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?

77: Diamond Street: The Hidden World of Hatton Garden - Rachel Lichtenstein

This is a really great book for any lovers of London history. Lichtenstein is an artist who's written about London before (her previous book, Rodinsky's Room, was co-written with the great Iain Sinclair), and her parents ran an antiques business in Hatton Garden, historically the centre of London’s jewellery and diamond trade, for many years, a business which her husband now manages, so she knows her stuff.

But this isn’t just an exploration of the history of the area round Hatton Garden - so-called because it lies just off Holborn Circus on the site of the former lavish gardens of Sir Christopher Hatton, favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and originally the land of the Bishops of Ely - but also a quest for the lost River Fleet, which still runs deep beneath the London streets. Along the way, Lichtenstein delves into the mysterious and secretive world of diamond trading, asks Iain Sinclair for his memories of the famous Farringdon Road book market, finds out about the Italian community of Clerkenwell, and (for those of us on the Dickens read-alongs) has plenty to say about how this little corner of London, now the realm of upscale business and offices, was once the home of dire slums and the setting for Fagin's den. There’s lots more besides. I devoured this, and I’m looking out for her earlier book now.

57. The Diamond Daughter by Janet Macleod Trotter

This is the final book in the Raj Hotel Series. This one follows Jeanie Munroe who is married to Mungo, a much older man. She travels back to England to visit her dying father, leaving Mungo in India. WW2 then breaks out and she's stuck in England for 6 years without seeing Mungo. After the war she returns to India, but the war has changed her and she's no longer the meek, submissive wife Mungo married. As they try to salvage their marriage Jeanie battles against her feelings for Rick, a relative of the Lomaxes of the Raj Hotel

This took me ages to read, I really wasn't that invested in the storyline but wanted to finish off the trilogy. One thing about Macleod Trotter's writing that really frustrates me is her misunderstanding of commas. She frequently adds random commas to sentences when it doesn't make sense to have them there and it throws me off when reading as I'm expecting the sentence to go in a different direction due to the comma and have to frequently go back to see what it's actually saying. Not sure why a proof reader didn't pick up on this

79 Foxash by Kate Worsley

Enjoyed this well enough, although the laboured ‘pitmatic ’ (and constant labelling of it) grated from time to time. In fact, scattering ‘marra ‘ about liberally doesn’t make the dialogue authentic, it suggests a tin ear. My attention also wandered during the section that was like an X Rated Peter Rabbit. Yet the rest of it was strangely captivating, although plot twists are heavily signposted.

Lettie and Tommy Radley are given a second chance via a government scheme where people from deprived areas are allocated smallholdings. In the inter-war period this is a lifeline to many but it’s not easy. I found this aspect of the book fascinating - people transplanted from Lancashire, the North East, Cumbria to work the land far away from their friends and family. The old ways of animal and plant husbandry were also interesting.
Underlying this very real scheme is a woozy kind of folk horror, where Lettie is hyper aware of her body, what it has done and what it might have to do in the future. The character of Tommy is a bit two dimensional; taciturn ex miner prone to sullen abuse if crossed. Their only neighbours, the Dells, verge on the grotesque, but that’s only according to Lettie. Her point of view is about all we have, which cleverly ramps up the claustrophobia as the book goes on.

If you liked Claire Fuller’s Unhallowed Ground then you might like this. If you like speech marks or subtle mysteries you probably won’t like this.

Hello everyone, I’ve only just discovered this thread (only recently joined MN) and have been engrossed by it for the last few days. I’ve noted a lot of books to try - thank you so much!

I used to keep a note of everything I read, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside, so I’ll come back to you later with my list.

The Hernan Diaz sounds interesting - will get the sample.

Welcome @Keepingongoing - you'll be getting your book list going again before long if you stay with us on this thread! Always lots of great book chat here.

Welcome @Keepingongoing. Get ready for your unread book stack to grow.

@Terpsichore the Hatton Gardens book sounds really interesting. I used to work in Clerkenwell and there was this great local hairdresser I used to go to on Leather Lane. There always seemed like a great community spirit round there. DH also got my engagement ring made in Hatton Gardens.

@RazorstormUnicorn interesting review and I agree with all you said. I read London, Sarum and The Forest some years ago. Different locations but they followed the same formula, therefore had the same issues. On the whole I enjoyed them but have no pressing desire to read them again, particularly with the format of essentially a series of short stories; just as you start to understand and care for the characters they disappear! I still have London somewhere (probably in storage, so unlikely to get to the TBR pile anytime soon).

Roman well done reading more than one!

59. Turning Forty by Mike Gayle

I got three chapters in, recognised a name and wondered if I perhaps read this book before. A quick Google pointed out this was the follow up to Turning Thirty which I read some years ago. I feel like I should have spotted that.

Anyway. I think I am done with Mike Gayle. I read it in 24 hours but kind of wish I hadn't bothered. The main character was an idiot. He hurts a lot of his friends, mostly deliberately though sometimes unintentionally.

More annoyingly, he leaves a high powered job which mas made him ill but apparently thinks his future options are limited to volunteering in a charity shop or returning to his old job. There is no suggestion he might have transferrable skills and able to do a job that is a bit less stressful but still pays ok.

63 Hungry - Grace Dent

A quick, good read - enjoyable for its recreation of the food of a 1970s/80s working-class family, familiar from my own; and her tales of working in 90s London mags - again something I did too (though not to anywhere near the same level of success!). And unexpectedly moving about her changing relationship with her parents as they become elderly and unwell.

@Terpsichore that book sounds great (I love Iain Sinclair’s writing) - have reserved at the library.

Ghosts of K2: The Race for the Summit of the World's Most Deadly Mountain - Mick Conefrey

A @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie recommendation and very good too.
Covers the first expeditions to conquer K2. There was a section about the fall out after the successful Italian expedition in the 1950s that did go on a bit and I skimmed that but in general very good.

@Terpsichore @Stokey thank you! Looking forward to it. I’ve just decluttered and passed on a lot of books, so it’s the perfect time to grow the unread books stack!

I'm checking in with a few recent reads.

59. The Last September: Elizabeth Bowen.
    This was the latest book chosen for The Rather Dated Bookclub. It took me a long time to read this because it took a while to get used to Bowen's highly descriptive yet elusive writing style but I found it a very rewarding read in the end. It describes the diminishing way of life of an Anglo-Irish family in 'the big house' during the turbulent days of the Irish civil war in 1922/23. A library loan on Borrowbox and paperback.

60. The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories: Penelope Lively.
    This was a loan from the county library. I was intrigued by the title of this book and enjoyed one of Lively's books before as a 'Rather Dated' book club choice. I enjoyed this very much. 'Lively' describes Lively's writing very well! The stories were short, engaging and lively and I particularly liked the ones that featured couples and married couples especially. Lively has a wonderful intuition into the dynamics of marriage.

61. Madame Bovary: Gustave Flaubert.
    Paperback and Kindle. This was a reread for me but it was the first time that I read it in English. I found it very compelling. I think that reading it in English put it into sharper focus. It's a terribly bleak and awful story but I find the psychology of how Emma's mind works fascinating. Her compulsion to commit adultery and get into debt is so well orchestrated by Flaubert that the reader is gripped and cannot look away. At least, I couldn't!

62. The Whisperers: John Connolly.
    On Kindle. I hadn't read a Charlie Parker* *book for a long time, not since last year, so I enjoyed this one. As always, the quality of writing is excellent. The mystery of supernatural goings on is set against the backdrop of the apparent suicide of veterans from the war in Iraq. It's well researched and thought-provoking. Louis and Angel only feature briefly but the banter between them and Charlie is as good as ever.

I'm currently reading The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. It's long, but good. I've heard there's something about the ending that's a bit off so I am hoping I'll like it!

I've just seen that Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson which I know many on here like is going to be the Radio 4 Book at Bedtime from November 27-December 8. (abridged) read by Madeline Worrall.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001stzv

Oh and a warm welcome to @Keepingongoing to the thread!

103. Venomous Lumpsucker - Ned Beauman. When Dh told me there was a book he thought I'd like called Venomous Lumpsucker, I was highly sceptical. But I thought this was great. It's set in the near future Europe where after the death of the last giant panda, an extinction credit scheme has been set up where companies are penalised for driving species to extinction. Unfortunately the market has been flooded with extinction credits so they're not really much of a deterrent any more. The book follows two characters - Karin Resaint is a Swiss-German biologist whose job is to assess whether a creature is intelligent or not, and Mark Halyard, an Aussie corporate bod obsessed with fine dining, who is just trying to cover his arse. The world building is utterly convincing and suitably depressing, the plot tangents a bit but is generally pretty good, and all in all, it's a decent SF satire. Special kudos to the description of UK. I think fans of early Neal Stephenson or Adrian Tschaikovsky would enjoy this. It won the Arthur C Clarke award for 2023.

That would make a great insult, Stokey.
'Get your hands off my book, you venomous lumpsucker!'

Or a good band name. The Venomous Lumpsuckers.

It's very Shakespearean @FuzzyCaoraDhubh !

Glad you liked it @BestIsWest

@Stokey I've picked Venemous Lumpsucker up a couple of times and put it down again, as I felt it might be 'too sci-fi' for me. It's a great title and great cover too.

Thoroughly enjoying A Curious History of Sex still - cunts and peggings and banging of the bishops galore.

Lol...I was thinking the same :)
Let's bring it back 😄

136. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

Well I’ve finally finished this behemoth and I can quite confidently say that I NEVER want to hear the words “The I Ching, or Book of Changes” again. I definitely enjoyed this more than the previous book in the series but it is just too bloody long. By a country mile. Also I’m becoming more and more convinced that Strike is a bit of an arrogant nob and no one needs that many different nicknames. I like to think I won’t bother with the next one as I don’t think the central mystery here was that good but I’m sure when it arrives I’ll be there, clutching my debit card, and rooting for a Robin / Strike happy ending.

A slightly strange "degrees of connection" - Ned Beauman's mother Nicola Beauman is the founder of Persephone Books, publisher of lots of reprints/"Slightly Dated" books including Miss Buncle's Book. I haven't yet ventured to read any of his books although I do have a previous one on Kindle.

I've had Venomous Lumpsucker in order from the library for a couple of weeks now. Am excited on the basis of the name alone but also because it sounded right up my street. If it doesn't come soon I may give in and buy it!

40 Ultra-processed people – Chris van Tulleken
Like many on the thread I listened to this on audible, read by the author. This could have done with some serious editing, there was a fair bit of repetition and some of the 'interview' moments with his brother were either very repetitive (exact same examples or arguments used) or contradictory! However, it's a tale that needs to be told and whilst I'm a pretty astute consumer when it comes to food some of the points he mentioned were new to me - or brought a new angle to the discussion. Overall a very worthwhile read and one I will hold on to for future reference.