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

Tom Lake is on my Possible list

given its French setting, I find it hard to get too mad about the relentless skewering of men (including an annihilation of a Houellebecq type, which is always appropriate).

@inaptonym, I'll definitely read Creation Lake now, I'm a Houellebecq hater (and my antipathy extends to academics who work on Houellebecq, almost all men and men of a certain type, ahem).

Interesting that the Booker shortlist is almost all women; I hadn't noticed that! A refreshing change from last year.

Thanks for the new thread southeast and hi bett!

Not bringing a list over but here’s latest reads:

259 The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins

This was odd and I struggled to get through it. It’s set (I think) in Victorian times and is about a factory that produces a strange kind of silk, which creates total silence on one side but on the other side produces strange noises that drive people mad. Our main character goes to investigate and falls under the silk’s spell. Interesting idea but I don’t really know what the point was. I may have missed a key plot point along the way as the ending seemed very inconclusive to me.

260 Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair by Emma Tarlo

Recommended on the last thread by Terpsichore (thank you!) this is a really interesting look at the trade in human hair. I really didn’t know there were so many ways for human hair to be used/traded and this has opened my eyes!

261 Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

Set in the 1960s, Helen is an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital. William is a man in his 40s who is discovered living in a state of neglect with an elderly aunt, and hasn’t left the house for about 30 years. We gradually learn more about both their stories. I really liked this. I found William’s story very intriguing (it’s loosely based on a true story) and I thought the period setting was well done.

262 The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase

Dual timeline story, set in Notting Hill in the 1990s, then in the present day when house renovations threaten to reveal a buried secret. I enjoyed this although a couple of the characters never really rang true for me.

263 Back Home by Michelle Magorian

A reread of a childhood/teenage favourite. At age 7 Virginia (Rusty) was evacuated to America at the start of WW2. Now aged 12 she’s returned to an England that she doesn’t recognise and which has far more restrictions than she’s used to. This is brilliant at showing how out of place Rusty feels and the period detail is great. Loved revisiting this and it’s made me want to look out more about children being evacuated to America so have some more books on my list to track down now!

I remember Back Home, Chessie. Her innocent enquiry about when she would get her period party blew my little mind. It was also the first book I read that suggested boarding school wasn't exactly how Enid Blyton described it.

I also loved Back Home as a teenager. Sarah Lancashire was the Mum in the TV adaptation

I’m in awe of your reading speed Chessie!

There was also an earlier version (early 90s) with Hayley Mills as the mum. I preferred that version.

@ChessieFL ive enjoyed Back Home. Didnt know thete were TV sdaptions -might do a youtube search to see ifvi can find them.

Looks like the Sarah Lancashire version is on YouTube. Will have to rewatch it myself!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hg_KkqhLY6k

Not sure if the earlier version is available anywhere though. I’ve got it on a really ancient dvd but don’t think it’s available now, you might be able to find it second hand somewhere.

Found it!!

m.youtube.com/watch?v=b5GUZJldOVM

Nice
Light
Page Turner
No Sex

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit what about Lissa Evans?

@JaninaDuszejko

Yes! I'm hoping Small Bomb At Dimperley will pass the test, If not Old Baggage is a shout

I've never known anyone as picky! I suppose because I have such a broad palette I don't get it.

Me again

98. Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

Shortlisted etc.

A woman comes to live in a religious community.

I liked the first half but the stuff with the mouse infestation was really strange.

Like The Safe Keep it's about the internal lives of women, but I found the memories she focusses on really didn't contribute to a cohesive narrative.

Like James the chapters are snappy

And like Orbital it occasionally has its ethereal moments

They seem to fit together somehow.

Overall, I wouldn't rave about it though it was affecting in places, I didn't think it came together as a whole.

A very quick read at <300

Unlike the summer where I barely read a thing, I can't seem to stop at the moment.

Good to sees you @bettbburg hope you are doing ok.

I have just finished no 75, which was my aim this year:

75 The Dig by John Preston

This is set around the archaeological dig at Sutton Hoo, one of the most important finds on British soil, which included an Anglo-Saxon ship and the famous helmet. This covers one of my favourite periods of history, so the fact I enjoyed it wasn’t a surprise. That said it did all feel a bit slight, and I think pretty much every element would have been better if it had been expanded and fleshed out. It’s characters, despite, or maybe because, of being based on real people for the most part, never really came to life. With a bit more content this could have been a bold.

I enjoyed Back Home too, and am now reading A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian, set in 1943. At 17, the main character, Rose, is a little older than those in Michelle Magorian's other books.

42 The Burning Page - Genevieve Cogman third in the series, and the best so far. Lots of really good world-building and decent character development. And it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I’m off to find book 4 on BorrowBox…

@Stowickthevast to be fair I’ve caved to the Butter marketing and have it on my tbr but Mongrel should be more widely known.

oh I love Back Home - I used to was Rusty’s LL Bean jacket so bad.

47. Counterfeit by Kirsten Chen. Ava is a tax attorney on maternity leave, and is struggling with motherhood and her marriage, but is trapped by her reliance on her husband's salary. She reconnects with Winnie, an old university acquaintance, whose glamour and style are indicative of newly acquired wealth. She gets drawn into Winnie's world, and finds herself embroiled in a major fraud.

An easy, pacey read, with a classic unreliable narrator. The characterisation was pretty decent for mass market fiction, with Winnie's struggles to succeed in life as an immigrant to the US well detailed. There'll be an HBO adaptation I'm sure.

The Bee Sting has just dropped into my BorrowBox account, and is approximately 2700 hours' worth of listening, so you might not see me again before the next thread .

26 Last Friends - Jane Gardam
Last in the Old Filth trilogy, I've been looking out for this in charity shops for about a year. Finally picked it up in the marvellous second hand bookshop at Culzean Castle (along with a load more - hurrah!)

This one slightly disappointing in my opinion, but worth a read nonetheless

I'd specially bought My Friends so am sad to see it hasn't made it. I wonder if they will do The Village Booker this year, I used to love that. Currently very stuck on a book that is very good, I'm just struggling.

I haven’t read any of the Booker shortlist and must admit that I am not currently that tempted either but may be swayed by further reviews.

Latest read is:

66. Water - John Boyne

I think this is the first in an elemental series with Earth next. It’s quite brief and tells the story of Vanessa/Willow who has retreated to an island off the Irish coast to think following some major events in her life. Life on the island is simple and insular but suits Vanessa/Willow. I thought this was great - the storyline and writing really drew me in and the characterisation was good. A bold for me.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller. My list since the last thread.

51 So Late in the Day - Claire Keegan
52 The Fortunate Few - Tim Kennemore
53 Trieste - Daša Drndić (trans Ellen Ellias-Bursac)
54 Zlata's Diary - Zlata Filipovic (trans Christina Pribichevich-Zorić)
55 Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent - Judi Dench (in conversation with Brendan O'Hea)
56 Yugoslavia - My Fatherland - Goran Vojnović (trans Noah Charne)
57 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
58 The Teacher of Cheops - Albert Salvado
(trans Marc Brian Duckett)
59 Persuasion - Jane Austen
60 Meet Me at the Museum - Anne Youngson
61 The Encyclopedia of the Dead - Danielo Kiš (trans Michael Henry Heim)
62 My Friends - Hisham Matar
63 Orbital - Samantha Harvey

Bit disappointed about the shortlist re My Friends as like many I loved this. Currently reading The Tigers Wife byTea Obrecht.

@YolandiFuckinVisser I agree with you about Last Friends. Whereas I found The Man in the Wooden Hat to be a really interesting retelling of events from a second character's point of view, this third novel going over the same ground got a wee bit stale for me. It's a great trilogy overall though and the main characters and their relationships have stayed with me.

Oh, Sarah Lancashire. I must look that one up.

My recent reads

Arthur by Swedish author mikael lindnord.
He goes to South America on a running event and along the way he picks up a stray dog and decides to bring him back to Sweden.

*farewell mr puffin by Paul heimey
He sails to Iceland on his boat and hopes to see puffins on the way. He's smiling in the wrong season most of the time but ignores that and berates the lack of puffins. Good apart from that irritation that he's not done his homework.

difficult women: a history of feminism in 11 fights by Helen Lewis.
It's good. Read it.

the twat files: no mistakes by Dawn French
Sorry Dawn but writing this book was a mistake. Next!

family politics by John O'Farrell.
Hilarious political satire. Boy from a staunchly labour supporting house goes to Oxford University, comes home after three years as a posh Tory boy. O'Farrell nailed this one with his story of the chaos, hilarity and descriptions of the situation and of Oxford. Read it.

*Righteous Fury by Markus Heitz a rare trip into fantasy this time, I listened to it as an audio book. If you like fantasy I expect you'll like this.