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?

@ChessieFL I feel exactly the same about Hill House. I’ve never understood why it’s considered so important to the genre.

Glad it’s not just me Remus! I was reading it wondering what all the fuss is about.

68. Esther's Inheritance: Sandor Máraí (trans. Georges Szirtes).

This is a novella by the Hungarian author Sandor Máraí. I picked it up as a random read from the library a few weeks ago.

Esther lives alone with the former housekeeper of the family in a large run-down country house. They live very modestly. One day Esther receives a telegram from an old flame of hers from twenty years ago. Lajos is a man who broke her heart when ran off and married her sister. Now he's coming back to see her. She has always been powerless and in thrall to his charms. Even though she is older and wiser, she realises that deep down she still loves him and will be likely to give him what he wants even though she has nothing left to give.

I enjoyed this very much. It was terribly fatalistic. A short but powerful novella; very much like a miniature novel.

69. The Country Girls: Edna O'Brien

Read for the Rather Dated Bookclub. This is the story of two girls growing up in rural Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s. Caithleen and Baba grow up together in a small town in the back of the beyonds and are dying to escape to a better life. While very different in temperament, both are dependant on the other to survive the trials of a convent school and eventually navigate life in the Big Smoke (Dublin). O'Brien's ability to give voice to the female experience in this time and place is brilliant. I'll look forward to reading more of Cait's and Baba's adventures in the following two books.

Oh I'm very late to the new thread! I've also finished Rivals and started watching the TV series. I liked: obviously, the clothes and the parties and the drinking, and Jilly's views on good sports policy (yes to competition in schools, no to boycotting South Africa, football hooligans just need gainful employment). I did not like: the casual domestic violence references, though these were not as bad as in Riders. I would have liked to hear a bit more about what happened to the Corinium lot as I was quite fond of Sarah Stratton. I won't read any more I don't think, but my edition had an extract from Mount at the end and I was quite pleased to see Rupert and Taggie staying together.

Orbital just won the Booker - pretty marmite choice from what I thought was an underwhelming shortlist. I think generally it wasn't particularly loved on here, I certainly wasn't a fan!

@ChessieFL the film of What's Eating Gilbert Grape is really worth seeing - a very young Leonardo diCaprio is quite extraordinary in it, and Johnny Depp is excellent too. I saw it when it first came out and it made a really big impression then. I’d love to see it again actually.

I haven’t read it but did pick it up on a 99p deal about a month ago so may well move it up the TBR. The only one I’ve read from the shortlist is The Safekeep which I enjoyed. There’s a stubborn part of me that wants to hate James because it’s just been so overhyped (but I still am on a library waiting list for it 🙄) I reckon most people will be shocked it didn’t win.

70. Canne al vento: Grazia Deledda

A slow read in Italian. Deledda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928, the first Italian woman to win the prize and the second woman to do so following the Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf in 1909. Her novels are inspired by the life, customs and traditions of the people of Sardinia as well as their poverty and their struggles.

The three Pintor sisters live by themselves in their decaying mansion. They were once a noble family but their wealth has eroded over the years and they live a meagre existence with their devoted old servant, Efix. As young girls, they lived in terror of their father who kept them at home waiting for suitable men to marry them off to, but this never happened. The fourth sister escaped and ran away and had a son who comes home to meet his aunts for the first time at the start of the story. Efix is hopeful that he will restore the family name but he turns out to be a ne'er-do-well and a disappointment.

I really liked this book. It was beautifully written and very atmospheric with a very vivid sense of time and place. Efix's pilgrimage was a bit long and drawn out and I would have liked to have had more of the story focusing on the sisters but I thought it was a good intriguing read.

71. The Mother: Grazia Deledda (trans. Mary G. Steegman)

I liked the previous book enough to try another one, this time in translation.

This novella is set in a small village, not named but presumably in Sardinia, where a new priest is assigned to replace the the old one who died. Paul and his mother Maria Maddalena are settling into their new lives in the rectory. Paul is an eager and ardent discipline of God. Then he meets the remaining member of the village's wealthy family, Agnes, who lives on her own and he falls for her. The story is told in the main from his mother's perspective as he wrestles with his heart and his conscience. We are also privy to his internal struggle on the day that his mother confronts him about his relationship with Agnes. There is a lot packed into this short book about love and duty, sacrifice and atonement and maternal devotion and pressure. This time I thought the pacing was excellent and I liked the twist at the end.

99 The Abortionist’s Daughter - Elizabeth Hyde

This was a reasonably gripping read, especially at the start. Diana is an abortion provider in a small town in Colorado. She is found dead by her husband one evening and suspicion is split pretty evenly between her family and pro lifers. Some places of credibility stretching eg the DH and 19 year old DD not being able to collect clothes for weeks.

Dear God!

ORBITAL WAS SHITE <gavel>

Thanks for the new thread. I didn't realise the lastone was full. I'm behind by about 15 reviews. Not sure I can even remember what some of them were about!

I just heard the news about the Booker and popped on the thread (thanks south), safe to say I won't be buying Orbital any time soon.

However, the Annie Gray book sounds interesting Chessie, I've added it to my wish list.

I reserved Orbital from the library.
I'll give it a spin.

Pondering what I should read from the extensive TBR pile for book 100!

(book 50 was the bold “Meet Me at the Museum”)

I think I will go for "The Hand that First Held Mine" which has been lurking on Kindle for a while!

144. A Walk in the Dark Ages, Frank Delaney
The author follows in the footsteps of an imaginary seventh century Irish monk, from Skellig Michael to Constantinople, trying to picture what he would have seen along the way. I thought it was a great idea and overall I enjoyed it, but I'd like to have read more about the author's own trip - a bit more travel writing and a bit less historical detail.

145. Sedated: How Modern Capitalism Created Our Mental Health Crisis, James Davies
As the title suggests, this is a critique of how capitalist societies have depoliticized distress arising from social injustice/poor working conditions by mischaracterizing it as an individual health issue rather than attempting to address the root causes. It's a useful perspective and I agree with the fundamental point he makes.

I may give Orbital a go given it is short! I hadn't realised that the author wrote The Western Wind a couple of years ago which I absolutely loved.

83. Lev’s Violin - Helena Attlee

I really loved Helena Attlee's book about citrus, The Land Where Lemons Grow, so I was interested to read this, her account of trying to research the origins of a violin that belonged to a musician she encountered. She was charmed by his playing and wanted to know about his instrument, but he couldn’t tell her much about it - so she immersed herself in an odyssey around Europe which did eventually lead to the discovery of the violin’s history.

I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed by this - the language was very flowery in a way that I hate in relation to classical music: a lot of emoting about the 'soul' of the violins and the power of their haunting voices and so forth. I need to cut her some slack because I know a fair bit about the subject she was writing about, so I admit that it might not have grated for some readers, but a lot of the factual content seemed to have been lifted wholesale from other books in a way that wasn’t that artfully integrated. The most interesting section was her visit to a highly-specialised Italian institute in Cremona where violins are made and restored, which I’d happily have read a whole book about. I did finish this but it came close to being a DNF at more than one point.

Interesting review @Terpsichore.
I looked up other reviews on Goodreads and after reading those and yours, I wouldn't be inclined to read it.

I have a violin with a Stadivarius label.
Sadly and unsurprisingly it's not a real Strad as it came from a German factory and was made in the 1930s. It has a nice sound though and I'm fond of it.

The idea of tracing a violin’s history sounds interesting even if the book isn’t. I also have a violin that has a label that looks like it says Stradivarius and I would love to know more about it. I know it isn’t a Strad but would love to know its history.

I had to take mine to a luthier for repairs and that's what he told me.

Here's my copied over list. I'll add the next chunk of reviews later.

1. I Have To Save Them. Ellie Midwood
2. P.S Jane. Jessica Julien
3. Mrs. Quinns Rise to Fame. Olivia Ford
4. The Villa. Jess Ryder
5. Artificial Wisdom. Thomas Weaver
6. The Paris Spy's Girl. Amanda Lees
7. Twisting Time: Forbidden City of Gold. D.F Jones
8. The Liberation of Bella McCaa. Catherine Aitken
9. The Quelling. C.L Lauder

10. Munich Wolf. Rory Clements

11. Sam Time. Donna Balon

12. A Most Malicious Messenger. Katherine Black

13. Taken to the Hills. S.J Richards

14. Blood On The Tracks. Guy Hale

15. Black Money. S.J Richards

16. The German Child. Catherine Hokin

17. Phoenix Rising. Celia and Ephie Risho

18. The Bakers Secret. Lelita Baldock

19. The Vermillion Ribbon. Hayley Price

20. Inheritance. Philip Tyler

21. Nicole's War. Andrée Rushton

22. Aria and Liam: The Druids Secret. Coline Monsarrat

23. Dark Arts. Karen Taylor

24. Vermilion Sunrise. Lydia P. Brownlow

25. Opaque. Calix Leigh-Reign

26. Knights, Witches and Murder. R.M Schultz

27. The Advocate. Theresa Burrell

28. Queen of Secrets. E.J Tanda

29. The Lost Child. Kathleen McGurl

30. Blood Sapphires Revenge. Bruce Farmer

31. New Dreams at Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

32. Highly Flawed Individual. T.C Roberts

33. Tale of Two Curses. Theresa Biehle

34. Right Across the Bay. Quinn Avery

35. How Boys Learn. Jeff Kirchick

36. The False Men. Mhairead MacLeod

37. Evermarked. A.J Eversley

38. Truth Sister. Phil Gilvin

39. Crodor The Ancient. Celia and Ephie Risho

40. The Whispering Palms. Annette Leigh

41. Good Girl Deprogramming. Michelle Minnikin

42. When The Moon Was White. Jeff Probst

43. Split Adam. Calix Leigh-Reign

44. The Wartime Book Club. Kate Thompson

45. House of Dreams. Mark Stibbe

46. Humebeasts. Lisa Munoz

47. Island In The Sun. Kate Fforde

48. Shooters. Julia Boggio

49. Escape to Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

50. Knights, Necromancers and Murder. R.M Schultz

51. The Secrets of Blythwood Square. Sara Sheridan

52. Chasing the Light. Julia Boggio

53. Another Side of the Heart. C.H Lazarovich

54. Exodus. Steve Catto

55. My Perfect Family. Melanie Price

56. Fog Of Silence. S.J Richards

57. Daughters of Warsaw. Maria Frances

58. Olympia. Eva Grace

59. Mannigan. L. Ross Coulter

60. Pink Camouflage. Gemma Morgan

61. Hear her Scream. Dylan H Jones

62. Cursed by Slumber. Michelle Moras

63. The Clark's Factory Girls at War. May Ellis

64. An Elf With No Name. Mortimer Langford

65. Memory Road. Sarah Edghill

66. What we Thought We Knew. Claire Dyer

67. Moral Injuries. Christie Watson

68. A Woman Of Pleasure. Kiyoko Murata. Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter.

69. All The World's A Stage. Guy Hale

70. Orson the Great. Colm McElwain

71. The Giveaway Girl. Chrissie Bradshaw

72. Knights, Witches and The Missing. R.M Schultz

73. Naked Truth. Vicki Rebecca

74. Into the Darkness. Steve Catto

75. Gathering of the Four. A.E Bennett

76. A Tale of Something New. D.S McColgan

77. Specular. Calix Leigh-Reign

78. Maybe It's About Time. Neil Boss

79. The Godfather of Dance. Andrea Barton

80. Dark Shadow. Simon Dinsdale

81. The Keeper of Secrets. Maria McDonald

82. Crown of Confessions. E.J Tanda

83. The Grief of Godless Games. J.T Audesley

84. The Magical Journey of John and Adele. Ancius M. Murray

85. Liddle Deaths. Morgan Christie

86. What Would Aimee Dean Do? Y.M Miller

87. 17 Alma Road. Ian Gouge

88. Chapel Field. Paula Hillman

89. Jesse's Triumph. Amra Pajalic.

90. The Pact. Lisa Darcy

91. Then There Were Giants. Nicky Heymans

92. Wolf's Keep. K.E Turner

93. Hindsight. Mary Turner Thomson

94. Awaken the Dawn. Ellis K. Popa

95. Knights, Witches and The Vanished City. R.M Schultz

96. Sweetness In The Skin. Ishi Robinson

97. Blackwolf. Phil Gilvin

98. The Journalist. John Reid Young

99. Death Under a Little Sky. Stig Abell

100. The Pictish Princess. Dolan Cummings

101. My Mystical Path. Donna Shin-Ward

102. Three Brave Hearts. Liz Middleton

103. Jericho Caine, Vampire Slayer, Love, Lust and Blood. Dee Rose

104. Love Lottie. Mel Higgins

105. The Orphans of Berlin. Jina Bacarr

106. Hard Times For The East End Library Girls. Patricia McBride

107. Leap. O.C Heaton

108. Death Walks In Mowhall. Benjamin Hanna

109. Corpse In The Chard. Anna A. Armstrong

110. Green Ray. O.C Heaton

111. The Weight of What Was. Pip Landers-Lett

112. Aria and Liam: The Baker Street Mystery. Coline Monsarrat

113. Let Me In. Claire McGowan

114. Through Blood and Dragons. R.M Schultz

115. Earth Protectors. Samuel Lawson

116. The Palladium. Thorsten Brandl

117. Birth of the Tiptons. Philip Davidson

118. Good Things. Kate MacDougall

119. Mask of the Gods. Karen Furk

120. The Rutland Connection. Michael Dane

121. Murder On The Isle. Anna. A. Armstrong

122. Fall From Grace. Alan Feldberg

123. The Photograph. Diane Clarke

124. Wolf's Prize. K.E Turner

125. Courting The Sun. Peggy Joque Williams

126. The Time That Never Was. Steve Fallon

127. Atom Inc. O.C Heaton

128. Them Old Bones. Astor Y Teller

129. Black Mark. Paul Spencer

130. The Nine. Gwen Strauss

131. Amateurs. Gill Oliver

132. The Hedge Witch. Colleen Delaney

133. Turkish Delight. Anjelica Søndergaard

134. Out Of Her Mind. Sally Hart

135. Miracle Number Four. Paul Marriner

136. The Advocates Betrayal. Teresa Burrell

137. Catch Me Twice. Catherine Yaffe

138. Conditions Are Different After Dark. Owen W. Knight

139. Broken Shadows. Sorrel Pitts

140. Make the Dark Night Shine. Alan Lessik

141. Accidental Dragons. Astor Y Teller

142. Catalog of Desire and Disappearance. Ana Cruz

143. Husbands. Mo Fanning

144. Knife River. Justine Champine

145. 8ish. Luing Andrews and Jack East

146. Truestory. Catherine Simpson

147. The Flower Queen. Kay Freeman

148. Secrets Dark and Wicked. Jessica Julien & Juliet Stevens

149. The Guardians Light. Oliver Crane

150. A Simple Foundation. Larry Heitz

151. How Soon is Now? Paul Carnahan

152. Murder on Stage. F. L. Everett

153. Murmurations. Sarah Thompson

154. Sun of Endless Days. L.G Jenkins

155. The Days of Our Birth. Charlie Laidlaw

156. The Florence Letter. Anita Chapman

157. The Game of War. Glen Dahlgren

158. Under her Roof. A.A Chaudhuri

159. Remedy. Emily Bridget Taylor

160. One Month's Notice. Katie Lou

161. The Second Life of Jonathan Sendel. Jeffrey Ashkin.

162. Second Glance. AE Bennett

163. Allison Consents. D. Accord

164. Be More Octopus. Suzanne Lissaman

165. Halfmoon Lane. Paula Hillman

166. The Diary at the Last House Before the Sea. Liz Eeles

167. Gallows Wood. Louisa Scarr

168. The Swan's Nest. Laura McNeal

169. Killing Nan and other crime short stories. Keith Wright.

170. The Croaking Raven. Guy Hale

171. Catalyst. Cameron Phoenix

172. Destiny of a Free Spirit. Stephen Ford

173. All in Monte Carlo. Anna Shilling

174. Seven Summers. Paige Toon

175. The Consciousness Company. M.N Rosen

176. About Last Night. Laura Henry

177. The Bite. Jim X Dodge

178. Searchlight, The Rock. Ann Bryant

179. The Walk. Emma Marns

180. Vengeance Day. Simon Dinsdale

181. Serabelle. Tavi Taylor Black

182. War Bunny. Christopher St. John

183. Descended. Ingrid J. Adams

184. If I Can Save One Child. Amanda Lees

185. Sweet Delusions. Bea Miller

186. The Broken Pieces of Us. Celia Tandy

187. Infinite Stranger. Wendy Skorupski

188. Walking Out of This World. Stephen Ford

189. All The Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr

190. Vengeance Street. Louise Sharland

191. When The World Went Silent. Ellie Midwood

192. The Cage. Danielle Bannister

193. Love and Other Sins. Emilia Ares

194. Season For Murder. Anna A Armstrong

195. Here Lies A Vengeful Bitch. Codie Crowley

196. Benidorm, Actually. Jo Lyons

197. Spencer Edwards: Emperor of the Galaxy. Alex Prior

198. The Library Girls of the East End. Patricia McBride

199. The Self-Education Manual. Gary Dean Peterson

200. Eighth Moon Bridge. Angus Peter Cambell

201. The Safehouse. Danielle Bannister

202. The Codebreaker Girl. Gosia Nealon

203. The Orphan List. Ann Bennett

204. The Last Bird of Paradise. Clifford Garstang

205. When The Sky Falls. B.R Spangler

206. The Boy Behind the Glass Screen. Ian Siragher

207. Summer at Pine Lake. Alyssa Delle Palme

208. The Physics of Relationships. Chas Halpern

209. A Promise to my Sister. S.E Rutledge

210. Elite Sauna. Craig Lowe.

211. The Swaddling: Search for the Healing Cloth. P.H Bray

212. Istanbul Crossing. Timothy Jay Smith

213. Soul Love. DF Jones

214. Christmas at Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

215. The Officer. Michael E Bistrica

216. Wartime Wishes for the Land Girls. Ellie Curzon

217. A Seaside Murder. Alice Castle

218. The Human Trial. Audrey Gale

219. Love And Other Cages. Emilia Ares

220. Her Secret Soldier. Julie Hartley

221. Rising Shadows.

222. The Telegram. Debbie Rix

223. The File. Gary Born

224. Journey of A Radiant Heart. Niomi Nicci

225. The Harlan Artefact. Greg Marchand

226. Blue Heart. Nicola Davies

227. The Orphan With No Name. Shirley Dickson

Although I didn't love Orbital, Samantha Harvey's acceptance speech was beautiful.

So many 50 bookers with fake Strads - had no idea this was a thing!

That is a mammoth list @BlueFairyBugsBooks !

@elkiedee – I’m sure I read that Ruth Galloway was born in 1968. But then, did she have her daughter when she was 40? That would mean that Kate was born in 2008? And that doesnt that chime with your daughter, does it? Hmmm.

@MamaNewtNewt – that sounds good. I might give that a go 😊

@TattiePants – thanks for the heads up. I’ve just bought Say Nothing. I hadn’t appreciated it was a book! I’ve seen a couple of articles about the show. Patrick Radden Keefe looks interesting. Empire of Pain looks interesting. Ah, I see my reading twin @SheilaFentiman is a fan so probably a safe bet.

@countrygirl99 – I hear you! I’m trying not to increase my TBR, but we all know it’s tricky

@PepeLePew – Nigel may be the distraction we need in these difficult times

@InTheCludgie – I had a vague target this year to read more authors who were diverse to me, either from black or ethnic minority voices or LGBT+. I have done that and have mostly enjoyed. I have started to use the Fable app and it lets you track your reads. It is helpful when you have a large book. I’d also like to read more non fiction. So far this year, I have only read 8 out of 105.

Good for you @SheilaFentiman – it was such a good feeling to get under 100 books on the Kindle.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit – as I am slightly obsessed with my Kindle, I either mark as read or flick to the end. But yes, very annoying.

@inaptonym – welcome back! I loved March Violets. Bernie Gunther is the perfect anti hero.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit – aw! I love Cathbad!

104 Dead Lions – Mick Heron (Slow Horses 2). More Jackson Lamb and co capers. Not as strong as the first book I felt.

105 Ask No Questions – Claire Allan. Set in Derry, Kelly Doherty is murdered in 1994. Her murderer is jailed and released. Coming up to the 25 anniversary of her death (2019) her murderer wants to clear his name. Ingrid Devlin is a journalist who was at school with Kelly. Can she get to the truth? This was enjoyable. Difficult to say anything without giving away any spoilers.

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh @ChessieFL I have been up (very) close to an actual Strad. That was pretty nerve-wracking and I certainly wasn’t holding it, just being a foot or so away and thinking of how many millions it was worth was enough!