50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Four

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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, the second one here and the third one here.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I hadn’t noticed it before but listened to a bit this morning and I think I got to 6 mentions of Euclid Avenue in 30 mins!

@bibliomania I love Doomsday but haven’t read it again since COVID, so it was really interesting what you were saying about how spot on she got the 2054 pandemic. I really recommend her other time travel books - I wasn’t too keen on To Say Nothing of the Dog (that said I think I have seen some positive reviews of it on here) but I really enjoyed All Clear, Blackout and Firewatch.

@Matilda2013 I read The One a couple of years ago and found the concept really interesting too. It’s one of those books where I found myself imagining what life would be like if that technology were available and it comes to my mind every now and then. I didn’t know about the Netflix series, will have to take a look.

@ShakeItOff2000 I listened to the audiobook of The Beastie Boys Book last year and I adored it. I agree about the switch of narrators taking a bit of getting used to, some were great others really didn’t work for me (Kim Gordon) but I wish Adam and Mike had read it all themselves. Totally agree re wishing I could see the picture and lists and had the same thought about getting it for my husband too - great minds 🙂. I really loved the ending of A God in Ruins but only after a period of reflection, I pretty much felt like you just after finishing it.

I’ve tried to read Lolita quite a few times over the years but I just can’t get past the subject matter in this case.

@MamaNewtNewt

It's a good book but that did my head in by the end, it was like she kept screaming WE WERE POOR at you

Has anybody read the follow ups to The Giver? I quite enjoyed the first one, but haven't yet tried any of the others.

I read one. But we are talking like 1997, Remus, , I think I DNFd. I read The Giver multiple times though.

Thank you for the list @tarahumara - only just caught up. I've read 36 and it certainly makes me want to read the ones I haven't.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

I read one. But we are talking like 1997, Remus, , I think I DNFd. I read The Giver multiple times though.

Thanks, Eine. Might not bother then.

Clueless , I saw that Twitter thread and, like you, found that advert heart-stoppingly moving. I have Hadley Freeman's boosting on my Kindle, really enjoyed your review. She's a wonderful writer imho.

Remus, I've only read The Giver too. DD has the big fat trilogy on her bookshelf though so I've no excuse not to find out what happens next!

Interesting to see the comments on Lolita. I'd added it to my TBR list after readingMy Dark Vanessa, as it features so heavily in there, I wanted to read it to understand the context, rather than just the very broad premise, which is all I really know about it. Maybe one to save for when I'm in the right frame of mind then - My Dark Vanessa was bad enough.

31: The Most Fun We Ever Had - Claire Lombardo

Satisfying, sprawling family saga delving deep into the lives of Chicagoans David and Marilyn Sorensen and their four daughters, 'Irish twins' Wendy and Violet (born a year apart), Liza, and 'epilogue' Grace. The narrative is built from alternating chapters of present-day events and flashbacks, so we gradually come to learn why Wendy is a wealthy single woman dependent on alcohol and random pickups; why she and Violet are bound together in an intense, complex dance of love and hate; how come Grace is a dysfunctional drop-out and Liza is trapped in a frustrating, dead-end relationship. Surrounding all of this is the all-consuming love of parents David and Marilyn, going strong for decades, tried and tested but enduring through a series of shocks.

Loved this - although it's a familiar 'type' of American novel, reminding me very strongly in particular of Meg Wolitzer's 'The Position'. It's very long and got a bit bogged down in places, I thought - possibly could have benefitted from some decent editing - but on the whole, my kind of novel.

17. The Guest List by Lucy Foley

A wedding on a windswept island off the Irish coast ends in murder.
An ok read. The murder victim was violently disliked by so many of the guests that you’d almost think they’d deliberately been trying to invite people with a good motive for murder. And the setting is just ridiculous for a wedding with 150 guests invited.

18. Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Set in a dystopian USA, where, as a compromise between pro-life and pro-choice conflict, laws were passed allowing parents / guardians to “unwind” unwanted teenagers to provide parts for organ transplants etc (and I really, really struggle to believe that this would be agreed on as an acceptable alternative to abortion).
Three teenagers intended for unwinding escape, with the aim of staying out of the Harvest camps until they turn 18 and are legally too old to be unwound.
I quite enjoyed this, although I think I’d have liked it better if I’d read it when I was a teenager.

19. Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas

The premise of this one is that 6 20-somethings apply for a mysterious job asking for bright young things, and are then drugged, kidnapped, and wake up on a deserted island.
It sounded interesting.
But for the most part, the 6 bright young things sit around drinking, smoking, talking about trivia, playing truth and dare and so on, and it reminded me strongly of watching a not very exciting episode of Big Brother.
Things pick up a bit towards the end of the book, but by that point I no longer cared very much about whether any of them ever made it off the tiny deserted island.

@nowanearlyNicemum

Remus, I've only read The Giver too. DD has the big fat trilogy on her bookshelf though so I've no excuse not to find out what happens next!

Looking forward to your reviews. :)

31. The Art Of War by Sun Tzu

A re-read. Needed to psych myself up to kick some arse.

45. The Divines - Ellie Eaton
    A woman revisits the site of her old boarding school and reflects on her relationships while there and the events that let to the school being closed down. The timeline shifts between present day and 90s school life. Reasonable entertaining and a few fun reminders of being a teen in the 90s.

46. Because of You - Dawn French
    Two women give birth on New Year's Day, but only one leaves the hospital with a baby. The repercussions of this echo down the years and have an impact on both families. I don't think this book knew what it wanted to be. It was passable chick lit writing at best. It dealt with a very serious topic in an attemptedly humourous way that came across as blithe and trivialising. The 'comedy' value of one character's malapropisms was cringeworthy and out of place rather than funny. The witty banter between characters was unrealistic and the ending was ridiculous tear baiting. It was so bad I only carried on to see how much worse it could get. This was a very good plot idea spoiled by the delivery. I wouldn't have read this if it hadn't made the WP longlist. Bloody awful.

47. The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah
    A mother and her children escape the droughts and dust storms of the American plains during the Great Depression and head to California for a new life. More hardship and suffering await. Competent historical fiction come family saga. It's no Grapes of Wrath but deals with similar themes/events from a female perspective.

I'm late to the party, but thanks so much for collating that list Tara

17. The Huntress by Kate Quinn

I really enjoyed The Alice Network by the same author. It was very similar in style - a couple of different storylines trundling along nicely before converging towards the end. There is even a cameo appearance by Eve Gardiner from The Alice Network.

The story follows three different storylines, firstly the story of a group of Nazi Hunters in the early 1950s in Vienna- Russian Nina Markova, American lawyer Tony and British journalist Ian. Ian's younger brother Seb was a victim of the notorious "Huntress" - a female war criminal, which means the group are focused on tracing her. It also follows the story of Nina's war, as one of the Night Witches - an all female squadron in the Soviet Red Army and how she makes her way to the West at the end of the war. It also follows the story of Jordan McBride, a young American woman in Boston, whose father remarries a German refugee with a young daughter who refuses to talk about her past.

While it isn't really a book big on suspense - we all know very early on who the Huntress is, it is a page turner in that I wanted to know how all the pieces fit together and how the Huntress got the the US.
A good read, but on balance I think I preferred The Alice Network. I am looking forward to her new one coming out this year- The Rose Code?

@StitchesInTime I shared your opinion of The Guest List don't think I shall bother with Bright Young Things now!!

No wildly exciting additions for me:

31. Lesley Cookman - Murder in a Different Place
32. Lesley Cookman - Murder out of Tune

The next two instalments in the Libby Sarjeant murder mysteries series. Easy reading really and I enjoy the setting more than the actual story.

33. Hazel Holt - Gone Away
34. Hazel Holt - Mrs. Malory and Any Man's Death

The first Mrs Malory detective story and one from near the end of the series. A middle aged (later elderly!) widow solves mysteries in a quiet seaside town. Enjoyable for the lovely writing and cosiness of the setting.

35. Alyxandra Harvey - Haunting Violet

YA fiction about a young girl who makes a living with her mother as fake mediums, then discovers she can actually see the dead. More interesting than it sounds and a quick read, enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

So I have an interest in the occult/esoteric/witchcraft. I recognise that some people are against it on religious grounds, and that others view it as hogwash, but I'm "into it" and debates on that are for a different thread.

Read these three recently :

32. Wiccan Book Of Candle Magic by Lisa Chamberlain
33. Very Practical Magic by Nicola Kelleher
34. Luna by Tamara Dreissen

Of these Luna was special, not nonsensey at all like some books in this category often are, real sense of practical usage and will be using it regularly from now on, and would actually recommend it as a good starter for the curious.

There’s a few gooduns on the daily deals today: Ten minutes 38 seconds in this strange world by Elif Shafak , The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.

Leave the World Behind is also in the Daily Deals and is supposed to be good.

Did one of you break the kindle daily deals page? Amazon tells me there's a problem and they're working to fix it.

Thanks for that recommendation Eine, I've become more drawn to paganism as I've got older and have been looking for a decent intro book. So many seem to be self published with very mixed reviews

Eine, I’m also a bit inclined to paganism, and I tend to read books about Goddesses and feminist approaches to mythology when I’m in that sort of mood

@Terpsichore The Most Fun We Ever Had was one of my favourites last year and a book I've given to several friends as a present. I agree it could have done with tighter editing, but I also really didn't want it to end!

@LadybirdDaphne

Eine, I’m also a bit inclined to paganism, and I tend to read books about Goddesses and feminist approaches to mythology when I’m in that sort of mood

Do recommend!

@RavenclawesomeCrone

Thanks for that recommendation Eine, I've become more drawn to paganism as I've got older and have been looking for a decent intro book. So many seem to be self published with very mixed reviews

Some of the more generic stuff is just publishing houses generating pish to make a buck too