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Janet's Reading Through The Decades Challenge **Completed**


Janet

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Thought I'd get the ball rolling!

 

I'm not 100% sure what other people are planning to do, so I may adapt it, but for now I'm planning to read one book from each decade of the 1900s. :biggrin:

 

2010s - Fiction - 2010 - Solomon's Oak by Jo-Ann Mapson - 6/10

............Non-fiction - 2010 - Awkward Situations for Men by Danny Wallace - 8/10

............Children's book - 2010 - Montacute House by Lucy Jago - 9-10

 

2000s - Fiction - 2009 - The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - 8/10

............Non-Fiction - 2004 - Yes Man by Danny Wallace - 9/10

............Children's book - 2006 - Kiss of Death by Malcolm Rose - 9/10

 

1990s - Fiction - 1996 - The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks 7/10

............Non-fiction - 1997 - Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry - 9/10

............Children's book - 1995 - The Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo - 8/10

 

1980s - Fiction - 1988 - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - 8/10

............Non-fiction - 1986 - The Cherry Tree by Derek Tangye - 6/10

............Children's book - 1983 - A Parcel of Patterns by Jill Paton Walsh - 9/10

 

1970s - Fiction - 1970 - Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach - 9/10

............Non-fiction - 1971 - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff - 7½/10

............Children's book - 1972 - Watership Down by Richard Adams - 9/10

 

1960s - Fiction - A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines - 8/10

............Non-fiction - 1969 - As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee - 8½/10

............Children's book - 1969 - Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer - 8/10

 

1950s - Fiction - 1951 The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - 10/10

............Non-fiction - 1958 - A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby - 7/10

............Children's book - 1958 - Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce - 10/10

 

1940s - Fiction - 1945 - Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh 9/10

............Non-fiction - 1949 - Delight by J B Priestley 6½/10

............Children's book - 1942 The Land of Far-Beyond by Enid Blyton - 7/10

 

1930s - Fiction - 1933 Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood - 7½/10

............Non-fiction - 1933 - Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell 8/10

............Children's book - 1939 - A Traveller in Time - Alison Uttley 9/10

 

1920s - Fiction - 1929 - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - 8/10

............Non-fiction The Enormous Room - E E Cummings - 2/5

............Children's book - 1927 - The Midnight Folk by John Masefield - 7/10

 

1910s - Fiction - 1910 - The History of Mr Polly by H G Wells - 7/10

............Non-fiction The Cruise of the Snark - Jack London - 4/10

............Children's book - 1913 - Pollyanna by Eleanor H Parker - 8/10

 

1900s - Fiction - 1908 - A Room With A View by E M Forster - 4/10

............Non-fiction - 1908 - The Autobiography of a Super-tramp by W H Davies - 6/10

............Children's book - 1907 - The Enchanted Castle by E Nesbit - 7/10

 

___________________________

 

27 books read = 81.82%

 

27 books read 6 to go

 

I have revised this slightly by adding the 2010s to the challenge, so my new totals are as follows:

 

36 books read = 100%

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Janet, I can't blame you at all. I read A Room with a View maybe a year ago, I bought it because it was cheap and it was a classic and it sounded interesting and I thought I'd enjoy it. But it was so booooring, I really had to struggle to finish it. If I were you I'd bin it and choose something else, there must be loads of better reads written in the 1900s! :D

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I think A Room With a View is one of those "love it or hate it" books. I adored it, but I listened to a very good audio book version which really made it come alive for me. :D

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I think A Room With a View is one of those "love it or hate it" books. I adored it, but I listened to a very good audio book version which really made it come alive for me. :D

I'm sure that would help. Visually I can see it perfectly, but I'm finding the dialogue a bit flat.

 

I've read on a bit and I think part 2 is a definite improvement on part 1, so I think I will persevere after all. :006:

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I finally finished it! :blush:

 

I have to say that although part 2 was decidedly more interesting than part 1, I still didn't feel any empathy with the characters at all, and the whole thing was a huge disappointment to me, I'm afraid! Still, that's one decade down!

 

I've decided that when I get to the end of this challenge (whenever that might be) I might go back and read a children's novel from each decade for comparison! :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

1929 - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

 

In the trenches, one by one the boys begin to fall...

 

In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their chauvinistic schoolmaster to troop off to the 'glorious war'. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. Their disenchantment begins during the brutal basic training and then, as they board the train to the front, they see the terrible injuries suffered on the front line - their first glimpse of the reality of war.

 

Having read many books about WW1 for A Level English, I thought it would be good to see one written from the other side. :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for your suggestion. :D Sorry for the late reply - I think I must have accidentally marked the forum as read as I've only just seen this.

 

I have Orwell's Coming Up For Air and Down and Out in Paris and London on my 'to read' pile already, both of which are from the 30s, so I'll probably go with one of those, but I've added your suggestion to my Amazon Wishlist as I like the sound of it too.

 

Thanks again. :irked:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've read Animal Farm, 1984 and The Road to Wigan Pier, Jo-Bridge and I enjoyed them all. I will post a review when I get round to the others on my 'to read' pile. :17:

 

I've decided to amend this challenge slightly so that I read one book per decade of a children's novel as well as an adult one. :P

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I've decided to amend this challenge slightly so that I read one book per decade of a children's novel as well as an adult one. :welcome:

 

That sounds like such a good idea!! Maybe I'll undertake a challenge like that someday... It would be such a education to know some of the great (not as recognizable by the mainstream) children books.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been trying to come up with some ideas for you but it's not as easy as I first thought :) Mainly, I'm not sure what you're looking for: any children's books written in that period? Lesser known books? Books which really show the period? For instance you have the Famous five series which spreads through the 40's, 50,s and 60's but they seem so obvious, and still widely read, that they might not be very interesting for a challenge...

 

How do you choose the books you read for the adult part of your challenge?

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  • 2 months later...

Sorry I missed your post from November Chimera. :D I hope you see this reply.

 

The adult books I've read so far just happen to be those that I have on my bookcase so it's more of a case of convenience and killing two birds with one stone than a conscious choice.

 

As for children's books, I'm hoping to read authors that I'm not familiar with (so not going down the Famous Five book although I have those upstairs somewhere).

 

I've just read The Midnight Folk by John Masefield which was published in the 1920s - I didn't pick it as part of this challenge but it happens to fit - and I'm currently reading the sequel which was published in the '30s, but I might not count that as I like the idea of 10 separate authors. :D

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