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?

@Tarragon123 I can't find the reference now but I'm sure I read a reference to Ruth's year of birth somewhere, presumably in one of the last 3 novels in the series. I couldn't think of the storyline where it might be mentioned but I can now, I won't say more here for spoilers. Yes, I think she was born in 1968 (like Adrian Mole!) but it might be 1967, 1 or 2 years before me. Her daughter Kate is about the same age as my DS2 and started secondary school in 2020, but with a much more normal year 7 experience! (20/21)

I had a very small weep in a dark room this morning, before leaving for work. I think half the world is feeling stunned this morning - and the other half are morons.

Yes. It has been a dark day.

I've got a horrible headache from all the crying. Also deleted twitter and diving deep into reading so I can escape the horrible reality. Probably safe here in California but I just can't wrap my head around it.

Half of my team is women in the US and I had a little cry with one of them today. She just sounded so defeated, worried and sad and when she started it set me off too.

Feeling the same as you all. How many times more can we have these horrendous results? Just thankful that we bucked the trend in the UK this year. Really concerned about what will happen to Ukraine.

It was Dd1's birthday today though so didn't want to harp on too much. At least that was a distraction from across the pond. Am planning on giving up political podcasts - already barely look at "X" - and losing myself in more books.

DH’s birthday today too @Stowickthevast Poor man hasn’t had the best day, what with the news, finding he was out of bread for toast then the restaurant we’d booked for lunch had to close unexpectedly and nowhere near was open. But he has had cake and some whisky now so is a bit happier.

I’m giving up the political podcasts too.

I finished Comfort Eating by Grace Dent
Not a patch on Hungry.

116. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (Audible)

An episodic tale in which a woman visits friends in a small town dominated by women. A light satire on social constraints and manners ensues

Obviously, this was a huge contrast to Rivals my previous audiobook and I have to just be real and say this bored the absolute tits off me. It's so slow and it really is something and nothing

I do generally like The Classjcs, honest but read quite a lot of them well before I joined this thread ! I'm not a Philistine I promise

99 Ghost Stories Vol 1 by MR James

Old fashioned ghost stories read by Derek Jacobi. Although they are fairly gentle by modern standards I really enjoyed this. Possibly because, thanks to the BBC adaptations, I have come to see them as kind of Christmassy. Free on audible plus.

Been saving this on my TBR for a rainy day. Well, I think it is one, so I’m going to cheer myself up with quirky Anglo-Saxons.

@LadybirdDaphne that looks fabulous. I might have to add that to my Christmas list!

Not even quirky Anglo Saxons are enough for this rainy week! I'm thinking that if even Grace Dent writing about crisp sandwiches failed me, then I really am a lost cause.

I'm going to opt for a re-read of The Dark Tower or Tolkien next, I think. I need good people ultimately overcoming bad people, however bad shit gets.

Hold on to your Disney + subscription folks I've just read that an adaptation of the much loved Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is coming next week

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie Have you tried eating the crisp sandwich yourself, rather than by proxy? Desperate times call for desperate measures.

This is a very good point. I’ve got to go out for some blood tests in a minute, so I might even elevate the idea of comfort food to a chippy tea!

97 A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Incredible Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers - Larry McDonald and Patrick Robinson

This was very good. Thanks to the people who recommended it on here. Larry was a senior-ish person at Lehman and Patrick
his ghost writer. Covers a lot of the same territory as Too Big to Fail (also excellent) but focussed primarily on Lehman and Larry’s long and largely profitable career there, and the growing horror of him and his bosses when they realised just how far in the manure the bank was. Engaging, focussed on some key personalities and a cautionary reminder of the not so merry carousel of the time.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit ooh, looking forward to that!

71 In The Flesh - An Anthology Of Modern Horror
Some of these stories were ok, largely the ones that didn’t try to be too clever and self consciously transgressive. None really stuck out, however. Maybe Lionel Shriver’s did, as her story fit the brief the best - thin judgy woman becomes fatter the more she judges fat women, loses the weight when she stops being so judgy and admits she likes food - it was uncomfortable with a decidedly nasty tone. But it stood out amongst a grey sludge of Evil Fairies, Shape Shifters and graphic descriptions of injuries that served no purpose.

If anyone hasn’t read Say Nothing it’s in today’s daily deals.

71. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore
    This is so popular on tiktok that I thought I'd find out what all the fuss was about and I've taken out a 3 month free trial of Kindle unlimited so thought I'd read this on there. Firstly the author's painfully transparent pen name wound me up so I didn't go into it as open minded as I perhaps could have done. Classic romance trope beloved by booktok: successful woman moves from the big city to a sleepy small town to take over her aunt's cafe, promptly meets handsome but damaged farmer. I don't understand why this particular one is so popular as it's no better written than any of the others like this. Easy comfort reading though and nicely seasonal

72. Song of Susannah by Stephen King
    Carrying on with my Dark Tower re-read and the ka-tet are now divided across different time periods. I dislike the way King writes himself into this book. It's so incredibly self-important and I don't think it benefits the story. Now onto the final book which I always find disappointing but will read for the sake of completeness

Thanks @TattiePants have bought the book

When I say much loved I mean that a lot of people bolded it. It's very dark so brace yourself

His Empire of Pain was a bold for me so I think this will be good too… I might wait until the horror of the Trump win has faded a little though!

Currently reading Birnham Wood.

Been trying to hide from the news as so depressed by the US election result. Whilst doing so finished number 34, which was frankly the distraction i needed.

34. Into the Woods David Mark Psychological thrillers can all get a bit samey, but this mystery set in West Cumbria with a baddie who wears a shamanic pig mask was a bit different if nothing else. Incongerous and preposterous, i rather enjoyed it. Washed up investigative journalist Rowan starts delving into the case of three teenage girls who went missing decades ago from an alternative school. Two returned and tried to get on with their lives, but rumours abound about what happened to the third. Its suggested she never came back. It is all a bit silly if you think about it too much, but I was happy to go along for the ride. Thought the obligatory 'twist' at the end worked quite well - didnt see.it coming.