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.

@nowanearlyNicemum one of the things that most impressed me about Go Set A Watchman was the editor who recognised there was a great story in there, just not the one Harper Lee was telling.

@MamaNewtNewt I read Klopp Actually at the start of this year and found it a bit thin for an actual book. Same Twitter joke endlessly repeated, but maybe I was expecting too much!

27. Of Monsters and Men - Patrick Ness. This was the final part in the Chaos Walking trilogy which I've been reading to keep DD1 company. I thought it was really good, adventure, love and over arching story that was pretty moving in places. One of the plot points is that animals can "talk" although they don't say much, and there are some lovely moments with the horses. I'd definitely recommend this to someone looking for YA in the pre-teen age group. Far better IMO than the Divergent trilogy which we read before and was pretty rubbish after the first book.

@Stokey yeah it was very slight so I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't on offer but it was a nice and mildly amusing quick read.

Well I have reread all the Shardlake books finishing with a first read of Tombland. Then read Hilary Mantels Thomas Cromwell trilogy which I have just finished loved all of them and even though I knew the history found myself really upset at the ending.
I feel absolutely bereft and have no idea what to read next, this is not something I usually have a problem with

17. The Girl With The Louding Voice by ABI Dare

Purchased due to the rave reviews on here and did not disappoint. My favourite book of the year so far.

I'm in a bit in awe of how well some of you write about the books you've read, so I'm not sure I have much to add. I feel in love with Adunni and my heart broke for her and all the girls in Africa who live a reality similar to this. I was cheering her on in my head all the way!

It being the Full Moon, I have a list of witchy type books but I'm only going to speak on the ones I liked and would recommend.

36.	<strong>Everyday Magic</strong> by Samra Haksever
37.	<strong>Love Spells</strong> by Samra Haksever
38.	<strong>Mama Moon’s Book Of Magic</strong> by Samra Haksever
39.	<strong>Natural Magic</strong> by Doreen Valiente
40.	<strong>Irish Witchcraft</strong> by Lora O’Brien
41.	<strong>The Crystal Code</strong> by Tamara Driessen
42.	<strong>Everyday Tarot Magic</strong> by Dorothy Morrison

Of these :

Natural Magic by Doreen Valiente

Clear, concise, contextual, useful, historical. Will definitely read more of hers.

The Crystal Code by Tamara Driessen

Perfect for getting started with crystals. Have really rated both of hers now. One to watch.

Everyday Tarot Magic by Dorothy Morrison

Perfect of you are already proficient in Tarot

The others :

Irish Witchcraft only really useful as a textbook, if you are Irish, and if you want more cultural history. No practical tips. Will probably be more useful to me at a later stage.

Of the Samra Haksevers, Love Spells is superfluous, and, you either need Mama Moon or Everyday Magic not both. Mama Moon for the TOTAL novice, and Everyday Magic for prexisting crafters.

27. Three Act Tragedy - Agatha Christie

Picked this up in a recent Kindle deal as I like to read a Christie from time to time. I think I read this years ago but it only came back to me just before the end. Whilst it’s a Hercule Poirot book, he is not centre-stage as the main players are some amateur sleuths trying to investigate why two people dropped dead having been poisoned at separate social occasions attended by many of the same people. Clever and kept me guessing for most of it.

29. Break In - Dick Francis

Continuing my Dick Francis reads - this is number 23 and one of my favourites. An absolutely cracking read. Kit Fielding is a successful jockey and his twin, Holly, is married to a trainer, Bobby. Kit has to come to the rescue of Holly and Bobby when a newspaper gossip column starts printing untrue stories that they are in financial difficulties causing owners to start withdrawing their horses and suppliers to cease supplies. Who is behind the stories and why? As Kit is a jockey there is plenty of racing mixed in with the sleuthing and skulduggery. Romance is provided by the niece of my favourite owner of all time, Princess Casilia. If you haven’t read any Francis and fancy trying one this would be a good one.

Break In is one of my favourites @TimeforaGandT.
26) Pilgrims by Matthew Kneale. Surprisingly charming short novel about a group of (12th?) century pilgrims heading to Rome- episodic and some parts are better than others, but enjoyable.
27) Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. I thought this was excellent, it is the sequel to Gideon the Ninth and definitely would not work as a stand alone; but I loved the dense plotting, didn't mind the odd weird anachronism, and thought the world building was great. Looking forward to the next, and I assume last, in the sequence. (Why are trilogies the standard for sf and fantasy?!).

19. A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
After a huge DNF (more below) I went back to my favourite Heyer. As the book opens, Adam Deveril's father, a notorious gambler and friend of the Prince Regent, has died and Adam has been hauled back from the Peninsular War to face the ruin of his inheritance. There may be a solution, but it is a threat to his passionate romance with the exquisite Julia Oversley. Will he follow his heart or his duty?

Heyer much preferred writing about history than romance - unfortunately her only readable history books are ones like this where the romance is centre stage. Great central characters and enjoyable minor characters, including some real people, with an absolute minimum of 'cute' patronising portrayals of working class characters, and an intense sense of place and at least some glances towards real life, make this a wonderful read.

My DNF was Soldiers by Richard Holmes. Picked it out of a lockdown 'help yourself' box but it's just not for me. Starts with a poleaxingly awful chapter which I think was meant to say 'soldiers aren't angels' but which just made me feel despairing that soldiery brings out all the worst aspects of masculinity and promotes them. I'm sure that wasn't the intention and perhaps it would have got better if I'd stuck at it.

I've got a few long non-fiction books on the go atm, so a couple of novellas for a break:
40. Jackdaw by KJ Charles
41. Rag & Bone by KJ Charles.
Both are sequels to her Magpie Lord trilogy, nothing momentous but fun romances with plenty of plot, magic & bodycount to keep things moving.

Morning all. Jumping on the bandwagon, my next is the frequently reviewed

9. Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
Jean works on a local newspaper, and in the evenings comes home to a very pedestrian life looking after her rather nervy, overly dependent mother. She is asked to interview Gretchen, a reader who has written in claiming to have had a virgin birth. Jean is captivated not just by Gretchen's story, but by her charming family life with her daughter and husband. As Jean investigates Gretchen's claims with a team of doctors, she becomes embroiled in the personal life of the family, which is far warmer and more interesting than her own.

I know others here compared this to Barbara Pym, whom I've not read. I would say there are also echoes of Celia Fremlin (though not quite of that standard). Although enjoyable, I found the solving of the virgin birth mystery less interesting than Jean's gradual and unwitting absorption into Gretchen's family, which was beautifully detailed. Recommended, despite the clumsy ending.

Lots of reading over the weekend but nothing really good unfortunately.

85. Girl A by Abigail Dean

Girl A is the eldest girl in a family of 7 children, who escapes from her abusive home and raises the alarm. The book is set later in her life as she’s dealing with an inheritance following the death of her mother, and also has lots of flashbacks to her childhood. I found the book quite confusing - there’s no signal that it’s switching time period so you can be reading for a paragraph or so before you realise it’s switched time. I also felt there were too many things about the childhood abuse left unexplained (although that might be a good thing). It doesn’t say so, but I think this is inspired by the case of the Turpin family - there’s lots of similarities.

86. Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara

Meh psychological thriller. Astrid is a recovering alcoholic who has moved back to live with her mother in a sleepy seaside town. She starts receiving letters and photos linked to something bad she did while drunk. Ok but ending all a bit convenient.

87. An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

Another meh thriller - I really should stop buying them as I know that most of the time they will just be ok, but I get drawn in by the blurb. Anyway, here a group of guests gets stuck in an isolated girls during a storm and someone starts murdering them. I’ve read similar stories a few times over the last year and this didn’t add anything to the ‘isolated hotel guests’ genre. I also guessed quite early on who the killer was and it’s quite rare for me to do that so I was disappointed to find I was right.

88. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Ugh, I really didn’t like this. I feel a bit bad saying that as I know it’s semi-autobiographical but I don’t expect it to be so detailed and visceral. For those that don’t know, it’s the story of a young woman suffering from mental health problems in the 1950s. The treatments are obviously not as progressive as they are now so it’s just a really uncomfortable read. I don’t mind uncomfortable reads if I feel I get something out of it, but I didn’t here. It was just relentlessly bleak.

I feel as though I’ve been struggling a bit...well, a lot lately; lockdown and life events are taking their toll, and my reading rate has suffered. However, thank you to whoever mentioned this, which I had a funny feeling I might have perhaps read but (as per the discussion a while ago) now can’t be sure:

33: If Morning Ever Comes - Anne Tyler

Sorry I can’t remember who reviewed this, but as they mentioned, this was Anne Tyler’s first book, published back in 1964. It’s an intriguing foreshadowing of what would become her trademark style, but with major differences - set not in Baltimore, but in North Carolina, and with a far stranger, less workaday edge...even though it’s a very domestic setting, portraying a family of 6 sisters, living in a comfortable old house, and the brother, Ben Joe, who comes back home from college in a sort of homesick fit of anxiety, unable to imagine the family’s life carrying on without him. Secrets about relationships within this apparently close and tight-knit clan are gradually revealed, uncovering a more shifting and ambiguous emotional landscape than at first appears. Intriguing for any Anne Tyler fans.

Hazel Holt - Gone Away
Mentioned up thread by ClaraTheImpossibleGirl

Middle aged lady in seaside town investigates a murder. First in the series.
Although written in the 1980s this has the feel of a much older book. Set among very genteel ladies who sit on committees and bake cakes for the WI in a seaside town (Ilfracombe I deduce), this is nicely written with intelligence and wry humour. It came as no surprise to learn that the author was Barbara Pym’s Biographer.

I very much enjoyed it and have progressed to the second, set in Oxford.

29. Bolt - Dick Francis

Following on from Break In (and glad to see you share my love of it @Tanaqui), I have read the second book featuring jockey, Kit Fielding. This book focuses on Kit’s relationship with Danielle and her family who include one of the owners for whom he rides, Princess Casilia. The family are being threatened over a business matter and Kit steps in to try and help them. The threats spill over into the racing world and all the family, Kit and the Princess’s horses are at risk. Another strong book with a good balance of racing and intrigue.

Back to something more literary next.

28. Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald. I'd never heard of Penelope Fitzgerald before but picked this up as a 99p Kindle deal as I saw it had won the Booker in 1979. It is set in the 60s and follows various people living on barges in Battersea Reach on the Thames. There is Nenna in her early 30s whose husband has left her and her two children, Martha and Tilda, Willis an old marine artist who is trying to offload his rather leaky boat, Maurice a rent boy and keeper of fenced goods, and Richard an ex naval officer. There's no plot as such, more a series of episodes which build up both the sense of community and feel of the city. The characters are beautifully drawn in an opaque way and some quite major things happen in a very down to earth way. The author is quite fascinating, publishing her first book age 59 and writing from experience, apparently she spent two years living in a barge. I'd definitely recommend this, particularly for those who like smaller vignettes, and will link out for more of her work.

54. *Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
    It was very Dickens-y.

55. The Soul of a Woman - Isabel Allende
    A short work detailing her experience of Feminism and what she feels it is to be a woman based on her life in various countries. This was really interesting and she spoke about the loss of her daughter, the foundation she set up in her name and the work they do to to combat poverty and violence against girls. I would have liked to read a lot more.

56. Goodbye Mr Chips - James Hilton
    An aged school master reflects on his lengthy service at a boarding school across a time span of significant societal change. This was a charming and lovely read about times gone by.

57. Riot Baby - Tochi Onyebuchi
    A brother and sister suffer from the effects of structural racism in the US. The sister has supernatural powers and uses them to bring about change once her brother is incarcerated. Quite a raw and angry book that touches on a lot of the injustices faced by black people in the US. The supernatural element made it a bit odd for me and overall it was very disjointed. However it conveys a lot in a short piece and had some excellent writing.

I've got 2 more, but I'll come back tomorrow.

O Fortuna! To coin a phrase... I have not quite finished yet...40 Dickens-y pages to go.

Better get cracking Piggy!

I need someone else to explain what was happening.

I shall read tomorrow. Today, I was finishing Shardlake/snoozing.

@Piggywaspushed

I shall read tomorrow. Today, I was finishing Shardlake/snoozing.

That sounds like bliss.

I'd read mine early last time and then forgot to go to the thread.

22. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden The story of a fisherman's daughter sold by her father to a geisha "mother" in Kyoto. Lots of intricate detail about her lessons, traditional hairstyles, the hard work and sacrifices made by a young woman in her long long road to become a geisha. There are some beautiful descriptive passages concerning landscapes, kimono designs & the various men she encounters in her professional life. It's a fictional novel, but the woman who gave up a lot of the detail regarding her life & learning was horrified to be credited by her real name in the author's acknowledgements and subsequently wrote her own non-fiction book, which would be interesting to read after this one.

So have now finished the Shardlake, in this case Sovereign. I enjoy the intrigue but I am not sure I am as much of a fan as many here, as I find them (especially their denouments) a bit Midsomer Murders. I like the history element though : the Tudors are a bit of an English mystery to me and DS will be studying them for A Level so I like a little background for vicarious revision!

Now off to obediently finish OMF in the sunshine.

I seem to be reading at a snail's pace this year.
11. Any Human Heart - William Boyd DNF I just couldn't seem to get on with this. It was putting me off picking up my Kindle so I made unusual decision to not finish. I'd have never done this when younger but now feel life's too short.

12.Flowers for Algernon -Daniel Keyes - Much reviewed on here recently, so I won't do a synopsis oft he storyline. I liked this to start with, very endearing and quirky and I really wanted to see where it would go but I found the second half dragged a lot and it ran out of steam.

13. Love and Fury - Samantha Silva. This is a fictionalised account of Mary Wollstonecraft's life. Told by Mary herself as she is lying in her birthing bed speaking to her "little bird" (Mary Shelley)baby, recounting her lifestory as they both tenuously hold onto life. It was okay but the prose just didn't "sing" for me. It all felt curiously flat, almost as if the writer had read the Wikipedia page about Mary and constructed a bit of domestic scenery around it. I feel bad giving a "damning with faint praise" review to a contemporary writer as I'm sure a lot of work and heart went into the writing of the book, I finished it but it wasn't a page turner nor evoked a lot of emotion from me when I felt it should be at least a little bit heartbreaking.

18. Bird Box by Josh Malerman

This has been out a while and was a Netflix film recently so a lot of people might have already read or seen this but I'll still try not to spoil it.

We're thrown into a unnerving world where something unseen haunts and destroys humans. It's gripping and I had to keep reading to find out what's going on.

I think what makes this so good is the description focuses on the characters and feelings and every day acts and doesn't dwell on the creatures themselves.

I am unnerved. Not sure if I will watch the film, and going to read a non fiction before I start my next Stephen King.

10. All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
    Absolutely beautiful book set in WWII, I appreciate I’m very late to the party on this one! All I can say is if you haven’t read it, please do. The writing style is exquisite and I felt so emotionally affected by the end of the book. I’d be most surprised if it’s not in my top three of 2021 by year end.

11. In Your Defence - Sarah Langford
    A defence barrister tells her story and career through a series of cases, each themed on a type of crime. I listened to this on audio (free library audiobook!) and really enjoyed it.

12. Mr Loverman - Bernadine Evaristo
    Came across this book on a ‘reccommend me something uplifting/funny’ on a What We’re Reading forum post. It is the tale of a 70 something man called Barrington living in Hackney, a rather dapper fella, who has been married most his life and hiding the fact that he’s gay. Follows a rich set of characters, his wife, lover, two daughters and was a real hoot at times. The storyline instantly appealed to me, so would highly recommend it if it sounds like your thing.

13. Home Stretch - Graham Norton
    Novel set in small town Ireland following the consequences of a car crash that killed three people and others survived. Main character is Connor, who was driving the car but survived, you follow decades of his life as he travels to England, America and back to Ireland. It was a very average read for me, felt it was all rather predictable. I don’t think I’d rush to read anything else by him in future.

14. Many Different Kinds of Love - Michael Rosen
    Absolutely loved this book based on Michael Rosen’s experience of catching covid, being in intensive care and his recovery. A mixture of poems, letters and even messages left by the staff who cared for him on intensive care. I’m probably the type of person to avoid anything covid related, but this was such a heartfelt book that followed his illness and rehabilitation in such an honest and sensitive way.