50 Book Challenge 2022 Part Three

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 and the second one here.

What are you reading?

Thanks for your review of No-one around here reads Tolstoy Biblio - it's on my TBR list after reading a review in the paper. Even if a mixed bag it does sound like my sort of thing.

I'm in a bit of a reading slump atm (apart from loving my daily chapter of W&P - keep sneaking a few extra pages but don't want to get out of synch with the readalong)
I've just treated myself to two proper paper books though, The Naked Don't Fear the Water and Kingdom of Characters which I have good hopes of. I've been waiting until I get to my local bookshop, but have decided it's not going to happen in the near future as I never get into town in working hours! (I'll just have to buy something else when I do get there )

I still lament that my mother had no real interest in sewing, but she did get me knitting early which I really appreciate. For me sewing in a straight line is by accident rather than design.

Highlandcoo it was nothing too exciting, but I've had a few patterns in compilation books such as the Stitch and Bitch books. I still knit my own designs, but can't be bothered to write them up as patterns these days. It's a lot of work, for not a lot of money.

There are definitely some good things in there, Sadik - had me laughing a couple of times. I may have taken against him when he discusses book hoarding/bibliomania and made me realize I've inadvertently called myself after a mental illness. I really should have checked the meaning first.

Another German book

11. Dallmayr. Der Traum vom schönen Leben. Ursula Weidenfeld

Family saga set at turn of 20th century in Munich. The family run a small but successful delicatessen in Munich and have plans to expand. But disaster strikes when the father is taken ill and dies unexpectedly. Will the mother be able to carry on alone or will she have to turn to her jealous brother in law for help? What is the secret that may tear the family apart?
Interesting insight into life at the turn of the century although undoubtedly somewhat romanticised. I believe the delicatessen actually exists or existed in Munich so it is based at least partly on historical events, such as them importing the first bananas to Germany.

Ahhh, so heartbreaking to think you could have had that little cabinet, highlandcoo

The shop I worked in was full of beautiful things like this....still around to buy now, but for ££££. I could probably have just loaded them in a van and taken them all away at the time, had I only known (or had anywhere to put them!)

The Button Box sounds good to me too. My nan was a dressmaker and I remember her workroom at home (the 'front' or 'best' room in her little Black Country house); it was always cold, for some reason, and draped and piled with fabrics. I spent hours and hours going through her button boxes as a child.

20. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - JK Rowling I've been watching the "making of" documentaries for the Harry Potter films, and that made me feel like a re-read of the books.

First one down...I first got into HP when my brother got the third one for Christmas, but before that I had read half of book 1 in the 6th form common room and was not impressed. It is a great kids' book, and sets the scene well, but it's definitely not amazingly good from an adult perspective, although I really like the last section.

Now on to book 2, which I like much better!

I’ve also just finished No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy. I was a bit disappointed with it. I was expecting more book chat - while he obvious talks about how much he reads, there’s not much actual book chat in there (by which I mean talking about individual books and what he liked/disliked etc). There is a bit of that, but not much. I felt that it wasn’t quite sure what book it wanted to be - a book about books, a memoir, something political about class, something about how hard the publishing industry is. There’s also lots of interjections throughout about his grandfather’s descent into Alzheimer’s - sad but I wasn’t sure why they were there or what I was meant to conclude. There were bits I liked - the bit about the publishing industry was interesting- but overall this missed the mark for me. It wasn’t what I expected.

My mother sewed (badly, but effectively enough to clothe us) and I spent a lot of time in haberdashery shops as a small child. I loved the long white tubes with buttons in, that were stashed into a cabinet with an example of the button they held on the cap.

I'm in a bit of a reading slump, partly because I've fallen down a Putin-and-Russia podcast rabbit hole which, together with an extremely unhelpful Twitter habit, is taking up too much of my attention. I keep trying to make headway with Red Famine which boiledeggandtoast recommended but it's too dense, and too distressing, to hold my attention at the moment. I've got a book (which I won't name, because I don't want anyone to either raise or dash my hopes before I start) lined up for the weekend which I am hoping will be funny and distracting.

21 Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev
This is a series of sketches of life in contemporary Russia with the focus on those who've floated to the top and in some cases been thrown out again. Pomerantsev's parents were Russian and he spent a lot of time there making TV shows, so he's well placed to observe the strangeness of Russian society. He's obviously cherry picked the people and themes that suited his thesis - essentially, this is a country where the truth and reality have become decoupled from the narrative, and where opportunities push people fast up the pecking order but where success remains highly contingent on who you know and what you are prepared to do. It was fascinating - from gangsters and cult leaders to models and oligarchs, all the time with the FSB and Putin looming in the background even though he's rarely mentioned by name.

22 The Boy Who Loved Books by John Sutherland
I've read and enjoyed some of Sutherland's books - he's an English professor who has written about reading, as well as (extensively) about Victorian fiction. I can't recall why I picked this up, or what I thought it was - I think I assumed there would be more about books (with good reason, to be fair to myself), which didn't really play much of a part in this memoir. He grew up in Colchester during the war and went to a grammar school where by his own admission he was an indifferent student - he aspired to Oxbridge, and ended up (reluctantly) in Leicester where he is quick to admit he flourished thanks to an outstanding English faculty there. There's a lot here I recognise from my father's account of his childhood, and I suspect he'd really enjoy it.

12. Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie
I think this is only the second book I've read written by her and it was a much needed bit of escapism. I don't fancy the film but managed to find the David Suchet version on Britbox this afternoon and it was very well done. I'll be delving into more of these. It wasn't too taxing a whodunnit and I love the era. It's nearly 100 years old and yet still modern.

Pepe I know what you mean. I have become rather obsessed with news and background to the current horrendous situation in Ukraine and am working my way through Catherine Belton's Putin's People, but I'm also finding it a difficult and distressing read (not, I hasten to add, because of the writing, which is compelling). I'm balancing it up with Daphne du Maurier's The Glass Blowers, a fictionalised account of her family's history of master-craftsmen in eighteenth century France. Having written that, I realise must be fast approaching the French Revolution so perhaps not much respite.

Pepe I meant to add thanks for the review of the Peter Pomerantsev; I heard him on the radio earlier today and thought it sounded interesting.

I actually had to stop listening to The Big Steal podcast over the last 2 weeks as felt like I was being too over saturated, I'm also working on related issues. I'd definitely like to read Putin's People at some stage though.

I need to catch up on the book chat as have dropped off during a manic period at work. My reading reflects the fact I am too knackered to focus on anything demanding:

18. Another Time, Another Place - Jodi Taylor

The thirteenth book in The Chronicles of St Mary’s and the time travelling historians are thrown by an unexpected death which causes division and dissent at St Mary’s. However, Max still manages to travel to witness the death of Amy Robsart (Robert Dudley’s wife), to ancient Babylon (for far longer than she wants) and Victorian London. Almost no Leon and very little Peterson which is a pity as I like both so not my favourite.

19. After the Funeral - Agatha Christie

This is the March book for the Agatha Christie challenge (and has already been reviewed up thread). A later Poirot story with supporting investigatory work carried out by the family solicitor, Mr Entwhistle. Classic Christie - large dysfunctional upper middle class family, a big family home, death of the patriarch and squabbles over the inheritance. I had read this before (many years ago) and still failed to recall/guess the murderer.

12. When in Rome, Ngaio Marsh

Similar in style to Christie. Inspector Alleyn is in Rome and visits the police there as a courtesy. They ask him to join a tour run by a British expat who they suspect of some questionable activities. Also on the tour are a mixed bag of characters: a famous author, a duchess, her nephew, a retired major, a Dutch couple and a young woman who works in publishing. During the tour, one of the party goes missing and Alleyn has to work out what has happened while not treading on the toes of the Italian police.

A light read, and enjoyable enough. I didn't work out whodunnit which is a bonus.

@bibliomania - there is a drawing room denouement in After the Funeral

I agree with others that Bitter Orange was underwhelming. I had read other similar style books that, for me, did it better. All a bit too languid if I recall correctly.

Read After the Funeral last year, I think, Time - and yes, satisfying!

22: Learning to Swim - Clare Chambers

Enjoyable coming-of-age novel. Abigail Onions, only child in a tense, inhibited household, makes friends with Frances, a new arrival at school, and finds that the exuberant and eccentric Radley family welcome her as one of their own.....with the possible exception of Frances's laconic, unattainable brother, Rad.

You wouldn’t class this as great literature, but it’s warm, readable and engaging, and the portrait of the Radleys and their antics is often very funny. I've somehow managed to amass several Clare Chambers books in various daily deals and I’ll definitely be going back for more.

Hey gang I wondered if I could cheekily ask for recommendations here. My mother has spent 2022 in hideous limbo waiting for medical updates and is reading at such a pace that I can no longer find enough recommendations to keep up with her. She likes immersive series like the Cazalet Chronicles and has just raced through all of Marius Gabriel’s works. She’s ruled out Ken Follett and C.J.Sansom.

palegreen - the Morland series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is about 20 books and follows the same family through generations from medieval times to the twentieth century. Family saga and historical and no heaving bosoms.

Also what about A Horseman Riding By by RF Delderfield - three big books in the series focussed on a West Country estate and the families who live in the farms etc.

@Palegreenstars my mum really liked the Louis De Berniere trilogy about the Workd war, similar time scale to the Cazalets. The first one is The Dust That Falls From Dreams. She's also a sucker for Jeffrey Archer, The Clifton Chronicles, but realise he's not for everyone!

16. The Sittaford Mystery - Agatha Christie. This was in my covid comfort reading. It's a bit of an odd one as not Poirot or Marple or any of her other detectives. In a country house, 6 people are doing "table-turning" when the spirit shield out the name of their neighbour and the word "murder". It's quite atmospheric, it's winter and everyone is snowed in for a bit, but also a bit silly. Interesting how normal ouija boards and table turning were then, I remember hearing my grandparents talking about them.

17. Matrix - Lauren Groff. This is set in the 12th century and is about the life of a nun Marie De France. I really liked it, great imaging of life in a nunnery at the time. There's also a sub plot about Eleanor of Acquitaine who I don't really know much about. Can anyone recommend any books about her, preferably fiction?

palegreen you could look at The Last Hundred Years trilogy by Jane Smiley. The first one is Some Luck

And the Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani is easy reading, as is the Spoils of Time series by Penny Vincenzi

All the best to your mum - sounds tough.

Palegreenstars I second the Morland Dynasty series recommended by TimeforagandT. My mother absolutely loved them.

Stokey I have The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick on my TBR pile. It has excellent reviews but I haven't got to it yet so I can't give you my own opinion.

It's part of a trilogy along with The Winter Crown and The Autumn Throne I believe.