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.

@GrannieMainland wrote: Just finished book 17, Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. Her last book The Luminaries is one of my all time favourites but I know it's a real marmite novel so not sure what people will make of this one!

I have reserved this from the library. I've read her first two novels - The Luminaries is set in the part of New Zealand I think my grandparents were born and brought up in - they met at the University of Otago in the early 1930s. But I think maybe I need to reread as I didn't really get it at the time, and think it may have been down to me at that time, not the book. I've also been meaning to watch the TV adaptation since it came out nearly 3 years ago!

Sorry, it's me again, I've had this on the go as audio for over a month, and it's ending happened to coincide with completion of the Silo Trilogy

35. Under The Dome by Stephen King (Audible)

So, I've had this on TBR for 10 years so completing it is something of an achievement in itself. I did have it as ebook, but a spare credit made me think that as IT worked so well as audible, Under The Dome might follow suit, and I was right, the narrator was spot on (though I do have to take points away from how he voiced children, an adult doing a nasal baby voice = extremely creepy)

So, to anyone who's been under a rock, the plot is that a small town in you guessed it Maine gets cut off from the rest of America by an invisible yet impenetrable dome and society slowly falls apart.

The first 25% of this is great as all these crazy things happen to people and mad injuries take place as the dome goes live.

And then,

Eurgh, it just goes to shit.

Hard to care about, overpopulated eg too many strands to care about, weak characterisation, dragged out. The ending is woeful, like I just finished listening to this about 5 mins ago and I can't adequately explain what just happened.

One of the big problems for me as well was Big Jim Rennie, the primary antagonist, who is the latest vehicle for the misogyny and racist undertones often present in King's books. Obsessed with eating Roast Beef With Jesus etc Rennie is a mere panto villain compared to other King Books.

You are supposed to hate Rennie, it's true, but my hatred was something deeper, like every time the narrative returned to him my reaction was Oh Fuck Off. This would have been such a better and more nuanced book with a more human and less hammy villain, miles better without this one guy in it.

So...

It's a bit of a turd, I thought. Sorry King fans.

I visited Barter Books in 2017 on a trip to Northumberland. It was glorious and I could have just moved in!

@Stokey yes I'd definitely expect to see it there, not long until the longlist! To be honest the astrology in The Luminaries went over my head, there was probably a whole extra layer to appreciate there.

@elkiedee that's a lovely connection. One of the things l liked was being immersed in a part of the world and time in history that I knew nothing about.

@grannycake it’s my favourite shop ever. DH was in a cross country race in Alnwick yesterday so he dropped me off at lunchtime and I had 3 hours to myself, browsing book shelves and eating cake!

I used to live near Alnwick and despite multiple visits to Barter Books never really felt I'd properly explored it! Alnwick Lions charity bookshop in the town used to be very much worth a visit and was often much better value for money https://www.alnwicklions.org.

Finished book 9, Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. This was rather long and I didn't like how in the paperback version it didn't have stable page numbers but different ones depending on whether you were reading the Susan Ryeland frame story or the Atticus Pund novel. It did hold my attention pretty well, but I didn't really care about any of the characters. It was my first Horowitz and I wanted to really like it, but didn't much.

Just checked my list - it was my book 10, not 9, for 2023.

@TattiePants i want to go back there after reading that - pure bliss

@grannycake have never heard of anyone who didn't like a Horowitz novel 😂😂

I'm biased because I really love him 😁

@grannycake sorry that was to @ClaphamSouth. I obviously need new specs 😂😂🤣

I was a DNF for Magpie Murders. Wanted so much to like it and really thought it would be a good read, but thought the characters were too cliched and I couldn't care much about who committed the murder.

@dontlookgottalook it's the same in the hardback version. I loved it and stayed up all night reading it. 👍

@Piggywaspushed what a shame about the Patterson Joseph book. I like his TV work and was thinking of reading the book.

Give it a go anyway! I might be overthinking it. I've read worse.

I've got A Line To Kill on my kindle ICrunchCrispsNotNumbers so I'll give him another try soon

Thanks @Piggy. I'll give it a bash. I've added it to my Goodreads list 👍🙂

@ClaphamSouth oh, I really enjoyed that one! It's a lot shorter than the Susan Ryland series 👍🙂

Part of the problem of British writing is we may not have -yet- that fine, accomplished novelist who is black , or interested in black voices and history so the history and storytelling remains on the margins. Except perhaps Andrea Levy and Zadie Smith?

Hopefully the book will get people looking at the letters or reading other black writers from that period like Olaudah Equiano. Or reading some of the popular history books about the black Georgians. Agree Zadie Smith's historical novel should be interesting.

Just finished I'm Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait, possibly another Women's Prize contender. This has been compared to Sorrow and Bliss which I loved. I can see why but it feels a bit lazy.

It's about a dysfunctional family, twins Alice and Hanna (who are 32), older brother Michael, and their mother Celia. It starts with the funeral of Celia's sister, Katy, and then flashes back to Celia's early life. Then it skips around between now, mainly from Alice & Hanna's POV, and their childhood. It's funny in places with some quite slapstick parts, but also deals with mental health, loneliness and messed up families. I didn't find any of the characters particularly relatable, but it was a reasonable read.

I quite liked the Magpie Murders - enough to give the second one a go anyway. The second one was bad enough to actively make me angry, and withdraw my formerly positive opinion of the first! I can’t remember what bothered me so much about it now - other than the plot being utterly preposterous.

@AliasGrape I agree that the first is better than the second. I know that AH is primarily a 'serial.' Writer, but I think that Magpie would have been better as a standalone. ❤️

10 Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Finally got round to reading this, only ooh, how many years after the rest of the world? I see there's been a bit of negative comment upthread. I loved it. So much fun, with bits that just made you go yes! yes, that! Like reading the best bits of Smash Hits and NME and Mojo or Rolling Stone all rolled together. I thought it was witty and heartfelt and I was genuinely impressed with Reid's ability to bring out character and the relationships between all of the band through the "interview" medium.

I also loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo so I'm going to have to buy the rest now, sigh. I think I've already got Malibu Rising but as a big tennis fan, Carrie Soto is calling to me...

Am not sure why the word serial appeared in quote marks. My phone has a mind of its own today 😂😂

@Welshwabbit

I think Carrie is the weakest so yes, do it next, and then you'll still have 2 good ones to go

Book 9 finished

The English Understand Wool - Helen DeWitt

This is a novella which was recommended by Lucy Mangan on Twitter. Very short but absolutely lovely I read it in just over an hour and thought it was brilliant