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?

Forgive me, but I couldn’t resist another nails/book pairing.

Going in for my second favourite, having gobbled up The Drawing of the Three (and fondly remembering Cote’s loathing of it), my favourite of the series, followed by also devouring The Wastelands, both whilst holed up in the aftermath of the flu (not Captain Tripps but day 2 felt like it might be). I skipped most of Wizard and Glass - Roland and Susan’s story in itself is fine, but I object to so much back story when we’re supposed to be moving forward to the tower.

The nail/book pairing was unplanned, but I feel it’s too good to not share.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie loving the book / nails combo 😂

Sadly, the sparkles in the varnish haven't really come out in the picture.

Excellent work.

Beautiful nails, Remus

78 A Place Of Greater Safety - Hilary Mantel

A reread for Mantel’s terrific, terrifying portrayal of the French Revolution through the intertwined relationships of the key players Desmoulins, Danton and Robespierre and their families. As with Wolf Hall, she brings the characters to life with a rare skill, and despite being a long read it’s utterly gripping.

31 Mother's Boy - Patrick Gale
I am such a philistine that it didn't dawn on me until the author's note at the end of the book that this work of fiction is loosely based on the formative years of the poet Charles Causley. I listened to this on audible, narrated by the author, who made a pretty good job of the various accents of characters from Cornwall, Liverpool and Chicago amongst others.

Recommended.

@MegBusset I'm planning to immerse myself in A Place of Greater Safety over Christmas!

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell. Adapted by Scarlett and Sophie Rickard

Graphic novel adaptation of the classic socialist novel. The images are gorgeous but I didn't enjoy the story as much as 'No Surrender' which the Rickard sisters also adapted and I loved. It was a polemic against capitalism but Tressell's socialist (communist) utopia felt dated because we now have the benefit of having seen how communist states operate in reality. Still an interesting read and, like I said, the illustrations are fabulous and filled with detail, just what you want in a graphic novel.

Now going to read The Inn at the Edge of the World so interesting to read @Terpsichore 's review. Think @bibliomania recommended ATE after I loved O Caledonia earlier in the year. The first 20 pages or so are living up to my expectations so far.

Not sure that makes you a philistine. I don't think Charles Causley is that well known, perhaps his work has been underrated. I happen to have had books as a child with some of his work in it, but I don't know how much his work comes up on school syllabuses or university courses or reading lists, and I couldn't name one specific poem - there are a few that I've read a few times, probably because they're included in a couple of anthologies for children that I read from to my boys when they were little.

He's not one of the very few poets whose work is always in print and widely available, outside of a handful of really well known works (and I can't even name those - there is one about the life of a boy/man with perhaps some kind of special needs form childhood onwards). I knew Mother's Boy was about him before I read it and that appealed to me.

My book group read Notes on an Exhibition (another biographical novel, fiction but based on a real life person - Barbara Hepworth) about 10 years ago, and I read and loved A Place in Winter, and I've read some of his other work - he has become a writer whose new books I will reserve at the library and probably buy later, but I still have to catch up with most of his earlier novels (MB was 2022). Recommended but I probably liked the other 3 novels I've read by him even more. The one I can't remember the title of came between APIW and MB and was about a musician from school and music lessons to adult life, also a kind of bildungsroman.

Thanks @elkiedee - I will see if I can get those at the library.

I loved A Place of Greater Safety.

So did I

Yes on a reread I wonder if it’s even better than Wolf Hall. (Of which I’m also due a reread - and which I love very much- but reminded by the BBC series that the first half of The Mirror And The Light sags a little.)

Also:

79 The Pigeon Tunnel - John Le Carre

This came from a recommendation on here but as usual I can’t find it or recall the poster- but whoever it was- thank you. Read by Le Carre himself on Audible, this was an absolute delight - not really an autobiography in the traditional sense but a series of gripping tales from an extraordinary life, from his time in the secret service to his literary career with a surprising debt to the newsreader Reginald Bosanquet. And at the end, a moving and very sad account of his relationship with his conman father, and the mother who walked out when he was 5. Am absolute highlight of what has been a very good reading year - just seeing if I can fit in one or two more before I hit the round-up thread!

Ah found it - @CornishLizard recommended The Pigeon Tunnel - thank you!

108 Criminal - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent 6)

In which we discover from whence Will Trent actually came, and just why Amanda and Evelyn are as hard as nails.

Also, young blonde women are kidnapped and tortured a lot. But the character back story was the focus. If you like them, you will like it.

201 Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff (audio) This is the second part of a planned trilogy about vampires and the people who hunt them. It’s full of Kristoff’s trademark snarky edgelord dialogue but I quite enjoyed it for all that. Easy listening (though I had to skip the ex scenes while listening on the bus as was terrified my earphones would disconnect and broadcast my listening to all and sundry- they were quite detailed to say the least)

202 Jamaica Inn by Daphne duMaurier
This was okay. Nowhere near as good as Rebecca or My Cousin Rachel. The writing is beautiful and gothic but the villain is one-dimensional and the ‘twist’ obvious. Disappointing.

203 Precipice- Robert Harris
Based on actual letters written by Asquith, it tells the story of his affair with Venetia Stanley during 1914, when the Irish question was replaced by WW1 at the top of the last Liberal government’s agenda. I enjoyed the political storyline of this book and Venetia was a wonderful character. The characterisation of Asquith as a politician chimes with what I know of him (from the perspective of Irish history) but he comes across as personally weaker than I expected and I don’t think that’s all Harris’s portrayal as some of that comes across in his letters. I’m still pondering whether it deserves to be bold.

204 When the Dust Settles- Lucy Easthope
No pondering here. This is bold. Knowing someone like Lucy or trained by her could be leading the disaster response to something that affected me or my loved ones would be a comfort. Practical, dedicated and compassionate Easthope takes us through her training and experience as a disaster response but more importantly recovery specialist. An important book that governments should pay heed to.

Glad you enjoyed The Pigeon Tunnel, Meg.

Going to the Dogs by Pierre Lemaitre (tr from French by Frank Wynne) If you’ve ever come across a note in your own handwriting and had no recollection at all what it’s about, be grateful that the stakes are (I very much hope) rather lower for your contacts than for those of ageing Mathilde, resistance-hero turned contract-killer. This is a fun caper, though a bit too bloodthirsty to be called ‘cosy’ crime, and a refreshingly exuberant in-translation read.

103. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
     Another Murderbot story on audio, next in the series after Network Effect that I listened to recently. This time Murderbot has to collaborate with security services on Preservation Station to solve a murder. Enjoyable as always, though I was a bit disappointed that it was set before the previous book (and didn't feature the sarcastic space transport ART).

104. Zero Risk by Simon Hayes
     Financial thriller recommended upthread by @BlueFairyBugsBooks , in which a hacker infiltrates bank systems, inflating bank balances by a factor of ten. I did feel that this suffered a bit from the classic thriller-syndrome of all women being young, beautiful, and falling into bed with (less young and beautiful) men at a moments notice. But it's always nice to read a thriller that isn't based around people running around with guns, & it kept me entertained on a day stuck home with a nasty cold.

105. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
     If you can imagine the Wizard of Oz, as retold by Douglas Adams in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, that's probably a fair summary of this novel.
     
     It follows Charles, a robot valet, manufactured to be the perfect servant to his human owner. Except that one day for reasons unclear even to him, he murders his owner, and ends up travelling through the collapse of human society in search of meaning and purpose (or at least, a new job).
     
     I listened to this on audio, read really excellently by the author. I'm not sure it would have worked as well in print, it felt (like Hitchhiker originally, of course) that it was written to be performed. But as an audio it was a definite bold for me, and I'll undoubtedly listen to it again.

109 Conversations with Friends - Sally Rooney

It has taken grit and determination to get through this one, plus diverting onto 2-3 other books along the way, and I have no inclination to read another Sally Rooney.

Frances and Bobbi are 21, best friends and former girlfriends. They meet Melissa and Nick, 30-something marrieds, and Frances starts an affair with Nick. Everyone is very satisfied with themselves whilst being full of angst. There’s not a character in this book I would want to pass the time with. Glad it’s off the list.

Checking in to confirm those are gorgeous nails and perfectly match the book. Inspired to get mine done the same colour later today and possibly re-read the Dark Tower series next year.

Thanks @PepeLePew Look for the red sparkles- channel your inner Oz (another step on the road to the tower, do it please ya!).

I’m finding a new idea for a tattoo every hundred pages or so too, but need to be disciplined about such things.

Oooh. Tell me about some of your literary tattoo inspirations. I have a plan but have wavered for so long that I now doubt myself.

289. Earthlings. Ray Star A bold. Imagine Animal Farm, crossed with a fantasy and you might just end up here. Peridot is raised by her Mum and some friends on an Island with no other people. She isn't allowed to go to school, or visit the main land. Other than being lonely, life sounds quite idyllic to be. Then, when she turns 13 she finds out that she is 'of magick'. A young lad appears in her bedroom window one night (I think that was before she found out about the magic). Then one day he Vanishes again. Peri decides to go to the mainland to find him. Animals rule the earth, and humans are kept for experiments, food, milk etc. Basically what we do to animals now, they do to us. I'm almost tempted to become vegan! This is the first in a series.

290. Murder At the Harmony Hollows Resort. Gina Kirkham. Book 3 or 4 in a series that I haven't read. Pretty standard cosy mystery really. A bunch of women from the WI go to stay at Harmony Hollows Resort, which was the site of a double murder in 1983. Dead bodies start turning up again, which may or may not be related to the 1983 ones. TBH I guessed most of the 'twists' and there were too many people to keep track of who was who. There were the WI women, and possibly some others who were also amateur sleuths.

@Sadik I'm glad you liked Zero Risk, the pretty young women/ older less attractive man thing didn't register with me. But I read it as part of a readalong over a month, so probably forgot the physical descriptions!

If you can imagine the Wizard of Oz, as retold by Douglas Adams in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, that's probably a fair summary of this novel.

@Sadik that is the most enticing description of an Adrian Tchaikovsky sci-fi novel I've ever read.