50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Two

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the second 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.

The first thread of the year is

I don't know it (the Tish Delaney) but I'll put it on my tbr list!

@IKnowAPlace I'd be interested in reading Before My Actual Heart Breaks as I have Trespasses waiting to be (re)read shortly for my book group, and also Close To Home by Michael Magee on the TBR pile, which I thought might be a good related read.
I'll let you know when I get round to BMAHB.

@highlandcoo you have excellent taste! I went into the bookshop in Close To Home in the summer and I was in heaven!

I also loved The Night Watchman and The Sentence, and have finally started reading Louise Erdrich's latest, The Mighty Red, from the library - enjoying it so far.

Glad to hear the Tish Delaney is good - I'm the one who borrowed it from the library recently only to discover I already have it on Kindle. I've returned BMAHB and am hoping to collect a reservation copy of The Saint of Lost Things from the library tomorrow.

My reads this year - all 4 star ratings on Librarything (which allows in between ratings like 3.5/4.5) and Goodreads, ratings of 3.75* *to 4.25 on Storygraph. So I liked them all but nothing quite bold yet

1. Jenny Colgan, The Christmas Book Hunt - novella (reviewed on 50B 2025 thread 1)
2. Abi Daré, And So I Roar
3. John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman
4. Elly Griffiths, The Frozen People
5. Coco Mellors, Blue Sisters
6. Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
7. Georgina Clarke, The Corpse Played Dead
8. Isabella Hammad, The Parisian
9. Lily King, Writers & Lovers

10. Sarah Hall, How to Paint a Dead Man 11. Mary Cadogan, Mary Carries On

I've written 4 reviews this month, but 3 of them are of books I read last year. I don't currently have Microsoft Office/Word licensed on this laptop, so I've written and saved my reviews on www.LibraryThing.com before sharing them elsewhere.

Oh @elkiedee i must have missed your French Lieutenant’s Woman review. What did you think? I read it last year and I’m still thinking about whether I thought it was great and interesting or not.

@AgualusasLover I read TFLW at an impressionable age and I LOVE it. Even after a re-read where I could rationally see all manner of things wrong with it. Sarah, Ernestina and Charles have lived rent-free in my head for about 30 years.

11 Elizabeth of York: The Last White Rose - Alison Weir

This was ok-to-good about the mother of That Bastard Henry VIII.

IMO Weir is a better historian than she is novelist and there were a few places where her learning got the better of realism (I’m not sure a 4 year old princess would be quite such an astute observer of the politics around her…)

I have read a lot of novels and history around the Plantagenets and Tudors so there wasn’t a lot here that was new to me and I already know where Weir sits on the “Richard III: child murderer?” question from her non-fic, but this was a decent refresher.

I have a physical copy of Uncrowned Queen (non fic about Henry VII’s mother) that I should lift from the TBR pile fairly soon!

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller, here is my list so far:

1 French Braid - Anne Tyler
2 I Will Find You - Harlan Coben
3 Friends Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry
4 The Crossing - Michael Connelly

Following the Count readalong and I'm doing the same as @cloudengel and reading a book over a year which is Stephen King's The Stand. 100 pages a month and I'll be done in December 😁.

4 Hello Beautiful - Ann Napolitano
Basically a modern day Little Women. This was a bit meh for me. Didn’t particularly like any of the characters, some of them made bizarre life choices, and I didn’t get on with the changing pace particularly in the middle. It was alright but I wasn’t desperate to keep reading it.

No, @AgualusasLover, you haven't missed my review of The French Lieutenant's Woman. I believed I'd read and enjoyed it before, so long ago I'm not sure when.... perhaps I read it in my teens. Anyway, I really didn't remember that much about it.

I was expecting a straightforward historical novel, a story set entirely in a very different time from when it was it was written. Actually this is a very 20th century novel, with a 1960s author-narrator telling a story set in 1867. He continually interrupts his story to comment on and discuss his 1867 characters, their actions, attitudes and values, and those of the society they live in. Charles is an educated gentleman, preparing to meet social expectations of a man of his class, planning to marry Ernestina, daughter of a wealthy businessman. He becomes curious about Sarah, a servant and former governess with a mysterious but probably scandalous back story, nicknamed "the French lieutenant's woman", and a habit of walking along the cliffs in Lyme Regis, looking out to sea.

I suspect I first read this in an 80s film tie-in edition - I haven't seen the film but would quite like to, especially as my Vintage classics Kindle edition also includes an Afterword on the difficulties of adaptation/film - and the adaptation was by Harold Pinter. I'm also quite intrigued that Fowles claimed to be a feminist and that it was debated as a feminist novel - there is a lot for feminists to discuss here but all female characters (and nearly all characters) are seen through the eyes of the author-narrator whose story is in turn filtered through the view of his gentleman protagonist Charles.

The novel is packed with Victorian cultural and literary references, including Charles Darwin, Thomas Hardy, William Thackeray and Gabriel Dante Rossetti.

I think I did quite enjoy it, partly because it is so odd and thought provoking, with lots of digressions and rabbit holes.

This long rambling answer wasn't intended as a review but I might work on turning it into one.

@elkiedee looks like a review to me and a very useful one! There's also a lot of Matthew Arnold in the book and I've been a bit obsessed with his poetry ever since I first read it.

I'm another who wasn't able to get into Slow Horses but I'm planning to give it another go at some point due to the love on this thread.

Reading my way through our xmas gift books

1 CAMPBELL, O. Women in White Coats
2 ATKINSON, K. Death at the Sign of the Rook
3 OSMAN, R. We Solve Murders

I enjoyed Osman's 'Thursday Murder Club' books, but this new one is fairly dull and I wish I'd waited for the pbk. Not much to it at all.

I read the first Slow Horses last year Remus. In thought it was fine for what it was but nothing to rave about. But I think someone on the thread said the series improved as you got into it. DH watched the series without me and then cancelled Apple so I haven't seen it.

@IKnowAPlace also love the Night Watchman and The Sentence.

1. Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabavala. 1975 winner of the Booker by the author of Merchant Ivory fame. This has two stories - one of an unnamed narrator going to India in "Present day" to research her grandfather's first wife's life, and the other the story of the first wife, Olivia, and her love for the Nawab. Both stories are told in quite a dry, emotionless way, with quite a bit of "othering". Not one that has stood the test of time.

1. Blue Sisters - Coco Mellors. Follows 3 sisters in New York and London after the death of their 4th sister. Avery, the sensible lawyer, Bonnie the frustrated boxer and Lucky, the beautiful model with substance abuse issues. This was a bit cliched but an ok read, better than her previous book.

Ah numbering! Think my books were 6 & 7

I thought this was 100% better than Little Women which I find boring, trite and just really annoying. I didn’t love this, but I did like it and it’s stayed with me.

Yes, I have really been able to decide whether TFLW was genuis or not. I did watch the film afterwards and enjoyed it.

On the Slow Horses debate, despite the regular discussion and reviews here I just haven’t even looked into them as they don’t sound my thing - but glad so many do enjoy them/the series. I’m not even quite clear what they are about necessarily.

Just stumbled across this thread and I’m so excited !
I love to hear about other people’s suggestions and hear their thoughts on books they have read . I do tend to get obsessed if it’s a series and have to read them all..
So far books I have read this year since December actually.
The Best of Times Penny Vincenzi .
Light relief after quite a stressful time for me , it’s a long book and not recently published , Penny Vincenzi was a prolific author of many novels and some Trilogies I think . It rattles along at a good pace , there is a major crash on a Motorway and events unfold as people’s lives are changed forever . Well drawn characters and a few clever plot twists ,things don’t always turn out how the reader would expect . It seemed a bit outdated to me and there are some cliches. I did enjoy this but I won’t read another one by this Author.
Unseen Karin Slaughter
I absolutely adore all the characters in this series and I’m a huge Karin Slaughter fan .
This one has a very disturbing subject matter involving child abuse and a Paedophile ring just to warn you .
As usual Will Trent is chucked in at the deep end and left to navigate an undercover assignment. His partner Faith doesn’t feature quite so much in this , but she makes her usual hilarious put downs and contributes to the plot line . I also really like Lena Adams , one of the main protagonists . I’m really hoping we get to hear more of her in another book sometime .
It probably helps to have read other books in this series but it’s still a fantastic read as a standalone, I’ve recommended it to others and everyone found it an excellent read .
After the last Dance Sarra Manning
I really enjoyed this one too. It takes place between the present and the Second World War . I sometimes find time shift fiction a bit annoying, but this was managed seamlessly , I think it takes a great story teller to pull this off . A sulky teenager unwilling to submit to corduroy’s and turnips runs away to London looking for adventure which she certainly finds .
In the present , a beautiful ,jilted ( we think ) bride walks in a dive bar in the USA. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would certainly read more from this author , The House of Secrets also features past and present day story lines .
The Ghosts of Altona Craig Russell
This is the seventh ( I’ve read all the previous books )
I certainly recommend this series , I love anything set in Germany .Jan Fabel speaks fluent English and has an interesting perspective on his job . He has suffered tragedy in his past which affects his take on crimes . All the books in this series are equally good .
Squeaky Clean Callum McSorley .
Set in Glasgow hapless Davy fae the Car Wash gets sucked into a world of criminality and misery . This book has won various awards and I can see why . Brilliantly written ( you may find the Glesgae dialect challenging ) it’s funny , grim and transports you to the underbelly of many big cities where crime flourishes and folk scrape by . Although there are many gruesome creatures in here and it certainly portrays some horrendous crimes ,Davey is such a well drawn character , trying to do the right thing but slowly getting shit luck at every turn . D I Ali McCoist has heard all the fitba gags before , disenchanted & demotivated after being left to fester at a desk job after a cock up , she senses something further needs investigating, loved her and her Puppy . This has been my favourite read so far .

Books I’m hoping to read
The Psychology of Fashion Carolyn Mair
Germinal Emile Zola
Rex v Edith Thompson Laura Thompson
I started to read this before and found it incredibly upsetting but I want to finish it if I feel strong enough
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Dee Brown

I loved the Book Slow Horses and I can see Gary Oldman being perfect . Unfortunately it’s not available for me to watch . I would never watch Will Trent on tv , I want to imagine all the characters and keep them that way !

Uhhhhh... how cool is my (late) Christmas present from my Best friend! Now I can stamp all my books so I know they are mine.

@BlueFairyBugsBooks that's adorable!

@Perfectlyfinethankyou 👋I had a blast with the Calum McSorley last year (listened to the audio, so much easier time with the accents) and am looking forward to the sequel in March. Ally's back but hopefully we'll see some of the other (surviving) characters too.
Can you tell me more about Jan Fabel - I've heard they're gory (can handle that) but is there a lot of sexualised violence or titillating men-writing-women stuff (prefer to avoid)?

While also interested in the Thompson-Bywaters case I found that Laura Thompson book painfully overwritten and unpersuasive - and I went in with sympathies already firmly with ET, but LT tried too hard to make her this purest innocent that ever innocented lost literary genius, while throwing earlier writers (like Rebecca West ffs) under the bus based on wild misreadings, when they were often making much the same points she was, but better, and in a fraction of the words. Would NOT recommend!

Thank you for new thread @Southeastdweller

@JaninaDuszejko – it was me asking about island libraries. I follow both Orkney and Shetland Libraries on Twitter (well, I used to. I’m rarely there these days) and found them both hilarious.

@TimeforaGandT – very similar to my list so far 😊

@BlueFairyBugsBooks – how fabulous!

I am a Slow Horses fan, but it did help that I watched series 1 of the TV show first, so I had the characters clear in my head. I think Jackson Lamb and Catherine Standish are fascinating characters.

My current list:
1 Queen MacBeth – Val McDermid
2 My Friends – Matar Hisham
3 Spook Street – Mick Herron
4 James – Percival Everett
5 The Strawberry Thief – Joanne Harris
6 The Husband’s Secret – Laine Moriarty
7 Small Bombs at Dimperley – Lissa Evans

Recent reviews:
8 Falling Fast – Neil Broadfoot. A 99p Kindle Special which languished on my TBR for a very good reason. Police procedural set in Edinburgh, with a detective sergeant and a crime reporter. A newly released rapist is being hunted by the tabloid press and the press are door stopping parents in East Lothian to try to find him. I thought that the rapist was based on a very high profile case in Edinburgh, right down to his family ties to East Lothian and his victim waving her right to anonymity. I thought there were glaring errors, such as a former Chief Constable becomes a Chief Superintendent. Nonsense. I wasn’t a fan and I wont be reading anymore by this author.

9 Munich Wolf – Rory Clements. Police procedural set in 1930s Munich, I was interested to see how this compared to Bernie Gunther, who is similar to Seb Wolf, in that neither are interested in the Nazis and trying to solve murders without fitting up innocent folk.

Fair to say I prefer Bernie, although I haven’t read anything by Philip Kerr recently. I did feel that it conveyed the fear of 1930s Germany and the utter terror of being accused of something you haven’t done. But, I did feel that the plot was a bit too neat. Too much Unity Mitford for me and the violence was, well a bit violent for me. But, I probably will read more from this author.

10 The Marriage Portrait – Maggie O’Farrell. Bold for me. Short listed for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction. I’m probably the last 50 Booker to read this and I loved it. I don’t care about historic fiction using the present tense. I just settled down and enjoyed in the sun.

11 The Blood is Still – Douglas Skelton. Police procedural set in Inverness. Second in the Rebecca Connolly series. Another crime reporter helping to solve murders. If that floats your boat, I’d recommend this, rather than Neil Broadfoot. A body is found on Culloden Moor, wearing an outfit from 1746. A local family is organising protests about a recently released sex offender being located in their community. The matriarch of the family is well recognisable to anyone who read the papers in Scotland in the 1990s. This was fine and I will return to Rebecca Connolly at some point in the future, once I have attacked the TBR.

Very pleased with my Kindle Challenge. I'm down to 29 which I am delighted with. The physical TBR pile, not so much lol.

9. The Party on Laurel Street by Ruth Heald

25 years ago three girls, Gabbie, Erin and Mel, went into the woods for a midnight feast and only two returned. Gabbie and Mel now live on the the street where they grew up and after a drunken argument with her husband at a party Gabbie goes missing. This was terrible. Awful characters, ridiculous decisions, stupid coincidences. I am done with psychological thrillers, I get drawn in with the promise of “jaw-dropping twists” (I do love a good twist) and then resent every minute spent leading up to a lacklustre ‘twist’ that I saw coming a mile away. The best that can be said is that it was free on Kindle Unlimited.

5. Norah Lofts - Lady Living Alone
This is one to read blind if possible (and I hope the Rather Dated group will!) so I’ll try to keep things informative but spoiler-free. Newly reissued by the British Library Women Writers series, this was first published under a pseudonym (Peter Curtis) in 1945, and perfectly nails the brief of page-turning refreshment for the war-weary. If you’ve previously enjoyed NL’s historical fiction (I esp. like those following one house through several centuries), this story takes place in the 1930s and is so different I would never have guessed the author - although it’s similar in being engagingly written, emotionally involving and psychologically plausible.

Reading it under NL’s own name adds a fun meta layer to some sly similarities between author and protagonist: the aptly named Miss Penelope Shadow, who in her thirties suddenly becomes a bestselling writer of histfic, thus gaining the financial means to transform from Surplus Woman to Lady Living Alone - were it not for her acute phobia of entering an empty house. How veeeery convenient, I know! Still enjoyed it thoroughly and binged it in a sitting.

Fair warning: while it does take some unexpected (to me, anyway) turns around the ‘domestic novel’, much of the book is in that Barbara Pym / D.E. Stevenson style of sharply observed but broadly amiable comedy-of-manners, so if you find that kind of thing painfully boring, I’m not sure the eventual plotty payoff would justify struggling through. In light of recent Josephine Tey chat I would recommend this to her fans (with similar Of Its Time caveats). Anyway, it’s currently on Kindle Unlimited, along with several of her historicals, if anyone'd like to give it a go.