50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Seven

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the seventh 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 , the fifth thread here and the sixth thread

Thank you southeast. I need to catch up on the end of the last thread.

Bringing my list to keep track and because I have taken out numbers for all the Jodi Taylor novellas I had previously numbered.

#1. Small Bomb at Dimperley - Lissa Evans
#2. James - Percival Everett
#3. Five Little Pigs - Agatha Christie
#4. Spook Street - Mick Herron
#5. Shy Creatures - Clare Chambers
#6. Hangman Island - Kate Rhodes
#7. Blaming - Elizabeth Taylor
#8. Strange Sally Diamond - Liz Nugent
#9. The Thirteen Problems - Agatha Christie
#10. The Wizard of the Kremlin - Giuliano da Empoli
#11. The House on the Strand - Daphne du Maurier
#12. The Photograph - Penelope Lively
#13. Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild
#14. Witness 8 - Steve Cavanagh
#15. The Eighth Hour - Linda Segtnan
#16. Kitchen - Banana
#17. Towards Zero - Agatha Christie
#18. Three Act Tragedy - Agatha Christie
#19. Paper Cup - Karen Campbell
#20. The Ink Black Heart - Robert Galbraith
#21. The Seven Dials Mystery - Agatha Christie
#22. The Good, the Bad and the History - Jodi Taylor
The Very First Damned Thing - Jodi Taylor (novella)
#23. Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor
#24. A Symphony of Echoes - Jodi Taylor
When a Child is Born - Jodi Taylor (novella)
#25. My Father's House - Joseph O'Connor
#26. A Second Chance - Jodi Taylor
Roman Holiday - Jodi Taylor (novella)
#27. Cards on the Table - Agatha Christie
#28. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
#29. North Woods - Daniel Mason
#30. A Trail Through Time - Jodi Taylor
Christmas Present - Jodi Taylor (novella)
#31. No Time Like the Past - Jodi Taylor
#32. What Could Possibly Go Wrong - Jodi Taylor
Shops and Stings and Wedding Rings (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#33. Lies, Damned Lies and History - Jodi Taylor
The Great St Mary's Day Out (novella)- Jodi Taylor
My Name is Markham (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#34. And the Rest is History - Jodi Taylor
A Perfect Storm (novella) - Jodi Taylor
Christmas Past (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#35. An Argumentation of Historians - Jodi Taylor
The Battersea Barricades (novella) - Jodi Taylor - Jodi Taylor
The Steam Pump Jump (novella) - Jodi Taylor
And Now for Something Completely Different (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#36. Hope for the Best - Jodi Taylor
When did you last see your father (novella) - Jodi Taylor
Why is nothing ever simple (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#37. Plan for the Worst - Jodi Taylor
The Ordeal of the Haunted Room (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#38. Another Time Another Place - Jodi Taylor
The Toast of Time (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#39. A Catalogue of Catastrophe - Jodi Taylor
#40. The Good, the Bad and the History of- Jodi Taylor
#41. The Crooked House - Agatha Christie
#42. Of all Faiths and None - Andrew Tweeddale
#43. A Remembrance of Death - Andrew Tweeddale
Lights! Camera! Mayhem! (novella) - Jodi Taylor
Christmas Pie (novella) - Jodi Taylor
#44. Some Tame Gazelle - Barbara Pym
#45. Learning to Swim - Clare Chambers
#46. Death in the Clouds - Agatha Christie
#47. Island in the Sun - Katie Fforde
#48. Small Great Things - Jodi Picoult
#49. The Corinthian - Georgette Heyer
#50. The Scarlet Papers - Matthew Richardson
#51. Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively
#52. The Cypress Maze - Fiona Valpy
#53. The Cut - Chris Brookmyre
#54. An Officer and a Spy - Robert Harris
#55. One, Two, Buckle my Shoe - Agatha Christie
#56. Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon
#57. Caledonian Road - Andrew O'Hagan
#58. Kiss Myself Goodbye - Ferdinand Mount
#59. The Talisman Ring - Georgette Heyer
#60. Platform Seven - Louise Doughty
#61. The Foundling - Stacey Halls
#62. Mrs England - Stacey Halls
#63. The Man who made Husbands Jealous - Jilly Cooper

Thank you @Southeastdweller.

My list:

1. Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch
2. The Natural Cure for Tooth Decay - Kate Evans Scott
3. The Belladonna Maze - Sinéad Crowley
4. Sweet Pear - Jessica Butler
5. Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch
6. The Answer is No - Fredrick Backman
7. Annie Bot - Sierra Greer
8. Message Deleted - KL Slater
9. Educated - Tara Westover
10. Nesting - Roisín O’Donnell
11. The Maid - Nita Prose
12. Strong Female Character - Fern Brady
13. Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon
14. Medea - Rosie Hewlett
15. Wrong Place, Wrong Time - Gillian McAllister
16. How to Completely Change Your Life in 30 Seconds - Earl Nightingale
17. Less - Patrick Grant
18. Cat’s Eye - Margaret Atwood
19. Yellowface - R. F. Kuang
20. Over The Top - J Van Ness
21. I Hope This Finds You Well
22. The Husbands - Holly Graziamo
23. Wool (Silo #1) Hugh Howey
24. The Hotel Avocado - Bob Mortimer

Currently reading Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari and Shift (Silo #2) - Hugh Howey

I have decided not to post a big list of 109 and only post my bolds!

1. My Friends by Hisham Matar
2. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
3. Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley
4. A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown
5. A Very Private School by Charles Spencer
6. Shakespeare : The Man Who Pays The Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea
7. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Achide
8. The God Of The Woods by Liz Moore
9. Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
10. The Secret Room by Jane Casey
11. Our London Lives by Christina Dwyer Hickey
12. The Story Of A Heart by Rachel Clarke
13. Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
14. I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
15. Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang

Thank you southeast for the thread!

Thank you Southeast

Hazel Holt - Mrs Malory and a Necessary End

Last but one in the series about an Ilfracombe based widow who solves murders in between garden centre cream teas, committee meetings and general good works and gossip. This one sees her roped in to help out in a charity shop where two of the volunteers are vying for dominance.
Special love for the amusing way her pets are written about, especially the Siamese cat with whom she has an ongoing battle of wills.

Thanks for the new thread! I’m currently reading book 144 so I won’t do a list.

Thanks for the new thread southeast.

A Greek Island Gift - Mandy Baggot

More undemanding holiday reading. This wasn’t as good as the other Baggot I read earlier this week (although the characters from that do make an appearance here). In this one a woman has been left an inheritance from a man she’s never heard of and comes over to Corfu to sort it out. Inevitably she ends up falling in love with a sexy Greek man. Nice to read something set in my holiday destination but otherwise this was just OK.

Thanks for the shiny new thread south!

.44. The Leopard in my House - Mark Steel

One morning while shaving, the comedian and broadcaster Mark Steel noticed that one side of his neck seemed larger than the other. This started his tale of a year of cancer treatments.

The book is not a diary format as such but does track the various different treatments and side effects, and the effects on his life, health, family and loved ones. For a sobering subject the tone remains positive, with the author’s distinctive voice coming through in the text, another I almost wish I’d had as an audiobook. The underlying theme of the value of the NHS, with staff from across the world working together to cure him, comes through. I raced through this book and enjoyed it.

Good morning, thank you @Southeastdweller .

(AlmanbyRoadTrip here, fancied a namechange).
Started a so-so folk horror last night with crows in it. So doomed to be reminded constantly of Moira's comeback in Schitt’s Creek

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller
No list from me this time. Too long!

Place marking on the new thread - thanks southeast.

Placemarking. Thanks @Southeastdweller

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller

I'm bringing over my list since the last thread, though I like Eine's all bolds idea but that would take more effort!

74. The Cutting Place - Jane Casey
75. The Close - Jane Casey
76. A Stranger in the Family - Jane Casey
77. The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
78. The City Changes Its Face - Eimear McBride
79. We Were The Mulvaneys - Joyce Carol Oates
80. The Secret Room - Jane Casey
81. The Emperor of Gladness - Ocean Vuong
82. Homework - Geoff Dyer
83. Real Tigers - Mick Herron
84. I Hope This Find You Well - Natalie Sue
85. Aerth - Deborah Tompkins
86. Dreamland - Rosa Rankin Gee
87. The Unwilding - Marina Kemp
88. Daughters of Sparta - Claire Heywood
89. Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
90. Universality - Natasha Brown
91. One Boat - Jonathan Buckley
92. Flesh - David Szalzy
93. Birdcage Walk - Helen Dunmore
94. The Names - Florence Knapp
95. The Queen's Gambit - Walter Tevis
96. Ordinary Saints - Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin
97. Endling - Maria Reva
98. Albion - Anna Hope
99. Flashlight - Susan Choi
100. A Little Trickerie - Rosanna Pike
101. Seascraper - Benjamin Wood
102. I Will Crash - Rebecca Watson

Seascrapper is my only bold from the 6 Booker longlist I've read over the last month, though Endling is close.

Thanks @Southeastdweller

Am I really the only one who bloody hates these lists?

Morning all, and thanks southeast.

Here's my list:

• An Island Wedding – Jenny Colgan
• Red Sauce, Brown Sauce – Felicity Cloake
• The Christmas Bookhunt – Jenny Colgan
• When the dust settles – Lucy Easthope
• The answer is no – Fredrik Backman
• A little life – Hanya Yanagihara
• This much is true – Miriam Margoyles
• One Good Turn – Kate Atkinson
• Waterlog – Roger Deakin
• How to build a boat – Elaine Feeney
• Loosely based on a made-up story – James Blunt
• Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom
• Anybody out there? – Marian Keyes
• The Summer of the Bear – Bella Pollen
• When will there be good news? - Kate Atkinson
• Between the stops – Sandi Toksvig
• The Hairy Bikers: Blood, Sweat & Tyres – Si King & Dave Myers
• My Friends – Hisham Matar
• What I ate in a year – Stanley Tucci
• The Pursuit of Love – Nancy Mitford
• Moranthology – Caitlin Moran
• Crying in H mart – Michelle Zauner
• Summer – Ali Smith
• The man who pays the rent – Judi Dench & Brendan O’Hea
• Started early, took my dog – Kate Atkinson
• The Ninth Child - Sally Magnusson
• The Gran Tour – Ben Aitken
• Big sky – Kate Atkinson
• The Last Anniversary – Liane Moriarty

Currently listening to Grown Ups by Marian Keyes and reading The Only Plane in the Sky on kindle. Think I'm also going to return to The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey which was a DNF for me a while back.

Sorry @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie here's my list to placemark. At least it is short 😁.

1# Watermelon Marian Keyes
2# Guide Me Home Attica Locke
3# Girl Woman Other Bernadine Evaristo
4# Nothing More to Tell Karen McManus
5# The House of My Mother Shari Franke
6# The Clocks in This House all Tell Different Times Xan Brooks
7# Terms & Conditions: Life in Girls Boarding Schools 1939-1979 Ysenda Maxtone Graham
8# Five Sumners Una LaMarc
#9 The Hawthorne School
#10 We Begin at the End Chris Whittaker
#11 The Couple at No. 9 - cant remember the author - doesnt matter - dont read it.
#12 Big Dunc Duncan Ferguson with Henry Winter
#13 Appointment with Yesterday Celia Fremlin
#14 Swimming Home Deborah Levy

A binomial distribution of quality.

Love the lists!
Thank you for the new thread.
my short list:

1. Slough House by Mick Herron
2. Bad Actors by Mick Heron
3. Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans
4. Old Baggage by Lissa Evans
5. V is For Victory by Lissa Evans
6. Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
7. Don’t Forget To Scream by Marianne Levy
8. Still Life by Sarah Winman
9. Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell
10. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
11. The Space Between Us by Doug Johnstone
12. The Library Book compiled by Rebecca Gray
13. All The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whittaker
14. Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan
15. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez
16. The Names by Florence Knapp
17. When The Dust Settles by Lucy Easthope
18. The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
19. Fire by John Boyne
20. Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
21. Water by John Boyne
22. Earth by John Boyne
23. Air by John Boyne
24. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Thank you for the new thread Southeastdweller! Here is the continuation of my list since the last thread;

45. The Book of Chameleons: José-Eduardo Agualusa.
46. A General Theory of Oblivion: José-Eduardo Agualusa.
47. Death in the Clouds: Agatha Christie.
48. Dalla parte di lei: Alba de Céspedes.
49. Happening: Annie Ernaux.
50. The English Understand Wool: Helen DeWitt.
51. The New House: Lettice Cooper.
52. Les chevaliers du subjonctif: Erik Orsenna.
53. La Leçon: Eugène Ionesco.
54. The House in Paris: Elizabeth Bowen.
55. Marianna Sirca: Grazia Deledda.
56. The Country Girls (parts two and three): Edna O'Brien.

Thanks southeast! Here’s my list just for you Remus:

1 Notes for Neuro Navigators - Jolene Stockman
2 Years That Changed History: 1215 - Dorsey Armstrong
3 The Darcy Myth - Rachel Feder
4 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
5 Matrescence - Lucy Jones
6 Strong Foundations - Clare Bourne
7 Alexa, What is There to Know About Love? - Brian Bilston
8 The Voyage Home - Pat Barker
9 The Medieval World - Dorsey Armstrong
10 I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was - Ruby Wax
11 One for the Money - Janet Evanovich
12 The Golden Mole - Katherine Rundell
13 Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon
14 Blood and Guts: a history of surgery - Richard Hollingham
15 To Calais, In Ordinary Time - James Meek
16 The Power of Women - Dr Denis Mukwege
17 Oranges are not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
18 A Life of Meaning - James Hollis
19 Welsh Witchcraft - Mhara Starling
20 Orfeia - Joanne Harris
21 Martin Chuzzlewit - Charles Dickens
22 The Once and Future Sex - Eleanor Janega
23 Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers - Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English
24 All Fours - Miranda July
25 Welsh Fairies - Mhara Starling
26 Platonic - Marisa G. Franco
27 The Resilience Myth - Soraya Chemaly
28 Mischief Acts - Zoe Gilbert
29 Plagues Upon the Earth - Kyle Harper
30 The Lost Man - Jane Harper
31 Patriarchy Inc - Cordelia Fine
32 Stay with Me - Ayobami Adebayo
33 Briefly, a Delicious Life - Nell Stevens
34 You Only Die Once - Jodi Wellman
35 Wise Women: myths and stories for midlife and beyond - Sharon Blackie and Angharad Wynne
36 Creation Lake - Rachel Kushner
37 The Bonobo and the Atheist - Frans de Waal
38 Hex - Jenni Fagan
39 The Folklore of Wales: Ghosts - Delyth Badder and Mark Norman
40 Watching Neighbours Twice a Day - Josh Widdicombe
41 Good Girls - Hadley Freeman
42 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
43 Infinite Life - Jules Howard
44 Annie Bot - Sierra Greer
45 A History of British Serial Killing - David Wilson
46 The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh - Ingrid Persaud

And in the last couple of days have finished:
47 The Witch’s Heart - Genevieve Gornichec
Retelling of Norse myth from the perspective of the giants, specifically Angrboda, consort of Loki and mother of ‘monsters’ Fenrir, Jormungand and Hel. With a foreknowledge of Ragnarok, seeress and healer Angrboda does all she can to protect her family. Highly recommend for fans of Norse mythology for the way it cleverly tells the story as a ‘reverse’, but all tied up a little too neatly at the end for what is essentially a very grim tale.

48 Untrue - Wednesday Martin
Exploration of whether women are any more ‘naturally’ monogamous than men, as the cultural script would have us believe. Veers wildly between evolutionary science and anecdotes about her friends whose wives have a boyfriend on the side. Took me an age to get through. I was just there for the saucy bonobo chapter.

49 Cunning Folk - Tabitha Stanmore
In the late medieval and early modern world, cunning folk provided magical remedies for lost objects, sick children and unrequited love, with sidelines in curses and astrology. Rarely actually prosecuted as witches, they were nevertheless liminal figures who were commonly approached for help while (at least technically) falling foul of Church law. Interesting material but presentation not going to set the world alight.

You had me at saucy bonoboes, @LadybirdDaphne .

Will update in a few days so just place marking for now.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller . Sorry also love the lists! Since last time:

40 The Year of the Hare - Arto Paasilinni trans. Herbert Lomas
41 Dracula - Bram Stoker
42 Water - John Boyne
43 The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead
44 The Dead Lake, Hamid Ismailov, trans. from Russian by Andrew Bromfield
45 My Soul Twin - Nino Haratischwili trans Charlotte Collins
46 Prophet Song - Paul Lynch
47 A History of the World in 21 Women - Jenny Murray
48 No-one Saw a Thing - Andrea Mara
49 The Visit - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
50 The Migratory Painter of Birds - Lydia Jorge trans Margaret Jull Costa
51 Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
52 Machines Like These - Ian McEwan
53 Reading Lessons - Carol Atherton
54 The Wreath - Sigrid Unset
55 Strong Female Character- Fern Brady

Trying to concentrate on RWYO at present so am enjoying seeing others reading patterns.**

@Southeastdweller – thank you for the shiny new thread

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie – nope, I cant format the lists, so I’m not bringing a list over either. I love the lists, just hate the formatting now.

89 The Murder Stone – Louise Penny (Three Pines 4). Someone else recently read this and didn’t like it. I think because it wasn’t based in Three Pines? I didn’t mind it not being in Three Pines. I find that I really enjoy books where the location is also a character. I do enjoy these books, but I do think that there is something not quite right. Something that I cant quite put my finger on. My dislike of Peter Morrow is clouding my judgement. Anyway, M and Mme Gamache are away at a beautiful luxury lodge for their 35th wedding anniversary. A murder happens and Gamache gets his team together to solve the case. We find out a bit more about Gamache and his family.

90 The Perfect Couple – Elin Hilderbrand – RWYO – Kindle. 99p special. I came across Elin Hilderbrand via the What Should I Read Next podcast. This book is based in Nantucket. I loved the setting. The book has been turned into a Netflix miniseries and I might watch it, just to see what Nantucket actually looks like. It is the 4th of July weekend and Greer and Tag’s beloved son is getting married a lovely lass. Everyone is happy, until the Maid of Honour is found drowned on the morning of the wedding. What secrets will the investigation into her death uncover? Enjoyable and I will be returning to Nantucket.

I finally catalogued my TBR pile and the bad news is that there are 45 in the physical pile. The good news is that I have read 90 books so far this year, so 45 is definitely doable, plus 13 on the kindle and 4 on Audible. So for the time being, I am going to keep away from the library and crack on with the TBR.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller here is my list as I can’t remember what I posted last, but ongoing I think I’ll just post what I have read since the last threat, although I also like Eine’s approach of just posting bolds.

1. Redemption by Jussi Adler-Olsen
2. Remember Me Tomorrow by Farah Heron
3. The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B Tyson
4. Exhalation by Ted Chiang
5. Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
6. Guilty by Jussi Adler-Olsen
7. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
8. Relive by KJ Nelson
9. The Party on Laurel Street by Ruth Heald

10. Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

11. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
12. Buried by Jussi Adler-Olsen
13. The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen
14. Old Filth by Jane Gardam
15. The Hanging Girl by Jussi Adler-Olsen
16. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
17. The Scarred Woman by Jussi Adler-Olsen

18 Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
19 Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
20 The Other Times of Caroline Tangent by Ivan D Wainwright
21 The Whisper Man by Alex North
22 1066: The Year of Three Battles by Frank McLynn
23 Victim 2117 by Jussi Adler-Olsen
24 The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler-Olsen
25 Locked In by Jussi Adler-Olsen
26 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
27 The Night We First Met by Clare Swatman
28 Black Rock Bay by Brianna Labuskes
29 Passing by Nella Larsen
30 Web by John Wyndham
31 Find Me by Anne Frasier
32 The Outsiders by SE Hinton
33 The Reckoning by DM Taylor
34 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
35 The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy
36 Finding Suzy: The Hunt For Missing Estate Agent Suzy Lamplugh and ‘Mr Kipper’ by David Videcette
37 Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell
38 The Day Tripper by James Goodhand
39 The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths
40 Saturation Point by Adrian Tchaikovsky
41 The Survivors Club by Lisa Gardner
42 Diva by Daisy Goodwin
43 The Burning by Jane Casey
44 The Reckoning by Jane Casey
45 The Last Girl by Jane Casey
46 The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey
47 The Kill by Jane Casey
48 After The Fire by Jane Casey
49 Let The Dead Speak by Jane Casey
50 Cruel Acts by Jane Casey
51 The Cutting Place by Jane Casey
52 The Close by Jane Casey
53 A Stranger In The Family by Jane Casey
54 The Secret Room by Jane Casey
55 The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
56 Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
57 Under Your Spell by Laura Wood
58 Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich
59 I’ll Stop The World by Lauren Thoman
60 Poison Study by Maria V Snyder

61 Magic Study by Maria V Snyder
62 Bad Moon by Jodi Taylor
63 Her Last Move by John Marss
64 How Soon Is Now? by Paul Carnahan
65 The Defence by Steve Cavanagh
66 An Accidental Death by Pete Grainger
67 The Plea by Steve Cavanagh
68 The Liar by Steve Cavanagh
69 Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh
70 Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
71 The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh
72 The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh
73 Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh
74 Horns by Joe Hill
75. The Dentist by Tim Sullivan
76. The Bat by Jo Nesbo
77. Femlandia by Christina Dalcher
78. Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo
79. The Silent Quarry by Cheryl Rees-Price
80. The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
81. The First Time Laura Pailing Died by Alyson Rudd
82. Moment of Truth by Shari Low
83. Me:Moir Vol 1 by Vic Reeves
84. O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
85 Always You and Me by Dani Atkins

54 - Alvesdon - James Holland
A strong bold from me. I like a book with a Dramatis Personae at the start to keep me on the straight and narrow! Holland uses his knowledge as a historian to weave the lives of the fictional Castell family and those that live and work on the estate into the real events of the two weeks prior to and the first year or so of the Second World War. Hopefully the start of a series.

Thanks for the new thread southeast!

The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier This was a dutiful book group read for me but I enjoyed it more than I expected. The conceit is that time passes differently on Murano, the glassmaking island of Venice, and so Orsola and her family live their lives over hundreds of years. This allows us to drop into Murano at key moments of history (Maria Barovier, plague, Josephine Bonaparte, Casanova, covid) with the same characters without having to try to follow who is descended from who. Orsola, as a woman, isn’t expected to take part in the family trade of glassmaking, but she makes beads to supplement the family’s income and we learn about the process and the trade and the ebb and flow of Venice’s fortunes over the centuries. I liked the evocation of Murano but it did get repetitive, I would have been happier with bullet points for 2 or 3 of the stops, and it’s transparently a way of shoehorning in the history, but a pleasant read all the same.