50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Two

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second thread of the 50 Books 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, it’s not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of the year is here.

What are you reading?

@Cornish I loved The Vanishing Half! 🙂

5. New People Danzy Senna
A book about a mixed race protagonist who seems to be unable to decide on how much she wants to be with current partner and her obsession with a poet. The ending is left very open in a strange way. I feel like i wasted my time reading this tbh

I am a strong advocate for the junk food that is TJR books, but seeing the trailer for DJAT6 makes me really nervous!

I didn't much like Daisy Jones and The Six but did enjoy The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. TJR is someone whose books I'd read again, for a good story, told well.
I did like The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett despite its having been pushed quite heavily on Booktube at the time. It's supposed to be based loosely on Passing by Nella Larsen, whichI haven't read yet, although it is on my tbr list.

@BaruFisher I've owned a kindle for over ten years now, so you can imagine how many 99p deals might have found their way onto it, so I'm having a concerted effort to pick out the ones I want to read and read them this year, and ditch any that no longer interest me. It's a shame they can't be sold on or donated like we can with actual books! We have a community book exchange in a phone box at the end of our street and I'd fill it single handed with the books I'm no longer interested in 😆. But that's not to say I've stopped buying books, though. Serious book buying habit here too.

@eitak22 as long as you go and make a lasagne while the elvish poetry and faintly druggy campfire singing is going on for about 250 pages feels like you'll be fine.

I have finished Anatomy of a Scandal

Back later with my scathing insights. 😂

@JaninaDuszejko If you enjoyed The 39 Steps try Huntingtower. Glorious fun.

8 Fingers Crossed - Miki Berenyi

Intelligent and extremely candid autobiography of the Lush front woman, which focuses as much on her childhood as her years in the 90s indie band. It's a tough listen in parts (Inc childhood abuse) but always honest and compelling. Recommended.

Just finished 4/50 - The Shadow Casket, Chris Woodling

This was an ARC from Netgalley, the book isn't our until Feb. I read the previous in the series (The Ember Blade) and really enjoyed it. This book was actually better, more fast paced and it was hard to put down at times.
It was a reasonably long book at 834 pages so I'll probably go for a shorter thriller next.
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1. Minor Mage: T. Kingfisher.

This is the second book that I have by this author and I enjoyed it as a light, whimsical read with an underpinning of melancholy and seriousness.

Oliver is a twelve year old boy and a young wizard, sent away to seek out the cloud-herders and bring rain back to his village. He has his familiar for company, an armadillo, who likes to remind him that he only knows three spells and is probably not up to the task. The poor boy sets out with the weight of the world on his shoulders but manages to muddle through. This is a nice, easy story that would appeal to young adult readers or anyone who likes something a little bit quirky. I don't read a lot of fantasy, but I like this author.

1. Les Années: Annie Ernaux/The Years: trans. Alison L. Strayer.

This is a memoir of the life of the author spanning her childhood following the Second World War, her catholic adolescence, the student revolts of May 1968, her teaching career, her activism, her evolving career as a writer, her divorce and into the new millennium.

It is a densely-written book, absolutely full of references to popular culture, the buzzwords of the day, advertising slogans, war, immigration and politics. It is written in a 'flat style', ie very sparingly and objectively. The author describes herself in photographs at different stages of her life. She talks about herself in an impersonal voice, never using 'I', but 'one' or 'we' and she relates her life to what was happening in the context of the times, as in what we did, what people did then. Presidential elections and family dinners on Sunday punctuate the text at regular intervals marking collective and personal occasions.

I started out reading it in French and then in English, but after a while switched to reading it in English and then French for the ease of it. The translation is really good and I needed it to appreciate the original fully. I recommend this if you are interested in French society and politics and in particular the place of women in society. It's an absorbing read and highly acclaimed for good reason.

1. Foster: Claire Keegan.

This is a novella about a child who is sent to her aunt and her husband for a short stay and how she responds to their care. I read it in one go last night and I'm going to read it again later again as once was not enough. It's a lovely story, beautifully written and I hope the film on which this is based ('An Cailín Ciúin') does brilliantly in the Oscars!

Fuzzy I'm so glad you liked Foster, I've been banging on about it for years. I've read it many (many!) times, and each time I find something new in it; it really is such a gem.

Aw, Boiledegg! Did you really? Yes, it's a gem. I read it fairly late last night and remember thinking that it deserved a second reading to appreciate the nuances. I bought it in paperback before Christmas.

The film is based on the book, just to make it clear.

10/50 * The couple at the table - Sophie Hannah. Crime puzzle mystery like Agatha Christie. Gripping

1. Taste. Stanley Tucci.

I really enjoyed this book. A sort of autobiography/family memoir told through his love of food (probably a good part of the reason I enjoyed it so much!). I don’t really take much notice of celebrity news, so I didn’t know much about him besides his acting, so was taken by surprise by some of the difficulties he and his family have had to struggle through. Some nice looking recipes too.

•    <strong>2.</strong> Never let me go. Kazuo Ishiguro*
  

It was ok is probably the best I can say for this. It’s a dystopian novel (hadn’t realised until I was into it, just went by author as I enjoyed remains of the day previously). It was well written and flowed, but just didn’t quite catch my imagination. The idea behind it was an interesting (and worrisome) one, but I just thought there were too many unanswered questions, and none of the characters really grabbed me. Maybe it was meant to feel a little dead given the central ethos. It’s one I’m likely to take to a charity shop rather than recommend and pass on to friends or family. Thought provoking though.

@ICrunchCrispsNotNumbers thanks for the welcome. I can’t believe how quickly this thread moves!

@UnfinishedBusiness you're welcome. ❤️ and I know, it's crazy 😂🙂.

Halfway though Anthony Horowitz's Raven's Gate. Have never really read any supernatural novels so it's a first for me. I'm enjoying it though 👍❤️

@UnfinishedBusiness I don’t think I’ve already said it, so welcome!

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh I’ve requested Les Années from the library based on your review (and I think someone else has read it on this year’s thread too? I’ll try to read it in French…will see how I go.

I’ve also got Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow on request from the library, again based on recommendations (not just from this thread!). Looking forward to it as everyone seems to have enjoyed it so far.

@MegBusset I love a good rock memoir and Lush were part of the soundtrack to my teenage years so I am definitely going to add this one to my TBR.

I have now finished the Kate Mosse - The Taxidermist's Daughter. Entertaining and readable enough but a very silly book, with a silly ending , worthy of Vera or Midsomer Murders. And violently nasty in places.

Go for it @DuPainDuVinDuFromage! It's not an easy read, but you will get into the swing of it after a while. The book starts and ends with a description of random snapshots from real life and the cinema that are strung together with no connection between them, so don't be put off. I'm thinking Ernaux has a photographic memory!

I liked how she said at the start that we remember words and phrases of people who died, more than their faces. I can relate to that.

I lived in France as a student twice and I found it interesting to read about her recollection of that time because I always felt like an outsider looking in. I thought it was good to hear it from the perspective of a French person.

16. Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry (Audible)

Others have already reviewed this on here last year and everyone knows the score I think

Referring to it like a childrens book as "Big Terrible Thing" is a cutesy attempt at endearment I thought. I know addiction is a terrible illness but Matthew is 52 and has been in rehab more than 60 times, many of which he intentionally sabotaged. He nearly died in 2019 and then was back in rehab just a year later. It is less a memoir of an actor with an addiction problem than it is an addict who gets occasional jobs in the media.

There's this catch 22 of him basically being saved by the multimillions he made from Friends which help pay for all the facilities he's tried but also of that money helping to fuel his addiction. It's clear he is lucky to be alive and the stories are shocking.

Addiction aside, I'm afraid that as a person I found him deeply unpleasant. At one point he describes his younger self as "selfish and narcissistic" and... he's not kidding.

I would add :

Egotistical
Whiny
Self Pitying
Deluded and
Slightly Misogynistic

I struggled with his outlook on life because it is so coloured by these qualities.

Like most Sleb Memoirs it is very light on stories of other Slebs, most memoirs like this are very careful I think. He was with an actress in a relationship for 6 years and I don't think he mentions her once.

There is a lot of lore around Friends and I think part of that is people believing this cast must actually be Friends. It's clear that they are no more than former work colleagues to him and he says little about them. Courtney Cox and Matt Le Blanc are barely mentioned, Lisa Kudrow is termed funny for a woman and David Schwimmer is thanked twice for his foresight in contract negotiation - thats it.
The really WTF anecdote in the whole thing is Jennifer Aniston. He made a play for her early doors and was resoundingly turned down. Following this he used to stare at her on set for as long as he could without her noticing, and then in his acknowledgements says "Jenny, thank you letting me stare at you for those extra few seconds"
Again there's this sense that he thinks he's cutesy and endearing, but he's just Creepy Guy.

Bleurgh.

17. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Posh Flora decides to impose herself upon some country bumpkin relatives and sets about improving their lives.

I mean, seriously, I am calling it in January that This Is The Worst Book I Read in 2023, and I definitely hope it is because I don't want to read anything as bad as it for the rest of the year. 133 pages of uphill struggle, tedium and annoyance!

I'll keep that in mind!

4 My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley. This is about a mother / daughter relationship, and it felt a bit like non-fiction even though it's fiction. I guess that is a compliment (i.e. that it felt so realistic), but it focuses on the minutiae of the relationship (meeting for lunch, conversations etc) and I found it a bit boring at times.

5 Tin Man by Sarah Winman. Ellis is in his 40s and grieving the death of his wife five years previously. Over the course of the novel we find out more about their relationship, and the other important relationship in Ellis's life, his childhood friend Michael. I enjoyed this, and it's 99p on kindle at the moment if anyone is interested.

6 Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris. Sedaris writes funny, observational commentary about the world around him - ranging from the personal (relationships with his family and partner) to the political. This is the second book of his I've read (the other was Me Talk Pretty One Day) and I enjoyed this one more - it was interesting to hear about the BLM protests from the point of view of someone living in America, and he is really open and honest about his sister's suicide and his difficult relationship with his father. I don't find him as hilarious as some other reviewers seem to, but there was some thought provoking stuff here. I listened to it on Audible, read by the author, and he has a nice speaking voice too (after the disappointment of listening to Bill Bryson read one of his own books).

@Tarahumara

I've read a few David Sedaris books, I didn't know his sister had committed suicide that's really sad

It is really sad - it sounds like she had a very troubled life

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit
I fucking hated Cold Comfort Farm and every time (which is often) it's recommended as "the most hilarious book every written that will make yourself widdle on your keyboard and wake the children as you guffaw throughout" I mentally add the person doing the recommending to my dinner party from hell list as I imagine they probably quote from Friends and think Coldplay is hardcore.
I feel I should add the person who recommended it to me is one of those insufferable women who post photos of her roaring fire and bread and butter puddings and labradors on Sunday when I'm frantically drying pants on the radiator and spraying the mould in the bathroom. This may have coloured my view of the book.