50 Books a Year - The 2025 Challenge

#9. Forever And A Day by Anthony Horowitz.

TerriBull I am also very pleased to see that Laura Lippman has written a great many books. It's always nice to find a new author with the prospect of some good reading to come.

I have read 2 or 3 unputdownable books lately. One day I will catch up on all my chores

Sounds good Sparklefizz, making a note of it to be added to my ever growing "to be read" list.

Book 6 Sunburn by Laura Lippman

This book is terrific. I am not sure whether it was recommended here or in the Times books section. If recommended by someone here, thank you so much.

What kind of woman walks out on her family? Gregg knows. The kind of woman he picked up in a bar 3 years ago precisely because she had that sort of wildcat energy. And now she's vanished.

How many times has she disappeared before? Who are the people so interested in her whereabouts, and why?

This is a book with several twists, a romance and people telling lies. Who to believe?

I couldn't put it down, and give it 10/10.

Book 7, The Impossible Dead, by Ian Rankin. So far, I`ve only read his Rebus books, this made a nice change.

#8. Don’t Turn Back by DS Butler.

One August Night by Victoria Hislop.

#4 Before the Storm by Diane Chamberlain

15 year old Andy is a child born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and is therefore more like a little boy than a teenager.

He is at a church get-together with other teenagers when a fire breaks out, and he finds a way out and helps many other children to escape. He becomes a local hero.

Then a suspicion of arson is directed at Andy and he goes from hero to villain overnight.

His Mum has always been guiltily over-protective of Andy, but now she asks herself how well she knows her son and how far she'll go to protect him.

I'd give it 7/10.

#5 The Scarlet Papers by Matthew Richardson

This is a fantastic spy novel. Max Archer is an academic - an Associate Professor of Intelligence History at the London School of Economics, when he is invited to a clandestine meeting with a legendary Cold War spymaster named Scarlet King.

Max is down on his luck, having gone through a very expensive divorce and having felt undermined by his father all his life, and when Scarlet offers to share explosive espionage secrets, he knows this would be life-changing. However, he has little reason to trust a woman whose name is a byword for deceit and ruthlessness.

Once I got into this book, I found it gripping and could hardly put it down! There are so many twists and every time I thought I knew where the plot was going, I found I was wrong. It's a breathtaking thriller. I'd give it 10/10.

#4 Losers Club Yvonne Vincent.
An absolute comic gem of a book. After a messy divorce Penny returns with her stroppy twins to her childhood home on an island off the NE coast of Scotland. She starts a slimming group which due to a mixup with the publicity is called Losers Club. Soon after their arrival a storm hits and the island is cut off from the mainland. A murder takes place and the members of Losers Club take it upon themselves to investigate. Laugh out loud and very rude I highly recommend this book. It is the first in the series and I will definitely be reading book two soon.

5 The Housemaid is Watching Freida McFadden

Having read an article about the author in yesterday's ST Culture magazine, it seems she has several strings to her bow, most notably she's a brain specialist who has sold 17 million books, with two children, how does she have the time to fit all of that in?. FMcF is her pen name with which she has had notable success with the first book in this series, The Housemaid, about to be turned into a film adaptation. This one is a follow up, I picked it up at the library out of curiosity It was ok, certainly not a 5/5 for me.

Millie with her handsome Italian husband and two children move from their cramped apartment in The Bronx to a new house in Long Island for which they have over stretched themselves to buy. I gather from the interview that I read, Millie is The Housemaid of the first book with a back story that is revealed in this book. Gradually Millie and Enzo, very much the newcomers in a not very friendly community, realise that they have bitten off more they can chew, both financially and trying to fit in. They don't get along with their beautiful, but rather snooty neighbour, Suzette who is doing her best to turn Enzo's head in her direction. Suzette with her husband Jonathan are considerably wealthier than Millie and Enzo and have their own housemaid who is studiously watching the newcomers every move. When the rather creepy Jonathan is murdered, all the evidence for that stacks up against Enzo, who as a landscape gardener has been working and spending quite a lot of time at their house. .

It was ok, I may pick up The Housemaid, the book that precedes this one if I see it, but wouldn't go to any great efforts to get my hands on it. .

#4 The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks.

This has been on my book pile for a while since hearing about it on A Good Read and buying a copy.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001jsl8

www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/13/the-bloater-by-rosemary-tonks-review-1960s-gem-rescued-from-obscurity

Set in 1960s London; it’s about Min, a sound technician at the BBC. She lives with her dull, almost invisible, husband George who spends his days at the British Museum, and their lodger, international opera baritone Carlos. He is the Bloater of the title to whom Min is simultaneously attracted and repulsed while at the same time carrying on a tentative love affair with her musicologist colleague Billy.

The book was first published in 1968 but was out of print for a long time and then republished in 2022 with a splendid introduction from comedian Stewart Lee.

The book is short and could be read in an evening but I also recommend the audio book which is superbly read by Florence Howard in a lightly, sardonic tone that suits the tale perfectly.

Tonks was an interesting character, a poet as well as a novelist. Neil Astley of Bloodaxe Books:

www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/31/rosemary-tonks-lost-poet

I’m planning to see if I can find more of her writing.

Book 4
Girl A - Abigail Dean
The house of Horrors, as it becomes known. Seven children kept in unspeakable conditions by a cruel insane father and a weak mother.

The oldest girl , Alexandra eventually escapes, and the House of Horrors is exposed, five children survived, were adopted and grew up.

Alexandra, known always as Girl A is wealthy, brilliant, and living in New York when the news arrives that her mother, after 25 years in prison has died. The house of Horrors now belongs to the remaining siblings.

Back in England, Alexandra has to face the past

A lot of people seem to have loved this book, I felt that quite a lot was missing, I wanted to know more background, it just seemed a little bit unfinished

Having said that, it was quite a good read, I think my expectations were a bit too high.

Hellogirl1

Book 6, Blue Above the Chimneys, by Christine Marion Fraser. A true story of her childhood in a poor tenement area of Glasgow in the 40s and 50s. It was published in the 80s, but there`s a sequel that I will look out for.

I read this years ago and enjoyed it very much.

2 As I walked out one Midsummer Morning
3 Moment of War. ….both by Laurie Lee. Finished the trilogy now
4 The Camomile Lawn Mary Wesley
5 The Other Boleyn …Phillipa Gregory
6 ? Any suggestions

Book 6, Blue Above the Chimneys, by Christine Marion Fraser. A true story of her childhood in a poor tenement area of Glasgow in the 40s and 50s. It was published in the 80s, but there`s a sequel that I will look out for.

4 Sweet Sorrow - David Nicholls Audible

This was a free listen on Audible, I loved it so much, I picked up the physical book at the library, just to make sure I hadn't missed anything, as I'm prone to sometimes, nodding off when listening in bed.

A bitter sweet coming of age, first love story, set back in the nineties. 16 year old Charlie Lewis is coming to the end of his final year at his local comprehensive, almost certain that he will have failed his GCSEs, lacking effort, distracted by a somewhat unhappy home existence. Into his life when they literally collide, comes Fran Fisher, who is in the corresponding year at an independent school, who persuades him to join her in a local theatrical company during the long summer break. Reluctantly he gets roped in to play the role of Benvolio, whilst she is Juliet and their burgeoning first love unfolds whilst they rehearse the respective roles, against the parallels of Romeo and Juliet, the ultimate story of young love. Charlie's home life is fraught and painful, a father who is depressed and increasingly dependent on prescription pills and alcohol, a mother who moves out, taking his younger sister with her to the new man in her life who literally lives up the road. In spite of Charlie begging her to take him with her, he remains with his father. I was so angry with his mother at this juncture, casually dismissing Charlie's fears as to how he was going to cope with his increasingly depressed and often comatose father, which he didn't have the wherewithal to do at 16, leaving him miserable and unfocused as to what the future will hols. Fran becomes his lynch pin and does her best to become a stabilising influence as he flounders, her "can do" attitude is very much, that he needs to tap into his unfulfilled potential if he could only realise that and everything can be resolved in exam retakes as she tries to steer him towards a more positive future. The story opens and closes 20 years on when Charlie is retrospectively looking back at a summer which was simultaneously one of the best and worst times of his young life. David Nicholls is superb in his storytelling, at times both hilarious, some real laugh out loud moments and poignantly sad in his descriptions of human frailties. Very, very good.

6-Death of a Village-M C Beaton.
3 mysteries for Hamish Macbeth to solve this time. As usual he gets in trouble with his boss and the women in his life. Amusing and lighthearted easy read.

GrannyGravy

I am only in to the first 100 pages or so.

Really enjoyed Murder Before Evensong, not so keen on A Death In The Parish, and have got Murder Under The Mistletoe on order from the library. Will see how this one pans out.

Think MBE is being filmed for tv, will have to see if the adaptation follows the book.

Calendargirl

#7. Murder At The Monastery by Richard Coles.

Are you enjoying it Calendargirl ?

I read this last October, I found it rather hard going to begin with, but persevered to the end.

I have read the previous two in this series, and the Christmas Novella Murder under the Mistletoe, all of which I found easier reads.

The Shipping News is one of the best books that I have read.

No.2 - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s set in Newfoundland and, for me, really captures the small island, small community ‘feel’. I like Proulx’s style as she eases you into her story.

No 3 - Cher by Cher. Part One of her memoir. This was ok but I echo what Terribull (I think). Said earlier … I’ll not rush to read Part Two when it comes out.

I'm going to start with some of the "classics" that i've never read including Pride and Prejudice and The Vicar of Wakefield

The Move by Felicity Everett.
New house, fresh start but same husband. It's a story of domestic disharmony and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

#7. Murder At The Monastery by Richard Coles.

Thanks, Sara. I’ve just checked the reviews and if looks as though most people agree with you. I won’t give up on it yet.