50 Books Challenge 2023 Part Eight

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh thread of the 50 Books Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2023, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it’s not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here, the third one here here, the fourth one here, the fifth one here, the sixth one here and the seventh one here

52. Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris
Loved this. The story follows two regicides (signatories to Charles I’s death warrant) who flee to America when a warrant is issued for their arrest on the death of Cromwell and the accession of Charles II. I particularly loved the descriptions of life in the Puritan communities of America in the late 17th century. As someone pointed out upthread, the action is not fast-moving – the “hunt” takes place over a period of many years, with the fugitives hiding in a series of safe houses or outdoors, moving on when their pursuer gets close – but I thought this was a page-turner nonetheless. Harris is a great storyteller above all, much like Dan Brown (but with added historical credibility and narrative cohesion). This will be a bold for me.

Life expectancy is closer to mid 80s than mid 70s so more like 4500 weeks. There you go, 10 extra years to waste on Mumsnet!

It is sobering to measure it in books. I had a big birthday this year and realised that at this rate I only have about 1,500 books time in my life. 📚 😞

I like the sound of Act of Oblivion

Bella - Jilly Cooper Actress gets mixed up with a dodgy posh banker and gets kidnapped. Not her best.

I struggle with Deborah Levy's writing too. I keep waiting to feel engaged but never do. Hot Milk was really unimpressive imo.

Ali Smith .. I've heard her on the radio and she comes across as a funny, warm interesting person. However, I have a couple of her books in my tbr pile and don't feel enthusiastic about starting them; not quite sure why. I should give Autumn a go soon.

I've also got the Seasons Quartet and never dared go in.

I’ve read one Ali Smith (I think Autumn) and decided her writing style wasn’t for me so haven’t bothered with any others by her. Perhaps I should try again given how highly rated she is - but then why potentially waste one of my limited weeks on earth reading a book that I know I probably won’t enjoy?!!

I know.

The reviews say "luminous", "dazzling" (and probably there's a "skewering" in there somewhere) but I have a feeling it's not going to be as much fun as a Shardlake, a Christopher Brookmyre or a Kate Atkinson.

I might give Autumn 30 pages and see how I get on ..

I love both Ali Smith and Deborah Levy, but I can see why they are marmite authors. Both of them write books that wear their literariness on their sleeve as it were, in a way that can seem pretentious. In fact I sometimes find writers who are too self-consciously 'literary' to be too much -- the Booker prize shortlists often don't appeal to me for that reason.

But I like Smith, who indulges in a lot of wordplay (plus art and film references that I end up having to google), and Levy, who has clearly read a lot of psychoanalytic and literary theory. I think it's partly because they both have a great sense of humour, and that also comes through in their texts. It doesn't feel to me that they're just showing off how clever they are.

I should say though that I found Companion Piece less engaging than Smith's Seasonal Quartet. At one point I just found myself fed up with the endless wordplay.

I think it's YA. I quite enjoyed it, but only because I was brain dead and needed some mindless drivel!

I'm another who read one Ali Smith and decided she wasn't for me. I can't even remember which one, but it must have been one of her early ones.

I haven’t tried any Deborah Levy but didn’t get on with the one Ali Smith I tried. I’m not overly keen on books that send me off to google as it pulls me out of the story and I lose the emotional connection with the character. I found that a lot with Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson. The other thing that doesn’t work for me is too much messing around with form and structure. I’m definitely not a Booker reader though I am tempted by Prophet Song and The Bee Sting more because the premise of both interests me.

I didn't like Autumn much when I first read it but then decided to read the rest of the quartet last year, and they definitely grew on me. I think they work better as a whole in a way. I still don't love Ali Smith's books but I think she's trying to do interesting things with literature, which I respect.

79. Best of Friends - Kamila Shamsie. I loved Home Fire which I think won the Women's Prize a few years ago, but sadly this didn't live up to that for me. The first half followed Maryam and Zahra as 14 year old girls in Karachi in the late 80s as the dictator General Zia dies and Benazir Bhutto comes to power. Maryam is from a rich family and heir to her grandfather's leather empire, Zahra is a hard-working daughter is a teacher and a journalist. The story builds to a tense evening as they push boundaries with boys. It then moves on 30 years to when they are both (ridiculously) successful businesswomen in London. Maryam runs a tech venture capitalist company and has shady dealings with the Tory government - a not very thinly disguised Boris Johnson makes an appearance - while Zahra is a human rights lawyer fighting the home office. It's just becomes a bit boring, and the events of the night in Karachi take on much more importance than you'd expect. Readable but ultimately disappointing.

I've had Ali Smith's The Accidental sitting on my shelf for years but it's never reached the top of the TBR pile. I really need to read it or get rid of it!

Ditto. The one I read I passionately hated.

I'm another who cant connect with Deborah Levy and Ali Smith books.
@Stokey I agree with you about Best of Friends.I felt that the first part of the book set in Karachi was interesting and then after the time jump to adulthood it all just went to pot.

@BaruFisher
I am almost certainly reading Prophet Song - don't know about others

@Stokey I also preferred each successive book of the Seasons Quartet more. I couldn't decide if they became progressively less self-consciously tricksy, or if I just got used to it.

I still have Companion Piece waiting to be read, mainly because I bought a signed first edition which I now don't want to get all grubby. I think I need to buy it on kindle as well.

I admire Ali Smith's writing but only intermittently enjoy the experience of reading it. Don't get on with Deborah Levy at all - too introspective for me, and also I find some of the subject matter uncomfortable and I'm not looking for that kind of challenge right now.

I read Smith's How to be Both after I got it in a library 'lucky dip' loans promotion and did actually really like it despite litfic not generally being my thing. I haven't felt moved to read any of her others as yet though.

I've not read any print books for a while as I've been completely absorbed in my latest audio:

72. Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken

I nearly didn't go for this as I read both Spoon Fed by Tim Spector and How We Eat Now by Bee Wilson last year, plus I've listened to the van Tulleken's podcast & figured this would be more of the same. I'm really glad I did though. It's a whole world more detailed & scientific than the podcasts. It's also much broader picture than the Tim Spector book (I'm rather put off Spector by the heavy sales pitches for the Zoe tests too), and I found it more readable and more convincing in terms of the scientific explanations and referencing as compared to Bee Wilson's.

To be fair, I'm definitely in the choir here as an organic food producer (and unquestionably #teamkale), so it's unsurprising that I agree with his view that ultra processed food is overall a bad thing. But his explanations of the way that ultra processed food works, how it is constructed, and the effects it has have really transformed my thinking about it and the wider food system. (The only downside is it's definitely put me off my chocolate digestives)

TL:DR - everyone should read this, it's brilliant, informative and not in any way patronising.

Now I need another brilliant audio book to listen to - I'm part way through the Leonardo da Vinci biog by Walter Isaacson, but not gripped at all. Any suggestions very welcome (the previous audio book I really got into was Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll).

Finally finishedBerlin by Barney Spinner -White this was okay, some of the anecdotes were amusing, there was a lot of information and I am not sure how much will stay with

I’ve done VE Schwab a disservice . She didn’t write the tedious tome that is Anatomy, Dana Schwartz did.

I’m going to try Terror Tales Of The North West by Paul Finch. I like his blog recommendations of horror and folk horror novels but for some reason I thought he was a prolific churner-out of localized spooky stories. Turns out they are anthologies and I love a horror anthology. I miss the Pan and Fontana Books Of Horror and I’m always on the look out for some gems amongst the dross. We’ll see……

I’ve also got the Seasons Quartet, but have not yet been compelled to read them. I plan to start every Autumn.

65. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
    A fantasy novel inspired by India. Princess Malini is held captive in a ruined temple by her emperor brother. Former temple child Priya becomes her maid and the two women gradually find out they have more in common than a wish to defeat the emperor.
    I quite enjoyed this. It's an interesting world, though not very clearly drawn. I liked "the rot", a disease that causes some kind of plant to grow under people's skin. There were maybe a few too many viewpoint characters diluting the plot. It's the first in a trilogy, and I can't decide yet if I like it enough to read the next one.

66. The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel
    In 1940 German Jewish Ernest arrives in Japanese occupied Shanghai where he finds work as a jazz pianist in a club owned by the beautiful Aiyi. The two feel a connection but Aiyi is already engaged.
    This is well-written and I like the characters, however badly they behave, and the setting, a city being torn apart by war, really feels alive.
    There's just a sort of twist to the book (although I saw it coming from about halfway through and I never spot twists so it really is glaringly obvious) that I felt cheapened the story, like it wasn't enough in itself, but had to have this moment where you're supposed to gasp in realisation. Despite this, I did enjoy the book.

67. The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
    In small town Alaska in 1970 four teenagers, all facing difficult life altering situations find their paths crossing in unexpected ways.
    I liked the understated writing of this, that quietly draws you in. It's not bad, though the climax feels a bit forced and sentimental.

68. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
    In the mid twentieth century aviator Marian Graves disappears while flying over the Antarctic. In 2014 film star Hadley Baxter is starring in a film of Marian's life. The novel swaps between the two women. We see Marian's life, being brought up by a neglectful uncle with her twin brother, her fascination with flying and the terrible sacrifices she has to make to achieve her dream, and Hadley's life, a former child actor raised by her uncle and now a troubled star making bad decisions.
    Marian's story, and her brother, Jamie's story, is really fascinating, and they're both very compelling and believable characters. Hadley's story, though it serves a purpose, showing a person can never really be fully known or understood after death, isn't really very interesting in itself.

69. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
    In the eighteenth century widowed Mr Hancock comes into the possession of a mermaid like creature. His dull life of being bossed around by his sister is turned upside down and he meets courtesan Angelica who he becomes infatuated by.
    I didn't enjoy this. The characters are neither likeable or fascinatingly unlikeable and very little of interest happens. There's a faint glimmer of something mysterious happening towards the end but it's too little too late.

70. Nova by Samuel R. Delaney
    In the distant future Lorq is on a mission to find the valuable substance illyrion in the middle of an imploding star.
    It's a short but complex novel, with Lorq's rag-tag crew, his childhood nemesis, Prince, and a lot of different types of technology. I did like this, but I think it's probably the sort of book that rewards rereading.