50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Five

[southeastdweller]

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

How're you getting on so far?

@mackerella

Gosh, I hope I haven't put you off, cassandre! As I (hope I) conveyed, it's not a bad book, but I just found it lacking in some way. I know a few people here have read it and liked it. Anyway, I'd be really interested to hear what you make of it, especially as we've both liked the Ali Smith seasonal quartet. In fact, I've just downloaded Spring to read before it gets to June and I won't be able to read it until the following March .

DO IT, Daphne! In fact, perhaps you could write the one about Charlotte Lucas and Mary Bennet running off together (complete with breeches, sensational novels and Ken Follett BREASTS) that was discussed a couple of threads ago?

Maybe the vaguely lesbian witches with Ken's BREASTS and swirly navy covers could have a psycho neighbour "I let her in!!!" and a ye olde tea shoppe in Kabul? At Christmas! Bingo!

16 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo - my second tilt at it - I gave up just a few pages in on my first attempt last year and it had been sitting reproachfully on the Something I Ought to Read shelf. This time too I struggled to get started but battled through and then utterly fell for it.

The book is structured as chapters each divided into 3 sub-chapters, each of these taking a character each - a mother and daughter and another character linked in some way to the mother or daughter - and takes you into their world for a while, their life experience and outlook. This should be very much my kind of thing.

Part of the problem for me getting started was the lack of full stops and capitals that struck me as affected until I was into it, and also I didn’t relate to the first characters. Various doubts pressed themselves - would anyone in the book be afflicted with any self-doubt? How much interest would I be expected to muster in the relationship CVs of these characters? Is this A Worthy Prizewinner? Why can’t I stop questioning whether it is A Worthy Prizewinner and just sit back and enjoy?

Somehow from the second three onwards I was swept along and the characters came alive for me and I enjoyed their life stories and especially seeing them from each other’s perspectives. Whilst I agree with the criticisms that others have made - too much breadth at the expense of depth; there were sections that felt lecturing or preachy; the repeated happy endings eventually got to feel a bit samey - I’m in the market for happy endings at the moment, and found these criticisms didn’t detract from enjoying the ride. As to whether it’s A Worthy Prizewinner, I didn’t feel it did the multiple character history with as much aplomb as Kate Atkinson, but it was more readable, interesting and entertaining than the few Important Male Writers I have read.

Thanks for the Sasha Swire review Pepe - I've had it on my wishlist for ages, but have been hoping it'll come up for 99p!

Aha! It's in the library - and I can even actually reserve it and get a real proper book :)

How nicely synchronicitous that Remus recommended Trustee from the Toolroom on the 99p deals, and then there was an example from the same in the article linked to about the use of the name Fanny!

34. Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella. A very very traditional romance plot, but quite charming, with a particularly nice group of friends for both the hero and heroine. Enjoyable read.

Gutted I missed Trustee from The Tool Room. It’s gone back up in price.

@BestIsWest

Gutted I missed Trustee from The Tool Room. It’s gone back up in price.

Oh, what a shame.

@VikingNorthUtsire

Mackarella I'm reading Spring ATM - first read of it for me, I really like Ali Smith.

So am I but I think it will be a DNF as I'm not getting on with it, I've just shoved it in my kindle 'unfinished' collection where books can languish for months though I do try and go back to them before starting a new book.

SOL I think you forgot the candlestick maker's niece and the 1950s Angels on the Maternity Ward, though.

And yay for the springtime Spring buddies - hopefully Viking and I can persuade you to un-archive your copy once we've reviewed it, betty!
(Unless it's not worth it, of course.)

Pepe I've had the Sasha Swire on my wishlist for a while and am really looking forward to it. Loved your review. Saving it for either an emergency or holiday, not sure which

107. Girls of Brackenhill by Kate Moretti

Another Amazon first reads freebie. I did enjoy most of this but then the ending really irritated me for several reasons. On her aunt’s death Hannah goes back to the family castle, Brackenhill, where several girls (including Hannah’s sister) disappeared over the years. While there Hannah is reminded of events from her childhood.

108. Tales From The Farm by the Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen

This is a collection of around 18 months’ worth of her monthly columns for The Dalesman magazine. It’s quite short, but lovely to catch up with events on the farm (for anyone who doesn’t know, Amanda lives on a very remote sheep farm in the Dales and has 9 children).

109. A Bit Of A Stretch:The Diaries of a Prisoner by Chris Atkins

Atkins is a filmmaker who was convicted for fraud and spent 8 months in Wandsworth before being moved to an open prison. This is his account of the time spent at Wandsworth. This is eye opening in many ways, not least the special treatment he had almost immediately simply by being white and middle class. I would have liked to have heard more about what it was like in the open prison compared to Wandsworth but he doesn’t cover that bit.

110. Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue Townsend

The final Mole book. This one is still funny but sadder as Mole suffers from prostate cancer. It’s a shame the story ended here. I listened to this on Audible and didn’t really like the narrator as the voices he did for some characters were irritating.

111. The Fine Art Of Invisible Detection by Robert Goddard

I’m a big fan of Goddard and this was great. Umiko Wado is Japanese and works as a PA for a private investigator, when she is sent to London to help out with a case. Things immediately go wrong and she is caught up in events which travel to Cornwall and Iceland. It’s a great story and I really liked Umiko.

112. The World I Fell Out Of by Melanie Reid

I was already quite familiar with her as I read her Sunday Times column, but I didn’t know the details of her accident or the immediate recovery. While obviously not a cheerful book, she doesn’t spend a lot of time feeling sorry for herself and it’s good to read about her little victories in recovery. This also highlighted some of the aspects of living with paralysis that had just never occurred to me. Definitely worth reading.

113. The Burning Girls by C J Tudor

I’ve enjoyed Tudor’s previous books (she’s been compared to Stephen King but I haven’t read a lot of King so not sure how accurate that comparison really is). However, this one was a bit of a mess. There’s a slightly supernatural plot line that just goes nowhere, and the end is very convoluted (still not quite sure who did what to who). I did like having a female vicar as a main character though, that was a bit different.

114. The Heatwave by Kate Riordan

Sylvie travels back to her childhood home in rural France, where she recalls the time spent there with her daughter Elodie who is no longer around. Something bad obviously happened and the story gradually builds up to that. A bit overwritten but does a good job of setting the sultry oppressive summer atmosphere, but the ending was a bit disappointing.

Now reading Sandi Toksvig’s almanac which I picked up on the daily deals a couple of days ago.

@mackerella

SOL I think you forgot the candlestick maker's niece and the 1950s Angels on the Maternity Ward, though.

Not to mention "Dominated by a Billionaire" with a topless man on the cover

@ChannelLightVessel, on Nervous Conditions, the first follow up to this is actually The Book of Not - it was first published by a small press some time ago, but following the Booker Prize listing, is being reprinted and brought out on Kindle some time this year - it may have happened since I last looked for this book specifically.

Trustee From the Tool Room was listed as a daily deal. Hopefully it will come up on offer again.

I was very sad that Sue Townsend died before we could find out about Adrian Mole, but as he's 15 months older than me, I am determined to believe that he's made a full recovery and is doing ok. And maybe not having another book avoids too much disappointment. I so much feel that I grew up with Adrian Mole....

@ChessieFL thanks for your review of A bit of a stretch I've ordered it on Borrowbox as a freebie audiobook

How could I forget, Viking?

I think we'll have to commission the author of this article to design the cover...

@Cornishblues

16 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo - my second tilt at it - I gave up just a few pages in on my first attempt last year and it had been sitting reproachfully on the Something I Ought to Read shelf. This time too I struggled to get started but battled through and then utterly fell for it.

The book is structured as chapters each divided into 3 sub-chapters, each of these taking a character each - a mother and daughter and another character linked in some way to the mother or daughter - and takes you into their world for a while, their life experience and outlook. This should be very much my kind of thing.

Part of the problem for me getting started was the lack of full stops and capitals that struck me as affected until I was into it, and also I didn’t relate to the first characters. Various doubts pressed themselves - would anyone in the book be afflicted with any self-doubt? How much interest would I be expected to muster in the relationship CVs of these characters? Is this A Worthy Prizewinner? Why can’t I stop questioning whether it is A Worthy Prizewinner and just sit back and enjoy?

Somehow from the second three onwards I was swept along and the characters came alive for me and I enjoyed their life stories and especially seeing them from each other’s perspectives. Whilst I agree with the criticisms that others have made - too much breadth at the expense of depth; there were sections that felt lecturing or preachy; the repeated happy endings eventually got to feel a bit samey - I’m in the market for happy endings at the moment, and found these criticisms didn’t detract from enjoying the ride. As to whether it’s A Worthy Prizewinner, I didn’t feel it did the multiple character history with as much aplomb as Kate Atkinson, but it was more readable, interesting and entertaining than the few Important Male Writers I have read.

Well that's embarrassing. I listened to this book so the lack of punctuation affectation wasn't an issue but I have to admit the fact that each chapter was told from the perspective of a mother/daughter/random other, completely passed me by. The title makes far more sense now!

24 Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi. Translated by Robert Chandler, Elizabeth Chandler, Anne Marie Jackson and Irina Steinberg

Teffi was a phenomenally popular satirist and writer in Tsarist Russia (you could buy Teffi perfume or Teffi caramel!). This book, written 10 years later in exile in Paris, describes her escape from Russia during the civil war following the October Revolution. Thanks to her humour and humanity it feels like a light read and I really enjoyed it but she doesn't flinch from the horrors of the refugee experience and the impact of the war (but always with an eye to the farcical). A lot of reviews compare her to Chekhov but it reminded me of Nancy Mitford's descriptions of Paris early in WW2 in The Pursuit of Love and has the same lightness of touch. Well worth reading.

25. Long Bright River by Liz Moore. It's funny that I read this immediately after The Dutch House - both are set in Pennsylvania, but the lives of the characters are worlds apart. This one is very much on the wrong side of the tracks. Sisters Kacey and Mickey were inseparable as children, but as adults their lives have diverged. Mickey is a police officer and a mother, while Kacey uses prostitution to fund her drug habit. Kacey has disappeared and Mickey is trying to track her down. I felt that this started really well, gritty and gripping, but lost its way a little in the second half with too many plot strands going on.

26. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. This is Bryson's autobiography of his childhood years. Not my favourite Bryson (that would be The Lost Continent) but still very funny. I listened to it on Audible read by the author, and I have to agree with a previous poster on this thread (sorry, can't remember who) that his speaking voice is rather disappointing! Not how I expected him to sound at all!

A quick fly by to say the Hay Festival is digital again and is open to register for events. Doesn't seem to be any number restrictions on events this year.

Much enjoyed last year.

Hay Festival

Brilliant @FortunaMajor thank you so much I would not have thought to look

26. Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo

Interesting interwoven stories of black women’s experience in Britain, it gave me a good insight into lives I wouldn’t otherwise see. It articulated the conflict very well between rising out of poverty and becoming successful, while still being expected to stay true to your roots. But it did spread itself very thinly, covering 12 women and every issue under the sun (race, sexuality, feminism, trans...) - perhaps a narrower focus on the generations of just one family would have been better

also
I’m not sure what the point is
of starting each phrase or sentence on a new line
with no capitals or speech marks
when your prose is actually pretty... prosaic
and your not doing anything innovative with language
other than not punctuating it properly

Still more engaging and worthy of winning the Booker than Margaret Atwood’s Testicles.

Daphne love your autocorrect there.

@LadybirdDaphne perfect summary!

34. An Invincible Summer - Mariah Stewart. I have no idea how this book ended up on my Kindle as it is not at all the kind of thing I would normally read, maybe it was. Kindle first reads. It's set in Northeast US, the posh beachy bit, and follows Maggie who is going to her 40th school reunion after the death of her husband. She reunites with various school friends, and has various family issues with her two grown up daughters who have occasional viewpoint chapters. It was fine but nothing particularly interesting or insightful. Think my mum (in her 70s) may have been more of a target audience for this.