50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Seven

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh 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, the fifth one here, and the sixth one here

Thanks southeast. Can't locate my list on my notes app - hoping it is saved in the cloud somewhere. Stand out highlight is the Wolf Hall trilogy - it's been a good reading year but those are the ones I have enjoyed the most so far.

Currently reading The Dark Half - scaring me witless already, can't think how it never made it on to my Stephen King TBR before.

Just placemarking.

I won't subject you to my full list.

Thanks for the new thread,southeast and welcome to @snowspider!

I can't be bothered to update my list (and because I'm scared of Remus) so I'm just checking in. We're about to go away for a few days so I probably won't post for a bit but I'm hoping it will give me an opportunity to get through some books. I'm currently plodding through Punch and Judy Politics on my Kindle, which is interesting but a bit dull, and also listening to The Instant which is simultaneously well written and deeply irritating. So I could do with something page turning and fun to read while I'm away!

Has anyone else read Burying the Typewriter by Carmen Bugan? @Sadik's last read (on thread 6) reminded me of this one that I read a few years ago now. Carmen's father was a dissident against the Ceausescu regime in Romania and the pressures of living under suspicion in a totalitarian state, and gives details of the daily living conditions, queuing for food etc. I found it a powerful read and it has stayed with me for a long time.

Thanks for the new thread southeast, and welcome @snowspider.

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. Untypical - Pete Wharmby
29. The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell
30. An Emotional Dictionary - Susie Dent
31. Pod - Laline Paull
32. Pandora’s Jar - Natalie Haynes
33. The Happy Puppy Handbook - Pippa Mattinson
34. Life Ceremony - Sayaka Murata
35. Idol - Louise O’Neill
36. Jung: the key ideas - Ruth Snowden
37. For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain - Victoria Mackenzie
38. The Portable Door - Tom Holt
39. Mortal Monarchs - Suzie Edge

Just started Demon Copperhead and Femina by Janina Ramirez.

I wont bring my list over as I never get the formatting right anyway. But I've hit 50 books!

48. The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donaghue. Set in Cork as the 2010 financial crash kicks off, Rachel and James meet working in a bookshop and quickly become best friends and move in to a freezing rented flat together. They become romantically involved with one of Rachel's older professors, which sets in motion life changing events.

I really enjoyed this, it has a lot of similarities to something like Conversations With Friends, with a pair of young people getting involved in the relationship of an adult couple that they don't really understand. It's a good coming of age story and captured a real moment of the world falling into recession. There's a bit too much crammed in and some sub-plots that never go anywhere, but the central characters and relationships are strong enough to overcome that.

50. A House For Alice by Diana Evans. A sequel of sorts to Ordinary People though I didn't realise that and couldn't remember any of the detail. Alice, mother of Melissa from OP, is in her 70s and decides to move back to Nigeria when her ex-husband dies. From there the novel expands out to her grown up children, grandchildren and the other characters from OP.

I always want to like Diana Evans more than I do. On one hand there are some bits that are beautifully written and a lot of it is set in my bit of London which is nice. On the other, it strays into being over-written and I often don't know what she's getting at. The main problem was this book was just too expansive, covering so many characters and plot lines that didn't have much in common (I suppose all the stories were about someone searching for a home, but then what literature isn't?!) It featured a lot of major, distressing events which really could have had their own books but ended up being rushed through without any space to explore. So on the whole, it didn't really work for me.

Oh dear, poor formatting AND a missed apostrophe in my first sentence...

Thank you southeast for the new thread - I hadn’t realised we were at that point again. Bringing across my list to keep track - I seem to have been stingier than usual with bolds:

1. Old Filth - Jane Garam
2. Sad Cypress - Agatha Christie

3. Three Hours - Rosamund Lupton

1. Light Perpetual - Francis Spufford

5. Trespasses - Louise Kennedy

1. Crossfire - Felix Francis
2. Long Story Short - Jodi Taylor
3. A Storm of Swords - George RR Martin
4. Partners in Crime - Agatha Christie

10. Back Trouble - Clare Chambers 11. The Man in the Queue - Josephine Tey 12. Joe Country - Mick Herron 13. To Live - Yu Hua 14. Gamble - Felix Francis 15. The Lamplighters - Emma Stonex 16. The Moving Finger - Agatha Christie 17. Stone Blind - Natalie Haynes 18. Faro’s Daughter - Georgette Heyer 19. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym 20. About Time - Jodi Taylor 21. The Skylark’s Secret - Fiona Valpy 22. Agent Zigzag - Ben MacIntyre 23. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton 24. Sparkling Cyanide - Agatha Christie 25. Bloodline - Felix Francis 26. After the End - Clare Mackintosh 27. A Feast of Crows - George RR Martin 28. The It Girl - Ruth Ware 29. The Sentence - Louise Erdrich 30. Unfinished Portrait - Mary Westmacott 31. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 32. The Trees - Percival Everett 33. The Lullaby - Leila Slimani 34. The Black Moth - Georgette Heyer 35. Refusal - Felix Francis 36. Marie Antoinette - Antonia Fraser 37. They do it with Mirrors - Agatha Christie 38. Tokyo Express - Seicho Matsumoto 39. Whistleblower - Robert Peston 40. Troubled Blood - Robert Galbraith 41. Rizzio - Denise Mina 42. Sylvester - Georgette Heyer 43. Beyond the Wand - Tom Felton 44. Evil under the Sun - Agatha Christie 45. The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho - Paterson Joseph 46. Damage - Felix Francis 47. The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side - Agatha Christie

I am currently reading Labyrinth - Kate Mosse which was quite divisive in a discussion on a previous thread but halfway through now and enjoying it.

I’m mildly annoyed with myself for not remembering about Melvyn Bragg's beautifully-written memoir Back in the Day, which I really should have included as one of my top 5 reads. A minor quibble though. Onwards with my latest non-fiction:

49. Family Secrets - Derek Malcolm

Malcolm was the long-serving film critic of the Guardian (and often pops up on those 'Discovering…' film docs on Sky). He died last week aged 91 and I remembered I had this memoir on my shelves, which turned out to be a funny and poignant read. It’s dominated by his portrait of his parents, a very eccentric couple - not least because, 15 years before Derek was born, his father (then a serving officer in WW1) came home on leave, tracked down a certain Anton Baumberg to a boarding-house in London, went into his room and shot him dead. As the subsequent trial revealed, Baumberg had been having an affair with the beautiful Dorothy, Captain Malcolm's wife of 3 years, and he was determined to 'save' her from a man he considered an ‘insufferable blackguard'.

Malcolm goes into a lot of detail about the trial and it reveals attitudes to relationships - and especially to women and their right to agency and free will - which are virtually incomprehensible to us today (although even at the time there was uneasinesses at the way Dorothy was put on a pedestal by her husband). Sensationally, he was found not guilty of murder and walked free, and the couple stayed together for the rest of their lives - but very dysfunctionally, as their only son explains in the book. Inevitably, there’s an air of sadness hovering over the memoir but it’s a very engaging read.

Thanks for the shiny new thread south! Will do my list at the end of the year as I CBA to type it all out on the phone. Missed the David Mitchell discussion on the last thread but DNF Cloud Atlas after a few pages, it just didn't do it for me and life's too short. Loved BBB. Anyway...

41. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

As this was published in 2012 I'm probably the last to read it. Harold and his wife Maureen live separate lives within the same house. When he receives a letter one morning, Harold pops out to post the reply, but instead of using the nearest post box he decides to walk to the other end of the country to deliver it in person.

I was not expecting to be moved so much by the story: as the walk progresses we learn more about Harold's past and how he came to be the person he is. The details of Harold and Maureen's day, and the people he meets on the journey are brought to life in a beautiful way. This is a book that will stay with me, possibly a bold.

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

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Famously long murder mystery Victorian pastiche set in the New Zealand Gold Rush. This takes place over a year and each chapter is half the length of the one before and covers the action of a single day. There are astrological charts at the beginning of each chapter which apparently mean something if you believe that kind of thing. I think the pacing was a bit off, the first chapter is half the book (it's split up into short sections so not as annoying as that sounds) where you get introduced to the 12 main characters, I found it dragged a bit. The second, third and fourth chapters are probably the best section culminating in a set piece trial. There are some annoying loose ends though (e.g. how does someone functionally illiterate fake a signature? Why does one character lose so much weight at one point?) and the female characters are 2 dimensional cliches. Suspect Lydia Wells is suppose to be a Lydia Gwilt type character but she's nowhere nearly as vividly drawn. Overall enjoyable but not outstanding.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
YA romance 'borrowed' from my DD. Some of the references were distractingly off, at one point an 18yo in 2012 made a comment to another about 'Flowers in the Attic' which I doubt any real 18 yo would have understood. The main character is a fanfiction author who is a fan of a series of books set in a Wizarding school in Watford (!) where apparently people stop playing football in the winter when the snows come. That said it was a sweet and undemanding love story that was fun to read.

As far as Norwegian novels go @Piggywaspushed I love the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset (read the Tiina Nunnally translation). Someone on here was talking about the Alberta books by Cora Sandel, they are suppose to be good but I've not read my copy yet.

Thanks for the new thread southeast. Not bribing my list over as it’s too long and I can’t be bothered. Latest reads:

The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett

One of my childhood favourites. Stories about a large working class family in the 1930s, full of lovely period detail.

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

DD is getting rid of her Nancy Drew books so I thought I would reread a couple before they leave the house. This was also first written in the 1930s but reflects a very different lifestyle to my previous book! Mystery was ok, even for a YA book I thought it was a bit simplistic. All the characters are either good or bad, no shades of grey at all. I don’t really remember these although I know I read them as a child which probably says a lot.

Bribing = bringing!

@Southeastdweller Thanks for the new thread
@PepeLePew I read this fiction book on witches recently. It was well written, a bit old hat for me but for younger (than ancient me)readers not well versed in "witch finding" it might fit the bill
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Witching-Tide-Margaret-Meyer-ebook/dp/B0BBTRPY96/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Another new thread! Thanks southeast.

My List

1. Old Baggage – Lissa Evans
2. Crooked Heart – Lissa Evans

3.V for Victory – Lissa Evans 4. Early Morning Riser – Katherine Heiny

1. The Memory of Animals – Claire Fuller
2. Panic# - Luke Jennings
3. Half a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozie Adeiche
4. Greek Lessons – Han Kang
5. Amazing Grace Adams – Fran Littlewood

10. The Maiden – Kate Foster 11. The Anniversary – Stephanie Bishop 12. Kindred – Octavia E. Butler 13. The Carlingford Chronicles – Margaret Oliphant 14. A Spell of Good Things – Ayobami Adebayo 15. The Colony - Audrey Magee 16. In a Good Light – Clare Chambers 17. Burning Questions – Margaret Atwood 18. Learning to Swim – Clare Chambers 19. Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr 20. Foxash – Kate Worsley 21. Games and Rituals – Katherine Heiny 22. The Siege – Helen Dunmore 23. Homecoming – Kate Morton 24. This Family – Kate Sawyer (Stinker) 25. Tell Me What I am – Una Mannion 26. The Lost Wife – Susanna Moore (stinker!) 27. My Husband – Maud Ventura 28. A Lady’s Guide to Scandal – Sophie Irwin (Dull) 29. Alchemy – S.J. Parris (New Giordano Bruno, good but slower than early ones) 30. The Wren, the wren – Anne Enright (DNF) 31. Held – Anne Michaels (DNF) 32. The House of Doors – Tan Twang Eng 33.The Witching Tide- Margaret Meyer 34.The New Wife – JP Delaney 35. Ordinary Human Failings- Meg Nolan 36. A Bird in Winter – Louise Doughty 37. Tom Lake - Ann Patchett

@Welshwabbit thanks for the article on Virginia Woolf. I'm in the same boat - read her in my early 20's and couldn't understand the acclaim - perhaps it's time for another try.

37 Love Letters by Viriginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West

Continuing on my Woolf kick, I very much enjoyed this volume of letters between Woolf and Sackville-West, interspersed with Woolf's diaries. What's particularly good is that you see the relationship in all its phases, including a while when they were clearly fed up with each other. Their mature friendship (which was rekindled after Woolf's nephew, Julian Bell, was killed) is really quite heartwarming after the tempestuous jealousies of the earlier years. As you would expect, given the correspondents, some beautiful writing, and a great insight into their tiny, in some ways astonishingly progressive and in others...not, corner of the world. Even though you know the ending, it's still very sad.

To round all this off, I'm now going to read Ethel Smyth's Memoirs - another of Woolf's possible lovers/intense friendships, who, with her composer hat on, also featured in Clemency Burton's Another Year of Wonder, which I'm reading and discussing over on the separate thread (waves to @AliasGrape).

I've just bought Love Letters - thanks @Welshwabbit.

@ChessieFL I absolutely loved the Family from One End Street books as a child. I might have to dig out my old copies next time I visit my parents!

@ChessieFL and @Tarahumara I also loved One End Street as a child. I've lost the book I had somewhere along the way so I might have to buy a copy now you've reminded me of it!

@Welshwabbit waves back 👋

Im another one who tried Woolf in my younger days and it did nothing for me, and wondering if I should return to her writing now I am older.

Thanks for the new thread, Southeastdweller. Yes, they do move quickly!

Continuation of my list from last time:

32. Frenchman's Creek: Daphne du Maurier.
33. One Fine Day: Mollie Panter-Downes.
34. Haven: Emma Donoghue.
35. Trash: Andy Mulligan.
36. Our Lady of Pain: M.C. Beaton.
37. Once Upon a River: Diane Setterfield.

Thanks to @TattiePants for recommending Once Upon a River. I really enjoyed it.

The Family from One End Street brings back some very warm memories for me too. I still have my carefully-read copies of the whole series (I was extremely particular about my books as a child, in fact, I still am!)

Welsh, I'm sure you'll enjoy the Smyth memoirs. DH has most of them on his music-book shelves, I think. I keep meaning to investigate Female Pipings from Eden, not least for the superb title 😂

(BTW, I’m horrified by the appalling syntax in my Derek Malcolm review upthread 😱 and will do suitable penance )

Thanks southeast

1. The Christmas Bookshop – Jenny Colgan
2. Les Cahiers d’Esther : Histoires de mes 10 ans – Riad Sattouf
3. The Pants of Perspective – Anna McNuff

4. L’Assommoir – Emile Zola

1. Beautiful world, where are you? – Sally Rooney
2. This book could save your life – Graham Lawton
3. Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
4. The Foundling – Stacey Halls
5. The Paper Palace – Miranda Cowley Heller

10. Les Cahiers d’Esther : Histoires de mes 11 ans – Riad Sattouf 11. How to be famous – Caitlin Moran 12. The land where lemons grow – Helena Atlee 13. Just Kids – Patti Smith 14. Trespasses - Louise Kennedy 15. Sheltering Rain – Jojo Moyes 16. The Island of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak 17. Love, Nina – Nina Stibbe 18. Sorrow and bliss – Meg Mason 19. Children of Paradise – Camilla Grudova 20. Spring – Ali Smith 21. Mothering Sunday - Graham Swift 22. Clothes, clothes, clothes, music, music, music, boys, boys, boys – Viv Albertine 23. A Doll’s House – Henrik Ibsen DNF: Under the duvet – Marian Keyes 24. Streetcar named desire – Tennessee Williams 25. The Other Mother – Jen Brister 26. Decluttering at the speed of life – Dana K White

Currently listening to One more croissant for the road - Felicity Cloake and reading Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh. Also have a couple of others that I'm reading a poem or a chapter of here and there Dearly - Margaret Atwood, Parsnips, Buttered - Joe Lycett I seem to have fallen off the TOCS read along but am determined to get back on track by the end of August.

As far as Norwegian novels go @Piggywaspushed I love the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset (read the Tiina Nunnally translation). Someone on here was talking about the Alberta books by Cora Sandel, they are suppose to be good but I've not read my copy yet.

That was me. I hesitated to recommend them again now as although I loved them in my early 20s, I wasn't sure what I'd think with the benefit of 40 years maturity.