50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Ten

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the tenth and final thread of the 50 Books Challenge for this year.

The challenge was to read fifty books (or more!) in 2023, though reading fifty wasn'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, eighth one here and the ninth one here

How have you got on this year?

@Welshwabbit I'm looking forward to reading The Burgess Boys after your review. Their story also overlaps with the fourth Lucy Barton book which includes the circumstances around their father's death.

I was thinking the same after reading your review welsh, that one of the Burgess boys features in Lucy By The Sea or Lucy in Lockdown as I thought of it :) * I liked the references to Olive as well in that book. I must put TBB on the reading list for next year. *

71. After Hello - Mhairi McFarlane
This is a free, what-happened-next long short story/short novella following up the characters in You Had Me At Hello, which I loved. Unfortunately this reads like it was written by an editorial assistant with some signature MMcF zingers thrown in. Strictly for superfans and completists.

66 Every Man For Himself And God Against All - Werner Herzog

A beautiful and extraordinary memoir of an extraordinary life and outlook on the world. Herzog states openly that he’s more interested in “ecstatic truth” - what reveals the underlying truth of the world, even if that’s fiction - than a mundane list of facts, so if you’re looking for a straightforward autobiography you won’t get that here. But you do get a series of vignettes, told with deadpan humour and integrity. Highly recommended especially in the audiobook.

Any recommendations for wintery or (even better) Christmassy short reads? Could be novella length or even a longer short story. It's a family book club type-thing and I completely forgot it was my turn to choose. Previously we've done MR James, A Christmas Carol, A Child's Christmas in Wales and some kind of Agatha Christie festive murder thing.

84: Trustee from the Toolroom - Nevil Shute

Subject of a recent 'Backlisted', in which Richard Osman waxed ecstatic, and I remembered I’d bought this for 99p ages ago. Humble, ordinary Keith Stewart - a practical maker and mender of quiet genius - lives with his shop-assistant wife in Ealing and devotes his life to his weekly column in Miniature Mechanic. Together they scrape by on their modest salaries, contented with their humdrum lot. But when Keith's sister and her husband go missing during a sea-voyage and the childless couple find themselves taking responsibility for their niece, ten-year-old Janice, Keith sets out on a daunting journey to the other side of the world, determined to be worthy of the trust placed in him.

I galloped through this in about a day - a great, old-fashioned yarn, totally unbelievable in many respects but written with such total conviction that you inhale every word.

What about "John Grisham's Skipping Christmas*? A couple decide not to do Christmas one year because their adult daughter is not coming home for once. There's lots of fallout from those around them. It's not typical Grisham and I really enjoyed it when it came out.

38 The Plague and I by Betty Macdonald
There are re-reads, and then there are books you know better than your own body. I've been reading this for decades. And how many books can you say you still belly laugh at after that long? This was a stone-cold bestseller in the US in the late 40s, following her debut The Egg and I. Betty Macdonald was diagnosed with tuberculosis in the 30s and went to a sanatorium to be treated. That's the plot. Her schtick is taking frankly shit situations (early death of her father, stuck on a remote chicken farm with the wrong husband, life-threatening illness, scraping a living in the Depression) and making you laugh like a drain. She doesn't exactly do one-liners, they tend to be paragraphs long but they're zingers all the same. There is a nice liberal background to her books (single parent, anti racist) though it is not the way those things would be written about now. All the same, enjoy.

Lucky Girl - Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu
Coming of age as a Kenyan girl with an overbearing religious mother leaves Kenya for New York to study. Torn between her mother's expectations and her own preferences, she navigates cultural differences, relationships and 9/11.
I really liked this. It has a strong voice, likeable main character and a decent pace. It reminded me of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but isn't quite as well written as Americanah.

I'm after some recommendations too! I have to suggest a book club book at my fairly new job which feels like a bit of pressure. Any suggestions for things that have gone down well at other book clubs? I think not too long but quite literary is the vibe.

83. Mischief Acts by Zoe Gilbert. This was very inventive, a series of linked short stories tracing the Pagan god of the hunt Hern through different iterations over the years, stretching from the 1300s up to the 2060s. The myth is that he was killed at a hunt then resurrected with giant antlers, and pops up in various guises, perpetrating some kind of mischief or chaos each time. He is associated with the Great North Wood in South London, an area I know really well, so it was nice for all the stories to be set around there. Really clever and playful, overall not for me as I just prefer more character and plot, but I really big achievement.

Trustee from the Tool Room is still only 99p, if anybody fancies a gloriously old fashioned and LOVELY book!

I'm also in the market for winter reads. I've not been well and am at that stage now where I'm not asleep, but not really fit for much other than sighing and lying on the sofa.

@GrannieMainland a few years old now but I remember my book club loving The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor?

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I stumbled on the Backlisted for Trustee the other day. I love it so much.

63. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Me Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

I assume everyone knows the basic plot, but this was still worth the read as the detail had passed me by.

I enjoyed letting go of reality and reading about drugs which completely alter your body shape and the old fashioned way of describing things. When I read books set in these times I find myself wondering at how society has changed when it seems that no one now gives a second thought to being a gentleman. I also love the word countenance!

For anyone looking for quick reads to up their numbers, this was 90 minutes and a page turner.

@GrannieMainland Burntcoat by Sarah Hall went down well at my book club this year. It's quite short but literary and lots to talk about. Or what about Claire Keegan? My favorite is Foster but Small Things Like These is set at Christmas.

Another one that was interesting was Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenback which is about refugees in Germany.

I agree with The English Patient. I have yet to read a Michael Ondatije book that I haven't struggled with.

113. The Wych Elm - Tana French. This is narrated by Toby, a 20 something charmed man in Dublin, who is goodlooking, well off and generally lucky. One night his house gets burgled and he is assaulted, leaving him physically changed & vulnerable. He goes to stay at his uncle's family house where a skull is found leading to a murder enquiry. This was very long! The start took ages and I found the part between Toby being attacked and the skull being found particularly hard work. It picks up pace in the second half but i find the whodunnit part a bit obvious, and Toby rather self pitying.

@MegBusset I was listening to The Rest Is Entertainment which is a new podcast with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman. She was raving about the Werner Herzog book.

I listened to that too @Stokey and there was a lot of love for The Wager too which for some reason made me think of Remus.

@PermanentTemporary I also love Betty McDonald. Onions in the Stew about life on an island on the Puget Sound is one of my all time favourites

@Welshwabbit , that's a lovely review of The Burgess Boys. I agree with your thoughts about Strout.

Foster by Claire Keegan was a hit with my book group this year, but Stokey is right about Small Things Like These being more Christmassy. My Cousin Rachel was also a success and provoked a really good discussion -- it's not particularly short, but it's very readable.

I’m giving The Trustee From The Toolshed a go based on yours and the Backlisted recommendations. I hated A Town Like Alice’s casual racism so hoping for a better experience here.

Hope you feel much better soon, @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

I have the Betty McDonald book on my shelf so will give it a go over Christmas.

I enjoyed the Backlisted episode about Trustee from the Toolroom too, although I enjoyed Pied Piper more.

I think I'm the only person who didn't like Small Things Like These. I've thought about whether I'm somehow failing to accept a painful truth about the past, because I'm the age of the elder daughter in the story. But it's not right - the Magdalene laundries weren't like that during that era, they had closed or else dwindled to accommodation to older women who were institutionalised and had no place else to go. Unmarried pregnancy was still a bit shameful, but not to that extent. Christmas was The Late Late Toy Show and tinsel, not just home-made mince pies. I don't recognise her description of the time and I resent her falsification of it to turn it into a dark background to her fairy-tale.

That is such an interesting viewpoint @bibliomania and one I’ll take on board when I have a reread (planning to before Christmas).I hadn’t realised that historically it was out of sync and just took it on face value.

I've had a flurry of reads, with a vague hope of catching up to my last year's total of 144 books.

130. Mistletoe Malice, by Kathleen Farrell
Completed agree with chessie's recent review and I think we were lured in by the same review, which likened it to Barbara Pym. It was published in 1951, and I can slightly see a resemblance if I squint, mainly down to the scepticism about marriage as a happy ever after. A grown-up group of cousins get together to squabble and upset each other over Christmas. An elopement is considered, with both parties getting cold feet (I did like this part). Not bad, but could have done with a bit more sparkle.

131. Camp Austen, by Ted Scheinman
Non-fiction - a young male grad student observes Jane Austen conventions, complete with Regency costumes and balls. It's mildly likeable, although it was originally written as an article and doesn't quite justify book-length treatment.

132. Ultra-Processed People, Chris van Tulleken
Read by quite a few already. I thought this was sensible and balanced, and it will make me scrutinise labels that bit more carefully.

133. A Christmas Cornucopia, Mark Forsyth
Unpacks the historical background to Christmas traditions. Slight but pleasant enough as a seasonal read.

134. Went to London, Took My Dog, Nina Stibbe
I understand what she's aiming to do - well, she tells us outright that she's doing an Alan Bennett, using the terrible bathos of everyday life in an attempt to create something poignant and resonant. For my money, she doesn't pull it off and it felt a bit pointless for the reader. I was also distracted by the notable discrepancy between her reticence about her marriage and her willingness to reveal all about her friends' menopause woes, incontinence in particular. I hope she had permission from all the women she named.

135. Towards Zero, Agatha Christie
136. Death in the Clouds, Agatha Christie
You know what you're getting - not her best work but reliable entertainment.

That's my personal view, Best, and I accept that other people may remember things differently. But I lived in a similar town to the one she describes, and the equivalent laundry was closed in the 1950s.