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

@Stokey It's a piece of literary genius by Michael Dibdin in one of his Aurelio Zen books.

122. The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

This was an Audible ably read by Juliet Stevenson, had it not been so ably read it might have been DNF halfway.

It started so well I was gearing up for a rave. Young upstart takes to high seas aiming for a career involving botany and the intentions of becoming a gentleman. All this is great stuff, and I thought this was maybe even one for Remus but it wasn't to be.

Henry Whitaker's story gives way to that of his studious daughter Alma and the book then serves as her fictional biography. It is rammed down the readers throat from early days that there is no one more brilliant than Alma but no one more hideously repulsively ugly and doomed to spinsterhood. Alma a voracious reader discovers erotica and then goes for a wank frequently in a cupboard whilst the author refers to "her quim."🤢
More than 2 chapters cover this.

Her most desperate desire is to give a blow job and whilst waiting she studies Moss, yes Moss she is that boring.

Various secondary characters are introduced: an adopted sister and a friend and a would be suitor only to fade into nothing or die. Alma becomes increasingly annoying and selfish.

The whole thing is really strange and not even the appearance of Charles Darwin can save it.

I will only remember this for the wanking. And not in a good way.

Brilliant review @EineReiseDurchDieZeit You had me at Young upstart takes to high seas aiming for a career involving botany and the intentions of becoming a gentleman but you already know my feelings about literary wanking from the wanking vicar saga, so this book and I are doomed never to meet.

Meanwhile, I have no opinions whatsoever about moss.

Such wasted potential

Weeping here. Thanks Eine and Remus

I forgot to add that she does actually succeed in ambushing someone with a blow job and declares it the greatest day of her life 👀

Ambushed with a blow job - are you sure this wasn't a book about Boris Johnson?

She gets naked in a cave with a missionary and just goes for it without a by your leave. Truly strange book, sexually.

Tea almost exited via my nose reading these last few posts.

Remus, those Aurelio books, though I have never come across them were televised with Rufus Sewell I think, so I remember (or really don’t remember) the stories fondly.

I would buy a book of reviews from this thread including the last few posts- that would be the perfect pick-me-up read!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I often don't work out whodunnit when others here do - clearly my instincts are tuned in to Colin Walsh's plotting brain!

I had a particular actor in mind when I read that character so I sort of knew Whodunnit because of my own brain’s casting

@BoldFearlessGirl

BRENDAN GLEESON, YES?!

No, a younger Liam Neeson! Before he started it phoning it in as a 60 year old action hero.

113. A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon

A serial killer is targeting women and we hear all about it via cleaner / housewife / charity shop employee Linda. I really, really, hated this book. The characters were so unbelievable that they seemed like a parody at times, and were also really unlikable. I hated being in Linda’s head throughout the book, I think I was meant to find her somewhat charming, and to feel a bit sorry for her but she just made me cringe. Unfortunately this book is nowhere near as clever as it think it is and I saw the ending coming from a mile away.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit and @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie your conversation made me snigger so loudly that the tween DCs [WHY ARE THEY NOT IN BED, TERM STARTS TOMORROW ] asked what was so funny and I had to make up something about cats.

Eine 🤣

And Remus 😂 Who can forget your wanking vicar?

@MamaNewtNewt I agree about A Tidy Ending it was a DNF for me.

@SapatSea you had the right idea. I think it might be the worst book I've read this year.

Brilliant review Eine. I think I threw the Eat Pray self Love crap she wrote across the room.

Welcome @splothersdog. I've read quite a few of the books you've read this year - I also really liked several of the Woman's prize ones and In Memoriam.

I only saw the film which was wank too

The audiobook was a recommendation from a thread here, not this one, and that's ok because it was well read wanking

What’s in a Name? Friendship, Identity and History in Modern Multicultural Britain Sheela Banerjee

I saw this in an archive shop last week and ordered it (with my birthday vouchers). I have a passing academic interest in identity studies and this spoke to me as for the first 18 years of my life everyone called me a different name to what my name actually is - think if my name was Kiran but everyone called me Karen including my English mother.

This is a decent book, it reminded me of Chimene Suleyman’s essay in The Good Immigrant (Chimene having anglicised her name Çimen from the original Turkish), where she talks about her name, prejudice and racism, I’m going to dig it out to reread. This book takes the author’s experience of her name and the connotations and historical context as well as few of her friends from different backgrounds and assesses the role that class, race and religion play in the way we embrace or don’t embrace our names and all that they mean.

A useful starting point for those interested in these things, but not anything new really. There were some small things that irked - Chingford tube station (not a thing) and stating that the British revered Italian and French accents whilst also talking about Harry Enfield’s Stavros character and Italian impersonations as offensive.

Checking in as got behind on the thread due to term starting and beginning my ECT years. Am imagining my reading rate might slow down a bit.

60 Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe

This was ok, an easy read. I love hare folklore, witchcraft and a mystery, so it hit the spot for me mostly. A pleasing ambiguity about peripheral characters, particularly Ann, the woman with the dogs - I won’t say on here who/what I thought she was because the story does work on two levels and it would be a bit spoilery.
A disgraced teacher rents a cottage on a Scottish estate. There is tragedy around the family, gradually revealed via an unpleasant gossipy neighbour and the daughter of Hare House. There are some good spooky set pieces and the isolation around the cottage and estate is well described. It veered close to “I found myself and the love of my life” at times but there’s a reason for that and the author doesn’t take the twee way out at all.
It’s no Starve Acre but would be a pleasant way to spend an autumn evening or two.