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?

@Stowickthevast I'd personally say no I'm afraid. I think after Rivals she either stopped being edited, or lost sight of what makes an appealing-even-if-bad character.

I’d agree with @PermanentTemporary. It’s downhill after Rivals. Polo is ok, The Man Who.. and Appasionata are not too bad. I’m not keen on Score but some love it. Can’t remember anything about Pandora. Wicked on are unreadable IMHO.

Although I’d like to give a shout out to The Common Years, her late 70s diaries.

A few recent reads

173 Ancestors by Alice Roberts
The story of a number of ancient British burials. I listened to this on audio and enjoyed it. I intend to listen to the others.

174 The Amendments- Niamh Mulvey
Set in two timelines this book tells the story of mother Dolores and daughter Nell. Dolores was involved with a women’s rights group in Dublin in her youth which tried to stop the infamous 8th amendment to the Irish constitution (which enshrined the rights of the unborn). Nell’s partner Adrienne is pregnant and Nell is starting to panic, we learn of her past through flashbacks. This was just okay. Dolores’s story was much better than Nell’s but it took me a good while to get into it. I thought it was a great premise for a book but the execution is just okay.

175 Iron Lake by William Kent Kruger
This mystery writer seems to be much loved in America. I think it’s his most recent standalones that get most of the praise. This was the first of his long-running Cork O’Connor mysteries and was free on audible. It was diverting enough but just okay. The setting was good and the inclusion of Native American cultures was interesting but the main character and the mystery itself were a bit meh. I’ll try some of the recent ones but maybe not more of these.

Off on hols for a week of serious relaxing. Have packed 4 books and my kindle. Prob a bit ambitious…

I'm taking two books on a 5 night break.

Before leaving, I have finished The Earthspinner by Anuradha Roy. Beautifully written and poignant as ever by her. It has a loyal dog bonus.

I recall some of you like pottery. This book is partly about pottery so may be a good read.

It's also about loyalty, belonging, cultural differences, family, growing up, home, and love. All the themes I like in a book.

The third Anne of Green Gables book which I've forgotten the title of
I liked this better than the second, largely because there was far less of the annoying little boys in it. Again, not a patch on the first though.

The third Anne of Green Gables book which I've forgotten the title of

Anne of the Island where she goes to college. Loved this and wanted to live in a cottage like Patty's Place.

54 The Reluctant Widow - Georgette Heyer I like Heyer’s Regency romances, or at least I did when I used to read them, but I found this a bit of a slog for some reason - it seems to have taken me ages to finish it. There wasn’t really any romance, and the plot is very far-fetched, but it was funny and had some good characters, and was a decent book overall. My biggest complaint is the high-handedness of the hero - what might have appealed 20 years ago just gets my hackles up now! I’ve got a couple more Heyers waiting to be read from when they were 99p on kindle a while ago, but I think I’ll leave a bit of a gap before the next one.

99 How Not To Drown in a Glass of Water – Angie Cruz. This was recommended on a podcast that I subscribe to (What Should I Read Next?) as a great one for Audio. One professional review states “A fresh glimpse of immigration, womanhood, aspiration and gentrification told in Cara's unfailingly frank, sometimes hilarious, voice.” I beg to differ. Cara Romero is a Domincan immigrant living in NYC. She gets paid off from her factory job and after two years unemployed is send to have 12 sessions with a job coach. The chapters are these 12 sessions, all narrated by Cara. Some of it is a hard listen and I was horrified at one of the scenes. I could have done with a content warning! Cant honestly recommend. Only stuck with it as it was less than 6 hours. I also found it very difficult to understand the actor’s accent at times, which was very strong and interspersed with Spanish words, which I only have a basic understanding of. The actual book may have been more helpful, but I wont be bothering to seek it out.

100 Motherwell – Deborah Orr. The journalist Deborah Orr’s biography of growing up in Motherwell, a large, industrial town half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Orr is a few years older that me and while she grew up around 50 miles from me, it may as well have been the moon. Her upbringing was so different to mine. Her parents were horrendous and mine were and are lovely. She actually ended up with PTSD due to her childhood. I felt incredibly sad for her. Recommended.

94 The Burning - Jane Casey

First in the DC Maeve Kerrigan series. I enjoyed this and will probably read more in due course. A serial killer is preying on young women and burning their bodies, but Maeve has doubts about whether the latest victim was really his work. I like the relationships she builds with others.

That's good @SheilaFentiman because The Burning is actually the weakest one and they just get better from there

Oooh really?? I’m on a bit of an “easy read” crime kick right now so that is tempting!

I devoured them, I'm still in mourning

61. My Family and Other Strangers - Jeremy Hardy
After the 1911 census was made publicly available, comedian and broadcaster Jeremy Hardy went on a genealogical and geographical search for his ancestors, to find out more and confirm or dispel family stories. In between work and his research, which included visiting places important to his family, he mused on friends and colleagues who had passed away, both famous and not so well-known. I found this an interesting read but I enjoy family history.

<strong>62.	The Joy Luck Club</strong> - Amy Tan

I was too young to appreciate this when it first came out in 1989; I suspect had I read it back then, a reread at a different point in my life would have given a different perspective. Based around four Chinese women, living in San Francisco, who meet weekly to play mah jong in 1949, the book weaves between their stories and those of their daughters in the present day ie late 80s. It speaks to the relationship between mothers and daughters, how our past shapes us, and the cultural differences within immigrant families.

The book grew on me, with the symmetry of the format between mothers’ and daughters’ viewpoints, starting and finishing with the reunification of a family torn apart by war.

94 Book Lovers by Emily Henry

After really enjoying Happy Place by the same author I dived straight into this one, but found it a bit bland in comparison. The two main characters work in publishing and get off to a bad start, but find sparks flying when they are forced to work together. I found the knowing asides about rom-com tropes to be irritating after a while and wasn’t too keen on the main characters, which makes it a bit difficult to root for the romance. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me.

95 The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal by Jodi Taylor

Another spin off from the Chronicles of St Mary’s series focusing on the back story of recovery agents (bounty hunters) Lady Amelia Smallhope and her butler and fellow recovery agent, Pennyroyal. I was a bit apprehensive as I found the St Mary's 'Pros and Cons' detour a bit irritating, but I absolutely loved this, it’s by far my favourite book from Jodi Taylor for ages. The story of how S&P came to meet and work together was brilliant, and I loved seeing their relationship and characters from the inside, rather than what they project to others. Really hoping she continues this. One thing I wanted to ask fellow St Mary’s readers, was I alone in thinking that Pennyroyal was gay?

96 The Curse of the Burdens by John Wyndham

Continuing my listen of John Wyndham books (free on audible plus) and after a couple of duds I liked this short novel. When the Burdens are gifted a monastery and lands the Abbot lays a curse on the whole family (not very Christian of him!). As the inheritance passes from family member to family member, but never from father to son, only two Burdens, James and Dick, remain. This felt quite different to the other Wyndham books I have read, and although there were elements of the supernatural with the curse, it was more of a murder mystery. The ending did feel a little rushed and unspectacular compared with modern crime novels, but that’s not a major criticism.

I think Pennyroyal’s sexuality is deliberately left ambiguous so yes he could be gay @MamaNewtNewt

@SheilaFentiman I agree with Eine that the Maeve Kerrigan books do keep getting better. I also binge read them earlier this year (didn’t plan to but once I started I couldn’t stop) and can’t wait for the new one in April.

Children of War by Ahmet Yorulmaz. Translated by Paula Darwish

In 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne agreed the compulsory exchange of minority populations between Greece and Turkey. 1.6M people were forceably moved, including large numbers of Cretan Muslims (most of whom were descended from converts rather than immigrants). This novel was written by a Turkish author who was descended from these Cretan Muslims and is based on refugee diaries from the time. It follows the experiences of Hassan, from his childhood on a small farm in the 1890s to the 1920s when he leaves Crete after having used education and hard work to make a success of himself as a businessman in Chania. Apparently this is a first in a trilogy with the later books describing his experiences in Türkiye but only this novel has been translated into English. It was a quick and easy read that shines a light on a forgotten history. The descriptions of the food were mouthwatering but I liked the romance less.

The fourth Anne book
I’m finding them rather tedious now and only keeping reading to see if she ever gets married. Too many characters in this one, just passing through. All rather lazy and repetitive and I don’t like the epistolary sections at all.

I'm enjoying your reviews of the Anne book, Remus :) They bring back dim and distant memories.

Also enjoying the Anne reviews. Maybe it's time I read them again. I did like the relationship between Anne and Katherine Brooke in #4. Katherine Brooke has stuck in my mind over the years.

59 Frankie by Graham Norton

My mother-in-law went to an event where she accidentally ended up with two free (signed!) copies of this book, and gave me one of them. I went in with low expectations but it was a fun, easy read. Damian, a young, gay care assistant is temporarily assigned to look after Frankie, a fiercely independent woman in her 80s who has broken her ankle. Over their short period together, they become close and Frankie tells Damian the story of her eventful life. There's nothing ground-breaking here, but Frankie's story - weaving through a difficult childhood and an ill-fated marriage in Ireland, before accidents and opportunities take her to London and New York - is interesting and moving. Unsurprisingly, there's a focus on lesbian and gay characters and some of this follows well-worn territory (AIDS in NY in the 80s), but other parts are more original and I enjoyed the glamorous parties Frankie attends in London and the sections on the 60s and 70s art world. The "reveal" at the end is well telegraphed, but no less moving for that (although I found the ending generally a little abrupt).

None of the Anne books remotely approaches the first, though Anne of the Island is the best of the rest IMO. @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie 4-6 are the worst, written purely from contractural obligation and during acrimonious legal proceedings against her publishers. However, Rilla of Ingleside (if you make it that far!) is great for historical insight even though it trashes the timeline to make the POV characters a more active age over WWI. The Blue Castle (one of LMM's standalone 'adult' books, though I read it as a child like all the others) is a charming spinster Cinderella romance ideal for convalescing.

Though mine (from Covid-turned-ever-lingering-lurgy) has mainly involved watching adaptations of things I have no intention of reading (Rivals, Shogun, Sweetpea, House of the Dragon, Babylon Berlin) 😅Please don't banish me from the thread! TBF I did try the first BB novel, but it was shit and excruciatingly male-gazey. I really fancy some Weimar crime though - would anyone here recommend the Bernie Gunther (Kerr) or John Russell (Downing) books, or others?

Otherwise, on my nth reread of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell before Clarke's new novella and dipping into Scoff - thanks to whoever mentioned this recently and inspired me to start.

Sounds like a good plan @inaptonym I was thinking about doing the same with Shogun and maybe Pachinko.

I enjoyed the Bernie Gunther books when I read them a good few years ago- they go right up to Cold War Berlin which is great. They are very male gaze though- like Chandler etc but I like to think it’s tongue in cheek. I particularly enjoyed the ones I ‘read’ on audio if that’s something you enjoy.

I finished two books between flights, airports and transfers yesterday (though I had already almost finished both). Neither are from the four I’ve brought on hols. (both were finished off on kindle)

176 The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
The story of Sarah Woodruff, town pariah in Victorian Lyme Regis, where it’s assumed she had an affair with a foreign seaman. Enter Charles and his fiancée Ernestina… Written in the 60s but set in the Victorian era with fourth wall breaking and alternative endings, this isn’t your usual Victorian romance. Strange but compelling. Very curious to know others views on this one if they’ve read it.

177 Red Memory- Tania Branigan
The Guardian’s China correspondent looks into the Cultural Revolution and how it impacts life in China today, and how the victims and perpetrators deal with this huge unspoken thing in their past. This sounded fascinating but I didn’t really get along with Branigan’s writing style and the structure didn’t work for me- it kept jumping around with no clear link between chapters and a lack of historical context. Disappointing

I like some (not all) of the Bernie Ghunter books. I’d definitely recommend the first three. I know some on here don’t like his character, but I’m rather fond of the grumpy sod.

I couldn’t finish Babylon Berlin.

Katherine Brook held no appeal for me. Anne is too good to be true at times.

@inaptonym @ÚlldemoShúl

I am nearly finished with Rivals the book and thought it was worth it. I watched the show piece by piece as I was able to work out where I was up to.

I have been sorely tempted to just say fuck it and watch Shogun as it hasn't clicked with me either in print or audio. It's soooo long

Pachinko was a brilliant book I thought. The adaptation is very well done as well though and because I haven't caught the second series yet I'm thinking of rewatching from the beginning to jog my memory.

I did like the Anne novels as a child, but haven't felt moved to re-read them as an adult. I definitely preferred the What Katy Did series (particularly from no. 2 onwards) & have enjoyed finding the later books that I'd not read (Clover and In High Valley) on Kindle.
I am tempted to a re-read of LMM's Emily of New Moon series though, especially given the first one is only 49p. To my memory Emily is a bit less too-good-to-be-true (and rather more strange) than Anne.