50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Three

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the third 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 here and the second thread here.

If you’re travelling by train there’s a website where you can get a voucher for 2 for 1 tickets.

I thought it had a good balance of considered historical stuff and schlock.

I liked rather than loved Mr B’s tbh. The children’s section is glorious but the rest was very claustrophobic and full of braying posh women!

Haha. I’ll practice my braying.

I do enjoy a mixture of fact and schlock as you put it. I really enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes museum in part for the tiny details you notice from the stories (tbf these were mostly pointed out to me by DS) but also that his bedroom has lots of mugshots of actual 19th century criminals on the wall. I’d recognised the famous baby farmer Amelia Dyer and we went up and down a few times and had a good old chat with the staff whilst the tourists bounded through. So clever to curate something entirely around fiction.

I'm really bad at giving myself permission to DNF but I think I have to SAS : Rogue Heroes by Ben McIntyre. Dry.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie lucky you!!! I love Mr B's.

I had some very long train journeys this week so I've finished 28. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - it's very sad but an honest depiction of many mother/daughter* *relationships. Worth a read.

I also absolutely wolfed down 29. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. What a wild ride that one was! I did enjoy it, but it was unhinged!

I'm now working my way through a connected short story collection 30. Lot by Bryan Washington. I bought this last year when I was researching good books by black authors - it was recommended. It's about a very poor Latin/Blackbfamily in the US. The stories almost feel like chapters/vignettes.

Sending hugs to both @PepeLePew and @TattiePants

8. The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous by Jilly Cooper

Finished the next installment in my Rutshire re-read. This is my least favourite of the series, I find Lysander frustratingly incompetent and don't understand how all the women of Paradise find his inability to achieve anything so endearing. I also find Georgie frustrating as I think she should just leave. I know Jilly has said in interviews that she wrote this book around the time her husband, Leo's, affair came to light and whilst they were trying to work through it so I imagine there is a lot of Jilly in Georgie. I imagine it's a very realistic portrayal of how many women would react in this situation and I'm judging Georgie's actions having never been in her shoes so I think that's probably a me problem

And at what feels a very fitting time with the recent discussions over books for people who don't read
9) The Sinner by Shantel Tessier
I have a good friend who exclusively reads smut on Kindle unlimited that she finds recommended on booktok. I don't mind the odd romance/smutty book, I find them a useful palate cleanser between heavier books. But I don't normally read things of quite this level. But during a recent discussion we agreed to each read a book recommended by the other person and this was her recommendation. All I can say is... Fuck me!

I was not expecting this book at all. The trigger warnings were so extensive I knew going in it would be unlike anything I'd ever read. The sheer depravity and degradation in this book blew my mind. I honestly just don't even want to provide a synopsis due to potential triggers but suffice to say this book is not for the faint hearted or for anyone who struggles with violence against women. The consent between the "couple" is extremely murky and sometimes definitely non-existent and the authors complete lack of understanding of human psychology is frankly a bit scary. This is part of a series. Safe to say I will not be reading any others in this series. If this is your sort of thing then crack on but it was definitely not my cup of tea.

Ooh @Tarragon123 I'm going to see her tomorrow. I'm very excited and have fifty pages to go of The Last Remains. Didn't want the end of the Ruth Galloway books accidentally spoiled by the audience.

From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane: The Reawakening of Mongol Asia, Peter Jackson

It’s taken two months but I got there. The central thesis of the book is examine whether Timur’s rule in Central Asia/Iran was a continuation of Chingghis Khan’s Mongol empire (names never spelt like the cover). The first half of the book was a quite a slog and I am not sure I remember much: so many different khans and amirs, constantly battling and changing as well a really detailed literature review with even more names of those who were there, those who weren’t. This section basically sets the scene for part II which is actually about Timur (made famous by Shakespeare in his play Tamerlane). DS is at uni studying these same things at the moment and he isn’t chatty person except about uni, so whilst read this because I’m interested in that region, it also means we have plenty to chat about. Whilst section 2 was still info overload, I do feel
Ive come away with some overarching view of the geographical and temporal space. It’s clear in Jackson’s analysis, that whilst Timur keeps and continues various Mongol customs and sees the merit of intermarrying etc, he was also a Muslim leader which impacted a lot of his decisions.

I do recommend it, but I think you need to really be interested in this space as it’s probably a bit too dense for a popular history.

Murder at the Vicarage Agatha Christie

This year attempting some Marple. I am a strictly Poirot reader usually. I enjoyed this, but we got so little of Miss Marple, even though she eventually solves it. There was a small twist I saw but not the finale. I’m off to Torquay for some Christie event in April so thought I’d get cracking.

Us by David Nicholas

Something lighter after the previous book on the Congo. It's about Douglas and Connie relationship, written by Douglas and nips back in time to the high and low lights as well as looking at where they are now travelling round Europe. It was quite insightful into the ebbs and flows of long term relationships. I'd have loved to have read from Connie's point of view as well, Douglas does admit some of his faults, but there's a clash of values and who they are as people that would definitely be hard to negotiate. Despite this, it's also quite funny and patches of light heartedness.

9 Last Man Down the fireman’s story - Richard Picciotto
Richard was a fireman who miraculously survived the collapse of the World Trade Centre by being in exactly the right place at the right time. He and a group of fellow rescue workers were trapped in a stairwell in the north tower waiting to be rescued or a chance to escape.
This was a charity shop find and I picked it up as I have a sort of morbid curiosity when it comes to the human stories of the twin towers. This was a little disappointing though as he was a bit egotistical and some parts were repetitive. It was okay but I’ve read better.

@MrsALambert

Have you read The Only Plane In The Sky? Amazing book huge on the thread a few years ago. Highly recommend- very upsetting though

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit yes I have, I thought that was excellent. This one definitely pales in comparison

@MrsALambert

I can also recommend The Looming Tower as a more academic piece about Bin Laden's origins

Thank you, I’ve not heard of that one. I’ll look it up

@MrsALambert Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 by Mitchell Zuckoff was excellent too

Oh, just read about Denzil Meyrick. I picked up one of his Christmas specials this year and enjoyed it. Sad news.

@highlandcoo – yes, I’m surprised that Denziel Meyrick isnt better known. Sadly he will be soon as the DCI Daley books are currently being filmed. I’ve been racking my brains trying to work out where I first heard about him. It might have been via the Bloody Scotland Festival, but I’m really not sure. I very much enjoyed Squeaky Clean. I always thought that Tartan Noir were crime procedurals set in Scotland? My other Tartan Noir favs are Marion Todd, Lynne McEwan, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Douglas Skelton, Denise Mina, Caro Ramsay, Lin Anderson and James Oswald (even though he did suggest that the residents of my town are cannibals lol).

Not a fan of: Neil Broadfoot, Stuart MacBride, Ed James, Quentin Jardine (enjoyed to begin with, but got ridiculous with everyone getting promoted every book. Tell that to all the DSs who have been at the same rank for 15 years!)

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit – good to know. That was on my radar, but I have so many other books to read first

@Cherrypi – I’m sure you will enjoy. She seems such a lovely person. I also wolfed down The Last Remains for the same reason, but my audience were very good.

I’ve enjoyed Meyrick’s two Christmas books the last couple of years. Sad that there won’t be any more. I’ll have to look out for his other books.

I think most on here have read Soldier Sailor so I won't write a long review. t really is like a giant MN rant/ midnight plea for help, isn't it?

I did relate to much of it (I imagine all mother do except for those not real perfect women with not real perfect husbands and children!) and read it very rapidly. I found her stream of consciousness a bit disorientating at times. The opening prepared me for an entirely different book.

I just found this review on Amazon that made me LOL. Talk about missing the point. Maybe the actually not fictional DH wrote it!

The mother is extremely incompetent and controlling and always having some crisis she blows out of proportion and for some reason blames the husband. She does not seem to let the husband do anything with the child but she blames him for this. The husband oddly enough treats her quite kindly as she rages against him. He could also do more, but maybe the mother doesn’t let him.

4. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

A collection of short musings (some were magazine articles) by an author I'd heard of in connection with her films but never read. An easy and light read with some moving and thought provoking moments.

After two non fiction books I'm going to read a novel next 😀

Thank you @MamaNewtNewt ill check that out as well

12. Creation Lake: Rachel Kushner.

Creation Lake is a novel about a young American woman of thirty-four years old, 'Sadie Smith'; an undercover agent who has been sent to a remote part of France to observe and infiltrate a community of environmental subversives who have been causing trouble for the authorities. Her contacts, hazy figures in business and/or government, order her to incite provocation at first, but then demand more and push the limits.

'Sadie' has no scruples about using her ability or her good looks to fulfil the brief. She is prepared to manipulate people and to play people off against each other. They are tools in her arsenal. Her life isn't real, so why should others' lives matter?

However, over time her mindset undergoes a change as she reads the email correspondence of Bruno Lacombe to the group. An older man who has lived through the horrors of ww2, Bruno does not support revolt as the means to escape the ailments of modern life. He advocates a return to the ancient past, going back to man's earliest ancestors whose alternative history may have turned out better for humankind if things had gone differently in the great scheme of things.

I got off to a slightly rocky start with this book. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. 'Sadie' is an unlikeable, brash character who has very few endearing qualities (none), but I liked some of her wry observations. She was incredibly full of herself and her very full figure (mentioned very often). I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy Bruno's ruminations on Neanderthals either.

However, I did like these sections and I found them interesting and thoughtful. In my opinion they slowed down the pace of the main story and I would argue against the blurb that this is a fast-paced spy novel. I didn't think so. On the whole I liked it and I'm glad I persevered with it. I thought it was clever and well written. The ending was exciting and I liked how it finished for her. Not a bold for me but recommended as an interesting, edgy read.

23 Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (audio)
I think this has been much reviewed having been on the Booker shortlist. Sadie is a secret agent infiltrating a group of French eco-terrorists. This is interspersed with emails about Neanderthals from a man living in a cave. I liked the humorous tone of this at the start but it didn’t really evolve into much- I can’t understand why it was longlisted never mind shortlisted but maybe I’m just missing something. I’m in a bit of a slump right now- it’s taking me weeks to get through my other reads right now so I might not be entirely fair to this meh read.

Ha! Jinx you guys!