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

Ooh, adding that to the wish list @RazorstormUnicorn

<hums Good Luck, Mr Gorsky>

William Boyd's Cold War thriller Gabriel's Moon is the first in a planned trilogy featuring reluctant spy, Gabriel Dax. It's an engaging and readable, if undemanding book . Quite short so not overly complex. I like Boyd in general, although I'm not clear which of his books I have actually read!

113 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
In an alternate 1970s England, identical triplets Vincent, Lawrence and William are being brought up in a Sycamore home by Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night. They are homeschooled and have little contact with the outside world. The story is told from 3 POVs- one of the triplets, Vincent, a girl called Nancy who we know little about at the start and a government minister later on. Slowly, Chidgey reveals the world and the story. I love Catherine Chidgey- she reads the line between literary character and theme development and a rollicking good plot. This one is great. There’s a lot more I could say but can’t because of spoilers but I really enjoyed (and was disturbed by) it.

@GrannieMainland @Stowickthevast – never worked at the Festival/Fringe, but I am an enthusiastic participant. But, in recent years, it utterly shocks me at this time of year that its about to start. Must be my age. I was looking up a show yesterday and couldn’t understand how previews had started already. Its too early! Should be next weekend lol.

@Owlbookend – blue household here too. Visiting the Scouse family in two weeks, so taking the opportunity to watch the Roma game. Very much looking forward to the first game in the new stadium. I love Big Dunc. I may ‘treat’ DH to his book.

71 The Endless Beach – Jenny Colgan, Mure Series 2. Cosy reading with lots of tears and snotters. I do like how JC makes you think that you are reading one thing and then drops an absolute banger into the story. The story is a follow on from book one, where our heroine is struggling with her business and her boyfriend. The newish GP, is a Syrian refugee. He is reconciled with his two young sons, who have been missing for the past two years. Reconciliation is not easy. Looking forward to the next one in the series.

Just bought Circles Around the Sun - thanks for the recommendation @elkiedee and @AgualusasL0ver.

I am sorely tempted by that @ÚlldemoShúl . I’ve put it on my wish list but I don’t think it will languish there until it becomes 99p. It might even fall into my hand when I go into Waterstones on Wednesday……

125 The One that Got Away - Simon Wood

A paint by numbers kidney thriller that I polished off for RWYO. 15 months ago, Zoe was kidnapped with her friend Holli and woke up from being drugged to see Holli being shackled and tortured. Rather than trying to save Holli and probably getting herself killed too, she escaped in her car and gave a garbled account to the local police, who never found the scene and half suspected her of being the criminal,
She chucks in her PhD, becomes a mall security guard in SF and learns considerable self defence, suffering from both PTSD and a hair trigger temper. But one day she sees a murder/torture case on the news that looks familiar, and she gets involved in the cop search for the (serial) killer, nicknamed the Tally Man.

Decently gripping and, refreshingly, she doesn’t end up dating her FBI “handler”.although it looks like she might 😀

KINDLE thriller, not kidney thriller.

DYAC, I write Kindle often enough!

Ooh new subgenre

Close Knit - Jenny Colgan
Gertie lives within a close circle of women, all knitters and has always been too timid to try anything new. Until she gets roped in to help run the local island air service and finds herself falling for the owner. Or is she? Renting a flat from the guitar playing Struan whom she once had a crush on when they were at school, she steps out of her comfort zone and discovers hidden strengths.

As always with Jenny Colgan, lots of cosyness on the surface and tensions and some sadness underneath, good humour abounds and happiness prevails.

126 Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma - David Boyle (NF)

Read for RWYO. This was a short biography - a Kindle single. It was ok but rather weird timeline wise; on one page Turing died and then the next it was in a time before that. I think it was basically extracted from a longer biography by Andrew Hodges, and that book was the basis of the film The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch.

41 Good Girls - Hadley Freeman
Autobiographical insight into the anorexic mind - gripping, but Freeman doesn’t seem to fully recognise her privilege (despite being mostly in hospital between the ages of 14 and 17, her wealthy parents were able to afford crammer schools that meant she was still able to get into Oxford at 18), and she still clearly scorns people with bulimia, who from the pov of an anorexic, aren’t quite doing it right.

42 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
Semi-fictionalised account of real events, focusing on life in Savannah, Georgia, in the 1980s, particularly the trials for murder of wealthy antiques dealer Jim Williams, who was accused of killing his employee/lover Danny Hansford. You can see why this was a bestseller - top quality, engaging journalist prose and a vast cast of quirky characters (a bit like an early Louis Theroux documentary, or maybe even Tiger King). Racial attitudes and language not exactly great; sexism and homophobia also provided.

43 Infinite Life - Jules Howard
The story of evolution told via the development of the egg, from the spawning of jellyfish to the development of the placenta. Solid popular science that mercifully does not go for the human interest angle (I have an allergic reaction to interview-based journalistic popular science that seems to think it’s important you know what sort of jacket the professor was wearing - you know who you are, National Geographic).

44 Annie Bot - Sierra Greer
Page-turny near-future sci fi (lite). Annie is a Cuddle Bunny android owned by god-awful controlling ‘boyfriend’ Doug. Tight focus on Annie and Doug’s dynamics, explored largely through dialogue, making it an intense read. It’s about relationships and feelings, and what being owned would do, psychologically, to an increasingly sentient being. Cote would hate it.

Enjoyed your reviews, @LadybirdDaphne and I know exactly what you mean about science reported from the human interest angle
If the scientist is female, we'll be told her hairstyle. It's just hair, dude.

Hi 50Bookers - I have not been here for ages and ages, but having been reading and chipping away at the TBR pile

38. Earth by John Boyne
    This was the second in the Elements series by John Boyne. I understand they are stand alone stories with a loose connection to the previous one.
    This is the story of a professional footballer originally from the same island where the first book Water was set. He and a friend are on trial for rape and the narrative goes back and forth between the present day trial story and his story as he leaves his childhood home and tries to make his way in life.
    It's well written and compelling, very harrowing in places.
    On balance I preferred Water as a story, probably because I had more in common with the main character and saw myself in her.
    I will get to the rest of the series, but needed a break after this one due to the subject matter.

39. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
    I read this after a recommendation from someone I know through Bookclub.
    On some levels I loved it, very good writing and well drawn characters. I don't generally mind a meandering narrative and lots of family relationships etc.
    It was the story of two friends Lila and Elena in 1950s Naples, as they grow from young children to teenagers. Elena excels at school and continues her education at the middle school and then high school. Lila, though very intelligent with a hunger for knowledge, has to leave school after elementary school and work in the family shoe repair business. The girls remain friends, though with some rivalry, as they navigate becoming young women in a very traditional society.
    There were a LOT of characters to keep track of, and I did get confused about who was who in places, and it is not one for people who require loads to happen in 300+ pages but overall worth reading. I don't feel a desperate rush to read the whole series (it is one of 4 books) but I might get round to them eventually.

40. The Burning by Jane Casey
    Much reviewed on here.
    Maeve is on the team investigating a serial killer who burns the bodies of the young women he has murdered. When the latest victim is discovered, her boss decides it is not their killer due to some differences in MO, but a copy cat and put Maeve in charge of this side investigation.
    Decent enough read, will probably read more in the series but not back to back.

41. Girl A - The Truth about the Rochdale Sex Abuse Scandal
    I read this after watching the BBC drama Three Girls about the girls and the investigation into the Rochdale sex abuse scandal. Horrific story but the investigation and persistence of the investigation after several false starts was interesting.
    The book was more of the same, with more of the thoughts and perspective of the still unnamed Girl A, called "Hannah" in the book.
    It read fairly easily, obviously ghost written (understandable) it reads like a police statement in places, but an interesting read, though harrowing in parts.

I need to load my Kindle with holiday books and can't think of a single thing I might want to read. Any suggestions, please? No middle class women, nothing set in Ireland and no wanking vicars, please.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

The Ship Beneath the Ice - Mensun Bound. Factual but exciting account of the search for Shackleton's sunken ship.

Dark Matter - Michelle Paver. Ghost story set on an Arctic expedition.

(only suggesting these two cos I think you liked some polar stuff before!)

Read both of those! Thanks though!

I've got plenty of non-fiction, but need some fiction.

72 Heartstone – CJ Samson, Matthew Shardlake 5. Summer 1545 and Shardlake is tasked by Queen Catherine Parr to take on a case at the Wards Court, where corruption is rife. Shardlake and Barak journey to the South coast where the King’s favourite warship, the Mary Rose is getting ready with the fleet for a French invasion. I didn’t really know much about the Mary Rose, other than she sank. I’d never heard of the Battle of the Solent, so this was an interesting backdrop for me.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie do you like murder mysteries?

I've read all the Shardlake books and loved all but the final one. In fact, if I'm desperate, I think I have them all on Kindle and could maybe do a re-read!

will probably read more in the series but not back to back

so also said I and many others!

Haven’t got anything for you Remus sorry. Do I recall correctly that you like a horror or am I off base with that? If so maybe The Buffalo Hunter Hunter I have it but have not read it so I can’t tell you if it’s any good. I have seen positive reviews though.

Thank you. I only really read King for horror, but I'll get the sample.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie have you tried Ronald Malfi for horror? Very like King in his heyday. Blackmouth is supposed to be best which I have on my tbr. No wanking vicars to my knowledge…

Errmmm, well Munichs fits your brief but a holiday read it isn't...

@Piggywaspushed Read it!

@ÚlldemoShúl I'll have a look, thanks. Tbh, I don't generally read horror though.