50 Books Challenge 2024 Part One

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2024, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

If possible, please can you embolden your titles and maybe authors as well of books you've read or going to read? It makes it much easier to keep track, especially when the threads move quickly at this time of the year.

Who's in for this year?

@LadybirdDaphne and @PepeLePew I also agree about The Second Sleep. The concept is so good that although I read it three or four year ago I still think about it from time to time. But I can't remember much about the nitty gritty of the characters or the last third of the plot because it all petered out. I wonder if a TV/film adaptation could shake it up enough to make something really good?

@Hoolahoophop I include books I’ve reads to the kids - after all, I’ve read them! But by the time I first joined these threads two years ago, the kids were old enough that I was reading them reasonably interesting books - I don’t think I would have taken the same approach when I was reading multiple Julia Donaldsons every day! 😄 As @PepeLePew says, everyone makes their own rules about what to include in their list 😊

1. The Liberation of Bella McCaa Catherine Aitken

When Bella McCaa is released from ten years as sole carer to a very demanding mother, she’s desperate to leave Dundee and pick up the threads of her once high-flying career in London. Fifty-two isn’t too late to start again, is it?But fate, and family, intervene, and rather than speeding South in her trusty Mini, Bella’s plans go awry and she finds herself living far from friends, facing an empty bank account and urgently in need of a job. London and reclaiming her life seem more distant than ever. To complicate matters further her first love, Jem, strides into town – handsome, successful and stirring up a tempest of emotions. But Jem’s arrival is also the catalyst to unearthing long-buried secrets, shatteringBella’s view of the world and making her question everything. Can Bella negotiate a whirlwind ride of unexpected curveballs, love and second chances to find a happy every after on her own terms?‘
4🌟

I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure how much I like the Strike novels. I love Harry Potter. JKR is my hero. But I'm not convinced by Strike. I've only read 2 so far. Maybe I'm not clever enough for them, but they seemed very convoluted. And they only get longer.

1. The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

Oh dear, my first book of the year is a DNF. I almost gave up early on, then thought I should give it a shot, seeing as it's Bob. But then I could not get past chapter 8. Was there nobody who advised Bob on this endeavour? The book is awful, with meandering ideas. I have no idea what genre it was supposed to represent. No characters are developed and from the first page it seemed tome that the protagonist was basically someone exactly like Bob! I became mildly interested when the protagonists describes the woman he feels attraction to. But then he lost me when he described her as having a 'sullen' expression. I don't know why, it just sounded a bit 'off'. Bob has me in stitches with his humour on the TV - a lot of it down to his timing and his mannerisms, I think. This did not translate to the written word at all, for me.

1. Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin

In the 1970s, siblings Anh, Minh and Thanh are "sent ahead" from their parents and siblings becoming part of the Vietnamese Boat People. When tragedy strikes Anh must hold the family together

I'm late to this, a lot of you read it last year and Greg (Supposedly Fun BookTube) raved about it. I thought it was very good indeed but there are various chapters that are like "asides" that pull you out of the narrative. References to political events, the war, a few from the daughter's perspective and I didn't think these always worked. There is also a jarring time jump.

Despite this, it's a very strong novel and one I definitely recommend even if I am undecided on bold.

3The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie I thought I had read this but it seems not. It's completely different from the tv adaption and I think all the better for it. Thoroughly enjoyed this but I can never work out who the killer is.

I have also finished a Mary Balogh book on Audible but I can't remember the name. It was an easy romance book perfect for walking the dog as I didn't have to concentrate too hard. I am going to finish the series as it's included in the membership

Just finished book 2. Weirdo by Sara Pascoe. I love listening to her podcast Weirdo’s Bookclub and this was recommended on there by her :)
I enjoyed this. The main character is a woman in her 30s and life has never gone particularly right for her, relationships, jobs, debt. She finds herself stuck in disappointing situations. It was funny but also had slightly darker and sad under tones. She spends time thinking that her life is being filmed and that she is just an actor in a film/tv program so she never feels present in the moment and struggles getting emotionally involved with people in healthy ways because of this. It was a fun quick read but still with a certain amount of depth.

Cannot recommend Fern Brady Strong Female Character highly enough. Wonderful- both funny, informative and emotive.

Read Cat Lady by Dawn O' Porter. This was a quick read and I loved it. As you might imagine the book is about (among other things) loving a pet and what a pet brings to your life. As a cat lover, a lot of it rang true.
Interesting and likeable narrator and a host of 'love to hate' characters. A fun read with some quite beautiful passages about Pigeon (the cat in question).

@BlueFairyBugsBooks I can't stand Strike. 😂 I enjoy myself writing a scathing review every so often. Though they're almost so bad, they're good.

7 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

I’ve read and enjoyed a few Steinbecks now, so I was expecting to enjoy this and I did. I mean, it’s not a cheerful read, but I just love the way Steinbeck writes. This follows the Joad family, who are forced off their land in Oklahoma during the Great Depression and head to California to try and find work there. Unfortunately thousands of other people have all had the same idea and work is scarce. While this is fiction it brings home how hard
life must have been for those who had similar real life experiences, without any of the employment laws that have made things so much better nowadays. Anyway, this is a classic for a reason and I loved it.

I really enjoyed Strong Female Character. I know the area she's from and I was also a state school pupil at Edinburgh University so a lot of what she writes about is familiar to me.

1. Grey Mask - Patricia Wentworth - read this as the author came up on a thread about writers whose back catalogue you read after one book. Protagonist comes back after years away following a broken engagement, gets the keys to an inherited house and eavesdrops on a group of plotters all known by a number - but recognises his ex fiancée. Golden age crime fiction, I enjoyed it, but the language and tone is of its time.

1. Inheritance - Nora Roberts

Don't know why I read this - graphic designer dumps cheating fiancé, inherits mansion in Maine (haunted ofc), hot lawyer, rescue dog, ghost that plays appropriate songs for the moment. Ends on a cliffhanger but I won't be forking out the £12.99 for the sequel when it appears.

Both of my DC are autistic and with my eldest applying to go University at the moment, I did read Strong Female Character a few months ago, with some trepidation. DH & I are a lot more supportive and understanding than Fern's parents were and DD a lot less worrisome than the teenage Fern.

Agreed, it is very good and thoroughly recommended.

1. Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton

I picked this up after reading reviews from GrannieMainland and Stokey last year. For those who've not seen it, it recounts the story of an eccentric tech billionaire linking up with a guerilla gardening collective, & offering them use of a farm. I enjoyed the first part, which pokes fairly gentle fun at the collective, but wasn't so taken with the second more thriller-y section. Overall a decent read but not a bold for me.

@weebarra I was a state school pupil at Edinburgh University too 👋 I'm intrigued by Strong Female Character now!

As the Strike series seems to be getting a bit of a kicking can I just say in its defence that reading all of them to date was the highlight of my 2023 reading year, I love the Strike/Robin chemistry both on the page and in the tv adaptation.

(Although I'm definitely there for the central relationship rather than the detectiving and agree that Ink Black Heart was tortuous as an audio book)

I love the Strike books! They are a bit too long but I love the stories and the characters and I just don’t have the issues with the writing that others do. I’m really looking forward to the next one.

5 Thorn In My Side by C J Skuse

My favourite serial killer, Rhiannon Lewis, returns. After escaping to America she is in loved-up bliss with the dishy Raf and cosy in the bosom of his (mostly) welcoming family. She misses her daughter though and that annoyingly persistent police detective Gericault is still nosing around trying to track her down. Her loyal stans the Sweet Peas are throwing interference for that little project however and it helps enormously that her sister testified that she actually shot Rhiannon dead on the doorstep.
These are tremendously silly, extremely violent books that push the Would you kill a peadophile if you had the chance? moral question to its limit. Rhiannon does, has and shows no signs of stopping in the future even when it threatens the best relationship she’s ever had in her life. She would never harm small children or animals and the roots of her sociopathic narcissism (she doesn’t consider herself a psychopath) are covered thoughtfully in the previous books.
I tend to agree with the lists at the beginning of chapters - people Rhiannon would like to kill horridly(ranging from murderers and rapists to people who pronounce Craig the American way).
There’s not so much a plot in this one as a line of sharks set up to jump, the violence is wincingly realistic and Rhiannon’s internal voice is a thing of scatological beauty.
It would be great if someone like Vince Gilligan or Ryan Murphy brought this series to the screen. I’d watch it.

Oops, Rhiannon’s followers are of course, The Bad Seeds Hope I don’t end up on one of her Lists

2.The Lady of the Loch by Elena Collins
This is a timeslip novel set at Ravenscraig Castle, Scotland 1307 and present day. It follows two twin sisters Zoe and Leah for the present day. Leah’s life isn’t going to plan and she up’s sticks and becomes caretaker for the castle with her sister Zoe.
The other part of the story follows Agnes and Effie two maids whose castle gets overturned by prince Edward of England. The story follows a couple of romances throughout. To be honest I quickly googled some reviews on good reads and one was this is lengthy where nothing really happens. I have to agree. I enjoyed some of the descriptive dialogue which is probably why I stuck with it but not a book that stands out but not a total duff. I liked the ending which was the most interesting part.

Hope I'm not too late to join in. I have set myself a Eurovision Challenge for this year - read a book from each of the 37 countries which take part in Eurovision. I've just finished Paul Lynch's Prophet Song (Ireland) and really enjoyed it. Not sure it will be everyone's cup of tea. I found his writing style a bit too much at first but after a few pages I was sucked in and really looked forward to reading it. I can see why it won the Booker last year.

Now I am on to Ismail Kadare's General of the Dead Army (Albania). Outside of the Eurovision Challenge I am about to start Hisham Matar's My Friends. Went to see him at an event this week when the book was launched and really enjoyed hearing about his writing process. His work is very much my kind of thing.

That sounds like an interesting challenge @BuffysBigSister.

3. Without Fail by Lee Child Another Reacher. This time Reacher is recruited by his brother's ex-girlfriend to attempt to assassinate the vice president of the United States. Normal Reacher-esque nonsense ensues. I honestly need to stop reading these now. Although I've already downloaded the next one ffs

1.. The Main by Trevanian

I was a big fan of the author's Shibumi in my younger days and also had a go at this book around that time, but I was evidently not mature enough to enjoy it and gave up after about 20 pages.

On the surface, The Main is about an aging police detective in Montreal saving a murder that happened on "his patch" - the main street of the city with its prostitutes, dealers, homeless people, old and young, all of whom he knows. However, if you come to this book expecting a thriller, you will be disappointed.

Instead, this book is about loss, growing old, lonely people nearing the end of their lives and trying to overcome the trauma of life in a myriad of small ways of their own. It is about old people who have their outdated ways being unwilling and unable to change with the new standards, provisions and organizational methods, and whether those are a change for the better in the first place.

I enjoyed this book. It is probably closest I have come to a "feeelliinnnnngssss" book in some years, and it was not soppy and heartstring-tugging but quietly dignified and realistic about it. Recommended.

5 On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder it's basically 20 points about democracy and the rise of authoritarian leaders and how we need to be clear sighted and not think because of the failure of communism that democracy is safe. It's advising you to think critically, don't follow just because it's easier, get involved with people not just your friends,reach out,stand up, engage with other cultures and countries

it was obviously written about America but it makes sense for all of us