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?

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie time for a reread of Bill Bryson? Down Under is always my go-to in times of need.

Thanks @Southeastdweller

Here's my list

1. Echo Burning; Lee Child
2. The Mysterious Affair at Styles; Agatha Christie
3. Without Fail; Lee Child
4. Persuader; Lee Child
5. Beg, Borrow or Steal; Susie Tate
6. Lights Out; Elise Hart Kipness
7. A Fatal Inversion; Barbara Vine
8. The Secret Adversary; Agatha Christie
9. The Witcher: The Last Wish; Andrezj Sapkowski
10. I'll Never Tell; Catherine McKenzie
11. A Doctor Blind Date for the Cowboy; Dobi Daniels
12. The Frightened Lady; Edgar Wallace
13. The Mystery of the Blue Train; Agatha Christie
14. Manhattan State of Mind; Rosa Lucas
15. The Cowboy's Unexpected Love; S. J. McCoy
16. The Guesthouse; Abbie Frost
17. The Maul and the Pear Tree: The Ratcliffe Highway Murders, 1811; T. A. Critchley & P. D. James
18. The Murder at the Vicarage; Agatha Christie
19. The Duke and I; Julia Quinn
20. Murder Most Royal; S. J. Bennett
21. Death in the Sunshine; Steph Broadribb
22. The Dead of Winter; S. J. Parris
23. The Highland Kiss; Amy McGavin
24. In a Dark, Dark Wood; Ruth Ware
25. The A.B.C Murders; Agatha Christie
26. Untouched; Dakota Willink
27. All Fired Up; Lili Valente
28. The Last Resort; Susi Holliday
29. The Housemaid; Frieda McFadden
30. Friends in Napa; Sheila Yasmin Marakar
31. Nothing to Hide; Scarlett Finn
32. Seduced by the Boss; Lexi Noir
33. A Body in the Village Hall; Dee MacDonald
34. And Then There Were None; Agatha Christie
35. The Twyford Code; Janice Hallett
36. Rizzio; Denise Mina
37. Twisted Love; Ana Huang
38. My Grumpy Cowboy; Olivia Sage
39. Empire State Enemies; Rosa Lucas
40. No One's Home; D. M. Pulley
41. The Misbegotten; Katherine Webb
42. Gotta Get Theroux This: My Life and Strange Times in Television; Louis Theroux
43. Don't Forget Me; Rea Frey
44. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China; Jung Chang
45. All Because of You; Theresa Paolo
46. Mia's Scandal; Michelle Reid
47. Taken at the Flood; Agatha Christie
48. Fallen Angel; Chris Brookmyre

Hardly any bolds, a disappointing year so far!

@BestIsWest Down Under and A Walk in the Woods are my favourites.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller , not going to post my up to date list this time.

Am currently on the home stretch with Nicholas Nickleby, two thirds of the way through Agatha Christie's Elephants Can Remember and I've almost finished Alfred Lansing's Endurance on audio which is a fantastic telling of the Shackleton mission to Antartica.

55. A House in the Country - Jocelyn Playfair

I happened to be reading this already when we decided to make it the next-but-one Rather Dated Book Club read, so for once I’m ahead rather than scrambling to catch up!

Published in 1944 and written somewhat earlier, this had an interesting perspective in that, obviously, the outcome of WW2 was still in the balance. Beautiful yet wryly self-aware Cressida Chance presides over said ‘house in the country’, ancient and lovely Brede Manor, while its owner, Charles Valery, is away at war (I’ll be a bit vague here for spoiler reasons). She runs Brede as a kind of upmarket boarding-house for anyone who wants somewhere to stay, charging nominal amounts, and her guests are a mixed bunch, including eccentric but deeply intelligent Tori, a European refugee whose experiences in a concentration camp are hinted at, and whose genuine love for Cressida is (mostly) cloaked in a kind of teasing railery.

What sets out as a standard wartime country-house novel gradually morphs into something of a polemic, in often surprising and quite dark ways. There are no easy answers and no conventional happy ending. I’m not sure I felt it was a success as a novel but it was very interesting (and prophetic in some ways). More to come on the other thread!

20. A concise English- Chinese dictionary for lovers. Someone doing a years English course in London falls in love with an older man, there were some daft bits but overall I really enjoyed it, clever use of development of her English, cultural clashes and also very moving. Enjoyed alot more than I thought I would

20 Land of my Dreams - Kate North
90s chick-lit. It appears to have been on my bookshelf for about 30 years, I might have read it before and decided it had enough merit to keep for a re-read. I was wrong, it's going to the phone box library now.

Following the death of her mother, an elderly woman contemplates what is left of her life and re-lives her past by going over her own diaries. Distraction from her instrospective nature is provided by a new neighbour (a middle-aged widow with a teenaged son and a married lover). An unlikely friendship develops between Maisie (old lady) and Gwyn (teenage neighbour), who displays all the correct traits for a 90s teenager (hobbies include smoking, raves, road-protesting, listening to Massive Attack and being rude to his mum)

Thanks for the new thread!

@LadybirdDaphne I was similarly un-adoring of HTSBabylon (IIRC left a fairly irate review on an earlier thread). You've made me feel less of an unfeeling monster.

No list/reviews as am travelling without laptop, so here's my birthday bookhaul instead: all new to me except Thunderclap which I loved earlier this year and wanted to own. The standing grey hb is Ghosting by Jennie Erdal.
Of these, have nearly finished Clara and Olivia, debut histfic thriller full of clunk and anachronisms, but suitably untaxing, and it does deliver the 1930s ballet geekery I was after, so eh.

Current nonfic is pop. science Silk by Aarathi Prasad, vg so far. On audio, Ritual of Fire by D.V. Bishop, #3 in series about a gay policeman in Renaissance Florence.

67. The Women by Kristin Hannah (Spotify)

Kristen Hannah’s The Women focuses on the experiences of female veterans of Vietnam who largely made up the nursing corps and were left forgotten and unsupported on their return.

This really is a book of two halves particularly as I ran out of Spotify hours during it and had to go back

Frankie McGrath is a nice girl from a well off family who much to her parents chagrin decides to go and serve. In the Vietnam section she performs something of a Mary Sue kind of role and the dialogue particularly is cheesy particularly the romance element and there’s something a bit twee about it all. I also saw a number of "twists" from miles away.

In the second half, Frankie cannot adjust to normal life and is particularly angry about not being seen as a veteran. This section is often repetitive but also needlessly cruel. Anything that can go wrong for Frankie absolutely does until you feel kind of drained by it. It becomes unbelievable.

I chose this because it was being read by Julia Whelan and it was as well read as always by her

Book is a solid three star. A bit Vietnam Goes Chick Lit

If you want an amazing book about Vietnam you want The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

@PepeLePew last year I saw an online ad for a "reading getaway". It was 5 nights in an Italian villa, 15 people. Spending the days reading and coming together at mealtimes to discuss what everyone had been reading. In the evenings there were various talks about books, from authors, publishers, etc. It looked absolutely blissful!! But at £1000 per night wasn't an expense I could justify!

Those of you who are part of the Dickensalongs will be familiar with Katie Lumsden of Books n Things and probably know she wrote a novel (two now!) The Secrets of Hartwood Hall. I am not loyal enough to Katie to buy the hardback so I got it in paperback (sorry Katie!)

I was worried that it would be awful - the title concerned me.. It isn't awful. It is rather Stacey Halls (indeed, she recommends it on the front) and I didn't like Halls' novels.. Well written enough (but given the gushing praise for her editors at the end there are repeated apostrophe howlers on the surname Russel [sic] at the outset which then stop,suddenly).

It's a rather silly and derivative plot but very readable. I'm sure there are lots of anachronisms. Katie isn't as good a writer as the legion Victorian writers she adores but she is no worse than many others!

Her next book seems Austen like so I may swerve it. Not a fan of Austen, even less people who try to mimic her.

I do love Katie though! Her enthusiasm for reading is so infectious.

My teeny tiny list (thst hasnt grown much).
. The Cutting Season Attica Locke
2. Jesus Land Julia Scheeres
3. In a Dark Dark Wood Ruth Ware
4. Night Waking Sarah Moss
5. Falling Animals Shelia Armstrong
6. Little Disasters Sarah Vaughan
7. Bluebird Bluebird Attica Locke
8. Heaven My Home Attica Locke
9. Black Water Rising Attics Locke
10. The Ready Made Family Antonia Forest
11. Eating for England Nigel Slater
12. The Homes J. B. Mylett
13. Girl Missing Sophie McKenzie
14. Sister Missing Sophie McKenzie
15. The Survivors Jane Harper
16. The Appeal Janice Hallett
17. Ill Take That One Kitty Baxter
18. Instructions for a heatwave Maggie O'Farrell
19. Pine Francine Toon

Currently reading Liverpool set thriller All the Lonely People by Martin Edwards and listening to The Hiding Place by Amanda Mason (possibly chick lit with a touch of woo - not sure what it is supposed to be - chosen basically because it was an available audio book on borrowbox).

@Piggywaspushed I finished reading Katie's first book last week and while it was good, I wasn't blown away. It reminded me a lot of Mrs England by Stacey Halls. I'm not overly sold on her new book either I have to say (but never say never, I guess!)

Thanks as always south for keeping us on track. I'll save my list till the end of the year.

A mixed bag of reviews to catch up on.

44. Bookworm - Lucy Mangan

A memoir of childhood reading up to teenage years from a self-confessed bookworm, so this sits quite well with the discussion on the previous thread about reading in primary school. My own memory is of being given a broadsheet newspaper in the reading lesson as the schoolroom books were quite easy.

Comforting stuff, taking in books that I've read and some new to me, with asides into the lives of the authors of these classics and lesser known volumes which deserved more attention. There were some omissions (Flowers in the Attic as a teenage craze) but also some books I thought only I had read. Mention was made of Mumsnet as a distraction (is the author on this thread?). A nostalgic read.

45. Beswitched - Kate Saunders

At some point (on here?) this was mentioned as a modern take on Charlotte Sometimes, one of my favourite childhood novels, and in some ways the premise is similar: here a modern girl goes to sleep on her way to boarding school and ends up in the 1930s as a version of herself. It's a modern children's book and reads as such but there are actually some really affecting parts towards the end, and though I got one twist quite early on, another caught me completely unaware. I think reading this as an adult was an experience, and while it isn't as good as CS it was better than I expected, so I would recommend it as a companion piece to children who are interested in the subject.

46. Adele - Leila Slimani, trans. by Sam Taylor

Adele is a journalist living in a Paris apartment with a surgeon husband and their young son. Her seemingly perfect life is just a sham: she is bored and wants more, so spends her time having meaningless sex in one-night stands and affairs, till her lies threaten to overwhelm her altogether.

This was grubby. I didn't like any of the characters, Adele seemed to be a terrible journalist and unfeeling mother, with no redeeming personal qualities, and while there was an attempt to explain her addiction from episodes in her childhood I couldn't find any sympathy for her. The sex was nasty, I kept reading on thinking the plot would come to a satisfactory resolution but it didn't, and I was glad when the novel was over. The only saving grace was its length. Yuk.

The Reading Party - this looks pretty fab.

1 The Short End of the Sonnenallee by Thomas Brussig, translated by Jonathan Franzen and Jenny Watson
2 The Five Minute Garden by Laetitia Maklouf
3 Kristin Lavrandatter III: The Cross by Sigrid Undset. Translated by Tiina Nunnally
4 Stars of Fortune by Cynthia Harnett
5 Heartstopper Vol 5 by Alice Oseman
6 Nimona by ND Stevenson
7 Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushimo. Translated by Geraldine Harcourt
8 Rizzio by Denise Mina
9 Sophia, Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary by Anita Anand
10 The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. Translated by Stephen Snyder
11 Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons
12 The Door by Magda Szabó. Translated by Len Rix
13 Aya: Claws Come Out by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie. Translated by Edwige Renée Dro.
14 Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
15 Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi. Translated by Patrick Creagh
16 Moms by Yeong-shin Ma. Translated by Janet Hong
17 The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
18 Hags. The demonisation of middle-aged women by Victoria Smith
19 The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
20 The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
21 Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin. Translated by John W. Baker
22 No Surrender by Constance Maud. Adapted by Scarlett and Sophie Rickard
23 Hilo 10: Rise of the Cat by Judd Winick
24 Second-Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta
25 All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami. Translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd.
26 The Warden by Anthony Trollope

Currently reading King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett while on holiday in Scotland. It's very long but very good.

It really does!

The Reading Room in Cornwall sounds amazing. Meals are provided as well! Yes, I would love that.

Thanks @Piggywaspushed for your review on Katie's book. Interesting to hear Cludgie's thoughts on it too. I noticed it's on Kindle and thought I might read it at some stage. I really like her enthusiasm for Dickens in particular.

I follow that woman (@christenpears) on Insta, @JaninaDuszejko - haven’t been for a holiday there but it looks amazing.

There used to be a blogger called Dovegreyreader who had a similar holiday cottage full of books. She had a great site full of book chat and helped run festivals in Devon. I hadn’t checked her blog for a while and when I next did she'd just totally disappeared, as though wiped off the face of the earth. I'm still utterly mystified as to why and it’s such a shame because she was great.

29. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Picked up for 99p. I've been frustrated by Picoults insistence at basing novels around an issue, and when this one was around COVID, I was sure it was would turn into republican mask avoiders versus liberal stay at homes.

It didn't.

However I can't tell you what it did without spoiling the book!

My favourite Picoult in years. I can't tell if it's genuinely good or just a change from her formulaic style 😁

Hello fellow 50 bookers, just marking my place. Finding it impossible to stay up to with any of the threads so far this year but enjoying popping in when I can. Currently reading Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross. Not enjoying this as much as his other book A Tomb with a View but it is really interesting and I am enjoying it just not as much as the other. So thanks to who ever recommended as would never have discovered Peter Ross if it wasn’t for this group. Also started Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult and listening to More confessions of a forty something fxxk up by Alexandra Potter. Now going to sit back and catch up with this thread.

126 In Search of Lost Time- Part 1- Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
My classic book club read for July is the first part of Proust’s magnum opus- the story of our narrator’s love for Gilberte. I liked this a lot more than I expected to. The prose was beautiful, I know it sounds a bit pretentious but I was lost in the rhythm of it at times. I loved part 1 and part 3. Part 2 which told the story of Gilberte’s parents dragged a bit. I will definitely continue with book 2 though not straight away.

127 A Village in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd
Interesting look at the impact of Weimar and Nazi Germany in on village. Read by many on here. I enjoyed it. @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie if you haven’t read this, you may like it as there is lots of mountaineers and expeditions from the village.

128 The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
The first Ruth Galloway mystery and another sample for my quest for new detective books. I enjoyed this. Well written and narrated (I listened on audio. Ruth is a very real and likeable character. I will definitely listen to more.

75. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Naylor Set on a nature reserve in a Vietnamese archipelago, scientist Ha Ngyuen and sentient AI/android Evrim are employed by mega-corp (& Evrim's creators) DIANIMA to investigate rumours of an unusually sophisticated octopus social grouping. Their story is intertwined with those of Rustem, a hacker employed to subvert AI systems & Eiko, part of the enslaved processing crew on a giant automated trawler.
    Recommended by @elspethmcgillicudddy on the last thread, this ticked all my boxes for great SF. I thought the author did a really good job of bringing together his themes of interspecies communication (or the lack of) & the possible future impacts of AI within a classic SFF plot with a bit of a cyberpunk feel.
    I might also now have to go back and have another go at reading Other Minds and Metazoa by Peter Godfrey, both of which I've tried and given up on a few times as well as checking out some of the other books that Naylor cites as inspiration.

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Proust, @ÚlldemoShúl! we’ve got to volume 6 in the read along I’m doing with friends. I feel as though we’re definitely going to finish now, but it’s a commitment, I won’t pretend otherwise.

74 How Britain Ends – Gavin Esler (Audio). This was published in Oct/Nov 2020. I remember when this was first published and I attended by zoom to a live event in Belfast. I actually cant remember if there were actually people in Belfast or if it was just GE. This was my first book related zoom event and was very enjoyable. I even got a question asked and answered! Fast forwarded 3 years and I got the book on Audio. I do enjoy GE’s writing. He was absolutely vicious towards Boris Johnston and scathing towards David Cameron and Theresa May. He is very much a Europhile and blames all three for Brexit. He covers quite a bit of the pandemic and the poor governance (eg sending a chartered flight to Turkey to collect PPE and no one checked before hand if the PPE met requirements. Spoiler, it didn’t). I don’t necessarily agree with him on some matters, personally, I support Scottish Independence, or his solution for keeping the UK together, which is Federalism. I will look out for his other non fiction works.