2013 50 Book Challenge - Page 7

Halfway through Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Good God what an awful book.

Don't tell that to all the moody, creative 20-somethings who want to leave North American conventionalism for the artistic freedom of Europe. There are even a few on this forum.

Clockwise counting 18/50: Horace McCoy - I Should Have Stayed Home (1938)

Southern boy desperate to get into the movies in 1930s Hollywood. Dark depression era tale of the down-and-outs. Short and enjoyable novel.

20. Tropic of Cancer- Henry Miller

Cue Also Spracht Zarathustra


this

what an awful, awful book. Great turns of phrase but run on run on sentences.

There were 2 or 3 10 page intervals that I liked.

If you really don't like someone, give them this book for Christmas.

That is all.

Clockwise counting 19/50: Justin Cartwright - Other People's Money (2011)

In the midst of the financial crisis, some time after the Lehman brothers, an old private London bank is crumbling under the weight of a collapsed hedge fund. This is the story of the banking family Trevelyan-Tubal (wonderful name) and its desperate means to hold on to its blue blooded privilege. This is a well written, exciting and deeply human family chronicle.

Clockwise counting 20/50: John Buchan - The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) Classic 'man-on-the-run' thriller. Amusing (but maybe not very believable) espionage novel. This is good entertainment and since Buchan, The Right Honourable Lord Tweedsmuir, wrote five novels about his hero Richard Hannay, I think I will in due time try one or two more. To be on pace for the 50, I just need to finish one more within May.

+1

I never thought I could read 20, much less 50...

21. Roger Kahn- The Boys of Summer

Chronicles the escapades of the Brooklyn Dodgers, primarily in '52 and '53. Revisits the principal members of the team 15-20 years later.

This is a widely acclaimed book, but I found it just OK.

Steve B.: Not to pigeonhole you, but if you are a basketball fan, you may enjoy reading this.

Thanks! I'll put it on my list...

Clockwise counting 21/50: Chris Morgan Jones - An Agent of Deceit (2011)

Thriller that got rave reviews in Financial Times and elsewhere, with comparisons to Le Carre, so I picked up the kindle version. This is about a mysterious powerful Russian billionaire mafia oligarch hoodlum and the people who are affected by those sinister Russian power games. It is NOT up to Le Carre standard but it is decent entertainment. Did not regret the read. 

I didn't plan on doing the 50 book challenge, but it's normal for me to read a lot of books so I'm probably on pace. Here's all the ones I have read in 2011:

1. Mistborn - The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
2. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
3. The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
5. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
6. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
7. A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
8. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
9. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
10. Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale
11. The Guards by Ken Bruen
12. Shadow Prey by John Sandford
13. Eyes of Prey by John Sandford
14. Silent Prey by John Sandford
15. Winter Prey by John Sandford
16. Night Prey by John Sandford
17. Mind Prey by John Sandford
18. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
19. Already Dead by Charlie Huston
20. The Black Company by Glen Cook
21. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
22. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
23. The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
24. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
25. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
26. Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell
27. True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman
28. The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke (In Progress)

I'm probably missing a couple, but that's all I could think of off the top of my head. Interestingly, most were read on my Kindle (gotta love it).

22. Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
Another book about impending Apocalypse. Any house found having books is visited by firefighters, who perform the reverse function of what they do today. Needless to say, none of us would have a house left.
The protagonist is a fireman who throws in with the burnees, has his house burned, and escapes with a band of pilgrims who have memorized books.
Which was ripped off by Denzel Washington in Book of Eli...
Guess I'll have to read 1984 now, but this was excellent, and better than Brave New World.

23. The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I may change my mind later, but for now just OK.
I get the sad part of when you're the latest thing and have money you have friends; yet you can die alone.
The other undercurrent about people building their life on pretense reminds me of people here on SF...And is also sad.
I'm not really much for sad books. Like massages, they should have happy endings.

Both your 22 and 23 are excellent, SteveB. Amazed at the number of must-reads you have already squeezed into the first half of 2011.

I am still working on my 22. Moderately optimistic about hitting the 50.