50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Five

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the fifth 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 or / and maybe authors as well of books you've read or going to read? It makes it much easier to keep track. Some of us like to bring over lists to the next thread- again, this is up to you.

The first thread of the year is here, the second thread here , the third thread here and the fourth thread here.

49. The Burning - Jane Casey. The first Maeve Kerrigan book to see what you lot are all raving about. It was quite good but I don't think I'm addicted yet. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood. I did read it in a couple of days such is a good sign.

50. The Mountain In The Sea - Ray Nayler. A SF book that I bought for DH at Mr Bs last year but he hasn't got round to reading, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's actually more philosophical than SF really as it is set on a near future Earth and deals with the nature of consciousness. The main story revolves around a marine biologist Nguyen Ha who is returning to her native Vietnam to study some octopi that have been exhibiting odd behaviour. Living on the island she goes to, is the world's most advanced Ai robot and a war veteran tasked with protecting them. Side stories take in a hacker and a slave on an Ai run fishing ship. I really liked the main story and the bits about the octopuses but got a bit bogged down in the other bits that I don't think quite come together. Worth a read though, especially if you're interested in the idea that other creatures could be consciousness - Nigel's what it's like to be a bat arguement.

@Stowickthevast I too thought that The Burning was just “good” and the series “worth pursuing” and THEN….

What Eine said - definitely stick with the Maeve series!

@StowickthevastI thought the same a week or so ago when I read The Burning. I’m currently powering through the 7th book after casting aside all other books.

27 Three Sisters, Three Queens - Philippa Gregory You know what you’re getting with Philippa Gregory, and this was that (although at the less good end of the scale). It’s the story of Margaret Tudor, older sister of Henry VIII, and to some extent her relationships with her sister Mary and her sister-in-law Katherine of Aragon. I knew nothing about Margaret before this book, and it sent me down lots of Wikipedia rabbit holes as she had a fascinating life - married to the king of Scotland at 13, then married twice more for love following King James’ death at Flodden; queen regent for her son; and eventually the grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots.

Unfortunately the book is not very exciting - it could have done with a lot more in-depth characterisation and detail (I found myself thinking what a fantastic book Hilary Mantel could have written about Margaret…). Margaret is portrayed as a self-centred, petty, hypocritical bitch from childhood to adulthood (albeit it slightly improves towards the end), making it hard to like her or care about the outcome of her story. Overall, one of those cases where the true story is more interesting than the fictional re-telling! It has led me to find several biographies of Margaret for my wishlist, so I’m looking forward to getting round to at least one of those eventually!

Do I want to try these?

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie You absolutely do 😊

I’ve been put off by the synopsis of The Burning - it sounds like there is some deeply unpleasant violence against women. How nasty is it?

75 The Second Sleep - Robert Harris

Decided to read this next as there was an allusion to it in the footnotes to the Brexit book - Matt Hancock inspiring the author by saying that the average house used to have sufficient food for 8 days, and now it was two.

Anyway. This is hard to review without spoilers, as the twist comes early. So look away now if you want!

The year is 1468 and a young clergyman, Fairfax, has been sent by Bishop Pole of Exeter to a remote Wessex parish to bury Father Lacey, mysteriously killed in a fall. Bad weather, truculent villagers, stubborn mule. So far, so mediaeval.

Before long, however, anachronisms abound and we see Fairfax looking at a heretical collection of artefacts owned by Lacey, such as a plastic doll…

As the book goes on, we learn that something terrible befell the human race in 2025. It’s hundreds of years on but numbering restarted at the year 666 and the Church is in the ascendant, viewing the study of history as a crime. Fairfax is drawn into the search for what happened, despite the heresy this implies.

This was good, but not great, and I found the ending unsatisfactory (Googling reviews afterwards, I’m not the only one).

YES!! And you have 12 of them!

@DuPainDuVinDuFromage I don’t remember The Burning being hugely violent at all and I once ditched a Karin Slaughter because the violence in the opening chapters appalled me.

Your mileage may vary from mine though so it’s not a total endorsement

@MamaNewtNewt Weren’t you the poster that was reading the Dept Q books? There’s a Netflix series coming out but they seem to have set it in Scotland but when I looked the books up it’s Copenhagen?!

Thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit , that’s helpful. Karin Slaughter is definitely too grim for me, but it sounds like Jane Casey might be ok!

28 The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (tr. Robin Buss) Finished this a week ahead of the readalong timetable (it was hard to hold off that long!), and will put more detailed thoughts on that thread once everyone has finished. I thought this was a great story and really fun to read, apart from a few sections that were a bit boring or confusing and some outdated attitudes (especially regarding honour and what you should do to protect it). The translation was excellent - it was done in a way which made the characters seem contemporary and realistic, and seems to have been much-needed (in the 80s / 90s I think?) at a time when the existing translations were really archaic and often abridged the story. A bold!

Jane Casey is definitely worth sticking with not least as Josh doesn't show up until book 2 or 3... I have to be honest I do find them a bit gory at times and and skip over some descriptive bits. However, because it's all from Maeve's perspective, you never see anyone actually being hurt in the moment if that makes sense, and Maeve often talks about how upsetting she finds seeing the bodies, so I think it's handled fairly sensitively.

There you all are! I'd missed the new thread starting (thanks @Southeastdweller!) due to being immersed in a Very Long Book, and will look back over all the posts shortly. Firstly, for my own housekeeping, my list:
1.Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finklestein
2.Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner
3.The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
4.A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
5.Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
6.Butter by Asako Yuzuki
7.The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
8.Middlemarch by George Eliot.
9.Wellness by Nathan Hill
10.My Friends by Hisham Mater.
11.Rizzio by Denise Minna
12. Staring at the Sun by Julian Barnes
13.Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell
14.Appassionata by Jilly Cooper
15.Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
16.You Are Here by David Nicholls
17.The Trees by Percival Everett

and I've just finished 18.A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. An account of the French Revolution, focusing on the personal and political lives of Desmoulins, Danton, and Robespierre. We follow them from their childhoods into professional life as lawyers and ultimately as ill-fated revolutionary leaders.

This was, I'll be honest, quite hard work to start with. The cast of characters is huge, and some of the minor figures blended into each other at times in my head. I needed to concentrate quite hard and it really wasn't suited to sleepy bedtime reading. However, the shifting tenses and incredible realisation of the most minute and intimate historical detail ultimately became quite immersive. Although none of the main characters could straightforwardly be described as sympathetic, Mantel humanises them to a degree that I now miss their company!

Please can somebody remind me about Casey when I’ve finished the Chris Whitaker? I was also put off by the blurb of The Burning.

The Second Sleep sounds interesting. I’m, no doubt unfairly, put off by the author being Robert Harris. In my mind he is very male and dry. I need to give him a go, don’t I? (I know you lot will say yes ).

Yeah I read those recently, I can’t believe they have changed the location from Denmark

Finally finished All The Colours Of The Dark and never has a book lost itself so completely after a promising start. All the loose ends are satisfactorily, if improbably, tied up - but by then I was just thinking ‘make it stop, oh please God make it stop’.

It's sooooooo loooooooongggg.

I’m half way through and surprising myself by really liking it so far.

DNF - Confessions of a GP by Benjamin Daniels

One of the first Kindle books I bought. It’s just a series of 2 page vignettes about unusual patients- the 15 year old wanting the Pill, a man too obese to sit on a sofa etc - and it’s not nourishing or reflective. There are better things on my TBR.

All the Colours of the Dark
Well, I’ve stayed awake for hours and have finished it.

And…

I bloody loved it. Was it too long? Yes

Did I care? Weirdly, I really didn’t. It reminded me of both Lolita and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow in its style. I can’t remember the last time I was so wrapped up in a story. Even when it was a bit meandering and even when it got a bit silly near the end, I was still totally invested. #TeamPirate

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I might bump it up my list then ! Don’t forget Jane Casey next, you asked to be reminded

Thank you to southeast for the new thread!

Copied over my previous list although the numbering will no doubt go to pot:

1. Sofi Laporte - Lucy and the Duke of Secrets
2. Emma Orchard - What the Lady Wants
3. Darcy McGuire - The Secret Life of a Lady
4. Darcy McGuire - A Lady's Lesson in Scandal
5. Lynn Morrison & Anne Radcliffe - The Missing Diamond
6. Lynn Morrison & Anne Radcliffe - The Ruby Dagger
7. Lynn Morrison & Anne Radcliffe - The Sapphire Intrigue
8. Lynn Morrison & Anne Radcliffe - The Emerald Threads
9. Darcy Burke - A Whisper of Death

10. Darcy Burke - A Whisper at Midnight 11. Emma Orchard - For the Viscount's Eyes Only 12. Jodi Taylor - Lights! Camera! Mayhem! 13. Agatha Christie - Five Little Pigs (audiobook) 14. Andreina Cordani - Murder at the Christmas Emporium 15. Rhys Bowen - We Three Queens 16. Lesley Cookman - Murder in the Green 17. Lesley Cookman - Murder to Music 18. Enid Blyton - Five Go Down to the Sea 19. Agatha Christie - Three Act Tragedy (audiobook) 20. Jess Armstrong - The Curse of Penryth Hall 21. Jess Armstrong - The Secret of the Three Fates 22. Mel Mcgrath - The Guilty Party 23. Neal Shusterman - All Better Now 24. Sarah Dunnakey - The Twelve Murders of Christmas 25. Wendy Cross - Then There Was One 26. Julia Golding - The Persephone Code 27. Jodi Taylor - The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal 28. Michelle Kenney - The Mismatch of the Season 29. Jo Jakeman - One Bad Apple 30. Katy Watson - Seven Lively Suspects 31. Ann Russell - How to Save Money 32. Enid Blyton - Five go to Mystery Moor 33. Danielle Valentine - Two Sides to Every Murder 34. Nick Louth - The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle 35. Nick Louth - The Last Ride 36. AK Benedict - Little Red Death 37. Melinda Salisbury - The Foundation 38. RO Thorp - Death on Ice 39. Anthony Horowitz - Close to Death 40. Ben Carpenter - Fat Loss Habits 41. Rory Cellan-Jones - Sophie from Romania 42. Jonathan Stroud - The Legendary Scarlett & Browne 43. JM Hall - A Brush with Death 44. Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London 45. Sophie Irwin - A Lady's Guide to Scandal 46. Laura Woods - The Agency for Scandal 47. Laura Woods - A Season for Scandal 48. Laura Woods - A Game of Scandal 49. Karen M McManus - Such Charming Liars 50. Agatha Christie - Dead Man's Folly (audiobook) 51. Agatha Christie - The Thirteen Problems (audiobook) 52. Agatha Christie - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (audiobook) 53. Agatha Christie - The Labours of Hercules (audiobook) 54. Julia Golding - The Elgin Conspiracy

New books read since last time:

55. Jonathan Stroud - The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne
56. Jonathan Stroud - The Notorious Scarlett & Browne
57. Deanna Raybourn - A Grave Robbery
58. Kat Armstrong - A Pair of Sharp Eyes
59. Louise Wener - Just for One Day
60. JM Hall - A Clock Stopped Dead (audiobook)
61. Julie Wassmer - Strictly Murder
62. Ande Pliego - You are Fatally Invited
63. Rev Richard Coles, Cat Jarman & Charles Spencer - The Rabbit Hole Book
64. Sophie Irwin - A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting
65. Lesley Cookman - Murder on the Run
66. Emily Organ - The Whitechapel Widow
67. Enid Blyton - Five Have Plenty of Fun
68. Enid Blyton - Five on a Secret Trail
69. Helen Dixon - Murder on the Cornish Coast
70. Jonathan Stroud - The Legendary Scarlett & Browne
71. Julia Chapman - Date with Evil
72. Stephanie Wrobel - The Hitchcock Hotel
73. Darcy McGuire - The Confessions of a Lady
74. Emma Orchard - A Gentleman's Offer
75. Sally Rigby - The Lost Girls of Penzance
76. Sally Rigby - The Hidden Graves of St Ives
77. Sally Rigby - Murder at Land's End
78. Sally Rigby - The Camborne Killings
79. Sally Rigby - Death at Porthcurno Cove
80. Ciara Attwell - My Fussy Eater

Favourite book so far is the conclusion of the Scarlett & Browne trilogy by Jonathan Stroud - I don't love these quite as much as I love the Lockwood & Co books, but they are really good - YA fiction set in a dystopian UK some time in the future, following Scarlett the bank robber and her erstwhile accomplice Albert, who's also hiding secrets of his own

I have some very old books @PermanentTemporary @elkiedee and @BestIsWest, inherited from my grandparents - fairly sure some of them are from the 1800s, they live in a plastic box in the loft to keep them safe! DGM used to read some of the Victorian nursery rhymes to me and my siblings, we loved them as they were so gruesome

@WelshBookWitch We Solve Murders was a DNF for me, quite grumpily I might add as I'd waited for ages to get a library copy, but I just couldn't wade through it - it wasn't even fun like the Thursday Murder Club books.

I used to love the Kate Mosse books @InTheCludgie but I tried one again recently and couldn't make head nor tail of it! It could be that my brain has melted since having the DTs more than likely as it's been bloody hard work or maybe I just had more time to devote to reading pre-DC?

I watched Conclave on Prime Video too @FuzzyCaoraDhubh but had completely forgotten the twist (see post above about my brain being absent these days!) - really enjoyed it though and Ralph Fiennes being endlessly patient, I do wonder if it's genuinely like that in a conclave.

Just to reply to @Tarragon123 from the last thread... I still haven't finished Square of Sevens, went back to it on Kindle thinking I'd plough through the last 20% or so - my reasoning was that I couldn't have much left, I read it for hours - only to find that I'd only read 47%!!

Currently making the most of a Kindle Unlimited deal, there's quite a lot on there that I'd like to read if it's a cheap deal (not for the usual almost £10 per month!) - our library reservation fees have gone up again, it's now 99p per book. It's now usually cheaper for me just to buy books on Kindle as the car park charges and bus fares have gone up too! The local council's loss will be Jeff Bezos' gain, unfortunately...