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?

I like Chessie's idea of only buying books that you're going to read straight away - so many I've bought and not got round to are in the 'slightly too worthy to read now but definitely want to read it one day' category! Though I see a loophole for those occasions where I happen to see 2 or 3 books the same day...

And biblio the 2 books a month from the shelf sounds more approachable than aiming to read only books already owned - though if I'm not racing through them, I don't always manage 2 books in a month anyway so I think I'd have to lower ambitions to 1 a month.

Also keen to read Monte Christo so would be up for a read along.

I've managed to break from the doom-scrolling long enough to finish The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carré - a memoir in the format of anecdotes about episodes in the author’s life. We hear about his encounters with a range of people, both the great and the good and figures from the shadow world. Other stories are about his travels for research - sometimes in considerable peril. Having read or seen adaptations of a few of his novels it was fascinating to see the genesis of particular stories and characters. His adult relationships are out of bounds, other than a couple of mentions of tension at home or a failed marriage - but later in the book there is a long chapter about his relationship with his father, a charismatic con-man, the defining relationship of his life.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit - yes, chapters of a new book at the end of a book really annoy me! I never read them as even if I am going to read the book, I will read them when I start the new book. I always swipe through them at speed so it shows the book as finished.

I'm back from the cinema having seen 'Small Things Like These'. It was very good. Very faithful to the book, thankfully. The final scenes were harrowing and beautiful.

I don’t like ‘taster’ chapters either. I used to read them but no more, because I got annoyed with starting a book and thinking ‘haven’t I read this before?’ And having to go on a long search to check before realising it was probably just a taster chapter somewhere.

With kindle books I always make sure I go through all the pages to get to 100% read.

CornishLizard buying more than one book in one go does slightly scupper the system. I’ve got a ‘recent TBR’ pile though and books I buy just go on the top of that, then I just make sure the next book I read comes from the top of that pile. Again some books do end up a bit further down the pile if I’ve bought a few at a time and then buy more before I get to them all, but I still usually get to them pretty quickly and like I said it’s mainly to stop me buying the ‘I will read this at some point honest guv’ books that then sit around for years because I’m never quite in the right mood for them.

47 A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo. Set in Nigeria, the two main characters are Eniola, whose parents are struggling to pay his school fees after his father lost his job, and Wuraola, who is juggling her relationship with her busy job as a junior doctor. I enjoyed this - both storylines kept me interested.

48 Mercury Pictures Presents Anthony Marra. Marra is one of my favourite authors and I loved this novel set mainly in a film studio in Los Angeles before, during and after WWII, plus some scenes in Italy. There is a large cast of fascinating and well-drawn characters and I was invested in all of them. A definite bold.

I just Mark as Read (also good for non fiction with a long index!) - I am sure you all know how to but just in case - press the three vertical dots and this menu comes up:

@Midnightstar76 judging by the pen name the author of Pumpkin Spice Cafe chose I think she's very much based the book on Gilmore Girls

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Second in the Percy Jackson books. Great fun although the kids are getting annoyed at my ability to predict plot twists based on my knowledge of the greek myths.

183 The Story of a New Name- Elena Ferrante (Number 2 on my Read What you Own challenge)
It’s limited what I can say in the review without spoiling book 1 for anyone who hasn’t read the quartet yet. Lila and Lenu’s friendship becomes more complex and more toxic as they begin to navigate the changes that adulthood brings. Another bold for me.

I remember the adaptation of The Line Of Beauty, I thought it was really good. Introduced me to Dan Stevens and had Tim McInnery in it. I remember it had the line 'All must have prizes' in it which I hadn't heard before and subsequently found was a quote from one of the Alice In Wonderland books. Don't know why that sticks in my head!
Also loved the BBC adaptation of War & Peace (the Paul Dano, James Norton, Tom Burke one) which inspired me to read the book.
I read it first time in record time and then the next year read it again a chapter a day as part of a Mumsnet read along with a lot more analysis. It's a great book, (apart from the tangents and epilogues!) but I wouldn't have tackled it without having watched the series.

Have any Strike fans on here seen that The Ink Black Heart adaptation is coming to the BBC next month? I'm intrigued as to how they're going to adapt this, imo weakest novel of the series, with its pages and pages of message threads. A tortuous audible listen! Maybe they'll turn the game into more of a virtual reality type thing so interactions are more audible/visual.

@AgualusasLover

I would be interested in a Cristo read along, but I have form for not keeping up with them

@DesdamonasHandkerchief

Really?! Great! I imagine they'll make use of lots of onscreen graphics

Definitely the weakest book but I'm also intrigued to see how it's adapted.

I may be up for a Count readalong too. Although I started The Three Musketeers six years ago and never finished it. That should maybe be on my goals list too...

118. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

In Nazi Occupied France, sisters Vianne and Isabelle take different approaches in the struggle to survive.

It's very French Resistance gets a light touch, if you want something "proper" you want A Woman Of No Importance but I read it quickly and found it satisfying. I preferred it to The Women by the same writer earlier this year

It did affect me enough for me to have a little cry at the end but it's not a bold because it's not believable enough

I’m struggling with the Grand Canyon book. Was it you who recommended it @noodlezoodle ? I’m just finding him quite tedious in both himself and his writing. Is it worth skipping a bit and picking it up when he actually starts the hike?

@InTheCludgie I have been trying to read The D’Artagnan Romances for years. I flew through The Three Musketeers, also liked the second one but have been reading The Vicomte de Bragelonne for approx 2 years. I sort of dip in when I’m between books for a chapter or two.

shall I start a Count thread and see if there is interest? Ready to start in the new year. I’ll take a look at chapter length etc.

72 Day And Night by John Connolly

Unsettling short stories…..now THAT’S more like it! Connolly once again shows ‘em how it’s done. Can’t pick a favourite, although I have a soft spot for the Caxton Private Lending Library And Book Depository.
I didn’t think I’d particularly engage with the memoir about a film he once saw when he was 12. How stupid of me, it was superb. Musings on the nature of nostalgia, his uneasy relationship with his father, film trivia, gossip…….now I need to track down a copy of Horror Express to see Telly Savalas chewing the scenery.
He’s a self-effacing genius of writing and I’d read his shopping list, mainly because there would probably be things on there written in unknown runic languages that writhed uncomfortably within your very brain…

* Shall I start a Count thread and see if there is interest*?

Go for it

Don't know what went wrong there

I also have Count of Monte Cristo on my TBR pile and would be interested in a readalong.

I am the culprit Remus, but it was a suggestion in the 'outdoor disasters' category rather than a rec because I'm only just starting it too. It takes them a year to do the hike so if you're finding him tedious now I don't know if it's worth continuing!

77. The Third Girl - Agatha Christie

This month’s Agatha Christie challenge book. On the upside it has Hercule Poirot, a country house (but not the main setting), a (small) dysfunctional family and I didn’t guess whodunnit. On the other hand it’s set in the 1960s which means a clash between the attitudes of Poirot and the prevailing culture - lots of references to fashion and drugs. It wasn’t dreadful but I certainly won’t need to re-read it in the future.

Thanks, @noodlezoodle . I'll try skipping to when the hike starts and seeing what I think of him then. I'll be interested to know your thoughts. Currently he's annoying people in boats and transporting poo.

Ohh yes good idea!