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

Here's my list carried over

1. A New Doctor At Orchard Cottage Hospital. Lizzie Lane.

1. Intense Desire. Kris Kassidy

1. Stumbling Stones. Bonnie Suchman

1. Courage For The Clark's Factory Girls. May Ellis

1. Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop. Kenji Ueda. Trans. Emily Balistrieri

1. All The Broken Places. John Boyne

1. Dark Times For The Clark's Factory Girls. May Ellis

1. Alpha Beta Gamma. Malabika Ray

1. Fracture. Elyse Hoffman.

10. The Vengeance of Samuel Val. Elyse Hoffman

11. Black Fox One. Elyse Hoffman

12. Until We Meet. E.V Radwinter

13. I'll Never Cry Again. Roberta Kagan

14. Sweet Pear. Jessica Butler.

15. Adiel and The Fuhrer. Elyse Hoffman

16. The Hangman's Master. Elyse Hoffman

17. Wild Lilacs. Jessica Butler.

18. The Ballroom Girls. Jenny Holmes

19. The Train That Took You Away. Catherine Hokin

20. Sara, My Sara. Florence Wetzel

21. Butterflies. Phill Featherstone

22. Here Lyeth. Johanna Frank

23. Murder by Letter. Carmen Radtke

24. The Family Next Door. Charlotte Stevenson

25. The Family Behind The Walls. Shari J Ryan

26. Datonga. Martin Smalley

27. Invocation. Aileen Erin

28. On The Ledge. Naomi Clarisse.

29. The Look of Death. C C Gilmartin

30. The Little Island Flower Stall. Tilly Tennant.

31. Wolf-blessed. John O’Donnell.

32. Lunar. Chloe Openshaw

33. The Zone of Interest. Martin Amis

34. The Red Magus. Natasha Joy Price

35. Tangles. Kay Smith-Blum

36. The Girl who Saved Them. S.E Rutledge

37. Aristotle for Novelists. Douglas Vigliotti.

38. Family Affairs at the Orchard Cottage Hospital. Lizzie Lane

39. Matritto/Motherhood. Ameena Tabessum

40. Shadow Runner. K.J. Fieler

41. The Promise She Made. Julie Hartley

42. Hitler, Stalin Mum & Dad. Daniel Finkelstein

43. Finding Home in Hartfell. Suzanne Snow

44. End of a Century. Paul Carnahan

45. Witness to the Revolution. Kiersten Marcil

46. False Tidings: A Fool’s Errand. Stephen J. Grant

47. The Trips. Pat Murray

48. Ballet Shoes. Noel Streatfeild.

49. Artificial Agent. J.W Jarvis

50. A Portion of Malice. Lloyd Jeffries

51. Because You Asked. A.E Bennett

52. Gone in the Storm. B.R Spangler

53. Lost Soul. Theresa Van Spankeren

54. The Curlews Scream. Annette Leigh

55. Edith's Story. Edith Velmans

56. Mother Of The Bride. Quinn Avery

57. A Measure Of Rhyme. Lloyd Jeffries

58. The Hunt for the Peggy C. John Winn Miller

59. The Babylonian Chronicles. Henry Sipes

60. A Child Far From Home. Lizzie Page

61. The Bracelet. Diane Clarke

62. Killing Lily. Jilian Gardner

63. The Wartime Nursery. Lizzie Page

64. The Wartime Mother. Lizzie Page

65. The Tiger Curtain & Other Stories. Paul Marriner

66. The School That Escaped The Nazis. Deborah Cadbury

67. Beyond the Sea. Nina Purtee

68. Life Gets In The Way. Chris Husband

69. The Secret of Ruby's Lighthouse. Kristin Harper

70. The Hero Virus. Russell Dumper

71. Three Little Lies. Danielle Stewart

72. Dominion. Ray Star

73. The Walls of Totterum. Benjamin Kamphuis

74. Touchpaper. David Dodds

75. Shaken. Jill Amber Chafin

76. Where The Crawdads Sing. Delia Owens

77. Who Served Well. Lawrie Johnston

78. Sunrise On The Reaping. Suzanne Collins

79. Newer. Robyn Abbott

80. The Return of Frankie Whittle. Caroline England

81. The Spanish Daughter. Soraya Lane

82. Sister, Liar, Suspect, Sleuth. Lisa Nicholas

83. The Wartime Chocolate Maker. Gosia Nealon

84. The English Wife. Anna Stuart

85. Rembrandts Promise. Barbara Leahy

86. The Shining Men. Nicky Heymans

87. I seek a Kind Person. Julian Borger

88. Barley Sugar. Jack Charles

89. Three Children in Danger. Marion Kummerow

90. Remembering Demons. J.Cornelius

91. The Seven O'clock Club. Amelia Ireland

92. The Art of Life. S.L Russell

93. Operation Fools Mate 48. ML Baldwin

94. The Game. Danny Dagan

95. Crossing Paths. Nina Purtee

96. The Tangled Mane. Charlie Tyler

97. Constructing Churchill. Jon Hartless

98. The Countess and the Nazis. Richard Jay Hutto

99. The Bridge to Always. Lynda Marron

100. Finding Sarah. Nina Purtee

101. Moroccan Sunset. Nina Purtee

102. The Einstein Vendetta. Thomas Harding

103. Kill Call. Jeff Wooten

104. We Are Not Anonymous. Stephen Oram

105. All Our Yesterdays. Guy Hale

106. Ordinary Saints. Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin

107. Hidden in Plain Sight. Julie Brill

108. Searching for Jakup. Roberta Kagan

109. A Fresh Start at Polkerran Point. Cass Grafton

110. And It All Makes Sense In The End. Adam Blue

111. Open Your Eyes. Heather Fitt

112. Maelstrom of Malice. Karen Taylor

113. Godwin's Revenge. O.C Heaton

114. When Geminis Fall. Eoin O'Donovan

115. The Home Front Girls. Susanna Bavin

116. Courage For The Home Front Girls. Susanna Bavin

117. Flora’s French Murder Mystery. Anna A. Armstrong

118. Christmas For The Home Front Girls. Susanna Bavin

119. A Wedding for the Home Front Girls. Susanna Bavin

120. The Abandoned Theater. Dana Robertson

121. Pyg. Pip Landers-Lett

122. The Not So Average Life of Average Jane. Marissa Malson

123. Wave After Wave. Sarah Ansbacher

124. About War. Christopher K. Pike

125. The Love We Chase. Alison Irving

126. A Parent's Guide to Living With Adult Children. Catherine Jennings

127. Way Beyond The Grits. Sidney Kate

128. The Dressmaker's Secret. Michelle Vernal

129. The Dressmaker's Past. Michelle Vernal

130. The Dressmaker's War. Michelle Vernal

131. The Irish Daughter. Daisy O'Shea

132. The Home For War Orphans. Jenna Ness

133. Outlaw: Nemesis of Rome. Adam Lofthouse

134. Ever Since New York. Colleen Conklin

135. The Widow's Irish Secret. Susanne O’Leary

136. The Last Song of The Mistle Thrush. Ruth Mary Flanagan

137. The Emerald Girls. Helen Fripp

138. Legacy. Jim Chambers

139. The German Next Door. Gosia Nealon

140. Night. Elie Wiesel

141. Foundations Under My Feet. Susana M. Henschel

I'm so behind with reviews. Here's the first glut.

142. Steel Princess. April Grace
     Fantasy. Silver is a cyborg growing up among humans. And then she finds out shes actually the stolen princess. But her mother is evil. So she needs to kill her to take the throne. Fun futuristic fantasy if thats your thing.

143. The Empathist. Alex Franklyn
     This book was so dark in places. It delt with mental health issues, murder. According to the review i wrote at the time i worked out who the killer was but there were lots of other twists.

144. The Girl Who Fell Through Time. Katherine Macdonald
     This was a bold for me. An historical, time slip adventure. Selene is a young noblewoman whose husband accidently starts a war, leading to Selenes death. Only instead of dying she wakes up back in the past before she married her husband and has the chance to change her future. IIRC her husband was abusive and this was a fascinating, if implausible, story looking at how much power women had over their own lives.

145. Skin Walker Medium. GG Collins
     I didnt realise this was Book 5 in a series, but enjoyed it nonetheless. Based around the Santa Fe penitentiary riot of 1980, and Navajo beliefs there are Witches, Curses and skin walkers. Enjoyed it.

146. Cursed by Sorrow. Michelle Moras
     Romantasy retelling blending The Little Mermaid and Greek Gods. I secretly love these.

147. The Tuscan Sister. Daniela Sacerdoti

148. The Tuscan Sisters Secret. Daniela Sacerdoti
     Books 1 and 2 in a series. A set of sisters who have all inherited various "gifts" from their mum. Seeing the past, or the future and so on. Full of family secrets. Nice easy read stuff.

149. Dreams of the Fallen. A.S. Colworth
     Apparently "epic fantasy". I remember that I enjoyed it, but as so often happens with fantasy the worlds are so intricate that I forget them once ive finished the book.

150. Budapest Noir. Alison Langley
     Set in Budapest in the 1990s, which I'll admit I dont know much about, but also being about the uprising of 1956. Ilona has grown up under Communist rule. She's finally had a phone installed in her flat, something she wasn't allowed previously due to her husband's involvement in the Uprising. This was a fascinating story with a setting I know next to nothing about. Ilona's son moves back from America and the differences in lifestyle are vast! Id recommend this for anyone who loves European history wrapped up in fiction.

(Only 21 unreviewed books to go)

86 . The Peepshow by Kate Summerscale (Spotify)

Read by Nicola Walker

The Peepshow chronicles the murders by Reg Christie at 10 Rillington Place. It’s very thorough almost too thorough focusing on the lives of the bit players long after Christie’s trial and demise.

I use audiobooks as a “Book At Bedtime” and this was so depressing and bleak that it didn’t work for its purpose, enough to give you nightmares.

I think someone else has read this : I thought it was overcooked and the ending dragged out.

Yep, me, Eine. Agree on all counts!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I read it too- though not on audio. It was on the WP for non-fiction longlist and I have no idea why.

Yes I nearly put that if was WPNF LL but I wasn’t sure and couldn’t be arsed to check. It’s a good 4 hours too long, I imagine this accounts for about 150 pages in real terms.

I spotted The Borrowed Hills in the deals which was one of my favourite reads from last year, one for fans of McCarthy and Tarantino.

Whilst it was quite silly and trying to do too much, I really enjoyed reading The Ministry of Time so give it a go!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie The Lamb was a very rare DNF for me. I thought it was icky and couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters…

99 Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel
This book is described as being about whether or not to have children. As someone childless/ childfree? (Not sure where I fall on that spectrum- I’ve been both) I looked forward to hearing about womanhood from a perspective that didn’t include motherhood and yet this book is actually a focus on motherhood. The one childfree character spends her time mothering someone else’s child but most of the book focuses on the difficulties of mothering a severely disabled child. That part is excellent and thought-provoking but overall the book disappointed me by not really exploring womanhood without parenthood.(Edited for not checking for appalling syntax)

@elkiedee – as a huge Style Council fan (I was a bit too young for The Jam) I love the sound of Walls Come Tumbling Down. I remember going to a Red Wedge concert in 1986 (I think). Must track that down.

I read the first couple of chapters in the sample before buying. Survived those, so will see how I get on. Right now I’m on a Georgette Heyer fest though. No reviews but they’re keeping me quiet for a while.

87 . I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue

Jolene, an early thirties misanthropic woman in a dead end job gets reprimanded when she accidentally sends a colleague a rude email. However, instead of the promised restrictions to her computer she is accidentally given Admin level access and can read everybody’s emails and messages.

Will she use the power for good or evil ?

I LIKED this! I really did, Jolene was easy to root for, it was funny without trying hard, there was light and shade, the inevitable coming undone….

This was a bold for me, and then the very cheesy and not very believable 1 year later chapter knocked it off course..I probably will still keep it as a bold but I think maybe the publisher insisted on that last chapter because the end of the penultimate chapter is perfect and strikes exactly the right tone. We don’t need a forced catch up with minor and unlikeable characters

As an enabler, I’d like to point out that this is still 99p.

The thing it most reminded me of was Monica Heisey’s Really Good, Actually which I think had mixed reviews on here…I say go for it.

I bought that one in the monthly deals too Eine so pleased to see a good review! It does sound fun.

I would have read it in one sitting had I not had to do life instead @ChessieFL

33 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
A welcome escape from all the Sadmin and general bereavement upheaval. The science bits sailed merrily over my head for the most part, but there’s such humour and courage and sheer humanity in the rest of it that this will be a definite bold. Amaze DH has been telling me for years that I would enjoy The Martian but I don’t like much science fiction at all, usually. He is pleased this book has given him an “I told you so!” moment

I liked I Hope This Finds You Well a lot, @EineReiseDurchDieZeit but had to leave the last couple of chapters when my eye went squiffy. I’ll try and get back to it this weekend.

Just bought I Hope This Finds You Well thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit 😀

@ÚlldemoShúl have you read Boulder? That was on the Booker list the same year as Still Born and explored similar issues but in a very different way. Mammoth by the same author was also very good I thought.

Tempted by I Hope This Finds You Well Eine... It's still basically deals day isn't it?

I've had my first DNF The Pure Gold Baby by Margaret Drabble which has been sitting on my Kindle for about 10 years. It's about Jess, an anthropologist, who has a "Pure Gold Baby" Anna, who is beautiful and good but mentally disabled. It's starts in the 60s and follows Anna's life as attitudes develop. But it's narrated by a friend of Jess's and it's told in a very meandering style with lots of random anthropological anecdotes. It really wasn't doing it for me so I've given up at 25%. I did check on Good Reads and the reviews seem to agree that nothing really happens.

38 Hex - Jenni Fagan
Modern-day witch Iris contacts Geillis Duncan via time-travel seance (like you do), on the eve of 15-year-old Geillis’ execution on a trumped up charge of using witchcraft against James VI’s new bride. Moving and grim, with visceral descriptions of the torture Geillis endured - smacks you hard with the realities of the Scottish witch trials, despite the fantastical elements.

39 The Folklore of Wales: Ghosts - Delyth Badder and Mark Norman
Comprehensive account of Welsh folklore around ghosts, based largely on 19th and early 20th century records, with accounts given in their original Welsh and in translation. Pretty dry and not exactly a page turner, but a good resource for people interested in Welsh woo. Also, a surprising find in my local public library, which is about as far from Wales as you can get while still being on planet Earth.

40 Watching Neighbours Twice a Day - Josh Widdicombe
Light well-placed counterweight to the previous two! I loved it, but that’s mostly due to the nostalgia value of being more or less the same age as Josh and having v similar TV memories.

I have @Stowickthevast amd I wasn’t mad on that either. I wonder is it that both authors are mothers so can’t really imagine what it is to be childless/ childfree - although that’s not fair as I do feel authors usually are great at putting themselves in other people’s shoes. Perhaps it’s because of translation? In both books the childfree people were distinctly odd- a little cold (less so in Still Born) I’ve yet to see a representation of a child free person who is fairly normal! The search goes on!

I can see that. I think I'm both books the authors were deliberately trying to upset the "women are maternal" trope. For me it worked more successfully in Boulder/Mammoth but that may just be that Eva Baltasar is a bit bonkers!

Oh erk!! It’s awful when you praise something and other people buy it because of you and are then like What The Fuck Is This Tripe? I hope everyone likes it well enough! I posted a Sad Kermit once because I praised On The Road and everyone said it was pretentious and terrible

The only times I can remember people on here reading a book after I recommended it they didnt like it. So now im scared to recommend things

It was only a quid @EineReiseDurchDieZeit, and I’ve bought so many kindle books based on this thread that there is zero chance of me remembering who recommended it by the time I’ve actually read it, and it’s anyone’s guess when that will be!

That’s a fair point ! I am always like “someone read this can’t remember who sorry”!!

I had already bought it before seeing your review Eine so there will definitely be no blame attached to you if I don’t like it!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit Your review had me sold until you compared it to Really good, actually which I didn't get on with at all 😂