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?

I haven't read or watched any Sally Rooney so no opinion. Havent read Cold Comfort Farm either.

Book 9- Lady Chatterley's Lover by D H Lawrence
Sure this doesn't need an introduction.
I haven't read any Lawrence before. I have seen the adaptation from a few years ago with Richard Madden but can't remember much about it. Really enjoyed the book, there was some tiresome pontificating by some of the characters early on and there's some very odd ideas about women's sexuality in one section which I'm assuming reflect the author's thoughts- this thankfully is confined to one speech. Other than that I really enjoyed this book.
Anyone seen the recent netflix adaptation? Or I might try the Sean Bean version.

8. House of X / Powers of X written by Jonathan Hickman, pencilled by Pepe Larraz & R B Silva

Marvel graphic novel.
The X-Men are going in a whole new direction in this. Mutants are coming back from the brink of extinction, and Professor X and Magneto have led the founding of a new mutant nation on the sentient island of Krakoa.

It’s an exciting start to a new chapter, great art, although the jumping around between past / present / possible futures was a bit confusing at first.

Probably only one for people who like reading about Marvel comics or superheroes.

And following on from all the Wolf Hall talk upthread, I’ve now pulled down the copy of Wolf Hall I got for my birthday 7 years ago and started reading 🙂

I finally have some books to report. It's been a slow reading start to the year, and then tax stuff...anyway.
#1. Lucia in London by E.F.Benson the third of the Mapp and Lucia books. I loved it, although not as much as the first two.
#2. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman it took a while to get used to the style but I'm glad I persevered. I enjoyed reading from the older persons perspective and will read more when I can find them in The Works!

On the go now are Whose Body Dorothy. L. Sayers. But thanks to this thread I have many, many books on my wish list

Oh dear.was that a dig about it being teenage?😕

I think lot of book have TV adaptions coming this year so I want to read them first.

@Wafflefudge I have seen the new adaptation of Lady Chatterley and it is basically soft porn really, even with all its talk of being woman friendly/using sex consultants or whatever. I'm no prude, but I do believe in the power of imagination that lengthy, naked, explicit sex scenes just take away and make lazy viewing (for me anyway). I have seen all three adaptations and honestly I don't think any do the book justice - film length is just not long enough to explore it properly. The Natasha Richardson one is a mini series so superior to the other two in my opinion as there is more space.

@StColumbofNavron I have seen the new adaptation of Lady Chatterley and it is basically soft porn really

But is it the kind of thing you would want your servants to see? 😉

@grannycake your review made me 😁

Too late to the party for the CCF, Friends, Coldplay etc. chat (never read, left me cold, I prefer their live stuff over studio sessions) - oh, and B&BP is the devil's grouting.

7. The Prison Doctor: Women Inside - Dr Amanda Brown

A sequel to The Prison Doctor, which I haven't read (yet, though it's now on the TBR list). A selection of stories about the women who spend time inside Britain's biggest prison, and the prison doctor who treats them. Some harrowing stuff as you'd expect but also some humour, and always sympathetically written. I learned a lot about the routines and logistics of the prison world which was fascinating to read about. The book helps to see women inside as individuals, each with their own, often complex, challenges. Sadly for some of them circumstances have dictated from an early age what their life is likely to be. It was a tough read in places but worth it.

I read Lady Chatterley in my 20s (aka a long time ago). I lent my copy to DHs nan who lived in sheltered housing. I never saw it again but apparently it was read by all and was the talk of the common lounge area.

@kateandme sorry I didn't mean it as a dig, more an observation. I think I class them as YA as DD & co are into them but think they're marketed towards a slightly older demographic (probably 20s). Dd was rolling her eyes at her friends flicking to the sex scenes which made me think of Jilly Cooper.

@Wafflefudge I read Frieda - the real Lady Chatterley by Annabel Abbs last year about his wife - it was really interesting. Lots of crazy 30s Berlin free love and psychology. It did make me think I should reread the original as think I read it when I was a teenager.

1. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor. I hadn't read anything by her before and I think someone on here recommended this. It's very well observed. Mrs Palfrey is an elderly lady in the 60s who moves into the Claremont Hotel - basically a guest house - where she lives with a few other elderly residents. The characters are beautifully drawn and it is quite poignant about becoming old. At one stage Mrs P speaks about being younger and wanting to be free from worrying about children and ageing parents and money, but now "I realise that that's the only way of being free - to be not needed." Also great descriptions of London. I'd recommend this.

"I mean there's a group of four teenagers, one's gay, one's bi and one's trans (the last is presumably straight!) - is this typical nowadays?!"
@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl to be fair, probably yes! At least within certain friendship groups / types of teenager. (And they're probably the ones most likely to buy/read books.)

I've never considered reading any Sally Rooney, but I feel I need to now just to join in Any recommendations on whether to start with Normal People or Beautiful World?

@Stokey Frieda sounds good. Added to my Wishlist!

Sadik You're The Winner here! Take the win and keep running

You want the Sean Bean version definitely.
Nothing like a real bit of rough playing a bit of rough. 😂
(LCL is one of my favourite classics) (and Sean Bean is one of my favourite bits of rough)

Sean Bean was my first crush, in Sharpe

Two more short ones

8 The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville
This novella starts in an alternate 1950s Paris, now a closed & barricaded city, patrolled by the Nazis, with no-one allowed to enter or leave. The city is full of strange 'manifs' - manifestations of surrealist art - in conflict with demons raised by the occupying troops.
The story alternates with a strand in 1940 where an American disciple of Aleister Crowley becomes involved with a clandestine resistance group of avant-garde artists.
Firstly, lets just say that if you disliked The City and the City you will really hate this one. I enjoyed it - it's very visual as Miéville always is, & the joy of it is definitely in the word picture painted of New Paris. I also though the denouement was excellent.

9 Shelter by Dave Hutchinson
Post-apocalyptic novel, set in the aftermath of a shower of comet fragments hitting Earth, plunging civilisation into chaos. The story starts 100 years later, when the 'Long autumn' of cold & darkness is coming to an end, and people are finally beginning to be able to do more than just survive in tiny huddled communities.

There was lots to like here - it's a good fast paced story, looking at how society is starting to rebuild, and the different groups trying to take control. It's very much too violent for my taste though, & I don't think I'll read the next one in the series, I ended up skipping too many scenes to really make full sense of the plot. Would recommend though if you're OK with a certain amount of graphic violence & like dystopian thriller type books.

I’m falling behind with my reviews:

10 The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng
I think this was a recommendation from last year’s threads and I can’t remember who recommended it but it was exquisite. Set in Malaya/Malaysia, Teoh Yun Ling is a recently retired judge, daughter of a rich Chinese Malaysian family, prosecutor of Japanese war criminals and the only survivor of a Japanese PoW camp. Before WWII Yun Ling and her family visited Japan where her sister fell in love with Japanese gardens and dreamed of creating one of her own. After her sister dies in the camp, Yun Ling plans to honour her sister by creating a Japanese garden and tries to enlist the help of a famous Japanese gardener living in Malaya. He refuses to build the garden but agrees to Yun Ling being his apprentice so she can build her own.

The book is about relationships - both romantic and familial - what we remember and forget, guilt, set against the violent and turbulent events of the 1940s with the war and fight for Malayan independence. I think this is my first bold of the year.

11 Lies, Damned Lies and History, Jodi Taylor
This is the seventh book in The Chronicles of St Mary’s series and I think it’s the weakest so far. These are my easy, escapism reads but I didn’t find the travels into the past very interesting this time. Max and her team enable a historical item to be removed in the present day which has drastic consequences. The team try to make amends but that leads to more carnage and the possibility of St Mary’s being shut down. Then, right at the end, another twist happens which is all solved within a chapter which left me feeling what was the point of that?

12 Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford
Once again the book is narrated by Fanny, cousin to the Radlets and pokes fun at the ridiculousness of the upper classes. The focus shifts to Fanny’s friend Polly Montdore and the Montdore family with her vain, gossipy mother and distant cousin. It was a light, easy read but I don’t think I’ll be seeking out the third book in the series. I had assumed that the timeline would follow on from The Pursuit of Love so was surprised that it covers a similar time period and some events eg Fanny and Linda getting married we’re repeated. I also didn’t think Polly (or any of the Montdores) were a match for Linda Radlet as a central character.

@SolInvictus and @Natsku you’d be jealous of my DH. He stayed at Sean Bean’s house 30+ years ago and went to the pub with him. Apparently he’s as nice as you’d expect.

Quite jealous! I wrote a post about my 8th read The Prophet by Khalil Gibran but mumsnet is fucked on my phone and is driving me insane and I don't know if this will post or just jump around until it freezes

It may have been me @TattiePants there's a fair bit of thematic crossover between it and The Gift Of Rain but both beautifully written - I didn't read it last year though so it's probably someone else just with me agreeing

I’ve added that to my TBR but think I’ll give it a while if they’re quite similar.

1. The Marriage Portrait- Maggie O'Farrell

This was a slow burn in the start but absolutely worth it- once the story got going, I was completely drawn in. I've heard mixed things about Hamnet but planning on giving it a go off the back of this.

@Stokey Thank you for that reminder of the line about being free from Mrs Palfrey, I remember that really struck me at the time too :)

Mine too.

Never read any Sally Rooney or Lady Chatterley's Lover - very jealous of @TattiePants's DH though

Blimey @Sadik, I thought that I was old and out of touch and that confirms it it's a long time since I was a teenager and had that amount of angst and even then it was probably only about which member of Bros I was going to marry

Haven't They Grown was just utter drivel @SolInvictus, sounds like many people agree with me! I kept reading thinking "this must get better, there'll be a cracking ending to turn things around... Nope.

I love Penelope Keith's readings of the Agatha Raisin books @TakeNoTwitsGiveNoDucks - very English and cosy!

1: EC Bateman - Death at the Auction
2: Sophie Irwin - A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting
3: Deanna Raybourn - Night of a Thousand Stars
4: Lynn Messina - A Brazen Curiosity
5: Lynn Messina - A Scandalous Deception
6: Lynn Messina - An Infamous Betrayal
7: Lynn Messina - A Nefarious Engagement
8: Richard Armitage - Geneva (audiobook)
9: Hazel Holt - Death of a Dean
10: Richard Osman - The Bullet That Missed
11: Anthony Horowitz - Stormbreaker
12: Rosie Talbot - Sixteen Souls

13: Jonathan Stroud - The Notorious Scarlett & Browne

By the same author as Lockwood & Co (which I'm enjoying on Netflix!) - Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne are outlaws in a dystopian future England, who rely on their wits and Albert's special abilities to survive. Second in the series and a lot more fun than I've made it sound!

I truly have found my people! I also have a Sean Bean crush, he looks like he could show a girl a good time. Plus I love how no matter when or where his character is from he trucks up with his broad Yorkshire accent.