50 Books a Year - The 2025 Challenge

No 38 Summerwater by Sarah Moss
After enjoying her book The Fell, I looked for others of hers.

On the longest day of the summer, twelve people sit cooped up with their families in a Scottish chalet park while it rains endlessly. They are bored and have nothing to do but watch their neighbours.

A woman goes running as if fleeing; a teenage boy braves the choppy waters of the loch in a kayak. One particular family, without the right clothes or the right manners, starts to draw the attention of the others.

The author is wonderful at evoking weather conditions, in this case the relentless rain, and in characterisation. These people were real and jumped off the page.

And gradually the book weaves them all together to a surprising climax. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 10/10

#42 was Inishowen by Joseph O’Connor
Inspector Martin Aitken’s life is a mess, the last thing he needs on Christmas Eve is a strange woman collapsed unconscious on a Dublin street. Ellen Donnelly is on a mission, she has travelled to Ireland to find her birth mother and escape her unfaithful husband. Dr Martin Amery is a successful New York plastic surgeon. Over the course of the final week of 1994, their roads all lead to Inishowen.
I had a bit of trouble getting started with this, but once I got going it was a page turner. Poignant, black comedy, wonderful writing. 9/10

sparkefizz I remember reading Summerwater a couple of years ago and I agree, it was very good. Having had wet, midge infested summer holidays here in Scotland, I can honestly saw she captured it perfectly.

Not a great contender, as I’ve lost count of the number of books I’ve read this year (sorry), but currently reading and thoroughly enjoying ‘The Last Days of Kira Mullen’ by Nicci French, and recently enjoyed ‘The List of Suspicious Things’ by Jennie Godfrey.

77-A Valley Dream-Anna Jacobs
This is the first of a trilogy set in a Lancashire valley in the 1930's.
Bella Porter has inherited a house in a run down area, and has to start a new life a long way from her London roots. She soon makes friends, but also some dangerous enemies.

Sara1954

Book 35
Death at the White Hart Lane- Chris Chibnall

Loved this, this is the writer who brought us Broadchurch, which I also loved.

Rural Dorset, The White Hart pub. Landlord, Jim Tiernan, found murdered in a very macabre way

New detective in town, Nicola Bridge, and the slightly green, but very eager to learn Harry, are faced with a list of suspects, all with motives.

I really hope this is the beginning of a series, one of the best crime novels I’ve read in a long time.

Magic No 50 Death at the White Hart Chris Chibnall

I took your recommendation Sarah, as you say very good, I believe it is to be filmed, I think it would unfold very well as a series. The only comment, I would add to your synopsis of the book, there is a character, Frankie, the hairdresser, one of the many in the frame for the murder, who is non binary with pronouns they and them. It always took me a nano second, in fact sometimes longer to realise there was only the one person when ever Frankie cropped up, the they and them at times threw me, I find myself constantly questioning who were the "they" that were there with Frankie. Confusing! Then again, modern life can be.

A good crime/police procedural debut, although of course the author had previously brought us Broadchurch which is probably the best recommendation for reading this book.

I have added White Hart to my list.

Diggingdoris

77-A Valley Dream-Anna Jacobs
This is the first of a trilogy set in a Lancashire valley in the 1930's.
Bella Porter has inherited a house in a run down area, and has to start a new life a long way from her London roots. She soon makes friends, but also some dangerous enemies.

I enjoyed the novels by Anna Jacobs set in Australia, particularly the Traders series, Diggingdoris.

#43 A Litter of Bones by JD Kirk
The first in the DCI Logan series set in the Scottish Highlands. Ten years ago Logan stopped the serial child killer ”Mister Whisper”. Now he works in Glasgow’s Major Investigations Team, but when another child disappears a hundred miles north, in Fort William, Jack is sent to lead the investigation. As the similarities between the two cases grow, could it be that he caught the wrong man?
This was a real page turner with great characters, a great sense of place and a race against time. I am going to start working my way through this series. 8/10

TerriBull, yes I agree, I found that a bit confusing.
I’m not sure how necessary that was to the story to be honest.

#65. In The Dark by Mark Billingham.

I have just read over on Soop's thread one of our most prolific posters to 50 Books, Hellogirl has died. Commiserations to all her family. I'm sure I speak for everyone here, we shall miss her many contributions and recommendations. Very sad news.

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that.
I do remember her and telling us why she chose her username.
Condolences to her family.

Yes, I was sorry to read about Hellogirl.

Could never get over how many books she got through!

22. Dancing the Charleston by Jacqueline Wilson.
A children's book I listened to.
Mona (10y) and her auntie, a dressmaker, have a slightly precarious existence in a gatekeeper's cottage. They face a lot of changes and Mona has a big discovery at the end of the book.
The story takes you into the not-quite-factual perception of life from a 10yr old's perspective as Mona tries to make sense of the adult world around her.

23. Death of a Spy by M C Beaton
Hamish MacBeth and American cop James Bland are on the track of a gang of spies as well as catching a local burglar and arranging for a bridge to be built in a day.
Entertaining and intriguing as ever from Hamish with a dramatic ending!

24. Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris
Photographer Tom falls in love and begins to find himself involved in things that are quite out of the ordinary.
Described as Fantasy Fiction, it's not my usual sort of book so that may be why I got a bit confused about the plot.
I persevered, tho. Would there be a happy ending for Tom?

TerriBull

I have just read over on Soop's thread one of our most prolific posters to 50 Books, Hellogirl has died. Commiserations to all her family. I'm sure I speak for everyone here, we shall miss her many contributions and recommendations. Very sad news.

I'm so sorry to hear that and will miss her posts on 50 Books. Sending condolences to all her friends and family.

Book 39 The Elopement by Gill Hornby.

This is great for Jane Austen fans and is based on the true story of Mary Dorothea Knatchbull. It is 1820 and she is living under the sole charge of Sir Edward Knatchbull, her widowed father who is extremely strict.

Mary's life is suddenly changed when Sir Edward marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park. Fanny's aunts are Miss Jane Austen and Miss Cassandra Austen.

Fanny Knight (her new stepmother) comes from a large, happy and sociable family, and as Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms a special bond with one Mr Knight in particular. Soon they are deeply in love and determined to marry. They expect no opposition. Both are from good families and have known each other for years. Who would want to stand in their way??

I enjoyed this book with all its detail of life for women in that era, whether single or married. We have lost sight, I think, of how death was a major part of women's lives back then - the death of their children, and their own deaths in childbirth.

My own grandmother lost 3 toddlers to childhood illnesses (one to Measles, one to Bronchitis and the 3rd unknown) and that was much later in the early 1900s.

It must have been terrifying in earlier times for married women to know that they were likely to have a baby every 12-18 months during all their child-bearing years with all those inherent risks.

So I enjoyed this well-written book very much for its depiction of the social history of those times as well as the story of Mary Dorothea's life and the link to the Austen family.

I give it 10/10.

Strange Loyalties by William McIlvanney. Another excellent Laidlaw investigation.

41. The House Next Door, James Patterson

It’s many years since I read a James Patterson. This audio collection of three short stories wasn’t up to the standard I remember, but passed the time as I yomped into town.

Sad news about Hellogirl. She will be missed.

78-A Valley Secret-Anna Jacobs
This is the 2nd of this trilogy and follows Maisie Bassett when she inherits a big house from a distant relative.
Some of the characters follow through these books and AJ makes you love some and hate others. Another chance to find out about life in the 1930's

Book 38
Blood Ties - Jo Nesbo

This is the sequel to his novel, The Kingdom, which I had enjoyed, but I found this disappointing, and I was almost tempted to give up on it, but I did plough on till the end.

We meet the Opgard brothers again, big fish in a small pond, they have literally killed their way to success, they are bound together by their crimes, and in the tiny Norwegian town of Os, Carl the younger brother is king, and Roy covers his back.

But this second novel doesn’t have the same feel about it, in the first one, the evil deeds were done for a reason, and the brothers were likeable, this novel has too much unnecessary violence for me, and I wasn’t keen on any of the characters.

Very claustrophobic, a tiny town, with very limited options to make it more interesting.

Not for me

42. The Kill List, Nadine Matheson

I’ve been ploughing through this on my Kindle for what seems like forever. It’s not bad, but a rather gruesome and involved tale of a historic serial killer and the serious crime team trying to establish if they got the right person. I hadn’t realised it was the third in a series, so would have enjoyed it more if I’d read the books in order. It has a strange ending, obviously left open for number 4, coming soon.

#66. Nice Work by David Lodge.

An old favourite, have resurrected it from my bookshelf as I have nothing else to read.

I have four library books, but can’t get in to them.

They are by a female author recommended by some on this forum, but sadly they don’t seem to be my ‘thing’.

A shame, as so many of my good reads have been as a result of others recommending books on here.

79-A Valley Wedding-Anna Jacobs
This is the last of the Valley trilogy, and ties up the loose ends from the other books. All three were heartwarming family sagas, showing life in a friendly rural Lancashire village in the 1930's.

Sad to hear about Hellogirl's passing. We shared the same taste in books. I shall miss her posts and recommendations.