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?

24. Winchelsea by Alex Preston This is billed as a 'grown-up Moonfleet' and definitely does what it says on the tin. Smuggling, murder, adventure & a side step into the Jacobite rising - thoroughly enjoyable.

My favourite nighttime podcast is Fortunately, with Fi and Jane. I find them extremely soothing.

9. The Every, by Dave Eggers. Yes, this satirical novel is funny and clever, but it's also unbelievably heavy handed. If you enjoy being hit over the head with a blunt instrument for 575 long pages then this is the book for you. This follows on from The Circle (which I enjoyed very much), and 'the search company' has now been bought by 'the jungle company'. Yes Dave, we get it. Some very funny set pieces don't redeem the overall sprawl. Bonus points for tying things up with a very neat ending though, even if I hated it.

10. Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro Memoirs, by Beth Ann Fennelly. Loved this. The 'micro-memoirs' are short - some are only a paragraph long and the longest is only a few pages. The stories are good but the writing is stellar - elegant, witty, but packing a big emotional punch. I'm sure I will re-read this many times.

22. God: an anatomy - Francesca Stavrakopoulou

Brilliant exploration by an atheist theologian of how God was originally conceptualised by his ancient worshippers. Before the enforcement of monotheism and influence of Platonic concepts of divine transcendence, Yahweh was very much an embodied, physically male god, who had a wife and fought battles with watery chaos dragons. Stavrakopoulou draws on a vast array of knowledge of surrounding cultures to draw parallels between this Yahweh and the gods of other ancient Near Eastern cultures - he was originally very much a part of this mythological nexus, rather than the immaterial outlier he later became. There are hints in the Bible that Yahweh originally had horns, for example, just like surrounding deities; it makes the golden calf make a lot more sense.

This is literally 'an anatomy', with chapters structured around God's various body parts. My main criticism would be that a more chronological approach might have better illustrated the development of concepts of God's materiality over time, especially for the non-expert. Overall, highly recommended, especially for ancient history geeks who already have a bit of background knowledge.

I've noticed that book for its beautiful cover, Lady. Might give it a shot at some point.

I've skimmed through a few books before deciding they could be returned to the library. The most recent ones I actually read are:

29. The Clocks, by Agatha Christie
A late Poirot - he only pops up for a few paragraphs. The set-up is rather intriguing but the reveal is a bit of a let-down. I did like the evocation of 1960s England, and the hints of the Cold War.

30. Bringing in the Sheaves: Wheat and Chaff from my Years as a Priest, Richard Coles
I found The Madness of Grief a compelling read, so turned to this earlier book. It was more religious than I expected - although the title was a fair warning - but he has a winning way with an anecdote and his language brings a freshness to old tropes. The baby in the manger is "as insignificant as a pet-shop hamster and yet the power that lit the stars". Warm and comforting, although not for a reader who is allergic to religious references.

31. Peril at End House, Agatha Christie
Another Poirot. Either this one is unusually transparent or I've read too many too quickly, because I had a stab at guessing quite a lot of the outcome.

32. Tiny Churches, Dixie Wills
Not a narrative, just a description of sixty small churches in England, Wales and Scotland - enticing, with a hint of whimsy. I've visited two, have three on my list to get to soon, and am entertaining a delightful fantasy of setting off in a camper van to roam around the others at will. (I'm now officially middle-aged).

@LadybirdDaphne

22. God: an anatomy - Francesca Stavrakopoulou

Brilliant exploration by an atheist theologian of how God was originally conceptualised by his ancient worshippers. Before the enforcement of monotheism and influence of Platonic concepts of divine transcendence, Yahweh was very much an embodied, physically male god, who had a wife and fought battles with watery chaos dragons. Stavrakopoulou draws on a vast array of knowledge of surrounding cultures to draw parallels between this Yahweh and the gods of other ancient Near Eastern cultures - he was originally very much a part of this mythological nexus, rather than the immaterial outlier he later became. There are hints in the Bible that Yahweh originally had horns, for example, just like surrounding deities; it makes the golden calf make a lot more sense.

This is literally 'an anatomy', with chapters structured around God's various body parts. My main criticism would be that a more chronological approach might have better illustrated the development of concepts of God's materiality over time, especially for the non-expert. Overall, highly recommended, especially for ancient history geeks who already have a bit of background knowledge.

This sounds amazing. I'm not particularly academic though, so wonder if it might overwhelm me. I should give it a go.

I have God: an anatomy somewhere. I think DD has taken it for the purposes of an RS essay. Will have to dig it out from the depths of her bedroom, as I started it and was really enjoying it before it disappeared.

DameHelena, it is quite a long book (500 pages of main text and then footnotes etc) but I think it would be accessible even if you don't have a background in the subject - it's very readable and humorous in parts.

My degree is in ancient history and I've studied some of the Babylonian mythology it covers, but I think it should be fairly accessible to anyone as long as they have a bit of familiarity with the Hebrew / Christian bibles.

@LadybirdDaphne

DameHelena, it is quite a long book (500 pages of main text and then footnotes etc) but I think it would be accessible even if you don't have a background in the subject - it's very readable and humorous in parts.

My degree is in ancient history and I've studied some of the Babylonian mythology it covers, but I think it should be fairly accessible to anyone as long as they have a bit of familiarity with the Hebrew / Christian bibles.

Thanks for this. I suppose I am vaguely familiar with the Bible... I'll give it a go.

26. Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince - JK Rowling Another great Harry Potter…this one has a lot of lighthearted bits and a lot of backstory, and then suddenly it all gets very serious for the last hundred or so pages. I never manage to read the last part without crying (although not as bad as DD1, who cried for about a week the first time she read it, poor thing!). This is the only book which doesn’t feel like a complete story - it’s very much a set-up for the final book (which is fine when you’re going straight on to book 7 instead of having to wait for the publication date! 😂)

@Boiledeggandtoast, thank you for the Foster recommendation! I remembered that someone on the thread had waxed lyrical about Keegan, but I forgot it was you. Terpsichore, I'm glad you're also a Keegan fan!

Just finished The Dark Lady, a YA offering by Akal, who is a man I very much like. But this was poor. Sorry Akala. I don't read YA as a rule but I read this as I thought it was about Shakespeare. The language is very childlike but eh subject matter a bit edgy in places. The plot is also pretty much chaotic. Hopefully, he'll get abetter editor next time.

Not sure how much YA was a 'thing' in my early teen years but I am sure I read much better written books. With better plots.

24. Munich - Robert Harris

Bit of a disappointment, this one - I was hoping for a good pageturner but instead got a rather plodding exposition of the few days leading up to Chamberlain's Munich settlement with Hitler, without any particular sense of jeopardy and with minimal characterisation.

Agree re Munich.
In fact I’ve only read one Harris that I’ve really enjoyed. The alternative WW2 one. Totally forgotten its name at the moment!

Is that Fatherland, Remus? I don't think I've read that. When he's good he's great - I really enjoyed Pompeii and Archangel. But Cicero and this were just boring.

I generally can't get into Robert Harris, either, though I liked The Ghost, which features a thinly veiled Cherie Blair.

Ali Smith's Spring is in the daily deals today - someone was waiting for these to come up, I think.

@MaudOfTheMarches

I generally can't get into Robert Harris, either, though I liked The Ghost, which features a thinly veiled Cherie Blair.

Ali Smith's Spring is in the daily deals today - someone was waiting for these to come up, I think.

Am thinking about buying Spring. Do you need to read them in order?

Timely with the Robert Harris chat, I've just finished 10. Pompeii.
It's AD79, it's a long, hot summer, and the great and good are gorging themselves silly. The aquarius Attilius is tasked with working out why the water supply has run dry. Whatever will happen next?

This was always going to be predictable, but I was hoping for more fun on the way there. The characters are pretty flimsy, and the romance storyline between Attilius and Corelia, daughter of a dangerous wealthy man is quite cheesy. However the recreation of place and time felt detailed and real (although I'm no Roman expert).

@DameHelena I think the Season quartet is probably best read in order, although the problem there is that IMO Autumn is the least good, and I nearly didn't bother with the others on that basis. They do stand alone though, so for a quid I think I'd recommend diving straight in with Spring.

I’ve read only two Robert Harris books; the Bletchley Park one wasn’t as good as I’d expected but I was totally gripped by Conclave.

And talking of totally gripped...

27: Kiss Myself Goodbye: The Many Lives of Aunt Munca - Ferdinand Mount

Once again I’m indebted to R4's A Good Read for the recommendation. This was fantastic. Ferdinand Mount spent many happy holidays as a child with his Aunt 'Munca' (properly Betty) and her husband 'Unca', at their various luxurious residences. They were a rather grand and moneyed pair who kept a suite at Claridge's - which they called 'The Pub' - permanently ready for them, and lavished money on the best clothes and jewels. Mount was niggled by a few odd inconsistencies in things Munca said or did, but only after her death did remarks from other family members set him off on investigating her life.

I can’t spoil it for anyone else but what he finds out is truly astonishing, and I genuinely couldn’t put this book down until I’d finished it. I seem to be irresistibly drawn to books about people who are shameless embroiderers of the truth, or indeed downright liars, and this is one of the most jaw-dropping I think I’ve read - beautifully written, ultimately sad, infused with a very dry wit.

[quote TheTurn0fTheScrew]**@DameHelena* I think the Season quartet is probably best read in order, although the problem there is that IMO Autumn is the least good, and I nearly didn't bother with the others on that basis. They do stand alone though, so for a quid I think I'd recommend diving straight in with Spring*.[/quote]
Thank you. Yes, for a quid what the hey, really

27. Fortune and Glory - Tantalising Twenty-seven - Janet Evanovich. The next but one in this lightweight crime thriller series, that I've been reading since the first one came out way back in the 90s. I ordered 26 and 27 from the library and this one turned up a week before 26 so I've read that first but it does mean spoilers for 26 as they're linked .

Usual fun, and peril with Stephanie, Lula and Grandma Mazur. This time it's the fallout from when Grandma married a mob boss, who dropped dead shortly after the wedding and his fellow mobsters think she's going to lead them to the hidden fortune he was alleged to have had. Not a bad story, considering how old this series is. In real time, Grandma would be long gone, and Stephanie, Morelli & Ranger nearing 60, with the world's oldest hamster

We're all ill with covid. Day five now and my sinuses have finally stopped throbbing painfully.

Have just finished The Promise by Damon Galgut, winner of the 2021 Booker Prize.

Excellent. I really enjoyed his writing style and will seek out his other books.

The story starts in 1986 in Pretoria with a white SA family of farmers dealing with the death, and funeral, of the matriarch. Continuing on over the next three decades we follow the lives of the three children, against the background of a post-Apartheid SA. The title of the book refers to the verbal promise made on the deathbed of the matriarch to leave Salome, the black housemaid, the house in which she lives.

It's gritty but there is a black humour especially in the second half of the book, which took me by surprise.

@EmGee Haven’t read that one, but I remember enjoying (not that it’s a happy tale) The Good Doctor several years ago.

Thanks for the heads up re: Spring. I have been slowly buying them as they turn up in deals and plan to start with Autumn in Sept.

I have been really slowed down on reading recently, listening to music on my commute (which is only 20 mins or so), embroiled in a TV series and just generally falling asleep before I can read very much at all.

My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell

I've been wanting to read this for years, ever since I watched The Durrells on TV. It was exactly what I expected, sunny and witty. I'm sure this is a familiar book - the Durrells moved to Corfu in the 1930s where Gerry D. collected animals, flora and fauna. I love a sunny, island based story as it reminds me of my own childhood summers. I'll definitely come back to the others in the series at some point.

That sounds right up my street, Terp - have reserved it at the library.