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.

I sneakily like reading things about the UK written for an American audience, so I would put Killing Thatcher on my Wanted Books list, except last time I decided to do that I found it was on my list twice already. I really should buy it...

For 99p, you really should 😀

I like footnotes as hyperlinks, so often they aren't and it's a pain to go and find them on the kindle. Mind you, my kindle doesn't have colour so they aren't blue. Maybe that would be annoying.

Also Happy birthday @ChessieFL

Happy Birthday @ChessieFL. What a lovely haul.

It's confusing though because nothing suggest it was written with a US readership in mind, per se - and its publication history is UK based, the acknowledgements are for people in Ireland and the UK. It's just like a US edition of a British book.

The giveaway was describing Dumbarton as 'a pleasant town' and , yes , am channelling Blackadder Goes Forth.

76 A Killing in November - Simon Mason

The first DI Ryan Wilkins book, set in Oxford.

There’s been a murder (Lewis) at a fictional Oxford college St Barnabas, and white, working class, new to the area after a disciplinary in Salisbury, DI Ryan Wilkins is mistakenly assigned to it, rather than his black, well dressed, Oxford alum colleague, DI Ray Wilkins. It shakes out that they work the case together, with ensuing friction of viewpoints.

Mix in a visiting sheik, an ancient copy of the Koran and a lot of snobbery, and you get an interesting read. I’ll probably read the next one at some point, but not rushing out to get it now.

Happy Birthday @ChessieFL that’s quite the haul!

Happy birthday ChessieFL

32. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
    This is my second read (well listen as this was on Audible) - I first read this back in 2005 when it first came out and I remember sitting with it one weekend and barely able to put it down.
    It was one of the books responsible for getting me back into reading as an adult.
    I know I previously put it up there as one of my top reads, but I think I have matured a bit in my reading tastes and I think I am a bit influenced by Dan Brown's later Robert Langdon books which are decidedly formulaic and average, but I enjoyed it as a reread.

33. Confessions by Catherine Airey
    This was a bookclub choice, but it did appeal - I love a multigenerational/family secrets type story. I was recently disappointed by The Bee Sting, but my hopes were high.
    It starts with the teenager Cora on the morning of 9/11 in New York, her father has gone to work in the World Trade Centre and she ditches school to hang out with her boyfriend. When her father doesn't come home, she knows he is lost with the thousands of others who died in the towers that day and she is alone in the world (her mother died several years before). The narrative then jumps to Maire, Cora's late mother, having just arrived in New York from rural Ireland in the 1970s. This part was written in the second person which always irritates me, but I got past it. It then jumps again to Maire's sister Roisin back in Ireland.
    I found the jumping timelines a bit confusing, there was a lot going on and some of it felt a bit rushed, eg Michael's letters, just read like a summary to get everything explained. I had no idea what the video game sections were all about but I was invested in what happened to the people.
    Certainly one of the more interesting books I've read this year so far.

I'm now ploughing my way through Middlemarch on Audible which is a bit of a slog in places, but I've invested too much time to give up on it now. I have also just downloaded the first Maeve Kerrigan The Burning based on reviews on here for bedtime reading.

29 The Sweet Dove Died - Barbara Pym My first Pym (inspired by all the love on this thread), and I think I picked the wrong one! This one turned out to be one of her last novels and, based on Goodreads, it seems that its style and subject matter is a departure from her earlier books. A middle-aged but still attractive woman meets an older antiques dealer and his 24-year-old nephew at a sale room, and ends up falling in love with the young James. It doesn’t work out. That’s pretty much the whole story. All the characters are unpleasant and shallow, and I just didn’t really see the point. It was a blessing that it was such short book!

I’ve got two more Pyms waiting to be read (although I won’t get to them until probably next year as I read Kindle acquisitions in order from first-bought onwards - this one was from the library so went to the top of the list). I think they’re both early ones, so hopefully they’ll have some of the cosiness I was expecting!

Pym is my favourite author, @DuPainDuVinDuFromage , but The Sweet Dove does nothing for me. Some Tame Gazelle for the win!

@DuPainDuVinDuFromage I committed thread blasphemy a couple of years ago by declaring I don’t like the whole vibe of Pym, she may not be for you

68 Conclave by Robert Harris
Just catching up with everyone else on the thread who finished this a week ago. Wish I’d finished it in time for the announcement of the new pope. Fun, fast-paced page turner. Really enjoyed it.

Many happy returns @ChessieFL - enjoy your book stash!
And welcome @oviraptor21 - looking forward to reading your reviews.

19.Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens. George Sand and Frédéric Chopin winter in Valldemossa, Mallorca, in the hope that a change of climate will improve his chronic illness. Their struggles to adapt to their new environment are observed by Blanca, the ghost of a 14 year old girl who has haunted the monastery where Sand and Chopin are staying for the past three centuries.
Blanca becomes infatuated with George, and this inspires reflection on her own past life and loves.

Thank you to @EineReiseDurchDieZeit for the recommendation . I thoroughly enjoyed this. The voice of Blanca as a hormonal and headstrong teenager is very clear, albeit sometimes a little too anachronistic. The concept was perhaps a bit sketchy - why no other ghosts? - but the writing is lovely. It was a joy to read something so largely focused on a variety of sensual pleasures - food, sex, and music. I went to the monastery at Valldemossa last year (and had a much more enjoyable time than Sands ) and it's always wonderful to be brought back to happy times and places. I must read Sand's Winter in Mallorca soon as well.

Great, I’m so pleased @StrangewaysHereWeCome

My latest reads

The Woman In Coach D - Sarah A Denzil

Disappointing psychological thriller. A woman is surprised when she sees her childhood best friend on the train - because her friend died when they were teenagers. This brings back memories that may help her work out what really happened. I wasn’t really expecting much from this but it took a bizarre turn towards the end. Not recommended.

The Death Of Us by Abigail Dean

Another disappointment. A couple looks back at the impact on their lives of their house being broken into and the woman assaulted. This was ok but I expected more - I kept waiting for a twist that never came.

The Monk and The Teacher by Tim Sullivan

Books 5 and 6 in the series set in Bristol featuring detective George Cross. Firstly he investigates the murder of a monk and then a retired headmaster. In the later book George also has to deal with a new colleague who doesn’t like the way George (who is on the spectrum) works. I’ve really enjoyed this series and am disappointed I’ve run out of them now!

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

Ive really enjoyed other books by Joyce, especially Miss Benson’s Beetle. This was fine but not as good as I was hoping for. Four children in their thirties are shocked when their artist father marries a woman 50 years younger than him then promptly dies. I did like the setting for most of it (an Italian villa) but the story was less interesting than I hoped.

Gatsby by Jane Crowther

A modern, gender flipped retelling of The Great Gatsby - all the men in the original are now women and vice versa. Here Jay Gatsby is an influencer and Nic Carraway is trying to make it as a journalist. I’m a big fan of the original and really enjoyed this retelling.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

After the retelling I felt the urge to revisit the original! Brilliant.

Jump! by Jilly Cooper

Continuing my reread of the Rutshire Chronicles. This is much better than Wicked! A group of villagers start a syndicate to own a rescued racehorse, Mrs Wilkinson. Inevitably Rupert Campbell-Black turns up to get involved with training the horse. All the usual shenanigans you expect from Jilly.

I stepped away from the thread for a few days and came back to nearly 100 unread messages. That’ll teach me…

Happy birthday Chessie, great haul!

My latest reviews - an eclectic bunch.

‘24. Into the Uncanny - Danny Robins

If you’ve listened to the Uncanny podcast or seen the television series the format of this book should be familiar: new case studies of paranormal encounters ranging from ghosts to UFO sightings. The fact that the witnesses are so ordinary lends an air of realism to proceedings. The author’s voice is very evident - I can see this working as an audiobook - and he remains very much uncommitted to any belief despite the sometimes bizarre episodes that are being related. I like the fact that there were no conclusions to the case studies.

‘25. The Body Beneath the Willows - Nick Louth

In the midst of the Pandemic, on a tree-lined bank of the River Wey a body is dug up during construction works. The dentistry shows the body to be modern, but why is there part of an Anglo Saxon sword lodged in his neck?

This is the 9th in the DCI Craig Gillard crime novels, a police procedural with twists aplenty. The pandemic setting made it a bit different to the norm, and despite a couple of glaring errors which should have been picked up at proof reading (such as getting the name of the university wrong) it was a fast paced fun read. My first foray into this particular series, and for a modern crime fix I may seek out more.

‘26. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged that most of us here have read this, so no review necessary. A reread, not read I think since GCSEs, and this was tackled for the ‘Read the oldest book you’ve owned’ challenge.

Next up, Almandby, is Saltblood as the hardback, and I’ll have a rummage through the TBR for a handbag paperback.

Thanks @bibliomania and @EineReiseDurchDieZeit ! I’ll let you know which side of the fence I come down on when I eventually get to the other Barbara Pyms I’ve bought 😄

33 Life after Life - Kate Atkinson.
Ok so I know I'm so late to this it's unbelievable but I really enjoyed this book. I can understand why some people would ditch it after a few "lifes" but I'm so pleased I preserved with it.

I agree @bibliomania , and would also recommend Excellent Women.

22. The Burning by Jane Casey The first Maeve Kerrigan book. She is a detective constable investigating a serial killer in London.

Thought I'd jump on the Maeve Kerrigan train after hearing praise on here. I really enjoyed it. The author did seem a bit obsessed with Maeve being cold and describing the colour of everything but I definitely want to read more. My copy had a new bonus chapter introducing Josh Derwent.

Happy birthday @ChessieFL ! Enjoy your haul. Cannery Row is a wonderful book.

Ordinary Time - Cathy Rentzenbrink

Vicar’s wife realizes she doesn’t like Vicar or God very much and struggles to answer the questions her young son asks. Quite enjoyable in parts, there were some funny bits about the loyal parishioners but I did feel a sense of frustration at why on earth she was putting up with it all. I will try another by the same author.

Kitchen Confidential- Anthony Bourdain’s
famous account of testosterone driven, drug and alcohol fuelled life in New York restaurant kitchens. Started off well with his account of how he discovered a love for food as a child and his first experiences in New England kitchens during university vacations but after a while I got bored with the constant stories of tattooed knife wielding drug fiends and ended up skimming through.
Perked up a bit with the final chapter where he goes to Japan and falls in love all over again with food.

77 The Small Hand - Susan Hill

From the backlog (bought in 2012). A novella about a dealer in antiquarian books who happens on a derelict house and garden after visiting a client and feels a ghostly child’s hand slip into his. He feels half driven to madness as the hand stays with him, becoming more sinister and dragging him towards water.

Pretty good.

Deal alert: all 11 of the NIcola Upson/Josephine Tey books are discounted today. I picked up the 3 I was missing!

ON this week - for London-adjacent 50 Bookers - https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/fleet-street-quarters-festival-of-words-4116793?just_published=true