50 Books a Year - The 2025 Challenge

No. 40 Family Album by Penelope Lively.

I have had difficulty settling into a book following reading "Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss". I felt bereft when I finished it.

Anyway, I eventually settled on Family Album by Penelope Lively and thoroughly enjoyed it. Her writing, as usual, is wonderful and she excels at characterisation and well-observed family life.

Allersmead is a large, shabby Victorian house with a large garden occupied by Alison, an "earth mother" type and Charles, her aloof writer husband, and their six children - Paul (destructive), Sandra (elegant), Gina (difficult), Katie (considerate), Roger (clever) and Clare (athletic).... plus Ingrid,the au pair.

Was Allersmead the perfect place to grow up? The house has played silent witness to the family's secrets - in particular one secret of which no one ever speaks.

Recommended. 10/10

83-Before the Storm-Alex Gray

I must be getting more impatient as I get older, because I like to get hooked on a storyline within the first 50 pages. Sadly this book confused me from the start. So many characters, in different police departments, each with an acronym, so although I wrote them all down, my head couldn't cope and I gave up at 80pages.

Maremia- S. G. McLean is a really good writer. You may enjoy her "Seeker" series which are set in the later years of Oliver Cromwell. I am saving the last one to enjoy and take my time with!

The Killing Tide by Lin Anderson. A mysterious cargo ship is swept ashore in the Orkney Islands ......

53 Don't Let Him In Lisa Jewell

Absolutely my number one writer of the psychological/crime genre and this one didn't disappoint. Possibly one of her best. Just one of those books I didn't want to end. What a tangled web the "him" weaved, I can't attribute any one name to him, he has so many aliases in the book. The numerous women reeled in to this superficially charming man, always to present himself as the perfect prospective partner, tall, handsome, sympathetic, with a veneer of success. The women who enter his orbit find themselves gradually in thrall to him, so much so, the next thing they know they're sharing their home. Then the insidious disquiet sets in when he goes missing for days at a time, with no contact. Phone calls and texts are unanswered, only to eventually return with a sob story of some plausibility extorting money for reasons of great urgency.

No spoilers other than to say definitely a 10 out of 10 for me, as always progresses at a great pace, never falling into a lull as the story unfolds.

Interestingly in her acknowledgements at the back of the book she has cited numerous references including "The Tinder Swindler" and various other con men who have in their time pulled the wool over their victims eyes.

TerriBull I think I married him!!!

Sparklefizz - he can't have been that bad! although you'll have to read the book to decide whether that's your ex, or not.

#46 A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Twenty year old Tassie escapes her rural country home for college, hoping her life will finally start. She takes a part time job as a nanny to a glamorous couple who have just adopted a toddler and has her eyes opened to a different lifestyle. She has a relationship with a mysterious foreign student and believes herself to be in love. Then a dark secret in the family she works for is exposed threatening everything in her new life. When Tassie returns home to her family or the summer break, her life changes forever in a way she could not have foreseen.
This book is effectively a year in the life of a young woman who leaves her rural farm home for the city and has her first experiences of adult life, both good and bad. Tassie is an interesting character, but the book had too much of her inner mental ramblings and wanderings for me. I did find it very readable though. 6/10

#47 The Divorce Party by Laura Dave.
After 35 years of marriage, Gwyn and Thomas are marking their parting of the ways with a divorce party for their family and 200 friends at their cliff top home on Long Island. Meeting them for the first time is Maggie, their son’s fiancée. There are numerous secrets in the mix from both generations of the family, emotions run high and a storm is brewing,
This was a quick read, fluffy brain candy, but very readable all the same. 6/10

Book 40
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

The story of Prince Achilles, the greatest warrior of his generation, his love for Patroclus, and the long, long war against Troy.

I won’t bore you with the story, as I’m sure you’ll all know it, but it’s a story of epic proportions, hard to imagine the vastness of the armies.

I enjoyed it very much, but I did prefer Pat Barkers, The Silence of the Girls. Basically the same story from a different perspective

We read the Iliad and Odyssey at school, and I loved them, so the characters were all familiar, but this is a massive tale, a love story, but a tale of extreme violence and grotesque savagery.

Would definitely recommend

Book 42 Alys, Always by Harriet Lane

This book was disappointing. I read another book by the same author ("Her") which I gave 10/10, but this book took a while to set the scene, and frankly I wasn't sure where it was going. It's described as "compulsive reading" and "a gripping psychological thriller" .... but it wasn't. 7/10

84-Fear the Worst-Linwood Barclay
This was a thrilling page-turner that I couldn't put down. Tim Blake has the horror that all parents dread, of a 17 year old daughter not coming home and not answering her phone for several days.
I could really put myself in his shoes. A great read.

Coincidentally,

44. I Will Ruin You, Linwood Barclay

For some reason I find Linwood Barclay a bit hit and miss, so rarely choose his books, but this one was a hit. A high school teacher has the week from hell. He’s hailed as a hero during a school lockdown, then finds his life spiralling out of control as he’s threatened with being sued for his actions, then is blackmailed for something he claims not to have done.

45. Find Them Dead, Peter James

One of the Chief Inspector Grace books. A jury member is threatened and blackmailed into persuading the panel to find a loathsome criminal not guilty. I thought I’d read it before when I started it, then realised I’ve seen a TV adaptation. Still enjoyed it, though the ending fell a bit flat.

54 A Neighbour's Guide to Murder Louise Candlish

Louise Candlish is my go to author for psychological crime books 2nd only to Lisa Jewell. Quite coincidentally I have just gone from number one to number two.

I wouldn't say this is one of her best, but very readable I cracked through it in a couple of days.

The book opens with a murder and then rewinds as to what lead up to that. The setting is Columbia Mansions an elegant turn of the 20th century mansion block, in I think a fictitious part of South London, named Queens Oak. In her early 70s, retiree Gwen is a somewhat nosy neighbour with good intentions. Across her corridor lives sleazy, seen better days 50 something Alec, a former one hit wonder rock star, who advertises his spare room for an extortionate amount of rent, highlighting London's acute housing crisis when there is an endless stream of young women clamouring to secure the room. Eventually, after letting one prospective tenant down, Alec perplexes Gwen when he is to finally choose to let the room to Pixie the least likely candidate who, as the story progresses, appears to become entangled with her landlord and to Gwen's eyes and ears some coercion is afoot in the landlord/tenant dynamic. The book covers quite a lot of things that resonate in the current climate, a certain disconnect between the older generation of "haves" and the younger generation "have nots", the housing crisis, social media platforms and even the proliferation of incredibly overpriced artisan bakeries that up the appeal of certain areas and turn them into desirable enclaves. Good but not as good as Lisa Jewell's latest offering.

55 Adults Emma Jane Unsworth Audible

Continuing with the generational obsession with social media is Adults. Central character, Jenny aged 35 working for an online magazine with the improbable name of "Foof". In the background is an ex boyfriend now a famous photographer, unhappy recollections of a miscarriage that summed up some of the hopelessness of that relationship. Jenny has an ongoing up and down relationship with Carmen her single mother, who is simultaneously caring but annoying with a selfish side, particularly when she left young Jenny aged 16 alone one Christmas to go off on an exotic holiday with her then current boyfriend, the abandonment had resonated with Jenny down the years. Jenny spends much of her time in thrall to Suzy Brambles an Instagram influencer, and her obsession with her phone's continual use, even during sex, was probably a pivotal factor in the breakdown of her relationship with the ex. I think I may have enjoyed this more if I read it possibly, I found it mildly amusing rather than hilarious, I imagine it was supposed to be the latter. Although I did like this quote from Dorothy Parker, one I hadn't heard before, when Jenny talking about her ex in relation to her pregnancy "I shouldn't have put all my eggs in one bastard" Dorothy Parker being the veritable wit she was. All in all, ok but a lot of 30 something angst and introspection, probably too much for me.

I haven’t read any Louise Candlish before, but there are several available for 99p on Kindle offers just now.
Our House
Those People
The Only Suspect
The Heights

Any recommendations for which one to choose for a long flight on Wednesday?

My favourite Louise Candlish, and the first one I read, was Our House. A real page turner!

I’ve just started A Neighbour's Guide to Murder. I was lucky to be able to download it from our library service after just a short wait when it was recommended on here. I’d better crack on with it as there are now 6 people in the queue behind me!

Thanks for that Maggiemaybe, I will start there.

Yes definitely Our House Louise Candlish's stand out book, a real twisty page turner. The Swimming Pool was the first one of hers I read and enjoyed which set me on the road to look for more, I seem to remember enjoying The Other Passenger and The Heights as well.

#69. Black Dog by Stephen Booth.

This is the first in a series, featuring two detectives, soon to be televised.

It’s going to star Rob James Collier, Thomas from Downton Abbey, and will be entitled Cooper and Fry.

85-Christmas on the Little Cornish Isles-The Driftwood Inn-Phillipa Ashley
I highly recommend this trilogy, though each book can be read alone. Set in the Scilly Isles, somewhere I've never been but would love to go to. The characters in this story are so loveable, and although this is basically a romance, the highs and lows the family running the inn experience make you feel like you know them. I couldn't put this down.

#43 Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
This book is an absolute delight. It's non-fiction and a beautifully written piece of "nature writing". The author was a high-flying professional with a career in London when the pandemic hit and she moved out to the country to lock down.

She found a newborn hare - a leveret - alone and endangered and felt compelled to give it a chance at survival.

"Raising Hare" chronicles their journey together as the leveret learns to trust her, and she learns about nature. This is a book of sheer joy and goodness, a wonderful antidote to all the horrible things happening in the world today.

I shall be recommending this book to everyone, and am going to buy a copy for my daughter. I give it 11/10 (and no, that's not a typo!)

56 The Boy who Followed Ripley Patricia Highsmith Audible

The 4th book in the Ripley series, I'm getting a bit bored with them now, might give these a rest before I go on to the final one. Tom Ripley is still living his idyllic life in France with his French wife, when he meets an American teenager named Billy, who is working as a gardener. Billy, like Ripley in his previous life of assuming an alias, is to find out that his young friend is actually Frank Pierson, a millionaire's son, who has covertly run away and reinvented himself with a new persona. As the story unfolds the reason being Frank is to confess he has pushed his very wealthy father's wheelchair over a cliff on the spur of the moment whilst engaged in an argument. Ripley sees Frank as a kindred spirit of sorts, in that he reminds him of his younger self, which in turn sparks a desire to counsel him in coming to terms with what he has done and reconcile him to returning home. More follows. A spell in cold war Berlin, Frank's desire is to see more of Europe, the setting is the 70s before the wall came down. Whilst there Billy is kidnapped and before delivering the ransom, Ripley being true to form, is to resort once again to murder, before rescuing Frank. Finally, Ripley returns to the US assuming the role of guardian to reunite Frank with his family with a tragic outcome.

I have heard Raising Hare is really good Sparklefizz, I'll have to add it to my ever growing list of books to read. I've already got one of your other recommendations, Penelope Lively's Heatwave which I ordered which has arrived at my library I'll read that one after I finish my current book.

TerriBull

I have heard Raising Hare is really good Sparklefizz, I'll have to add it to my ever growing list of books to read. I've already got one of your other recommendations, Penelope Lively's Heatwave which I ordered which has arrived at my library I'll read that one after I finish my current book.

It's one of those books that will be hard to follow.