50 Books a Year - The 2025 Challenge

#8 The Killing Room by Peter May

10 Conclave - Robert Harris

Another really good one from Robert Harris. The Conclave of the title is when The College of Cardinals gather to elect a successor to the Pope who has just died. The procedure is conducted in complete secrecy, where they are locked in and no outsider can be present. Related in the first person voice of Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli , as Dean of the College of Cardinals has the responsibility of overseeing the Papal Conclave. The book is essentially about the unsuitability of some of the candidates who are in the fore of the running and their back stories in describing some of the more unpleasant aspects of their characters. Mostly those who want the position the most, are lacking in the qualities that any spiritual leader should possess, contrasted by Lomeli' who would be worthy and his own conflicted feelings in being a highly favourable candidate amongst his peers, but not wanting the position at all. It's a highly involved procedure which excludes any female presence (but of course) except for the nuns who wait on the Cardinals at meal times etc. The plot is too involved to describe in a few lines but it does have a killer twist at the end, I didn't see it coming, but if it were true and not hypothetical would have seismic repercussions for the catholic church.

I do remember Conclaves being described at my school and not fully understanding them, the lines of reality having been blurred by the nuns who taught us, claiming the colour of the smoke coming out of the Sistine Chapel chimney which has to be white signals the outcome of who the Papal enclave had chosen was an act carried out by God, when in fact it was the burning of the numerous ballot papers involved in the process, with some chemical or other added to give the smoke its white appearance. Maybe slightly more interesting to those who have had a connection to the catholic religion.

I am very behind posting about the books l have read this year and have lost count. I think l have read ten books so far, virtually all nonfiction. I have also been reading books in tandem with another one. At present I am quite a way through Engel's England, by Matthew Engel. Each county has its own chapter and is very interesting. Very sadly, Matthew Engel's son died and so he has pledged to light a light a candle in each cathedral in memory of his son. The other book l am reading is Simon Parke's transcription of Julian of Norwich. She describes her life and why she became an anchoress in Norwich cathedral. It is absolutely fascinating, as she lived through the Black Death, sadly losing most of her family to the disease, and her description of fourteenth century Norwich is colourful and as fresh as if it were written yesterday. I am originally from just outside Norwich and can recognise the places nearly eight hundred years after she wrote about them.

Sara1954 that was an entertaining review of I Know It's You and I think you've convinced me not to read/listen to it, if I come across it. 😁

12-Beating About The Bush- M C Beaton
Another Agatha Raisin investigation, which is very up to date, the murder taking place in an electric car battery factory. This was certainly not as silly as some of her previous books, and had a better story line as well.

No 2 The Bookseller of Inverness by SG MacLean. This is an historical crime novel (I think - never quite sure of genres!) set just after the Battle of Culloden. I am hopeless at following clues but enjoyed it anyway.

I must have read more than two books so far this year, though my mind has been distracted so maybe I’ve forgotten the others.

I loved Bloodline, but like all his books.

Book 6: Maxwell's Academy by M J Trow -Another great entry in a wonderful series. Mad Max is an inspiring ,eccentric teacher and not a bad detective either.

Book 7: I, Richard Plantagenet : The prequel :part1. The Road from Fotheringhay by J.P.Reedman- Excellent read. Fast paced and illuminating about King Richard's early life while separated from his family. His experiences up North were very interesting in terms of his development and friendships made while there. There are two more books about him in the series.

9. The Seven, Robyn Delvey
Set around the trial of seven members of a ruthless cult who’ve infiltrated and attacked a glittering West End celebration of the theatre world attended by the rich and fabulous, many of whom end up dead or seriously injured. Eve is a young lawyer brought in by the CPS to sift through evidence boxes and check that nothing was missed. Moving between the present trial and the past atrocity, this was a good read and I look forward to the next in the series.

10. We Solve Murders, Richard Osman
People tend to love him or hate him, and I’m more in the first camp. Not one of his Murder Club series, I found it hard to get into at first - too many characters and changes of venue and perspective. Once I established who was who and what was happening, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I appreciate Richard Osman’s humour and sly observances, and the sort of character who frets that having to kill a man in Dubai makes him risk missing his local pub quiz appeals to me.

13-Trial and Retribution II/Alibi-Lynda La Plante
What a story this is! Gruesome and graphic but it's unputdownable. Three women violently attacked, but only one survives. Three men admit guilt, but one confidently pleads his innocence. Can the survivor help the police ?

#8 White Silence Jodi Taylor.
First in the Elizabeth Cage series, it is a very good supernatural thriller. Elizabeth is a quiet dowdy housewife who tries hard to melt into the background; she is happy with her life with husband Ted. She is not ordinary however; she sees people's colours (auras) and can look at somebody and know all about them but doesn't know who she is. After a tragic event her peaceful life changes. I enjoyed this book very much and intend to read the next one soon.

#8 My cousin Rachel - Daphne du Maurier. Book group, we had a 1 hour discussion about it; the three men enjoyed it, rather than heart-sink!
#9 Mother’s Boy - Patrick Gale. Another charming book by Gale, a loose biography of the Cornish poet Charles Causeley.

#9 was The Artist’s Widow by Shena Mackay. This book revolves around the life of Lyris Crane, her friends and relations. Lyris is the widow of a distinguished artist and is an artist herself. There is a cast of various characters, including great nephew Nathan, who is an aspiring conceptual artist and thoroughly unpleasant young man, his ex-girlfriend Jackee who has rather lost her way in life and Zoe, a feminist documentary maker who wants to include Lyris in a film she is making. It’s set over the hot summer of 1997. The various characters and their connections were a bit confusing at first, but as the book’s only 170 pages, they all started to come together quite quickly and I enjoyed it. 7/10

#10 was Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent. I was delighted to see another book by the author of Strange Sally Diamond, but the minute I started reading it, I had that “I’ve read this before” feeling. Sure enough, I had a copy from lovereading.com to review 10 years ago when it was first released. Fortunately, it was long enough back, that I couldn’t remember it in detail, I thoroughly enjoyed it 2nd time around and read it in a day. 8/10
Alice and Oliver seem blessed in their marriage and successful working partnership, until one evening after supper, Oliver attacks Alice leaving her in a coma. Afterwards, as everyone tries to make sense of his astonishing act of savagery, Oliver tells his story. So do those who have crossed their paths over 5 decades.

I loved My Cousin Rachel and also Mother's Boy,
grandMattie. Both very good books.

11 Unravelling Oliver - Liz Nugent (Audible)

Snap AliBeeee! and I agree I also thoroughly enjoyed it, I would recommend it to anyone who was wowed by her excellent "Strange Sally Diamond" and do wonder why her books seemed to have been somewhat under the radar, until her considerable success with Sally Diamond. As described by AliBeeee up thread. The setting is Dublin, the narrative initially revolves around the marriage of Alice and Oliver, and as to why Oliver attacks his gentle and kind wife. Alice brings some baggage with her, a house and a disabled brother, Eugene who Oliver despises and arranges for him to be put in residential care. Oliver, now a successful author of children's book which Alice illustrates has a multi layered and troubled back story which involves the circumstances in how he came into the world, a previous relationship with Laura, the love of his life, their time spent working in France helping with the harvest at a rural chateau and the catalyst that was to destroy their relationship. A definite page turner, or would have been if I'd had the physical book.

I have not counted up the number of books I have read so far this year but I guess about 20.

I am reading 'Everything is Everything' by Clive Myrie at the moment which he wrote in 2022. His views on America, pre second Trump term, are very damning. He reported from America for many years and is very critical of their gun laws to put it mildly. It is a very interesting book and I have nearly finished it.

I recently finished 'Found' by Erin Kinsley which, quite honestly, was a bit rubbish. 'Still Missing' by Beth Gutcheon tackles a similar subject without becoming trite and cliched.

12 You are Here - David Nicholls

Having loved "Sweet Sorrow" I was eager to read this latest one, which I'm sad to say I found quite a disappointment, although like "One Day" I could quite see it could have the potential to be filmic.

It's a slow burner involving the characters of Michael an early 40s Geography teacher and Marnie late 30s who is a freelance editor of trashy books. Both have failed marriages, Marnie to Neil, a partner who was far from ideal, and in Michael's case to his great love Natasha who his still holds a flame for, their marriage that foundered when the much desired baby eludes them. Michael enjoys solitary walking and when mutual friend, Deputy Head Teacher Cleo invites best friend Marnie on a walking holiday in the Lakes she initially refuses, but is eventually persuaded. There is initially a lack of chemistry between the two but eventually a slow growing attraction emerges, although Michael, full of regret, still hasn't let go of the feelings he has for his soon to be ex -wife. The walks are carried out in constant rain and for the uninitiated to walking such as Marie it is an incredibly unappealing experience.. The book just lacked something for me, it didn't have the bitter/sweet quality that "Sweet Sorrow" had in spades both poignant and funny. Marnie was the intended comedian of the piece, but her constant bending over backwards to be funny often missed the mark for me and I just found her irritating and Michael somewhat morose.. There was also a disappointing damp squib of an ending. I think some would love it, I'm definitely out of step with the majority opinion from the reviews I've read, it just didn't do it for me.

Oh dear. I've been waiting months for this at the library and now it's "in transit" so will probably be able to pick it up soon.

Sparklefizz don't let me put you off, my opinion and definitely swimming against the tide on the general consensus. My oh read it before me and really liked it so I did wonder what I was missing. Let us know your thoughts though, I'd be interested to read them.

14-Granny Dan-Danielle Steel
She was a cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper. Inside was a pair of old ballet shoes, a gold locket and a bundle of letters tied with ribbon. The granddaughter discovers there was a story waiting to be told.

Book 16, Black and Blue, a Rebus book by Ian Rankin. I know it`s several years since the TV series, but I still picture Ken Stott in my mind`s eye when I read the books.

Book 10
Home - Marilynne Robinson
Why have I never come across this writer before? This is the loveliest book I have read in a very long time.
Late fifties, small town America, the reverend is ill, and soon to die, his youngest daughter Glory, after a broken relationship comes home to care for him, in the big old house where she grew up with her seven siblings, a childhood of love and happiness.

Jack, one of her brothers was a troubled boy, never quite fitting in with the family, guilty of small indiscretions, until he gets a young girl pregnant and disappears for twenty years.

Jack returns to his old home, he hardly knows Glory, the age difference was too big for them to have ever been close, he is an alcoholic, his relationship is in ruins, he’s been to prison, but he’s a genuinely good man who has gone wrong

Glory and Jack became close, the old Reverend is so happy he’s there, a life of gentle domesticity begins to take place, but with Jack, troubles are never far away

This book is almost unbearably sad, so beautifully written that I often went back to reread a section.

Just perfect

Book 8: Regina: The Queens who Could have been by Emily Murdoch Perkins. What queens would England have had if first born daughters, not sons, had inherited the throne?

Sara1954 That book sounds great. I'll add it to my list.

Sparklefizz, please do, it’s a lovely read, I’m still thinking about it.