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?

Even better I've just reserved it on borrow box, though I might see if I can get it from the paper library

4 The Book of Form and Emptiness - Ruth Ozeki

Benny can hear objects talking to him. His mother Annabelle is a hoarder. They are both struggling with the loss of Benny’s father, a jazz musician who was killed when he was hit by a delivery van on the way home from a gig. We see their struggles, the love between them and the guilt, anger, denial and shame, and how they slowly move towards a better place. There’s so much more in there - zen, the problems of capitalism and consumerism, global warming, mental health, meta fiction and the death of the author, Trump, tsunamis, substance abuse. The book itself is a character, narrating itself and interacting with the sections narrated by Benny. It grapples with the question of what is real, and as a reader you wonder too - is Benny actually hearing objects speak? Are all the characters real? Whose version of the story is the ‘real’ one?

I found this a slog at times, and yet overall I kind of loved it. I think there is almost too much in there. I know it’s not very enlightened of me as a reader but as clever and profound as a book might be, I’m really only ever there to see how the story pans out! In this case I never lost interest in the story or stopped caring about what happened to the characters (even though I felt hugely frustrated with them often) so overall it was a success for me.

I hope people enjoy Tomorrow x3. It has a beautiful shiny cover so a lovely book to read in hardback if you can get hold of it!

I am a bit late to the party but would like to join. Hello everyone 👋👋
I don't think I have ever read 50 books on 1 year but have decided I am going to give it a go this year 🤞
I am currently reading The Whistler by John Grisham. It's a cracking read once you get into it, so will be reading the second book in the series once I finish this one in the next couple of days.

Spare by Prince Harry

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, think I’ll go and eat worms.

@ChessieFL that made me laugh 😂😂🤣🤣

@MamaNewtNewt I read becoming unbecoming as a result of your review and it was one of my top reads from last year

Yup.

A far more succinct summary than mine

I really enjoyed this last year as did @noodlezoodle It's been massively popular with The Youth on Tik Tok apparently. I don't really understand Tik Tok

Eine I always laugh when I see books advertised with the blurb "Tiktok made me buy it!" Yes, but have you actually read it?

I like the uni-life-friendship genre too, (in fact somewhere on my hard drive there's 50,000 words of an unpublished one that the writer may dedicate to you lot one fine day 😂) but the video game thing put me off. How much is there of it?

Finished my annual reread of Nige and his wonderful "never cooked for 2 teenagers in my life" faffery. Gawd bless him.

1. The Christmas Chronicles

I also bought grapefruit to make marmalade.

There's a Susie Dent on the 99ps today...

@SolInvictus

A fair amount

Early on it's just descriptions of games they designed and it doesn't affect it story wise towards the very end of the novel there was a lengthy in game section that really annoyed me and made it not a bold in the end because I also didn't rate the ending and that made the last third a bit of a dud for me.

It IS a good book despite what I've said

I’m also tempted by Tomorrow x 3 but put off by the video games.

I've just started Tomorrow X 3, only one chapter in but am enjoying the 90s nostalgia - Streetfighter and magic eye pictures. One that grated though was Sam offering Sadie a Matcha - was that really a thing in the 90s? Maybe in the States.

1. Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen. Reviewed by @Nuffaluff up thread, this is another Midwest family saga from the author of The Corrections. It follows the Hildebrandt family. Dad Russ is a preacher and the teenage kids are all involved in "Crossroads", a cool church group run by the younger, cooler Ambrose who Russ is jealous of. Chapters alternate between Russ, the 3 older children and finally the mum Marion, who has a whole crazy tale of her own going on. There's Vietnam, drugs, bands and trips to the Navajos. It's a good story, some of the religion seemed a bit heavy handed, but his characters are brilliantly drawn. Apparently this is the first in a trilogy. I'd read the sequel.

Can't believe we are nearly done on the first thread. Looking forward to the first lists on Thread 2!

Despite promising myself I would limited my book buying this year and get through the 200+ books on my shelves, I’ve failed already. Just ordered another 6 books including A terrible kindness and House of glass. Plus, I’m long overdue a trip to Barter Books and I don’t think I’ve ever come back with less than 20 books.

8 Dark Whisper by Christine Feehan good fun nearly back to her best, vampire nonsense
9 Rizzio Denise Mina read this in one sitting it was very gripping, I knew the history, knew what was going to happen but the fear and horror was papable. I couldn't put it down and sat up much too late to finish it

1)This is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan An account of the writer coming to terms with her husband’s serious illness, his subsequent brain injury and her own cancer. Phew! Not as depressing as the subject matter might lead you to believe.

2) A Summer Bird Cage by Margaret Drabble I read this for the "slightly dated" thread and it is indeed dated! I didn’t really relate to the main characters but interesting nonetheless.

3) Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor I read this thanks to a recommendation here and absolutely loved it. Completely confounded my expectations and rang heartbreakingly true. Ageing is not for the faint-hearted.

4) How to Own the Room by Viv Groskop I was actually looking for a different Groskrop book in the library when I came across this which is about encouraging women to find their voice. Inspiring.

8. Secrets of the Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford This is a re-read from many years ago and I couldn't remember anything about it except it had something to do with mermaids It's dual timeline and told from 3 different perspectives and set on the Isle of Harris

In 1860 we hear from Reverend Alexander Ferguson and his made Moira Gillies. Alexander lives in the Scarista Manse and is the local vicar. He's convinced there is a species of mer-people who were the predecessors of modern humans and is constantly chasing down folk tales of mer-people from around the islands

In 1992 we hear from Ruth Macleod who, along with her husband Michael, has bought the same manse, now called The Sea House, and is in the process of renovating it to turn it into a bed and breakfast. During the renovations they discover an unusual skeleton buried beneath the floorboards and Ruth becomes determined to find out the truth about the bones. Ruth is also looking for her long lost family on the island

I...did not enjoy this story. Ruth and Michael are clearly in an abusive relationship where Ruth is the abuser but Gifford wants to explain why Ruth is that way. It's not her fault. She doesn't mean to. She loves Michael. It won't happen again...until the next time it happens. It's such a cliche and if the sexes were reversed it would be totally unacceptable. Obviously at the end everybody gets a happy ending and Ruth is no longer abusive. Still not ok. And all the happy endings are way too neat. Made me angry. Would not recommend

Just a shout out to @Southeastdweller to let her know we need a new thread.

Ooh @SolInvictus I'd buy it

@Buttalapasta I read A Summer Birdcage about 30 years ago and loved it!

I've been to Barter Books once, and thought it was a little corner of heaven! I am green with envy if you are close enough to visit often

Well behind on reading the thread so not up to date but quickly popping in to report on my third book.
3.Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
I worthy 3 to 4 out of 5. Yes I would recommend. This is about a thirteen year old called Jenna who’s mum goes missing from an elephant sanctuary. This is about Jenna’s journey to find her mum. I did enjoy this and I enjoyed reading about elephants but forewarned I think you should have some interest in elephants to enjoy the book as there is a lot of information packed in there.

@Stokey I'm listening to Crossroads as an audiobook. It's so good. I'm in a constant state of "oh no please don't do/say that*. Very attached to all the family, despite their many flaws.

I finally finished my first book of the year - Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.

It started off well - I was really intrigued by the relationship between the robot character, the child it supports and the child's mother, but I felt it started falling apart from the middle section when more characters are introduced and I struggled to understand the story and quickly became bored.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4722566-50-books-challenge-2023-part-two?reply=123176309