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?

@EmGee your daily reads has reminded me of a book belonging to my DD that would be perfect for daily reading Goodnight Stories For Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo It reinvents fairy tales, inspiring children with the stories of 100 heroic women. Will read this daily and read with my DD. It has some beautiful illustrations in it.

Midnightstar - we have this book:)

5. Paperback Crush, by Gabrielle Moss. Mentioned on 26 book thread, this is an affectionate and occasionally bemused look back at YA reading in the 80s and 90s. It's US focused, so doesn't really represent my reading (Lois Duncan is one of the few I'd read) but I enjoyed it anyway. It doesn't pretend to be a profound analysis but I found it a fun read.

1. Sorrow and Bliss - Meg Mason

Just finished this and, as predicted, can’t add much to @VikingNorthUtsire ‘s review which sums up my feelings as I read the book very well.

There were things I really liked, particularly the dialogue. I started to like the book more, and feel more empathy for the main character, in the last third or so - after the diagnosis anyway. Whereas when it was ‘just’ sadness or depression she mostly irritated me. Which did make me reflect on my own attitude as well, why would depression not have been a valid enough diagnosis to elicit sympathy (especially as someone who has struggled myself).

I can see why the actual diagnosis wasn’t named (and I don’t think it was actually based on a real illness?) as you’d inevitably get bogged down in whether it was an accurate portrayal of schizophrenia or BPD or whatever else she was, but I found the device a little irritating all the same.

Quite a miraculous turnaround on the part of the mother I thought.

The dad reminded me a lot of Mr Bennet, I warmed to and was irritated by him in equal measure. I did wonder why none of Martha’s ire was directed at him after her diagnosis, presumably he knew as much about the family history as her mother did, and was as much a factor in their chaotic upbringing, if only because of his passivity, but I guess it’s not logical.

@PepeLePew @JaninaDuszejko they are some of my favourite children's books!

4. Luster by *Raven Leilani
*
Much hyped debut novel from last year. Edie is a young black woman living in New York, working in a low paid office job, having sex with her colleagues and barely scraping by. She starts a relationship with an older white man and slowly becomes embroiled in the lives of his family.

I didn’t know what to make of this. Part of me has had enough of reading books about chaotic 20-something women in New York, and this one over did the griminess of her life somewhat (dead mice in her apartment, lots of discussion of IBS, a character who works in a morgue). Parts of it were bordering on surreal too which I wasn’t expecting.

There is beautiful writing though and the plot goes in some unpredictable directions. By the end I felt it was a book about kindness more than anything else.

I am always very impressed by those of you who can read in languages other than English! I wish I could.

5. Endless Night by Agatha Christie. Not one of her best- to say much about it would give spoilers, but I wouldn't bother with this unless you are reading them all - it is an interesting comparison to one other in particular.

@ChessieFL I've read all of the Shawn Inmon time travel books. There are some interesting ideas and I like that they are a nice, quick easy read. I'm not sure I'd read them one after the other as some are a bit samey.

Thanks Mama - I’ll read some other stuff then may come back to the second and see how I feel about carrying on with the rest.

5. Flying on the inside - Rachel Gotto

This was an interesting read. Rachel has had a devastatingly hard life filled with loss and trauma, but this book focuses mainly on her treatment of an aggressive brain tumour and her addition to the post surgical medications she is prescribed. The running theme is how mentally aware she is, even in her darkest moments and how she is able to summon strength to keep going when many would have perhaps given up.
I enjoyed reading this but I felt certain parts were a bit rushed and I wanted to find out more, particularly her physical rehabilitation. Written well apart from her slight overuse of the word visceral.

1. Sorrow and bliss by Meg Mason

Joining the just finished this gang. I really loved it. Did make me laugh out loud and loved the sisters relationship. I was also irritated by the blanked out illness name. I hate it when books do that it pulls me right out of the story. I was also irritated by her generating a £90 library fine for one book. They normally top out at around £15. But apart from that a great read.

Fuzzy that's a shame to hear that the latest John Boyne book isn't up to his usual standard. I very much enjoyed The Heart's Invisible Furies - although I found one particular piece of behaviour by the main character absolutely infuriating - and have The Echo Chamber in hardback waiting to be read.
I'll get to it by the end of this month I think.

Reading Eva Luna by Isabel Allende at the moment, as she's being interviewed by harriet Gilbert on the World Book Club soon. I may even send in a question if I can think of something intelligent to ask. Love Harriet Gilbert.

A £90 library fine, cherry! I've never heard of that. I've vaguely assumed it would be capped at the cover price of the book.

@highlandcoo

Fuzzy that's a shame to hear that the latest John Boyne book isn't up to his usual standard. I very much enjoyed The Heart's Invisible Furies - although I found one particular piece of behaviour by the main character absolutely infuriating - and have The Echo Chamber in hardback waiting to be read. I'll get to it by the end of this month I think.

Reading Eva Luna by Isabel Allende at the moment, as she's being interviewed by harriet Gilbert on the World Book Club soon. I may even send in a question if I can think of something intelligent to ask. Love Harriet Gilbert.

Hi highlandcoco, I suspect it's down to personal taste, really, and one's sense of humour.

It's well written, but for me it's a departure from his other books. On Goodreads, it's popular with most people, for what it's worth!

I really liked 'The Heart's Invisible Furies', 'A History of Loneliness' and I enjoyed 'A Traveller At The Gates of Wisdom'. I would reread the first two at some stage. I'm wondering what that moment of infuriating behaviour was that you mentioned, as I don't have a great memory for details of a book once I've read it.

The Heart's Invisible Furies

SPOILER ALERT**

• if you don't want to hear about an important plot point towards the end of the book, please don't read on -

I may not be getting all the details completely correct - like you Fuzzy I can't recall everything about the books I've read - as far as I remember, it was when the main character bails out on the girl who loves him on the day they're supposed to be getting married. She's already been hurt (I can't remember whether by him or someone else) and he knows it's been really difficult for her to trust again; he realises that he can't bring himself to marry her - understandable as he's gay - however he doesn't have the decency to tell her. If I'm right, he more or less leaves her at the altar?
Cyril was a flawed but sympathetic character; he'd suffered himself and I found it hard to accept that he would be so cruel.
Loved the book otherwise though.

@highlandcoo

The Heart's Invisible Furies

SPOILER ALERT**

• if you don't want to hear about an important plot point towards the end of the book, please don't read on -

I may not be getting all the details completely correct - like you Fuzzy I can't recall everything about the books I've read - as far as I remember, it was when the main character bails out on the girl who loves him on the day they're supposed to be getting married. She's already been hurt (I can't remember whether by him or someone else) and he knows it's been really difficult for her to trust again; he realises that he can't bring himself to marry her - understandable as he's gay - however he doesn't have the decency to tell her. If I'm right, he more or less leaves her at the altar?
Cyril was a flawed but sympathetic character; he'd suffered himself and I found it hard to accept that he would be so cruel.
Loved the book otherwise though.

Oh yes! I remember that now. You're right. That was shocking.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Howard's End is on the Landing made me want to stick pins in her.

I'm alternating between loving and highlighting various paragraphs and wanting to help you. She reminds me of those sketches they used to do on Spitting Image- the two drama luvvies, was it John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier crossed with Bren's Mum on Dinnerladies. All the starting to talk about a book and then meandering off into the ubiquitous drinks' parties she was invited to with the author and publisher of said book.

Remus I finished reading In A Lonely Place last week and felt much as you did about it, it started well and I was initially gripped but the ending fell kind of flat for me. I read The Big Sleep last year and that was much better IMO.

Im starting to get more into the noir genre and I have Double Indemnity by John M Cain waiting on the bookshelf to be read and I love Cornell Woolrich's short stories, if anyone has any suggestions for similar reads they would be very welcome!

2 Are you my mother by Alison Bechdel

A graphic novel memoir about the author's relationship with her mother and her experience of therapy and writing.

Beautifully drawn and interesting but a lot about psychoanalysis. I probably would have got more out of it if I had read Virginia Woolf too. Not as good as Fun Home but then again what could be.

@highlandcoo

The Heart's Invisible Furies

SPOILER ALERT**

• if you don't want to hear about an important plot point towards the end of the book, please don't read on -

I may not be getting all the details completely correct - like you Fuzzy I can't recall everything about the books I've read - as far as I remember, it was when the main character bails out on the girl who loves him on the day they're supposed to be getting married. She's already been hurt (I can't remember whether by him or someone else) and he knows it's been really difficult for her to trust again; he realises that he can't bring himself to marry her - understandable as he's gay - however he doesn't have the decency to tell her. If I'm right, he more or less leaves her at the altar?
Cyril was a flawed but sympathetic character; he'd suffered himself and I found it hard to accept that he would be so cruel.
Loved the book otherwise though.

I think that was very believable and consistent with how his character was drawn, but also very cruel and unforgivable. His lack of any insight into what damage that might have done nor any genuine remorse even when speaking to Julian later stood out to me as well (in fact the whole section in NYC really - he came across as particularly unlikeable I felt, it was hard to see what his saintly partner saw in him, the no nonsense nurse on the ward seemed to have the measure of him though). But I am someone who was as near as dammit left at the alter in my former life and I probably find it harder to forgive than most!

I felt I wanted to love The Heart’s Invisible Furies more than I actually did, though it’s still the best thing I’ve read of the 5 so far this year and may well remain up there all year who knows?

5. Real Tigers - Mick Herron

This is the third in the series following spooks who have been moved onto the slow (non-existent) career track from the security services and now work out of Slough House on routine dull work and are known as slow horses. In this book one of the slow horses is kidnapped and the others set out to recover their colleague - this is in breach of protocols and involves them in further breaches whilst also uncovering lots of skulduggery. Fast moving and irreverent - I am enjoying these more and more after a slow start with the first book.

1. The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell

Having found this thoroughly lacklustre by halfway through, it did pick up a bit towards the end and the last chapter was the best written. But overall I found this really disappointing - I had high hopes after loving Mitchell's other books but this is the weakest of his in my opinion. The changes of narrators made it hard to feel a connection with the characters, the men were all clichés of useless shits, the Anchorites weren't 'on stage' enough to feel like proper baddies with a narrative arc and the Anchorites v Horologists showdown was lost in a jumble of fantasy jargon.

@InTheCludgie Chandler is vastly superior.

@SOLINVICTUS She's unbearable.

1. Happy families - Julie Ma. This is about a Chinese family who live in a small town in Wales. The Grandfather Ah Goong moved there in the 50s and opened the first Chinese restaurant. It's narrated by his granddaughter Amy who has gone back to help her family run the restaurant. The best parts are the bits about being an immigrant in a small town and how they're treated both in the 50s (part of the book is in flashbacks) and now. But I found it quite slow moving and superficial, you don't really understand the motivations of the characters and how the events particularly in the older story affect them. There's a central "mystery" around why her Dad and Grandad aren't talking to each other, but it wasn't really enough to keep me interested. That said it was a book club choice and not really my kind of book.

1. The Mystery of The Blue Train - Agatha Christie. I chose this rather than The Man In The Brown Suit for the Christie challenge, it's a Poirot. I'd read it before but didn't remember it well. An American heiress in possession of some precious rubies is murdered on the Blue Train on the way to the Riveria. But was it her estranged husband, his lover, her own lover or someone else? There are some classic Christie-isms and characters. The Comte "wonders for the hundredth time at the magical influence of precious stones on the female sex". Katherine Grey, one of the central characters, has stunning grey eyes that "any man would be bound to notice". The old dear that Katherine works for calls her maid Ellen rather than Helen as "Helen is not a suitable name for a servant. I don't know what the mothers in the lower classes are coming to nowadays." All in all not one of her best but has the hallmarks of a classic Christie.

Finally....

1. Unorthodox - Deborah Feldman

Such an eye-opener for me. Will allow myself to watch the Netflix series now to see how it measures up!

1. Nomadland by Jessica Bruder

Written by a journalist who spent three years interviewing, and for part of the time travelling with, older Americans who have been repossessed, lost jobs, got divorced, ended up with inadequate pensions, or for other reasons decided to take to the road. Her interviewees do short term gig jobs to make ends meet (sugar beet harvesting, working the 3 months to Christmas at Amazon, staffing campsites) and live in everything from cars to full size RVs. I enjoyed this, thanks for recommendations on here. I particularly liked the care taken to reflect both the precarious nature of travelling life, and at the same time the sense of freedom and also companionship many of the van dwellers find in it.