50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Nine

122 The Vegetarian by Han Kang

I’m struggling to express how I felt about this book; it was really well written and there’s lots to admire in the exploration of bodily autonomy, the patriarchy and the ways that are available to women to ‘rebel’ in South Korea. The fact that we hear the story from three different viewpoints, but never from the main character herself, was an interesting way of reinforcing these themes. It was an unsettling read at times and I’m not sure I can say that I liked it exactly, but there was something about it that really spoke to me. I’m going to need to sit with this one for a while I think.

Yes we’re going to start a new RWYO thread for the new year as several people want to count theirs. I’ll set it up before Thursday and maybe someone can link on here (and the old one) as I haven’t a clue how to do links!!

We regularly stay in a holiday cottage near Hebden Bridge and always love visiting Haworth. Also Heptonstall for Sylvia Plath.

118 Message In The Bones by Dawn Merriman
119 Message In the Fire by Dawn Merriman
120 Message In the Grave by Dawn Merriman

Gabby can sense things when she touches objects. She uses this gift to help others, but is still treated like a freak by most of her town, including her own brother. The first three books were ok, but I really can’t be bothered to read the other 5 books in the series. They are just too slight to hold my interest further.

121 Everything’s Eventual by Stephen King

I’ve mentioned before that I’m reading (re-reading in a lot of cases) all of Stephen King’s books in order. I’ve been stuck on this one for about a year and finally managed to get through it. I don’t think these are especially poor short stories, the problem is more that I’m just not a fan of the form. Glad to be moving on to a full King novel next.

@StrangewaysHereWeCome- I like the sound of Haworth (I have walked near there years ago but not been to the Parsonage). I haven’t read The Tenant for years but it may be time for a reread next year as I know that it’s on BorrowBox.
@Tarragon123- I can see why cheese is a problem (I’m not a fan of substitute food). I was just looking at a recipe book shortly before posting & wondering why there is no indexing of the recipes based on allergies etc. It surely isn’t that difficult & would be really useful.

@Frannyisreading& @Zireael- thank you for the lovely Jane Eyre comments - much appreciated (especially given my review was so long).

More reviews to catch up with:

56 The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
57 The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths
I really enjoyed the first book in the Ruth Galloway series (The Crossing Places) - these don’t have the same atmospheric description of the Norfolk landscape that made the first so compelling, but they are still intriguing mysteries. I managed to work the second one out from the clues, but that is part of the fun of crime writing. The main problem with the book is that the author’s portrayal of Ruth (highly sympathetic) is at odds with Ruth’s actual behaviour. For example: Ruth is regularly bemoaning her weight & that other people are more attractive despite having all of the most eligible men in the book showering her with attention. She is rather judgemental about her friend having affairs with married men, yet her own love life would get exceedingly short shrift I suspect if she posted on MN. We’re told that she is absolutely besotted with her baby, yet she is happy to dump the unfortunate child on any randomly available babysitter so she can go and do various more interesting things (I did like the part where one of her friends finally called her out on this). All if this, I could probably have coped with but her behaviour to her unwitting love rival is absolutely appalling but seemingly justified because Ruth is an archaeologist with a Ph.D whereas the unfortunate Michelle is merely a hairdresser with deplorable habits such as watching S*x in the City and going to the gym on Sunday afternoons. I did like the mystery & will read more but it does feel like there must be better plots to write about middle-aged women’s personal lives.

58 A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
59 The Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchy
These both have a similar structure being short stories about characters who are linked by an event (the first is the opening of a new hotel & the second about people travelling home to a country town on the same bus). I didn’t like these as much as Light a Penny Candle mainly due to the episodic structure - this is partly because I don’t like short stories that much and also because I think Maeve Binchy’s writing style suits the longer structure not least because it gives more opportunities for dialogue, which I think she is very good at writing. Despite this, I did enjoy the stories, especially after the Ruth Galloway books as Maeve Binchy is much better at writing about middle aged women and she isn’t snobbish (there are good & bad characters in all walks of life in her books). The calibre of the men were noticeably better than Light a Penny Candle.

@StrangewaysHereWeCome I knew you'd get it!

I've only read a couple of Sarah Moss but also put Ripeness as one of my top 10.

I think I'll do RWYO for a few weeks at the start of this year @WinterBerry40. Last year I did it until the Woman's prize longlist was announced at the start of March. I allowed myself to buy book club books but nothing else.

@ÚlldemoShúl was running thread which may continue next year?

@Benvenuto great to see the Brontë love. DC1 and I went to the Haworth Parsonage today and it was wonderfully atmospheric, although the main takeaway was what a chump Branwell was. I've not yet read Agnes Grey but feel quite inspired to now, and I loved Tenant when I read it last year.

I rate Sarah Moss, Ghost Wall, Summerwater, and The Tidal Zone being my favourites. But nice lyric drop nonetheless, @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie .

Moon Tiger much reviewed on here is 99p today

Sarah Moss gives the same sort of gut reaction as Sally Rooney to me. I was bored before I even began.

I'm in a rut. I've got Jamaica Inn or Queer Georgians or the Cold War book which dp gave me, but not feeling any of them right now. Happy to buy something, but I have no idea what.

Thanks for the new thread southeast.

Loved seeing the Christmas book hauls!

Thank you Welshwabbit for recommending The Thirteen Clocks which I really enjoyed reading to the dc . The story and the rhythm of the language were was great to read aloud. We had an ancient library copy with decades of issue stamps which added to the magic.

I consider myself a Sarah Moss fan on the strength of Summerwater, The Fell and Names for the Sea, enjoyed Ghost Wall and others of her novels I’ve read, and My Good Bright Wolf, less. Came on to post a review of her Ripeness - mixed feelings about this. Alternates between 1960s Italy and present day Ireland, with the same narrator, Edith, as a teenager and in her 70s. I enjoyed the sparkle of the writing, the locations, and how the 2 storylines resonated with each other, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t previously read her memoir Good Bright Wolf. Both the privilege and the privilege checking that irritated me in the memoir are here (though less so, thankfully), and Edith’s worldview and preoccupations are so very close to Sarah Moss’s that Edith hardly counts as an invented inner life, as opposed to the writer transposing herself to other circumstances. Finding myself hoping she’ll write a Brexiter next time.

Ordinary Time by Cathy Reztzenbrink
Not my sort of thing, although I did like the sibling relationship. I found Ann deeply irritating and I didn’t find the male characters very believable.

@Benvenuto – thank you, although to be honest, the scones are the least of my worries. I really miss cheese. Vegan substitutes are just not the same thing. However, I can tolerate goats cheese and sheeps cheese. Seems to be cows milk that’s the problem. Funnily enough, I have also downloaded a copy of Jane Eyre, along with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. However, I’ve never read either. Now looking forward to it.

130 The Kamogawa Food Detectives - Hisashi Kashiwai trans Jesse Kirkwood. Charming Japanese story in the same genre as Before The Coffee Gets Cold. Father and Daughter run a specialist restaurant in Kyoto where they provide a general catering service, but also supply a service for those looking to track down food memories. As usual, I bought book number 2 in the set before realising that there was more than one book. Looking forward to the next book.

I don't think I've read anything by Sarah Moss.

@Benvenuto Jane Eyre is one of my very favourites. I love that it finally clicked for you.

Re Sarah Moss I’ve liked everything I’ve read by her so far (Ripeness was in my top 10 of the year) but haven’t read Ghost Wall yet, though I do own it. Must move it up the TBR to give it a go.

196 Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
This tells the story of two connected families in small town America from the Second World War through to the 70s. There were parts of this I really liked- the themes of time passing and identity, the characters Felix and Everett, and I can see how it’s been so highly regarded both on the thread and in external reviews. It has one aspect which is a fairly major turn off for me in a book (reviewing for this thread over the last few years has helped me to recognise this) - the narration is too stylised which takes me out of the story as it reminds me that it is ‘just’ a story. It’s the same reason why I didn’t gel with The Heart’s Invisible Furies (though I’m about to go back to see if I can finish that before the year is out)

50) The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

A very highly rated book in the US - I'm not sure it will be quite so popular here but I enjoyed it well enough. It reminded me of Carole Shields on the way the author captures old age.

It is written in the form of correspondence - letters, emails - from a retired, divorced women called Sybil, who was devoted to her job as clerk to a judge. She is semi-estranged from her two adult children, and has few friends or hobbies so she writes letters. She was also adopted as an infant and has an adopted, but not related, brother.

She gets into some ancestry testing, some dalliances with admirers, ongoing correspondence with an old friend.

It's all perfectly pleasant and the reviews are outstanding. I raced through it and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I did expect more from all the hype.

This is the thread least likely to help you keep your vow, @WinterBerry40 .

Didn't like Ghost Wall although it should have been entirely up my street.

I liked Ghost Wall.

65. A Waiter in Paris – Edward Chisholm

Edward Chisholm moved from England to Paris in 2012 and this memoir tells the story of his life as a waiter in one of the busy bistros in the heart of the city. While the author was doing the job essentially as a stopgap with the aim of being a writer, though still struggling to make ends meet, he acknowledges that for some this is their life, and a hard one at that with very long hours, stress, poor pay and office politics to contend with, in subhuman working conditions. A fascinating, if depressing, look at the underbelly of the restaurant trade in Paris, and no doubt similar to many other cities. Edward Chisholm should get together with Ben Aiken and compare notes.

I’ve also read Summerwater, which was OK, and Night Waking which I did like. I’m not fussed about reading any more by her.

I was considering Sarah Moss as a candidate for reading all of an author's work next year as I've read three and own four. Though she has written more non fiction than I realised.

@Zireael I have 4 books by Sarah Moss, have now read 2. I doubt I will buy any more but will read the other two at some point.

@ChessieFL👍 so short and yet it dragged!

You’re not alone Eine, I didn’t like Ghost Wall either.

Just finished Little Women, not sure why as I rarely reread. Perhaps a comfort read, or maybe motivated by teaching the Gerwig film. That does make the book more interesting. I had forgotten all the God stuff. Also forgot - SPOILER AHEAD - that Beth doesn't die in LW.

Now only have two books on TBR pile. Horror !