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?

Love the sound of Cat Brushing @Stokey I’ve just ordered it.
Just finished 13 Unfettered This is a book of fantasy and sci fi short stories that I’ve been alternating with Olive Kitteridge and The Odyssey. There are a few good stories in there but unfortunately any authors whose stories I liked and I hadn’t heard of before had no books published outside the US.

6. Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie
Lots of 50 Bookers were reading Jamie's essay collections a couple of years ago, and I really enjoyed her previous collections Sightlines and Findings. I had a bit of a rhythm going, dipping into these titles to read an essay or two and savour Jamie's writing between novels and other non-fiction. Surfacing took me a bit longer - a couple of the essays in this collection are 70 to 80 pages long which gave them a very different feel. I felt that this collection had more of an ongoing theme (lots about archaeology) where the other books were more varied, from my memory of reading them a couple of years ago. Surfacing didn't always grip me, but I suspect elements will stay with me.

7. Northern Spy Flynn Berry
Thriller in which the Good Friday Agreement has collapsed and the IRA have resumed their campaign in Northern Ireland. Tessa works for the BBC and is at the studios one evening when footage emerges of the latest IRA attack - a gas station robbery - and Tessa's sister appears on the screen pulling a ski mask over her head. Tessa initially cannot believe that her sister has willingly chosen to be involved...but as the plot rumbles on it becomes clear that no one entirely knows where someone else's loyalties may lie and what they might do to protect the people and the causes that they hold dear.
I deliberately read this shortly after Trespasses as a bit of a book pairing, but this did not compare well to that fabulous read! As far as I can tell, Flynn Berry is American and this includes a few 'Americanisms', but also generally lacked the authentic feel of Trespasses - the writing felt sterile by comparison. I didn't buy some of the character's actions and couldn't work out if it was the characters or the author that was being naive. While it didn't feel 'thrilling' initially, the twists and turns and 'who can you trust' plot did get me in the second half and the tension built, with a few different threads coming together in quite a satisfying way.

8. This Is Not A Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan
Non-fiction that I think someone else has already reviewed this year. Abi Morgan is a playwright and screenwriter and this is her account of how life changed when her partner of many years falls very seriously ill, and she then faces a significant illness herself. For me, this book was very much a window into other lives. On the one hand, I have never and will never live with the privilege that this family live with - their lives in London and tales of exciting foreign travels are far removed from my life. On the other hand, I am also fortunate that I haven't experienced serious illness myself or with a close loved one, and here I feel l should add the word 'yet'. The strength is Morgan's writing - she describes seeing the world as if she were writing a script and imagining an editor leaning over her shoulder saying "we cut this scene, the audience don't want this to drag out" or "score this out, we've had enough and this is too much". I found her descriptions of her partner's illness and medical care interesting - there is drama and shock but also long periods with no change, a need for patience, the struggle of maintaining/rebuilding lives to fit around a loved one under a high level of care in hospital and facing an uncertain future. Probably not a book for every reader, but I'm glad I read it.

Great review Stokey. Cat Brushing sounds wonderful, I shall order a copy for my mum who is 93 next week (and borrow it afterwards!)

4 Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson
Another re-read of an old favourite, inspired by a couple of reviews on here!

13. The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss Another one that had been sitting on my kindle for a while. I liked it, but have much preferred her more recent books.

This one is narrated by Adam, the father of 15 year old Miriam and her younger sister Rose. Miriam collapses at school and stops breathing, is rushed to hospital and is found to have suffered an anaphylactic shock to something although the doctors don't really know what. It may have been brought on through sudden exertion (running). Adam and his wife Emma, a GP, have to learn to live the fact that it could happen again, at any time.

I loved Miriam. She's fiercely intelligent, with a strong will to live and pursue a normal life. She has many strong opinions on many subjects and appears far more mature than her 15 years.

Interwoven with the story is Adam's research about the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral post WW2, and his father's journey from America ending up in a commune in Cornwall.

Finished 1794- The City Between Bridges by Niklas Natt Och Dag (yes, that is indeed his name). This is a gruesome, macabre and at times very uncomfortable read, and a second part of a trilogy (third part yet to be published here) . It's like a more macabre Shardlake really with awful people with sexual depravities and insane people. It's fairly pacy , although its shifting timeline and chronology is a bit bewildering at times,and I do think it is less gratuitous than part one. I struggled at times because I couldn't remember some details from the first book, which can be a problem with any series like this (although I never had that problem too much with Mantel because her characterisation was so strong).

Worth a read if you like Scandi noir with a historical twist. But read book One first.

Anyone who's into non fiction, The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre is in the kindle daily deals today. I read it a couple of years ago and thought it was amazing, and I'm not big into spy stories.

Forgot to bold. Whoops!

5. While the Music Lasts' by Kitty Barne
Published in 1943, this is the sequel to the story of prodigiously talented pianist Karen Forrest told in the children's book She Shall Have Music. This story is for adults and covers Karen going to music college and starting to work as a professional.

This adult enjoyed the story but also found the discussions of Jewish people and customs horrible. Also I don't want to read any more books about young male geniuses who just overshadow their partners without ever meaning to. Karen used to be better than that.

Just finished a Ross Macdonald which I've forgotten the name of and didn't love. So many characters and I kept forgetting who was related to who, who used to be married to who and was currently shagging who or who had shagged who in the past. I finished it yesterday and have already forgotten whodunnit and why. I like the detective and the Chandler-esque vibes, but maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it.

Number 7. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
Raced through this. Was not at all what I was expecting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fun, engaging, original. Will definitely keep an eye out for whatever she writes next.

Piggy Is that Niklas Natt Och Dag book a sequel to The Wolf and the Watchman? I didn't know he had written a series. I loved the setting and characters in The Wolf and the Watchman when I read it two years ago but it included the most prolonged and disturbing violent treatment of an individual that I have ever read - scenes that I genuinely wished I could erase from my brain afterwards!

8. Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann
**
Started this not knowing much about it and was really impressed. Published in 1966, it follows Anne, Jennifer and Neely from their early days in New York in 1945 and then through their careers in and around show business. Anne is a buttoned-up New Englander who fears she is "frigid", until she meets the one man with whom she can be sexually uninhibited, though he is emotionally unavailable. Neely is loosely based on Judy Garland, a teenage ingenue with a fantastic voice, and Jennifer resembles Marilyn Monroe, resigned to being known for her body because that's her best route to financial security, but in her heart wanting a husband and children.

The "dolls" of the title refer to the pills that the women take to help them sleep, stay awake and lose weight.

I can see how this would have been shocking at the time, particularly the themes of women balancing careers and marriage (or more often having to choose between them), and how far women should compromise their wants in order to end up with a husband and children. The drug references reflect the implied attitude of some doctors to medicating women's problems, as described in part in Empire of Pain - meh, she's having trouble sleeping, bung her some Seconal and she'll be fine. Needless to say it doesn't really end well, but I was totally drawn in to the women's stories and could see the same events happening today, given the pressure on women to conform and/or perform. The main characters are all flawed but I was rooting for all of them, although perhaps less for prissy, privileged Anne than the gutsy survivors Jennifer and Neely.

Highly recommended if you're interested in women's social history, or if you just want a pacy, involving read.

@Boiledeggandtoast Cat Brushing does deal with a bit of raunch, for example the first story is about an elderly woman who is in love with her young female carer. Just in case it wouldn't go down well with your Mum! Also a bit graphic on pain/self-harm.

Thanks for the warning Stokey. She's quite broad minded (she worked in the arts for many years) but perhaps I should read it first.

@Piggywaspushed it means Night and Day. Not your average surname but it must be made up.

@MaudOfTheMarches I read and reread Valley of The Dolls as a teenager and read it again a few years ago. I still thought it was great.

I can't keep up!! Have spent the last few weeks watching Happy Valley so haven't been on the thread.
5 The Guest book by Sarah Blake
6 The Angel Tree by Lucinda Riley
enjoyed both. The guest book was a bit slow in parts and characters not as developed as would have liked.

@BestIsWest It is, isn't it? It was so much more than I expected.

@Piggywaspushed I have the first in that series on kindle but I now think it sounds too gruesome for me. I can stand a bit of gore but that one sounds like it needs a strong stomach.

Whoever mentioned Anne Sykes' Dress Diary - thank you, I've been waiting for that to come out. I used to follow Kate Strasdin on Twitter, before I stopped using it, and her research was fascinating.

It's not made up. It's an old Swedish name. He comes from Swedish aristocracy.

Cat Brushing looks good. You can read one of the stories in LRB.

Added Cat Brushing to my wishlist. I'd like to read more from an older persons perspective. We'll all get old (if we are lucky enough).

5. Dear Bob & Sue by Matt and Karen Smith

This is a re-read for me. Matt and Karen Smith are a real life couple who jacked in their jobs in their fifties to spend a couple of years visiting all of the National Parks (they are in USA). I love the parks and I love their stories. I shamelessly steal their research as we have similar approaches. They like a hike that is challenging but don't want to camp out. Also, they very kindly often mention good pizza places and local breweries which I note down for my own trips.

It's written in email format to their friends Bob & Sue. It works well and they are good writers. They clearly have a great marriage and spend a lot of time poking fun at each other. It's actually encouraged me to lighten up a little, I tend towards the serious and wonder if I have quashed DH sense of humour by batting him down too many times.

Anyway, basically I want to be friends with these guys. I've read their other books, and listen to their podcast. Whenever I hike in a park, I sort of keep my eye open for them as I'd love to buy them beer and thank them for the books.

This is for you if you love the American National Parks and travel memoirs where not a lot really happens.

I'm belatedly keeping journals of my own travel/holidays, I don't think they'd be good enough to be published but it does help me remember what we did!

I'd like to read a few books where the books are older characters? Fiction.any recommended?

5 And Finally - Henry Marsh

Third in the series of memoirs by the retired neurosurgeon, this time focusing on the difficult transition from doctor to patient after his diagnosis with prostate cancer. Interesting enough if you’re a fan of his earlier books, but this does ramble seemingly aimlessly between medical facts, reflections on death, the complexities of consciousness… and the clutter in his loft.

6 Ask a Historian - Greg Jenner

Jenner gives brief answers to 50 historical questions sent in by members of the public, ranging from the complexities of colonialism, via dodgy ancient medical treatments, to how realistic The Flintstones was as a depiction of prehistoric life. Good fun but probably not all that memorable; I’ll definitely be catching up with his earlier books as this was very good Audible easy listening.

I will also be looking up Catbrushing - thank you for the review.

@kateandme I'd recommend Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, which is about two elderly people who decide to spend their nights together. It is a tearjerker but quite beautiful on the themes of loneliness, family and companionship in old age.