50 Book Challenge 2021 Part Eight

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the eighth (and probably final) 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, it’s not too late to and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.The lurkers among you are also very welcome to come out of the woodwork and share with us what you've read!

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here, the third one here, the fourth one here, the fifth one here, the sixth one here and the seventh one here.

How have you got on this year?

34. Watching Neighbours Twice A Day by Josh Widdecombe. I’m a similar age to Josh and although I spent more time reading than watching tv in 90s I still definitely watched a lot! This was a fun walk down tv memory lane from Ghost Watch to Get Your Own Back.

35. Betjeman's England - John Betjeman

Transcript of the poet's many TV programmes from the 1950s to the 70s, mostly pottering around provincial towns and villages, admiring the churches and complaining about the traffic. If you like Betjeman (and I do, with a lingering affection having studied his poetry for A Level English) then this is a most enjoyable and relaxing tour.

I love Betjeman Meg, I have that book somewhere. I have some cassette tapes somewhere of him reciting his poems set to music which I used to listen to over and over when I was a teenager (in between The Jam and The Teardrop Explodes). They are brilliant.

Sorry to hear that a few of you are going through difficult times. to everyone who needs them including (as someone above rightly said) a few of our regulars who are missing and missed.

I had high hopes of reaching 100 this year but have slowed down massively recently through a combination of work and spending too much time on the MN Christmas threads hunting for gift bargains. Here are my two latest, both of which took me way longer to read than they should have done:

82. Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain, Sathnam Sangera

I'd been so looking forward to this, and it was very good, just not as good as I hoped. The opening chapters, where Sangera takes a long honest look at Britain's imperial past, are excellent. He tells many stories which, to my shame, I didn't know, not just about attrocities but about mistakes, dishonesty, arrogance and casual racism. These are stories that we should all know.

The later chapters, where Sangera sets out to explore how the attitudes of empire still affect the way we talk and think about things in Britain, I thought were less successful. He does a good job at picking out certain strands of the national character, and relating them back to historic material from the empire, but it's not really succesful in proving that there's a link - it can read a bit like "Some people who were involved in the British empire believed that X and some people now believe that X" rather than clearly showing how the two are linked. And he's absolutely right that we need to confront and understand our imperial past, the terrible things that we did and the ongoing consequences of them (he's so convincing when he sets out the case for returning the contents of many of our museums), but I would have been interested to read more about how other imperial powers have confronted their pasts, and whether they have done so with greater or lesser success than Britain. There is, for sure, a comparison to be made with Germany and how they have acknowledged Nazi attrocities, but I'd like to understand how France or Belgium's attitudes to their colonial history compare to our own, and whether we can learn anything (even if it is "Don't do what they're doing").

Sangera is an engaging writer and I see there's a TV series based on the book running at the moment, which I will definitely watch.

83. Ghosts, Dolly Alderton

Hm. So I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Dolly Alderton. DH gets the Sunday Times, in which she has the advice column, and I read most of it thinking "wow, that's really wise advice" and then occasionally want to throw the magazine across the room because she says something idiotic and entitled. The problem may be me, and the chip on my shoulder, but it seems that no amount of good writing and emotional intelligence can quite help her escape the experience of being a pretty, rich, white boarding school girl with a privilged life.

This book tells the story of Nina who is DEFINITELY NOT DOLLY because she is short and brunette, and works as a food writer (despite not seeming to have any interest in cooking or eating out). If you've Dolly's previous book through, or her columns, you'll recognise Nina's emotional landscape - she's 30-something and single, her friends are all settling down and requiring her presence at weddings and baby showers, the (platonic) love of her life is her best friend. Dolly Nina meets a man through an online dating app, who is lovely, but then, without warning, disappears and stops returning her calls. He is one of the ghosts of the title, the other being Nina's beloved dad, who is suffering from dementia and slowly deteriorating.

To be fair to Dolly, I mostly enjoyed this bittersweet little morsel, and only occasionally wanted to throw it across the room, whereas the magazine articles are more of a 50/50 split. So a win, overall, I guess.

DNF. Islands of Mercy, Rose Tremain

I usually really like Rose Tremain, and I think I will go back to this, but I got a few chapters in and it felt like NOTHING was happening or indeed ever going to happen and I lost heart.

I think we must have "done" Dark Towers at least twice as I remember loads about it. Also The Boy From Space which was genuinely quite scary at the time.

Beware of two bees buzzing together,
Beware the bird with the brown feather.

110. The Running Hare by John Lewis Stempel
     I picked this up by chance at our library, and it was a definite winner. Despairing over the loss of birds, flowers and other wildlife from our countryside as a result of industrial farming Lewis Stempel rents a 5 acre field for a year, and sows wheat and manages the land with the aim of restoring fertility and attracting wildlife. The results are dramatic even in the one season and on such a small scale. It's a fantastic illustration of what can be achieved within a farming system that takes food production and care for the environment as parallel goals (in contrast of course to the rewilding movement that relies on intensive agriculture elsewhere to actually produce the food we need to eat).
     
     The writing is also absolutely beautiful. I actually gave DP another of JLS's books for Christmas a while back, but never read it myself, so I'll definitely be hunting it out.

111. The Album of Dr Moreau by Daryl Gregory
     Boy band the WyldBoyZ are the hottest group in the States - and definitely the only genetically engineered human-animal hybrids to top the charts. Then their producer is found murdered in his bed, and Detective Luce Delgado (whose tween daughter is a massive fan of the band) is called in to solve the crime.
     Short but fun novella, a nice locked room mystery with great characters and a nice story. Again I'll definitely be reading more by the same author.

I've read less than I hoped to in the last few days, but have managed to finish the last few pages of Snowfall, one of K M Peyton's less well known books, a YA historical romance, set in Victorian England and Switzerland.

I first came across this book shopping for a present for my much younger sister - it must have been very soon after it was first published in 1994, when |I was still living in my home city but not in the same house as my mum and sister. I hoped to borrow it off S when she finished reading it but it was a hit with S and all her friends then borrowed it, so.... I bought my own copy a few years ago and have finally read it.

It couldn't really live up to expectation but I did enjoy it. However, it did fit a pattern in K M Peyton's books which my cousin recently commented on in a FB conversation - her young female characters, historical or contemporary, have a rather disturbing habit of sacrificing everything for love. See the Flambards series, and many of her other books. Realising this might make my project (one of many rereading/reading ideas) of rereading KMP's books feel like something of a guilty pleasure.

42. The Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle For Domination, by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang. This isn't ground breaking in terms of facts, but seeing it all written down as one (very compelling) narrative is shocking and rage-inducing. Excellent and important reporting from the authors.

43.What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat, by Aubrey Gordon. I first heard Aubrey Gordon on the podcast she hosts with Michael Hobbes, Maintenance Phase. Having listened to most episodes, I thought I'd be familiar with most of the information in this book, but I learned a lot. It was also fascinating to hear more about Aubrey's personal experiences, and her vision for a future where fat people are treated immeasurably better than today. This was incisive, educational and ultimately hopeful.

97: The House of Wittgenstein - Alexander Waugh

I started reading this last year and got interrupted so I picked it up again - and I'm glad I did, as it turned out to be an immersive book about an extraordinary family.

Philosopher Ludwig remains the best-known, but there were 8 Wittgenstein siblings, children of a fabulously wealthy Viennese steel magnate who owned a palatial residence in the city as well as several country retreats. I also knew about another brother, Paul, who was a gifted pianist but lost his right arm in WW1, only to teach himself to play left-handed and achieved some fame by commissioning a series of new concertos from well-known composers.

But Waugh also teases out the lesser-known stories of the other siblings - three brothers committed suicide; one of the three sisters married a rich American and produced a son who interfered fairly disastrously when the family was embroiled in the clutches of the Nazis in WW2.

Virtually the only thing that united these deeply eccentric (and constantly-squabbling) individuals was music, and Waugh focuses perhaps most on Paul and his steely determination to return to playing after the loss of his arm. But even then, his obstinacy led him to fall out with just about every composer he dealt with (Ravel, Prokofiev, Britten and others) because they had the temerity - in his view - to want their pieces played as they wrote them...he felt, because he'd paid for them, they were his to treat as he liked, including stopping anyone else playing them if he didn't want to.

A good, absorbing read, cleverly structured with lots of short chapters so the focus skips effectively between different members of this enormous clan.

@elkiedee, that observation does chime with my recollection of the Peyton novels I loved- the Pennington series, which intersected with one of the horse series, intensely romantic boys, and girls who give everything up for them.
@Sadik, I would highly recommend Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory- I loved it, and almost more so the hints at another story within it; I must find out if there is a sequel/companion piece.

110. Girl A by Abigail Dean. At first I felt a little uncomfortable reading this, as if it were exploitative (possible spoiler, it is the fictional tale of a girl and her siblings, who escapes from being imprisoned by her father). But in the end I felt it was actually handled quite well,and was just quite excruciatingly sad- particularly regarding one of the youngest characters. I will be interested to see what she writes next.

112. Maid by Stephanie Land

The memoir on which the Netflix series is based and I wanted to read first, as it is now clear to me that Netflix has departed from the book.

I found the way in which the welfare system in America is set up and sorted out really shocking in terms of the very deliberate public humiliation people suffer, particularly not being allowed to conceal they are a benefit claimant whilst shopping. It's a completely cruel system.

The thing is Maid proves repetitive and depressing, but that's the point, its a lesson on how those who fall between the cracks are treated by their Average American peers. Answer : Really, really badly.

I was so angry for her, but I believe and hope that we treat those struggling in society, particularly young Mums, far better than our friends across the pond.

I’m turning up late to the new thread…. and thanks southeast

My list so far:

1. Sweet Pea by C J Skuse
2. Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker
3. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
4. Skitter by Ezekiel Boone
5. Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
6. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
7. The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden
8. Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
9. Goodbye to Malory Towers by Pamela Cox

10. The Trench by Steve Alten 11. The Foundling by Georgette Heyer 12. Monster by C J Skuse 13. American Gods by Neil Gaiman 14. Birthday Boy by David Baddiel 15. In Bloom by C J Skuse 16. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 17. The Guest List by Lucy Foley 18. Unwind by Neal Shusterman 19. Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas 20. Escape the Diet Trap by Dr John Briffa 21. In The Wake of The Plague by Norman F Cantor 22. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata 23. The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter 24. American War by Omar El Akkad 25. My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell 26. Hard Time by Jodi Taylor 27. Survival of the Sickest by Dr Sharon Moalem 28. One Night For Love by Mary Balogh 29. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier 30. The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson 31. Archangel by Sharon Shinn 32. Hater by David Moody 33. She Was The Quiet One by Michele Campbell 34. Meg: Primal Waters by Steve Alten 35. The Fear by C L Taylor 36. Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough 37. A Sudden Wild Magic by Diana Wynne Jones 38. One By One by Ruth Ware 39. There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins 40. Troy by Stephen Fry 41. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin 42. Hekla’s Children by James Brogden 43. X-Men: Nation X 44. The School at the Chalet by Elinor M Brent-Dyer 45. Plan For The Worst by Jodi Taylor 46. Fast Asleep by Dr Michael Mosley 47. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 48. Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen 49. The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey 50. Eating Less by Gillian Riley 51. Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey 52. Clear My Name by Paula Daly 53. New Model Army by Adam Roberts 54. Playing Nice by J P Delaney 55. Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella 56. Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey 57. The Ickabog by J K Rowling 58. The Renegades of Pern by Anne McCaffrey 59. The Orphanage of Gods by Helena Coggan 60. Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas 61. No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference by Greta Thunberg 62. White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick 63. She-Wolves by Helen Castor 64. Jovah’s Angel by Sharon Shinn 65. Before I Let You In by Jenny Blackhurst 66. The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray 67. Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer 68. Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone 69. Earth Abides by George R Stewart 70. Dead Head by C J Skuse 71. The Pact by Amy Heydenrych 72. Killing Kate by Alex Lake 73. Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor 74. The Two Lost Mountains by Matthew Reilly 75. Millions by Frank Cottrell-Boyce 76. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett 77. Stuffocation by James Wallman 78. Your Simple Guide to Reversing Type 2 Diabetes by Professor Roy Taylor 79. Just Like The Other Girls by Claire Douglas 80. Life Without Diabetes by Professor Roy Taylor 81. Red Rising by Pierce Brown 82. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling 83. Hellfire by John Saul 84. No Time Like The Past by Jodi Taylor 85. A Company Of Swans by Eva Ibbotson 86. Fury by Elizabeth Miles 87. Secret Vampire by L J Smith 88. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 89. James and The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl 90. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez 91. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell 92. Long Shadows by Jodi Taylor 93. Temeraire by Naomi Novik 94. A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold by George R R Martin 95. Peace Comes to the Chalet School by Katherine Bruce 96. Nerdy, Shy and Socially Inappropriate by Cynthia Kim 97. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes 98. The Skylight by Louise Candlish 99. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight 100. Killing Floor by Lee Child 101. The Vacancy by Elisabeth Carpenter 102. The Boy At The Back Of The Class by Onjali Q Rauf 103. Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi 104. Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes 105. Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig 106. Starsight by Brandon Sanderson 107. The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes 108. Everless by Sara Holland

And

109. Jo of the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent-Dyer

A re-read of one of the earliest Chalet School book.

110. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott

A group of British graduates had a holiday in rural France, joined by a French girl named Severine. She vanished about the time the holiday ended, and now, a decade later, her body has been discovered. And the graduates are the prime suspects.

111. Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

Non-fiction, discussing research into why and how people eat more without realising they’re doing it (mindless eating), and how this knowledge can be used to help steer people away from eating more.

107. Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City, Edmund Richardson
Non-fiction. A solder deserts from the East India Company and ends up in Afghanistan searching for one of the lost cities founded by Alexander the Great. His searches are frustrated by lack of funds and then by being swept up in various political machinations, much against his will. I expected a tale of 19th century archaeological derring-do, but it turned into a tale of Western bungling in Afghanistan, with some uncomfortable modern resonances. Told with panache, although all the plotting and suspected plotting occasionally became a bit confusing, and it ended on a rather downbeat note of failure.

50. The Penultimate Peril, Lemony Snicket (or Daniel Handler)

This is the first time I have ever hit 50 since I started tracking back in 2013. This, as the title suggests is the penultimate story in the woeful and unfortunate lives of the Baudelaire orphans. Book 12 of the children’s series ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ more clues and connections are dropped as to what is really going on with the secret organisation VFD and the lines between being noble and a villain are increasingly blurred. I’ve really enjoyed these books with my reluctant reader 10 year old. I think that they are very clever, and enjoy the nods to adult literature and idiom and jokes.

51. What is History, Now?, edited by Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb

This is a series of essays that look at various different ways of practicing history. It’s inspired by Carr’s great grandfather who wrote a key book called ‘What is History?’ in 1961 (that we all had to read as undergrads). I liked the different voices of the contributors and various examples that they used to illustrate their point because they were often things that the reader may not already be aware of and the handy reading list at the end of each chapter will definitely facilitate further reading for me. It covers everything from global history, disability history to why history at the movies is important as well as indigenous history and women’s history. If you are interested in history then it’s a very accessible volume that is worth reading.

Just finished Toxic Childhood. This is a 2015 revised edition of the seminal book about post 20th century childhood which examines the influence of digital technology, junk food, lack of play and things like cotton wool parenting. Sue P got into a bit of hot water about seeming to be anti feminism (she does discuss this as an awkward issue since she says research supports her on some issues about early childcare, although she never explicitly states it should fall to mothers) and, more perhaps obviously and less forgivably, some generalised views on the parenting skills and abilities of people who live in greater poverty. I do think she can sound sweeping and a touch judgemental there, although her biggest target is consumer capitalism and the marketeers, to be fair.

It's a reasonable handbook for parents with some tips and guidance. I read it for the research material really so skimmed bits. Thought provoking on the whole and a bit depressing.

Have added the Josh W and the Running Hare to my wishlist
I went through a short but intense phase from Sept 88-May 89 in what I now recognise as depression- post university, living with a (for me) wrong 'un, and I did watch Neighbours twice a day. And EastEnders. And Corrie. And Brookie. And Prisoner Cell Block H.
I then went full circle and didn't have a telly for about 4 years. Have always been extreme.
@Piggywaspushed- hijack- your post on the Strictly thread was perfect, well done. (channels the judges) I'm lurking this year as am finding it a bit bizarrely toxic tbh, about both men and women. Such a Shane, as like this thread, the Strictly threads have always been a safe haven. Oh well.

@SOLINVICTUS @Piggywaspushed

Off Topic

I am pretty much decided I am not posting this weekend and just enjoying the show.

[quote EineReiseDurchDieZeit]**@SOLINVICTUS* @Piggywaspushed*

Off Topic

I am pretty much decided I am not posting this weekend and just enjoying the show.[/quote]
I confess I'm now just skimming instead of spending a lovely hour on a Monday chuckling and catching up. (I'm on iPlayer of course so tend to watch the results on Monday)
Sorry, will stop hijack now!

Thanks sol. It's very frustrating. It does remind me a bit of when Alexandra Burke was on. I think quite a few posters wanted to gun for AJ, found they rather liked her and fancy Kai so have gone for the obvious targets of a 19 year old girl and a 45 year old Christian man

Hey ho! I still like watching!

I agree that the Strictly threads have a very odd tone at the moment.

"@Sadik, I would highly recommend Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory- I loved it, and almost more so the hints at another story within it; I must find out if there is a sequel/companion piece."
I'll definitely add that one to the TBR, thanks Tanaqui :)

53. Spillover - David Quammen

Published in 2013, this is an eerily prescient exploration of zoonotic diseases (originating from animals) and their potential to generate the next big human pandemic. It tells a very important story about how human overpopulation and disturbance of habitats has led to an increased risk of contact with previously unknown viruses. Unfortunately, it tells it in an incredibly slow, drawn out way, with National Geographic-esque descriptions of the trousers and facial hair of every scientist he interviewed. The imagined story (fictional but incredibly detailed in its made-up ‘facts’) of the first man to bring HIV from the rural backwaters of Cameroon to the cities of the Congo was a particular low point. A good long form article could probably convey as many facts as this 20-hour audiobook. I do know a lot more about why bats are especially good at harbouring nasty bugs, though.

National Geographic-esque descriptions of the trousers and facial hair of every scientist he interviewed

House of Glass is on Kindle Daily Deal, and from what I recall I think everyone who's read and posted on here have really enjoyed it?

Belated thank you for the new thread southeastdweller. House of Glass is one of my favourite reads this year, I found it fascinating.
52. All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle
Previously reviewed on here. I found the style of writing in this to be quite light, easy reading but think the issue of loneliness and the challenges faced by those who are struggling were well described. Any of us can have a slump that is hard to get out of. I'm still trying to work out if I forgive the author for a certain plot point or not though.
53. At Home by Bill Bryson
A gift that has sat on my shelf for years. The format of this is that the author shares and discusses the floor plan of his home, built in 1851, and takes the room names as chapter headings. The subtitle 'A Short History of Private Life' probably more accurately describes the content as Bryson uses his structure as a loose guide while heading off in tangents he finds interesting, often about stately homes and wealthy individuals or the lives of various inventers. The Passage, for example, becomes a history of the telephone as this is where one had been installed in Bryson's home, and The Study unexpectedly told me more than I ever wanted to know about vermin and infestations as it happens to be the room in Bryson's home in which he has most requirement for mouse traps! It is a long book, I tried to read a chapter a day and even then found it was often so filled with details that I couldn't take it all in. There are lots of interesting stories though, and having put it off for years I did find it interesting and enjoyable overall.
54. Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty
The author is a teenager living in Northern Ireland, writing about nature and campaigning on environmental issues. I wasn't familiar with his work before I read this but it reads like he got the book deal because he had some level of public profile through writing a blog and campaigning alongside well known figures like Chris Packham.
I love listening to beautiful nature writing on audio and that is one element of this book. Unfortunately it happily washes over me and I rarely retain the details! What will stay with me, possibly reading as a teacher, is the descriptions of growing up with autism. The author finds it easier to cope in the natural world and is critical of the envoironment that many schools provide for children and young people generally, and those on the autistic spectrum specifically.
55. Sal by Mick Kitson
I haven't seen much about this novel but picked it up in the library on a whim. Thirteen year old Sal has spent months planning to run away, stealing maps and studying survival videos online to prepare to live in the woods with her younger sister Peppa. Now the time has come to run, because Peppa is ten, which is how old Sal was when Robert started on her, and Sal will do anything to protect Peppa.
I was looking to read something Scottish and I loved the descriptions of the Scottish landscape combined with the (also very Scottish) hardness and humour of the two girls. This novel is short, in some ways quite slow paced, but the premise kept me engrossed as I was desperate to know what happened to Sal and Peppa. We see the world through Sal's eyes, and while I didn't see this as an 'unreliable narrator' novel, I did sometimes wonder what she was like in the eyes of others. I thought the descriptions of the girls' lives at home were well handled - descriptions of abuse which are not explicit but paint a very vivid picture. I just finished it this morning so I'm still mulling over the ending, but I thought this was a bit of gem.

98: Enigma - Robert Harris

I’m probably the only person who’s never seen the film of this so while I broadly knew the basic premise of the plot, it was new to me. Brilliant cryptanalyst Tom Jericho, in a state of emotional collapse after the end of an affair with a beautiful colleague, is summoned back to Bletchley Park to resume work on cracking the Enigma code. The fate of an Allied naval convoy hangs in the balance, but there are other mysteries at play - can Jericho unravel the puzzle in time?

A pacy page-turner, though I freely admit to not understanding a lot of the technical stuff. I kind of suspect Harris didn’t either, but it sounds very convincing.....