50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Six

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the sixth 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, the fourth one here and the fifth one: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4793238-50-books-challenge-2023-part-five?page=20&reply=126860721

What are you reading?

Placemarking: on my phone so no list till December.

I want to be So1 when I grow up.

Thanks for the new thread southeast

My list so far:

1. Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard
2. The World I Fell Out Of by Melanie Reid
3. The Running Man by Stephen King
4. A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons by Cressida Cowell
5. The Ruin of All Witches by Malcolm Gaskill
6. Healthiest You Ever by Meera Lester, Murdoc Khaleghi, Susan Reynolds & Brett Aved
7. A History of the Vampire in Popular Culture by Violet Fenn
8. House of X / Powers of X by Hickman / Larraz / Silva
9. Mr Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn
10. Jane Eyre Laid Bare by Charlotte Brontë & Eve Sinclair
11. Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
12. The Book of Angst by Gwendoline Smith
13. Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough
14. The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy
15. How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm by Cressida Cowell
16. The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall
17. Two Degrees by Alan Gratz
18. X of Swords by Hickman / Howard / Duggan
19. Wildcard by Marie Lu
20. Letters to my Weird Sisters by Joanne Limburg
21. George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy & Stephen Hawking
22. Understanding High Blood Pressure by Dr Shahid Aziz & Dr Zara Aziz
23. The Forever Ship by Francesca Haig
24. The Fast 800 by Dr Michael Mosley
25. The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories by Susan Hill
26. The Time of the Clockmaker by Anna Caltabiano
27. Survive The Night by Riley Sager
28. Hallowdene by George Mann
29. Fat Cow, Fat Chance by Jenni Murray
30. Mort by Terry Pratchett
31. Blind Spot by Paula Hawkins
32. Get A Grip, Love by Kate Lucey
33. All New Wolverine Vol 6: Old Woman Laura by Taylor / Rosanas / Woodard
34. The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
35. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
36. Not A Diet Book by James Smith
37. How to Break a Dragon’s Heart by Cressida Cowell
38. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida translated by KA Yoshida & David Mitchell
39. The Wehrwolf by Alma Katsu
40. The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
41. The Rose Cord by J D Oswald
42. Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 by Naoki Higashida translated by David Mitchell & K A Yoshida
43. Autism: A Very Short Introduction by Uta Frith
44. Calmer Easier Happier Boys by Noel Janis-Norton
45. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
46. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
47. We Were Liars by E Lockhart

And

48. All New Wolverine Vol 4: Immune by Taylor / Kirk

Laura and her family save the day when an alien who’s infected with a deadly plague crash lands in New York City. In terms of just how they save the day, it’s one of the most far fetched plague storylines you could imagine, even for comic books. But hey ho.

49. Cell by Robin Cook

This one is a fairly mediocre medical thriller.

A smartphone app’s been developed to act as a virtual doctor, but during the beta test a problem appears - the app is killing diabetic patients with terminal diagnosis’s by commanding their insulin implants to give them fatal insulin overdoses.
The plucky hero of the story, a hospital doctor, notices this worrying pattern among patients participating in the beta testing, recalls that his recently deceased fiancée was also beta testing this app, and proceeds to go all out to uncover and expose the murderous app. The lengths the plucky hero is going to are increasingly far fetched, and I found his character a lot less believable than the concept of the glitchy killer app was.

Welcome @FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee - I might have your username laminated and stuck on my office door. Or forehead, actually.

Thanks for the new thread South, here’s my list:

1. Unmasking Autism: the power of embracing our hidden neurodiversity - Devon Price
2. Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner
3. Act of Oblivion - Robert Harris
4. Asperger’s and Girls - Tony Attwood et al
5. And Finally - Henry Marsh
6. Ask A Historian - Greg Jenner
7. Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban
8. An Immense World - Ed Yong
9. Head First: a psychiatrist’s stories of mind and body - Alastair Santhouse
10. A Million Years in a Day - Greg Jenner
11. The Dangerous Kingdom of Love - Neil Blackmore
12. Side Hustle - Chris Guillebeau
13. Feminism for Women - Julie Bindel
14. I’m a Fan - Sheena Patel
15. Exercised - Daniel Lieberman
16. Fairy Tale - Stephen King
17. Children of Paradise - Camilla Grudova
18. Woman, Eating - Claire Kohda
19. The Sensory-Sensitive Child - Karen A. Smith & Karen R. Gouze
20. Less is Lost - Andrew Sean Greer
21. Trespasses - Louise Kennedy
22. Dead Famous - Greg Jenner
23. Secrets of the Sea - Robert Vennell
24. From Here to Eternity - Caitlin Doherty
25. Fire Rush- Jacqueline Crooks
26. Confessions of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell
27. The God Desire - David Baddiel
28. The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell
29. An Emotional Dictionary - Susie Dent

Currently reading Pod, which I’m enjoying much more than I was expecting - I was a massive Animals of Farthing Wood fan aged 10ish, so maybe this is the (very) adult equivalent.

Welcome @FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee

23. Lives Like Mine Eva Verde A completely unexpected second bold of the year. Yesterday when I was leaving to take DD to the borefest that is swim training I wanted to grab a real book rather than reading on my kindle or tablet. I came across this that I think was a random selection from one of those subscription book clubs when they choose for you (was given a 6 month subscription as a present). Can't have taken my fancy at the time & has been mouldering on the shelf for ages. As I just finished it now, it was definetely a hit. Monica is a SAHM in a superficially happy marriage with Dan. Monica has dual heritage and the narrative is partly about racism and how this impacts their relationship. To me it really captured people's flawed nuanced characters and the complexity of extended family relationships. I think it resonated with me because although I live in the north (this is set near Colchester) I recognise many of the characters as believable. It was a world I recognised It isn't worthy or dreary - Monica is good company and there is humour.

Thank you for the new thread @Southeastdweller ! Here’s my list:

1 Exit - Belinda Bauer
2 Watching Neighbours twice a day… - Josh Widdicombe
3 The Bastard of Istanbul - Elif Shafak
4 The Plant Hunter - T L Mogford
5 House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family - Hadley Freeman
6 The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
7 The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale
8 Apples Never Fall - Liane Moriarty
9 Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead
10 Angelmaker - Nick Harkaway
11 Hiding from the light - Barbara Erskine
12 A Curious Beginning - Deanna Raybourn
13 Snap - Belinda Bauer
14 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin
15 Femina - Janina Ramirez
16 Insomnia - Sarah Pinborough
17 Les Années - Annie Ernaux (in French)
18 A Spoonful of Murder - Robin Stevens
19 A Perilous Undertaking - Deanna Raybourn
20 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
21 The Holiday - T M Logan
22 Melmoth - Sarah Perry
23 Le Chapeau de Mitterand - Antoine Laurain (in French)
24 A Desperate Fortune - Susanna Kearsley
25 Wrong Place, Wrong Time - Gillian McAllister
26 A Hat Full of Sky - Terry Pratchett (read to the DDs)
27 Ne lâche pas ma main - Michel Bussi (in French)
28 The Atlas Six - Olivie Blake
29 Beach Read - Emily Henry
30 The It Girl - Ruth Ware
31 Babel: or the Necessity of Violence - R F Kuang
32 Bonjour Tristesse - Françoise Sagan (in French)
33 Percy Jackson and the lightning thief - Rick Riordan

I’ve been generous with the bolds, and there were a few that nearly merited italics, but I guess I’m just in a good mood 😄

Welcome to Fuckoffee

@LadybirdDaphne I read all the Colin Danns too as a child and have passed the love on to family children

I loved the Animals of Farthing Wood too. Couldn't get the DDs into it sadly.

Thanks Southeast and welcome to Fuckoffee

Still not reading much of any consequence, but that's usual for me at this time of year, I read more / better in the darker months.

1. The Anomaly, Hervé Le Tellier
2. The Tip of My Tongue, Trezza Azzopardi
3. The Secret Life of Special Advisers, Peter Cardwell
4. *Perhaps The Stars, *Ada Palmer
5. Taste, Stanley Tucci
6. *The House in the Cerulean Sea, *TJ Klune
7. *Escape from Model Land, *Erica Thompson
8. *The Last Days of New Paris, *China Mieville
9. Shelter, Dave Hutchinson

10. *Dear Reader, *Cathy Rentzenbrink 11. Beautiful World, Where Are You, Sally Rooney 12. Bad Data, Georgina Sturge 13. The Woman in the Middle, Milly Johnson 14. Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor, Dave Haslam 15. *Unraveller, *Frances Hardinge 16. *Demon Copperhead, *Barbara Kingsolver 17. Where Did It All Go Right?, Andrew Collins 18. *Sisterland, *Curtis Sittenfeld 19. The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, KJ Charles 20. The Unknown Ajax, Georgette Heyer 21. *A Face Like Glass, *Frances Hardinge 22. *In Extremis, *Lindsey Hilsum 23. Manifesto On Never Giving Up, Bernardine Evaristo 24. The Wilderness Cure, Mo Wilde 25. American Wife, Curtis Sittenfeld 26. Exit Strategy, Martha Wells 27. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin 28. Arrows of the Queen, Mercedes Lackey 29. Arrow's Flight, Mercedes Lackey 30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson 31. Crashing Heaven, Al Robertson 32. Together Again, Milly Johnson 33. Get Rich or Lie Trying, Symeon Brown 34. A Civil Contract, Georgette Heyer 35. Beach Read, Emily Henry 36. Ogres, Adrian Tchaikovsky 37. The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew, Milly Johnson 38. With the End in Mind, Kathryn Mannix 39. *The Left-handed Booksellers of London, *Garth Nix 40. *Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, *Heather Fawcett 41. *Follow the Money, *Paul Johnson 42. Grown Ups, Marian Keyes 43. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver 44. Wavewalker, Suzanne Heywood

Thanks for the new thread, South.

I'll just add the books I've read since the start of the last thread - a rather dismal total….

33. Back in the Day - Melvyn Bragg
34. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor
35. Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life - Ruth Franklin
36. The Feast - Margaret Kennedy
37. Colours of Film: The Story of Cinema in 50 Palettes - Charles Bramesco
38. All Souls - Javier Marías
39. City of Nets - Otto Friedrich
40. The Favour - Nicci French

Also still reading The Old Curiosity Shop, and I’m about to resume the Proust project I started a couple of years ago, which has lapsed a bit.

1 Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein
2 The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein
3 Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
4 The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre. Translated by Stephanie Smee
5 Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
6 Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree. Translated by Daisy Rockwell
7 Kristin Lavrandatter II: The Wife by Sigrid Undset. Translated by Tiina Nunnally
8 Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova
9 Heaven by Mieko Kawakami. Translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd.
10 South Riding by Winifred Holtby
11 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Now reading The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton so I may be some time. But I have several large books looking at me accusingly so think I need to start reading them and accept the hit on numbers.

I have several large books looking at me accusingly so think I need to start reading them and accept the hit on numbers.

I very much need to adopt this philosophy but having read many doorstop books at uni, I Baulk at anything 800+

It just requires more effort

The Luminairies is on that list, as is Cristo I have a couple of Steinbecks and then there's War And Peace and some assorted Dickens, I end up feeling overwhelmed

Do the Steinbecks first Eine.

Thanks @Southeastdweller !

Currently reading Fatal Passage by Ken McGoohan, a decent biog of Arctic explorer John Rae, who discovered the fate of the Franklin expedition.

Listening to Sahara by Michael Palin.

Lined up: The Full English, In Tearing Haste and my Mr B’s pick recreating PLF’s journey.

Peacemaking. My list hasn't progressed since the last thread started. V slow this year, a few big fat books so far...

Oh I hope you love In Tearing Haste @MegBusset !

Yes I really need to expand beyond The Pearl and OMAM @BestIsWest

I too have The Luminaries and War and Peace looking at me from the shelf but their size is daunting. I was going to read The Crimson Petal and the White next which is 900+ pages but it must be lead-lined as I’ve never picked up a book that’s so heavy!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Funnily enough I’ve read just about every thing he wrote except for The Pearl. Must remedy that. East of Eden is a corker and Grapes broke my heart as a teenager.

Thank you for the new thread, Southeastdweller.
Here's the continuation of my list since last time;

25. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont: Elizabeth Taylor
26. Yoga For Healthy Aging: Baxter Bell and Nina Zolotow
27. Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow: Gabrielle Zevin
28. The Secret Countess: Eva Ibbosten
29. The Feast: Margaret Kennedy
30. Le Mystère des Disparus: Alice Daurel
31. The Close: Jane Casey

@BestIsWest

Those are the exact two I have on TBR

@TattiePants

I kept my copy of The Crimson so I must have enjoyed it (read it a very long time ago) but I remember some frustrations possibly related to it really not needing to be that long.

Absolutely love Steinbeck- recent read Cannery Row was great for anyone looking for another short one.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit The Count of MC is surprisingly fast paced for such a monster. I read it in just over two weeks (with two others dotted in between) and I don’t read half as fast as you.
I’m leaving my list until next thread. I’m moving this weekend and have no idea where I’ve packed my reading journal.

Yeah I believe it is a brilliant read.

Right I have had 2 nights off because I can't read in this heat I'm melting so my next book will be....

East Of Eden

I just heard Cormac McCarthy died. A loss.

Thank you for the new thread southeast!

Carried over for me:

1: EC Bateman - Death at the Auction
2: Sophie Irwin - A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting
3: Deanna Raybourn - Night of a Thousand Stars
4: Lynn Messina - A Brazen Curiosity
5: Lynn Messina - A Scandalous Deception
6: Lynn Messina - An Infamous Betrayal
7: Lynn Messina - A Nefarious Engagement
8: Richard Armitage - Geneva (audiobook)
9: Hazel Holt - Death of a Dean
10: Richard Osman - The Bullet That Missed
11: Anthony Horowitz - Stormbreaker
12: Rosie Talbot - Sixteen Souls
13: Jonathan Stroud - The Notorious Scarlett & Browne
14: Rory Clements - Corpus
15: Rory Clements - Nucleus
16: Sophie Hannah - Closed Casket
17: Karen M McManus - Nothing More to Tell
18: M C Beaton - Devil's Delight
19: Alexandra Benedict - Murder on the Christmas Express
20: M A Bennett - S.T.A.G.S.
21: M A Bennett - D.O.G.S.
22: M A Bennett - F.O.X.E.S.
23: M A Bennett - T.I.G.E.R.S.
24: M A Bennett - H.A.W.K.S.
25: Sophie Hannah - The Monogram Murders
26: Sophie Hannah - The Mystery of Three Quarters
27: Joanna Lowell - Artfully Yours
28: Joanna Lowell - The Runaway Duchess
29: Caroline O'Donoghue - All Our Hidden Gifts
30: Caroline O'Donoghue - The Gifts That Bind Us
31: Emily Brightwell - Mrs Jeffries weeds the plot
32: Rhys Bowen - The Last Mrs Summers
33: Rhys Bowen - God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen
34: Rhys Bowen - Four funerals & maybe a wedding
35: Michelle Salter - Murder at Crookham Hall
36: Deanna Raybourn - Killers of a Certain Age
37: Lesley Cookman - Murder on the Run
38: Lesley Cookman - Murder at Mallowan Manor
39: Scott Allan - Do the Hard Things First
40: Helena Dixon - Murder at the Country Club
41: Helena Dixon - Murder on Board
42: Helena Dixon - Murder at the Charity Ball
43: Beverley Watts - Grace
44: Beverley Watts - Temperance
45: Beverley Watts - Faith
46: Rachel McLean - The Blue Pool Murders
47: Lynn Messina - A Treacherous Performance
48: Lynn Messina - A Sinister Establishment
49: Maureen Johnson - The Box in the Woods
50. Robert Muchamore - The Recruit
51. Hazel Holt - Murder on Campus
52. Lesley Cookman - Murder at the Manor
53. Jodi Taylor - About Time
54. Linda Davidsson - The Ikigai Book
55. JM Hall - A Pen Dipped in Poison
56. Hannah Dolby - No Life for a Lady
57. Hannah Beckerman - The Forgetting
58. Rachel McLean - The Lochside Murder
59. Rachel McLean - The Lighthouse Murder
60. Helena Dixon - Murder at the Beauty Pageant
61. John Marrs - The Good Samaritan
62. Lesley Cookman - Murder out of Tune

New reads since I last posted:

63. Enid Blyton - The Enchanted Wood
64. Enid Blyton - The Magic Faraway Tree
65. Enid Blyton - The Folk of the Faraway Tree
66. Enid Blyton - The Adventures of the Wishing Chair
67. Enid Blyton - The Wishing Chair again

Read with DTS1 at bedtime I thought he might get bored but he's loved them! All our copies are from the library and relatively recent - the Faraway Tree books are all updated, whereas the first Wishing Chair book has Chinky the pixie but the second has Binky. No idea why!

68. JM Hall - A Spoonful of Murder (audiobook)

I read the book last year, and enjoyed it, have now listened to the audiobook narrated by Julie Hesmondhalgh and it's a whole new level of enjoyment! (Also, my cousin was at school with her and said she was absolutely lovely )

69. Maureen Johnson - Nine Liars

YA book about a teenage true crime fiction fan who now solves cold cases, after cracking a famous one in the 'Truly Devious' series. Much better than I've made it sound, just two minor gripes from me: all the teenagers seem to have some 'trendy' angst feature - one's non binary, one's lesbian, one gets anxiety attacks, one's asexual etc etc, it's like a tick list of 'teenage issues to include' - and secondly, if you're American and setting a book in England featuring English characters, get someone English to read through it and point out any glaring errors. English people do not say "a bunch of soups" and similar things...

70. Tracy Whitwell - The Accidental Medium

Out of work actress accidentally finds she is, yes you guessed it... less fun than I thought it would be.

71. Caroline O'Donoghue - Every Gift a Curse

The third of a trilogy about modern day witchcraft - I raced through the first two, had to wait for this one (library book) and frankly had forgotten most of the (complicated) plot again, it's YA fiction and features someone non binary, someone lesbian etc... perhaps I'm just old and grumpy and don't understand the need to shoehorn everything in

72. Charlotte Leonard - Afterwards

Emma's husband commits suicide and she realises that she didn't know him that well after all. There were some brilliant bits (particularly Emma's tricky relationship with her mum) but some bits were quite idealised - not everyone is lucky enough to land on their feet in a picturesque, supportive community in times of need!

73. Shalini Boland - The Silent Bride

An Amazon First Read which I thought had a brilliant premise - woman is convinced on her wedding day that she's marrying a stranger - but that was the best thing about it. I did finish the book but it just got more and more unlikely.

74. CK McDonnell - Love Will Tear Us Apart

The latest in the Stranger Times series, one for St Mary's and Rivers of London fans I enjoyed this but found it a bit bleaker than the last one.

75. SG MacLean - Seeker

Set during the Commonwealth, Damian Seeker is one of Cromwell's top 'men who gets things done' who has to solve a murder which took place near Cromwell's own chambers. I really got sucked into this and annoyingly our library have hardly any copies of the next books in stock! They're £5 each on Amazon too which is waaaaay more than I ever pay for a book...

76. Various authors - Marple

Different authors write their own Miss Marple story. Some I liked, the last one really annoyed me, and surely Miss M wouldn't have been alive into the 1970s when one of the stories was set?!

77. Mary Stewart - Madam, Will You Talk?

I'd never read a Mary Stewart book before - no idea why not, as I'd have inhaled them as a teenager into Jean Plaidy - but this one, set in the South of France, was fab. Charity (a war widow) goes on holiday with her friend Louise and becomes mixed up in a crime.

78. Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards!

The first in the Night Watch series, a bit harsher than I remembered on some of the characters, but good fun of course!

79. Charlotte Plain - Happy planning - plan your way through anything

I am terrible at planning (strongly suspect I have some form of ADHD) and thought this might help... it was pleasant enough but not particularly helpful. Oh, and a bit smug.

80. Ashley Poston - The Dead Romantics

The lead character (whose name I've already forgotten, as it wasn't a very memorable book) sees ghosts, has done since she was a child and helped at her dad's funeral partner. She's a ghost writer (ho ho) for a famous author, but her new editor is hit by a car and she ends up falling in love with him as a ghost. I thought this would be brilliant - actually it was just ok (and TBH a bit long winded, ironically could have done with a good edit!).

81. Jodi Taylor - Saving Time

A re-read of the latest in the Time Police series. Lots of fun!! I'm gutted to have missed the recent Jodiworld convention to celebrate my love of all things TP and St Mary's

I think my family would agree that I need some sort of intervention….

I am lucky that DH is a SAHD so outside work I don’t really need to do much and most of my non work time is therefore spent reading. I’m also the sort of person who just takes any opportunity to read a page or two so every time I pop to the loo, brush my teeth, have to wait anywhere then I’ll be reading something (although sometimes it is just Mumsnet!). I do read quickly though and a lot of what I read is not particularly good quality (I’m a sucker for a crappy 99p psychological thriller which I can whip through in a couple of hours). It’s easy to get the numbers up when doing that.

Good luck with the move @BaruFisher.