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?

@AgualusasLover did you win an auction or something? I’ve always loved the idea of winning a prize like that!

@PepeLePew yes, I thought it was great. Really shocking characters and behaviour all round. I would like to read the author’s book about (illegal) drug barons too.

Trading Game sounds excellent… I will put on my wish list as my To Read pile is extensive 😀

15. Wifedom by Anna Funder
Bought when it was on the deals at the end of March, many thanks all as it might have taken me years to get to it otherwise, and it's excellent. A biography of Eileen Blair, George Orwell's first wife, but completed to show how she was eliminated from his writing and his biographies despite her significant presence and in the case of Animal Farm, her likely heavy collaboration in the writing.

I was swept along by the detective work and the results, and the feminist scholarship (could have done with a bit more of that tbh). I did feel that she missed one possibility in Orwell's writing, which is that Eileen might have asked to be taken out of the picture. I'm sure Funder would has been able to knock that one down, but I think it's a definite possibility. However, it doesn't affect the biographies; Funder shows how they follow Orwell in wiping Eileen out, to stunning effect.

River East, River West - Aube Ray Escure - another Women's prize fiction longlister. Dual timeline story which explores the complexity of cultural identity in China; a longing for the West compared to the behaviour of the expat community and more.
This was accessible and well written but I found it wholly depressing. I can see this might well make the shortlist but it is Tier2 for me.

I decided to restart Giving Up The Ghost as I started it months ago and got stuck. Have whizzed through the first two parts.

24 Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

The work of a master literary craftsman, this also packs an emotional sucker punch, even though Baldwin tells you what's going to happen right from the start. David's life begins to go off the rails after he sleeps with another man. Fearing himself, he flees America for Paris, where he acquires a girlfriend and a fine line in denial of his sexuality. The book takes place over a short period from the first meeting between David and Giovanni, and the day of Giovanni's execution for murder. The descriptions of Paris are so vivid that reading the novel is like watching a film, but what this book is really about is the incomparable excitement and shame of falling in love with someone you - and society - feel you shouldn't fall in love with. I don't think I've seen it done better.

It's a stunner, isn't it?

I haven't been able to bring myself anything else by Baldwin yet, because I know it will be so devastating in its brilliance.

It really is a fabulous book and it may well be in my top 10 books. I would also highly recommend If Beale Street Could Talk and I have Another Country lined up to read.

@Welshwabbit I loved Giovanni’s Room- it made my top reads of last year. I read If Beale Street Could Talk last month too and like @TattiePants I would highly recommend it- it’s very different from GR but still excellent.

I have joined other 50 bookers in DNFing All That she Carried - to me there was nothing new that drew me in enough to get me past the writing style (albeit on audio). I may try again in a month or two.

60 Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead- Olga Tokarczuk
This has been much reviewed here and I’m very late to the party. Janina is a bit of a loner, living on a mountain on the border between Poland and the (at the time) Czech Republic. Her life is mainly concerned with animals, astrology and to a degree with her local community. The book starts with the death of her neighbour and develops into a murder mystery but describing it as that alone does the book a disservice. Janina’s voice is strong and acerbic but somewhat lovable despite her curmudgeonliness. Explores a gazillion big themes. I loved this. A definite bold.

61 Restless Dolly Maunder- Kate Grenville
Dull Dolly Maunder is more like it. This was a yawn fest. The story of Dolly (Grenville’s grandmother) and her desire to make something of herself in late 19th and early 20th century Australia. It covers life, love, marriage, motherhood, wealth, poverty, the Depression, the world wars and never once does any real emotion creep in. The story is told to us as if she was going through her family photos with us- she did this, then she did that etc. I can’t imagine how this is of any interest to anyone outside Grenville‘s family and have no idea how it was longlisted for the WP.

I am really questioning this list this year. There have been some really good reads but they are few and far between. Do all the judges have to agree on the longlist? I can’t see how 5/6 readers agreed this (or Blue Beautiful World, The Wren, The Wren or The Maiden were anywhere near good enough. I am persevering though and have now moved on to And then she Fell and listening to How to say Bablylon. Also reading Bel Canto

Apologies for disrupting the serious discussion, but one of the female characters in my book has just been described, “Climbing atop his huge gelding” as she mounts one of the king’s horses.

It’s YA and I can’t quite tell if the writer has done this as deliberate innuendo or not, but felt the moment needed to be acknowledged somehow.

And here it is.

Excellent! 🐎

Late to the new thread so I won’t bring my rather short list over.

I’ve just finished my number 12 - A tomb with a view - Peter Ross

Thank you so much everyone who recommended this, I’d never have come across it or picked it up otherwise. It was absolutely wonderful, so many fascinating stories and such a thoughtful and ultimately uplifting exploration of the subject matter. It took me a long time to read, partly as I always read non-fiction more slowly, but also because it sent me on so many rabbit holes of looking things up and bookmarking things I want to know more about. This is my favourite thing I’ve read so far this year.

I could do with some good, quick read recommendations now though as I’m pretty behind my target! Fiction ideally.

@AliasGrape I find Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie books quick and gripping. Or anything by Lisa Jewell.

This one is in the Kindle 99p deals right now

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-She-Disappeared-Lisa-Jewell-ebook/dp/B08MX7KPMS

@AliasGrape have you read Ghost Wall? That was good and really short.

19. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn I recently watched the first series of Bridgerton so thought I'd read the book too. Book 1 follows Daphne Bridgerton and her fake courtship with the Duke of Hastings. It was interesting to see what changes they made between the book and the series whilst keeping the key scenes between Daphne and Hastings. It's obviously all historical fluff but it killed a couple of evenings when I didn't want to concentrate on anything that required brain power. I would read the rest if they're 99p but won't pay full price for any of them

Another one struggling with reading at the moment. I can’t settle to anything and have been struck down with a seemingly-endless virus thing which has destroyed my concentration. But I’ve waded through:

24. The Making of Home - Judith Flanders

I'm a big fan of JF and her The Victorian House is one of my favourite non-fiction books ever, but gosh, this was hard work. Possibly it was down to my own concentration issues at the moment, but I just could not get into this. It should have been right up my street - a history of 'how houses became homes' - but it covers a span of 500 years, feels simultaneously dry and waffly, and jumps from one time-period to another in the space of a sentence. It also veers from the UK to the Netherlands and the USA (with the occasional detour to France and Germany) so felt very diffuse, never quite settling anywhere. It could just be a function of the very broad subject-matter, I suppose, because her previous books have been enthralling, but the 'voice' she found for her other books that made them so fascinating seems to be absent here. With regret, I’m not counting this a success.

Latest reads. A rather eclectic mix.

36. The Rector's Daughter, F M Mayor
Published in 1924. The titular character is in love with someone but can't do anything about it. I was less interested in the main character and more in the world around her - her elderly father maintains the late Victorian atmosphere of his youth; her friends are a family of unmarried sisters who bustle around, enjoyably dedicated to their causes; we see a marriage between two unsuited people which, against all odds, flowers into a genuine and lasting love match. The foregrounded story is painful but there are things to enjoy here too.

37. The Great North Road, Steve Silk
A non-fiction account of a bike ride from London to Edinburgh. Not remarkable either for sporting prowess or literary polish, but I'm longing to go on a substantial bike ride, and can't right now, so reading about it is second best.

38. Piglet, Lottie Hazell
Already read by quite a few on here. Piglet is about to get married when her fiance reveals something that brings all her doubts to the fore. She is questioning the glossy life she has created, and only food offers comfort. This isn't a novel that wears its themes lightly - the scene when her family are trying to stuff her into a too-small wedding dress was particularly unsubtle (and agonisingly real). I found it very resonant and thought about it quite a lot.

39. Why I'm not a Millionaire, Nancy Spain
Memoir of her life, first as a Wren in World War II, then as a journalist, writer and broadcaster. Lots of joyous name-dropping, although not all are still well-known. Not the best written piece ever, but she has a bouncy quality that I find engaging.

40. The Neanderthals: The History of the Extinct Humans who were Contemporaries of Homo Sapiens, Charles Rivers Eds
Short workmanlike summary of current knowledge.

41. Q's Legacy, by Helene Hanff
Someone mentioned this on the last thread - apologies, can't remember who. I scrolled back a few pages and couldn't find it. This is very much a companion piece to 84 Charing Cross Road, telling us more about her previous writing career (she considered herself a failure until the publication of that book) and her enjoyment of her ensuing fame.

42. A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, Samuel Johnson
One moment I was think about cycling the Hebridean Way, and the next, I though "Ah, I should read Dr Johnson's account of his trip 250 years ago". I love books. This was an easier read than I expected - at the start, as they make their way from Edinburgh to St Andrews, it's like a parent doing a tour of university open days, commenting on the cost of living in various spots. They eventually make it to the Highlands and Western Isle. A few decades after Culloden, they're seeing the end of the old way of life. As someone who was exposed to rather too much romanticism around the Celtic Twilight (Irish flavour) in my schooldays - there was a lot of Yeats - I found his lack of romanticism on the subject rather bracing. It's all very well a chieftain being able to summon his clan, but he thinks there's a lot to be said for a world where you can walk into a shop and buy waterproof shoes. I have Boswell's account of the same trip (free on Kindle) to follow.

12. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

A nurse helps her sister cover up the deaths of her lovers and starts to suspect it wasn't self defence.

I really enjoyed this. We read it for book club and almost everyone else hated it. I really liked the ending.

13. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

A publisher is trying to find the last chapter of her recently deceased star authors unpublished novel. Then we are presented with the unpublished novel which borrows heavily from Poirot.

I enjoyed this. The novel within a novel format was sufficiently original to let the author write a Christie homage.

14. North Woods by Daniel Mason

This follow a house in the woods in New England over centuries. The story is told by lots of different protagonists and in lots of different formats including letters and articles.

I adored this. Thank you for the recommendation on here. This was like nothing I'd read before. I loved how the past lives influenced the future. It was very cleverly plotted. The illustrations didn't show up well on my old kindle so I'm going to try and get a paper version as it's one I want to reread to see if I can find more of the connections. Anyone read his other books?

Thanks @SheilaFentiman - I read a collection of Val McDermid's short stories last year and really didn't enjoy them so was a bit put off, but I know that there's a lot of people who enjoy her various series so perhaps it's worth another go.

Thanks also @StrangewaysHereWeCome - no I haven't and I have enjoyed the two Sarah Moss books I've read so I will give that a go too.

Edit - realised I've actually read 3 of Sarah Moss' books - I was forgetting the most recent one of hers I'd read which was Bodies of Light and wasn't my favourite though can't say it was bad. Other two were Summerwater which was great, and The Fell which I also enjoyed. I have Night Waking on my kindle waiting but as I have a nearly 4 year old who has still not slept through a night in her life I feel like I'm not far enough away from the subject matter to be able to enjoy it yet!

Also in a bit of a slump and abandoning books I've waited ages for at the library with barely a glance back. I've been picking up easy reads from a long established series that I know will be easy to get lost in.

Death in the Tiber (Flavia Albia 12) - Lyndsey Davies
More ancient Roman sleuthing from the female PI. Same old fare and a delight to retreat to.

Dirty Linen: The Troubles in My Home Place - Martin Doyle
Book editor of the Irish Times recounts his youth and the effects of The Troubles in the small rural parish where he grew up. He'd previously written about his experiences as newspaper articles and this felt like an over bloated filler job to flesh it out into a book. Not a patch on Say Nothing by PRK.

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl – I do feel quite bereft! Have you read the Alexander Seaton set? The first one is on my TBR pile. I’d also recommend the standalone The Bookkeeper of Inverness

@BarbaraBuncle – sorry to hear that 💐

@BlueFairyBugsBooks – I didn’t see your review for Mrs Quinn’s Rise To Fame. What did you think? I thought the blurb was interesting.

@KindaNormal – welcome! What did you think of 1989? Fair to say it was not well received on these threads and I have loved everything else by VMc

@PepeLePew – nice haul!!

@AliasGrape – how about How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie. Quick, silly and satisfying!

24 A Treachery of Spies - Manda Scott. I think its been reviewed on here before. I usually enjoy books that have a dual timelines, but this didnt sit so well with me. I was far more interested in the 1940s timeline than the contemporary one. I dont know if it was because I didnt really care about the contemporary characters. The cop was quite one dimensional, whereas the 1940s characters were much better. Maybe my concentration wasnt up to the job. There were also loads of characters. I think I will re-read this in a year or so and make notes about who everyone is! I'm interested to read more from Manda Scott.

We're heading off on holiday tomorrow, so I'm taking the perfect beach book IMHO and that is Tackle by Jilly Cooper and will be listening to Murder Most Royal by SJ Bennett on Audible (SJ Bennett might be worth looking into @AliasGrape ? Quick and silly. I love the books Cosy Crime, I believe its now called lol) while plodding through Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville. Heavy going and needs to be just a chapter at a time.

@satelliteheart At risk of lowering the tone of the thread yet again, how on earth did you manage to get through the moment when he, “Tickled her sheath” without commenting on it? I’m still scarred by it.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I debated mentioning that in my review but decided to leave it out. I actually stopped reading at that line and spent several minutes trying to work out what the fuck the author was playing at. I wondered if she'd gone rogue with a thesaurus or if she genuinely felt that was a legitimate sentence to write. Definitely a truly unforgettable sentence and not in a good way