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50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Nine

1000 replies

Southeastdweller · 11/10/2023 16:32

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?

OP posts:
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18
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 05/11/2023 19:29

Hope you enjoy it @BestIsWest

I'm really in the mood for more, but I think I've read pretty much all of the big/known ones.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 05/11/2023 19:31

There's a new Shackleton one in Mr B Catalogue Remus

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 05/11/2023 19:35

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

The Ship Beneath The Ice by Mensun Bound it is

minsmum · 05/11/2023 19:36

I am looking at The Holocaust - An Unfinished History by Dan Stone and I wondered if anyone has read it and what they thought

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 05/11/2023 19:39

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 05/11/2023 19:35

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

The Ship Beneath The Ice by Mensun Bound it is

Have read it! Thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit It's not one I'd recommend particularly, if you were thinking of reading it.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 05/11/2023 19:41

Always thwarted when I think I've got something for the fussiest 50 Booker!

Passmethecrisps · 05/11/2023 19:52

I have not read it @EineReiseDurchDieZeit but I shall add it to my TBR pile. I have never read any Mantel before this epic adventure but I will absolutely read more.

i think I need a wee break for now though. I will finish Mort by Terry Pratchett and then go from there.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 05/11/2023 19:56

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 05/11/2023 19:41

Always thwarted when I think I've got something for the fussiest 50 Booker!

Sorry! Grin

PersisFord · 05/11/2023 20:35

@Passmethecrisps I love Mort, it's one of my favourites. You definitely deserve it after all that Tudor heartbreak!

Passmethecrisps · 05/11/2023 20:41

Thats what I think @PersisFord. weirdly at one point I was listening to one and reading another and I had an odd point I was getting lost to which one I was supposed to be following. Strange similarities to the voice of Cromwell and the voice of Mort perhaps 🤔

MamaNewtNewt · 05/11/2023 21:18

I've had a virus that I have struggled to shake so I've stuck to easy reads recently.

126. Call Time by Steve Jones

Here’s the Amazon blurb: Bob Bloomfield is, in the words of his best friend's wife, a 'selfish, arrogant a*sehole', who hasn't spent a great deal of time making friends in his 49 years on earth. But what if he could change? What if Bob could stop the very thing that has made him the man he is, the death of his younger brother, Tom in 1986. If he could save Tom, could he save himself? . . . And what if all it took was a phone call - to his childhood self? I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It’s not high literature but was a good, easy read.

127. The Delphi Effect by Rysa Walker

Anna Morgan never knows where she’ll encounter a ghost who will become a mental hitchhiker. When she picks up the spirit of a girl who was brutally murdered, Anna is pulled into a deadly conspiracy that extends to the highest levels of government. I quite enjoyed this, although it wasn’t an easy read at times.

128. I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

A young boy is killed in a hit and run accident and this story follows the police investigation. There was a mildly interesting twist and that was it. I HATED this book, and particularly disliked the main detective’s patronising attitude towards his wife who was previously a police woman. Terrible ending with a series of ridiculous coincidences.

129. The Overlook by Michael Connelly

The latest in the Bosch series. A man is shot and the shit hits the fan when it is discovered he had access to radioactive material that has now gone missing. An easy read but I guessed the ending really early on.

130. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

The latest in my Stephen King reread. And this one is a bit of a stinker. The central story didn’t interest me at all (some nonsense about an alien invasion), and the evocation of childhood, and the friendships you have when you are young, where King normally excels, were conspicuous by their absence. One of my least favourite King novels so far.

131. White Silence by Jodi Taylor

I love the Chronicles of St Mary’s and Time Police series by the same author so I thought I’d give this series a go. Elizabeth Cage can see things that others can’t and this ability makes her of interest to the authorities who want to make use of her ability to read people. I really enjoyed it, especially the central partnership, despite it being a bit unfocused. I’ve bought the second in the series as an audiobook to listen to once I finally finish the latest Strike book.

Stokey · 05/11/2023 21:20

A couple of members of my book club who loved All The Light We Cannot See were pretty unimpressed by the adaptation Eine. I haven't started it.

  1. The Life To Come - Michelle De Kretser. I was given this book a while back and it's taken me some time to get round to it. It won the Miles Franklin prize - Australia's Booker - in 2018 and it's 5 parts of loosely interlinked chapters about the experience of being Australian, an immigrant, life and loss. There's one character Pippa who features in all of them but it's not a mom character in any of them. There's not a huge amount of plot but the characterisations and descriptions are spot on, sometimes funny and sometimes very poignant, particularly in the last section about 2 elderly Sri Lankan women. I thought this was excellent and something a bit different. I lived in Sydney for a while and it really reminded me of lots of things I felt then. There's also a section set in Paris.
Piggywaspushed · 05/11/2023 21:23

I have taken one for the team and watched All The Light. Drivel, bilge and tripe.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 05/11/2023 21:24

I gave it up @Stokey it was rubbish

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 05/11/2023 21:24

Jinx

Whosawake · 06/11/2023 09:50

I've had a good run recently, couple of bolds...

27- The Midnight News- Jo Baker

This was a word of mouth recommendation, and I have no idea how I hadn't heard of this before and why it isn't winning all the prizes. This is by the writer of Longbourn, but set in London during the Blitz, and it's both a really immersive social history and a thriller, beautifully written too. This is a strong bold for me.

28- In Memoriam- Alice Winn

I loved this, another bold. Others have talked about it upthread, and it's a difficult one to talk about without revealing the plot. It's horrific at points, but there is humour too, and it's one of those books that draw you in so that you really care about the characters, even the minor ones. There was one point it became slightly too Boys Own Adventure to me, but only slightly, and this is definitely a bold for me.

TattiePants · 06/11/2023 16:20

Between the Covers starts again tonight at 7pm

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 06/11/2023 16:43

Ooo thanks Tattie

ClaraTheImpossibleGirl · 06/11/2023 23:07

Joining the new thread late, thank you southeast!

The list I've brought over is:

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 - Death 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
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
68. JM Hall - A Spoonful of Murder (audiobook)
69. Maureen Johnson - Nine Liars
70. Tracy Whitwell - The Accidental Medium
71. Caroline O'Donoghue - Every Gift a Curse
72. Charlotte Leonard - Afterwards
73. Shalini Boland - The Silent Bride
74. CK McDonnell - Love Will Tear Us Apart
75. SG MacLean - Seeker
76. Various authors - Marple
77. Mary Stewart - Madam, Will You Talk?
78. Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards!
79. Charlotte Plain - Happy planning - plan your way through anything
80. Ashley Poston - The Dead Romantics
81. Jodi Taylor - Saving Time
82. Hazel Holt - The Cruellest Month
83. MRC Kasasian - The Horror of Haglin House
84. Tracy Rees - The Elopement
85. Alison Uttley - A Traveller in Time
86. Ruth Ware - The Death of Mrs Westaway
87. Georgette Heyer - The Black Moth
88. Grace Friedman & Sarah Cheyette - Winning with ADHD
89. MC Beaton - Agatha Raisin & the Deadly Dance (audiobook)
90. Jodi Taylor - The Good, The Bad & The History
91. Heather Fawcett - Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries
92. Enid Blyton - More Wishing Chair Stories
93. SG MacLean - Destroying Angel
94. SG MacLean - The Bear Pit
95. Cynthia Murphy - The Last to Die
96. Jonathan Stroud - The Screaming Staircase
97. Jonathan Stroud - The Whispering Skull
98. Jonathan Stroud - The Hollow Boy
99. Jonathan Stroud - The Creeping Shadow
100. Jonathan Stroud - The Empty Grave
101. Chris Brookmyre - The Cliff House
102. Mark Wells - College of Shadows
103. Mark Wells - Gate of Shadows
104. Mark Wells - Legacy of Shadows
105. Lynn Messina - The Harlow Hoyden
106. Lynn Messina - The Other Harlow Girl
107. Jane Wetherby - A Dangerous Melody
108. Lydia Travers - The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency
109. Lydia Travers - Murder in the Scottish Hills
110. Lydia Travers - Mystery in the Highlands
111. MC Beaton - Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener (audiobook)
112. MC Beaton - Agatha Raisin: A Spoonful of Poison (audiobook)
113. MC Beaton - Agatha Raisin: Down the Hatch
114. Simon Mayo - Tick Tock
115. Fiona Leitch - A Cornish Seaside Murder
116. Matthew Reilly - The Great Zoo of China
117. Gemma Bray - The Organised Mum Method
118. Nathan Lowell - The Wizard's Butler
119. Yvonne Vincent - Losers Club: A Murder Mystery
120. Yvonne Vincent - Losers Club: The Laird's Ladle
121. Yvonne Vincent - Losers Club: The Angels' Share
122. SG MacLean - The House of Lamentations
123. Kathryn Foxfield - It's Behind You
124. Tom Hindle - The Murder Game

I've read quite a few more books, some enjoyable ones in there but no bolds:

  1. Rachel McLean - The Ghost Village Murders
  2. Helena Dixon - Murder at the Village Fair
  3. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Murder for Beginners
  4. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Death on Opening Night
  5. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Murder at Midnight
  6. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Case of the Black Tulips
  7. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Case of the Runaway Client
  8. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Case of the Deceased Clerk
  9. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Case of the Masquerade Mob
  10. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Case of the Fateful Legacy
  11. Paula Harmon & Liz Hedgecock - Case of the Crystal Kisses
  12. Paula Harmon - The Wrong Sort to Die
  13. Lesley Cookman - Murder on the Edge
  14. Lesley Cookman - Murder in Autumn
  15. Millie Bobby Brown - Nineteen Steps
  16. Kathryn Foxfield - Getting Away with Murder
  17. Henry James - The Turn of the Screw
  18. Rebecca Reid - The Will
  19. Laura Purcell - The Whispering Muse
  20. Christopher Edge - Escape Room
  21. Stuart Turton - The Devil and the Dark Water
  22. India Knight - In Your Prime
  23. Julia Chapman - Date with Deceit
  24. Julia Chapman - Date with Betrayal
  25. Lucy Clarke - The Hike
  26. Ada Moncrieff - Murder Most Festive
  27. Ada Moncrieff - Murder at the Theatre Royale
  28. Julie Wassmer - Murder at Mount Ephraim
  29. Anuschka Rees - The Curated Closet
  30. Various - Murder in midsummer
  31. Kathryn Foxfield - Tag, You're Dead
  32. Allegra McEvedy - Jolly Good Food: The Enid Blyton Cookbook
  33. Annmarie O'Connor - The Happy Closet: Declutter Your Wardrobe, Simplify Your Life

And the last one is:

  1. Kate Rhodes - Hangman Island

I've read all the Scilly Isles set of crime novels as I enjoy the setting (never been, but heard it's beautiful there) - however the books do get a bit repetitive - there's a limit to how many times DI Ben Kitto can think "the murderer can't be X, I've known them all my life" then "OMG, X is a murdering psycho and I never realised!!"... Plus the population of the Isles is only around 2500 so the murder rate seems astonishingly high! But then, without that there'd be no books...

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I couldn't get into Breathless at all either, wondered what I was missing Confused

Glad to hear The Last Devil To Die is worth a read @AliasGrape , I'm waiting for it to either go onto Borrowbox or stop being a hot pick at the library, as it's a whopper of a book to have to read in a week. I'm not a massive fan of Richard Osman's books but they're definitely easy reading.

@Whosawake I enjoyed those Anthony Horowitz books too, such a clever premise! I always wonder how much is fact - such as when he talks about his flat's location and describes it - or if he just makes it all up Hmm

I love the Amelia Peabody books @PersisFord , so much fun! I'm not as keen on the Elizabeth Cage books @MamaNewtNewt but can't wait for the Smallhope and Pennyroyal book which is apparently on the way...!

As someone who used to live in Hemel Hempstead @Owlbookend, I cannot imagine how bad the other places were that Mike Carter saw to make it look like a good option Grin

Finally, if anyone could recommend me a charming book about birds, that would be much appreciated! A dear friend has a birthday coming up, she and her other half are keen bird watchers and travel all over the UK to see different kinds, so I imagine they have all the standard books already - I wondered if anyone could suggest something a bit different as a present?

PersisFord · 06/11/2023 23:10

Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale

This is a loosely biographical story about a young poet growing up in Cornwall in the interwar years, and his early adult life and relationship with his mother. I really loved this although it is of course sad because of the war and because of other things I won't mention for risk of spoilers. It's beautifully written I think - quite sparse and careful with words which I always enjoy - and brilliant characters which is always the main thing in the end for me. It was a random pick up in the library and I'm delighted with it!

Thanks for everyone warning me off All The Light on TV. Sounds shocking, and I loved that book!

PersisFord · 06/11/2023 23:25

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl that's quite the list!! What did you think of the Sophie Hannah Poirot ones?!? No bird recommendations here BUT Felicity Cloake has written a book about cycling round Britain looking for the best cooked breakfast which fits with my idea of birdwatching (eat a massive B&B breakfast then go out in the cold all day) if you are really struggling!

ChessieFL · 07/11/2023 05:12

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl try Stephen Moss for bird books. I am not a bird person myself so haven’t read them but I have a similar relative and a Moss book has gone down well before.

BoldFearlessGirl · 07/11/2023 06:16

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl that’s an impressive list!
Not a book, but there is a board game called Wingspan, recommended to me for the bird watcher in my life. It is more expensive than a book, but the illustrations are beautiful. No bird book recommendations for someone who probably has all of the classics already, but what about something like Wild Fell by Lee Schofield which takes a wider view of all the conservation in a specific area?

Boiledeggandtoast · 07/11/2023 06:56

ClaraTheImpossibleGirl I don't know how much you were hoping to spend on your friend's present, but Birds Britannica is a fabulous (although expensive) book. Link here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birds-Britannica-Mark-Cocker-dp-178474378X/dp/178474378X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birds-Britannica-Mark-Cocker-dp-178474378X/dp/178474378X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-what-were-reading-4917725-50-books-challenge-2023-part-nine

LadybirdDaphne · 07/11/2023 07:20

54 Women’s Lore: 4,000 years of sirens, serpents and succubi - Sarah Clegg
Fascinating look at the evolution of the archetype of a particular type of female demoness, from her origins as the child-killing Lamashtu and Lilitu in ancient Mesopotamia, via the Lamia and Lilith, to more familiar figures such as Melusine, the mermaid and the vampire. Clegg argues that what started as a women’s way of explaining and coping with the dangers of childbirth and infant mortality was increasingly co-opted into a male narrative of deadly seductresses, literally femmes fatales. I would have liked more on how fairy lore ties into these tales (i.e. folktales of the queen who whisks young men away into the fairy realm), but that’s more to do with me than a problem with the book!

55 Utopia Avenue - David Mitchell
Centred on the career of a fictional 60s band during their short spell in the spotlight, this was… ok, but fell well short of the genius of Cloud Atlas or The Bone Clocks. It took me a long time to get through its 500+ pages, and I think the only thing that kept me going really was Jasper de Zoet’s story and its connections to the evil monks and good ‘horologists’ of earlier books in the Mitchell universe.

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