50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Six

(1000 Posts)
southeastdweller Tue 30-Aug-16 08:09:22

Thread six of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2016, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it's not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of 2016 is here, second thread here, third thread here, fourth thread here and fifth thread here.

Tarahumara Tue 30-Aug-16 08:48:48

Place marking on new thread - thanks southeast!

(Note name changed from tumbletumble)

BestIsWest Tue 30-Aug-16 10:09:04

Thanks SouthEast.

Having a blissful soothing time reading the Shellseekers interspersed with The Turing book. Sitting on my terrace in the sunshine overlooking the banks of the Wye sipping a coffee and reading. It's paradise. Could stay here forever.

CoteDAzur Tue 30-Aug-16 10:10:12

Thank you for the shiny new thread, Southeast smile

Thanks, South.

I've resorted to beginning a re-read of The Dark Tower, in desperation at having abandoned so many books recently. I'd planned to leave it until the weather was colder and nights were darker, but needs-must.

Sadik Tue 30-Aug-16 11:09:33

Thanks for the new thread South. A bit in between books at the moment -started Cote's epigenetics book but have a long train journey at the weekend so decided to save it for that. Kind of re-reading Naomi Novik's Uprooted, but not sure it's worth a second read, and then I've got Wolf Border by Sarah Hall from the library but not quite in the mood to start it.

Doing much better on audio- half way through Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, and thoroughly enjoying it.

Tarahumara Tue 30-Aug-16 12:48:37

Sounds amazing, Best. Enjoy!

Book 94
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
The second in The Dark Tower series. I didn’t bother with the first, because it’s not a great read. This one, The Wolves of the Calla and the final one are my favourites. Like putting on a favourite old jumper and hunkering down with hot chocolate.

southeastdweller Tue 30-Aug-16 20:53:02

Posting my updating list to help me keep track, highlights in bold:

1. Untold Stories - Alan Bennett
2. Levels of Life - Julian Barnes
3. A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled - Ruby Wax
4. An Awfully Big Adventure - Beryl Bainbridge
5. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
6. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k - Sarah Knight
7. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
8. The Good Liar - Nicholas Searle
9. Passenger 23 - Sebastian Fitzek
10. The Women Who Went to Bed for a Year - Sue Townsend
11. The Driver's Seat - Muriel Spark
12. The Widow - Fiona Barton
13. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman
14. Nice Work (If You Can Get It) - Celia Imrie
15. Mothering Sunday - Graham Swift
16. This is Me - Michelle Collins
17. Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
18. Memoirs of a Professional Cad - George Sanders
19. Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh
20. Olivier - Philip Ziegler
21. Miss Lonelyhearts - Nathaniel West
22. Waist Disposal - Dr John Briffa
23. Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters
24. Not Working - Lisa Owens
25. Straight Up - Danny Dyer
26. Shop Girl - Mary Portas
27. Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith
28. The World According to Danny Dyer - Danny Dyer.
29. Man at the Helm - Nina Stibbe
30. Respectable - Lynsey Hanley
31. Gentlemen & Players - Joanne Harris
32. Love from Boy - Roald Dahl/Donald Sturrock
33. Luckiest Girl Alive - Jessica Knoll
34. Charlotte’s Web - E.B White
35. The Muse - Jessie Burton
36. Out of Time - Miranda Sawyer
37. The Swimming Pool Library - Alan Hollinghurst
38. I See You - Claire Mackintosh
39. My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
40. Peter O’Toole - Robert Sellers
41. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan

ChillieJeanie Tue 30-Aug-16 21:20:50

79. The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and other stories by Terry Pratchett

Short stories for young children - but enjoyable enough for adults too. As long as you bear in mind that they are quite silly. It includes an early tale of goblins which was one of the forebears of Truckers.

CoteDAzur Tue 30-Aug-16 23:22:21

Bringing my list over:

43. One Shot (Jack Reacher #9) by Lee Child
42. HHhH by Laurent Binet
41. The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance by Nessa Carey
40. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
39. Guilty Minds by Joseph Finder
38. Nightfall by Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg
37. High-Opp by Frank Herbert
36. Under The Dome by Stephen King
35. The City & The City by China Mieville
34. Treatise On Harmony by Jean-Philippe Rameau
33. Echo Burning by Lee Child
32. Spy the Lie: Three Former CIA Officers Reveal Their Secrets to Uncloaking Deception by Philip Houston, Mike Floyd, Susan Carnicero, Don Tennant, Michael Floyd
31. The Flicker Men by Ted Kosmatka
30. Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger
29. Half Way Home by Hugh Howey
28. Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom (Shardlake #2)
27. Reaching Down The Rabbit Hole: Extraordinary Journeys Into The Human Brain by Dr Allan Ropper
26. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu (The Three-Body Problem #2)
25. Daughter of the Winds by Jo Bunt
24. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
23. The Girl In The Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
22. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
21. The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country by Helen Russell
20. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
19. Lord Of The Flies - William Golding
18. Mother Of Eden by Chris Beckett (Dark Eden #2)
17. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
16. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
15. The Time Machine by H G Wells
14. The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
13. Hot Zone - The Chilling True Story of an Ebola Outbreak by Richard Preston
12. Dissolution by C. S. Sansom
11. Limitless (The Dark Fields) by Alan Glynn
10. High Heat by Lee Child
9. Authority by Jeff VanderMeer8. Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovitch
7. Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall
6. Ancillary Justice by Ann Beckie
5. Written In Fire by Marcus Sakey
4. The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain by James Fallon
3. The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham
2. Wolves by Simon Ings
1. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

CoteDAzur Tue 30-Aug-16 23:29:53

44. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
by Oliver Sacks

I loved this. It's a neurology book written 30 years ago so some of the "mysteries" might be solved by now, but they are utterly fascinating. It reminded me of Carl Sagan's Pulitzer-winner book Dragons of Eden, published in 1977 and talking about some fascinating stuff such as split-brain patients (with no communication between right and left brain hemispheres). I would definitely recommend this book.

CheckpointCharlie2 Tue 30-Aug-16 23:35:32

Loved your 13 and 14 books cote what did you think of The Knife of never letting go? There are two more incredible books in that trilogy and I am jealous that you still have them to go!
Hot Zone was scary stuff too.

I haven't kept my list up but it's defo on track for fifty if not there. Wish I had kept a record now it would be so interesting to see it!

CoteDAzur Tue 30-Aug-16 23:37:42

45. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium Trilogy #3)
by Stieg Larsson

I read this 7 years ago while breastfeeding newborn DS and was surprised to see that I remembered a grand total of zero about it shock Lisbeth Salander is in hospital for most of this book while her friends & enemies circle around each other outside. This is another great book by Stieg Larsson - his last, unfortunately. I really like the meticulous investigation in each of his books, and the feminism that seeps through every page.

CoteDAzur Tue 30-Aug-16 23:46:21

Checkpoint - I loved Hot Zone, too but you won't like what I had to say about The Knife Of Never Letting Go. I've been reading sci-fi for a very long time and am a bit hard to please in this genre - sorry! And I can't stand YA

CheckpointCharlie2 Wed 31-Aug-16 09:39:09

Haha oh no! It's my fave book!
What about Oryx and Crake, you might like that trilogy, by Margaret Atwood. More grown up than Knife of thing but still pretty dystopian but more science fictiony!

CheckpointCharlie2 Wed 31-Aug-16 10:00:28

You really didn't like it did you! I am reading a series your dd might like, it's called the Raven trilogy I think, first books is called the Raven Boys and it's quite gripping, not sure if you would like it though as it's pretty YA.

Have you read Watchers or Ghosthunters by Neil Spring, you might like them, based on truth but written as a fiction book.

SatsukiKusakabe Wed 31-Aug-16 10:14:50

Just checking in, thanks for new thread southeast. Will post my list and updates shortly, enjoying everyone's reviews.

Noooooooooooo, Cote. Don't read, Oryx and Crake. You'd absolutely hate it. I hated it too, but I'm pretty sure it's one we'd agree on!

I've been meaning to read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat for about 20 years. Must get around to it. It's one I keep thinking I might have actually read years ago,but can't remember.

SatsukiKusakabe Wed 31-Aug-16 10:22:14

Sounds idyllic best I've wanted to go to the Wye valley since seeing it depicted in Shadowlands, reading your post don't know what's taken me so long!

BestIsWest Wed 31-Aug-16 10:29:46

It's beautiful. Must look up Shadowlands.

tessiegirl Wed 31-Aug-16 11:27:41

I'm a little embarrassed of my little list of read books compared to some of yours...getting back into reading (mostly in the bath in peace in the evenings!) alongside looking after an 8 month old! blush
So, here goes:
1) Our Song - Dani Atkins
2) When She Was Bad - Tammy Cohen
3) Blue Shoes and Happiness - Alexander McCall-Smith. Number 7 in the series, I love these books, they are my comfort read! An absolute pleasure!
4) Up Close and Personal - Leonie Fox. Set in a quiet village this follows the lives of three friends, each of them with relationship problems. Easy to read but a bit silly in parts. Average chick lit.
5) Eeny Meeny - M J Arlidge - finished this last night. Bit late to this series but finally got around to the first one. Amurderer who enjoys abducting pairs and giving them the choice of either living or dying by killing the other. I enjoyed it, I didn't make the connection as to the murderer (maybe a bit of baby brain!). I will read the next one in series.

SatsukiKusakabe Wed 31-Aug-16 11:53:13

best do - it's a lovely film, marvellous locations and acting and as it's about C.S Lewis great for book-lovers...but have tissues handy smile

tessiegirl I read 4 books in the year after I had dd (all in one week's holiday) so think you're doing just fine. She 2.8 now and I'm reading a lot more flowers

LavandulaStoechas Wed 31-Aug-16 12:04:13

Ohhhh, Shadowlands made me cry. Went to see it not long after my mother died. Probably not a good film to see if you're feeling a bit raw. But the scenery was stunning. I love the Golden Valley. DH and I used to go up there quite a bit before the DC came along. Hay is a favourite, and very special, place for us. We had our honeymoon there as well.

Can't believe we're heading into the final quarter of the year soon. Will be back with my list maybe tomorrow (busy day today). Thanks for starting up the new thread, Southeast smile

<Mermaid, with a new name. Can't seem to find one I want to keep for long>

Don't be embarrassed, Tessie. Even a few books is better than no books!

My list. I'm so disappointed with so many this year, and disappointed by how few stand out novels there are. I've probably started and abandoned another 30 or so too. sad

1.The Victorian Detective
2.Stasiland
3.Career of Evil
4.Bazaar of Bad Dreams
5.The Book of Strange New Things
6.Travel guide/history Germany
7.Ditto
8.Sherlock Holmes & the Yule Tide Mystery
9.The Good Fairies of New York
10.The Great Railway Bazaar
11.The Daffodil Mystery
12.In the Land of White Death
13.The Victorian Workhouse
14.The Lie Tree
15.Sherlock Holmes: The Spirit Box
16.The English at the North Pole
17.Leaving Berlin
18.The Worst Journey in the World
19.Berlin – Rory Maclean
20.Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey)
21.Dead Street
22.Uglies
23.Max Carrados
24.The Osiris Ritual
25.The Holy Thief
26.The Janissary Tree
27.The Spy who Came in from the Cold
28.The Big Bow Mystery
29.How to be a Victorian
30.The Enchanted April
31.The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth
32.The Lady Vanishes
33.The Lady from Nowhere
34.The Green Mummy
35.Fool Moon
36.Hitchhikers’ Guide series
37.Ditto
38.Ditto
39.Ditto
40.A Very British Murder
41.Playing to the Gallery – Grayson Perry
42.Gone to Ground
43.Faust’s Metropolis
44.Sad Cypress
45.The Secret Adversary
46.A Colder War
47.The Good German
48.All Creatures Great and Small
49.Stalin’s Nose
50.The Ghosts of Berlin
51.The Lord God Made them All
52.Murder – British Crime Classic
53.A Spy Amongst Friends
54.Fear Stalks the Village
55.Berlin Now
56.My Man Jeeves
57.The Mysterious Affair at Styles
58.Just One Damned Thing After Another
59.The Ice Cold Heaven
60.A Man Lay Dead
61.Behold, Here’s Poison
62.Lord of the Flies
63.Wolf of the Plains
64.Lords of the Bow
65.Lady Susan
66.Facing Up
67.The Midnight Swimmer
68.The Loney
69.Mary – Nabakov
70.I Capture the Castle
71.Lies We Tell Ourselves - would have been a stand out but I hated the ending
72.End of Watch
73.True Grit
74.Whose Body?
75.Jane Austen and Food
76.Bird Box
77.Until the Final Hour
78.Every Dead Thing
79.The Things They Carried
80.Into Darkness
81.Anatomy of a Soldier
82.A Woman in Berlin
83.All the Light we Cannot See
84.A Walk in the Woods
85.Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
86.Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance
87.The Crossing of Antarctica
88.Destination Unknown – Agatha Christie
89.Ordeal by Innocence –Agatha Christie
90.The Other Side of Silence
91.Nazi Women
92.The Man in the High Castle
93.Revelations of a Lady Detective
94.The Drawing of the Three

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