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?

Catching up on some reviews
42 Dirt Town- Hayley Scrivenor
An Aussie crime novel where a child goes missing in a small town. We hear from several points of view- the child’s two closest friends, her mother and the detective in charge of the investigation. There is also a ‘we’ point of view which represents the children of the town. It’s well written and more focussed on the impact of the crime than solving it (though that is dealt with too). Great read.

43 The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro
I know this is much reviewed on here and opinions are very divided. I loved it and it’s a definite bold. Beautifully written, it tells the story of a butler and his life. I found it heartbreakingly tragic- all the more so because he himself didn’t know how sad it was.

44 The Confession- Jo Spain
A man is beaten almost to death in front of his wife who does nothing. Later that day the perpetrator hands himself in at the police station. The book is a whydunnit I suppose and is told from the POVs of the wife, the detective and the perpetrator. None of them are very likeable and the outcome is predictable very early on. It was an easy audible listen in bed but ultimately disappointing, especially as her police procedurals are quite good.

45 Animal Farm- George Orwell
Meh. I think I know too much about this and am far too old and cynical reading it the first time to be wowed by it. The only part that was new to me was the tale of Boxer which was pretty tragic. I will try more of Orwell’s though- probably 1984 At least.

46 The Sisters/ The Wrong One/ The Roommate- Dervla McTiernan
Three novellas- 2 linked to the Cormac Reilly series (police procedurals set in Galway) and one set in a US town (like her latest novel). The first one was good, the second not bad and the third predictable and dull. All three were free on audible. I’m not having much luck with my Irish audible crime books at the moment!

47 The Colour of Law- Aaron Philip Clarke
This is one of the books I kept from the taming the TBR thread. The prologue is from the POV of a rookie black cop who sees (and tried to intervene in) the beating of a black man by his partner and another cop. It was visceral and the protagonist was likeable. Unfortunately, the character is much harder to like in the rest of the book, which picks up four years later. He is investigating the death of a black trainee officer and it deals with complex issues relating to policing, riots and Black Lives Matter. It had so much to offer but it just doesn’t pull it off. It fails to sustain the character development and the investigation together with long sections dealing with only one or the other. Disappointing.

I sort of feel the same , but opposite. I really liked the Aberfan section and wanted the whole book to be about this and his recovery : it's perfectly believable he would have PTSD but as the book developed , his PTSD was actually linked to a fairly trivial family fall out. The whole middle section is a flashback to (several) other traumatic incidents in his life(three attempts to sing Miserere in public?) and to me these felt bolted on. Being at Aberfan was trauma enough. It felt like the book was saying he only couldn't handle that because of childhood junk and unresolved trauma : the impact of Aberfan in and of itself would not have done it.

Shorter, and just about the recovery from Aberfan would have been fine.

33: Back in the Day - Melvyn Bragg

I reckoned this memoir would be worth a punt at 99p and so it proved. I've watched and listened to Melvyn Bragg for many years and enjoy his 'In Our Time' programme on R4 (though he seems to have largely stopped the Bob Fleming-style outbursts of coughing that used to amuse me and DH immoderately).

Anyway, this is about his childhood and youth in the small Cumbrian town of Wigton, and is intensely, vividly evoked, to a degree that I found quite astonishing - either he's got a photographic memory, or he kept an incredibly detailed diary, or he embroidered a lot of it. I suspect he does actually remember it with pin-sharp accuracy. It includes a loving, complicated portrait of his parents - he was an only child - who kept one of the town's many pubs, and leads up to the point where he won a scholarship to Oxford (a feat deemed so amazing for an ordinary, non-posh boy that he was featured in the local paper). I got really immersed in this, and it’s written beautifully.

Great review @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Blimey! Already 3 pages in.

I will bring over my list before it goes too far.

1. Mythos - Stephen Fry
2. Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan
3. Rizzio - Denise Mina
4. Hex - Jenni Fagan
5. A Thousand Ships - Natalie Hayes
6. Foster - Claire Keegan
7. Kid Normal and the Rogue Heroes - Greg James and Chris Smith
8. The World I Fell Out Of - Melanie Reid
9. Heroes- Stephen Fry
10. The Five - Hallie Rubenhold
11. The Way of All Flesh - Ambrose Parry
12. The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood
13. For Thy Great Pain have Mercy on Thy Little Pain - Victoria Mackenzie
14. The Art of Dying - Ambrose Parry
15. The Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett
16. A Corruption of Blood - Ambrose Parry
17. Children of Paradise - Camilla Grudova
18. Hear No Evil - Sarah Smith
19. I’m a Fan - Sheena Patel
20. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett
21. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

I really wanted to absolutely love Tomorrowx3. I loved Ready Player One years ago and this is right up my street. I was the lone woman in a computing lecture theatre, I am a tiny bit too young for some of the gaming references but most of it should really have clicked. Sadly it didn’t. I didn’t hate this but I found it a chore for about 30% of the book. I almost didn’t finish from about 50% to 70% and then it picked up again and I enjoyed it in the end. I wonder if that audible narration was a factor. The multiple “Sam said, Sadie said, Marx said” becomes incredible irritating. In the end I feel flat about it which is a shame

On to Colour of Magic which I have bought in paper form as I think my eldest might enjoy them when she is a little older

right, odd to catch up!

15. Stay With Me Ayobami Adebayo [Forgot it when carrying my list over - so adding it back in so I don't forget again]

16. The Cut Out Girl Bart Van Es
    An unreserved bold and a recommendation. Van Es is a Dutch born academic at Oxford. He had only a vague knowledge of his family's wartime history and Lien a Jewish girl sheltered by his father's parents during the war. Lien ultimately became estranged from the family in the early 80s. This is Lien's story.
    
    It is told partly through a present tense narrative of Lien's experiences that the author creates in response to his research and interviews with Lien, and partly as a more traditional account of the research and his response to it. Some may be uncomfortable with what Van Es describes as the 'creative nonfiction' aspect of the book, but this was produced with Lien's full knowledge and consent. At times her responses to this narrative are included. The subject matter is harrowing. Both the narrative Van Es created and the extracts from letters and diaries written at the time enables an emotional connection to the people and events. Alongside Lien's story, there is Van Es's changing view of both Dutch wartime history and his own family's role.
    In some of the reviews I read after finishing, readers felt that the gradual revealing of the reasons behind Lien's eventual estrangement is perhaps an unnecessary hook, to keep the reader interested. I didn't feel this at all. Lien's experiences after the war and her changing relationships with the Van Es family are an integral part of the book. It explores the complexities of human relationships and motivations.
    I could write a lot more and not do the book justice.

@Terpsichore thank you for the prompt to seek out Bragg's memoir. He is the most extraordinary broadcaster; I am somewhat addicted to In Our Time and will mourn it when it finally ends. I can't imagine a replacement willing or able to fill Bragg's shoes. Have you listened to the Industrial Revolution episodes? They ran it over two shows because (we like to think) he gets so angry about coal and the fact that that the academic disagrees with his theory that the whole thing veers off course for a while.

Belated thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller

The Bandit Queens is £1.29 in the Kindle deals today if anyone has been looking out for it.

Pepe yes - that subject is very close to his heart because of where he comes from and his deep family roots - his paternal grandfather was a miner. So he gets very passionate about it, which you really understand from reading the book.

20. Violeta by Isabel Allende
Fiction told in first person narrative, Violeta looks back on her life which has spanned almost a century. We hear about the personal and family events, all set against the backdrop of the history of an unnamed South American country (presumed to be Chile). I recently had a birthday and have a big life change coming up, so I think my main take away was how much we have the potential to live different lives in one life.
21. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Nurse Civil Townsend starts a new job at a family planning clinic in 1970s Montgomery, Alabama. She quickly becomes involved in the lives of young sisters, Erica and India, when sent to give them birth control injections. The girls are 11 and 13 years old, living in cramped and dirty conditions with their father and grandmother. As she becomes more and more desperate to help the girls, hugely overstepping the remit of her role as nurse, Civil unearths concerning medical practices with consequences far beyond the lives of Erica, India and their family. A really good read.
22. Rise by Siya Kolisi
Autobiography of Siya Kolisi who grew up in poverty in Zwide township, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and went on to be the first black captain of the Springboks, leading his side to winning the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019. This takes in his life story, his rugby career to date and his growing involvement in campaigning and philanthropy.
23. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
I think everyone here has heard of this and many of you have read it. I loved it.

Over the course of April I have read 7 books set in 7 different countries on 6 different continents. Some were much anticipated, some I went into knowing very little about what to expect and it was great to go in with few expectations and just see how they unfolded. I also found it interesting to stumble across common themes, ones I didn't know these titles would have in common, as they arose in different time periods, countries and cultures.

I forgot to add that I am also reading Under the Duvet of Darkness by Boiled Beetle and other mumsnetters. A collection of poetry written by angry women for angry women. Not finished it yet but I am enjoying it. I don't read enough poetry

Lovely new thread thank you- have enjoyed catching up

My list so far:

1. The Trepasser -Tana French
2. And Finally -Henry Marsh
3. The Scapegoat -Daphne du Maurier
4. Cloud Cuckoo -Land Anthony Doerr
5. Dracula -Bram Stoker
6. Wyrd Sisters -Terry Pratchett
7. Just got real -Jane Fallon
8. O Caledonia -Elspeth Barker (Mr B’s reading sub)
9. The Girl with the louding voice -Abi Daré
10. Journey to the river sea - Eva Ibbotson
11. Small things like these - Claire Keegan
12. Murder at the Vicarage- Agatha Christie
13. The People on platform 5 - Clare Pooley
14. The Bear & The Nightingale- Katherine Arden (Mr.B’s reading sub)
15. If Beale Street could talk - James Baldwin

I was about to re read To kill a mockingbird, which I have loved since my teens & saw a review slating it, suggesting that we should read Beale street instead.
So I did & the writing is so beautiful- hadn’t read anything by James Baldwin before, but Giovanni’s room is on my TDR list.
The story is put forward as a love story but it is so much more - Fonny is imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, racism being the only reason for this.
It’s about family pulling together, what it is to be black in America and a system that is completely set against their community.
The ending feels rushed, but it is a book that will stay with me. Recommended.

@TragicTess i read If Beale Street Could Talk a few years ago and loved it. Then I read Giovanni’s Room earlier this year which was ever better, although heartbreakingly sad.

@Owlbookend Agree about the cut out girl, it was a bold for me a couple of years ago.

17 Love, Nina: Despatches from family life by Nina Stibbe
I've loved listening to Nina chat to me about mundane snippets from her life as a nanny, then student, in London during the 1980's. This is a collection of her letters that she wrote home to her sister during that time. Tender, funny, right up my street.

31 The Blue Flower - Penelope Fitzgerald

A lot to enjoy in this book (based on the youth of the German poet and philosopher Novalis) - Fitzgerald’s prose is exquisite as ever and I love the subtle but effective characterisation. However the central story is around a 20-something man’s love for a 12-year-old girl and I just couldn’t quite get past that to love this book as much as eg The Beginning Of Spring or Human Voices.

Cheers @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Quite the rant from me guys. It has definitely knocked Cold Comfort Farm off the top spot for Worst of 2023

#20 Terry Pratchett Moving Pictures although I've read most Pratchett I'd not read this one. It was clever but wasn't my favourite
#21 Don Winslow City on Fire really enjoyable pacy mob thriller. Irish v Italian mob in a small town looking at what happens when a peaceful coexistence breaks down because of one incident.
#22 Born Lippy Jo Brand I suspect she's a Mumsnetter so hope she doesn't read this. The book had no identity and did not work at all. It was just a collection of seemingly quite random thoughts. Supposedly advice for life but didn't really work. Wasn't what I expected. Painful to get through. Made me a bit sad really as I like her a lot.

Really glad you enjoyed The reading list @StColumbofNavron it was one of my favourites last year

That's interesting wolfclub. I read a book by Jo Brand a few years back and was sorely disappointed too. Very random, very name-droppy, not even vaguely funny when it was clearly trying to be with odd anecdotes etc. Your review has reminded me of my vow never to touch another book by her.

Not bringing my list in to this not-so-new thread until the end of the year. Agreed with much of the sentiment about When the coffee gets cold: I read it a couple of years ago and while I was intrigued by the premise the execution was a bit clunky. I didn't know whether to put some of that down to the translation?

26. The Gallows Pole - Benjamin Myers

Right. This tells the true story of the Cragg Vale Coiners, who were forging coins in eighteenth century Yorkshire, and the fates of some of the men in the gang once the law went after them.

The local author has researched this little-known tale thoroughly. The best part for me was the evocative language bringing the rugged countryside and seasons to life. I've not been to that part of the world but could see it through the descriptions in the book. Having said that there is a lot more... earthy language too. Their hard life and basic needs are brutally described in what one reviewer calls a "muscular voice" - having read the book I can see what they meant. In particular there are some really gruesome scenes when the coiners mete out their own justice: not one for the faint hearted. Another reviewer compared it to Emily Brontë's work but I don't remember Cathy ever calling Heathcliff a c*nt. Perhaps that was in the first draft.

A further issue was that the author doesn't believe in speech marks, which really annoyed me. I had another of his books on my wish list so at least I'll know what to expect next time, but I want something a bit fluffier for now.

68. Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Last to the party on this, and probably because of that having heard so much hype I was underwhelmed. I found everyone annoying and Calvin's backstory overly convoluted.

I did enjoy the dog.

OMG - im so far behind due to lots of things going on but i’ll put this here to give me the kick i need

1. Thursday Murder Club- Richard Osman

So, so good. Well written and so many funny and emotional moments.

It’s about a group of retired friends living in retirement village. They set up a group reviewing old murder cases and end up looking at one that is not so old! Highly recommended.

Hopefully, this is the resuming push i need!

@RomanMum I like Benjamin Myers’ novels apart from The Gallows Pole. I’ve tried 3 times to get into it, but it proved impenetrable and gratuitously gritty. Toxic masculinity does Python’s Four Yorkshiremen Sketch.
Then I read The Offing by him and it was fabulous, so I gave him another try. Currently have his latest, Cuddy, in my TBR pile.
Shane Meadows is adapting The Gallows Pole as a 3 part tv series. I don’t see it losing any of its sweary grimness with him at the helm.