50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Six

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the sixth thread of the 50 Books 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, the fourth thread here and the fifth thread here

I read The Narrow Road a few years ago and thought it was spectacularly good. Tbh my memory of it was as ‘a WWII novel’, if anything I linked it mentally to A Town Like Alice, but it’s on a different level from Nevil Shute.

I agree @PermanentTemporary I thought it was excellent but a tough read given the subject matter.

I haven't watched the TV series so not sure how close it sticks but would definitely recommend the book.

But lots of it was in Tasmania , right?

Thanks for the insights everyone. Will definitely keep it on my list.

IIRC there is a pre war section in Tassy, but the bit I remember most was the war. I think I read it about 10 years ago though - it won the
Booker in 2014.**

96 . Part Of Your World by Abby Jimenez

Alexis, a wealthy doctor and Daniel a small town carpenter meet by chance when Alexis’s car breaks down. Will love unexpectedly blossom?

I’ve been extremely tired recently and needed something undemanding. I’m still doing RWYO and this and it and its 2 sister titles are what I had available.

This, alongside Yours Truly and Just For The Summer are 3 standalone novels interconnected by their characters.

So…I mean…is this book going to win any big literary prize? NO

Does it have a whiff of Brie? Yes.

Does it have more than a whiff that it probably started as Greys Anatomy fan fic? Yes

Did I race through it with a smile? I’m not ashamed to say I did. Not quite on a level with Taylor Jenkins Reid writing wise; I’d say Jimenez was a rung below in terms of quality but this is definitely switch your brain off chick lit bubblegum reading. Ideal summer reading or wanting something lightweight

As I was coming up to the end I looked at the pages and thought “How will they wrap this up with so few pages left? The answer? By rushing it. The end was so dissatisfying in that sense

I wish I could say I was moving on to something meatier but I will probably do Yours Truly next. I just don’t have the headspace for something lit fic but I wish I did

@Piggywaspushed – I started to watch The Narrow Road and would like to read the book.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit – glad you enjoyed Abbey Jiminez. Sometimes you just need to have a fluffy read.

69 Precipice – Robert Harris – I devoured this! I remember previous reviewers mentioning how gobsmacked they were at the utter foolery of the Prime Minister, but it really needs to be read to be believed. Stupid, stupid man.

The book starts in July 1914. The Prime Minister, HH Asquith, is known to have a fondness for much younger women, but his obsession with Venetia Stanley takes things to a new level. Once war starts, he shares incredible details with her, including troop positions, and notes from the British Ambassador in Germany sent through the Royal Mail. He’s utterly distracted and doesn’t really listen when Winston Churchill sets out his plans for the Dardanelles. In fact, he writes her yet another letter while Winston is yakking on. All his letters to Venetia survived. He burned all of hers. I might look out Roy Jenkins' biography, once the TBR is a bit more manageable.

Oh and I had no idea that Asquith represented the constituency of East Fife!

119 True Colours - Kristin Hannah

I do like this author, though it is fair to say you know what you are going to get: a slice of small town/rural American life with a focus on close female relationships.

This time it is sisters Winona, Aurora and Vivi Ann, growing up in a ranch in Washington State with their father after their mum died when they were young teens. We quickly move to their adult lives, when Winona’s best friend (and crush) Luke moves back to town but falls
in love with Vivi Ann. But her eye is caught by Dallas Raintree, a newcomer to working at the ranch who is half Native American and so arouses some small town prejudice.

Winona’s jealousy nearly destroys the sisters, especially after Dallas and Vivi marry, have a son… but then Dallas is accused of a terrible crime..

As ever, Kristin Hannah paints intricate, believable relationships and a great sense of place. A good read.

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
I’ve had this on my kindle forever and have finally got around to reading it on a trip to Belfast. I liked it a lot, even though there was total inevitability about what was going to happen and who it was going to be. I thought the first 75% or so was too slow with too many sex scenes and all the stuff about the mother got a bit tiresome, but definitely recommended, if anybody else is as late to this particular very depressing party as I am.

120 The Survivors - Robert Palmer
Cal Henderson is a therapist in Washington and one day, an old friend Scottie turns up at his practice under a false name. It’s 25 years since Cal’s mum shot and killed his father, two brothers, shot at Scottie (putting him in hospital for months) then killed herself.

But as the two go digging into the past, finding out that Cal's mother was fired from her job in patents not long before the incident, the FBI, US attorney general candidate and all sorts of unlikely people get drawn into the conspiracy.

This was close to being a dud, and there are better thrillers out there.

Thanks as always to southeast for the new thread

My latest reads are:

81. Cara Devlin - Slience of Deceit
82. Cara Devlin - Penance for the Dead
83. Cara Devlin - Fatal by Design
84. Cara Devlin - Nature of the Crime
85. Cara Devlin - Taken to the Grave
86. Cara Devlin - Shadow at the Morgue
87. Cara Devlin - Method of Revenge
88. MC Beaton - Killing Time
89. Chris Chibnall - Death at the White Hart
90. Carla Simpson - A Deadly Affair
91. Carla Simpson - Deadly Secrets
92. Allen Carr - The Easyweigh to Lose Weight
93. Julia Chapman - Date with Justice
94. Agatha Christie - Halloween Party (audiobook)
95. Agatha Christie - A Murder is Announced (audiobook)
96. Nick Louth - The Dark Edge
97. Liane Moriarty - Here One Moment
98. Lisa Jewell - None of this is True
99. Kiersten White - Hide
100. Enid Blyton - Five go to Billycock Hill
101. Enid Blyton - Five Get Into a Fix
102. Enid Blyton - Second Form at Malory Towers (audiobook)
103. Sarah Wishart - The Murder Hypothesis
104. MC Beaton - Dead on Target
105. Matt Morsia - The 24/7 Body
106. Patrice McDonough - Murder by Lamplight
107. Patrice McDonough - A Slash of Emerald
108. Cara Devlin - Courier of Death
109. Cara Devlin - The Lady's Last Mistake
110. Darcy McGuire - A Most Unlikely Lady
111. Jane Dunn - The Accidental Debutante
112. Carla Simpson - A Deadly Game
113. Carla Simpson - Deadly Illusion
114. Carla Simpson - A Deadly Vow
115. Carla Simpson - Deadly Obsession
116. Carla Simpson - A Deadly Deception
117. Carla Simpson - Deadly Betrayal
118. Carla Simpson - A Deadly Scandal
119. Carla Simpson - Deadly Lies
120. Carla Simpson - Deadly Curse
121. Carla Simpson - Deadly Ghost
122. Carla Simpson - Deadly Attraction
123. Helena Dixon - Murder at the English Manor
124. Andrea Penrose - Murder at King's Crossing
125. Sofi Laporte - Lady Emily's Matchmaking Mishap
126. Emily Organ - The Camden Spiritualist
127. Jenni Keer - The House of Lost Whispers
128. Anne Corlett - The Theatre of Glass and Shadows
129. Robin Stevens - First Class Murder
130. Jennie Godfrey - The List of Suspicious Things

I had a Kindle Unlimited deal and a lot of stress (redundancy followed by job hunting - happily successful in the end!), hence most of mine are very undemanding reads! The House of Lost Whispers was my only bold - a 'time split' novel set in Edwardian times and then through the World War - in one timeline Olivia's parents die on the Titanic and she's sent to live with relatives, in the other they don't, but it's a will she/ won't she fall in love with the same man in both timelines. It was an interesting love story and also very sad in some parts, as people came to fully understand the full horrors of the war.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief - Here One Minute was much loved by my book club! I did think it was an intriguing premise but I agree that the main character's account could have been trimmed down a lot and when coincidence piled on coincidence, I lost interest a bit.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie you have saved me a read of A Schooling in Murder, which kept popping up as a recommendation A Ministry of Time comes up a lot too, I think mainly because I love the Jodi Taylor Chronicles of St Mary's books.

Apologies to @Tarragon123 and @Piggywaspushed but I enjoyed A Case of Mice and Murder - I was in the mood for something slow paced at the time and it definitely fit the bill!

I read Enigma many years ago @SheilaFentiman and was totally engrossed - there wasn't as much publicity around all the wartime events back then, and it was all new to me - inspired me to visit Bletchley Park as soon as I could too.

@ReginaChase I enjoy the JR Ellis books too (although there's a character in the later books that I find very irritating), and find the Sophie Hannah Poirot books good fun if a bit over-complicated!

The End of Mr Y was a definite DNF for me @bibliomania - it had rave reviews but I couldn't get into it at all...

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl I must admit I far preferred The Ministry of Time to the first Jodi Taylor book, which is the only one of the series I’ve read and which I hated.

Congrats on the successful job-hunt, @ClaraTheImpossibleGirl !

@SheilaFentiman I'm glad you mentioned you had forgotten all about reading Enigma. Since the menopause I often cannot remember a thing about what I've read, other than general warm/cool feelings. It's nice to feel normal!

30.Erasure by Percival Everett Thelonius "Monk" Ellison is a middle class academic and writer whose highbrow books have failed to shift units, and are criticised for having little to say about the African-American experience. Fed up with seeing stereotypically "ghetto" works capture the public imagination, and earning their authors the kind of money that Monk badly needs to pay for his mother's nursing care, he writes Ma Pafology, a parody of such work.

This was a sharp and funny satire. At times I think it was a bit too clever, as the variety of narrative styles, although always perfectly executed, made it seem a little fragmented. And although the extract of Ma Pafaolgy was completely on the nose I'm not sure I needed it to be quite so long to get the point. Still great, but not The Trees level great.

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl – you never know! Might be @Piggywaspushed and I that are in the minority or A Case of Mice and Murder might win the 2025 50 Bookers BBB Prize 😂

44 The Raging Storm - Ann Cleeves Another DI Matthew Venn book, and the last of the bumper load of Cleeves novels I’ve been reading on BorrowBox - ready for a break to read something else now! I enjoyed this one, the usual world-building and sense of place, and real-feeling characters. A body is found in a boat anchored off the Devon coast in the middle of a storm, and as the investigation into the murder unfolds we get to know the inhabitants of the remote village of Greystone and the complex relationships going back decades. The ending was the weakest part (as seems to be the case with a lot of Cleeves books!) but I don’t mind that as the story overall was good.

@StrangewaysHereWeCome that sounds like the book that American Fiction was based on. The film is very good if you haven't seen it.

70 Revelation – CJ Samson, Matthew Shardlake 4. Set in Spring 1543, Matthew investigates the death of a close friend, but of course, things are never straight forward and he ends up investigating a serial killer. Excellent stuff.

48 Starter for Ten - David Nicholls.
I'd never read any of his books until You Are Here which I enjoyed enough to pick this up for £1 in a charity shop. Enjoyable enough and I did laugh out loud at some of Adrian Mole goes to uni type observations. I could almost smell and taste some of it having lived through the time it's set (mid 80s). Brian is and probably still is, as often mentioned in the book, a bit of a twat.

@Stowickthevast I loved American Fiction. So well done.

My list so far...
(1) The Nurse by Valerie Keogh
(2) The Wrong Child by Julia Crouch and M. J. Arlidge
(3) The Perfect Parents By J.A. Baker
(4) Darkest Fear, written by Harlen Coben
(5) Old Filth by Jane Gardam
(6) The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
(7) Last Friends by Jane Gardam
(8) American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins -
(9) The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden
(10) The Coworker by Frieda McFadden
(11) Maid by Stephanie Land (Audio Book)
(12) The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
(13) The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
(14) Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education
Book by Stephanie Land
(15) Verity by Colleen Hoover
(16) Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
(17) Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
(18) Home Front by Kristin Hannah
(19) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
(20) Fly Away by Kristin Hannah
(21) Night Road by Kristin Hannah
(22) Between Sisiters by Kristin Hannah

With marking A-level Mathematics papers and being away on holiday - its been a while!

Latest books...

(23) True Colours by Kristin Hannah

Description stolen from Amazon....
The Grey sisters had only each other when their mother died years ago. Their stern, unyielding father gave them almost no attention. Winona, the oldest, needs her father's approval most of all. An overweight dreamer, she never felt at home on the sprawling horse ranch that had been in her family for three generations. Aurora, the middle, is the peacemaker. Vivi Ann, the youngest, is the undisputed star of the family. Everything comes easily to Vivi Ann, her father's love most of all. But when Vivi Ann makes a fateful decision to follow her heart, rather than take the route of a dutiful daughter, events are set in motion that will test the love and loyalties of the Grey sisters. They will be pitted against each other in ways none could have imagined. Secrets will be revealed, and a terrible, shocking crime will shatter both the family and their beloved town.

With breathtaking pace and penetrating insight, Kristin Hannah's True Colors is a novel about sisters, vengeance, jealousy, betrayal—and ultimately, what it truly means to be a family.

A lovely, easy to read, enjoyable book!

(24) Promise me by Harlan Coben

Description stolen from Amazon....
The 2am phone call is from a young, frightened, lost girl who has called the one adult who had promised to help her if she ever got into any trouble: Myron Bolitar. But his help proves not to be enough. He picks her up from a cold street corner and - against his better judgment - is persuaded to drop her at an unknown address. This is a mistake that he lives to regret, for Aimee Biel's final wave from a darkened porch turns out to be the last time anyone will see her...

Driven by guilt and the desperation of her family, Myron decides to break his vow of six years and get involved in the search. But his past will not be buried so easily ... and Myron must decide once and for all what he will stand up for if he is to have any hope of rescuing both Aimee and himself.

(25) Long Lost by Harlan Coben

Myron is summoned to Paris at the behest of an old lover, Terese. She is in unspecified trouble and needs his help. When he gets there, he discovers that her husband has been murdered and she is the main suspect. The interesting thing is that more than one blood-type has been discovered at the scene - and the other blood can only be attributed to her daughter. But she died 10 years before.

As Myron and Terese try to find out exactly what's going on, they uncover more and more questions. Did the daughter really die? Did Terese's husband have a further child with someone else?

But the truth is something no one expected...

I have really enjoyed getting back into this series - have decided to make it my mission to finish it whilst I am off work these next few weeks.

Onto the next!

Happy reading everyone! :)

Two bolds for me this week.

43 The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead
Thanks to @AlmanbyRoadtrip for this recommendation about a reform school in the US South.

44 The Dead Lake, Hamid Ismailov, trans. from Russian by Andrew Bromfield
Yerzhan grows up in a remote part of Soviet Kazakhstan where atomic weapons are tested. He is a talented musician and lives a traditional life. As a young boy he falls in love with the neighbour's daughter and one day on a school trip, to impress her, he dives into a forbidden lake. The radioactive water changes Yerzhan. He will never grow into a man and is left as a pre-puperscent child while the girl he loves becomes a beautiful woman. Thissis a haunting lyrical novella that is fascinating in its descriptions of the culture of the region, the clash of modernity and traditional life styles, the struggles of love and loss, and the devastating impact of the radioactive testing that was conducted in this area.

I really enjoyed End Of Mr Y when I read it the other month. I found it really intriguing and quite different but I can see it was trying quite hard.

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Very clever idea, set far into the future when humans have really messed things up and robots are sort of in charge only the absence of an employed human over grade 7 is a hindrance to many processes. Very dry and made me snort with laughter a few times. Not as good as Dogs of War.

Say You'll Remember by Abby Jiminez

I could borrow the review from the poster a few pages back, it won't win literary prizes but I was engrossed and it was exactly what I needed as a summer read.

Just popping in to say that a book that I added to my wish list is 99p today. It might interest you if you have any interest in Arctic exploration or if like me, you listened to the story on Cautionary Tales on BBC Sounds and wanted to learn more. Disclaimer: I have not read it yet and I’m not the author.

The Explorer and the Journalist: Frederick Cook, Philip Gibbs and the Scandal that Shocked the World

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Explorer-Journalist-Frederick-Scandal-Shocked/dp/1803991933

Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively

Read as part of RWYO. I have read several of Lively's books and enjoy her writing. Ironically, I struggled a little to get into this one - not sure why but glad I stuck with it. Claudia Hampton looks back at her life and relationships from her deathbed. It's been an unconventional life for a woman of her generation as she was a war reporter based in Cairo and had a child out of wedlock who she half heartedly co-parented with the father who she remained with for some years in an on/off relationship. The parts about love and loss were very well done - some beautiful writing.

Back to my Kindle to reduce the TBR list.