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

@Hoolahoophop interestingly, I've read a few readable thriller type books about surrogacy. 'The surrogate' by Louise Jensen, which is about arrangements between old friends and 'Surrogate' by Susan Spindler which is about a woman who has her daughter's baby after the daughter discovers that she is unable to carry a child of her own. The latter author used to work as a documentary producer for the BBC, so it was quite well researched and written, as I recall.

I think at this point as @saturnspinkhoop said
we do need to have a separate thread for the meet-up. I'd do it but I'm not sure I'm going. Someone who's happy to be the organiser needs to start one

18 A Pocketful Of Happiness by Richard E Grant
I finished this but it pains me to say I really didn’t like it. It was far too personal and although ‘gushing Lovey’ is sort of his trademark and ironically why I loved his other books, this largely left me nonplussed and a bit bored. Much of it was repeated from other books and interviews. The breadth of his friendship group and the warm regard he and Joan were held in was occasionally touching. Rupert Everett being 3 hours late because he refuses to believe his Sat Nav was amusing, as was the cynicism of perennial curmudgeon Bruce Robinson (but again, in the case of the latter, nothing that isn’t more eloquently described in Smoking In Bed). And do we really need the same old Withnail And I photos tagged on at the end as filler?
Now I feel a bit of a bitch. I wish him well, but I’ll just stick to the films from now on.

DNF The Comfort Of Monsters by Willa C Richards. This looked intriguing and started off well. Peg is living in the aftermath of her sister’s disappearance. She feels it wasn’t taken seriously because at the time, Jeffrey Dahmer finally faced capture and justice. I did like the way she rarely mentions his name, concentrating instead on the names and lives of his victims. However, the fact that men as a sex class perpetrate daily unthinking violence towards women close to them was clumsily drawn and there was a seediness to the sexual element that repulsed me. Much of it is the sexual awakening of young girls and despite it being a female author I felt it pandered very much to the male gaze. Half way through I lost the will to carry on, so this will be a charity shop donation.

I'd love to join a meetup but Manchester would have to be a no from me. I'd have to go into London to then get to Manchester and would take over 4 hours each way. I'm keen to meet you all, but not 8 hours of travelling keen unfortunately

@bibliomania – It was me that recommended Marion Todd. Sorry you didn’t enjoy.

@HenryTilneyBestBoy – I must confess, I bought the first SG Maclean, thinking it was CJ Sansom’s Shardlake series. Easy mistake and both Scottish writers lol.

16. The Rabbit Girls – Anna Ellory (audio) Hmmm. First off, this needed a good editor at the helm. I did enjoy it, but it was so ridiculously slow at the beginning. Maybe the first two thirds of the book? The last third was excellent, but I cant recommend as it just such a faff at the beginning.

Berlin, 1989. The wall has just started to crumble. Miriam is caring for her terminally ill father and finds a tattoo on his wrist that she has never seen before, suggesting that he was in a concentration camp. Miriam doesn’t understand, she didn’t know this and her family aren’t Jewish, so how could her father be in a camp. She then finds a woman’s camp uniform and discovers letters hidden in the dress. Who did the dress belong to? Why has it been in her mother’s wardrobe for 44 years? I found the initial premise a bit silly. How could her father have a tattoo covered by a watch? How could a German woman growing up in West Berlin post war only think that Jews were in concentration camps? Anyway, I did learn a little bit about the Rabbit Girls, but they were just a tiny piece of the story, so I’m sure that there are better books out there that cover the subject matter.

Nothing wrong with Marion Todd, @Tarragon123 , I just don't think I was in a crime mood. I also returned Kala to the library as a DNF, which many people loved, just because it wasn't engaging me. I think I'm in non-fiction mode at the moment.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5012510-50-bookers-meet-up-2024

Maybe there are others... I'll gracefully stand down if so!

I’m reading a children’s book in desperation because I’m not in the mood for any of the pile of nonfiction I’ve got waiting.

It’s irritatingly middle class, so far.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman.
Just finished this. Really enjoyed it. I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling it for anyone. I thought it was beautifully written.

Catching up on a couple of review. Still plodding through Hags and the weighty tome that is The Pillars of the Earth.

11 Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

DH is well into his graphic novels, and usually chooses a couple that he thinks I will like (and I usually do) each Christmas. This graphic novel, which was the first to be long listed for the Booker Prize, is one of two graphic novels I’ve specifically asked him to buy for me. The story centres around the disappearance of a woman named Sabrina, and the impact that this, and subsequent developments, have on her sister Sandra and boyfriend Teddy. This isn’t a mystery book, or a crime novel. It wasn’t really what I was expecting at all. I finished it over a week ago and I’m still not sure what I thought about it. I appreciated the intent behind a lot of the aims, such as holding up a mirror to internet culture, clickbait and how people will say things on online that they would never (you’d hope anyway) say in real life. I appreciated it, but I’m not altogether sure I liked it, although I wonder if I was meant to.

12 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau

Well I am now absolutely certain that the genre of books where the main characters behave in a way that is fucking appalling, yet those around them not only fail to call them on their behaviour, but enable them through their totally unwarranted hero worship, is not for me. I hated this. A lot. And that is before we even get to the creepy incestuous undertones.

13 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This coming of age story, set in the early 90s was just the thing I needed after my previous book. It’s told through a series of letters that a boy named Charlie writes to someone that he doesn’t really know. I liked the character of Charlie, the sweet friendships he forms and his relationship with his family. This book definitely didn’t go where I thought it was going, but I enjoyed it all the same, although I don’t think it was quite a bold.

23. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Gosh, what a tough one, so I'll preface it by saying I feel qualified in my personal experience to speak about SEND in literature.

Mia is upstairs getting dumped when she hears her Dad and brother coming home from a hike. Except did she? Too late she realises that she made a mistake. Her brother came home alone and her Dad is missing. The problem? Her brother is non verbal autistic and has Angelman Syndrome. No one knows what happened to Adam and Eugene can't tell them. I didn't love love it but thought it an important and worthwhile portrayal of SEND families. I was already bolding/recommending it and THEN :

It goes a bit Disabled People Are Magic in a way I think a lot of parents of ASD Non Verbal children would find disheartening rather than uplifting. The author claims to have based events on real life cases but there are many families and most for whom this read would just be a wilfully cruel 'If You Just Got The Right Therapy' jibe which is cutting to the majority experience of severe autism. Left me icky, I'm afraid.

I've actually read so many books in such a short space of time that they are beginning to blur into one in my mind. I should update more often!

31. New Dreams at Polkerran Point Cass Grafton
    Girl inherits house. Moves to Cornwall. Falls in love. I remember I liked it. But that's all I can say.

32. Highly Flawed Individual T.C Roberts A first person narrative told by a guy who's basically a compete cunt. He appears to sleep with any woman with a pulse. Although in his defence they seem to know they aren't exclusive. Then he meets someone special but turns out he has an STI. It was actually really funny.

33. Tale of Two Curses Theresa Biehle Fantasy book about 2 brothers who are both cursed. Can't remember much more.

34. Right Across the Bay Quinn Avery Murder mystery. I genuinely didn't see the twist coming in this one. It was brilliant.

35. How Boys Learn Jeff Kirchick A series of short stories about growing up male. Some were better than others. There were themes of suicide, eating disorders, sexual abuse. Quite gritty but a Powerful read.

36. The False Men Mhairead MacLeod Set in Scotland at the time of the clearances. I'd never heard of them but was horrified. I'm not sure the main character was remotely historically accurate. Basically a rich girl who chose her poverty stricken friends over a life of wealth and privilege. But for anyone who is interested in Scottish history it was good.

37. Evermarked A.J Eversley Another YA sci-fi type. There are humans. And part humans and non humans. I think. Christ. I can't remember. But as I seem to be the only person on here who reads this genre it probably doesn't matter

38. Truth Sister Phil Gilvin Loved this. It gave me strong 'Handmaid's Tale' vibes. Despite being pretty much the opposite and women being in charge. Because Men fucked up the world we've returned to a more basic existence. No more mobiles, computers etc. In fact the only technology there seems to be is cloning. Because having babies the natural way is considered quite gross. And while on the face of it a woman ruled world sounds fab, of course its not really. And civil war is brewing. This is the 1st in a trilogy. And its fab.

39. Crodor The Ancient Celia and Ephie Risho Part 2 of The Elementalists series. (I wrote about part 1 at some point). The kids have element powers, earth, wind, fire etc, and have to defeat the baddies. I think it's aimed at 8-15 year olds. If you have children in that age range I'd recommend it.

40. The Whispering Palms Annette Leigh The main character (can't remember her name) returns to the small town she grew up in to help find a missing woman. But it's also the town where her Mum was murdered 20 years earlier. Drugs, kidnap, arson. Romance iirc. Super.

41. Good Girl Deprogramming Michelle Minnikin

I thought this one deserves a post of its own. It blew me away. Its kind of a self help book based around the messages we (as women) are given growing up and how we can, and need to, deprogramme ourselves from those.

It's made clear in the intro that in this book "woman" and "girl" mean female sexed people.

It just covers everything really. From how we're taught to be kind. Told that we are bossy. Or moody. Or bitches.

It did take a while to read though. Because it made me so angry. If anyone decides to read it please let me know. I'd love to read again as a buddy read and discuss it.

Thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit. As the mother of a non verbal Autistic child, I’ll give that one a miss.

No worries. It had so much promise too.

42. When The Moon Was White Jeff Probst Set in a small town in America in the 60s. There's a plot to cover part of the moon in paint. It's a good storyline. Lots of interesting moon facts. But the writing wasn't great. I feel real bad saying that because I've interacted with the author and he's lovely. Some of the characters clearly have MH issues/are ND. They are really well written.

43. Split Adam Calix Leigh-Reign Part 2 of the Scion series. I love the story of these. But this book needed a good proof read, there were a lot of SPAG errors.

44. The Wartime Book Club Kate Thompson Loved this. Right up my street. It's set on Jersey in WW2, and most of the characters are based on real people. It's about the Jersey postal service and how they opened, delayed or "lost" letters denouncing islanders to the Nazi invaders. True bravery. The author explains the historical inaccuracies and why she added them at the end.

45. House of Dreams Mark Stibbe This was fascinating. Tony is a dream expert, and an author of books about dreams. He's divorced and has a stalker. To get away from it all he buys an old house that he fell in love with. It turns out the house once belonged to Queen Kathryn Parr. He has dreams about her and discovers some of the old houses secrets. I did get slightly confused by the reference to Kathryn Parr's daughter (who she had with Thomas Seymore) as Princess, as I dont think she would have been a princess. Would she? Anyway. It was a nice story. I love a non scary ghosty mystery

46. Humebeasts Lisa Munoz Another YA sci-fi type. A man made virus has created chimeras. 50 years later humans and chimeras are still trying to learn how to live together. Another book that needed an edit/proofread. But the underlying messages of acceptance, family and friendships were good.

47. Island In the Sun Katie Fforde
    Exactly what id expect from a Katie Fforde book tbh. Cass goes to Dominica to find a... thing I can't remember the name. Some kind of ancient carving. She also finds love. Nice, easy, safe reading.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I've just read an Enid Blyton book that I've been too embarrassed to list here. I'm not making excuses but with my own post operative pain & fatigue and my DM very ill in hospital, it was the only thing I could concentrate on. Needs must, as the saying goes.

@MissMarplesNiece don't worry, I suffer from chronic pain and I still read Jacqueline Wilson when I'm in pain ❤️

I've ordered Zoe Sugg's 'Girl Online' series, to see if it's really as good as some reviewers on StoryGraph say it is. Probably won't log them on my profile though. 🤣🤣

@MamaNewtNewt 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower' is one of my favourite books of all time ❤️

13. The Glass Pearls - Emeric Pressburger

I didn’t mean to read another book with WW2 associations so soon after Coffee with Hitler, but my Borrowbox reservation for this, not due till June (!) unexpectedly came through. The huge waiting-list was probably because this book had a rave review on 'A Good Read' recently….and as I’m also a massive fan of Powell & Pressburger's films, I really wanted to read the novel.

Karl Braun, an unassuming piano-tuner living a quiet existence in shabby lodgings in 1960s London, has a secret. He’s actually Dr Otto Reitmüller, former surgeon in a Nazi concentration camp, and we follow his progress as his life of constant checking, watchfulness and spinning stories takes a new turn. His tentative friendship with a younger woman - the scatty, rather impulsive Helen - marks a new chapter, but also new danger in his quest to stay in the shadows and escape the pursuers he imagines are always on his trail.

Pressburger works a surprising amount of humour into the narrative, but as you’d imagine it’s not ultimately a comic novel. The reviewers on A Good Read all said they’d been rooting for Braun, and praised Pressburger's skill in making him seem sympathetic, but I’m not sure I’d totally agree - I didn’t feel I was ever exactly cheering him on. A very interesting book, though, not least because Pressburger - who was Jewish - lost many of his own family in concentration camps.

@MrsALambert the Shopaholic books are some of my favourite ever. I got so excited when a new one came out that I bought it, and then realised it wasn't a new one and I already had it

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie @MissMarplesNiece @ICrunchCrispsNotNumbers I reread childhood favourites when I'm ill/depressed too. No shame in that!

@Terpsichore Coffee with Hitler and the Glass Pearl sound right up my street. WW2 (especially Nazi) books are my favourite. That sounds awful and not what I mean at all. But I find it all so fascinating. They are both going on my TBR.

@BlueFairyBugsBooks that's exactly the kind of thing I would do

I'm so behind on this thread! I need to go back and have a read as I've got some great recommendations. My bleeding stopped so now I don't know what to think! I did bleed like this with DD but later on in pregnancy. I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

I started reading 15. The Gift of Rain - Tan Eng Tuan set in Penang (where I live) at the start of WW2 and focuses on the Japanese invasion of Penang. An interesting time and place and I'm enjoying reading about the place where my MIL grew up, although the invasion was well before her time. It's quite heavy going though. The writing is short on dialogue and not a scrap of humour that I can find. The relationships between the characters aren't very believable or fleshed out and it's very much telling not showing. I will persevere and finish it but I won't be in a hurry to pick up more from this author.

14. Mist over Pendle - Robert Neill
1950's retelling of the Pendle witch trials. Very much on the side of the authorities with no recognition that these women were wronged. Of its time and average
15. A spell of good things -Ayobami Adebayo** This was longlisted for last years Booker and is a bold for me. Set in modern day Nigeria focusing on two families - one wealthy and one extremely poor. The two worlds continually touch each other. Lots on the corruption of politics and authority in general. The writing is crisp and the plot runs along at a pleasing lick. It is one of those books where humour and horror sit side by side. Definitely recommend