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

@Sadik
I adored How to be Both by Ali Smith. It's one of my favourite books.
I liked her experimentation with two complimentary narratives and I felt that the way she wrote about both main characters (grieving teenager, female artist hiding her identity in Renaissance Italy) rang true.
I read this in Italy years ago in the garden of a Palazzo (which contributed to the atmosphere) and is a very fond holiday memory.

50. The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman

Read the first Thursday Murder Club while recovering from Covid last time, and this was just right for the job this time round. Will pass on to DD who likes a cosy whodunnit.

I feel the same. Just have a feeling she's not for me. Might dive into Autumn and find out for sure. Not read any Deborah Levy, I thought I had but turns out I was getting her mixed up with Andrea Levy.

@Solinvictus @StColumbofNavron @MamaNewtNewt and any others I may have missed in the Ali Smith chat

I've had Autumn on my shelves for at least three years. I remember someone on this thread saying that was the one you had to start with, and because I'm methodical in my reading (would never start a series part-way through) I keep waiting until autumn comes around .. and then forgetting!

Does anyone feel like giving it a go this year?

@highlandcoo sounds good to me! I would also wait until next year (or the one after) if I missed Autumn rather than read out of sequence, or at the wrong time of year 😊

Into the Water - Paula Hawkins - easy to read thriller-ish. Centres around a small north east village, it's river and 'The drowning pool.', where over the years several women have lost their lives.
Enjoyed it but suspect not a book that is going to linger in the memory.

I am reading Four Thousand Weeks as my non fiction at the moment. Not huge amounts of spare time so am only 10% through and he just explaining that it might not be we can't find the right productivity tool it might be that the to do list never ends. Looking forward to delving into this and hoping to apply it. I am always quite aware time is limited.

In a similar vein, I think the perfume brand 4160 Tuesday is called that because that's the average number of Tuesday's you get in a life or something. It makes me like them more to know why it's called that!

The Full English by Stuart Maconie is 99p on kindle today. Several on the thread have enjoyed it.

I started a peril on the high seas book at the weekend and kept falling asleep over it. Switched to peril on Everest and DP found me sitting up straight, book in hand, snoring at about half past eight last night. Rock and roll.

Notes on an execution is on Kindle daily deals today. Read this recently and thought it was excellent.

Perhaps my mistake was starting with Spring. Perhaps. Though I'm going to repeat"4000 weeks" to myself to try to make sure I don't get sucked into reading because I think I should...

For earthquakes, there's the Richter scale.

For wind, there's the Beaufort scale.

And now, for peril, there's the Remus Snooze scale

@highlandcoo I am willing to give it a go.

The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman is 99p at the moment. I think someone on here really liked it recently and I have heard good things.

I might go in. I read some quotes last night on the back of the conversation here and, on balance, was 75% "oh this is beautiful writing, I want to remember those sentences" and 25% "ferkerf with your pretentious wordwankery"

I might manage to do it if I just do a bit at a time. Have it on the go with lots of other things.

Some of the quotes seemed very Virginia Woolf-y. I can only do V a bit at a time as well.

4160 is indeed called that, because of that.
Sadly I've found that the perfumer's desire (seemingly) to create 4160 perfumes as quickly as possible has an effect on the finished product. 😂

I've had loads (I'm a perfumista in another life) and like few. (that said, I got some samples of some of the latest this summer and liked more than usual- over the years I've only found 2 I love more than my own child, while the rest have me going "blearghhhhh, does anybody want this?" But a couple of my new samples have wowed me.

(I think the perfumer is super, lovely lovely woman, it's just that the actual juice more often than not, isn't for me)

@SoIinvictus i completely agree with you on 4160 Tuesdays. I loved the idea of a niche British perfume house and tried one of their sample sets a few years ago. I so wanted to love them but I just don’t like any of them - I think there’s a note that just isn’t for me. I tried again earlier this year but it’s still a no.

Oh I was also coming on to say Notes on an Execution is 99p today, one of the stand out books I've read this year.

I like Ali Smith, I am not normally into experimental writing but I find her light and playful enough that it's easy to read. I think the Seasons books are an extraordinary achievement, a first draft of our history. I read them starting with Autumn, and at roughly the right times of year, but I have wondered if they'd work as more of a cycle starting at any point given there's no plot to speak of. Winter and Spring are my favourites.

I read Companion Piece last year but I'd say that's for the superfans only.

I wasn’t going to buy any more books that weren’t on my wish list but this sounds interesting.

I think the Seasons books are an extraordinary achievement, a first draft of our history.

@GrannieMainland , I agree, that's a lovely way of putting it.

I've snapped up the Osman and really hope that it doesn't feature on the Remus snooze scale.

I read the opening of Execution but it's second person. So annoying as the concept sounds good.

I've also picked up the Osman and Notes on an Execution, thanks @GrannieMainland and @MamaNewtNewt . For non fiction fans on here, a friend of a friend has written a book about woman mountaineers, running and coping with grief which is also 99p on Kindle In Her Nature. I feel like it may appeal to people on here.

I'm with you @SoIinvictus and @TattiePants on 4160 Tuesdays. I tried one again recently and was disappointed again. There's a certain smell that all her perfumes have that I'm not keen on.

Have just finished Alison Weir's Anna of Kleve which I enjoyed, although possibly less than the previous three volumes of her Six Wives series. I felt AW was stretching things out rather thinly to fill 500 pages. And quite a bit of invention going on. A good read nevertheless.

I'm going to have a go at Autumn now ..

125. The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

Somehow without consciously trying I've ended up reading another book with :

Young girl interested in the natural sciences

and

Vicar torn apart spiritually by the findings of Charles Darwin

In this one, it all goes a bit YA as young Faith turns Nancy Drew in the wake of her fathers death and becomes custodian of a strange tree.

Despite the lack of bite or depth, this kept me reading during a time I've been struggling so I can commend it for that. I believe myself late to the party and would enjoy hearing others thoughts. Engaging yet flawed I thought.

I liked The Lie Tree @EineReiseDurchDieZeit . It wore its YA cloak lightly and Hardinge spins a good tale (I also like her other YA stuff). It comments on the patriarchy that a way that is very familiar to a 50+ feminist, but with humour that made it fresh. Plus, it doesn’t stray far from a classic Mystery or get bogged down in over explaining Victorian attitudes. Given some of the dross on similar themes that’s out there I think it’s towards the Ambrose Parry end of the scale, rather than the Dana Schwartz end.

62 Terror Tales Of The North West ed. Paul Finch
Not all of these were good stories, but at 2.99 the five decent ones work out at a reasonable price. Four of them, by Simon Kurt Unsworth, Stephen Gallagher, Ramsey Campbell and Simon Bestwick were as good as you’d expect from those authors, while Jason Gould’s tale of a comedian’s last chance in Blackpool also stood out.
The rest were a bit clunky and amateurish, but I enjoyed the ‘real life’ spooky segments written by the editor inbetween the stories.
I may well stock up on a couple more of these for winter evenings, acknowledging that a fair proportion of them won’t be to my taste. I use anthologies to pick out authors I want to read more of and that usually works well for me, although not all horror writers can manage the leap from a kiss in the dark to a novel.