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 had to read almost all of Virginia Woolf in uni. I only liked Mrs Dalloway

The Waves is the only one I haven't read. It was 2002 so I barely remember any of them

For Orlando fans, I also recommend the film with Tilda Swinton.

Latest reads:

12. The Road: A Story of Romans and Ways to the Past, Christopher Hadley
Should be my kind of thing - a bit of archaeology, a bit of history, an account of the author's attempt to trace the path of a Roman road near his home, but it wasn't brilliantly executed and I was slightly bored.

13. The Men on the Bummel, by Jerome K Jerome
Along the same lines as Three Men in a Boat, only this time they're older, there's no dog, and they're on bikes in Germany. Arch late Victorian humour - suited my mood (and having read about Germany in the 1930s and 1950s, it's interesting to see it from the vantage point of 1900, a reminder that things could have gone differently).

14. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori Gottlieb
American therapist writes about her experiences both giving and receiving therapy. It felt honest and sincere - very likeable.

15. A Spoonful of Murder, by J M Hall
Retired teachers investigate a friend's death. It's like the Richard Osman books, only done better. The author is a deputy headmaster himself, so the glimpses of past working lives ring true - there's an amused affection there, and the north Yorkshire setting is convincing too. It's not without its faults, but not bad at all.

*Three Men

1. Hillsborough Voices. Kevin Sampson
2. The Iron Man. Ted Hughes
3. The Stepford Wives. Ira Levin
4. In the Tall Grass. Stephen King

5. Siege and Storm. Leigh Bardugo.
2nd book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Sun Summoner and Mel have escaped from the Darkling but not for long.
6. Run and Rising. Leigh Bardugo.
3rd book on the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Having failed to destroy the Darkling the Sun Summoner is in hiding and needs to set out to find the third amplifier. Nice easy read if you like fantasy.

1. Chernobyl Prayer. Voices from Chernobyl. Svetlana Alexievich.

A book made up of first hand accounts of those living in the area. This book doesn’t cover what happened on that fateful day but focuses more on after, and really gives an insight into the mentality. It took me a while to get use to the style of the book but once o did found it really interesting. I know what happened at Chernobyl (mostly from the recent TV program) however as I was very young when it happened it was interesting to learn about the mindset of those in the Soviet Union. 8. Alex Rider. Anthony Horowitz. decided to read this after seeing a few reviews on here. An enjoyable easy read. 9. Clap When You Land. Elizabeth Acevedo Was on my TBR list after seeing it reviewed on here in the past couple of years. Written in verse it follows two half sisters unaware of each other’s existence, dealing with the loss when their Father dies in a plane crash. 10. Outback. Patricia Wolf Got this on an early reads on kindle. A couple of backpackers go missing when travelling on a long stretch of road in the outback. An officer on leave in the nearest town is asked to investigate and is joined by the sister (who happens to be a Berlin police officer) of one of the missing. This was ok for a free book.

Have my first DNF for the year Mothered, another free early read. A mother moves in with her daughter during covid restrictions for company and to help cover the bills. The result is one kills the other (I never got far enough to find out who). I just couldn’t get into it so have given up early on.

@bibliomania I love Three Men on the Bummel - so many funny set pieces, even better than Three Men on a Boat IMO (though for some reason the tin of pineapple scene in the latter always reduces me to tears of laughter)

I rather liked them being older, and the references to the wives and children, Sadik.

Yes, and the great enthusiasm with which they got waved off on holiday!

Luster - Raven Leilani

I'm a bit late to this one and it was recommended by a RL friend as well as some relatively good reviews on here.

Main character Edie is not relatable for me, I'm more the age of the older guy she dates (I've forgotten his name already!). But I liked the writing style and I liked the idea. However I was driven nearly crazy by the characters complete by their utter refusal to just have a conversation. But I also couldn't put it down, as I wanted to see where it went.

Pleased I read it but not sure I'd highly recommend. 3.5 out of 5?

27. War Doctor by David Nott

Much reviewed and well reviewed on the thread, this is David Nott's story of becoming a specialist surgeon in disaster areas and war zones.

I will confess I struggled with this, it is fairly relentlessly grim and there is a lot of stark imagery of dying and damaged men, women and children.

At one point I gave myself permission to take a break and read something else but it hit me that I would never go back if I did and I hate the time wasted on a DNF.

I just found it too hard

@RazorstormUnicorn I've read Luster too, and I think the same as you.

I'm liking The Paris Library. It's about true events involving the Librarians of the American library of Paris when France was invaded by the Germans in the Second World War. I'm halfway though now and hoping to finish it this week. 👍

it is stressful! haha sounds so pathetic.
i also really really love the feel and read of books.just holding a book feels better for me. but sometimes a digitual copy has worked best for me.and been the only way to get a certain book as our library is shocking in its selections.

@BaruFisher I echo your thoughts about Murikami . I read one of his books as part of a book club I was in years ago and I hated it. I believe it was 'After Dark.' I've read samples of his other books online, and they all seem so samey.

I absolutely loved Norwegian Wood when I was about 17, but have struggled with every Murakami I've tried to read since, 2 on TBR actually

And welcome to the Alex Rider club, @LessObviousName 🙂😂

I've only read Norwegian Wood by Murakami but I shan't read any more. Can't remember anything about it other than the pure hate emanating from me and the fact I filed him in the creepy slimeball ™️ category. No idea why now.

After my epic two weeks in Wolf Hall I've random number generated an old Inspector Wexford. Old as in 1970s so we're dealing with lots of housewives scrubbing their doorsteps and a divorced trollop being disapproved of by Inspector Burden whose sister is keeping house for him now Mrs Burden is dead. I started it thinking "god it seems so old-fashioned then calculated it's 50 years ago, I'm ancient and the Wexfords on telly were also 30 odd years ago if not more 🤣

I’m glad to see I’m not alone with the Murakami!

Murakami for me is in the category of ‘male authors who shouldn’t be allowed to write female characters’. It’s quite a big category tbf!

A side note to the Murakami conversation: if anyone's seen the film Drive My Car, it's apparently based on a short story of his, ironically as it's a LONG film!
I'd read one of his novels before and had the same feelings about flatness and the way he writes women. This film also got my back up in how it portrays women, particularly around sex, although it does have a rather touching and beautiful platonic relationship between another woman and the male protagonist.

The only Murakami I've read is the one about the Tokyo subway attack, which I read as I was recovering from a general anaesthetic, so I don't remember much about it.

Interesting you mention male authors writing women - I've got an Audible trial on the go at the moment and the book has a male narrator playing the part of a woman suffering from hyperemesis. I'm sure he thinks he is empathising, but he has given her the most awful breathy, whiny voice, which is clearly a man's interpretation of "what a really bad third trimester would feel like". I'm bracing myself for when the poor woman goes into labour.

I will not hear a word against Inspector Wexford @So1invictus. I love him dearly.

Norwegian Wood is the only Murakami I’ve read and it was enough to put me off reading any others. I can’t remember much about it now other than there was a lot of sex and death.

I liked Murakami when I originally read him, probably back in the late 90s. I remember thinking Hard-Boiled Wonderland was so original and interesting. But then more recently I found IQ84 naval-gazing in the extreme. It sounds like it's best if my older self doesn't revisit him.

Beautiful India Knight
Anatomy of a Scandal Sarah Vaughan
House of Glass Hadley Freeman
If Only They Spoke English Jon Sopel
Human Croquet Kate Atkinson
I am Lucy Barton Elizabeth Strout
Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmin

DNF

Crossroads Jonathan Franzen

To Read List

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin

Bringing my list uptodate. I finished Lessons in Chemistry last night. Agree with PPs that the first half of the book was far more engaging than the second. I also found the ending a bit pat and formulaic.

I just couldn't get into Crossroads so I'm returning it to the library - it's sitting by my chair looking at me reproachfully

5.. Tomorrow by Chris Beckett

Another great read! I'm on a hitherto unseen roll of interesting, satisfying books and can only conclude that I must have pleased the Gods last year or bored them with my book rants

This one comes from the author of Dark Eden and its sequel Mother of Eden, much talked-about in previous 50-Book threads.

Tomorrow is an odd story that winds around the protagonist's time of self-exile, trying to write a book, being captured by guerrillas, etc with short scenes in no particular order. I like the unreliable narrator aspect, the quirky imaginary bits, and the author's thoughts about writing the book that we are reading. He is not as clever as he thinks, though, as I saw the big reveal at the end coming from far away.

Recommended.

Finished The Strangled Vine by MJ Carter ( my Mr B book). Excellent and I want to read the second in the series.
Picked up The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri at my local charity shop. It's a Montalbano detective story and one that I haven't read.
Shaping up to be vintage Camilleri with the Detective en route to meet Tano the Greek at a remote farm with olive trees.
Would love to be in warm Sicily at the moment so this is great for day dreaming!