50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Eight

[Southeastdweller]

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

Hahah, I def fancied the St John of Rupert Penry Jones.

The last time I read Jane Eyre was during Covid in a mini book club with my cousins and we regularly ask each other ‘what would Jane do’ when we find ourselves in a moral dilemma - or just a quandary to be honest.

Under some pressure about something superficial with my SiLs recently I almost responded with ‘I am no bird .. no net ensnares me.’ But since their reading solely encompasses captions on Tik Tok I decided it would be lost on them - and prob make me look like a pretentious fool.

But, what would Jane do is quite useful.

Don’t think I have seen that version @AgualusasL0ver - must look out for it!

It’s an old BBC studio version, with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke.

The characterisation was perfect - Dalton was dashing, handsome but a bit rugged. Zelah was pretty but plain as Jane and St John was perfect.

Gosh I do love Jane Eyre, and the awfulness of St John and how close she comes to going along with his schemes fills me with delighted horror!

127. The Specimens by Mairi Kidd

A retelling of the Burke and Hare murders told through women's eyes. I thought this was well done - grim in parts but not revelling in the details. It focuses on two female characters who both have interesting stories, and tries to tell as much of the victims' stories as is known. I enjoyed it despite a few shudders.

I'm not particularly a fan of Jane Eyre - my favourite Bronte novel is by Charlotte's sister Anne, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, though I'm also interested in reading Charlotte Bronte's Villette at some point.

I like Jean Rhys' literary response, Wide Sargasso Sea, published in the 1960s, I think, in which she offers a story about Rochester's first wife, from several points of view but that of Antoinette (called Bertha in Jane Eyre) is the main one.

I've quite recently read and enjoyed another take on the story, Finding Belle by BBC journalist Reeta Chakrabarti, told mainly from the viewpoint of the Rochester character's daughter from his first marriage to a woman from a wealthy Indian family, Bela, known by her husband as Belle. I went to a book event at the Owl bookshop a few months ago to hear Reeta Chakrabarti and Sofka Zinovieff talk about their books, and would recommend both - the SZ novel is Stealing Dad.

105 The House at Seas End by Elly Griffiths

Managed to miss this review. The next book in the Ruth Galloway series. In this one coastal erosion reveals* some *long-buried bones and Ruth is called in to investigate. There are tie-ins with WWII and I found the sections on the fear of a German invasion, particularly in coastal areas, really interesting. Ruth is working with her baby daddy Harry Nelson and is getting closer to his wife too. The mystery was good and I will continue with these but I really don’t like Ruth, she is a right narky one, and I find her pining after Nelson and becoming friendly with his wife really off putting.

107 Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez

I’ve enjoyed two books by this author, but didn’t realise this was a short story when I picked it up (the disadvantages of kindle books). Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of short stories in general, but I think romances in particular, really need that build up, and you just can’t do it in a short story. Also the bombshell dropping midway through the book felt very off, probably because we’d not had time to get used to the character.

108 Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt

This is a crime thriller told through dual timelines, where a podcaster ropes in a cancelled journalist / news anchor to help her to investigate an unsolved murder involving two teenagers. The other timeline follows the original investigator, who happens to be the grandfather of the podcaster. The ending was somewhat ambiguous and the characters weren’t well developed. Not the best.

109 Let’s Make a Scene by Laura Wood

I really enjoyed the last book by this author so snapped this up when it was 99p. This was a lovely, charming romantic comedy about an actor and actress who hated each other when they worked together years ago. Now, because of a series of unfortunate events, they find themselves having to pretend to be romantically involved. As the line between acting and real emotion blur, they both realise how much they have changed and that maybe they don’t actually hate each other at all, and maybe never did. I really enjoyed this one, although the name of the main character, Cynthie, set my teeth on edge.

110 Christmas Fling by Lindsey Kelk

Another fake romance book that I really enjoyed. This one set in Scotland.

111 The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

This is about four women who spent their school days playing a game built around telling lies. Years later one of the four summons the rest of the group back after a body is discovered. This is the second book by this author I have read and I just don’t think she’s for me. Just very obvious, with unlikeable characters and, overall I found it pretty pedestrian.

Regular readers may be bored of me saying this over the years, but I detest The Wide Sargasso Sea.

112 John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie

One of the things I loved most about the Get Back documentary from a few years ago, was the realisation that The Beatles, while still having their ups and downs, loved each other and were enjoying working together much later than was generally thought. This book shows that too, as well as giving insight into the post breakup relationship of John and Paul.

Although this book is one for fans of the Beatles, it is not a book about the Beatles, it is very much an exploration of the creative and personal relationship between John and Paul, using their songs as a loose framework. As a huge fan of the Beatles I have a pretty good grasp of their history but I definitely learned a few things. That said I do think there was a bit of a stretch in some of the interpretations of the author, especially with some of the lyrics, but I liked the way it dealt with some of the myths around John and Paul, including how Paul was cast as the ‘boring straight man’ to John’s avante garde artist persona as part of the canonization of John after her murder. I loved this book, and the insight into John and Paul’s relationship, the ups and downs and the deep, deep love they had for each other, that never really went away. I never stop listening to the Beatles but this has made me go basil and appreciate some of their songs in a different way which I have really enjoyed.

I'm enjoying the St John conversation. As someone who grew up as an evangelical Christian, I was surprised when I read the book as a child that Jane didn't end up with St John (marrying a missionary seemed such a laudable life choice, ha). When I reread the book as an adult (having lost my own childhood aspirations of being a missionary/Bible translator), St John's bullying nature seemed so clear to me. I think it's brilliant the way Bronte showed that religion can sometimes be just another guise of patriarchy. And Jane sees it for what it is, and breaks free.

I know that in some ways Rochester is a Mills & Boon prototype and far from an ideal model of masculinity, but I love the way Jane speaks truth to power throughout the novel.

I thought Wide Sargasso Sea was great too when I read it, but I don't remember it well at all. Jean Rhys herself was an interesting person and quite a troubled one.

@AgualusasL0ver I love your version of the WWJD acronym 😂

@MamaNewtNewt thank you for the review. The Ian Leslie book is one of my Christmas presents to dp this year, I’m sure we will both enjoy it.

42. East West Street by Philippe Sands
Terpsichore reviewed this FOUR years ago and I think others have too, so I’m more than a bit behind in getting to it.
Philippe Sands is a human rights barrister and scholar who went to Lviv in 2010 to give a lecture on crimes against humanity (individuals) and genocide (groups). He took the opportunity to explore the life of his grandfather Leon, born in the city, and the family members lost to the Holocaust, and of the legal scholars Lauterpacht and Lemkin who originated the ideas he was lecturing about, and who also lived and worked there. And Hans Frank, the Nazi Governor General, who ruled the area and was convicted and executed at the Nuremberg Trials using those legal concepts. Sands writes about a huge cast of characters, explored over years of research, with enormous care, including a good friend - Nikolas Frank, Hans’ son. A bold.

Gosh, was it really 4 years, @PermanentTemporary? 😯 Really glad you rated it, though. I do have PS's latest book waiting to be read but it hasn’t swum to the top of the pile yet….nor has John and Paul, also snaffled in the deals, so thanks to @MamaNewtNewt for the reminder!

(PS another St. John loather here. What a humourless plank he was. Even as a 12-year-old racing breathlessly through Jane Eyre for the first time I could totally understand why Jane and Rochester were destined to be together)

I also disliked Wide Sargasso Sea. I read it was compiled from chaotic scraps of paper and that's exactly how it read to me. It's received such praise I feel I must be missing something but it was nearly a DNF for me.

I didn't like Villette either.

I think even as a ?13 year old I clocked that St John must have been hot. And not in the ‘hot priest’ mode, hot because he was incorruptible and a nightmare. No wonder Jane said she would travel with him but not marry him. It is still mind blowing what a thing that was to write in ?1840 (date escapes me).

Even over multiple readings, I still don’t dislike St John. For the world he is living in, I can see why he would believe without question that he was offering something laudable. After all, Jane from his perspective has nobody and no prospects as it stands. In another novel (Ruth, perhaps) or indeed in real life this would probably have been an actual good compromise for someone in her precarious position and I think that is basically what he sees. Yes, he is overbearing, yes, a bully by many standards - but let’s not
forget Rochester thinks he is a victim and stuck Bertha in the atttic and thinks he is a hero (I also suffer with the fact that I fancy Rochester regardless of this fact too).

Wide Sargasso Sea. The problem for me, is I loved Jane Eyre and do not want to
acknowledge more of Rochester’s faults than I have to. I did enjoy it in an academic sense, but I do think it’s a little overhyped.

@elkiedee i do like The Tenant, but I am a Wuthering Heights woman through and through. Yes, it’s mental teenage angst, yes it’s absolutely toxic, yes Nellie
is a shit stirring old bint, yes everyone is as brute and vile. But it BLOWS my mind that someone so young, living the life they lived could write something like this.

I'm sure you're right @AgualusasL0ver about Wide Sargasso Sea being overhyped. For English departments at universities trying to broaden their curriculum and incorporate postcolonial concerns, the Jane Eyre / Wide Sargasso Sea pairing is like a gift for course syllabi (and has been for a long time now).

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
This didn’t have the impact for me that Nickel Boys did, but it’s a decent crime/Black social history mash-up.
Ray Carney is a furniture salesman, having pulled himself up from the negative influence of his crook father, with the help of a supportive family. His wife, Elizabeth, is from the ‘good’ side of town and her parents barely cover their disdain for Ray at times. Freddie is his cousin and hasn’t quite managed to throw off the crim life yet, so Ray engages in a bit of low key fencing. Freddie’s schemes start to drag Ray into situations he’d rather avoid, however and we see that underworld ties, family loyalty and a desire to have just that little bit more for family security have a stronger attraction than Ray would first admit.

This is one of my problems with it. It’s chosen for what it stands for, rather (imo) than for literary merit.

PS: Humourless plank is now my new favourite insult and I’m determined to use it at least twice before breakfast.

Ooh @cassandre, interesting. I’d see Jane’s relationship to religion differently. To me Charlotte is saying clearly that St John sees religion for women very much as ‘he for God, she for God in him’ whereas for Jane as a proper Protestant, her own direct relationship with God arises from her own humanity and full personhood, and is what gives her the moral clarity to reject his plan for her. Though it only occurs to me now that Jane had a vision (?auditory vision? Hallucination?) of the Virgin Mary when fleeing the temptation of hot sex with Mr Rochester, which seems an unusually un-Protestant thing to happen, though probably quite Gondal-friendly. I’ll admit though that Mr Rochester leaves me cold. Possibly because I can’t stand cigar smoke or dangerous drivers. Or because Timothy Dalton, while doing a grand job on telly as Mr R, was simultaneously the voice of Brain’s Faggots#, and I don’t like meatballs either.

#This is not about 80s homophobia, as I had no idea that faggot had any other meaning than meatball at that age.

I'm going back a few pages now but thanks @elkiedee and @nowanearlyNicemum for the Chile recs. I got an Isabel Allende and Sara Wheeler and then Amazon recommended me Bruce Chatwin who is more expensive so added to my wishlist for later.

I did not buy Patricia Brent but I do enjoy when everyone suddenly jumps excitedly on a book!

I have written to an author. For a school project I had to prepare a letter to an author and I wrote something for Brian Jacques (who wrote the Redwall books). My mum who was a librarian made sure we actually sent it off. School didn't seem bothered about if we actually did that bit! He wrote back, I don't remember the details as it was over 30 years ago but I remember being utterly delighted and that he was really sweet. I think it was quite a long letter. Gosh I loved his stories for a very long time!

The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

I picked this up from here in a previous chat about female sci fi writers I think. This is set in space but is definitely soft sci fi and I am just fine with that.

There are many species in this universe all with their own different bodies, ways of communicating and social norms. Most species are part of the Galactic Commons and everyone gets on more or less. Our characters are on a ship that builds tunnels through space and have to go to the outer edge of space for a job.

The crew on the ship fulfil many required stereotypes. A grumpy scientist. A whacky but brilliant tech. New girl who is nervous but everyone loves her. The captain is warm hearted and cares for his crew. The story is a weird blend of fairly obvious characterisation in a really imaginative setting with interesting world building.

Fours stars and it's number one in the trilogy and I've added number two to my wish list.

St John certainly met his match in Jane as he expected her to be more amenable to his suggestion as his sisters would have been. But Jane has always stood up for herself since she was a small child. Not sure whether St John is more affronted that she is rejecting him or God's path for her (as he sees it).

@Terpsichore bit late to the conversation as slowly catching up on the thread, but have just purchased Patricia Bent and it has gone down to 0.00 pence again. Thank you that’s right up my street. Will absolutely watch the film after I have read it too so thanks for sharing

I'm targeting the thinnest of my library books so I can return as many as possible before the next lot of reservations come through.

134. The Children of Green Knowe, Lucy M Boston
Mid-century children's book, as most on here will know. Seven-year-old Tolly goes to stay in his great-grandmother's ancient house and encounters the children who used to live there. I was slightly spooked - I realize how ridiculous this is given the book was aimed at young readers - at the children knowing they died in the Great Plague, but this was undeniably atmospheric and I have the next one on my shelf.

135. The Cure for Good Intentions, by Sophie Harrison
In her late twenties, the author decided to retrain as a doctor and eventually qualified as a GP. I and her younger self both share a rather romantic view of medicine - oh, the longing to feel like an expert who goes around making things better! This was a thoughtful look at what it feels like in real life. Particularly as a GP, you have to tolerate a lot of uncertainty. There's a lot more anxiety about getting it wrong rather than pleased certainty that you've got it right. Well written, as these medical memoirs usually are. (Why do some books get read by everyone and some, just as good or better, don't? Why did everyone read This is Going to Hurt but not this, and, going back to a recent read, why did they read The Outrun but not Swimming with Seals?)

136. At Mrs Lippincote's, Elizabeth Taylor
It's the weary tail-end of World War II, and we follow one household as they settle into temporary accommodation and interact with the people around them: Julia, her husband, his cousin and Julia's young son. There's not much a plot, but about what life feels like inside your head - how a banal conversation can have so many subtexts and unspoken riders.

I love The Children of Green Knowe - I read it every year in the run up to Christmas. I really want to visit the house sometime to see it all in real life.