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?

I can barely keep up with this thread!

6. Snow - John Banville

I read this following a review on last year’s thread (sorry, can’t remember who reviewed but thank you!)

Set in 1950s Ireland (with flashback to 1940s). DI Stratford is sent to investigate the murder of a Catholic priest at a country manor. I really liked the characterisation, scene setting and writing - particularly liked Stratford. Subject matter/content could be distressing for some.

My first Banville but I will read more on the basis of this one - recommendations welcomed!

Enter Ghost - Isabella Hammad
A British-Palestinian actress returns to Palestine to visit her sister after living and working in London for many years. Much has changed, both politically and personally. She accidentally gets a part in an Arabic production of Hamlet taking place in the West Bank. This highlights the issues of daily life living in occupied territories. The author also explores the different cultural struggles of those from different backgrounds, including those who fall between the cracks of two cultures.
It's slow and subtle, but incredibly skillful. There's a lot going on below the surface and it's an interesting use of Hamlet to explore both the personal and political issues facing the characters. I liked this a lot. It's obviously very one sided. It's set about 7 years ago, so not indicative of current affairs. It's more an exploration of families and relationships than trying to score political points. I'd really recommend this one.

In Memoriam - Alice Winn
Starts in a boy's public school at the outbreak of WW1. The usual school antics are taking place and it sets the scene of the relationships between various boys. One by one they enlist as officers and are sent out to The Front where they encounter one another again at various stages of the war. To the forefront of this a repressed romantic relationship between two of the boys at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
As well as the relationship angle it looks at the harsh realities of life at The Front for very young men who are dropped into war incredibly out of their depth. It also looks at class within the army at the time.
There's a lot to like about this and it's a very emotional read at times. The "chorus" sections of the school paper listing alumni deaths is devastating and is very brilliantly done in the audiobook. The author has clearly done a lot of research surrounding this and weaves in a lot from the boy's classical and literary education into the text. My biggest gripe with the audiobook was the narrator's pronunciation of Ypres as Wipers which drove me insane.
Overall I think it's worth a read, it is very good, however for me it falls into the deliberate manipulative cry-baitery of authors such as Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks and for that it's left a sour taste. It felt contrived and superficial at times. It could just be me being grumpy, but I don't think the book needed that element as there was enough else going on. Better authors have explored these themes more skillfully.

start on Lego games which are for children 😁

Wash your mouth out the Lego games are brilliant

@FortunaMajor Enter Ghost sounds very interesting.

Its funny how pronounciation can bug. I forgot to say in my review of Past Lying that it was Audio and was read by Lauren Lyle, the actress that plays Karen Pirie in the tv adaptation. There were three words that she pronounced wrongly, the first two drove me mad but the third one made me burst out laughing. 'Gorgie' is an area of Edinburgh and is well known as Hearts FC play in that area. She pronounced it 'Georgie'. Bah!

Laughing at 'Wipers'!
I like the sound of 'Enter Ghost' as well.

I started to really question myself a few years ago at the sheer volume of audiobook narrators pronouncing shone as shown. Not just American ones either.

The soldiers in WW1 called Ypres Wipers so it was probably a deliberate stylistic choice to say it in the audio book.

Ah...! Interesting, Janina. I didn't know that.

When I worked in ski tour ops we deliberately mispronounced certain resorts in a way that must have horrified many, so this shouldn't be a surprise, but felt very jarring in this one.

The Wipers Times by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman mentions this mispronounciation which is where the 'newspaper' got its name - fascinating read too.

2 it girl by Ruth Ware
Really enjoyed this book, found it quite easy to connect with the characters. I also liked the before and after flash backs as it provided a back story. There were lots of twists and turns right until the end. A few unbelievable theories but it was a good read.
3 Blood sweat and tea by Tom Reynolds
This is written from the point of view of a paramedic working in the London ambulance service. I've just started to read this and so far I like how it's structured almost reads like diary entries so easy to dip in and out. It has the right mix of heartfelt stories and humor. Haven't finished reading but would 100% recommend.

Just catching up on the thread - which has added another 4 or 5 books to my wishlist! I don’t know when I’ll get to them but definitely like the sound of Enter Ghost and Discotheque for Deviants Sand I’ve just used my month’s audio credit on Judi Dench and Shakespeare.

I have just finished The Ink-Black Heart! Now I am, like others, mostly in it for Strike and Robin, and I do find my reading experience of these books follow a pattern of starting off thinking ‘urgh’ because I’ve taken on board all the previous reviews and all the (valid) criticisms which I by and large agree with. Too long, needs a good edit, too much repetition (his stump ached, he needed a cigarette blah blah), the eye dialect! But then I’m pretty basic at heart I think, because I end up getting sucked in and really enjoying them despite all that.

In this one there were a few other annoyances that stood out - how their main suspects seemed to be chosen fairly randomly when there were others, with equal if not more reason to have made the list, who get discounted quite early on for no particular reason I could see. There was one quite glaring one who was obviously a red herring from a reader’s perspective but pretty sure actual shit hot detectives would have paid a bit more attention.

Plus there was one really obvious step Strike could have taken towards the final third which was just so glaring to me that he didn’t.

But still, I can’t say I didn’t like it despite myself 🤷‍♀️

Wow just finished 5. The Great Post Office Scandal - Nick Wallis I am late to the party but my god. It's insane that this could happen. The whole book was fantastic. I would love to see an analysis of why and how this scandal happened from a psychological perspective.

My favourite part of the book was the forward by Seema Misra, one of the subpostmasters. She writes that "You may think it could never happen to you - or to someone you love. This book shows that you would be wrong. It happened to me." Before reading this book I didn't think that something like this could happen full stop. It has changed my view of the world and the people in it.

(Saint) Stephen Fry absolutely mauls Harry Potter on Audible. Extremely eclectic (if not downright wrong) word stress and totally overacts all the dialogue making him sound like he's on Jackanory in 1972 and I'm a thick 5 year old who WONT UNDERSTAND. And he gives Hermione a high-pitched silly whine which he deserves a knee in the bollocks from her for.

Was about to comment on soldiers pronouncing Ypres as Wipers, but see others got there before me. In Memoriam remains on my wish list; waiting for it to come down in price a bit.

@TimeforaGandT I liked Snow but either dnf or did not like any of his others that I've tried, unfortunately.

I find myself once more at a loss what to read. I've abandoned Careless People which just isn't working for me. I don't care about Scott much, care even less about Zelda and just can't muster any enthusiasm for two random people whose murders the author is determined to shoe-horn into every decision Scott made writing Gatsby. It's clunky and I'm bored.

I've got quite a few non-fiction books in my pile, but they're all a bit heavy and academic and I fancy a rip-roaring story before I plunge in to more serious things.

Thanks Remus perhaps I will leave my Banville reading list with just Snow on it then!

Exactly @highlandcoo. it probably says a fair amount about the size and nature of the place that I am now thinking quietly to myself “oh. I wonder if I’m related to Highlandcoo?” 🤣🤣

I loved In Memoriam, it really pulled me into their reality.
Finished another few
8 The Traitor by Anthony Ryan
The third in a fantasy trilogy. I can’t say a lot without spoiling the previous instalments. The first third was excellent culminating in what I suspected would happen. The last two thirds was dragged out a little too much. While I enjoyed this, the ending does set up the possibility for another series in this world and I’m not sure I could be bothered.
9 Tom Lake Anne Patchett
Lara and Joe’s adult daughters are home to help with the cherry harvest during lockdown. While there, Lara tells them the story of her one time romance with Peter Duke who went on to become a movie star. While I enjoyed the forays into Lara’s past, the relationships in the present engaged me even more- to the point that I wondered how the book would read from any of the daughter’s POVs. A tender and thought-provoking story read brilliantly by Meryl Streep on the audio. My second bold this year.
10 The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
A collection of short stories I’ve seen discussed a lot on BookTube. Each story is from a different American Black woman and has some connection to religion. Some, like Dear Sister and Peach Cobbler are excellent. Others are just okay. I would definitely read more by this author as the highlights were very high. Be warned, some are pretty sexually explicit. I was hoping no-one was reading over my shoulder on the bus!

But I did mean to say! The audible version is good but I was ever so slightly frustrated with the pronunciation. Its “kircoobray” not “kircooDbray” and “carDoness” should really be “cardness” but that right also be unique to me actually!

But but ... Kirkcoobree isn't a niche pronunciation! It's widely known. And one would check...

@ÚlldemoShúl

You watch Greg and Joel on Supposedly Fun too? I have Secret Lives but havent read it. Felt the same about Tom Lake

@Passmethecrisps and @highlandcoo I blame you for getting very little done today. I fancied a change from Non Fiction (Unruly is grating on me a little, much to my surprise) so I started Paper Cup last night. And carried on today, having to change my contact lenses before dog training session because some unbecoming sniffles had crept up on me at a certain point. I’m about halfway through, full review when I’ve finished. It’s incredible and I can only imagine how affecting it would be if you had links to the areas Kelly goes to. This is why I love these threads for finding things I might not have stumbled across naturally.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit yes! Love Greg’s channel- the ones with Joel are especially good! I think someone else has talked about it recently too, but I can’t remember who.

It was me! I mention it upthread