50 Books a Year - The 2025 Challenge

I have not ventured to post on here before but I have read many recommendations. I have just finished Elif Shafak’s rather strange novel ‘Five Minutes and 38 Seconds in this Strange World’. Hard to get into but very good. I have previously read her other books and enjoyed them.

Tge book is about the life of an Instambul prostitute, Leila, and her friends, Leila is murdered and the time is the period after her heart has stopped beating but her brain is not completely dead. Very weird bt a compelling read and very well written.

I finished ‘Strange Sally Diamond’ a few days ago. It started promisingly enough a sort of Irish ‘Eleanor Olliphant’ but then became quite dark and tense featuring paedophilia, incest, rape, torture and I found it unsettling. I almost gave up on it to be honest but as it’s our book club read for next month, I persevered. Wish I hadn’t. The concluding chapters were a car crash of unbelievable happenings. Hey ho.

I’m now reading book no.3
Anne Tyler’s latest novel, released only last week. “Three Days In June”.
Only 173 pages (just over 3 hours on my Kindle).
I’m sure this read will comfort me - my anxiety in the next couple of days will be heightened.

I`m glad I`m not the only one to struggle with Strange Sally Diamond. I very nearly packed it in a couple of times, but glad I persevered, I hate giving up on a book.
Book 21, Sidetracked, by Henning Mankell. It`s my first ever Wallender book, I`ve never even seen the TV series.

Reading through books people are reading . Doesn't seem to be anyone who likes fantasy.
Have been through stages in my life reading from Nancy Drew, historical fiction,Agatha Christie and other murder mystery authors . Romance but not Mills & Boon and books without happy ever after. Horror James Herbert was my favourite. Then after my husband died 21 years got into fantasy vampires,werewolves etc with plenty of action ,sex and good story lines and books in series. Have my favourite authors.

But have read Richard Osman Thursday murder club which I enjoyed and the first 2 Dust books by Philip Pullman better than the original 3 but they where written 20 years ago. Still waiting for publication of the final Dust book.

I am 66 . Would be nice to see if anyone else likes fantasy and or sci fi. It's why I don't join book clubs they never read things I would like.

Hi Whiff If you give a brief synopsis of your favourite fantasy novel, someone may read it and feel inclined to read it themselves.

I've found some terrific books "reviewed" on this thread which I've reserved from the library as I like the sound of them.

17-The Wishing Well-Anna Jacobs
A lovely relaxing story about a widow who moves back to England after her husband is killed in a car crash. Laura has a busy life with two grown children and parents and sister with health issues.
This is a very relatable story about life's challenges and how they ca be overcome.

#20. The Housemaid Is Watching by Freda McFadden.

Hi everyone, I’ve just read through from the start and wasn’t going to join until I saw Whiff’s post! 😁

I’m an SF&F bookworm, not into horror, graphic torture/sex etc., or much paranormal, but manage to have 2-4 books on the go in a week.
I think I’ve read a book a week so far this year, so is it okay to join and share the SF love?

Hi Whiff! Quite a few years ago now, I was very keen on books by Dean Koontz, have you ever read him? However, after a few years I tired of them and went back to straight thrillers.

Book 12
Songbirds - Christy Lefteri

I found this book disturbing in several ways, first of all, the poaching of the songbirds was horrible, I presume it’s a real thing, but it’s unbelievably cruel, and the description of someone eating one, made me heave.

Secondly, it’s the 21st century, I didn’t realise that you could still ‘own’ a maid, I get why so many want to leave their homeland to earn money, but when they arrive in their new country, they are little more than slaves, and the recurring updates on the decomposing hare I found really unpleasant.

The story is about Nisha, a maid from Sri Lanka, who leaves her child to raise someone else’s child, it’s not until she disappears that her employer, Petra, realises how important to her daughter Nisha has become, and how everything falls apart without her.

It’s sad, but mostly it made me angry that poaching, and exploitation of young women still seems commonplace in a civilised country.

12. Sweet Sorrow, David Nicholls

A coming of age novel about the summer of love shared by troubled teen Charlie and his first love, Fran. Their backgrounds and interests are very different, but when Charlie joins an amateur dramatics group to get closer to Fran, he discovers a lot about himself. It’s an endearing story, and I’d recommend it.

As an aside, I’m so glad that sara1954 persuaded me to watch Netflix’s One Day after I’d read the book by the same author. I loved it, even though I was a snivelling wreck by the end. So thank you, sara!

Hi Whiff I’ve read The Stand and The Dead Zone by Stephen King, both great books, as well as Herbert’s The Fog- which scared the hell out of me as I was a teen whose Mum used to have occasional lunches at the Post Office Tower!
What’s your favourite fantasy book?

Maggiemaybe, so pleased you enjoyed it, funnily enough my daughter and I were chatting about it yesterday, yes, it was very emotional at the end.

I also loved Sweet Sorrow, a great coming of age story set against the parallels of Romeo and Juliet.

My books so far this year:
J D Vance, Hillbilly Elegy. My book club choice otherwise I wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole. However what a terrible upbringing the man had and despite that he's managed to turn his life around completely. Interesting read
Pip Williams, Dictionary of lost words. Fictional story concerning the writing of the OED. Fascinating and a good read
Three books by Louise Penny, her 16th, 17th and 18th about Chief Inspector Gamache. Have read them all to date. Grey Wolf awaits.
Kate Atkinson, Death at the Sign of the Rook. Most enjoyable Jackson Brodie Story
Richard Osman, We solve murders. Can't recommend.
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations. Another book choice (mine) Read it for O levels (remember them?), loved it then love it now.
Getting to grips with Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. It's long!

Gogo, did you take your O levels in 1959? We had Great Expectations for O levels as well that year. We also had Julius Caesar for the play, not as pleased with that one!

Clicked too soon!
Book 22, Hunted, by Abir Mukhajee. A brilliant read about terrorism in the USA.

16 Sweat Emma Healey Audible

Essentially a story of coercive control, where a chain of events lead to the roles being switched. Emma meets Liam, personal trainer at boot camp and they form a relationship, in due course he controls everything in her life, reducing her calorie intake putting her on a meagre diet, pushing her to the limit as far as exercise is concerned, extricating her from her close knit friendship group. In time she manages to escape. The tables are turned sometime down the line when he turns up at the gym where she is now working as a personal trainer, Liam having lost his sight since they split. Cassie manages to disguise her voice and thus the tables are turned giving her the opportunity to exact her revenge and inflict the same level of tortuous rigour he inflicted on her.

I had high hopes for it, having read some reviews, but I didn't really enjoy it.

I'd previously read Emma Healey's first book "Elizabeth is Missing" which I think was one of those rare works where the dramatisation was actually better, but maybe that was down to the superb Glenda Jackson's portrayal of the main character.

Sara1954 Re Songbirds I couldn't persevere with it as I found it so upsetting and disturbing regarding the songbirds.

Book 13 The Heist by Daniel Silva
This book is one in the Gabriel Allon Israeli spy series which I've been enjoying as a change from my usual reading choices.

Gabriel is an art restorer (I enjoy all the art detail), and he is in Venice working on restoration of a large artwork in a beautiful church when he receives an urgent summons from the Italian police to find the most famous missing painting in the world - Caravaggio's Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence.

Sometimes the best way to find a stolen masterpiece is to steal another one .....

I enjoyed this and would give it 8/10.

Sparklefizz, completely agree, it was horrible, I didn’t really enjoy it anyway, it had rave reviews, sometimes I wonder if I’m reading the same book.

Same here, Sara1954. I’ve just finished

13. The Wrong Sister, Claire Douglas

and though I didn’t hate it, I don’t understand the rave reviews. It concerns three sisters, one who went missing as a baby, one an eminent scientist whose husband is murdered, one who’s trying to unravel both mysteries. It started off well, but in the end there were so many shock twists, and threads that just weren’t followed up and didn’t add anything to the story, that I lost interest and skim read to the end to get it over with.

And now I’ve just finished the Audible version of

14. Three Days in June, Anne Tyler

What a treat. I’m a huge Anne Tyler fan, and this gentle story of the three days around Gail and Max’s daughter’s wedding certainly didn’t disappoint. It was a very short listen - not much over 4 hours, so I’ve enjoyed it all today. Off now to see if I can find anything near that quality for my next listen.

#21. Making A Killing by Cara Hunter.

Just got this from the library, the latest Adam Fawley thriller.

Think it’s brand new, I’m the first to read it!

Book 23, Meridon, by Phillippa Gregory. I haven`t read anything of hers for many years, but loved this one.