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?

South Riding by Winifred Holtby

Been meaning to read this for a while and it exceeded my expectations. Several of the characters are local councillors (as was Winifred Holtby's mother) and the decisions of the council have impacts on the character's story arcs. I am bereft now I have finished this. Absolutely adored it, best book of my year so far.

South Riding is so good, Janina. It is one of my favourite novels.

@cassandre

I recently DNF d The Bees by the same author of Pod ten pages in I knew it couldn't sustain my interest over 300 pages

26 Confessions of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell
Second volume of the bookseller’s diary. It does get a bit repetitive, but worth it for the amusing / exasperating customers. I particularly liked the one who approached the counter and asked, ‘Do you respond to questions?’

27 The God Desire - David Baddiel
The comedian and writer presents his take on atheism. I don’t think his basic argument holds much philosophical water (we really want God to exist, therefore he doesn’t…?!), but his nuanced exploration of how his Jewish identity, centred in the ritual of Judaism, intersects with his profound atheism makes this well worth a read.

The Long Pursuit by Richard Holmes Part discussion on the art of biography (as a woman of a certain age, I particularly enjoyed his writing on memory and forgetting) and mostly biographical explorations of a range of fascinating individual lives including the well-known - such as Keats, Coleridge, Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft - and lesser-known, eg Zelide, Margaret Cavendish and Madame de Stael. This revisits some of the people he has written about in his previous books but he is a brilliant and insightful writer and I loved it.

Good Girls by Hadley Freeman An exploration of anorexia, based on her own experience and that of others she encountered (including professionals working in this field). She is very good at conveying the disconnect between the perception and reality of sufferers and it is an interesting and intense attempt to explain this perplexing illness.

Interesting review and comments on Any Human Heart mothership and Tattie. I read some of it years ago and didn’t finish it at the time. From what I remember the over-privileged main character just seemed to walk through life with everything falling into his lap, handily being in the right place at the right time to watch all the Key Points of history happen right in front of his eyes. I just couldn’t work out how I was supposed to read it, whether I was supposed to believe it or not. Nearly put me off reading his other books but have enjoyed Restless since and not entirely ruled out giving AHH another go.

Lullaby by Leila Slimani

This has been reviewed further up thread and not sure if it was on here but this a book about not who done it? But why done it. I grabbed this e-book out of the library after a review of this on Between the covers. I was disappointed. I wanted to enjoy it as I generally like crime, thriller type books but I honestly did not like this. It was all very depressing , not surprising given that Louise the nanny kills her charges. You get a picture of how deeply disturbed Louise is. I don’t know just not a stand out for me so not a recommend. Need something uplifting next I think.

I really rate South Riding. Amazing that Winifred Holtby completed it while she was dying at a sadly young age, and after a real battle with her mother to get it published.

The BBC adaptation with Anna Maxwell Martin and David Morrisey is worth a watch too.

I love South Riding too and need to reread it one day!

DuPain, I hope you enjoy Babel; I like it for what it is but I can't help comparing it to Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, a fantasy book which conjures up the 19th c so much more convincingly. But Kuang is still young and it is impressive that she has written so much when she's only in her 20s.

High five, Pepe, to a fellow modern linguist! To me Babel felt like it switched genres toward the end. I enjoyed the first half much more. I didn't like the ending but I don't want to say why as I want to avoid giving spoilers. But the word bloodbath comes to mind.

EineReise, it's good to know it's not just me who doesn't get on with Laline Paull's books; they're quite marmite I guess!

Material Girls by Dr Kathleen Stock is only 99p today.

I had a lovely browse in Waterstones today, oh the smell of new books! ❤️ I have only remembered one or two of the titles I wanted to and I have a ridiculous worry about taking my phone out to note the books I might buy at a later date , so I’m going to trawl the website later to see if any jump out at me. There was one that looked a bit Shuggie Bain but shorter and a couple with swirly covers……I did see a new Ben Aitken one about having Fun, which looks good, but I’m not spending £19 on him since the bore fest that was A Chip Shop In Poznan.

Thanks @TattiePants I will add it to my (massive) 'to read' list!

I have got a lot of friends onto Jodi Taylor's St. Mary's books @BaruFisher even those that tend to enjoy more 'highbrow' intellectual reads. They are fun and well written and well researched.

Is South Riding feel good, or a bit of a misery-fest? I could do with something chirpy.

It's absorbing and dramatic Remus but I wouldn't say it's feel-good. Not a misery-fest either but some serious social commentary as well as the relationship stuff.

I think of it in the same category as Middlemarch or novels by Trollope or Arnold Bennett. That's a plus in my book

Thank you. I'm afraid the likening to Middlemarch is definitely not a plus for me! I think I read another of hers and didn't think that much of it, so maybe this one isn't for me right now!

I love the St Mary's books, and the Time Police spin off series is great too, in fact I think I prefer that series at the moment. If you have an Audible subscription then a lot of the St Mary's books are included for free in the plus catalogue.

@ABookWyrm @PepeLePew there's a lovely Judy Blume documentary that has just been released on Amazon about her life and really how ground breaking she was. She's very proud to have had some of her books on the banned books list for decades. The whole thing just made me love her more!

South Riding lovers might enjoy Testament of Friendship by Vera Brittain, about her close & longstanding friendship with Holtby.

I'm busy with work & family stuff, so only easy reads at the moment. We also have a new family member (pic below), but it's a lot less work than a puppy

41. Follow the Money by Paul Johnson
    I picked this up in daily deals, & its a fantastic run through of the way the UK raises & then spends taxes. Paul Johnson is director of the non-partisan Institute for Fiscal Studies. He looks at who pays how much tax and how that's changed over the years, where the money goes, and how all of this compares to other similar countries. Highly recommended, very quick & easy to read & take in.

42. Grown-ups by Marian Keyes
    This follows three women, married to three brothers, plus various children/nieces/nephews, & the shifting relationships between them all.
    
    I don't feel the love for Keyes that many do on here, probably because I only first read her books recently, but this was good light entertainment with convincing characters (more convincing I felt than some of her earlier novels).

I’m loving the insertion of small baby animals into the thread!

@Sadik Adorable!

I love South Riding too. Must re-read one day soon.

@Boiledeggandtoast, so glad you enjoyed the Richard Holmes. I do think his writing is fascinating and so subtle and thought-provoking.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I also managed about 10 pages of The Bees - given to me by a friend because we keep bees. My internal commentary went something like: a beehive doesn't work like that... a beehive really doesn't work like that.... A BEEHIVE REALLY, REALLY DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT.

I DNF-ed at that point for DP's sake. Not inclined to try Pod.

(TBF, DD who is also a beekeeper did get through it, she said it was OK providing you could ignore the fact that it was meant to be about bees, and pretend that it was SF about some kind of alien society.)

I loved South Riding. Which may or may not be a recommendation. Not feelgood, though.

Cute kitty. I ask DH if we can have a kitten roughly once a week. He’s not budging.

The Authenticity Project - Clare Pooley (promotional blurb sorry)
Julian Jessop is tired of hiding the deep loneliness he feels. So he begins The Authenticity Project - a small green notebook containing the truth about his life . Leaving the notebook on a table in his friendly neighbourhood café, Julian never expects Monica, the owner, to track him down after finding it. Or that she'll be inspired to write down her own story.

Drawing together a group of strangers in a similar way to The People on Platform 5, nice warm hearted, undemanding, easy read.

Terpsichore It was your recommendation which first put me on to Richard Holmes a few years ago, for which many thanks. This was my third and I will definitely be reading more.