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

Blowtorch

@StrangewaysHereWeCome I listened to the audio of Prophet Song as thought the lack of paragraphs and punctuation would drive me mad. I thought it was very good, the narrator has a lovely Irish accent which I found quite soothing despite the subject matter.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I had to check whether the last paragraph of your review was a haiku. Nearly.

After another busy week I've finally caught up with the thread. I like the look of cornishlizard's 'person for rent' book, added to my wish list, thank you.

14. The Tutankhamun Deception - Gerald O'Farrell

This starts with the theory that Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun some years before the 'official' discovery and were systematically removing artefacts for profit. It then goes into the truth of 'the curse', secret documents, and the links between Moses, Joseph and Jesus. I wasn't convinced of all the arguments presented (as in many of this genre there seemed to be a lot of supposition based on relatively little evidence) but it was an interesting read if you keep a critical viewpoint.

15. Several People are Typing - Calvin Kasulke

I really enjoyed this and it may even be a bold - although the ending came too quickly for me.

A shorter book than I first realised as it is written entirely in the form of group chats on a company message board. One of the employees, Gerald, has his consciousness uploaded to the channel by mistake and when he posts for help his co-workers assume it is a joke as he is WFH. Witty, funny and original, the different characters come through despite the book's format, and there were a couple of twists which genuinely surprised me.

16. The Royal Game (A Chess Story) - Stefan Zweig trans. Alexander Starritt

Thanks to whoever reviewed this on last year's 50 books thread. A novella set on an ocean liner where a chess champion has been persuaded to take on a group of amateurs in a game. He literally meets his match in an Austrian doctor who is still deeply psychologically affected by his imprisonment by the Nazis and how he got through this experience. A gripping story, tight and well told. I'll look out for more by the same author, who seems to have led an eventful life in the early twentieth century before a tragic and mysterious death in 1942.

10 Venomous Lumpsucker - Ned Beauman
In a near-future scenario with extinction rates and climate change running riot, unscrupulous multinationals profiteer on the ‘extinction credits’ market. Fascinating and well-executed world-building (and depressingly likely, given that ‘biodiversity credit’ schemes are currently being implemented in several countries), but the satirical plot was episodic and got increasingly daft.

The male lead, Halyard, was convincingly human (venal and self-absorbed, with a few redeeming features) but his female equivalent, Karin Resaint, was some sort of ultra-analytical unemotional cool girl whose ostensible motivations have activated no actual person ever.

Hey @RomanMum I think it was me!
I recommended the Stefan Zweig last year.
I'm glad you liked it!

Washington Black is yet another book that has sat on my shelf for years. Might give it a bump now.

Go for it @TattiePants

@Piggywaspushed I haven't read tomorrow + 3 yet so I'll join you in the non- readers club. I've never been into gaming either.

I'm just halfway through part 4 of Heartstopper. It's making me a bit emotional, I must admit.

@RomanMum and @FuzzyCaoraDhubh thanks so much for the Royal Game recommendation. Have just ordered it for DH's birthday. He's a serious chess enthusiast.

8. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner I loved Nella and Eliza's sections of the book. Enjoyed their interactions, their stories and the reasons behind their actions. If the book had been about their tale, a murderess killing to help women and the girl she took under her wing I would have really liked it. But I really, really didn't like the modern day investigation by Caroline. I listed to the book. Nella, Eliza and Caroline all had difference voices. Nella and Eliza were good. Caroline was terrible, I'm not sure if that was the narrator was terrible, or Caroline's part in the story was terrible. I mean, I'm a goody two shoes but even I wouldn't find any drama or 'guilt' in trespassing on a bit of waste land in the middle of London and finding a hidden room, who cares! I didn't understand why she thought she had a secrets to keep at all. Her overly dramatic feelings were a massive contrast to Nella and Eliza's pragmatic view about what they were doing.

12. The Relentless Moon - Mary Robinette Kowal the third instalment in the Lady Astronaut series and this one takes place from a different characters pov and during the events of book 2. I loved the character, the setting and the story but felt that it could have done with being a touch longer as there were some plot points that were left unexplained. That didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book though.

I've had an awful cold so have been bingeing trashy telly rather than reading over the last week or so but also was a bit bogged down by my book:

10. American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld. This is a fictional account of a first lady's life but it's basically based on Laura Bush. I really enjoyed the first half of the book but it gradually became more hard work until I basically skimmed through the final part in the White House just to get through it. I think the main problem is that the author is trying to reconcile what she has created as a liberal first lady with the Iraq war and the random justifications become increasingly unconvincing. I guess I just didn't believe that the Laura character would have been able to live her life with the Dubya character while being as liberal as Sittenfeld wanted her to be.

My second fictional biography of the year and second dud, so think I may have to give them a miss!

7 War Doctor: Surgery on the Front Line, David Nott
My second bold of the year. Nott is a surgeon who regularly volunteers to work in war zones such as Sarajevo, Syria, Afghanistan and numerous African countries and this is his memoir of performing countless life saving surgeries under the most extreme conditions. He writes with compassion, rarely taking sides when he talks about the various conflicts, instead allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions.

8 Zoo Station, David Downing
This is the first in the series of books about John Russell, a British journalist living in 1930s Berlin. Despite his disgust for Naziism, he has to be careful not to rock the boat and risk being thrown out of Germany as he has a German son and German girlfriend. He becomes involved with the fate of a persecuted Jewish family and of a fellow journalist that winds up dead whilst investigating Nazi plans to commit an atrocity. Not quite a bold but it's a slow-burning thriller with a bit of espionage thrown in and I loved the setting of pre-WWII Berlin. I'll definitely read more in the series.

9 Politics on the Edge, Rory Stewart
Much reviewed on here recently so I'll just add that I found this an interesting read and whilst I don't share his politics, the Tory party is all the worse for no longer having him in it. DH project manages large scale flood defence schemes so that bit was of particular interest as RS mentions a few of his projects.

13. On Beauty - Zadie Smith this has been on my shelves unread for years. Not sure why I waited so long as I really enjoyed it.
Two families, one black, one mixed race; both fathers are professors in art history but with very different political views.
Feuding, affairs and family dynamics made for a very entertaining read.
Likely to be a bold.

Off work this week so finishing off plenty of books.
18 The Aeneid by Virgil
Homer fan fiction as Virgil tries to connect the founding of Rome and his patron Augustus Caesar to the ancient heroes of Troy. The first few chapters are reminiscent of The Odyssey, the last few of The Iliad, it was not as good as either.

19 Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout
I read Olive Kitteridge (and loved it) this time last year and I really enjoyed this follow up which is further linked short stories around the life of curmudgeonly Olive and the other denizens of Crosby, Maine. Funny how so many of us have been reading Strout at the same time. I love her simple writing that conveys so much. Not quite a bold but not far off.

20 The Fell by Sarah Moss
A short pandemic novel, much reviewed on here. Kate gets lost on the fell while breaking quarantine during the Covid pandemic. The POVs are stream of consciousness from Kate, her teenage son, her elderly neighbour and one of the search and rescue team sent to find her. An interesting read which shows lots of perspectives of that time though it ends a little abruptly.

21 The Patient Assassin by Anita Anand
The story of Udham Singh, an Indian assassin who killed Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the governor of Amritsar at the time of the massacre in Jallianwala Bath, who had supported the actions taken by the British army. I know very little about Indian history but this has been mentioned in both Empireland and Midnight in Malabar House and I wanted to learn more about it. Awfully tragic and with a lot of parallels to Irish history at this time. I think I would like to read more about the Raj and the move for Indian independence and partition but tbh I don’t know if I can deal with the horror of some of the atrocities.

@Jecstar - Will be interested to hear your thoughts on American Wife. Ah! I see @Stowickthevast has reviewed. Shame, I really enjoyed Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld.

I’m still plodding on. Juggling 2 physical books, an audio and a kindle lol

Oh I missed @Jecstar was about to start on it. I really enjoyed the first half but just found it dragged towards the end.

@ÚlldemoShúl I'm reading Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary by Anita Anand at the moment. For any of you who are interested in learning more about the relationship between India and Britain I can recommend Anita Anand and William Dalrymple's Empire podcast. Absolutely fascinating.

Thank you @JaninaDuszejko I’ll try out the podcast.

I also enjoyed Rodham @Tarragon123 which is why I picked American Wife up from the library. Am about 200 pages in and enjoying so far, will be interesting to see if my experiences matches @Stowickthevast.

I know nothing about Laura Bush so I’ve no idea how much artistic licence has been used by Sittenfeld. Slightly struggling to match the image of Bush I have in my head with the sex scenes of Alice and Charlie though!

@TattiePants I read War doctor last year, probably on a recommendation from this thread and it has really stayed with me.

The compassion and care he has for his patients and colleagues in the most horrendous and unimaginable conditions just shines through. Found him completely inspiring as a person.

@Jecstar I also found him so inspiring and we’re lucky that there are people in the world like him (I’d be absolutely no use). The way he relentlessly worked to get his colleagues out of Syria despite being safely back home himself. I was also impressed that he shared his vulnerabilities and readily admits he’s an adrenaline junkie and not the perfect husband, father or son.

I actually preferred American Wife to Rodham possibly because I knew less about Laura Bush than I did about the Clintons (the sex scenes gave me serious ick!).

I also preferred American Wife for me Curtis Sittenfeld really hasn't lived up to it in the other stuff I've tried.

@Jecstar I believe he has been on Desert Island Discs so it might be worth a trawl through the archives.

@highlandcoo, there is plenty of proper chess in the book to interest a player. It's a fascinating game - I've got an Isle of Lewis chessmen set which sadly is in storage ATM but reading the book made me want to play again.

@Hoolahoophop a couple of things which annoyed me when I read The Lost Apothecary last year were historical inaccuracies which could easily have been checked (I can't remember what they were but they jumped out), and the Americanisms used in speech by British characters really jarred. I didn't mind the modern plot line, it came together quite well at the end.

👋🏻!

Have now read:

14. Heartstopper: Volume 3-Alice Oseman. Nick and Charlie become an official couple.
15. Heartstopper: Volume Four-Alice Oseman. This is a bit more of a hard hitting volume than the others in the series, as it deals with mental heath and the impacts of anorexia, both mental and physical, But isbeautifully dealt with by Oseman. An excellent and touching read.
16. Heartstopper: Volume Five- Alice Oseman. Nick and Charlie finally have sex for the first time, and ponder the next stage of their lives.

Can't wait for part 6!!

Currently continuing my Alice Oseman kick by reading her first novel 'Solitare' which focuses on Charlie's sister, Tori. ❤️