willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Thread Contents Post number 02. Book List 2018 - including previous book lists and threads 03. Favourite books 04. Favourite authors 05. Non-fiction focus - Doorstoppers, Slightly Foxed editions, The Wainwright List 06. Fiction authors focus - O'Brian, Ransome 07. Crime authors focus - Sansom, Leon, Simenon 08. Classics focus - Dickens, Hardy, Zola and year list 09. 1001 Books To Read Before You Die 10. Tour of the United States 11. Round Robin (LibraryThing) Challenge 12. TBR size - monthly record 13. 1000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich 14. spare 15. spare 16. The 100 Best Novels in English 17. spare 18. 2017 review, 2018 preview Edited November 29, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Book List 2018 Previous book lists: 2009, 2010-2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 January 01. Maigret at Picratt's by Georges Simenon **** 02. The Pursuit of Victory by Roger Knight ***** 03. Where My Heart Used To Beat by Sebastian Faulks G * 04. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes CG * 05. Walking Away by Simon Armitage **** February 06. Peculiar Ground by Lucy Hughes-Hallett *** 07. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (Feb 9) C *** 08. Coot Club by Arthur Ransome R ****** 09. The Big Six by Arthur Ransome R ***** 10. Claxton by Mark Cocker R **** March 11. Purple Hibiscus by C Ngozi Adichie G ***** 12. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr G **** 13. Jane Austen, The Secret Radical by Helena Kelly X ** 14. Darkest Hour by Anthony McCarten *** 15. Linescapes by Hugh Warwick **** April 16. A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor G ****** 17. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald G **** 18. Longbourn by Jo Baker **** 19. Lock No. 1 by Georges Simenon **** May 20. Letters to My Daughter's Killer by Cath Staincliffe G ** NC. Winter in Madrid by CJ Sampson CX ** 21. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson ***** 22. If Only They Didn't Speak English by Jon Sopel *** 23. The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher C **** 24. A Shadow Above by Joe Shute ***** NC. Rebels and Traitors by Lindsey Davis CX ** 25. The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd CT *** NC. Darke by Rick Gekoski GX * June 26. Farewell to the Horse by Ulrich Raulff X ** 27. A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland *** 28. Tyke on a Bike by John Priestley *** 29. Islander by Patrick Barkham ***** 30. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein G ** 31. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth *** July 32. Gossip from the Forest by Sara Maitland G **** 33. Paddington Helps Out by Michael Bond R ***** 34. Maigret by Georges Simenon **** 35. The Women Who Shaped Politics by Sophy Ridge **** 36. The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson *** 37. Pendulum by Adam Hamty G * 38. The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey G **** August 39. The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller ** 40. A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows **** 41. Bookworm by Lucy Mangan ***** 42. Fall Out by Tim Shipman **** 43. Birders by Mark Cocker **** 44. The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau U ***** 45. The Cellars of the Majestic by Georges Simenon **** September 46. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou G *** 47. The Comforters by Muriel Spark *** October 48. WTF? by Robert Peston **** 49. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh G ****** 50. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton *** 51. Slade House by David Mitchell G **** 52. True North by Martin Wainwright *** 53. Field Notes from a Hidden City by Esther Woolfson C *** 54. My Antonia by Willa Cather U ***** 55. Cecile is Dead by Georges Simenon **** November 56. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell **** 57. The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian ***** 58. C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton *** 59. The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson G **** 60. O Pioneer by Willa Cather ***** 61. Treasured Island by Frank Barrett ** 62. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton G **** 63. Turned Out Nice Again by Richard Mabey *** December 64. East West Street by Philippe Sands ****** 65. The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain *** 66. Churchill by Roy Jenkins **** 67. Where the Wild Winds Blow by Nick Hunt **** 68. The Judge's House by Georges Simenon **** 69. The Lighthouse by Alison Moore G * 70. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor *** 71. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain *** 72. At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison ***** 73. Wilding by Isabella Tree ******. . Ratings * Disliked this (a lot!), likely to be unfinished. ** Disappointing, might even be unfinished. *** OK, enjoyed reading to the end, but not unputdownable. **** Good, a thoroughly involving, engaging read. ***** Excellent.****** On my favourites list: something makes this special, even if only personal to me. A=audiobook, C=Round Robin Challenge read, G=Reading group read, R=reread, T=Thousand and One Books To Read Before You Die read, U=USA States Challenge read, X=unfinished Edited January 3, 2019 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Favourite Books A record of the 124 books and series to which I've given my top rating. These aren't necessarily the best literature I've read, but the books that are personal favourites, that, for whatever reason, struck a special chord in my reading. Individual books within a series are likely to have scored less, but the rating is for the series as a whole. The lists are divided into Fiction Non-fiction Children's Fiction Fiction (77) Ackroyd, Peter: Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem Ackroyd, Peter: Hawksmoor Atkinson, Kate: Case Histories Austen, Jane: Sense and Sensibility Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice Austen, Jane: Emma Bronte, Charlotte: Jane Eyre Buchan, John: John Macnab Carr JL: A Month in the Country Carr JL: The Harpole Report Chaucer, Geoffrey: The Canterbury Tales Chevalier, Tracey: Falling Angels Childers, Erskine: The Riddle of the Sands Collins, Norman: London Belongs To Me Cooper, Susan: The Dark is Rising Cunningham, Michael: The Hours Davies, Martin: The Conjuror's Bird Dickens, Charles: A Christmas Carol Dickens, Charles: Bleak House Dickens, Charles: David Copperfield Dunant, Sarah: In the Company of the Courtesan Eco, Umberto: The Name of the Rose Eliot, George: Middlemarch Elphinstone, Margaret: The Sea Road Elphinstone, Margaret: Voyageurs Ewing, Barbara: Rosetta Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair Goscinny, Rene: Asterix in Britain Greig, Andrew: The Return of John Macnab Guareschi, Giovanni: The Don Camillo series Haddon, Mark: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Hardy, Thomas: Far From The Madding Crowd Herbert, Frank: Dune Heyer, Georgette: The Grand Sophy Hill, Reginald: On Beulah Height Holtby, Winifred: South Riding Horwood, William: Stonor Eagles, The Horwood, William: Skallagrig Hulme, Keri: The Bone People Ivey, Eowyn: To the Bright Edge of the World Japrisot, Sebastian: A Very Long Engagement Le Carre, John: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mockingbird Leon, Donna: The Brunetti series Mantel, Hilary: Wolf Hall Melville, Herman: Moby Dick Miller, Andrew: Pure Mitchell, David: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet Monsarrat, Nicholas: The Cruel Sea Moorcock, Michael: Mother London O'Brian, Patrick: The Aubrey-Maturin series Pears, Ian: An Instance of the Fingerpost Penney, Stef: The Tenderness of Wolves Perry, Sarah: The Essex Serpent Proulx, Annie: The Shipping News Rushdie, Salman: Midnight's Children Seth, Vikram: A Suitable Boy Simenon, Georges: The Maigret series Smiley, Jane: A Thousand Acres Smith, Dodie: I Capture the Castle Steinbeck, John: Of Mice and Men Stephenson, Neal: Cryptonomicon Stevenson, Robert Louis: Kidnapped Swift, Graeme: Waterland Taylor, Elizabeth: A View of the Harbour Thomas, Dylan: Under Milk Wood Thompson, Harry: This Thing of Darkness Tolkien JRR: The Lord of the Rings Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace Waugh, Evelyn: Brideshead Revisited Willis, Connie: To Say Nothing of the Dog Woolf, Virginia: Mrs Dalloway Woolf, Virginia: The Years Woolf, Virginia: To The Lighthouse Woolf, Virginia: Between the Acts Woolfenden, Ben: The Ruins of Time Zafon, Carlos Ruiz: The Shadow of the WindNon-fiction (39) Blanning, Tim: The Pursuit of Glory Brown, Hamish: Hamish's Mountain Walk Clayton, Tim: Waterloo Cocker, Mark: Crow Country Dawkins, Richard: The Blind Watchmaker Fadiman, Anne: Ex Libris Frater, Alexander: Chasing the Monsoon Gogarty, Paul: The Water Road Hanff, Helen: 84 Charing Cross Road Harding, Thomas: The House By The Lake Hastings, Max: All Hell Let Loose Holland, James: Dam Busters Hoskins, WG: The Making of the English Landscape Huntford, Roland: Shackleton Jamie, Kathleen: Findings Junger, Sebastian: The Perfect Storm Lee, Hermione: Virginia Woolf Lewis-Stempel, John: The Running Hare Liptrot, Amy: The Outrun Longford, Elizabeth: Wellington, The Years of the Sword MacGregor, Neil: Germany, Memories of a Nation Moore, Richard: In Search of Robert Millar Nichols, Peter: A Voyage for Madmen Nicolson, Adam: The Seabird's Cry Pennac, Daniel: The Rights of the Reader Pinker, Stephen: The Language Instinct Rackham, Oliver: The History of the Countryside de Saint-Exupery, Antoine: Wind, Sand and Stars Salisbury, Laney and Gay: The Cruellest Miles Sands, Philippe: East-West Street Schumacher, EF: Small is Beautiful Simpson, Joe: Touching the Void Taylor, Stephen: Storm and Conquest Tomalin, Claire: Pepys, The Unequalled Self Tree, Isabella: Wilding Uglow, Jenny: The Pinecone Unsworth, Walt: Everest Weldon, Fay: Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen Wheeler, Sara: Terra IncognitaChildren's Fiction (8) Berna, Paul: Flood Warning Bond, Michael: The Paddington Bear series Kipling, Rudyard: Puck of Pook's Hill/Rewards and Fairies Milne, AA: Winnie-the-Pooh/House at Pooh Corner Pullman, Philip: Northern Lights Ransome, Arthur: The Swallows and Amazons series Sutcliff, Rosemary: The Eagle of the Ninth White, TH: Mistress Masham's Repose Edited January 3, 2019 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Favourite authorsTo qualify for this list, I have to have read at least three books by that author (amazing how many where I've just read two, especially non-fiction!), so no one-book wonders (it's the book then, not the author!). None of the books themselves need to have reached a six star rating, but they do need to have been rated consistently highly. Authors may be listed under both fiction and non-fiction. I've only included authors of adult books - for favourite children's authors, see favourite book list, as the two lists are pretty much the same.Fiction Jane AustenJL Carr Charles DickensSarah DunantMargaret Elphinstone Thomas HardyGeorgette HeyerDonna LeonPatrick O'BrianGeorges Simenon Elizabeth Taylor Virginia Woolf Non-Fiction Tim ClaytonLisa JardineJan MorrisSimon SchamaClaire TomalinJenny Uglow Edited June 13, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Non-fiction focus Three lists to give some focus to my non-fiction reading. The first list is entitled 'Doorstoppers'. These are generally longer than 500 pages; a few are multi-volume works. I've ticked over with 1 or 2 a year, although 2017 was not a good year with zero! I'm aiming to do better in 2018! The second list is for 'Slightly Foxed Editions.' I've been collecting this series of memoirs for the past few years, but have not actually read many of them. Again, I'd like to improve on that in 2018. This might be helped by the fact that I stopped subscribing in 2017, so whilst the odd one may be added, the list won't get much beyond no. 36 now. Finally, a list added late last year - 'The Wainwright List'. This is a list of selected short-and long-listed books nominated for the Wainwright Prize, primarily those focused on natural history plus some others. It's an area of reading I particularly love, and the list is here not so much as a challenge, more a checklist of books to investigate. Doorstoppers (Figures in brackets = total no. of non-fiction books read, and the % they represent) Read in 2018 The Pursuit of Victory by Roger Knight ***** Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson ***** Churchill by Roy Jenkins **** Read in 2017 none! Read in 2016 (23 - 31%) The Strangest Family by Janice Hadlow **** Germany, Memories of a Nation by Neil Macgregor ****** The Battle of the Atlantic by Jonathan Dimbleby **** Read in 2015 (12 - 17%) Waterloo by Tim Clayton ****** Read in 2014 (20 - 32%) The Pursuit of Glory by Tim Blanning ****** Darwin by Adrian Desmond and James Moore **** Read in 2013 (19 - 34%) Seasons in the Sun by Dominic Sandbrook ***** The Plantagenets by Dan Jones **** Slightly Foxed Editions Books in standard blue are those read in previous years; books read this year are in bold. 01. Blue Remembered Hills by Rosemary Sutcliff *** 02. My Grandmothers and I by Diana Holman-Hunt 03. A Cab at the Door by VS Pritchett 04. A Boy at the Hogarth Press et al by Richard Hoggart *** 05. A Late Beginner by Priscilla Napier 06. Corduroy by Adrian Bell 07. The Missing Will by Michael Wharton 08. Another Self by James Lee-Milne 09. The High Path by Ted Walker 10. A House in Flanders by Michael Jenkins 11. A Sort of Life by Graham Green 12. The Young Ardizzone by Edward Ardizzone 13. People Who Say Goodbye by PY Betts 14. Hand-grenade Practice in Peking by Frances Wood 15. Mr Tibbit's Catholic School by Ysende Maxtone Graham 16. Look Back with Love by Dodie Smith 17. Mango and Mimosa by Suzanne St Albans 18. The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley 19. A Late Education by Alan Moorehead 20. My Grandfather & Father Dear Father by Denis Constanduros 21. The Real Mrs Miniver by Ysende Maxtone Graham 22. Country Boy by Richard Hillyer 23. The Past is Myself by Christabel Bielenberg 24. Period Piece by Gwen Raverat *** 25. I Was A Stranger by John Hackett 26. Portrait of Elmbury by John Moore 27. Marrying Out by Harold Carlton 28. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell *** 29. Basil Street Blues by Michael Holroyd 30. Silver Ley by Adrian Corduroy 31. The House of Elrig by Gavin Maxwell 32. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff ****** 33. The Secret Orchard of Roger Ackerley by Diane Petre 34. Brensham Village by John Moore 35. Sword of Bone by Anthony Rhode 36. Terms and Conditions by Ysende Maxtone Graham Selections from the Wainwright List The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell (2018 L) The Moor by William Atkins (2015 S) Coastlines by Patrick Barkham (2016 L) Badgerlands by Patrick Barkham (2014 S) Islander by Patrick Barkham (2018 L) ***** Love of Country by Madeleine Bunting (2017 S) ***** Claxton by Mark Cocker (2015 S) **** The Otter's Tale by Simon Cooper (2017 S) Common Ground by Rob Cowen (2016 S) The Nature of Autumn by Jim Crumley (2017 L) Owl Sense by Miriam Darlington (2018 L) Outskirts by John Grindrod (2018 L) Weatherland by Alexandra Harris (2016 L) Rain by Melissa Harrison (2016 L) **** Under Another Sky by Charlotte Higgins (2014 S) ***** The Sea Inside by Philip Hoare (2014 L) Foxes Unearthed by Lucy Jones (2017 L) Meadowland by John Lewis-Stempel (2015 W) The Running Hare by John Lewis-Stempel (2017 S) ***** Where Poppies Blow by John Lewis-Stempel (2017 W) The Wood by John Lewis-Stempel (2018 L) The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (2016 W) ****** Raptor by James Lockhart (2016 L) H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (2014 S) ***** The Moth Snowstorm by Michael McCarthy (2016 S) The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane (2014 S) Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane (2016 S) Rising Ground by Philip Marsden (2015 S) A Sky Full of Birds by Matt Merritt (2017 L) Wild Kingdom by Stephen Moss (2017 S) The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson (2018 L) ****** Britannia Obscura by Joanne Parker (2015 L) A Wood of One's Own by Ruth Pavey (2018 L) Landskipping by Anna Pavord (2016 L) ***** The Ash Tree by Oliver Rackham (2015 L) The January Man by Christopher Somerville (2017 S) **** The Green Road into the Trees by Hugh Thomson (2014 W) On Silbury Hill by Adam Thorpe (2015 L) Counting Sheep by Philip Walling (2015 L) Silt Road by Charles Rangeley-Wilson (2014 L) Field Notes from a Hidden City by E Woolfson (2014 S) *** Edited December 16, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Fiction Author focus Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series - a new read Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series - a reread Books in standard blue are those read in previous years; 2018 books are in bold. Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series 01. Master and Commander 02. Post Captain 03. HMS Surprise 04. The Mauritius Command 05. Desolation Island 06. The Fortune of War07. The Surgeon's Mate 08. The Ionian Mission 09. Treason's Harbour 10. The Far Side of the World 11. The Reverse of the Medal 12. The Letter of Marque 13. The Thirteen Gun Salute 14. The Nutmeg of Consolation 15. Clarissa Oakes 16. The Wine-Dark Sea 17. The Commodore 18. The Yellow Admiral 19. The Hundred Days 20. Blue at the MizzenArthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series reread01. Swallows and Amazons (1930) 02. Swallowdale (1931) 03. Peter Duck (1932)04. Winter Holiday (1933)05. Coot Club (1934) 06. Pigeon Post (1936) 07. We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea (1937) 08. Secret Water (1939)09. The Big Six (1940) 10. Missee Lee (1941) 11. The Picts and The Martyrs (1943)12. Great Northern? (1947) 13. Coot Club (1988) Edited November 11, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Crime Author focus CJ Sansom's Shardlake series Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series Georges Simenon's Maigret books Books in standard blue are those read in previous years; 2018 books are in bold. CJ Sansom's Shardlake series 01. Dissolution (2003) **** 02. Dark Fire (2004) 03. Sovereign (2006) 04. Revelation (2008) 05. Heartstone (2010) 06. Lamentation (2014) Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series 01. Death at La Fenice (1992) **** 02. Death in a Strange Country (1993) **** 03. The Anonymous Venetian (1994) **** 04. A Venetian Reckoning (1995) **** 05. Acqua Alta (1996) **** 06. The Death of Faith (1997) **** 07. A Noble Radiance (1997) **** 08. Fatal Remedies (1999) ***** 09. Friends in High Places (2000) **** 10. A Sea of Troubles (2001) 11. Wilful Behaviour (2002) 12. Uniform Justice (2003) 13. Doctored Evidence (2004) 14. Blood from a Stone (2005) 15. Through a Glass, Darkly (2006) 16. Suffer the Little Children (2007) 17. The Girl of His Dreams (2008) 18. About Face (2009) 19. A Question of Belief (2010) 20. Drawing Conclusions (2011) 21. Beastly Things (2012) 22. By Its Cover (2013) 23. Falling in Love (2014) 24. The Waters of Eternal Youth (2015) 25. Earthly Remains (2016) Georges Simenon's Maigret novels 01. Pietr the Latvian *** 02. The Late Monsieur Gallet *** 03. The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien **** 04. The Carter of 'La Providence' ***** 05. The Yellow Dog *** 06. Night at the Crossroads **** 07. A Crime in Holland **** 08. The Grand Banks Cafe **** 09. A Man's Head *** 10. The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin **** 11. The Two-Penny Bar **** 12. The Shadow Puppet **** 13. The Saint-Fiacre Affair *** 14. The Flemish House ***** 15. The Madman of Bergerac **** 16. The Misty Harbour **** 17. Liberty Bar **** 18. Lock No. 1 **** 19. Maigret **** 20. Cecile is Dead **** 21. The Cellars of the Majestic **** 22. The Judge's House **** 23. Signed, Pipcus 24. Inspector Cadaver 25. Felicie 26. Maigret Gets Angry 27. Maigret in New York 28. Maigret's Holiday 29. Maigret's Dead Man 30. Maigret's First Case 31. My Friend Maigret 32. Maigret at the Coroner's 33. Maigret and the Old Lady 34. Madame Maigret's Friend 35. Maigret's Memoirs 36. Maigret at Picratt's **** 37. Maigret Takes a Room 38. Maigret and the Tall Woman 39. Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters 40. Maigret's Revolver 41. Maigret and the Man on the Bench 42. Maigret is Afraid 43. Maigret's Mistake 44. Maigret Goes to School Edited December 19, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Classics focus Charles Dickens Thomas Hardy Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart series Classics by year Charles Dickens01. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1837) **** 02. The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1839) ***** 03. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1839) ***** 04. The Old Curiosity Shop (1841) 05. Barnaby Rudge (1841) 06. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) 07. Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son (1848)08. The Personal History of David Copperfield (1850) ******09. Bleak House (1853) ****** 10. Hard Times (1854) 11. Little Dorrit (1857) 12. A Tale of Two Cities (1859)13. Great Expectations (1861) **** 14. Our Mutual Friend (1865) 15. The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) The Christmas Books16. A Christmas Carol (1843) ******17. The Chimes (1844) *** 18. The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) 19. The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1846) Thomas Hardy 01. Desperate Remedies (1871) 02. Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) 03. A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873)04. Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) ****** 05. The Hand of Ethelberta (1876)06. The Return of the Native (1878) **** 07. The Trumpet Major (1880) 08. A Laodicean (1881) 09. Two on a Tower (1882) 10. The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) 11. The Woodlanders (1887) 12. Tess of the D'Urbevilles (1891) 13. Jude the Obscure (1895)14. The Well-Beloved (1897) *** Short Stories 15. Wessex Tales (1888) 16. A Group of Noble Dames (1891) 17. Life's Little Ironies (1894) Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart Series01. La Fortune des Rougon **** 02. Son Excellence Eugene Rougon 03. La Curee 04. L'Argent 05. Le Reve 06. La Conquete de Plassans 07. Pot-Bouille 08. Au Bonheur des Dames 09. La Faute de L'Abbe Mouret 10. Une Page d'amour 11. Le Ventre de Paris 12. La Joie de vivre 13. L'Assommoir 14. L'Oeuvre 15. La Bete humaine 16. Germinal 17. Nana 18. La Terre 19. La Debacle 20. Le Docteur Pascal Classics - including five year back list 2018 The Radetzky March - Joseph Roth *** Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh ****** My Antonia - Willa Cather ***** O Pioneers - Willa Cather ***** 2017Lorna Doone - RD Blackmore *** Sons and Lovers - DH Lawrence **** Tom Brown's Schooldays - Thomas Hughes *** The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot ***** The Old Wives' Tale - Arnold Bennett ***** Clayhanger - Arnold Bennett ***** A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens R ****** Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll *** 2016Howards End - EM Forster *****Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf R ******Evelina - Fanny Burney ****Emma - Jane Austen R ******Mansfield Park - Jane Austen R *****Dracula - Bram Stoker R ***2015Middlemarch - George Eliot R ******Night and Day - Virginia Woolf *****Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy *****Frankenstein - Mary Shelley ****Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell R ***Lady Susan - Jane Austen ****Villette - Charlotte Bronte ***La Fortune des Rougon - Emile Zola ****2014Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens *****What Maisie Knew - Henry James ***North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell *****Silas Marner - George Eliot R ****Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy ******The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald ***Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte ****A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens R ******2013David Copperfield - Charles Dickens ******The Voyage Out - Virginia Woolf *****Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte *****The Turn of the Screw - Henry James ****A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens ***** Edited December 16, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Books read from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die This list is taken from the Arukiyomi spreadsheet which includes the 1305 books that have featured in the 4 editions to date, using his numbering sequence, most recently published at the top. It is kept solely for interest: I'm not attempting it as a challenge as there are far too many books on the list that I have no intention of even attempting to read, whilst there are too many others not on it (but I think should be!) that I do want to read. I do, however, have a fascination with lists, so.....Total read = 161 out of 1305 1302. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes *** 1255. The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd ***** 1250. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon ****** 1231. The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor ***** 1227. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides **** 1215. Life of Pi by Yann Martel **** 1178. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson ****** 1167. Amsterdam by Ian MacEwan **** 1161. The Hours by Michael Cunningham ****** 1159. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver ***** 1155. Enduring Love by Ian MacEwan * 1139. The Ghost Road by Pat Barker *** 1128. The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald *** 1127. The Reader by Bernard Schlink * 1105. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx ****** 1103. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks *** 1096. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth ****** 1090. The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd **** 1075. The Crow Road by Ian Banks **** 1073. The Dumas Club by Arturo Perez-Reverte *** 1072. Miss Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg ***** 1057. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell **** 1059. Regeneration by Pat Barker ***** 1041. Possession by AS Byatt **** 1032. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro **** 1005. The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams **** 1004. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams **** 0971. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson ***** 0962. Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd ****** 0931. Waterland by Graham Swift ****** 0916. On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin ***** 0903. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie ****** 0895. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco ****** 0883. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams ***** 0854. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor ***** 0837. Ragtime by EL Doctorow **** 0830. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre ****** 0802. The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark *** 0798. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou *** 0782. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut * 0777. The Godfather by Mario Puzo *** 0768. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke **** 0762. A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines *** 0746. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov ***** 0715. The Graduate by Charles Webb *** 0713. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carre ** 0712. The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark **** 0688. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark ***** 0675. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee ****** 0668. Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee ** 0665. Memento Mori by Muriel Spark *** 0646. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham **** 0636. Justine by Lawrence Durrell * 0630. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien ****** 0611. Lord of the Flies by William Golding **** 0609. The Story of O by Pauline Reage * 0605. The Go-Between by LP Hartley *** 0604. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler **** 0593. Excellent Women by Barbara Pym *** 0590. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway *** 0585. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham ***** 0583. Foundation by Isaac Asimov **** 0573. The Third Man by Graham Greene *** 0567. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov **** 0564. Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford **** 0560. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell * 0547. The Plague by Albert Camus ** 0533. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh ****** 0529. Animal Farm by George Orwell ** 0527. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford *** 0513. The Outsider by Albert Camus ** 0505. Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf ****** 0503. Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler **** 0490. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler **** 0487. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson ***** 0479. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ****** 0477. The Years by Virginia Woolf ****** 0476. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien *** 0450. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers ***** 0445. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain *** 0440. The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz *** 0428. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons ***** 0426. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth *** 0420. The Waves by Virginia Woolf ***** 0416. Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham ***** 0412. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett *** 0403. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque *** 0395. Orlando by Virginia Woolf **** 0394. Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence * 0393. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall ** 0383. To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf ****** 0371. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie **** 0367. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf ****** 0366. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald *** 0347. Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf ***** 0330. Night and Day by Virginia Woolf ***** 0328. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West *** 0316. The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf ***** 0313. The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan **** 0309. Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence ***** 0300. Howards End by EM Forster ***** 0295. A Room With A View by EM Forster ***** 0291. The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett ***** 0276. The Call of the Wild by Jack London **** 0275. The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers **** 0269. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle **** 0267. Kim by Rudyard Kipling **** 0256. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James **** 0250. What Maisie Knew by Henry James *** 0249. Dracula by Bram Stoker **** 0239. The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith * 0238. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle ***** 0232. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde *** 0229. La Bete Humaine by Emile Zola **** 0216. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde by RL Stevenson **** 0213. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson ****** 0210. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain **** 0203. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson ***** 0199. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James *** 0193. Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy **** 0192. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy ***** 0184. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy ****** 0182. Around The World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne **** 0177. Middlemarch by George Eliot ****** 0176. Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll **** 0173. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy ****** 0167. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins **** 0163. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne **** 0162. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll *** 0155. Silas Marner by George Eliot *** 0154. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens **** 0149. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot ****(*) 0148. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins ***** 0143. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert ***** 0142. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell ***** 0138. Bleak House by Charles Dickens ****** 0137. Villette by Charlotte Bronte *** 0136. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell **** 0132. Moby Dick by Herman Melville ****** 0130. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens . 0128. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell ***** 0126. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ****** 0125. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte **** 0124. Vanity Fair by Wllliam Thackeray ****** 0123. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte ****** 0122. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas ***** 0113. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens ****** 0106. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens ***** 0105. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens ***** 0090. Ivanhoe by Walter Scott *** 0089. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley **** 0088. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen ***** 0087. Persuasion by Jane Austen ***** 0084. Emma by Jane Austen ****** 0083. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen ***** 0082. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ****** 0081. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen ****** 0056. Evelina by Fanny Burney **** 0045. Candide by Voltaire **** 0031. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe * 0001. Aesop's Fables by Aesopus ** Edited December 23, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) A Tour of the StatesI thought it about time I aimed to improve my experience of American literature, it being somewhat limited. So, this is the challenge on which the English Counties list was modelled: 51 states of the US, each represented by one book. It is based on the list here, but in the spirit of broadening that experience, I have amended it using these rules: a. it must be fiction; b. an author can only appear once; c. nothing before 1900; d. no children's books; e. no rereads. Inevitably some great books and authors will have been left off, but the process itself has already helped identify those holes, and I aim to fill them in as additional reading. 11/51The Keepers of the House - Shirley Ann Grau (Alabama) *****To The Bright Edge of the World - Eowyn Ivey (Alaska) ******The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver (Arizona) ****True Grit - Charles Portis (Arkansas) ****East of Eden - John Steinbeck (California)Plainsong - Kent Haruf (Colorado)Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates (Connecticut)The Saint of Lost Things - Christopher Castellani (Delaware)Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston (Florida)The Color Purple - Alice Walker (Georgia) THawaii - James Michener (Hawaii)Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson (Idaho) ****The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow (Illinois) TThe Stone Diaries - Carol Shields (Indiana) TThe Bridges of Madison County - Robert Waller (Iowa) ****In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (Kansas) TThe Sport of Kings - CE Morgan (Kentucky)All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren (Louisiana)Empire Falls - Richard Russo (Maine)Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (Maryland)Ethan Frome- Edith Wharton (Massachusetts) TThe Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides (Michigan) TMain Street - Sinclair Lewis (Minnesota) TAs I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (Mississippi)Stoner - John Williams (Missouri)A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean (Montana)My Antonia - Willa Cather (Nebraska) *****The Ox-Bow Incident - Walter van Tilburg Clark (Nevada)Peyton Place - Grace Metallious (New Hampshire)The Sportswriter - Richard Ford (New Jersey) ****Cities of the Plain - Cormac McCarthy (New Mexico)Underworld - Don DeLillo (New York) TCold Mountain - Charles Frazier (North Carolina) *****The Round House - Louise Erdrich (North Dakota)Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson (Ohio) ***Paradise - Toni Morrison (Oklahoma) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey (Oregon) TThe Killer Angels - Michael Shaara (Pennsylvania)The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike (Rhode Island)The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd (South Carolina)Welcome to Hard Times - EL Doctorow (South Dakota)A Death in the Family - James Agee (Tennessee)Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (Texas)Riders of the Purple Sage - Zane Grey (Utah)The Secret History - Donna Tartt (Vermont) TThe Known World - Edward P Jones (Virginia)Snow Falling on Cedars- David Guterson (Washington) ***Advise and Consent - Allen Drury (Washington DC)Storming Heaven - Denise Giardina (West Virginia)The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach (Wisconsin) TThe Virginian - Owen Wister (Wyoming) T = on the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list. Edited November 19, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Round Robin (LibraryThing) Challenge Challenges to me 1. Rebels and Traitors by Lindsey Davis (Madeleine) 2. Field Notes from a Hidden City by Esther Woolfson (Chesilbeach) 3. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (Karen.d) 4. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (Alexi) 5. Tess of the D'Urbevilles by Thomas Hardy (Chaliepud) 6. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth (Little Pixie) 7. Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (Frankie) 8. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (by MRTR) 9. La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman (Ben) Challenges by me 1. Madeleine - The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher 2. Chesilbeach - The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller 3. Karen.d - Winter in Madrid by CJ Sampson 4. Alexi - Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris by Graham Robb 5. Chaliepud - The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney 6. Little Pixie - The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd 7. Frankie - Dead Wake by Erik Larson 8. MRTR: Stalingrad by Antony Beevor 9. Ben: SPQR by Mary Beard Edited November 7, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) TBR size (month start) Jan: 1472 Feb: 1464 Mar: 1465 Apr: 1463 May: 1468 Jun: 1451 Jul: 1460 Aug: 1460 Sep: 1413 Oct: 1359 Nov: 1365 Dec: 1364 EOY: Edited December 1, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) Books read from 1000 Books You Must Read Before You Die by James Mustich This is different to 1001 Books, listed above; it is an American book that I found in Waterstones, and looked fascinating. It's a personal selection (aren't they all?), but one which, in some ways, I feel more in tune with, not least because it includes non-fiction; it is also far more eclectic. It has its idiosyncracies. I can't, for instance, go along with letting Proust take up 7 books or Laurence Durrell 4 (the whole Alexandria Quartet as separate volumes), but any list that includes A Month in the Country has to have merits! As an inveterate list maker, I find it irresistible, but as with 1001 Books, it is kept solely for interest and not as a challenge (for the same reasons). Books are listed alphabetically by author.Total read = 155 Adams, Douglas: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Adams, Richard: Watership Down Andersen, Hans Christian: Fairy Tales Angelou, Maya: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Anonymous: The Arabian Nights Anonymous: Beowulf Asimov, Isaac: Foundation Asimov, Isaac: Foundation and Empire Asimov, Isaac: Second Foundation Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice Austen, Jane: Sense and Sensibility Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park Austen, Jane: Emma Austen, Jane: Northanger Abbey Austen, Jane: Persuasion Barker, Pat: Regeneration Barker, Pat: The Eye in the Door Barker, Pat: The Ghost Road Barrie, JM: Peter and Wendy Baum, L. Frank: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Beckett, Samuel: Waiting for Godot Bennett, Alan: The Uncommon Reader Bronte, Charlotte: Jane Eyre Bronte, Emily: Wuthering Heights Brown, Dan: The Da Vinci Code Brunhoff, Jean de: The Story of Babar Buchan, John: The Thirty-Nine Steps Bulgakov, Mikhail: The Master and Margarita Burnett, Frances Hodgson: The Secret Garden Byatt, AS: Possession Camus, Albert: The Plague Carr, JL: A Month in the Country Carroll, Lewis: Alice Adventures in Wonderland Carroll, Lewis: Through the Looking Glass Cather, Willa: O Pioneers Chandler, Raymond: The Big Sleep Chaucer, Geoffrey: The Canterbury Tales Childers, Erskine: The Riddle of the Sands Christie, Agatha: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Clancy, Tom: The Hunt for Red October Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone Crichton, Michael: The Andromeda Strain Cunningham, Michael: The Hours Dahl, Roald: Matilda Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Dickens, Charles: David Copperfield Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist Dickens, Charles: Nicholas Nickleby Dickens, Charles: A Christmas Carol Dickens, Charles: Bleak House Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations Doctorow, EL: Ragtime Dumas, Alexander: The Count of Monte Cristo Durrell, Gerald: My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Lawrence: Justine Eco, Umberto: The Name of the Rose Eliot, George: Middlemarch Fermor, Patrick Leigh: A Time of Gifts Fitzgerald, F.Scott: The Great Gatsby Fitgerald, Penelope: Offshore Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary Flynn, Gillian: Gone Girl Forsyth, Frederick: The Day of the Jackal Galbraith, John: The Great Crash 1929 Gaskell, Elizabeth: Cranford Gibbons, Stella: Cold Comfort Farm Golding, William: Lord of the Flies Grahame, Kenneth: The Wind in the Willows Graves, Robert: Goodbye to All That Greene, Graham: The Third Man Guareschi, Giovanni: The Little World of Don Camillo Hammett, Dashiell: The Maltese Falcon Hanff, Helen: 84 Charing Cross Road Hardy, Thomas: Jude the Obscure Harris, Thomas: The Silence of the Lambs Hemingway, Ernest: The Old Man and the Sea Herbert, Frank: Dune Herriot, James: All Creatures Great and Small Ishiguro, Kazuo: The Remains of the Day James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer: Heat and Dust Juster, Norton: The Phantom Tollbooth Keegan, John: The Face of Battle Kennedy, Richard: A Boy at the Hogarth Press Kingsolver, Barbara: The Poisonwood Bible Kipling, Rudyard: Just So Stories Kuhn, Thomas: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Lawrence, DH: Sons and Lovers Le Carre, John: The Spy Who Came In from the Cold Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mockingbird Lee, Laurie: Cider with Rosie Leon, Donna: Friends in High Places Lewis, CS: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Lofting, Hugh: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle Ludlum, Robert: The Bourne Identity Mackenzie, Compton: Whisky Galore Martel, Yann: Life of Pi Mayle, Peter: A Year in Provence Melville, Herman: Moby-Dick Miller, Arthur: Death of a Salesman Milne, AA: Winnie-the-Pooh Milne, AA: The House at Pooh Corner Mitford, Nancy: The Pursuit of Love Newby, Eric: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush O'Brian, Patrick: Master and Commander Orwell, George: 1984 Potter, Beatrix: The World of Peter Rabbit Pullman, Philip: Northern Lights Pym, Barbara: Excellent Women Ransome, Arthur: Swallows and Amazons Raverat, Gwen: Period Piece Remarque, Erich Maria: All Quiet on the Western Front Robinson, Marilynne: Gilead Rowling, JK: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rushdie, Salman: Midnight's Children Sendak, Maurice: Where the Wild Things Are Shakespeare, William: Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare, William: Julius Caesar Shakespeare, William: A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare, William: Henry IV Part 1 Shakespeare, William: Henry IV Part 2 Shakespeare, William: Henry V Shakespeare, William: Hamlet Shakespeare, William: Othello Shakespeare, William: King Lear Shakespeare, William: Macbeth Shakespeare, William: The Tempest Shaw, George Bernard: Pygmalion Shelley, Mary: Frankenstein Simenon, Georges: Maigret and the Man on the Bench Smith, Dodie: I Capture the Castle Sobel, Dava: Longitude Spark, Muriel: Memento Mori Stevenson, Robert Louis: Treasure Island Stevenson, Robert Louis: Kidnapped Stevenson, Robert Louis: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Stoker, Bram: Dracula Thackeray, William: Vanity Fair Tolkien, JRR: The Hobbit Tolkien, JRR: The Lord of the Rings Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina Trollope, Anthony: The Warden Twain, Mark: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Twain, Mark: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Voltaire: Candide Vonnegut, Kurt: Slaughterhouse Five Watson, James D: The Double Helix Waugh, Evelyn: The Loved One White, EB: Charlotte's Web Wilde, Oscar: The Importance of Being Earnest Wodehouse, PG: Pigs Have Wings Woolf, Virginia: To The Lighthouse Woolf, Virginia: Orlando Wyndham, John: The Day of the Triffids Edited December 1, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 29, 2017 Author Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) Spare post Edited December 30, 2017 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 29, 2017 Author Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) Spare post Edited December 30, 2017 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 29, 2017 Author Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) The 100 Best Novels in English This is a list that was developed by Robert McCrum in a weekly series in the Observer, and then published as a book by Galileo. It's on occasions rather idiosyncratic, and I do think there aren't enough female writers on the list, but it's no less interesting for all that, as an object of (heated!) discussion if nothing else, not least because he only allowed himself one book per writer (I disagree on his choice for several writers!). Books read to date are highlighted in blue. Read so far: 30/100 In chronological order 01. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (1678) 02. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defore (1719) 03. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726) 04. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1748) 05. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749) 06. Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne (1759) 07. Emma by Jane Austen (1816) 08. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) 09. Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock (1818) 10. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by E A Poe (1838) 11. Sybil by Benjamin Disrael (1845) 12. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847) 13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847) 14. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray (1848) 15. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850) 16. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) 17. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851) 18. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865) 19. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) 20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868) 21. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871) 22. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875) 23. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884) 24. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) 25. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome (1889) 26. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890) 27. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891) 28. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891) 29. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895) 30. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895) 31. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) 32. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899) 33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1900) 34. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901) 35. The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903) 36. The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904) 37. Hadrian the Seventh by Frederick Rolfe (1904) 38. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908) 39. The History of Mr Polly by HG Wells (1910) 40. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm (1911) 41. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (1915) 42. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915) 43. The Rainbow by DH Lawrence (1915) 44. Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham (1915) 45. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920) 46. Ulysses by James Joyce (1922) 47. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922) 48. A Passage to India by EM Forster (1924) 49. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos (1925) 50. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925) 51. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald (1925) 52. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 53. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926) 54. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1929) 55. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930) 56. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932) 57. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932) 58. Nineteen Nineteen by John Dos Passos (1932) 59. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934) 60. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938) 61. Murphy by Samuel Beckett (1938) 62. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939) 63. Party Going by Henry Green (1939) 64. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien (1939) 65. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939) 66. Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse (1946) 67. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946) 68. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947) 69. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen (1948) 70. Nineteen Eight-Four by George Orwell (1949) 71. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951) 72. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951) 73. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (1953) 74. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954) 75. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955) 76. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957) 77. Voss by Patrick White (1957) 78. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) 79. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1960) 80. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) 81. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1962) 82. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962) 83. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (1964) 84. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966) 85. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1966) 86. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth (1969) 87. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (1971) 88. Rabbit Redux by John Updike (1971) 89. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977) 90. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul (1979) 91. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (1981) 92. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (1981) 93. Money by Martin Amis (1984) 94. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986) 95. The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald (1988) 96. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (1988) 97. Amongst Women by John McGahern (1990) 98. Underworld by Don DeLillo (1997) 99. Disgrace by JM Coetzee (1999) 00. True Story of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2000) Edited December 1, 2018 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 29, 2017 Author Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) Spare post Edited December 30, 2017 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 29, 2017 Author Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) Review 2017, Preview 2018 At the end of my review last year, I commented that 2017 could be the most interesting year for some while. Little did I know how prescient that was! I already knew that I intended to reduce me work hours before the end of 2017; what I hadn't fully realised was quite how deep the stress had become, and how it would all come to a head, even before Easter! The upshot is that not only have I reduced my hours but, I've actually retired from teaching. What a relief - it's only now that I can look back and see clearly quite what a state had developed. Reading-wise it's been a good year, solid rather than spectacular. In pure number terms, I read 72 books and almost exactly 21000 pages, both only bettered by last year's efforts, not bad when I really wasn't aiming to achieve any particular number. In terms of the aims I had set myself, it was slightly more mixed. I was pleased to finish the English Counties Challenge (which was great fun and very rewarding), and have made a solid start on my follow-up Tour of the United States - 7 visited to date, including my Book of the Year and promising to be equally as enjoyable. For the first time in three years, I didn't finish the Popsugar reading challenge, falling just short, but that resulted from a positive decision taken in October not to continue treat it as a target, as it was starting to adversely affect my reading enjoyment (more on that decision below); I will probably finish it off in the New Year, but I don't think I will be tackling the 2018 version, other than incidentally. I aimed to read more non-fiction, but have landed up reading pretty much the same proportion (around 30%). The various focus areas and authors I list in my introductory posts above were equally mixed - progress in some (e.g. Simenon, Ransome and O'Brian lists lists), none in others (eg Slightly Foxed, classical and other crime authors). Although not an aim, one thing that did surprise me was the low proportion of female authors I read this year, down to barely one in three, the lowest in years (a more usual figure would be 40% or so, whilst 2015 saw it reach almost 60%). So much for quantities, what about quality?! Perhaps the biggest surprise is how few new 6-star reads I had - just two, although that was partially compensated for by more 5-star reads than normal - am I just getting more picky? (Not overall at least, as my average rating has stayed pretty much the same for the past four years, varying between 3.83 and 3.89); the 6-star rereads were an absolute joy though, especially the joint Rereads of the Year, Flood Warning unexpectedly so. A perhaps more pertinent trend is that for the second year running, non-fiction books dominate my upper ratings, even if a novel actually tops the list. Nature books provide a goodly proportion of these, a genre that I find myself reading more of nowadays, and one that seems to more generally have been going through something of a renaissance. As a result, I am, like chesilbeach, targeting the Wainwright list for ideas, and it's proving fruitful. Author discoveries this year include Adam Nicolson and Arnold Bennett; I'm looking forward to reading more by Eowyn Ivey too. At the bottom end, the Duffer of the Year is, yet again, and probably inevitably, a book group choice. I already knew I didn't like Ben Elton's books, but this merely confirmed how poor I think he is as a writer - unfinishable in fact. Having said that, the biggest disappointment, a new category this year, was a complete surprise; I've previously really enjoyed much of Susan Hill's work, but this was horribly self-indulgent. So, what about next year? Well, for starters, no more specific numbers to aim at - I've found this approach has spoiled both my reading and my birding this year. Although I do have two challenges on the go, the Tour of the US and the Round Robin, the former is open ended, the latter reasonably conservative numerically. Instead, just some areas and authors to focus on, as listed in earlier posts on this thread. I've said this for a few years now, but this year I really do feel I need to get to grips with some of the bigger books, both fiction and non-fiction, on my shelves, so I expect, indeed almost want, to actually record a drop in the number of books read in the next review. And maybe, just maybe, I might make some inroads into my To Read list, which the Round Robin might help with? Accolades for 2017 (Rereads not included except in their own category) Fiction and Overall Book of the Year To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey Fiction Runner-up The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett Fiction Short list The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon Non-fiction Book of the Year (and Overall Runner-Up) The Seabirds' Cry by Adam Nicolson Non-fiction Runner-up (and Overall Third Place) Love of Country by Madeleine Bunting Non-fiction Short List Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley Down the River by HE Bates Sea Room by Adam Nicolson The Road to Somewhere by David Goddart Joint Reread of the Year Flood Warning by Paul Berna Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome Duffer of the Year Two Brothers by Ben Elton Duffer short list The Crime at Black Dudley by Marjory Allingham The Circle by David Eggers All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai Most disappointing book of the year Jacob's Room is Full of Books by Susan Hill Edited December 30, 2017 by willoyd Quote
willoyd Posted December 29, 2017 Author Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) Welcome to my reading blog for 2018. This thread is now open! Edited December 30, 2017 by willoyd Quote
Janet Posted December 30, 2017 Posted December 30, 2017 I love your very extensive 'blog'. I hope you enjoy 'Tess'. I love it - but @frankie hates it! I think you'll like/love it, but one never can tell! On 12/28/2017 at 9:12 PM, willoyd said: Slightly Foxed Editions Books in standard blue are those read in previous years; 2018 books are in bold. I am particularly interested in this section. I have only read one of these myself (The Young Ardizzone by Edward Ardizzone) and I have My Grandmothers and I by Diana Holman-Hunt on my 'to read' pile, but there are simply (pun intended) loads of titles I'd like to read. I visited the old shop, which has now sadly closed down, although one can visit their operation - if they have notice! Spoiler Can I visit you at your office in Hoxton Square? Yes, certainly. We are always delighted to meet readers and you’re most welcome during office hours: Monday to Friday between 9.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. GMT. Occasionally we have events that take us all out of the office, and we have regular large deliveries of books (that make much of the office temporarily impassable!) so do let us know if you’re planning to visit and we’ll ensure a clear path to the bookshelves, the sofa and the kettle. Please note that, while everything we produce is available to buy from our offices, we are not a bookshop in the traditional sense, so if you’re looking for a particular book or anything else, it’s a good idea to get in touch before you set off to make sure we have your items in stock. I shall look forward to following your progress this year. Quote
willoyd Posted December 30, 2017 Author Posted December 30, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, Janet said: I hope you enjoy 'Tess'. I love it - but @frankie hates it! I think you'll like/love it, but one never can tell! I'm pretty confident I'll enjoy it simply because I've loved all the Hardy I've read to date, but we'll see! I'm certainly pleased it's part of my challenge. Quote I am particularly interested in this section. I have only read one of these myself (The Young Ardizzone by Edward Ardizzone) and I have My Grandmothers and I by Diana Holman-Hunt on my 'to read' pile, but there are simply (pun intended) loads of titles I'd like to read. I visited the old shop, which has now sadly closed down, although one can visit their operation - if they have notice! Yes, this is one that is long overdue some attention. They're not only attractive titles, but I love the books themselves as physical entities - simple and yet elegantly practical - perfect for reading. I've also got the set of Slightly Foxed Cubs which I'll give a go some time soon too - another example (along with the likes of Ransome, Sutcliffe et al) of 'grown up' children's books, the sort that seem in somewhat short supply nowadays. I didn't realise one could visit them, so thanks for that info. I might try and do so next time I'm in London. Edited December 30, 2017 by willoyd Quote
chesilbeach Posted December 31, 2017 Posted December 31, 2017 I hope you have a very enjoyable year of reading in 2018. Thanks again for the Round Robin challenge, I'm looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into it as like you, I finished the English Counties this year. Which reminds me, good to see The Old Wives Tale as your Fiction runner-up of the year. I'd never heard of Bennett before the challenge, and I this was one of my favourites too. I'm certainly planning to read more of his books although I'm not sure when it'll be as my TBR is huge at the moment. Quote
Athena Posted December 31, 2017 Posted December 31, 2017 I wish you a great reading year in 2018, Willoyd . I enjoyed reading your review of 2017 / preview of 2018 post. Quote
willoyd Posted December 31, 2017 Author Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) 9 hours ago, chesilbeach said: Which reminds me, good to see The Old Wives Tale as your Fiction runner-up of the year. I'd never heard of Bennett before the challenge, and I this was one of my favourites too. I'm certainly planning to read more of his books although I'm not sure when it'll be as my TBR is huge at the moment. I read two others of his during the year - as you will see he was one of two authors I listed as 'discoveries' this year. Clayhanger was a selection for our book group and I picked up The Card in a sale late on in the year - and only picked him up because I'd enjoyed the other two so much. Clayhanger is of the same mould as OWT, whilst The Card was a rather different book, lighter and more 'fun', even though based in exactly the same social and geographical landscape as the other two. I still want to read more! Incidentally, the reason Clayhanger was a selection came about because, a year or so ago, we had Marriage Material (Sathnam Sanghera) as a selection, one I had chosen because I'd seen the author at the Ilkley Literature Festival and wanted to follow up. We found out that Marriage Material was based on OWT - a modern day variant. Another member of the group then read OWT (I hadn't at that stage) and enjoyed it so much that she nominated Clayhanger as a selection. Goes to show that Arnold Bennett really is undeservedly not so well known! I'm going back to reread MM sometime soon simply to connect the threads that I hadn't picked up first time round - my book group friend thought it had been done very cleverly. I wonder if your TBR list is as big as mine (over 1400 now!). Edited December 31, 2017 by willoyd Quote
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Posted January 1, 2018 Happy 2018 Willoyd! I'm hoping the Round Robin challenge will get me reading some of the titles that have been languishing the longest on my TBR - and like you I plan to read all 14 of them, those handed out by me as well as to me. My growing TBR has lots of recommendations from you and no doubt that will be the case this year too Quote
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