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

@InTheCludgie I would take a list of authors / non fiction subjects with me if I went again, because my mind went pretty much blank!
I’m not sure I would make a special trip there again, tbh, as a lot of the stock was like a Withdrawn sale on a trolley at a public library and if there was a decent Horror/Ghost section then I missed it. I hated Alnwick as a town, though, so that might be colouring my view!

@InTheCludgie if you’ve got any books that you’re finished with take them with you and get credit to either spend on more books or in the cafe. They’ll take either 20 paperbacks or 5 hardbacks but you can’t take a mixed bag. I often take 40 paperbacks, split between two of us and just pretend we’re not together! When you get there, drop them off at the valuation desk and they’ll need about 30 minutes to value them. You usually get approx £1 per paperback, more for hardbacks.

If you’re looking for fiction then the best selection is in the first room and it’s split between general, sci-fi, historical, romance etc. the second room has crime, thrillers, horror and non-fiction. The huge back room has all the overspill plus hardbacks. There’s also a separate room for kids’ books.

The cafe is lovely but does get busy with long queues on weekends between 12-1.30. We try to time it to eat lunch early, do more shopping, then time for cake before we leave.

There is another good charity bookshop in the centre of Alnwick but it’s name escapes me.

@BoldFearlessGirl aw no really? Hope it's picked up a bit by the time I go! We're making a half term trip to the castle and gardens too, would you suggest avoiding Alnwick itself for a walk about? Is it horrible?

The horror section is in the second room to the right of the desk. Definitely take a list in alphabetical order by author. I don’t think I’ve ever returned home with less than 25 books except the one time I forgot my list and found it too overwhelming.

@InTheCludgie ah no, my ‘beef’ is with the Castle, really. To do with blocking off public footpaths and claiming they are private property when they aren’t (we had a dog with us and they flatly refused to accept it was a public footpath). So quite a niche ‘beef’ . We drove through Alnwick on the way home and there are a few nice independent shops from what I saw. I’m sure you will have a lovely time if your main destination is the Castle. The saving grace for me was the M&S Food in the out of town retail park and Warkworth Castle was lovely, as was Warkworth.

@InTheCludgie i might be biased as Alnwick is less than an hour from me so I go to Barter Books a couple of times a year. I love BB but the actual town is ok but nothing special. The Gardens and Castle are lovely and you used to be able to save money with a combined ticket. If you have young children then look at Lilidorei that opened this year. I can’t remember whether you need a separate ticket for that.

I’d recommend the beach at Alnmouth a few miles away for a walk.

Yes, Alnmouth is fabulous!
I was in the right place for the Horror section, then. I think I’d have to go regularly for a chance at picking up a hidden gem I hadn’t already got.

@BoldFearlessGirl horror (and romance) are probably the only sections I never look at.

That's a good shout about the list @TattiePants , I have some books that I can't get in the local libraries so I'll make a note of all of them before we go

@Sonnet I thought Time Shelter was pretty disjointed too. A good idea but not enough character development to make a good novel. I also wasn't convinced by the regular breaking of the 4th wall and Gaucin.

86. Prophet Song - Paul Lynch. My 8th from the Booker Longlist and second (and possibly last) from the shortlist. This is an incredibly dark near future dystopia set in an Ireland where a nationalist government has taken charge and freedoms are gradually being eroded. The main character is Eilish (I listened to it so apologies if the spelling is incorrect), a working mother with 4 children ranging from 16 to a baby. The book starts with the police knocking on her door wanting to see her husband Larry, a trade union leader. It quickly descends into darkness with Larry being taken away, and pretty much everything else that can go wrong, going wrong. I don't know whether I would have persevered if I was reading it as it was relentless. Some of the writing sounded a bit odd but it worked on the audible. I don't know if I'd recommend this but I wouldn't be surprised if it won the Booker.

I don't think I'll read any more of the shortlist unless they're on offer. Of the 8 I've read, there isn't really one that I would press people to read.

@Stokey and @Sonnet I have started Time Shelter a couple of times and abandoned....not sure I will bother now. I like the idea but it just seems all over the place and not in a great way. Do feed back from your book club though!

I love Alnwick, Alnmouth and Barter Books. In fact that whole area is a place of retreat for me.

Finally finished The Running Grave.
On the whole I enjoyed it but...
My level of frustration at Rowling's inability to use one sentence when 20 will do was sometimes overwhelming.
There were chunks of time when I settled into the story and was actually thinking "My God, she's done it. She is moving it along, her feet are on the pedals and the stabilisers are off!" And then it would all get caught in the sludge and mud of Strike's past, Strikes leg, Strikes diet.
JUST GET AN EDITOR!!

Just got back from holiday and listing the books I enjoyed, didn't get as much reading done as I thought but there is a theme.

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black enjoyed this but reading it in Ireland seemed somehow appropriate. Not sure if I will read the next one

Overreach by Owen Matthews the Inside Story of Putin and Russia, very interesting lots of things I had no idea about. Would recommend this

Cards on The Table by Agatha Christie most of you have probably already read this but I had no idea who the killer was.

Easy Peasy Doggy Squeezy by Steve Mann obviously got this because of our new rescue dog. It's full of ideas for older dogs that may have issues or like mine have never had any training. I used to go to training classes with Steve, 3 dogs ago. I already have his first book Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy and I can hear his voice in my head when I am reading this.

A Small Stubborn Town by Andrew Harding how the town of Voznesensk reacted when the Russians invaded and the local people realised that if the bridge in the town was captured the Russians would have a clear run to Odessa. It gives information from the populace. Makes you wonder what you would do if you were placed in that position, we would all like to think we would be heroes but would self preservation kick in

I am still reading Red Famine by Anne Applebaum which I would highly recommend

I have somehow added a link to a Defence of Ukraine video which I can't remove as I am a technophobe

44 A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman

Starts in 1947 with an eccentric 89 year old woman called Marvellous Ways living alone in Cornwall in a caravan waiting for someone, but she cannot remember who it is. She helps a distressed young man on his road to recovery by telling him her life story and in turn this helps with her memory. The cast of characters are more connected than they may have realised.

Mainly lyrically and quite beautifully written interspersed with some gritty realism. Some magical realism that I struggled with at times. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it overall.

21.. Chocky by John Wyndham

Matthew is an 11-year-old boy with an imaginary friend called Chocky, but is that all it is? His parents are concerned after hearing some of their exchange and the psychologist they contact does not have any easy answers. Soon, strange events start happening.

I really enjoyed this. It was clear from early on that this was not a paranormal story, that there would be an explanation for Chocky, and that it would come out in a final monologue like it often does in Wyndham books.

The book is fast-paced and I liked the writing style. it would be hard to believe that this book was first published 60 years ago, if not for the casual and almost affectionate sexism which seems to be a hallmark of that period.

Recommended.

53. Hope Family Calendar by Mike Gayle

A book of cliches, mum.of the family does, dad struggles, mum is on a pedestal but surprise surprise she was not as perfect as she seemed.

Still find myself struggling to put it down as I cared enough about the characters to want to see how it ended.

Solid 3 out 5.

Now back to two non-fiction I stalled on. Then since I have already hit my target for the year I am wondering about trying something more challenging. I have London downloaded and keeping avoiding it as it's 20 hours which seems like a bit of a commitment. I suppose the rate I am reading at the moment that's only 10 days or so.

But What Can I Do - Alistair Campbell
I’m a big fan of the podcast The Rest Is Politics by Alistair and Rory Campbell. This is Alastair’s take on the current (dire) state of politics and our current set of politicians, what he thinks can be done about it and an appeal to people, especially the young, to stand up and get involved. Very inspiring.

Also, my first ever audiobook!

Oooooh - Congratulations! How have you resisted all these years?

@CoteDAzur I could only listen when doing something with my hands (jigsaws, cooking, gardening etc) or I’d drift off. But I’ve signed up to Audible so who knows!

Just been through the deals. Bought an Alison Weir and How to Eat a Peach which wanky Nigel waxes lyrical about. That's all.

38 The Other Wife Claire McGowan.

Just when I think I've found a decent psycho nutjob thriller writer, something like this comes up on Kindle Unlimited to remind me why some books are free, and some authors are churning them out. Generic title, generic women, generic men, generic nutters.

39 Frostquake Juliet Nicholson.

This should have been right up my street. Instead, I find myself agreeing with many other reviewers on Goodreads- specifically, what was this book actually about, and who was it for? And if I had a famous lineage and family name, could I have written similar and been published too? (and if I might possibly, due to some bang on the head, forget who JN is and from which branch of the British upper classes she comes, she kindly drops in a throwaway sentence about Vita, or Virginia, or Sissinghurst every other page.

Running with the tenuous "the cold winter of 1962 changed the world" premise, it was a mishmash of anecdotes, name-dropping and family biography. All interesting enough in themselves, but how many more crib notes do we really need on Christine Keeler, Sylvia Plath and the Beatles? Are we really meant to believe that a famous sex fiend, a tormented poet and a group of lads in a band only happened because it snowed? I don't think so.

The (clearly gleaned from talking to the hoi-polloi) anecdotes from the below stairs people who were alive when it snowed in 1962 were much more interesting. Especially as they didn't try and convince me that Sylvia put her head in the oven because she was cold.

If you hated Howard's End is on the Landing because of the "I was only saying to John Gielgud that..." then give this one a very wide berth.

Enjoyed those reviews Sol, won’t be adding them to the tbr!

Best - Driving, ironing, cooking.... the list of mindless menial tasks that work well with audio books is rather long!

Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is 99p in Kindle deals. Don't miss this extraordinary book!

And when you read it, remember that even the iPhone was not yet invented when it was published, let alone the iPad

Anyone with Spotify Premium they've just added a shitload of audiobooks included in the subscription

Have you figured out how to search for included audiobooks by genre Eine ? I'm obviously missing something...