British Author Challenge 2022 Wildcard II: Rereads

No restrictions on this one other than you have to have read the book before.

BAC 2015

January: Penelope Lively & Kazuo Ishiguro
February: Sarah Waters & Evelyn Waugh
March: Daphne du Maurier & China Miéville
April: Angela Carter & W. Somerset Maugham
May: Margaret Drabble & Martin Amis
June: Beryl Bainbridge & Anthony Burgess
July: Virginia Woolf & B.S. Johnson
August: Iris Murdoch & Graham Greene
September: Andrea Levy & Salman Rushdie
October: Helen Dunmore & David Mitchell
November: Muriel Spark & William Boyd
December: Hilary Mantel & P.G. Wodehouse
Wildcard: Bernice Rubens & Aldous Huxley

BAC 2016

January: Susan Hill & Barry Unsworth
February: Agatha Christie & William Dalrymple
March: Ali Smith & Thomas Hardy
April: George Eliot & Hanif Kureishi
May: Jane Gardam & Robert Goddard
June: 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

BAC 2017

January: Elizabeth Bowen & Brian Moore
February: Mary Stewart & Terry Pratchett
March: The Swinging Sixties
April: A. S. Byatt & Bruce Chatwin
May: Before Queen Victoria
June: Georgette Heyer & Simon Schama
July: D. E. Stevenson & Robert Louis Stevenson
August: Winifred Holtby & Robert Graves
September: The New Millennium
October: Jo Walton & Roald Dahl
November: The Poets Laureate
December: Elizabeth Gaskell & Neil Gaiman

BAC 2018

January: Debut Novels
February: The 1970s
March: Classic Thrillers
April: Folklore, Fables, and Legends
May: Queens of Crime
June: Travel Writing
July: The Angry Young Men
August: British Science Fiction
September: Historical Fiction
October: Comedic Novels
November: World War One
December: British Series
Wildcard: The Romantics

2019 British Isles Challenge

January: The Natural World
February: Pat Barker & Peter F. Hamilton
March: The Murderous Scots (Scottish Crime Novels)
April: Rosamond Lehmann and John Boyne
May: The Edwardian Era (1901-1913)
June: Nicola Barker & Wilkie Collins
July: Young Adult Fantasy Series
August: Anita Brookner & Jim Crace
September: Biography and Memoir
October: Rose Tremain & Louis de Bernières
November: The Jewish Contribution
December: Zadie Smith & Michael Morpurgo
Wildcard: Penelope Lively & Kazuo Ishiguro

2020 BAC

January: Jeanette Winterson & Graham Swift
February: The 1990s
March: Jane Austen & Walter Scott
April: Bernardine Evaristo & Caryl Phillips
May: Michael Moorcock, J. G. Ballard, & Brian Aldiss
June: Penelope Fitzgerald & Patrick Gale
July: Elly Griffiths & Winston Graham
August: The Brontë Sisters: Charlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, & Emily Brontë
September: World War Two
October: Joanne Harris & George Orwell
November: Fay Weldon & John le Carré
December: The 2010s
Wildcard: Playwrights

2021 BAC

January: Children's Classics
February: LGBT+ History Month
March: Vaseem Khan & Eleanor Hibbert
April: Love is in the Air
May: V. S. Naipaul & Na'ima B. Robert
June: The Victorian Era (1837-1901)
July: Don't judge a book by its movie
August: Bernard Cornwell & Helen Oyeyemi
September: She Blinded Me with Science
October: Narrative Poetry
November: Tade Thompson & Elizabeth Taylor
December: Awards & Honors
Wildcard: Books off your shelves

Looks like I'll have a lot of wild card entries this year, planning on continuing reading Katie Fforde books, most of which I have and have already read.

I'm planning on rereading Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St Mary's and I'll almost certainly revisit Discworld at some point.

>1 amanda4242: Amanda - any chance of a link to previous years of British books to check for rereads?

>4 m.belljackson: I've added the list of previous selections and links to the general threads of each year to >1 amanda4242:

>5 amanda4242: Thank you!

My BAC author re-reads so far this year (Jan-Apr):

Miss Buncle's Book, D. E. Stevenson; re-read from 2019 and just as funny the second time.
The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins; re-read from 1988; didn't remember much so it was like a whole new book; entertaining, although a bit over-long in parts.
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens; re-read #4? on audiobook, read by Simon Vance
Emma, Jane Austen; re-read #?; on audiobook, read by Juliet Stevenson; I'm liking Emma less and less on each re-read
Under the Greenwood Tree, Thomas Hardy; re-read from 1990; didn't remember it at all; a short lovely "pastoral" read, not at all like Hardy's later books
A Few Green Leaves, Barbara Pym; re-read from 2013; Pym's last book, wry, but a little sad, too. I might slowly re-read all of her books in reverse order.
The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim (born Australia of British parents; raised in England); re-read from 2019; re-reading just because it's April and needed a book with flowers and sun, as it's cold and wet and overcast here.

>7 kac522: I've never been able to get through Emma; I just find her so annoying!

>8 amanda4242: In fact, it was the last Austen I completed, and it took me several attempts over many years. On this reading I found Emma's class-consciousness and treatment of Harriet particularly galling. Mr Knightley is almost as annoying, always scolding. And Mrs Elton and Miss Bates go on and on and on...I suppose that's the point, but it's hard to take after awhile. I love all of Austen's other books; Emma has always been my least favorite, but this reading really sealed the deal. I doubt if I'll ever re-read it again.

My re-read this month was A Tale of Two Cities, which I listened to on audiobook, read by Simon Vance. I read this years ago, and it was only a so-so Dickens for me. On re-reading via audiobook, I think it appealed more, just because it is such a dramatic story and Vance used that drama to his advantage in the narration. But I'm always left confused after a story about the French Revolution--so much revenge. I have to admit, however, that this book has the best ending of any Dickens novel. Still not one of my favorites, but now I can see why some people love it.

I've re-read tons of books this year, but keep counting them for other categories. Two I did read specifically for this wildcard are Emily Tesh's excellent Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country.

This month I re-read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, read by Juliet Stevenson on audiobook. I loved every minute of it, and at times went back and re-listened to sections.

I then watched the 2004 BBC mini-series starring Richard Armitage, which I also love. However, I did notice that more was changed from the book than I had previously noticed; most of the time I think the changes did not detract in any way from the story. One thing I do like about this mini-series is there was a concerted effort to give the movie an energy and rolling, moving feeling (for lack of a better description). And that is definitely apparent, and it goes well with the story, in which Gaskell keeps the plot in motion until the last page.

I just saw that that my library system has the 1975 BBC mini-series starring Patrick Stewart (with hair!), so I have ordered it. Never seen it, but a few reviews I saw indicated it's much truer to the book than the 2004 version. With Mr Stewart, it can't be all bad....

I also started an audiobook re-read of The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, but the narrator, Jill Tanner, doesn't suit me at all, so I think I will stick to re-reading the print version.

>12 kac522: New goal: once I finish Tom Jones, I absolutely will sit down and finally read North and South. No more excuses!

I did sneak in one qualifying reread, Lytton Strachey's delightfully naughty Ermyntrude and Esmeralda.

>13 amanda4242: The first time I read N&S about 15 years ago, it was so-so, partly because of the sections of masters v. workers and partly due to the dialect. Then I saw the 2004 series and it all fell into place: the politics and ethics and class divides and the love story became brilliantly intertwined for me. So then I had to re-read it. Audiobook/Juliet Stevenson helped me a lot, esp. with dialect. Now I'm obsessed with this story; it has become my favorite novel ever, surpassing my girlhood favorites Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice. I never thought that would happen.

July and August re-reads (not mentioned in the Georgian Era thread):

The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot (1860) --great beginning; lousy ending
What Matters in Jane Austen, John Mullan (2012) --nonfiction re: Austen

and I've started re-reading (via audiobook) Trollope's Barsetshire Chronicles, all read by Simon Vance:

The Warden--ah! Mr Harding and his cello...
Barchester Towers--ugh! Mr Slope and his oily hands...
Doctor Thorne--dear, dear Mary and Frank...

I also re-watched the Barchester Chronicles BBC mini-series (1982) (which covers The Warden and Barchester Towers), starring a young Alan Rickman as the slimy Rev Obadiah Slope--he was outstanding, as well as Donald Pleasance's performance as Mr Harding (the Warden).

Next week I'll be re-watching the Doctor Thorne ITV mini-series (2016), starring Tom Hollander, with script by Julian Fellowes.

I managed a re-read this month: Neil Gaiman's Fortunately, the milk. I usually listen to the audiobook because Gaiman is a superb narrator, but this time I read it in paper and got the chance to reacquaint myself with Skottie Young's delightful illustrations.

My re-reads this month were Doctor Thorne (1848) and Lady Anna (1874) by Anthony Trollope. In Doctor Thorne Trollope portrays a father and son who both drink themselves to death; and in Lady Anna a woman drives herself into madness with her obsession concerning her daughter's marriage choice. Trollope has a real gift for showing characters who, at the beginning, seem opinionated, yet reasonable; but slowly, over the course of the book, their obsessions cause them to completely unravel.

Currently, I'm half-way through re-listening to Nicholas Nickleby.

I re-reread The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett because I was in the mood for some Discworld. It's not my favorite of the series, but it's still fantastic.

Victober (Victorian October) re-reads:

Nicholas Nickleby, Dickens (1839); audiobook read by Simon Vance; re-read from 2008
The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde play (1895); re-read from 2015
Cousin Phillis, Elizabeth Gaskell (1865); short story/novella re-read from 2021
The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy (1886); audiobook read by Tony Britton; re-read from 1980s
A Pair of Blue Eyes, Thomas Hardy (1873); re-read from 1989

It took me two months, but I finished a re-read of Middlemarch on audiobook, read by Juliet Stevenson. And I really didn't want it to end. New insights for me every time with this book.

>20 kac522: I'm seriously considering re-reading Middlemarch for the 2023 challenge.

I did manage to sneak in a few re-reads for this challenge:

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

I was about eleven when I read it, and it still delights me as an adult.

The Time of Feasting by Mick Farren

A bit of a different take on vampires. The nosferatu, as they call themselves, are hybrids of humans and a species created by Lovecraftian aliens millions of years ago. The story is nothing special, but I like the characters and the sly references to pop culture Farren dropped in.

The Sandman Vols. 1-3 by Neil Gaiman

I was going to count these for the other wildcard, but I didn't finish watching the Netflix series: it does not do justice to these amazing books.

>21 amanda4242: Ooh, that reminds me that I didn't re-watch the BBC adaptation of Middlemarch. Will need to do that. Also I hope to get to My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead next month.

Another interesting tidbit, found on the way to other things: Early in December I re-read Madame Bovary (1857) with the Lydia Davis translation, which I had on my TBR for years. In January I'm planning to read The Doctor's Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1864), which I have understood to be a "response" by Braddon to Madame Bovary.

I was scanning the Intro to The Doctor's Wife and in my edition (OUP) the editor indicated that some recent literary critics feel that Middlemarch is a response to both Madame Bovary and The Doctor's Wife. All three focus on a woman in a marriage with a doctor and this editor mentioned some other similarities. So I'm very curious to read Braddon's book now, since I have just finished Madame Bovary and Middlemarch this month, and they are fresh in my mind (or as fresh as any book can be in my poor brain).