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.

@MogTheSleepyCat

Is it seriously wrong that I am more than a little tempted?!

Yes Mog. It's Wrong.

Another one reading, or listening on audio, to The Thursday Murder Club. Would have preferred to read instead but the library ebook isn't available until November. Am about two thirds of the way through and its keeping my interest, liking it so far.

What's people's thoughts on Crawdads? Got it earlier this week for my birthday but had people laying into it today on the FB book group I'm on.

Cote I'm not sure if you'd like Tchaikovsky's fantasy. The trilogy I read was loosely based on Native Americans I think, lots of tribes with spirit animals that they turn into. I actually thought my kids would love the concept, and would make great books for children if they were a bit less martial and long.

Cludgie - I absolutely loved Crawdads. On the rare moments I had to put it down I couldn't wait to get back to it. Loved it! I think I'm in the minority on this thread though...

I loved Crawdads too!

19. Arthur & George by Julian Barnes

Loved it Loved it Loved it. This is only my second Barnes after A Sense Of An Ending which I found very thought provoking. Can't seek out other works this year as my TBR is fully closed but will be doing when it reopens.

George is an unassuming vicar's son who leads a quiet life, a possible reason for his social isolation only becoming clear some way in.

The Arthur in question is Conan Doyle. Despite childhood challenges, Arthur shines at everything he turns his hand to from writing to medicine to sport, becoming a figure of fame, fortune and social respectability; but one dogged by theological and philosophical anxieties.

Arthur and George come together to solve The Great Wyrley Outrages.

I actually found the case side quite uninteresting, but the characters of Arthur & George leapt off the page, vividly written, and really enjoyable.

Excellent.

Read Crawdads

It's ok. Very readable but unbelievable and mawkish.

I've had a bit of a thing for Ian Rankin since seeing him on Newsnight Review (May it RIP 😢) he always seemed the least stuffy, least pretentious regular guest they had on there. I'm hoping to see him talk at The Borders Book Festival if it happens this year 🙏🏼

1. Three Perfect Liars by Heidi Perks

I finally finished my first book of the year. The book is written from the perspectives of 3 women. It started pretty slow and took me a while to get into it, the second half was better and I did find myself wanting to read more to find out the ending. I wouldn't rush out to buy it but it's an easy read and overall it was okay.

29. Final Cut by S J Watson

I really enjoyed Before I Go To Sleep by this author, but both books since have been disappointing. Here, the main character goes back to the village she grew up in to try and find out what happened to some missing girls and also to understand what made her leave as she’s repressed the memories. The characters and settings just didn’t ring true for me.

Eine, I loved Arthur & George, haven't read any others from Julian Barnes though

Arthur and George is brilliant. I also loved Flaubert's Parrot but DNF A History of the World.

There is a great chapter on Noah's Ark in History of the World written by the "stowaway". I don't remember anything else about it but that tickled me at the time.

10. Look to Windward - Iain M Banks. This was the classic Culture novel I'd been after. SF on a huge scale with complicated worlds and devious aliens. It has been touted as one of his best, but for me was a little long winded and meandering. There is a bit about enormous behemoths that I enjoyed, but think the book as a whole could have done with some editing. Still an enjoyable read which I needed after abandoning the witches book by Alix Harrow.

Yes, Arthur and George is a great book. Another one to put on the list of rereads for this year.

So nice that other people have also liked Ian Rankin. I feel a bit wistful that I missed the chance to make friends with him when we were students. I've encountered quite a few authors over the years, both at book festivals and when I worked in a small independent bookshop, and it's been interesting to discover who was likeable in real life and who wasn't.

Saucery were you at the convention because you are a crime writer yourself or were you there as a fan?

Terps John Hannah was never right was he? Far too fresh-faced. Ken Stott looks the part though. I wonder if they delayed casting him first time round because he'd already been a detective in two previous TV series? The first time I came across him was in Taking Over the Asylum with a young David Tennant. Excellent.

Desdemona do you think there's any chance the Borders Book Festival will be on? That would be amazing although I fear it's unlikely. I know they're aiming for September so I guess it might just have a chance.

I hear that the Edinburgh Book Festival is to move into the art college in future. I feel a wee bit sad about Charlotte Square and the Spiegeltent but the new venue could work well hopefully.

highlandcoo I'm really hoping it's on in September, fingers crossed the vaccination programme will allow bigger gatherings to take place by then but who knows. We had flights and accommodation booked for last May (husbands company is a minor sponsor) and it was so disappointing when everything had to be cancelled, we've been twice and really enjoyed it each time.

@highlandcoo, no, I’m just a fan! I just checked and it was 20 years ago . I’ve seen him since, but that was the first time. Never went out of my way to see Mark Timlin again, mind you
A well known crime author and her lesser-known hanger-on tried to shoo us out of a seat in a hotel bar at the the same event. ‘They’ could sit over there, apparently ‘They’ have never bought another book by her since.

6. Here is the beehive by Sarah Crossan A lawyer is having a secret affair with a man who dies suddenly. The wife is a client. This is written in a type of verse. I really loved this book and devoured it quickly.

7. Love poems for the office by John kenney A collection of funny poems about office life. Made me chuckle out loud.

10. London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins Published in 1945, this covers the inhabitants of a lodging house in Dulcimer Street, Kennington, south London from Christmas 1938 to Christmas 1940. It's described variously as comic, a romp, Dickensian etc, but I have to say I found it far more tragic than funny taken as a whole.
    Overall I did enjoy it, though I felt some of the cast erred on the side of caricature. Also, while I can see why the author wanted to centre it pretty much on the Dulcimer street house & the relationships between the residents, the lack of wider social networks didn't really ring true for me. The waifs & strays yes, but thinking of the way my own S. london family were tied into their neighbourhood (even my Nan who made a full time hobby of falling out with people) the house as a whole didn't feel quite right without that surrounding wider sphere.

I'm going to follow this up with a re-read of another London novel, an old favourite of mine by Compton Mackenzie, Figure of Eight

I'm avoiding Crawdads for now as I have made a resolution to not get sucked in by hype after wasting my time with Normal People last year.
I might get around to it at some point.
It seems to be a bit marmite. I get irritated with everyone saying it is absolutely a-MAZ-ing, and am now stubbornly not reading it.
I am guilty of panic buying The Thursday Night Murder Club when I had to use an Audible credit because I think that might fall into that overhyped category.

I had covid during the first two weeks of the year which feel like a blur now but have enjoyed catching up.

1. Passing by Nella Larson, already reviews on here and is about two black female friends in the 1920s new York, one of which 'passes' for white, and marries a which man. Its only about 120 pages long but there's alot packed in, it's full of ambiguity in terms of the plot so I'm going to nominate it for my book club.

1. Requiem for immortals by Lee winter - this was my book club read and it was hilariously bad. Its about a woman who by day plays a chello for the Melbourne orchestra, by night is a paid assain. It was described as lesbian noir and aside from some (unintentually) funny lines it was full of dialogue which got repetitive and boring.

1. Hurrican season by fernanda nelchor - a woman known as a witch in a small town in Mexico is found murdered. Each chapter focuses on a different character giving an overview of what happened. This is certainly not for everyone and I'm not sure if recommend it. The writing stream of concousness and there are some differcult subjects which I felt uncomfortable with how they were depicted.

1. The haunting of alma fielding by Kate Summerseat- in not a belive of ghosts at all but I love a good 'true' story. I raced through this one even though I could see where it was going, nice distracting read after hurricane season.

1. The victorian chaise longue by margarita laski - this was in a backlisted episode and I had a copy. Can't say to much as its a very short book but it's sort of a horror time travelling book. Loved this.

20. Dinner With Edward by Isabel Vincent

This came to me by way of a book subscription service.

Isabel, the author, meets Edward, her friends very elderly father, and agrees to look in on him. They regularly have dinner and she learns life lessons. Contains their menus and descriptions of the food Edward cooks.

Sigh.

This wasn't for me at all.

As a memoir it strikes me that someone with connections in publishing had an experience that was special and interesting to THEM and they felt it was special and relevant to a wider audience when all it is at best is a sweet anecdote in polite conversation.

I'm sure Edward was lovely, but I found the book mercifully short, if nice for his children.

Think I only have the two updates.

1. The Silent Treatment - Abbie Greaves

This book was a book club choice about a gentleman who hasn't spoken to his wife in 6 months. There is an incident and we revisit the past to see what led to this silence and if it can be fixed.

This was a nice read but quite slow at times. Has some quite interesting views on parenting. Wouldn't have chosen it myself but that's the fun of the book club books.

1. How to Disappear - Gillian McAllister

Book club choice for this month. This is about Zara who testifies at a trial as a witness to the murder of a homeless man by an up and coming football player. Her identity is leaked online and she is in danger so her mother and her have to disappear but one slip up could lead them right to her.

I actually really enjoyed this one. I was hooked and cared so much about what happened to the characters that left and the family left behind. The plot may be a little far fetched at times but I think a break from reality is just what I need right now!

10 Changing Places by David Lodge
Book club choice. Even more dated in its views on women and race than when I first read it 20 years ago but it’s still an entertaining and fast paced read. Two academics swap roles, and other things, for a term - mild mannered Philip Swallow goes to a thinly disguised Berkeley (and I have to say Lodge doesn’t even try to pretend it’s not Berkeley) and is caught up in student activism while Morris Zapp comes to the UK to wrestle with cold lodgings and academic politics. Hilarity and farce ensues, kind of. It’s more experimental and less funny than I remember although I chortled occasionally.

If I remember correctly, John Hannah produced or directed, or bought the TV rights to, or something the early Rebus TV episodes. I read an article about him, a good 15-20 years ago now, where he also used to have it written into his contracts that there would be a small part for Mrs Hannah. Me and my mum used to play "spot Mrs Hannah" in the way you do with an Alfred Hitchcock.
I don't know much about JH but that put me off him for life really. That, and being about as far away from Rebus as it's possible to be.
Ken Stott is perfect however, as he is in everything. Messiah still gives me the heebs (Boris Starling book- very good serial killer genre)

@PepeLePew- I have all some David Lodges from that period, Changing Places, How Far Can You Go and The British Museum is Falling Down. I'm due a reread.

I'm about to abandon as a DNF Whiteout by our old mate Ken. Oh dearie me. I succumbed to looking at the Goodreads comments last night and saw almost every woman reviewer has picked up on the same:
"He put his hand on her shoulder and she thought "oh my god, I'm wet" abomination. Apart from that, and the scattergunning of breasts, the story itself is just meh. It might have really been a "tension filled high octane page turner" in about 1982 but it's like industrial espionage by numbers with a sprinkling of tits and arses to keep old Ken going nowadays.

Writing that has helped me make my mind up. I'm out.

I’m also avoiding Crawdads for the same reasons as Raven!

Number 9 is Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher on audible. After really enjoying Shell Seekers I decided to carry on with RP. This audio is 40 hours so should keep me busy for a while!

Number 10 is Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves, the second Vera book. This is much better than the first one and I’m really gripped. Vera appears quite late on in the first book, so there wasn’t much time to get a sense of her.