50 Book Challenge 2021 Part One

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first 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, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

Who's in for this year?

RavenclawesomeCrone spot on about The Five. I was completely immersed in the lives of those women. I think I picked up the recommendation to read it from one of these threads, as normally I refuse to read anything about JTR, agreeing far too much emphasis is put on a grubby predator.
I’m reading her The Covent Garden Ladies off and on, but while it has interesting snippets in it, I can’t say I’m enthralled. In her Foreword she states that she feels she didn’t give enough weight and consideration to the women in that book or acknowledge the misogyny and poverty that drove them to the ‘oldest profession’. Refreshing to read she would write it in a different way now, more like her approach to The Five.

Great review Ravenclaw. It's an excellent book.

On your last point, I wonder how much things have changed. We have heard of Peter Sutcliffe but how many of us know the names of the women he killed? I don't

And the way journalists differentiated between "certain types of women" and "innocent girls" was crass beyond belief.

I am now dying to read The Five. I think that she’s a historian genuinely transfixed by women which is quite a rare thing, and thus needs applause.

I had said above but am reiterating in case anyone needs more of a women-focused fix - I’m really enjoying The Victorian Governess by Kathryn Hughes who also wrote a fascinating biog of Mrs Beeton. Really interesting.

Uh, on a less cerebral level, I came off this worthy path to make #2 of 2021 The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. I am just finishing Bridgerton on Netflix and felt I wanted more backstory. I can report it is a straight up American regency romance, so if that is your sort of thing you’ll love it, and if not you’ll loathe it. £1 on kindle and three hours to read. I was sort of in between.

Great reviews, Ravenclaw and SOLINVICTUS! I love it when people don't like a book and are spurred to write cross reviews in response - I know you've just had the pain of reading a book you didn't enjoy but I'm glad that we get to laugh at the results sorry not sorry

I have just reserved The Truants at the library as it sounds as if it could have been written with me in mind! It cost me the princely sum of 50p, though, not 20p like biblio .

1. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse by David Mitchell (Audible)

Been listening to this for a few days and discovered you can only take David Mitchell ranting at you in limited doses 

This is the older of his two column collections and I'll be moving on to the next.

Has dated. Hearing about Clegg/Cameron and Miliband now feels like a life time ago all 3 being basically irrelevant now.

Certain ongoing jokes a bit repetitive and didn't always find his fictional satire suggestions on the money.

Laughed out loud at some of it

Mixed bag.

@highlandcoo

I found A God In Ruins frustrating also

Can't say much without spoilers Eine but if there was somewhere to lodge a complaint I definitely would have!

Oh, and I thought this article might strike a chord with some of the 50 bookers! As a parent of a VI child, I can testify both to how massive Braille/giant print books are, and also to how fast skilled adults with VI can listen to audiobooks (like, on 4 or 5 times speed - there's an interesting article here about how their brains can process speech must faster than sighted people can).

I've had a charity shop paperback of Thinking About It... knocking around the house for over a year, Eine. Maybe I'll donate it back without bothering to read it!

Was it the revelation of what had actually happened in the war that made you cross, highlandcoo? (I'm also trying not to give spoilers!) I didn't kind that, funnily enough: I really enjoyed the characters finding out about Teddy's family over the years, and I was also expecting some kind of narrative tricksiness, so I just went along for the ride rather than feeling cross. I can see how you might have felt betrayed, though!

Mack that's fascinating. It's really interesting to hear about how others cope when they have the loss of a sense. Does your child use much audio? Are braille books hideously expensive?

There was a VI child at a school I taught at years ago, his vision was getting progressively worse and by Y10 was quite serious. The LEA was trying to force a move to a different school, but it was fought against tooth and nail as he was better staying in an environment he knew with friends to support. I hated the tendency to move children out of mainstream who could cope with some adjustments.

I was really cross about the recent 'audio doesn't count' thread. Listening well is a skill that few have and the assumption it is inferior really grates.

I suppose it was, mackerella. Betrayed - yes. probably. I kept Life After Life but my copy of AGIR went straight to the charity shop in disgust.

Rather differently, I felt very let down by the fifth volume of the Cazalet Chronicles. Some characters just wouldn't have behaved as they did. I was very put out about that too

highland sounds like a plan. Mine is a library copy but I may well buy it. I haven’t done much in the way of memorising though.

I wasn’t frustrated by God In Ruins as such but I do find that Atkinson’s historical novels do decline for me the nearer they get to the present day. I think she has great skill in evoking a period and describing war and so on but her endings are always less appealing to me for some reason. I have not yet got round to Transcription which I believe was a 2019 Christmas present.

Transcription is pretty good until the end reveal which is ludicrous IMO

I found Ted's daughter irritating and tedious in A God In Ruins

Can I join? I have just finished The Thursday Murder Club which I started on New Years Day. I am about to start One More Croissant For The Road

I’m looking forward to A God In Ruins, Life After Life is wonderful. She’s just such a delicate writer.

Welcome @ElizabethBennetismybestfriend, Reading reviews of Osmon’s book with interest.

I’ve read 20 pages of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby and am quite teary. He wrote the whole thing through blinking after becoming paralysed!

Yes eine agree I found that whole last section difficult because of her

Yes, I thought The Five was hugely interesting and sympathetic to the women. I learnt a lot about women's lives at that time, and I was already quite into that period of history. Like a pp, the Covent Garden Ladies is on my kindle and I dip in and out of it, but I feel the author has developed her view of women since writing it.

1. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler. I took advantage of my last day off before going back to work tomorrow to spend a few hours on the sofa with this short, rather sweet book about a man living in an Alpine village in Germany. We follow his life from his earliest memories to his death at the age of 79. A nice calm read but nothing amazing.

I've just ordered The Covent Garden Ladies.

I've nearly finished listening to The Body by Bill Bryson on Audible while I was cleaning up the kitchen.
I'm finding On Chapel Sands on my Kindle a bit tedious though

1. Ex Libris: 100 Books to Read and Re-Read by Michiko Kakutani

Mixed feelings about this. The author used to be the main book critic for the New York Times, and this is basically a load of her reviews of books she feels are important with a mixture of fiction and non fiction. On one hand, I’ve added some new books to my TBR list, and it’s a beautiful book to look at with lovely illustrations. On the other hand, it’s (inevitably) very US focused and the author’s political views crop up rather too often for my taste.

Request : I want something magicky/witchy but grown up

Not Pratchett
Not Aaronovitch

Thanks

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Request : I want something magicky/witchy but grown up

Not Pratchett
Not Aaronovitch

Thanks

What about Mist Over Pendle, by Robert Neill ? First published in the 1950s but very atmospheric. I might be due a reread myself, come to think of it!

The Mercies by Kiran Milwood Hargrave was good : not sure if that's the sort of thing you mean though?

I've just reread The Witching Hour. By far Anne Rice's best book, but I think it's because I like genealogy. I enjoyed in more in my 20s but still liked it in my 40s.

After Quiet I have a Folio Society copy of Rebecca to read, but am after something magical.

I've read The Covent Garden Ladies. It's okay. I hadn't realised it was the same writer as The Five (I started the latter just as we were going into lockdown last year, and just wasn't in the right mood for it - haven't yet gone back to it).

Eine - assuming you've read/seen The Crucible? The follow up to Burial Rites has magic, but I must admit that I didn't much care for it.