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?

I've added Clear to my wishlist @ÚlldemoShúl

@Stowickthevast

I haven't read them all, but Wifedom was really good

@Stowickthevast hope you enjoy it. Will look forward to your review whenever you get to it.
WP non-fix longlist, my favourites were:
Young Queens- about Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine de Medici and Elisabeth de Valois and their relationships with one another.
Intervals- about the daughter of a woman who chooses to end her life due to medical reasons- this is a tough read- be warned!
How to Say Babylon- a memoir of growing up Rastafarian in Jamaica by a successful poet now living in the US.

I haven’t read all either. I must get to Wifedom soon Eine

I really liked Doppelganger and I think it'd make a good book club book with lots to discuss. From the longlist, Shadows at Noon was excellent, but it's a bit of a commitment, so depends if your club likes long serious books.

51 Liverpool Miss - Helen Forrester
52 By the waters of Liverpool - Helen Forrester
53 Lime Street at Two - Helen Forrester
Just got on a roll and carried on with the series. This follows Helen and her family through the end of WW2. It doesn’t have the impact of the first one, but is still shocking and frustrating at times.

I don't think I can do another woman dying book as the last one I chose was Maps Of Our Spectacular Bodies which quite a few found too intense!

Not sure about long either but Doppelganger, Wifedom & Babylon all sound good.

@Stowickthevast My favourite has been Thunderclap (it's also already won the Folio prize) but Wifedom was great too and might elicit more discussion.
HTSBabylon left quite a bad taste in my mouth tbh but that may be no bad thing if your bookgroup enjoys a bunfight 😁It is heavy on the abuse and grimness though.

99p Kindle deal at the moment.

Thanks RomanMum

Ooh thanks @Mothership4two i have got that deal!

Updating my list.
I am afraid I totally fell off the last thread as there has been so much life stuff going on and I've been struggling.
No bolds since Cuddy

1	 The familiars - Stacey Hall
2	Prophet song- Paul Lynch
3	Wintering - Katherine May
4	Giving up the Ghost - Hilary Mantel 
5	Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett 
6	Fifteen wild Decembers - Karen Powell 
7	Politics on the edge - Rory Stewart 
8	The Amber Fury - Natalie Haynes 
9	Witchcraft : A history in 13 trials - Marion Gibson 
10	Christ on a bike - Orla Owen 

11 The Glutton- A.K. Blakemore
12 Confinement- Jessica A Cox
13 On Beauty - Zadie Smith
14 mist over Pendle - Robert Neill
15 A spell of good things- Ayobami Adebayo
16 Write a great synopsis- Nicola Morgan
17 Wahala - Nikki May
18 Dear Agent - Nicola Morgan
19 Tom Lake - Ann Patchett
20 After you’ve gone - Maggie O’Farrell
21 Instructions for a heatwave- Maggie O’Farrell
22 The shepherds life - James Rebanks
23 Lobster - Hollie McNish
24 Dark Pines - Will Dean
25 The Rachel Incident - Caroline O’Don
26 Solider , Sailor - claire Kilroy
27 The Wren The Wren - Anne Enright
28 Restless Dolly Maunder - Kate Grenville
29 Ordinary Human Failings - Megan Nolan
30 The maiden - Kate Foster
31 Gillespie and I - Jane Harris
32 Western Lane - Chetna Maroo
33 And then she fell - Alicia Elliott
34 This much is true - Miriam Margolyes
35 Thunderclap - Laura Cummings
36 8 lives of a Century Old Trickster - Mirinae Lee
37 Enter ghost - Isabella Hammad
38 River East River West - Aube Rey Lescure
39 Oh Miriam - Miriam Margolyes
40 Nightbloom -Peace Adzo Medie
41 Acts of desperation- Megan Nolan
42 Quickly, while they still have horses - Jan Carson
43 The covenant of water - Abraham Verghese
44 Brotherless night
45 Rizzio
46 Cuddy - Benjamin Myers
47 Imposter syndrome- Joseph Knox
48 Notes to self - Emilie Pine
49 Birding - Rose Ruane
50 The light years -Elizabeth Jane Howard
51 Marking time -Elizabeth Jane Howard
52 Confusion - Elizabeth Jane Howard
53 Enlightenment- Sarah Perry
54 Frank and Red - Matt Coyne
55 Piglet - Lottie Hazell

38. The See-Through House - Shelley Klein

What a great book. Part-memoir, part-reflection on grief, part-family history - Shelley Klein tells the story of High Sunderland, the modernist house in Scotland built for her father, Bernat Klein - 'Beri' - and her mother, Peggy. Shelley grew up there and in her forties returned to live with and care for her widowed father, an experience she recounts with a lot of humour and a wry acknowledgment of his insistence that the integrity of the house be respected: nothing was allowed to sully its clean lines and glass-walled reflections (the source of endless clashes in her childhood and teens).

She also unravels the fascinating saga of Beri's journey from a deeply-religious Jewish family in Yugoslavia, and a life as a scholar in Jerusalem, to art school and the discovery of his passion for colour. He became a painter and an internationally-renowned designer in Scotland, reinventing tweeds in electric colourways and seeing his fabrics used by the likes of Chanel and Yves St Laurent, but became non-religious and never returned to his home country or saw his beloved mother again - she died in Auschwitz. His love of design (and maybe his need to control his environment) found its greatest expression in High Sunderland, where he lived until his death, and the book explores Shelley's own complicated relationship with the house in the wake of the loss of her beloved father. I really loved this and sped through it in a day.

That sounds really interesting Terpsichore, thank you. I've just been looking at some photographs of High Sunderland and it looks amazing. I grew up in a Span house and really like that Modernist style (although I now live in a Victorian house).

39 In Memoriam by Alice Winn

I wanted to like this much more than I ended up doing. I was halfway through when I went away the other week and when I came back I was enthralled by The Bee Sting. Then I read the King stories. Then I realised if I didn’t pick it up now I’d probably end up DNFing it.

It’s an odd mixture of mawkish and Blackadderish. I can see how someone whose mother took her as a child to weep in WW1 graveyards (such an Uncle Monty-ish image!) would end up writing it.
The horror of the trenches and the unfathomable loss of life amongst that generation just aren’t served that well by it, I’m afraid. Bringing the ages of the young men down seems utterly pointless, as if the reader might have said “Oh well, he was 25, had a good innings!” if she’d stuck to the reality. The endless catalogue of injuries led to an almost jaded sense of boredom and if it were a more accomplished author I might have thought that was deliberate. As it turns out, she copied them from better books.

You’d be better off hanging round graveyards and reading Sassoon yourself than trudging through this.

Berserker - Adrian Edmonson

Good autobiography which left me feeling rather sad. Spends a lot of time talking about his school years, a clearly deeply unhappy time for him and how he becomes an accidental comedian but never really feels that it fits him.
I have to admit to not being a particular fan of his comedy, I didn’t like The Young Ones (I was a student myself at the time and remember it being a must watch but it wasn’t for me) and I detested Bottom although DS and DH adored it (and still do).
It is an interesting read however, how he comes to terms with his early life and his relationship with his father through stoicism and a lack of self pity.
The last few chapters where he deals with those he has lost was so sad.

Secret Knowledge - David Hockney

Hockney puts forward the theory that the great art masters used optical devices in the form of the camera obscura to produce their work. Quite controversial when it came out 20 odd years ago.
He looks at the change in style and detail of paintings from Van Eyck onwards, perspectives, the foreshortening of musical instruments, the way patterns are drawn into folds, the lettering on globes in well known paintings etc and concludes these things are virtually impossible to reproduce by hand and eye alone and therefore the likes of Caravaggio, Holbein, Velasquez must have used a camera obscura or similar device but that the practice was kept a close secret among artists.

It’s generally accepted that Vermeer, for example, knew of the camera obscura and may have made use of it to work out shadows and focus points so it’s probable that the use of lenses was more widespread along with geometric techniques but there is little textual documentation to support the idea. Rather, Hockney looks at the idea with an artists technical eye, reproducing the effects in his own experiments.
I’d like to believe that these people were simply supremely talented but it’s fascinating to learn that there were various trick of the trade. It’s a beautiful book, with lots of gorgeous colour plates

I felt pretty much the same as you about Berserker @BestIsWest which I read a couple of weeks ago. Currently wading through Dawn French's Dear Fatty which isn't nearly as good and I'm finding quite boring sadly. I'm a real fan of hers so it's disappointing. Do like Bottom too, but it's very silly

@BestIsWest I’d read about Hockney’s Vermeer book too - then recently I saw a really fascinating documentary (still on iplayer) about a Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The curator had a camera obscura and you could see instantly how it would have worked. It was a great watch, definitely recommended. It’s called Close to Vermeer.

I’ve watched it this week @Terpsichore! It’s lovely. I’m a little bit in love with all the curators! I’ve just come back from the Mauritshuis after your recommendation last year but didn’t manage to find your lovely bookshop cafe.

@Mothership4two I wasn’t keen on Dear Fatty and haven’t liked her fiction books either.

So glad you’ve seen it, @BestIsWest I loved the curators too, especially Gregor 😊 But sorry you didn’t find the bookshop!

Sending you very best wishes @Owlbookend

39. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. I can't work out if I really liked this book or really didn't. It's very buzzy with rave reviews all over the cover from the likes of Julia Armfield, Eleanor Catton, David Nichols, Max Porter and many more.... set in the near future, the (very high) concept is that the British government have learnt how to time travel, and have extracted a number of people from the past to bring to the present day. They are assigned staff to help them assimilate and report back on their progress. But, of course, there's more to it than meets the eye including some dangerous people seemingly from the future wandering around.

Most of the book is about the relationships between the time travellers and their guides. It's very charming and funny on their discoveries of modern life. The central relationship between Commander Gore, a Victorian polar explorer, and the civil servant working with him is particularly lovely and romantic.

But, even though I read the last chapters a couple of times, I could still make no sense at all of the big explanation, or indeed why these people had actually been taken from the past at all. It may be because I have a big mental block about time travel, or it may just be that it's not that well plotted!

Given the discussions here before, I would steer well clear if you're into real sci-fi, as you'll be tearing your hair out at vague descriptions of 'time doors' and 'futuristic weapons'.

@Terpsichore yes, especially lovely Gregor.

26 The Lost Notebook - Louise Douglas I was sadly disappointed by this, after really enjoying another book by Douglas a week or so ago - this one was just not up to the same standard. It started reasonably well but the ending was awful, and I don’t think the plot or characters quite worked. However, it was still a lot better than lots of other books, and I see it has plenty of good reviews on Goodreads, so not a total waste of time!

126. The Time That Never Was. Steve Fallon
     A childrens book aimed at age 10+. The main character, whose name I have forgotten is a 'swidger' and can affect time. He doesn't really know much about his powers, until he is befriended by Granny. Granny is flipping hysterical. They go off together so he can learn how to use his powers. It's the first book in a series and i can honestly see it taking off in a big way.

127. Atom Inc. O.C Heaton
     Book 3 in the LEAP series. LEAP is a teleportation system which has been invented as a solution to the climate crisis. This book is set around the time of Bin Ladens capture. It raised a lot of ethical questions for me. I got a bit lost at one point as LEAP can be used to put someone's mind in someone else's body and I wasn't sure who was who.

128. Them Old Bones. Astor Y Teller
     A slightly bonkers story about the unliving and the jobs they have to do. Contains my favourite book character name ever, Miriam Huckerpucker!

129. Black Mark. Paul Spencer
     A crime thriller set in America and the BLM movement. Mick has been banned from his job as a defence attorney. But when a dead body turns up buried on his (black, BLM protester) friends land he has to help clear his name.

130. The Nine. Gwen Strauss
     A bold for me. The true tale of 9 women who escaped the death march from Ravensbrook. The book covers their Wartime activity, most were spies and resistance workers and their escape and lives after the camp.

131. Amateurs. Gill Oliver
     Beth and Alice are twins. Alice suffered brain damage as a child. Beth is a composer who reluctantly agrees to help out at her Mum's amateur choir. The family relationships are interesting, and the memories Beth has aren't always correct.

132. The Hedge Witch. Colleen Delaney
     This felt like a real 90s witch story. In a good way. A family of Witches, the wiccan, herbalist kind are trying to solve an ancient curse. It's got time travel, magic and romance.

133. Turkish Delight. Anjelica Søndergaard
     A group of friends in their 40s go to Turkey on holiday. Nothing special to say about it really, it matches my experience of Turkey and is a typical ish chick lit.

134. Out Of Her Mind. Sally Hart
     Psychological thriller. Sarah seems to be suffering from amnesia and nightmares relating to her mothers murder when she was a child. But is she going mad, or is there something more sinister? This was a really good multi POV including the killer. I knew who the killer was pretty early on but it was still exciting enough to keep me reading.

135. Miracle Number Four. Paul Marriner
     Set in the mid-late 70s, a small band are trying to make it in the music industry. Mike is only 15, his sister Sally not much older. Not only are they starting a new band with their friends, but their Mum is recovering from cancer and they've got all the usual teenage shit to deal with. Like drugs, first love. Had some nice LGB represention too.

136. The Advocates Betrayal. Teresa Burrell
     Book 2 in the Advocate series. Sabre is a defence attorney in the juvenile court. She's newly in love with her boyfriend. Her friend Betty is charged with the murder of her husband, but Sabre knows Betty is innocent. Proving it however is another matter.

138 High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

I remember really enjoying this when I first read it, probably around 15-20 years ago, but this time round I found the main character rather irritating. It’s the story of a man in his 30s who works in a record shop dealing with the break up of his relationship.

139 A Certain Age by Rebbecca Ray

This is one I vaguely remembered reading when I was younger, but couldn’t remember much about it. It was horrible. It’s about a 14 year old girl who ends up in a ‘relationship’ with a 31 year old, while things get worse at home as her parents’ marriage falls apart. It was written/published when the author was only 18, and it is well written, but the story is just so grim I felt quite dirty after reading it.

140 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Nora tries to kill herself and ends up in a library where she can experience all sorts of different lives she could have lived. Nice idea, nice read.

141 The Vanishing Point by Val McDermid

A stand alone thriller. Stephanie is a ghost writer, who befriends reality show star Scarlett (a Jade Goody like character) when she’s hired to write Scarlett’s autobiography. Stephanie ends up looking after Scarlett’s son, but things go wrong when the son is kidnapped from an airport. I enjoyed this but it’s quite different to her usual gritty books.

142 The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Margaret is invited to write the life story of reclusive writer Vida Winter, and hears all about Vida’s childhood growing up in the strange house of Angelfield. I really liked this - shades of Daphne du Maurier.

143 The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Lauren’s loft suddenly starts sending her random husbands - every time she sends one back up there a new one appears. She ends up going through over 200 of them, some lasting much longer than others. This was a great premise but the story doesn’t really go anywhere - it’s just her trying out all these different husbands and the ending felt like the author didn’t really know where to go with it either.

144 You Are Here by David Nicholls

Marnie and Michael end up getting to know each other when they do the Coast to Coast walk together. Well observed writing and I enjoyed it but ultimately probably not that memorable.

145 Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker

Anecdotes from his life, all based around items he finds in his loft. OK but it’s mainly about the time before Pulp became really well known and then stops abruptly which took me by surprise. I was expecting a bit more from it.

146 How To Stop Time by Matt Haig

A man who never dies - Tom is living in the 21st century but is more than 400 years old. He works as a teacher but also does jobs for some shadowy organisation that exists to protect people like him. While searching for his daughter he also takes a job to look up an old friend. This is another book with a great premise that doesn’t quite work in the execution (for me anyway - lots of others love it!).

147 Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

Another brilliant epic, but will save my thoughts for the readalong thread.

148 Mildred Pierce by James M Cain

Set in the 1930s, Mildred has to rebuild her life following her husband leaving her, which she does brilliantly by opening a small chain of restaurants, but her spoiled daughter means that Mildred’s life isn’t as good as it looks on the surface. Great period detail and while I’m not sure I found Mildred particularly likeable I did care what happened to her and felt sorry for her at times.

@ChessieFL i read A Certain Age years ago and was left with the same feelings. It’s an odd book.