50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Five

[Southeastdweller]

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

What are you reading?

There’s a podcast called Literary Friction that has an episode with the Fire Rush author on. The theme of the ep is actually ‘dance’ and they talk about the book from that angle. It’s very interesting. I’ve just bought the book on the Kindle deal and look forward to reading it even more now I’ve heard the author talk about it.

Just read an excellent book (May has done well so far) which was Joan by Katherine J Chen. This is a retelling of Joan of Arc's story. The usual publicity type stuff badges it as a 'feminist retelling' which made me expect the Natalie Haynes type thing. But, actually it's far more than this. The writer has been compared to Mantel and words of praise from Mantel feature at the beginning. It is certainly Mantelesque (down to 'She, Joan') in its style. Told through Joan's pov (and, yes, in present tense , although I think it works) from childhood to capture , it is full of memorable passages and she brings characters alive. Where it is slightly laboured in places, it soon picks up again. Chen's style is gorgeous.

All I really knew about Joan of Arc was that she fought against the English and was burnt at the stake. And OMD. I didn't know much of the intrigues and politicking.

The afterword is interesting in terms of the author admitting happily that she has played fast and loose with the story, but also pointing out that so has history.

The negative reviews on Amazon, naturally, come from historical pedants. Meh. Stuff em. I have been missing Mantel and Cromwell and this nearly gave them back to me.

The audible for Fire Rush is amazing, definitely a 5/5 for me.

I hated 84K too Eine. I think the author went to DD1's school so want to like her but she'd making it hard.

A couple of lightweight reads from me:

55. Ordeal by Innocence, Agatha Christie
Two years ago a young man died in prison after being convicted of hitting his adoptive mother over the head with a poker. Now new evidence shows he couldn't have done it. So who did? Household members look upon each other with suspicion and fear. It's the usual AC experience, although with no Poirot or Marple, complete with the occasional eyebrow-raising social views.

56. Blurb your Enthusiasm, Louise Wilder
Fun account of the art (or craft) of writing blurbs and other aspects of publishing. It did feel rather bitty and I'm not sure it added up to a satisfying whole, but it was an enjoyable read for the commute.

Hotel 21 by Senta Rich

Noelle works as a hotel cleaner but never stays long as she likes to steal things. However will her 21st hotel change her habits when she makes friends with the other cleaners? This was fine except I never really bought the friendship with the other cleaners - in three weeks she becomes close enough to them all to change the habits of a lifetime? That didn’t ring true to me but I still quite enjoyed it.

Out of the Sun by Robert Goddard

The latest in my reread of all Goddard’s books. I actually reread this one only a year or so ago so this was still very familiar - but I never mind rereading him!

Sun Damage by Sabine Durrant

Ali is a con woman who escapes her controlling partner then poses as Lulu to get a job as a chef in a French villa over the summer, spending her time finding out the guests’ secrets. This was ok, pretty good twist at the end although I think it’s a bit unrealistic that all the guests would have a secret!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Late to the party on this one but I really enjoyed it.

The Favour by Nicci French

Jude agrees to do a favour for an ex boyfriend she hasn’t seen for years, but he’s then murdered and Jude gets dragged into his life. This was an easy read but the main character was really annoying as every decision she made was really stupid. I used to really like Nicci French books but the last couple haven’t been very good.

Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander

Meredith hasn’t left her house for more than three years but gradually her friends encourage her to expand her life. That’s pretty much it. There’s also flashbacks to her childhood but I don’t think these really explained properly why she had become a recluse. Anyway, fine as a quick read.

@MamaNewtNewt @Stokey

She's definitely a big ideas author but I feel like maybe her publisher is pushing her down the supermarket/airport thriller route and I'm not sure that's the writer she is or wants to be.

Stokey my Audible just renewed I see you rated Fire Rush is there anything else you can recommend as a good quality listen off the top of your head? It's very hit and miss, I was going to get the Hunger Games prequel but all the reviews said the narration was shocking so I went for kindle

33. Whale by Cheon Myong-Kwan translated by Chi Young-Kim The second of the International Booker shortlist that I've read, and actually I think only the third book by a man I've read this year - it hasn't encouraged me to read more! This was written 20 years ago but had recently been translated, hence why it's made the shortlist. It's considered a classic in South Korea and has been compared to One Hundred Years of Solitude. It has a healthy dose of magic realism and is mainly the story of a woman Geumbok who has a series of adventures and misadventures going from beggar to businesswoman, and her enormous mute daughter Chinhui. There's loads of abuse, violence, rape and sex in this book most of which is portrayed in a jokey way which made me feel quite uncomfortable. The humour is quite school boy - enormous penises feature regularly - and women are defined by their breast size and smell - definitely of the Ken Follet school of bodice ripping. There's also a narrator who makes annoying asides. I'm quite surprised by the amount of plaudits and 5 star reviews this has got as for me, its treatment of women and abuse felt thankfully outdated. Interested to know others thoughts on it, but can't recommend it!

@Stokey

That sounds utterly dreadful - no thanks!

Eine I'm quite new to Audible so not really am expert. A friend recommended the audible of Sorrow & Bliss if you haven't done that? Also when I slogged through Glory earlier this year, I thought it would work better as an audible... Realise that's not a ringing endorsement!

Piggy, I've added the Joan book to my TBR list, it sounds great. As a medievalist I've read quite a bit about Joan, but I'm a literary person not an historian, so liberties taken with history are unlikely to bother me 😁

And yeah, Stokey, I'll definitely be giving Whale a miss. Sheesh.

20 Spring - Ali Smith
This needs no introduction and, similarly to both Autumn and Winter, I spent the first 20% of the book going 'what on earth is she trying to achieve here?' and the remaining 80% gulping it down!
I'll wait a few months before reading the final instalment.

I thought this was a lovely article in the Guardian. First lines in books

Yes, totally agree - these are 20% WTF, 80% brilliant. I have Companion Piece waiting to be read, but I make the mistake of buying a lovely cloth-bound signed edition, and I have been putting off reading it as I completely abuse my books, which end up with crack spines, coffee rings and bathwater marks. I think I might need to get it on kindle as well.

29. Mortmain Hall by Martin Edwards The second in his Rachel Savernake series, trying to recreate the golden age of crime. I bought the first one for 99p and wasn't completely sold but this was also 99p so decided to give the series one more chance. I was more into this one than the first and am tempted to read the others in the series but might hold off to see if they make it into the deals. In this one a respected crimonologist takes an interest in Rachel and ends up inviting her to a weekend in her isolated country house in Yorkshire. The other guests are all people who were acquitted of murder at trial and the crimonologist has covered their cases in her books. Jacob starts poking around behind the scenes and gets himself into the usual scrapes which he, as always, escapes by the skin of his teeth. I didn't suspect the twist until quite late in the book but for once Edwards did actually signpost the twist throughout the story (at the end he lists all the "cluefinders" he hid in the text)

I have mixed feelings about Edwards. I've read a few of the British Library Crime Classics reprints which he chooses and writes the forewords for. One of them was completely farcical and obviously fell out of print for a reason as the solution was completely impossible without ignoring the rules of physics. It made me lose respect for Edwards. Then I read one of his modern books and he held back vital information until the very end, information which would DEFINITELY have been mentioned during the investigation. And in the first Rachel Savernake story he did a similar thing. I think authors who withhold vital information so that the reader can't possibly guess at the answer are lazy and bad writers. The key is to provide hints and clues without being too obvious, so readers have a chance of guessing. Not get to the final chapter and find the killer is someone who has never been mentioned once in the entire book. He finally seems to have worked out how to leave relevant clues throughout his text

Sorry, bit of a rant against Edwards, not sure why I keep reading his books 😂

The New Life - Tom Crewe.

Set in London in 1894, this novel is about two married men who are both gay and collaborate, against the backdrop of their marriages breaking down, extra marital liasons, and the trial of Oscar Wilde, on a book that argues that homosexuality is natural and harmless. Very disappointed with this bland, bland, bland (apart from the sex passages) book. I thought the writing in general was very self-conscious and sometimes a bit stilted. Also, I found the book on the whole dramatically inert - the result is a not terribly engaging reading experience, which feels very research-heavy...maybe he could have written a non-fiction book instead.

39. The Wehrwolf by Alma Katsu

This short story is set in Germany, 1945, as the war is drawing to an end.
Farmer Uwe lives in a small isolated village. The villagers are starting to worry about Allied troops, and the village bully, Hans (rumoured to be a deserter) is recruiting for a guerilla resistance unit. But not an ordinary guerilla resistance unit. One with werewolves.

It’s an ok read, but the ending felt very abrupt.

24 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

I saw this described somewhere as a "technicolour fairytale" and I think that sums it up. Much-reviewed on here so I won't go into detail: Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the late 1950s/early 1960s who, through the privations female scientists were wont to experience at the time, winds up presenting a cooking show. The book tells the story of how she got there. Much of what happens to her is pretty awful, but the story is told with a very light touch (perhaps too light in places) and reading it is a bit like making your way through an airy souffle. Which was just right for me at the moment, but I don't feel it will stick in my mind. I did like the relationship between Elizabeth and Harriet (there was one particularly lovely moment); not overly keen on the dog.

9. Reputation by Sarah Vaughan
Emma Webster is a Labour MP who campaigns on issues around the safety of women and girls, and experiences significant online and in person threats and harrassment as a result. A few dark turns see her involved in the death of a man, and accused of murder. A fairly standard courtroom drama thriller. Engaging plot with enough twists to keep things interesting. A quick, easy read, but far from light.

@TheTurn0fTheScrew is Companion Piece a sequel to the seasonal quartet?

21 Mothering Sunday - Graham Swift
This has been languishing on my kindle since I bought it for 99p 5 years ago, probably on a recommendation from one of you.
I thought this was bloody brilliant. Definitely a bold for me. Swift writes so well from the female protagonist's POV. Stunning.

I think I have a charity-shop-find copy of his Waterland somewhere, so I'll be digging that out in the not too distant future.

75. Free by Lea Ypi

This was my Mr B this month

It is the author's account of growing up in Communist Albania. Brainwashed by school she wonders why her family aren't more patriotic until she is very firmly told not to speak of it. First, Communism crumbles and Coca Cola goes from rarity to commonplace and then in a society not ready for capitalism civil war looms

I wish I had enjoyed this more. I found it a bit hard work. I massively appreciate the author for saying she wrote it in lockdown to hide from her kids

Argh, I grabbed Hags but didn't notice Fire Rush and it sounds great. Have added it to my wishlist and will grab it next time.

Eine I don't know if SF is up your street, but I'm really enjoying the Tamsyn Muir series starting with Gideon the Ninth, and while I've read paper copies, everyone absolutely raves about the narration of the audiobooks so I'm going to give that a try as well.

58. It's Not Me It's You by Mhairi McFarlane

Delia moves from Newcastle to London after proposing to her boyfriend and then discovering he's been cheating on her. There's a sub plot around Delia fulfilling her ambitions and working out what a shady character she's now working for, but for me it's all about the romance. I just loved this book, I think it might be my fave Mhairi McFarlane, the main characters were more nuanced than normal, with the conclusion less black and white than normal, and the chemistry between the main characters was great. This book left me feeling all warm and fuzzy, just what I needed today. I don't think I have many more Mhairi McFarlane books left to read, so if anyone has any recommendations for similar authors then let me know!

Oops posted too soon! Meant to add this review too.

59. Strong Female Character by Fern Brady

This memoir has a strong focus on feminism and how autism impacts the lives of women, and how it impacted Fern herself. It contains lots of interesting facts - I made lots of highlights and I found the section on her upbringing really interesting.

I like Fern Brady and enjoy her comedy, I found her particularly funny and endearing when she was on Taskmaster, and as someone who has long suspected I'm somewhere on the autism spectrum I expected to love this book, but I didn't. I liked it, and admired it, particularly her searing honesty as Fern doesn't spare herself, or us, anything. And that might be the problem, I felt that she shared a bit too much, and it made me pretty uncomfortable at times. I get that this is probably an appropriate emotional response and I freely admit I think it's my problem, but it didn't really have the humour it needed to offset the heaviness of the other material. Again that might just be me, as I did see other reviews stating how amusing they found it, but I generally find Fern very funny so it's a bit odd I didn't spot the humour.

This might be one where I need a bit of distance to see clearly, so I'll be interested to see how I feel about it in a few months.

1. A Woman In Berlin anon

2.The.Guest Cat. Takashi Hiraide

1. All The Broken Places John Boyne

4.The Thirteenth Juror Steve Kavanaugh 5.The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill CS Robertson

1. Case Histories Kate Atkinson

First outing for Jackson Brodie. The Lost Girls are.not always appealing but by.the end of the book they tug at your.heartstrings. They are sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, sometimes both at once. Lookout for spinster Amelia's first night of passion. I guarantee You'll laugh while realising it's very sad..That's Atkinson for you Utterly brilliant .

Just catching up on the thread, Sadik it was me who reviewed Left Handed Booksellers, glad you enjoyed it. I found it ok but preferred Neverwhere or Rivers of London, both of which I think had a better sense of urban fantasy.

Coincidentally I've just finished:

29. With the End in Mind - Kathryn Mannix

Interesting review from Sadik upthread especially regarding the hero palliative care nurse and the arguments for and against assisted dying. I needed something comforting at this moment. What I took away from the book was the dying process itself and the role of hospices in the final part of a patient's life, but I might look out Being Mortal in the future as a comparison.