50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Nine

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the ninth 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, the sixth one here, the seventh one here and the eighth one here.

What are you reading?

It's time for me to go on some long train journeys again. Feel free to hit me with your best reads to suit the occasion!

I’m terrible at recommendations, but on some long train journeys over the next few days and I’m reading: Madame Bovary and The French Lieutenant’s Woman because I need to finish them to get to my book club book (Hello Beautiful reviewed above).

Suspect (am pretty sure) these are not what you are after. 😬

I’ve read both!

Ideally I’d like a book about train journeys, but regular readers will know we’ve been there and done that!

Assume you've done Paul Theroux and all the Agatha Christie train books Remus?

If you like Jonathan Franzen, you might like The Bee Sting which is long and a page-turner. Did you try In Ascension and hate it? That's a journey though more spacey....

49 The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism by Martin Wolf. This is an interesting book by a very knowledgeable author about the symbiotic, sometimes uneasy, relationship between capital markets and liberal democracy. It includes a section on the history of democracy, an analysis of some recent changes and upheavals (the rise of China as an economic power, the impact of Trump on US democracy, shifts in voting patterns due to the importance placed on national identity and immigration, globalisation, the 2008 financial crisis, climate change), and some ideas for countries to aim for going forwards. Loads of fascinating facts and opinions, but not an easy read. I listened to it on Audible and I had to really concentrate to understand it, rewinding some bits several times. Recommended - if you're feeling brave!

I've been reading, but got rather behind on reviewing.

76. How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner
    Analysis of how & why projects, particularly very big ones (high speed rail, mega buildings, major tech projects, but also small scale home renovations) so often go spectacularly wrong, and the features of projects / teams that succeed. Interesting, convincing but probably not that relevant to me, but I hope that lots of our politicians will read it (optimistically hoping that the current managerial strand to the Labour party will be interested in this sort of basic competence)

77. Regenesis by George Monbiot
    I imagine many people have either read this, or know the basic premise: our current food system is trashing the planet, and we need to shift en masse to veganism & manufactured microbial protein. He's a good writer, and makes many good points. Unfortunately I thought the best metaphor for his overarching conclusions was the introductory story of the heritage apple orchard that he helped plant in Oxford - wonderful varieties, beautiful trees; but planted in a location that is so prone to late frosts that they get no fruit in most years.

78. Strayed by Cheryl Wilder
    I'm very late in the day to this one. The (true) story of Wilder's redemption in her 20s from chaos & drug use following her mother's early death & the breakdown of her marriage through several months hiking the Pacific Coast Trail. I had this on Audible, & it's really well read, but for some reason it never really gripped me.

79. Sedated by James Davies
    Subtitled 'How Capitalism is causing our mental health crisis', and broadly does what it says on the tin. Readable, but I didn't think it was a patch on Nathan Filer's 'This Book will Change Your Mind', which I went back & re-read after finishing this one.

80. The Appeal by Janice Hadlett
    I picked this up from the e-library after seeing reviews on here, & it was just the ticket for a wet day stuck at home with a nasty cold. I think it would have worked better read on paper (or maybe on a kindle) though, the format of emails wasn't ideal reading on my phone. I'd definitely pick up another of hers from the library though if I wanted a light mystery read.

81. Amy & Lan by Sadie Jones
    Another one from the library following reviews on here. I enjoyed this a lot, partly because I lived in an off grid eco-farming community over almost exactly the time period covered by the book (though we would have made a much less interesting novel, with fewer relationship issues & more chasing delinquent livestock). My only criticism would be that in the early days particularly I found it hard to distinguish between the voices of the two children.

82. Saying No to a Farm Free Future by Chris Smaje
    Short book written in response to Regenesis above. This was really excellent, much better than I'd expected. Although it was written as a rebuttal of the eco-modernist manifesto, I think that it is worth reading regardless for its alternative vision of a functional food & agriculture for the climate crisis.
    
    Smaje does pick up some of the more obvious holes in Monbiot's figures (they really are very obvious as you read Regenesis if you have any background in farming), but goes well beyond this to explore the broader background to our current food system.

Glad to see your review of the Martin Wolf book Tara - I've had it on my list, but wasn't sure how much new there'd be in it. Sounds like a good one for an Audible credit.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

I searched Novels about trains and a book called Moonfleet which doesn't seem to be about trains came up. I am none the wiser.

140. Me by Elton John (Spotify)

I must have exceeded my Spotify allowance of hours but they haven't stopped me listening.

I'm not really an autobiography reader which makes it weird that I've read over 20 memoir type books this year. Not sure why.

Elton reads some himself at breakneck speed but it is largely ably and amiably done by Rocketman star Taron Egerton.

It's unflinchingly honest about his past but yet he also manages to preserve some family privacy without making you feel cheated

He certainly had interesting parents, bless him, and he also really should be dead! I loved the little asides about his friendship with Rod Stewart

A cut above the average Sleb Tosh. Recommended.

Thanks for these. I’ve read most of them. I got about half way through In Ascension before I gave up because I was bored of it.

75 The Green Man Of Eshwood Hall by Jacob Kerr
A strange little book that I nearly gave up on due to the jaunty, childish way in which it is written. As a reader I hate the feeling that the author is archly digging me in the ribs and nodding towards the foibles of the characters (Jonathan Strange did this too). It picked up a little in the second half.
Ray and Geraldine/Gerry go to fading grand house in ‘Northalbion’ (Northumbria) where Ray is a chauffeur and handyman. One of the dds, Annie , wants a pony and likes getting her sister, Izzy into trouble. Izzy roams the estate and is drawn to the woods, where she meets the Green Man. There is a baby brother too, who you can tell is just about the only thing the brittle, quick to temper Gerry cares about. When the owner of Eshwood Hall dies the staff show their true colours and Izzy starts to bargain with the Green Man…..
The last quarter seems rushed, which is a shame, because it flowed a lot better and the themes got darker.
I liked the bare bones of the plot more than I liked the way Kerr has fleshed it out. I wasn’t sure if it was a YA book but a flash of Lady Chatterley later on suggests it probably isn’t. It won’t be a bold but it passed the time nicely. I do find literary representations of The Green Man fascinating though.

Finished a couple more books this week:

73. The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane, which I semi-reviewed a couple of days ago when it was in the kindle deals. Having finished, I can still confirm that I liked it a lot, a slow but very intricate and believable portrait of two people working on their marriage. It does have a pretty wild insurance fraud storyline towards the end, which you certainly don't get with Anne Tyler, but I'd still recommend it!

74. A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood. Slight but charming YA about Freya, who runs away from her home in Cornwall to join a bohemian travelling theatre company in the 30s. Some really lovely scenes capturing the magic of the theatre, especially at Christmas, and a couple of very chaste love stories. Definitely in the vein of Eva Ibbotson's similar books.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie
Have you tried Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier?

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie what about Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin. No idea how much of it really is train based but at the very least it looks like it's based on a real mission to save Turkey's Jews during WW2 which sounds like an interesting story.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit
The Elton John autobiography is definitely one of my top reads this year and I'm also not at all into biographies or memoirs. I would recommend it to anyone, he's lived such an insane life and made so many mistakes but I love the way he owns them all and really seems to have turned his life around and finally found contentment

@satelliteheart

Yes, he really has had a full and fascinating life and so had something to say which stands him apart from many sleb books

95. In Her Nature - Rachel Hewitt. I managed to read a non-fiction book, my first of the year! This starts with the author going to buy running shoes and finding there are only 4 pairs that are designed for women, because according to the salesman, women only started running in the 70s. She decides this can't be true so starts researching earlier female athletes and finds lots of forgotten female mountaineers of the mid to late 19th century who have been erased from history. Interspersed with this is Hewitt's own story and how she deals with the loss of 5 close relatives in quick succession by trail running and exploring her grief. There's lots about the difficulties women both old and modern face - fans of Invisible Women will find a lot of resonance here - as well as some amazing descriptions of her own experiences starting to run ultra marathons. It's a lot to pack in but it's interesting. If you're reading on Kindle, the last 40% is footnotes etc so it's not as big as I originally thought!

43. All Together Now? Mike Carter This was another random borrowbox pick I made while at DD's swim training (a sport that takes hours of training for literally a couple of minutes of competition). I spend a lot of time sitting in the leisure centre. Not long before the EU referendum Carter retraced the steps of the March for Jobs organised by his father in the early 80s. It started in Liverpool and the first 80 pages or so covered places I've lived or worked and know well. I always enjoy travel writing about places Im familiar with - it's interesting to see how outsiders see them, so this was the best bit for me.
    The book is partly a travelogue around post-industrial England, partly a memoir of Carter's strained relationship with his trade unionist father and mainly a discussion of the damage done by decades of deregulation, privatisation and marketisation. It sort of skips between them and I have to admit I didn't warm to his writing style. I was also expecting to hear more about the march. He does articulate well how ideas of building a supportive and caring society that benefits all citizens has basically been pushed out of public discourse. Whilst I would agree with much of what he says, it makes for rather grim and depressing reading (and this is all before brexit, covid, Ukraine, Truss ...). The only ray of hope near the end is Hemel Hempstead! According to Carter (or someone he interviews) it seems a nicer and more functioning community than most. As I've never been and know nothing about it, I cant comment on whether we should be hoping the future looks like Hemel Hempstead (or not). I'm now off to find a thriller or something.

This was a good read, not sure it meets with what Remus is after, but I’d definitely recommend. Especially to you Janina, we seem to have some synergies in our reading.

Thank you. I’m currently on a self-imposed ban on WW2 books though!

126 Prophet Song- Paul Lynch
I listened to this on audio as I had heard about the wall of text/ lack of punctuation issue in the physical book. Eilish’s husband Larry is picked up by the secret police in an Ireland moving towards authoritarianism. This is a dark and disturbing read which does a great job of illustrating how easily totalitarianism can creep in without people reacting until it’s too late. I found this intensely bleak and moving and couldn’t stop listening. The familiarity of the Irish setting making it harder in some ways. A bold for me.

127 Our Wives under the Sea- Julia Armfield
Miri’s wife Leah goes on a work trip in a submarine (she is an oceanographer) and disappears. 6 months later, she returns but she has changed and Miri doesn’t know how to deal with it. Told in alternate chapters from Miri in the present and Leah from 6 months ago when they first submerged, it’s creepy and atmospheric and explores themes of grief and love beautifully. Another bold.

128 In the Tall Grass- Stephen King and Joe Hill
A short story about two siblings who driving past a field hear a young boy cry for help. They stop to help him and nonsense ensues. I usually like King but haven’t liked much by his son Joe Hill. This one was rubbish.

129 Tender is the Flesh- Agustina Bazterrica
This is probably the most disturbing book I’ve ever read and I don’t know yet if it’s just sick, or genius. Either way it will stay with me, and not in a good way.
Set in a dystopia where all animal life has died or had to be culled because of a virus, humans have begun to breed an underclass of their own kind as ‘special meat’. (This is an Argentinian translation and I wonder if being vegetarian/ vegan is unheard of there!). The main character Marcos Tejo works in a ‘meat’ processing plant and seems to be questioning his life, job and family.
It is pretty unnecessarily gory and dark and shocking but I, an unapologetic carnivore, was unable to eat the meat part of my dinner tonight So maybe it’s done what it was intended to do.
Not sure whether to make it a bold or a bin! Not for the faint hearted and trigger warnings for just about everything you can imagine.

Also today I did a charity shop trawl and got rather carried away (though to be fair 4 of them are DH’s)

Anyone have Grady Hendrix books on their wishlist? Juat spotted that The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is £1.65 on kindle.

@BaruFisher

I see you have NMLG on there - the great divider

Also, shout out to Small Island I bolded that the year I read it

That’s a great book haul @BaruFisher. I also loved Small Island and The Gustav Sonata but hated NLMG and didn’t get along with The Hours.