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?

I loved Where The Crawdads Sing, but I read the paperback rather than audiobook. I didn't struggle to finish it and I'm quite impatient with books. It may just not be for you @Purpleavocado though, as I got into it quite quickly. The only thing might be the narrator might be ruining it? I've had that with audiobooks before. Can't stand the audiobook and the book is OK. Had it with Woman in the White Kimono, which I didn't love in either format, but my god the audiobook was a car crash (imo, obviously)

PS: not really a book review, but we were discussing the new Reacher series on the previous thread and I finally watched the first episode last night. I loved it! It is ridiculous, just like the books, and a bit of a guilty pleasure, just like the books.

Here’s my review on Crawdads from the last thread:

I know everyone else read this a couple of years ago when it was first published. I liked it, but I didn’t think it was worth all the hype. There was some lovely nature writing in there about the marsh setting and the animals, but I was less convinced by Kya’s story. Was it really realistic that a small child would have been left completely on her own like that? And I didn’t buy her learning to read as well as she did - it all seemed to happen very suddenly. I liked it, but not one that I’ll want to keep and reread.

I didn’t really like Crawdads, thought it was very overhyped. I read it on kindle, I think I’d have struggled with it even more in audio format. The nature/ landscape writing didn’t make up for the completely implausible plot for me sadly.

Thanks for the new thread, southeastdweller , and good luck with your house move, LittleDiaries

Here’s my list; I seem to have lost the numbers. I’m being too mean with the highlighting, I know:

Religio Medici, and Urne-Buriall - Sir Thomas Browne
Lost Children Archive - Valeria Luiselli
Space Boy Vol. 6 - Stephen McCranie
Space Boy Vol. 7 - Stephen McCranie
Three Twins at the Crater School - Chaz Brenchley
A Bit of a Stretch - Chris Atkins
The Etymologicon - Mark Forsyth
Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch
East West Street - Philippe Sands
Uncommon Danger - Eric Ambler
The Man Without Qualities - Robert Musil
Space Boy Vol. 8 - Stephen McCranie
Space Boy Vol. 9 - Stephen McCranie
Space Boy Vol. 10 - Stephen McCranie
Space Boy Vol. 11 - Stephen McCranie
Austria Hungary - G.E. Mitton
The Only Plane in the Sky - Garrett M. Graff
Maniac: the Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer - Harold Schechter
Something Fabulous - Alexis Hall
Lean Fall Stand - John McGregor
The Fateful Year - Mark Bostridge
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Journey into the Past - Stefan Zweig
The Word Hord: Daily Life in Old English - Hana Videen

25. The Haunting of Alma Fielding - Kate Summerscale
As recommended by many on here. A well-written, thorough and nuanced tale, but I’m not sure I was convinced by her linking of poltergeist activity to the particular political moment (1938).

26. The Wicked Boy - Kate Summerscale
This was also available on Borrowbox, and I actually preferred it, despite the more gruesome subject matter - a thirteen-year-old boy murders his mother - because it raised more interesting themes, in my opinion, including how the criminal justice system treats child defendants, whether the media (in this case, ‘penny dreadfuls’) causes violence, what insanity is in a criminal context, the possibility of rehabilitation and redemption. Summerscale’s research is particularly thorough and revelatory on the latter issue.

Haven’t been doing so much reading the past couple of weeks, as I’ve been watching the Winter Olympics and doing my Old English course (after three lessons, we’re already on the dative, so I’ll be reading Beowulf in the original by Easter). I’m currently reading Apeirogon by Colum McCann and doing the War and Peace read along. Phew. I’ll shut up now. Enjoy your chaises-longues.

Maybe it is partly the audio, the narrator sounds like a child, and the men all sound the same. I think I'll try a copy from the library just to skim to the end. I am indeed finding it very hard to believe, and also wondering how attractive she actually is, without access to hot water, etc, and she's such a Mary Sue!

@Purpleavocado

Maybe it is partly the audio, the narrator sounds like a child, and the men all sound the same. I think I'll try a copy from the library just to skim to the end. I am indeed finding it very hard to believe, and also wondering how attractive she actually is, without access to hot water, etc, and she's such a Mary Sue!

Yes. The dialogue is poor though and it would be more remarkable in audio.

@Purpleavocado I really disliked Crawdads. If I’d had a physical copy I would expect I might have thrown it across the room at various points. I finished it because I was reading along with family members. I usually can really envisage the the settings of what I read and despite all that description I just could not see it. I thought the writing was meh, the story not that interesting and I found the ending totally ridiculous - and as per my Maud Dixon review, I have a high tolerance for implausibility. The single redeeming feature for me (and the reason it got two stars) was because it prompted a reread of To Kill a Mockingbird and I’d read something worse that it didn’t deserve to be alongside.

I think if you are not liking it then give up. It doesn’t get better if you are already not enjoying it.

I think if you are not liking it then give up. It doesn’t get better if you are already not enjoying it.

Yes, totally agree (although I loved it - it doesn't suddenly improve halfway through or anything. If you don't like it at the beginning, you probably won't like it at the end)

13. The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King

I adored this series. I've been on an emotional rollercoaster and oh my goodness, that last line gave me actual goosebumps. I feel like I could start the journey to the Dark Tower again right now. I may yet, if ka wills it.

Channel, I absolutely loved Apeirogon. Well, that's probably not really the word'; it's tough subject matter. But it is breathtaking writing and left me feeling absolutely devastated, quite rightly.

@MamaNewtNewt

13. The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King

I adored this series. I've been on an emotional rollercoaster and oh my goodness, that last line gave me actual goosebumps. I feel like I could start the journey to the Dark Tower again right now. I may yet, if ka wills it.

Ka is a wheel. You will return.

Bringing my very short list over...

1.Egyptian Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends by Garry J. Shaw

2.Put A Wet Paper Towel on It: The Weird and Wonderful World of Primary Schools
by Adam Parkinson and Lee Parkinson

1. Murderous Contagion Mary Dobson. I know a lot of people have read this so will keep my review brief. I found it really interesting and definitely learnt a lot. As I believe Remus mentioned in their review theres a lot about parasites and worms! As there are a lot of diseases covered the book is fairly brief on each but definitely made me want to read more.

New book is Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Thanks southeast. Will go back and read everyone's posts later, but wanted to mark my place so I don't lose the thread.

My list so far - no real horrors so far. It's more heavily skewed to fiction than usual, so am going to do something about that. I feel as if I have more books than usual on the go, so am going to try to wrap some of those up before starting anything new.

1 The Railway Children by E Nesbitt
2 State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny
3 Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes
4 Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
5 Three Twins at the Crater School by Chaz Brenchley
6 The Awakening by Kate Chopin
7 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
8 The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski
9 Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
10 Wildlands by Evan Osnos
11 The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
12 Trials for the Chalet School by Elinor M Brent-Dyer
13 Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
14 It Must Be Love by Caroline Khoury
15 Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

And then two new additions...

16 Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
I’ve encountered mixed reviews of this, but I found it very satisfying and a really good read. Very much in the same vein as American Wife, which I loved, although tighter and more discursive. It looks at what would have happened if Hillary Rodham had said no when Bill Clinton asked her to marry him. Clinton comes off very poorly in the book – without the burnishing sheen of a Presidency he really appears deeply unpleasant, though incredibly charming, whereas Hillary is a sympathetic, complex but incredibly well intentioned character. Lots to reflect on around gender and other themes. I really enjoyed this, though I wasn’t 100% sure that the Trump cameo really did what she hoped it would, particularly in view of what unfolded during his presidency. Much of the book must have been written by the time his presidency was well underway. I think knowing what we know now about Trump, the least believable bit of the book is his part.

17 A Dark Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine
Faith’s aunt Vera was hanged for murder when Faith was in her late teens. Faith narrates the tale of her family when approached by a true crime writer, and looks back on her childhood and her relationships with the prim and rather unpleasant Vera, her younger, glamorous (though equally unpleasant) aunt Vera and her cousins Jamie and Francis. The tale of what drove Vera to murder unfolds gradually, with diversions along the way – into family history, local history and other events that may or may not have had a bearing on what happened. A lot of the novel is set during WW2, and so rationing, the Blitz and fear for those fighting overseas plays a big part in Faith’s memories.

I’ve never read any Vine (or Ruth Rendell, for Barbara Vine is the “whydunit” pseudonym of Rendell) but on the basis of this I’m going back for more. I listened to this as an audiobook and therefore found the whole family history a little confusing initially as I don’t concentrate as well as I should when listening to fiction. I think I probably missed some of the nuances as well, as this is a book that unfolds and unfolds, and things you thought you knew are challenged, and then challenged again. In that respect it’s very cleverly done. It was engrossing and diverting and disturbing, and one of the best crime novels I’ve read in years.

We're in. After a very hair-raising journey, trees down, branches and debris everywhere we got here. Now surrounded by boxes needing to be unpacked (tomorrow)

Well done! It can't have been easy! Good luck in your new home.

May much happiness come to you in your new home, LittleDiaries.

I am the eternal lurker returning. Am now ensconsed in France and busy house hunting from my air b n b.

My reading is now all Sami et Julie as my oldest DGC has just learnt to read and is so thrilled by this new skill. I am so happy to be there to share the joy of reading with a new generation. I had forgotten the joy that this new skill brings and envy DGC all the books that await.

Gangsta Granny and The Hobbit are the read aloud at bedtime books and they are much appreciated.

@Purpleavocado I also listened to the audiobook last year. I found it did grow on me. I liked the setting and found myself feeling for Kayla and enjoyed how she got through her life despite all that was set against her. It wasn't the best but wasn't the worse!

1. Mad girl - Bryony Gordon
2. The shell seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher
3. The Housemaid - Sarah A Denzil
4. All the beautiful lies - Peter Swanson
5. The giver of start - Jojo Moyes

My favourite read so far is The giver of stars. I enjoyed the setting, the characters and the fact it's based on the WPA horse pack library women. Just found it so beautifully written and unexpected.

I am currently reading flawed - Celia Ahern, cosmos - Carl Sagan and fcked at 40 - Tova Leigh (audiobook)*

Thanks for the new thread southeast - I can't believe we're on the third thread of the year already!

I'm on a roll with good books at the moment - my list so far is:
1. The Dark Hours, by Michael Connolly.
2. Dava Shastri's Last Day, by Kirthana Ramisetti.
3. 1979, by Val McDermid.
4. The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music, by Dave Grohl.

1. Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops, by Jen Campbell.

6. Before The Ruins, by Victoria Gosling.

Chessie I'm so relieved to hear Again, Rachel is good - also feeling a bit nervous about it so this is great news!

Well done LittleDiaries, must have been a bit of a wild day.

Good luck in your new home Little Diaries

Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy - I'm 10% in (6.5 hours with 41.5 hours to go), does it get any better? I appreciate it's a magnum opus and a vital part of Indian literature, but I'm not feeling the love at the moment.

@FortunaMajor I read it last year and really enjoyed it. It's not a book of high drama generally but it worked for me.

Although it is a very, very long book so I'd say ditch it if it's not working for you.

Thanks. I don't know if I'm a bit "wind giddy" or if it's the book. I haven't been able to settle all day. Will try a little more tomorrow before I decide. If it were another book I'd be near finished.

Welcome into your new home LittleDiaries - and very good to see you back, magimedi