The English Counties Challenge

[Janet]

Okay, for Suffolk, how about The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald? It's set in a fictional town in Suffolk but based on Southwold?

[willoyd]

Okay, for Suffolk, how about The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald? It's set in a fictional town in Suffolk but based on Southwold?

 

Great idea!

[Janet]

Thanks.

[willoyd]

Another World too!

[chesilbeach]

Thanks Janet.
 
The new nominations for the two counties are:
 
 
Suffolk:
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Sacred Country by Rose Tremain
The Hundred and One Dalmations by Dodie Smith
Cecilia by Frances Burney
The Sea House by Esther Freud
 
Tyne and Wear:
Another World by Pat Barker
The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall
Skellig by David Almond

[Janet]

Another World too!

Thanks.

 

Well Another World and The Bookshop get my vote, although I don't mind the others. 

 

I'm not sure if any of the nominations are really famous for being set in their respective counties.  It's funny how some counties have books that leap out by a mile and others none that really do. 

[Kidsmum]

Another World gets a resounding yes from me. I'm not sure about Suffolk but am happy to go for The Bookshop. For Oxfordshire i would have been happy with either choice but i think i might add Brideshead Revisited to my own list for that one as it's already on my TBR pile 

 

Just had a look on Wikipedia & i see Brideshead Revisited is an option for Wiltshire 

Edited November 8, 2013 by Kidsmum

[willoyd]

Just had a look on Wikipedia & i see Brideshead Revisited is an option for Wiltshire 

 

I can see Wiltshire needing to be a 2-book county....Barchester Towers?!  (There's The Spire as well, but don't think that ranks alongside these two.

[chesilbeach]

List updated for Suffolk and Tyne and Wear, so since Wiltshire has come up now, let's do that one next along with Warwickshire:
 
Warwickshire
Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
 
Wiltshire
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

[willoyd]

For me, Wiltshire has to be Barchester Towers even though that has to be one of the best, i.e. interesting, county selections so far.

 

In terms of Warwickshire, I would suggest Tom Brown's Schooldays.  I would have put forward Middlemarch, but I think Coventry is now part of West Midlands rather than Warwickshire.

[Kidsmum]

I can see Wiltshire needing to be a 2-book county....Barchester Towers?!  (There's The Spire as well, but don't think that ranks alongside these two.

 

 

Quite a few good books for Wiltshire but although i really enjoyed The Barchester Chronicles for me it has to be Brideshead Revisited 

 

I like the sound of Tom Brown's Schooldays for Warwickshire.

[Janet]

For me, Wiltshire has to be Barchester Towers even though that has to be one of the best, i.e. interesting, county selections so far.

Isn't that Part 2?   Can they be read out of order? 

[willoyd]

Yes they can. The Warden does lead in but I read BT first with no less enjoyment.

[poppyshake]

Wiltshire is tough! I'm also going to go with Barchester Towers as I think Trollope's Barchester (and Palliser) novels can be read individually. Brideshead Revisited is an excellent nomination too and of course, The Eyre Affair is just genius (and so are the other two .. in fact all the nominations are brilliant books .. wel done Wiltshire )

[chesilbeach]

It looks like Barchester Towers for Wiltshire then as it can be read out of order.  Are we going for Tom Brown's School Days for Warwickshire?  It's certainly the most famous to me of the ones mentioned.
 
If so, that takes us onto:
 
West Midlands
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe
What Hetty Did by J. L. Carr
Nice Work by David Lodge
 
Worcestershire
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
 
Any other suggestions?

[Kidsmum]

I certainly can't think of anything more famous for Warwickshire than Tom Brown's School Days so it gets my vote 

 

Middlemarch gets my vote for West Midlands & i'm more than happy to read Black Swan Green for Worcestershire

[Janet]

I'd like to choose What Hetty Did, although I'm not sure it's as famous as Middlemarch.

 

What about The Well Of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall for Worcestershire?

 

[willoyd]

Middlemarch for me. Not sure about Worcestershire.

[Janet]

This thread has gone quiet!

 

I was just wondering... are we all planning to start at the same time?  I imagine this challenge will take me more than a year - I can usually read around 60 books a year (+/- some!) but I have found that the classics take me longer than average, and of course I don't want to solely read books for this challenge.  I know some of you will do this much, much quicker. 

 

Presumably also we'll start our own threads for progress, otherwise it will get quite difficult to follow, I think. 

 

Just a few rambling thoughts...!

[Alexi]

I intend to take part (with two substitutions because I've recently read them) and I don't really mind how we do it.

 

Like Janet I read about 60 books a year

[poppyshake]

I think I'll start the challenge soon after we've finished selecting the books Janet  Lord only knows how long it will take me to complete it though  

I don't know whether to set up a separate thread or not  it might be confusing otherwise as you say.

[Janet]

I don't know whether to do a "Janet's English County (or Counties?) Challenge" thread like my World Challenge one or not. The difficulty will be that we all read at a different pace.

[frankie]

Do you guys think you will set up a special thread for each book in which you can discuss them? Not that you would read all the books at the same time... But it might be great for other people to go and look what others' thoughts are on the book...

[Janet]

Ah, now that's an idea!

[frankie]

I would probably go for that, as well as having a post for the challenge books in my reading log. Or then just start a thread for one's own personal list, just for fun. But I think it would be nice if there were threads for each book. 'Outsiders' would also have easier access to the thoughts of a certain book

Edited November 11, 2013 by frankie