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 anyone likes science books, Carlo Rovelli's new book about Anaximander is in the deals. I'm half way through and it's fascinating.

Thanks @PepeLePew

25 Of War and Ruin by Ryan Cahill
This is the third instalment in an epic fantasy series so I can’t say much without spoilers. It was a bit slow to start but at around the 50% mark it got really good and I flew through the second half (well as fast as you can fly through a book that’s just over 1400 pages long…). I even got a lump in my throat at one point. Glad to finish this in time for my mammoth March reading month ahead.

Thanks Pepe, I bought it,

Bought lots as usual. A couple of books I've already read but wanted my own copy: Colm Toibin's Long Island is in today's daily deals (at £1.99) as well as Long Island Compromise (potentially confusing...). I also got Glorious Exploits. I already have Ian Rankin's latest Rebus novel but that's there too.

From the monthly deals, I bought at least two already read books, Reading Lessons and The Lesser Bohemians on Kindle. I was pleased to see Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips, a US historical novel - winner of the Pulitzer prize last year - I can return the library copy now and make space to collect more reservations from the library.

I've already acquired them in previous offers but there are several novels by American musician and novelist Willy Vlautin on offer at 99p - these are short, sad accounts of life on the margins of society. Colm Toibin's The Blackwater Lightship is also in the deals.

There was a discussion about ADHD recently on this thread, and Shappi Khorsandi's memoir about her own diagnosis in her 40s, Scatter Brain is on offer. I've bought what I thought was a new book by Catherine Bailey - Fey's War - but have realised I already have it under its previous title The Lost Boys, so am considering returning it - will have a look at formatting first.

I've also bought a couple of books I didn't have in long series - ones by Donna Leon (Brunetti) and Barbara Nadel.(Inspector Ikmen, #26!) - I have some catching up to do here, as the Brunetti series is now more than 30 books!!!!

@Stowickthevast mentioned a sequel to The Lesser Bohemians, a book I loved, and I've reserved The City Changes Face at the library. Several library reservations have come through as well, including Nesting, another Stowick recommendation on here, which I expected to wait a few weeks for (when will I learn?)

The new Adichie is only £10 on Amazon today.

I have it preordered

@elkiedee I really want to like Eimear McBride but A Girl is a Half Formed Thing didn't work for me at all. Is it worth trying again?

Book 5 for me is an audio book but I'm counting those this year.
Difficult Women by Helen Lewis

I enjoyed this, some chapters more than others, but overall very interesting. It's broadly a history of feminism. Chapters on work and the vote were especially good but the one about education was poor. The chapter on the vote made me think about my granny who was born before universal suffrage began. She voted in every election until she died at the age of ninety nine because she really valued that vote. and I despair when colleagues tell me that they don't vote "because they don't know about politics...

I'm not sure - I liked The Lesser Bohemians more than I liked A Girl, easier to read in terms of the writing style. My memory (I read it a few years ago) is that there was a lot of sex and that there was a darker side - the main characters had some issues to deal with.

24 The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The penultimate Dept Q book and a real return to form. Less focus on the personal lives and more focus on the case of an avenging angel serial killer. However things are complicated by the return of the Nail Gun case which resulted in Carl and his old team being shot, before the start of the first book. Moving right on to the final book, but listening to the audiobook this time.

I've bought far too many 99p books

British Woodland, Ray Mears
Farther Away, The end of the earth, How to be alone, Freedom all by Jonathan Frantzen
The land in winter, Andrew Miller
Anaximander
Reading Lessons
Young woman and the sea
Strong female character
Ordinary human failings
Glorious exploits
Piglet
Assembly
When the dust settles
The hive and the honey, Paul hoon
Breaststrokes, Margaux Villeron
I'm new here, Ian Russel-Hseih

20 . The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Alison Weir - So this is a bold for me because it is beautifully written and details the lives of the women with Henry being the background player. I learned so much from this book that I didn't already know such as not realising that the longest living of the wives was number 3, Anne of Cleeves, and how much of a positive influence Catherine Parr, in particular, had on the educations of 3 future monarchs. Given that women of this era were doomed in many ways, from the disappointment of being the 'wrong sex' at birth to dangers of giving birth (both Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr died shortly after giving birth due to infection - although by the time Catherine Parr died she was not giving birth to one of Henry's children), I found their roles fascinating. It also struck me that one of the reasons that Henry revered Jane so much must have been that she provided the male heir. I wonder how Catherine Parr felt that he wanted to be buried with Jane even though he was married to Catherine?

Well as you can see I found it fascinating, I was speaking to my teenage daughter about it last night and she's now convinced me to go and see Six at the West End because apparently it's all covered it a song! Well I suppose it could be fun!

@lifeturnsonadime Six is going to be in cinemas in the next few months as one of those filmed productions - in case that is easier to get to

Yes thanks Sheila I did see that, but I think I'll run it in to a trip to London as my eldest is currently in his first year at UCL and he may join us.

There is also something special about live theatre that I don't think that cinemas can replicate.

Ah brilliant! I hope you enjoy it. I was supposed to go with friends last year but couldn’t make the date work so I think I will do the cinema one.

If you enjoyed that I would recommend The Palace by Gareth Russell, which is about Hampton Court. There is a separate chapter on each of Henry's Queens, who all spent time there.

I was very restrained with the deals and just bought Glorious Exploits and When The Dust Settles. I may go back and pick up some others... There are lots of Franzen books in the daily deal today FYI.

8 Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
This is the story of the tragic 1996 climbing season on Everest. I’ve had this on my kindle since 2014! 😬I think I recall a discussion about this on these threads maybe earlier this year or late last year which compelled me to finally pick it up. I had seen Everest the film so knew the story from that perspective. This was a great read but I still don’t think I’ll ever understand the compulsion to do something so risky as to climb into a place called The Death Zone. Sounds like the shittest holiday ever tbh. Nonetheless, it’s a bold.

Has anyone read Boukreev’s The Climb? I’m mildly intrigued by his take on events, but not sure I’m intrigued enough to go through it all again.

Six is absolutely incredible. I saw it a year or so ago. I can't wait for it to be in cinemas.

Six has received amazing reviews from the outset, from all walks of life. I tend to prefer plays and though it’s on my list there is always something else I need to see first, so I was pleased to see the cinema news as I will go and see it at the cinema.

I enjoyed Into Thin Air, MonOncle, but agree with your assessment of "shittest holiday ever".

Bridget Jones (the original) has a line about calling a friend to boast about being Mrs Iron Knickers, and I feel like that about the monthly deals. I've been having a bit of a clear out and there are so many books I'm longing to get to on my shelves already.

Just finished West Heart Kill, by Dann McDorman which I did not like. It's a murder mystery set in the 1970s in a country club in the US. The author keeps breaking the fourth wall to discourse on the genre. I didn't even mind that part, but the story wasn't interesting enough to earn my attention and the ending was a cheat.

I also thought Six was great fun.

Thanks Arran, added to the list!

Oooh thanks everyone, definitely going to book it then!