BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2017 - GENERAL THREAD

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2017



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

What I will read (Crystal Ball Gazing in December 2016)

January : The Magician's Wife by Brian Moore & The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
February : The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart & The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
March : Up the Junction by Nell Dunn & The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott
April : The Biographer's Tale by AS Byatt & On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin
May : Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth & Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett
June : The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer & The American Future by Simon Schama

I have Black Robe on my nightstand and a few Bowen titles requested from the library.

>4 amanda4242: I would like to read Black Robe too Amanda but I fear it got left behind in the UK.

This is my kind of "challenge" - thanks for the heads up, Paul!

In January I will read Brian Moore's The Mangan Inheritance. Not previously read, and I've not read Moore since the 1980s, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm making no commitments about how many months I'll participate, or whether I'll read something from both writers. I'm too much of a mood reader to want too many planned reads (and I go to a local book group which commits ten reads a year).

I'm pretty sure I'll do April as they are both writers I enjoy, and I will choose one month where I have read neither writer before.

Congrats on putting up the new BAC thread, Paul! It looks good. I think I did very well on the BAC, for 2016, reading at least one author each month. Not sure, I will pull it off in 2017, but I will give it the old college try. I do not think I have any of these authors on shelf, (that hurts), although I may have a Gaiman or two.

Paul, I am trying to find the place where you list the novels chosen for March, May and September.

March:
The L-Shaped Room - Lynne Reid Banks
A Kind of Loving - Stan Barstow
The Game of Kings - Dorothy Dunnett
The Fox in the Attic - Richard Hughes
The Pumpkin Eater - Penelope Mortimer
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Up the Junction - Nell Dunn
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John Le Carre
The Garrick Year - Margaret Drabble
Corridors of Power - CP Snow
Georgy Girl - Margaret Forster
Lost Empires - JB Priestley
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
The Jewel in the Crown - Paul Scott
The Magic Toyshop - Angela Carter
The Mimic Men - V.S. Naipaul
A Compass Error - Sybille Bedford
The Undiscovered Country - Julian Mitchell
A Bouquet of Barbed Wire - Andrea Newman
The Green Man - Kingsley Amis

May:
Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth (1800)
The Mysteries of Udopho by Ann Radcliffe (1794)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)
Lady Susan by Jane Austen (1795)
Waverley by Walter Scott (1814)
Humphrey Clinker by Tobias Smollett (1771)
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke (1790)
Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding (1742)
Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1830)

September:
Witch Child by Celia Rees
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Haweswater by Sarah Hale
Judge Savage by Tim Parks
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The People’s Act of Love by James Meek
Restless by William Boyd
Day by AL Kennedy
Poppyland by Raffaella Barker
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
NW by Zadie Smith
Longbourn by Jo Baker
The Dig by Cynan Jones
The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins
Nutshell by Ian McEwan

>10 amanda4242: Thank you!

>10 amanda4242: Amanda, you are a sweetie - saved me from putting it up! For the actual months concerned I will put up nice pretty pictures of the book covers at the respective threads.

I'm dropping off a star with intent to do a lot of lurking and perhaps a wee bit of reading and discussing.

I plan on reading along with you on some months, but I have too many goals to read along very much. Good luck with your challenge!

Setting my tiny star in your endless sky...

My true goal this year, if I can be said to have one, is to read from my shelves, physical or virtual. I have what seems to be a shameful amount of unread books. I'd like to fix that. Oddly (or perhaps not so oddly, considering my general reading habits), there are far more slots for those volumes here than I found in the AAC.

As always, thank you for all the work you do around the corridors of LT.

I lost the thread that tells which novels/guidelines go with the non-specific months. Paul, Can you find those and post to this thread? (For example, March, May, September, November)

>16 thornton37814: Lori, see >10 amanda4242: above.

>17 laytonwoman3rd: AHHH - I thought that was just what she was planning to read. I'll look. I'm trying to figure out if I need to move anything else around for when I'm planning to read certain things before starting my February reads.

Are you putting up the links to the monthly threads here, Paul? I need to decide which Pratchett I am going to reread for February.

>19 ronincats: I'm facing the same dilemma.

The April Thread is up:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/254163

Just bumping this up where I might be able to find it.

>10 amanda4242: I was wondering about May and there it was on your list Amanda. Thanks for that. Surprisingly, I have a copy of Paul Clifford on my shelf.

The May British Author Challenge Thread is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/256324

The theme this month is Before Queen Vic. I have chosen 10 books that precede her reign.

The June challenge thread is up

http://www.librarything.com/topic/258783

Georgette Heyer and Simon Schama for a month of historical fiction/non-fiction

July?

>26 EBT1002: Coming Ellen. Sorry!

Ok July thread is up and we have DE Stevenson and her father's first cousin RL Stevenson for your delectation.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/260929

The British Author Challenge for August is up:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/266444

This month we have Winifred Holtby and Robert Graves.

Looking for suggestions for September. Is there meant to be a list, one novel for each year?

Here's a Barnes and Noble list of 21st century English fiction

>30 laytonwoman3rd: Sorry Linda I am a few days late but I have been a little under the kosh. Choose from these (or not) usual no real rules apply:

British Author Challenge Thread for September is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/268716

I have selected a book from each year of the new millennium (up to end 2016) for you to choose from a couple of which I have read already.

>32 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I know you're juggling an awful lot. I selected a couple books from my own stash that I might try for this challenge. But I do have 3 of your suggestions on hand, so I'll put one of them in, for sure.

Is the October thread up?

Ooops. Coming

We are off to Wales this month with the BAC

Roald Dahl and Jo Walton, anyone?

https://www.librarything.com/topic/270637

The British Author Challenge for November is up!

Poet Laureates and Children's Laureates.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/272843

The British Author Challenge Thread is up for December:

Wildcards chosen last year Elizabeth Gaskell and Neil Gaiman

http://www.librarything.com/topic/276691

And, with just a few days to spare, I've completed this year's challenge!

January: Irish Britons
The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen ★★
Black Robe by Brian Moore ★★★1/2

February: Science Fiction & Fantasy
A Walk in Wolf Wood by Mary Stewart ★★★1/2
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart ★★★1/2
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories by Terry Pratchett ★★★1/2
Strata by Terry Pratchett ★★★★

March: The Swinging Sixties
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks ★★★
A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow ★★1/2
The Game of Kings by Dorthy Dunnett ★★1/2
The Fox in the Attic by Richard Hughes ★★★1/2
The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer ★1/2
The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard ★★★1/2
Up the Junction by Nell Dunn ★1/2
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré ★★
The Garrick Year by Margaret Drabble ★★
Corridors of Power by C.P. Snow ★★
Georgy Girl by Margaret Forster ★
Lost Empires by J.B. Priestly ★★★1/2
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys ★★★1/2
The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott ★★★★
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter ★★★1/2
The Mimic Men by V.S. Naipaul ★★1/2
A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford ★1/2
The Undiscovered Country by Julian Mitchell ★★★1/2
A Bouquet of Barbed Wire by Andrea Newman 1/2
The Green Man by Kingsley Amis ★★1/2

April: Sheffield
Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt ★★1/2
Angels and Insects by A.S. Byatt ★★★
In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin ★★1/2

May: Before Queen Vic
Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth ★★★1/2
The Mysteries of Udopho by Ann Radcliffe ★★
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ★★★
Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft ★★
Lady Susan by Jane Austen ★★★★
Waverley by Walter Scott ★★★1/2
The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker by Tobias Smollett ★★★1/2
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke ★1/2
Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding ★★1/2
Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton ★★★1/2

June: The Historians
Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer ★★1/2
A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? 3000 B.C. - 1603 A.D by Simon Schama ★★★★

July: Scottish Authors
Mrs. Tim Christie by D.E. Stevenson ★★★★
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes by Robert Louis Stevenson ★★★1/2

August: Between the Wars
Poor Caroline by Winifred Holtby ★★★1/2
Mandoa, Mandoa! by Winifred Holtby ★★★★
Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition by Robert Graves ★★★1/2

Part two

September: The New Millenium
Witch Child by Celia Rees ★★1/2
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde ★★★★★
Haweswater by Sarah Hall ★★
Judge Savage by Tim Parks 1/2
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ★★★★1/2
The People's Act of Love by James Meek ★★★1/2
Restless by William Boyd ★★★★
Day by A.L. Kennedy ★★1/2
Poppyland by Raffaella Barker ★★
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds ★★★1/2
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna ★★1/2
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman ★1/2
NW by Zadie Smith ★★
Longbourn by Jo Baker ★★★★1/2
The Dig by Cynan Jones ★★★
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins ★★1/2
Nutshell by Ian McEwan ★

October: Welsh Authors
What Makes This Book So Great by Jo Walton ★★★★★
Farthing by Jo Walton ★★★★1/2
Fantastic Mr. Fox and other animal stories by Roald Dahl ★★★★★
The Witches by Roald Dahl ★★★★★
Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl ★★★★1/2

November: Laureates and National Poets
Selected writings of the laureate dunces, Nahum Tate (laureate 1692-1715), Laurence Eusden (1718-1730), and Colley Cibber (1730-1757) edited by Peter Heaney ★★★
The Tragedy of Jane Shore by Nicholas Rowe ★
A Charge to the Poets by William Whitehead ★★★★1/2
Faringdon Hill: A poem in two books. The second edition, with odes, elegies, and miscellaneous pieces by Henry James Pye ★★
The Cataract of Lodore by Robert Southey ★★★★
Lucy Gray; or, Solitude by William Wordsworth ★★★1/2
Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson ★★1/2
Salt-Water Ballads by John Masefield ★★★
The whispering roots and other poems by Cecil Day-Lewis ★★★1/2
A Nip in the Air by John Betjeman ★★★1/2
The Cat and the Cuckoo by Ted Hughes ★★★
The Mermaid's Purse by Ted Hughes ★★★1/2
Selected poems, 1976-1997 by Andrew Motion ★★★
The Tear Thief by Carol Ann Duffy ★★1/2
The Gift by Carol Ann Duffy ★★★1/2
Mrs. Scrooge: A Christmas Poem by Carol Ann Duffy ★
Tales from the Mabinogion by Gwyn Thomas ★★★1/2
Loveykins by Quentin Blake ★★★★
The Diary of a Killer Cat by Ann Fine ★★★★
403988::Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Michael Morpurgo ★★★★
The Suitcase Kid by Jaqueline Wilson ★★★★
Bananas in my ears: a collection of nonsense stories, poems, riddles & rhymes by Michael Rosen ★★★1/2
Into the Forest by Anthony Browne ★★★
Stick Man by Julia Donaldson ★★★★
Jack Sweettooth by Malorie Blackman ★★★★
Ottoline Goes to School by Chris Riddell ★★
Slightly Invisible by Lauren Child ★★★★

And whatever I could dig up from various anthologies and online by John Dryden (highly recommended), Thomas Shadwell, Thomas Warton, Alfred Austin, Robert Bridges, Gwyneth Lewis, Gillian Clarke, Ifor ap Glyn, Edwin Morgan (very good), Liz Lochhead, and Jackie Kay

December: Wildcards
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell ★★★★
How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman ★★★1/2
Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman ★★★★
2969135::Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire by Neil Gaiman ★★★★1/2
Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman ★★★1/2
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman ★★★★★
Fortunately, the milk by Neil Gaiman ★★★★★