50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Four

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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, the second one here and the third one here.

What are you reading?

I have no wish to tame my TBR (which is probably just as well, it would be a losing battle) but I wish everyone who does fun trying, whether you get it under control or make discoveries which could cause your problem to get worse.

Thanks southeast for the new thread.

Like a couple of others on the thread I have a virtual wishlist and keep it on a word document. It's pretty out of control (in the hundreds) and mostly made up of recommendations from here over the years. It's got to the stage with many of them that I can't even remember what they're about! I should be ruthless and just prune it down I think.

Where i am stuck in bed a lot of the time i tell myself that my contribution to housework is reading books and then deciding whether to keep or donate . It would be more convincing if I didn't find more to add to the pile every time I go into a charity shop with donations!

I feel so at home among all you other book buying addicts! Last year I said I wouldn't buy any new books and I did pretty well at it, just a couple of slips. But my in-laws often buy me books for birthdays and Christmas and I always get my Amazon first reads freebie so the list is constantly going up. I'm just under 300 books tbr at the moment but to be honest it's not really going down. This year I'm on a big decluttering drive so I made a deal with myself that for every bin bag of clutter that left the house I could buy a Kindle book from my wishlist (not a physical one as that's just bringing more items into the house). It's certainly motivated me to clear out clutter but isn't helping my tbr at all

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.
6. Run and Rising. Leigh Bardugo.
7. Chernobyl Prayer. Voices from Chernobyl. Svetlana Alexievich.
8. Alex Rider. Anthony Horowitz.
9. Clap When You Land. Elizabeth Acevedo

10. Outback. Patricia Wolf 11. Mammoth. Jill Baguchinsky. 12. The Locked Room. Elly Griffiths 13. The girl who drank the moon. Kelly Barnhill 14. Point Blanc. Anthony Horowitz 15. Closure limited and other zombie tales. Max Brooks

my up to date read list.

a couple I have finally read from my wish list made up mostly of recommendations from these threads, I’m trying to stick to the ones available at the library first. And I’m trying to stop adding so many to the ever growing list.

I won’t review all of my recent reads but for anyone who likes fantasy I recommend the girl who drank the moln, it’s a young adult book so doesn’t get too detailed but still a lovely read. In short every year a village offer up the youngest child to appease the witch of the forest, meanwhile every year a witch comes to rescue the child that she believes the villagers are abandoning and rehome it with nice families on the other side of the forest. On this particular year the witch accidentally feeds the baby milk from the moon making her magical and has to raise her herself while awaiting the consequences of the magic.

20 Living With Buildings and Walking With Ghosts: On Health and Architecture - Iain Sinclair

Commissioned by the Wellcome Collection to coincide with an exhibition about the relationship of health to architecture, this is a series of essays loosely structured around explorations of various sites from London’s Pepys Estate and Christ Church Spitalfields to abandoned crofts on the Isle of Harris and Le Corbusier’s Unite d’habitation in Marseille, and their connection to human health and experience. I don’t know, or care that much about architecture but would enjoy Sinclair writing about almost anything.

It's very interesting to hear about everyone's attitudes to their TBR piles!

I'm such a dinosaur, I don't do kindle or audiobook (yet!!), so my TBR piles are all physical and I'm deeply attached to them, ha. I do notice a theme in that the books that never get read tend to be 'worthy' books that I think I should read, rather than easy fun ones. SPQR by Mary Beard, I'm looking at you!

I also have access to some academic libraries with very generous borrowing privileges, and that is its own TBR kind of hell. There are some academic books that I've been renewing for years (decades even)! I kind of feel like they're mine in all but name, because they're so obscure that no one else has wanted to recall them over all the years I've had them. I'm not mentally ready to return them, but neither am I mentally ready to read them. 🙄

My Women's Prize longlist books are starting to come in from the library and I'm very excited. I'm currently deep into Demon Copperhead but admiring it more than loving it. I'm desperate to read Trespasses but that one still has quite a long queue. I see that it's due to come out in paperback on March 30, so if my library copy hasn't come in by that time, I'm going to buy it. I have such an addictive personality though, I'm having a hard time holding off till the 30th, even though I try not to buy hardbacks (they take up more shelf space and they're hard to hold up in bed).

Just recovering from conjunctivitis; to all those coping with worse/more chronic health problems. I have had to venture into audiobooks, using my library and a free trial of Audible. I don’t think I’m a terribly good listener: I easily miss bits if try to do things other than just listen, and I like to set my own pace. I may need more practice.

22. Companion Piece - Ali Smith
A further instalment to her recent Seasons quartet, set in lockdown. Sandy, a middle-aged artist, is waiting for news of her hospitalised father she can’t visit, when an old acquaintance contacts her with a bizarre story. Playful, compassionate, at times urgent, a celebration of language and creativity, ultimately hopeful, a worthy addition to Smith’s must-read series.

23. Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner
A romance writer is forced by an unspecified social disgrace to stay at an old-fashioned Swiss hotel at the end of the season. Her dull, static days are enlivened as she gradually becomes acquainted with the few other residents. Subtle, understated writing, with moments of wit and piercing feeling, but a little too slow at times, and a rather depressing view of relationships between men and women.

24. The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen - KJ Charles
An entertaining romance among Kentish smugglers, as reviewed by @Sadik As an employee of HMRC, I cannot of course condone evasion of taxes or duties.

I’m now listening to Treasure Island, and enjoying a fine array of piratical voices, and continuing with an interesting, but very lengthy, biography of William Morris.

I would not like to contemplate my TBR collection; my books may possibly be breeding. I also have Amazon wish lists in two different countries and various entries in small notebooks which live in my bedside table.

I’m another who has a very minimal TBR list unless I count books I want to reread. I’ve been very good today and visited a local National Trust house which has a great bookshop and came away not only empty handed but donated two two carrier bags full of books.
Gave up on Wintering.

Thank you for the new thread. Just finished book #14 Peter May The Lewis Man. Sequel to The Blackhouse. I think I preferred this, although aspects of the story were stretching probability a bit. A bog body is found, identification is impossible but dna shows a relationship to an old man with dementia. An ex cop investigates and finds a story of orphans moved by the church to become homers on the Scottish islands but they have a dark event in their past which comes to haunt everyone's present

Oh wow, I blinked and we are 7 pages into a new thread! Thanks South!

My TBR is my Amazon wishlist and like others, I mostly wait for them to come down to 99p. Some of them I don't think will come down in price, so this year I might move some of them across to my Christmas list and get physical copies (hopefully, if I am good!) For physical books my shelves are full, so it's a one in, one out philosophy...

Thanks for all the recs for NI books at the end of the last thread. I've added a lot to my list, and suspect will read the ones which reduce to 99p first! Apologies I can't remember names to tag.

23. The It Girl by Ruth Ware Weighing in at over 400 pages, this was nevertheless a gripping read. Hannah walked away from her degree at Pelham College, Oxford, before the end of her first year, traumatised after the murder of her friend and roommate, April.

Ten years later, Hannah discovered the man convicted of April's murder has died in prison. However, a journalist working with April's family has cast doubts on the safety of the original conviction, throwing doubt into Hannah's mind about tge evidence she gave in Court. She begins delving into the past and unearths some shocking secrets.

I really enjoyed this. It kept me guessing all the way. This is the third Ruth Ware novel I've read now, and I think I'll look out for more.

I'm sadly unable to afford books.my choices come down to what I can get at my library.

So I don't have my own tbr pile.id love to own books.

It's on the first things I'd ever do if I had money,have my own bookshelf.

29 The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell.
Lucrezia fears that her husband Alfonso plans to kill her. Based on a painting of Lucrezia de Medici during the Renaissance years, this historical fiction focuses on her pov. We are told from the outset that she died just over a year after her marriage.
I enjoyed this but then I enjoy reading about the Renaissance period and the Medici in particular. There are some scenes which stretch credulity somewhat. It is beautifully written, but no more so than a similar Guy Gavriel Kay renaissance based fantasy, which would never be under consideration for a major award.
so far, I’ve read 1/4 of the longlist (Trespasses, I’m a Fan, Children of Paradise and this one) and my favourite has definitely been Children of Paradise. I own 2 more (Memphis and Demon Copperhead) so will definitely read those two. I may listen to one on audible too as I’ve a credit going spare, but for now I’m going to take a break with some Mick Herron.

Thanks for the new thread southeast.

My list so far:

1. Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard
2. The World I Fell Out Of by Melanie Reid
3. The Running Man by Stephen King
4. A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons by Cressida Cowell
5. The Ruin of All Witches by Malcolm Gaskill
6. Healthiest You Ever by Meera Lester, Murdoc Khaleghi, Susan Reynolds & Brett Aved
7. A History of the Vampire in Popular Culture by Violet Fenn
8. House of X / Powers of X by Hickman / Larraz / Silva
9. Mr Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn

10. Jane Eyre Laid Bare by Charlotte Brontë & Eve Sinclair 11. Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett 12. The Book of Angst by Gwendoline Smith 13. Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough 14. The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy

There’s a Little Free Library about 15 minutes walk away from my house. It was set up during lockdown, so especially welcome as all the actual libraries were closed!

It’s no good for my TBR list though. The books in it are of course very random, but whenever I go there to drop books off I find that I usually return home with the same number of books in my bag.

Has anyone read The Gold? Contemplating getting the audio book for a train journey tomorrow, but it’s got surprisingly few reviews on Amazon considering how popular the series was.

Failing that, any recommendations for a gripping true crime or similar audio book? I’m so bored of ice and need something more lively!

The only tree library I’ve seen was in Berlin. I got a crime book set in Venice but have forgotten the writer. It was the only thing in English.

43. The Devil In The White City by Erik Larsen

I think Remus read this last year. It's been on my TBR ages.

It's a weird thing this book, I thought :

On the one hand the White City is Chicago during the World's Fair of 1893.

The Devil in question is the serial killer H.H Holmes who was in operation in Chicago at the time of the fair.

But, as the chapters alternate between Daniel Burnham and his architect colleagues and the spectacles they made for the fair; and Holmes and his (usually) young, vulnerable female victims, it seems increasingly obvious that though they are constantly juxtaposed against each other they have little to no relevance to each other story wise.

It's a bit like the author wanted to write about the World's Fair and was told by a publisher to throw the serial killer in to "liven it up"

I definitely preferred the Holmes chapters.

However in spite of it not sitting quite right as a whole piece, I did really enjoy it, I would recommend it and it will likely be a bold.

15 Femina - Janina Ramirez This is an exploration of the medieval world with an emphasis on the women who have been written out of history (or at least minimised or manipulated in historical records). Each chapter covers one particular woman or (in some cases) category of women, moving from the very early Middle Ages to the 1400s, and jumping around Europe. It’s more a series of highlights than a full history of the Middle Ages, but that suited me fine. I learned a lot (although people with more knowledge of this period of history than me will be familiar with a lot of it, I think) and enjoyed the book - it sometimes read a bit like a phd thesis but was readable and flowed well. I particularly liked the earliest chapters, but that’s probably because I’m more of an ancient historian at heart, and others will feel differently! I’m leaning towards a bold for this one.

21. The Kitchen Book - Nicolas Freeling

22. The Cook Book - Nicolas Freeling

I'm breaking my self-imposed one fiction/one non-fiction rule here (horrors!) because these really have to go together. Freeling is best known for his very successful fictional creation, Van der Valk the Amsterdam detective, but he had a colourful life before becoming a writer, and for many years he worked as a cook in various French hotels and restaurants (he'd grown up partly in France and was fluent in the language). He wrote The Kitchen Book in 1970 as a kind of memoir of his experiences learning to be a chef, from the humblest beginnings - it’s lively, funny and the last chapters especially will ring bells with anyone who’s ever taken a job with an ambitious new company and watched in horror as everything falls apart around them. Anthony Bourdain loved this book, apparently, and it became his inspiration for Kitchen Confidential.

A couple of years later, despite his insistence that he loathed recipes, Freeling wrote The Cook Book, a very chatty, entertaining guide to cooking various - rather time-consuming - mostly French-inspired dishes, most of which are way out of fashion today, I suspect (brains in butter, anyone? Leiden Stamp-pot?), but it's highly diverting to accompany him as he explains how to make them. A nice discovery for anyone who’s into food writing.

Pleased that this received a good review. Received a copy for Christmas and looking forward to reading it once I get through some chunky library books.

Oooooh Terps - they sound amazing, will make a note of them, thanks!

I am late to thread 4 really quite behind - have been reading quite long books and have only managed 2 more since the start of thread 3 (am determined not to be put off by long books because I am doing this).

1. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
2. The Storyteller - Dave Grohl
3. What If? - Randall Monroe
4. Explaining Humans - Camilla Pang
5. The Power - Naomi Alderman
6. Four Thousand Weeks - Oliver Burkeman
7. Rewild Yourself - Simon Barnes
8. Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
9. Homo Deus - Yuval Noah Harari

Bolds for Sapiens and Dave Grohl but I have enjoyed everything so far, except for The Power, which I absolutely hated.

I did start Otherlands but have put it to one side for now - not marking as a DNF for now, as I do intend to go back, but it didn't grab me like I thought it would - read the intro and the first chapter.

Just finished:

10 - The Body: A Guide for Occupants - Bill Bryson

This was my first Bill Bryson and I really loved it. He has taken a subject that has the potential to be very dry (and don't I know it - have had to do loads of A&P for work) and made it really interesting. Lots of cool stories and factoids - all of the science treated with respect, but still quite a funny read. Will definitely read more Bryson!

Now onto An Immense World by Ed Yong - so far it's very good.

Just finished two Women's Prize books, already reviewed by others on this thread and the previous one. Think these are both debuts.

19. I'm A Fan - Sheena Patel. There is a very loose plot with the narrator having a slightly one-sided affair with "the man I want to be with it" who is also having a far more passionate with "the woman I'm obsessed by". He is also married. Each chapter is very short and have titles taken from internet memes (which went right over my middle aged head). There's some really good passages about fame and white privilege - the woman she's obsessed by is an insta influencer by dint of her famous father and spends her life taking photos of her food, home and anything else that showcases her good taste. The voice was strong and original, but it ended a bit abruptly for me, I'd have liked a bit more plot.

20. Children of Paradise - Camilla Grudova. I really liked this, I think it's a bold. It's about a woman working in a decrepit old cinema, with various film-obsessed co-workers. It's quite visceral in its detail - pretty much all the bodily fluids appear at some stage - and hallucinatory in places. I'm not a massive film fan but did used to work in an art house cinema bar as a student... It was thankfully nothing like this! I'd recommend it (but don't know if I can ever go to the cinema again!).

I started Pod by Laline Paull last night. It's the one that's narrated by a dolphin. The jury is definitely out so far. I'm reminded of the Warrior Cats series that my kids used to like.