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.

Stokey and Tanaqui - I absolutely adored The Hate U Give and quite liked On The Come Up but didn't think it was anywhere near as good - she set such a high bar with her first.

She has a new one out that's a prequel to THUG, about Maverick, Starr's father, as a young man. I'm really looking forward to it and hope it's a return to form.

2. How to Break Up With Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life Catherine Price.

Overall an interesting read, would recommend to those wanting to reduce their smartphone usage, for insights and practical help. I read this in two sittings, but to get the most out of it, the reader would need to revisit the second half each day of the programme.

The first section looks at the damage smartphones/tablets does to our cognitive processing. Our memory and attention span is considerably reduced; our ability to complete tasks and complete them well is severely impaired by the interuptions. The link between smart phone usage and neurochemisty was enlightening, as was the notion that tech companies are designing their products to manipulate and take advantage of users cognitions.

As for the practical tips in the second half; there was nothing that seemed groundbreaking. However, I will give the 30-day programme a go to see if I do regain hours of my life back!

HeadNorth I enjoyed The Evening and the Morning - Ken Follet is a bit of a marmite author on here, due to his dodgy and superfluous descriptions of breasts, but that aside I have enjoyed the books by him I've read, like you say, not great literature but a rollicking good plot you can lose yourself in. I am now listening to Pillars of the Earth on Audible - read it the first time years ago and couldn't remember a lot about the plot apart from the cathedral burning down.
I'm certainly more likely to go to my Audible at the moment than Station Eleven which I have on the go on Kindle. I'll probably finish it, but probably by reading low point so far this year -still a long way to go though

26. Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls

Coming of age novel - man in his late thirties looks back on his first relationship in the late 1990s. This was fine. It’s been done before and with more engaging characters, but this was still readable.

Stitches I’ve had The Hatching on my tbr list for a few months now. I’m still #teamspider after reading Children of Time

And I’m slightly worried about myself that I hear “spiders eating anyone and anything” and think “ooh that sounds nice!” Am I alright??

@TaxTheRatFarms

Stitches I’ve had The Hatching on my tbr list for a few months now. I’m still #teamspider after reading Children of Time

And I’m slightly worried about myself that I hear “spiders eating anyone and anything” and think “ooh that sounds nice!” Am I alright??

Well, I’m planning on getting hold of the last book in this killer spider trilogy, so if that means you’re not alright, then you’ve got company!

I still haven’t got round to Children of Time yet though. I suspect it’s probably a bit classier than The Hatching, but 🤷‍♀️

8. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

I am well behind most people in reading this but have seen the positive reviews and enjoyed The Little Stranger years ago. Set in Victorian times and focused on the lives of two very different 17 year old girls. Sue is raised in a London shady household which supports itself from thieving, fencing goods and baby farming. Maud lives in the upper middle class country household of her disciplinarian uncle where her day is ruled by the striking clock and she has virtually no contact with the outside world. Yet their paths cross and their lives become entwined. Raced through this - full of twists and very enjoyable.

I loved Fingersmith, think it's the best Sarah Waters.

I loved Fingersmith as well

I read Fingersmith years ago, so I've forgotten most of the plot but I do remember giving an audible gasp at the major twist - I thought it was amazing. I may well re read.

Taytocrisps I was really interested to read your review and about how famous Grace Darling had become back in the day. My grandmother, who was born in the North-East in 1897, had a pack of cards called Famo, which was like Happy Families but with famous people instead of families. One of the sets was Grace Darling, and the other cards to collect were her oars, her shipwrecks and her lighthouses. We used to play it when we went to stay with her in the 1960s and 70s. Some of the other Famos were Sir Walter Raleigh, George Stephenson, Florence Nightingale and Nelson. Very Victorian and very educational, but good fun in your pyjamas with a cup of cocoa!

Great reviews cassandre. I've added Memoire de fille and Magpie Lane to my wish-list.

1. Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain. A memoir from the American chef / tv star mainly focused on his early career and the ‘inside track’ on what it’s really like to work in a kitchen. No surprises that his descriptions feel like back stage at an 80s rock concert (with added pirate crew vibes) with all the sexism and cursing one would expect. For Bourdain it feels like all ego, he’s a posh boy who wants to fit in. His writing is at its best when he’s talking about food, from early epiphanies to discovering his love for simple ingredients and exploring new parts of the world. I enjoyed this a lot.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief I have deliberately avoided all tv and film adaptations of War and Peace because I like to read the book of something first, and I knew I'd get to this one day. I suspect I might quite like the war bits.

Fully agree with all Matt Smith comments.

@StitchesInTime Children of Time is great. You'll be team spider, no question.

I've also added Magpie Lane to my TBR list. As an Oxbridge graduate, half the fun will be seeing if it is realistic, albeit my experience is some far too many years ago to judge.

And adding to the love for Fingersmith. I really should read more Sarah Waters; I've read Tipping The Velvet as well, and really enjoyed them both.

5. And When She Was Good - Laura Lippman

Heloise is a suburban madam, whose past starts to catch up with her. The chapters alternate between her past and the present, so that we understand why she's in her current position. It was okay, nothing more. It's very slow to get going, and Heloise isn't a particularly likeable character, so it became an effort to read until it really got going towards the end. No idea why I have a copy of this book - doesn't seem like one I'd get as a gift, so presumably a Waterstones 3 for 2, it's that kind of book - will be going to the charity shop once they re-open.

1. A Shadow Above, The Fall and Rise of the Raven by Joe Shute

The history of the raven and it’s symbolic legacy in Britain. The book covers the ravens presence in folklore and culture, where it is surprisingly prolific throughout many centuries. It has a close relationship with humans and seems to fall in and out of favor by turns. There is quite a lot about conservation generally and the tension between protecting these kind of birds and the inevitable impact on farming (preying as they do on lambs and other young domestic animals).

Ravens are known to be highly intelligent, playful and social, so lots of anecdotes about individuals interacting with humans. The book also gravitates around the career and travel interests of the author, who is a journalist. Overall a detailed and lengthy read, possibly a bit overly so and I confess to skimming the last few chapters.

I feel I have a good few natural history books under my belt now and am craving fiction. I have Hamnet as a possible next up.

18. A History Of Britain Vol. 1 3000 BC-1605 AD by Simon Schama (Audible)

The eagle eyed among you may remember me listing this last year in fury having realised only near the end it was an abridgement. It was also badly read by Timothy West, so I returned it; the proper job, which I've now done is well read by Stephen Thorne.

It's essentially a potted overview separated into easy chunks.

I find the choice to pretty much skip over the Wars Of The Roses so the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III and dismiss it as "dynastic infighting" whilst giving loads of time to the well worn topic of the Tudors really odd though.

I actually think this is really good for someone like me wanting to fill in their gaps or someone with an older teen DC interested in history.

Stitches
I still haven’t got round to Children of Time yet though. I suspect it’s probably a bit classier than The Hatching

It is more “spiders with tools (and existential angst)” than “spiders with teeth” but it is rather bloody fantastic

Yesterday Never Let Me Go was in the kindle daily deals, today it’s Station Eleven! Do you think the people at Amazon have been reading this thread?!

Chessie I just popped in to say exactly the same! If TTOD is in tomorrow's, we'll know it's true.

Helen Dunmore has been mentioned recently. The Seige is currently 99p on a limited time deal. I thought it was a fabulous book

I only saw this on Bookbub daily email as it's not included in literary fiction and included in historical fiction. Their classification of what is literary fiction is very broad and includes many domestic thrillers that I would class as such

I'm waiting for The Push to be on offer

I've been wracking (racking?) my brain trying to recall any spiders in Children of Time. I couldn''t remember one scene with them.

I eventually worked out I was thinking of Children of Men.

Also came on to mention Station Eleven 

Thanks for the heads up about Dunmore's The Siege @WithIcePlease. I read A Spell of Winter last year and thought it was excellent.