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.

What?I've never heard of that? Bartering books!?

Oh Remus and Sol I can’t wait for your review of Ink Black Heart. I might get some popcorn in ready.

Thanks Remus, I’ll save TIBH until I’ve read the others!

Me too! Thanks Remus

I’m also looking forward to the reviews (I can already predict mine saying ‘really enjoyed it, too long’ since that’s what I’ve said about the entire series I think.

@kateandme its a huge secondhand bookshop in an old railway station. My basket’s full and I haven’t even started on this room yet!

I only trawl first of the month deals.

I have however built a personal wish list on Amazon which I continue to add to - it's surprising how often prices change

Adding number 29. (I think!)

*'The Curfew.'- TM Logan.
*
I actually stayed up all night reading this. I would heartily recommend this if you like reading thrillers with a bit of twist. 🤩

Thank you, yes, I keep an eye on my wish list too. I don’t find that I get many good deals from it, but maybe over time I will.

I trawl through all of them. I sort them first by price though because I don't go over 99p for Kindle. I also tend to swerve the "unlimited" free ones. I used to grab all of those because : free. Then realised free invariably meant: bit shit.

@TattiePants I saw Barter Books a few years ago on a TV programme. It looks awesome - do they have a coffee stall in it too?

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
99p easy-read. Not sure if it's marketed as YA, but definitely feels like YA. Not very well written, but just right for a long soak in the bath. If you like reading about the history of medicine, enjoyed Enola Holmes and don't mind a bit of YA, you'd probably quite like it.

@SapatSea they have a lovely cafe in the old waiting rooms - I’d highly recommend the lemon drizzle cake!

I got a pretty decent haul today which cost me £30 after using my credit from the books I’d brought with me.

@TattiePants

Amazing haul

I loved The Red Tent and I'm currently reading the Wool trilogy

17 The Giant Under The Snow - John Gordon

Somewhat obscure children’s book from the 1960s - I found it via Backlisted, and it seems to be out of print now. It’s a spooky English folk / fantasy tale, set in East Anglia and weaving in the Green Man and a Sutton Hoo-like legend. Very much in the vein of Susan Cooper, Alan Garner etc, and although the plot is a little random in parts it rattles along nicely and there are plenty of enjoyable atmospheric flourishes in the prose.

Barter Books is an amazing building but I have found it pretty expensive for a second-hand bookstore. I didn’t know they did trade-ins though so will bear that in mind for my next visit

@MarkWithaC I was checking my wishlist as someone had said all the 99p books weren't on the main deals page, and Trespasses popped up. Just luck this time!

Love the look of barter books - inspirational!

@MegBusset most of the books I bought today were £1.80 - £2.80 with a couple at £3.60 and the Iris Murdoch was £5.60 (but it’s very pretty and in pristine condition). I got £43 credit for 37 paperbacks which makes a huge difference to the price.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Wool wasn’t on my list but I’ve seen it mentioned on a few threads lately so thought I’d give it a punt.

Tattie - same RE Wool

Also spotted you have A Place Of Greater Safety which is brilliant and my worst book ever American Psycho

Are Jane Eyre and Middlemarch new to you as a reader or were you just getting copies?

I’ve actually never read any Hilary Mantel despite owning the first two Wolf Hall books for years so this is going to be a HM year.

I did dither over American Psycho as one friend loved it and another hated it! I’ll wait until I’m in the right frame of mind for that and The Wasp Factory.

I last read Jane Eyre 20+ years ago so fancied a reread before I read Wide Saragasso Sea, Middlemarch is new for me. I was also tempted to buy Vanity Fair and Jonathan Strange… but couldn’t face too many doorstops!

Much as I love Middlemarch I think Vanity Fair and Jonathan Strange are easier reads. Although I know some hate Jonathan Strange.

Vanity Fair is massively underrated I think, probably due to its intimidating length

I hated Jonathan Strange. Love Middlemarch though and Vanity Fair, Don Quixote and a few other monsters are on my tbr over the next few years.

I think that Trespasses might be a monthly deal, but they came through gradually during the day on 1 March, into 2 March. There are often price drops through the month outside daily deals as well.

If you're willing to take the risk of spending too much money on books, ereaderiq.co.uk is a really useful website for stalking deals - you can set a maximum price in pounds though I do wish I could set a max price between £2 and £3 or between £1 and £2 - as I have to look carefully among the long term £2.99 offers. You can also look up the tracking history so that you can see if a book currently £2.49 has a history of being offered at 99p quite often. Though I've been waiting absolutely ages for a book I accidentally deleted (instead of removing from my Kindle but keeping it available if I wanted it) to come up on offer again, and it used to be offered several times a year.

17 Where Did It All Go Right by Andrew Collins
What can I say - this was only too true to my memories of growing up in Northamptonshire in the 1970s & 80s. Some entertaining bits, but mostly very dull (I skimmed the diary sections), plus reminders that I didn't need of the ubiquitous racism, homophobia & ableism.

32. Wool
33. Shift
34. Dust

by Hugh Howey

The Silo Trilogy - there's been a few threads about this lately, and I noticed a series is coming out. Wool has sat on my Wishlist for years I think and I decided to get it done.

Wool shows us a US dystopian future in which people live on top of each other in deep silos. The usual structure of social class and assigned roles found in dystopias applies. Those who question the silo's governance are invited to take a cleaning role, a euphemism for compulsory execution.

Following an alarming factual discovery, a power vacuum emerges when the Mayor, the Sheriff, and the Deputy all become compromised

Juliette Nichols is poised to take the reins, but not if Bernard from IT can stop her. What does he know? What are the secrets of the silo?

Book 2, Shift initially serves as a prequel, and is a bit "Season 2 of The Wire" in that it doesn't really continue with the characters of Wool but shows what was happening in the buildup to the silo through the eyes of average Congressman Donald Keene. At a later point it then switches between two existing settings and covers the background of a character introduced in Wool - these chapters felt somewhat of a waste as it was already quite easy to infer what had happened, and broke "Show Don't Tell"

Dust amalgamates the characters from Wool and Shift to draw a conclusion. There's a lot of pointless messing round (the religious group particularly) it's a bit too overkill, literally, and a bit anti-climactical.

The good thing about the Silo Trilogy is that it is totally a full on pageturner, I blitzed through Wool. It reminded me a bit of certain Stephen King's (in a good way, though I'm not keen on King), and I also really enjoyed Shift though sadly as is often the way with these trilogies Dust is the weak link.

Is it very, very, easy to poke a Swiss Cheese of plotholes in the setup here by just posing basic scientific questions to yourself about how these characters live?

Yes.

Should you not do that and just enjoy the ride?

Yes

It's Good, But Not Bold