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?

Thanks for the Keyes recommendations, I reckon I'll go for the Walsh family books in order :)

@YolandiFuckinVisser

6. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson The life and times of Teddy Todd, brother to Ursula of Life After Life.

I enjoyed this, some horribly graphic descriptions of the horrors encountered by a bomber pilot in World War 2 but immensely readable nontheless. Teddy's life after the war and that of his selfish daughter and her 2 emotionally neglected children was well-drawn. I absolutely HATED the end though. Feels terribly rushed and poorly-thought-out, as if the author just got bored and didn't know how to end the book so went for something wilfully strange.

I'm still furious about the end Yolandi

1. A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe.

Recommended on here. William is a young, newly-qualified embalmer who volunteers to help in the aftermath of the Aberfan tragedy. This has a profound effect on him. We then go back to his childhood as a young chorister in Cambridge, and subsequent estrangement from his mother. There's a lot going on in this book; perhaps a bit too much to be honest, but I did enjoy it and it was very moving in places. It's also the first book I've ever read about an embalmer and this was fascinating to learn about.

I’ve never read another Kate Atkinson after God in Ruins, I was so pissed off at the ending. Also her writing style (with all the asides in brackets) gets on my nerves.

5: The Seafarers - a journey among birds” by Stephen Rutt

Another non-fiction book.

It’s one of those books where the author travels around for months with the aim of seeing as many of his favourite species as possible. Seabirds in this particular case.

It was a nice, easy read, but weirdly the book seemed to be quite weak on actual information about the birds. There’s a bit about the threats the birds are facing and a few “fun facts”, but the emphasis was more on the journeys the author makes and, to a lesser extent, his own personal struggles.

It wasn’t really for me, but I’m sure it would appeal to anyone who doesn’t mind a hefty dose of people in nature writing.

Two 5* star reads from me.

20 - Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

Follows a series of intertwined characters in Edinburgh struggling with relationships, addictions, poverty and abuse.

Loved this!

Yes, even as a Scot, the dialect was hard to get past but you do soon get into it after a few chapters. I just found the whole story so fascinating and the characters felt completely lifelike and believable. You liked and hated everybody in equal measure (except Begbie, who was just downright evil). Some sections were really shocking and quite disturbing to read and I did drift over these, I admit, as I felt they were just gratuitous. I felt there were too many characters and i found some of the writing choices weird (jumping from 1st to 3rd person narration between chapters, never using speech marks, not indicating whose POV we were in until halfway through some chapters) but overall it was completely engaging. This is apparently the second novel in the series, with Skagboys being the first, so I'm going to reserve the others at the library starting with that one.

21 - Gotta Get Theroux This by Louis Theroux (audiobook)

Autobiography of Theroux recounting his childhood, how he started out in journalism and giving behind the scenes accounts of his documentaries.

I could not stop listening to this (helped enormously by the fact Louis narrated it himself). It was just so interesting and Louis gave a lot more detail about his personal life than I had expected. The bits about his marriages did feel a little uncomfortable but I'm assuming he had full permission to disclose! I know this book received a lot of criticism for being too heavy on Savile stuff, but I completely understand why this was such a huge theme. Louis still struggles by the end of this book to come to terms with the man he knew and befriended compared to the criminal he had read about retrospectively and he felt guilt about this. It was fascinating seeing him trying to work out his mixed emotions throughout the book. He had such an interesting upbringing and I would have liked more on this because his mum sounds a hoot! I'll also be reserving his other two books at the library too based on how much I enjoyed this one.

@LadybirdDaphne

Sam Vimes is the only man for me, these days he’s played in my mind’s eye by Jason Isaacs

If this is upsetting news then forget I've ever said anything, but there is a TV series called The Watch in which Vimes is played by Richard Dormer. It's very chaotic and lots of people HATED it, but I must say I enjoyed it a lot - however I do it keep it quite separate in my head from the Discworld Watch - in my brain they are loosely related entities but definitely not the same

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Watch_(TV_series)

Book 16 The Chateau by Catherine Cooper. A twisty thriller set in London and France. It was a little slow to start but I enjoyed the relationship between the too main characters. The end was far fetched but unexpected.

I finished 11. Diary of a Provincial Lady EM Delafield - which was a previous DNF for me that for some reason I decided to go back to. It was fine.

Really struggled to choose what to read next and only settled on The Luminaries because it had been loitering untouched on my kindle for so long and I keep telling myself I need to crack on with some of those at the bottom of the pile so to speak. But already only a chapter or so in and don’t know if I can be bothered. It’s been so long I don’t think I can remember previous reviews - what did others think of it?

Hamnet is on Kindle Daily Deal today

@SapatSea

Hamnet is on Kindle Daily Deal today

Buy it if you want to be bored senseless whilst being whacked over the head with lists of laboured metaphors.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie how can we be so simpatico with The Dark Tower and yet so far apart on Hamnet, aka my favourite fiction read of last year

I agree Remus. Hamnet was a DNF for me but I just thought since so many others liked it that I'd mention the deal.

Not one I've read, but I heard a bit of Piranesi on Radio 4 yesterday. Wasn't my thing tbh, and I didn't even try the book, but I know a lot of people liked it, so maybe of interest

@MamaNewtNewt I should reach the Tower by the weekend - coming to the end of my re-read.

@SapatSea I finished it, but wished I hadn't bothered.

noodlezoodle - oh well, at least Richard Dormer has that lovely voice… 🤷🏻‍♀️

[quote RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]@MamaNewtNewt I should reach the Tower by the weekend - coming to the end of my re-read.

@SapatSea I finished it, but wished I hadn't bothered.[/quote]

I'm just about to start Book 7 so might see you at The Tower

I think I'll be there before you, @MamaNewtNewt but I'll say your name and wish you long days and pleasant nights in your journey to it.

12. Mort - Terry Pratchett

The first great Discworld book IMHO. I'm sure you've all read it!

14: The Dark Hours - Michael Connelly

I know there’s been some grumbling about Connelly's decision to sideline his main detective, Harry Bosch, and introduce a new character, Renée Ballard - but I like her, and I enjoy the working relationship they’ve struck up. Here Renée, on her usual night shift beat, is investigating both a murder and a series of brutal rapes....while surviving on black coffee and what seems to be virtually no sleep. Connelly’s books are compulsively readable for me, and I galloped through this in about a day.

@Terpsichore I wasn't a fan of the first couple of Ballard books, but I really enjoyed this latest one and also whizzed through it really quickly.

9. The Persuit of Love by Nancy Mitford and read by Emilia Fox.
A reread which I loved to bits. I'll probably fall down a Mitford rabbit hole now. I love the carefree self loving confidence of this awful bunch. The glamour, the ease of life and laziness of style. Brilliant.

Book banter I was really pleased to hear your recommendation for Louis Theroux as it's my next audiobook and I'll be starting in on the walk home from work tonight. Definitely looking forward to it now.

@AliasGrape isn't the first chapter of The Luminaries half the book? It's on my TBR (I like a Victorian pastiche) so can't say if it's worth reading the rest, but I think it has mixed reviews from readers.

The Luminaries isn't a terrible read but I didn't think reaching the end made the journey feel worthwhile.

The Luminaries definitely divides opinion but it's one of my all time favourites