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?

Oh god. I was scarred for life by her sheaf being tickled.

Thanks all!

That sounds… I was going to say weird, but then, the whole concept is!

Tentacles, then? 🫣Surely most women would be running away screaming at this point, not musing about it being compensation for the spindly little forearms 🤣

I mean! I hate to kink shame but blimey. The author cannot be well.

And hi, @Namechangeallchange. If I had to give up the whole internet apart from one place it would be this thread. Funny, supportive, enlightening and interesting. It's not all dinosaur sex, I promise. All my best and most interesting reads in the last few years have come from here.

I try to bold book titles when I talk about them as I find it easy to navigate the thread that way. But lots of people don't and that's fine too.

You are not wrong. I refer you to the page where I officially launched it across the room.

I for one have never understood the obsession with matching underwear as some sort of signifier that you are doing womanhood right.

Greatly amused by the dinosaur porn revelations. There really is something for everyone out there!

I'm pretty sure I don't even have any matching underwear. Clearly I'm doing womanhood all wrong.

I'd be amazed if dildodocus isn't mentioned.

I’d agree with Davina that people should wear clean underwear. But I can’t get worked up about mismatched underwear.

Having said that, a lot of my underwear does inadvertently match. All my bras are either plain white or plain black, and so are most of my pants. Although I suspect a drawer full of plain, functional pants and bras isn’t what Davina means when she talks about “you are worth wearing matching underwear”.

I Don’t think my dinosaur lover cares if my underwear matches…

Maybe if it was a Brachiosaurus

Really enjoyed Children of Time @StitchesInTime it went in a completely unexpected direction. Wouldn't advise arachnophobes to read it though!

Robin Hobb book series are just soo good @ABookWyrm

15 The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Fantasy genre: it is basically a story about stories and a place where they are contained/preserved/curated (an underground harbour and shoreline on the 'Starless Sea') which can be reached though door portals - with cats. The main character Zachary finds an old book in the library which includes a part about him which starts him off on a dangerous adventure. interspersed within Zachary's story are other random short stories which start to make sense towards the end of the book. There is a dangerous group trying to shut down the portals and therefore the access to the underground world and another group who use it and go there. The whole thing is pretty trippy. The plot is confusing and meanders a bit too much. It is in dire need of some serious editing. I did struggle quite a lot with the course of the book and the ending. Quite an odd book and not a patch on the Night Circus.

I’ve lost track of numbers so will have to check back.

The Euminedes- Aeschylus
This is the last of the three plays that make up The Oresteia, which I’ve been reading over the last three months. In this one Orestes is put on trial for the killing of his mother, Clytaemenstra. It’s thought to be the first ever courtroom drama and it was my favourite of the three plays (despite Apollo’s appalling sexism).

A Room with a View- E M Forster
A reread for me. Lucy Honeychurch holidays in Italy with her cousin and meets an interesting group of people at their pension. Her experiences have a great impact on her life at home. This wasn’t my favourite Forster when I read it about 25 years ago, and it still isn’t but I did enjoy it more this time. I did it remember him being so witty before, which I very much enjoyed. Forster seems to me to be a good link between the Jane Austen era and the advent of the moderns.

Cannery Row- John Steinbeck
It’s very hard to describe the plot of this one- a bunch of people throw a disastrous party, then make up for it with a good one essentially. Doesn’t sound exactly riveting but I adored what is essentially a love letter to a particular area. Steinbeck treats the hobos and sex workers of Cannery Row with a respect and warmth I wouldn’t have expected from a writer of his generation. Ultimately uplifting. I’m considering a bold for this one.

Empireland- Sathnam Sanghera
An overview of the impact of the imperialism of the British Empire on the former colonies and in Britain itself including on the psyche. It’s a fascinating premise and there are some interesting details and examples in the book. However, I found it a bit repetitive at times and I didn’t think it dug down deep enough. I was disappointed as I’d loved his personal memoir Boy with a Topknot.

The Child- Fiona Barton
The skeleton of a baby is found by builders working on a new development. A journalist, a mother whose child was snatched, and another mother and daughter who lived in the area where the body was buried are the different POVs. This was an okay mystery- not brilliant but not terrible. I didn’t guess the ending. I listened on audio and one of the four narrators I found really hard to listen to- over acting like crazy. I need to find out who she is to avoid her in the future!

Loved A Room with a View @BaruFisher which I read just after the film came out. I will have to reread it too.

Welcome @Namechangeallchange !

@Mothership4two I tried twice to finish A Starless Sea but gave up on it, it just wasn't holding my attention and agree it was nowhere near as good as The Night Circus
All these dino comments have given me a good laugh in what was otherwise a very stressful and upsetting day. This is definitely my favourite corner of the Internet!

@FortunaMajor
I tried to think of something witty or profound in response to that nonsense but it’s got my M&S Flexifit knickers so much in a twist that I’m all out of words.

But ur soooooo worth it hun!

I imagine most of us are womaning wrong, but have far bigger things to worry about than matching underwear, such as sex mad dinosaurs being on the loose. It's one genre recommendation I won't be taking up, but I have very much enjoyed the chat about it.

Hahaha dying at the dinosaur chat. Everyday is a school day!

at the dinosaur chat too ! Who knew?? The mere thought of a dinosaur barb is giving me the vapours!

The Starless Sea was rubbish, a muddled mess of half cooked ideas. I loved Night Circus so I had the hype for it. I was so disappointed

@BaruFisher I haven't read Empireland yet but read today that Sathnam Sanghera has stopped doing UK events because of the abuse he receives over the book.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/09/abuse-has-led-sathnam-sanghera-to-more-or-less-stop-doing-book-events-in-uk

@SapatSea my goodness that is shocking. The poor man. I actually think his analysis was a bit too even at times, trying to soften some of the criticisms he had of imperialism. Maybe that’s why. Awful behaviour.