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?

4. The Wah-Wah Diaries - Richard E. Grant

Having read, and very much enjoyed, With Nails a couple of months ago, I grabbed at a charity-shop copy of this the other day. Once again, it's a selection of Grant's diaries, but this time charts the experience of writing and directing his film 'Wah-Wah' in his native Swaziland - a process so bruising I’m amazed he survived it.

While he finds plenty of incredible positives along the way (great actors, a fantastic and loyal crew of epic dedication, the chance to reconnect with his childhood self in a country he still loves deeply), even his sunny optimism is tested to the limit by the French producer whose offer to take on his tiny film seems at first like a miraculous godsend, but soon turns into a living nightmare. Basically, her involvement can best be summed up by the 😱 emoji, and before too long you’re coming to dread/half-enjoy the next utter omnishambles she springs on the unsuspecting REG as he spins a million plates as not just director and writer, but also talent-wrangler, location-scout, costume adviser, prop handler, contract exec, rights-clearer, and every one of the other roles that should be handled by the perennially non-contactable producer. My own blood pressure was soaring so I can barely imagine how stressful it must have been for him. Very enjoyable though.

@ChessieFL The Grapes of Wrath is just so so good, isn't it? I think I may reread it this year.

3 Reflex by Dick Francis or his wife . I read this when I was young and reread this as it was on a kindle offer , it didn’t disappoint .

1. Lolita: Vladimir Nabokov.

On Borrowbox. I came across a thread on this board before Christmas about whether it was worth reading Lolita. It contained some interesting and thought-provoking points of view and it piqued my curiosity.

I had a general idea of what Lolita is about of course, but found it to be a more complex and multi-faceted book than I expected. I also hadn't realised how beautifully written it is. It is a difficult, distasteful, yet fascinating and absorbing read. I can understand why it's a classic as Nabokov is a master. I'm not sure I would want to read it again, however. Once might be enough as it has left a chill in my bones and a lasting impression on my mind.

Now on to reading something warm and comforting.

@ChessieFL @BlindurErBóklausMaður I don't hate the Strike books. I was just disappointed based on how much everyone seemed to love them. They are good. I like the Robin/Strike relationship. But as crime books, I've read better ones.

2 Tell No One by Harlan Coben

Found it free somewhere to decided to have a listen. I'm watching Reacher at the moment having loved reading all the Reacher's previously. I liked it, easy listening, keeps you wanting more. But all the characters are pretty nasty.

Not sure what to go with next, a bit of Boudica or something classic, or some romance, or maybe just work my way through last years Bolds list.

BuffysBigSister I'd be interested to hear what you think of My Friends, it's on my wishlist. I find Hisham Matar such a thoughtful and affecting writer, I really enjoyed The Return and A Month in Siena

@MorriganManor I didn't know there was more than one way to pronounce Craig. Worried I'm now legitimate prey.

@BuffysBigSister I've read some Ismail Kadare and was absolutely blown away by The Fall of the Stone City.

Topically, I just finished The Running Grave, by Robert Galbraith. Robin goes undercover to infiltrate a cult. The middle dragged and it was a bit of a chore to pick it up. The final section - ahem, I might have been late to work because I needed to find out what happened. That was book 7.

Book 6 was The Sittaford Mystery, by Agatha Christie.. Enjoyed this - there are coincidences that strain credulity, but I enjoyed the young female heroine who makes the key deduction.

1. Grit by A Duckworth

Read this mainly to help with raising my child to be grittier. I appreciate there's a lot of research in the book, but I felt like the actual practical advice as to how to be gritty/ have growth mindset/ be positive and find purpose was very little.

Yes @PepeLePew , I’ll definitely be thinking about Grapes for a while and I know I will reread at some point in the future.

(That is my first finished book for the year- the 1. didn't work for some reason)

@MorriganManor I can’t wait to read that. I love the Sweetpea books. Have you read The Alibi Girl by the same author? Just wondering if it’s any good?

1. Still Life by Louise Penny

2. The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly

Another book club read that I wouldn't pick for myself. Thriller set in the US: defence lawyer Mickey Haller is pulled over and a body is found in the boot of his car. He then sets out to defend himself with the help of his team initially from prison. The beginning was a page turner with short paragraphs and snappy plot but by the middle of the book it became messy and sometimes confusing. His characters were sparsely (poorly) drawn and I found it hard to emphasise with any of them or just get much of a handle on them. There was quite a bit of irrelevant information (don’t really care where he thinks the best steak restaurant is) the most striking was bringing in the beginning of Covid which had zero relevance to the plot – I assumed it would some how delay his case. I found the ending a bit of an anticlimax and he seemed to wrap it all up quite abruptly. People love this author’s series, but I thought this one was a bit of a dud and will give him a miss in future.

@UnaPeacock it’s sadder and darker than the Sweetpea books and there’s an allusion to it in Thorn In My Side (I think).

@bibliomania I’ve heard it pronounced ‘Creg’ in a couple of things (Parks And Recreation is one of them) and it is slightly annoying. I wouldn’t go full Sweet Pea on anyone for it though

2 Grown Ups by Marian Keyes. A family saga based around the three Casey brothers and their respective partners. Realised afterwards it was over 500 pages long but it didn’t feel like it. Funny and engaging, really enjoyed it. Never read Marian Keyes before so excited to read more. Have just borrowed Rachel’s Holiday from the library to read next.

There’s a Welsh way to pronounce Craig which probably differs again from the the American. I might also be on the hit list.

@ChessieFL I got the Eurovision idea from the PenguinUK's website. I am adapting it to my own likes but will probably have to go with some of their picks for the more obscure countries

@Boiledeggandtoast my niece bought A Month in Siena at the event. The interviewer (John Burnside, well-known Scottish poet) said it was one of his favourite books.

@bibliomania I will definitely read another Kadare as I like his style so far and the topics are the kind of thing I enjoy reading

I've just read 4. Unholy Saints a DCI Kett book on Kindle. Has anyone else read this series? They're a bit of a guilty pleasure, but sometimes I'm not sure why I'm reading them 🤣

6 Berserker by Adrian Edmondson

I started this in December when I got it for my birthday. I’ve been spinning it out, I’ll admit, because it’s just so bloody good! He joins the ranks of Actors I Want To Hear About In Their Own Words, along with Richard E Grant, Michael Palin and Rupert Everett.
I was 12 when The Young Ones hit BBC1.( Bizarrely, I was allowed to watch that, but not The Comic Strip Presents over on CH4 which debuted at the same time.)This is a non-chronological romp through his life and my word, Vyvyan was hardly a stretch for him to play. He found an equilibrium through stoicism rather than being a berserker and it’s honestly lovely to read about his progression and acceptance of his early years, without any self pity.
I think this would resonate most with those of us who grew up with his early stuff. He was that bit older and a hell of a lot cooler. But so unhappy!
This isn’t a luvvie memoir. His name dropping is restricted to not helping out Roger Daltrey when Roger was knocked out on stage (because The Who had made it very clear that the arrivistes were not to approach backstage)and realising why Tom Baker ran away from him when recognised in the street.
The last few chapters did for me. A roll call of important people in his life who he has lost.

That sounds wonderful @MorriganManor . I loved The Young Ones too, definitely part of my childhood. I still giggle about the university Challenge one every time I watch it!

1. The Covenant of Water - Abraham Verghese. I loved this, my first 5* of the year. It's by the author of Cutting For Stone which I also loved. This time the action takes place in Kerala and follows 3 generations of a family from 1900 when the matriarch is a young child bride to 1977 when her granddaughter is a working woman. It's long at over 700 pages, but I was fully immersed in the world of back waters, plantations, doctors and diseases. There are a few medical bits where my eyes glazed over and I may have slightly skimmed but I do love an Indian saga. I feel like it deserves to take its place with some of the other Indian classics like A Fine Balance and A Suitable Boy.

DP is reading Ade at the moment. He’s a huge fan.

1. Fragile by Sarah Hilary

18 year old Nell who ran away from her care home cons her way into a job in the house that she last saw her boyfriend entering with another woman. She tries to figure out the lonely man who lives there while a tragic event from her recent past threatens to catch up with her. It's well written but relentlessly grim. I just wanted the characters to show some glimmer of humanity. Not a lot happens for most of the book apart from Nell being miserable and suspicious and thinking about the past. It did pick up towards the end but it wasn't really worth all the pages of misery that came before it.

5. The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer
   Beth loses her daughter Carmel at a festival and the story swaps between their two points of view; Beth coming to terms with loss and her changing relationship with her ex-husband and his new partner, and the unexpected path that Carmel's life takes.
   It's not a thriller or crime story as the subject matter might suggest. It's hard to categorise. Beautifully written with believable characters. The ending felt a bit abrupt. I can see why it was the right place to end the story but the conclusion seemed rushed, and there could have been more.

6. The Oceanography of the Moon by Glendy Vanderah
   Famous author Vaughn happens upon the rural Wisconsin home of Riley and her unusual family. The two feel an instant connection but they both have dark secrets.
   For the most part it's readable fluff but once the secrets are revealed it just gets stupid.

I finished the Silkworm not long ago and cannot believe how overly long it was. If would have enjoyed it if it was about half the length.

@Floralnomad I love a Dick Francis

3. Venetia by Georgette Heyer
Difficult day today and I needed a comforting re-read. One of my favourite GHs as Venetia is quite a real character (she's very like an aunt of mine).