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'd like to join please. I read 41 books in 2022 and think with a bit more focus I can get a few more under my belt this year. I've been reading Agatha Christie, and am currently in the middle of The Secret of Chimneys.

1.. The Hustler by Walter Tevis

This was the understated yet powerful coming-of-age story of a young and talented pool hustler, learning to overcome his demons and build up his character to win, famously adapted to film starring Paul Newman.

I loved it. Everything about it rings true, from addiction and relationships, to the feel of the billiards/pool clubs. It is not a surprise to see that he was an alcoholic and worked at a pool hall at university.

The story brought back memories of a previous life when I was spending several nights per week playing billiards with my own pro cue which cost $300 back in the '90s. That silence and total absorption, low ceilings and the all-permeating smell of alcohol and cigarettes, the satisfying sound of a good hit... they all came back to me while reading this book.

Definitely recommended.

My Year of Rest and Relaxtion, Ottessa Moshfegh

Woman goes to sleep for much of a year with the help of a therapist and prescription medication. I think this is possibly meant to be a satire but I was never quite sure. I found it dismal and depressing and Emile Zola and Thomas Hardy are two of my favourite authors. I didn’t feel anything towards any of the characters. I don’t feel the need to like characters, but I do need to feel something. I think this will go down as a 2 star for me. I could see how it was different and experimental, but not what I enjoy, and I didn’t really like it.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I'm sorry it's hard for you.

I'm 5% into a Jodi picoult book that I started last week. It's ok so far.

1. The Christmas Bookshop - Jenny Colgan

Books, Christmassy Edinburgh, kids and romance. Does what it says on the tin. Warm and cosy start to the year.

I'm a long time lurker here but would love to join in this year. I read around 150 books last year and it's always a fairly eclectic mix.

My favourite book of 2022 was probably Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead.

First book of 2023 is A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe it's very good so far.

Didn't take me long to read David Blake Horsey Mere uninterrupted. Latest in a detective drama series with established characters, mixes witchcraft politics and racism as well as revenge into an interesting and not entirely predictable plot. Not brilliant but enjoyable. Themes of baby loss and references to Grenfell just as a health warning

Need to find book 3 now

If anyone has any good crime/mystery or light reads I'd love some suggestions.

The first book that came to mind was Curtain Call, a book many of us on these threads have really enjoyed. The film adaptation's out this year.

Hiccup I do get what you’re saying about Gamache. Love the Three Pines bistro though

I'm in. Finished 1/50 *The Apartment ,- Lucy Foley. I enjoyed it, but I worked out where it was going quite early.

I read this last year. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions. I will definitely follow them up

@StColumbofNavron, "I found it dismal and depressing and Emile Zola and Thomas Hardy are two of my favourite authors" made me snort 😂

Late to the thread but I'm in again this year!

Ordinary Monsters by JM Miro
I really enjoyed this. YA-ish fantasy, the first in what is going to be a series. It's long, at over 600 pages, but didn't feel it except in one section which was backstory. If you like Harry Potter you'll probably enjoy it, although I think this is marketed to adults, rather than children. I'll definitely look out for more of these.

Thank you for the thread @Southeastdweller , and happy new year everyone- I dropped off thr threads half way through last year, a bit gutted as I've been on them for years! I made over 50 though, but didn't keep a list. Book 1 for this year was the last in a series, Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater. I've mostly loved this series, although a few threads felt unfinished to me, but overall I think this YA urban fantasy is well thought through, well plotted, and has beautifully drawn characters. An achievement.

Looking For The Durrells by Melanie Hewitt

Chicklit about a woman who splits up from her fiancé and then has a holiday romance in Corfu. So far so predictable but as a Durrells fan I did like that she travels round the island visiting the Durrells’ houses.

1. The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Tom Ripley is employed by a wealthy New York family with the purpose of tracking down an errant son and heir more interested in living a louche lifestyle in Europe. Once there, Mr Ripley becomes overly attached to both the son and the lifestyle.

I really, really wish that I had read this book before I saw the film because I might have been gripped by the twists and turns. I probably would have been. It is good writing but I'm not sure I want to invest my time in following the sequels on.

I kept thinking of another more recent book I've read called Alys, Always by Harriet Lane which is a female version of this but with less danger. I can clearly see where it took inspiration. I'm not going to outright recommend Alys, Always though, I really enjoyed it but I can see it being marmite on here.

Thank you southeastdweller for the new thread!

@PepeLePew and @StColumbofNavron , I read Au Revoir, Tristesse a couple of years ago and also greatly enjoyed it. I just dug out my old review:

'This personal memoir of reading French literature by the fabulous Viv Groskop did not disappoint. It's very heavily weighted toward canonical texts (a fact which Groskop acknowledges in the epilogue) and also toward 19th/20th century ones. But the choice is explained by the fact that the book is basically an account of what Groskop read in her undergraduate days. I found some chapters more powerful than others (the Laclos and Camus ones were particularly good), but I enjoyed them all. It's not an academic book, obviously, and one result of this is that Groskop's interpretations are mostly thematic, rather than dealing with poetics and form. However, her account of how she slowly came to combine her love of France with feeling comfortable in her own skin is one that I could identify with. Like her, I will never be French enough (or French at all for that matter) -- a fact that is regrettable but still OK!'

I remember that you too, St Columb, commented that you identified with her relationship to Frenchness. There is something very refreshing and mature about her views of her younger self. I also heard her interview Margaret Atwood live once (in front of a packed stadium), and she was a great interviewer, very funny and intelligent.

I’ve just given up on The Whalebone Theatre about a quarter of the way through. I agree with Remus’s comments after she read the sample - the writing style is very creative writing class and the present tense is really annoying. So far nothing much has happened and I decided I didn’t care what was going to happen, so I’ve returned it for a refund.

@cassandre at times I’m quite floored by the way she talks about French/France/Frenchness, it was like I had written it myself. I didnt love her How to Own the Room, but the Anna Karenina fix was a similarly wonderful experience for me.

Book 1 complete - Someone Else's Life - Lyn Liao Butler

The book wasn't really anything special in my opinion, but it was my free 'Amazon First Read' for the month. I have a lot on my Kindle, cheap or first reads that I will likely try and breeze through within my target of 50 because they're annoying me just sitting in my downloads now :(

I will choose book number 2 before bedtime tonight, hopefully it will be more to my taste, just found this one a bit boring. It was pretty much set in the space of 24 hours for the most part and I felt it dragged on. I am also going to start reading the Susie Dent book a PP mentioned each day to span across the year. It sounds like something I would love! I have also written a list of books that I want to read from the first day's worth of posts here too, so I wouldn't be surprised if my unread list simply gets longer 😂

Happy reading everyone :)

Behind on this thread as always but will have a catch-up read soon.
First book of the year finished.
The Fear Bubble by Ant Middleton
I wanted to read this purely to read about his journey to conquer Everest. During most of the book I thought what a big ego this guy has and I did not like his attitude at all to some of the people he encounters. Such as when he meets a couple who talk to him about their grandchild’s G.C.S.E’s he just came across as damn right rude in what he thought of them. However during the latter part of the book he recognises that he does indeed have an ego and that it is something he needs to work on. Disappointingly for me is that the book was not all about Everest but a lot about your own fear and your fear bubble. He mixes his other experiences to try and explain how to conquer your fear. In the end I was glad to have read this as the last part did change my view about him . I will try to remember to use some of his wisdom for myself. As I say though it was a book which was like a self help book more than his climb of Everest. Yes I would recommend. Now off for a catch up read.

@ChessieFL Glad it's not just me!

I can recommend any of the Catherine Cooper books: fun light hearted also any thing by MR Hall