50 Books Challenge 2022 Part Five

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fifth 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, the third one here and the fourth one here.

What are you reading?

17. The Fabled Coast Sophia Kingshill and Jennifer Beatrice Westwood. An interesting look at some of the myths, legends and traditions around the coast of Britain and Ireland. Due to the way the book is written it is a great book to pick up and put down as each short story is linked to a place. However, due to one of the authors previous works, Scotland and Ireland definitely take up considerably more of the book and this is something to be considered when reading as key seaside towns are not written about and many of the stories are repeated if you have read their previous work.

18. The Double Comfort Safari Alexander Mccall Smith. Another entry in the ladies detective agency, if you enjoy the characters and world you'll enjoy this one.

Next book I'm going to read is Norse Mythology By Neil Gaiman. Bought last summer and excited to read it.

Sorry to hear you've been under the weather eine, hope you're on the mend.

This year I've enjoyed Luster by Raven Leilani and No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, but I'll be the first to admit they're both on the pretentious / emperor's new clothes side.

Lolita has probably had the most impact on me (the only creative writing I've managed this year was a short story that was partially a response to it), but it's not one for lifting the spirits.

God: an anatomy was brilliant if you want some subversive atheist theology.

Sorry to hear you've been ill @EineReiseDurchDieZeit . My standout of the year so far is discovering the Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov (thanks Putin). Death and the Penguin has been enjoyed by several on here and is a black humoured story of an obituary writer in Kyiv who owns a penguin. I also adored Grey Bees about a bee keeper who lives in the grey zone of the Donbas although it is very poignant reading about towns and villages we didn't know about 6 months ago that are now on the news every night.

Welcome back, EineReise, you have been missed. I’m very sorry to hear you’ve been so ill. I hope things are getting better now.

I won’t offer any recommendations as you’ve already had quite a lot!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit good to hear from you. Sorry you’ve been so poorly.

I’ve not posted my reviews this thread as I’ve been interviewing / working my notice so things have been too busy. But I’m close to finishing Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmun and think it’s probably my favourite read this year. It follows Elizabeth Zott a 1950s chemist who will not let sexism keep her or her daughter from living the life they chose - despite the consequences of pushing back. I’ve read a lot of sequels, non fiction etc this year but this has been perfect for ‘I just want a good story’ moods.

Great to have you back EineReise. All best wishes for your recovery.

Lovely to see you back Eine. Sorry to hear you've been ill. Hope you are soon on the mend.

Palegreen That's our bookclub book this month. Very much looking forward to it.

Interested in your thoughts @FortunaMajor i think it’s been unfairly compared with Eleanor Oliphant but I think it’s much better.

Palegreen I've listened to the first hour and I'm hooked.

Get well soon Eine

My stand out reads this year have been The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra and The Last Migration by Charlotte McConaghy. Good luck with finding something that works for you!

Awww shucks, everyone! Thank you

Good to see you back on the thread Eine, sorry to hear you’ve been so ill.

Mamanewtnewt the New Pompeii book sounds interesting and even better it’s on kindle unlimited so I will read that before my cheap KU deal expires.

33. Our House - Louise Candlish

I don't read many thrillers, and definitely steer clear of "domestic noir", but this was ultimately quite satisfying. Fi and Bram live in an idyllic London neighbourhood with their two sons, until one day Fi comes home to find the house has been sold from under her. Her husband seems to be involved, but how, and where is he? Can't say too much more without giving away the ending but it rattled along quite nicely with well-placed twists.

Glad to see good reports of Lessons in Chemistry. It's on my wishlist.

💐to those of you who are ill and who have had operations. I hope you all recover soon.

59. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
    Scholarship student Lee struggles to find her place in a prestigious New England boarding school. It's a coming of age novel aimed at adults, not teenagers, as it's told through the eyes of grown up Lee looking back.
    I'm not sure if I like this book or not... There is something compelling about the writing, and I think Sittenfeld does an excellent job of showing a realistic teenager; the introspection, self-consciousness, the quiet acts of self-sabotage and the feeling that interesting things are happening to other people, not you. And that's the problem with the book, little happens and there's not much of a plot. Lee is not quite likeable and can be rather passive, but she seems like a real person and I think this book will stay with me.

60. The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas trans. Elizabeth Rokkan
    A short, intense novel set in Norway. Two eleven year old girls, popular Siss and shy Unn form the beginnings of what looks set to be a close friendship, but when Unn disappears in a frozen waterfall, known as the ice palace, Siss starts to isolate herself from her other friends. It's not a children's book, despite the protagonist's age. It's poetic and mysterious and leaves much unanswered. I really liked it, but it left me feeling unsettled.

I'm miles behind. Need a holiday to catch up on my reading!

22. Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone. Hmmm. A brilliantly plotted story of how Ariel Pryce, accompanying her husband on a business trip from the US to Lisbon, wakes up to find him missing. She enlists the help of the Portuguese police and the US embassy, but where is John and what has happened to him?

While I enjoyed the story very much, I found the writing exceptionally difficult to get through and it's taken me weeks to finish. It felt very overwritten, with sentence after sentence that had clause after clause, on and on, until my head was spinning, and I had to go back to the beginning and start again. (And honestly, that last sentence is short by comparison to some oh his).

I see he also wrote The Expats which was really popular when it came out, and I couldn't get through that so I think he's not the author for me. Still, John Grisham says it's excellent and who am I to disagree? I can imagine someone is snapping up the film rights as we speak.

Just popping in to say that if anyone is a fan of Shirley Jackson, The Letters of Shirley Jackson is currently £1.99(No idea how long that's for unfortunately.)

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L5VR8YS

49. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

When Florence Green decides to open a bookshop in a damp, abandoned house in a small coastal village. Florence shows general tenacity in the face of the subtle obstructions she faces from those in the village and I loved her persistent, understated stance against the influence that money, class, position and political influence that is brought to bear on her. I adored this book, every sentence was an absolute joy to read, and I suspect the very last sentence is one that will stay me.

Managed to accidentally post that last review before I'd finished. Ignore my half-finished sentences - this book is an absolute joy.

@Palegreenstars I bought Lessons in Chemistry the other week on offer, sounds perfect as my holiday read in a couple of weeks

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Must admit my go to suggestion for reading slumps is to revisit a series you love. Takes a lot less focus (Hence my reread of the ladies detective agency this year).

@MaudOfTheMarches Pinging re Site Stuff thread - hope you find this thread.

Thank you @MichaelMumsnet

38. The Book of Form and Emptiness: Ruth Ozeki.

This is a thought-provoking book and a satisfying read. It tells the story of a young teenager called Benny and his mother Annabelle who are grieving following the sudden death of their father and husband. Their relationship deteriorates quite rapidly as each of them has their own issues to contend with. Benny hears inanimate objects talking to him and his mother has hoarding issues. The book itself plays a part in narrating Benny's life and helps him discover who he is and find his own voice.

I liked this a lot. It's quite long, but well structured. It's a book that has a lot of content and things to think about; our relationship to the world, material possessions, the power of the written word, our inner voice or voices. I liked the zen Buddhist thread running through it. The characters were drawn very sympathetically. At one stage there is a matter-of-fact librarian who sums up the difficulties the main characters are experiencing in a few lines and I laughed at that.

I had to pace myself reading this. It's not a book that should be rushed the book wouldn't let me but I recommend this as an interesting and thoughtful read.

This is in a Kindle deal today for £3.49; I bought it earlier.

www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2022/07/26/booker-prize-2022-two-irish-novelists-longlisted-alongside-youngest-and-oldest-ever-nominees/

Delighted to see Claire Keegan!