50 Books Challenge Part Eight

[Southeastdweller]

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

What are you reading?

Yes I did think it was you Best but I told myself I was wrong as I knew you were deep in Rutshire and I hadn't seen a review yet!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit

I've only ever read Nigel's Gruniad columns. I feel like I'm missing out on part of life's tapestry but also feel I can live without more pretentious posturing.

Catching up on a few reviews.

103. Long Island - Colm Toíbin. Sequel to Brooklyn which I read earlier this year. This is set 20 years after Brooklyn and starts with Eilis finding out that Tony has got another man's pregnant. Eilis decides to go back to Ireland ( with her teenage kids) to visit her mother while she decides what to do, and whilst there remeets her old love Jim. I really enjoyed this. It has all Toíbin's hallmarks, particularly people saying so much without saying anything, the pauses and the small character studies of people who are just in it for a couple of pages. He writes women so well. And, if you've read his other books, there are cross references and characters. My main criticism is that it reads like a middle volume. We need the final showdown with the two mothers but the fact that he's nearly 70 worries me.

104. Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent. Longtime Countdown fan so wanted to read this. It is basically a crime book with a lot of word definitions shoehorned in, or a book of definitions with a crime story shoehorned in. It
     was ok but I didn't think it worked particularly well. The main character is the editor of a pseudo Oxford dictionary and the bits that I liked best were the descriptions of Oxford and the wordy jokes between the dictionary editors.

105. The Most Secret Memory of Men - Mohammed Mbougar Sarr, translated by Lara Vergnaud. I started reading this and then stopped to do book club reads and came back so it's taken me quite a while, it's not at all a page turner though it does pick up pace about 100 pages in. It's written by a Senegalese writer and was originally written in French. The main character is also a young Senegalese writer living in Paris who discovers a manuscript published in 1938 by another Senegalese writer that caused a sensation at the time. But now the book is out of print and no-one knows what happened to the author. The book is about his search for him and goes to Paris, Senegal and Argentina, takes in so many literary references and philosophizing on literary theory, as well as a bit on colonialism, war, mysticism. I'm not entirely sure what I make of it as a whole. It's very ambitious but maybe a bit self-conscious.

And one more from me

106. Shy Creatures - Clare Chambers. This is about Helen, an art therapist at a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s, who is having an affair with one of the doctors. The doctor gets called to a case where a man with long hair, nails and beard, William, has been kept in a house for at least 10 years by his aunts else knowing he was there. The story then alternates between flashbacks to William's life and Helen's present. This was Chambers at her best with all the period details, I really enjoyed being immersed in her world.

103 The Janus Stone - Elly Griffiths

Reading through the charity shop haul from a few weeks ago. Quickly reread The Crossing Places first.

Ruth - now pregnant - is getting herself into trouble again, investigating the headless bodies of a young girl and a cat found on the site of a children’s home. There’s a suspicious priest, posh family entanglements and lots of trenches. A good read.

82. The Engagement Party by Finley Turner Typical blue cover yellow writing thriller. Murray and Kass get engaged after a whirlwind 4 month relationship. As soon as they get engaged they receive an invitation to their own engagement party being thrown by Murray's parents. Murray claims to be estranged from his family so Kass is, rightfully, confused about how they knew about the engagement. When they get to Murray's parents house it becomes clear that Murray hasn't been honest with Kass about his family and a murder at the party adds to the confusion

This was not great. The coincidences were way too much and the end was incredibly anti-climatic. Turner has no skill when it comes to building suspense and the characters were all so one-dimensional it was hard to care about any of them. Honestly, in the final drama I simply didn't care who lived or died

29 The Wrong Knickers - Bryony Gordon
I probably read this at the wrong time to be honest. I think what I really needed was a cosy page turner rather than an edgy reveal all. Ultimately I found it pretty depressing to read about the early days of her journalistic career, and her hectic social life. Sorry Bryony, it's not you, it's me.

60.None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. Successful podcaster Alix has a chance encounter with a Josie in a pub. The two share a birthday, but have nothing else in common. Josie appears quiet and forlorn, but soon weaves her way into Alix's life in a sinister fashion.

Thanks to EineReiseDurchDieZeit for the recommendation. I love a good psychological thriller, but mass market fiction has so many similar looking and sounding titles, and they're not always widely reviewed, so it can be hard to find the real gems. This was one. A classic unreliable narrator, and enough twists to be interesting but not so many as to be completely silly.

I've gone straight on to listen to another of Jewell's, although that's in part because I've messed up my BorrowBox tactical planning and none of my reservations are due in for another three weeks.

love a good psychological thriller, but mass market fiction has so many similar looking and sounding titles, and they're not always widely reviewed, so it can be hard to find the real gems.

Exactly how I feel, they all just look and sound generic with shouty titles and it's too easy just to write them all off as "dross" which I'm afraid I have in the past.

I'm still quite wary and would only try those strongly recommended here or (for audio) with a famous narrator

Really Glad you also liked it @StrangewaysHereWeCome

I feel the same about those types of books, I also really enjoyed that Lisa Jewell one. I also really enjoyed Listen for the Lie recently, which is similar in that there’s a crime and a podcast but overall it’s lighter and quite funny too.

Yes, have been meaning to come on here and thank @EineReiseDurchDieZeit for the recommendation.
I just finished the audiobook of None Of This Is True and it was really good. I don't tend to pick up books like that having been disappointed too many times but this was well written (and narrated) and had me gripped from the start.

Just finished my first Christamssy book of the season which was the Winter Spirits a collection of short winter set ghost stories by contemporary authors such as Laura Purcell, Jess Kidd and Stuart Turton. Many of the authors are writers of Gothic and/or Victorian style novels and I am not a fan of all of them. The short stories were all OK, some far stronger than others. They are all set in Edwardian or Victorian times or a coupe just before. Is there no such ting as a contemporary ghost story?

It does make a change to find a selection of Christmas set ghost stories that are newly written.

Look at Black Shuck Books for contemporary ghost story collections @Piggywaspushed . Also Simon Kurt Unsworth’s backlist if you can get hold of them. He’s stopped writing at the moment, apart from a play based on some of his stories but there are some truly creepy things happening in his writing. I still shudder when we drive past the tower at Lancaster services on the M6 (“teeth…..teeeeth!!!!!”).
Michael Marshall Smith too, although crossover with straight Horror.
Ramsey Campbell’s early collections too.

Triple Plus points at Waterstones online or instore today until Monday 2nd, if you spend over £100. Might be double Plus points for a smaller spend, I haven’t checked yet.

I'm not actually much a of a short story or ghost story reader - just at Christmas Time I like a collection of stories.

Yay @PepeLePew it's such a risk strongly recommending a book on here in case everyone goes

HUH?!

Indeed. But if I recommend a book and someone (everyone) hates it, I file it under "what do they know anyway?" and move on. There is only one book I tend to not recommend because I love it so much but most people hate it and I don't want to have to think badly of all of you.

Oh I really want to know now!

128. The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths

Ruth Galloway #7

The thing is with these it takes a lot of work on behalf of both the author and the audience to believe that an academic archaeologist would so frequently be called upon by the police. And then be regularly in peril also.

I'm at the stage now, particularly in this instance, where I'm not really interested in the main crime story (with this one the family relationships were too confusing) and I'm more interested in the returning characters and their interpersonal relationships.

These are really light quick reads for me anyway and I will be continuing but they have definitely veered off now into "cosy crime" rather than just crime.

@PepeLePew I should have done this with Brodie, but I never learn my lesson!

Agreed. I want to know what happens with Ruth, Kate and the team.

I did enjoy The Ghost Fields and thought it was extremely sad. Nice and easy to read though.

193 The White Girl- Tony Birch
A story of a pale skinned indigenous Australian girl whose grandmother tries to prevent her from being part of the ‘stolen generation’. Short but moving and well written.

194 Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Greta is a transcriptionist for a counsellor who is thinking of writing a book about his patients. She is intrigued by and eventually meets and falls for a woman she nicknames ‘Big Swiss’. This tries far too hard to be quirky and wacky and the sex was too graphic for me personally- I like the Hayes code in books! A flop.

195 The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Trying to work my way through all his work. This one was a dark fable about getting what you desire. Nicely written- liked the use of music.

196 The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donaghue
2 days in a Dublin hospital in November 1918 from the perspective of nurse Julia Power. Call the Midwife crossed with a pandemic, the First World War, the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland, the impact of the Easter Rising and one of the most admirable people in Irish history- Dr Kathleen Lynn- suffragist, socialist, rebel, philanthropist, doctor and politician. Want to read more about Lynn. Loved this book- much admiration to all you mothers after reading the childbirth scenes. A bold for me.

I am now 15 books into my Read what you Own challenge- the most difficult temptation is Waterstones double/ triple points this weekend. I did order a few books- but only ones I read and loved on kindle so I could have a bookshelf copy (hoping my custom built bookshelves will be finished and in before Christmas and I need some new stuff to stack them) but wouldn’t be reading anything new. I may be justifying myself too much here but I’m keeping going…

@PepeLePew please spill

Fess up Pepe!

We promise not to be offended if we're judged lacking.

I suspect many of you have read it and at least some of you hated it. It's Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton which is just the saddest and most moving book I've ever read and the only one that makes me cry. But my best friend said it was misery on steroids and worse than A Little Life with terrible writing so it's clearly not for everyone!

Oh god. I’m sorry. I hated it and didn’t finish it. Even dp couldn’t finish it and he usually has much more staying power than I do. Sorry!