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?

Our French Lit teacher was in her 60s and had hung out with Sartre and De Beauvoir back in her youth (or so she told us!)

Thanks for the thread South!

Here's my list as haven't done this for a few threads and I like seeing other people's.

1. Chasing The Dram by Rachel McCormack
2. The Confession by Jessie Burton
3. Misery by Stephen King
4. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaimen
5. Lift Like A Girl by Nia Shanks
6. The Passage by Justin Cronin
7. Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
8. Tommyknockers by Stephen King
9. The Problem With Men by Richard Herring

10. No Way Down by Graham Bowley 11. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 12. Touching Distance by James Cracknell 13. 50 Shades of USA by Anna McNuff 14. My Gutsy Anthology by Sonia Marsh 15. Dark Half by Stephen King 16. Up by Ben Fogle 17. Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Dare 18. Bird Box by Josh Malerman 19. The Last Englishman by Keith Foskett 20. We All Know How This Ends by Anna Lyons and Louise Winter

Currently reading Wastelands, one of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It's ok but isnt grabbing me so it's a bit of a slog. I also think I've got some ill thought out, years old and part read kindle non fiction to finish up next, so I am not inspired at all! But I really feel if I buy a book I should finish it. We'll see how it goes. The process is certainly making me more considered about what I purchase. Unless it's a 99p deal of the day which at least two or three of you recommend and then I just buy it!

24. Sudden Death by Rita Mae Brown

So as explained in the last thread I bought this after stumbling on Rubyfruit Jungle and discovering that Rita Mae Brown haf not only been Martina Navratilova's partner but had written a revenge roman a clef about the tennis circuit after being dumped. I absolutely loved tennis growing up (I was a bit late for Martina and was a huge Steffi Graf fan) but I am familiar enough with the women's tennis stars of the early 80s for this to be enormous fun. I spent most of it trying to work out who was who, but the story was enjoyable too. The writing was a bit clunky and dated, but there were a few profundities here and there amongst the breathless streak around the Grand Slam tournaments. There's a poignant sub-plot about a sports journalist who is clearly a stand in for Brown's real-life friend Judy Cook Lacy, who died young and to whom the book is dedicated. Not a great novel, but a fascinating piece of history!

I'm Scottish so did Highers rather than A levels. They are a 1 year course rather than 2 and you study more subjects, good grades in 5 or more would be required to get into a good University and you can go to University at 17, I knew a girl in Halls who was only 16. Everyone is expected to do a mix of sciences and humanities so as a scientist I have Highers in English and History alongside all my sciences. It was many years ago so I can't remember which books we studied for O grade and which for Higher but we definitely did the following at some point during my education:

Sunset Song
The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men (and we read The Red Pony when we were younger)
The Lord of the Flies
1984 and Animal Farm

Dulce et Decorum Est (think we did more Wilfred Owen but can't remember what)
The Horses (Edwin Muir not Ted Hughes)
(sure we must have done more poetry than this!)

The Crucible
Death of A Salesman
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Glass Menagerie
Juno and the Paycock (possibly at least one of the others in the Dublin Trilogy but I can't remember)
Under Milk Wood
Macbeth

There are Scottish, Irish, Welsh and American writers and it's a more modern selection than south of the border (that may have just been my English teachers) but there's still no women.

@WelshWabbit I looked it up on Amazon - it sounds like an interesting way of creating an alternative textbook. Of those poets, I really like Liz Lochhead. Though I then kind of worry that people will then be put off the poets.

Welsh, I was in a different part of Wales, a couple of years later

Having thought about it DH (who is the same age as me and also Scottish but went to a private school in a big city - as opposed to going to a Comprehensive in the back of beyond) studied a Shakespeare and a Dickens every year at secondary and for Higher he did:

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg by Peter Nichols
The Pyramids by William Golding
The Horses by Edwin Muir

So only 1 overlap and again all 20th century men.

@JaninaDuszejko also Scottish here. It's nice to see Dulce et Decorum est featured there.
In secondary school exam levels I definitely did Lord of the Flies, Merchant of Venice (my essay for this was so long they had to check the word count was allowed ) An Inspector Calls along with Dulce et Decorum Est. Then following year we had Great Gatsby and Macbeth and My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.

In Scotland. Did Lord of The Flies which I still love to this day, as I do the poem The Almond Tree by Jon Stallworthy.
Also did Othello and Antony and Cleopatra in Sixth Year, along with Keats and Donne. Thank God for English teachers.

Just finished #12 Miss Benson's Beetle. Enjoyed it

Oh gosh, I can't remember all my French/Spanish uni texts - there were way too many of them plus I didn't actually read all of them Definitely Dangerous Liaisons (which I love) and 100 Years Of Solitude, but there were lots more. I have no idea what happened to them though - maybe they got left at my parents when I moved out. Seems like such a waste that I can't remember them, but I think there were so many it became more about learning key extracts rather than the book as a whole.

Many thanks to southeast for the new thread. I don't post often but do enjoy everyone's reviews!

1. Ruth Ware - One by One
2. Polly Crosby - The Illustrated Child

*3. Simon Mayo - Knife Edge

1. MG Leonard & Sam Sedgman - Kidnap on the California Comet*
2. Sophie Hannah - The Killings at Kingfisher Hill
3. Emma Carroll - The Ghost Garden
4. Chelsea Pitcher - This Lie Will Kill You
5. Emily St John Mandel - Station Eleven

9. Ben Elton - Time and Time Again 10. Stephen Fry - Making History 11. Matthew Reilly - The Secret Runners of New York 12. Matthew Reilly - The Great Zoo of China 13. Matthew Kneale - Sweet Thames 14. Jennifer Lynn Barnes - The Inheritance Games 15. Emily Brightwell - Mrs Jeffries Dusts for Clues 16. Richard Osman - The Thursday Murder Club 17. MG Leonard & Sam Sedgman - Murder on the Safari Star 18. Julia Chapman - Date with Mystery 19. Julia Chapman - Date with Poison 20. Robert Goddard - Past Caring 21. Agatha Christie - Parker Pyne Investigates 22. Jodi Taylor - Hard Time 23. Emily Brightwell - Mrs Jeffries on the Trail 24. Claire Potter - Keeping the little blighters busy 25. Karen M. McManus - The Cousins 26. TM Logan - 29 Seconds 27. Tracy Chevalier - Falling Angels 28. Simon Brett - The Liar in the Library 29. Lesley Cookman - Murder by Magic 30. Lesley Cookman - Murder in the Monastery

And adding:

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

The next two in the Libby Serjeant detective series. Definitely classed as 'cosy mysteries', a middle aged woman and all her friends solve local crimes. Bit formulaic but I enjoy them, and the local settings.

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

Two random Mrs Malory books as my library seems to chop and change its stock of them on a regular basis I do like a Mrs Malory story though. Gentle humour and acute observations of seaside town life as a middle aged woman becomes involved in and solves various crimes.

35. Alyxandra Harvey - Haunting Violet

YA book - the daughter of a fake clairvoyant in the Victorian era discovers that she can really see spirits, and in particular, a local girl who was murdered and wants her killer to be uncovered. Much more engaging than I imagined it would be.

36. Jonathan Stroud - The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne

Disclaimer: I had a dream about meeting Jonathan Stroud and finding out that he is a thoroughly nice chap (well, he seems to be from Twitter/ Facebook, anyway) so I was in a good frame of mind to read this I loved the Lockwood series and this doesn't disappoint. YA fiction again, set in a parallel England where much of the countryside is destroyed after cataclysmic events and the towns are outwardly civilised but allow slavery and various other crimes. Scarlett is an outlaw who accidentally meets (Albert) Browne and ends up unwillingly teaming up with him. I can't say too much without giving away the plot - which is a great one with some endearing twists - but it is a fab read, and apparently the first in a new series.

37. Marie Browne - Narrow Margins
38. Marie Browne - Narrow Minds
39. Marie Browne - Narrow Escape
40. Marie Browne - Narrow Focus

The 'Narrowboat' series of books, written by a woman who was forced to leave her affluent, comfortable lifestyle and move on to a narrowboat after the collapse of Rover. I think this spans about 10 years in total and I just enjoy the gentle humour, reading about the narrowboat community and lifestyle and how the family grow to love it, and how the family changes in that time too. I'm assuming that Marie and her family still live on a narrowboat but it's a few years since the last one!

41. Agatha Christie - Three Act Tragedy

Picked up on the Kindle 99p deal as I didn't think I remembered what happened. Alas, I did increasingly unusual these days as the DC have destroyed many of my brain cells but that didn't stop me reading it and appreciating the plotting.

42. TL Huchu - The Library of the Dead

YA fiction set in an alternative Edinburgh, where the narrator talks to ghosts for money and becomes embroiled in solving crimes. Quite sweet background with her small family and struggles for money; parts were a real page turner and parts dragged a bit, unfortunately. Overall though a good read.

43. Gwen Grant - Private - Keep Out!

As described by @YolandiFuckinVisser I got this out of the library and re-read it after approximately 35 years. Oddly there were bits I remembered really well but also bits I'd forgotten. Also I guess I am now more on the side of the harassed mum I'd love to read the other two (I remember the last one well too) but the library don't have them and they seem to be £££ to buy...

44. Georgette Heyer - Black Sheep
45. Georgette Heyer - The Grand Sophy
46. Georgette Heyer - Lady of Quality
47. Georgette Heyer - The Talisman Ring

What can I say?! Completely with @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie on this one. Bizarrely for someone who loved Jean Plaidy and read every book of hers that I could get my hands on, Heyer passed me by however I borrowed a couple from the library and am now hooked! The ones I've read are a bit samey and you know exactly what's going to happen, but my poor frazzled brain appreciates this after many months of homeschooling and trying to explain to 5 year olds why exactly they need to learn maths and not just throw mud at each other in the garden all day. Any more Heyer recommendations gratefully received!

No English A Level here either, which I regret now but at the time was told that more practical subjects were better we did Pride and Prejudice to death for GCSE though, @PepeLePew. The other class did Animal Farm which I'd have much preferred, but no, we got hours of dissecting Austen. I mean I now like and appreciate P&P but feel like I'd have got there anyway without the boringness of writing 'ironic' a lot about the text...

Other books we did (but I can't remember now if they were GCSE or previous ) were Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, The Color Purple, Romeo & Juliet and various poems by Ted Hughes. I have never been so grateful for anything as realising I'd never have to read another of his poems once the exams were over!

Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
A good un. There's one wonderful scene when the baddie gets his come uppance. The hero isn't a giant, but I like him. And the heroine has a bit of character.

I didn't do French to A Level but a sibling did. Remember as the younger having to watch My Fathers Glory/My Mothers Castle more than once because we only had one telly and VHS

I did French at A level and then went on to study it at university.

I remember doing Bonjour Tristesse at A Level. The rest I think I only remember from university. So many at university! And my degree was French and Politics rather than French Lit. It is so weird that I can't remember my English Lit texts, when the whole subject was literature, but from a not particularly literature heavy French degree, I can remember so many!

Ah, see mine is the perils of an Oxbridge degree, which is massively literature heavy. And to be honest, I regret it (there was a lot of dithering at the time for this reason) - I read for enjoyment, and I think I'd have got a lot more out of those years if I'd learnt more about linguistics/politics/history. I think it comes back to the snobbery discussion a while back - I'm not "proud" of having read any of those books, I read them because I had to.

Mind you, I met DH at uni, so despite neither of us having a career that has anything to do with our subject choices, there were some benefits!

25. Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

I have too much on at work at the moment so have finally given in and accepted that I'm only going to be able to read crime and thrillers for the time being. Having said that, I got so gripped by this one that I stayed up into the early hours to finish it, which definitely wasn't the plan. A superior "domestic noir" offering; worked particularly well for me because the main character is a barrister who works where I work. The drinking culture of the Bar is painfully well portrayed. I guessed the ending but not too far in advance. I've read reviews saying all the characters were unlikeable - which is true - but I had a kernel of sympathy and was rooting for our (anti?)-heroine, Alison. Just the sort of thing I was looking for. Warning: there's some pretty graphic #MeToo sex scenes in this, if you're trying to avoid such things.

21. A Single Thread - Tracy Chevalier

I loved this strangely compelling account of a women in her late 30s between the wars trying to find some meaning to her life and solace for bereavement through embroidery - sounds a snooze, right? It was actually really lovely, based around Winchester Cathedral and featuring the real life Louise Pesel, there is a group of broderers making kneelers and cushions for the cathedral. Violet Speedwell, who has lost her brother and finance in WWI has moved to Winchester to escape her terrible, but also terribly bereaved, mother. There is much about embroidery and bell ringing but the real thread running through is the consolation of art in bringing colour and meaning to lives otherwise bereaved and bereft. Chevalier teases this out skilfully and the relationships and growing friendships between the women broderers are well captured. The last 2 chapters then included an event, which I won't spoil, which felt unecessary to me. But I would still recommend this book as an affecting journey through one lonely woman's determined and sometimes stubborn search for self realisation in a society that has written her off as a surplus spinster.

O level English: Macbeth liked, Chaucer liked, Silas Marner hated and probably something else but can't remember

Great review HeadNorth exactly what I thought about aA Single Thread too.

Thanks for the new thread, south.

Scottish schooling for me, so Standard Grade and Higher. I can remember:

Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
The Merchant of Venice
Sunset Song
Philip Larkin

I loved Sunset Song and remember writing a lot about SS and Romeo and Juliet in my exams.

My latest list:

1. Fates and Furies by Lauren Geoff.
2. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo.
3. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

4. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe.

1. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne.
2. The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante.

7. To Throw Away Unopened by Viv Albertine. 8. Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey-Smith. 9. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. 10. William Blake Poems, Selected by Patti Smith. 11. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste. 12. Shards of Honour (The Vorksigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold. 13. A Burning by Megha Majumdar. 14. The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) by Philippa Perry. 15. Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horowitz. 16. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. 17. Boys Don’t Try: Rethinking Masculinity in Schools by Matt Pickett and Mark Roberts. 18. For Goodness Sex: Changing the way we talk to teens about sexuality, values and health by Al Vernacchio. 19. Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga. 20. The Mountains Sing by Nguyên Phan Quê Mai.

And reads:

21. A Promised Land by Barack Obama (Audiobook)

29 hours about Barack Obama‘s first 4 year presidency from his point of view and it zoomed in. I borrowed this from BorrowBox so had to listen more than I usually do as there was no possibility of renewing. And I really enjoyed it! It was not a chore to listen to him talk about his life and decisions. I think this book is definitely elevated by the audiobook format and I don’t think I would have liked it as much in book form.

I think he said enough about other US politicians and world leaders to know exactly what he was thinking!

Not everything turned out the way he wanted and there are regrets. I find him interesting personality-wise.

It is only in recent years that I have realised how culturally different the US is from Europe and Britain. The insane 12 hour work ethic, which Obama fully believes in, the religion and patriotism (two quotes from the book “America stepped in to save the day” and the world “seemed hungry for our leadership”), the far too close melding of government and big business and the demonisation of wanting to look after people (you don’t know) in the form of realistic maternity leave, health and social care.

The decisions he had to make on a regular basis is staggering. It seriously made me worry about the long-term consequences of the Trump presidency.

22. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Fun YA fantasy heist story.

23. In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado.

Winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize, this memoir is clever and articulate with an unusual short chapter format. Carmen Maria Manchado tells of her relationship with a charismatic but abusive woman. Interspersed through the book are comparisons to folk tale tropes that show how similar human nature remains to the past. She discusses queer lesbian rights and relationships from a cis-gender point of view. Interesting and intense.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Right ok, I do think there is POTENTIALLY a chance its the same school but obviously we use anonymous names for a reason

Trying to figure out how to work it out without Private Message because I cant login to mine.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit hmmm what about first initial of the school and the uniform colour? That must be vague enough and might give us an early elimination at least - or what about the name of the school ghost

Saints name school, navy!

Also navy...! But not a Saints name despite being a Catholic school.