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.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit don't let me put you off, I did enjoy the book a lot! But I felt like the ending was enough for me and don't feel a need to continue following the story. I might end up changing my mind in a few months.

When I first started it I thought I would struggle to get into it but I actually found it hard to put down. There's something very compelling about the story

21 Are We Having Fun Yet? by Lucy Mangan. This seems to be a popular genre at the moment - busy mum trying to juggle job / kids / house / marriage - not surprising really, as there are so many of us in that boat! This one is above average because it's really funny.

22 The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett. I've read most of Patchett's more recent books; this is one of her earlier ones, published in 1998. Sabine has known Parsifal for over 20 years, as a close friend, his assistant (she is the magician's assistant of the title) and eventually as his wife. He always told her that his parents were dead, so it is a complete surprise for her to find out, after his death, that his mother and two sisters are alive and living in Nebraska. What was the reason for the lack of contact, and does she want to build a relationship with them now? I love Patchett's writing style and I enjoyed this a lot.

@sheilafentiman – only 15 on the Kindle, but many actual books that I am not successful in getting through lol.

@almanby – my sympathies. I have been having eye trouble for a year now. That’s when I really started enjoying Audible.

57 Sunrise by the Sea – Jenny Colgan (Kindle, now down to 14, woo hoo). Book 4 in the Little Beach Street Bakery series. Bought for 99p, not realising it was part of a series. I was going to start at the beginning of the series, but want to crack on with my Kindle challenge.

You always know where you are with Jenny Colgan. I feel like its putting on a cosy blankie. Marisa is struggling with agoraphobia and moves to the (fictional) picturesque village of Mount Polbearne. Can she deal with her illness and get over the death of her beloved grandfather? Its JC, yes of course she can. There are a few presumable regular characters from the series, including a cute puffin. I will keep my eye out for more JC’s on the 99p specials. I need to know more about Neil, the cute puffin!

I’m now moving on to SAS Brothers in Arms: The Mavericks Who Made the SAS – Damien Lewis. This is the first Paddy Main trilogy. If you have watched SAS Rogue Heroes, then you will know who Paddy Main is. A more difficult read, I think. So my plan is to read a chapter of this each day and crack on with the physical pile.

One more Miss Silver finished in the early hours and now I’m back to on the way to being healthy person reading with the new Ambrose Parry. I’m currently finding the repetition of back story unnecessary and irritating but hopefully it’ll pick up soon.

Also reading this, just over halfway through. Agree about the repetition of backstory.

@Southeastdweller thanks for this. I need a life distraction and will read the thread properly over the weekend. Recent favourite was Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan and In Memorium - debut from Alice Winn.

50 Bookers I have come to share my joy with you all.

I have recently left a job and the book club gifted me £200, £200 of book tokens!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is at least 2 full afternoons mooching about in my favourite book stores, maybe more.

Still slumping a bit, have 3 books that are all ok on the go.

How lovely!

How lovely @AgualusasLover go wild !!

Fabulous news Agua. Any plans as yet?

What a fabulous present @AgualusasLover .

Hazel Holt - Leonora in which Mrs Malory ponders who could have poisoned retired globe trotting journalist Leonora and knits for a new baby while gossiping with best friend Rosemary and house viewing with daughter in law. Disappointingly no appearance of Rosemary’s awful hypochondriac self obsessed mother who is my favourite character this time round.

Ooh just saw your update @AgualusasLover. How lovely!

Fainting with jealousy, @AgualusasLover. You are loved!

Now that is a decent leaving-gift, @AgualusasLover !

Excellent altogether @AgualusasLover
Delighted for you 📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

Now that’s my idea of a leaving present!

Hoorah for book tokens @AgualusasLover

91 Munich - Robert Harris
Another good book from Mr Harris - this time about the meeting in Munich in 1938 which led to the “peace in our time” declaration from Chamberlain. We follow the story of Legat (a junior Private Secretary to the PM, fluent in German) and von Hartmann (in a similar mid-level role, with many doubts about Hitler’s leadership). The two were at Oxford together for a couple of years and are brought together by the conference, though they don’t actually meet again until the middle of the book.

Hartmann was loosely based on a real person, von Scholz, although Harris has fictionalised his presence in Munich. Legat was invented. As usual with Harris, major historic players are where they were - Goering, Hitler etc.

I enjoyed it more than Fatherland and The Second Sleep, though I did get a bit lost early on with who was in which conspiracy 😀

I have some National Theatre tokens too from another team - living the absolute dream.

I have had my eye on Harriet Walter’s book about Shakespeare’s women, but it’s hardback so will definitely treat myself to that, but otherwise just planning a few Saturday afternoons mooching in Gower Street Waterstones and Daunt books.

My shelves are actually overflowing so also need to convince DH that the half size shelf by my desk needs upgrading to a full one.

Oh and a nice copy of Kristin Lavransdatter for the next readalong.

have had my eye on Harriet Walter’s book about Shakespeare’s women

👀 this thread is so bad for my bank balance, hopefully it’s on Audible, I’ve got a couple of credits!

92 The Outsider - Stephen King

Somehow I have made it to the grand old age of <mumbles> and never read a book by King.

This was good. It starts out with the discovery of a dead 12 year old boy in a small town. Following the discovery of bloody fingerprints, Detective Alexander and DA Bill Sanders rush to arrest Terry Maitland, the local junior baseball coach, before any other child can be harmed. But Terry has an unshakeable alibi, despite the forensics. So far, so mysterious and gripping for around half the book… then a private detective agency gets involved and bells start to ring about a similar case with no explanation.

Not quite a bold but would recommend.

93 Four Thousand Weeks - Oliver Burkeman (NF) (P)

<no, I didn’t just read the whole thing in an hour, it’s been on the go for several days>

This was a paper book, handy cos I underlined a fair bit. OB used to write for the FT about productivity books. This is more about the ultimate futility of such books because we all have a finite lifespan (of 4000 weeks, give or take) so we need to give up the idea of the perfect life in which we get everything done, and focus on being more in the moment and making active choices. An interesting read..

I'd say this is one of his weakest ones, so hopefully you're in for a treat with some of his others!

26 The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Much-feted non-fiction about the twin evils of smartphone (and in particular social media) use at a young age and over-protecting chidren in the real world. It is a bit too late for me as Haidt advocates holding off on smartphones until your children are in 9th grade (14 - 15 I think), whereas my eldest got his at 11 and we will do the same with youngest. Although mine are both boys (and the eldest has little interest in social media), and Haidt's focus is definitely on social media as a particular problem for girls. Some interesting research and ideas in here, but I did feel that, whilst Haidt is able to acknowledge the benefits of e.g. video games, there is no acknowledgement of the communication benefits smartphones bring. As an example, he is dismissive of the benefits of 1:1 messaging (as opposed to e.g. video calls), whereas for me, WhatsApp has transformed my relationship with close friends who now live far away. I have a lot of time for what he says about over-protectiveness in the real world, and the importance of allowing children to experience risk and failure and develop relationship-building skills and resilience that way. But I almost feel he's at risk of advocating the same mistakes in the online world that, unlike us, they are going to have to be expert in throughout their lives. A thought-provoking read, even though I didn't agree with all of it.