50 Books Challenge 2025 Part Nine

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the ninth and final thread of the 50 Books Challenge for this year.

The challenge was 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 , the seventh thread here and the eighth thread

Checking in. Thanks for the final thread @Southeastdweller

Part nine! Thank you @Southeastdweller. Is this the highest number of threads in a year so far, or have there been busier years?

I think we got up to ten or eleven one year (I was looking on some old threads recently to find some old reviews).

Thank you @Southeastdweller 🎄🎄

Thanks for the new thread southeast. Here’s my list since the last thread.

86 The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
87 The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
88 The Love Interest by Victoria Walters
89 The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths
90 The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey
91 The Awakening by Kate Chopin
92 Ask For Andrea by Noelle W Ilhi
93 Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
94 Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
95 Just Say Yes by Maxine Morrey
96 The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier
97 The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
98 Count to Three by TR Ragan
99 Her Perfect Family by Theresa Driscoll
100 The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
101 Out of Time by Jodi Taylor
102 Never Lie by Frieda McFadden
103 The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
104 Upgrade by Blake Crouch
105 The House at Seas End by Elly Griffiths
106 The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
107 Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez
108 Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt
109 Let’s Make a Scene by Laura Wood
110 Christmas Fling by Lindsey Kelk
111 The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
112 John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie
113 Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea
114 The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
115 Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez
116 The Prodigal Hour by Will Entrekin
117 Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Thanks for the new thread Southeast and for keeping us on track all year.
And thanks to all the 50Bookers for your company throughout the year on the nicest thread on MN. May your Christmas be filled with nice things to read.

Im going to complete the year by continuing my read through of Maeve Binchy and listening to John and Paul - A love Story in Songs on Audible.

1. The Zone Of Interest by Martin Amis
2. Valley Of The Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
3. The List by Yomi Adegoke
4. Here In The Dark by Alexis Soloski
5. Mistborn : The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
6. True Grit by Charles Portis
7. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
8. The Eyes Are The Best Part by Monika Kim
9. My Friends by Hisham Matar
10. Polo by Jilly Cooper
11. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
12. The Unfinished Harauld Hughes by Richard Ayoade
13. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
14. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
15. There There by Tommy Orange
16. Rogues : True Stories by Patrick Radden Keefe
17. The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
18. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
19. The House Of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
20. The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
21. Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley
22. The Secret Lives Of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
23. Good Material by Dolly Alderton
24. The Coast Road by Alan Murrin
25. A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown
26. A Very Private School by Charles Spencer
27. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea
28. The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
29. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
30. A Pocketful Of Happiness by Richard E Grant
31. Outside The Door by Jane Casey
32. Still Life by Sarah Winman
33. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
34. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths
35. The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths
36. Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
37. The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths
38. The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths
39. The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths
40. Firebrand by Elizabeth Fremantle
41. Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald
42. The God Of The Woods by Liz Moore
43. Long Bright River by Liz Moore
44. Him by JD Kirk
45. Slow Horses by Mick Herron
46. The War Of The Worlds by HG Wells
47. Yes Ma’am by Tom Quinn
48. Dead Lions by Mick Herron
49. Real Tigers by Mick Herron
50. The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet
51. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
52. The Moon’s A Balloon by David Niven
53. Death At The Sign Of The Rook by Kate Atkinson
54. In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
55. Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates
56. Pearl by Siân Hughes
57. All Fours by Miranda July
58. Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
59. The Power Of The Dog by Thomas Savage
60. The Secret Room by Jane Casey
61. Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
62. The Echoes by Evie Wyld
63. Geneva by Richard Armitage
64. Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey
65. Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
66. The Story Of A Heart by Rachel Clarke
67. Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
68. The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
69. Conclave by Robert Harris
70. Unruly by David Mitchell
71. All The Lovers In The Night by Mieko Kawakami
72. From Here To The Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keogh
73. Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll
74. Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner
75. The Trees by Percival Everett
76. Klara And The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
77. Black and British by David Olusoga
78. Maps Of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
79. Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
80. Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid
81. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen
82. She Speaks by Harriet Walter
83. This Immaculate Body by Emma Van Straaten
84. Murder At Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd
85. Isola by Allegra Goodman
86. The Peepshow by Kate Summerscale
87. I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
88. Pretend I’m Dead by Jen Beagin
89. The Bastard Of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
90. Evenings And Weekends by Oísin McKenna
91. Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
92. Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
93. A Book Of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates
94. My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner
95. Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
96. Part Of Your World by Abby Jimenez
97. Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
98. What A Way To Go by Bella Mackie
99. Just For The Summer by Abby Jimenez
100. On The Calculation Of Volume 1 by Solvej Balle
101. On The Calculation Of Volume 2 by Solvej Balle
102. She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clarke
103. Audition by Katie Kitamura
104. Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker
105. A Killing In November by Simon Mason
106. Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
107. Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang
108. After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell
109. Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
110. Loved One by Aisha Muharrar
111. So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
112. The Covenant Of Water by Abraham Verghese
113. The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
114. The Long Walk by Stephen King
115. The Running Man by Stephen King
116. Human Acts by Han Kang
117. Unsticky by Sarra Manning
118. Shy by Max Porter
119. Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell
120. Light A Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
121. Entitled: The Rise And Fall of The House Of York by Andrew Lownie
122. Sky Daddy by Kate Folk
123. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
124. Precipice by Robert Harris
125. Heartwood by Amity Gaige
126. Day by Michael Cunningham
127. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
128. On The Calculation Of Volume 3 by Solvej Balle
129. Awake by Jen Hatmaker
130. Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Thanks, @Southeastdweller I'm hoping to finish one more tonight.

Thanks to southeast for the thread another good year I’m finished now and I think I’ll do mini reviews of all my bolds in a minute.

Place marking on the last thread of the year!

Thank you @Southeastdweller

I am on book 234 of the year (my third attempt at Moon Tiger) so I won’t do a full list here!

List from 201 to 233!

1. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton (P)
2. The Other Valley - Scott Alexander Howard
3. Sinners - Elizabeth Fremantle
4. Gentlemen and Players - Joanne Harris
5. The Martian - Andy Weir
6. blueeyedboy- Joanne Harris
7. Summerwater - Sarah Moss
8. Anne Boleyn - Norah Lofts
9. A Life of my Own - Claire Tomalin
10. Different Class - Joanne Harris
11. The Honey and the Sting - Elizabeth Fremantle
12. How To Be A Woman - Caitlin Moran (P)
13. Samuel Johnson is Indignant - Lydia Davis (P)
14. Ink Blood Sister Scribe - Emma Törzs
15. Bloody Scotland - various
16. Hags - Victoria Smith
17. Heartstone - C J Sansom
18. Play It Again - Alan Rusbridger
19. Lamentation - C J Sansom
20. Wintering - Katherine May
21. Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
22. The Book of Guilt - Catherine Chidgey
23. Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip - Simon Hart
24. Dear Dickhead - Virginie Despenses (P)
25. The Little House - Philippa Gregory (P)
26. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse - David Mitchell
27. The Wise Woman - Philippa Gregory
28. The Glorious Dead - Justin Myers
29. Meltdown: Scandal, Sleaze and the Collapse of Credit Suisse - Duncan Mavin
30. Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan
31. No Friend to this House - Natalie Haynes
32. Immaculate Conception - Ling Ling Huang
33. The Best of Everything - Kit de Waal

My Friends by Hisham Matar

The Lives of 3 Libyan exiles intertwine in London from the 1980s onwards

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

A man buys a robot that looks like his ex girlfriend for sex and household chores. Things don’t go according to plan

A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown

A potted history of the Late HMQ covering those who met her.

A Very Private School by Charles Spencer

Diana’s brother the Earl recollects abuse and neglect at the prep school he attended

Shakespeare : The Man Who Pays The Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea

Judi recollects various roles on stage playing Shakespeare’s women

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Achede

A young Nigerian girl struggles with the demands of an overbearing father

Outside The Door by Jane Casey

A short look into the Kerrigan and Derwent universe

The God Of The Woods by Liz Moore

A young girl goes missing during a summer camp. The catch? Her brother went missing in the same woods and was never found.

Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens

A ghost haunts a building occupied by Chopin and his lover George Sand

The Secret Room by Jane Casey

Not the finest mystery to be solved but plenty of Kerrigan and Derwent action!

Our London Lives by Christina Dwyer Hickey

Two young Irish people meet in London as their lives and the city around them change over time

The Story Of A Heart by Rachel Clarke

Utter tearjerker about organ transplants for children

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

A young pianist is offered a job in a high end beauty organisation - but is something sinister afoot?

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue

A young woman who hates her job accidentally insults a coworker and is put on probation, but a mistake is made and instead of being given restricted access she is given full admin access and can see everyone’s emails and chats. What will she do?

My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner

The actors story of survival after he was crushed by a snow plough on New Years Day

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood

A young man in dreary circumstances gets a shot in the arm when he is visited by a film maker

Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang

Two young women become friends at art school. Can tech be used to help the talented yet vulnerable and if so how far should it go?

The Covenant Of Water by Abraham Verghese

A sprawling Indian family saga

The Long Walk by Stephen King

In a dystopian world a group of selected young men walk for their lives

Unsticky by Sarra Manning

A recently dumped young woman is given a business proposal by a wealthy man

Light A Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy

Elizabeth is sent to Ireland for the duration of the war and lives with the family of Aisling, the two girls develop an enduring bond

And those are my bolds. If I had to force anyone to read one if would be either of the Ling Ling Huang books

Thank you @Southeastdweller 🎄🎄 for the new thread.

A continuation from me - I finally got a bold! Also debating bolding Dombey & Son.

69 Night Train to Lisbon - Pascal Mercier trans Barbara Harshav
70 A Short History of Russia - Mark Galeotti
71 The Wife - Sigrid Unset trans Tiina Nunnally
72 The Hallmarked Man - Robert Galbraith
73 The Imitiable Jeeves - PG Woodhouse
74 King Stakh's Wild Hunt - Uladzimir Karatkevich
75 Winter - Ali Smith
76 The Anna Karenina Fix - Viv Groskop
77 Scattered Minds - Gabor Mate
78 The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams
79* *Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow- Gabrielle Zevin
80 Things in Nature Merely Grow - Yiyun Lee
81 The Cross - Sigrid Unset trans Tiina Nunnally
82 The Snowdonia Killings - Simon McCleave
83 Preventable - Derva Shira
84 Breaking Through - Katalin Kariko
85 Dombey & Son - Charles Dickens
86 There are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak

I have six books on my list to finish by the end of the year as part of various challenges but not sure I will make it!

Thanks as always southeast

Saving lists and roundups for the end of the month.

Here's what I'm reading at the moment in various different formats. I'm pretty sure I'll finish at least a couple of these by the 31st.

• Audible : Learn Italian (for beginners) – Paul Noble and Financial Joy - Ken & Mary Okoroafor. Won't finish either of these any time soon as they are best taken as daily bite-sized instalments for me.
• Kindle : Christmas Pudding - Nancy Mitford - hoping to finish this during (my non-driving shifts 😂of) our 10-hour car journey north to the Loire Valley for Christmas and follow on with Small things like these - Claire Keegan.
• Physical : Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith (racing through this) and There are rivers in the sky – Elif Shafak which I'm taking at a more leisurely pace and really savouring

Thanks for the new thread Southeastdweller!

I'm reading Precipice by Robert Harris at the moment and am enjoying it.

Been a bit rubbish both at reading and at keeping up with the thread. Here's my list:

1 Winter Swimming - Dr Susanna Søberg
2 The Story of Art Without Men – Katy Hessel
3 Mr Loverman – Bernadine Evaristo
4 We Solve Murders – Richard Osman
5 City of Destruction – Vaseem Khan
6 Girl A – Abigail Dean
7 The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas
8 Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World – Mark Aldridge
9 Black Butterflies – Priscilla Morris
10 Portrait of a Marriage – Nigel Nicolson
11 The Sibyl in her Grave – Sarah Caudwell
12 The Dispossessed – Ursula Le Guin
13 Dark Wives – Ann Cleeves
14 The House of Doors - Tan Twan Eng
15 A Mouth full of Salt – Reem Gaafar
16 One of the Good Guys – Araminta Hall
17 Ghost Wall – Sarah Moss
18 Goodbye to Berlin – Christopher Isherwood
19 Why we Swim – Bonnie Tsui
20 Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid
21 Happiness – Aminatta Forna
22 Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent – Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea
23 Queen Macbeth – Val McDermid
24 Mad Honey – Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
25 In a Lonely Place – Dorothy B. Hughes
26 The Anxious Generation – Jonathan Haidt
27 The In-Between – Christos Tsiolkas
28 When the Dust Settles – Lucy Easthope
29 The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden
30 Excellent Women – Barbara Pym
31 The Death of Us – Abigail Dean
32 Rural Hours: the Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann – Harriet Baker
33 Lolly Willowes – Sylvia Townsend Warner
34 The Transgender Issue – Shon Faye
35 White Tears/Brown Scars – Ruby Hamad
36 Latitudes of Longing – Shubhangi Swarup
37 Abundance – Amit Majmudar
38 The Thirteen Clocks – James Thurber
39 Childhood – Tove Ditlevsen
40 Youth – Tove Ditlevsen
41 Dependence – Tove Ditlevsen
42 Young Jane Young – Gabrielle Zevin
43 On Looking – Alexandra Horowitz
44 Ru – Kim Thuy
45 Deadly Animals – Marie Tierney
46 Swim London – Joe Minihane
47 Butter – Asako Yuzuki
48 A Touch of Silk – Caro Fraser
49 Wild Geese – Soula Emmanuel
50 Clown Town – Mick Herron
51 The Suspect – Rob Rinder
52 The Protest – Rob Rinder
53 Haven’t You Heard? Gossip, Politics and Power – Marie Le Conte
54 The Family Upstairs – Lisa Jewell
55 None of this is True – Lisa Jewell
56 Private Revolutions – Yuan Yang
57 Without Prejudice – Nicola Williams
58 Until Proven Innocent – Nicola Williams
59 Killer Instinct – Nicola Williams
60 The Girl in Cell A – Vaseem Khan
61 Austral - Carlos Fonseca
62 The Fall of the Red Wall - Steve Rayson
63 My Favourite Mistake - Marian Keyes
64 Orbital – Samantha Harvey
65 Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil – Oliver Darkshire
66 The Land in Winter – Andrew Miller
67 Raising Hare – Chloe Dalton
68 The Hunter – Tana French

And my latest read:

69 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Lara tells her three adult daughters the story of her youthful relationship with a now-famous actor whilst they all spend a Covid summer confined to the family farm. This is a slow-paced story and not a great deal happens, but it creates a wonderful sense of youth and life, contrasted with Lara's adult perspective on her relationship. The tone is elegiac and the effects of the passage of time, particularly on Lara's former lover, are quietly devastating. I am a Patchett fan and this is a good one.

Now on my annual Christmas re-read of The Dark is Rising, and looking forward to a little more reading time over the coming days.

Excellent reviewing Eine 😀

Thank you for our last thread of the year SouthEast
I doubt I’ll finish any more now so my final list is:

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
25. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace-Thackeray
26. Bookworm by Lucy Mangan
27. The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
28. Mixtape by Jane Sanderson
29. Clown Town by Mick Heron
30. In Memoriam by Alice Winn
31. Instructions For A Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
32. Private - Keep Out by Gwen Grant
33. Just Kids by Patti Smith
34. Dombey & Son by Charles Dickens

And my latest:

#35. Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders
This is my second or third attempt at this.
It’s unlistenable as an audio book because of all the the quoted references, some real some fictional, and I nearly didn’t make it through this hard back that I found in an hotel swaps bookcase. I pushed on through because it’s been well reviewed and is a Booker Prize Winner.
I’m glad I’ve finally read it. It’s certainly experimental in style, probably too much so for me, but the central idea of Lincoln’s son being caught between death and the afterlife, pinned in The Bardo by his fathers grief, is a great conceit. I enjoyed the contradictory quotes showing different interpretations of events and the central ghostly narrators who told their own origin stories, I was less taken with the myriad of ancillary ghostly voices that added little to the plot.

I really enjoyed this explanation of how to read the book by its author on YouTube which I think helps anyone who’s struggled to get into the novel:

Thanks for the thread @Southeastdweller! I’m not going to add a list as I’ll save that for the final round-up - I’m still going and expect to finish another 3 before the year's end. Currently reading Nina Stibbe's Reasons to be Cheerful and DH is baffled by my regular loud snorts of laughter.

Thanks for the thread @Southeastdweller ! I’ll save my list for the end of the year 😊

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller. I’m also still hoping to finish a few more before the end of the year.

Cheers I’m done for the year now and I’m on a break

Thank you @Southeastdweller for managing this joyful place. 🎄

Thanks for the new thread southeast! Will save my list for the end of the year - still hoping to finish a couple more.