50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Seven

[southeastdweller]

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

41. The Absolute Book - Elizabeth Knox

I don't think I hated this quite as much as Eine, but it was a hot mess. Struggling after the murder of her sister, Taryn gets mixed up with Sidhe, gods and demons searching for a lost scroll box containing a book of immense value. It's got a lot of the elements I usually love: urban fantasy, fairy lore, mythology, books. But it felt like it was trying to cram in too many ideas (climate change, the value of libraries, Brexit...) and too many fantastical elements. Why do Sidhe, angels, demons, the Norse gods and Arthurian legend all coexist in the same universe? It read like something by one of those first-time novelists who feel they've got to stuff every idea and issue they've ever encountered into their book for fear they'll never get to write another one - but Knox is an experienced, award-winning writer. Stylistically, I found it spiky and sometimes awkward, and there's lots of unlikely dialogue along the lines of, 'Why are the demons building a server farm in Pakistan? We have to get Taryn out of the Sidh in time to make her speaking arrangements!'

There was enough mystery and interest in the plot and world-building to keep me reading to the end (although I think it took over a month to get through the 600 pages) and it felt like there was a good book in there somewhere, if not two or three of them.

42. Irreversible Damage - Abigail Shrier
Exploration of the 'transgender craze' amongst teenage girls - rapid onset gender dysphoria in girls who have never previously shown any signs of questioning their identity. Not one I'll be listing on Goodreads, as although I agree with much of what Shrier says, it wouldn't help my professional standing to be associated with it . I think she's correct in identifying the influences that are driving this trend (social media, therapeutic affirmation, dissatisfaction with cultural representations of femininity), and in concluding that most of these girls are suffering some other form of distress and clinging to the trans movement as a way of identifying out of their problems. However, I get the sense that she stands considerably more to the right than I do, and she is definitely on the side of parents and family values, as opposed to actually listening to the experiences of the teenage girls themselves. Their voices feature very little in the book compared to medical, therapeutic and parental authorities. This isn't a book that enters into nuance, or is going to change anybody's mind if they already have a dog in the fight.

54. Drums in the Distance: journeys into the global far right by Joe Mulhall
I've stopped searching on the library ebook app as they never have anything im looking for, and have started browsing for what they do have. This was an interesting and sometimes shocking read but I'm afraid I did keep thinking how unbelievably boysy it all was. Dr Joe Mulhall is a senior figure in the organisation HOPE not hate, and has been part of multiple underground investigations and exposes of far right organisations. These were told in rattling good yarn style and it was enjoyable. More worrying to hear about methods by which far right orgs have built a presence in the world in recent years.

Mulhall occasionally seems a bit incurious but I think that's just his writing or more likely his editing style - it's clean writing, rigorously cut to the bone and that's far rarer than it should be.

Jon Krakauer's brilliant book Into Thin Air is 99p today on the Kindle

Desdemona - I think you will enjoy J G Ballard's brilliant auto-biography Miracles of Life. A large portion of it is about his childhood, much of it in the Japanese internment camp that is the subject of his Empire of the Sun.

His auto-biography is much more than that, though. He was an amazing person who had interesting contributions to the world of art and literature, while raising three children on his own after his wife's early passing.

93. River Kings, Cat Jarman Decent non-fiction account of archaeological research findings regarding the findings. Knowledgeable and enthusiastic without overstaying its welcome. Interesting on the limits of what we know and why - for example, the assumptions we make about make and female grave goods based on our social views of gender roles.

Oh! Into Thin Air is such a good book. Even if you don't think you are into tales of outdoor adventure it is an absolute stone-cold classic. Various people attempt to climb Everest, storm hits, it all goes badly wrong. It's a stunning and heartbreaking story and Krakauer was perfectly placed to tell it as both a climber and journalist who was right at the heart of events as they happened. It's brilliant at conveying the beauty and the peril but also the personalities and the ethical challenges of high altitude climbing. Would 100% recommend to the point I will reimburse you the 99p if you disagree

Your money is safe PepeLePew, I’ve not come across anyone who disliked it.

Thanks for the heads up Cote, I'll add it to the TBR pile.

I don't think I hated this quite as much as Eine, but it was a hot mess.

Thanks for the validation!

@BestIsWest

Your money is safe PepeLePew, I’ve not come across anyone who disliked it.

No pressure then. I bought it as well but remember abandoning Into the Wild by Krakenauer due to being fed up of selfish brat kid wondering into dangerous places.

Sol I’ll double Pepe’s money just for you.
I didn’t attempt Into the Wild for much the reason you outline.

Guest House for Young Widows by Adadeh Moaveni I recently went to see the documentary film Sabaya about the rescue of enslaved Yazidi women held captive by ISIS (an excellent film which I thoroughly recommend) and wanted to find out more about the women of ISIS, who were often complicit in their imprisonment.

Guest House for Young Widows relates the stories of several young women from different countries who joined the Islamic State, set in the context of news reports outlining events in the countries at that time. Parts of the book are really interesting but I was also very frustrated by it. The writing style of the girls' stories was at times vacuous and cliched ("She (Asma) was on Facebook and Instagram..... and like women the world over, felt there was something ineffably unappealing about Angelina Jolie." "She (Sabira's mother) spent whole days wrapped in a blanket, preparing bland meals that tasted of resignation." The situational reports were better written, but they were not chronological so a report from June 2016 was followed by December 2015 then back to 2016 then October 2017 then back to spring 2016. Occasionally they were written in the present tense with no date given. This, combined with a constant shift of focus between the different girls, sometimes made for a confusing read and it was difficult to get an overview of what was happening at any particular time.

Guest House for Young Widows raises some important issues, particularly in trying to understand the reasons behind the girls' decisions and beliefs, but I felt it could, and should, have been a better book.

23. Malcom X: The Autbiograpghy by Malcom X. This was a massive page turner (well I listened to the audio). I knew very little about Malcom X and his life has so many gripping moments. He knew that he’d never live to old age and was pretty savvy to the way the press and others manipulated his comments for their own gain. To listen to someone talk so well about their changing beliefs and convictions is pretty rare, so despite coming across as a massive misogynist and pretty egotistical I very much enjoyed this.
24. can Everyone please calm down? A guide to 21st Century sexuality Mae Martin. I like Mae Martin’s comedy a lot and enjoyed her show Feel Good. This book is mostly about bisexuality and Mae’s upbringing. Pretty light touch but I did find her style of say something serious and then couching with a silly reference to her youth wearisome.
25. The Appeal Janice Hallett. Thanks to all that recommended this. A ‘whodunnit’ based on reading correspondence from the suspects from a small village am dram society. This was great - I stayed up into the wee hours racing through it. I loved Issy’s character - I’ve known her more than once. Completely unrealistic (when would you have access to only one side of email conversations) but none the less enjoyable. I didn’t guess the murderer - but should have done. I work in fundraising so I really enjoyed these parts more than others have I think.

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
I'm still not 100% sure if this is one of read before or not. It's very similar to a fair few of her others. All good clean fun though.

Excuse the gibberish. Kindle predictive nonsense.

55 Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman
I loved the miniseries on Netflix which I watched during first lockdown, and had this on my wanted list for a long time.

The first thing to know is that it's a very different story from the miniseries, because it's real. Deborah Feldman grew up with her grandparents in a small Hasidic sect in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a sect that rarely thought girls needed to be able to read and was more concerned with a suffocating form of modesty. She was married aged 17 and quickly pregnant. But all the time she had a secret desire for a life of her own choice.

This was completely gripping in a different and more believable way than the miniseries. A good companion to Educated by Tara Westover and In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Scott.

93. Temeraire by Naomi Novik

The Napoleonic War with dragons.
A newly hatched dragon imprints on naval captain Will Lawrence after his ship captures its egg in battle, and finds himself an aviator in charge of a fighting dragons.
A good fun read.

94. A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold by George R R Martin

More Games of Thrones mayhem. Lots of blood and death etc. TBH I’d be feeling more enthusiastic about this series if I thought there was any chance Martin would finish writing it before I could finish reading the story so far.

95. Peace Comes to the Chalet School by Katherine Bruce

A fill in Chalet School book. Not all that much happens, but a nice gentle read.

96. Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate by Cynthia Kim

Kim was diagnosed as autistic in adulthood, and this book is a sort of mix between a memoir and tips and advice about autism. An interesting read.

97. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

This focuses on the stories of the women in the Trojan War. There’s a lot of jumping around, as a lot of women’s stories are briefly covered, some of which were new to me, but I struggled to connect emotionally with any of them.
Overall it’s ok, but I’ve read other books around the Trojan War that I liked better.

98. The Skylight by Louise Candlish

A quick read.
Simone likes to stand at her bathroom window and spy on her downstairs neighbours through the skylight in their kitchen, but one day she sees something unexpected. Something which leads to a lot of trouble.

158. The Voyage of Freydis - Tamara Goranson Having come from a happy childhood home, Freydis is disappointed with her marital life and takes the only option available to her to escape. She joins a viking expedition and sails her own ship to the newly discovered Vinland (Newfoundland).

I'm not familiar with the Sagas so can't comment from that perspective. This had been slammed on GR. I didn't think it was that bad, but I wouldn't rave about it either. I've been sitting on The Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings for ages, so I think it may be time to dig that out and then poke around some Norse mythology. I'm all Greeked out and can't face another book set on that beach.

159. Big Sky (Jackson Brodie #5) - Kate Atkinson
     Private detective stumbles on human trafficking ring.
     I'm a bit ambivalent to this one. It's ages since I read the previous in the series and couldn't remember that much. Thought this one went off the boil about 3/4 of the way through. Perfect for a bit of mindless entertainment though.

160. The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) - Robert Galbraith
     A private detective, his limp and his secretary/sidekick are called in to solve a missing person case which develops into a murder investigation.
     Enjoyed, but she doesn't half go on about that sodding leg.

161. The Sweet Girl - Annabel Lyons
     Pythias, daughter of Aristotle finds life hard after his death. She has been educated beyond what is usual for girls but has been left with no outlet for it. Forced to flee Athens after the death of Alexander the Great, her new life is made harder when her father leaves her in his will betrothed to a cousin 3 times her age. Not even sure if the cousin has survived the war, she explores the options open to women of the time to survive.

Started well, but all over the place with pacing and plot. It felt like a very try hard attempt at shoehorning in a feminist perspective and overall it didn't work because it simply wasn't believable.

162. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch A darling of the theatre retires to a remote coastal house to write his memoirs, but his work soon becomes a chronicle of strange events as he is interrupted by a stream of inconvenient visitors.

I though this was quite strange at first. I read it blind and had no idea where it was going at times, lots of twists and turns and incredulous behaviour from a very unlikeable and unreliable narrator. It's very insightful look at self delusion and the stories we tell ourselves about failed relationships. It's a very odd book that doesn't seem to be going anywhere for most of it, but overall is a brilliant piece of work. Crafted with skill, there are some beautiful descriptive passages. If only all authors were this good.

Mary Lavelle by Kate O'Brien My second Kate O'Brien and another good read. The eponymous heroine travels to Spain from Ireland in order to experience some of the world before she marries her steadfast but dull and sanctimonious fiance. Set in the 1920s, it evocatively describes her Spanish surroundings and the wealthy family where she looks after three enchanting daughters, as well as the more prosaic meetings with other governesses in the area, before falling in love with the married son, Juanito. It's not quite as philosophical or theological as The Land of Spices, but through its exploration of love and relationships set against the constraints of Catholic society, there is plenty to enjoy. Both books were apparently condemned for their "immorality" by the Irish Censorship Board.

I've started The Lamplighters. So far, so good.

@PepeLePew

Oh! Into Thin Air is such a good book. Even if you don't think you are into tales of outdoor adventure it is an absolute stone-cold classic. Various people attempt to climb Everest, storm hits, it all goes badly wrong. It's a stunning and heartbreaking story and Krakauer was perfectly placed to tell it as both a climber and journalist who was right at the heart of events as they happened. It's brilliant at conveying the beauty and the peril but also the personalities and the ethical challenges of high altitude climbing. Would 100% recommend to the point I will reimburse you the 99p if you disagree

I'd also highly recommend Anatoli Boukreev's book The Climb, which was written as a response to Into Thin Air. Boukreev was a guide on an expedition that climbed at the same time as Krakauer did, and he came in for a lot of criticism from Krakauer & the US media; it was very eye opening to get his perspective as well.

50. We, The Drowned - Carsten Jensen 100 years of the inhabitants of a seafaring Danish town

Starting with a sea-battle in 1848 in which the Danish lose to the Germans, we follow various characters through their lives and careers at sea up to the German surrender in 1945.

I loved this book, it's long and at times arduous. DH saw me reading it and told me he never got past the dog bit. The bit with the dog is horrible and very upsetting, if you love dogs be warned! There is also a lot of grisly detail regarding human suffering, both at war and in peacetime. However, this is a great and thought-provoking read

@YolandiFuckinVisser

Very interested in your review, thank you, has been sat on my shelf for 5 years or so, just haven't got going with it

One to be high in the queue in 2022

I seem to have got behind with my reviews again!

69. The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett

Much reviewed on here already - mixed race twin sisters in the US one of whom escapes her small town upbringing and lives/passes as white. I enjoyed the writing in this book but felt it was unnecessary to include the transgender storyline too as the story and characters were strong enough without it. However, I can see that it provided a parallel storyline of secrecy and discrimination.

69. Jews Don’t Count - David Baddiel

This book highlights how anti-Semitism is not considered to be racism or is deemed to be “less serious” racism and how Jews are often stereotyped. An interesting read.

70. Munich - Robert Harris

The story focuses on Chamberlain’s visit to Munich to try and broker peace with Hitler in 1938. The story is told from the perspectives of two junior civil servants (one working in England and one working in Germany) who studied at Oxford together. Not my favourite Robert Harris but very readable.

I now need to catch up on what everyone else has been reading…..

Obviously that should be 69-71 above….