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 enjoyed your Susan Hill review, Terp, and I agree with every word. And yet I'll still probably get the next one from the library in due course.

65. Kiss Myself Goodbye, by Ferdinand Mount
This is non-fiction, with the historian digging into the backstory of his aunt-by-marriage and her family. It's fair to say there are lots of unorthodox marital arrangements. In all honesty, I wasn't blown away by this one - I didn't find it quite as spicy as the author did. I'm sure it's more shocking if you knew the apparently-respectable people involved.

@DuPainDuVinDuFromage glad I'm not alone in struggling with it. Yes, I got the same impression from the author's note that she'd struggled to find Anne's personality and it seemed to contain a lot of guesswork about the motivations behind certain events and who was the driving force

at the Serailler review. These are proper love/hate books for me. I inexplicably can't stay away from them, despite Simon and the clan being utter knobs - even Cat is so ridiculously perfect as to be quite punchable. Bit like when you've had too much Dominos already but can't stop.

bibliomania · Today 09:04
I enjoyed your Susan Hill review, Terp, and I agree with every word. And yet I'll still probably get the next one from the library in due course.

Yup.

At lunchtime I sat outside and finished 66. This Charming Man, by C K McDonnelll, picked up on a whim on Kindle. It's the second book in a comic urban fantasy series - I haven't read the first so clearly missing the back-story. It's set in Manchester, amongst the eccentric staff of a small newspaper that reports on the occult. Hard to summarise - fighting monsters while getting irritated with each other, really. Think Terry Pratchett/Ben Aaronovitch sort of thing. Okay as far as it goes, but I'm not longing for more.

Thanks biblio, I've got the first one, The Stranger Times, in my pile to read. I was thinking a Ben Aaronovitch sort of vibe. This might spur me on to move it closer to the top of the pile.

It's enjoyable enough if you're in the mood, Roman. Feels like it's gearing up to be a long series, and I don't feel like investing lots of time.

Please tell me it features Morrissey as a giant, be-quiffed monster which goes around reciting Oscar Wilde quotes and attacking people with gladioli.

They're probably saving that for the grand finale Remus. You don't waste scenes like that along the way.

Just finished the last Shardlake , Tombland so feeling a bit bereft. It has been much reviewed on here, so I am sure I have little to add. Although it is overly long (and I wish he would stop describing women's breasts!) I think it moved at a good pace after the first 400 pages or so (which is a marker of how long it is!). I much preferred this to the Mary Rose book - I liked the focus on Kett's Rebellion which I only knew about form revising history with DS2. I like Shardlake's character arc across the series and Nicholas' within this book. I missed Richard Rich who is only peripheral.

But I need help! What is everyone aware of in the last chapter?? I don't want a spoiler for others but all the characters intimate that thyme know it is an important day and the date (7 December 1759) is specified. Can anyone help??

Biblio
Piggy - I found Tombland a slog and thought it wore its research too heavily, at the expense of telling a good story. Unfortunately, I can't remember a thing about the ending, so can't help with your question.

He does rely rather on us keeping up with quite small detail!!

Dark Fire by CJ Sansom A Shardlake here too. I read one or two of the early books in the series many years ago but had avoided this one as I’d heard it was weaker. I didn’t find it as gripping as I seem to remember the other/s being.

The plot is manoeuvred into a bit of a corner because of the facts of history, and the book is overlong - why accomplish a task first time if you could narrowly evade capture and try again a hundred pages or so later - but I enjoyed the characters of Shardlake and Barak and I like the way Sansom does scheming, dialogue and period detail.

The sense of suspicion and terror amidst a bewildering pace of change is really strong.
Not sure I’ll rush back to the series but enjoyed it well enough and didn’t find it offputtingly breasty.

didn’t find it offputtingly breasty.

@Piggywaspushed

I don't think this should be a spoiler
I haven't read Tombland or the previous book in the Shardlake series but googled the date 7 June 1559 (not 1759) as I'm assuming it's still set in the 16th century.|

Apparently this was the date when Protestantism/the Church of England was re-established, 6 months into Elizabeth I's reign, as Mary had tried to bring back the Catholic church.

Doh. No, it's number blindness , so it's 1579....

Oh for goodness sake - 1549!

Piggy, I'll confuse to using Wikipedia but what about this: "Kett was captured, held in the Tower of London, tried for treason, and hanged from the walls of Norwich Castle on 7 December 1549."

There were protests in winter/spring 1549 in the south west (under Edward, Henry's only son, who died as a child but was strongly committed to his father's religious reforms). about the Crown confiscating images/artworks from churches. Some of the leaders were executed locally - 6 were taken to London, and most of those were pardoned but on 7 June a priest called Martin Geoffrey was executed at Smithfield in London.

32. Machines like us - Ian McEwan

The last in my trilogy of sci-fi/robotic themed books and a much more serious read than QualityLand or Set My Heart to Five.

Set in an alternate 1980s where computing is far advanced, a white collar dropout spends his inheritance on an Adam, a new series of androids, who becomes a part of his life, work and moral decisions concerning his girlfriend's dark secret and wish to adopt a child.

I had to concentrate on this one. The characters weren't particularly empathetic and the 1980s backdrop, while a nice idea, seemed to add no real purpose to the story. News events happened in the wider world but they didn't advance the plot. Adam's sentience was worth following though. Altogether a bit so-so, sadly.

The Women's Prize winner will be announced on the hour.

I'm calling it for Sorrow and Bliss

Also agreeing to the hate reading of Serrailler. Why do we do it?

Oh Biblio could be that but thought that had already happened. Its like he us marking some anniversary. I'll read the last but again..

Two non fiction books to add to my list:

27 Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of WWII by Ben Macintyre. This is the well-known story of the corpse with fake documents in its pockets that was planted on the Spanish coast to convince the Germans of the incorrect location for the Allied naval attack. This is a fantastic tale, well told and very well researched. I really enjoyed it but I think it could have been a little shorter. It does go into a LOT of detail!

28 Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be by Diane Coyle. Recommended upthread by Sadik. There's a lot of great stuff here, especially around the characteristics of the digital economy and the flaws of traditional economic models in representing it, the relationship between economics and politics (eg free markets vs government intervention), and the role of behavioural economics. There was also quite a bit that went over my head, and I think the author could have provided more examples to make it more accessible. And there was a certain amount of hand-wringing "why does everyone hate/misunderstand us" which I found a bit tedious, perhaps because I'm not an economist. So overall a mixed bag, but definitely worth reading for the good bits.

I gave up Serrailler after the first 2, I think the second was unresolved which really annoyed me in a detective book. You've all convinced me I was vindicated.

I'm seeing a lot of love for the Ruth Ozeki @FortunaMajor. I've still only managed 3 of the short list but out of those my choice would be The Bread the Devil Knead. I liked Sorrow and Bliss and Great Circle but don't think either are as original.

I'm comfort reading I capture the Castle. It's so good.

Ruth Ozeki got it. Much deserved. It was my personal second choice after Louise Erdrich. I wasn't a huge fan of the book itself, but the writing was a high step above most of the others.