50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Two

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2021, 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. Could everyone embolden their titles and/or authors as well, please, as it makes the books talked about easier to track?

The first thread of the year is here.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

What do you think of the Charlotte Betts books Eine and Cote - they are all the daughter or wife of somebody

Genuinely never heard of her - my objection to these books is that they take as their premise that the females only value is their proximity to a man, and thats before you open it

Yes, totally agree with that.

The Apothcary's Daughter and The Painter's Apprentice were two of her books that I enjoyed a few years ago. I haven't read one recently, I wonder how well they have aged.

17. Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier

From the start I loved this.

Two families The Waterhouses and The Colemans become connected when they discover they have neighbouring family plots. The daughters become firm friends, but the Coleman's look to the future whilst the Waterhouses cling to traditions of the past...

Set at the turn of the century it runs for the ten years or so after the death of Queen Victoria and is about society, expectations, norms and the arrival of the suffragette movement.

This really hit a sweet spot for me and I think is probably a favoured genre with others.

I feel the best way of describing it is "Like a Sarah Waters but no lesbians"

5/5

@ShotgunShack

Ah sorry I was critical of your favorite book HeadNorth.

Stories can resonate (or not) in such a personal way for us as individuals. That’s the wonderful thing about books.

Oh that is sweet of you. No worries, I was overly touchy in a way that was inappropriate for this lovely thread .

Cote I also loved the opening chapter of The Crimson Petal and the White. It just felt as though the rest of the book was written by an entirely different person!

BTW, how do you create a link that takes you directly to a certain post on a thread the way you did upthread?

Hello!

A bit late to the book party, but would like to join in if that's ok .

So far this year, I have read:

1. The Woman in the White Kimono, by Ana Johns

I wasn't in love with this book. Some of it was actually quite harrowing, and it was interesting to read about Japan and how women were treated during this period. But, I didn't really connect with any of the characters, especially the American soldier and his daughter Tori. Not sure why, I just didn't care that much about them .

2. Cilka's Journey, by Heather Morris

Another thoroughly harrowing, historical novel. This time I loved it. Thought the characters, especially Cilka who was based on a real person, were so much better written.

3. currently reading Intuitive Eating (4th edition), by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch

Not that far in, but interesting so far. I have another non fiction book to read on a similar subject, but will read another fiction or two in between I think.

4. Written in Bone - Sue Black

More reminiscences from the forensic anthropologist (expert in identifying the dead from their remains), following on from her first book All That Remains. This volume is based around sections of the skeleton, each chapter providing details on the anatomy and cases she has worked on that involved these sections of the body. Highly recommended to anyone fascinated by forensics and anatomy, although be aware she has been involved in some harrowing cases involving children and acts of torture and atrocity. Throughout she is compassionate, respectful and never salacious, although there is often a warm and very subtle humour. My first 5* read of the year.

Not had time to read much with the return to work and am struggling to manage home-schooling as well but managed to finish a few books that I had in progress.

4. The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

When Ann Rule was commissioned to write a book about a series of attacks and disappearances in Washington State during the 1970s, she didn't know at the time that the perpetrator was not only known to her but was her friend, Ted Bundy.

I'm not sure why I started reading this as Ted Bundy scares the absolute bejesus out of me but I thought the perspective of Ann Rule might be interesting. I found this a difficult read for two reasons. Firstly the focus was very much on Ted, which I guess makes sense as Ann knew him, but I would have liked to know more about the women. Secondly, and I found this much harder to understand / forgive, was Ann's inability or unwillingness to see that her friend was guilty of horrific crimes and that she was being manipulated like so many others until very late in the game. I mean Ted lives in Washington, women disappear in Washington, there's a photofit that looks just like him, a witness overhears him introduce himself as Ted, Ted moves to Utah, women stop disappearing in Washington and start disappearing in Utah and Colorado, Ted is arrested with all kinds of badness in his car, women stop disappearing in Utah and Colorado, Ted escapes from prison (twice) and runs to Florida, women (and a 12 year old child - which is pretty much glossed over) are killed / disappear, Ted is arrested and what do you know the attacks stop. At the trial Ann finally gets with the program, but still writes to Ted afterwards. I'd think much more of her if she said she did it because she wanted the inside track for her book but she tries to dress it up. This book made me consider my opposition to the death penalty that is for sure, all those poor women we know about and clearly lots more that we don't.

5. Tall Tales and Wee Stories: The Best of Billy Connolly by Billy Connolly

I had it in my mind that I found Billy Connolly pretty funny but thinking about it after reading the book I can't actually remember seeing him perform much. I know he is considered to be one of the greatest stand ups of all time but maybe I just don't get it or in his case it is all about the delivery, because apart from the odd dry chuckle this book was not funny. As the title suggests this isn't a coherent book but a series of jokes and stories that are grouped into broad categories. I didn't like it for a couple of reasons, there was a fair bit of sexism which made me roll my eyes, some jokes that have been doing the rounds of years, a few mild funny bits and a LOT of ranting from a grumpy old man - if I wanted to hear that I could just phone my Dad ;-)

6. A Million Dreams by Dani Atkins

After The Stranger Beside Me I needed a palate cleanser and this was a nice easy read where you know pretty much everything will work out. Beth is widowed and makes the decision to be implanted with the embryo that she and her late husband froze, unfortunately her embryo was accidentally implanted in another woman 8 years before. It's not high literature but I whipped through it and it was just what I needed.

Tried to write this last night - first night in many I've had some time to sit down properly - and MN wouldn't work at all. FFS.

It still won't show me all the thread but from what I've read, I also used to hate Seashell Cafes and such. However lockdown and thousands of days (it has been that long hasn't it?!) of homeschooling have fried my brain and made me appreciate their restfulness considerably more

Well, I missed the first thread of 2021 but will add this year's on here, might even finish the 2020 thread just to remind me next time what my total was! Thank you to southeast for the new threads and to @magimedi, I am very sorry for your loss.

My 2021 list so far is:

1. Ruth Ware - One by One

Work event is held at a ski lodge and - ahem - one by one the inhabitants are killed. Billed as a claustrophobic thriller which to be fair, it was for a while, but I quickly got bored with the (extensive) descriptions of skiing and everything that comes with it. Could happily have cut out a few chapters and quite a lot of skiing talk and it would have much improved it for me.

1. Polly Crosby - The Illustrated Child

The daughter of a famous author is written into his books and becomes famous in her own right, whilst her home life remains strange, to say the least. Maybe I have zero patience these days but I just didn't get why this was so popular?! I mean it was interesting enough but again, could have been a bit shorter and the 'twist' as such wasn't that thrilling.

1. Simon Mayo - Knife Edge

An entire investigations team in a news department is killed in one morning in separate attacks. The rest of the department are (understandably!) worried that they might be next. Bizarrely I enjoyed this a lot more once this got past the initial adrenaline rush, definitely worth a read. On a separate note I also enjoyed Simon Mayo's Itch books but gave the TV series up in disgust once I saw that the young teenage main character was being played by a man in his early 20s

1. MG Leonard & Sam Sedgman - Kidnap on the California Comet

Clever detective stories for kids, set on trains (sequel to one set in the UK) with illustrations which are key to the plot. Good for kids of 10+ I would have said, as they're also very descriptive of the geography and scenery, useful for home schooling

1. Sophie Hannah - The Killings at Kingfisher Hill

One of the new Poirot stories which featured an extremely
(overly) clever plot. In fact it was so clever that I've realised I can't remember what it was any more, and it's only a few days since I've finished it. Oh dear! Admittedly I did enjoy it at the time but don't think I'd revisit it, unlike an actual Agatha Christie.

1. Emma Carroll - The Ghost Garden

More of a YA novella than an actual book but a nice quick read. A young girl thinks she's seeing events foreshadowing disaster but is she? Set just before WWI, to give you a clue...

1. Chelsea Pitcher - This Lie Will Kill You

I am such a sucker for YA thrillers. Maybe because all the teenagers seem to live impossibly glamorous lives, which I can in no way relate to (they are all fantastically good looking, for a start) but still find strangely enthralling. Five teenagers are invited to creepy local mansion for implausible reason and then things start going wrong, all related to the events of the previous year which are veeerrryyyy slowly explained. The first two thirds were readable, the last third was frankly a bit dull but it was (thankfully) reasonably short - read and learn, Ruth Ware

Oh, and a DNF - Julie Caplin - The Little Cafe in Copenhagen. I like books about food, I like reading about travel, I'd like to visit Copenhagen. This was just terribly written and could have done with a lot of proof reading I got about six pages in and was so fed up with the lazy punctuation and sloppy writing that I gave up!

Oh man, I dropped off for what seemed like a couple of days and here you all are on thread 2. I will find myself a quiet 1/2 hour to catch up and see what everyone's been reading but in the meantime here are my updates:

2. Our Kind of Traitor, John Le Carre

Published in 2010 and set contemporaneously, this is the story of a young British couple who are befriended by a flamboyant Russian businessman while on holiday in the Caribbean. Initially it seems that he wants a decent tennis partner, and some energetic company for his teenage children, but things quickly become murky and before you know it, the British intelligence services are involved.

I haven't read much Le Carre so can't compare this to his older stuff - reviews seem to suggest that this isn't much cop compared to the more vintage works. I liked the stylistic choices (reviewers have complained that you hardly see any of the action - rather it is told back to you - but I thought that was clever), there were some good heart-in-mouth moments, lots of ambivalent bad good guys and good bad guys, and a great ending. It did drag a bit in the middle though.

3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Before I had my kids, which is to say a loooong time ago, I used to schlep a very heavy pile of trashy pool reads on holiday with me - Jackie Collins, Danielle Steele and the like - taking up most of my suitcase (though in those days I could wear tiny clothes so it was less of a problem).

The first 2/3 of this book read just like one of those 80s Hollywood bonkbusters - girl escapes abusive dirt-poor childhood to run away to Hollywood, where she has to subjugate her personality and use her looks and sexual allure in every way she can to reach the top. Here's the daddy who looks at her the wrong way as she starts to develop. Here's the simple first husband who she doesn't love, here's the charming handsome one who beats her up. It was trashy, and I was disappointed (I rather enjoyed Daisy Jones ) but it was entertaining and I was along for the ride.

The last third, however, is a Hallmark films section in which people only truly find the person they love when one of them is about to die, followed by a mess of a problematic ending which left a really bad taste in my mouth. Made me look back at other sections of the book and other authorial choices with fresh eyes and decide that I REALLY didn't like this.

So that's my year started with a stinker, a so-so read and another stinker. Fortunately before lockdown I got this out of the library and it's wonderful so far: persephonebooks.co.uk/products/bricks-and-mortar

Oh, and I meant to recap for anyone who missed it, that I am a namechange and have been Keith on these thread for the last 3-4 years.

@VikingNorthUtsire

Keith! Loved Evelyn Hugo precisely BECAUSE it is as trashy yet somehow compulsive as you describe.

The end twist was shite I'd agree

Daisy Jones again compulsive, but HATED the end, like it will stick with me for years as an ending I hated - I think I mentioned why on the end of 2020 thread but to use a MNism it massively "gave me the rage"

3. Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe

Nina Stibbe nannied for the children of Mary-Kay Wilmers, editor of the London Review of Books. This is a collection of Nina's letters to her sister Vic, detailing the ins and outs of domestic life among the London literati.

I previously read and wasn't bothered by Stibbe's novel Paradise Lodge. This was loads better. Stibbe has plenty of nicely gossipy anecdotes about Mary-Kay's friends and neighbours Alan Bennett, Claire Tomalin and Jonathan Miller amongst others, but they are always told with warmth and affection. Alan Bennett is revealed to be a highly competent handyman. And I LOVED Mary-Kay, about whom I previously knew nothing. I now want a big house in NW1 in which to host posh and clever dinner guests.

@CoteDAzur

" D (A Tale of Two Worlds) by Michel Faber... This is about a girl called Dhikilo in her teenage years I think who discovers that the letter D has gone missing from the English language."

It's funny that Michel Faber has continued on his quest to write ever-stupider books I still haven't forgotten the 900-page drivel that was Crimson Petal and the White, and reading about the "wanking vicar" on here surprisingly didn't inspire me to buy his next book .

WHY must you torment me by routinely resurrecting the wanking vicar? I really, really hoped the aliens would eat him but I've totally forgotten what happened at the end.

16. Single Mother by Samantha Hayes

This was one of those books where I got really irritated with both the main character and the story because both were ridiculous. Mel is a single mum with money problems and a pre-teen daughter who is being bullied at school. Mel is suddenly left a hotel, but nobody can tell her who left it to her. When Mel turns up, the staff haven’t heard of her and are antagonistic, hiding dead mice and putting glass in her soup. Oh, and there’s a strange woman who must be allowed to live in the hotel forever free of charge, and this woman never speaks to anyone. The whole setup is just ridiculous and the main character is just annoying and stupid. Don’t bother.

17. From Devon With Death by Stephanie Austin

Third in the series set in Devon (unsurprisingly) and featuring Juno, an antiques dealer who just keeps stumbling across dead bodies. Easy entertaining reading.

Ladybird, I've just picked up the new Sue Black book from the library (they're still doing click and collect) so I'm glad to see your positive review.

As the wanking vicar has been resurrected, it seems apt to note that I finished book 4: A Field Guide to the English Clergy, by The Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie. It's a series of pen portraits of some of the more notably eccentric Anglican clergymen over the last few centuries. It's done with affection and humour and on the whole I quite enjoyed it. Each chapter is only a couple of pages, which suits my current attention span, but it's too short to really feel very engaged. In a couple of cases, I worried that the person wasn't that well and maybe it wasn't right to present it humorously, but some were just gleefully following their own path.

*I feel the best way of describing it is "Like a Sarah Waters but no lesbians"

Eine, you just rang the death knell for that book. I have enjoyed her books in the past but really dislike anything by Sarah Waters so Falling Angels will be gathering digital dust now.

Using the maxim of 'if you can't say anything nice' I will refrain from commenting on Love Nina' @TheTurnOfTheScrew* Sorry!

I really, really hoped the aliens would eat him but I've totally forgotten what happened at the end.

Come now Remus, you knew that wasn't going to happen. Everybody knows that Aliens love Underpants

I really enjoyed Such a Fun Age, I thought it was clever and funny and thought-provoking. Out of step on here...
Crawdads was so-so. Clever twist, but a bit of a slog.
I like a YA thriller too. My girls both devour them. They/we got The Cousins for Christmas, which was good fun.

I have just finished

1. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld - a reimagining of Hillary Clinton's life in which she and Bill go their separate ways rather than get married because of his serial cheating. I thought it was very good. It requires a bit of a suspension of disbelief at first, because the characters are familiar and yet fictional, but she's such a good writer that I was able to overcome that. I didn't want it to end.

I look away for a minute and here you are on page 14 of a new thread!

I have finished book tow : Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid.

I know lots of 50 Bookers have read and enjoyed this. It's lively and fun and engaging. I liked the fact that all the characters are ambiguous really and alignment keeps shifting. The penultimate chapter was important! But shan't say more...

I am not sure this is Booker longlist worthy but a great debut and says some important things in a non heavy way.

Mot sure aht the title means really. Must be missing something...

Oh and have just spotted recent posts about it! Should have read those first...

1 Oneness with all life by Eckhart Tolle
Inspirational quotes recommended by a colleague. Not my cup of tea.

1. The dark angel by Elly Griffiths book 10 in the Ruth Galloway series. Ruth goes to Italy. It was nice to have a change of scenery. Took me ages to read this. Not sure why.

1. Wintering by Katherine May a book about winter and depression. I loved this. It was like the author had written the perfect book for me. Definitely going to search out her backlist.

Next up is You exist too much by Zaina Arafat

"What do you think of the Charlotte Betts books Eine and Cote - they are all the daughter or wife of somebody"

Like Eine, I've never heard of a Charlotte Betts.

That is not surprising if she only writes "Daughter of Xxx" or "Wife of Xxxx" books

Remus - re "WHY must you torment me by routinely resurrecting the wanking vicar?"

Because I can

"I really, really hoped the aliens would eat him but I've totally forgotten what happened at the end."

I hope aliens would eat Michel Faber when I watched Under The Skin but sadly that hasn't happened, either.

Pondering namechanging to either theWankingVicar or MavisBlenkinsop.

@MamaNewtNewt, I read a lot of Ann Rule years ago, and agree she comes across as a bit strange. (I had a much beloved totally bonkers Aunt who was fond of serial killers, Ted Bundy was her absolute favourite - the books were hers)

I have the Billy Connolly book to read. I'm not sure his humour has aged well, though I know it's sacrilege to say so. I think he fell rather under the spell of Pamela S latterly and it all went a bit weird. I remember the book she wrote about him and I found it almost voyeuristic and as if she'd written it to sell a book rather than to explore Billy and his past troubles. It left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Eine I feel the best way of describing it is "Like a Sarah Waters but no lesbians"

Tracy Chevalier wrote a brilliant book about Mary Anning called Remarkable Creatures which is well worth a read. As for the lack of lesbians, the new film about Anning coming out this year has decided to make her as a lesbian despite no evidence either way - she had female friends and collaborated with other women but never married. Tracy Chevalier seems to have missed a trick. Those making the film feel that this incredibly remarkable woman needs something more to make her interesting, other than the fact her work influenced Darwin. Given how many men took credit for her work and shafted her financially, I'm not surprised she didn't want one.

Speaking of Sarah Waters and lesbians....

1. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

Much enjoyed, but you lot harping on about a twist meant I spotted it by a country mile!

I'm now on The Goldfinch which I am enjoying so far, but he hasn't reached Vegas yet... You all have a lot to answer for There's something to be said for being ahead of the trend rather than last on the planet.