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?

1. An Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney

Fairly sure I heard about this book when I was on the thread a few years ago but only just got round to reading. I think there were a few comparisons to Sarah Waters whose books I've quite enjoyed previously. Set in the 18th century with elements of the supernatural. Its quite good with some good characters and fairly readable but nothing special. Felt considering some of the subject matter poverty, prostitution, rape it all felt fairly sanitised and didn't portray the brutality or horror of the situations. Some of the character development was very rushed and convenient, just all a bit lacking in depth. Some of the erotic writing is pretty cringey as well.

Run sounds good, love well done post apocalyptic fiction.

I loved An Almond for a Parrot - the silliness and fluffiness of it all is exactly what I liked about it.

Thanks Chessie

Few pearls in there, both The Night Circus and Tenant are 99p

I got Tin Man, The Familiars, Anxious People, Crime And Punishment and The Master And Margherita

I seem to remember the latter being hated by Cote but it's been on my mental list for a while

Oh and Lessons the new McEwan is £1.99

3. Dear Reader - Cathy Rentzenbrink

Another one reviewed by someone else on last years 50 books thread, and thank you to whoever it was! My first bold of the year. A memoir interspersed with book recommendations related to the chapter before or part of the author's life. More to add to my TBR list... I don't normally cry reading books but welled up at the end of this. I related with much of her story (luckily not the sad parts so much), as a book lover, and the same age, I felt she was speaking directly to me.

Major building works start tomorrow (argh!) so this might be the last post for a while

I must stop reading these threads, I have just bought 5 books to my already impossible TBR kindle list

Picking up momentum:

2. Sad Cypress - Agatha Christie

This month’s Agatha Christie challenge book. It’s a traditional one: large country house, family issues/secrets and Hercule Poirot. A couple of twists one of which I saw coming. Kept me turning the pages.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I think what I found disappointing was that I think it could have been much better with a bit more effort to develop the characters. Avery for instance just announced he'd changed his opinions and thoughts in a paragraph, it all felt a bit rushed as though she couldn't be bothered to finish it properly.

I can't remember any of the details @Wafflefudge Just enjoyed it as a good romp.

Find a Victim by Ross Macdonald
A hard boiled crime with private detective Lew Archer. I've read a couple of these now and quite rate them. If you like Raymond Chandler, you'll like these.

2. The Cat who saved books - Sosuke Natsukawa I found this a really poignant read and know it will be one I think about for a long time. The story follows teenager Rintaro Natsuki who has just lost his grandfather and is having to sell the beloved second hand bookstore. One day a cat arrives and takes him on an adventure to save books. Good reflection on books and their impact on us.

Book 3 will be Sad Cypress - Agatha Christie As part of the Agatha Christie reading challenge.

@nowanearlyNicemum I read the first three Esther's Notebooks in translation last year. The rest aren't available in English yet so very jealous you'll be able to read them all. My youngest is 10yo and my middle child is 13yo and he captured Esther's voice so accurately. Think i had them as one of my standout books of the year.

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein

Book three in the Neopolitan series and as wonderful and absorbing as ever. I've gone straight to book four.

neapolitan even

@nowanearlyNicemum and @JaninaDuszejko I really enjoyed the first two Esther’s Notebooks last year - as well as being interesting and funny in themselves, they helped give me an idea of what French schools/kids are like having moved here a year and a half ago with two primary-aged DDs. There are a lot of differences though - we live in a suburban area in the south of France and are in state education rather than a private school in Paris. I’m relieved that the kids here seem to grow up a bit more slowly than Esther and friends…

Book 9: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. Chosen for the 52 book challenge and another StoryGraph challenge of books set in different countries. Tired of seeing books with this title format however I enjoyed it. The story of a husband and wife who travel through Europe using people smugglers to get to the UK once life becomes too dangerous in Syria. I wasn’t convinced about the wife being able to travel across Europe blind though. Although a novel, I believe the author has worked with and spoken with refugees and has woven their experiences into this story. It wasn’t as harrowing a read as I expected it to be but still difficult. I imagine the journey to be much harder IRL.

Hi, a bit late to the party, but I would like to join, if that's OK. I mainly listen on audible, but also read physical books and kindle. Have just spent well over an hour reading the thread and adding to my list :-)
One of my favourite ever books is Crow Road, which I first read when spending a year in Glasgow very near to the Crow Road 20+ years ago.

I have finished my first book of the year Hot Water by Christopher Fowler (on audible). He writes the Bryant and May series of detective novels, which I really like. Hot Water not so much. It just meandered on being about not very much for ages, and then everything was resolved very quickly.
Currently listening to Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer (of Rumpole fame) and am following the Anna Karenina readalong.

@JaninaDuszejko I re read book 4 last year after watching series 3 of the brilliant TV adaptation. I'd forgotten so much. Really disappointed by Eleana and her move back to the neighbourhood. in book 3 and her affair. Love to hear what you think about book 4. I found it quite repellent in parts.

The Lying Life of Adults by Ferrante which I liked a lot less than the Neapolitan quartet has also been adapted and is on Netflix.
www.netflix.com/gb/title/81252203

Wow this thread is moving so quickly 70 posts since I was last on this morning!

I quite enjoyed Hot Water @pagansophie , but I’m not sure why, as all the characters were absolutely hideous and deserved their horrible fates . Christopher Fowler’s version of an Agatha Christie novel. His Nyctophobia also takes place somewhere hot and menacing iirc.

@BoldFearlessGirl . They were mainly awful I agree. My favourite was the manager of the rentals with her cigarettes and her gun. She could have come straight out of a Bryant and May book. In fact Bryant probably knows her :) I will look out for Nyctophobia.

His short stories are excellent too @pagansophie , if you haven’t read any of them yet.

@Gingerwarthog, first half was brilliant the middle section feels slower. I've only just finished David Copperfield, which this is purportedly a form of remake of. I've previously absolutely adored Barbara K's work so between the two I was sure this was going to be amazing. At present it reads less as an adaptation and more as a novel that's haunted by the original. Demon is a good update of David, having that wonderful blend of presence and absence you see in Dickens' DC but some characters don't translate as well. Angus for Agnes is rather blank and Uhaul for Uriah nowhere near abhorrent enough. Also perhaps this is just me but i have spent a lot of energy trying to recognise the allusions rather than committing to the plot which is distracting. Im 200 pages from the end and flagging. That said this is a good model for Dickens' DC in that it's all about the language. The rich descriptions are brilliant and Demon shares David's ability to see his life at a distance. I have certainly learned a lot about life in one of the poorest regions of the US.

@Thewolvesarerunningagain
Thank you.
Think I may try this next. I love Barbara Kingsolver - and Dickens.

Sorry if it’s already been mentioned but Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout is 99p in the deals at the moment, one of my favourites of hers.

Thank you @Terpsichore, I've nabbed the Ballard and Bosch. I didn't love the first couple in that series but have really enjoyed the last couple.

I can't work out what on earth's going on with the Kindle deals - it seems to be a mix of new monthly deals, 12 days of kindle and random other stuff, but I can't see any alternative to wading through 144 pages of it to see what's actually new!

I also used to check my wishlist and sort by price, but quite often now the 99p ones don't show up in that order, they stay in their 'original' price order so I have to scroll through the whole lot to check.

@AliasGrape I'm a bit lost with the Strout books. Is Amy and Isabelle a stand alone or is it related to any of her other books?
Only only read Olive and Olive, Again so far but loved, loved, loved them!