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 fell off the thread and need to go back and catch up on what everyone’s been reading/ recommending or not (or maybe it’s better I don’t since I’ll inevitably add another 10 books to my endless list that I never seem to make any progress with).

I hit a bit of a mental block, didn’t want to continue with any of my ongoing reads for some reason and couldn’t summon the energy to start anything new so I decided to reread an old comfort read instead. 13. Cotillion - Georgette Heyer Love this - definitely in the running for my favourite Heyer.

I feel the same Alias. A comfort reread is often a good palate cleanser.

Hello everyone,

I really enjoyed rereading KM Peyton's Flambards series last year or the year before. They popped up on here and generated a fair bit of discussion. I read them as a 13 or 14-year old and loved them then too. I always had a bit of a crush on Dick, but rereading them as an adult, I can see why Mark was so attractive to women.

I'm just rattling through Ann Cleeves' Shetland series which I am really enjoying. I'm not much of a detective/crime fan but I love these for the description of Shetland life, and the characters. I'm very keen to visit over the summer but DH is nervous about midges.

I might have a go at the Vera books as I think they are set in the NE of England and I grew up in Northumberland.

Back in the UK next week for the holidays and I am hoping to find some charity shop book finds!!!

I am on holiday so have managed to polish off another couple of books while DS has abandoned me.

A Symphony of Echoes - Jodi Taylor
The second book in the series takes us on a romp from Victorian Britain, into the future, back in time to the Garden of Nineveh and ending up in 16th Century Scotland with Mary, Queen of Scots. Thoroughly enjoyable read and looking forward to the third.

Death in the Nike - Agatha Christie
Read for the 2022 challenge, had a few more characters than the original film, haven’t seen the new one yet but didn’t like KB’s versions of Murder on the Orient Express, DD wants to see it though.

Nile even, although I do die every time I see the price of Nike trainers DS would like

I'm very keen to visit over the summer but DH is nervous about midges

Most of the time Shetland is too windy for midges to be a problem.

Agree with Janina - midges not a big issue in the northern isles (lived there for a while).

18. What to Read Next, by Stig Abell

Enjoyable account of the author's year of reading on his commute (2019, before commuting changed). I enjoyed this. Lots of amusing asides. Probably not best read all in one go - more for dipping into.

19. Hidden Hands, Mary Wellesley
Fun with medieval manuscripts, lost, found, destroyed, and what we know about those who made them. Great, if this is the kind of thing you like, which is a big yes from me.

I really want to read Hidden Hands now. I’ve put it on my wishlist - here’s hoping it might come up in the deals eventually....

Re the Stig Abell book, I seem to remember there being a bit of a Twitter spat when it came out on account of its close similarity to Andy Miller's The Year of Reading Dangerously - which quite a few people pointed out. Stig A denied all knowledge of it

Format-wise it's very similar to the Andy Miller book, but Susan Hill and Nick Hornby have books along the same lines. It's a fairly obvious format, I would say.

Lots to catch up on here!

@EmGee I'm interested in the Shetland books. I'm not a great one for police procedurals but I think I'd enjoy the setting too.

Book 12 for me was Still Life by Sarah Winman. Mixed feelings on this. I found some of it dragged a bit and other bits rushed through. I was also frustrated that the central Evelyn - Ulysses - Darnley relationship seemed under-explored and all took place before the book got going. Some of it was just a bit too quirky for me.

On the other hand I found much of it very moving and I've always liked books about people building a family for themselves out of chaos (possibly because I have an unusual family myself). I loved the section on the flooding of Florence, something I knew very little about. It definitely grew on me and I expect I'll keep thinking about the characters.

Had a hellish day at work and it's nice to catch up on this gentle part of the Internet. I've got 2 books to update
12. The City We Became - N K Jemisin. I loved her Broken Earth trilogy which was some of the most original SF I've read so thought I'd try something else by the same author. This was very different. It is set in New York and in many ways is a love letter to the city. New York is becoming alive - this happens when cities reach a certain maturity - and each of its boroughs personifies to fight a strange evil. Its quite fun, right on - various races and sexuality are nodded at in the various avatars - and has a reasonably fast paced story. I didn't love it though, maybe because I don't know New York. I did think I'd like someone to write a similar ode to London but it lacked the originality of the Broken Earth trilogy for me.

13. Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes. Very late to the game on this which I'd always thought was standard chick lit. It's much better than that and thought she dealt with addiction really well. I'm not sure I'll be rushing out to read the rest of the books, but if they pop up on a deal, I'll probably get them. Good fun.

1. Death on the Nile Agatha Christie.

Not much to add to previous reviews except to say I love how Christie writes and am almost always surprised by the reveal - comforting reads that make we want to read to the end.

Now reading Prisoners of Geography Tim Marshall.

Thanks @FiveGoMadInDorset Let me know.

17. Hag-Seed - Margaret Atwood
Retelling of The Tempest as part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series. Felix Phillips has been manoeuvred out of his position as director of a theatre festival by his deputy Tony. Now teaching literature to inmates in a prison programme, he plots his revenge through a staging of The Tempest. It pretty much read itself and I did learn a lot about The Tempest (I had seen the version at the Globe with Roger Allam and, um, Merlin, but seemed to be none the wiser for that). But overall this seemed more like an exercise in literary cleverness than something that realistically could happen inside a prison. A solid 3/5.

Do any of the Hogarth Shakespeares really work well? I thought Vinegar Girl was a bit of a misfire too.

@LadybirdDaphne

17. Hag-Seed - Margaret Atwood Retelling of The Tempest as part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series. Felix Phillips has been manoeuvred out of his position as director of a theatre festival by his deputy Tony. Now teaching literature to inmates in a prison programme, he plots his revenge through a staging of The Tempest. It pretty much read itself and I did learn a lot about The Tempest (I had seen the version at the Globe with Roger Allam and, um, Merlin, but seemed to be none the wiser for that). But overall this seemed more like an exercise in literary cleverness than something that realistically could happen inside a prison. A solid 3/5.

Do any of the Hogarth Shakespeares really work well? I thought Vinegar Girl was a bit of a misfire too.

I liked The Gap of Time and thought it worked well. Agree Vinegar Girl isn't great. I did like Hag-Seed and, knowing The Tempest slightly, found it a thoughtful and interesting take. I don't disagree with your assessment of it though. Haven't read the rest but you've inspired me to fix that! I actually didn't know Tracy C had written one; I'm intrigued about that.

Daphne I've only read New Boy by Tracy Chevalier and it was also a bit naff. I have a loose rule that if a book is a retelling of/heavily references another book then I have to try to read the original first. I've often been disappointed by the new work, but rarely by the original.

I know there's the theory that there are only 6/7 basic storylines, but I never think setting out to deliberately rip off/rework someone else's work ends well.

Particularly when it comes to Shakespeare as his work is so much more than the plot. I don't worship Shakespeare, but I recognise it as a rare magic.

There was a set of books that retells Star Wars in the language of Shakespeare which is fun for a short while but unsustainable.

It is a period of civil war. The spaceships of the rebels, striking swift From base unseen, have gain’d a vict’ry o’er The cruel Galactic Empire, now adrift. Amidst the battle, rebel spies prevail’d And stole the plans to a space station vast, Whose pow’rful beams will later be unveil’d And crush a planet: ’tis the DEATH STAR blast. Pursu’d by agents sinister and cold, Now Princess Leia to her home doth flee, Deliv’ring plans and a new hope they hold: Of bringing freedom to the galaxy. In time so long ago begins our play, In star-crossed galaxy far, far away.

I read both New Boy by Tracy Chevalier and Dunbar by Edward St Aubyn - both of which are part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series - a few years ago. Neither was that great (in my view) and I prefer the usual writings of both authors.

16. Love After Love - Ingrid Persaud

Picked this up after seeing recommendations. It’s set in Trinidad and follows the lives of Betty and her son, Solo, and Mr Chetin over several years. This started well for me as I found the characters and setting engaging but I liked it less as it went on as I disliked the storylines (don’t want to give spoilers) - possibly just me. So, disappointing overall.

7 1/2 - Christos Tsiolkas famous for The Slap. This was a DNF it was incredibly slow, totally navel gazing and also repellent. A writer sequesters in an Air BnB on the Aussie Coast (his daily life and the accommodation described in microscopic detail) whilst trying to overcome his writers ennui by crafting a book about an ex male porn star who considers re- entering the profession when he needs to make money - as you do! I don't why I ever picked this as an ARC. Awful.

9. Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart Hurray!!! a good one at last.I haven't read Shuggie Bain so didn't find this story of a family with an alcoholic mother covering old ground for me. The story will break your heart a bit. From the outset when Mungo gets on a bus with two dodgy looking men you know bad things are going to happen. Set in the 1990's the story follows Young Mungo for the first few miles of his fateful journey and then jumps back a year or so to relate the events leading up to the trip and finally, culminates in the sort of violent climax where you feared the story was always headed but hoped it wouldn't go. We find out about Mungo's life with his family living in the thrall of their erratic, often disappearing alcoholic mother, their stoic sister trying to keep the ship afloat and their violent sectarian gang leader brother. He creates Mungo's world bounded by just a few streets in Glasgow so well that I could clearly picture all the characters and almost smell the musty flat and clothes, the tang of stale alcohol and see the violence lurking behind teenage and adult eyes. I often didn't want to know what was going to happen, but couldn't put the book down. I devoured it. Best book (so far) this year. It was an ARC but comes out at Easter.

@SapatSea I'm first on the reservation list for Young Mungo at the library. Looking forward to this one!

15. The Storyteller - Dave Grohl

A fun read from the Foo Fighters drummer, which is a kind of edited highlights of his life rather than a warts-and-all biog. Rather light on details on his time in Nirvana, but I enjoyed the tales from his life as a touring punk musician before he joined. The last third is a slightly more tedious my-rockstar-life-having-dinner-with-Paul-McCartney affair.

@FortunaMajor I’m not sure what language that Star Wars thing is, but it’s not the language of Shakespeare 😂

46. The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

This is told entirely in the transcripts of a series of audio files, and is the story of a man looking back at an unusual event in his childhood. This event is linked to books written by Edith Twyford, a children’s author (a not very heavily disguised version of Enid Blyton) who is rumoured to have hidden a code in her books. As with The Appeal in 2020 Hallett has tried a different format to tell the story, which won’t suit everyone. I liked it though, it’s refreshing to read something a bit different. I also enjoyed the story, although I did find the ending slightly confusing so this is probably one I’ll reread sometime to see how it all ties together.

47. The Redemption of Michael Hollister by Shawn Inmon

The second book in the Middle Falls time travel series, where people wake up as their childhood selves and get to relive their lives again. I quite enjoyed the first, which had recognition that anything they did would change the future. However, this second book had the person just living a completely different life with no recognition of how this might impact on the future of others. The story itself was just OK. Not sure I’ll bother with any more.

48. This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries Of A Junior Doctor by Adam Kay

Reread to go alongside the TV series.

49. The Couple At The Table by Sophie Hannah

A woman is murdered at an exclusive honeymoon resort, but the CCTV shows no intruders and the evidence proves that none of the other guests could have done it. Intriguing premise and as usual the conclusion is typical Sophie Hannah bonkersness which relies on people behaving in ways that just aren’t believable in real life. I usually like how bonkers her conclusions are but I wasn’t convinced by this one.

50. The Lost Child by Emily Gunnis

A bit underwhelming for book 50. This is one of those books with a storyline in the past linking to a storyline in the present. Here, it’s a family with a history of severe postnatal depression and how that’s impacted on various people over the years. It was fine, but not the best of this genre I’ve read.

51. Tuned Out by Keith A Pearson

Another time travel one. Toby’s life is a bit rubbish so when he gets sent back to 1969 he has to decide whether to try and shape events so he can get home again, or stay and make a life in 1969. The writing’s not great but it’s a good story and I like the period detail.

52. The Taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse

I didn’t like this. The Gothic premise sounded good but it was all completely overwrought and some of the descriptions of taxidermy (and worse) were a bit too graphic for me. There was also a rather horrible end scene which will stick in my head, leading me to wish I hadn’t read this.

Now onto a book of Nancy Mitford’s journalism which will hopefully be a palate cleanser!

20. The Twyford Code, by Janice Hallett
Wot Chessie said. I like the playfulness this author is bringing to the genre. It's all very tricksy so take every scene with a pinch of salt, but there was a seam of poignancy running through it too.

[quote RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]@FortunaMajor I’m not sure what language that Star Wars thing is, but it’s not the language of Shakespeare 😂[/quote]

Ahhh, but he tried, bless him. And kept it up for 9 bloody books. I lasted a few pages.

Alas, poor stormtrooper, I knew ye not, Yet have I ta’en both uniform and life From thee. What manner of a man wert thou? A man of inf’nite jest or cruelty? A man with helpmate and with children too? A man who hath his Empire serv’d with pride?