50 Book Challenge 2022 Part One

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2022, 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.

If possible, please can you embolden your titles and maybe authors as well of books you've read or going to read? It makes it much easier to keep track, especially when the threads move quickly at this time of the year.

Who's in for this year?

Talk of Sarah Winman and When God Was A Rabbit has led me to slowly come to the realisation that I haven’t actually read it despite believing I had! Whatever the book I thought it was I didn’t particularly enjoy, but didn’t remember as twee as Welsheabbit described so I just googled and didn’t recognise the plot at all. I too have been avoiding Sarah Winman on the grounds of a book it turns out she didn’t write - so I will probably give Still Life a go after all as well. I also see she wrote The Year of Mysterious Ways which I strongly recognise both the title and the cover design of and had been under the impression that I’ve read that one too, but again on googling a plot synopsis it turns out not. I think I may either own it but it’s packed away somewhere (had to sacrifice a few bookshelves in order to fit DD into our tiny house) or maybe I was loaned it by a friend but never got round to it.

This is why I need to be better at recording my reading, but also why I’m a bit shit at book groups (and indeed this thread) because I generally read quickly but don’t tend to absorb much (unless it’s a really really stand out book) so find it hard to discuss in detail afterwards. (I also often start a ‘new’ book only to discover I’ve read it before).

I wonder if that’s why some of the books that stand out for me in recent years have been ones I’ve listened to on audio - it does force me to slow down and not ‘skim’ so much. I too listen to it on a slightly increased speed as SirSidney mentioned though.

Oops I mean A Year of Marvellous Ways for the other Sarah Winman book. Getting my ‘years of’ confused as I’d just made a note of the Joan Didion book recommended upthread!

Would love to join!

Have just finished American Dirt - it was amazing. Really moving and one of those books that has make me wonder what next for the characters.

Have picked up the Judges List by John Grisham for number two

Keen to join in just about to start The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo interested to see if it is as good as what people say. This will be my 1st book of the year

Finished Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo on NYE it wasn't up to much 🤷🏻‍♀️

Just finished books 1&2
The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M Graff and Ten Things I Love about You by Julia Quinn.

I found it hard to read and turned to the Julia Quinn when it became just too much to cope with. It brought back the horror of watching events unfold on the TV and the disbelief that this could be happening. I remember going to pick the kids up from school and meeting a friend who was absolutely in pieces, her husband had been on the phone to a friend in the South tower when the plane hit. I would recommend this very highly but I couldn't call it enjoyable.

The other was a light piece of fluff,which I thoroughly enjoyed

Have just finished my first book of the year.

1. Egyptian Myths: A guide to the ancient Gods and legendsby Gerry Shaw. Its a short and interesting introduction to Ancient Egyptian Myths especially concerning creation, the gods and the afterlife. Book is well presented with pictures and extra information in coloured boxes. Due to the source material being fragmented, the retelling and explanations especially concerning the Duat (afterlife) can feel rushed. However, it has made me want to seek out more information on the topic.

Second book of the year is a lighter read Put A Wet Paper Towel on It: The Weird and Wonderful World of Primary Schools By Lee and Adam Parkinson. Big fans of their podcast and ICT with Mr P as a TA so interested to read the book.

Book number 1 finished: The House at Riverton - Kate Morton
As mentioned, this, along with two others of her books, has been sat on my bookshelf for about 4 years since my brother in law bought them for me.

In 1999 Grace is approaching 100 years old and is contacted by a filmmaker who is making a film about a tragedy that unfolded in 1924 at a manor house called Riverton. Grace was witness to said tragedy and is the only living person who knows the full story. Grace is led down memory lane and takes the reader along with her, following her through her years as a housemaid at Riverton from 1914 until the tragedy in 1924.

This is like the hundreds of other novels which follow upper class families from the lead up to WWI and through the huge societal changes that happened afterwards and it's a formula I really enjoy. Not particularly high brow or profound but easy to read and a bit of escapism. This one was slightly different in that it was told from the point of view of a member of the below stairs staff, which was an interesting twist. If I didn't already own two more Kate Morton books I can't say I'd seek any more out, but I will read the remaining two I have (although I'll leave a bit of a gap before the next one).

This was a paper book and I've now realised I've misplaced my Kindle, so no idea what to read next. Might have to use the Kindle app on my phone instead

1. Death on Coffin Lane, Jo Allen.

I like a good police procedural, but this fell short of the mark.

Cody Wilder is an outspoken and divisive academic who has come to the Lake District to give a lecture on some recently-acquired letters pertaining to Wordsworth's family life. Trouble follows her wherever she goes and when her personal assistant commits suicide on the day of the lecture, it is only the first of many deaths to occur among her contacts and acquaintances. Jude Satterthwaite and his team step in to offer her protection and lead an investigation.

The trouble I had with this book was that I felt the detective work lacked focus and clarity. The investigation lumbered along until the penultimate chapter when the detective inspector made a background check on something that should have been done early on, so fundamental it was to the movements of one of the characters. The team seemed to do be reactive rather than proactive and they let events overtake them. There was a general feeling of 'wooliness' about this book which made for a slightly frustrating read.

This is the third book in the series, but it will be a stand alone read for me (3 out of 5 stars).

Sadik I agree that The Thursday Murder Club was really sad in places, and I suspect people's reactions to it are very much coloured by their circumstances. Despite the sadness I really loved it as my parents moved to a posh retirement village a few years ago and it rang very, very true in many places.

Sadik I finished The Thursday Murder Club over Christmas and had similar thoughts. I’m caring for an elderly family member at the moment so I found it sad too as it reminded me of what she’s going through.
Overall I enjoyed it more than I expected having been somewhat put off by the hype.
As an aside I was a bit irritated by what I perceived as some snobbishness towards the Trade Union leader character.

@FortunaMajor "I often think when a poet turns to novels, they bring something a little different to the table."

Agreed. I think Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels is a good example of this. It's one of my favourite books ever.

@MamaNewtNewt thanks for the mention of year of wonder I've just downloaded it

Oooh @SarahJessicaParker1 I quite like the sound of Entangled Lives
I might look out for that (and the fungi action!)

Next read for me is Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper.

Having tried to get DS interested in it, and failed - "it's boring, mum" , I am continuing alone. I'm reading the series slightly out of order, having already read The Dark Is Rising several times but never been tempted until now to read the other books in the series.

DS is only interested in Harry Potter, so we are reading them for the umpteenth time , which is fine with me - comfort reading.

I loved Entangled Lives @TheRealShedSadie - I bought it after seeing an interview with the author at last year's Oxford Real Farming Conference, I'd really recommend that too (you don't need to be a farmer to watch it!!), it's on youtube
I think the nice thing is it's very accessible to the lay reader (ie me!) but I also bought a copy for my ex who has a background in botany with a side interest in fungi & lichens, & he really rated it too.

I've just got Mrs Death from the online library following the comments upthread, only read the first few pages, but really looking forwards to getting into it. It's also reminded me that I was planning to re-read Always Coming Home by Ursula le Guin this year, another book made up of fragments / poetry / etc.

[quote BadSpellaSpellaSpella]**@MamaNewtNewt* thanks for the mention of year of wonder* I've just downloaded it[/quote]

I can't take credit as it was mentioned by a couple of people up thread but I'm really enjoying it so far. My favourite piece so far is O virtus sapientiae by Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098–1179) who sounds like a very impressive woman.

2. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Spent my bank holiday Monday devouring this and loved it; can totally see why it has rave reviews. I liked that despite the frequent time shifts, it was really clear which period each chapter was in, so it was easy to follow compared to some other books using the same method! I would love to see this made into a film.

1. Ramble Book- Adam Buxton

Well, this was splendid. As I said when I started it, being a furriner in a furrin land, I'd never heard of him, I get to see very little TV (not in a snobby way, just in an Italian husband hogs football/politics shows so I retire to my boudoir with a book way) I'm a sucker for a famous person interested in music/pop culture and being of approximately the same age as me, memoir and this ticked all the boxes. Well written, intelligent, occasionally very funny- but never too try hard and just bloody interesting.
Lovely to start the year with a book that I kept wanting to get back to, and which, all things being considered, will probably be in my top 5 of the year. 5/5

First book of the year done and I loved it

Winter solstice Rosamund Pilcher

Utterly charming, cosy and the perfect escape. Read it over a few days on my (waterproof) kindle in a hot bath with essential oils and candles while recovering from covid!

1. Servant of Death - Sarah Hawkswood

Medieval murder mystery set during the Anarchy. Visitors to an abbey are detained after the body of a clerk, brother to an influential bishop, is found murdered. An unhappy pairing of a Norman noble, newly appointed as undersheriff and an experienced English sergeant are charged to solve the case. This is the first in the series. I picked this and the next one up in a charity shop. I won't be rushing to carry on the series. This is a very weak addition to the genre.

The obvious comparisons are with Cadfael, but it didn't come anywhere near. Flat characters, weak plot, overlong sentences and a very pretentious vocabulary for what is essentially badly written fluff. I couldn't take it seriously. At one point the prose was very disjointed as if to give a ye olde worlde feel. I always want to love stuff like this, but there are too many other authors doing it better.

1. Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A short, beautiful read about the author's reaction to her father's death.

I asked for Entangled Lives for Christmas but Father Christmas did not oblige (He brought me The Madman's Library by Edward Brooke-Hitching, Nigel Slater's new cookbook, The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin and The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik instead so I'm not complaining).

Sounds like I should buy it for myself as it's getting pretty good reviews.

3: House of Glass - Hadley Freeman

A lot of people read this last year, and I think I've seen it mentioned on this thread already. Journalist Hadley began to explore the past life of her paternal grandmother, Sala, and the parallel stories of her siblings, when she found a box of mementoes hidden away after her grandmother's death.

Along the way she discovered that the woman she assumed to be French - an elegant Parisienne, married to an American - had grown up with her three brothers in a Galician shtetl; that the family had fled to Paris in a bid to escape the threat of pogroms, and had changed not just their Jewish names but their language, their way of existence and in many ways their very identity. It seemed like a whole new start, but for them, and for every immigrant Jew in France, WW2 was lying just around the corner as a cataclysmic life-changing event. There are some incredible stories here, much heartbreak, and I found it absolutely compelling. Recommended.

I'm going to join you all this year. Last January I decided to read more and tracked my books on GoodReads. This thread was great inspiration and I managed 41 books. This year I've set myself the goal of 42 and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading. (Although I have enough books on my Kindle to keep me going for more than a year!)

My favourite last year was Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. Closely followed by Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

I'm starting the year with Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - enjoying it so far.