50 Books Challenge 2024 Part Four

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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 first thread is here, the second one here and the third one here.

What are you reading?

LOTR is like Stephen King for me - unread and not tempted.

I have read The Hobbit - underwhelmed.

Not seen the films of The Hobbit or LOTR and no desire to do so….

ICB writes the one play novel over and over IME but I have a high tolerance for High Style and a real weakness for Terrible Victorian Parenting horror stories so have been working my way through her oeuvre (well spaced out). A House and Its Head is very typical, or Manservant and Maidservant. Wildcard pick: More Women Than Men (set in a girls' school).

Loving all the Hobbit and LoTR talk (lol at DH singing the songs while reading the Hobbit 😂 😂). I have somewhat skimmed though as I am very fearful of spoilers (does it count as a spoiler if the book is 70 years old?!). That fear is a byproduct of growing up with a mother who'd say things like "you really must read X, it's a fabulous book although it's very sad when Y dies at the end".

@cassandre I am surprised how lightweight LoTR is so far. The films are so long and the books so revered that I expected something weightier. Not that I'm at all disappointed by that, I'm enjoying it a lot and it just what I was after.

I loved LOTR and have read it several times. Don’t feel the need to revisit it though. When I read The Hobbit to the kids recently it was a bit of a slog to read out loud - definitely better when you can skip over bits!

17 Country Secrets - Fiona Walker Set in a Cotswolds village, with a large cast of characters (starring the family who own the stud farm), lots of bed-hopping, horses galore, class stereotypes and bad writing, this is basically a modern version of Jilly Cooper. It’s total tripe but I enjoyed it 😊 I probably wrote similar for the first book in the series a year or so ago - this one picks up where that one left off and is more of the same.

27 The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

Finally got round to reading this book about the lives of the "canonical five" women killed by Jack the Ripper. Much and rightly recommended on this thread, it focuses solely on the women and there is very little about the manner of their deaths. Well written and thought-provoking, and although there is necessarily quite a bit of speculation, I was surprised by how much the author was able to find out about Polly, Annie, Kate, Eliz(s)abeth and Mary Jane. The detail of their lives as (mainly) working class women, scraping by, was eye-opening. It was interesting to see that an important common thread between them seemed to be alcohol consumption, which left them on the streets and vulnerable. The central point made by Rubenhold - that these women were all described as prostitutes not because there was any clear evidence to that effect in at least 3 of the cases, but because simply being an unwed/separated mother, or homeless, meant you were essentially regarded as a prostitute - has a lot of resonance for the treatment of "atypical" women even today.

I lost the thread and I'm not sure I can find the time to catch up! Have I missed any must read books recommended by everyone?

Any conclusive favorites from part four?

I just finished two children's books with my eldest.

14 The worst class in the world absolute dire rubbish was the review from myself and the 8 year old.

15 The Seceret 7 on the Trail which we both enjoyed, but was not our favorite.

The whole family is now listening to Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone as a bedtime story ready for a trip to Harry Potter Studios later in the year. Its my kids first experience of Harry Potter.

Then my finish is

16 The Priory of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon I really enjoyed this, it was a recommendation from the wife of a work colleague who is a big reader and like me is a fan of Austen and the classics. I liked the female leads, I liked the world building and the relationships between humans and dragons. I found it hard to get into because there were too many characters and lands, could have been 5 books, each telling the build up to the finale from a different perspective then them all coming together. But really great.

I am now listening to Spare, because it was suggested by the library and they had a copy. Its doing my head in. What a contradictory winger. I wish someone had helped Harry to figure out what he is feeling before he wrote it because this feels like his personal diary as he tries to figure out what is going on in his head. Once he has done that it may be quite interesting.

I am also reading Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe which I am LOVING and which I have to get finished by end of day tomorrow before the library steals it back and I have to buy a copy or reserve it again and wait for someone to bring it back!

Latest lot:

43. The Golden Mole, Katherine Rundell
Short essays on various wonders of nature. Beautiful - although that's not perhaps the right word for hermit crabs devouring Amelia Earhart. Wondrous, at any rate. There's a constant hum of shared guilt at how humans are destroying the earth, but it's also a celebration of what the earth has produced.

44. Smile Please: An Unfinished Autobiography, Jean Rhys
I haven't read any Jean Rhys and felt I should remedy this. I liked her laconic style. I would be more interested in reading about her later years, but she didn't have the chance to write about them here - most of the focus is on her childhood.

45. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, Garth Nix
Urban fantasy featuring the eponymous book merchants, who double as guardians against dangerous supernatural beings. The author acknowledges a debt to Susan Cooper, my favourite childhood writer. Rather than Will turning 11 and encountering the Old Ones, Susan turns 18 and encounters the Old Ones, Cross-dressing and shoot-outs feature more heavily in this book than in Susan Cooper's oeuvre. I thought it was good fun.

46. Mortal Monarchs, Suzie Edge
Each chapter recounts the death of a king or queen, to the extent that we can understand it based on contemporary reports that were more of a political commentary on the reign rather than a medical summary. I found it interesting.

47. Good morning, Midnight, Jean Rhys
A woman decides to drink herself to death in Paris. Cheap hotels and dodgy men. Intense and bleak.

48. The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Garth Nix
Sequel to book 45. More of the same. Still enjoyed it.

49. The Traitor's Niche, Ismail Kadare
Translated from the Albanian, and set at the time of the Ottoman Empire. It was written in the seventies and reflects the sense of an oppressive state that may turn on you at any point. All the characters seem frozen with dread that they could be next. Not the easiest read but there's an occasional lighter moment and it's atmospheric.

50. Delicacy, Katy Wix
Recommended on here. It's a memoir tied to cake and comfort eating, but not as light-hearted as I expected - the author is very clear about why comfort is needed. There's a lot of grieving going on, for both parents and her best friend. Honest and well-told.

51. Moominsummer Madness, Tove Jansson
I never read these as a child, so I pick them up now and again in charity shops. Pleasurably surreal. The characters are endearingly charitable about each other's flaws. Some irritating gender stereotypes, but it was published in the 1950s. The Moomin family have to abandon their house when it's flooded, but they drift away to a new set of adventure and we know they'll be absolutely fine.

Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict - Elizabeth Day. This is a non-fiction exploration into friendships that I know a few others have read. Some of this resonated e.g the chapter about seeing her close friend not long after the pandemic began, and she writes really well for the most part, but the book is an occasionally rambling mishmash of personal development / memoir / research and felt quite disjointed. She considers herself an empathetic person, but the way she describes some former friends in this book suggest otherwise, and some of the 'good' advice she's picked up from friends who've dealt with former friends I found unhealthy. Additionally, some of the interviews were extraneous or/and tokenistic, so this was a mixed bag for me.

34 The Crossing Places - Elly Griffiths. First of the Dr Ruth Galloway series. I'd previously read The Postscript Murders by the same author, but a different lead character and part of England. Liked this and look forward to reading more.

I'm not usually particularly interested in this type of thriller but I really enjoyed the Ruth Galloway series. Someone must have bought me book one. I think the extra folklore and mythology info added something and was interesting.

You are Here - David Nicholls

I haven't read any David Nicholls before but did watch a few episodes of the latest "One Day" drama adaptation before giving up on it - not my genre. So, I'm perhaps not the target reader. When I started reading this I thought that it would be "chick lit" and confess to not being wowed after a few chapters, but then... the story of Marnie and Michael did actually draw me in and it turned out to be one of those really easy to read books that require no brain power. Very restful.

Marnie is 38 and divorced. Her ever critical husband had an affair, quickly married the other woman, had a child and is now living in domestic bliss. Marnie, on the other hand is frantically working as a freelance copy editor in order to pay the rent and try to keep afloat in a decrepit top floor 1 bed flat in London, Zone 2 Herne Hill and is rather lonely as her female friendships have fallen away as they too have become ensconced in their family lives. Marnie has one good friend left who lives near York and insists that she comes for a few days for part of a group walking holiday in the Lake District. Marnie digs into her savings to pay for the trip and brings along the latest book she is proof reading, an erotic thriller which has a tight deadline. The novel follows the group as some jump ship, they battle the elements and Marnie and Michael (a Geography Teacher who is seperated) back stories are revealed over the course of a few days.

Nice, "cozy slippers" story and skillfully written.

Have just DNF'd Trace of Sun - can't remember when there have been so many duds on the longlist for the Women's Prize

David Nicholls does relationship light reading fluff very well. My favourite is Starter For 10 purely for the cringe factor of being on University Challenge and being caught blatantly cheating

48. Weyward by Emilia Hart

Three women, Kate in 2019 fleeing domestic violence. Violet living under the shadow of her mother's death in the 40s and Altha on trial for witchcraft in 1619; are connected by more than just ancestry.

Whilst this was easy reading and over in two sittings I have to be honest and say it was drivel. None of the timelines worked but especially the 40s which read like a much earlier time. Men who've done women wrong are infested with flies and trampled by cows that sort of thing. Silly and not remotely believable

But now I'm back to the drawing board for something to read AGAIN such a huge TBR and yet can settle to naught

Heads up that the new Jackson Brodie by Kate Atkinson is called Death At The Sign Of The Rook and is out in August, I wasn't keen on Big Sky so we'll see.

I keep seeing people IRL raving about this. I hated it too.

The three timelines made it very surface level, no depth at all. Seen witches done much better by others

108. Death Walks In Mowhall. Benjamin Hanna
     This was listed as medieval fantasy. A hired assassin, known as The Black Death, is hired to kill the ruler of the land. He does. He's then asked to kill the niece who had inherited, but refuses as he thinks she will be a good leader. It was a really short read, especially for a fantasy. But it was good. There was a rather graphic fight scene, which included the brutal murder of a child. The Black Death was a bit like Fagin, only he trained assassins not pickpockets.

109. Corpse In The Chard. Anna A. Armstrong
     A fun cosy mystery set in an English village. The FitzMorris women (granny, mum and daughter) join together to find out who's murdering villagers and dressing them as clowns. Really funny in places. The main characters were great.

110. Green Ray. O.C Heaton
     Book 2 in The Race is On series. I reviewed book 1 (Leap) on my last post. These books are really well written, even a non science person like me can keep up. 6 years after developing the Leap system, and deciding not to release it, Uma is trying to stop the US government getting their hands on it. These books have a kick ass female lead, and a really good grounding in historical events. This one has stuff about 9/11 and Guantanamo Bay.

111. The Weight of What Was. Pip Landers-Lett
     A bold for me. Set over a 20ish year period, it switches between the early 2000s and now. Rupert and Anna are twins. Ru invites Grace to his party where Anna and Grace meet and eventually fall in love. But Grace ends up marrying Ru and we follow them over the next 20 years. A really beautiful sapphic love story.

112. Aria and Liam: The Baker Street Mystery. Coline Monsarrat
     Aimed at 9-12 year olds, this book sees Aria and Liam time travel to 1902 where they have to stop Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from being kidnapped. These books are a fun introduction to history, and its made clear that the bits that are fiction (such as Doyle being kidnapped) are fiction. I'm sure there's mistakes in them from a history pov, like Victorians not knowing what an oven is, but they are fun to read.

I’ve read the sample of Weyward a couple of times, as I keep seeing positive reviews of it in groups I’m in. It just hasn’t grabbed me and I’ve been caught out by inferior Witch Lit too many times before.

Hated it as well and I love a witch story.
Can recommend Hex by jenni Fagan, also Cunning Women (can't remember the author!) and The Manning Tree Witches - A K Blackmore ( I think !!)

Have just finished The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard on Audible. I have read / listened to these countless times. Total comfort reading when life is a bit crap.

I didn't think much of Wayward either. I find it particularly tiresome when the plot hinges on someone writing down all their deepest secrets then hiding the papers for their descendants to find in the future. Pops up as a device surprisingly often.

Agree it's a strange Women's Prize shortlist! I'm still waiting for Enter Ghost at the library but that does seem like a front runner. I'm afraid I really don't rate Kate Grenville at all so surprised to see her book there.

29. Come And Get It by Kylie Reid. Social satire (I think?) following a professor who starts interviewing college students about weddings for a book, then quickly realises their views on money are more interesting and starts covertly observing them to write about their lives. A strange plot. I think Kylie Reid writes great characters and very sharp interactions on class and race, but the story line just felt a bit weird and didn't hold together well.

30. The Hunter by Tana French. Second part in her most recent series about Cal Hooper, an American detective who retires to a small Irish village and, what do you know, keeps stumbling across crimes to solve. In this one, the father of the teenager he befriended in the first returns unexpectedly to try and convince the men that there is gold on their land. Which sets off a chain of dangerous events and people seeking revenge for things that happened in the past. I've no idea how realistic these books are - her Irish village feels about 100 years out of date but maybe that's not too wide of the mark! - but as ever she builds tension and intrigue so well.

29 Giovanni’s Room - James Baldwin

Read following the recommendations on here, so thanks for those. A short, intense and richly lyrical novel that convincingly evokes the gay milieu of 1950s Paris, though I found one or two of the plot points a bit less convincing.

My Favourite Thing - Marian Keyes catches up on the story of Anna Walsh. It was ok, not one of her best.

25. The End of the World is a Cul de Sac: Louise Kennedy.

This is an excellent collection of short stories by the author of Trespasses.
Every story features a woman in difficult circumstances and the stories are mostly told from the woman's point of view. The quality of writing is excellent and it would be difficult to choose a favourite one as all fifteen stories are very good. The quality is consistent across the book. Kennedy's gaze is critical, unflinching and very sharp. Recommended if you feel up to a challenging read. I had to pace myself with one story at a time.

Otherwise, I have read my installment of Nicholas Nickleby which was quite long but very engaging. I'm reading a book in Italian at snail's pace. What would normally take me four days to read is taking four weeks :) I have also started Saplings by Noel Streatfeild for The Rather Dated Book Club which is good so far. * *