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?

That’s a good point Terpsichore. I think I’m just generally quite forgiving when I really like a series/author!

1. Swell a waterbiography: This was fun, a mix of the author's own history with becoming a swimmer (outdoor, coldwater particularly) and a history of women swimming in the UK (mainly) and how we got access to the sea, pools and the olympics. It was very chattily written and light and just very readable. Now I want to know more about all the Victorian/Edwardian women who swam the length of the Thames and other such feats and really want to get back to open water swimming (not been since we moved, as haven't figured out where to go).

@rivierliedje

5. Swell a waterbiography: This was fun, a mix of the author's own history with becoming a swimmer (outdoor, coldwater particularly) and a history of women swimming in the UK (mainly) and how we got access to the sea, pools and the olympics. It was very chattily written and light and just very readable. Now I want to know more about all the Victorian/Edwardian women who swam the length of the Thames and other such feats and really want to get back to open water swimming (not been since we moved, as haven't figured out where to go).

This sounds great @rivierliedje!

@nowanearlyNicemum

Fortuna - my secret's out!

We were supposed to go hiking in the mountains today but gale force winds have put paid to that. So it's a toss up between reading and marking... tough call.

I loved the full story, charming and hilarious that I'd got the wrong end of the stick and spent ages musing over whether you were almost nice or a reformed late person.

I'm going to be contrary and and say do the marking so it's out of the way. Shame about the hike, the weather is stinking here too. Dog won't go out in high winds and rain and is climbing the walls as a result.

I set October: The Story of the Russian Revolution - China Miéville playing last night, but I can only claim to have had half an ear on it, so I'm not going to count it. It's billed as a non-scholarly look at the Russian Revolution and is apparently very readable, but I got bored and switched off mentally. I'm not blaming the author, more my own lack of interest in politics and men blathering on. My previous knowledge of the Revolution came from the potted history given about it so we could understand Animal Farm for GCSE. I remain as ignorant and as unamused.

Has anyone read the fell by Sarah moss I started it last night it's been on my TBR then it was half price in Waterstones so I got it. It's about a woman who breaks quarantine to go for a walk, falls and the effect of that.

Only 40 pages in but absolutely loving it. Articulates what I feel in the last 18 months but haven't been able to find the words.

@Plantsandpuddlesuits yes I read The Fell late last year and it made it into my top 10 lists. Captured so much of that strange lockdown minder so well. I loved it. Also loved summerwater and ghost wall by her.

Joining in, though a little late to the party.

I’ve finished two audiobooks, both PG Wodehouse (Hot Water and Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen) which is how I’m currently making housework less boring.

First two physical books have been from my Christmas present stack.
Becoming by Michelle Obama made me admire her even more, which I hadn’t thought possible.
The Duke And I, first of the Bridgerton novels, was a fun piece of fluff.

I’ve got some heavy hitters waiting for me that I’m looking forward to Women Of Troy in particular - but I’m saving them to when I’ve got a good long stretch to read uninterrupted.

@Plantsandpuddlesuits

Has anyone read the fell by Sarah moss I started it last night it's been on my TBR then it was half price in Waterstones so I got it. It's about a woman who breaks quarantine to go for a walk, falls and the effect of that.

Only 40 pages in but absolutely loving it. Articulates what I feel in the last 18 months but haven't been able to find the words.

I'm in the library queue for it. Available on 23rd. I hadn't even read what it was about, but reserved it on the basis Summerwater was so good. I'm hoping the person with it now hurries up!

The wait times at my library are usually ridiculous on first look, but they soon reduce if people listen and return straight away. I always feel obliged to get on with it if I know it had a really long queue. Some of the newer books are currently saying available in May.

@Plantsandpuddlesuits I haven't read it but I got some book vouchers as a leaving gift so I treated myself to a couple of hardbacks and that was one of them.

@Teaandakitkat Piranesi is still sitting in my TBR pile, don't worry! I'll get round to it soon.

1. Clairvoyancy - Kris Sky. A memoir/how to read tarot/case studies from a down-to-earth Nottingham based clairvoyant. A pleasant diversion.

Given by DM, read, put in charity book bag.

I would also like to thank @Sadik for the Crater School recommendation. My husband is a massive Chalet School and sci-fi fan, so I bought it for him for Christmas. He hadn't come across it and says it was his best Christmas present!

2. Diary of an MP's Wife by Sasha Swire

A Christmas present from my sister-in-law (I had been making noises about wanting to read it), I feel as though a diary is just the right reading for the new year. I thoroughly enjoyed this gossipy account of the Notting Hill set and their aftermath. The diaries run from 2010 - 2019; Swire is the wife of Hugo Swire, sometime minister of state in the foreign office, Old Etonian and (according to Swire at least) good friend of the Camerons, George Osborne etc etc. I am interested in politics and this gave occasional insights into why things had happened when, but Swire wasn't exactly at the centre of power, so the real joy of this is twofold. Firstly, it strongly supported my impression, both at the time and since, that Cameron and Osborne treated politics like something of a game. The triviality of motivations was occasionally jaw-dropping (but I suppose that's like everything else). Secondly, at least as she comes across in the diary, Swire thinks very highly of herself. She enjoys relating her witty put-downs, some of which are funny, and others of which are funny because of the level of self-deception involved. She's clearly intelligent and was obviously at least as interested in politics as her husband (she ran unsuccessfully for seats before he was elected), and her frustration at being stuck as the "power" behind a not-very-powerful throne is palpable. Her reflections on the later years are also interesting; she's a Brexiteer at heart who voted Remain (she does explain why but it's not wholly convincing), can't stand Theresa May, falls out with her good friend Amber Rudd over Europe and bobbles back and forth on Boris Johnson. She's spot-on about Gavin Williamson.

A pacy, fun read for anyone who enjoys politics, with some interesting stuff in there - but be warned, you may come away maddened by the flaws in the people who have been running our country for over a decade.

@Plantsandpuddlesuits

Has anyone read the fell by Sarah moss I started it last night it's been on my TBR then it was half price in Waterstones so I got it. It's about a woman who breaks quarantine to go for a walk, falls and the effect of that.

Only 40 pages in but absolutely loving it. Articulates what I feel in the last 18 months but haven't been able to find the words.

I have got The Fell on the waiting list from the library. Current estimate is that I can have it in March, unless it comes up as a 99p deal on kindle before then. But I think I will continue to wait. I'm trying really not very hard not to buy more 99p books

Thank you southeast for the new thread, which is unbelievably lively, gosh. I'm jumping in for my second year!

1. The Dark Is Rising, Susan Cooper 4/5

I finally read this classic! It’s very atmospheric and a perfect Christmas read. I loved the descriptions of winter landscape, and the way different historical eras are layered over one another. In terms of the plot, however, I wasn’t quite as blown away as I thought I might be. The male characters dominate the story, and the binary opposition between the forces of light and darkness, good and evil strikes me as quite unlike the medieval Arthurian tradition, where the Other is often an enigma – you’re not sure to what degree you are encountering an enemy or a friend or even someone who manages to be both. That said, perhaps the character of Hawkin fulfils that role. I will certainly be reading the rest of the series.

1. The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial, Maggie Nelson 4/5

A compelling ‘true crime’ story that doesn’t fit neatly into a particular genre. Nelson, a poet and memoirist, has just finished writing a book about her aunt Jane, who was brutally murdered as a university student in Michigan, before Nelson herself was born. She then learns that the criminal investigation into her aunt’s death has just coincidentally been re-opened, as a result of new DNA evidence. The Red Parts is an account of the murder trial that ensues, along with the author’s musings on her childhood, her present life, family relationships, and the American public’s grisly obsession with sexualised violence against women. This intelligent and nuanced account is also a page-turner. I would like to read more of Nelson’s work.

By the way, I was happy to see Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive being praised earlier in this thread. I'm also a big fan of that novel.

I will add The Fell to my library request list too, based on the review above. Sarah Moss's books are always interesting.

I may have to add Diary Of an MP's Wife to the huge TBR pile WelshWabbit that sounds very interesting 🧐

@cassandre The Red Parts was a DNF for me last year. Admittedly I didn't read the whole thing but I felt there was far too much focus on the author and her sister - I found the description of their teenage years a bit unnecessary. I could have got past that, especially as the double DNA element was a really interesting development, but the final straw was she agreed to let an ex choke her during sex, the juxtaposition of that with her aunt who was strangled was too much for me.

I’m jealous of those who get an indication from their library how long it will be until their reservation comes through. Mine doesn’t give any indication of where you are in the queue or when I might get the book.

@FortunaMajor I had no idea China Mieville was writing history books. Have you read his SF/fantasy stuff? I loved Perdido Street Station.

[quote Stokey]@FortunaMajor I had no idea China Mieville was writing history books. Have you read his SF/fantasy stuff? I loved Perdido Street Station.[/quote]
Stokey I think this is a one off due to him having a particular interest. I haven't read anything else by him as SF/fantasy are genres I rarely go to unless everyone is raving about a particular book. This came highly praised and I would be loathe to criticise it for me simply not being in the mood to listen to information about a lot of men doing petty infighting in politics. For the bits I did pay attention to it seemed very accessible. I think my interest lies more in the Romanovs and there was very little about them in there.

I found Perdido Street Station unreadable, but absolutely loved The City and the City (but don't get Cote started on it!)

[quote MamaNewtNewt]**@cassandre* The Red Parts* was a DNF for me last year. Admittedly I didn't read the whole thing but I felt there was far too much focus on the author and her sister - I found the description of their teenage years a bit unnecessary. I could have got past that, especially as the double DNA element was a really interesting development, but the final straw was she agreed to let an ex choke her during sex, the juxtaposition of that with her aunt who was strangled was too much for me. [/quote]
That's interesting, MamaNewtNewt. I can see how if you wanted the book to focus on the trial, all the stuff about Nelson's teenage years and family would be annoying. However, I have a soft spot for books about dysfunctional American families (probably because I came from one!), so I found those parts of the book quite gripping.

I also did a double take at the passage about how she enjoyed being choked during sex. (The narrator did have a way of stating shocking things in a matter-of-fact tone, such as when her parents kept sending her older sister away to teenage boot camps for years at a time.) But from a feminist point of view, I thought the passage illustrated how what consenting adults do together in bed is not the same as rape/sexual violence. Clearly though, Nelson is interested in where the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable treatment of women blur; she originally thought she was OK with the choking but in the context of her aunt's story, her own emotions were more ambivalent than she realised.

I didn't agree with or even sympathise with the narrator at every point, but I admired her honesty and her willingness to display her vulnerability. I can totally understand though how the book would not be everyone's cup of tea!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

I found Perdido Street Station unreadable, but absolutely loved The City and the City (but don't get Cote started on it!)

It's far too early in the year to be opening that can of worms.

We'll chase all the lovely new people away if we go full bun fight this soon and I can't remember where I've put my tin colander to wear as a helmet. 🪖

@FortunaMajor

6 - Love Will tear Us Apart by Holly Seddon (audiobook)

Main storyline - woman finds a letter in her husband's belongings. She plans to confront him about it on their 10th anniversary dinner. We don't know the contents of the letter until the end/the 'confrontation'. We then jump back in time through the whole book to learn about the main characters, how they met, their careers, their marriage blah blah blah.

Such a frustrating book! The only reason the plot existed was because the main characters didn't communicate with each other properly. If they'd just chatted for five minutes about things, it would have all been sorted. I think this is such a lazy plot. No story should rely this heavily on characters not communicating with each other. I wish authors had this little chat with themselves when writing: "Could this problem be fixed if characters spoke to each other at the very start? Yes - okay, it's not a problem then. I need to think of something else to drive the plot."

This was rubbish. The only reason I kept listening was because I was vaguely interested to find out what was in the letter and why it had her questioning their marriage. Bitterly disappointed when the contents were revealed.

I just don't understand the point of this book. Awful, awful stuff.

1. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World Elif Shafak

Just finished this. Whilst the body of murdered ‘Tequila Leila’ is in a bin in Istanbul, her heart having just finished beating, her brain remains active for some minutes, flitting between memories of her life so far, pondering what has brought her her and what justice she might expect, strong sense memories of tastes and smells come back to her that recall the important people in her life and how they have shaped her.

The first half of the novel focuses on this, recalling Leila’s life and introducing the 5 friends who became her ‘water’ family, giving some detail on their backgrounds too.

The second half of the novel focuses on the friend’s grief and their attempts to rescue Leila from the ‘cemetery of the companionless’ (a real place I’ve since learned).

There is some beautiful writing in this book, some harrowing scenes and an unflinching look at sexual violence, as well as a fascinating look at Istanbul’s history and some uplifting depictions of friendship and what it can mean.

I really did like this a lot although I liked the first half better than the second. Depressing, sinister and brutal in places, funny, charming and yes ultimately uplifting in others. I knew nothing about this author before and have been reading about her, I’m fascinated to learn how her books have been received by the Turkish authorities - a previous one was put on trial for ‘insulting Turkishness’ and this one has seen the author investigated for indecency. I will look out for more by Shafak definitely.

I should add to the above too that I was really interested in the idea of the activity that continues in the body after death, and the questions that poses too. That was a really interesting aspect of the novel for me also, a little unsettling but fascinating.