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50 Books Challenge - 2025 Round up

155 replies

RomanMum · 08/12/2025 14:30

Hello again 50 Bookers! Here’s a separate thread to gather together our top recommendations from the year. Please post your final lists, or just your outstanding reads – good and bad - if you prefer. If you are posting the full list just a reminder to please bold your favourites (the best written, plot, characters, or books that stayed with you long after you finished them), and italicise the duds, disappointments or any DNFs if you can.

It would be handy if you could mark which are Fiction and which Non-Fiction too. Thank you!

I’ll wrangle the spreadsheet and put together some meaningful stats in early January – there’ll be a reminder on the main thread nearer the deadline.
Still ploughing through my current NF so I’ll come back later in December with my bolds.

Cheers! Roman

OP posts:
SheilaFentiman · 08/12/2025 15:29

Checking in, will post at end of Dec - thank you so much!

PermanentTemporary · 08/12/2025 15:08

Amazing thank you!

Stull hoping to hit 50 but am stuck at 43 at the moment. Going to post now though. These are ALL bolds, I haven’t really DNFd anything which is why I’m so behind on numbers.

Fiction
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
James by Percival Everett - my book of the year
Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban
The Names by Florence Knapp

Nonfiction
Gomorra by Roberto Saviano
We Wish To Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevich
How to Win an Information War by Peter Pomerantsev
Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by David Walsh
Round About a Pound a Week by Maud Pember Reeves
Dreams of the Good Life: The Life of Fiona Thompson and the creation of Lark Rise to Candleford by Richard Mabey
East West Street by Philippe Sands

ÚlldemoShúl · 08/12/2025 15:00

Just checking in!

Hoolahoophop · 08/12/2025 14:56

I didn't join in the thread this year, which is a shame as I smashed my 62 book goal as currently at 79. But very much looking forward to seeing what everyone else liked.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 08/12/2025 14:48

Excited to do this