50 Books Challenge 2022 Part Four

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth thread of the 50 Books 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.

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here and the third one here.

What are you reading?

I have always assumed the Secret Barrister to be male. I'd be happy to be proved wrong but there is a strong male tone to the writing.

I am trudging on with reading, slowly. It's been a horrible few weeks at work and tough on the home front for various reasons, and I haven't managed to find a book that really sweeps me up and makes me forget all the messy stuff around me and in the world. They've all been good books but it's a case of right book, wrong time, I think. Possibly none of my recent choices were appropriate given what I think I need - even the Lucy Mangan touched a few nerves for various reasons.

I'm currently reading My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden which is about asylum seekers in Libya and the trade in smuggling. It is the most depressing and enraging book I have read since Christina Lamb's account of rape during wars, but putting it down - particularly given the imminent removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda - just isn't an option I can choose.

37 The Sentence* by Louise Erdrich
Tookie is a Native American, sent to prison for a bizarre crime that was only partly her fault. On her release she gets a job in a bookstore where she is able to put the love of reading she found in jail into action, while dealing with the haunting of the store by a dead customer. The book is very rooted in time and place - the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests play a central part in the story. This is a book about inequality, justice, books and love, and I thought it was very good indeed. I listened to this as an audiobook which was a mistake because I lost some of the finer detail at times, as I have a tendency to zone out. I will definitely go back to it at some point.

38* Are We Having Fun Yet* by Lucy Mangan
This isn’t going to win any prizes for genre-busting or originality and on reflection, nothing actually happened. But it was an entertaining enough look at middle class parenting travails and I laughed out loud at least once.

39* Death and the Penguin* by Andrey Kurkov
Misha is a penguin, is a writer who has a job writing obituaries for not yet dead officials and dignitaries in a newly independent Ukraine. I loved this; it was quirky, darkly funny and well observed. And I learned a lot about Ukraine in the process.

40* Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant* by Anne Tyler
I don’t know that I’ve ever read an Anne Tyler. If I have I can’t remember. Dysfunctional families, even where there is some love, aren’t really my thing and I found this a slog for that reason. I recognise it was beautifully executed and very tender in places but it’s just not what I want to be reading at the moment.*

Note to self: copying and pasting my reviews no longer works from a formatting perspective on this new and supposedly improved app!

33. I was a Teenage Sex Pistol by Glen Matlock
This is getting a bit Rashomon, reading more and more slightly different perspectives on identical events. This is OK and has an interesting view on Malcolm Mclarens' role, but despite sometimes wishing for slightly less on the other Pistols' substance abuse issues, I could have done with a bit more on Glen's. Anyway, reasonably entertaining for the low price. Sounds like a guy where it might be difficult to tell if you're on the wrong or the right side of him but clearly has a solid side.

@PermanentTemporary I guess you must have already read Viv Albertine’s Clothes, Clothes, Clothes etc?
(I have no idea why I’m using italics but I can’t work out how to stop).

I can't post on my phone anymore because it's so slow. Cutting and pasting from another app doesn't work either. So reduced to pushing DS off the desktop in the playroom to post.

The Owl Service by Alan Garner

Classic YA low fantasy. Set in Wales, featuring a dinner service that has a floral decoration that can be made into an owl, and based on one of the stories in The Mabinogion where a bride made of flowers turns into an owl. Creepy, with characters that are full of class prejudices and confusion, the slightly disconnected telling (chapters are written from different character's viewpoints so we'll hear about something from Alison's view then the next chapter will be Gwyn talking to his mother about it) comes together in a famously abrupt ending.

Thanks @Terpsichore!

Life has been crazy busy so have just caught up with the thread (and added a fair few books to my teetering tbr pile!). Will post a few reviews shortly.

@RomanMum thanks for the heads-up on The Gran Tour. Some years back for complicated reasons DH and I found ourselves on one of these coach tours at least twenty years before I'd ever thought of it as a possibility. We were known as "the youngsters" which wasn't the only good thing about it. Although not our cup of tea and we have absolutely no plans to do another, it was a real laugh, a truly memorable (and stress-free) experience and amazing value. I've ordered the book.

20 Teacher Teacher by Jack Sheffield

The school equivalent of James Herriot's vet books, in almost every possible way. Recommended to me by an older friend who likes cosy reads and avoids nastiness. Quite amusing but I may not read any more.

21 Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

The story of Jean, a 39-year-old "spinster" working as a features writer for a small local paper and living a dull life with her querulous mother in suburban London in the 50s. She is sent to investigate reports of a virgin birth and develops a deep friendship with the family that changes her life.
Beautifully written and perceptive, I really enjoyed this.

22 Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

I loved American Wife, an fictionalised version of Laura Bush's life that succeeded in convincing me that a seemingly intelligent and sensible woman could actually have chosen to marry George W .. although admittedly after the horror that is Trump I can look back at Dubya and see him as a relatively harmless soul in comparison. Rodham is a reimagining of Hilary Clinton's life had she chosen not to marry Bill. I found it pretty convincing and the shaving incident has really stuck in my head as an example of how apparently trivial events in a political life can have huge consequences when reported.

23 The Button Box by Lynn Knight

Much discussed a month or two back; an exploration of women's lives through history in relation to the clothes they wore and sewed. Lots of interesting little snippets of information. I'm not a non-fiction reader and always prefer a long involving novel but have dipped into this between times and enjoyed it.

24 1979 by Val McDermid

Readable but not one of her best. I much preferred the Karen Pirie series, and A Place of Execution was also very good.

25 Black Diamond by Martin Walker

Another Inspector Bruno crime book set in a small village in the Dordogne. People who like Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series will enjoy these too, with descriptions of rural French life as well as mouth-watering meals prepared by the lovely Bruno during pauses in crime-solving and romantic encounters.

33. Strangers We Know - Elle Marr. Am Amazon first read. I was a bit bored by it but dien by really guess the ending

34. Oh William - Elizabeth Strout. Sequel to My Name is Lucy Barton. I think what you think about this depends on how much you like Elizabeth Strout. I think I preferred this to Lucy Barton as there is a bit more plot. Very descriptive and just what I needed to escape in a tough week at work.

Clothes, clothes, clothes is so good. As is the follow up.

Descriptions of French rural life and mouth-watering meals, you say, @highlandcoo? I’m in. Just bought the first one - it’s in the monthly deals (but time-limited)

The Embassy of Camodia by Zadie Smith

Barely long enough to be considered a novella this still manages to pack a lot in. We follow Fatou who notices a badminton game behind the walls of the Cambodian Embassy on her way to the swimming pool. Like a literary amuse-bouche.

I've been a stranger to this thread recently as still struggling with my concentration post-covid. Just popping in to say today we finish Book 2 of War and Peace on the readalong thread so please come over to discuss if you're reading (or have read it) but have dropped off the daily chat.

22. The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

Still continuing my PG marathon and this one took me forever to read. It follows Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker. I really struggled to get into this one, I think it's the weakest book in the series but I struggle to put my finger on why. I just don't find Anne someone I can get behind or feel much sympathy for

33 The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Finished my reading of all of Ann Patchett's fiction with this, her first novel. It's not my favourite, but you can see the beginnings of all the things that make some of her later novels really great. Her writing is so smooth and easy. I love how she writes women and their interactions with other women. I think in general her men are less successful (but I mean less successful by her own very high standards, rather than unsuccessful). This is the story of Rose, told first through her own eyes and then those of her husband and another character (trying to avoid spoilers!). When we start, Rose is pregnant and running away from her husband, who she has realised she doesn't love. She goes to a home for unmarried mothers, telling no-one about her past. Rose is a fascinating character who you (and the other characters in the novel) never quite understand. There's a lot of love in this book, and I think that's what I like about all of Patchett's novels. She sees the best in her characters and they are able to see the best in each other.

@satelliteheart I felt the same about The Kingmaker’s daughter, and I got the impression PG herself didn’t enjoy it as much as her other books - I think she mentions in the afterword that it was hard to write from Anne’s perspective because there was so little available information about her, and that it was more of a challenge to be overcome than a pleasure to write.

Just a little placemark as this stopped appearing in Threads I'm On.

20 Arthur & George - Julian Barnes
A fictional account of a real-life Victorian crime and its aftermath. George Edalji was the son of an Indian-born vicar and his Scottish wife. Brought up in the vicarage of a small Staffordshire town in the late 19th Century, George qualified as a solicitor and opened his own office in Birmingham. When a number of animal mutilations occur in his home village, George was accused, tried in Court and imprisoned for 3 years. On his release, Arthur Conan Doyle heard about the case and set out to clear George's name, gathering information and evidence to prove George's innocence.

I loved this, a really enjoyable read!

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller Much reviewed upthread. Ho hum. Love triangle with tiresome woman at the centre, set against a backdrop of aspirational Cape Cod styling. This was okay, and the abuse scenes were genuinely disturbing, but I didn't feel it merited the hype that preceded it.

Recovery, the Lost Art of Convalescence by Dr Gavin Francis I'm sorry I can't remember who recommended this, but it is a lovely little book full of wise advice and insights. I'm still suffering some residual lung irritation after contracting Covid back in October; I wish I had come across this book then as it gives the reassurance of permission to rest and recuperate rather than rush back to normality.

Welshwabbit Ann Patchett is a wonderful author isn't she? The last of hers I read was Bel Canto, but much preferred Dutch House and Commonwealth to it.

I'm a huge fan of Ann Patchett too. I loved State of Wonder, Commonwealth, The Dutch House and Bel Canto, but my absolute favourite is her non fiction This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

More Ann Patchett love here!
If you ever get the chance to listen to her live at an author event, go. She is as likeable and engaging in real life as you would expect from her writing.

36 Eric - Terry Pratchett

Short, fun Discworld story featuring Rincewind and a bunch of mythological parodies. The demons are an early version of those that crop up in Good Omens.

44: Empire of Pain - Patrick Radden Keefe

Horrifying exposé of the secretive Sackler family and their role in the opioid crisis in America. It’s very well done and readable but gutting (if unsurprising) to find that even when finally brought to some sort of account, the family were able to use their vast wealth and legal resources to achieve the outcome of their choice. Plus ça change, I guess.

45: A Change of Circumstance - Susan Hill

Yet again I set myself up for disappointment by reading the latest adventure of Simon Serailler. This one notionally focuses on county lines drug-dealing in the environs of sleepy Lafferton, with the epicentre in the hippyfied village of Starly (all Hill’s fictional place-names somehow all sound to me straight out of the
Framley Examiner).

But really it’s all about Simon, his sister, the saintly Dr. Cat, and Hill’s never-ending vendetta against the NHS, which she portrays as inefficient, uncaring, sloppy and heartless - as opposed to the dedicated team at Concierge Medical, and none more so than Cat, whose mere threat of a written complaint to the authorities about the standard of care at Bevham General will get everyone jumping to attention (‘the government will have to look into it!’).

Meanwhile the plight of Cat’s missing Yorkshire terrier, Wookie, takes up unfeasibly large chunks of dialogue and exposition, and everyone eats and drinks a staggering amount every page or so (‘l’m starving. Can I make a bacon and egg sarnie?’ ‘Do you want more tea? Have you had anything to eat?’). With so much coffee-making and drinking on an industrial scale, there’s barely time to spare for the plot, which is kind-of resolved, up to a point, but really just sputters to a halt with lots of loose ends left flapping in the wind and the storylines of various characters abruptly abandoned. Having said all of which, it’s one of the better recent books in this series, I'd say, so go figure…