanie Saulter (Revolution #3) 41. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot 42. Handstands in the Dark by Janey Godley 43. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 44. The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech 45. Black Water Rising by Attica Locke 46. Findings by Kathleen Jamie 47. The Infatuations by Javier Marías 48. Operation Ironman: one man's four month journey from hospital bed to Ironman triathlon by George Mahood 49. The Silk Road: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan 50. The Book of Dust Volume One: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman 51. Sunny Side Up by Susan Calman 52. Women of the Dunes by Sarah Maine 53. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 54. The Sound of Echoes by Eric Brent 55. Tangerine by Christine Mangan 56. The Only Way is West by Bradley Chermside 57. Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health by David Nutt 58. Dishonesty is the Second Best Policy by David Mitchell 59. Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie 60. The Whisper Man by Alex North 61. The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves (Vera #7) 62. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively 63. Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind by Anne Charnock 64. The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin and Richard Panek 65. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers 66. The Con Man by Ed McBain 67. Ax by Ed McBain 68. Bread by Ed McBain 69. Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky 70. Bridge 108 by Anne Charnock 71. Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World by Laura Spinney DNF. Infinite Jest 72. To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers 73. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan 74. The Wild Remedy by Emma Mitchell 75. All Things Wise And Wonderful by James Herriot 76. Diary of a Somebody by Brian Bilston 77. Old Baggage by Lissa Evans 78. Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky 79. The Seagull by Ann Cleeves (Vera #8) 80. The Five: the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold 81. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams 82. Forest Therapy by Sarah Ivens 83. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

44 by female authors (53%)
38 by male authors (46%)
1 by female / male co-authors (1%)

57 kindle (69%)
4 library (5%) Massive drop due to lockdown, I miss the library.
11 hard copy other (13%)
11 Dad's kindle (13%)

52 Fiction (63%)
31 Non fiction (37%)

I definitely miss the library too as I got most of my books from there, there's quite a few ones recommended on here which I've not been able to get hold of as the only libraries near me that did end up opening never had a lot of what I wanted.

My birthday is coming up soon and I don't normally ask for books, but I might do this year so I can finally read certain ones on my wishlist.

Museum I am currently reading The Five - it's really good, not exactly a pleasant read but certainly compelling. It will probably my first finished book of 2021

That's a great haul southeast. I loved Americanah. I've never read A Kestrel for a Knave but kind of liked the film Kes. I'm also eyeing up how short it looks, so adding to my potential TBR for when a quick count boosting read is required.

Thanks for the extra thread South!

Here is my full list (highlights in bold):

1. The Secrets of Blood and Bone - Rebecca Alexander
2. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
3. Identity Crisis - Ben Elton
4. Sunny Side Up - Susan Calman
5. How to Stop Losing Your Shit with Your Kids - Carla Naumburg
6. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty
7. This Book Will Change Your Mind about Mental Health - Nathan Filer
8. Damascus - Christos Tsiolkas
9. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

10. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse - David Mitchell 11. Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams 12. Between the Stops: the view of my life from the top of the number 12 bus - Sandi Toksvig 13. Murderous Contagion: a human history of disease - Mary Dobson 14. The Testaments - Margaret Atwood 15. Other Minds: the octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of consciousness - Peter Godfrey-Smith 16. When I Hit You - Meena Kandasamy 17. Around the World in Eighty Days - Michael Palin 18. How to Find Fulfilling Work - Roman Krznaric 19. The Foundling - Stacey Halls 20. The Butchering Art - Lindsey Fitzharris 21. How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way - Tim Seldin 22. Seven Worlds, One Planet - Jonny Keeling & Scott Alexander 23. Tamed: ten species that changed our world - Alice Roberts 24. The Reddening - Adam Nevill 25. Peas & Queues: the minefield of modern manners - Sandi Toksvig 26. Bookworm - Lucy Mangan 27. The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett 28. She’s Back: your guide to returning to work - Lisa Unwin & Deb Khan 29. I Am, I Am, I Am - Maggie O’Farrell 30. The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work - Alain de Botton 31. Unreliable Memoirs - Clive James 32. Buyer Beware: a New Zealand Home Buyer’s Guide - Maria Slade 33. The Five: the lives of Jack the Ripper’s women - Hallie Rubenhold 34. It’s Not Me, It’s You - Jon Richardson 35. Psycho-logical - Dean Burnett 36. The Ghost: a cultural history - Susan Owens 37. The Language Hoax - John McWhorter 38. The Secrets of Time and Fate - Rebecca Alexander 39. Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher 40. Savage Breast: one man’s search for the Goddess - Tim Ward 41. Normal People - Sally Rooney 42. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race - Reni Eddo-Lodge 43. The Multi-Hyphen Method - Emma Gannon 44. If Only They Could Talk - James Herriot 45. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen 46. A Shadow Above: the fall and rise of the raven - Joe Shute 47. I Thought It Was Just Me - Brene Brown 48. Imperium - Robert Harris 49. Animal Societies - Ashley Ward 50. Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland - Lisa Schneidau 51. An Orc on the Wild Side - Tom Holt 52. The Language of Kindness - Christie Watson 53. Lustrum - Robert Harris 54. Love After Love - Ingrid Persaud 55. Biological Anthropology - Barbara J. King 56. Howl’s Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones 57. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer 58. The Wonderbox - Roman Krznaric 59. Haven’t They Grown - Sophie Hannah 60. So, Anyway... - John Cleese 61. Expectation - Anna Hope 62. Exploring the Roots of Religion - John R. Hale 63. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen 64. Full Circle - Michael Palin 65. The Orphan Choir - Sophie Hannah 66. Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 67. Our Bodies, Their Battlefield - Christina Lamb 68. Dictator - Robert Harris 69. The Ultimate Job Hunting Book - Patricia Scudmore 70. It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet - James Herriot 71. Quirkology - Richard Wiseman 72. Who Am I, Again? - Lenny Henry 73. The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being - Alice Roberts 74. Follow Me to Ground - Sue Rainsford 75. Shockaholic - Carrie Fisher 76. Diary of a Provincial Lady - E.M. Delafield 77. Help the Witch - Tom Cox 78. Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer 79. Jeremy Hardy Speaks Volumes - Jeremy Hardy 80. The Night Listener - Armistead Maupin 81. Creativity - John Cleese 82. Troy - Stephen Fry 83. The Good People - Hannah Kent 84. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster 85. Surrounded by Idiots - Thomas Erikson 86. Hotel Iris - Yoko Ogawa 87. A Dog’s Heart - Mikhail Bulgakov 88. A Young Doctor’s Notebook - Mikhail Bulgakov 89. Sex at Dawn - Christopher Ryan & Cacilda Jetha 90. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho - Anne Carson 91. A Room of One’s Own - Virginia Woolf 92. Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to British Birds 93. Paranormality: why we see what isn’t there - Richard Wiseman 94. The Word for World is Forest - Ursula Le Guin 95. Letters from a Stoic - Seneca 96. Christmas Days - Jeanette Winterson 97. Traces - Patricia Wiltshire 98. Why Dinosaurs Matter - Kenneth Lacovara 99. Breaking and Mending - Joanna Cannon 100. Medieval Bodies - Jack Hartnell

There weren't any out and out stinkers this year, but The Reddening and The Multi-Hyphen Method are well worth avoiding.

We are finishing the year in a flurry! Thank you southeast, much appreciated.

I'm still loitering on book 48 but almost done, and am grimly determined to make my 50 even if that means I don't do much work tomorrow!

enjoying highlandcoo's glut of late reviews

Cheers, Museum - I have no intention of doing this ever again! NY resolution is to post as I go from now on. Shades of doing your maths homework at the bus stop which by my age really shouldn't be happening any more

89. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
    Faced with impossible choices due to the war in Syria, a tragic event finally makes life unbearable and a couple set out to try to make their way to safety in Britain. This compassionate account describes the dangers and difficulties they face as well as how they have in a sense lost sight of one another in their fear and their pain.
    The author has worked as a volunteer in a refugee camp in Greece and listened to many people's real-life experiences. Through the story of Nuri and Afra she gives them a voice.

90. Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves.
    Another Vera book and a really good atmospheric one.

91. Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession.
    I so recommend this book. Issued by a small firm of publishers in Hebden Bridge without the money to promote it widely, it is gaining popularity by word of mouth through independent bookshops and deserves to do so.
    If you're looking for a heart-warming book, maybe to give as a present, this would be an excellent choice. The Ove and Harold Fry books didn't really do it for me; this is aiming for the same effect but this time it really works.
    It's the story of two friends, quiet unremarkable men who some would judge as unsuccessful in life; as nerdy/geeky or other unkind descriptions. They are gentle and kind; they meet and play board games and chat; not a huge amount happens but as the book goes on you like them more and more.
    Essential decency needs to be celebrated more, especially at the moment, and this book did the trick for me. It's funny too.

I'm not going to make a round number as I have finished my 59th book, Shuggie Bain. I will need something light to recover after such a brilliant but heart rending read. I know Shuggie's Glasgow as my wee granny & grandpa lived up in the Glasgow schemes, but managed to build a strong family while poor Agnes was destroyed by the unforgiving 80s. The book made me angry, sad and despairing while I admired the skill of the writer. Shuggie was a real person and reminded me of lads from school - it must have been grim as fuck growing up gay in the 80s in Scotland. A really powerful read and a fitting Booker winner. It was a tough read for me but I suspect for many of the judges it would be a revelation. And it hasn't got any better - Dundee up the road from me is the drug death capital of Europe. Glasgow continues to have the lowest life expectancy of Western Europe. It's a moral disgrace.

@HeadNorth great review of Shuggy Bain. I’m a little nervous of it my MIL ran away from 80s Glasgow and every now and then comes out with stories but it sounds like an important read.

92. A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil by Christopher Brookmyre
    I don't know how I lived so long without discovering this writer just a few years back. Really funny and gripping murder mystery. He remembers what it's like to be a kid at secondary school like no one else. I'm not sure whether it helps to be Scottish or not; I think all you really need is a very black sense of humour.

93. A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore.
    Cathy and Rob are thrown together and depend on one another, but cross the line from being close siblings into incestuous love. Neither crude nor voyeuristic, their relationship is sensitively depicted. My first book by this author and I will be looking for more.

94. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
    Having loved The Tenant of Wildfell Hall this didn't live up to expectations. It seemed to consist of little else but one woman struggling with unmanageable children If I want that, I can get it at home More light and shade was needed, and more plot.

95. The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves
    Still bashing through the Vera books. A good plot; I enjoyed it.

HeadNorth so interesting to read your opinion of Shuggie Bain.

Over Christmas I've gone for more light-hearted choices but it's going to be one of my first reads next year.

@highlandcoo

I reviewed Leonard and Hungry Paul along the lines of listening to my Mum talking about neighbours I don't know in novel form

Real marmite book

"You know! Leonard! Her odd son Paul's friend"

No Mum, I don't

Can I get this one in??

49. How I escaped my certain fate by Stewart Lee
    A reread; very funny and informative about his life and comedy if you're a fan.

50. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
    Great retelling of the Helen of Troy story. Unfortunately will forever be 'not quite as good as Circe'.

My top reads (some of my picks have changed over the months)
Girl by Edna O'brien
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Invisible Women by Carolina Criado Perez
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

Special congratulations to the two male novelists for making it into the list. Well done, gentlemen! Other stats not collected, will try for a better spreadsheet next year.

Damn I missed Circe by Madeleine Miller to make the ten!

highlandcoo I read my first Brookmyre ( Boiling a frog ) slightly randomly when I lived in Spain (pre Kindle days!) & English language books weren't easy to come by. I love how he writes such funny books which often also have something serious to say too. (Mind you I bought dd his SF novel Places in the Darkness last Christmas & told her how funny he was - it's an absolutely dead serious SF thriller without a single laugh )

@MuseumOfHampers

That's a great haul southeast. I loved Americanah. I've never read A Kestrel for a Knave but kind of liked the film Kes. I'm also eyeing up how short it looks, so adding to my potential TBR for when a quick count boosting read is required.

I studied Kes for o level English, it was a truly appalling book and perhaps the worst I've ever read. I reread it last year and was amazed how much it had improved

Eine I get what you are saying but I totally loved it. And I'm a hard-hearted Scottish person who resists such feelings as much as possible!

We discussed it on our online book group and one or two members were rather nonplussed by the enthusiasm so you're probably right that it's a marmite one.

Sadik that's so funny about bigging him up to your daughter and then giving her his one book without a laugh in it So is he doing the Iain Banks/Iain M Banks thing and using his short name for his SF?

Has anyone read The Trick to Time by Kit De Waal? Was recommended to me on Twitter. The writing and story are beautiful, it has stayed with me

Good question Highland - I think skimming Amazon maybe his newer books are Chris?

Thanks for the new thread, south, I love the flurry of Lists of Best Reads and the breakdowns.

I’ve read 60 books again this year. 22 5*/stand-outs. No duds but that’s because I DNF’d a few.

32 female writers, 28 male writers.
37 fiction, 21 non fiction, 2 poetry collections (both of which I loved - by Maya Angelou and Lorraine Mariner ).
5 translated books.

23 physical books, 21 Kindle/IPad, 16 Audiobooks.
15 books from the library/BorrowBox, which are a mix of physical, iPad and audiobook.
I only bought one physical books through Amazon and that was second hand - Lila.

These are my stand-out reads, in order of reading rather than preference:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn.
Matterhorn Karl Marlantes.
Pachinko Min Jin Lee.
My Name is Why Lemn Sissay.
And Still I Rise Maya Angelou.
Black Wave Kim Ghattas.
Home Marilynne Robinson.
The Arab of the Future (A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984) Riad Sattouf.
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows JK Rowling.
Furniture Lorraine Mariner.
David Copperfield Charles Dickens.
The Life Project Helen Pearson.
The Five Hallie Rubenhold.
Hour of the Star Clarice Lispector.
Lila Marilynne Robinson.
Shuggie Bain Douglas Stewart.
Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe Kapka Kassabova.
Who They Was Gabriel Krause.
The Warmth of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson.
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion Jia Tolentino.
Sing Backwards and Weep Mark Lanegan.
Humankind Rutger Bregman.

Very happy with my reading this year! 😊 I wonder what 2021 holds..

My last book of 2020 is:

135. The Bookseller's Tale, by Mark Latham
The author shares his enthusiasm for all things bookish, ranging from marginalia in medieval manuscripts to customers he has encountered as a Waterstones bookseller. There are some good stories, but if I'm being critical, I'm not sure it comes together as a cohesive whole. All very civilized, though.

Two more to add - don’t think there will be any others after this. I’ll post my list of highlights tomorrow.

110 Mordew by Alex Pheby
Extraordinary and inventive fantasy novel published earlier this year about a city where God’s corpse is buried under the streets and children are formed from the Living Mud. This was a wild and engaging read and I loved the world building.

111 My Wild and Sleepless Nights by Clover Stroud
This struck a real chord with me. It’s about motherhood - both the anguish and boredom of being a mother to babies and toddlers and the heartache of being a mother to teens. I can’t imagine doing both at the same time, as Stroud does. It’s entirely without interest, I should imagine, to anyone without children but I felt a strong connection with the emotions she describes and found myself wondering what I would do with all the space in my brain if I hadn’t spent the past 16 years being a mother.

I kept a list up until July so I may as well post it. An awful lot of re reads the s year - at least 50 percent - and I can’t be bothered to go back through my Kindle to add to the list. A lot of comfort reading too and why not? Very few stand outs.

1. Little Women
2. Good Wives
3. Little Men.
4. Jo’s Boys.

5 China Court - Rumer Godden

1. Persuasion - Jane Austen
2. Me - Elton John
3. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen.
4. Pale Rider - The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World - Laura Spinney.

10. The Year That Changed Every Thing - Cathy Kelly enjoyable Irish chick lit. 11-15 What Katy Did and all the sequels ending with In The High Valley 16. The Corner Shop - Elizabeth Cadell 17. Still Life -Louise Penny 18. A Fatal Grace and 19. The Cruellest Month - Louise Penny 20. The Body - Bill Bryson 21. - 28 Malory Towers books 1-7 29. Lamentation - CJSansom 30. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett 31. Proof - Dick Francis 32. The Magician’s Assistant - Ann Patchett 33. Dead Cert - Dick Francis 34. The Sealwoman’s Gift - Sally Magnusson 35. The Long Call - Ann Cleeves 36. Ellie Griffiths- The ZigZag Girl 37. Lost Dog - Kate Spicer 38. Flying Finish - Dick Francis 39. Making it up as I go along - Marian Keyes 40. Under The Duvet - Marian Keyes 41. The Stranger Diaries - Ellie Griffiths 42. The Lantern Men - Ellie Griffiths 43. Take A Look At Me Now - Miranda Dickinson 44. The Year Of Living Danishly - Helen Russell 45. Escape to the French Farmhouse - Jo Thomas 46. Nevil Shute - Requiem for a Wren 47. On The Beach - Nevil Shute 48. Bill Bryson’s Down Under. 49. Grown ups - Marian Keyes 50. One Summer America 1927 - Bill Bryson 51. The Man Who Went Into the West: The Life of R.S.Thomas - Byron Rogers 52. Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier 53. Broken Greek - Pete Paphides 54. Between the Stops: The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus: Sandi Toksvig 55. The Five - Hallie Rubenhood 56. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding 57. Bridget Jones - The Edge Of Reason 58. Bridget Jones’ Baby 59. Bridget Jones - Mad About The Boy 60. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier 61. Susie Steiner - Missing, Presumed

There are probably around 40 more on my kindle ending with.

The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald - Woman opens bookshop in 1960s Suffolk seaside town. Enjoyable but terrible ending.

I felt the same about The Bookshop. It was a pleasant enough read but the ending was indeed terrible.

Terp, thanks for the reminder about Scoff. I liked the reviews and was on the lookout in my library - they've now added it to the catalogue so I've been able to reserve it.

And mack,; I've had Dead Famous languishing on my Kindle, but your review has now made me want to read it.