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?

42. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy A rural maiden is ill-used by every man she comes into contact with.

@SOLINVICTUS can you please confirm the author for The Bookshop? Is it the one currently 99p on kindle?

@yoshiblue

Yes, Penelope Fitzgerald.

@SOLINVICTUS thanks!

Just bought The Bookshop, End of Men and The Mercies for 99p on Kindle.

43. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell My copy of this book was originally given as a Sunday School prize "to Joseph Linley for his kindness in helping and collecting for the missionary effort" in 1908. I'm not sure Joseph ever read it, it's in excellent condition for a book of such age.

I don't think I've ever read it before either, though I remember the theme tune to the TV show very well Obviously it's a classic so needs no plot review here. I enjoyed it as an easy read and it carries an evocative message regarding cruelty to animals. There is also a strong advocacy for the temperance movement which no doubt encouraged the Chapel in handing it out as prizes.

Anyone else read Evie Epworth? I am finding it a bit tedious and nothing is actually happening! I don't think it will be a DNF but it's tempting , given my covid-y mess that is August means I am behind on my Dickens... (honestly, I have had the worst summer holiday ever : most of it I have been ill, isolating, or in hospital and not even wanted to read all that much. Sorry for self pity ) .

48. A Corruption Of Blood, Ambrose Parry Marisa Haetzman and Christopher Brookmyre writing together (they are married). This is the third book in the series and just as much fun as the other two. Dr Will Raven and ex-housemaid Sarah Fisher, who wants to become a doctor herself, solve medical mysteries in Victorian Edinburgh. Some marvellous social medical and social history entwined in fictional grim backstreet shenanigans.
Ending perhaps a bit rushed? Also, the Kindle font was awful, a sort of tiny italic that was very difficult to read without magnifying the page a ridiculous amount. Wish I’d bought the paper copy instead.

49. Featherhood, Charlie Gilmour thank you to whoever recommended this upthread. It was wonderful. Some of the best nature writing I’ve read. Introspective on a personal level without attempting to excuse his past actions. Confirmed the long-held suspicion that Heathcote Williams was an utter dickhead.

Piggy I can't help with Evie Epworth, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry that you've had such a dreadful summer and hope that things improve for you soon. Sending you all best wishes.

Thank you so much.

piggy, sorry you have such a rough time. I can’t help with Evie Epworth either. Could you abandon it now for something more engaging and then come back to it when you feel ready for something more challenging? Or just abandon it if it’s hard going!

I am more than halfway through so will possibly get there. It's just a bit irritating.

Thanks for good wishes!

Piggy hopefully you are over the worst and things will pick up for you. When I am in this situation with a book I either abandon it or sit for an hour or two and try to finish it in one sitting. Job done.

Hope you’re better soon Piggy.

I think you're a teacher aren't you Piggy, awful when the long holiday that you look forward to all year is marred by illness 😢 You have my sympathies.

Piggy, that sounds really shitty. I'm still ploughing through my Little Dorrit chapters for July bringing up the rear as usual!!

Yes des. It has ruined my holiday. Still, having covid in termtime is awful too because 10+ days out of the classroom is awful.

I forgive you Nicemum!

All my sympathy to you, Piggy, it does sound like you've had a really shite time of it! I hope you start to feel better soon.

I've been upset lately by stories of Covid in the US -- ICU units full up, especially in economically deprived areas where people are choosing not to have the vaccine. I know that the vaccine isn't a guarantee of not getting ill with Covid, but it certainly lessens the odds. My relatives live in rural parts of California where the anti-vax sentiment is strong. It just reminds me that the pandemic isn't over yet

I have added The First Woman to my wish list on Viking's recommendation, and Hons and Rebels too, thanks to elkiedee and others.

Some reviews of July reading. It will be good when my reading and reviewing have caught up with each other, ha.

49. Daughter of France: The Life of Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier, 1627-1693, La Grande Mademoiselle, by Vita Sackville-West. 4/5
    A bit niche, but a very enjoyable and illuminating read. I liked the portrayal of 17th c. French aristocratic life – so much plotting and intrigue! – and the discussion of La Fronde, the aristocratic rebellion against the king, in which La Grande Mademoiselle seems to have relished playing a part (though she herself was Louis XIII’s niece). Sackville-West discusses Mademoiselle with a mixture of tolerance and affection. Clearly Mademoiselle thought very highly of herself, but she is also a prisoner of her time and position (Louis XIV refused to allow her to marry the love of her life). She wrote her own memoirs which Sackville-West draws upon for this biography; I will read the memoirs themselves one day.

50. Inventory of a Life Mislaid: An Unreliable Memoir, by Marina Warner. 5/5
    I came to this book thinking it would be the autobiography of Warner herself, whom I greatly admire, but in fact the life of the title is that of her mother, though the book also relates Warner’s memories of her early childhood in Cairo, where her father opened a English-language bookshop for W.H. Smith. Her father was a British officer; her mother a young, beautiful Italian woman whom he met and married in WW2. It was interesting to read this book at the same time I was reading Nancy Mitford’s novels, as they cover a similar time period. Warner tells her parents’ story by focusing on a series of everyday objects: a pair of shoes, a cigarette tin. The objects often become a jumping-off point for Warner’s own associations as well: literary, historical, mythical, linguistic (so her mother’s brogue shoes lead to ruminations on the different meanings of the word ‘brogue’). I found the book slow going at first due to this non-linear quality, but the deeper in I went, the more captivated I was, and the climactic scene of the book where her father’s beloved bookshop is burnt down in Cairo is one that will stay with me. Warner writes insightfully about the British empire; she is never heavy-handed but the class and culture-based blindnesses of the British who emigrated to Cairo are more than evident. I do still want a sequel though where Warner carries on with her own autobiography!

51. Crow Trap, by Ann Cleeves. 4/5
    My first Ann Cleeves novel and I thought it was great. I liked the way different sections were recounted from the perspective of different characters, and the women characters (among them Vera herself) were nuanced and convincing. My only complaint was that the ending seemed rather abrupt. I will definitely carry on reading this series.

Sorry you’re having a crap summer Piggy. Hope your reading mojo returns soon.

After a run of average or disappointing books I’ve now had a few good ones.

Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford

Discussed upthread! I loved the first half, about her childhood, but was slightly less engaged with the second half once she left home. It also seemed to finish a bit abruptly, although I understand she also wrote a second volume of autobiography which I will try and seek out. I still really enjoyed it though, she’s a great writer and the bits about her childhood are fab.

Should We Stay Or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver

I don’t know much about Shriver, so was disappointed to read upthread that her personal views probably don’t match mine, shall we say. However, I already had this out from the library. I thought this was great. It’s about Kay and Cyril, who make a pact to kill themselves once they both reach 80 to avoid being a burden or ending up like their own parents. It then tells 12 different stories of how this might go - in one Cyril dies but not Kay, in another it’s the other way round, in some neither dies and they have varying futures. Some go into the realms of sci-fi, with cryogenics and an age-reversal drug featuring. Some of the stories are funny, some are harder to read (particularly for me the one where dementia features). I really enjoyed reading this to see what would happen to them next, and it’s certainly left me with a lot to think about. It’s not perfect - there’s a lot in there about Brexit and coronavirus which did get a bit much after a while - but it’s one that will stay with me for a while.

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

One day, Tallulah goes out with her boyfriend and they both disappear without trace. A year or so later, Sophie moves into a cottage and finds a sign saying ‘Dig Here’ in the garden…..

Told from three different time periods, I enjoyed the build up of this story and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. The ending was slightly ridiculous but not enough to detract from the rest of the book. Good beach read, if anyone is still looking for one of those!

A few updates:

 33. <strong>Books Do Furnish A Room</strong> DTTMOT by Anthony Powell 
34. <strong>Temporary Kings</strong> DTTMOT by Anthony Powell 
35. <strong>Hearing Secret Harmonies</strong> DTTMOT by Anthony Powell 

The final movement of Dance To The Music Of Time.
I feel quite proud of myself for getting through all twelve volumes of these as it never really set me on fire but I was interested enough to want to see how everyone fared. By the end I was invested in the main characters (others I was scratching my head trying to remember their back story.) I was even sympathetic towards Widmerpool by the end.

36. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, an audio book brilliantly read by Jonathon Pryce, I enjoyed this but felt it was a little over long and I didn't enjoy the inconclusive ending.

37. Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers much read on here and I can only add to the praise. Beautifully drawn characters and evocative of the era it was set in. I was over invested in Jean's life and really wanted her to have a 'happy ever after' ending. It took me a long time to read because it was a Kindle book and I tend to listen to audible books whilst gardening in the summer. As such I didn't make the connections that would have allowed me to see the ending coming and I really wasn't a fan of the twist.

38. The Mermaid of Black Conch again much read. Not really sure how I feel about this one, it dragged a bit in the middle for me although I could appreciate the writing was good. I felt it could have been a more exciting tale if the 'baddies' had been used to better effect.

WIDMERPOOL!!! I miss him popping up.

Des I haven't got round to Mermaid yet, but I've heard very mixed reviews about it. I don't think anyone has outright loved it.

Piggy hoping you feel loads better soon.

Saucery I didn't know the third Parry was out, so thanks. I really enjoyed the first two.

Yes Fortuna I'm definitely behind the curve on DTTMOT, it was all the Widmerpool chat a couple of years ago that made me pick it up in the first place
There has been some very positive reviews of The Mermaid Of The Black Conch on the thread, I can't remember who but a PP described it as their stand out book of the year so far I'm sure, so definitely worth a try. I didn't hate it I just didn't love it. It will probably get three stars on Goodreads when I get round to updating it. I think maybe my expectations were a bit high.

126. Future Popes of Ireland - Darragh Martin Inspired by the visit of Pope JPII to Ireland in 1979, Granny Doyle makes it her mission to raise the very first Irish pope. Recognising her own son as a disappointment, she turns her focus to her grandchildren, but as time passes none of them prove to be papal material.

This was a really interesting tour of the social and political situation in Ireland through the last few decades, looking at the changing attitudes towards abortion and homosexuality. It started out quite comedic with the brilliant voice of Granny Doyle, a hard put upon woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders, but soon turned more serious. It didn't quite live up to the promise of the start, but enjoyable nonetheless. I think it's easy to forget how much society has changed in the last 40 years.

127. The Rose Code - Kate Quinn Jumps back and forth in the lives of three very different women working at Bletchley Park during and shortly after the war.

Frivolous and engrossing historical fiction that throws in a lot of issues and a mystery. Longer than it needed to be and I found the Prince Philip romance a little off, but it was fun froth that I really enjoyed.

128. Anxious People - Fredrik Backman After a botched bank robbery, the perpetrator bursts in on an open apartment viewing and accidentally takes the potential buyers hostage. Over the course of the day the hostages get to know one another beyond their first impressions.

Written in a strange jumping around and repetitive style, this is more of a character study than anything else. I found it a bit hard to get into, and quite OTT quirky. The feel good ending was a bit too schmaltzy for my dark and twisty soul, but I did ultimately enjoy it. It was a book club pick that I don't think I'd have picked up otherwise.