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Janet's English Counties Challenge


Janet

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From the master list below, I those titles highlighted in bright red have been read specifically for this challenge and highlighted blue have been reread.  Those highlighted in dark red were read before the challenge started.   I will read a new one for each country and for those I have read before, I will reread some and will change some for different titles - I will decide as I go, but I intend to do more new reads than re-reads.

 

1. Bedfordshire - My Uncle Silas by H. E. Bates - read for challenge - 5/5
2. Berkshire - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
3. Bristol - The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young
4. Buckinghamshire - The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper - read for challenge - 5/5
5. Cambridgeshire - The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers read for challenge – 4/5
6. Cheshire - Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell – read for challenge – 5/5
7. City of London - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - read lots of times!  - 5/5
8. Cornwall - Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier - read for challenge - 5/5
9. Cumbria - Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome [alt. The Maid of Buttermere by Melvyn Bragg] – read for challenge – 3½/5
10. Derbyshire - Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - read 2008 - 5/5
11. Devon - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie or The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle – read for challenge – 5/5
12. Dorset - Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy – read for challenge – 5/5
13. County Durham - Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens – read for challenge – 5/5
14. East Riding of Yorkshire - South Riding by Winifred Holtby – read for challenge 5/5
15. East Sussex - Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne – re-read for challenge – 5/5
16. Essex - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James - read 2009 - 3½/9

17. Gloucestershire - Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee - read 2008 - 5/5
18. Greater London* - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – read for challenge – 4/5
19. Greater Manchester - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell – read for challenge 5/5
20. Hampshire - Watership Down by Richard Adams - read 2009 - 4½/5

21. Herefordshire - On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin – read for challenge 4/5
22. Hertfordshire - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - read 2008 - 5/5
23. Isle of Wight - England, England by Julian Barnes [alt. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - read 2009 - 5/5
24. Kent - The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates – read for challenge – 5/5
25. Lancashire - Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - read 2008 - 3½/5

26. Leicestershire - The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend – read for challenge – 5/5
27. Lincolnshire - The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
28. Merseyside - An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge - read 2009 - 3/5
29. Norfolk - The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley
30. North Yorkshire - Dracula by Bram Stoker [alt. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot] – read for challenge – 4/5
31. Northamptonshire - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
32. Northumberland - The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin – read for challenge – 4/5
33. Nottinghamshire - Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence – read for challenge – 2/5
34. Oxfordshire - The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford – read for challenge – 5/5
35. Rutland - Set In Stone by Robert Goddard – read for challenge – 4/5
36. Shropshire - Summer Lightning by P. G. Wodehouse – read for challenge – 3/5
37. Somerset - Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
38. South Yorkshire - A Kestrel For A Knave by Barry Hines - read 2011 - 4/5
39. Staffordshire - The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett
40. Suffolk - The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
41. Surrey - Emma by Jane Austen - read 2013 - 5/5 or The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells - read 2012 - 5/5
42. Tyne and Wear - Another World by Pat Barker – read for challenge - 4/5
43. Warwickshire - Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes
44. West Midlands - Middlemarch by George Eliot – read for challenge – 4/5
45. West Sussex - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons – read for challenge- 4/5
46. West Yorkshire - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë – read for challenge – 5/5
47. Wiltshire - Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
48. Worcestershire - The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall – read for challenge – 3/5

 

28/48

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  • 1 year later...

I'd forgotten all about this thread and I haven't updated it, so here's what I've done so far.  I'm behind with my reviews, so I haven't actually written down any coherent thoughts about Middlemarch or Wuthering Heights yet!

 

16/48

 

Counties%20read%20as%20at%206.8.1%20-%20

 

Here's a pictorial representation of my progress so far...

 

Map%20to%20colour%20in_zpskiebf9sn.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
  • 6 months later...

I haven't updated this thread for ages (I'd forgotten all about it!  :blush: ) so here's my latest progress after finishing South Riding by Winifred Holtby (for East Riding of Yorkshire) yesterday:

 

x2%20Counties%20read%20as%20at%2003.04.1

 

05.%20Resized%20as%20Email%20Large%20-%2

 

That means I'm exactly half way through on 24/48 read.  :)

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Oooooh a colourdy map!!! I might steal that idea for my challenge, do you mind?  :lurker:

Of course I don't mind! :D  :hug:

 

Ooh, pretty map and spreadsheet! :) You've covered quite a few counties in just 6 months!

Thanks.  :)  I'm really enjoying this challenge.   Moreso than the World one really as it's so much more achievable!  :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Wow, 3/5 is your lowest rating for a book in this challenge, and there's only that one and another 3,5/5, and all the rest are 4/5s and 5/5s :o :O :o What a great challenge with such amazing reads!! :smile2: I hope the rest goes smoothly, too :D 

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Janet

 Great job on the challenge so far ,and for sticking with it . I like how you have the organized list with the ratings and dates and the colored map . Very nice job !

 

Are you going in any particular order , or just whatever strikes your fancy at the time ?

 

And if you had to pick ONE favorite so far, which would it be ?

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I'm glad you enjoyed North and South!  (I knew you would ;):giggle2:)

Thanks - it was so great and I loved the way it finished.  :)

 

Wow, 3/5 is your lowest rating for a book in this challenge, and there's only that one and another 3,5/5, and all the rest are 4/5s and 5/5s :o :o :o What a great challenge with such amazing reads!! :smile2: I hope the rest goes smoothly, too :D

Thanks, Sari.  :)  I can't believe how high they've scored - but they have really been exceptional choices.   I'm really enjoying this challenge. 

 

Janet

 Great job on the challenge so far ,and for sticking with it . I like how you have the organized list with the ratings and dates and the colored map . Very nice job !

 

Are you going in any particular order , or just whatever strikes your fancy at the time ?

 

And if you had to pick ONE favorite so far, which would it be ?

Thanks, Julie.  :)  I'm not doing them in any particular order, although I think, having looked again this morning, I'm possibly subliminally choosing those that appeal the most.   I have therefore started Lady Chatterley's Lover today as that's one I've not really been looking forward to - otherwise  I'm in danger of getting to the stage of reading all the 'best' ones (the ones I perceive to be best, anyway!  :giggle2: ) and being left with books that don't appeal so much!

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  • 5 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Hmm - I haven't updated since I was on 28/48 and I'm now on 32.

 

Here's my progress map.

 

32%20Counties%20read%20-%20Suffolk%20-%2

 

I've added Norfolk (The Go-Between by L P Hartley) and Suffolk (The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald) so far in 2017 - I'll have to go and look to see what the other two were!

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That's very impressive.  :)

 

I've started Howards End by E M Forster today for Hertfordshire as I want to read something new rather than re-reading Pride and Prejudice. :)  I wasn't mad about A Room with a View when I read it so I hope this one is more enjoyable!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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