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

@Terpsichore I have The Secret Rooms on my wishlist after reading Catherine Bailey's Black Diamonds, which I highly recommend. I also love The Enchanted April, though I'm not on the other thread.

60. The Good, The Bad and the History by Jodi Taylor

This is the latest in the Chronicles of St Mary’s. There’s more of Max and company having adventures and bouncing around the time stream, with varying degrees of havoc left in her wake. Basically the sort of thing you’d expect if you’re familiar with the series. I enjoyed reading it.

I forget who reviewed it upthread (Clara? Mamanewt? ) but I’d agree that the ending felt very final and like a handover to the Time Police books.

@Terpsichore - I love the sound of both those books. It's not as if I'm short of books to read, but they've gone on the library wishlist on the strength of your reviews. Thank you!

Consider the Oyster by MK Fisher
I love Fisher’s food writing - she talks about food like no one else. As I’m on a fairly tedious medical diet right now this was perfect - reminded me that oysters are delicious and entirely within the rules of what I can eat and so off we went for some oysters by the sea. Not at all convinced I want to eat a hot oyster but if anyone can persuade me, it’s Fisher.

Stasiland by Anna Funder
This seems to be having a moment on this thread. I read this when it was first published but hadn’t remembered much about it. It was much more personal and affecting than I remember. Against some stiff competition the GDR really did take the crown for insane authoritarian Cold War shit. It’s astonishing to think that only a couple of decades ago Germany was having to come to terms with how to bring two entirely different systems together and address the damage done. If anyone has any recommendations for good books about German reunification do tell me.

The Dark Half by Stephen King
Classic King, and not one that I’d read before. And not one that appears on many people’s must reads for some reason but it’s absolute gold standard with all the trimmings of a Stephen King novel (alcoholic writers! laconic cops! less than stellar endings that you don’t particularly mind about all things considered!). Back in the day, King wrote under the pseudonym of Richard Bachmann, as well as Stephen King, until he was exposed and “killed off” Bachmann. But what if Bachmann hadn’t wanted to be killed off – that’s the premise of this novel, where a novelist of modest repute has a huge success writing much less literary books under a pen name. When he decides the time has come to reveal all, his alter ego has different views. The supernatural element is really strong, as is the sense of menace from the frankly terrifying George Stark who commits some unspeakably gruesome murders along the way to his showdown with his alter ego. And I’m scared of birds, so all in all this was terrifying in a very satisfying way.

Thanks for the Secret Rooms review Terpsichore, I’ve reserved a copy from the library.

Thanks @Terpsichore- I've had the Secret Rooms on my kindle for ages and was swithering what to read next! In the mood for a bit of non-fiction too.

10 Storyteller: the Life of Roald Dahl - Donald Sturrock
Does what it says on the tin, details of the life of Roald Dahl from birth to death.

I don't often read biographies, but I was interested in this since I was obsessed as a child with Dahl's autobiography Boy. I re-read it over and over again when I received it one Christmas. So I was interested to read this biography as an adult reader.

I loved the bits about his early life, totally lost interest when he was some sort of diplomatic RAF type during WW2, and loved the section after the war when he married, had children, started writing children's books and slowly acheived success.

Sturrock appears to be a meticulous researcher and this is very readable, despite a curious overuse of the phrase "with alacrity" which grated after a while.

11 A Place of Greater Safety - Hilary Mantel
The minutely-detailled account of the lives of some of the main players of the French revolution and their development over the years.

DH bought me this when I finished Mantel's Cromwell trilogy. I put off starting it for some time due to the sheer size of the book. It took me 72 days to get through it once I was brave enough to start!! It is a book that benefits from a slow read however, allowing the reader time to savour the prose and digest the import of what happened in the last chapter.

Mantel introduces us to Robespierre, Danton & Desmoulins as small children and guides us through the development of their characters and relationships with each other. Danton is brash, loud and a natural leader. Desmoulins is excitable, emotional and unstable but terribly well-written and an engaging character. Robespierre is distant, cold and difficult to relate to. The natures of the 3 men are incompatible and the guillotine awaits them all in due course.

I loved this one, highly recommended from me. Mantel was an amazing writer. As she did for Cromwell, she brings the French Revolutionaries to life with surprising ease and the sense of place and time is beautifully wrought.

@YolandiFuckinVisser

I loved A Place Of Greater Safety - I found it odd that it only concluded 2 of the 3 lives though

@YolandiFuckinVisser two more books I have and really must get round to reading! Dahl's former home in Great Missenden is not far from me and it’s a great place to visit if you’ve got kids.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I had to Google what happened next, I didn't know a great deal about the French revolution before I read this.

My feeling is that the short period between Danton's downfall and that of Robespierre would have taken her another couple of hundred pages and she had had enough of it by then! Maybe there would have been a sequel eventually. I think this could have neatly been presented as a trilogy (including the What Max Did Next section ideally), making the whole thing a little less daunting!

@Terpsichore I took DS to a Roald Dahl museum once, I think that was in your area too. It was about 15 years ago though, so may well be different now, but he absolutely loved it. (So did I!)

@YolandiFuckinVisser

Yes I thought the same, potentially there was a deadline involved as she wasn't as big a name then

@PepeLePew The Dark Half is one of my favourites.

I don't know why I've never read it before, Remus. There are a few I've steered clear of and I hated Rose Madder so much I tried to avoid anything he wrote around that time but there aren't many of the big novels I've not read or tried to read. Very glad I did, though. Storytelling at its best and I didn't hate the ending.

Can't actually remember the ending. Only read it twice and it's been a long time.

I didn't like Rose Madder much, either.

Just finished two great recommendations from this thread.

62. For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain by Victoria McKenzie - much reviewed on here - a novella really following Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe and their imaginary meeting. I thought this was very well done and really drew me in and made me want to find out more about them. I did wonder whether anyone has visions nowadays... I guess they just get given anti psychotic drugs!

63. Kala - Colin Walsh. Loved this murder mystery that jumps between a group of 15 year olds in a holiday resort town in Ireland in 2003 when one of them goes missing, and 15 years later when a body is found. The characters are brilliantly drawn and the story moves at a quick pace.

I wondered why I wasnt getting any updates, turns out a while new thread was up. Just about caught up.

@SammyScrounge I also liked men without women when I read it several years ago. I thought it was interesting that the women in the stories had their own lives and interests and the men were emotionally stunted (at least that's how I remember it)

93. Dune by Frank Herbert

I’m not sure where to start describing this book as it is such an epic, so I nicked the blurb from Amazon: The Duke of Atreides has been manoeuvred by his arch-enemy, Baron Harkonnen, into administering the desert planet of Dune. Although it is almost completely without water, Dune is a planet of fabulous wealth, for it is the only source of a drug prized throughout the Galactic Empire. The Duke and his son, Paul, are expecting treachery, and it duly comes - but from a shockingly unexpected place.

Then Paul succeeds his father, and he becomes a catalyst for the native people of Dune, whose knowledge of the ecology of the planet gives them vast power. They have been waiting for a leader like Paul Atreides, a leader who can harness that force ...

Some sections I found a bit of a slog, but most flew by and I could not put my book down. Overall I really liked this, but not sure if it will be a bold, and I definitely need a break before moving to the next in the series. P.S. As a larger lady I’m very interested in Baron Harkonnen’s suspension harness!

I didn't like Dune - I did however quite enjoy the film

I've also just finished book 51, Kala by Colin Walsh. This was an absolute page turner, a really atmospheric murder mystery based on a teenager going missing and her friends reuniting years later as her body is finally found. It's very good on the intensity and very deep feelings of being a 15 year old. It does take a very violent, brutal turn about two thirds of the way through.

And book 52 was Happy Place by Emily Henry. Harriet and Wynn have recently broken up but haven't told their friends, who end up inviting them both on holiday to their cottage on the Maine coast. For pretty convoluted reasons they have to pretend to still be a couple. What could possibly happen?! This was just ok. What I liked about Book Lovers and Beach Read was the insight into the publishing industry and the knowing references to rom coms, which was all absent here. It made me really want to go to Maine though.

Oh I loved the film, not sure how much that had to do with Oscar Isaac though 😊

I disliked Dune - another book that Cote and I have fought about! 😂 That bloody mother.

I’m delighted to see I wasn’t the only one who loved Kala.
My reading slump is well and truly ended- currently devouring The Goldfinch and enjoying it immensely despite the fact I don’t normally like a child/ teen narrator.

61 A History of Burning Janika Oza
I bought this last week when it was in the daily deals and I’m so glad I did as it covers a part of history that I knew very little about. Spanning four generations and nearly 100 years, it’s about an immigrant family and their search to find somewhere they finally belong.

Pirbai, a poor teenager desperate for work to support his family is taken from his home in India to work on the East Africa Railway for the British. It’s backbreaking work but he believes the rumours that he will eventually be given his own land so stays in Africa when the railway is complete, marries and has children, hoping for a better life for them. Pirbai’s children and grandchildren live in a divided Uganda under British Colonial rule and get a glimmer of hope that things will improve as the country moves towards independence. However, the ensuing military dictatorship that gives Asians 90 days to leave the country or face an almost certain death sees them fleeing Uganda as the family is scattered around the world in exile. Once again the family have to rebuild their lives and establish their place in the world.

This was a beautifully written and well researched book. I didn’t know much about the 30,000+ boys and men that were shipped to east Africa as indentured labour to build the railway and the communities that sprung up as a result. The book also deals with Partition, Idi Amin’s brutal regime and the struggles of being a migrant in the west. My only (slight) criticism is than in order to cover almost a century, some chapters jump forward in time missing out several years and you’re left wondering what happened.

1. A Woman In Berlin Anon
2. The Guest Cat. Takashi Hiraide
3. All The Broken Places John Boyne
4. The Thirteenth Juror Steve Kavanagh
5. The Undiscovered Deathe Of Grace McGill

CS Robertson

1. Case Histories Kate Atkinson
2. The Satsuma Complex Bob Mortimer
3. Men Without Women Huraki Murakami

9. Call Me By Your Name Andre Aciman This is the story of of a gay relationship which springs up between 17 year old Elio and his father's student, 24 year old Oliver. The book explores Elio's obsession with Oliver and the passionate affair that results. There is some beautiful writing here, especially where the Italian countryside and the seascape are concerned. But other writing can be convoluted and overwrought. The book is overlong, to the point I was almost screaming at the lovers to get to their first kiss.