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?

@nowanearlyNicemum

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

NiceMum some have been very short and I've got an audiobook on pretty much constantly at the moment. It won't last so I'm taking advantage while I can.

Thanks for the new thread @southeastdweller. Bringing over my list and my latest reads reviewed below.

1. Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion
2. Diary of an MP’s Wife – Sasha Swire
3. Fake Law – The Secret Barrister

And the new ones:

4. Buried in Secret – Viveca Sten

Book 10 in the Sandhamn Murder series, these are usually my cosy comfort books - and it just goes to show that you should be careful what you wish for, because I got a bit fed up with Nora in some of the earlier ones, and boy does she come in for some punishment here. Nora's been badly shaken by the events of the last book; she's on sick leave from her job at the Economic Crimes Authority and when some unidentified bones are dug up on a small island, she (predictably) gets involved in a not-particularly-well-advised way. She's also drinking too much and I found those parts hard to read. I enjoyed the story, but Sten has certainly got me wishing Nora back to normal. I'm sorry Viveca! I'll never complain again!

5. Truth And Beauty – Ann Patchett

Ah, this is a toughie. I love Ann Patchett's writing and I fully understand the impulse that led her to write this sort-of-memoir of her friendship with Lucy Greale, a talented writer who was disfigured by Ewings sarcoma as a child, and died tragically young. Anyone who has been part of the circle of one of those intensely charismatic people who just attract anyone around them will recognise this story. But it was so personal as to be uncomfortable in places. I saw that Lucy's sister in particular had objected to Patchett writing about her in this way and I can see why. At one point, Patchett records that after telling her how good a friend she is, Lucy says that she herself is a much less good friend, "but I let you be a saint, and that's what you want". Cruel though this analysis is, reading the book, it's sometimes hard to disagree. Maybe Patchett was fully self-aware in writing this, but I'm not sure, and I think that tension is what made it hard for me to read at times, although there is some really good, true stuff about female friendship in there.

Thank you for the new thread, southeastdweller.
Here’s my list:

1. Religio Medici, and Urne-Buriall - Sir Thomas Browne
2. Lost Children Archive - Valeria Luiselli
3. Space Boy Vol. 6 - Stephen McCranie
4. Space Boy Vol. 7 - Stephen McCranie
5. Three Twins at the Crater School - Chaz Brenchley
6. A Bit of a Stretch - Chris Atkins
7. The Etymologicon - Mark Forsyth
8. Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch

9. East West Street - Philippe Sands 10. Uncommon Danger - Eric Ambler 11. The Man Without Qualities - Robert Musil Not quite sure what I’m going to read next…

Thanks southeast, here's my list:

1. Theroux the Keyhole- Louis Theroux
2. You’ve Got Red On You: How Shaun Of The Dead was Brought to Life- Clark Collis
3. Touching the Void- Joe Simpson
4. Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal in the 70s- Andrew Collins
5. An Innocent Baby- Cathy Glass
6. Skin- Liam Brown
7. Best Foot Forward- Adam Hills
8. Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now: My Difficult Student 80s- Andrew Collins
9. Late Bloomer: How an Autism Diagnosis Changed My Life- Clem Bastow

10. Gangsta Granny- David Walliams

I'm not in a position to write reviews at the moment, and some of these were comfort rereads. However, Gangsta Granny was new to me (no kids here)- I read it out of interest, as DW usually gets slagged off on MN, and I quite enjoyed it!

Thanks for the new thread!

My list is:

1. Rizzio by Denise Mina
2. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
3. Magpie by Elizabeth Day
4. Luster by Raven Leilani

Currently reading The Sanatorium on kindle and Women Of Troy as a 'real' book depending on if I'm holding the baby and how many hands I have free!

1. A Walk In The Woods - Bill Bryson

My first ever Bryson, and I found this account of his attempt to tackle the Appalachian Trail bright and engaging. Listened on Audible, which slightly bizarrely charges you more for the version narrated by Bryson himself, whereas there's a version included in the subscription narrated by someone else. I plumped for the cheaper version and thought the faux-Bryson did a great job, so will check out some of his others.

Thanks for the new thread. Here's my list:

1.Luster - Raven Leilani
2.The ordeal of the haunted room - Jodi Taylor
3.Just ignore him - Alan Davies
4.Mrs March - Virginia leito
5.The Wolf Den -elodie harper
6.A rant of ravens - Chris goff
7.A scandalous life - the biography of Jane Digby - Mary Lovell
8.The Young Team - Graeme Armstrong
9.Piranesi- Susanna Clarke
10.I who have never known men - Jacqueline Harpman
11.The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot - Marianne Cronin

I didn't mean to read Piranesi and IWHNKM consecutively but they were a good contrast about feelings of loneliness/isolation.
Not sure what to read next but am listening to And Away on my dog walks. A huge fan of Gone Fishing and Vic and Bob in the past, and I'm enjoying this one.

7. A Good Enough Mother by Bev Thomas

A trauma therapist is sent a new client and is shocked to see that he bears a strong likeliness to her son, who has been missing for over a year. Instead of passing him on to another therapist Ruth decides to treat him, with disastrous consequences.

I remember a debate on the thread last year about whether people need to find at least one character in a book likeable in order to enjoy it. I really didn't think that was the case with me but I'm less sure the more I think about it. I definitely didn't enjoy this book, and some of that may be to do with the fact that most of the characters were peripheral or downright irritating. This meant that the storylines involving other patients and Ruth's missing son just didn't have any emotional resonance. However my main issue was the main character who I found to be arrogant, condescending and the neglect or her daughter and smothering of her son showed a painful lack of self awareness, particularly for a therapist.

One thing that I did find interesting was the discussion of the concept of the 'good enough mother', the gist of which is the idea that a mother not being perfect is an essential part of enabling a child to grow and be independent. It's more complex than that but you get the gist.

Ha, this is where you all are! I thought it had gone a bit quiet but I didn't see the thread was full. Here's my list:

1. Action Park - Andy Mulvihill & Jake Rossen

2. The Moth and The Mountain - Ed Caesar

1. Cook, Eat, Repeat - Nigella Lawson
2. On Hampstead Heath - Marika Cobbold
3. Raising The Barre - Lauren Kessler
4. Such A Fun Age - Kiley Reid

best thank you for the review of A Terrible Kindness, which I picked up yesterday and am looking forward tom

1. The Secret Place by Tana French
2. Close Your Eyes by Rachel Abbott
3. The Drover’s Wife by Leah Purcell

I Who Have Never Known Men
Can't be bothered to check the writer's name

This was bad. Derivative, adolescent and dull. A study in pointlessness.

Thanks for the new thread... List is short so won't bring over atm.

Currently reading murderous contagion - Mary Dobson Was recommended on here during the first lockdown I think and have finally got to it. I am finding it fascinating!

Thanks for the new thread @southeastdweller. @Aliasgrace I love the sound of your trips to Hydra, I think you would find Theatre of Dreamers very nostalgic.

Here's my list:

1. The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford
2. The Memory Police - Yoko Ogawa
3. Animal - Lisa Taddeo
4. Happy Families - Julie Ma
5. The Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie

No bolds so far - the closest is probably The Memory Police for its other worldliness; the one I'd most like to sit and dissect is probably Animal.

Am amazed by all those already in double figures!

Just finished book 3, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

The stories of 12 black British women, each told separately and then gradually becoming enmeshed. The book ranges across time and details their very different lives like little individual portraits.
I enjoyed this book to start with but by the end was finding it a bit of a slog. Although the women’s lives were beautifully described, somehow it seemed a bit formulaic after about half way. I think I felt a bit unsatisfied with it but not sure why exactly.

7: The Dinosaur Hunters - Deborah Cadbury

This was really engrossing. I'd hoped it would have a lot of information about Mary Anning, the pioneer fossil-hunter of Lyme Regis, but although she's certainly mentioned, Cadbury's main focus is on the doctor and amateur palaeontologist Gideon Mantell, whose fascination with fossil-hunting led him to discover and name the iguanodon, and who put forward many theories about prehistoric life which were later proved correct - sadly, he spent much of his career battling against setbacks. Cadbury clearly has a massive soft spot for Mantell and he comes across as a very sympathetic figure in her account.

There's also a villain (boo! hiss!) in the form of the stupendously calculating and unpleasant Richard Owen, anatomist at the Hunterian Museum and a man of laser-like ambition. He single-handedly set out to destroy Mantell, discredit his theories and steal the credit for much of his work....and he largely succeeded. Even the fact that Owen was the driving force behind the Natural History Museum can't quite redeem him, in my view.

As well as all this (which is gripping in its way), there's the really interesting story of how the discovery of fossil remains threw devout Victorians into agonies of faith as they tried to square the sheer antiquity of the bones with the concept of God's creation....a conflict that properly erupted once Darwin came on the scene.

A good, pacy read, well-told and explained with clarity.

10 - Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (audiobook).

Guests arrive at an exclusive Australian health resort that is not all it first appears. There is a New Protocol the staff are trying out and the guests are put through some weird stuff in order to arrive at their emotional transformations.

I’ve read the bad reviews for this one so went in cautiously but open minded. This was a DNF for me last year but one I knew I might like if I was in the mood for something silly. I don’t really enjoy this writer’s books as I find them quite rambly and silly as a whole but this one was okay on this second attempt.

There were a lot of characters but I liked that they were mostly well developed and I connected with them all. This is definitely a character driven novel as the plot is awfully thin.

The “twist” revealed as the New Protocol was very silly and then it just got more and more over the top but I found it entertaining if not taken too seriously.

Hated the ending with everything tied up in a neat little bow. I like a satisfying resolution but, because there were so many characters, I think the ending needed more time than it was given as it just felt very choppy and forced. We’ve had all these huge in depth backstories for all these characters then we don’t really get to see how they’ve changed by the end other than being told what they’re up to.

Overall, an easy listen for a bit of silliness. Has made me a more open to retrying some of the previous books I started and gave up on of Moriarty’s last year. I remember one about a woman waking up and forgetting the last ten years of her life which I founded too ridiculous and rambly bit might revisit.

6. Language and the Mind - Spencer Kelly (Audible)

Exploration of the origins and mechanisms of language from a neuroscientific perspective: how did the deep-seated, innate features of the brain, stretching back into the pre-human past, allow the development of language, and how does language in turn shape the brain development (and possibly worldview) of each human individual?

Recommended if you’re interested in linguistics and neuroscience, although quite heavy-going with lots of detail on brain regions which isn’t going to stick in any of my brain’s regions. Especially fascinating on child development and language acquisition; I think he lost his way a bit on the question of whether language in itself (as opposed to language as an agent of culture) can shape our worldview. But that’s such a vexed question that I don’t think anyone has the answer!

I read Girl, Woman, Other a couple of years ago @TheRealShedSadie and have recommended it widely. I found it challenged my unknown biases nicely, I started off thinking it was a book where all the characters were women and in some chapters thinking, oh this person is white, realising later that no she was black too and of course black people could be teachers but my subconscious brain had gone teacher = white.
I think it won booker or the women's prize for fiction (was Orange, then Costa).

I read most of Bill Bryson's travel canon in my 20s @MegBusset and recently listened to Notes from a Small Island on audible (having read it the first time around). You might enjoy it as long as you aren't too patriotic about Britain!

MegBusset I think you made the right call. I recently listened to a Bill Bryson read by the author. His speaking voice is much weaker than his writing ability!

TheRealShedSadie I was also a bit disappointed by Girl, Woman, Other. I felt it didn't develop the characters enough.

Yes Tarahumara I think I wanted to get into each of the ‘portraits’ and explore them more with Girl, Woman, Other. Having to stop and restart my relationship with each character made me frustrated.

Or maybe my brain couldn’t hold 12 people well enough at the moment to gel with them!

Yes, exactly that! I would have preferred fewer characters and more depth for each one.

My list so far:

1. The Dutch House - Ann Patchett
2. Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr
3. Life at the Top - John Braine
4. The Mermaid of Black Conch - Monique Roffey

My list:

1. The Happy Couple - Samantha Hayes
2. Death and Papa Noel - Ian Moore
3. Raising Laughter: How The Sitcom Kept Britain Smiling In The ‘70s - Robert Sellers
4. 80s Kid: A Memoir Of Growing Up In The Last Decade Before Technology Took Over - Melanie Ashfield
5. Diddly Squat - Jeremy Clarkson
6. Lady Catherine’s Necklace - Joan Aiken
7. How To Read A Novel - John Sutherland
8. Back Trouble - Clare Chambers
9. Watching Neighbours Twice A Day: How 90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me For Life - Josh Widdicombe

10. And Away…. - Bob Mortimer 11. Set In Stone - Robert Goddard 12. Miss-Adventures: A Tale Of Ignoring Life Advice While Backpacking Around South America - Amy Baker 13. The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver - Shawn Inmon 14. An Utterly Impartial History of Britain or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots In Charge - Jon O’Farrell 15. 46% Better Than Dave - Alastair Puddick 16. All The Lonely People - Mike Gayle 17. The Girl She Wanted - K L Slater

Currently reading War and Peace for the readalong, and have got Rachel’s Holiday on audible as a reread before the sequel comes out. Also reading a fairly rubbish psychological thriller which I’ll probably finish this evening.

21. *Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harare Looks at the 6 human species and why one came to dominance. Then leads into political, economic, social and religious history, discussing various revolutions, empires and societal changes that have shaped the world we live in. This book has such a large scope that it's hard for it to have any in depth analysis. It's pretty sweeping and generalising, but did put forward a few decent points and interesting ideas Sadly right at the end, the author spoke about humans now being able to change sex and that's where it lost any credibility for me. It's too generalised to be of any real value, but certainly a jumping off point to kickstart further reading on the topics of interest in it.

Place-marking on this lovely thread.

I've just read Silverview by John Le Carré (no. 5 on my list). I'm moving on to Rachel's Holiday which I have never read. I'm also reading War and Peace and Hard Times gradually and I'm on the music thread, although that's light on reading.