50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Six

[southeastdweller]

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

So, we're now almost half way through the year - how's the first half of the year gone for you, reading-wise?

Fell off the thread a while ago, mostly due to the demands of the school holidays and haven't been reading as much as usual. Kids are back mid August so plan to read as much as I can between then and uni restarting at end of September. I've started To Kill A Mockingbird but doubt I'll finish it before the elibrary snatches it back off me.

Sapatsea I've enjoyed all the Elizabeth Strout books I've read so far and your review of her new one makes interesting reading.

116. Circus of Wonders - Elizabeth MacNeal
     Swirly gothic set in a late Victorian freak show. A birth marked girl is sold by her father to a circus where is is caught between two brothers with a secret that threatens their success.
     I found this a bit slow, but overall enjoyable.

117. Nobody, Somebody, Anybody - Kelly McClorey
     Socially awkward and anxious young woman creates her own placebo as an antidote to her unsatisfactory life. Stuck in a summer job as a chambermaid while she studies for her EMT exams, she creates scenarios aimed at relieving her anxiety and sense of dissatisfaction with her life.
     This shares a lot of the same themes as My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but doesn't really have the same impact or quality of writing. I'm glad I'm not young anymore, it sounds exhausting.

118. Regeneration - Pat Barker
     Superb look at the psychological effects of WW1 on the soldier and the treatments offered for it. An officer decides he will no longer fight and after a very public protest is sent to a military hospital to try to change his ways. Looks at rank and class and the politics of the time. Beautifully written.

Argh sorry its InTheCludgie here, keep forgetting to name change back!!

75. One of Them by Musa Okwonga
    The author's parents came to the UK as refugees from Uganda, & settled in a north London suburb. After seeing a documentary, and later going on a school visit to Eton, he was inspired to try - and succeed - to win a scholarship & attend the school. This memoir covers his time at Eton, and more generally his thoughts around the school and it's place in British society.
    
    Okwonga is a writer & poet, and the writing in this is excellent. It's formulated almost as a series of micro-essays, and avoids simple black/white answers to the questions he raises. Fascinating and enjoyable.

76. In and Out of the Goldfish Bowl by Rachel Trezise
    About as an extreme a contrast as could be imagined to Okwonga's book, this novel follows Rebecca, a working class girl from the Valleys, from a childhood of abuse & neglect, through her troubled teenage years. Not enjoyable, given the subject matter, but also beautifully written, and Rebecca's voice is absolutely convincing. I'll definitely read more of Trezise's books.

Summer by Ali Smith is 99p in today's daily deal.

Can I read it as a one off or would I be better to have read the preceding three first?

Still been lurking & am in a better place now & nearly ready to start reading books other than 'comfort' reads.

70. A Walk from the Wild Edge, Jake Tyler
Non-fiction account of a young man having a minor mental breakdown and resolving to get out of a funk by walking around Britain. I was expected a lyrical account of the power of nature and the lure of the road. He says the scenery was nice but doesn't get into detail. I felt of a very different generation - he crowdfunds his trip, sends shout-outs on social media, and breaks off to appears in a TV documentary. He has many many conversations with people along the way about their mental health. It's more Bryony Gordon that Paddy Leigh Fermor. Fair dues to him - his life was making him unwell, so he did something different and then different things happened to him. It wasn't a bad read, just not what I was expecting.

71. The Big Blue Jobbie, Yvonne Vincent
This is a book version of a lockdown blog. The transition doesn't quite work, as it gets very repetitious. Yes, you're a well-padded Scotswoman and Jaffa cakes just fall into your mouth and you love your gin and your wee hairy boys (dogs) and cherubs (offspring). That said, it might be interesting to revisit in a few years to remember what 2020 felt like.

72. Miss Benson's Beetle, Rachel Joyce
It's 1950 and a woman walks out of her dull life to fulfil her life's ambition to travel across the world to find a golden beetle. I feared a descent into cloying quirkiness, but in the event I did really enjoy it, and was rather moved by the unexpected friendship and the longing for a meaningful life.

73. The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz
Failing author takes plot from former student, writes bestseller, and starts to receive threatening messages. This had some weaknesses - the author's terror of exposure doesn't make much sense, as you can't copyright plots or plagiarize an unwritten novel (explicitly acknowledged) but is just about explicable as the author's subjective view rather than the objective legal situation. But I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the writing life and his bumbling investigation. The twist was obvious from the start, even to me, but that didn't bother me - I still wanted to see how it unfolded. I don't think it transcends the psychological thriller genre, but it's a decent example.

Was intending to stoutly resist the monthly deals on the basis that I have 14 library books to get through plus dozens of kindle books jostling for my attention. But succumbed to:

• Some Tame Gazelle, Barbara Pym (I already own a paperback, but it's my desert island read and I might be glad to have it to hand one day when I'm feeling blue)
• The Consequences of Love, Gavandra Hodge (memoir of a Bohemian childhood: read good reviews)
• Doing Time, by Jodi Taylor (I like St Mary's, so worth a whirl)
• What I Talk About When I Talk about Running, Haruki Murakami (have been intending to read for years)
• A Time of Gifts, Patrick Leigh Fermor (already read a library copy).

Other books I've read on there are:

• I Never Said I Loved you, by Rhik Samadder - memoir that takes in depression and sexual abuse but manages to be warm and funny and tender. I love his description of his mother.
• Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. Advice to would-be writers. Funny and bracing. I happened to pick up a second-hand copy of this a few days ago, but otherwise would have bought it, even at £3.49.

WelshWabbit you are right, it's Banville's plotting and pace that are at issue not his prose (as I stated in my review). IntheCludgie and *magimedi nice to see you again.

33. Lily - Rose Tremain
I really enjoyed reading this book. Rose Tremain is a "safe pair of hands", a seasoned storyteller who writes so beautifully and really draws you into the unfolding story of Lily.
Lily is abandoned by the gates of a park as a newborn, one toe is bitten off by a wolf before Sam Trench, a young police man rescues her and carries her across London in a storm to the Coram Foundling Hospital. Lily is fostered out to a family on a farm in Suffolk where she has an idyllic childhood but like the other children at the Coram Hospital has to be returned when she reaches six years of age to be trained up to find a useful occupation on her release The separation is deeply traumatising and the regime at the hospital is brutal. We follow Lily through her years at the hospital and as a lonely young woman working long hours in a wig emporium (going back and forth in time) as her story and "secret" is revealed.

I've just returned-for-refund the Wych Elm by Tana French. Everyone (seemingly) loves this writer whose reviews are always very positive. I almost asked you lot of it was worth plodding on with but then thought I'd just return it.
It might be really really good. It might be full of amazing twists and turns. I'll never know. But one thing I do know. The writer needs an editor (aka JK needs one) not afraid to say "shall we lose 50 pages here and there?"
It was my first TF. It just seemed like a jumble of long-winded descriptions of nothing-much-happening everyday life, which, had it been billed as a Joanna Trollope or Rosamund Pilcher would be fair enough, but top notch psychological thriller? (I was reading on Kindle and even double-checked I'd opened the right book at one point)
And, as a linguist, it grated that the protagonist is full of the Marian Keyes style Irish-mammy banter and slang at the beginning but then segues strangely into vair posh Inspector Lynley style language after about 50 pages.
Quite the strangest thing.

I think I’m going to buy Bird by Bird too, because my writing teacher recommended it just the other day. Also tempted by All the Lonely People, Conclave by Robert Harris, The North Water by Ian McGuire, and Smile of the Wolf by Tim Leach.

@SOLINVICTUS thanks for the recommendation re: Pies and Prejudice, I've added it to my list as I live 'up North'

A couple of updates from me:

25. Hungry - Grace Dent I LOVED this book. I started listening to it on Audible, but decided to buy the paperback after a few chapters as I wanted to savour every moment. It's a memoir about Grace's life, from a very working class childhood to her journey to London as a journalist and food writer, much through the angle of food. It also covers the demise of her father through dementia, which is sensitively written about. I've always been a bit indifferent to Grace personally, but I resonated so much with her childhood and all the references to not only food, but also school, aspirations for working class children, even her time in Brownies! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a lovely read and will no doubt be one of my 'Books of the year'.

26. The Enchanted April - Elizabeth Van Artim I had this book recommended to me by a bookseller in Daunt Books in London, so picked it up last month. It's a lighthearted read about four women from separate walks of life who rent an Italian villa for the month. The glorious descriptions of Italy take you there and made me pine for a holiday on the Italian lakes. The story didn't wrap up as neatly as I work have liked, but was an easy read for something written 100 years ago.

Currently doing a quick read of Women Who Rise - Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job before I go on holiday on Friday. Looking forward to extra reading time next week

SOL, I found The Wych Elm bewildering. I didn't really know what to expect but it seemed to be three different books sandwiched together, and not very well at that. It wasn't the taught psychological thriller I hoped for. I did persist, but not with any real enthusiasm.

I haven't finished looking at the Monthly Deals listings although I really don't need any more books. I've bought Summerwater, Hollywood Wives (because if I can't have a beach holiday I'm going to pretend I'm on one and read a holiday novel regardless), The Decameron (following on from my extensive plague-related reading binge of last year), The Art of Statistics and The Children of Men. I thought there was a good selection this time round.

LadyBird, I thought Conclave was excellent. I love a bit of papal intrigue any way, and it was a really well told and immersive story. Much better than The Second Sleep and up there with some of his best.

Pleased to see yoshi’s enthusiastic review of Hungry which I’ve just started and thanks for the Wych Elm review SOL as I’ve wondered about it but now consider myself excused.

Pepe I really enjoyed Robert Harris’ Cicero trilogy so I’ll give Conclave a go.

36. Metazoa: animal minds and the birth of consciousness - Peter Godfrey-Smith

This is a follow-up to the much-read Other Minds, and attempts to trace a material basis for consciousness by following the evolution of the nervous system, and the resulting development of animals with a sense of subjectivity and agency. This is a successful attempt to explain these issues in plain language to a non-philosopher reader, and while it’s philosophy and not science (he tells a plausible story rather than giving proofs), these are fascinating and important areas to explore. The fact that a slug probably feels more pain than a fly, for example, has important implications for how we treat animals in scientific experiments and more broadly in life.

His view that sentience arises gradually in the tree of life and is to some extent present in crabs, molluscs and insects helps put humans in their place (our conscious minds aren’t something special that popped out suddenly when we got to the top of the evolutionary tree) and gives us a guide to how we should treat the inhabitants of the natural world.

@Cornishblues I hope I've not bigged it up too much now - enjoy!

@FortunaMajor

Cote any ideas please for accessible sci-fi or sci-fi lite for a book club that ahem loved Klara and the Sun

I'm not sure if anyone can help a book club that loved Ishiguro but you might find comfort in Red Rising which is easy, accessible SF and so is Dogs of War.

34. Susan - A Jane Austen Prequel by Alice McVeigh

This follows the backstory of Lady Susan as a young woman and is peopled with various characters from Jane Austen novels who have cameos. It's written by Alice Mcveigh who is listed as "a ghostwriter" (I wonder for whom?) in the blurb.

I didn't enjoy this and found it all quite tortuous. It read to me like some overblown, try too hard fanfiction. I didn't believe in the protagonist Susan or the world created. It felt like reading a lot of "in" jokes in a "look how clever I'm being" way. For example, on Frank Churchill the author writing as Susan says " He has been in love three or four times at least and often at the first instant, like a character in a novel" (ha, ha), She continues "I blushed when he told me and (for a time) forgot that I must be demure and quiet lest I be banished."

Susan has been expelled from school because a piano teacher kissed her hand, she is feisty and rebellious (of course). She is an orphan, her father died fighting a duel(how romantic) and she is living with her strict and parsimonius aunt but is about to launch upon "the season" in London. Not for me

Thanks Cote. I'd agree that we are beyond redemption due to the sheer amount of chick lit and crap thrillers we've read. The Ishiguro was the first book with something to talk about in it for an age, so heaven help us.

Dogs of War seems to be the popular choice and without guidance we'd probably end up reading Atwood.

Fortuna - I also wonder if your chick-lit lovers might like the Becky Chambers Wayfarer series. The first book is The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and I'd say it's a very easy in to SF for readers not accustomed to the genre. (Actually, it's probably better for non-SF fans, as it'll read less like Firefly fanfic)

The second book ( A Closed and Common Orbit ) explores ideas around what it means to be human as does Dogs of War, but it's much (much!) fluffier.

Thanks Sadik. I appreciate the guidance. It's hard to pick books in a genre when none of us know where to start. We're desperate to get a discussion going beyond, 'yeah, it was alright'. We're trying to get things moving by picking something 'fluffier' and another with a bit more depth to satisfy all comers.

41 Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

The first half is very distressing, with a heartrending description of child abuse and the second half goes very weird and violent. This is very highly rated and the fact I found it so disturbing and upsetting is testament to the quality of Murata's writing but it was not for me. I'm now going to read something reassuringly gentle while I try to wipe some scenes from my mind.

If anyone's hunting for Booker longlist titles, Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle is 99p in the daily deal today. I wanted it, so I'm very pleased, and quite surprised it's turned up so quickly!

@PepeLePew

LadyBird, I thought Conclave was excellent. I love a bit of papal intrigue any way, and it was a really well told and immersive story. Much better than The Second Sleep and up there with some of his best.

I am romping through Conclave and enjoying it very much. I also love a good popey thriller (even Dan Brown got a thumbs up back in the day from me for Angels and Demons) I'm trying to remember another election-of-popd thriller I read years ago, picked up on a whim in the library probably around 1998- one of those you read in a day and think "now why is this guy not more famous?" Obviously, I can't remember for the life of me his name.

I'm also off to Rome for 4 days next week so ties in nicely.

I was very happy to see Great Circle on the Daily Deals, as I currently have a library copy but I have too many books out on loan, and others have reserved it once the Booker Prize list came out. I'm going on a library expedition today to return The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym but also to collect various reservations including new books by Esther Freud and Marika Cobbold (I suggested that Islington should buy these two) and others..

I'm reading The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, set in the US in the 1930s, with depression and dustbowl migration. It's not Literature like The Grapes of Wrath which I reread for my library reading group a few years ago and was quite wowed by, but it's a good read - I need to finish and return it as it's weeks overdue at the library and someone is waiting, but I think it will take me a few more days. And I need to get to all those other books!