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?

Hi barnanabas and welcome

I am jealous of the poster reading St Mary’s for the first time. Absolute nonsense but great fun. I am going to find some Ann Patchett to read as I loved The Dutch House, hopefully it might still be on offer 🙂. I may also download the book (possibly about a boat) that can’t be named. You’ve drawn me in.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones Commonwealth is probably my favourite of the Ann Patchett novels I've read.

I didn't find St Mary's funny at all, am I the only one? Agree that S11 and NLMG are enjoyed more by people who don't read sf usually (I am not a fan of either). And people who say "oh, but it's not really sf" really annoy me!

I wasn't taken with St Mary's either Tanaqui - & it's the sort of thing I'd often enjoy (I like the Rivers of London books which many don't). I think those sorts of light reads either just tick your boxes or don't, & sometimes it's hard to predict which ones will work for you.

I DNFed TTOD too - though that was more predictable as I don't read much serious historical fiction or litfic. (However, for all those #teamFitzroy, can I recommend Montezuma's Fitzroy chocolate bar, absolutely delicious.)

I feel very bad-mannered for not thanking South for the thread. Sorry South - belated thanks for all the threads!

I'm quite tempted by that folk horror hiking book in the Swedish forest....it's 4.99 which is putting me off especially as I have many other books on my TBR pile. Wavering....

1. The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag
Translated from the original Swedish novel which was titled 1793, the year in which the story is mostly set.
Stockholm watchman Mickel Cardell pulls a body out of water in the centre of the city. Cecil Winge, dying of consumption, is asked by the police to investigate. It's clear that the victim has been harmed deliberately over a considerable period of time, and in Part 1 of the novel Cardell and Winge meet and work together to try to find out who the victim is and what has happened to him. They are the wolf and the watchman of the title and at this point I was fully invested in the storyline when we suddenly open Part 2 following a new character, a young man who has moved to Stockholm looking for a better life having previously served in the military. At first it's unclear how he is connected to the plot, but as we move through his story (often told through letters) his involvement is revealed. Cue Part 3 and we are following a teenager, Anna Stina, who is growing up in Stockholm and gets into trouble with the authorities. She is a determined character, determined not to be beaten down by those who treat her unfairly and determined to find a way through. As a reader, I went into Part 4 with great anticipation of how the different threads would come together and it didn't disappoint.
A friend who had read this in Russian recommended this to me with the warning that it is gruesome, and it is. My taste in crime/thrillers usually steers clear of anything too dark and I found myself enjoying this novel more than enough to keep reading but also almost trying not to let my mind dwell too much on some sections as I didn't want them to be too vivid in my head. Beyond these specific sections, the whole novel is full of historical and geographical detail, painting a pretty bleak picture of how tough life would have been in 1793 Stockholm. There is a political backdrop linked to the assassination of the King and the influence of the French Revolution, but it is also painted as a dangerous city where many are living on the edge; alcoholism is rife, poverty is widespread, prostitution is commonplace and violence is a constant threat. It made me think of The Five which I read last year - the perilous nature of so many lives is a theme across both books although they are very different reads.
I think this novel will stay with me, it really stands out as different from any other novels I can think that I've read. I will certainly remember the feeling of coming to the final pages and feeling that I cared about what happened to the key characters but couldn't trust the author of such a dark book to give anyone a happy ending.
Speaking of the author, his bio in the back of the novel is a bit of a break from the regular...
"Niklas Natt och Dag is a member of the oldest surviving noble family in Sweden. His ancestors were responsible for the murder of the rebel Engelbrekt in 1436, commanded the army that lost Stockholm to the Danes in 1520, and were forced into exile after having demanded the abdication of Charles XIV in 1810. His surname, Natt och Dag, translates as Night and Day - the origin of this unusual name is the family crest, a shield split horizontally in gold and blue."

4. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

I think I am possibly the last person in the world to read this (having already read two of Strout's other books) and it does live up to the hype. A series of stories set in the town of Crosby, Maine and linked by the very strong, very distinctive thread of the titular Olive. I really liked this in much the same way as I really liked Reservoir 13 (which I think post-dates this, but which I read first). I love the idea of seeing an ordinary community through, in this case, significant events or realisations in the life of particular members, and in Reservoir 13, through the ripples fanning out from an event that affects the whole community. Strout has a beautiful, limpid writing style, very simple and direct. I think this is one of those books that absolutely exemplifies the idea that we read to know that we are not alone. Strout is able time and time again to put her finger on what seem like obvious truths and feelings that are hard to put into words. Olive herself is not an immediately likeable character, but she is very real, and I (along with, I suspect, many others) certainly ended up liking her by the end.

I have now gone straight on to Olive, Again and I'm really enjoying that too. It's been a good start to the reading year!

Ever grateful to southeast for these threads...won't be long til we require a new one at the current crazy January pace!
Fortuna Great review of Ducks, the first that has made me think I would enjoy it.
Also enjoyed all the chat about Ragnar Jonasson. I haven't read any but they sound right up my street. Will try to get through at least some of what I already have in stock first though.
Currently reading The Offing by Benjamin Myers.

I’m the opposite Sadik, love St Mary’s but didn’t get on with Rivers of London which on paper I thought I would enjoy.

Hi, I have lurked on the 50 books threads for several years now and am going to take the leap and join in this year! I'm a little nervous as the threads move so fast and I'm not good in general at keeping up with things, whether it's work or kids, you name it! However, I do read a lot, and I've read some amazing books as a result of this thread.

I'm quite a long-time (mostly lurking) MNer but have created a fresh name for this thread in case any of the books I read out me in real life, as I'm also on goodreads... unlikely but you never know.

My first two books of the year:

1. The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin 5/5

Very short (less than 100 pages in total!), two essays. The first essay is in the form of a letter by Baldwin to his 14-year-old nephew, telling him not to think of himself the way white people think of him. The second essay is longer and combines autobiographical passages (Baldwin’s experience as a young Christian pastor, his dinner with the head of the Nation of Islam) with more general philosophical musings on race relations in 1950s/60s America. Baldwin is so astute, his writing so beautiful and the essays so timely, it’s hard to believe they were written midway through the 20th century. I loved this book and it strengthened my impression that Baldwin is a genius (the only other book of his I’ve read is his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, which I also loved).

1. A Thousand Moons, Sebastian Barry 4/5

Read this for my upcoming book group. I wasn’t convinced I liked it at first. The narrator Winona is a young Lakota woman living on a farm in West Tennessee shortly after the American Civil War. She lives with two adoptive fathers (they are clearly gay), and two freed former slaves. Initially I wasn’t sure Barry had much new to offer about the experience of Blacks and Native Americans in 1860s America. And yeah, I wondered about cultural appropriation. However, I was won over as the story progressed. The characters are compelling and there is lots of moral ambiguity. The narrator suffers an act of violence and she slowly works out who the perpetrator is. However, the novel overall isn’t as bleak as I feared, and I liked the motifs of crossdressing and gay love and thought they were quite delicately handled. The book also made more sense to me when I read reviews and realised it was a sequel to Barry’s earlier novel Days Without End. That novel focused on the men who became Winona’s adoptive fathers, one of whom is an Irish immigrant to the US. I liked A Thousand Moons well enough to put in a library request for Days Without End.

@Boiledeggandtoast I got the Artemisia catalogue for Christmas! Haven't read it properly yet but I love it, the images are breathtaking.

cassandre I really liked Days Without End and have had a copy of A Thousand Moons knocking around for a few months, great review.

@SatsukiKusakabe

Er - Mountains of the Mind. I am not the policeman from ‘Allo ‘Allo.

@Tanaqui

I didn't find St Mary's funny at all, am I the only one? Agree that S11 and NLMG are enjoyed more by people who don't read sf usually (I am not a fan of either). And people who say "oh, but it's not really sf" really annoy me!

I thought it was absolutely terrible.

THERE IS A FITZOY CHOCOLATE BAR???????!!!!!!!!

I have been to a Fitzroy pub in London, simply because of its name. It had a deal on Aperol Spritz, so I remember it fondly.

I have finished my first book while you guys have raced ahead!

Someone last year recommended The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng after I said I had liked The Garden of Evening Mists so thank you whoever that was!

It is an absorbing novel concerning events on Penang during World War 2 with two ambiguously moral and tormented lead characters foregrounding the moral ambiguities of war. At times, towards the end , it became a touch melodramatic but it is still a fine book. I liked that no romance was shoehorned in to complicate. or even water down, the plot and its themes.

A good one to begin with in 2021, which is nice as I found most 2020 reads a bit bland.

1. The Christmas Chronicles Nigel Slater.

I love his writing more than his recipes (truth be told he irritates the bejaysus with his "oh, here's a £14.99 sliver of organic Wensleydale in waxed paper I just happened to have in the fridge" and I cannot watch him on TV because a) he needs a hairwash b) he takes a breath in the wrong bit of a sentence. (I dread to think what he'd be like on Audible) though he can be a bit smug and gratuitously arsey (complaining about people in front of him in supermarkets and if you're not going to send him a card with a Christmas stamp on the envelope then don't bother) Bit contradictory at times, which makes me think much of this has been put together from already written articles etc. (He talks about buying beautiful baubles in German markets in one part then says in another he only has old baubles; he says in one paragraph he doesn't acknowledge New Year's Eve then in the very next one says he always has something bubbly and prepares nibbles for anyone who comes to his house on NYE.

That makes it sound like I didn't like it, but I loved most of it. He writes beautifully when he leaves the arsey smug bits out. And I agree with him about winter and the cold.

I hated Never let me go and I love Station Eleven and I've read an enormous amount of science fiction. (But I also wouldn't class S11 as science fiction anyway)

I was so jealous of Nigel's beautiful baubles from German markets when I read the Chronicles a few years ago. And he posts on Instagram with boxes for them all to be properly packed away in. I want to be that kind of person, instead of chucking everything into a box and chucking the plastic tree on top for another year.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

THERE IS A FITZOY CHOCOLATE BAR???????!!!!!!!!

I have been to a Fitzroy pub in London, simply because of its name. It had a deal on Aperol Spritz, so I remember it fondly.

For you Remus

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

I was so jealous of Nigel's beautiful baubles from German markets when I read the Chronicles a few years ago. And he posts on Instagram with boxes for them all to be properly packed away in. I want to be that kind of person, instead of chucking everything into a box and chucking the plastic tree on top for another year.

Off to follow him immediately. I do have a collection of vintage baubles, some from my parents and some from eBay but not like Nigel's beautiful photos. He made me put a Cire Trudon candle on my wishlist for next year too, damn him!

Might have to order some Fitzroy chocolate for dp's birthday (ie for me).

Well, I did say that The Chronicles of St Mary’s was a bit marmite which is beautifully reflected in the subsequent posts. As I said, I have the whole box set to get through so this could run and run.

However, I will be mixing them up with my continuing Dick Francis re-reads - I did the first 19 books last year but still a huge number on the shelf .....and will, of course, be reading some new books.

Now started Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.