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 belated birthday @EineReiseDurchDieZeit !

Oh Cheers! I haven’t been reading much because I’m a bit “off” hoping to see a doctor tomorrow

Morning all. Long time, no see and a very happy birthday to @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

I’ve tried to catch up with the thread but wasn’t sure where I left it and stupid MN no longer seems to take me to my last post, annoyingly.

I’ve been insanely busy (very lucky to have had three holidays in close succession) and have done some but not a lot of reading. I read a bundle of Josephine Tey books, most of which were okay and one of which (the Richard the Third one) I detested. I read a historical crime award winner that was only okay, set in a molly house (haven’t got my kindle with me to check details) and a couple of Georgette Heyer crimes which were nothing to write home about.

You Are Here - David Nicholls Going through a bit of a patchy time at the moment (NOTHING is going right!) so needed something undemanding to read at 3am - I’d read it before so knew it would be easy going.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit belated birthday greetings and hope you feel better soon.

46 The Names by Florence Knapp
What a stunningly beautiful book, I don’t even know how to start reviewing it. Triple ‘trouser legs of time’ moments hingeing on which name an abused woman called Cora gives her baby son - Bear, Julian or Gordon (after his father). All so poignant, all so quietly and understatedly powerful. If I could double bold it, I would, a real stand out of the year so far.

Pictures to make up for lack of reviews

I am overdue a visit to Bath @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie. Might get on the train later this week. Was it heaving?

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I assume you paid visits to all the bookshops?! Lucky you, it’s not easy to get to from where I live!!

@AlmanbyRoadtrip interesting, it’s on my TBR but I’ve been hearing mixed things. I might bump it.

Had a night in Bristol and a night in Bath and visited the bookshops but didn’t buy anything because I didn’t want to carry anything extra!

You never know on here! Plus you did say you were forced to watch iCarly :)

Yes and all the similar Disney/Nickelodeon children’s sitcoms. I am well versed!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit – I am not. Bad Mother that I am.

@ÚlldemoShúl – I did not enjoy Parable of the Sower. Such a disappointment after Kindred, which I loved.

@MamaNewtNewt @Arran2024 I’ve never read in fact, I had never heard of Elspeth Barker until a few months ago (if that?) thanks to this thread. I must get round to reading Oh Caledonia.

If it helps, @EineReiseDurchDieZeit I was underwhelmed by Nesting and just wondered why she didn’t leave earlier. But in The Names it seemed so heartbreakingly obvious in every different timeline why she didn’t leave earlier. Plus, there’s no fairytale handsome Prince to help her ‘find love again’ like there was in Nesting, which irritated me.

@Tarragon123 I haven’t read Kindred and this had put my off but still worth reading you reckon?

Also got Nesting to be read. I feel so behind!

Paging @Southeastdweller

In Nesting she had left before and come back. I seem to remember there's a stat in there that says most woman leave 7 times before finally leaving which is really sad. The Names was good too but I think the doubting yourself in Nesting was stronger for me.

102. I Will Crash - Rebecca Watson. This is narrated by Rosa and starts with her father calling her to tell her that her brother, who she was no contact with, has died in a car crash. Rosa struggles with feeling relief and grief, that her bullying brother is no more. It's written in an experimental fragmented style, more like a poem than prose, which I think is meant to reflect how memories and grief affect you. My major bugbear with this was that it really didn't work well on Kindle as it was read as a picture which meant I couldn't increase the font - something my 50 year old eyes rely on. It meant I could only read it during the day when it was quite bright and really distracted me too the point I couldn't really get emotionally involved with the book.

Thanks @AlmanbyRoadtrip, it’s been mooted as our next IRL book club book so useful to know it’s going to be a good read.

Very busy yesterday but calmer today. The bookshops were calm today but Persephone was closed. Topping was dreamy.

We had afternoon tea at the Royal Crescent yesterday, which was an oasis of tranquility.

Oh I loved it! It was a bold for me when I read it. That's why I was so disappointed and actually persevered and finished it when I really should have just DNF's The Parable.

Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee

This book written at the end of the 1980s charts the titular character’s journey from a village in India, marriage, widowhood and illegal migration to the US where she goes from Jyoti, Jasmine, Jase and finally Jane. On reading about Mukherjee it seems she was writing about the migrant experience well before it was popular to do so - I was actually thinking of all the hype of American Dirt a few year ago and how this came so much earlier. As you would expect, it isn’t a hugely pleasant read. It’s narrated in the first person so we only see J’s side of things, so consequently a lot of the other characters are not really fleshed out, but I don’t get the impression they were supposed to be. This is Jasmine’s story and when it isn’t horrific (though not particularly graphic which is almost worse because of your imagination) but retains a distinctly melancholy tone. It’s slim and worth a read I think.

I struggle to believe it's been two months since I started the last thread. I'm currently reading The Safekeep which is underwhelming in every aspect so far, but I've reached the point of no return.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5398642-50-books-challenge-2025-part-seven

posting a placemarker

We’ve moved again @bettbburg !