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?

I signed up to the free trial, downloaded a couple of cookery books/magazines and then cancelled. Very little I was interested din, and very hard to find stuff. The magazines are almost impossible to read on there too.

I'm happy to be a Keanu but not sure what it means @So1invictus 3'

He's supposed to be a nice kind person who would never write reviews like mine surely!

Ive got some good things on kindle unlimited, though actually I’m reading so little at the moment it’s absolutely not worth it for me and I should probably cancel - I keep it because I think ‘I’ll just read these first’ 🙄

Actually this has given me a kick up the bum to cancel - hopefully I can clear a couple of the ones I’m most interested in before the end of the month when it runs out.

I currently have on unlimited -

A Song for Summer - Eva Ibbotson
The Island of Sea Women - Lisa See
Bodies of Light - Sarah Moss
The Dark Queens - Shelley Puhak
My Year of Meats - Ruth Ozeki
The Sweet Dove Died - Barbara Pym
A Change of Climate - Hilary Mantel
Every Day is Mother’s Day - Hilary Mantel

I have also sometimes used it in the past for classics I already have paper copies of but want to read on kindle for ease.

I'd go for A Change of Climate @AliasGrape . I read it last year thought it was really good & easy to get into.

I cant get into anything at the moment. My borrowbox account is littered with DNFs. Just want yo find something undemanding & halfway engaging - browsing the categories, but not finding anything that grabs me.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I think you and Remus are my reading ranty twins (though sometimes the rants are about different things) I use you as my "how would Keanu feel?" but about books, I ask myself "would Remus or EineReise like this?" as I've rarely disagreed with either of you either with raving or ranting!

Finally! I finished a book in reasonable time!

book 24 Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I loved this. I am not ashamed to say that I am a Greek-mythaholic. I thought this almost worked like a companion book to Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. There were areas at the end that I was glad I had read Pat Barker’s book as Madeline Miller seemed to almost rush the last section.

I think Greek mythology might be my comfort read of choice. I have immediately downloaded Circe as I think I need another wee push to keep the momentum before summer.

I have so very many books downloaded on my Kindle that is it frankly embarrassing but hey Ho. I have unlimited and have previously cancelled it as I either wasn’t getting through the stuff or it just wasn’t to my taste. I am not sure why I have gone for it again - I am a sucker for subscriptions

@So1invictus

That's funny. I am often quietly on a Will Remus like this? check whilst reading something as she's so hard to please. That Zachary book had potential, period style and one genderqueer character but still it wasn't good enough!

I miss Satsuki from the thread as well we tended to circle each other taste wise

@Passmethecrisps

Loved both Madeleine Miller books

I recall Circe being controversial on here though

91. Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

Canadian couple Margaret and Jon decide to divorce. Though this was definitely expected and Margaret was tired of him, when reality hits her she doomspirals impacting everyone around her

Stylistically, this is like BEINGTALKEDATVERYFAST so if that's not for you it's an immediate put off.

I felt that this maybe wasn't for me until Margaret has an exchange with what is presumably the Canadian version of Just Eat which I found very entertaining and made me want to die on her behalf.

The author is a staff writer from Schitt's Creek, which I loved, but as a funny/comic book it mostly relies on cringe and pathos as these type of books often do.

For me this was an exact case of something I could read with my brain disengaged. Light, but light entertainment, not light as in lightweight.

It definitely lives up to the title.

Sorry for being so hard to please.

You're the thread Oliver Twist

Please Guys Can I Have A Book About A Gay Train that's stuck in the snow, must be Victorian Times!

(Just Kidding I love searching for stuff)

Try this, by the way

Snowpiercer 1-3 Boxed Set: The Complete Graphic Novel Collection amzn.eu/d/6chUIh2

😂😂😂😂😂

Not sure if I dare admit that I couldn’t cope with graphic novels!l

PS: if you do know any books about gay trains, I’m in!

Well I guess Gordon's sexuality is questionable

I love this thread.

Behind on reviews again.

66. Trunk Music by Michael Connelly

The next in the Det Harry Bosch series. Harry is still being a narky ding, while investigating a murder that seems to be mob-related, which leads to a visit to Las Vegas and a meeting with a face from the past. Some of this is very dated, both in terms of attitudes and technology, but the central mystery kept my interest.

67. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult attempts to solve race relations in 400 pages and ends up patronising absolutely everyone. A white supremicist gives birth and her husband refuses to have any black medical staff provide care to their baby. As there’s only one black nurse on staff Ruth Jefferson knows this is directed at her, and is rightfully angry. Circumstances mean that Ruth is the only one there when the baby stops breathing and the subsequent story is based around Ruth’s trial. Cue every single cliche or stereotype you can think of being chucked at the reader. There is zero nuance, and every chapter seems to have a "HOW NOT TO BE A RACIST" or "CHECK YOUR WHITE PRIVILEGE" message writ large. The character of Ruth definitely seemed to be what a white woman thinks a black woman would feel. I hated this so much. Also the ‘twist’ at the end was insulting and was so poorly handled. It was after the trial and served no purpose other than as an act of cruelty to a bereaved parent.

68. The Path Between Worlds by Paul Antony Jones
69. A Memory of Mankind by Paul Antony Jones

The first two books in a trilogy, and I won’t be bothering with the third. Just as Meredith Gale is about to fall from a bridge to her death a disembodied voice asks her if she wants to be saved. She says yes (funnily enough) and is dropped onto a mystery planet with a load of other people in the same boat (thinking about it a actual boat might have been helpful as they are all dropped into the sea and not everyone there can swim!) The first book was a bit silly but intrigued me enough to give the second a go. The second book was just one long chase scene, with the main character getting more and more irritating as a bit of a messiah myth built up around her.

70. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

I’m pretty sure this has been reviewed a few times so I won’t recap. I’ll just add that I found this really interesting and raced through it. I loved the voice of Civil and couldn’t help contrasting this book with Small Great Things which also features a black nurse as the main character, and themes of racism, but the difference is that Civil and the other characters seemed so much more authentic to me. This story broke my heart, even more so when I read that it was based on a true story. I’m not quite sure it’s a bold, but if it isn’t it’s pretty near.

71. Angel’s Flight by Michael Connelly

The next Harry Bosch book. A prominent civil rights lawyer who made his reputation suing the LAPD is murdered and Bosch and team are brought in to investigate. More of the same, an ok mystery and more Bosch nobbery. After that resoundingly positive review of course I’m gonna read the rest of the series.

Weighing in on the kindle unlimited debate. I have had it for quite a while but realised I wasn’t using it much. I have made more of a conscious effort to use it and probably every 4th book I read is now an unlimited. Also I have started using it for the psychological thrillers that I can’t resist, as well as the slightly silly sci-fi I’m partial to, and there are quite a few rom-coms. It's working well as I have stopped buying those types of books for 99p now as I reason I have plenty via kindle unlimited.

I'm also going to quietly ignore the dinosaur porn!

@AliasGrape I'm a big fan of Bodies Of Light. Quite different from Sarah Moss' more recent books. Also sending you solidarity on the toddler parenting front!

39. Fight Night by Miriam Toews. Narrated by a 10 year old girl, as a letter to her absent father, as she navigates a fairly chaotic family life with her pregnant mother and her grandmother. There's not much more plot than that! It's funny but veers into overly quirky for me.

As ever with books with young narrators, there are big events that you're only seeing through a child's half understood experience. But I would have hoped for a bit more explanation. There were whole sub-plots that I could never make any sense of, and an Amish backstory for the grandmother that I'm not sure I'd have picked up on if I didn't vaguely know the author had Amish connections.

Which all sounds as if I didn't like it very much. But actually the last few chapters were incredibly warm and moving and captured the depth of the relationships between the women. So there is definitely a good book in here!

31. The It Girl by Ruth Ware. Read by almost everyone recently! It didn't feel like the Secret History to me but I liked it anyway. Solid thriller, well timed reveals, and I went through phases of believing almost all the suspects were guilty. I read a lot of this waiting in A+E (all fine) and it was the perfect combination of compelling and unchallenging to keep me occupied.

I have managed to get back through the thread and what a ride that was! 🦖 💋

thank you for the wonderful review and recommendation of cuddy @BoldFearlessGirl. I read it and immediately thought of my wonderful late MIL who would have adored it for so many reasons. It’s wonderful when a review grabs you and puts you in mind of someone so thank you.
.I think it’s likely to be my next on my list as you sold it so wonderfully

I heard of someone recently who cried after finishing every book as they were so overjoyed to have read it at all. Slightly hyperbolic maybe but I sort of understand. When I have committed to reading a book I am so pleased when I have completed it that I find it hard to review critically at all. My good reads stars are all 4 and 5. I almost can’t imagine giving any less as I wouldn’t finish the book in that instance.

my point is that the fantastic book reviews - positive, negative and nuanced - are so very appreciated

Re kindle unlimited, the books on my wishlist that are available on kindle unlimited (which I don't have - but if I did I would use it to get these books) are:
Noise by Daniel Kahneman (sequel to the amazing Thinking, Fast and Slow)
The Silver Star by Jeanette Walls (as I loved The Glass Castle).

@So1invictus and @JaninaDuszejko I totally agree with you about the menopause thing. I am 49 and the emails from the 'Menopause Network' at work drive me mad! Just another stereotype to fight against in my male dominated department <sigh>.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit You’re opening up a whole new can of potential porn there. I’m thinking fat controller, can of oil, hot engines and a whole load of going (and coming) in tunnels.

Noooooo Remus! 🚂 🫣

Thank you @Owlbookend and @GrannieMainland - I shall try to tick those two off the list at least before the subscription ends.

I can’t cope with train porn now too - we’ve had ‘down at the station’ on already this morning for DD and I won’t be able to listen to it the same way. ‘Chuff chuff choo choo off we go’ 🚂

Resolutely ignoring the train porn here…..

I’ve been making terribly slow progress with my reading, partly because I’ve been caught up with this very long and detailed but also great book about Hollywood:

39: City of Nets - Otto Friedrich

If you happen to share my (admittedly niche) enthusiasm for all things vintage film-related, this is the book for you. A sprawling exploration of the movie industry in the 1940s, encompassing the 2nd World War, the impact of distinguished immigrants to America (Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Thomas Mann, Brecht) and - a bit later - the utter batshittery that was the House Un-American Activities Committee (featuring a keen young R. Nixon) and the whole confected Communist scare. Plenty of juicy behind-the-scenes anecdotes but also a properly serious piece of film writing.

40: The Favour - Nicci French

Less of a success, I’m afraid. As others have noted, the writing partnership here seems to be fast waning into feebledom. 10 years ago, Jude was in a bad car crash with Liam, the teenage boyfriend she idolised. Now she’s a hospital doctor, engaged to be married, and that part of her life is past. Until Liam suddenly reappears and asks her to do him a favour which seems to have no rationale. Soon Jude finds herself under police suspicion and with her life falling apart.
This may have sounded like a good idea for a thriller but honestly, it was just exasperating. Jude needed a good shake, the houseful of kooky characters she encounters are hugely annoying, and the stock Nicci French device of a character who finds themselves up against a seemingly impossible set of odds is starting to stray dangerously close to Sophie Hannah territory in terms of irritatingness (if that’s even a word).

31. Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters by Laura Thompson I know there are a few Mitford fans on here and I actually know almost nothing about them, beyond the fact Nancy was an author and Deborah was Duchess of Devonshire, so I picked up this biography on Kindle to try and learn more. Unfortunately Thompson assumed a basic level of familiarity with the sisters which I didn't possess, but she did eventually explain their history adequately. I found the sisters absolutely fascinating and am really glad I've learned more about them, but I'm not sure Thompson has done a particularly good job with this biography, it's fairly badly written in places and she seems to make a lot of assumptions about the sisters motivations, thoughts and feelings without much evidence to back it up. Lots of "obviously Nancy's intention was..." when it seems to me that her view is just one interpretation. It also seems to end rather abruptly when Sydney died and each surviving sister just gets a short overview of the remainder of her life which was a bit bizarre

But these certainly were extremely fascinating women and I agree with Thompson that a completely unique set of circumstances shaped the sisters lives. If anyone has any recommendations for a better biography do let me know

This is the problem with niche porn. Said friend I referenced some pages down now has produced a small dinosaur-obsessed human and it is very hard not to look at his mother and snigger every time he asks to show me his triceratops.