50 Books Challenge 2025 Part One

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2025, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

If possible, please can you embolden your titles and maybe authors as well of books you've read or going to read? It makes it much easier to keep track, especially when the threads move quickly at this time of the year.

Who's in for this year?

@ChessieFL I need to get back to the Jessica Fellowes' Mitford series - I do agree with you, they're quite ridiculous. I've finally got round to starting to read a biography of Jessica Mitford I bought in 2013: Irrepressible by Leslie Brody - really enjoying it so far.

@SheilaFentiman and others on Brookmyre - I think Quite Ugly One Morning was his first book and it's the first in the Jack Parlabane series. That's another series I need to get back to - I think I've read #2 and #3 but it was so long ago and I think I'd really enjoy rereading Quite Ugly. There was a TV adaptation which I've not watched but whoever was adapting it seemed to struggle with the lesbian police detective character and the other ways in which she wasn't entirely mainstream/conventional

Yay @elkiedee - I’ve read all my Brookmyres several times, they definitely amuse repeatedly 😀

I want him to base a series on Tim Vale, TBH. He’s key in the 4th Jack P book and in at least one other non Jack book - I like how many of his books are the same universe

2nd book for the New Year:

Kate Atkinson 'Death at the Sign of the Rook'

I was lucky enough to get this for Christmas and was so pleased, a new Kate A. and also it's a Jackson Brodie, with Reggie Chase back too. A delight.

Also my lovely DIL gave me a beautiful hardback lined notebook so that's my new reading list book, instead of scrawling in odd notebooks.

3. The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading, by Sam Leith
This was physically heavy, a 550-page hardback, but felt like quite light reading. In contrast to the trend for bibliomemoirs, this isn't about the author's personal childhood reading, but an overview of children's books as a genre. It's chronological, so I found the second half more engaging, when it entered the twentieth century and I had a stronger personal connection to the books he describes. It's jokey and warm and easy to read, but not quite a bold for me - I think because he covers so much ground, it can feel a bit shallow, and I didn't learn much new information.

Oh dear, another book I seem to need. What a shame…..
I really enjoyed the much shorter Fierce Bad Rabbits on the same subject, although Stick Man took on a whole new light of despair after I read that.

@AlmanbyRoadtrip I think Fierce Bad Rabbits was a better book, largely because the biographical information it provided about the authors was new to me. This wasn't really the case with The Haunted Wood - lots of it was already very familiar, maybe because I've read a few books on the subject (special shout out to the brilliant You're a Brick, Angela).

Thanks @bibliomania . £30 does seem a bit steep for a book that isn’t quite as in-depth as FBR. I’ve stuck it on my Waterstones Wish List. It’s cheaper on Amazon but I’ve made a loose NY Resolution not to buy physical books from Amazon if at all possible, to support bricks and mortar bookshops. And if I’m going to spend £30 on it I might even hang on and get it from an independent bookshop.

Coincidentally, I removed The Haunted Woods from my wish list just yesterday, having decided it wasn’t going to do or say much that I hadn’t seen before.

My local TKMaxx is hoping for a particular 'niche' reading group this year!

@Passmethecrisps yes! That’s exactly how I feel. Finding a new author that you would never have found otherwise is such a joy! Thank you to whoever recommended Jane Casey. It’s great when you spot a reading ‘twin’ and know there’s a very good chance that you will enjoy the books that they have liked.

@Arran2024 - I collected and had all the Agatha Christie paperbacks as a teenager 🙈

@SheilaFentiman - have you recently downloaded a Kindle app on another device? I always double check both devices to make sure my read books are read. In exciting news, despite my book buying ban, I’d pre ordered both the new Marion Todd and the new Lynne McEwan. Marion Todd has hit my Kindle today. Hurrah!

I read Chris Brookmyre back in the 90s, but haven’t read anything recently. I think I will revisit that once my TBR is at a more manageable level.

3 Spook Street - Mick Herron, Slow Horses 4. More Jackson Lamb capers. Probably my favourite so far. River’s grandfather (the OB) features heavily. What did he do to protect his family in the early 1990s and why are things only coming to a head now.

4 James - Percival Everett. Late to the party with this one. I’m sure everyone knows, this is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn, from Jim, the runaway slave’s POV. I know it’s only the 9th day of the year, but I think this is going to be one of my favourites. A definite bold. I could almost taste the fear and was anxious whenever James was in difficulties. Sickening at times, particularly the rape scenes, but they were centre to the plot.

5 The Strawberry Thief - Joanne Harris. I bought this as a 99p Kindle deal and was going to reread Chocolat and then the next 2 in the ‘series’. Then @SheilaFentiman gave it a fabulous review and I had to read it. Vianne is back in the land of Chocolat and I am very happy about it. Chocolate magic, mirrors magic, a death, a long covered up story. All done in Harris’ whimsical way. Loved. I will eventually go back to Chocolat and read The Lollipop Shoes and Peaches for M le Curé. But probably not this year.

My next kindle book is The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. I haven’t read any of her books and given some of the reviews, it is with some hesitation that I have picked this up. Another 99p special which has been languishing for almost 4 years, so it needs to be read or deleted. Any feedback?

Fierce Bad Rabbits is such a good book!

Ooh that might be it, @Tarragon123 - I didn’t download the app but I did open it on my phone for the first time in about a year to screenshot something.

well done past you for getting new books despite the ban 😀 and I’m v glad you liked The Strawberry Thief!

I'm aiming for 100 books this year. I've read 6 so far only one decent one-

Woman on a Ledge Ruth Manchini

Very twisty thriller I'd give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just catching up and really hoping I check in on throughout the year this year. So far I have read
The Root Witch by Debra Castaneda
I thought this would be about an actual witch but it’s not. I guess it’s a sort thing f horror story but not really scary - and I’m easily scared. Didn’t think it was great although I carried on reading for the , somewhat disappointing, reveal.

Elise by Katharine E Smith
This author’s books, set in Cornwall, are very readable. Cosy fiction but very well drawn characters. This is the first of four in this series and I really enjoyed it.
I have also read Maggie, Louisa and am reading Ada. As you might guess, all these women are connected and their stories span 80 years. I’ve read 10!of an 11 book series by this author and number 11 is cued up ready. All on Kindle Unlimited.

Like tarragon, I am late to the party with my second book of the year:

2. James - Percival Everett

I won’t re-summarise.

Very good - I particularly enjoyed the sections where it was just Jim and Huck - almost disappointed when they were joined by others.

@Tarragon123

These are the edition I loved most www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1782969330/agatha-christie-vintage-paperback?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_uk_en_gb_-books_movies_and_music&utm_custom1=k_CjwKCAiAhP67BhAVEiwA2E_9g3gbjUsEH3Z_oAmtggIVsIRpTP8TAZd2V-9n2QBaA0XF_iJNCWbGTxoCz-QQAvD_BwE_k&utm_content=go_21619675320_167456383418_710839155061_pla-314262775427_m__1782969330engb_113489742&utm_custom2=21619675320&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAhP67BhAVEiwA2E_9g3gbjUsEH3Z_oAmtggIVsIRpTP8TAZd2V-9n2QBaA0XF_iJNCWbGTxoCz-QQAvD_BwE

@bibliomania The Haunted Wood was a bold for me but for being a marvel of organisation, neat (and almost all accurate!) synopses, writing style (esp adjectives) and - as you say - warmth, rather than novelty. I quite liked that he didn't try for any ambitious theses, and some of the 'smaller' tendencies he identified did ring true and keep popping up with later reads e.g. the hybrid time periods where the supposed setting blends in the author's own memories of being the protagonists' age like CS Lewis' Edwardian/40s Narnia or JKR's 70s/90s HP. Currently keep noticing 90s-ness of Maeve Kerrigan (which I think is supposed to be contemporaneous so mid-10s?)

Obviously I still felt my faves got shortchanged and far too much time was wasted on boring boy's books 😁but still. I'm also from a different generation / spent half my childhood in America, so did encounter books I'd never heard of (mostly 70s/80s), and was also surprised by some other choices - so The Outsiders did make it across the pond, I just know pig ignorant oblivious people!

Adding You're a Brick, Angela to TBR now, and bumping FBR up.

Just finishedZone of Interest by Martin Amis it seems wrong to say I enjoyed it but I did. The relationships between the Nazis was interesting, how Frau Doll despised her husband and he was frightened of her. The long term effects on him even though he believed in what he was doing. The ways they controlled the inmates,like the poles waiting patiently to die because their families were threatened. This is not something to forget quickly it will stay with me

My third book was Rocky Start by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. A man walking a mountain trail.is directed into a small town just as someone is trying to intimidate a woman. The basis is it's a town full of retired spies,assassin's et c who are hiding away from the world. It's not the best they have ever written but fun never the less

My third book was Rocky Start by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. A man walking a mountain trail.is directed into a small town just as someone is trying to intimidate a woman. The basis is it's a town full of retired spies,assassin's et c who are hiding away from the world. It's not the best they have ever written but fun never the less

I really struggled with the sudden glimpses of absolute depravity @minsmum

@Tarragon123 I’m a fan of Liane Moriarty generally, but even if it’s not really your type of book I would say it’s worth reading (or at least starting it) seeing as you’ve got it - they’re easy reads and you’ll know pretty quickly if it’s not for you. I haven’t read that particular book so can’t comment on it specifically. What I like most about her books is the suburban Sydney setting - I’m a sucker for Australians (must come from growing up on a diet of daily Neighbours 😄)

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I know and a lot of the time they were like teenagers, their attitudes and silly behaviour. Hannah Arendt was right the banality of evil

5. Perfect English Townhouse - Ros Byam Shaw

I wouldn’t normally include 'picture' books but this has been on my wishlist for a long time and then I stumbled across it in my local library. I follow Ros Byam Shaw periodically on Instagram as she posts wonderful pictures of her home (she’s moved recently to an equally beautiful old house) and here she writes short-ish illustrated essays on 14 houses and their interior decoration. Let's face it, this is a coffee-table book, but her prose is worth reading and the photos (by Jan Baldwin) are beguiling. The aesthetic is very much 18th-century oak boards, lime plaster and Farrow & Ball - Mrs Hinch would run screaming from these artfully-curated interiors with their perfectly-chosen antique objets d'art, but sometimes it’s nice to dream…

1. Six Minutes in May: how Churchill unexpectedly became Prime Minister by Nicholas Shakespeare
Finally off the blocks for 2025, usual phone addiction problems. This was an excellent Christmas present with forensically detailed commentary on the 1940 Norway campaign, subsequent parliamentary debate and leadership upheaval. I learned plenty that I didn't know before but I'm not bolding it because it somehow wasn't quite as suspenseful as I hoped. Enjoyed it though.