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.

31 The Man of My Dreams - Curtis Sittenfield

I have split the RWYO front log and am trying to focus on books I bought a number of years ago. I got this one in 2019.

This book is about Hannah and follows her from 14 (in 1991) through to May 2005 when she is finally settled into a profession. The book opens with her living with her aunt Elizabeth, as her emotionally abusive father has thrown Hannah, her mum and her older sister out, and DM and DSis are with a different aunt. It follows her life through teen years, college, early working life - but most importantly, through the three men that she is with, to varying degrees, as she tries to figure out how to find love with the impact of her father’s character and her parents’ separation looming so large.

It was good. I preferred Rodham and Sisterland, but this was definitely worth a read and was an absorbing character study of Hannah.

That sounds interesting @bibliomania . I've only just discovered Simon Mason having read the first in the DI Ryan Wilkins series, which I found very entertaining. He's great at character and dialogue I think. Looking forward to reading more of his books.

I've got the first DI Ryan Wilkins book lined up too, @highlandcoo . Satisfying to come across an interesting author with a backlog to explore!

@Stowickthevast I've also joined the reservation queues for Nesting.

I have no idea why this was longlisted as it seems a pretty standard true crime book to me

@ÚlldemoShúl I completely agree re The Peepshow.

36. Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Audible)

Read by the author, which worked well, can't really improve on what @LadybirdDaphne has already said. Found the concept macabre and think it would have sparked controversy had it been set more recently. Liked Lampo as a character and liked the end But I didn't LOVE it the way I expected to.

I’ve just seen that the first DI Ryan Wilkins book is 99p on Amazon, so now I have it lined up too 😄

Misplaced the book I was reading, and after frantically searching the house for a week I reluctantly began a new one:

The Pact (Jodi Picoult)

I think this is the first of hers I've read, and while I wasn't bored I didn't find it to be anything remarkable or particularly memorable. Maybe one of those 'reading by the pool' books people buy at the airport flying out. I will say, however, that I was extremely sympathetic towards the young female teen protagonist - the social web she’d been born into, the dilemma she faced… this is likely the ‘best’ aspect of the storyline.
Oh, and about halfway through it my original book turned up, of course!

@evtheria I would say that if you didn't much like that Picoult, you will probably feel the same about any of them. They are all, broadly - family in tricky legal position on a serious charge, parent/child conflicted over who to believe, ethical dilemma, bit of a twist, the end.

I like 'em... in limited doses 😀

I had a quick google of her other books and, (naughtily) judging by all the covers/titles, I'm not surprised by what you've said! Oh well - at least I've got round to reading one.

I've only read one Jodi Picoult and it was about an Amish girl, I really enjoyed it but have never sought out another

21. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Follows the story of the Manettes, a French father and daughter who are reunited after he is released from the Bastille. Based around the time of the French Revolution.

I really enjoyed this. Recommend if you haven't read it and especially if you are interested in this part of history.

I forgot to say - I went to see Pride & Prejudice (sort of) the other day and I thought it was excellent!

Poor Mary Bennett 😀

@SheilaFentiman Glad you liked it. Mary’s bit at the end is such good fun!

I enjoyed Blood and Huts. Didn’t realise it was connected to a TV show.

The International Booker longlist has just been announced https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-international-booker-prize-2025

I tend to find the prize a bit of a mixed bag so will probably wait for some commentary before deciding what to read. There seems to be a bit of a buzz round Solenoid but it also sounds like something I'd potentially hate.

Sped up a bit in my reading this month and have just rattled though Anders de la Motte's third seasons book Deeds of Autumn. Easy to read police procedural in two time frames, like his other books. Ploddy and overly long, the middle could do with trimming but a satisfyingly somewhat silly ending.

Due to being awake for half the night, I've finished 33. We Don't Know Ourselves by Fintan O'Toole. This is a high level run through Irish history from 1958 to roughly 2020, written by a journalist. He includes some personal history throughout.

The first third felt a bit slow for me but it picked up after that. Each chapter looks at a particular issue or key moment, which makes it a good book to dip in and out of. It's left me with a list of topics to look into further, for sure.

I've read four non fiction books this month - that's unheard of!

Slough House by Mick Heron
I really enjoyed this - until the end, which I didn’t.

I need to see if there’s a number 8 and read it immediately, if yes.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie Yeah, Blood and Guts was a documentary series from 2008: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d4b70/episodes/guide

I have a copy of Bad Actors - means it must have come up as a deal at some point, and a collection of short stories Dolphin Junction. There are also some novellas - not sure what is or isn't collected. Clown Town (#9)* *is due to be published in September.

Help needed, 50 Bookers! Does anyone have a kindle or paper copy of Middlemarch? I am listening to the audiobook on Borrowbox (and it is an utter joy so far) and have come across a word I don't know and can't even transcribe well enough to Google. Near the start of chapter 45 Mr Mawmsley is described as what sounds like jacoastly complimentary, and later there's a reference to his jacoastliness. If anyone can have a look and fill me in I'd be really grateful. It's in no way at all pivotal to the plot but it's annoying me very much .

Jocund?

(I am guessing, I will check it now on my Kindle!)

It is jocosely!

Brilliant, thank you so much @SheilaFentiman !
That's a new one on me, but like Tai in Clueless I will be crow-barring it into conversation at the first opportunity

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie – oh dear, that’s disappointing to hear. I was hoping for more on Jackson Lamb’s background.

@highlandcoo – I have a vague recollection of reading Brookmyre in the 90s. The only bit I can remember is the crowd at Hampden chanting ‘Dalglish, Get Tae Fck, Dalglish, Dalglish, Get Tae Fck’. Dalglish was the Conservative Scottish Secretary for State and not King Kenny obvs.

I’m just getting into Paper Cup. Because I’m doing a Kindle challenge, I read my Kindle every day and my library books are suffering. I’ve also got a very busy week, work wise and am out every night, which is unusual for me. I plan on doing very little on Saturday and finishing my library books. Have you read any of Lynne McEwan? Her detective series, featuring “wee” DI Shona Oliver is set in Galloway. You might enjoy the setting. I just really enjoy the characters and plots.

26 Slough House (Slow Horses 7) – Mick Herron. After a break, I’ve returned to the Slow Horses. Jackson Lamb and Catherine Standish are in a slightly better place then the previous book. The repulsive Peter Judd is skulking about in the shadows, trying to get the better of Diana Taverner and our Slow Horses. But you need to get up pretty early in the morning to get the better of Jackson Lamb. Its difficult to say too much about the plot without getting into spoiler territory. I was very pleased about one of the plot lines. Cannot wait for a cryptic conversation with someone who has finished it! @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie you have just finished it too! Bad Actors is Book 8 and Clown Town, Book 9 is due to be released in September, so I am pacing myself.

I’m down to 23 books on my Kindle. Hurrah! Best not dwell on the physical pile...