50 Books Challenge 2024 Part Five

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fifth 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.

Some of us bring over to the new thread lists of the books we've read so far, but again - this is your choice.

The first thread is here, the second one here , the third one here and the fourth one here

What are you reading?

Hello Remus, nice to see you. Hope the end of term does the trick!

41. The Misbegotten by Katherine Webb No idea when/why I bought this but it's been on my Kindle for ages. Multi-timeline novel that jumps around following Starling, a vagrant child who is taken in by Alice Beckwith and her housekeeper, Bridget in 1803. Starling has no memory of where she came from or how old she is but her body is covered in scars. Alice adopts her as a "sister" and Bridget trains her to be a domestic servant.

In 1821, Rachel Weekes is newly married and living in Bath with her husband when Starling spots her and feels she has an uncanny resemblance to Alice, who has since vanished. Due to Starling's machinations, Rachel gets pulled into the lives of the Alleyns, the family who supported Alice and who Starling now works for, believing they know more about Alice's disappearance than they've let on. The story jumps around in time while Starling and Rachel try to work out what happened to Alice

This was good, the characters were well developed and I liked the way the story gradually unfolded up to the final reveal

Morning @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I was worrying about you! Hope your reading mojo returns with the end of term.

Hallo Remus - roll on the summer holidays.

The salt path was remarkably annoying. I just felt she was insanely entitled, and I’m amazed the way she spoke about homeless people (given she was homeless) got past a proof reader.
On with 18 - Damaged by Cathy Glass
Not really my sort of thing on paper. But interesting and very sad. Does lack some development of some bit parts, I get it’s a memoir but some of the other parties are a bit 1 dimensional, ie one social worker, salt of the earth and perfect in every imaginable way, the other dim and useless with no redeeming features at all.
Still a fairly engaging read

That's the school holidays started here (west of Scotland), hope all the teachers among you have nice plans to relax and recharge whenever you stop, with your plans including lots of time to read.

3 weeks and 1 day to go here. Not that I’m counting of course

Remus Hope the reading mojo returns. Last day in school for me tomorrow (NI). Hope the last few weeks don’t drag for English colleagues.

Big Beacon - Alan Partridge. The third memoir from Alan and in which he recounts his attempt at acquiring a lighthouse and what's been happening in other areas of his life since his previous book was published in 2016. I found the lighthouse renovation content tedious, but I laughed out loud many times so I'd tentatively recommend this.

28. Potiki by Patricia Grace

The next few books I have been reading are in anticipation of an OU module I am starting in October. This was about a group of Maori whose home is under threat by local developers. Beautifully written, in particular with the idea that people are the land and the land is people.

29. The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead

Another OU module text. Described as a series of essays, I would describe this more as prose poetry. It doesn’t have a story as such but is more a series of impressions detailing arrival in New York and then various aspects of New York life such as commuting or going to different boroughs. Interesting and will be good to study but as a read purely for enjoyment it was a bit of a slog!

30. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

OU again! I did enjoy this but found I had to drag myself back to it every time and wasn’t particularly bothered about any of the characters. A story of intertwined lives in North London from the 70s to the 90s with ideas of identity, race and cultural clashes. I did think the writing was very funny and laughed out loud a few times but didn’t love it.

31. Happy Place by Emily Henry

Easy reliable holiday read. A woman goes on a hen weekend with friends and through convoluted reasons her ex partner is there. They were just terrible at communicating and are still in love and take most of the book to sort it all out. They all lived happily ever after. Well enough written to be engaging. Like a good Christmas movie.

32. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

I think this must have come up as a suggestion for me on kindle. Nominated for the 2024 Arthur C Clarke sci-fi award. This was very good indeed. Set in the near future, a sentient AI has been created and exiled to an island. A scientist moves to the island to study some octopuses that are showing signs of commuication and intelligence. I felt this had all the best attributes of thoughtful speculative sci-fi- some plausible science and some ‘Black Mirror’ like questions about technology and ethics of AI. Very much worth a read.

33. Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

Harris spins a good yarn and this is no exception. The signators of the death warrant of Charles I are on the run in the colonies of New England pursued by a zealous Royalist. I hate graphic descriptions of torture and execution (Harris and Ken Follet are lovers of a gory execution) and so I skimmed those bits! Otherwise this was engaging and well told. I recently visited Oliver Cromwell’s House in Ely so the details come to life very nicely.

I’m not feeling hugely inspired to read currently- that said my 15yo son and I share an audible account and he was keen to get the new Ruth Ware. I started listening to Zero Days at about 8am this morning and am already halfway through. I like it when a thriller draws me in so much.

Over 6 months into 2024 but I’d like to join you all please. I’ve been on these threads years ago but on and off over the last few years (with gaps in between). I struggle to keep up with the thread and am not great at book reviews!
I read a lot but have gone off the boil in recent years due to “life issues”. Life is turning around again and I’m ready to try again.
Goodness knows how many I’ve read this year so far – I always have a book or two on the go – so I’ve just listed the last few that are still sitting on the side to be put away 😊. I will set my goal at 30 until year end
So in no order:
1.Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver: much reviewed I guess. I loved it although I thought it did drag for a while in the middle. Enjoyed the David Copperfield references too.

2.My Fathers House – Joseph O’Connor September 1943 when German forces occupy Rome. Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish priest, dedicates himself to helping those escaping from the Nazis hiding the vulnerable under the noses of the enemy. The story follows the weeks preceding an “operation” /escape line although the reader is unsure what the operation actually entails. Rather like it would have been I guess when you only knew your role in it. The story is narrated in turn by each character The characters, real sense of the Rome landscape and a heightening of tension made it an enjoyable read.

3.So Late In The Day – Claire Keegan - Enjoyed this short story. It follows Cathal who faces into the long weekend and takes the bus home. There, his mind agitates over a woman named Sabine with whom he could have spent his life, had he acted differently. Short snapshots of Cathal’s life tell us why he is like he is. A study in misogyny. Attitudes are learned. Not my favourite of hers by a long way

4.Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan - My first introduction to Claire Keegan and I loved this book! Set in 1985, in an Irish town just before Christmas. We are introduced to Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, who faces his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

5.Bournville – Jonathan Coe - always enjoy his books. Four generations of a family, set in the suburb of Bournville and in the beginning, the Bournville factory. Set around 7 key moments in recent history it captures how they lived then and the way they live now. Great read although I did loose track of some of the characters at times!

6.Something to Hide – Elizabeth George I do enjoy an Inspector Lynley Mystery. Run of the mill crime drama. There are loads in the series, but I’ve read them all out of order. I’ve not actually finished this one yet as I put it aside to start my next book (Book Group Read)

Currently reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - and have enjoyed it from the first page. It’s about four generations of a Korean family living in Japan. I’m immersed in this book!

I have a huge TR pile but I'm sure I'll be adding to it joining this thread :)

Welcome @Sonnet
I’ve had My Father’s House for ages but have t got around to reading it. Will move it up my tbr after that review. Completely agree with you on Demon Coperhead

@ÚlldemoShúl thank you :)

@elspethmcgillicudddy - I've also read Act of Oblivion earlier this year. The first Harris I've ever read. Great story! I have another of his on my TR pile, can't think of the name though, about a monk I seem to remember.

I’ve been flitting between books like a moth. Nothing seems right somehow. I think it’s “The Bee Sting Effect”

Anyway, managed the following:

41 Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley
An ARC from the publisher. It follows the eponymous valley through time, shot through with unease and folk horror. Recommend for when it’s released in Autumn.

42 Male Tears by Ben Myers
Superb collection of stories that I’ve been stringing out for a while so I didn’t get through them too quickly. My favourites are Hunters In The Snow and The Bell, the latter being about a group of men carrying a commissioned bell along Hadrian’s Wall, unaware that the Romans have given up and fucked off.

43 The Mess We’re In by Annie Macmanus
Sweet little coming of age novel (as long as your definition of ‘sweet’ includes drugs, alcohol and loose men). Nothing much happens but it brings to life the 90s and the pain of trying to make your way in the music world if you’re female.

Welcome back @Sonnet 🙂

Forgot to add in my review of the Alan Partridge book that he (rather hilariously) mentions Mumsnet.

Welcome back @Sonnet I loved Pachinko as well!

Thanks @Southeastdweller and @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

have you read any others by Min Jin Lee @EineReiseDurchDieZeit I’m keen to read more by her

53 A Faint Cold Fear - Karin Slaughter

Another Grant County book about Sara Linton. Can be summed up with “Lena’s in trouble. Must be Tuesday.”

54 Medea - Rosie Hewlett

A retelling of Medea’s story (she who fled her family to be with Jason and his Argonauts). Medea is a natural sorceresss who is buffeted by family and Fate, and makes fateful choices. She does evil deeds - this novelisation gets under the skin of why. A bold.

Welcome back @Sonnet.

28 A Tomb With A View by Peter Ross. Non fiction about various burial grounds in the UK. I know that several of you have loved this, but I found it a bit of a slog. I much preferred Smoke Gets in your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty - I guess I find cremations more interesting than graveyards!

29 The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. The four Gold siblings go to a fortune teller when they are children and are each told the date on which they will die. How will the prediction affect the way they live their lives? This was an undemanding read that flowed along nicely.

30 Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer. Lia is 43 and has cancer. She also has a gentle husband, a daughter navigating the transition to secondary school, a difficult relationship with her mother, a complicated ex and a loyal old friend, and her story is about these relationships as much as her struggle with the disease. This is somewhat experimental (eg with cancer as one of the characters) and I had a few "wtf is going on?" moments, but the writing is beautiful and overall I thought it was superb. @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I am going to tentatively recommend this to you as something a bit different that might get you out of your reading slump?

Welcome back Sonnet - I remember you from a while ago. I haven't been a very regular contributor myself over the last few years .. life has been rather challenging and at those times I tend to turn to crime novels which don't make for very interesting reviews. I do take time to write about books that have made a real impression though, and hopefully there'll be more of those soon.

And hi Remus, sounds like we are both in a bit of a reading slump at the moment. I'm being distracted by all the election stuff too. Having said that, however, I am in the middle of Airhead by Emily Maitlis and that's proving to be an entertaining read.

Sonnet thanks for your review of My Father's House. It sounds like just my sort of thing and I very much enjoyed Star of the Sea by the same author when I read it years ago, so it's gone on the TBR list. And you've reminded me that Pachinko is also due a reread.

@Sonnet

No I haven't read anything else by her I would though. The TV adaption of Pachinko on Apple TV is good as well, get a free trial if you can

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

Missed your post, good to see you, I'm in a similar boat, can't read a thing, audiobooks only, I really can't understand it.

42. Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television by Louis Theroux This is Theroux's memoir which I bought for dh a few years ago and he never read so I thought I'd give it a go. It took a while to get going and I found the beginning of his life and career a bit dull. But it picked up once he became more successful. The book seemed to mirror the flourishing of his career, starting off uncertain and a bit lost and getting progressively better as he hit his stride and found his niche. He doesn't take himself seriously at all and seems genuinely surprised by his success and fame. I especially liked the very casual way he mentioned a family dinner with "Jen" (Jennifer Aniston who was in a relationship with his cousin). He could have gone into major name dropping and bigging up his friendships with celebrities but he doesn't do this at all.

I also thought he handled the Jimmy Savile topic very well. He's very open and honest about his struggles to reconcile the man he got to know with the abominable acts that came to light after his death and he doesn't shy away from his friendship, pretending he barely knew him, like a lot of people did after the revelations. He's also honest about his own sense of failure at not uncovering any inkling of Savile's true nature during his documentary and clearly feels it's a professional failing on his part

@satelliteheart

I thought he was OBSESSED with Savile to the detriment of the book

I have now finished Broken Light. Harris did eventually stop using the word dopamine but not hot flash. Not for me, this one. Preachy and didactic, as previously reported and , also, magic realism. I don't really like magic realism in most writers' hands.

Harris has struggled with various conflicts recently and various fall outs (and I have always been TeamJoH)- but she does rather tediously and overtly project those into her book . This seems to be a trend. Please stop, writers. It's not about you.

Waves at @highlandcoo - I did enjoy our chat at the 50 Bookers meet-up. Hope the challenges aren’t proving insurmountable.