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?

@highlandcoo - I can see that it’s a book which will stay with me and interesting to hear that the other Jane Garam books cover the same ground but are told from other viewpoints. I may try another one at some point.

Re. The Lighthouse Witches, the Costa mistake (I think they appeared mid-to-late 90s?) doesn’t surprise me - there were several dodgy bits of research as I remember, especially the geography: I think I came to the conclusion that it only worked if the lighthouse was on the west coast, even though it was clearly meant to be on the east (in view of Bass Rock or something? My recollection is a bit hazy). But I liked the story enough to get over that, and will look out for her new book (I didn’t particularly enjoy the other two books of hers that I have read though).

Trongate McDonalds opened in 1988! It's crazy isn't it?

I grew up with McDonalds because my mum is American and I guess I must have thought it was so amazing to go in the US. But we did more Burger King to be fair then. I think they did better gifts with the food.

Atlas of Geographical Curiosities by Vitali Vitaliev

This has maps and information about things like the island that moves between being French and Spanish every six months, a road in London that is technically part of Cambridgeshire, and twin towns in Australia where you can celebrate New Year in one town then walk to the other and celebrate again an hour later because they’re in different states with different time zones. Lots of other examples of things that are a bit unusual. I found this really interesting and good to dip in and out of.

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

I picked this up as a recommendation on last year’s threads. I think those who read it previously really enjoyed it, whereas for me it was ok. There were some funny moments but for me there weren’t enough of those to offset the story of Janet’s rather boring life.

Diddly Squat ‘Til The Cows Come Home by Jeremy Clarkson

Another collection of his newspaper columns about running his farm. He’s a funny writer and it’s interesting to read about the various challenges facing farmers.

The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

This is Bob’s first novel, a funny crime caper. This was OK - the story was fine but the writing felt a bit try-hard for me.

I started reading The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly this morning. The premise sounds intriguing. I remember the Masquerade treasure hunt from the 1970s that inspired this story, when I was a child, although never had a copy of the book.

Interestingly it appears to be set in The Vale of Health in Hampstead, which is the same road that Lissa Evans's trilogy (Old Baggage etc) is set. I don't know Hampstead at all, or London that well, but this road name fascinates me.

Hoping this is a good read.

Tarragon the chalet school books are my guilty secret. I may have the full set of 62 books. I am not sure I would love them on re-reading but can't bring myself to get rid!

I think I was disappointed with The Lighthouse Witches because, in my opinion, it compared so unfavourably to The Kingdoms, which had a similar set piece (hope that's vague enough - trying not to spoil either book) - I read both last year.

@Remindmeofababe The Chalet School books are a huge guilty secret on MN lol. Some hilarious threads about Matron basically drugging the pupils etc

The Vale of the Heath refers to a particular part of Hampstead Heath before you cross the road into the section that heads towards Golder’s Green. It’s where it’s all starts getting less field like and more foresty. I mean, that probably doesn’t help much.

Re: The Bastard of Istanbul I like Elif Şafak more generally and think he work has got
better. This was the first book that caught my eye in a Waterstones many years ago by an obviously Turkish author (obvious to me from her name because I have Turkish heritage). I liked this enough, but preferred Honour and loved The Island of Missing Trees, I have read some others as well and met her a few times.

Sometimes her books do speak to me as a Turkish person, for example, Honour because it set in London and about diaspora and streets I know and the characters are sometimes like people from my childhood, but sometimes her writing style is a bit overblown.

I know that Cote has an entirely different opinion of her and her work to me though.

I've just finished Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and loved it. It was an easy but interesting read and seemed to move along quickly.

I got The World by Simon Sebag Montefiore for Christmas. It tells the story of humanity from pre history to the present day through families.

It's an absolute monster of a book and I wish I'd got it on Kindle as it's too big for taking on the train or on hols. I'm planning to dip in and out in between other books so let's see if I finish it this year!

@InTheCludgie I tried watching David Suchet in Death on the Nile over Christmas and thought he was absolutely awful. Had to turn it off. He played Poirot like Hitler pretending to be Richard the Third. I then watched Peter Ustinov in a couple, and liked him much more.

I’m interested in reading more by Elif Safak so have added Honour to my TBR pile. I got 10 minutes…… for Christmas and read The island of missing trees last year which was particularly interesting as one of my friend’s earliest memories was having to leave his home in Famagusta and hide in the fields with his family and neighbours.

Thanks @StColumbofNavron , it’s interesting to hear your perspective, especially with your Turkish heritage. I definitely agree that the writing is a bit overblown sometimes (pretentious is the word I was thinking of!) but it’s good to know that some of her other books might be better - I’ll look out for them.

Just finished my first book of 2023 and this challenge.
1/50 Silverview by John Le Carre. Mixed feelings about it. It was clearly set in Southwold although it's never explicitly mentioned, a town I have been to many time, so that drew me in. I enjoyed it and feel he is a very good writer, but also found I couldn't understand a lot of the spy speak and the style he writes in is quite confusing, long-winded, and slightly opaque. I guess that's the point of it. Apparently it was finished by his son after his death in 2020. Just trying to decide on my next book..

@InTheCludgie I have ten or so books in what I'd call an actual TBR queue - either by my bed or in a folder on my kindle. They are the ones I will go to next. Then there are probably another 300 or so in various locations that I will in theory read that I have bought or been given. Then a wish list of around 50. Life is too short!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I've not watched that one for a while, maybe need to revisit it out of curiosity....

@PepeLePew yes I could probably do with whittling down my wishlist - most were recommended on here and sounded interesting at the time but when I look at my list I realise I couldn't even tell you why exactly I added many of them now. I probably need to be ruthless and do a virtual declutter.

Have just finished 1979 by Val McDermid.
Enjoyed this - the focus is on a young investigative journalist in Glasgow. Allie Burns is a talented writer who is finding her feet at the paper but also experiencing that early 20s thing of finding your identity and style.
The book also deals with devolution and bring gay in the late 70s.
Will read 1989.

I’m a wee bit late to the party but I’ve had some fantastic recommendations from these threads previously and feel ready to pop my head above the parapet. I’m doing the 52 books challenge hoping that it will motivate me to read some of my TBR and also take me in directions I might not have been before. I’m on annual leave this week so have got gotten a good start.

1. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzi
2. Scaredy Cat by Mark Billingham. Crime procedural. Reasonably interesting story but found the middle section a bit tedious
3. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams. Nice enough, probably wouldn’t have read it if it wasn’t for the 52 books challenge. Have noted some of the books off her own reading list (at the end of the book) as future TBRs though
4. Graves in the Fens by Joy Ellis. I like crime books as a comfort read, especially those located near me as this one is. Enjoyed it but not outstanding
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My first audiobook and I really enjoyed it. Not a huge fan of Dickens but I enjoyed having it read to me. Used the Audrey app but will also look at Audible
6. How To Sit by Thich Nhat Hahn. A very short book on Zen meditation
7. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The treatment she received from her mother was horrific and her journey into and out of Islam was very interesting. The time she spent in hiding came across as very claustrophobic. Has been on my Kindle for a couple of years and read it for the book challenge
8. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. Classic feminist essay. Enjoyed

@Sunrun I also got The World for Christmas. I do like him.

Fancy meeting you here @CaptainSensiblesRedBeret

1. Passing Nella Larsen

Written & set in the 1920s this short novel explores the relationship between two women - Irene & Clare. It is told entirely from the perspective of Irene. Irene is a middle class black women living in Harlem with her doctor husband and sons. She lost touch with Clare years ago, but a chance encounter leads them to reestablish their relationship. It becomes apparent that Clare has been passing as white for years with both her husband and child unaware of her heritage. Both the central characters are fully realised. Irene is unsettled by Clare reinserting herself into her life. Her restraint and pursuit of a safe, settled life contrasts with Clare's unapologetic risk taking. Although I did find it slow in places (there is a lot of tea drinking & narration of Irene's inner thoughts), I'm glad I read it. It offered a window on a time and place I new nothing about & Clare is an unforgettable character. My edition had an excellent introduction, but I was glad a read it after the book as it gave away the ending.

4. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

I listened to this novella on Audible (it’s inc in the plus catalogue for those of you with a subscription) and the performance by Michael C. Hall was excellent. I’ve only ever seen bits of the film but I found book Holly to be very different to what I’ve seen of Audrey Hepburn’s take. Early on I would have said I hated Holly Golightly, her casual racism and selfishness, as well as all of the stupid, sycophantic men who couldn’t see how they were being used but it wasn’t as simple as that, Holly wasn’t as simple as that, and I came to admire her resilience and survival instincts, as well as the glimpses which showed her more vulnerable side. And while I can’t say I ended the book liking Holly I have more of a sense of why so many found her so alluring as I’ve been thinking about this book, off and on, since I started it.

I remember someone on the thread last year describing Holly as the original manic dream pixie girl, so I’ll leave you with that perfect description.

Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly.

I have a LOT of books on my TBR pile and have generally used a random number generator to select my books, which has led to me reading a lot of the 99p thrillers which I generally find unsatisfying.

When @PermanentTemporary did the roundup of bolded books for 2022 I went through and made a list of those that I already own. I'm not saying I'm not going to read any 99p easy reads in 2023, but this list is forming the backbone of my TBR list for the year. I've read 4 so far, and have a couple of others on the go, and haven't read a bad book yet.

I really need to watch the film in full. I'm just not sure I can watch Mickey Rooney's performance without cringing so hard that I cause myself a mischief!