50 Books Challenge 2023 Part One

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2023, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, 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 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.

Who's in for this year?

I assume @Janedownourlane is leaving because I said The Remains of the Day has a boring butler?

@Janedownourlane This is a place of debate, teasing, serious discussion and some old jokes. You happened to mention a book that some of us have been arguing about for years, so my comment about the Bloody boring butler was a throwaway silly comment because I knew lots of people would jump to his defence!

Of course I wasn't saying that you were boring.

The Darkland Tales / Hex and Rizzio look really interesting - I've put them on my TBR list (and even better, both are available on Borrowbox).

A couple of years back I read several novellas in the New Tales from the Mabinogion series, which were also excellent (The Prince's Pen by Horatio Clare & Fountainville by Tishani Doshi were highlights)

Don’t get me started on The Buried Giant! All that trudging and the constant “Princess” - never again…..

My thoughts exactly, loved the concept of the book by not the execution

@TheAnswerIsCake I thought to myself "wow talk about diverse, from the fault in our stars to the anthropocene reviewed but the joke's on me as it actually is the same John Green lol

I can't even remember why I liked it, I just know that I did! Perhaps I should reread it and come back to defend it 😂.

@TheAnswerIsCake

I read The Anthropocene Reviewed last year and was a bit nonplussed by how it states it's about the epoch but ends up just being mostly random opinions on what the author does and doesn't like; with actually very few being about humanity as a whole.
I wondered if he had a book deal to fulfil.

I have liked several of his novels, not read all, but did particularly love Looking For Alaska

@Waawo

Your post made me think of The Time Traveler's Wife absolutely loved it first read, so romantic etc etc

Now it's like This Is A Horror Story About A Woman Trapped In An Abuse Cycle She Can't Escape.

It works just as well if read from that angle actually

I wonder if that's why some efforts to cancel or no-platform certain authors or performers cause so much cognitive dissonance? I can understand how what you know about the producer of a piece of art (or anything really) will colour how you experience that thing; but the more aggressive attempts, to somehow retrospectively change opinions of art - opinions based on a viewing/reading that happened in the past, without that information, feel a little too close to trying to change history...

One of the options I chose at university was the Theory of Literature and it covered this (a lot) Only vague recollection now (it was 1987) but, essentially, no. And not even the author can ever truly say what their work means, as every reader adds meaning to it. (it was very interesting and I probably would get more out of it now tbh, in 1987 I wanted to get pissed and snog people while Kylie and Jason twittered in the background) I still have the book somewhere (Welleck and Warren were the authors) might dig it out.

I would agree in recent years there has been a drive away from allowing people things and opinions to evolve and a need to say This Is How Things Are. The End. which is counterproductive to debate, yes.

I'd like to join in please. I have just started reading The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman and am also reading The Complete Ghost Stories, M.R.James, which I reread every Christmas.

I started on the 22 in 2022 thread last year but came off the rails around March, so I'm going to be even more ambitious this year. My eyes ache from staring at my phone over Christmas, so no more of that!

I am also listening to Lucia in London, E.F.Benson, on Audible. Does that count on this thread or should I only list physical books.

Audible Counts! So do short stories and children's

Lovely, thanks. I like to have something cheerful on when I am working 😊

Finished book 2 which was What could possibly go wrong? By Jodi Taylor. This is the sixth book in the St Mary’s series about a bunch of time travelling historians whose job is to observe and record historical events. This time Chief Training Officer Maxwell is tasked with getting 5 new trainees up to speed when, as usual, things don’t go according to plan.

Like the Rivers of London series, these are the perfect books to reach for when you’re in need of something easy to read and not at all taxing. Familiar characters, nothing new but a comforting hug of a book when you’re feeling knackered.

I’m going to have to bump The Remains of the Day up my TBR list aren’t I? Otherwise, I’m going to be left out of the debate. FWIW I did like Never Let Me Go.

I love the St Mary's book and agree they are a total comfort read. When I was recovering from an op last year I listened to them all on audible and if you have audible plus they are included in your membership!

Have you read any of the Time Police books @TattiePants, I think I like those more than the recent St Mary's books.

@MamaNewtNewt I haven’t tried the Time Police books yet but they’re on my ever increasing TBR pile. My plan is to finish off lots of series I’ve already started before I start any others. With that in mind, I’m considering the 5th Shardlake as my next book but not sure I have the stamina for a 700+ pager at the minute.

Just catching up on the Ishiguro chat, I read Never Let me Go many years ago and the fact it remains the only book of his I’ve read should tell you my thoughts on it!

Hi everyone, I’d love to join in. I was following the previous thread closely but never posted.

I usually read around 100 books a year, but since I had my son 8 months ago my reading has massively dwindled! Going to try to prioritise it this year in the little spare time I get! 😁

Currently halfway through Dune by Frank Herbert. It’s been on my TBR for ages and it’s ok so far but I’m not blown away. I can imagine it’s going to be a bit of a slog by the end, but we’ll see

Another Literature graduate here who did lots of studying of the reader's relationship with texts. Agree absolutely that texts are read/received in relationship with a reader and that individual reader can have different reactions according to time/place/life context etc. As an example, as a 16-18 year old wannabe goth I devoured the misery of Thomas Hardy. Re-reading him as an adult, I wanted to slap everybody. If I revisited him now, I'd probably have a different reaction again.

That said, in the moment we review something, our opinion is entirely valid and 'right' for us. I never get upset/take it personally if people don't like the books/music etc that I like. Insulting them isn't insulting me!

I haven't read any Ishiguro and I'm not in a hurry to start, on the grounds that as things stand, I might or might not enjoy it, who can say? Anything could happen. It's Schrodinger's Butler.

Schrodinger’s Butler

On the reader relationship/ subjectivity of reviews subject I can only agree.

In my teens my aunt introduced me to so many books - my parents weren’t really readers though they supported and enabled my love of reading. My aunt on the other hand not only read widely and constantly, she worked in travelled, had been to every continent and read books from all different cultures too. She was particularly passionate about South America. I thought she was fabulous with the most amazing life. When she passed on Isabelle Allende’s The House of Spirits it became my absolute favourite book. I adored it. I wanted to be in it. I read everything by her, and by similar authors . I dreamed of trips to Peru. I pictured my future children (daughters) named after the various female characters.

I read it quite a few times between about 16 and 20ish and it was ALWAYS up there when asked my favourite book, even though I didn’t return to it again until 20 years later. When I read it again a few years ago it was nothing like as special as I remembered. The magic realism elements didn’t work for me at all. If I’d been reading it for the first time I’d probably have struggled to finish it. Was still a lovely, nostalgic read in some ways but I won’t be returning to it again. And will definitely think carefully before returning to other cherished favourites of old in future!

Wuthering Heights - another marmite book - was another real favourite of my youth and has remained so through many many rereads over the years. I think I probably get something very different from it reading it in my 40s than I did as a 15 year old though.

Wins the internet for today!

Interesting @AliasGrape

I also loved The House Of The Spirits nearly 20 years ago, but have never re-read it. Might not now. Never got into an Allende since either, Daughter Of Fortune has sat unloved on the shelf through 3 different house moves.

My feelings on Wuthering Heights have twisted and turned, but the book I remember loving at 19 and it being a bad disappointment at 31 was Memoirs Of A Geisha I was really discombobulated by not getting that feeling that you get with a brilliant book on the second time around.

And this is why I love this thread