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

Unless her arms were folded over her head, or behind her knees, I would say the position of folded arms could be taken as read

😂😂

I’m slightly tempted by A Land in Winter but it does sound mighty similar in setting, time-frame and mood to Philip Larkin’s A Girl in Winter. Presumably no coincidence.

I think my first classic was Dracula it was on the Year 9 Reading Challenge

217 Heartstone - C J Sansom

5th in the Shardlake series, this book sees Matthew do another favour for Catherine Parr, now Queen, which leads him to Hampshire, Sussex, and eventually the English fleet as the Great Harry, the Mary Rose et al gather to face the French. In the meantime, he sorts out a mysterious case of a troubled wardship, tries to get to the bottom of what put Ellen Fettiplace into Bedlam, gets in Barak’s way as he tries to support Tamasin in late pregnancy and generally makes a nuisance of himself to Richard Rich. A good read.

Did we all read Forever at 14??! Then graduate on to Jackie Collins...

@Terpsichore the airing cupboard was in my bedroom growing up. I spent my days with the door open, sitting on the floor with my back against the hot water tank, reading. Sounds very similar!

As a teenager I devoured a series by John Masters about the First World War. I’m pretty sure they were very unsuitable. And Judith Krantz of course though I was a bit older then.

Yep to Forever, but no to Jackie Collins. Although im sure teen me would have happily devoured it.

Although bits are dated I think Forever is one of the few teen books that deals with sex in a positive way. Sex is seen as something fun and pleasurable for females - not something to be endured to keep a boy happy. Contraception gets sorted. No one gets pregnant or is overcome by angst because they have 'lost their virginity'. In the end, the central character realises it isnt forever and moves on to someone else without too much hand wringing. Happy days. I admit the subplot about the male friend isnt so great though. And yes i did reread it a couple of years ago🙂. I do enjoy loads of teen (sorry young adult) books.

@Piggywaspushed I also agree that YA fiction can be a double edged sword. The style is so easy to digest that 'literary' (for want of a better word) adult books are a big jump. One of the reasons i joined this thread was to try and motivate myself to read at least some 'proper' adult books. I often love them when i get into them, but they require a bit of effort to get started. Like i've said i happily enjoy a teen book, but after a while they can feel a bit unsatisfying. I am also very guilty of doom scrolling on my phone. My concerntration seems a bit shot these days.
I also think the gap between classic children's literature and contemporary stuff can be big. I remember reading old favourites like Tom's Midnight Garden and Charlotte Sometimes to DD during lockdown and the language was miles more complex than modern stuff we read. She wasn't overly impressed with them.
Anyway, im not reading anything at the moment (never mind classics - that i definetely wasnt devouring as a teen). Maybe i should get off my phone ....

@Piggywaspushed Think I read Forever at about 11, but it was at middle school, where I was only 13 for about the last 3 weeks. One of the girls in my 4th year middle school class (equivalent to year 8) brought in two books from her parents' shelves - one by Harold Robbins which I had a turn with, and didn't really like much, and Chances by Jackie Collins, her first book about Lucky Santangelo - I had to borrow Chances from the library - and in those days there was no self-service of course, and everything was on individual cardboard tickets. I had my mum and stepdad's tickets as well as my own, and probably my baby brother's too. 3 different surnames, as I had my dad's name until I was 18, when I switched to mum's surname., between school and university. I'm not sure if I ended up borrowing books on my sister's tickets. It's interesting that the library staff never turned a hair.

I always enjoy the library scenes in my reading, including the ones where young borrowers get policed.

My mum took me to see the film adaptation of Tess at 13. I still remember a scene where blood starts dripping through the ceiling, towards the end. Then of course I had to read it. I'm quite glad I didn't read his other novels until quite a bit later though.

In A Long Way From Verona by Jane Gardam, the 12 year old girl protagonist is found by a librarian reading Jude the Obscure just at the most devastating point of the book, with some description. She's then prevented from reading books from the adult section

I too read all of the Agatha Christies as a teenager, but I think I started when I was about 9 or 10 - it took me a while to find all of them, and I still love her. I also remember reading Jane Eyre and The French Lieutenant's Woman, but I'm pretty sure the latter must have been later than 13.

68 The Hunter by Tana French

I really loved French's Dublin Murder Squad series, but have been less sold on her more recent novels - I thought The Wych Elm and The Searcher (the predecessor to this one) were OK but a bit ponderous. The Hunter feels like a return to form. We are back with Cal, the American ex-cop, and Trey, the wayward teen he looks out for, in Ardnakelty. Trey's much more settled and happy, working with Cal on his carpentry projects - until her feckless father Johnny returns after four years away. Unsurprisingly, Johnny brings trouble with him; an Englishman with relatives from the village, who says he knows where to find gold. Cross meets double-cross and, after a slow, claustrophobic build-up, everyone we care about (and everyone we don't) is trapped in a mess from which there seems to be no escape. As ever with French, characterisation and dialogue are a strength, but here, the slow pace worked with the story, rather than trying my patience. I still prefer the sharpness of the Dublin Murder Squad, but I really enjoyed this.

And Shirley Conran !

I think I missed out as I don't recall reading Forever. Think I went straight from Agatha Christie to Flowers in the Attic, Lace, Princess Daisy etc mixed in with the school reading list.

My teenage reading list is similar to @TimeforaGandT above. Throw in some old-fashioned historical fiction about Richard the Lionheart and Catherine de Medici along with my grandmother’s Georgette Heyers and a few others beyond my age group from her shelves ( Valley of the Dolls, Marjorie Morningstar and The Group are the ones I remember).

I’ve finished a couple more reads both RWYO
180 Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald
Booker winner from (I think) 1979, this tells the story of a community of people living on barges moored along the Thames- most of whom are on the margins of society, though not all. The story focuses on Nenna, a woman separated from her husband and with two daughters. Unfortunately, I found Nenna one of the least interesting of the characters and found her selfish and neglectful of her children (the youngest of whom is supposed to be six but is much older than that in her development and vocabulary I would say). I would have much preferred a closer look at Maurice, or Richard or almost anyone else. It was beautifully written though.

181 The Second Cut by Louise Welsh
This book follows on from my last audio read and is set 20 years after the first. Auctioneer Rilke’s friend JoJo dies of an overdose, but while JoJo did indeed enjoy a party, there’s something about the situation Rilke doesn’t like. I enjoyed this second outing even more than the first- I think there’s a novella coming in the new year so I hope there may be more to come in this series. Again beautifully narrated by Alan Cumming who I could listen to all day.

I was really into James Herbert when I was a teenager. Can’t read the early ones now, too horrible, and the later ones weren’t very good. Clive Barker too. The only Judy Blume I read was Deenie.
I do remember one by Jean Ure called If It Weren’t For Sebastian. Sebastian is a handsome boy with (iirc) schizophrenia.
And of course Tunes For A Small Harmonica by Barbara Wersba, which my Mum intercepted and took back to the library, suggesting some sort of system where books for older children were separate from those for younger children. 11 year old me was mortified, but on the whole Teenage sections in libraries are a jolly good thing ETA: she knew I read quickly, but not exactly how quickly, so I’d already read it.

A very Belated Happy Birthday @TimeforaGandT and @FuzzyCaoraDhubh

122 The House with the Golden Door – Elodie Harper. Book 2 of the Pompeii trilogy.

123 Ruey Richardson – Chaletian - Elinor M Brent-Dyer.

124 A Leader in the Chalet School - Elinor M Brent-Dyer. I’ve just got another 12 to go and that’s the Chalet School finished. The later books are not as good as the earlier ones.

I read Tunes for a Small Harmonica and remember liking it, but I don't remember when, or what it's about now. Another for my growing reread list - I have a copy upstairs.

I think libraries should have a YA section and that they should probably be separated from the children's books - even in the 1980s the central library and my local had teen shelves - central had that section just outside the small children's library, I can't remember about local. My two local branches also do this, so I was taken aback to see that YA books are in the very separate children's area in my borough's central library. Adult fiction and non fiction are on the ground floor. The children's library is on the first floor with some study spaces and the toilets. What if teenagers want to look at whatever might be the modern fiction equivalent of Forever or non fiction about sex/sexuality/whatever else they may have questions on?

The newest Time Police book is in the Kindle daily deals if anyone is waiting for it. Also Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney - I'm no a SR fan but there are some on here. Can't see how to get to the monthly deals yet.

Library design is supposed to take into account that Teen/YA sections shouldn’t be in, or right next to, sections for younger children. It’s usually doable, even in small libraries, but it does take some creative thinking!

There are different books in the Black Friday deals today eg Dominion by C J Sansom so I expect those will become the Dec deals tomorrow (the Nov deals got relabelled black
friday)

Thanks, @SheilaFentiman - I'll have another go tomorrow.

Ah - if you click on the info symbol next to Black Friday deal, it says available to 1 Jan so I think they will all just get rebadged tomorrow!

I am too old for YA to have properly existed as a teen, so I read my mum's John Grisham, Dick Francis and Jeffrey Archer! I also read every Point Horror in the library but mum refused to buy them for me as I read them in about 2 hours flat so apparently that wasn't good value for money!

I have just got December 1st deals (or possibly Black Friday still, who knows?!)

Vince and Joy by Lisa Jewell
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Winter Garden by Kirsten Hannah
The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan

That takes my kindle TBR to 30 and my physical TBR is at 12. So I commit to halving that before I purchase any more. I know it doesn't really matter, but I do love the idea of having a reasonably small pile and the whole world of books to pick from without the pressure of a TBR!

I have got:
Dominion - C J Sansom
Jane Austen: A Life - Claire Tomalin
The Untouchables - John Banville
The Malevolent Eight - Sebastien de Castell (this is for DS1)
Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah

Others that people might like are: The Searcher, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, The Crossing Places, The Hike, The Story of a Heart and The Party (though I have decided against the latter as most of you dislike it!)

I saved Anders de la Motte's Dead of Winter for December as a wintry read. Set in Sweden around Santa Lucia (13th December), it fitted the bill. It's a suitably OTT murder mystery/ past catching up with you/ return to the past type story , similar to his three other seasons book (oddly he wrote Autumn last). I think his summer one is the best because I can recall bits of that plot where the others do blend into one really - End of Summer is also the one chosen for a TV serialisation (I've seen it - it was good). This one is fairly gripping. Not dissimilar to Jane Harper, I guess. As ever, I saw all the twists coming...

I'm enjoying the teen nostalgia fest. I also was a big Agatha Christie fan - I still have about 40 of the Pan paperbacks. I remember raiding my Dad's shelves for Stephen King - great, Harold Robbins - dodgy, and Tom Clancy - bit masculine.
And I remember loving Lace "Which one of you bitches is my mother?"! Then at an all girls boarding school was heavily indoctrinated into Jilly Cooper, Virginia Andrews, Jackie Collins and Danielle Steel. Tbh I'm quite relaxed about what my teens read now as nothing can be as bad as Flowers in the Attic!

Benjamin Markovits in the deals today - I can't really recommend him based on his Booker shortlist but think others enjoyed it a bit more than I did!

And a couple of reviews.

136. Sister of My Heart - Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni. I'm a sucker for an Indian bill and think I bought this a couple of years ago as it's set in Calcutta where I lived when I was young. I
     it's about two sisters who are forced into arranged marriages as their family loses money. There's a touch of magic realism but the main story was so obvious, I should have DNFd.

137. We Do Not Part - Han Kang. This is set in a wintery Korea so could be a good book to read if you like your seasonal books with a lot of historic torture, pain and ghosts amongst the snow, usual Han Kang fare. It's quite odd, but brilliantly written and highlights massacres on the Korean island of Jeju in the 1950s. I'm not quite sure what happened to the main characters, there are various ways the modern day story could be interpreted but i think it will stay with me, and may end up as a bold.