50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Four

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fourth 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, the second thread here and the third thread here.

OK fair enough. It seemed stilted.

54 . In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

i started this as an audiobook but the voice was so bad I had to give in she was making my head hurt and it sounded like AI fortunately it was free to me and I had the Kindle edition anyway.

This was nominated for the Booker so I think a few people on here will have read it. Interested in people’s thoughts as it was a couple of years ago.

Scientist Leigh is selected for a mission to confirm extraterrestrial life.

This was hard work from beginning to end. I just found it wasted a lot of pages with sheer irrelevance. The stuff about her parents and sister just so much wasted time and when things did start happening, it frequently felt verbose and a little try hard. I’m glad I persevered and finished but this wasn’t for me.

Should have listened to Remus who I think DNFd early doors! It’s similar to many scifi novels in concept in terms of first contact but trying to be more intellectual in execution. I don’t think it succeeds and I was left frustrated

I should say - I really wanted to love Madonna in a Fur Coat! Loved reading something considered a classic that wasn't written in the UK/US. I didn't love White Nights by Fydor Dostoevsky either - for similar reasons. I just wasn't invested in the love story. Clearly a heartless cow 😅

Sorry, I just realised that sounded dismissive of the language . Given Shafak is Turkish I shouldn't have done that.
I still think dialogue is her weakness. It doesn't ring true quite a lot. She uses characters to provide historical lectures. Her descriptive writing is lovely.

I do agree with you, she isn’t great at dialogue and she does tend to over-sentimentality. She chooses to write in English, so she has to abide by those sorts of speaking conventions otherwise it sounds weird. It’s like translating literally vs for understanding and meaning, even though she isn’t translating if you know what I mean.

‘19. Shadowplay - Joseph O’Connor

Shortlisted for the 2019 Costa Novel Award. London 1878: Bram Stoker has newly arrived from Dublin to take up the role of manager at the Lyceum theatre under the ownership of actor-manager Henry Irving. As he walks the city at night in the shadow of the Ripper a new great novel takes shape in his head inspired by the darkness of London around him. Henry Irving meanwhile thinks Stoker’s first duty is to the theatre, not to his literary career. And both men are becoming increasingly captivated by the beauty of the age, actress Ellen Terry.

This was a really atmospheric read, capturing the sense of place of Victorian London and the theatre. The book is scattered with hints of Dracula in the people and events that Stoker encounters. The casual racism of Irving (portrayed as a difficult character) towards Stoker is of its time but slightly jarring.

The only issue I have is in a book based on a true story, and peopled with well-known characters therefore well-researched, is in the minor character of Joseph Harker. He was a real life theatrical designer and scenic artist but why the author saw fit to alter his entire biography, and even his gender making him a woman in disguise, is baffling. It didn’t advance the plot and for such an invented backstory the character was woefully underused. Apart from that, a very good read.

‘20. 1,001 Ridiculous Ways to Die - David Southwell & Matt Adams.

Horrible Histories’ Stupid Deaths in book form. Some ridiculous, many just unlucky or tragic. Passed the time, nothing special.

Could It Be Magic? by Melanie Rose

Light hearted chicklit about a woman who is struck by lightning and wakes up in someone else’s body. She then discovers that every time she goes to sleep she moves between her own body and this other woman’s body. I enjoyed this - not great literature and none of the science would stand up to scrutiny but it’s good fun.

The New Neighbours by Claire Douglas

Lena gets suspicious when she hears her new neighbours having a conversation that indicates they might be up to something dodgy. This was fine - a quick read that zipped along but left too many loose ends and the ending (as with many of this sort of book) was a bit far fetched. I also got fed up about hearing about her clothes sticking to her - I get it, it’s hot, try and think of some other ways to show that.

The Seven O’Clock Club - Amelia Ireland

A group of very different people are brought together in a therapy group to help get over their grief. I enjoyed this but I can see it being a very marmite book - can’t say too much more without giving away the plot.

I’ve had Shadowplay on my Kindle for a little while (I think), might bump it up @RomanMum .

The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett
The first half was a bit of a slog, but I think because I was absorbed in the Christie bio. Book club didn’t love it, but convinced me I ought to finish, so I’ve read the other 50% in a rather shabby grand hotel which felt fitting today and really enjoyed it. New money Americans Racksole and his daughter create drama at The Grand Babylon by ordering steak and beer - the whole episode results in Racksole buying the London hotel. Many capers and escapades infold, book club enjoyed discussing why on earth the plot went to Ostend.

@Piggywaspushed

Though I never used Aunt or Uncle with my mum's sisters, their husbands/ partners, or with my dad's brother and his wife, and I also always called my various step parents and sometimes my own parents by their first names, I wouldn't think Auntie or Uncle is that odd. If she was 7 when she came into their care, she's probably not going to call them mum or dad, so even in English and as a native speaker Auntie and Uncle makes sense to me....

And people from lots of other cultures use auntie/uncle more as an honorific for adults, and it kind of makes sense, perhaps more so than first names or Mrs X or whatever, even when using English. My kids' childminders were a Somali family, mostly a woman and her daughters and an adult niece who lived with them. When my boys started there the other family being looked after were from a mixed African and Caribbean background and everyone called R (the mum) auntie - I think they probably used uncle for her husband and knew the girls/younger women (who were in their late teens at the start and then moved into the family business after education) by their first names.

Is Joseph o’ Connor the writer who wrote that terribly boring vicar thing that nearly killed me?

In Ascension promised so much and got worse and worse. I think I managed about a third of it and was very relieved to give up on it.

Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry
This was okay. I liked the magician. Raven is boring me now though. And somebody didn’t die who I hoped would do. And somebody did die who I hoped wouldn’t.

23 Just Another Missing Person - Gillian McAllister Detective story with a twist or three (possibly too many, actually). Julia is a DCI who lands a missing person case, and who turns out to have a dark secret which ends up interfering with her ability to do her job properly, not to mention her integrity. This started well, and I liked Julia’s character and was intrigued by the mystery. Then the twist in the middle made it a bit less interesting - there was too much exposition which got a bit boring, though it did (mostly) pick up again towards the end. Overall I enjoyed it, but not as good as Wrong Place, Wrong Time.

16.You Are Here by David Nicholls. Marnie is a London-based copy editor, Michael a teacher in York. Marnie is urban, garrulous and witty; Michael serious, outdoorsy and more than a little geeky. Both are damaged by their divorces, and struggling to negotiate dating again in their late thirties and forties.

They are both invited on a walking trip in the Lakes by their mutual friend Cleo, who intends to set them up with her friends Conrad and Tessa respectively. Things don't quite go according to plan, and Michael and Marnie are left finishing the walk together without the rest of the group.

This was quiet, warm and gently funny. The landscape of the Lakes and beyond are beautifully realised. Like the walking trip, the destination is pretty predictable but the ups and downs of the journey getting there are no less enjoyable for that. Plus I'm always likely to go for a novel extolling the virtues of a sensible and slightly nerdy Northern man.

Please may I join? I intended to last year, but by the year's end things were busy- as they frequently are in December- so I never got round to typing up my list. I have followed and enjoyed reading other people's lists, for the last couple of years.

1. The Mirror and the Light-Hilary Mantel
2. Gabriel’s Moon- William Boyd

3. Crooked Heart- Lissa Evans
   

4. The Hand that First Held Mine- Maggie O’ Farrell

5. The Big Sky-Kate Atkinson
   

6.  Sovereign -CJ Sansom
   

7.  <strong>Thomas Cromwell: A Life- Diarmuid MacCullough</strong>
   

8.  The Wrong Sister- Claire Douglas (Book Club- not recommended!)
   

9.   <strong>Ultra Processed People- Chris Van Tulleken</strong>
   

10. Revelation- CJ Sansom
11. Heartstone- CJ Sansom
12. In A Good Light- Clare Chambers
13. Crossing Places -Elly Griffiths
14. Doppleganger- Naomi Klein
15. The Janus Stone- Elly Griffiths
16. The Paris Library Janet Skeslein Charles (Book Club)
17. There Are Rivers in the Sky- Elif Shafak
18. A Room Full of Bones- Elly Griffiths
19. The Chalk Pit - Elly Griffiths
20. Over -Margaret Forster
21. Hot Milk- Deborah Levy
22. The Dark Angel- Elly Griffiths
23. The Lantern Men- Elly Griffiths
24. The Night Hawks - Elly Griffiths
25. The Locked Room- Elly Griffiths
26. The Last Remains - Elly Griffiths
27. Beyond Black -Hilary Mantel
28. The Good Soldier- Ford Madox Ford
29. A Dry Spell- Clare Chambers

Some of my reading choices are down to serendipitious browsing in the local Red Cross shop and the local library shelves. I had a flurry of Elly Griffiths reading because of a recommendation on here. I had a virus that made me tired but wakeful, so read them all very quickly. I've highlighted books that I enjoyed but that also had more lasting interest.

Apologies for the strange formatting of my post. I was struggling to unblock the adblocker so I could post, and the pop-up prevented me from seeing what I was posting or editing it. It looked perfectly ok before the Mumsnet pop-up popped up.I don't seem to be able to delete it, so I can start again. Sorry!

It happens us all at times @Halfhardy Welcome to the thread!

I’ve finished a couple more but am almost done with another so will post reviews of all 3 when it’s finished.

59 A Spark of Light - Jodi Picoult (P)

Picked this up from the free shelf at the station. It is 5pm and a shooter is holding up an abortion clinic in Mississippi. The stories of the shooter, the women (and one male doctor) inside and the hostage negotiator outside are tracked back throughout the day to 8am. The stories interweave and the book finishes with an epilogue at 6pm.

It was a good premise but a very confusing device, given there were quite a number of stories being told backwards. So it was hard to keep track. An interesting read but not one of her best.

Don’t worry about it @Halfhardy welcome to the thread!

I can't remember the last list I posted, so I'll go from the beginning haha.

1. The Forgotten Tower, Lulu Taylor
2. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
3. All the Colors of the Dark Chris Whittaker
4. Pretty Girls, Karin Slaughter
5. Strange Sally Diamond, Liz Nugent
6. Fairy Tale, Stephen King
7. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore
8. The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny
9. Black Woods, Blue Sky, Eowyn Ivey

10. The Little Liar Mitch Ablom 11. The List of Suspicious Things, Jennie Godfrey 12. Onyx Storm, Rebecca Yarros 13. The Hunter, Tana French 14. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte 15. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 16. The Burning, Jane Casey 17. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane 18. The Frozen People, Elly Griffiths 19. Slow Horses, Mick Hereon 20. The Missing Ones, Patricia Gibney 21. The Reckoning, Jane Casey 22. Learning to Swim, Clare Chambers 23. Coming to Find You, Jane Corry 24. Piranesi Susanna Clarke

Very late to the party with the last one, and as soon as I picked it up I thought it was going to be stupid, but it was touching and magical and I really liked it.

The Whalebone Theatre - Joanna Quinn.
As usual a little late in getting round to this one as it's been out a few years but definitely my book of the year so far!

I've lost track of who said what, but I've found that some translated books, or books written by people with ESOL often have odd sounding speech patterns. And regarding the Auntie thing, my DS2had a friend at primary school who used to call me Auntie, I'm not sure where his mum was from, Nepal possibly. I saw him recently and he said "hello Auntie" he's 18 now, was so lovely.

@ChessieFL I agree about The Seven O'clock Club being a marmite book. It was a bold for me, but only just. Maybe a 4.5 rather than a 5 if I used half stars. Sometimes I finish a book and mark it as a bold. Then a few weeks later think maybe it wasn't.

I often change my mind about the score of a book after pondering it for a bit!

I think Aunt/auntie is very common in sub-continent as well. I call all my mum's relatives auntie. I thought Island Of Missing Trees was very clunky in exposition - she wears her research so heavily - but for me There Are Rivers in The Sky was a massive improvement, and I felt far more drawn in to the story. I listened to it though which may have helped.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I did finish In Ascension but found it incredibly frustrating. Nothing was ever explained. I also found it ridiculous that they would suddenly decide a marine biologist should become an astronaut. I think I said in my review that we needed Cote to read it and take it down!

38. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood. This is narrated by Elaine, a painter who is going back to her home town for a retrospective of her work. This brings back memories of her childhood and her relationship with Cordelia who bullied her. I quite liked this although it's quite slow moving. The descriptions of life growing up in the 40s and 50s were interesting, Elaine's unconventional childhood and her father - who's views on climate change were way ahead of his time considering this was published in the 80s - but it did fizzle out a bit at the end.

39. Confessions - Catherine Airey. This starts on September 11 with Cora, a 16 year old school girl who's skipping school and experimenting with drugs and an unsuitable boyfriend. Her father is killed in the World Trade Centre leaving her an orphan, who's only living relative is an Irish aunt that she's never heard of. The story then moves back and forth mainly in Ireland following Cora's aunt, mother and daughter. I really liked this and read it in a day - the ending is a little too convenient but on the whole a good read.

Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee

Most of this book was exactly what I expected - a rural, poor childhood. However I did not expect the event that happens at the end of the book - I was a bit prepared by the warnings upthread of problematic content but even so it did not paint the author in a good light. It’s a shame because there is some lovely nature writing but it’s not a book I will be revisiting.

@ChessieFL I’ve never read Cider with Rosie and the talk on here definitely puts me off the idea!

@Stowickthevast I agree with your review of Confessions and think that the convenient tying up and dovetailing of all loose ends is a debut writer issue- plotted too carefully perhaps.

I have finally finished the Women’s Prize longlist and another read.

50 Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell
Much reviewed here. I did enjoy this (though enjoy isn’t quite the right word) but not quite as much as I expected it to. I would have preferred no romance and I couldn’t understand why she didn’t just go to her mother’s in England via Belfast where you don’t need a passport because it’s a domestic flight. Im not sure if I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t heard all the hype first. At any rate, I think it probably should have been on the shortlist above other choices but not a winner for me.

51 James by Percival Everitt
Again, much reviewed- the story of Huckleberry Finn and beyond from Jim’s POV. In this version he is James and an articulate intelligent man who puts on the language of slavery when with white people. This was very well written and the premise is fabulous but I hated Huckleberry Finn and so didn’t love this. I’m just not a fan of an adventurous journey.

52 Tell me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
I have loved the Olive Kitteridge books, think Lucy Barton started well and slipped and didn’t really like The Burgess Boys so you can imagine my surprise that in this converging of Strout’s worlds, that the Burgess brothers are my favourites. I really enjoyed this though it took a bit to get going. However, I don’t think it deserves its place on the shortlist because I can’t imagine it is half as satisfying for people who haven’t read all the previous books.
I’ve had far too many holds at the library come through at once and I’m now reading about 7 books at once. Need to try to finish some before I go on holiday next Saturday!

I've never read Cider With Rosie but I remember the English teachers at my all girls school school raving about it. That's possibly why I've never read it!