I still somehow have at least seven books on my Currently Reading shelf on Goodreads. Admittedly, one of them has been there for many, many months, but I did recently read an entire chapter of it, so I'm not prepared to give up on it yet. Also, in fairness, there are generally no more than two fiction books on there at once, and I try to make them very different from each other, after the confusion where I was reading two books about mixed race adopted boys at the same time, which was challenging.
Anyway, I am up to book number 68 of my challenge. A short precis of each, and whether or not I think it's worth reading follows.
31) The Vaccine Race by Meredith Wadman.
Really interesting bits, could have done, for me, with being about half of the length.
32) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
COMPLETELY brilliant. Definitely one of my books of the year so far. The story of how a poor African American woman became the catalyst for huge medical advances at great personal pain to her family.
33) The Writing Revolution by Judith Hochman
The best teaching book I've read so far this year. I've already used it, and seen brilliant consequences, in the classroom.
34) Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick.
Sedgwick has clearly given up on actually winning the Carnegie and is going for the Amnesty prize this year (good luck with that when The Hate You Give is also on the shortlist). This was very tense, and had some really powerful moments, but it was very, very worthy. It set out its agenda from page 1 with a quote about only understanding things if we assume the stories are about us. Anyway, I hope it doesn't win, frankly. It felt like he watched Breaking Bad, had an idea and did a nice bit of cultural appropriation under the disguise of awareness-building.
35) Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Recommended to Mr M as an excellent book for medical students to read - answers and poses many tricky ethical questions.
36) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I tried this a few years ago, and couldn't get into it at all. I am determined to finish all the books in my Audible library, though, and after the first few pedestrian chapters, I loved it. Great characters, especially the tramp. Made me want to visit Barcelona.
37) Release by Patrick Ness, which I blogged about separately.
38) Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
Awesome. Audible edition read completely by Kate Winslet.
39) All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
I really liked this, but there were elements that just seemed a tad bizarre. Loved the reality of time travel, second time around, but felt more could have been done with that section.
40) Closing the Vocabulary Gap by Alex Quigley
Brilliant. I have downloaded a Latin app on the strength of this, and I feel much more confident to do "boring" etymology and explicit vocabulary instruction.
41) Rook by Anthony McGowan
Barrington Stoke. Excellent. Moving, with believable characters. Didn't seem like an easy read, but was. Fantastic. C loved it.
42) Dubliners by James Joyce
15 short stories, which I'm sure I have read at uni, but didn't take in. Was a Daily Deal on Audible, and it was rather fabulous.
43) Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
I found this a little tough-going. Interesting characters and stories, and a different perspective on sci-fi, but more than a little depressing.
44) Joe All Alone by Joanna Nadin
Fabulous, Described as Jacqueline Wilson meets Home Alone, but I think it's a lot cleverer than that.
45) Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal
Fabulous. Translated from French. About a heart transplant, following the characters over 24 hours. Very powerful. Wellcome Trust Book Prize winner 2017.
46) Why Don't Students Like School? by Daniel T Willingham
Informative, interesting and useful in the classroom - how cognitive science can be applied by teachers.
47) The Story of the Jews Vol 1 by Simon Schama
A bit boring in places, but horribly depressing - describing how Jews have basically been history's scapegoats. Made me despair of what humans can do to other humans in the name of religion.
48) What Does This Look Like in the Classroom
Good - an informative precis of lots of different research.
49) Holidays in Soviet Sanatoriums by Maryam Omidi
Completely awesome. Like a weekend break for a tenner.
50) The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch
A nice idea, bizarrely rendered.
51) The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla
Could have done with better editing, repetitive in places. Very thought-provoking.
52) The Ultimate Guide to Differentiation by Sue Cowley
Was very good for showing me what I already do!
53) Brutal London by Simon Phipps
Fascinating - more places added to the Brutalist architecture tour I am going to take myself on one of these days in London.
54) Cleverlands by Lucy Crehan
Really interesting and thought-provoking exploration of the best international education systems.
55) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Really clever, but so, so dark!
56) Modernist Estates by Stefi Orazi
Would have been SO much more interesting if she'd interviewed people who weren't exactly like her!
57) And The Weak Suffer What They Must? by Yanis Varoufakis
SO boring. A true feat of endurance.
58) The Passage by Justin Cronin
LOVED it. Perhaps should have been a self-contained novel, rather than an obvious part 1.
59) Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Potentially politically problematic (white male purports to write as Eastern female) but SO good.
60) Almost Love by Louise O'Neill
Hideous protagonist (she's supposed to be). Not a patch on Only Ever Yours.
61) Teaching Poetry by Amanda Naylor
Some good insights, a little dull, Took me about 9 months to read!
62) Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb
A wonderful end to the 3 trilogies, sad to have reached the end of these great books.
63) The Twelve by Justin Cronin
Did Not Finish - Googled the plot - nowhere near as good as The Passage - I wanted to know what happened, but was not prepared to read several hundred pages for it.
64) The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
Really brilliant dystopia. Would have liked a little more backstory.
65) Overheard in a Tower Block by Joseph Coelho
Loved the poems about reading particularly.
66) Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey
Absolutely, painfully brilliant. Very true depiction of parenting children with mental health issues.
67) Gardening with Junk by Adam Caplin
Some lovely ideas, some bonkers ones. The tin cans simply looked like tin cans. The teapot herbs were fab though.
68) Slow Teaching by Jamie Thom
Some good ideas, but having read tons of teaching books this year, nothing that's particularly new.
Right. Off to clear some more off my Currently Reading Shelf.
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