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50 Books Challenge Part Eight

1000 replies

Southeastdweller · 05/11/2024 07:06

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
20
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 12/11/2024 20:50

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

ChessieFL · 12/11/2024 21:02

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

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 12/11/2024 21:26
  1. 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.

  1. 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.

GrannieMainland · 12/11/2024 21:50

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.

Stowickthevast · 12/11/2024 21:58

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!

Terpsichore · 12/11/2024 22:03

@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.

ÚlldemoShúl · 12/11/2024 22:04

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.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 12/11/2024 22:19
  1. 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.

  1. 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.

SheilaFentiman · 12/11/2024 23:04

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.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 12/11/2024 23:52

Stowickthevast · 12/11/2024 21:58

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!

Dear God!

ORBITAL WAS SHITE <gavel>

BlueFairyBugsBooks · 13/11/2024 00:37

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! Blush

RomanMum · 13/11/2024 07:32

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.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 13/11/2024 07:54

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

SheilaFentiman · 13/11/2024 08:13

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

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

SheilaFentiman · 13/11/2024 09:58

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

bibliomania · 13/11/2024 12:16

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.

GrannieMainland · 13/11/2024 12:58

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.

Terpsichore · 13/11/2024 13:05

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.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 13/11/2024 13:54

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.

ChessieFL · 13/11/2024 13:56

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.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 13/11/2024 13:57

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

BlueFairyBugsBooks · 13/11/2024 14:13

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
  1. Munich Wolf. Rory Clements

  2. Sam Time. Donna Balon

  3. A Most Malicious Messenger. Katherine Black

  4. Taken to the Hills. S.J Richards

  5. Blood On The Tracks. Guy Hale

  6. Black Money. S.J Richards

  7. The German Child. Catherine Hokin

  8. Phoenix Rising. Celia and Ephie Risho

  9. The Bakers Secret. Lelita Baldock

  10. The Vermillion Ribbon. Hayley Price

  11. Inheritance. Philip Tyler

  12. Nicole's War. Andrée Rushton

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

  14. Dark Arts. Karen Taylor

  15. Vermilion Sunrise. Lydia P. Brownlow

  16. Opaque. Calix Leigh-Reign

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

  18. The Advocate. Theresa Burrell

  19. Queen of Secrets. E.J Tanda

  20. The Lost Child. Kathleen McGurl

  21. Blood Sapphires Revenge. Bruce Farmer

  22. New Dreams at Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

  23. Highly Flawed Individual. T.C Roberts

  24. Tale of Two Curses. Theresa Biehle

  25. Right Across the Bay. Quinn Avery

  26. How Boys Learn. Jeff Kirchick

  27. The False Men. Mhairead MacLeod

  28. Evermarked. A.J Eversley

  29. Truth Sister. Phil Gilvin

  30. Crodor The Ancient. Celia and Ephie Risho

  31. The Whispering Palms. Annette Leigh

  32. Good Girl Deprogramming. Michelle Minnikin

  33. When The Moon Was White. Jeff Probst

  34. Split Adam. Calix Leigh-Reign

  35. The Wartime Book Club. Kate Thompson

  36. House of Dreams. Mark Stibbe

  37. Humebeasts. Lisa Munoz

  38. Island In The Sun. Kate Fforde

  39. Shooters. Julia Boggio

  40. Escape to Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

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

  42. The Secrets of Blythwood Square. Sara Sheridan

  43. Chasing the Light. Julia Boggio

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

  45. Exodus. Steve Catto

  46. My Perfect Family. Melanie Price

  47. Fog Of Silence. S.J Richards

  48. Daughters of Warsaw. Maria Frances

  49. Olympia. Eva Grace

  50. Mannigan. L. Ross Coulter

  51. Pink Camouflage. Gemma Morgan

  52. Hear her Scream. Dylan H Jones

  53. Cursed by Slumber. Michelle Moras

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

  55. An Elf With No Name. Mortimer Langford

  56. Memory Road. Sarah Edghill

  57. What we Thought We Knew. Claire Dyer

  58. Moral Injuries. Christie Watson

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

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

  61. Orson the Great. Colm McElwain

  62. The Giveaway Girl. Chrissie Bradshaw

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

  64. Naked Truth. Vicki Rebecca

  65. Into the Darkness. Steve Catto

  66. Gathering of the Four. A.E Bennett

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

  68. Specular. Calix Leigh-Reign

  69. Maybe It's About Time. Neil Boss

  70. The Godfather of Dance. Andrea Barton

  71. Dark Shadow. Simon Dinsdale

  72. The Keeper of Secrets. Maria McDonald

  73. Crown of Confessions. E.J Tanda

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

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

  76. Liddle Deaths. Morgan Christie

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

  78. 17 Alma Road. Ian Gouge

  79. Chapel Field. Paula Hillman

  80. Jesse's Triumph. Amra Pajalic.

  81. The Pact. Lisa Darcy

  82. Then There Were Giants. Nicky Heymans

  83. Wolf's Keep. K.E Turner

  84. Hindsight. Mary Turner Thomson

  85. Awaken the Dawn. Ellis K. Popa

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

  87. Sweetness In The Skin. Ishi Robinson

  88. Blackwolf. Phil Gilvin

  89. The Journalist. John Reid Young

  90. Death Under a Little Sky. Stig Abell

  91. The Pictish Princess. Dolan Cummings

  92. My Mystical Path. Donna Shin-Ward

  93. Three Brave Hearts. Liz Middleton

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

  95. Love Lottie. Mel Higgins

  96. The Orphans of Berlin. Jina Bacarr

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

  98. Leap. O.C Heaton

  99. Death Walks In Mowhall. Benjamin Hanna

  100. Corpse In The Chard. Anna A. Armstrong

  101. Green Ray. O.C Heaton

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

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

  104. Let Me In. Claire McGowan

  105. Through Blood and Dragons. R.M Schultz

  106. Earth Protectors. Samuel Lawson

  107. The Palladium. Thorsten Brandl

  108. Birth of the Tiptons. Philip Davidson

  109. Good Things. Kate MacDougall

  110. Mask of the Gods. Karen Furk

  111. The Rutland Connection. Michael Dane

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

  113. Fall From Grace. Alan Feldberg

  114. The Photograph. Diane Clarke

  115. Wolf's Prize. K.E Turner

  116. Courting The Sun. Peggy Joque Williams

  117. The Time That Never Was. Steve Fallon

  118. Atom Inc. O.C Heaton

  119. Them Old Bones. Astor Y Teller

  120. Black Mark. Paul Spencer

  121. The Nine. Gwen Strauss

  122. Amateurs. Gill Oliver

  123. The Hedge Witch. Colleen Delaney

  124. Turkish Delight. Anjelica Søndergaard

  125. Out Of Her Mind. Sally Hart

  126. Miracle Number Four. Paul Marriner

  127. The Advocates Betrayal. Teresa Burrell

  128. Catch Me Twice. Catherine Yaffe

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

  130. Broken Shadows. Sorrel Pitts

  131. Make the Dark Night Shine. Alan Lessik

  132. Accidental Dragons. Astor Y Teller

  133. Catalog of Desire and Disappearance. Ana Cruz

  134. Husbands. Mo Fanning

  135. Knife River. Justine Champine

  136. 8ish. Luing Andrews and Jack East

  137. Truestory. Catherine Simpson

  138. The Flower Queen. Kay Freeman

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

  140. The Guardians Light. Oliver Crane

  141. A Simple Foundation. Larry Heitz

  142. How Soon is Now? Paul Carnahan

  143. Murder on Stage. F. L. Everett

  144. Murmurations. Sarah Thompson

  145. Sun of Endless Days. L.G Jenkins

  146. The Days of Our Birth. Charlie Laidlaw

  147. The Florence Letter. Anita Chapman

  148. The Game of War. Glen Dahlgren

  149. Under her Roof. A.A Chaudhuri

  150. Remedy. Emily Bridget Taylor

  151. One Month's Notice. Katie Lou

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

  153. Second Glance. AE Bennett

  154. Allison Consents. D. Accord

  155. Be More Octopus. Suzanne Lissaman

  156. Halfmoon Lane. Paula Hillman

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

  158. Gallows Wood. Louisa Scarr

  159. The Swan's Nest. Laura McNeal

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

  161. The Croaking Raven. Guy Hale

  162. Catalyst. Cameron Phoenix

  163. Destiny of a Free Spirit. Stephen Ford

  164. All in Monte Carlo. Anna Shilling

  165. Seven Summers. Paige Toon

  166. The Consciousness Company. M.N Rosen

  167. About Last Night. Laura Henry

  168. The Bite. Jim X Dodge

  169. Searchlight, The Rock. Ann Bryant

  170. The Walk. Emma Marns

  171. Vengeance Day. Simon Dinsdale

  172. Serabelle. Tavi Taylor Black

  173. War Bunny. Christopher St. John

  174. Descended. Ingrid J. Adams

  175. If I Can Save One Child. Amanda Lees

  176. Sweet Delusions. Bea Miller

  177. The Broken Pieces of Us. Celia Tandy

  178. Infinite Stranger. Wendy Skorupski

  179. Walking Out of This World. Stephen Ford

  180. All The Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr

  181. Vengeance Street. Louise Sharland

  182. When The World Went Silent. Ellie Midwood

  183. The Cage. Danielle Bannister

  184. Love and Other Sins. Emilia Ares

  185. Season For Murder. Anna A Armstrong

  186. Here Lies A Vengeful Bitch. Codie Crowley

  187. Benidorm, Actually. Jo Lyons

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

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

  190. The Self-Education Manual. Gary Dean Peterson

  191. Eighth Moon Bridge. Angus Peter Cambell

  192. The Safehouse. Danielle Bannister

  193. The Codebreaker Girl. Gosia Nealon

  194. The Orphan List. Ann Bennett

  195. The Last Bird of Paradise. Clifford Garstang

  196. When The Sky Falls. B.R Spangler

  197. The Boy Behind the Glass Screen. Ian Siragher

  198. Summer at Pine Lake. Alyssa Delle Palme

  199. The Physics of Relationships. Chas Halpern

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

  201. Elite Sauna. Craig Lowe.

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

  203. Istanbul Crossing. Timothy Jay Smith

  204. Soul Love. DF Jones

  205. Christmas at Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

  206. The Officer. Michael E Bistrica

  207. Wartime Wishes for the Land Girls. Ellie Curzon

  208. A Seaside Murder. Alice Castle

  209. The Human Trial. Audrey Gale

  210. Love And Other Cages. Emilia Ares

  211. Her Secret Soldier. Julie Hartley

  212. Rising Shadows.

  213. The Telegram. Debbie Rix

  214. The File. Gary Born

  215. Journey of A Radiant Heart. Niomi Nicci

  216. The Harlan Artefact. Greg Marchand

  217. Blue Heart. Nicola Davies

  218. The Orphan With No Name. Shirley Dickson

Stowickthevast · 13/11/2024 14:32

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 !

Tarragon123 · 13/11/2024 14:39

@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.

Terpsichore · 13/11/2024 14:57

@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!

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