50 Books Challenge 2024 Part Six

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the sixth 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, the fourth one here and the fifth one here.

What are you reading?

@Stowickthevast

In previous years Butter probably would have made bold, but I've become a bit stingy in that area

36 The Pact - Sharon Bolton Thriller about six privileged teens whose stupid dare in the summer after their A-levels results in the deaths of three innocent people. One of them volunteers to take the blame, in return for an agreement that each of the others will grant her one request when she gets out of prison. This kept me reading and I finished it really quickly, but it wasn’t anything special, and every single one of the main characters was so unpleasant that I couldn’t have cared less about the outcome. Fine to pass some time but I won’t seek out any more of Bolton’s books.

Placemarking as I try to catch up post holiday.

77. The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

The islands of Prospera lie in a vast ocean: in splendid isolation from the rest of humanity, or whatever remains of it. . .

Surrounded by sun, and sea, and stars, their world is perfect. But every paradise comes at a price.

As dystopia goes, this is above the crappy Station Eleven but below Cronin's own The Passage (allowing for the not great sequels)

Does it have a decent reveal and ending? yes it does, and too often with a dystopia they get half arsed so that's a real plus.

Was I absolutely blown away by it? No.

I did find it a really accessible read and the early part of it reminded me of Lois Lowry's The Giver.

Have you already got it ? Bump it up.

Not got it? There's no rush.

Tom Gauld has a solution to our unread book piles:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2024/aug/17/tom-gauld-on-how-to-manage-your-unread-books-pile-cartoon

56 Savage Messiah - Laura Grace Ford

Compilation of zines made in the 00s tackling the theme of London and its transformation from the (relative) freedom of the 1970s and 80s, through squats, punk and the rave scene, to the increasingly corporate city of the new millennium . It mixes fiction, memoir, psychogeography and politics in a cut and paste style that I found really evocative of my own experience living in London in the 80s/90s.

Love Tom Gauld.

EineReise, I've been eyeing up The Ferryman in the library. Will have to go when I'm in the right mood.

noodle, good plan but we need an add-on for e-books...

@bibliomania

There's something very :

Episode of Black Mirror

About it. Like very much made with a Netflix deal in mind

Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk tr from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones Someone on here said on a thread about beautiful books that Fitzcarraldo books may be beautiful but they’d never managed to finish one. (Actually, I’m not sure they are beautiful to this beholder, the page format is quite austere). It made me laugh as I had 3 on the shelf by then and never got through one - but I have now. Unfortunately, despite enjoying the black comedy to some degree, I found this heavy going. It was an odd experience as on one level the book is a murder mystery and I guessed from early on whodunnit but felt the book was largely over my head.

Glad to see you have good memories of Sharon Penman's books Tarragon! I'd definitely go back for more.

@TattiePants I was tempted by the Night Circus as have seen lots of good reviews. However I’m not that big on fantasy, would you still recommend it?

All caught up and had lots to say but not can remember very little.

I do recall Elif Shafak chat. I am a big fan and I think she has got better, so Forty Rules was not great but I did enjoy it because I’m obsessed with Sufism, Mevlana and Dervishes; Honour in my opinion is astonishing - a very different approach to honour killings and it’s set in the Hackney that I grew up in; The Island of Missing Trees is by far and away my favourite to date. I have an inane attachment to fruit and fruit trees amongst other stuff that resonated. I’ve seen her speak and met her more than once.

I am waiting to finish my latest book then will post a few reviews.

I took two hard copy books (c. 800 pages each) and my Kindle on a 3 week holiday.

Oh and for Ali Smith lovers who can get to London.

https://parktheatre.co.uk/event/autumn/

this year might be the year I actually get started.

I thought that biblio but he's sort ov covered it with the part in the bottom right corner where it cuts off the internet connection. Not that that helps weigh the kindle books, and we'd have to forget about phone signals, but it would prevent more 99p deals

@OdileO i don’t read fantasy either but still loved it. At 99p it’s definitely worth a try.

57 1977 - David Peace

Second of the Red Riding series - I confused myself by getting 1/4 way through the third book, 1980, before realising I’d inadvertently skipped one. Anyway this was brutal but brilliant and I highly recommend the series so far to strong-stomached noir fans.

Was Red Riding on TV with Sean Bean? If I’m remembering correctly it was really chilling.

61. Small Bomb at Dimperley - Lissa Evans

Reviewed upthread by @SapatSea and we concur in our enjoyment of it! Valentine Vere-Thissett, youngest son of a noble but impoverished line, arrives back home at the end of WW2 to Dimperley Manor, an eccentric edifice with more than its fair share of taxidermy, but with little money and a financial reckoning looming after the death of the eldest Vere-Thissett, the glamorous and handsome Felix.
Valentine - quiet and unassuming - has contentedly served out his war in the ranks, but it's now his responsibility to step up and save Dimperley from sale or demolition. Helping him hatch a scheme to make it pay its way is uber-organised Zena, secretary to Valentine's Uncle Alaric (keeper of the family history)….but can they overcome the many obstacles in their way?

This was a gentle, warming read, very funny in places, and with a cast of well-drawn characters. Zena's small daughter Allison was a particular highlight. Really enjoyable.

71 Power Trip - Damian McBride

I read this years back when I was going through a political books phase, so this was a reread along with an epilogue about hacking that couldn’t be included in the first edition.

Broadly, McBride was to Brown what Campbell was to Blair, and moved with him from the treasury to number 10. McBride comes across as an arse, but does at least acknowledge this by the end of the book (following his downfall after some leaked emails).

The book was written after Cameron/Clegg won the 2010 election but in the expectation that Labour would win in 2015.

I wouldn’t read it a third time, as he’s so very unpleasant, but it was a reasonable reminder of those times.

Small Bomb at Dimperley sounds right up my street. Have you guys got a Netgally or similar edition. It says pre order on Amazon.

I like Lissa Evans’ writing too when I’m looking for a nice easy read. Our Finest Hour and a Half is good fun, and the Old Baggage trilogy is well worth reading, also amusing in parts but with more depth and poignancy to the characters.
I think being a TV producer working on shows like Father Ted and HIGNFY has really fed into her writing style and her books are entertaining in a similar way.
I’ll look out for her Dimperley book; thanks for the heads-up.

And in the same vein of light easy reads, I’ve just finished The Black Dress by Deborah Moggach.
Pru’s husband has just left her after a long marriage and she’s struggling to get over the shock. One day she sees a seductive little black dress in the window of a charity shop and on impulse tries it on and buys it.
Lonely and keen to find a new man, she hatches a scheme to turn up at funerals in her sexy dress and get close to the recent widower before anyone else has the chance. It doesn’t prove to be a brilliant idea ..
All a bit daft but pretty entertaining. I do need to read something more thought provoking now!

I don’t, @AgualusasLover, but I had an advance copy kindly shared through a friend of LE. It’s very unusual indeed for me to read anything current, let alone advance!

I have all of 4 unread books on my kindle 🙂. Of these two are DP’s Stephen Kings (we share a prime account). He didn’t read for the first 25 years we were together (apart from sports biographies on holiday) and then read a King to see if it was suitable for DD. He now reads them regularly, but I don’t think he will be branching out to a second author anytime soon. I could buy loads on kindle, but limit myself due to budget constraints. Always feel I should read what I’ve already got unless it is something I’ve been wanting it for ages and it is a great deal or I’m sure I’ll absolutely love it.
Second a correction. In my last post I claimed to have read and enjoyed A Place of Greater Safety. Although I love the idea that I read weighty historical novels about the French Revolution I have not. I meant A Change of Climate. Simply a brain blip when typing - seems to happen a lot these days.
And on to my most recent review …
22 Kala Colin Walsh
This is my type of novel - coming of age, complex characters plus mystery elements to keep you guessing. Essentially a bit of a page turner combined with character study, but not complete trash (see my review of The Hiding Place for an example of the later).
Here we view the disappearance of the eponymous Kala in small town Ireland through the eyes of her teenage friends. There is a dual timeline where we also meet them in adulthood. I thought the boys were particularly well drawn and the reality of teenage friendships accurately portrayed. Often in coming of age books teenage friendships are over sweetened, but here the petty jealousies, nastiness and insecurities are laid bare. I would have liked Aoife to have her own voice and her own chapters. I thought it was a bit of a cop out that she didn’t. When Helen met her in the cafe I was disappointed we didn’t shift to her perspective. However, I think this is probably a very personal gripe - can’t say more without spoilers.
I enjoyed the first half more than the second (where it shifted more squarely into thriller territory). Although I did like the final ending, that I think is hard to do well with this type of book. I also guessed ‘who did it’ fairly early on. However, this didn’t detract from it for me.