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?

16. The Fell - Sarah Moss At the height of lockdown and early paranoia about the virus, a woman decides she has had enough, breaks quarantine and goes for a walk. She lives in the Peak District and usually spends every day walking on the Fells. Despite knowing the area well she has an accident leaving her teenage son to deal with the fall out.

I think encapsulates the feeling of lockdown and being in the pandemic perfectly. There's a lot in there to identify with. We're probably in for a glut of these in the next few years, but as this gets in early it doesn't feel like it's cashing in.
Like Summerwater it's short and manages to portray a constant sense of tension with few words. I think this is very well done. I could have lived without the raven.

@Plantsandpuddlesuits did you finish it yet?

1. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. This is the real-life story of the author's diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. As you can imagine, it's very sad in places. There is more detail than I'd expected on his career as a neurosurgeon (both pre- and post-diagnosis), so those bits feel like many of the other professional memoirs that are popular at the moment - I found this a slightly uneasy mix at times.

1. Braised Pork by An Yu. This is set in Beijing and is the story of a young widow, Jia Jia, who finds her husband dead in their apartment next to a strange drawing of a half-man half-fish. Her journey to discover the meaning of the drawing takes her to Tibet, and ultimately involves delving into her own family history. This was a nice calm read, with a magical realism element to it that didn't quite work for me.

1. One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot loved this, but very sad in places.

A 17 year old terminal cancer patient bonds with an 83 year old in hospital art classes. They do 100 paintings for every year of their lives.

1. The Last Thing He Told Me By Laura Dare. Very average.

Missing husband, completely far fetched plot, weak on action.

5. A Rip in Heaven by Jeanine Cummins

This is a true crime / memoir about the murder of the author's two cousins, and the subsequent treatment of her brother by the St Louis police. The author made it clear at the start of the book that she is far from a disinterested party, but I found the decision to write in the third person a bit off-putting and I was a bit confused by what the actual focus of the book was meant to be.

She tried to give a sense of the life of her cousins, their character and the devastating impact of their loss, as well as the suspicion her brother fell under and I think she did this. However it was when she described the investigation and trial that it fell apart a bit. The author (totally understandably) didn't have the detachment to cover this effectively.

6. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes

This is a re-read in preparation for for the sequel that will be released this year. Some of the books I read in the late 90s have not aged well but this book still stands up. It has the author's trademark humour, and I found myself chuckling out loud on a couple of occasions, some romance, and of course the main character dealing with addiction.

I really enjoyed this re-read and found the sections where Rachel is in rehab to be really interesting and in all honesty some of what was covered, not the addiction, more the exploration of self-esteem and familial relationships, really resonated. That said I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of the relationship between Rachel and Luke, and of the Real Men of course

This is smart, engaging writing and the mix of humour and serious issues works for me.

@FortunaMajor

16. The Fell - Sarah Moss At the height of lockdown and early paranoia about the virus, a woman decides she has had enough, breaks quarantine and goes for a walk. She lives in the Peak District and usually spends every day walking on the Fells. Despite knowing the area well she has an accident leaving her teenage son to deal with the fall out.

I think encapsulates the feeling of lockdown and being in the pandemic perfectly. There's a lot in there to identify with. We're probably in for a glut of these in the next few years, but as this gets in early it doesn't feel like it's cashing in.
Like Summerwater it's short and manages to portray a constant sense of tension with few words. I think this is very well done. I could have lived without the raven.

@Plantsandpuddlesuits did you finish it yet?

Thanks for thinking of me @FortunaMajor I'm about half way through hoping to fi ish it early next week! Haven't read summer water but might try it.

4. Ruined City by Nevile Shute
Clearing out my mum's bookshelves so a lot of rereads likely. This is one of my favourite Shutes with everything good and bad about him. The smack-you-in-the-face racism, surely pretty strong even for the 1930s, and the unbelievably gripping story. The Prince of Storytellers was his marketing tag back then and it still applies.

Henry Warren is an exhausted man. His work in merchant banking is absorbing but draining, his wife is unfaithful and he is losing any sense of purpose in life. When his marriage finally collapses, he has a health scare and decides he needs to go on a solo walking tour to recover. But through a series of accidents he ends up an anonymous case at a hospital in a town that is dying for lack of work.

@MegBusset have you read Utopia Avenue? That was the ultimate David Mitchell disappointment for me. And I loved Bone Clocks

I'm in I've read 9 books so far this year. Did 138 last year.
Best book so far- Hostage Claire Macintosh

1. a plague of angels by Sheri Tepper

Took a while to get into, but after chapter 2 the pace picked up and it was a good read. Science fiction with environmental themes.

I'm in! Got off to a solid start last year then bailed around April time! Barely read a book since, so I want to get back into it!

@YolandiFuckinVisser I haven't, I'm a bit wary of novels set in the music business as in my experience they tend to be cringey and full of clichés. (I used to work in the biz so perhaps I'm just fussy)

1. Out of this World - Ed Michelle Abbott.

A book of science fiction themed poetry. As with much fan fiction, a mix ranging from well written, and in some cases touching, verses, to offerings that made Vogon poetry look like TS Eliot. Too much emphasis on Star Trek: TOS for my liking: with a universe of sci-fi subjects, more variety would have been useful. Also in dire need of a proof reader.

Rescued from DM's charity bag, returned to same.

Anyway, back to earth with the next - ploughing through London Orbital. I may be some time...

6. Call the midwife - Jennifer Worth

This was a Christmas present and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the TV show and they hadn’t strayed far from the original book but despite knowing most of the content I liked reading the descriptions of the conditions back in the 1950s. I find this time in history fascinating. It seems so long ago but really wasn’t. Anyway, I have the next two books as well and I’m looking forward to reading those too.

@Wowcherarestalkingme

6. Call the midwife - Jennifer Worth

This was a Christmas present and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the TV show and they hadn’t strayed far from the original book but despite knowing most of the content I liked reading the descriptions of the conditions back in the 1950s. I find this time in history fascinating. It seems so long ago but really wasn’t. Anyway, I have the next two books as well and I’m looking forward to reading those too.

I loved Call the Midwife. You've reminded me to look out the others in the series.

10 - Girl 4 (January David #1) by Will Carver (audiobook)

Another stinker! Listened all the way through as I was vaguely interested by the killer's motive.

Detective January David investigates a series of gruesome murders. His new wife becomes one of the victims. January learns (conveniently) he is psychic which helps him to solve the mystery.

Lots of hopping around different characters' heads so you never really connect with anyone. Zero chemistry between any characters. Everyone felt 2 dimensional. Main character was dull and no personality.

Very poor writing and story execution.

The psychic thing. Very annoying. Visions occur at convenient times to give clues to January. So he would never have been able to solve it without these which alienates the reader and reduces tension/stakes as we know that his power will help him out at every step of the way. Takes out the guessing 'whodunnit' element for the reader as solving the crime is entirely dependent on these visions.

The way the psychic thing is written. 'What he DOES know'; 'What he DOESN'T know' are recurrent phrases throughout this novel when the writer is narrating the main character trying to piece together what the visions mean.

Other poor writing. So much telling rather than showing - amateur writing. Another reason why it's so hard to connect with the story or characters. The writing is too shallow and written like a series of statements.

Lots of gratuitous sex and VAW scenes. When January sees his wife's bloodied body, he makes time to comment something like 'her toned, succulent legs'. The writer objectifies women - even when they're half-dead - and there's a recurrent theme throughout the book that women shouldn't put themselves in danger e.g. having one night stands.

Definitely won't be continuing with the other books in this series and not tempted to read anything else by this author.

Hoping to finish real book Trainspotting this week! Really enjoying it.

@Purpleavocado

2. One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot loved this, but very sad in places. A 17 year old terminal cancer patient bonds with an 83 year old in hospital art classes. They do 100 paintings for every year of their lives.

1. The Last Thing He Told Me By Laura Dare. Very average.

Missing husband, completely far fetched plot, weak on action.

The last thing he told me, was such a letdown!!

The synopsis made it sound promising but it fell completely flat.

1. The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín, I did not have a religious upbringing at all, so I'm not sure I had all the cultural references. It is very short, but quite hard going. Probably would be easier if I had a store of the bible stories in my head. Also just hardgoing subject if reading as a story.

I thought the Call The Midwife books were fascinating, often shocking and upsetting. I think it was Shadows of the Workhouse that I found particularly upsetting when I realised that, what I had previously thought of as a harsh Victorian way of life for the destitute, carried on well into the 20th century, with conditions just as awful. And, when the workhouses were eventually closed, how hard people found it to adjust to life outside, having become institutionalised for so many years.

@rivierliedje

8. The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín, I did not have a religious upbringing at all, so I'm not sure I had all the cultural references. It is very short, but quite hard going. Probably would be easier if I had a store of the bible stories in my head. Also just hardgoing subject if reading as a story.

price, tell me more

@LittleDiaries I think you are right, it’s the shock that the effects of the terrible conditions continued so far in into the 20th century. I was watching a documentary about bible john last week and I couldn’t believe people in Glasgow were still living next to bomb sites in the 1970s. Incredibly naive of me when I think about it, of course the country wasn’t rebuilt overnight, but it isn’t the image I had in my head when I thought of the 70s. I’m looking forward to reading her next book.

I'm in a minority but I didn't really like The Fell. As with Summerwater, the characters' voices all felt to me like they were the same person. I find the stream-of-consciousness style she's been using very flat and uninteresting, and unauthentic; I didn't really believe in any of the characters because they all sounded the same, so how could they be different individuals?

I'm disappointed by her more recent novels as I like The Tidal Zone and Night Waking and absolutely love Bodies of Light and Signs For Lost Children. I think she should revert to her previous style and drop the rather gimmicky multiple POV/stream-of-consciousness stuff.

My latest read: What Are You Like, Anne Enright. Not my favourite of hers, but I am glad to have read it. This is an early-ish novel, I think, and I felt like I could see the germ of her later writing (which I love, especially The Green Road) in it. The language, as ever with Enright, is original and startling, but I did feel it was wilfully odd at times and straining a bit for effect.
There's the somewhat fragmented narrative; interesting but here I felt There were some elements that I didn't feel worked brilliantly – without spoilering people, one voice in particular I thought could have been left out with no difference/ill effects.
As always, her characters are often difficult to like and her humour very sardonic and tough. She's a challenge, and I like that.

Forgot to bold: What Are You Like, Anne Enright.

I think she should revert to her previous style and drop the rather gimmicky multiple POV/stream-of-consciousness stuff

Totally agree @IntermittentParps. Plus - and lots of people may not agree - paying the price of a novel for what is effectively a long short story grates with me a bit. Although I did think Ghost Wall was a powerful piece of writing.

3. Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD - Eli R. Lebowitz

Evidence-based guide from a psychology professor at Yale, recommended by DD’s paediatrician (we don’t know at the moment whether DD is ‘just’ anxious or may be neurodiverse, but separation anxiety is definitely a part of it). Lebowitz’s approach is based around the idea that parents can increase their child’s ability to tolerate their own anxiety simply by changing their own behaviour. Parental ‘accommodations’ (e.g. staying with an anxious child while they fall asleep or checking things repeatedly for a child with OCD) can inadvertently reinforce the child’s belief that the scary thing is not something they can cope with by themselves. Lebowitz outlines a very clear path for identifying accommodations and choosing which ones to reduce or stop entirely. I have only just started following the suggestions (I’m no longer standing right outside the bathroom while DD uses it ) so can’t report on whether it works, but I would recommend for the very clear, research-based, non-judgemental approach.