50 Book Challenge 2022 Part Two

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second 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, it’s not too late to join, 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 the 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.

The first thread of the year is here.

What are you reading?

@SOLINVICTUS you might identify with the 19 year old protagonist as well then. Hydra was definitely what kept me interested.

p.s. thank you for the new thread @southeastdweller

Thank you for the new thread southeast - it’s certainly moved quickly this month.

No stand out books for me so far and here’s my list:

1. The Long and Short of It - Jodi Taylor
2. The Manningtree Witches - A K Blakemore
3. The Passenger - Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz
4. Midsummer Mysteries - Agatha Christie
5. Real Tigers - Mick Herron

6. The Man in the Brown Suit - Agatha Christie

Thanks for the new thread, south - that first one filled up fast!

My list so far:

1. Forever Young - Hayley Mills
2. Mr. Bowling Buys a Newspaper - Donald Henderson

3: House of Glass - Hadley Freeman 4: A Cold Coming - Mary Kelly 5: Will She Do? - Eileen Atkins 6: The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman

After a speedy start I got bogged down in something and then put it to one side - I'll go back to it later so it's not quite a DNF (yet). Just finishing up a better replacement which I should report on soon.

Thanks for the new thread south.

My list so far:

1. The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
2. Notes on Grief - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3. When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
4. Braised Pork - An Yu

Forgot to mention for newcomers that on threads two and subsequent ones, some of us bring our books-that-we’ve-read lists over (I won’t be on this thread as I’m yet to finish my first). Some people find the lists tedious to see but don’t let that stop you!

Wow, we burned through those 1000 posts fast. Just dropping in to make sure this is on my Threads I'm On list. but

Thank you for new thread SouthEast

1. A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe

I read this more or less in one sitting so I need a bit more time to digest it. 19 year old William is an embalmer from Birmingham and volunteers to help after the dreadful disaster in Aberfan. His kindness has a traumatic effect on him and causes him to break off his relationship with Gloria, the love of his life. The book moves backwards in time to his days at a cathedral school and his loving but difficult family relationships, especially with his mother and his friendship with another boy, Martin and forwards again to his decision to join the family business after an earlier traumatic event. The power of music to heal is woven throughout the book and ultimately It’s a story of hope.

The early part of the book which deals with the unthinkable events in Aberfan is not an easy read by any means however it is dealt with tenderly and with respect and is beautifully written.

That filled up fast.

1. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
2. Just Ignore him - Alan Davies
3. Fall: The mystery of Robert Maxwell - John Preston
4. Who do I think I am? - Mark Steel
5. The Hoarder - Jess Kidd
6. Ariadne - Jennifer Saint

Thanks, South.

Wake me up when the lists are over. I'll be in the corner, yawning about how boring Hamnet was.

Thank you for the new thread. My list so far:

1. The only plane in the sky - Garrett M Graff
2. Girl A - By Abigail Dean
3. Bookworm: A memoir of childhood reading - Lucy Mangan
4. Put a wet paper towel on it - Lee and Adam Parkinson
5. Flying on the inside - Rachel Gotto
6. Call the midwife -Jennifer Worth

Thanks @southeastdweller here's my list so far:

1. Needful Things by Stephen King
2. Ramble by Adam Buxton

3. Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers 4. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

1. A Rip in Heaven by Jeanine Cummins
2. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes

I'm currently reading War and Peace and Year of Wonder: Classical Music for read alongs. I also have Hank and Jim about Henry Fonda and James Stewart in hard copy, This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes on audible and A Good Enough Mother by Bev Thomas on kindle, on the go.

Thanks Southeast. List so far:

1 Richard Osman The Thursday Murder Club
2 Chaz Brenchley Dust up at the Crater school
3 Chaz Brenchley Rotten Row
4 Sandor Elix Katz The Art of Fermentation
5 Jessica Bruder Nomadland

1. Vanity Fair, W. M. Thackeray
2. This Much is True, Miriam Margoyles
3. A Theatre for Dreamers, Polly Samson

Just a placemark really

1. Among the mad, Jacqueline Winspear
2. Regeneration, Pat Barker *
3. Quand sort la recluse, Fred Vargas
4. Coming to England, Floella Benjamin

Currently reading and enjoying Selective memory by Katherine Whitehorn.

1. The Wisdom of the Ancients, by Neil Oliver

1. The Artful Dickens, by John Mullan
2. Conversation Piece, by Molly Keane
3. Islands of Abandonment, by Cal Flynn
4. Five Little Pigs, by Agatha Christie
5. Paperback Crush, by Gabrielle Moss

Currently on Coastlines, by Patrick Barkham.. I'm doing the daily readalong for Year of Wonder (intro to classical music) and one or two chapters of Tristram Shandy.

A good start to the year!

1. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
2. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

1. The Moth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar

I enjoyed this non fiction read, which was a in a lucky dip of Christmas books from my DH. It charts an attempt by Maurice Wilson in the 1930s to fly to Everest and then climb to the summit. I know a few reviewers felt that there wasn't enough about the actual climbing of Everest, but for me the background to his early years and war experiences were vital for understanding the formation of Maurice's character. Some of his experiences did seem to fall into the "fact is stranger than fiction"!category and the writer does make a few imaginative leaps, but on the whole it was good entertainment.

1. Wisdom of the Ancients by Neil Oliver

Another audible non fiction and read by Neil Oliver himself (a massive bonus as I adore his voice and accent). It was a quick listen and very light in its approach, but Oliver is very good at placing modern man in context beside early man. He finds comfort in humankind's continuity and underlines how our everyday will become tomorrow's archaeology and shows how our wisdom may pass on through the coming generations. He talks with great affection for our forbears, really bringing them to life.

1. The Girl Before by JP Delaney

These psychological thrillers are my secret vice (the equivalent of a fast food fix). I read this one and then watched the BBC adaptation. Emma (in the past) and Jane (now) rent 1 Folgate Street, an extreme/brutal minimalistic house built by architect, Edward. The house is incredibly cheap to rent, but there are pages and pages of rules to follow and the landlord is always watching. On the whole both book and series were pieces of nonsense, with paper thin characters and absurd plot. Unusually I felt the the TV adaptation actually improved some aspects of the plot and certainly made Emma's character more sympathetic. A 3 star average read.

Thanks south for the new thread which has crept up on us so soon!

Yes, Desdemona that hadn't actually occurred to me but you are indeed correct! I didn't actually think much of the film Rocketman but loved Elton's Me.

List:

1. Unorthodox - Deborah Feldman
2. Me - Elton John

Currently reading:
Winter by Ali Smith - so far I prefer Autumn but haven't got very far so will reserve judgement.
The handmaid's tale because DD1 is studying it and I've never actually read it (but shhh don't tell anyone, I know my secret's safe with you)
Little Dorrit slowly but surely...
and have just started listening to Pies and Prejudice on audible. I was expecting more food...

I forgot to bold House of Glass on my list! Next time round.....

Thank you for the new thread Southeast.

Currently reading Sapiens and really enjoying it.

1. The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford
2. Small Things Like These - Claire 3. Keegan
3. My Phantoms - Gwendoline Riley
4. Servant of Death - Sarah Hawkswood
5. Oh William - Elizabeth Strout
6. On Hampstead Heath - Marika Cobbold
7. Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
8. Medea and Other Plays - Euripides
9. Heresy (Giordano Bruno #1) - SJ Parris

10. Once There Were Wolves - Charlotte McConghy 11. Perfume The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Süskind 12. Ulysses - James Joyce 13. In the Country of Women - Susan Straight 14. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy 15. Beauty Is A Wound - Eka Kurniawan 16. The Fell - Sarah Moss 17. Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh 18. Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi 19. Spring Snow - Yukio Mishima 20. Ex Libris - Michiko Kakutani

F18/N2/W12/M8/A14/B1/E5/C4/D5/T5

Thank you for the new thread, Southeast. My list so far is:

1. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale
2. Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper
3. Diary of a Young Naturalist - Dara McAnulty
4. Appointment With Death - Agatha Christie
5. The Unheard - Nicci French
6. The Christmas Chronicles - Nigel Slater

I read the majority of the Christmas Chronicles last year (in real time), just finishing off the last few entries this year. It was a re-read, the third time I think, and it was lovely and comforting. Strictly, though, it doesn't end until 2nd February, but I got impatient and finished it!

Current reads - Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes. Should finish this later this week, Motherwell by Deborah Orr, and The Lost Spells by Robert McCartney and Jackie Morris. The artwork in this is just beautiful.

fortuna we are the 19th of January and you have already read 20 books!??!!??

Autocorrect fail - Robert McFarlane. I hate my phone

Thanks for the new thread southeast! Here's my list:

1. Writing the Bible: Origins of the Old Testament - Martien Halvorson-Taylor
2. Brain Storm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology - Suzanne O'Sullivan
3. Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD - Eli R. Lebowitz
4. Fantastically Great Women Scientists and Their Stories - Kate Pankhurst

And finally finished last night:
5. This Thing of Darkness - Harry Thompson

I'm glad I've read it, but I can't say I was always glad while I was reading it. The plot is familiar to most of you: Captain Fitzroy leads the crew of the Beagle on their surveying missions round the coast of South America, playing host to Charles Darwin as he gradually develops his understanding of the transmutation of species. Led by his Christian principles, Fitzroy indulges in a misguided but well-intentioned attempt to 'civilise' the natives of Tierra del Fuego on the southernmost tip of Patagonia.

This is an important story, as we join Fitzroy on his journey to the realisation that 'it was truly impossible to civilise the heathen without bringing about his destruction in the process.' Fitzroy is an attractive tragic hero, who won't buy into Darwin's notions that the 'savages' are perhaps in some way sub-human.

That said, I could never really lose myself in the novel, and I had that reading experience where half your brain is constantly thinking how the same material could have been crafted into a more engaging story. The style was linear and episodic; I felt distanced from Fitzroy, and never really 'inside his head' (with the concealment of one major fact known to him for the duration of the voyage being especially annoying); and we often hopped from one character's point of view to another's within a scene in a way that would drive a create writing teacher up the wall. The foreshadowing of Fitzroy's ultimate fate was very clumsy and heavy-handed. The lack of Indigenous voices also troubled me: I get that this was Fitzroy's (and to a lesser extent Darwin's) story, but I thought this could really have been strengthened by giving us some of the narrative from Jemmy Button's point of view, using the Fuegian's voice to undercut the colonialist narrative. (I kept thinking of the portions of The English Passenger told from the Tasmanian Peevey's perspective.)

I mean English Passengers by Matthew Kneale; am not yet properly caffeinated.