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

Thanks @Southeastdweller and of course everyone else for the book chat.

I’ll save my list too, but currently:

• about to start Winter by Ali Smith as today is apparently the first day of the season (Kindle)
• A Woman of Substance Barbara Taylor Bradford (whoever has convinced me to use a random number generator is responsible for this). 70% so will be finished soon.
• Tawaifnama non fiction about Indian courtesans/nautch dancers

I’m not sure if I’ll start another audio of Poirot or Marple, I’m not really going anywhere to have much listening time.

Hello all. Nearly Xmas, how on earth did that happen? Nothing useful to add, no more books read - just place marking. Thanks for sorting the new thread @Southeastdweller

Thank you for the new thread @Southeastdweller, I too will post the full list at year end as there may be one or two more to squeeze in first. In the meantime:

64. Bookish - Lucy Mangan

Reviewed on here previously, this is a sequel to Bookworm, and follows Lucy’s life in books from teen to today. So so relatable, I found myself nodding along, laughing and moved in turn with her life and reading. I want to be Lucy Mangan when I grow up (and definitely want her book room). A bold, of course.

I’ve read 86 books this year I’ll not list them all but my favourites were-
strong female character Fern Brady
The Rumour Lesley Kara
The Wasp Trap Mark Edwards
it should have been you Andrea Mara
Someone is Lying Heidi Perks
The Revenge Plot Jackie Kabler
The Housemaid Frieda Mcfadden
Four winds Kristen Hannah
What happens in the dark Kia Abdulah

Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler
I thought I’d read this before, but if so, it’s so long ago that I didn’t recognise it. Continuing my need for ice and snow, this served that purpose but overall I thought was good but not great.

Some great writing, especially about the history of Antarctic exploration. I found it overlong though and would have preferred less Sara Wheeler and less modern science and more historical stuff.

Ooh I’ve never seen these threads but my aim was 25 books as I’ve not read really for years. I will include my list and look forward to following along in the new year ❤️

Books read in 2025

1. Acosf by Sarah j Maas
2. Fairydale by Veronica Lacet
3. Outcast by Lexi Ray
4. Onyx storm by Rebecca Yarros
5. Too busy for love by Phoebe McLeod
6. Fourth wing reread
7. Lights out by navessa Allen
8. The teacher by Freida McFadden
9. The inheritance games by Jennifer Lynn barnes (AB)
10. The Hawthorne legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (AB)
11. The final gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (AB)
12. The reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson
13. Twisted love by Ana Huang
14. Acotar reread
15. Say you’ll remember me by Abby Jimenez (AB)
16. Till summer do us part by meghan Quinn
17. The 6 night truce by Hannah shield
18. By a thread by Lucy score
19. Fallen too far by Abby glines
20. Off to the races by Elsie silver
21. A photo finish by Elsie silver
22. Front runner by Elsie silver
23. A false start by Elsie Silver
24. Flawless by Elsie silver
25. Heartless by Elsie silver
26. Powerless by Elsie silver
27. Reckless by Elsie silver
28. Hopeless by Elsie silver
29. The housemaid by freida McFadden
30. Morally black betrothal by Nicole French
31. Mr fixer upper by Lucy score
32. The Christmas fix by Lucy score
33. The Christmas tree farm by Laurie Gilmore
34. A deal with the bossy devil by Kyra Parsi

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller and merry Christmas to you!

I'm still trying to catch up on reviews (!). I also have several books on the go that I'm hoping to finish by the end of the year, so I'll save my final list for the round-up thread.

As part of my ongoing obsession with the Cuban-Italian writer Alba de Céspedes, I read two of her books which are out of print:

71. Sans autre lieu que la nuit [There Is No Place But the Night], Alba de Céspedes 4/5
    This is her final novel and she wrote it in French instead of Italian; she spent the last years of her life in Paris. I don’t think this novel has been translated into English. It’s an ambitious work: the story follows an array of different characters from many different walks of life, and unfolds over a single night in Paris. The novel shifts frequently from the perspective of one character to the next; sometimes these shifts are signalled by ellipses, but not always, so it’s quite a disorienting read as you try to work out where you are and who is speaking to whom (I don’t think I was always successful in this by the way!). The novel begins and ends with a taxi driver, and the book itself feels like a slightly mad ride through Paris, as you encounter a doctor in a psychiatric hospital and his woman patient, an activist trying to free a man on death row, a priest, an addict, wealthy businesspeople – there are too many characters to list. Not the easiest of reads, but a very interesting one.

72. Between Then and Now, Alba de Céspedes, trans. Isabel Quigly 5/5
    I actually sat and read this novel in the university library because it’s out of print (and the library volume was non-circulating). A beautiful short novel, more like a novella. The heroine is a journalist whose maid suddenly quits. Feminism, politics, money, love, friendship, freedom, inequality: all of de Céspedes’ favourite themes are here, dealt with elegantly and lucidly. The narrative is in the first-person and feels very autobiographical. I loved this and hope an English translation will be re-issued!

73. The Eights, Joanna Miller 3/5
    Book group read. This historical novel is a fictionalised account of four students at St Hugh’s College who are part of the first cohort of women ever to be awarded Oxford University degrees. An enjoyable, well-researched novel, but the students speak and behave much more like students of today than students of 1920.

74. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame 5/5
    Book group read. I’ve read this once before, but this time I appreciated it far more. The characters are great (so many different models of masculinity!) and the writing is sublime.

75. A Quiet Place, Seicho Matsumoto, trans. Louise Heal Kawai 4/5
    Yet another book group read. A crime novel by an author marketed as ‘the Japanese Agatha Christie’. A businessman’s wife dies suddenly, and her bereaved husband gradually discovers that she was leading a secret life. A slow-burning story that gradually builds to a climax. The Japanese cultural context was very interesting; I’d like to read more of this author.

Thanks for the new thread @Southeastdweller to see us through.

I'm adding my list since the last thread - it's been a good couple of months for me reading wise.

121. Joe Country - Mick Herron
122. What We Can Know - Ian McEwan
123. Theft - Abdulrazak Gurnah
124. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
125. Havoc - Rebecca Wait
126. The Driver's Seat - Muriel Spark
127. The Glorious Heresies - Lisa McInerney
128. Stoneyard Devotional - Charlotte Wood
129. Paper Cup - Karen Campbell
130. Memento Mori - Muriel Spark
131. Native Speaker - Chang Rae Lee
132. La Belle Sauvage - Philip Pullman
133. The Secret Commonwealth - Philip Pullman
134. The Rose Field - Philip Pullman
135. Sister Of My Heart - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
136. We Do Not Part - Han Kang, translated by E.Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris
137. Katabasis - R.F. Kuang
138. The Wedding People - Alison Espach
139. The Gathering - Anne Enright
140. Snow Country - Yasunari Kawabata trans by Edward G Seidensticker
141. Buckeye - Patrick Ryan
142. Mothers and Sons - Adam Haslett
143. So long, See You Tomorrow - William Maxwell
144. The Girls Who Grew Big - Leila Motley
145. Patricia Brent, Spinster - Herbert George Jenkins.

The last 10 books I've read particularly all have things to recommend them.

I'm wondering if I can get to 150 by year end - may be choosing my remaing books by length!

@cassandre which Alba de Cespedes novel would you recommend to start? Ideally one in print!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit great review summary of bolds. A Covenant Of Water and My Friends were both bold last year for me and Seascraper will be one this year. Several others on your list I've enjoyed but not quite bold. I need to finish considering mine.

Not sure why my post has ended up in purgatory? It was a list, followed by a review of Flashlight, so nothing controversial. Unless of course the list-haters have really had enough this time ?

How odd. None of your books has the c-word in them , did they? The one that ends with currency. For some reason that word is a red flag. Alarms go off in HQ!

I just finished my fourth- and best- Christmas murder mystery - Murder at Mistletoe Manor by FL Everett. I need to stop reading murder mysteries as I always guess the perpetrator straight away, although this one does have a slight twist. This is much better written than at least two of the others and entertaining. A little long and not short on a few cliches but nicely old fashioned , owing to snowdrifts, no phone signal and no wi fi. Shoehorning in mobile phones never works with the locked room concept. I'd read another by this writer.

70 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Annual re-read. My perfect Christmas book. Even though I know it so well I can practically recite parts of it, I always find something new in it.

@StowickthevastHave you done a list of bolds on either thread ? We do have overlapping taste. I would be keen to look at yours

@Stowickthevast I would go for Forbidden Notebook; it's the first book by her I read and I think it's my favourite. There's No Turning Back is also very good.

@StrangewaysHereWeCome it's weird that your post was hidden; that has only happened to me when I try to link to a blog or something (I think the 'hidden post' function is triggered automatically in this case, not because someone has reported it). In my experience the post is never 'unhidden' 😥Maybe you should try posting again! I want to read your review of Flashlight (that book was a bold for me).

I agree with others that @EineReiseDurchDieZeit 's bold list is great! The one-sentence summaries are masterful. My Friends and Seascraper were bolds for me too. I want to read Purple Hibiscus as I'm a big Chimamanda N. A. fan. I also have Immaculate Conception out of the library on your recommendation, but haven't started it yet.

@cassandre Oh thanks ! I really hope you enjoy Immaculate Conception

😂It wasn’t me!

Lol 😁
I also enjoyed your mini reviews, Eine.

I don’t think I can overstate that the Ling Ling Huang books are the best I’ve read this year.

I actually forgot to do Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley among my bolds but the best one sentence for that is “defies description”

Immaculate Conception is brilliant.
I must read another of hers next year @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

Natural Beauty is up there with it @FuzzyCaoraDhubh

Thank you 🌟

Just putting a link to the round up thread in here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5456766-50-books-challenge-2025-round-up

Aiming to do mine after Christmas - or on New Year's Day! And perhaps a couple more reviews. I have to go and do some more Christmas shopping tomorrow, hoping not to end up in an even bigger panic tomorrow.

234 Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively

Finally finished this on the third attempt (I started afresh each time, it’s not very long). I think in another season this would have been a bold for me, it’s a book that deserves a bit of time set aside and I didn’t quite do it justice on that front.

Anyway. Claudia is a 70-something popular historian and former journalist who was in Cairo during WWII. She is on her death bed looking back over her life, on her own perceptions and those of others, particularly her brother Gordon and daughter Lisa. The viewpoint moves from first to third person as well. Claudia describes this memoir as a kaleidoscopic view of history and that’s a very good description of the swirling text. Won the Booker, shortlisted for the Golden Booker, worth reading.

235 Just One Thing - Dr Michael Mosley

Quick read, based (I think) on the late Dr M’s podcast of the same title. Suggestions of good habits to get into throughout the day (reading 30 mins a day being one of them 😀) for health and wellbeing. Perfectly fine suggestions, will incorporate a few.

Let's have another go
54.Flashlight by Susan Choi. 10 year old Louisa has recently returned to the USA, her mother Ann’s country, from Japan, where the family had been living during her father’s sabbatical there. Her father Serk had been born in Japan shortly after the war to ethnically Korean parents. Louisa has been referred to a psychiatrist following her father’s sudden death. Louisa herself was found unconscious following a trip to a Japanese beach. Serk, a non swimmer, is missing, presumed drowned, but Louisa maintains a bizarrely stubborn insistence that he was kidnapped.

What follows is a multigenerational saga that moves back and forth in time to look at Serk and Ann’s childhoods through to Louisa’s adulthood. The main theme appears to be of alienation - from one’s culture, through exile, through family separation, through disability and chronic illness. The three main characters are complex and not immediately easy to like, which makes them very believable. There’s a lot going on plot-wise, and I think at times it became a little bit tangential, with for example a lot of time spent on Louisa’s travels as a young adult that didn’t bring much interest or insight. It was excellent nonetheless, although I was glad I’d read Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy earlier this year as I think I got more from Flashlight for having a tiny bit of background on life under the regime in North Korea. A bold.