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?

I started listening to Stephen Fry's Victorian Secret this morning on my daily dog walk. I'm already on episode 5. I find Stephen Fry very comforting to listen too, he has such a fluid way of speech and always seems to be engrossed in everything he's reading, which I find infectious.

Well I finished "The Midnight Library" and I loved it.

It will be a "love it or hate it" read I feel as it is all about the power to overcome regret - and some people are not up for that. I liked the narrator - not always a given for me, I often don't care how a book ends when I dislike the narrator (Blood Orange was one of these). I think you probably have to be in the right frame of mind to read this, if you are feeling very down about life, you should wait until you feel a bit stronger to read this - and I don't think I would recommend it to someone whose family had been affected by suicide. I know someone who has been affected by suicide last month and I think the premise that her son could have been "saved" by spending time in the Midnight Library would be an insult to a loving mother. But perhaps I am over thinking?

My next read is going to be Victor Frankel - Man's Search For Meaning (and after that I will happily read pulp fiction all year!!!).

@Annasgirl

Thanks for your review of The Midnight Library That's going to be my prize later in the year when I get through a few TBR books on my bookshelf! I'm surprised it's so dark -- I had imagined it as a more uplifting read but maybe it has different aspects to it. Overcoming regret is a big theme in life, no doubt!

I've been curious about Man's Search for Meaning for some time now as it gets quoted from so often. I'll be looking forward to reading your review of that.

3 You Let Me In - Camilla Bruce. Very disappointing. Weirdly written, stilted, couldn’t help but be constantly thrown out of the story by the odd, unconvincing turns of phrase. It was a quick read, so I did finish it, but it was one of those books where I wished a better writer had fleshed out the plot.

4. Mudlarking - Laura Maiklem A bout of insomnia saw me finish this last night and it is just superb. I know it’s been reviewed on these threads before, so I won’t go over old ground, but I learnt so much about a subject I didn’t think I would find that interesting. I’m glad I bought the physical copy rather than the Kindle version because I do love a good Post-It Fest for follow up research!
I don’t see myself travelling to the Thames to mudlark but there are finds to be had closer to home, even small country park rivers where unwanted pots etc were just tipped away and washed from the midden.

@Saucery

3 You Let Me In - Camilla Bruce. Very disappointing. Weirdly written, stilted, couldn’t help but be constantly thrown out of the story by the odd, unconvincing turns of phrase. It was a quick read, so I did finish it, but it was one of those books where I wished a better writer had fleshed out the plot.

4. Mudlarking - Laura Maiklem A bout of insomnia saw me finish this last night and it is just superb. I know it’s been reviewed on these threads before, so I won’t go over old ground, but I learnt so much about a subject I didn’t think I would find that interesting. I’m glad I bought the physical copy rather than the Kindle version because I do love a good Post-It Fest for follow up research!
I don’t see myself travelling to the Thames to mudlark but there are finds to be had closer to home, even small country park rivers where unwanted pots etc were just tipped away and washed from the midden.

I liked it's weirdness and unconvincingness. As an unreliable narrator, I thought that was necessary.

I liked it's weirdness and unconvincingness. As an unreliable narrator, I thought that was necessary.

I did pick up on that, the mysterious elderly relative archly drawing in the younger ones, but it still didn’t ring true for me. I checked if it was a translation, because I can factor in a bit of leeway in those cases, but it was too bland. Interesting concept, not executed to my taste. Accept I may be being a bit picky but I read a lot of folk horror and it’s got to convince me there are people I care about being drawn in.

I'm another failed Ulysses reader - I tried, I really did, but I just had no idea what was actually happening. One day I'll manage it, but it probably needs a plan trip to Australia or something so I've got uninterrupted reading time.

I find this is a challenge with classics in general - the language is so much richer than modern fiction that I need to concentrate a lot more to read it. And because I generally read for 30 minutes in bed, I just end up falling asleep - even though I'm enjoying the book. That needs to change this year, as my TBR list has a number of hefty tomes on there, which will never get read unless I dedicate some proper time to them!

3. Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo(4/5 stars)

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

An excellent fantasy murder mystery, with a heroine who can definitely hold her own. I'd say this was fairly 'light' fantasy - so definitely accessible if you haven't read any previously, but it does include some seriously adult themes/triggers.

I find this is a challenge with classics in general - the language is so much richer than modern fiction that I need to concentrate a lot more to read it.

That's an interesting point. I find the reverse can also be true, so that once you've been immersed in a classic, some modern writing can seem quite facile initially!

I also meant to say thanks BookShark, that confirms Ulysses as a WATBR.

1. Feel better in 5 - Dr Chatterjee

Easy, bite-sized habits to include in your daily life if you want to start to feel better with just 15 minutes of input per day. Centred around the three pillars of Mind, Body and Heart Chatterjee provides a selection of quick 5-minute fixes and suggests you include three of them in your day on a regular basis. I liked it. I read it on my kindle and while I NEVER buy a book again in another format I'm actually considering buying this as a physical book for ease of reference. 2021 here I come

@Saucery

I liked it's weirdness and unconvincingness. As an unreliable narrator, I thought that was necessary.

I did pick up on that, the mysterious elderly relative archly drawing in the younger ones, but it still didn’t ring true for me. I checked if it was a translation, because I can factor in a bit of leeway in those cases, but it was too bland. Interesting concept, not executed to my taste. Accept I may be being a bit picky but I read a lot of folk horror and it’s got to convince me there are people I care about being drawn in.

I'd never come across the idea of folk horror before. Any recs for something really brilliant?

3. The Dinosaurs Rediscovered - Michael J. Benton

Introduction to the recent scientific advances that have enabled us to better understand the lives of dinosaurs. Beautifully illustrated, especially with the pencil drawings of key species, and works well as a more technical follow on to Steve Brusatte's The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs (if you should be looking for such a thing, probably just me...). A slight gripe was that some of the graphs weren't labelled properly on their axes, but that comment might say more about my personality than the book

I like folk horror, probably movies more than books (The Wicker Man would be the iconic example). My favourite folk horror novel is The Ritual by Adam Nevill - a group of friends hiking in the Swedish wilderness are stalked by an ancient evil. I lived alone when I read it and had to sleep with the light on.

Thanks, Daphne.

I've had this on my Wishlist for a while, and I think it might count as folk horror? The Last Good Man

In fact, just seen it's only £1.99

Remus, I recommend Andrew Michael Hurley, particularly Starve Acre,
Help The Witch by Tom Cox (short stories),
James Brogden’s The Hollow Tree
Fell by Jenn Ashworth
Some of Simon Kurt Unsworth’s stuff. Not sure about the FH credentials of the ‘Devil....’ novels but then there is a Green Man in there so maybe they are....
Witch Bottle by Tom Fletcher is eerie and grotesque.
The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers is a hard read (as in the content being challenging) at times but excellent.
Water Shall Refuse Them Lucie McKnight Hardie.
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss. Short but exquisitely dark.
For non-fiction, Ghostland by Edward Parnell is a beautiful and melancholy wander through the English countryside and the author’s own life.

Aaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!
I rushed to my library before closing time today to pick up the copy of Eleanor and Park I'd reserved a while back, based on your recommendations. I've just sat down to begin my weekend with a glass of and a good book.... Opening it (and marvelling at the lovely large font !!) I discovered it's in French not English. Soooooo disappointed

The Last Good Man looks grim, Remus! I think from that review it might be dystopian rather than folk horror, as it doesn't mention folklore/pagan elements - but I think folk horror has pretty blurry boundaries.

Sneaking in, very lowbrow generally and expecting to be poked suspiciously with pointy literary sticks...

Do rereads count? I do have a tr list, but tend to reread comfort books 😳

Getting a lot of great recommendations here though, so might just lurk quietly in the background if that’s ok 😊

I count rereads but I think there’s some who don’t. It’s really up to you.

1. Sorry I Missed You by Suzy Krause

Three women are ghosted by various people in their lives, then end up sharing a house. One day a letter arrives expressing regret but it’s torn and they don’t know which of them it’s for. Cue the women getting to know each other better while trying to work out who sent the letter, all while dealing with the ghosts in the attic. This tries a bit too hard to be quirky, the older character who doesn’t understand technology was completely overdone (people generally understand what smartphones are capable of even if they choose not to use them) and the outcome of the ghosts in the attic subplot was just ridiculous, but despite all that I still quite enjoyed it!

As sort of modern folk horror (probably more dystopian) I can definitely recommend Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt the ending is a bit.. ? And I’d love to read the original version but it’s an interesting concept and a good read.

I’ll take my lowbrowness off to a corner now

Thanks @ChessieFL (fellow Jilly Cooper reader I guess?)

When they’re open, I live near a lot of secondhand bookshops, so I’m adding a lot to my list, thank you

Thanks for the recs. Will get samples of all of them.

Again rather lowbrow, but some Graham Masterton is excellent for folk legends. Obviously horror, but interested me enough to research the original stories, which can be quite fascinating.

goes back to corner