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?

Love that, Piggy.

The Grapes of Wrath is magnificent, but not sure I will ever feel strong enough to re-read it. It's devastating. The Dust Bowl book sounds good.

I've had The Victorian Chaise Longue on my wish list for ages, but it's really expensive on Kindle.

In other news, I've decided to head back to The Dark Tower. I may be some time. If you know, you know.

1. Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes.

I really enjoyed this re-read, ahead of the release next month of Again, Rachel. I had forgotten large parts of the story, so it was like reading it for the first time. It's quite brutal in its depiction of Rachel's rapid descent into drug abuse, culminating in her being forced into a rehab centre by her parents.

Rachel is a difficult person to like, unreliable in her narration of her life, completely in denial of the damage she has inflicted upon her friends and family and even the danger in which she placed herself. It's a long book, and a slow unfolding of her realisation of what she has become and the gradual rebuilding of her life. I'm looking forward to seeing what her life is like now.

Boiledeggandtoast and StColumbo I can vouch for Gulag as a terrific read. I had a family member who made the journey described in the book, in her case from Poland to a camp in Kazakhstan. She kept a diary and her account is very similar to the one in Anne Appelbaum's book. The sheer randomness of people's fates, especially towards the end when Stalin was veering between paranoia about internal actors and concern for foreign opinion, is quite terrifying.

Intrigued by the Steinbeck discussion as for some reason he has passed me by.

That's really interesting Maud, did you ever meet her? I remember reading The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig as a child and it made a huge impression on me.

Descriptions from that time (and, of course, currently in other areas of the world) are absolutely terrifying.

Sorry, I know that's not quite the same, but I imagine you would have been a child if you had ever met her.

Janina I like the sound of The Wreath. Apart from Scandi noir I've read hardly any literature from that part of the world so I will definitely give it a go. Good to know there are two further novels to follow if I enjoy the first one .. love a trilogy!

The Endless Steppe was one of my most vivid childhood reading experiences as well, Boiledegg

4 The keepers of the house - Shirley Ann Grau
Pulitzer Prize winner from 1964. Chronicles a family of landowners over more than a century. Looks at race relations in the Deep South. It was excellent.

I’ve only read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men because half the year (my half) read To Kill a Mockingbird and I was curious as to what the other classes were reading. I think that is the one with Lenny.

I wrote a few essays on Stalinism and the Gulag and read a lot of memoir and fiction. (Mature student, so not that long ago). It’s utterly soul destroying but fascinating.

I've never heard of The Endless Steppe but I'm going to look it up, thank you. The lady was my husband's grandma, so I first met her when I was in my 20s. She was a young woman when she went to the camps and she took a young baby with her on the train. As it said in the book, they were on the train for four weeks, I think; there was very limited water but she was given a bit more because she was nursing, otherwise they may not have survived. It really struck me when I read Gulag that the account of the train journey was so similar to what I knew from the family story.

StColumb that must have been so interesting. I studied Russian history myself and it doesn't half give context to what's going on at the moment.

There is something very compelling about it @MaudOfTheMarches. My research interests have moved on, but Russia is still my comfort topic and studying it has definitely influenced the choices I’ve made with my work now even if not connected.

Just added The Wreath to my tbr list as well :)

23. Salt On Your Tongue: Women and the Sea - Charlotte Runcie The author explores the relationship of women with the sea through geography, history, religion, mythology, folklore, literature, music and art. It is beautifully written and very interesting in parts. It's also written as part memoir and the often tenuous links of each thing to her own pregnancy and birthing make it feel like a self-indulgent vanity project at times. I think it could have been a better and more interesting book without the maternity angle.

Thank you for sharing your memory Maud. It makes history even more compelling when you have a personal connection.

How are we on the 2nd thread already?

My books on the previous one:

1. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - Robert A Heinlein
2. Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
3. Handel in London - Jane Glover
4. Doomsday Book - Connie Willis

Just catching up on the thread!

I'm another one who loved The Grapes of Wrath, parts of it have stuck with me for years, particularly the last scene. I have a few other Steinbeck books on the shelves that I've not got round to reading yet.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie is this the second time for you with the Dark Tower series? I've just started The Wolves of Calla and am loving the series so far. Also thanks for the heads up re One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a book I can't believe I've never read.

@Piggywaspushed that description of Boris, I mean the Prince Regent, really made me chuckle!

@TheBuriedGiant I really loved A Little Life but there were parts I just couldn't read (I expect you know which bits) and I had to skip past. Despite that, and the subject matter, I also loved the characters. You know a book is good when you feel sad that you don't get to spend more time with the character at the end.

@Terpsichore I love the sound of The Victorian Chaise Longue. It has gone straight on my wish list.

1. De l'art ou manière de chanter by Christoph Bernhard (translated from German by Frédéric Graber)

This was a short treatise on the correct and tasteful way of interpreting vocal music in the Baroque era, published around 1950 in German. The author was Schütz's favorite student, who then went on to work with the famous Italian composer Carissimi.

Contrary to everything that came after, Baroque music is NOT meant to be played or sung exactly as it is written. Ornaments such as trills are meant to be added before cadences, middle notes should be added when singing a two-note gap (slurred third), a sequence of quavers or semi-quavers are always played and sung unequally in French music, variations must be improvised in da capo sections and many other unwritten but clearly understood rules make up our current understanding of Historically Informed Practice when performing Early Music.

So, it is always interesting to come across a new text from that period. I was also grateful for the visual examples of original notation, how to embellish/modify when performing it, and how NOT to.

@JaninaDuszejko, I'm another person who wants to read Kirstin Lavransdatter now on the basis of your review!

I've just ordered all three on Wob - looking forward to starting the first.

@MamaNewtNewt I think it might be the 7th trip. I've lost count!

Hope you love Cuckoo (you will need tissues).

Oh sorry StColumb you're right - I got my Steinbecks muddled.

I only came to Steinbeck 4 or 5 years ago thanks to my girls' required reading for English Lit. So far I've only read Of Mice and Men and The Pearl but each time I've been in awe of his talent, and his ability to pack such a punch in a slim novel. Really want to read TGOW but it sounds like I need to prepare myself for a difficult read.

Thanks for the recommendation Janina, The Wreath sounds fantastic.

[quote RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]@MamaNewtNewt I think it might be the 7th trip. I've lost count!

Hope you love Cuckoo (you will need tissues).[/quote]

Whaaat? How do you have time to read other books as well