50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Three

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 and the second one here.

I nearly started that last night after gleefully consigning Hamnet to the DNF and DoNotCare pile.
I wasn't sure I felt like the fantasy bit though so went for the TM Logan I have on the Kindle which is Trust Me.

This thread is so bad for me financially

Thank you but I really need to do a 12 month book buying ban or something

I need some willpower

Has anyone been following the Women's Prize on Twitter? They decide to change their logo to pink for the month. Suffice to say it has not gone down well. It does make me wonder how the marketing meeting went that no-one flagged it as a bad idea!

Just finished Love Marriage by Monica Ali. This is about Yasmin, a student doctor from a Bengali family and her fiance Joe, whose mother Harriet is a famous feminist. The story starts with Yasmin's parents going to meet Joe's mother at her posh house in Notting Hill. Yasmin is worried about her conservative parents meeting Harriet but the mothers hit it off. The book goes on through various themes - hospitals, pushy parents, sex addiction, awareness of your parents, racism, stereotypes. It's reasonably engaging but I didn't find i cared about the characters that much. Some of it was pretty obvious and the writing was a bit pedestrian. There was also a whole narrative with a psychiatrist that felt a bit shoe-horned. I think a 3.5 for me.

Judith by Noel Streatfeild

I couldn’t quite work out if this was aimed at adults or older children. When the book starts Judith is 12 and lives abroad with her mother. Her parents are divorced. Despite her father not having shown any interest in her before Judith is packed off to England with her father and his extended family. The book then follows Judith’s experiences through her teens as she struggles to fit in with her family. There’s the inevitable stage school which seems to feature in all Streatfeild books. This would have been good for the Rather Dated thread!

Teller Of The Unexpected by Matthew Dennison

Biography of Roald Dahl which I thought I would read now given the recent controversy. Someone upthread recommended Storyteller by Donald Sturrock, which I have also read and enjoyed. The Dennison one is good but nowhere near as in depth as Sturrock’s book and as a result didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. However this is a good intro if you’re interested in finding out more about Dahl’s life.

I’ve just sorted my spreadsheet of books I want to read as I’m planning a trip to Barter Books in Alnwick tomorrow. I haven’t been for a year so have a ridiculous number of books to trade in. Since Covid you can only trade in 20 at a time so DH will have to take a bag and pretend he doesn’t know me!

I don't have Trespass on the daily deals! Don't tell me we're all being offered different daily deals now 😂 based on our algorithms!

But searching it it comes up. FFS

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

This was written in the 1980s and is about a group of Chinese mothers and daughters in America and the various culture clashes that occur. It’s reads as a set of loosely connected short stories with a longer thread overall. I didn’t always follow who was who, but overall I liked this, in quite a sentimental way. As someone with an immigrant parent who was sometimes quite insistent on our heritage and occasionally rebelling as a teen but now as a parent trying to instil our culture in my children I could see all points of view here and some of the stories were really interesting.

9. Desperation by Stephen King

I didn't know anything about this one so I was interested to see what I'd missed.

Unlike most King books the action gets started right away, no long and drawn out getting to know the characters and their neighbours.

The plot is centered around the small town of Desperation where something terrible has happened and passers by on the interstate get dragged into the darkness and fight for survival. Typical King. A real page turner but I have to say, this was especially gory in places.

Daisy Jones And The Six has started on Prime not sure so far

I hated the book, so it will have to be pretty good.

just finished curfew tonight. was so good. hes such a a talent. and yes saw mother in the back of the book as a preview and cannot wait for that one too.

@kateandme I'm still reading it! I can't put it down at the moment! ❤️

where you up to?

I love Amy Tana and keep looking for new books by her but she hasn't written anything for years, sadly.

cant go wrong with t.m logan. hes getting a lot of love and mentioning on here recently too from a few of us.
ive just finished his curfew book which i think looks similar to the one from Gillian but no sci fi involved.it was brill.
let me no what you think of trust me.

The Ink Black Heart is 99p today, so I’ve swallowed my scruples and will at least give it a try.

I’ve bought The Ink Black Heart too. I’ve only read The Cuckoo’s Calling so far - do I need to read the others before reading TIBH or doesn’t it matter?

Thanks for the heads-up, I've waited six months for the price of TIBH to drop!

Thank you for the tip-off!
How do people spot these deals? Do you trawl through all 80or whatever of the cheap deals?

@ChessieFL You should probably read the others first. Be prepared for a bit of a slog! I hated the second one and reckon you could skip that. Lethal White was also dreadful imo.

@MarkWithaC This one is in the Daily Deals. I check those everyday - usually half a dozen and mostly rubbish with the occasional gem!

Oh, sorry, Remus, I was talking to Stokey about Trespasses but the quote thing didn’t work!
I only ever look at the daily deals; I CBA going through all the others. I’d love to know how to ‘hack’ them though.

@MarkWithaC I check the daily deal and my wish list every day. It’s surprising how often there can be a random price drop.

I bought Ink Black Heart too. I had already got it as an audiobook but, as with Troubled Blood, I quite like a written copy to double check things I might otherwise miss or mishear.

<rolls sleeves up, licks pencil and clears throat>

I'll also buy it, if only to enjoy myself reviewing it in due course.

I went back into the deals last night and bought about 10 which were not there absolutely on Wednesday. That'll teach me not to go straight there on the 1st of the month! My bank account would be happier though obvs!

In other news, dd's 18 years old cultural bonus from the Italian govt expired on 28/2 and she still had £300 on it so I was "would you like me to spend it?" But she managed to spend it herself which is good. (not that it would have been hard for me to give a generous hand!)