Page 31 | 50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Two

Southeastdweller · 2023-01-17T22:41:22+00:00

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 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4709765-50-books-challenge-2023-part-one?page=20&reply=123175693 here]]. What are you reading?

Wafflefudge · 04/02/2023 09:21

I read a lot of PKD in my early twenties and don't remember much detail but remember Penultimate Truth was fantastic and recall highly rating The Man in the High Castle and Ubik as well. I havent read Martian Time Slip.
Might be time to seek some more out.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 04/02/2023 10:20

@CoteDAzur 😂
I suspect we’d disagree on lots of music, so I’m very glad to share it hatred of Coldplay with you.

SolInvictus · 04/02/2023 10:56

CoteDAzur · 04/02/2023 08:01

I'm late to the party on this topic, but I have to say: Coldplay is shit. It's a very good RL example of what happens when teetotaler, totally sober people who say "No" to drugs try to write and perform rock music.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie - Another thing we agree on

Ha ha! Yes!!!!

bibliomania · 04/02/2023 12:32

10. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, Nina Sankovitch
After her sister dies, the author decides to read a book a day for a year. Part family memoir, part book about books, this should be right up my street, but wasn't quite. Our taste in books doesn't seem to overlap much: she seems to like books with quotable snippets of life advice, which she elaborates into little homilies about marital love and family kindness. Missed the mark for me.

11. The Electricity in Every Living Thing, by Katharine May
Earlier book by the author of Wintering, which was a Marmite book on her. In this one, she self-diagnoses with ASD, reflects on her life history, including her struggles with early motherhood, and has a mostly unsatisfactory series of walks along the South West Coast Path. If you disliked Wintering, you should steer clear, although it does give it a bit more context. I did feel a tremor of fellow-feeling with her.

bibliomania · 04/02/2023 12:32

*on here

JaninaDuszejko · 04/02/2023 13:32

CoteDAzur · 04/02/2023 08:01

I'm late to the party on this topic, but I have to say: Coldplay is shit. It's a very good RL example of what happens when teetotaler, totally sober people who say "No" to drugs try to write and perform rock music.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie - Another thing we agree on

Kate Bush seems to have done OK.

Tangerinie · 04/02/2023 13:40

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

A re-read for me. I studied JA at A level but this wasn't one of our texts, so I first read it as an adult just after my dc1 was born and again just now.

I used to dislike JA but I've grown/aged into it I think! I really enjoyed this. Marianne is a pain in the hole though.

The Last Mile - David Baldacci

This is a quite outlandish crime thriller by an author I've read a few novels by. I like these books, but they are a bit silly and farfetched. Similar to Lee Child's Reacher books.

The books I've read by DB always give away the twists about halfway through the book and then seem to build to a big showdown at the end. I'm already bored by then as it's so silly and the bad guys are so bad and pantomime villain-esque that I cba when we get the end scenes. But they are good fun reading and I wizzed through this quite quickly.

TheAnswerIsCake · 04/02/2023 13:59

MarkWithaC · 03/02/2023 11:04

I've read little Dickens, and not David Copperfield, but I thought Demon Copperhead was a masterpiece. I wouldn't say it was pitched as 'the US answer to David Copperfield'; it's more a reworking of it, which is a bit different IMO. I'd also say it absolutely stands on its own, though, whether or not you know or like David Copperfield. I found the social milieu it takes place in utterly fascinating and fresh and the narrator's voice funny, knowing, naive, infuriating, admirable, loveable and many more things besides. Kingsolver's anger at the social inequities it depicts is obviously something she shares with Dickens, and it's palpable, but it never gets dogmatic; we are made aware of everything in an organic way through character, voice and action.
This is another one I bang on about, I know, but I'm not apologising ; I think it deserves all the prizes and all the readers.

Show quote history

I’ve just finished my tenth book… Demon Copperhead and can’t really add a lot to this review by @MarkWithaC It’s a stunning, if long and at times heart achingly depressing, read. I particularly liked how the narrative voice progressed with his experiences, despite the story being told in retrospect (first person past tense). Totally agree that it’s never dogmatic - and a lot of excellent “show, don’t tell”. Masterful, and I highly recommend.

SapatSea · 04/02/2023 14:25

I'm going to dissent and say that I DNF Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver I didn't connect or get into a rhythm with the stacatto style sentences. It partly might have been down to my state my mind at the time and not wanting to read another utterly depressing tome about children born into poverty, abuse and addiction after reading a run of them.

Greek Lessons by Han Kang the author of the award winning, The Vegetarian which I liked and thought interesting This one is actually an earlier novel ( published 10 years ago in Korea) but is only now available in translation. The book must have been a huge challenge for a translator as there are a lot of linguist details comparing ancient Greek characters and equivalent Korean characters.
The story is about a woman who is a multi lingist but has never studied Greek and signs up to attend Greek Lessons. In her childhood she had lost the ability to speak for a while after a traumatic incident and finds she is once again losing her voice. Coincidentally, her lecturer is losing his sight and through ancient Greek philosophy, language and random jumps to their back stories and their contemporary experiences of their new realities told through both first and second person views they get to know one another.

I found the narrative rather cold and distant. The language precise and mannered. I didn't really connect with it. It is the sort of novel that I find I admire rather than like.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 04/02/2023 15:13

@Terpsichore
Just saw this Guardian review and thought of you
textiles

Tecksupport · 04/02/2023 15:26

I really haven't managed to read much over the last few years, so I'm going to make more effort in 2023! I'm fed up of watching rubbish TV every night and want to aim for a small amount of reading each day.

Realistically I'm going to aim for 10 books instead of 50 and anything more is a bonus.

The institute - Stephen king. I found this one of his better works over the last few years. Although not a patch on his earlier books it's still better than the crime ones.

Now reading What's eating Gilbert Grape? by Peter Hedges.

Terpsichore · 04/02/2023 17:05

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie wow, thank you! I have some book tokens* from Christmas burning a hole in my, er, pocket…..😊

*Autocorrect just changed that to 'book torments' 😂😂

SolInvictus · 04/02/2023 17:32

Welcome @Tecksupport
@Terpsichore 🤣

ICrunchCrispsNotNumbers · 04/02/2023 17:41

I've finished 'This Book Kills.' And really enjoyed it.

Now on to 'You' by Caroline Kepnes. I'm watching the TV series on Netflix and am enjoying it, so I'm excited to see what the book is like.

ICrunchCrispsNotNumbers · 04/02/2023 17:42

@Tarahumara I read 'The Fell' for my BookClub, and I felt exactly the same as you.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 04/02/2023 17:57

@Terpsichore Book torments

DuchessOfDisco · 04/02/2023 18:54

I think I will join this year. I’m usually good at reading until Easter and then barely touch a book for the rest of the year.
so far this year I have read:

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I actually started this in October but only finished it this month which goes to show how ungripping it was. It was a pleasant read though and I did enjoy the story although was disappointed in the ending. Still, I will read the sequels
I found you by Lisa Jewell. I quite like Lisa Jewell and enjoyed trying to work out which of the two boys from the past were the stranger in the beach. Still I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable or relatable and didn’t think it was her best book.
The Epic of Gilgamesh a fascinating classic especially how you can see how the story has been interwoven into religious books. Really enjoyed it and think it should be a book everyone reads.
the institute by Stephen king. I have never read an SK book before, I figured they were mostly horror so didn’t bother (I haven’t watched any films either) but I love a thriller (I think I ready every goosebumps book as a child!) and saw this on an Amazon daily deal so thought what the hell. And I was not disappointed, and would definitely pick up another SK book in future - in fact Fairy Tales is in my Amazon basket.

currently reading Femina by Janina Ramirez which sounded much interesting than it currently is. I’m determined to read it as it’s such an interesting subject matter, but it does feel much more like a scientific research paper then a novel so I’m reading one chapter and then a novel, the first of which is going to be Babel by R.F. Kaung, which I’m starting this evening

TimeforaGandT · 04/02/2023 19:49

8. A Storm of Swords - George RR Martin

The third book in the Game of Thrones series - very long but action-packed. Lots of weddings, some battles and a surprising number of dead kings. Some parts I remembered from the television series, some parts I had forgotten (but remembered when they happened) and others seemed to have bypassed me completely when I watched it.

I will be reading something shorter next….

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 04/02/2023 20:10

Berlin:Story of a City by Barney White-Spunner
I keep giggling at the writer's name. Anyway, this took me ages to read and some of it was quite boring ( wars that went on forever, and everybody called either Frederick or William). The 20th century stuff was more interesting, but overall, I didn't really think the writing style was great.

Stokey · 04/02/2023 20:25

@TimeforaGandT I feel like there were whole story lines in the books that they missed out in the series, some of which were warranted. I found books 4 & 5 a major slog. I don't know whether I would bother with the next one if he ever manages to write it.

TimeforaGandT · 04/02/2023 20:32

@Stokey - not encouraging to hear that the subsequent GoT books are a slog. I am loathe to give up having got this far so may start book 4 and see how I find it. But not immediately…

Wafflefudge · 04/02/2023 20:57

I enjoyed all the GoT books, I read them all back to back after seeing season 1. I personally found Daenerys storyline became a bit of a chore at times but still think they are great and really hope he finishes them.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 04/02/2023 21:19

Yes I agree that the GoT books peak at #3. Also, I've given up hope he will finish. I genuinely think he's got bored with it and is more interested in the shiny new toy that is television.

I think he shows absolute contempt for his fans

I may have ranted about this on last years thread

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 04/02/2023 22:30

You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Artist Feyi is still recovering from being widowed at a young age and has just begun dating again when she meets Nasir. Nasir will change Feyi's life just not in the way either of them expect.

I apologise in advance to others on thread have read this because I'm pretty sure they reviewed it warmly and my distaste is strong

I found it superficial, dialogue heavy, soapy chick lit with literary pretensions, having very similar plausibility issues as those seen in Raven Leilani's Luster and in possibly the ultimate insult there were lifestyle porn elements that reminded me of 50 Shades (yeah...I read it) but without the BDSM element.

Cheesy, Insubstantial, Cold bucket of nope.

DuchessOfDisco · 04/02/2023 22:34

Oh I love GoT. I read them all one summer because everyone was talking about the series but I couldn’t afford sky to watch it. Series one and book one are the same, but then series 2 begins to go off on an entirely different tangent and by the time you get to book /series 5 they are pretty much completely different stories. I will still read books 6&7 if/when they come out as, even though we know how they end, we don’t know how they are going to get there.
definitely keep going with them.