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.

I’ve had The Thursday Murder Club and Crawdads on my kindle since they came out. Both of them have not got past first chapter - it’s like I have a mental block when something gets such hype and recurved polarised opinions.

6 The glass woman - Caroline Lea
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, both the style of writing and the narrative. Set in 18th century Iceland about the relationship between a widowed man and a young woman and her life with him. I suspect it's impossible to read this without thinking of Jane Eyre and he has resemblances to Rochester. Sadly, the protagonists don't gain understanding of each other which I found sad

Finished one! I seem to be surrounded by half-read books atm, and picking them up again feels oddly like a chore: most unlike me. But then I started Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, an eye-witness account of the 1996 Everest disaster in which a number of climbers died. It's been much recommended on here and deservedly so. I felt I was there, huddled in a squalid tent, listening to rumours about the personalities of those leading us and wondering what that meant for our survival. Compelling, even for someone with no interest in donning crampons and hefting an ice pick.

Into Thin Air really does take you right to the mountain in all its awful cold misery. I love that book.

Totally agree biblio. I have no interest whatsoever in Into Thin Air's subject matter, but I was absolutely gripped by it.

4. Spring by David Szalay
Katherine and James are in the early stages of a love affair. They're both upper middle class Londoners who are currently supposed to be doing less well financially, yet still afford to live in two of London's more expensive streets. Katherine's not really that into James, which is ok as he has no personality. Unfortunately neither does she, which removes any sympathy one might have for her predicament. Will they eventually get their fledgling relationship off the ground? Will Katherine go back to her ex? Will James ever walk or feed the St Bernard that he has inexplicably chosen to keep in a one-bed flat for no apparent plot-serving reason?

So basically no plot, and no characterisation. The writing wasn't awful until a chapter near the end told from the point of view of one of the working-class characters, in which a badly executed vernacular was inconsistently applied. Please, no-one read this pretentious tosh.

Also came on to say The Green Mile is on the 99p deal today. Unusual to get a deal on a King book and this one is great and well worth 99p, it was in my top 5 last year. There's a bit of repetition as it was originally published in Dickensian serial style but that doesn't detract too much. I think it's up there with the Stand as his best work.
Agree with you on the Other Bennet Sister book Remus, it was tiresome.

OK, I have been very busy and checking back I did post my last review on 10th January, but sheesh, people, 682 posts into a new thread before I get round to looking at it? We're definitely going to be setting new records this year! I see we've already had (1) Sci fi and NLMG/Station Eleven chat; (2) Donna Tartt; (3) unlikeable characters; (4) plot vs style and (5) David Mitchell and I've not even caught up on the whole thread.

In defiance of basically everybody, I am bringing my list over during the second half of the thread .

1. In the Shadow of Power – Viveca Sten
2. Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller
3. The Truants - Kate Weinberg
4. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
5. Olive, Again – Elizabeth Strout

And my latest read:

6. The Winter Book by Tove Jansson

This was bought for me many moons ago by my husband based on my love of the Moomins, and I have finally got round to reading it as part of my challenge this year, which is to intersperse my hard copy TBR pile with my easier-to-cart-around Kindle books. It seems particularly ridiculous not to read in hard copy during lockdown, although I am commuting sporadically this time round for court work.

Anyway, I hadn't realised this was short stories which put me off somewhat as I've never really got to grips with the form. It is therefore a fairly high mark of praise to say I did enjoy it, although it won't make it into bold in my list. Most of the stories in the book were very short and written in a childlike style (they seem mostly to be describing events from Jansson's childhood). I liked this as they felt more like vignettes than a fully formed story as such, and I find that much easier to cope with. I particularly liked High Water, about a raging storm and the excitement it engendered in Jansson and her family, contrasted with the reaction of visitors to the island and Flying, a little fantastical interlude that was very well done. My favourite story in the book, though, was The Squirrel, which is written from the point of view of an adult writer and focuses on her reaction to a squirrel that visits her when she is in retreat on an island. It's unusual and intriguing and felt very true. Many of the other stories just didn't chime with me, but I guess that's the nature of short story collections.

And sorry, I meant to correct my title but forgot - that should of course be A Winter Book.

@SOLINVICTUS no, they definitely aren’t ‘terrifying’ in any way but they are marvellously atmospheric. I also loved The Coffin Path but I seem to recall feelings on that are mixed on these threads

@highlandcoo

I quite enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club. I thought for what it was, it was fine. It wasn't really a crime novel in the way Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid and Peter May write crime; I'd put it more in the "whimsical" category of books.

I have The Other Bennet Sister in my TBR pile. I'm a big JA fan but find that spin-offs very rarely work. I didn't mind Longbourn too much but detested Death in Pemberley. Seriously one of the poorest pieces of writing I've ever encountered. What was PD James thinking? And all those people who wrote glowing reviews of it - who are you trying to kid? It was absolute tripe.

I did enjoy the TV series Lost in Austen years ago; that was fun. And of course P&P with Jennifer Ehle is classic. Nothing beats rereading the original novels though.

I managed about 4 pages of Death in Pemberley. I finished one by the man who writes the Ladies Detective stories - it was terrible. I'll finish this one now if it kills me, but it's pretty bad. Dull writing about a dull character. In the hands of a better writer, the introspective about a character on the sidelines could have been interesting.

Charlotte Lucas is a total bitch, which again, in the hands of a better writer, could have been fun.

@bibliomania

Finished one! I seem to be surrounded by half-read books atm, and picking them up again feels oddly like a chore: most unlike me. But then I started Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, an eye-witness account of the 1996 Everest disaster in which a number of climbers died. It's been much recommended on here and deservedly so. I felt I was there, huddled in a squalid tent, listening to rumours about the personalities of those leading us and wondering what that meant for our survival. Compelling, even for someone with no interest in donning crampons and hefting an ice pick.

I can't believe it's taken you so long to read this! It was always going to be one you'd love.

Quick high five to Pepe, Screw and Remus.

Remus, for a long while I confused it with McFarlane's Mountains of the Mind, so I thought I had read it. I now also realize I had mentally conflated Mallory and Hillary. Apparently just reading about high altitude affects my cognitive processing.

I agree that The Other Bennett Sister was grindingly dull. I read it last year around the same time as The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greely which is about Charlotte Lucas and her marriage, it was marketed more as a chick lit book and less literary than The Other Bennett Sister but IMHO it was the better book, not great but a really breezy, easy page turner.

I am now very tempted to re-read The Goldfinch, but that is for another time.

I am terrible at recalling the details of books I have read. Equally, when I re-read things I have written myself I'm surprised at the lack of familiarity. Perhaps making the effort to summarise this year's books may jog my memory later. I've come across an empty notebook from 1995 The Russian Writers' Drawing Book and recording my book list and notes in that.

3.Monkey's Uncle and 4.Skating to Antarctica both written by Jenny Diski are investigations into identity and madness; the first fiction and the second memoir/travelogue/journal. Like Diski, I am uncertain where memory and fantasy divide. She is fascinated by her origins, her dysfunctional family and the turmoil of her upbringing. She brings intellect, dry wit and poetry to her story as she seeks to understand past and present.

She writes madness capturing a sense of claustrophobia. She is afraid of a suicidal destiny in her genetic make-up and challenges the towering figures of Darwin, Freud and Marx to answer her questions.

It is 25 years since I first read these. Skating to Antarctica has stood the test of time better in my opinion; it is less mannered and more poetic in its reflection. If you find or seek solace in emptiness, Jenny Diski might be for you; a writer for the introspective.

I don't have any TBR books that I have chosen for myself at the moment, so my next is another re-read 5. Perdito Street Station China Mieville. It's a big book so I may be sometime!

@ChessieFL

Well I enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club and am looking forward to the sequel! Not great literature, no, but I found it good fun.

23. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

Another one where I am out of step with the general opinion of the thread! I picked this up from our local book swap as I recalled reading good reviews on this thread. Based on real life, a little girl and her grandmother spend summers together living on an isolated Finnish island. According to the blurb, it’s a profoundly life-affirming story and shows a fierce yet understated love between the two characters. However, I found it really boring, thought the child was rather petulant, and didn’t get any sense of love between the characters. If it had been a longer book it would have been a DNF but as it was very short I did finish it.

I'm with you Chessie. I tried reading it last summer and it was a DNF for me, even though it is very short.

I loved Perdido Street Station many years ago snowspider but it is a mammoth reread! I'm not sure any of his others have lived up to it, although I did like The City and the City, which I have a feeling was another divisive one on here!

1. Inversions - Iain M Banks. After The City of Brass and Feersum Endjinn, I thought I'd go for a more traditional Culture novel, but this wasn't it! I'd bought a load of Iain M Banks a couple of years back and had only read the first few. I don't actually think I had ever read this one before. It's basically set in a medieval world and follows two stories, one of a female doctor who is tending to a king and one of a bodyguard to a general who has overthrown the emperor. The stories are basically first contact in action in different ways but quite subtly done. Not a good one to start with, not what I was expecting, but nevertheless a good read.

1. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. A short, sad book about a promising brain surgeon who discovers he has cancer in his mid thirties. It was being read extensively on the thread three or four years ago so I know many people are familiar with it.

I'm currently reading two other non fiction book Lady In Waiting on my Kindle and listening to The Five on Audible. Neither really grabbing me at the moment but early days.

As a side project for this year I've just downloaded the Anthony Briggs 2005 translation of War and Peace (for the princely sum of £2.99) which, having done my research, seems to be the most accessible version, and I'm aiming to read at least a chapter a day. There are 361 chapters and I'm promised the chapters are fairly short.
I'm also going to be enlisting the help of the Shmoop and Grade Saver websites to make sure I'm keeping plot lines and characters straight in my head as I go along. (they've been invaluable for the Our Mutual Friend read along.) I've tried WaP before and failed so I'm hoping this will be a better strategy!
I may have got the idea for this from a 50 Booker but apologies for not name checking if so, I've had a quick look through this years threads and can't find any references to it.

I had forgotten I had Pine in my Kindle TBR - thank you for the reminder. It seems to be getting mixed reviews so who knows.

6) The Dead Harlequin by Agatha Christie read by Hugh Fraser. This is an Agatha Christie short story. Mr Satterthswaite visits an art gallery and spots a painting with a person in it that reminds him of his friend Mr Quinn. He purchases the painting and also invites the artist that painted the painting ‘The Dead Harlequin’ to dine with him that same evening. Conversations that evening soon turn to the setting of the painting, Charnley house and the tragic circumstances surrounding it. A new guest is announced but not who they are expecting and mysteriously she wants that very same painting. I am not going to say any more as will spoil it. I have to say I quite enjoyed this short story so much so I have got another one of hers called Sing a song of sixpence next lined up to listen to. It was mentioned in a review somewhere that this could easily be adapted to a full on screen film and I think it would work. I give this 3/5.

@bibliomania

Quick high five to Pepe, Screw and Remus.

Remus, for a long while I confused it with McFarlane's Mountains of the Mind, so I thought I had read it. I now also realize I had mentally conflated Mallory and Hillary. Apparently just reading about high altitude affects my cognitive processing.

I gave up on Perdido Street Station but absolutely loved The City and the City. Cote and my dp both hated it, but they are clearly wrong.

@SapatSea

I agree that The Other Bennett Sister was grindingly dull. I read it last year around the same time as The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greely which is about Charlotte Lucas and her marriage, it was marketed more as a chick lit book and less literary than The Other Bennett Sister but IMHO it was the better book, not great but a really breezy, easy page turner.

I'm going to finish it today. If it was a real book instead of on Kindle, I'd then drown it - which is probably a kinder fate than it deserves. It deserves a ritualistic burning whilst Jarvis Cocker reads Jane Austen to the author, who is tied to a chair with her own sprig muslin in her mouth and thick woollen mittens sewn onto her hands, so she can never write anything again.

Spinoffs of other people's works NEVER work, but particularly the various Austens

@Terpsichore thanks for reviewing Stasiland, it sounds right up my street. Mentioned it to DH this morning and MIL has a copy so I'll be borrowing it for reading it next month.

I've just been back and caught up on the thread. I am another who has never read any Stephen King. I used to manage charity shops and have a copy of Under the Dome that came in and was recommended by a volunteer so I bought it, but I never got round to reading it and may have been culled unread, should I look to see if I still have it? One of my favourite films is Stand By Me but have never read the story. His On Writing appeals.

Also on my never read list are Ann Tyler and Never Let Me Go and Station Eleven thus avoiding some of the debates