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?

House of Glass sounds very good. I'm going to put that on my list. Thanks Terpsichore.

Some interesting reads up thread, I am trying so hard not to buy any new books this year and make some space on my TBR bookcase.

Book 2

The Man Who Went Up In Smoke by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

This is the second in the Martin Beck series published in 1966 so pre internet, DNA, computers, emails etc.

A Swedish journalist has gone missing in Budapest and Beck has been asked to travel there to investigate. The Hungarian Police are not interested and Beck is at a loss as to where to start with the investigation. With a bit of help from his colleagues back in Sweden and from a receptionist at a youth hostel he has a name and address which kick starts it.

The husband and wife writing team have been credited by Val McDermid as being one of the primary influencers of the modern day detective novel. I really enjoyed it as I have others in the series, it is quite pacey with short chapters that make you want to cary on and read the next chapter. It doesn't portray women in a great light, mainly nagging wives, but if you can remember that it is a book of its time (published nearly 60 years ago) then it is a good detective story ( and I am sure that there many be grumbling spouses of serving police officers today about leave cut short and holidays cancelled)

Next up is Flying Finish by Dick Francis and also listening to Moon Our Soho by Ben Aaronovitch on Audible

1. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein

I had a major Heinlein phase in my teens that continued well into my early 20s, and this was possibly his only major book that I missed reading during my sustained efforts of library scouting, begging, and borrowing while growing up in a place where finding books in English was no small feat.

This book was first published in 1966 but it has surprisingly not aged much at all. The moon is now colonized by outcasts, convicts, and their descendants, who grow crops which they then send to and increasingly overpopulated Earth. The system is too close to slavery for comfort, and several "loonies" put together a plan to achieve independence with the help of a Luna's central computer which they see has become self-aware.

Heinlein was an engineer, and the technical/scientific problems are calculated and solved as in The Martian which is quite interesting since the book was written +50 years ago. The independence strategy, myriad discussions about the pros and cons of different political systems, and issues with different governments are all very interesting, and (since this is a Heinlein book) so is the author's approach to what marriage and relationships in general might look like in the future.

Highly recommended.

@TheRealShedSadie I'd recommend it if you are interested in it even slightly! It wasn't my thing, but I could appreciate it, although I didn't particularly enjoy it. I'm passing mine on to a colleague at work who thinks it sounds amazing!

Are people counting audiobooks too? I got to 150 last year if so. 30 paper books, 20 e-books and 100 audiobooks. I also read a lot of middle grade and YA books as a primary teacher to keep up to date with things. Ah well I'm going to count it all anyway. A book is a book is a book.

1 - Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall (audio book)

Follows three middle aged women/uni best friends. One of them is killed. Each third of the book is told through each of the different women until we finally learn who the killer is. I guessed who it was within the first third (but I'm a seasoned thriller reader so may not be as obvious to others).

It was okay. I give it 3/5. The characters were all unrelatable probably because they were so posh and uptight. Didn't like any of the characters at all. Decent pacing and varied enough with the different view points. A thriller that didn't thrill me but was interesting enough to keep listening to. If it was a hardcopy instead, requiring more effort and patience than just listening, I'd likely not have finished it.

Currently listening to Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson while taking down the Christmas decorations. Had a very interesting premise but actually a very slow execution and nothing has really happened despite me being nearly at the last third.

A 19 year old American high school graduate becomes pregnant with her art teacher's baby. Things happen and it turns out she'll need to raise the baby alone. She joins a scientific project looking at child development within an 'extended family' (communal parenting). The researchers promise to provide a very comfortable life for all participants. Catch is, the children won't know their biological parents as being their primary parents. They will need to parent all children equally, taking shifts. It's a 10 year project and I'm currently half way through. Things are starting to get a bit messy with the perfect world coming crumbling down. Researchers realising they didn't think enough about the effect of this project on the parents as well as the children. Not really much exciting happening. Very focussed on the child development side of things which I'm finding quite dull. And hard to care about 19 parents and all their children who all seem quite interchangeable at this stage. E.g. just read a huge section about a fish removed from its tank to see how the children would react to the concept of death. Also, from a scientific point of view, the project is ridiculously flawed in so many ways. They are attributing the children's advanced development to the concept of communal parenting, seemingly disregarding the fact these children have almost constant adult attention, stimulation, access to daily physiotherapy etc. Going to keep going as nearly finished and keen to see if there is any sort of climax/resolution.

Yes, audio books are counted!

I absolutely loved House of Glass, terpsichore. Definitely a highlight of 2020 for me.

And Cote, I'm putting the Heinlein on my list for DS, who's a fan of hard sci-fi. He's in bed with Covid at the moment so I may see if I can tempt him with a kindle copy.

Book one for me is The Railway Children, which I picked up after listening to the Backlisted Christmas episode. This was real comfort reading; I find when I go back to books I've read and loved in the past, there are certain passages that are so familiar they have a real comfort factor. For me, in The Railway Children, it's Bobby's birthday and also the part where they tear up their petticoats. It's aged surprisingly well, though I am leaning towards team #IthinkDaddydiditevenifhismotivesweregood.

Second book is State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny, which passed the time on New Years Day while we all waited for PCR test results. If it wasn't for Ms Clinton's involvement this would be a very forgettable thriller. As it was, it was redeemed (slightly) by the detail which clearly came from her own experiences. As is often the case with these thrillers, I found the weird way of disclosing details (lots of people open text messages, gasp and then we don't find out what they learned for pages, by which time the plot has moved on, coupled with a lot of heavy handed expository dialogue) somewhat off putting but I'm not going to complain too much as it hit the spot.

Bookbanter, I count audiobooks, and I think lots of us do. Although there aren't really any rules, as such - it's very much more about the books and the book chat than sticking rigidly to a definition of what "reading 50 books" means. Some of us don't even count - I do, but I have done for ages, rather than because I feel a need to account for myself on the thread. For me, the appeal of this thread is like minded people sharing their love of books and the outstanding recommendations that I pick up on here, for things I'd never otherwise come across.

Thanks both, glad to hear audiobooks are counted as they're the main way I get my book fix! I've already added 20 books to my Goodreads wish list based on this thread. Looking forward to picking up more through the year.

2. Lost Children Archive - Valeria Luiselli
A family drives south-west across the USA from NYC. The parents, both sound documentary makers, are on the verge of splitting up, to pursue incompatible projects. The 5 year old girl and 10 year old boy, both from previous relationships, provide welcome humour and tenderness, although, like many children in books, are somewhat precocious. The story is told by the mother and the boy, but there are also extracts from a fictitious novel and various documents. The ‘lost children’ of the title are primarily the tens of thousands of unaccompanied child migrants who undergo terrible hardship and dangers to reach the US from Mexico/Central America, and then receive a callous reception when they arrive; the mother is intending to make a documentary about them.
This is an extraordinary piece of writing, fresh, ambitious, perceptive, gripping, sometimes very moving. I’m not surprised that it has won so many accolades. It does have some flaws, however. At times, Luiselli’s determination to freight every single detail with meaning strains the reader’s credulity and sympathy eg ‘The Lord of the Flies’ is not a suitable audiobook for young children; the US away from the East Coast is not so derelict and depopulated. As a result, the mother, the main narrator, is a less likeable character than I think Luiselli intends. And for a book that foregrounds the issue of who is allowed to tell the story of child migrants, the family’s appropriation of Apache identity (the Apaches are the subject of the father’s new project) is odd. Despite this, I thoroughly recommend it.

I loved the structure of it. It was very self-conscious and not an easy read, but there were bits I thought were brilliant.

My favourite piece so far is O virtus sapientiae by Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098–1179) who sounds like a very impressive woman

@MamaNewtNewt that’s been my favourite too! There’s a good episode of the In Our Time podcast about her if you’d like to learn more, her inclusion in the book has definitely inspired me to give it another listen.

I’d be up for a Year of Wonder thread too if others fancy it.

I ordered House of Glass yesterday too, only £2.50 on kindle at the moment.

In fact despite my overwhelmingly long tbr list already on kindle, I’ve managed to buy another pile in the last couple of days, some inspired by this thread and others that I just fancied. Ive ordered:
Troubled Blood - looking forward to getting back to this series
House of Glass
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World
Small Pleasures
Sorrow and Bliss
Hamnet
How to Kill Your Family
The Impossible Truths of Love

No idea when or in what order I’ll get to them!

Currently reading The Heart’s Invisible Furies which was popular on either last years thread or the one before I think.

Just adding to my above half review now I've finished it.

2 - Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson (audiobook)

A 19 year old American high school graduate becomes pregnant with her art teacher's baby. Things happen and it turns out she'll need to raise the baby alone. She joins a research project looking at child development within an 'extended family' (communal parenting). The researchers promise to provide a very comfortable life for all participants. Catch is, the children won't know their biological parents as being their primary parents. They will need to parent all children equally, taking shifts. Things starts to crumble as the naïve researchers didn't account for how much this would affect the parents as well as the children. They start to realise they can't control every little thing that happens on this project.

Pros - Interesting premise. Started off slow but kept me engaged.

Disappointed by - from the mid-point to the end it was very dull and nothing really happened. I can't see where the climax of this story was. The ending was ridiculous. Tied up far too neatly. The main character lost her identity from the middle to the end of the book whereas she seemed quite interesting and likeable at the start. I'm not sure if that's intentional though; maybe the author wanted her to blend in with the other parents to show the effects of communal parenting/parenting on one's identity?

Too many characters and I didn't connect with them and lost track of them.

From a scientific point of view, the project was ridiculously flawed in so many ways. They attributed the children's advanced development to the concept of communal parenting, seemingly disregarding the fact the children had almost constant adult attention, stimulation, access to daily physiotherapy etc.

Another 3/5 for me. Easy listen and interesting idea, just dully executed in my opinion. The writer could have done a lot more with this.

I've also bought Year Of Wonder on the strength of the reviews and am catching up with the first few I've missed before today. I've found them easy to locate on Spotify/Amazon thus far. I also really liked O Virtus Sapientiae. I am getting back into playing the piano and am hoping this will give me some inspiration!

I’ve now finished my first book:

1. * A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life

by Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying* not my usual fare but it was definitely thought provoking! Have moved on to Death in Disguise by Caroline Graham I’m not sure about the series but wanted a gentle read for the start of term (teacher )

2. The Moth and The Mountain - Ed Caesar

Highly recommended, particularly for those interested in Everest, aviation and WW1.

This is the story of Maurice Wilson, who made an unauthorised (by the British authorities) solo attempt on Everest in 1934. Wilson was the son of a Bradford mill owner and a veteran of World War I. He was cited for bravery but did not qualify for a war pension as he was "only" one eighth disabled. However, this assessment did not take account of the psychological toll of what he had seen, and he is likely to have been further traumatised by the fact that his older brother returned from the front a broken man. There are some harrowing descriptions of the battles in which Wilson fought, which really bring home what the soldiers had to endure and the scale of the losses on both sides.

The reviews and the blurb mention that this is partly a love story, but this is a relatively minor part of the story. Wilson was married twice before leaving for Everest, and spent time in both New Zealand and South Africa. He also became interested in spiritualism, which seems further evidence of his inability to settle after the war and his desire to find a purpose. Before leaving for Everest he became close to a couple called Enid and Leonard Evans. He lived with them for a time and evidently became close to Enid, writing to her separately from her husband, but the nature of their relationship is not clear, and nor do we know how her husband felt about the arrangement.

What makes this story so compelling is the question of why Wilson was so set on making an attempt on Everest, knowing that he was doing so without official backing or adequate training and supplies. He almost seemed to think that a positive attitude alone would see him through. We know, of course, that he didn't make the summit, but it's still heartrending to read of his determination to do so against all the odds.

This is my second finish of the year but I think it will stay with me and is likely to be one of my top reads of 2022.

1) Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith

I have read a mix of reviews on these threads about this series but I really enjoyed this book. I’m late to them as (if you can believe it) I thought detective fiction/crime wasn’t for me. I have seen the error of my ways now.

Loved this, love them, love JKR ❤️❤️

4/5

I think there are quite a few of us reading Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday this year so I have set up a thread for those of us who want to chat about it as we go through the year.

MamaNewtNewt, could you point me to the thread, please? I'd really like to join in - I bought it last year with good intentions, and failed, so would like some accountability!

Oh, you did already - I couldn't see it on my phone initially.

welsh I didn't really enjoy When God was a rabbit either. Much later I read Tin Man without realising it was by the same author and whilst I was underwhelmed, I put it down to reading it straight after The Heart's Invisible Furies against which it paled in comparison.
Still Life has nonetheless made it to my TBR pile as it's been raved about by so many posters on here whose recommendations I value highly. So that doesn't answer your question but I'm with you on WGWAR

In other news my reading continues to advance at a snail's pace so I may well get kicked off the thread before long. Does that fact that I'm nuts about sea-swimming mean I'm allowed to stay? Wintering is also on my TBR!!

@nowanearlyNicemum

welsh I didn't really enjoy When God was a rabbit either. Much later I read Tin Man without realising it was by the same author and whilst I was underwhelmed, I put it down to reading it straight after The Heart's Invisible Furies against which it paled in comparison. Still Life has nonetheless made it to my TBR pile as it's been raved about by so many posters on here whose recommendations I value highly. So that doesn't answer your question but I'm with you on WGWAR

In other news my reading continues to advance at a snail's pace so I may well get kicked off the thread before long. Does that fact that I'm nuts about sea-swimming mean I'm allowed to stay? Wintering is also on my TBR!!

Does this mean you've actually swam in the sea, in winter? 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️ How did you make yourself do it? Tips pls! (If that's not too off thread)

Finished my [2] Dying Inside by Damien Boyd (audio) Crime. Very meh. Might be better in hard copy as I think of this was down to the reader but I kept losing track of what was going on and wasn't interested enough to keep rewinding.

I have Entangled Life in my TBR pile and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm v interested in soil etc though (farmer).

Adds The Moth and the Mountain to my wish list.

Murderer thing is totally bonkers. I'll probably finish it tonight.

I love sea swimming haven't braved the winter yet but quite a few of my friends do, starting swimming earlier each year and a little longer at the end of the year though in the hope that I can get through the whole year one day