50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 and the second one here.

I’ve never read either Lace or Flowers In The Attic - I’m clearly missing out! I go to Jilly Cooper for bonkbusters. I also like Louise Bagshawe/Mensch and Rebecca Chance is another decent modern option.

Omg Louise Bagshawe, I forgot I read a couple of her books. Just googled them and had a trip down memory lane - Career Girls and The Devil You Know are the two I remember reading.

I read Career Girls quite a few times as a teenager

@ChessieFL I remember loving Rivals particularly when it came out in the late 80s. It wasn't quite as horrible as Riders, although RCB's transformation was a little unconvincing in retrospect. In more recent times, I think Fiona Walker did a good imitation of Jilly.

Maybe bonkbusters aren't a thing any more as now teens have all the porn at their fingertips?

Inspired by the conversation, I googled Flowers in The Attic and it all gets even more crazy. Virginia Andrews died in 1986 and now there is a bloke called Andrew Neiderman who writes under her name and has written way more books than she ever did in her style. Apparently he writes 3 a year!

1. My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell

I'm struggling to articulate how I feel about this one. It's the story of how 15 year-old Vanessa it's seduced by her teacher, and how this goes on to affect her in her adult life. So not exactly a cheery subject, and some of the narrative is decidedly unpleasant. But I don't think that's why I didn't enjoy it. I think it was just too long, and as a result I started to disengage with what could have been a very powerful story.

Fell off the thread for a while. The fact that I'm still reading Murderous Contagion will show you that it's good enough to keep reading but not good enough for me to want to read it quickly.

I'm Flowers in the Attic was getting passed around when I was 1st year at high school, maybe even primary 7. Me and my friends loved them and the sequels.

We also watched Lace the TV series. There was a line saying 'which one of you bitches is my mother' which we frequently repeated to each other dramatically. God knows how old we were then - definitely in primary school though. I read Lace recently and it was fine I suppose.

I'm a fan of Jilly Cooper Riders and Rivals too but only must have read them in the past few years . Is Mount a decent sequel? I know it written some time after the initial 2.

7. The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London - Christopher Skaife

This was a thoroughly absorbing and delightful account of the life and daily routines of Yeoman Warder and Ravenmaster Chris Skaife.

Skaife is a skilled storyteller, imparting his knowledge of the Tower and the raven inhabitants with warmth and humour. We hear about the ravens past and present, their personalities, shenanigans and their unique place in the realm.

Equally interesting was hearing about the life of the Ravenmaster himself, his military career and how he came to be a Yoeman Warder (not a Beefeater, thank you very much).

I would thoroughly recommend this to all.

There was a programme on recently about the Tower of London wardens @MogTheSleepyCat that I caught the tail end of. It was really enjoyable and featured one of their few women Wardens and how she needed a new uniform and what was involved in making it.

It made me want to visit. I've been to London many times and been passed it but never into it. Now that I've gotten into Tudor history I feel much more intrigued by it.

Hadley Freeman’s House of Glass is on the Daily Deals today. It was a highlight of my reading last year. It’s about her family who left Poland for Paris and their experiences under the German Occupation. It’s a great book - human, well researched and beautifully written.

This is why I love this thread, some great recommendations for books I would never usually come across!

I agree Bookshark, ref My Dark Vanessa I said in my review: 'Beautifully written look at an important topic, but I did feel it could have said what it needed to more concisely, a little overlong.'
It's one of those books you feel bad for criticising though 🤷‍♀️

26: A Chelsea Concerto - Frances Faviell

Apologies for not remembering who it was, but I know someone on here loved this book and gave it a great review a year or so ago. Frances Faviell (a pseudonym) was a painter, well-travelled and multi-lingual, living in what was then bohemian, arty Chelsea - still populated by a normal mix of socio-economic groups, not just multi-millionaires - when WW2 broke out. Having had some nursing training, she signed up as a Red Cross volunteer and pitched in with the war effort. Here she chronicles her adventures, as befriender to many and solver of problems; semi-official 'marraine' and translator to a group of Flemish refugees, and observer of the increasingly savage airborne blitz on London, at the climax of which her house suffered a direct hit and tragedy ensued.

It's incredibly vividly written, often humorous but never shrinking from the brutal realities of a hideous war that exacted a terrible toll in human life and misery. The whole of the area in Chelsea where she lived, around Swan Walk and near the Physic Garden, was devastated by bombing and much of it razed to the ground.

I was reminded I had this because I noticed it was mentioned in a Lucy Worsley programme about the Blitz that was shown last week...I haven't seen the programme yet as I'm a bit on the fence about LW but I'm very pleased to have finally read the book.

18. Let’s Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood- Jasper Rees Thanks very much to those of you who recommended this. I’m only a casual fan of Victoria Wood, but I really enjoyed it. I found I had many things in common with VW, such as the difference between her outgoing ’on-stage’ persona (I’m a musician) and very private personal life. And she was a voracious reader, so she must be A Good Thing. Rees interviewed many people who were close to her- although it’s an official biography it isn’t dull or dry. My only criticism of this book was that it was overly long, detailing her career on an almost gig-by-gig basis which, for me, wasn’t necessary.

19. Utopia Avenue- David Mitchell The first novel I’ve read by this David Mitchell (I’m a fan of the other DM) and this story of a rock band wasn’t much like I imagine his other books to be. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Daisy Jones and the Six but wasn't as good.

20. Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire- Akala I’ve read quite a lot about both race and class in the past year, and this is almost up there with the best of them. I was slightly put off by a few typos/errors (eg. the misspelling of Chapeltown in Leeds), but the book had some excellent insights.

21. A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner- Chris Atkins I reviewed the book last year and enjoyed it very much. This audiobook wasn’t quite as good, mainly because Atkins tried to do the different accents of his fellow prisoners, some of which (especially the Scouse one) were excruciating.

22. The Thursday Murder Club- Richard Osman Richard Osman is one of my favourite people on TV (I’m a House of Games addict) but this book did nothing for me whatsoever. I honestly think it’s a book for people who don’t like books.

23. Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams- Matthew Walker Another 99p Kindle Deal, this was interesting, especially on the effects of lack of sleep and the differences between REM and Non-REM sleep.

@Ulysses I love visiting the Towerand look forward to the next time when I get to see the ravens in a whole new light. Do visit if you can, it is a wonderful day out

15. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

A modern classic that has been on my to read list for a good while.

It's set in the 1950s and Esther Greenwood has won an internship in the big city. She should be having the time of her life, but she finds the other girls irritating and is disengaged from the whole thing. She
has a defacto fiancé she doesn't really love and has no clue what she wants to do with her life, apart from the fact that she doesn't want to get married and be a housewife.
As the story progresses, she begins to sink into depression and is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The narrative follows her fight to get better.
It is a short read, beautifully written (and I don't say that lightly, so many reviews say "beautifully written" these days)
Glad I have read this one.

20. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

I've tried reading this book three times so far and it bores me rigid by about 1/4 of the way through every time, so I thought I'd try an alternative approach and listen to it instead (who knew YouTube has audiobooks?).

I actually finished it and thought it was ok! That in itself shocked me 😮 I don't know if because it was told from the mother's POV, the father is such an ineffectual, unsupportive, wet rag of a man, or because Kevin is the most un likeable, cold fish of a character, or all of these factors, that I felt sorry for the mother.

The only bit that surprised me was that Celia lived beyond a couple of months old.

Altogether I hated trying to read it, but it's ok to listen to. I can't understand the love for this book.

@Hushabyelullaby I read it when it first came out and loved it. I tried to read it again last year but I really disliked it and couldn't finish it. I'm not sure if it's because I knew the 'twist' and was reading it differently or if it was the fact I'd gone from a woman who was pretty sure I didn't want children to a mother who cannot imagine feeling that way about her child.

@MamaNewtNewt I can understand that. I'm not sure what it is about the book that leaves me indifferent, I suppose my views have changed in that previously I hated it, now I just think it's alright.

@PepeLePew thanks for the heads up, that book has been on my watchlist for ages and I’d missed it on the daily deal. It’s right up my street and I suspect a bargain for 99p.

27. How Much Of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang

Following the death of their father (a Chinese immigrant prospector in the Gold Rush) his daughters Lucy and Sam must forge their own path.

There is some nice writing here but its only 290 pages and it took a lot of effort to get through.

I have a lot on my mind right now and I just found it far too bleak and depressing.

I read We Need To Talk About Kevin without knowing the twist, and it felt like a bit of an effort just to get to that point, if that makes sense? It was years ago though so I cant remember it properly - but I think it was the twist that drove the hype, and that sort of thing always irritates me!

DesdamonasHandkerchief glad to know it wasn't just me that found My Dark Vanessa too long. I did try and do a search for reviews, but clearly missed yours. I think you hit the nail on the head though. The subject matter is so important, it feels like you can't criticise it - but by the end, I lost sympathy for Vanessa, so it had the opposite effect.

18. The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting - KJ Charles
Lightweight but well written and entertaining M/M Regency romance. Not a bonkbuster, but a fair amount of sexual tension and then bonking.

19. The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin
A slim volume, first published in 1963, but still essential reading. Baldwin’s writing on the black experience in the US is beautiful and cogent and quite rightly furious. If you’ve read his brilliant first novel Go Tell It On The Mountain, his discussion here of his religious teenage experience throws an interesting light on its fictional treatment.

15 The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

A reread of this classic after listening to a podcast about it. Having read more about the Mitfords in the 10 years since I last read this there's fun in identifying who's who. And of course it's very sharp and witty and did make me laugh. But there's a streak of darkness in this that makes it meatier and more poignant than the other classic humourous novels from the same period. The last line is wonderful, I'd always remembered it but had forgotten where it's from.

I read We Need to Talk About Kevin when DC1 was about 9 months old and couldn't put it down!