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

Happy Birthday @EineReiseDurchDieZeiti hope you are having a lovely day!

83. Me:Moir Vol 1 by Vic Reeves

This is the autobiography of Vic Reeves (aka Jim Moir) and focuses on his childhood in Leeds and Darlington. Having lived in both locations myself I really enjoyed mention of places and shops that were still around in my era, but are gone now (I esp loved the mention of Guru where I also bought joss sticks, as well my first pair of Doc Martens boots). The book really captured the time and place and Vic’s / Jim’s love of fashion, nonconformity, music, and art. After reading this I’m not surprised by his move away from comedy to art over the last few years. This book was funny, as you would expect, but it was also interesting, and charming. A bold for me.

Happy Birthday @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Thanks Everyone!

Book Of Guilt it is

Hope you enjoy it as much as me and @AlmanbyRoadtrip

Many happy returns @EineReiseDurchDieZeit !

I am behind on reviews so will try to be brief although I have logged all of these without reviews the RWYO thread:

60. Platform Seven - Louise Doughty

For some reason I thought this was a murder mystery but it's not although it does involve the death of a woman. She is already dead at the beginning of the story and her spirit is stuck on Platform 7 of Peterborough Station where she died. We look back at her life to discover how and why she died as a result of the controlling/coercive relationship she ended up in. Quite well done on the relationship stuff.

61. The Foundling - Stacey Halls

A girl leaves her newborn baby at the foundling hospital but when she goes to reclaim her baby it has gone. The plot was predictable from fairly early on. Easy reading and interesting to read a little about the the foundling hospital.

62. Mrs England - Stacey Halls

Mrs England is the mother of the children for whom Ruby is employed as nanny in Edwardian times. The England home is in Yorkshire and Mrs England is a detached mother whilst Mr England is surprisingly involved and takes all the childcare decisions. Another book about controlling relationships. Less predictable than the Foundling.

63. The Man who made Husbands Jealous - Jilly Cooper

A re-read for me (on my Kindle) as I read this when it was originally published. Young and gorgeous Lysander is employed by rich women to make their straying husbands jealous. Good fun in Rutshire with the first appearance of the evil conductor Rannaldini (and an inappropriate relationship between him and one of his daughter's friends).

Happy Birthday @EineReiseDurchDieZeit 🎈

Happy Birthday @EineReiseDurchDieZeit . Hope you are having a lovely day. 🍰

And well done @InTheCludgie for your 50.

Happy Birthday for yesterday @EineReiseDurchDieZeit - hope you got spoilt. I'm also in the DNF My Brilliant (or my rather boring) Friend club.

Congratulations on your 50 too @InTheCludgie

Anyone else finding the video ads incredibly annoying at the top of the page? It's like scrolling through those awful Reach papers.

Back from holiday yesterday and finished my 8th of the Booker longlist on the plane Seascraper by Benjamin Wood. I liked this one, a short book about Thomas who collects shrimp on the northeast coast. He has a pretty tough life but drama of playing folk music. The audio is read by the author and is excellent, especially the music parts in it.

@einse – Happy belated birthday! Are you nearer Jennette McCurdy’s age or her Mother's?

Congrats Cludgie
I’m in a bit of a book slump at the minute- everything is going very slowly. Just back to work after the summer, so I think once I settle back into routine it’ll right itself. Anyway I’ve been reading this one for about two weeks
129 The Parable of the Talents by Octavia E Butler
This is the sequel to Parable of the Sower, a post-apocalyptic story of Lauren, a girl trying to survive in the aftermath of a deadly virus. In this second book, it leans much more heavily into the religious aspect (Lauren starts a religion called Earthseed) which was the bit I liked least from the first book. A new President is elected who is very pro-Christian values and intolerant and despotic and uses the phrase Make America Great Again (good prophecy by Butler there!) Parts of this were horrific, parts incredibly slow and the ending was rushed. I believe she intended to write a third but it never happened. I kinda wish I hadn’t bothered with the second tbh.

Definitely her mothers!! 🤣

@Stowickthevast yes I thought the singing was lovely on Seascraper audio

Seascraper is getting loads of good reviews. I have it in hardback. Wonder if I should try to see if the library have audio so I can read both together from your reviews. I’ve started Love Forms- only 2 chapters in but really like it so far.

I would recommend the audio definitely

Ah, I also soft DNF’d My Brilliant Friend - should be my thing but wasn’t, I am convinced it was wrong time, wrong place.

I also popped into Waterstones on a walk and picked this up with my never ending voucher. I’ll be honest, she has a Turkish name and I feel obliged when I see Turkish authors. I’ve looked her up now and she has a few books and actually they do seem quite interesting.

After reading the brilliant "Our London Lives" I ended up disappearing down a rabbit hole of John Rogers walking videos on YouTube. I particularly enjoyed the City of London walks inc. the Clerkenwell ones which cover much of the area in the book.

Another one here who DNF My Brilliant Friend - I found it boring.

I Hope This Finds You Well - Natalie Sue

Jolene doesn’t have much of a life outside work, but she also hates her job and her coworkers. When an IT error gives her access to everybody’s emails and messages, she decides to use this to try and get ahead in her job. It’s funny as I expected it to be, but it’s also much more touching than I expected. A great read.

Black Summer - M W Craven

This is the second in the series featuring police duo Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw. I haven’t read the first yet but I don’t think it matters (annoyingly after reading this one I discovered I do have the first languishing on my kindle so will read that soon). Anyway I really liked Poe and Bradshaw and the story was good (a celebrity chef was found guilty of his daughter’s murder six years ago, but a woman claiming to be her had just turned up) so will read more in the series.

142 The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley

Much reviewed on here, and somewhat divisive. I enjoyed it mostly but found it a little incoherent at times.

Oh I’m glad you enjoyed IHTFYW @ChessieFL!

84. O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

Janet doesn’t fit in with other people, including her family, only feeling at home amongst nature, animals and books. Her parents don’t know what to make of their intelligent, curious, and awkward daughter, and arguably exacerbate Janet’s struggles through their disinterest and lack of love. Even Lila, a distant family member who Janet sees as something of a kindred spirit, doesn’t do much more than to tolerate Janet.

We start the book knowing Janet’s eventual fate, murdered at the age of 16, and so the comfort that Janet might find her place in the world and some happiness is never a possibility. This book is no murder mystery though, and although it’s beautifully written, for those of us who prefer plot driven stories it does not fully hit the mark. There’s lots to admire here but I liked, rather than loved this book.

I picked up My Brilliant Friend secondhand so I'm sorry to see all the DNFs!! Hoping to get to it shortly so will let you know how I get on with it.

O Caledonia is considered a Scottish classic. I must reread it. Elspeth Barker had 5 children with the poet George Blake - one of them is novelist Rafaella Barker. I must reread some of her books too.

143 A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles - Ned Palmer

This has been on my shelf for a few years and was something of a slog to finish. More of a social history with allusions to cheese than a book just about cheese, I didn’t find it very engaging.

8.Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne
Amazed how he lived to the age he did after reading this.
Now starting Liar by Lesley Pearse and listening to Thou Savage Woman by Blessin Adam’s and listening to Then things went dark by Bea Fitzgerald a slow reading year this year