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Claire's Book List 2018


chesilbeach

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It's taken me the best part of the day, but my book list thread is up and ready for the new year. :) 

 

I'm not sure how many full reviews I'll be writing as I've been a bit lax in keeping up to date recently, but I will try to write at least a brief comment on all books this year.

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Thanks Janet.  I don't know why I decided to get so organised this year, I think it's just because seeing the TBR books in one long list looked really daunting as it's grown a lot over the last few months.  I wanted to be able to easily pick out different types of books so that I can find something I feel like reading at that moment rather than missing something in the list and ending up buying another new one!

 

I'm also more focused on individual authors at the moment.  I think it's probably to do with listening to Backlisted (I know, I keep mentioning it :giggle2:) where they look at the work of one author in a bit more depth while focusing on one of their lesser known works.

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I've started off the new year with a bang, and finished two books this morning (I only had one chapter left in each to read, so it's not as impressive as it sounds).

 

21st-Century Yokel by Tom Cox is a mix of nature writing, walking, family memoir, self discovery, folklore and I don't think you can tie it down to a single category.  Cox talks about walks from his home in Devon as well as walks in other places in England he's lived, particularly Norfolk, and those with his family in Northamptonshire.  It's such a charming read, humorous and full of warmth as well as honesty, and with a sprinkling of magic with some of the tales of local folklore.  I loved spending time with Tom in this book, and although I know he's now writing a novel, I hope there will be more books in this vein in the future.

 

At The Sign Of The Golden Pineapple by M. C. Beaton is a Regency romantic comedy, but as always, Beaton has a strong female character at the centre of the story.  In this case, a heroine that is willing to give up her life as a gentlewoman, where she has a meagre sum of money to try and survive on in a small country town, and instead decides to go into trade and set up a confectioners business. Taking two friends (one widowed, the other the abused daughter of a country gentleman) and her companion, she moves to London and starts her business.  The story is good fun, as I would always expect with Beaton, and I enjoyed it a lot.

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Have had a lovely afternoon in front of the fire, and have finished Sky Chasers by Emma Carroll.  A fictionalised account of the first human flight in a hot air balloon by the Montgolfier brothers, using a young orphan and the son of one of the brothers to drive the story, written for a middle grade audience.  Interestingly, the book is based on a the winning entry of a story idea competition held by the Chicken House publishers, who then commission Emma Carroll to write the book.

 

I thought it was an exciting and fun way to tell the story of the first human powered flight, and the main character, Magpie, was a brave but vulnerable heroine. It also gave a platform to show the attitudes to girls and women with regards to education.  I really enjoyed it.

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Before I forget ... I finished Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone last week.  It's a fairytale quest style of story, set in the snowbound island of Erkenwald, where a young boy and girl have to bring save the tribes from the magic of the god who has staked her claim on the land.  It's a middle grade fantasy, and a wonderful story full of magic and nature, and a perfect read for the winter months.

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Thanks Noll. :)

 

Continuing on my Anita Brookner reading, I've just finished Hotel du Lac.  I think you have to *get* Brookner in order to appreciate her books.  I can imagine that plenty of people finding them boring with nothing much happening, and not see the humour in them, but I think if you can see beneath the words on the page, there's lots to admire and enjoy.  It's witty and funny at times, and a fantastically observed piece about an author who has been sent away by her outraged friends after an indiscretion, that at the beginning of the novel, we're not quite sure what it was.  It's a quiet sort of book, and was made more famous not only by winning the Booker Prize in 1984, but causing widespread criticism because it beat J. G. Ballard's Empire of the Sun that year.  I have to admit, it's not the sort of book I'd expect to win a major literary prize, but I'm always delighted when something I enjoy does just that.  A very enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to continuing my journey through Brookner's books.

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Went to my book group meeting last night, where we discussed The Bear and the Nightingale which received mixed reviews.  Half the people loved it and read it in really quick time because they couldn't put it down, while the other half of us were ambivalent.  We all agreed the pacing was slow, particularly in the first half, and none of us knew it was going to be part of a trilogy when we started, and only the ones who loved it are going to read the next books.  Next month, there won't be a selected book, it's just read anything then come and talk about it!

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21 minutes ago, willoyd said:

 

I like that idea - must get my book group to try it out.

 

Hmm, I’m in two minds. The thing I like about going to a book group is trying something I wouldn’t normally pick up and this sort of defeats the object of it, but on the other hand, I can just take along any book I’ve read recently and reduce the TBR instead of increasing it! :lol: 

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2 hours ago, chesilbeach said:

 

Hmm, I’m in two minds. The thing I like about going to a book group is trying something I wouldn’t normally pick up and this sort of defeats the object of it, but on the other hand, I can just take along any book I’ve read recently and reduce the TBR instead of increasing it! :lol: 

I wouldn't want to do it on a regular basis, but I think it's good as an occasional break.  I know next to nothing of the books and authors that others in my group read for their own pleasure, and I would hope that this would add to knowledge of those I might not have otherwise read myself, i.e. another way of broadening my experience.  Also makes me think about why I enjoy the books I do.

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On 1/10/2018 at 9:30 PM, willoyd said:

I wouldn't want to do it on a regular basis, but I think it's good as an occasional break.  I know next to nothing of the books and authors that others in my group read for their own pleasure, and I would hope that this would add to knowledge of those I might not have otherwise read myself, i.e. another way of broadening my experience.  Also makes me think about why I enjoy the books I do.

 

That's why I'm in two minds about it! :lol:  Most of the people who go tend to like crime, historical and fantasy novels, so I'm going to think about something completely different from those, maybe a nature or travel book.

 

 

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Finished my first book on the Round Robin Challenge yesterday evening - Wildfire At Midnight by Mary Stewart.  A murder mystery set on the Scottish island of Skye originally published in the 1950s.  This is my second book by Stewart, who had recently had new editions of most of her novels published, and what I found incredibly interesting was that it's only sixty years since it was first published, yet there's a few things that I found incredible.  The first was just how often someone smoking a cigarette was mentioned, and the second (slightly more shocking) was that the characters regularly referred to catching the murderer so "he could hang".  It's hard to believe that it's still fairly recent that capital punishment was abolished in this country, and that it was automatically assumed that the culprit would receive the death penalty.

 

Despite all that, it was a really enjoyable read.  Lots of twists and turn, with secrecy and dalliances thrown into the mix, as well as fantastic descriptions of the mountains, walking and climbing them, and the a nod to the first group to successfully climb Mount Everest.  Unexpected happenings, red herrings and some genuinely creepy moments, it was a perfect winter evening read.

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I've finished a few books this week.  I started the week listening to The House of New Beginnings by Lucy Diamond, and it wasn't really a romcom as such, but a sort of comedy drama with a tiny bit of romance in there, but mostly the story of the female tenants of a house in Brighton, and as the title suggests, each one finding their life taking a new direction.  It's a story of friendship and overcoming hurdles, told in a gentle way, but lovely to relax with.

 

I snuck in a quick read in the middle of the week, with the latest short story in the Chronicles of St Mary's from Jodi Taylor called Christmas Past.  A good in-between story as these Christmas short stories usually are, and I enjoyed it as I always do. :D

 

Finally, yesterday I decided I needed to finish Ma'am Darling by Craig Brown, which is a biography of Princess Margaret.  I'm not a huge fan of biographies in general, as I find them very dry, and don't like the constant name checking with that person's dates of birth and death, and on the whole, I find it difficult to get involved with the subjects.  This is not your usual biography.  The subtitle of the book is actually 99 Glimpses of Princes Margaret and what it does is try to look at her life from different viewpoints, whether it's from media reports, diaries, memoirs or letters from sources such as servants, friends, family and acquaintances, and some are fondly affectionate, some are critical and slightly nasty, some are guarded and some very candid. There's even some made up by the author himself, and what this all leads to, is a variety of viewpoints on the life of a royal that none of us can really have any idea what it would be like to experience.  It shows us many different aspects of a complex character, and whether you are in favour of the monarchy or not, had a privileged yet difficult life in and out of the media spotlight.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

 

 

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Thank you! :smile2: 

 

I’m not sure why I keep putting off Middlesex but it’s on my Round Robin Challenge list now, so no getting out of it now ;) 

 

Mary Stewart was my favourite newly found author of last year, and I’m looking forward to reading more. I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get around to Heyer but definitely want to make some inroads on her books this year. :) 

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3 hours ago, chesilbeach said:

I’m not sure why I keep putting off Middlesex but it’s on my Round Robin Challenge list now, so no getting out of it now ;) .....I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get around to Heyer but definitely want to make some inroads on her books this year. :) 

 

Middlesex is a read that you can really get your teeth into - like Little Pixie, I really liked it.  I've long been a fan of Heyer's Regency novels, but less sure of her mysteries after one or two goes.  However, I read her Christmas Party over Christmas and it was much more enjoyable than I expected, with all the life and humour she brings to the historical books.  I got the impression she wrote it somewhat tongue in cheek.  Best described as an entertainment?  Hope you enjoy them as much.

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