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.

Reading throughout life may stave off dementia, most especially difficult, fictional reads like Dickens. Genuinely true findings from a study!

Re CCM , it is the only one of the books being discussed above that has made it on to A Level set texts, which tends to be a fairly unadventurous list.I think it's really literary as it goes.

Good point Piggy, I didn't mean to imply that CCM wasn't literary, because it obviously is!

Labelling books as literary and non-literary is a highly subjective exercise anyway.

Knew there had to be a reward for reading Dickens 🤪
(Joking! I like Dickens!)

Reading Dickens is enough to drive anybody around the fucking bend imvho.

Maybe that's where I have been going wrong!

I’m one of the people who agreed with ‘books for people who aren’t readers’ and apologise if that offended anyone. I don’t see that description as a bad thing per se- I was thinking primarily of my sister- much more accomplished in education and work than I am, much more of a social butterfly but only reads a handful of books a year. She fills her time with other equally valuable things, and often only hears of the books that are very highly publicised and has read at least 3 on the list doing the rounds here.

I do think that there are books which publishers put huge levels of marketing into and that they want to sell to people who don’t usually read- after all the reading public is only a tiny percentage of the adult market. Often those books are high concept or emotionally manipulative (Shelley Sweringen on BookTube did a video on this recently) and as a pp said there is often a backlash against them later on- but that’s the same with movies, celebs or anything raised high by society in the first place.

I read primarily for entertainment, but also to experience worlds and lives that are different to my own- that’s probably why I read a little bit of everything. I do believe reading is better at creating empathy and understanding than other media- mainly because we can see inside the POV character’s head- but other forms like tv and film do still play an important part in developing those skills.

Just finished Spook Street by Mick Heron - number 4 and my favourite so far. Either he’s warmed properly into his style now, or I’ve just got more used to it. It seemed less convoluted and busy and more purposeful. His characterisation is great and I really enjoyed the plot of this one, in which old decisions come back to make new problems. One thing happened that I really wish hadn’t happened, but I guess that’s Heron’s way of keeping things fresh across the series. Really glad that I persevered with number one.

Oh man if Dickens is the road to salvation for avoiding dementia then I'm sunk. I was put off for life (with the exception of A Christmas Carol) by having to read Hard Times at A level. I have some lovely versions of some Dickens books that my Mam got me that I might give a go at some point.

@MamaNewtNewt Looks like there will be a few of us sinking into Dickensless dementia together, at least.

I was asked the other week why I 'know so much' about everything. Because I read lots of books

I definitely read a lot of "dross" compared to most of you on here. Which is one of the reasons I'm starting to pull back on applying for so many ARCs so I have time to read older books that I've never gotten around to.
I've discovered some fantastic books and authors by becoming a "reviewer" but I've read a lot of nonsense too.

Great posts @cassandre. I've read everything in my time, from Mills and Boon to Proust. I knew exactly what I was getting with M&B and it was the equivalent of a comforting blanket: nothing untoward would happen, I wouldn’t be challenged or threatened by unpleasantness and everything would be OK in the end (what would Barthes make of one, I wonder?!).

Proust - well, it’s hard. Often boring. The sentences are interminable sometimes and I frequently want to throttle dear Marcel with my bare hands (for those of you reading him at the moment: just wait till you get to The Prisoner). But there are passages of great beauty and it can be laugh out loud funny.

Both types of reading are completely fine and I wouldn’t stop anyone reading anything they want, but I know which one will stay with me ultimately as worth my time and commitment.

I have read a smattering of Dickens, and loved some of them, but for some reason can never be arsed to pick up one of the ones I haven't read, probably because I know how much effort is involved.

Bleak House and David Copperfield are both amazing however

Anyone?

Reported!

Also just reported!

I love Dickens too. After all, isn’t all reading good….?

Know your audience, Mr Okewe. We don't give over our hard-earned gold for anything less than a newly discovered Austen.

Ooh. Would this be the gold found at the end of a rainbow 🌈 ✨️

Ha! The offending post has been completely deleted rendering all comments eccentric!!

Aw. Perhaps Mr. O. could have become a 50-Booker. His loss ;)

So do I need to read maybe a Dickens' every couple of years to stave off this dementia?

David Copperfield is one of my favourite ever books and I do have a number of his others downloaded on my Kindle, I just never get round to reading them. This may be the kick up the arse needed!

I was a little concerned about the prior discussion but I am reassured and enlightened by those who have posted further about what they meant by books for non readers. Thank you, all!

I read a bunch of Dickens in my teens when those £1 classics first came out (the 80s equivalent of the Kindle deal 😀) and I hope it has a lifetime protective effect because I am not sure I will ever re read 🙂

Love your posts, @cassandre

On Correlli, my only (deeply unhelpful) recollection is reading it in Vienna - and I no longer remember how or why I was in Vienna - and I was and am deeply geographically confused about the whole thing.

I might need more Dickens.

Also on that Vienna trip, I tried to impress an American boy by ordering lunch in bad school German (had to choose Spinat as it's all I recognized) and I may have had a standing place at the opera because it was cheap and I don't like opera. The rest is an utter mystery.

I have read Dickens, many years ago & did not enjoy him. My DC is the same & gave me this magnet one Christmas!

Could I just mention how grateful I am to @Piggywaspushed for organising the MN Dickens read-alongs! Reading Dickens with other MNers is a lot more fun than reading him on your own.