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

Congrats to all the university-bound offspring!

@BoldFearlessGirl I found the mother revoltingly grotesque, but overall I think I ended up being even more revolted by the father. I was surprised at how readable I found it.

F

@cassandre congrats to your ds. Mine is off to uni too.

Congratulations to all offspring who have been accepted to Unis. I remember it being a pretty stressful wait.

47. The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11 - Garrett M Graff

Sitting on my TBR list since it was much reviewed by 50 bookers last year, I'd been putting this off due to the subject matter. But what a read - immersive, harrowing (I could only read a few pages at a time) and raw. It breaks down the day into many chapters, moving between New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville as the events unfolded.

An important contribution to the history of a day that changed the world. A definite bold.

I had Old Filth recommended to me and I’ve also picked it up a couple of times and put it down. I do want to read it as in theory I should like it!

cassandre, so glad it has turned out well. DD has several friends who had agonising waits for places to be confirmed. Such a stupid system. Well done to all the exam takers and strength to the soon-to-be-a-child-down-at-homers amongst us. DD is her mother's daughter and has enthusiastically combed World of Books for second hand set texts, and our final "day of fun" before she goes will include a trip to the big bookshop. She's thrown herself into her reading list - it's a good thing she loves her subject as it was long.

I'm a touch late to the party with Demon Copperhead but am finding it hard to put down. I don't remember when I last read a book that grabbed me like this, and I didn't expect it at all. I've had a crazy few days at work and all I can think about is getting into bed this evening and reading until I fall asleep. More books should make me feel like that.

Book 4 The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie. An enjoyable story, bit of a departure from a cosy mystery, set in a stately home as this novel deals in the mysterious and the occult. Great characters and a very clever ending.

started a new audio book yesterday - The Country Set by Fiona Walker a Jilly Cooper-esk romp.

about to peruse my huge to read pile for my next read 😀

48 Ancient Writing and the History of the Alphabet - John McWhorter
One for the linguistics geeks, tracing the initiation of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and how the western alphabet we have today took shape - including how the individual letters gained their current forms and phonemic associations.

And here’s Archie, for his fans

So cute!

What a good boy!

Even I - as a cat, rather than a dog person - am happy to say that Archie is a sweetie, @LadybirdDaphne!

Ah LadyBirdDaphne 💖
Archie is gorgeous! Even my two cats would agree ;)

Congrats to all whose DCs have got their results, and I wish them luck with their next steps.

@LadybirdDaphne Archie is gorgeous!

Currently reading Act of Oblivion, Rooftoppers and Gig by Simon Armitage, who is much funnier than I expected. Will come back with reviews on the next thread, when I have more time.

Congratulations to all those who've got through their A levels and navigated the next step. DS starts sixth form tomorrow but he's still dithering between two places to the point where he's enrolled at both and is going in for his first day tomorrow at what I've thought for weeks to be his second preference.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who enjoyed one or both of Sarah Winman's first two novels. I think I probably need to reread Tin Man (her third) because I've heard a discussions including Radio 4 Bookclub which made me think, oh, I don't remember that - I must have been dealing with something else at the time.

As for all Demon Copperhead's characters having MAGA hats, I can see some of the dodgier adults in Demon's life voting for Trump, but I doubt that the friends his age do (if some of them even vote given what else they're up to) or the teacher couple who really try to help and encourage Demon in his real talents at some stage but who don't get job security at the school where the mostly working class students and their education don't matter that much except for those who do well at sport.

Loving Archie in his ray of light.

@LadybirdDaphne Archie is off the scale adorably cute! My son is a geek and the book you have reviewed Ancient Writing and the History of the Alphabet - John McWhorter looks right up his street. Thanks. Time for a Christmas list!

The Future - Naomi Alderman I wasn't a fan of The Power and didn't enjoy this either. Too unbelievable in so many ways, even for a dystopian novel and jumps around too much between characters. The tale is set slightly in the future where a mixed group of horrible elites have forewarning of a catastrophic event and secretly alert their loved ones so that they can travel to their palatial bunker. The narrative also has a lot of exposition about climate change. I liked the idea but not the execution.

Calling @Southeastdweller - new thread required soon……

Thank you!

@elkiedee disagree

The scariest thing about MAGA was the broad spectrum of society it attracted

That a state like Virginia voted for Trump - and that his voters are cross class - doesn't mean everyone in it did (just like there are Trump voters in Blue states - those that tend Democratic). The author lives in that region. It means that the majority of votes cast and people allowed to vote (ie those who hadn't been disenfranchised for reasons like criminal convictions) did.

In the days when I was still commuting to the office every day, I used to love listening to John McWhorter's podcast Lexicon Valley. It looks as if it's no longer hosted by Slate but is available on his own Substack instead.

It feels like it was only last week since I created the previous thread!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4884939-50-books-challenge-2023-part-seven

This thread I meant.

A Pocketful of Miracles - Richard E. Grant. A book of two halves, the book consists of diary entries from the actor and author, from the time of the diagnosis of his late wife's cancer to when she died, and in the last five years or so from when his career resurged because of an acclaimed performance in the film 'Can You Ever Forgive Me'. His writing is as excellent as ever, but - and I almost hesitate to type this - I found the juxtaposition a little, I don't know, unseemly. Similarly with the vast amount of name-dropping.

.