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

@Tarragon123ive read 25 library terrace and it’s equally good.

Congratulations @GrannieMainlandhow delightful.

I highly recommend her Queen of Subtleties book. I read it many many years ago and still count it as a favourite.

almost as good as the Katie Morag books 😍

I want to buy books….what shall I buy ?

I almost started reading that today, but then chose something else instead. I’m confused by the “he” thing - will it make sense when I read it?

@bettbburgI’ve bought Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher on the 99p Kindle deals today, if that’s any help?

What sort of thing are you fancying, @bettbburg?

My list so far...
(1) The Nurse by Valerie Keogh
(2) The Wrong Child by Julia Crouch and M. J. Arlidge
(3) The Perfect Parents By J.A. Baker
(4) Darkest Fear, written by Harlen Coben
(5) Old Filth by Jane Gardam
(6) The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
(7) Last Friends by Jane Gardam
(8) American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins -
(9) The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden
(10) The Coworker by Frieda McFadden
(11) Maid by Stephanie Land (Audio Book)
(12) The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
(13) The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
(14) Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education
Book by Stephanie Land
(15) Verity by Colleen Hoover
(16) Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
(17) Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
(18) Home Front by Kristin Hannah
(19) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
(20) Fly Away by Kristin Hannah
(21) Night Road by Kristin Hannah
(22) Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah
(23) True Colours by Kristin Hannah
(24) Promise me by Harlan Coben
(25) Long Lost by Harlan Coben
(26) Live Wire by Harlan Coben

Latest books...

(27) The Women by Kristin Hannah - audio book

Description taken from Goodreads...

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

This was another brilliant easy to read book that had meaning, depth and left me thinking!
Loved it 😀

(28) The French for Love by Fiona Valpy

Description taken from the Internet:

Can happy-ever-after get lost in translation?
Gina has lost her perfect job, her boyfriend and her favourite aunt all within the space of a few months.
So when she inherits her aunt’s ramshackle French house, Gina decides to pack her bags for the Bordeaux countryside – swapping English weather for blue skies, sunshine, great wine and a fresh start.
What she hasn’t factored in is a hole in the roof, the most embarrassing language faux pas, and discovering family secrets that she was never supposed to know.
Suddenly feeling a long way from home, Gina will have to rely on new found friends, her own hard work – and Cédric – her charming, mysterious and très handsome new stonemason.
But whilst desire needs no translation, love is a different matter. Can Gina overcome the language barrier to make her French dream come true?

I read this book to long ago I can barely remember it 🫣 It was okay, not great.

Happy reading everyone!

Onto the next 😍

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit - best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hope your health issues are resolved.

@GrannieMainland - congratulations! Am assuming you haven't been to any meet ups unless you came in disguise!

I have given up (pretty much) on the Christie challenge as I have again read (relatively recently) all the suggested books. As part of RWYO, I am instead reading the only unread Christie book on my Kindle which is Miss Marple's final cases.

The He thing is an irritating affectation and I really, really, REALLY hated it.

imo

I want to discover some new stuff but not horror.

Oh nice, I’ll get that 😊

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I hope you feel better soon 💐

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit hope you’re feeling a bit better today.

White Nights - Ann Cleeves
Shetland re-read.

@Castlerigg, Re Wolfhall before I picked it up I had read to always assume that if Mantel uses ‘he’ she always means Cromwell - if that isn’t the case it soon becomes apparent.
Knowing that certainly made the book more accessible for me, and I agree with WellWish that it’s a masterpiece. Although Bring Up The Bodies is my favourite of the trilogy and she also uses the ‘he’ affectation more sparingly in subsequent books.
Congrats to @GrannieMainland what wonderful news.
Get well soon @EineReiseDurchDieZeit - at least the surgery is out of the way and it’s recuperation now.

@Castlerigg it is an adjustment, but I remember sitting outside in the rain in a cafe garden during Covid to finish The Mirror and the Light, because I couldn't bear to stop reading and get into the dry. The trilogy is compelling once you get into it, IMO.

177. Revelation (Shardlake 4) - C J Sansom Very good, as ever. Though I felt the ending was slightly rushed.

This time, Matthew Shardlake is drawn into investigating the death of his friend and fellow lawyer, Roger, found murdered in the Lincoln's Inn fountain. Tensions between papists and radical reformers are at fever pitch, especially given That Bastard Henry VIII's courtship of Catherine Parr throughout the book (who really should be referred to as Lady Latimer, but who's counting?). Archbishop Cranmer, Lord Hertford and his brother, Cad and Bounder Thomas Seymour all make an appearance.

The title comes from the killer's inspiration: the Book of Revelation, which many characters of both religious persuasions feel lays it on a bit thick, with all the violent death and vicious demons. The tension builds well through the book

178. The Sisters - Claire Douglas
Borrowed this on Prime for a quick read. This is her debut novel (she has since written 10 more) and she is an author of the Lisa Jewell easy read thriller type.

Abi has moved to Bath to try and recover from the death of her twin Lucy in a car accident 18 months ago. Abi was driving and blames herself for the death (though she was acquitted in court). She meets Beatrice, who reminds her of Lucy and her twin brother Ben, and soon ends up moving into their "arty commune" house. But it becomes clear that everyone has secrets and Abi feels she is being persecuted by someone in the house, especially when she and Ben start dating.

Readable and improbable :)

Hope you’re feeling much better soon @EineReiseDurchDieZeit , and hope you manage to enjoy Strictly tomorrow too (I’m a lurker on those threads and appreciate your work running them - I can’t watch the show as I’m outside the UK so I combine the threads and the guardian blog, and then watch the dances on YouTube on Sundays 😄)

@Piggywaspushed (and others) have you seen that the BBC have adapted Lord of the Flies for TV? Written by Jack Thorne – the writer of Adolescence.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/oct/09/first-images-emerge-from-new-bbc-adaptation-of-lord-of-the-flies

I love Wolf Hall and have read it several times, watched the television adaptation and saw it at the theatre.

The whole series was unputdownable for me (even though you know what's going to happen!)

I knew this was happening but had then forgotten again! Thanks! If he messes with Piggy, I'll be livid...

53 Matilda: Wife of the Conqueror, First Queen of England - Tracy Borman Does what it says on the tin - a life of Matilda, 11th century Flemish count’s daughter (with connections to the French king), who married William the Bastard and ended up as Duchess of Normandy and Queen of England. Interesting history of a woman I knew nothing about - there was necessarily a bit of speculation about her and lots of actual history about her husband, but actually there does seem to be a decent amount of information available about Matilda herself from contemporary sources.

Piggy must be a very difficult role to play, I’d think. Such inner dignity- difficult to convey.

151 Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang
As recommended by @EineReiseDurchDieZeit I struggled through the first half hour of reading this and then- wow! Perfect book slump book. A blending of horror and sci-fi and literary writing that had me unable to put it down for long. Enka and Mathilde become friends at art school and this then develops into an exploration of jealousy, technology and AI, class issues, the impact of capitalism, art and more. Cleverly written this was a great read and bold for me. I’m really enjoying the speculative horror books I’ve read in the last year or two - Annie Bot, The Age of Guilt, Tender is the Flesh and this one. A genre I’m interested to read more in.

Thank you everyone for the comments about Wolf Hall, I’m really glad I know in advance about the He thing, I think it will help.

Congratulations to @GrannieMainland, and sending all good wishes for a speedy recovery to @EineReiseDurchDieZeit.

Glad to see all the Wolf Hall love. I'm another megafan of the trilogy (and indeed most things Mantel), although I was unable to get down to London during the stage run of The Mirror and the Light. I do hope there's another run at some point.