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 am on holiday so have been making good progress on RWYO - will try to be brief:

56. Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon

Much reviewed on here - the story of imprisoned Athenians on Sicily performing the works of Euripides. Original and enjoyable.

57. Caledonian Road - Andrew O'Hagan

Contemporary story amongst the privileged set (journalists, politicians, business owners) and the corrupt (gangs, oligarchs, cannabis farms, sweat shops and illegal migrants) and a lot of overlap between the two. Campbell Flynn, part of the privileged set, has a midlife crisis and starts to unravel. His unravelling is aided and exploited by a young student. Most of the characters were incredibly shallow and pretentious but an easy read even though it left me feeling slightly tarnished.

58. Kiss Myself Goodbye - Ferdinand Mount

The author's investigation into the background of his aunt by marriage, Munca (to the family). Sounds deadly dull but was fascinating because she had concealed her background and had a very complex personal life.

59. The Talisman Ring - Georgette Heyer

High jinks in the 1790s to recover a family heirloom involving smugglers, charges of murder, Bow Street Runners, disguises etc. And, of course, some romance and a happy ending.

@Piggywaspushed – oh I enjoyed that book and I don’t recall the misspelling of Grieg.

@Owlbookend – the actual stadium visit was incredible. Should have just gone for the Legends game lol. I’ve just looked up Celia Fremlin, one to keep an eye out for, I think. She died in 2007 at the age of 94 and was predeceased by her husband and all three children.

@ÚlldemoShúl – thank you! I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

I also bought a 99p special on kindle. Peter May, The Black Loch. I was a bit confused as I thought that The Lewis Trilogy was just that. A trilogy. Now we have book 4. Anyway, I like Peter May, so I was happy to snap it up for 99p.

Greek Lessons by Han Kany. Translated by Deborah Smith and E. Yaewon.

A greek teacher who is losing his sight and a mute woman become close. This dream like novella is by the current Nobel Prize winner and is less strange than The Vegetarian but is more about impressions and memory and language than it is about a plot. An interesting read.

I've also just finished Booker longlist number 6 Endling by Maria Reva - This is about a snail scientist, or malacologist, Yeva, who goes around Ukraine collecting rare snails. All too often they're the last of their species, or they breed successfully at first and then die out. Yeva funds her snail lab by going on Ukrainian bride tours where Western men come to acquire a bride. On one of these tours just as Russia is about to invade, she meets sisters Nastia and Sol, who decide to kidnap some of the men to send a message to their radical mother who has disappeared. We also get the perspective of one of the bachelor's, Pasha, who is returning to an idealised Ukraine. The book then leaps into meta-fiction, breaking the first wall, and having various conversations between author, publicist and randomly yurt makers, informed by George Sanders. I liked this, it's funny and dark. I'm not sure the meta fiction was entirely successful and could have done with a bit more depth to some of the characters, but it probably wouldn't have made the Booker list without the tricksy bit. Not quite a bold but probably my favourite so far.

My yes list is Endling & Flashlight (although am still about 2/3 through), Maybe Audition and Flesh, & No to Universality, One Boat & The Rest of Your Lives.

I've also bought IC Eine

126 The Forgotten Girls by Monica Potts
This is a RWYO from about 18 months ago. It is a memoir of a friendship of two girls- the author Monica and her friend Darci who grew up in Clinton, a poor Ozarks town. Monica, the author, escaped by going to college while Darci who had been on track for going to uni, got caught up in boys, drink and drugs and became someone living on the fringes of society. The author examines some of the ways their lives diverged, why women in rural communities have seen a drop of 5 years in life expectancy, and her own feelings on when and where she could have helped Darci more. This is very moving but ultimately nothing we haven’t read before. The drop in life expectancy is not really analysed successfully in my opinion.

Was planning to read Love Forms next on my Booker reading (once I’ve finished my RWYO- The Parable of the Talents) but I’m considering reading The Rest of Our Lives instead so I can have the good ones ahead of me- and from what I’ve seen Love Forms is getting great reviews (along with Endling, Seascraper and The Land in Winter)

138 By Any Other Name - Jodi Picoult

I really enjoyed this, a bold. The framing story is about Melina Green and her black gay roommate Andre. Both are playwrights struggling to be heard in a world that prioritises the straight white male voice. Melina is descended from Emilia Bassano, a candidate for Shakespeare’s Dark Lady, but also a potential candidate for author of some of his works, and Melina’s play - By Any Other Name - is about Emilia’s life.

We pop back periodically to the framing story, where Andre submits Melina’s work under a male pseudonym, which complicates their friendship. But most of the book is set in Tudor times and follows Emilia’s life - which is very well written.

64. Nightshade - Michael Connelly

Adding my review to @noodlezoodle‘s and agreeing! This new standalone from Connelly is readable enough but not exactly gripping. Pleasant Catalina Island setting (everyone drives around in golf carts, apparently, which gave me a mental image of The Prisoner), a not-very-involving murder case, and the obligatory romance between main character and all-round good guy Detective Stilwell (first name never disclosed) and a local woman. I do find Connelly the equivalent of mindless comfort-eating so I’ll probably read the next in what’s clearly going to be a series, but great literature it ain’t.

#14 Swimming Home Deborah Levy
I have just read this short novella in a single afternoon enjoying the warm weather in the garden. Set in the south of France five English tourists are sharing a villa. There is a famous poet, his journalist wife and 14 year old daughter plus another couple who own a shop in Euston. It opens with them finding a naked woman in the pool who they invite to stay.
I will admit that I started off hating this. Some of the early language seemed clunky to me - there were a lot of similies and metaphors. Someone waves their hands like flying seagulls, there are also eyes glinting like a grey Mercedes. At the beginning, the characters seemed tiresome and pretentious. Levy is clever though, she scrapes back the layers of the characters and relationships. I got totally drawn in. As I am not an author I can't really explain it, but the descriptions of sadness, depression and mental illness are visceral. The unveiling of Joe's (the poet) character stays with you. I dont think I probably totally 'got it', but it was an interesting read that grew on me. The introduction (I always read them after i've finished) might of scared me off if i'd read it at the start. '[Levy is] as much at home within the fields of visual and conceptual art, philosophy and performance as within that of the printed word'. Gulp - im not. However, im really glad I wasn't deterred nor gave up when i had initial reservations. Sometimes persisting pays off.

@Tarragon123 Fremlin's daughter and first husband both committed suicide. I just can't imagine what that did to her. Appointment With Yesterday was written in the period after.

I read Swimming Home some years ago @Owlbookend and I agree with what you say. “A bad fairy made a deal with me, give me your history and I’ll give you something to take it away”

79. The Silent Quarry by Cheryl Rees-Price

Gwen survived an attack 20 years ago in which her best friend Bethan died. Unfortunately Gwen suffered a severe head injury and has no memory of the attack, until she suffers a fall, and her memory begins to return, hopefully before the original attacker manages to stop her. Silly, obvious, and poorly written. A kindle unlimited offering.

I need to find something unchallenging, engaging and not rubbish to read as I just don’t have the headspace for anything I have to think about right now. There must be something in my TBR mountain, but might be time for a comfort reread.

@MamaNewtNewt I recently read 3 romances by Abby Jimenez, brain not required and they were reasonably good

I’ve listened to my first ever audiobook this weekend: The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer. I was painting my bedroom, and it was free on Spotify. I’d looked at it and considered buying it a couple of times, so was quite pleased to find it. I enjoyed it, and it definitely made the painting more enjoyable, and I also think it worked quite well as an audiobook. (Read by Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse, and some female actors whose voices I recognised but can’t remember the names of).

Thanks I’ll look those up

Oh @Owlbookend how awful. Where do you even start to process that? Poor, poor woman.

52 Our London Lives - Christine Dwyer Hickey
A strong bold from me. Not just the lives of Milly and Pip told over 40 years against the backdrop of major events but also the changing face of London over that time too. A compelling and often difficult read for me as a child of Irish immigrants who recognised a lot of the characters and attitudes drawn out through the book.

Loved Our London Lives @ReginaChase a standout for this year

What The Night Brings by Mark Billingham is 99p on Kindle today. Latest Tom Thorne thriller, if anyone likes them. I waited for it to come down in price as I think the quality of his writing has really dropped over the last few books, but they weren’t in the Tom Thorne series so I hope this hasn’t nosedived as well. My Wish List did its occasional sneaky thing of not highlighting a 99p-er in red so I nearly missed it.

42 My Last Supper - Jay Rayner

An easy listen on Audible, in which Rayner assembles the dishes that have meant the most to him through his life, told through various anecdotes. Likeable and amusing.

Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans. Jolly Good Fun.

I have nothing deeper to say.

139 It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover

This was good - tells the story of Lily, who grew up in a household where her dad hit her mum, and her move to Boston to set up a flower shop. Also made into a famous film, that I haven’t seen.

.41. Tales from Devon Folklore - James Whinray

Why I ended up with this I don’t know; I have no connection to Devon or its folklore. Not even sure this short book should count in my list, but it’s got its own ISBN number so that’s good enough for me! A collection of anecdotes, less traditional folklore tales (supernatural beings, sacred places, local legends etc), more short stories about Devon personalities through history. Passed the time.

.42. Divine Might - Natalie Haynes

An enjoyable examination of the roles of six Ancient Greek goddesses through their myths and inspired artwork, right up to the present day. This was a fascinating read but like the author’s previous work Pandora’s Jar, not one I could spend any length of time on, only a few pages in one sitting. Luckily the individual essays lend themselves to this way of reading. That’s a me problem though, and I think I would have got more out of the audiobook version. Definitely recommended if you’re interested in the subject, she makes it accessible and brings the subject up to date with familiar (and some less well-known) comparisons.

.43. Son of Soup - Doug Grant & Rob Naylor

We binge watched Red Dwarf (amongst other programmes) over lockdown so I was intrigued to come across this collection of six scripts, one from each of the first six series. Enjoyable froth on one level, but reading the scripts highlights the core of science fiction at the heart of the silliness, from tackling a computer virus using a VR universe, to dealing with a clone of yourself who magnifies your own inadequacies.

24 The Secret History by Donna Tartt

I can see why this has been dubbed a ‘Modern Classic’, I’m sure most people have read it but for some reason it passed me by, so sincere thanks to @noodlezoodle for bringing this along to the 50 Bookers meet up and book swap.

Written in 1992 and set in the early to mid 1980’s when Tartt herself would have been a student at Bennington College, Vermont (Although I don’t think this is explicit in the text, Bunny in particular is written like a Gatsby throwback, but there are cultural references to Jane Fonda’s workout videos, the movie Bachelor Party and other clues which were fun to spot.)

The novel is narrated by Richard Papen, something of an outsider, he transfers from college in his home town of Plano, California to the prestigious Hampden college in Vermont. Here he attempts to hide his humble origins and fit in with the rich kids - when asked where his family get their money he claims it’s ’Oil’, when the truth is his abusive father runs a petrol filling station - so some truth there I suppose …
After some dogged perseverance on Richard’s part he is accepted by the enigmatic Classics Professor Julian Morrow onto his exclusive ancient Greek course, where Richard joins five other students, all of who are beautiful, glittering and wealthy - Henry, Francis, twins Charles and Camilla and the doomed Edmond ‘Bunny’ Corcoran.

The novel is split into a prologue, two ‘Books’ and an epilogue. The iconic opening line of the prologue tells us:
‘The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.’
So we know from the outset that Bunny is dead and also that the other five members of the Classics programme have murdered him, what we don’t know is why.

The lead up to the murder is dealt with in Book 1, whilst the immediate aftermath, long term impact and fall out from the crime is covered in Book 2.

This was a beautifully written book it had echoes of other great novels, notably The Talented Mr Ripley, Brideshead Revisited and as mentioned The Great Gatsby (Particularly in the casual cruelty and perceived superiority of the life wrecking rich set.)
The characters were well drawn, with the exception of Camilla who remained somewhat sketchy and nebulous, perhaps deliberately so, as she becomes the obsession of several of the male protagonists and perhaps is portrayed as all things to all men with her most prized quality being her beauty.
Book 1 was superior to Book 2 imo with a narrative drive and page turning quality which was less apparent in Book 2 but taken overall it’s a novel that will stay with me and is undoubtedly the boldest, bold I’ve read so far this year.

Oh @DesdamonasHandkerchief I'm so glad you enjoyed it! My favourite book, but I read it when it came out and I was at university, so I'm never certain if I would love it so much if I'd read it as a fully grown adult!

@AlmanbyRoadtrip I noticed if I look at my wishlist on my phone, it now has a handy 'deals' filter - I don't know if it works or not because nothing on my wishlist has been in the deals yet, but it seems like it might be a step forward from their rubbish sort by price that often misses 99p deals. For some reason it's not available on the website.