BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - GENERAL THREAD

THE WRITERS

January - SUSAN HILL & BARRY UNSWORTH January thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/211144
February : Agatha Christie & William Dalrymple February thread : http://www.librarything.com/topic/218471
March : Ali Smith & Thomas Hardy - March thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/219825
April : George Eliot & Hanif Kureishi
May : Jane Gardam & Robert Goddard
June : Lady Antonia Fraser & Joseph Conrad
July : Bernice Rubens & H.G. Wells
August : Diana Wynne-Jones & Ian McEwan
September : Doris Lessing & Laurie Lee
October : Kate Atkinson & William Golding
November : Rebecca West & Len Deighton
December : WEST YORKSHIRE writers
Wildcard : Rumer Godden and George Orwell

What I am planning:

January - The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth

Haven't planned anything yet, but I don't want to miss one word of the discussion!

I've decided to only read books from my TBR collection for the various challenges, so my first book will be How to Be Both by Ali Smith in March.

I'm doing the same thing that Darryl is doing, but I have a January selection - The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill, which has been in the stacks since 2012.

I'm going to try Morality Play by Unsworth.

This challenge looks very intriguing - and I will definitely take some inspiration for my reading year from it!

Oh, The Woman in Black, The Various Haunts of Men and Morality Play were all very good, I thought.

I'm not committing to monthly challenges, but I have The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill on my TBR shelf, so I may join in here on that one this month.

I have the ebook of Land of Marvels checked out and I'll probably start it this weekend. Maybe finish it, too, if I have enough reading time. I've got the audio version of The Various Haunts of Men checked out and ready to start after I finish my current audiobook.

>7 LoisB: Wonderful, wonderful book! Morality Play was my first book by Unsworth, and it made me a dedicated fan. I sent a copy to my mother in France as soon as I finished it. Hope you enjoy it too!

Paul, as you might know by now, although I haven't managed to squeeze in every single one of the authors in 2015 (still, 21 out of 24 isn't too shabby, and I'll certainly fit in China Mieville, Martin Amis and The Long Song by Andrea Levy at some point), I'm quite dedicated to your challenge, seeing as an even 50% of my home library is composed of British authors (exactly 1,616 out of 3,174 at present, as devotedly updated and tagged in my LT catalogue*). So yes, this challenge is perfect for me. Like others, I try to read mostly from my all too vast tbr, but couldn't resist making several additions to said collection:

I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
From The Holy Mountain William Dalrymple
The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard
Cider with Rosie Laurie Lee
The Spire by William Golding
Berlin Game by Len Deighton

were all purchased late 2015 expressly for your challenge, and I'll be borrowing the following from the local library:

How to Be Both by Ali Smith
The Buddha of Suburbia Hanif Kureishi
The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam

That of course is not counting all the other books on my tbr. I've planned to join in with 22 out of 24 authors in 2016. Now let's see how I manage!

I thought you'd appreciate the lists and stats, you being you. :-)

Looking forward to another glorious BAC!

* As compared to 22.5% of American Literature and a shamefully measly, barely 3% of Canadian Literature!

Thanks for setting this up, Paul. I'll be stopping by from time to time to see what people are reading.

Ordered The Man in the Picture from the library this morning and I am reading Unsworth's Sacred Hunger. Am definitely on top of the challenges, but who knows how long that will last.

I'm excited to try this challenge once again. Since I own most of these authors, it should be a little easier for me than last year. In theory, at least. ;)

I've finished Susan Hill's Howards End is on the Landing yesterday. :-)

Great to see so many already lining up books for January and beyond. Special mention to Ilana who may be making a play for my role as group statistician!

Barry Unsworth has turned up at the library (well, his book has) but Susan Hill is proving more elusive. Hope to get this read this week.

I finished reading The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill. Do we have a January BAC author thread for posting comments on?

As requested the January thread for Ms. Hill and Mr. Unsworth is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/211144

Sorry to be such a laggard but the new year in England is something I am no longer used to!

Muy bueno, Paul! ;-)

>20 lkernagh: Lori....xxxx

I only have a handful of TBRs on hand for this years authors so I'll be joining in here and there. I'll keep my eyes open when I hit the next library book sale for a few more but one of my goals this year is to really work on what I have and not add to the pile! I do have a few Rumer Goddens tho and will gladly tackle those. Does "West Yorkshire" include the Bronte sisters?

I just started The Pure in Heart. I loved the first in the series.

I picked up Hill's The Bird of Night this afternoon, and intend to immerse myself in it.

>22 RBeffa: Yes Ron - the sisters were from Thornton near Bradford in West Yorkshire.

>26 RBeffa: Thanks Paul. I recently picked up an old Penguin classic by Anne Bronte (the sister I've never read). The Tenant of Wildfell Hall I couldn't resist it when I opened the book and inside the cover was a sticker which says: "Bought at Jane Austen's House, Chawton, Hampshire" I passed it on to my daughter but can always borrow it back!

>26 RBeffa: Great story, Ron. Curious are the ways and adventures of certain books.

Just looking for the February thread... I have a collection of Miss Marple short stories in my hand.

Linda the thread for February is now up, sorry for slacking:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/218471

Is the March thread up yet?

>30 amanda4242: It wasn't Amanda but it is now!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/219825

>31 PaulCranswick: Thanks!

I have struggled to find the monthly threads for this group but have managed to read an Ian McEwan and Kate Atkinson's, A God in Ruins in which she redeemed herself in my eyes. I will also read one of my Rumer Godden books that I purchased earlier in the year.

>33 HelenBaker: There are links to all of the threads on the group wiki.

>33 HelenBaker: Very gratifying indeed to see that you have struggled on with the challenge Helen even without finding the challenge threads.

I've not seen this before, I'm tackling my tbr pile so I'll only read books I already have but I think that covers over half of these names.

EDIT I assumed that this was a list for 2017 - I thought I was in a different group - but I'll be back to see if you do this in 2017.

>36 katrinasreads: Lots of discussion going on on Paul's current thread regarding the 2017 challenge. HERE: http://www.librarything.com/topic/239736

I opted for the wildcard so am currently reading The River by Rumer Godden.

I've finished my BAC for this year

January
The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill read in German (2016-01-03)
Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth (2016-01-19)
February
Nine Lives by William Dalrymple (2016-02-14)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (2016-02-15)
March
Tess of The Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (2016-02-25)
There But For The by Ali Smith (2016-03-03)
April
Middlemarch by George Eliot (2016-02-29)
Something To Tell You by Hanif Kureishi (2016-03-09)
May
Old Filth by Jane Gardam (2016-06-18)
June
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (2016-06-02)
July
Time Machine by H. G. Wells (2016-07-04)
August
Atonement by Ian McEwan (2016-07-25)
September
London Observed by Doris Lessing (2016-08-01)
October
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson (2016-08-20)
November
skipped
December
Gallows View by Peter Robinson (2016-12-04)

>39 Ameise1: Wow, well done!

>40 kac522: Thanks so much.

I've just been reviewing the books I've read this year and discovered that I've completed this year's challenge, although I'm sure I'll squeeze in a few more titles.

January
Susan Hill
The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read and Other Stories
The Mist in the Mirror
The Small Hand
The Woman in Black
Howards End Is on the Landing
Strange Meeting (so good)

Barry Unsworth
Morality Play
Sacred Hunger

February
Agatha Christie (yuck!)
Murder at Hazelmoor
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

William Dalrymple
City of Djinns

March
Ali Smith
Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis

Thomas Hardy (snore)
Wessex Poems and Other Verses
The Mayor of Casterbridge

April
George Eliot
Middlemarch (brilliant)

Hanif Kureishi
The Buddha of Suburbia

May
Jane Gardam
Old Filth

Robert Goddard
Closed Circle

June
Antonia Fraser
Warrior Queens

Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer

July
Bernice Rubens
The Elected Member

H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds
The Island of Dr. Moreau

August
Diana Wynn Jones (love her)
A Tale of Time City
Charmed Life
Aunt Maria
The Game

Ian McEwan
On Chesil Beach
Amsterdam

September
Doris Lessing
The Fifth Child

Laurie Lee
Cider with Rosie
A Rose for Winter

October
Kate Atkinson
Human Croquet

William Golding
The Spire

November
Rebecca West
The Return of the Soldier (packs a hell of a punch)

Len Deighton
The Ipcress File

December
West Yorkshire Writers
Nicola Griffith
Ammonite

Ted Hughes
The Iron Giant

Arthur Ransome
Swallows and Amazons

Wild Card
Rumer Godden
The Peacock Spring

George Orwell
Homage to Catalonia (a must read for fans of Animal Farm and 1984)

>42 amanda4242: Wow. Good job!

>42 amanda4242: Amanda my heroine.......even the wild cards.

>43 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you!

>44 PaulCranswick: I may have some completist tendencies.

I've been out of circulation - are the 2017 authors up yet?

>46 BekkaJo: Here's the list for next year, from Paul's current thread

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE (2017)

THEME OPTIONS

JANUARY : IRISH BRITONS - ELIZABETH BOWEN & BRIAN MOORE

FEBRUARY : SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY - MARY STEWART & TERRY PRATCHETT

MARCH : A DECADE OF BRITISH NOVELS : The 1960s - 10 Novels by Men; 10 Novels by Women

APRIL: SOUTH YORKSHIRE AUTHORS : AS BYATT & BRUCE CHATWIN

MAY : BEFORE QUEEN VIC : 10 Novels written prior to 1837

JUNE : THE HISTORIANS (Historical Fiction / Historians) GEORGETTE HEYER & SIMON SCHAMA

JULY : SCOTTISH AUTHORS : D.E. STEVENSON and R.L. STEVENSON

AUGUST : BRITAIN BETWEEN THE WARS (Writers active 1918-1939) WINIFRED HOLTBY & ROBERT GRAVES

SEPTEMBER : THE NEW MILLENNIUM (Great Books Since 2000) A novel chosen from each year of the new century

OCTOBER : WELSH AUTHORS (Born in or associated with Wales) : JO WALTON & ROALD DAHL

NOVEMBER : POET LAUREATES : British laureates, children's laureate, National Poets

DECEMBER : WILDCARD (Chosen via a vote) : ELIZABETH GASKELL & NEIL GAIMAN

Thank you :) I'm sort of picking up from the end of threads and couldn't find it!

LOL! "...some completist tendencies"?!

Great job, Amanda! Both authors for every month - wow! I counted myself lucky to just read ONE author per month.

>49 countrylife: I'm lucky enough to have a lot of free time and access to surprisingly well-stocked public library.

>47 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks Linda for posting that. xx

Just actually perused that slightly more closely - on the non named months are you actually reading 20 in March, 10 in May and 16 in September? I should go search out the previous discussion but I'm being lazy :)

>52 BekkaJo: I'm sure we're not meant to read that many books in those months, Bekka, but it would be good if we could have a bit of clarification here from the Sponsor!

Countrylife's BRITISH AUTHORS Challenge 2016

I've finally completed my plan of reading one of each month’s selected authors, although my September book didn't get done until December, my challenge is now complete.

January: SUSAN HILL or BARRY UNSWORTH
..... The Pure in Heart, Susan Hill (4) - 1/4
..... The Risk of Darkness, Susan Hill (4) - 1/9
..... The Ruby in Her Navel, Barry Unsworth (4.5) - 1/21
February: AGATHA CHRISTIE or WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
..... Parker Pyne Investigates, Agatha Christie (3) - 2/10
March: ALI SMITH or THOMAS HARDY
..... The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy (4) - 3/6
April: GEORGE ELIOT or HANIF KUREISHI
..... Adam Bede, George Eliot (5) - 4/5
May: JANE GARDAM or ROBERT GODDARD
..... Old Filth, Jane Gardam (4) - 5/26
June: LADY ANTONIA FRASER or JOSEPH CONRAD
..... Typhoon, Joseph Conrad (3) - 6/1
July: BERNICE RUBENS or H.G. WELLS
..... The Island of Dr. Moreau, H.G. Wells (3) - 7/15
August: DIANA WYNNE JONES or IAN McEWAN
..... Atonement, Ian McEwan (3.5) - 8/1
September: DORIS LESSING or LAURIE LEE
..... As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Laurie Lee (3.5) - 12/21
October: KATE ATKINSON or WILLIAM GOLDING
..... Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (3.5) - 10/20
November: REBECCA WEST or LEN DEIGHTON
..... The Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West (5) - 11/9
December: West Yorkshire authors
..... Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (3) - 12/8

3.79 average. The highest average rating for the books I read of the three author challenges in which I participated.