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?

The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan A friend recommended this book about a circle of 20-something high-achievers where everyone is everyone’s ex and 2 are getting married as laugh-out-loud funny. I did find it entertaining at first but then tired of it, the characters were more interested in themselves than I was and I didn’t much care whether they would make it to the aisle or not.

Oh that's a good idea. Can you do it automatically or do you need to flip through to find the right place? I can't even put my finger on what I'm not loving about Enter Ghost.

21 The Hike - Lucy Clarke A decent thriller - I’ll definitely read more by Clarke. Four friends in their 30s meet up for their annual holiday together - this time, a four-day hike in the Norwegian mountains, a big change from their usual beach getaways. Their lives have taken very different paths since their schooldays together, but each of them has a deep need to spend some time with their oldest friends. But the trip doesn’t run smoothly and from the prologue we know that a body will be found on the mountain they are climbing…

@Kinsters it's a bit annoying. My Kindle knows where I am in the audible but it doesn't seem to work vice versa, so you do have to skip forward a bit when you start listening. It's easier if you're at the start of a chapter.

Don't know if others have the same issue!

I had a total Lucy Clarke binge when I was ill on holiday over Xmas. She’s very good.

Shirley Conran, writer of the feminist bonkbuster Lace died yesterday aged 91. There's a sharetoken for the excellent Times obituary on the thread here.

46 If I Am Missing Or Dead… - Janine Latus
The blurb suggested this book was about Janine’s sister Amy who is killed by her partner and she leaves a note suggesting they question him if she goes missing. However, it is all about Janine and her abusive relationship with very little mention of the sister. This is a true story and I found it an okay read but it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be about.

47 13 Reasons Why - Jay Asher
Hannah has committed suicide and left audio tapes for 13 different people to listen to explaining the role they played in her death. I watched the Netflix show when it first came out so I had an idea of what this was about and it has stuck very closely to the story. Easy read.

Seems like Audible are doing a new version of the Harry Potter series as a full cast recording many don't like Stephen Fry's version so I thought this was interesting

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit that is interesting. When my DC were young they generally preferred dramatized books on tapes/CD. An exception was Tim Curry reading the Lemony Snicket books but then the author decided he would record the books himself -such vanity! and a terrible result. Stephen Fry reading HP was useful for getting my DC off to sleep.

Off topic, but also interesting (to me at least) was news I read that Lauren Groff (The Matrix, The Vaster Wilds) has opened a book shop in Florida to counteract how many books are being "challenged" or disallowed on library shelves in the State. A shop is not the same as being able to read a library book for free but Groff is receiving donations to fund give aways. Worrying times in the US- some of the frequently "challenged" books includeThe Handmaid's Tale and Toni Morrison's Beloved. Several female authors seem to own bookshops in the US (e.g. Judy Blume, Ann Patchett)
Not sure if the link will work (paywall)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/10/books/lauren-groff-bookstore-lynx.html?unlocked_article_code=1.q00.5-TR.ZsPYVX1A0Rer&smid=url-share
Rise in title targeted for censorship in US libraries:
https://www.ala.org/news/2024/03/american-library-association-reports-record-number-unique-book-titles

Thanks for sharing that, @JaninaDuszejko. I loved Lace as a teenager and must have read it at least five times. I reread it recently and it was as entertaining as ever. I also love her "life's too short to stuff a mushroom" quote which I trot out when I find myself spending time on pointless trad-wife style nonsense because I think I should.

Good to hear you like them! I’ve got another on reserve from the library and will look out for more 99p deals too 😊

Yay!

Don't accidentally buy the version of A Single Breath that is split into 3 parts, though. My Kindle kept trying to persuade me it was 3 new books, rather than one I had already read!

44 Triptych - Karin Slaughter

After reading the 11th in the Will Trent series, the obvious thing to do was read the first :>

Not a bold, but a good read. Told from a couple of viewpoints, including the cops trying to solve the case and the recently released prisoner convicted 20+ years ago. The convict was well developed as a character.

Going to take a little break from rape and murder now...

35 Lucifer Book 4 - Mike Carey

Penultimate volume of the graphic novel series, and I think the weakest so far- a lot of disparate storylines to be brought together ready for the finale, and more of the side characters that I’m not so interested in. But still looking forward to finishing the story.

119. Mask of the Gods. Karen Furk
     This is the first in The Mask Chronicles and as such there's a lot of world building. Including chosen ones, riders and warriors. Set partly on earth, partly in the realm of the fae, and partly in the realm of the Gods. Teenage Haydan is somehow linked to the mysterious Mask of the Gods.

120. The Rutland Connection. Michael Dane The first of the Frank McBride crime series. Set in England. Frank works for the Customs department in Rutland the 90s. Kind of what you'd expect for that Genre, but really very good. It also features a drug smidgen Grandad!

121. Murder On The Isle. Anna. A. Armstrong Book 2 in the series about the FitzMorris ladies. (Book 1 was Corpse In the Chard). To recover from finding dead bodies in the village, the FitzMorris ladies decide to have a peaceful holiday on the island of Blom. But of course more dead bodies turn up, implicating them once again. Thoroughly enjoyable cosy murder mystery.

122. Fall From Grace. Alan Feldberg
     A bold for me. Told in the first person, in short punchy sentences the writing style isn't for everyone. Adrian appears to have it all, a good job, a wife and child. And then it all falls apart. He walks out of his job, his wife kicks him out, and then he somehow ends up with only his dead neighbours body for company. Honestly i can't explain it, but it was so good.

123. The Photograph. Diane Clarke
     Caryl was evacuated in WW2 and subsequently adopted, shes covinced she had a brother but her adoptive Mum says she didn't. A lot of investigation leads to a lifetime of lies.

124. Wolf's Prize. K.E Turner
     The sequel to Wolf's Keep. Werewolves in 10th Century France.

125. Courting The Sun. Peggy Joque Williams Set in the Court of The Sun King (Louis XIV). Sylvienne is summoned to court by the King from her home in Amiens. Life in court isn't what she expected! I can't vouch for the historical accuracy (although the author does have a short explanation at the end about which characters are or aren't real) but it really enjoyed it.

@CuttingAllTheFlowersStill is that definitely for us? 😁

Thanks for all the Jonathan Strange feedback. I have put it aside to read something else but it's not a DNF. Yet. I think I will give it a try when I am on a holiday, I think it might be a good plane book.

Thanks for that link @JaninaDuszejko . I also loved Lace but didn't know about her feminism which is great.

Iconic first line "Which one of you bitches is my mother?"

No sorry! I have reported!!

Also really interesting article about bookshops @SapatSea . Louise Eldritch has one too.

If you haven't seen it, the Judy Blume documentary which is on Prime talks about this a bit.

Life is hectic but have been finding a little time to read - and keep up with the thread. Latest (concise!) reviews:
14. The village by the sea – Anita Desai
I grabbed this from my bookshelf before a train journey – and rapidly discovered it’s a children’s book (well YA anyway). I’ve enjoyed previous novels by this author, and this was quite a ‘gentle’ introduction to the poverty and deprivation that many Indian families battle daily. It kept me reading as I really wanted to know what would happen to Hari and his family. Recommended for age 12+ I’d say.

15. Soldier, Sailor – Claire Kilroy
Much reviewed and generally liked or loved on this thread. I wasn’t blown away by it in the way I expected to be – simply because it made me feel so very sad and frustrated! Young mothers (and indeed fathers, but not THIS one!) need so much support and it’s heartbreaking how many are not getting it. When will motherhood, with all its trials, tribulations and triumphs be given the recognition it deserves?

16. Sober curious – Ruby Warrington
As the italics imply, I did NOT like this. Probably should have DNF’d it. Way too preachy and woo for me – sadly, listening to her actually made me want a strong drink!!

Just read The Turnglass which is a book using the conceit of a tete beche. That is - two books in one . Read one, turn it over and read back to the middle. The two tales interlink and one unlock the other. It's clever, if a little contrived.

Both are murder mysteries. As I imagine most do, I began with the Victorian set tale and then read the 1929 story. The Victorian one was better. Both were a bit silly and I saw the conclusion of the 1939 one a mile off. It was contrived and the American setting added nothing, I thought. I assume Rubin did this to write in a noir style. It is a bit 'MA Creative Writing'!

I genuinely can't imagine reading it the other way round now! Because of the concept, it is a page turner (literally!)

The blurb has praise from Janice Hallett and Stuart Turton and Rubin is in that vein and also a bit reminiscent of Horowitz's mystery writing. It's better than Hallett though and less accomplished than Horowitz.

36 Lucifer Book 5 - Mike Carey

After a slightly underwhelming fourth volume, this was brilliantly back on form for the conclusion to the brilliant Sandman spinoff series, resolving the many story arcs in an epic, moving and thoroughly satisfying way. Really recommend this series to Sandman fans.

30. Mail Obsession - Mark Mason

The author sets himself the goal to find a trivial fact about each of the postcode areas in the UK. He undertakes road/rail trips to do so, meeting eccentric characters and uncovering bizarre stories on the way, culminating in a trip to the furthest house in the UK that a letter can be sent to. I found it a slightly scattergun approach but the book was a pleasant enough distraction.

The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald

A fictionalised version of the relationship between the German writer Novalis and Sophie von Kühn who was just 12 when they first met. Novalis wrote in fragments and this novel has 55 short chapters that copy this style and describe fragments of his life. As a result the book feels very immediate and intimate.