50 Books Challenge 2024 Part Two

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second 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.

The previous thread is here

Incidentally many years ago I read The Voices of Morebath by Eamon Duffy which took a similar approach of chronicling a single village but at the time of Tudor religious politics. Recommended if you enjoyed this book.

Hiya been a bit behind but here's my latest:
9.Goth- Lol Tolhurst This is basically a personal extended essay about Lol( ex founding member of The Cure's) favourite gothic things . He discusses the poetry,(TS.Elliot) and books that he enjoyed growing up and how he got into playing music . It's an enjoyable read but I think it is probably for the fan( which I am!). There were three books on Goths released last year and I have requested them all from my library before I consider buying one.
10. Restless- William Boyd
Ww2 spy thriller /gran secret life . Thoroughly enjoyed this and finished it off in a day!
11. The Running Grave - Robert Galbraith. Bloody hell it was long but absolutely thrilling! And will they/won't they?
12. The Wonder- Emma Donahoue a young girl in 19th C rural Ireland apparently can live without food and an English nurse is sent to observe her. This is the first novel I have read of this author and I really enjoyed this. I found the characterisation and time and pace was spot on . Loads of haunting themes of the influence of the Famine, British Empire and Roman Catholic Church surrounds the story and the author builds up a really eerie atmosphere.
13. Papercup- Karen Campbell This was recommended on here and sorry I forget who it was but thank you! A wonderful book about a woman who is homeless. Really touching and made me think.
14. Buried- Graham Masterston. Irish crime/gangster thing with female DI. I hated this and found the author really misognistic. There was some really graphic violence against the female cops and it was described in alot of detail. The story was okay I suppose but I just found the violence too much and really degrading for me personally.

Graham Masterton books are awful @HowIWroteElasticWoman . They are all like that, extreme glee in violence towards women. He found a formula that sells in the 1970s, like James Herbert, but never attempted to branch out as a writer like Herbert did. He was editor of mainstream porn rags and it shows in every single word.

I binged 10. The Fated Sky - Mary Robinette Kowal the second in the Lady Astronaut series. I loved it as much as I loved the first one and can't wait to read the next book. But for now I've splurged on Jasper Ffordes long awaited Red Side Story, another dystopian sci fi but very different to the Lady Astronaut series. I loved the first in this series Shades of Grey: Road to High Saffron so I have high hopes for the sequel but it's been such a long time coming I hope I'm not disappointed.

7 Dreaming of the Hound: Boudica Warrior Warrior Queen by Manda Scott. I am so sad I only have one of these books left to read, and more so that it will not end well for our Hero's. But I am very much enjoying the ride. I've bought them now on Audible which I recommend. Boudica and Ban are read by different voices, a female for Boudica, a male for Ban which I liked. Awesome books, I will read some other stuff for a bit then come back for Dreaming of the Serpent Spear later in the year to draw out the pleasure.

Starting The Lost Apothecary next and still slogging my way through Magpie which I am not really enjoying and seems vastly unbelievable with unlikable characters.

Book 5 The Lost note book - Louise Douglas
I quite enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the scenery and atmosphere but didn't find it a particularly thrilling read - perhaps I've lost my reading mojo but I'm yet to find a book this year that I really enjoy

I am way behind on reading reviews on this thread so will update and then catch-up. My latest reads are:

8. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

I bought this in a 99p Kindle offer only knowing that it was a Booker prize winner. I am sure lots of you have read it. Set in India and telling the story of female and male twins, Rahel and Esta, and their mother, Ammu. Rahel looks back from adulthood on the holiday when their cousin, Sophie, came to stay from England. It’s a story about families, relationships and love against the backdrop of the Indian caste system. I found it a little confusing initially as it moved between timelines and it took me a while to get into but it drew me in more as I read further.

9. Hostage - Clare Mackintosh

Mina and Adam have an adopted daughter, Sophie, and are co-parenting following a separation. Mina is an air hostess and Adam, together with a babysitter, looks after five year old Sophie whilst she is flying. Mina is on an inaugural non-stop flight to Australia when she receives an anonymous note that she is to co-operate with unknown hijackers or it will be Sophie who pays the price. Kept me turning the pages although slightly predictable in places but did have a twist at the end.

10. One Enchanted Evening - Katie Fforde

Set in a country house hotel in Dorset in the 1960s. Meg, a cook, goes to help her mother, the hotel manager when the hotel chef walks out a few days before a big event. Can Meg save the day and will Justin, the absent hotel owner’s son, let her do so? Predictable but enjoyable. Took me a while to realise that several of the characters had appeared in an earlier book (A Wedding in the Country) - not helped by the fact that I missed out an intervening book that they also all appeared in (A Wedding in Provence).

Next up is this month’s Agatha Christie challenge book: The Secret Adversary which sadly is a Tommy and Tuppence story.

Oh dear….I have now seen the review by satelliteheart of The Secret Adversary - the only good thing appears to be that it’s a short book.

@GrannieMainland - was the Colm Toibin set in Argentina The Story of the Night? Sometime since I read it but seem to recall I enjoyed it.

The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine - Michael Scott-Nauman
A basic chronology and explanation of key events and figures. It's really straightforward and easy to follow. It tries to remain neutral, but does end on a very pro Palestinian note. It was published 12 months ago so is fairly current. I found it very useful to put current affairs into context.

Bah typo in the author's name Michael Scott-Bauman.

Was the Colm Toibin set in Argentina The Story of the Night? Sometime since I read it but seem to recall I enjoyed it.

Yes, it was.

17. 1979 by Val McDermid (Audible)

Has been reviewed plenty so I will say it hit the remit as an undemanding listen of a night, but as a book it wasn't really much to run on the thread and start waxing lyrical about. Very run of the mill, oddly truncated ending with all the articles. Given everyone said the sequel is shit it's definitely not for me.

Any suggestions for an engaging audiobook gratefully received

6 The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey. Set on the Caribbean island Black Conch, two Americans catch a mermaid while out fishing. This is no Disney-style mermaid - she is large, powerful, smells of fish and has a rather prickly personality. Local man David rescues her from the Americans, and then wonders if he has ended up with more than he bargained for. How did Aycayia become a mermaid in the first place, and will she be able to adapt to life among humans? I think this has had mixed reviews on here, but I enjoyed it. It's original, and I liked the characters and the Caribbean setting.

7 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I've never read this before, and was expecting the plot to be slightly similar to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but obviously that was me being very ignorant! I can see why this became a classic - bravo Mary Shelley.

Rizzio by Denise Mina

Much loved on here. Very atmospheric. Liked the brief description of Bothwell.

1. Kala by Colin Walsh. Slow to get going. Told over two time lines from three POV. We find out in the first chapter that one of five friends, Kala, went missing in 2003 aged 15. The story picks up in 2018 when the protagonist's are 30 and only one of the original five is still living in the Irish village where the past holds deep, dark secrets. Two of the others return for a visit - a journalist, now living in Canada, home for a wedding, and a rock star launching a bar and music venue in his home town. It is through these three that the story unfolds with flash backs to the fateful summer when Kala went missing.

Initially it all felt a bit Graham Norton-esque and I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, but as it went on I was drawn more into the story and the last quarter of the book was quite tense as all the pieces slotted into place. As others have said the gore and violence was a bit much at times. I was glad to be reading rather than listening so I could skim over certain scenes. Okay but not a bold for me.

Oops 6 teenage friends. I forgot Aidan!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit recent audiobooks I've really enjoyed are Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants and also Rizzio. The first is included in the Plus catalogue and I think the second might be too.

12. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Book 3 in the Amgash series. This one is narrated solely by Lucy Barton, in the same vein as My Name Is Lucy Barton, looking back over her first marriage to William, the father of her two daughters.

Lucy has been recently widowed, and William's marriage has also just broken down. A large part of the story focuses on William's discovery of a secret about his mother, that he hadn't ever known, and Lucy going on a road trip with him to discover more about his parents.

Beautifully written, rather wistful in tone, looking at family relationships. I enjoyed it very much and am looking forward to reading Lucy By The Sea shortly.* And maybe also a reread of Olive Kitteridge.*

I love how characters from Elizabeth Strout's other novels are just mentioned in passing, tying in connections and tethering them all together.

At @BarbaraBuncle i love Elizabeth Strout’s writing too and there are even more character crossovers in Lucy by the Sea.

@MamaNewtNewt

Thanks for the nudge/reminder on Last Dance I've just got that for nothing.

And another update from me, I've just finished :

18. They're Going To Love You by Meg Howrey

With the world of ballet as the backdrop, this book follows choreographer Carlisle who receives a phone call to tell her that her estranged father is dying. It then chronicles her childhood and adolescence leading up to the big reveal of the estrangement when she is 24. It's a very 'They Fuck You Up' type book and you do see the small and large hurts and slights through a child's eyes. I thought it was human and moving (particularly her feelings on reunion) but not quite standout enough for a bold. If it sounds like your thing, I do recommend it.

@MorriganManor thanks,that explains ALOT! What a horrible man. It clearly sells- how depressing that folk read this! . This was a quick fix download from Borrowbox . Sigh! I will know the next time ! Nasty stuff!

I keep thinking about the last book I read as if it was an AIBU post. I'd love to know how people would judge it

That sounds great Eine, I might well give that a go.

12. Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford

Buckle in: this might be a long one.

The story of five South London children, who in one timeline are killed in a V2 rocket attack, but who in another story grow and live through the postwar period, on into the rest of the 20th century and the 21st. They have lives like or not like the rest of us, loves and disasters and joys.

I guess most of us have authors we adore, and that we love to read beyond common sense, and Francis Spufford is one of mine. This is a bold for me, but I don't think it's one of his best. There was one page where I finally caught him manufacturing the emotional rush and pull of his writing - usually I don't notice, I'm too caught up in it. I haven't read the reviews yet and I can imagine they might have been a bit low key. There are so many bits of this story that just seem pinched from the news headlines of the day. But the thing is, I don't care. The intimate reality of his characters' lives is there, the incredible ability to write things that others just can't. In Red Plenty, my favourite book of his, he wrote one of the best descriptions of being in labour I've ever read. And in this, he describes what it is like to have psychosis. I don't have it, but my husband did, and this is what he tried to explain to me, but as literature, not documentary.

I'm going to miss these characters. I wish I'd met them.

@PermanentTemporary

I got Light Perpetual in a charity shop last year, I'll have to bump it up.

I’ve never read any Francis Spufford but I’ve had Golden Hill sitting on my shelf for years.