50 Books Challenge 2024 Part Seven

[Southeastdweller]

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

What are you reading?

@JaninaDuszejko I'd go for The Inn at the End of World rather than The Bird of the Air - also set at Christmas.

I read the Mistletoe book last year after an enthusiastic recommendation in The Guardian and didn't enjoy it that much either.

66 The Cracked Mirror by Christopher Brookmyre

Hard to describe this without giving away the plot twists but the clues are all there from the beginning, it’s a genre-bending romp of a mystery novel and I loved it. Given the circumstances of the plot (being deliberately vague) there are some poignant moments in the musings about the nature of truth.
Hated his last one (the women stuck on the remote island) but this is a return to form.

Brill, thanks for that, will change my Amazon wishlist now

@RazorstormUnicorn Your trip sounds incredible and I really hope you’ll share some photographs with us.

@RazorstormUnicorn I've been trekking in Nepal twice, many years ago, and would love to return one day. Which trek are you doing?

Wow @RazorstormUnicorn I'm jealous

281 Lights Out In Lincolnwood by Geoff Rodkey

How would the different members of your family cope if your immediate area suddenly lost all power and running water? That’s basically what this book is about. The family members all have their own personal problems alongside the issue of how to cope as society breaks down. I liked this but my only complaint is that the ending is a bit of a let down.

282 The Secret of Cooking by Bee Wilson

This does include recipes but also a lot of mini essays about different ways to make cooking easier and more enjoyable. Lots of useful tips that I’ll be taking on board.

283 Someone In The Attic by Andrea Mara

Anya sees someone letting themselves down into her house from her attic, and within a few minutes she’s dead. Her friend Julia then starts seeing her own house in videos on the internet, and evidence that there’s someone in her attic. What’s going on and is it linked to an event in their twenties where something bad happened to another friend? I kept thinking I knew where this was going but then realising I was wrong. I enjoyed this.

284 The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal by Jodi Taylor

Another spinoff from the St Mary’s series, this is the origin story of how the titular characters met and started working together and continues throughout the various events linked to St Mary’s and the Time Police. I really enjoyed this and hope it turns into a new series. However if you don’t get on with the style of the St Mary’s books this is unlikely to appeal as it’s a very similar style.

RazorstormUnicorn I hope you have an amazing trip, sounds fabulous.

I feel like I've been on a real reading slowdown recently, but I've been doing some serious DIY in my quest to tame the house and it's been worth it. Thankfully I've had 3 decent books on a row.

Playground - Richard Powers I usually find Powers a little over earnest and preachy, but this was a lot more readable than the previous two of his I've tried. Two themes - the dangers of AI and the damage humans are causing to the oceans. It centres around a few different characters, two teens who are polar opposites who are drawn together over chess, a woman who devotes her life to diving and ecology and a Pacific Island community who must vote on whether to allow a development which will change their way of life significantly. It's quite fragmented at the start but all ties together later. I quite liked it despite not expecting to.

Learning to Swim - Clare Chambers
I loved Small Pleasures so when I saw some of her backlist in an e-library, I reserved them. This is the coming of age of a concert cellist who was the boring staid sidekick of a more outgoing girl. Her life changed significantly when she was drawn into the orbit of a bohemian family who took her under their wing. A tragedy means she separates from them, but a chance encounter years later draws her back to them.
This is competent storytelling with a great cast of characters, but the ending is very rushed. I was very drawn into this world and enjoyed it a lot. This would make a cracking escapist holiday read.

Passiontide - Monique Roffey
After the murder of a Japanese national on a Carribbean island during Carnival, the island's women rise up and demand change from a misogynistic society where femicide and domestic abuse are rife.
This starts out like a slightly naff police procedural, but soon gets better as it delves into the issues around how society views women and ignores male violence. I found it really interesting and a decent look at how attitudes differ and need to change. Although set on a fictional island the book is based on a real case. I think it's well worth a read.

@RazorstormUnicorn what an amazing trip! Agree with Remus that it would be great to see photos if you're able to share.

Have you tried a solar charger for kindle and phone? They work pretty well - we have one in our earthquake kit; they're great if you're off the grid and you'll have some decent daylight or sunlight.

Wow Razorstorm, I’m in awe, what an amazing trip.

Best of luck on your adventures @RazorstormUnicorn !

@RazorstormUnicorn I'm very impressed, enjoy!

@Sadik thanks for the review of Who's Afraid of Gender; my thoughts were very similar to yours. It's not a bad read, but it's not Butler's best book by any means. I also much preferred Kit Heyam's Before We Were Trans.

You said, I thought it was a shame that there wasn't more historical context, especially with so much of the language being used today being strongly reminiscent of the 1980s and the lead up to Section 28, but I guess that's expecting too much from a non-British writer. That's very interesting; I'm also quite lacking in knowledge about the UK historical context.

@StrangewaysHereWeCome I really disliked The Exhibitionist. Gave it two stars of five, which is unusual for me, because I'm usually overly generous with my ratings. I was greatly annoyed by the way the supposedly intelligent women characters all catered to the whims of the awful patriarch. It's the only novel I've read by Mendelson, and it put me off wanting to read any more of her work.

Good luck @RazorstormUnicorn very exciting. I'm sure your trip is already planned but if you have time, Chitwan is well worth a visit for wildlife.

@FortunaMajor I'm listening to Playground at the moment and liking it more than I expected. But I am finding it slightly hard to keep track of the characters on the audio. I also think a couple of the voices sound very AI which is a bit off putting.

Have a fab time @RazorstormUnicorn as much as I love lounging about by the pool on my holidays these days, your trip sounds amazing!

@ChessieFL I hadn't realised The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal was out so have just bought that with my audible credit.

Trying to gradually catchy up with my reviews.

78 The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

A meteorite devastates the east coast of America, which is bad, the aftermath is worse, but the real problem is the long term effects that the impact will have on the earth’s climate. Set in an alternate reality, in this version the meteorite kickstarts humanity’s space exploration. I did find the constant “Well bless her heart” references to underline the fact that Elma is southern to be irritating and unnecessary. That’s probably my only gripe really. I think the setting was interesting, by having the events occur in the 1950s I think it allowed a bit more of an exploration of the politics of race and gender. I’m interested to see where this series goes next.

Just finished All The Colours of The Dark by Chris Whitaker which I think a few people picked up in the deals. The two main characters are a one-eyed boy called Patch and a geeky girl called Saint who are best friends. It starts off when they're 13 or 14. Patch sees a man attacking the pretty girl from school and rescues her getting taken in her place. The rest of the book is about figuring out what happened to Patch with Saint determined to discover the mystery. It starts off quite fast paced but loses momentum a bit in the middle. I think it could have been a bit shorter but was a reasonable read. Some of the coincidences are pretty far-fetched, and there's a bit that really reminded me of Forest Gump.

If you’re a Barbara Kingsolver fan there’s 10 of her books on the kindle daily deal today, including Demon Copperhead for £1.19.

I saw this, I loved Demon Copperhead. Any recommendations which of the others to read?

@OdileO About 15? years ago The Poisonwood Bible was a massive hit and it's terrific.

I get what you mean. I thought it became clearer as time moved on, but it does jump about a lot, which doesn't help.

I’ve been wanting to read that one for a while but alas it’s not one of the ones on the deal! I imagine it’s hard to go wrong though. I didn’t realise she had written quite so many!

Poisonwood Bible is showing as 99p for me

48 The Searcher - Tana French My first Tana French book, after reading lots of good things about her on here, and definitely not my last. Cal is a disillusioned ex-cop from Chicago who moves to an old cottage in the wilds of Ireland to get away from his life and find some peace. Then he gets caught up in a mystery - a missing 19-year-old - and finds himself getting more involved than he wanted. I loved this, it was so good at evoking the Irish landscape and weather, and the characters living in and around the village. So much more to the book than the central storyline (though that was perfectly good in itself). A bold for me and I’ll be reading the next in the series and any other book by French I can get my hands on.

Poisonwood Bible is an amazing book but other than that and Demon Copperhead I've DNFd what Kingsolver I've tried. It's weird.

I loved Poisonwood and Demon for the first 75% but felt both had an unnecessary and rushed 4th act. I haven’t tried any others though I do have a couple of others on my kindle from previous deals.

Yes I get what you mean about the last 25% it's been many years since I read it, I might feel differently now @ÚlldemoShúl