PAUL C WITH A CLEAN SLATE IN '22 - Part 11

SCENES FROM MY PAST

Holmfirth is near to my home city of Wakefield and it is a place where I have spent a lot of time and have plans to look in the vicinity of the place to re-settle in England. Hani prefers Sheffield but that is for another thread!

The Opening Words

I am planning to read the Women's Prize longlist (1 read and 15 to go!) and one I plan to get to is This One Sky Day (aka Popisho in North America) by Leone Ross .



On the first anniversary of his wife's death, Xavier Redchoose got up before light and went downstairs to salt the cod. He sat in his kitchen, green notebook in hand, rubbing his left thumb along the stained pages, waiting for delivery. Through the restaurant window, he could see the golden stalk of a fading moon.

Interested?...........

BOOKS READ

JANUARY

1. American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 by Khor Shing Yin (2019) 160 pp (AAC) - GN
2. The Forward Book of Poetry 2022 by Various Poets (2021) 155 pp - Poetry
3. Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne (1994) 274 pp - Thriller/Mystery
4. Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill (2008) 183 pp - (NF Challenge) NF
5. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (1998) 671 pp - (Asian Book Challenge{ABC}) Fiction; 1001
6. The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz (1962) 158 pp - (World Books/Food) Fiction
7. The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter (1958) 216 pp - (BAC) YA Fiction
8. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021) 114 pp - Fiction
9. Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar (2020) 343 pp - (ABC) - Fiction (?)
10. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (1982) 192 pp - SF/Fantasy
11. Days in the History of Silence by Merethe Lindstrom (2011) 230 pp - Fiction/Holocaust
12. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty (1972) 208 pp - Fiction; Pulitzer
13. My Two Worlds by Sergio Chejfec (2008) - 103 pp Fiction/Rebecca NYC reads
14. Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine (2002) - 131 pp Non Fiction / Holocaust
15. Last Train to Istanbul by Ayse Kulin (2002) 384 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
16. Up With the Larks by Tessa Hainsworth (2009) 278 pp Non Fiction
17. Cheryl's Destinies by Stephen Sexton (2021) 88 pp - Poetry
18. Hotel Bosphorus by Esmahan Aykol (2001) 246 pp - Thriller/Mystery / Asian Book Challenge
19. The List of Books by Frederic Raphael (1981) 154 pp - Non Fiction / Reference
20. Disquiet by Zulfu Livaneli (2017) 163 pp - Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
21. Turkey : A Short History by Norman Stone (2017) 185 pp - Non-Fiction
22. Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson (2011) 247 pp - Thriller/Scandi
23. The Wild Iris by Louise Gluck (1992) 63 pp - Poetry
24. A Foolish Virgin by Ida Simons (1959) 216 pp - Fiction
25. Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson (1928) 329 pp - Fiction / 1001 Books
26. The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (1969) 224 pp - Fiction / Booker Winner

FEBRUARY

27. The Nest by Kenneth Oppel (2015) 244 pp - Fiction
28. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria (2021) 156 pp Non-Fiction/ABC
29. Redemption Ground by Lorna Goodison (2018) 164 pp Non-Fiction
30. The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa (2015) 288 pp Fiction /Asian Book Challenge
31. Door into the Dark by Seamus Heaney (1969) 44 pp Poetry
32. The Yellow Wind by David Grossman (1988) 218 pp Non-Fiction/Asian Book Challenge
33. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017) 343 pp Fiction / Booker Winner
34. If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin (1974) 197 pp Fiction
35. The Wrecking Light by Robin Robertson (2010) 90 pp Poetry
36. The Others by Sarah Blau (2018) 239 pp Thriller /ABC
37. Portable Kisses by Tess Gallagher (1992) 80 pp Poetry/ AAC

MARCH

38. Rise Like Lions : Poetry for the Many edited by Ben Okri (2017) 258 pp Poetry
39. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin (1958) 179 pp Non-Fiction
40. Intimacies by Katie Kitamura (2021) 225 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
41. Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (2013) 283 pp Fiction/ Asian Book Challenge
42. Songs of Mihyar the Damascene by Adonis (1961) 116 pp Poetry/Asian Book Challenge
43. Tales of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau'ofa (1983) 93 pp Fiction /Short stories

Currently Reading

BOOKERS, PULITZERS, NOBEL WINNERS, 1001 BOOKS FIRST ED. & ETC

I have an ongoing challenge to read all the Booker Winners, all the Pulitzer Fiction Winners, something by each Nobel and all the 1001 Books First Ed Books. I will track my progress here:

BOOKERS READ BY DEC 31 2021 : 34 / 57
BOOKERS IN 2022 : 2 (36 / 57)
The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

PULITZERS READ BY DEC 31 2021 : 19 / 94
PULITZERS IN 2022 : 1 (20 / 94)
The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty

NOBEL LAUREATES READ BY DEC 31 2021 : 74 / 118
NOBEL WINNERS IN 2022

1001 BOOKS FIRST ED READ BY DEC 2021 : 319
1001 BOOKS IN 2022 2 (321)
My Name is Red
Tarka the Otter

GUARDIAN 100 BOOKS READ BY DEC 2021 : 349
GUARDIAN BOOKS IN 2022 1 (350)
My Name is Red

WOMEN'S PRIZE WINNERS READ BY DEC 2021 : 7 / 26
WOMEN'S PRIZE WINNERS IN 2022

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE



January - YA - The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



January - Graphic Books - The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 by Khor Shing Yin
February - Tess Gallagher - Portable Kisses

ASIAN BOOK CHALLENGE 2022

Here is the link to the General Thread
https://www.librarything.com/topic/337731#n7692635

These will be the monthly jaunts for the ABC challenge.

JANUARY - Europe of Asia - Turkish Authors link to thread
https://www.librarything.com/topic/338244
1. My Name is Red
2. Last Train to Istanbul
3. Hotel Bosphorus
4. Disquiet

FEBRUARY - The Holy Land - Israeli & Palestinian Authors
Link to thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/339017
1. The Blue Between Sky and Water
2. The Yellow Wind
3. The Others

MARCH - The Arab World - Writers from the Arab world
link to thread https://www.librarything.com/topic/340000
1. Frankenstein in Baghdad
2. The Songs of Mihyar the Damascene

APRIL - Persia - Iranian writers
MAY - The Stans - There are 7 states all in the same region all ending in "Stan"
JUNE - The Indian Sub-Continent - Essentially authors from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
JULY - The Asian Superpower - Chinese Authors
AUGUST - Nippon - Japanese Authors
SEPTEMBER - Kimchi - Korean Authors
OCTOBER - INDO CHINA PLUS - Authors from Indo-China and other countries neighbouring China
NOVEMBER - The Malay Archipelago - Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian Authors
DECEMBER - The Asian Diaspora - Ethnic Asian writers from elsewhere
1. Homeland Elegies
2. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World
3. Intimacies

I was able just about to cover the whole of the continent and I didn't include one for Russia as most of the authors are decidedly European in their ethnicity and leaning.

AROUND THE WORLD IN BOOKS SINCE 2021

Around the world in books challenge. I want to see how many countries I can cover without limiting myself to a specific deadline. Continued from last year.


1. United Kingdom - The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard EUROPE
2. Ireland - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde EUROPE
3. Lithuania - Selected and Last Poems by Czeslaw Milosz EUROPE
4. Netherlands - The Ditch by Herman Koch EUROPE
5. Armenia - The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian ASIA PACIFIC
6. Zimbabwe - This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga AFRICA
7. United States - Averno by Louise Gluck AMERICA
8. Australia - Taller When Prone by Les Murray ASIA PACIFIC
9. France - Class Trip by Emmanuel Carrere EUROPE
10. Russia - The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov EUROPE
11. Denmark - Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard EUROPE
12. Democratic Republic of Congo - Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanze Mujila AFRICA
13. Canada - I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven AMERICA
14. Italy - The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri EUROPE
15. New Zealand - Dove on the Waters by Maurice Shadbolt ASIA PACIFIC
16. India - A Burning by Megha Majumdar ASIA PACIFIC
17. Libya - The Return by Hisham Matar AFRICA
18. Pakistan - Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid ASIA PACIFIC
19. South Korea - Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha ASIA PACIFIC
20. Morocco - The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers by Fouad Laroui AFRICA
21. Thailand - Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana ASIA PACIFIC
22. Norway - Echoland by Per Petterson EUROPE
23. Belgium - I Choose to Live by Sabine Dardenne EUROPE
24. Sweden - Still Waters by Viveca Sten EUROPE
25. Trinidad - Half a Life by VS Naipaul AMERICAS
26. Sudan - Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih AFRICA
27. Uruguay - Springtime in a Broken Mirror by Mario Benedetti AMERICAS
28. Syria - My Country : A Syrian Memoir by Kassem Eid ASIA PACIFIC
29. Ghana - The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim AFRICA
30. Austria - Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl EUROPE
31. Germany - Cat and Mouse by Gunter Grass EUROPE
32. South Africa - No Turning Back by Beverley Naidoo AFRICA
33. Mauritania - Arab Jazz by Karim Miske AFRICA
34. Cuba - The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier AMERICAS
35. Nigeria - Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie AFRICA
36. Portugal - The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso EUROPE
37. Japan - Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe ASIA PACIFIC
38. Senegal - At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop AFRICA
39. Malta - The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi EUROPE
40. Chile - A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende AMERICAS
41. Lebanon - The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf ASIA PACIFIC
42. Spain - The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon EUROPE
43. Somalia - The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed AFRICA
44. Malaysia - Strangers on a Pier by Tash Aw ASIA PACIFIC
45. Mexico - Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue AMERICAS
46. Latvia - The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaian Berlin EUROPE
47. Malawi - Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver AFRICA
48. Turkey - My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk ASIA PACIFIC
49. Egypt - The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz AFRICA
50. Argentina - My Two Worlds by Sergio Chejfec - AMERICAS
51. Iceland - Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson - EUROPE
52. Jamaica - Redemption Ground by Lorna Goodison - AMERICAS
53. Palestine - The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa - ASIA PACIFIC
54. Israel - The Yellow Wind by David Grossman - ASIA PACIFIC
55. Iraq - Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi - ASIA PACIFIC


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

WOMENS PRRIZE LONGLIST 2022

The Women's Prize Longlist has just been announced and as usual I didn't forecast so accurately:

https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/features/features/news/announcing-the-wo...:

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith OWNED
Careless by Kirsty Capes
Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé
Flamingo by Rachel Elliott
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead OWNED & READ
Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey
Salt Lick by Lulu Allison
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki OWNED
The Bread the Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini OWNED
The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton OWNED
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak OWNED
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller OWNED
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich OWNED
This One Sky Day by Leone Ross OWNED & Reading

READ 1/16

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

January - Small Things Like These
February - If Beale Street Could Talk

BOUGHT AND READ IN 2022

1. Appaloosa by Robert Parker
2. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare.
3. Without a Claim by Grace Schulman
4. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
5. Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
6. There, There by Tommy Orange
7. Intimacies by Katie Kitamura READ MAR 22
8. Last Train to Istanbul by Ayse Kulin READ JAN 22
9. Another Now by Yanis Varoufakis
10. A Separation by Katie Kitamura
11. Travelling in a Strange Land by David Park
12. Free Food for Millionaires by Lee Min Jee
13. Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
14. The Lady from Tel Aviv by Rabai Al-Madhoun
15. Run Me to Earth by Paul Yoon
16. Manchester Happened by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
17. The Others by Sarah Blau READ FEB 22
18. The Order of the Day by Eric Vuillard
19. Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay
20. King Cnut by W.B. Bartlett
21. Dear Future Boyfriend by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
22. Ottoman Odyssey by Alev Scott
23. Has the West Lost It? by Kishore Mahbubani
24. A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth
25. A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
26. Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely
27. Days in the History of Silence by Merethe Lindstrom Open Library Loan READ JAN 22
28. My Two Worlds by Sergio Chejfec (Open Library Loan) READ JAN 22
29. Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine (Open Library Loan) READ JAN 22
30. Benjamin's Crossing by Jay Parini
31. Outlawed by Anna North
32. Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
33. The Ruin of Kasch by Roberto Calasso
34. Roundabout of Death by Faysal Khartash
35. The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
36. Salt : A World History by Mark Kurlansky
37. The Greek Myths : The Complete and Definitive Edition by Robert Graves
38. Liar by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
39. The Histories by Tacitus
40. Silent House by Orhan Pamuk
41. The Generation Game by Sophie Duffy
42. Wild Grass by Ian Johnson
43. This Living and Immortal Thing by Austin Duffy
44. Until I Find Julian by Patricia Reilly Giff
45. The Boy With the Tiger's Heart by Linda Coggin
46. The Day of Silence and Other Stories by George Gissing
47. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
48. The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
49. Beast by Paul Kingsnorth
50. The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
51. Heading Inland by Nicola Barker
52. Rift by Beverley Birch
53. The Cry of the Go-Away Bird by Andrea Eames
54. Modern Gods by Nick Laird
55. Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington
56. The Sands of Mars by Arthur C Clarke
57. Coromandel Sea Change by Rumer Godden
58. A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons by Geoffrey Hindley
59. The Profiteers : Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World by Sally Denton
60. In the Wolf's Mouth by Adam Foulds
61. Daydreams of Angels by Heather O'Neill
62. The Red-Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk
63. Opium by Salar Abdoh
64. The Nest by Kenneth Oppel READ FEB 22
65. Three Light-Years by Andrea Canobbio
66. Prague : A Novel by Arthur Phillips
67. The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig
68. The Dark Circle by Linda Grant
69. Portable Kisses by Tess Gallagher READ FEB 22
70. Down Among the Wild Men by John Greenway
71. Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann
72. The Lover of Horses by Tess Gallagher
73. The End of the Day by Bill Clegg
74. The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan
75. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
76. Mad Boy by Nick Arvin
77. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria READ FEB 22
78. Sleeping on Jupiter Anuradha Roy
79. Son of the Century by Antonio Scurati
80. Political Order and Political Decay by Francis Fukuyama
81. The Manningtree Witches by A.D. Blackemore
82. Vertigo by WG Sebald
83. In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova
84. Redemption Ground by Lorna Goodison READ FEB 22
85. The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
86. A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam
87. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
88. The Powerful and the Damned by Lionel Barber
89. The Better Half by Sharon Moalem
90. Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
91. Downsizing by Tom Watson
92. Desert Flower by Waris Dirie
93. Common Ground by Naomi Ishiguro
94. The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa
95. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
96. They by Kay Dick
97. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
98. The Silence of Scheherazade by Defne Suman
99. Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford
100. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
101. The Tyranny of Merit by Michael J Sandel
102. Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
103. In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi
104. The Inequality Machine by Paul Tough
105. 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
106. The Fell by Sarah Moss
107. Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney
108. Learwife by JR Thorp
109. Matrix by Lauren Groff
110. Ghosted by Jenn Ashworth
111. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
112. The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey
113. I Will Miss You Tomorrow by Heine Bakkeid
114. The Fine Art of Invisible Detection by Robert Goddard
115. All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
116. The Late Sun by Christopher Reid
117. A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself by Peter Ho Davies
118. The Interpreters by Wole Soyinka
119. Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
120. A Vicious Circle by Amanda Craig
121. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
122. The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
123. The Collapse of Globalism by John Ralston Saul
124. Land : How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester
125. Moonglow by Michael Chabon
126. We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan
127. The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
128. Fault Lines by Emily Itami
129. Tenderness by Alison MacLeod
130. The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
131. The Great Level by Stella Tillyard
132. The Pact We Made by Layla Alammar
133. Spring by Ali Smith
134. Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
135. The Bread the Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini
136. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
137. The Book of Form & Emptiness Ruth Ozeki
138. This One Sky Day by Leone Ross
139. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
140. The Push by Audrey Audrain
141. When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
142. A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp
143. Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
144. The Familiars by Stacey Halls
145. Ill Feelings by Alice Hattrick
146. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
147. Burntcoat by Sarah Hall
148. We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
149. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
150. Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

ADDED : 150
READ : 10
BALANCE : 140

BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2021 365
READ IN 2021 : 35
READ IN 2022 : 12
BALANCE OF 2021 ADDITIONS : 318

BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2020 BALANCE AT 1/1/22 = 212
READ IN 2022 : 1
BALANCE IS : 211

BOOK STATS

Books read : 42
Books added : 144

Days per book : 1.62
Projected total : 225
LT yearly best : 157

Pages read (completed books) : 8,839
Daily average : 129.98
Projected total : 47,442

Longest Book : 671 pages
Shortest Book : 44 pages
Average Book Length : 210.45

Gender
Male : 23
Female : 17
Various : 2

Genre :
Graphic Books : 1
Poetry : 8
Thriller/Mystery : 4
Non Fiction : 9
Fiction : 19
SF/Fantasy : 1

Origin :
USA : 12
UK : 11
Turkey : 3
Germany : 1
Egypt : 1
Ireland : 1
Norway : 1
Argentina : 1
Canada : 2
Iceland : 1
Netherlands : 1
Jamaica : 1
Israel : 2
Iraq : 1
Syria : 1
Various : 2

Challenges :
British Author Challenge : 1
American Author Challenge : 2
Non-Fiction Challenge : 1
Asian Book Challenge : 12
1001 Books First Edition : 2
Guardian 1000 Books : 1
Around the World Books : 7
Holocaust Reading : 2
Booker Winners : 2
Pulitzer Winners : 1
Rebecca NYC Reads : 1

Next is yours

Happy new thread, Paul!

>1 PaulCranswick: Again a lovely topper.

>15 FAMeulstee: Nice to see you as always bright and early, Anita. The virtual bookshelf is yours!

>16 PaulCranswick: Bookshelves are always welcome, Paul, thank you.
Let's see how I can get this one into my Kobo reader ;-)

>17 FAMeulstee: Hahaha good luck with that, Anita. x

Absolutely beautiful picture. Happy new thread.

>19 Kristelh: It is a lovely place to be, Kristel. It is the location for the BBC Sitcom Last of the Summer Wine.

Always a pleasure to see you here. x

HAppy new one!

>21 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.

By the way I spoke to Hani earlier and read to her all the lovely messages received on my thread yesterday and today regarding her mum. She was very touched and wanted me to say a big thank you to everybody.

>22 PaulCranswick: I'm glad she's taking the sympathy in.

>23 richardderus: She was a bit stunned, RD, to be honest as it came as a bit of a surprise to her. I spoke to my MIL this morning and she is in good spirits at least. She has always been a great support to me in the family and I have wallowed in her favouritism over the years in always getting my choice of food for special occasions etc.

The town in the topper appears to be such a gorgeous and pleasant place.

Adding my strong good wishes to Hani and to her mother, Paul. Another crisis your family really does not need...strength to all of you.

>25 thornton37814: It is indeed, Lori and it also has one of my favourite bookstores. Why else would I want to move there?!

>26 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you so much, Linda. The support of my friends here have been a constant source of comfort and succour to Hani and I.

Checking in on the new thread before I get hopelessly behind again, Juan.

Happy whatever!

>29 alcottacre: Always a pleasure to have you here, Juana. xx

I hope your new thread is a good one given everything going on with you and your family!

Happy new thread!

>31 drneutron: Thanks, Roc Doc, it is always a highlight for me to have you visit.

>32 amanda4242: Thank you my dear Amanda. x

Paul, I am so sorry to hear about your MIL’s prognosis. I can only imagine how helpless Hani feels being so far away. I hope she is able to get home soon and you can both go and support her mother in her illness. This darn Covid has hampered our lives far too long.

>1 PaulCranswick: Hello Paul - thanks for sharing what may be your new Home - the red chimneys are lovely.

Hope that all continues to get better with Hani's (sp corrected this as "Haji") Mother.

>34 Donna828: We will know more over the next few days, Donna. You are so right about how badly we have all been impacted by the pandemic but I hope that there is a little bit of light at the end of that particular tunnel. Thank you for your kind words, Donna - they mean a lot to us.

>35 m.belljackson: Thank you, Marianne. It is always a pleasure for me to share pictures of some of the places I love. All the positive vibes can only help us all. xxx

The second big book prize longlist has just been announced this week -
The Man Booker International Longlist of 13 books

https://publishingperspectives.com/2022/03/awards-the-international-booker-prize...

International Booker Prize 2022 Longlist

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (South Korea)
After the Sun by Jonas Eika (Denmark)
A New Name: Septology VI-VII by Jon Fosse (Norway)
More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman (Israel)
The Book of Mother by Violaine Huisman (France)
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami (Japan)
Paradais by Fernanda Melchor (Mexico)
Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park (South Korea)
Happy Stories, Mostly by Norman Erikson Pasaribu (Indonesia)
Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro (Argentina)
Phenotypes by Paulo Scott (Brazil)
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (India)
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland)

>38 PaulCranswick: I have not read any of those - shoot, I am not even finished reading the books from last year's Booker Prize list. My local library has Heaven and Love in the Big City, so I will start with those - eventually. I better not buy any more books any time soon or my husband may divorce me :)

Thanks for the list, Paul!

Happy new thread, Paul!

Happy new thread, Paul. I'm sorry to hear about Hani's mum, such a blow coming so soon after the loss of her father. It's hard getting closer to being the oldest generation in a family.

Happy new thread!

>1 PaulCranswick: Happy new thread!

Hi Paul. Happy New Thread. I just finished reading your last thread and indeed you have a silver lining on a dark cloud. Wishing you some bright days in the time ahead.
Regarding Shane Warne - I have only heard that he was on an extreme diet just before he left for Thailand. He was much admired in NZ and such a loss for Australia, two great cricketers within a few days.

Regarding the Women's Prize longlist - I'll be moving Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey up my to read pile. I read two excellent reviews of the book when doing a 'How to review books' class recently.
Booker International - I have a copy of Tokarczuk's book and would like to read Grossman's one as well.

Happy New Thread, Paul. I think I may have missed Sweet Thursday! I like that Holmfirth topper.

>39 alcottacre: Some people prefer the Booker International to the actual original Booker but I often find that some of the books are pretty weird to be honest, Stasia. That said, I already have four of those selections on my shelves already which I am surprised and a little pleased about.

>40 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda

>41 Familyhistorian: The weight of mortality does start to be borne a little heavily, doesn't it Meg?! Thanks as always for stopping by. xx

>42 quondame: Thank you, Susan - I started my thread at a much different time than I usually do which may explain why you were less quick on the draw than normally as you are often in the first one or two visitors each thread (you can tell, I like that!).

>43 ocgreg34: Thanks Greg. Nice to see you here.

>44 avatiakh: You have a point on Shane Warne as he did have problems for years as I understand it in controlling his weight - poor fellow, I also know about that!

Chidgey getting nominated was a huge surprise, but the book does look very interesting, I must say, Kerry and I have ordered it to be sent to Hani to bring me back from the UK.

I also own the Grossman as well as the Tokarczuk, the latter of which is an enormous tome.

>45 msf59: Hi Mark. Yep, I have crept into Friday morning already - it is 5.14 am here on Friday morning but you are welcome at any time!

>1 PaulCranswick: Happy new thread and beautiful picture!!

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/340202

>50 hredwards: Thank you, Harold. Holmfirth is a lovely small town with a great second hand bookshop, some wonderful inns, coffee and tea shops, with tremendously striking countryside.

>51 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver. I will be participating this week.

Happy new thread mate.

>54 johnsimpson: Thanks John. I was over at your place whilst you snook in here!

>48 PaulCranswick: Yes, the chunkster size of Tokarczuk's book is a little overwhelming.
I read Chidgey's previous book set in Germany a year or so ago and liked it. She lived in Germany for some years so speaks the language and did solid research.

>56 avatiakh: I want to read The Books of Jacob but it is a bit daunting - the whole page numbering starting at the end and running down to 1 is a bit weird too.

I like that the Judges for the Women's Prize looked far and wide for the books that they liked and it appears a very interesting choice. I was surprised by a few of the omissions but it will introduce yet more new names to me.

I totally missed the bad news about Hani's mother from the last thread- I'm sorry to have left that unacknowledged.

>58 LovingLit: Don't worry, Megan, I realised you hadn't spotted it and it was nice to talk about something else anyway! xx

Wordle 265 4/6

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Seems to be my safe default score these days!

Friday lunchtime at the temple of books.

145. Ill Feelings by Alice Hattrick
146. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
147. Burntcoat by Sarah Hall
148. We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
149. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
150. Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

Hattrick's book is a book that I have heard wonderful things about. Who could resist a book by someone named Sequoia? Sarah Hall is with Tessa Hadley, Claire Fuller and Sarah Moss a leading lady of British letters. Oates has written so much stuff that it pays to concern with her A List work first and this must be amongst those. A friend recommended Mary Beth Keane and Bora Chung's book was the only one from the just announced Booker International Prize that was available in additions to the ones I already have.

Happy new thread, Paul. Lovely place again, in the picture.

I am very sorry to hear about your MIL’s health. Such a shock. Glad that she seems to be bearing up well.

>63 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella. You have stoically faced all this stuff, too I know, but I am heartened by my mother in law's positivity.

>52 PaulCranswick: I hope to get over to England one day. Britain is my dream destination.
Your pictures make it even more so.

>62 PaulCranswick: gorgeous covers!
Oh, and I am a Quordler now thanks to you :) It took me a while to get my system arranged, but now I do three words straight off the bat that each have as different letters as I can get, and then work on each one individually.

>62 PaulCranswick: I didn't realize that you hadn't read Ask Again, Yes yet! Interesting to see what you make of it.

Weekend orisons.

>65 hredwards: Please have the timing of your trip coincide with me being there, Harold - I would love to be your tour guide!

>66 LovingLit: The Cursed Bunny one is amazing, Megan. I am sure that it has sold copies on its own. To be fair I bought it because of the Booker International but I had no trouble at all recognising it.

I am trying not to play quordle every day and my success rate is only about 70% although I did complete the last two I played.

>67 richardderus: The author is new to my shelves, RD, but having read a couple of paragraphs (as is my wont in the store before buying it) I reckon it will be just my thing.

I need this weekend dear fellow to be honest as it has been, as predicted an awful week, but I have woken up feeling quite strange. Very dizzy and queasy and most unlike me with a strange pain in my back. Hopefully coffee and waking up properly will help me improve as the day goes on.

>69 PaulCranswick: If any of those symptoms persist, get to a hospital immediately. If any one of them gets worse, take an ambulance. That's a possible heart attack. Get some aspirin in you.

>69 PaulCranswick: What >70 richardderus: said. At the very least, go to the doctor ASAP.

>70 richardderus: Just had some aspirin at work, RD. I think that I am overtired and overstressed what with MIL and missing my other ladies. Kyran is fine because he is loving his course and his current life in London. Just now a little tearful after a video phone call with Hani. Sometimes, dear fellow, we don't cope as well as we expect always to do so.

>71 amanda4242: Don't worry Amanda, I'll take care of myself. Your book buddy isn't planning to go anywhere too soon. Will go to the doctor today.

>72 PaulCranswick: Paul - when are Hani and Yasmyne expected back?

Please have a quick doctor check before they return...you want to be closer to the top of your game. non?

>73 PaulCranswick: Good.

We're all worried about you Paul. Please take care!

>74 m.belljackson: The country opens up properly on 1 April so no quarantine at home or otherwise so they intend to come back on 1 April 2022 itself. Hani was booked on 26 March but is delaying slightly so she can meet up with Yasmyne in Qatar and take the connecting flight together.

Thanks Marianne. The irony is that I have been trying so hard to eat well, get myself in better shape and not drink much this year and to suddenly not feel well is surprising!

>75 amanda4242: Hani told me she will call our Doctor to make sure I do actually go and she will push Bello to follow me there.

>76 mdoris: Thank you, Mary. I am a bit emotional this morning and it has touched me deeply to have friends stop by worried about me. xx

>73 PaulCranswick: I'm glad you'll be seeing a doctor. I've gone to urgent care with dizziness a couple of times, and even though I was almost certain it was those pesky bits of calcium floating loose in my inner ear (it was), they still checked my heart out first and with no wait at all.

>79 quondame: Thanks Susan. Whilst I have finished work early, come home and feel markedly better (though still not 100%) I will be going to the doctor together with Belle in the afternoon here. I think I most urgently need a break for a while from the stresses of work, from looking at all the bad things happening in the world and from familial bad news. I plan to take five days holiday from next Wednesday which will help me and I am going to go up to the coast or to the highlands somewhere and just chill and pamper myself for a time.

>80 PaulCranswick: That sounds like a good plan. Of course you will post, or we will worry.

>81 quondame: Access to internet will be a must, Susan, don't worry!

>61 PaulCranswick: Nice haul, Juan! I have not read a single one of those, so I will be anxiously awaiting your thoughts on them.

>79 quondame: I am glad to hear that you were smart and went to see a doctor! Also glad to hear that you are feeling better. Not ready to lose my brother from another mother just yet :)

>83 alcottacre: I am up to 150 books this year thus far and can definitely see me adding more books in 2022 than I have added in the last couple of years at least.

Comments on brotherhood/sisterhood left me with a lovely glow. We can't choose kinship but if we could I'd love you in my family. xx

Happy new thread Paul!

>1 PaulCranswick: Your topper makes Holmfirth look more picturesque than Sheffield sounds (I've never been there but I imagine it as a heavily industrialised city).

Take care of your health. What did the doctor say?

>83 alcottacre: I'm not getting the 'Juan' reference; is it because he only ever buys 'one' book?

>85 humouress: Sheffield isn't too bad in fairness, Nina and the countryside around it in the Peak District is lovely, but Holmfirth is definitely better.

Heart beat is fine, blood pressure a little up, Doctor took some blood and will have it checked but she thinks it could be an anxiety issue. I feel a little bit better and she asked that I ventilate my room more and increase my intake of fresh air.

The Juan reference is because someone (probably Stasia) referred to me as the Don Juan of book buying. I retorted that she must then be Juana.

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It is funny that answer #5 which was successful was much more obvious than number #4 and I trust that is not a spoiler.

>80 PaulCranswick: need a break for a while from the stresses of work, from looking at all the bad things happening in the world and from familial bad news
Yes yes yes. All these things pile up on each other, and where one might be manageable on its own, so many stressors at once can't not affect you. Please take care and get that recommended air :) (and know that we all care...) (and that's enough rhyming for me for today).

>87 PaulCranswick: That is a mind bender! I got no letters at all on my third guess (was going for a sweep up of possible additional letters) but then managed to guess it on the 4th with just the three I had from the first/second try...

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READS//DAINT//PLUCK (why, I do not know)//TODAY

>87 PaulCranswick: I did the same:

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>87 PaulCranswick: And funny how we all come to the answer in a different way

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Getting into This One Sky Day by Leonie Ross which was titled Popisho in the USA. I can see why it is longlisted for the Women's Prize. Hoping to have a lazy day tomorrow with my books and some fresh air.

>88 LovingLit: I think my stress and tiredness levels have just told me to start to keep better care of myself.

That is a very unorthodox way of playing the game, Megan, but mightily effective by the looks of it!

>89 humouress: Same as me but with a better start, Nina!

>90 FAMeulstee: Yeah and I am the slow coach of the group today by the look of it, Anita!

>91 BenVerran: Does anyone ever really click on those links Ben?!

>94 PaulCranswick: Yesterday I didn't guess the word at all, Paul, and you had it in 4.

>95 FAMeulstee: I am astonished Anita that I have still never failed to get the word in the six allocated guesses with a few times going down to the wire of a sixth guess. My most often average is 4 guesses, I have quite a few threes and only once got it in two guesses.

Are you feeling better Paul? I hope so. Otherwise, I agree a trip to the hospital would be wise.

Glad you get your ladies back soon. That will definitely make a difference.

>93 PaulCranswick: Fresh country air, Paul!

>97 Caroline_McElwee: I am feeling much better, Caroline. xx
It will make a difference having my ladies back with me.

>98 m.belljackson: It will be city air, Marianne, unfortunately. To be fair though Sunday morning there aren't quite so many vehicles about.

I am looking for a report on what you found out when you saw the doctor. I wasn’t on line yesterday and echo everyone else’s concern. I agree that you are maybe not getting enough sleep and under a lot of stress but you also need to rule out things like heart or stroke.

>100 Kristelh: My heart seemed fine but the blood pressure has been a bit variable. I seem much better since this afternoon.

Thank you for stopping by and worrying about your pal, Kristel. xx

THE MUSIC OF 50 YEARS AGO (1972)

Tenth Weekend

PAUL SIMON - PAUL SIMON - Paul's debut has some classic tracks
JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO - SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY - Controversial and much panned album but with some historical value for Lennon devotees.
ROXY MUSIC - ROXY MUSIC - Also an eponymous debut album from the band fronted by Bryan Ferry
MANFRED MAN'S EARTH BAND - MANFRED MAN'S EARTH BAND - A third eponymous debut.
NICK DRAKE - PINK MOON - A couple of debut records is followed by a last recording by the English folkie who was found dead in his mother's bed after recording this.
ROLLING STONES - EXILE ON MAIN STREET - Many people's favourite Stones record, Not mine but it does have some highlights

STASIA SAMPLER

For the lady who popular music passed by!

This is a very prescient song I hope as Hani will return to Malaysia to be with her mum. Paul Simon's Mother and Child Reunion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx0CDRA33ME

Hi Paul, has Yasmyne's partner returned to Norway?
If yes, does he feel safe there...

>104 m.belljackson: Both Tobias and Yasmyne have been back and forth a couple of times recently and, yes, they both feel safe and unthreatened directly by the terrible events in Ukraine.

Pleased to inform all of my lovely friends that I had a good nights sleep and woke up feeling refreshed and clear headed. xxx

>84 PaulCranswick: Comments on brotherhood/sisterhood left me with a lovely glow. We can't choose kinship but if we could I'd love you in my family. xx

Back at you, brother Juan :)

>85 humouress: >86 PaulCranswick: Yes, it was me - I plead guilty to the charge of calling Paul the 'Don Juan of book buying.' But only because it is true, lol.

>92 PaulCranswick: I hope you do just that! Take care of yourself and get a little reading in on the side.

>103 PaulCranswick: Oo, lovely! Thank you, Paul.

>107 alcottacre: I was posting at yours whilst you were over here, sister!

>108 PaulCranswick: Ha! Great minds and all that!

BTW - I watched the video. I do not think I have ever heard that song before in my life.

>105 PaulCranswick: Great! Roscoe just arrived in Bergen and we want to be sure he stays safe.

>109 alcottacre: One of his more famous solo songs which does rather emphasise the point that the music of your youth passed you by!

>110 m.belljackson: He'll be perfectly fine, Marianne. Norway is as safe as houses and Bergen is far up on the coast. I did mention to Yasmyne about the event and Tobias is aware of it but she is not sure that they will have chance to visit.

>111 PaulCranswick: The only one of Paul Simon's songs that I remember clearly is "Call me Al" or something to that effect. It was released when I was older as I recall.

>112 alcottacre: Yep you are right as it was the lead single from his wonderful 1986 album "Graceland".

"You Can Call Me Al" had fabulous lyrics. This is the third verse.

A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the third world
Maybe it's his first time around
Doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound, the sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says, "Amen and Hallelujah!"

>102 PaulCranswick: Exile on Main Street is my favorite Stones album, although I'm also very fond of Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed.

My favorite track from Exile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnCkiNi_ssY&ab_channel=TheRollingStones-Topi...

Glad to hear you're feeling better, Paul.

>113 PaulCranswick: By 1986 I was 24 and actually able to choose my own music to listen to - no longer having to listen to the country music and gospel music of my youth, both of which I disliked and still dislike to this day.

Very glad you're sensible of your responsibilities to the community and went to the doc. Now that vacay needs to happen!

>113 PaulCranswick: A lot of fun, that song. Great music, the whole of the album.

I am glad you are feeling better, Paul!

>111 PaulCranswick: Hey, no problem - it might have been hard to arrange Comp tickets for his Three Concerts from here!

>114 amanda4242: Let it Loose is one of the better tracks on the album, Amanda, I agree. I always find the mix of the record strange though as all the songs seem to my slightly untrained ear to have a blurry dirty mix. Must have been something they were aiming for but it lowers the album overall in my estimation. For me Beggar's Banquet and Let it Bleed are the two truly great Stones records.

>115 alcottacre: Yeah I was 20 when it came out and welcomed his real return to form. He got criticised for cultural appropriation for the "African" sounds on the record which I really don't agree with. It was a very original record whilst at the same time showcasing African music and musicians.

>116 richardderus: I have to be honest, RD, your message yesterday did scare me a little but I thank you both for the speed of your comments and the friendship and sincerity which prompted them.

>117 EllaTim: It is a tremendous album of music and a highlight of it is "Homeless" in which Simon is in a supporting role. Thanks Ella.

>118 m.belljackson: Tobias is a cheapskate, Marianne, so I would have definitely insisted he pay full price for his ticket!

Wordle 267 5/6

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I struggled a bit with that. I really should have got it in 4.

>113 PaulCranswick: My first ever album, on vinyl and now on CD. Introduced me to the wonderful Ladysmith Black Mambazo

>123 humouress: I adore almost every song on that album, Nina, but his debut record is really good too.

>123 humouress: it was also our first CD - we were given some money to buy a CD player, which we did, only to realise we had no CDs we rushed out to the local Woolworth and bought Graceland!

>125 CDVicarage: I remember watching the brilliant video of the lead single on TV and going to add it to my collection urgently. I bought it on vinyl first and owned the CD later. IMHO it is one of the very best albums of the 1980s.

1972 IN MUSIC WEEK TEN

ESSENTIAL TRACKS

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain This album is one that promises much for the future rather than delivering for the then present but this, their first single is still a staple of Bryan Ferry's repertoire as can be seen here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uFaUowgbf4

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Attica State Close to career suicide as this was, it does still have some great tracks. The infamous lead single with the misconceived use of the N word, the frankly offensive lyrics to Yoko's We're All Water comparing the Pope and Charles Mansun and John politically naive Luck of the Irish are to be avoided as is the 2nd disc which is the most awful dross. This one though is on point and has a tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59NYcJD_vVE

Rolling Stones - Shine a Light Exile on Main Street can divide Stones fans but unmistakably in its several high points it is up there with their very best work. I could have chosen any one of seven tunes but this is or Sweet Black Angel is my favourite and I'll play this as the latter song's lyrics don't sit well to modern ears although I know what they were trying to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N46DHEtWEm4

Paul Simon - Run Your Body Down My favourite song on the album is "Duncan", but I need to play this as the lyrics perfectly capture my situation in the last couple of days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tulwKlbSOi4

Manfred Mann Earth Band - Living Without You Very underrated debut album from the group that morphed from the group with a shorter number. I love at least half of the songs and this was a low charting single.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN3eBsTgDoc

Nick Drake - Which Will Simply one of the greatest lost singer songwriters sadly dead not too long after recording this third album of stripped down beauties. I have three of the songs constantly on my playlists and this is one of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJm3C1OizPo

Hope you enjoy these selections.

Glad to hear that you got some good sleep and feel better.

>128 Kristelh: It has been a relaxing day, Kristel - I could do with a few more!

Paul - today's (SUNDAY) PARADE magazine has a front page feature on Music from 1972.

>130 m.belljackson: Just went off to see that Marianne. I will have a couple of jazz records next weekend.

My crazy football team put me through the wringer tonight but we managed to get a win and the first in three tries for our new American coach, Jesse Marsch. Winning 1-0 and spurning a hatful of chances we conceded in the final minute of regulation time. Leeds called our 18 year old boy wonder Joe (Joffy) Gelhardt from the bench and he proceeded to score immediately and win us the game!!!



Marching On Together as the Leeds fans say and sing

Wordle 268 4/6

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Today's puzzle is, I think, a challenge

>119 PaulCranswick: I never knew that. I do not understand why "appropriation" cannot be seen as "appreciation." Isn't copying something a form of flattery?

When I first joined the group/site back in 2011 I created a category of my books which was 100 authors 100 books basically my favourite 100 novels choosing one 1 book per author.

I spent the weekend updating my list taking into account both the passage of time as well as what I have read since 2010. I will share my list little by little over the coming days.
I surprised myself by dropping three or four favourite authors from my list.

>134 alcottacre: Yes, I think that too, Stasia

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 1 Things Fall Apart by Chinua ACHEBE

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FIRST PUBLISHED : 1958

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : NIGERIAN

Why I Included it.
Deceptively simple story of Okonkwo a young man trying to shake off the taint of his father's inertia, his debts and his hopelessness. For the father / son relationship we can also draw a parallel between Nigeria and its former colonial masters and how to stand alone and make out alone. Important to me in opening up my thinking to the downsides of Empire and to the beauty and potential of African fiction.

Did you Know
The title is taken from "The Second Coming" a poem by WB Yeats.

What other members of our group thought

" Such narrative sophistication presented as a simple folk history of an unlucky man is what warrants the continued praise that this novel receives." Randy

" This was one of the first books to attempt to portray the point of view of the colonised Africans rather than the colonising Europeans, and the difference in viewpoints is summed up in one of the most powerful closing paragraph that I have read." Rhian

" I realize that my personal taste in books probably clouded my judgment on this one, but it just couldn't maintain my interest. I couldn't wait for it to end and did a happy dance in the car when it finally did." Lori

BOOK #43



Tales of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau'ofa
Date of Publication : 1983
Origin of Author : Papua New Guinea
Pages : 93 pp

Hugely enjoyable collection of short stories set on the fictional South Pacific island of Tiko. The writing is very funny and pokes fun at officialdom and the "work ethic" of the Pacific Islanders but there is a point to it all - of a people brought together rather than separated by the seas and of a people finding a voice. Packs an awful lot into its small page count.

He has a marvellous way of humour by inversion - his first tale works from the premise that the Tikongs inverted the Book of Genesis in that they work for one day and rest for six! He explains magnificently that the 35 year old British civil servant took such care of himself that he didn't look a day over 60!

The writer was a very interesting man who was born to Tongan parents on Papua New Guinea and died as a citizen of Fiji! I'll go with his birthplace in deciding which country gets the Around the World reading challenge credit.

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 2 - Watership Down by Richard ADAMS



FIRST PUBLISHED : 1972

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I included it
I first read it as a teenager and it struck me about being so much more than rabbits! It is about community and caring for each other as well as providing an early warning on ecology. But in its simplest terms it is a wonderful story that leads the reader breathlessly to the end.

Did You Know?
The real Watership Down is in the village of Kingsclere in Hampshire in the South of England.

What other members of our group thought

"Im glad I stuck to it, the last 100 pages or so just flew by! There was so much tension and excitement and I had come to care very much about what happened to the Watership Down rabbits."
Stephanie

" This is one of those books that I have read many times over the years and it never gets stale. Adams story of a group of rabbits who leave their home warren to find somewhere safe for rabbits is a wonderful tale. Told from a rabbit's viewpoint the importance of nature and plants is shown from the first sentences. Various adventures are undertaken but the goal is to live peacefully."
Calm

" I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. It has been a long time since I have stayed up late reading a book and have wanted to skip ahead with anticipation about how it ends."
Jess

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 3 - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi ADICHIE



FIRST PUBLISHED : 2006

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : NIGERIAN

Why I Included it.
Superb writing and a great story set amid the turmoil of the Biafran war in Nigeria. Remarkable that 2 of the first 3 books selected are by Nigerian writers and even more coincidental is that this updates more graphically and just as successfully the themes more nascent in Achebe's seminal book. For me this is the best novel written this Century.

Did you know?
The genocide and deprivations visited on the Igbo peoples who formed Biafra is generally considered the first "black-on-black" genocide. Approximately 2 million Igbo Biafran's died of famine in the aftermath of the war and the Nigerian naval blockades. Both Achebe and Adichie were/are Igbo.

What other group members thought

" Amazing reconstruction of Biafra and its hideous war with Nigeria!"
Marianne

" I really enjoyed this book about Biafra written by this young women who seems so mature beyond her years."
Kristel

" If you want to learn about the short-lived Republic of Biafra, you could turn to a history or reference work for the facts. If you want to know what it felt like to live there, read Half of a Yellow Sun.

>135 PaulCranswick: That is some task you put yourself up with, Paul!

>137 PaulCranswick: >139 PaulCranswick: >140 PaulCranswick: These first three I have all read and liked :-)

>141 FAMeulstee: I would be interested to see if you had a top 10 or top 20 books, Anita. There is at least one Dutch author on my list.

>142 PaulCranswick: I have a top 50 at Hebban, a Dutch booksite.
As it is all in Dutch, I have made a new wiki-page at LT to list them including the English titles.
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/User:FAMeulstee/Top-50
A work in progress, I will let you know when it is done

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 4 - Jack Sheppard by William Harrison AINSWORTH



FIRST PUBLISHED : 1839

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I included it

One of the more obscure picks perhaps but he was not an obscure writer in his prime competing favourably and clearly influencing a young Dickens with his narrative style and extraordinary storytelling gifts. You will find some fairly obvious omissions from this list and sometimes it is because I simply haven't read a particular author, but often it is because I much more enjoy being told a story to than being told how to think. This is sheer enjoyment.

Did You Know?

Jack Sheppard was published in the monthly periodical Bentley's Miscellany in 1839 intertwined with another novel by the then less famous Mr Dickens which went by the name of Oliver Twist.

What other Group Members Thought

"Burglaries, attempted kidnapping, plots to obtain inheritances and to overthrow the king, vengeance, amazing escapes from prison, mad women, hidden nobles, love, drinking, and more! I owe this thoroughly fun read to a recommendation from another LTer, and what makes it even more fun is that Jack Sheppard was a real person who really did escape multiple times from some of the strongest prisons London had to offer in the early 18th century."
The late and much missed Rebecca

I always find it so hard to “define” favorites. This seems daunting. Looking forward to seeing your top 100.

Edited to add, I so agree that I would rather be told a story than told what to think!

>143 FAMeulstee: I will be so interested to see how many titles or authors we have in common.
Excited of Kuala Lumpur!

>145 Kristelh: I know which authors I admire but whose books I simply don't enjoy especially their fiction but the biggest problem I set myself was to choose just one (and then which one) from favourite authors. There are a few surprising omissions - even to me - by favourite authors whose body of work I really like but for whom I haven't yet read a book of theirs compelling enough to make the list.

I look forward to watching your list Paul. Already a couple of names I haven't heard of. Yes, I would have trouble only choosing one book for several of the writers, Fitzgerald and Woolf for example.

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 5 - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen



DATE OF PUBLICATION - 1818

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR - UK

Why I included it
And here is where I start to run into trouble! In my absolute defence I have only read 3 of her novels and I am afraid that P&P is not one of them. Perhaps there is also some sentiment here too as it was the first of her novels that I did read and I recall it as having the most actual plot compared to Mansfield Park (which I almost chose) and S&S which I didn't much care for. Very difficult to find such delightful prose with modern writers. I used to re-read chapters of this and Mansfield Park to aid me in honing my reporting skills and for which I am eternally grateful.

Did You Know?

Northanger was the first of her major novels that Austen wrote but the last one published in complete form and only after Austen's passing.

What other Group Members Thought

" Northanger Abbey is an excellent vehicle for showing Jane Austen’s comedic side and I enjoyed this playful love story a great deal."
Judy

" An enjoyable story of a truly clueless young lady, and her visit to Bath. The dialogue is, as always, delightful, and I especially liked Mr. Tilney's sense of humor. Solid Austen."
Fuzzi

" Decidedly not my favorite Austen but a good read nevertheless. "
Laura (|ycomayflower)

>148 Caroline_McElwee: Indeed and as you see with Book number 5 most people will\ be sure that I have the choice wrong!

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 6 - The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 2006 (Originally in Dutch)

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : DUTCH (NETHERLANDS)

Why I included it
This book reminds me so much of my early days in the group and the reading horizons opened up by book recommendations as I had never heard of the author but was smitten by the clean prose and the elegiac tale.

Did You Know?

The Dutch title of this book is literally "Upstairs Everything is Quiet"

What Other Group Members Thought

"This is what the story did. Gerbrand Bakker, through powerful storytelling, slyly draws the reader into the lives of these characters living on this rural farm in Holland. Using spare prose, he dragged me along, quite willingly, through a taut psychological narrative, filled with an underlying rage. I truly felt an incredible sense of place where I could feel the winter chill and smell the first signs of spring."
Bonnie

"This is a fascinating read, rich with symbolism, reflection and fraught with loneliness. So subtly is the story told that an undercurrent of the plot that had puzzled me finally gelled as I closed the pages of the book."
Deb

"The stark beauty of Bakker's prose offsets the stark reality of the lost dreams of a left-behind twin. This was an unsentimental reverie of loss and yearning for what might have been. The wistful tone of this quiet book creates a longing for more reflective stories like this that make one ponder the vagaries of life."
Donna

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 7 - Another Country by James Baldwin



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1962

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : USA
'
Why I Included It

The first American on my list and on many lists I presume and not just alphabetically. Handled the
delicate issue of male sexuality with such sensitivity that even prudish fellows like me were able to fall in love with his prose. Influenced by his time in Paris an\d as incendiary as ever on the issue of race.

Did You Know?
Tony Richardson agreed to direct a film adaptation in 1964 with Baldwin writing the screenplay but it was never produced.

What Other Group Members Thought

"After reading a few mini-biographies of the author James Baldwin, it almost seems to mirror what he felt was a disinterest by Americans to take a closer look at sexuality and issues of race which lead him to leave the United States for Paris in the late 1940s. "Another Country" provides a fine examination of those issues and is a definite recommended read."
Greg

>144 PaulCranswick: I haven't read Jack Sheppard, no Dutch translation.

>149 PaulCranswick: Wasn't that charmed by Nothanger Abbey, in fact no Jane Austen in my top 50.

>151 PaulCranswick: I really liked The Twin, but it didn't make it in my Top 50.

>152 PaulCranswick: Another Country is on Mount TBR

--
My Top 50 wiki is done, see: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/User:FAMeulstee/Top-50

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 8 - The Black Sheep by Honore de Balzac



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1842

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : FRENCH

Why I Included It

First really tough call for me as I have read a large number of Balzac's Comedy Humaine and he is a favourite author. I picked this one for its intrigue and the devilish skill that Balzac had in drawing out the craven foibles of people.

Did You Know?
Balzac wrote his novels with a quill but could write up to thirty words a minute!

What Other Group Members Thought

" This is quite the tale of greed, selfishness, gambling, thievery, corruption, plot and counterplot -- and art."
The late and much loved Rebecca (rebeccaNYC

>153 FAMeulstee: Going there now!!!!

ETA
2 of your picks will appear here. A further 3 were in my longest of 200 books.
I am not including any non-fiction in my list, Anita which keeps Homage to Catalonia off the list as I do like it the very best of Orwell's books.

>137 PaulCranswick: Many years ago when we lived in The Old House in Laingsburg (Michigan),
my daughter and I would visit the then very small library in nearby East Lansing.
I decided to read all intriguing books, starting with A.

(We moved to Wisconsin before getting near Z.)

Chinua Achebe's THINGS FALL APART was the first book I read.

Great inspiration for recent books: THE WONDERS OF THE AFRICAN WORLD
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and THE 1619 PROJECT by Nikole Hannah-Jones.

Both as memorable as Achebe!

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 9 - The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 2018

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It

It is a great story isn't it all parts derived from The Iliad and Pat Barker is a tremendous writer. Barker has been criticised for use of modern idioms in recalling Briesis, the trophy "wife" of Achilles but I think the 'modernising' method she adopts is part of its appeal and part of what sets it apart from the some other books on very similar topics. Some friends of mine have said that A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes is a superior book but I cannot include it over my pick for the reason that I haven't read it yet. One of my very favourite reads of recent years.

Did You Know?

Barker was born as the illegitimate child of a young wren who went out and got drunk and never knew the father. Pat Barker came from very humble beginnings but won a scholarship to Knaresborough Grammar school and finished up at the London School of Economics.

What Other Group Members Thought

" This is a powerful, brutal book, haunting and beautifully written, a true modern counterpart to The Illiad that resonates in today's world."
Deborah (cariola)

" I liked this novel better than "The Song of Achilles". This book has a much narrower scope and I thought it was an excellent companion book and I also think if one were to read one or the other I would recommend this over Song of Achilles. This is a retelling of The Illiad without all the men's glory and with all of the ugly grit, and mostly from the perspective of women, Briseis in particular."
Ron

"In retelling the Iliad from the view point of a captured and enslaved woman, the book gives voice to the myriad of people impacted by war beyond the "great heroes".
Snash

>156 m.belljackson: I have to give you so much credit for being able to plug 1619 Project in almost every post! My list only includes novels and both your alternatives are non-fiction but I will go and look for them.

Hi Paul, and happy new thread. The pic of Holmfirth is stunning.

From your last thread, I am so sorry to hear about your MiL’s tumors, most probably malignant. How awful for Hani and your whole family. ((hugs)) It’s good that Hani and Yasmyne are coming home soon.

Your March 9th post re Covid is concise and I agree with it 100%.

I’m glad to read, by message 157 of this new thread that you haven’t had a heart attack or stroke, that you went to the doctor, and that you’re going to take some time off. There are way too many stressful things going on in your life, of course, so getting away sounds like the best medicine.

I like the idea of your updated list of 100 favorite books, especially the part about what other members of the group have said. That takes quite a bit of research, and I am having fun with it. I’ve only read Watership Down of those already presented.

>155 PaulCranswick: Stripping all YA, poetry and non-fiction of my list, there are 30 titles left.
Will ponder which 20 books should be added ;-)

Back to my book!

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 10 - The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1908

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It

A great realist novel in Bennett's Five Towns Cycle of novels but this is one is head and shoulders the best. Bennett is unfairly overlooked these days and is considered grim and gloomy but I usually enjoy his books.

Did You Know?

The book was adapted for TV (BBC) in 1988 as "Sophia and Constance"

What Other Group Members Thought?

" At 729 pages, it isn't short—in fact it was my first Dead-weight Doorstop challenger for 2016—nor is it upbeat. But it was not, for me, a wallow in misery and despair."
Bill

" The shifting chronology of the narrative is genius, dashing assumptions with later revelations. But Bennett’s real genius is in his uber-complete characterizations of the two girls. "
Mac

>159 karenmarie: Lovely to see you as always, Karen and I will get some stats for you sometime in the near future.

Hani's mum is in hospital in Singapore tomorrow and I just gave my SIL some money to go and renew her passport so that she can enter Singapore and help take care of MIL. Fingers crossed that in the final analysis it is less serious than it certainly looked to me looking at that doctor's report.

I went back and read my March 9 post and sometimes I do actually use my common sense!

Already booked Thursday, Friday and Saturday off. So I hope that it will be a relaxingly book filled time away.

I am enjoying slowly putting up the list and imagining some of the horror my picks a causing some of my pals and later for what isn't in my list! It is mightily interesting to see what our friends have to say about books we like. I am not putting uniformly positive reviews or comments either as you can see and I am trying to include as many comments as possible from different friends.

>160 FAMeulstee:. I wonder if our shared number goes up any as a result?!

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 11 - Birds Without Wings by Louis De Bernieres



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 2004

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It
Honestly a toss-up between this and Captain Corelli's Mandolin but I plumped for this tale of the formation of Turkey linked with a tragic love story in a Turkish/Greek village because I think De Bernieres messed up the ending to Corelli. Very moving, very superior historical fiction.

Did You Know?
De Bernieres is a very accomplished musician and can play numerous instruments very well including flute, clarinet, guitar and mandolin.

What Other Group Members Thought

"This SERIOUS book is a challenge to read. For me, it was well worth the effort. It took me over a week to read it and I consulted Wikipedia and my Dictionary app many times. It is more than worthy of the time I spent and the resulting rare 5-star rating."
Donna

" beautifully-written, compassionate and understanding."
Vivienne

"The author uses the metaphor of the birds without wings to describe the situation where people are fated to do things that do not agree because without wings we are forced into “struggles and abominations that we did not seek”."
Kristel

>137 PaulCranswick: I need to re-read that one. I just got a copy of the entire trilogy in recently and would like to read them all. Thanks for the reminder, Paul!

>138 PaulCranswick: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation!

>139 PaulCranswick: Another one that deserves a re-read soon!

>140 PaulCranswick: Read that one a few years back, so a re-read can wait, especially as I did not love it.

>144 PaulCranswick: I have never even heard of that one!

>149 PaulCranswick: I will be reading that one later this year as I am reading through all of Austen in 2022. Mamie and I are currently reading Pride and Prejudice together.

>151 PaulCranswick: I own that one and really need to get it read.

>152 PaulCranswick: I have not read that one by Baldwin yet, although I have read quite a few of his. I need to get around to this one.

>155 PaulCranswick: I need to get around to that one too. I may need to live to be 1000!

>157 PaulCranswick: I know that one is already in the BlackHole as I just added it recently.

>161 PaulCranswick: *sigh* Another one of which I had never heard. I feel remarkably unread.

>162 PaulCranswick: I hope all goes well with Hani's mother, Paul. I know it has to be hard being separated for so long only to have this kind of news.

>163 PaulCranswick: Another one that I own and still need to read. Good thing I am taking part in the TIOLI challenges again!

Happy whatever, Juan!

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 12 : The Sheltering Sky by Paul BOWLES



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1949

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : USA

Why I Included This

This made me fall in love with North Africa. I will go to Morocco again myself later this year and I hope to do some projects there soon. A tale of the oblivious abroad. The characters are good in this but the most impressive character is Morocco's terrain.

Did You Know?
Paul Bowles studied music with Aaron Copeland and considered himself a composer first and foremost.

What Other Group Members Thought

" In sum, it's a strange yet alluring story. It was selected by both Modern Library and Time magazine for their Top 100 Novels lists. Time's reviewer: "The last of this book’s three sections, when Kit is given over to her fate in the desert, is one of the damnedest things you will ever read." True. I'm glad I read it."
Bill

" Tedious twaddle."
Richard

"Bowles’ book is both beautiful and cruel – interesting and hostile. The landscape and cultures are characters in the tale on their own and provide a fascinating backdrop for an examination of sad, provocative people."
Mac

>164 alcottacre:. Juana you are anything but "remarkably unread"!

Surely the need to read so many books will keep us healthy?! xx

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 13 : Rumours of Rain by Andre BRINK



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1978

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : South Africa

Why I Included This
I do have a fondness for South African authors and Brink would be my favourite most probably and this is, in my opinion his best novel. Contemporary and relevant he tells the tale of Martyn going to sell off the family farm and to try to re-connect with his Army veteran son. Profound and moving as I recall as it must be thirty-five years since I read it.

Did You Know?
Brink used to writer his novels twice. Once in Afrikaans and once in English.

My Top 50 is updated, Paul, only fiction now at https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/User:FAMeulstee/Top-50

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 14 : Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1847

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It
Do I really need to explain why it is on this list?

Did You Know
The book was published with Charlotte using the pseudonym of Currer Bell.

What Other Group Members Thought

" The interplay between Jane and Rochester is captivating! "
Lori (lkernagh)

" Let it be know that I am a stubborn fool, for not reading this sooner."
Stephen (ape)

" Brontë’s world is heavy with the clash of dark and light, good and—not evil perhaps, but—sullied nature. My temperament leads me to prefer Austen, but every once in a while, I find it necessary to come back and re-read this gripping tale."
Randy

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 15 : Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte



DATE PUBLISHED : 1847

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included it?
I don't have to decide here which of the two sisters' novel is the better.
Marvellous sense of place.

Did You Know?
Emily's one and only novel was published under the author's name of Ellis Bell.

What Other Group Members Thought

" 300-odd pages of unpleasant people being hateful to each other."
Amanda

>154 PaulCranswick: First real surprise for me. I'd've thought Père Goriot for its dark, honest flensing of Family.

...more than one Brontë sibling? hmmm

>134 alcottacre: The cynic in me says that criticism of "cultural appropriation" is one of those cultural fashions elites use to identify and reject lesser mortals, who still haven't updated their behaviour to match the latest elite fad.

The less cynical side says that there are some forms of "cultural appropriation" that really suck. (I'm not awake enough to produce plausible examples.) And people aren't good at nuanced thinking, to distinguish grades of "problematic". So it's common to come up with blanket bans, that may even do more harm than good, even to the people they are supposed to help. (That latter, particularly if the ban is designed and enforced by do-gooders who aren't part of the target group, as such bans usually are.)

Maybe avoiding things commonly labelled "cultural appropriation" is a net win for those whose cultures would otherwise be "appropriated", i.e. have bits and pieces copied, other things misattributed to them, and/or non-members of the culture setting up to teach its "real" essence to other non-members.

I have no direct experience; my culture is defined as unappropriateable (sp?). When other people take up bits and pieces of my culture, it's called "imperialism" (on the part of my culture) rather than "cultural appropriation," because of the power differential.

>170 PaulCranswick: Of the three Bronte sisters who wrote, Anne is far and away the superior.

Oh geesh, another 100 books to add to the WL. LOL. Well hopefully not all 100, I'd like to think that there might be some cross overs to what I've already read, but definitely adding the ones you've listed so far. :)

>170 PaulCranswick: It's been a while since I read it (we studied it in school, so I had to re-read it) but I think I agree with Amanda. I think no one was happy at the end except the ghosts. And even then ...

I love your list and comments on your updated favorites, Paul. What a fun idea to include the LTer quotes. I hope you find things going well with Hani’s mother. I know you will keep us updated. Thanks in advance.

Hi Paul mate, glad that you went to see the Doctor after feeling unwell recently, you have had a lot on your plate over the last few months and i agree that a five day break with some books will do you the world of good.

I must admit that it was a good move on Root's declaration, a nice challenge of 4 an over but on that track it was only going to be a draw, nothing really in it for any type of bowler. I hope the Barbados Test starting on Wednesday is a lot better with a decent track for bowlers and batsmen.

Of your first fifteen, I've read six:
Things Fall Apart (loved it)
Half of a Yellow Sun (liked it very much)
Northanger Abbey (favorite author, but not my favorite book - my pick would be Persuasion)
The Silence of the Girls (liked it very much)
Jane Eyre (loved it, but loved Villette even more)
Wuthering Heights (hated it)

>169 PaulCranswick: Related > Linda and I will both be reading THE SECRET DIARIES OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE.

(and no mention of 1619 except to say that your "169" is missing a letter...)

>171 richardderus: Balzac was a tough call with Pere Goriot and Cousin Bette almost my choices too.

I am in the minority, RD, in actually preferring Emily to Charlotte. Anne as you see didn't make the cut.

>172 ArlieS: That is an interesting post, Arlie! I suppose the example that springs most readily to mind and impacted the group was the controversy over American Dirt whose author was strongly derided and criticised in some quarters for gaining success as a novelist writing about Mexicans fleeing grave danger to come across the Southern border into America. I was in the camp that felt that fiction should not have limits imposed to restrict the writer's imagination but feelings were pretty high on the subject.

>173 amanda4242: Trust you, Amanda, to hold such a contrary view. I did actually very much like Agnes Grey but it lacks the depth of either of the books published by her sisters, surely?

>174 mahsdad: You must have read one or two of the first fifteen, Jeff, or am I really more of an obscurist than I thought?!

Paul, Glad to see you are feeling better.
That would be great to have you as a tour guide!! Hopefully some day!!

>175 humouress: I will admit that it is not a happy book, Nina. I was very tired when I was putting the book up but I did struggle to find very positive reviews from our friends on the book.

>176 Donna828: Thanks Donna. It is interesting to me always what the people I esteem think of the books I like. I am comforted by the fact that your very sound judgement quite often does seem to tally with my own less reliable one!
I am a bit nervous about the coming day in terms of my MIL but at least she seems upbeat.

>177 johnsimpson: Nice to see you, John. I think the selection left something to be desired to be honest as I think Parkinson would have won us that test on debut. Will have my fingers crossed for Alex Lees. Surprisingly given my consistent criticism of Crawley, I was pleased for him and hopefully the amazing faith in him will pay off - I have never seen any player in test cricket in my lifetime given the chances he has been given.

>178 cbl_tn: Very interesting, Carrie, that you preferred Vilette which I own but have yet to read. I must admit that the consensus against Wuthering Heights surprises me a little but perhaps, as a huge fan of Kate Bush, I came into the book biased!

>179 m.belljackson: Not intentional dear Marianne, I assure you. I had to switch to Belle's computer yesterday evening as my keyboard is again having me pull my hair out.

>182 hredwards: Indeed hopefully so, Harold!

I got to The Black Sheep before deciding to call you out on 55 years of reading!
Surely you weren't born reading! I can hardly claim 73 years of titles though I would 60 as I first read Pride and Prejudice at near 13. If I were to do such an extensive favorites list, books such as Eloise and The Chessmen of Mars would have to appear, not perhaps as books that I consider the pinnacles of publishing (well Eloise is up there) but because they lifted me to where I found new horizons.

>170 PaulCranswick: >175 humouress: >183 PaulCranswick: Wuthering Heights's popularity, or at least acceptance for its style of romanticism, faded sharply during my lifetime and had already peaked. Doomed love just wasn't the right fit for the post WWII western world.

Paul, I enjoy your lovely, breath-taking images that start your threads! Thank you!

>168 FAMeulstee: You missed me... Our shared number could be up.

>181 PaulCranswick: Tenant of Wildfell Hall leaves them all in the dust.

>189 amanda4242: You beat me to it, Amanda, I was going to say that!

>186 quondame: Fair criticism, Susan, but in my first 55 years then to be more precise. Lists will always be subjective won't they which is what makes them interesting to each other? I may be something of a throw back given the reaction to certain of my picks. x

My choices will never be intrinsically better than another readers as the qualitative measurement is thankfully unscientific. I would have no right to decry your choice of Eloise just on the basis that I had never heard of it!

>187 Whisper1: You are more than welcome dear lady. x

>188 FAMeulstee:. A thousand apologies, Anita, I did indeed miss your post. Yes there were a couple more, up to four shared now! I have to say though that there were a number of very near misses and a few more that I haven't yet read and very much want to.

>189 amanda4242:. I will have to read this very soon then as I must admit to not having yet done so. x

>190 CDVicarage: I would count, for what it is worth Kerry, both you and Amanda as pretty reliable judges so I will look for and read that book very soon. I do have it on the shelves here in KL if I am not mistaken.

>102 PaulCranswick: I love both Pink Moon & Exile on Main Street. The latter is also not my favorite Stones LP but it is pretty great.

>169 PaulCranswick: >170 PaulCranswick: I also love both of these, but I think I may give the edge to Jane Eyre.

I hope the week is off to a good start, Paul.

BTW- I just started The siege of Krishnapur and really enjoying it.

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 16 : The Good Earth by Pearl Buck



DATE PUBLISHED : 1931

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : USA

Why I Included It
I love sagas and this is an excellent family saga told in a very effective and direct manner. Almost impossible to wade through its pages without caring for the character and being relieved that we didn't exist in that time and place.

Did You Know?
The original typed manuscript that Buck prepared in Nanking was stolen after it was exhibited in 1966 but later recovered.

What Other Group Members Thought

"This book was so good. So much happens yet the words are not crammed in. We are left with an impression of a man and his times that is so comprehensive. The pride and strength of Wang Lung are obvious, yet he also struggles with the ugly side of pride. His lifelong search for contentment is in vain which raises the question of how much does one need to feel happy. The tale is one of human nature, and in this regard it does a superb job of laying it out like it is."
Megan

" I'm sorry I waited so long to read it."
Reba

"Generally good, but the sexism grated on my nerves a LOT. I have a low tolerance for sexism. (The sexism here is a result of the culture, of course, and not a reflection on the author.)"
Nora

>194 msf59: Nice to see you, Mark. I adore Nick Drake but individual songs just sort of meld together. I was never keen on Exile but some of the songs have definitely aged well.

My personal edge goes to Emily but I am in the minority I think!

One more book before I go to work............

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 17 : The Plague by Albert Camus



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1947

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : FRANCE (born in Algeria to pieds noir parents)

Why I Included It
This allegorical tale is deservedly an existential classic (whatever that really means). The plague inflicted upon Oran could also be the plague of Nazi'ism that spread across Europe and which the French were equally powerless to prevent.

Did You Know?
There was an actual cholera epidemic that hit the town of Oran in 1849 which decimated its population and almost certainly inspired Camus' novel.

What Other Group Members Thought

" If there is anything true about people facing deadly realities that is not in this book, I've never encountered it. The language sweeps though the book as the plague sweeps thought the city, steady and unrelenting and suddenly there is a dust devil of passion, love, lost, frustration, helplessness as the story touches individuals."
Susan

" Through the observations of the narrator, the reader is presented with some existential questions; exile and separation from loved ones and on a metaphysical level of isolation and separation from human lives, that humans live in an indifferent universe with no rational meaning or order, ethical position to act in a way that is benefit to the whole, how people relate to religion in the time of disaster"
Kristel

"There is a lot of existentialist discourse. No surprises there. But it came over to me as all rather banal. I expected there to be more practical concerns in a time of terrible illness, food and goods shortages and mass grief. It seemed to me to be a load of men sitting about theorising about life, fate, God and the human condition. So if that is what you are after, then you will love it."
Megan

>195 PaulCranswick: That reminds me. I *still* haven't read The Good Earth, and should. Adding to the black hole. ;-)

>191 PaulCranswick: Here's pointing out that I said nothing about your choices, though we may in the past have agreed to differ on some. You only have an excuse not to have read Eloise, but you should remedy that. It's very short.

I'm kind of thinking that a different sort of list would jell if we picked our top 10-20 at 10, 15, etc. I started late, at least by the standards of this group, because of dyslexia which faded out between 10 and 12 or maybe it was the SRA Reading Laboratory kickstarted my effective literacy by giving me measurable successes.

I suspect that many of the books you loved before 18 won't make your list. Or will they?

>199 ArlieS: I did notice that you had read and reviewed quite a few of the first bunch I put up. You really should read Pearl Buck as I find her difficult to put down.

>199 ArlieS: No, Susan, I was not grumbling, save to note that our reading experiences are obviously individual to each of us.
You are right that books in our youth would possibly not stand up to a re-read now. When we read something does also matter.
My sister is dyslexic and had to overcome quite a lot to become a lawyer. I on the other hand could apparently read the newspaper and had an adults reading score at 7. So 50 years of reading at least I can legitimately claim.

I’ve read 10 of the ones you’ve listed. I own Another Country, Silence of the Girls and I’ve read A Dry White Season by Brink and I liked his writing. I might see if I can find Rumors of Rain.

Authors A & B which didn't make my cut.

Obviously you can see this yourselves but I will explain some of the near misses and whys.

1. Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood were near misses especially the latter with Alias Grace. Handmaid's Tale is a book I frankly didnt enjoy.

2. I am not much of a fan of Amis whether senior or junior.

3. I haven't read The Master and Margarita which explains the absence of Bulgakov.

4. Bainbridge and Brookner are writers I do enjoy but I couldn't think of a single novel of theirs which could justify inclusion on its own merit.

5 My own love of poetry probably counted against AS Byatt's Booker winner as the poetry therein frankly irritated me.

6. Ambler would have made it if I was not focusing on novels as would Kate Atkinson.

7. Anthony Burgess was a near miss with his Malaya Trilogy which I loved as well as Earthly Powers.

8. There is one novel which I accidentally missorted by using his first name to sort rather than his family name and that will be next up.

9. No place for writers such as Auster, Aykroyd, Banks, Boyd, Banville, Barnes, Bunin, Andric, Ammaniti, Arenas, Ballard, Beckett, Bellow, Bowen, Boyne, Brooks and Bukowski all of whom I have read. No place for writers like Bolano, De Beauvoir and Amado who I haven't read.

10. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian, Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, The Hired Man by Melvyn Bragg, and Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela were near misses too.

>201 PaulCranswick: Oh dear, I didn't mean that they don't stand up. They are absolutely as good as we thought they were! We have become jaded and judgemental and adjusted our values to standards. OK, maybe not entirely. But really, there are many fabulous books that aren't considered weighty enough to be "great". While I think we should examine and revisit favorites from when we were 15, we should possibly give more rather than less weight to our love for them.

Very interesting to follow your best of books, Paul!

>170 PaulCranswick: I hate this one. Lol.

You are hitting me with book bullets left, right and sideways, Paul. Please stop :)

>172 ArlieS: Well, I am sure that I am a lesser mortal since I know nothing of the latest elitist fads and really do not care to. I think blanket bans do more harm than good as you point out.

>204 quondame: Fully agree with you on that, Susan. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan is a favourite book of mine and would have gotten into my list if I hadn't been thinking about a genre based list too. I read a book recently Tarka the Otter which was wonderful and would, I think, have made an even bigger impression on my more impressionable younger mind. Swallows and Amazons however I read only a couple of years ago with an agued mind and didn't appreciate it nearly as much as I might have done when younger.

>|205 Thanks Mary. I suppose I am most interested to get feedback on my own tastes and opinions and also to see what else I have been missing from my reading.

>206 alcottacre: & >207 alcottacre: I am surprised how many of the group don't like that one.

I am only 17 % done so far!

I certainly agree that censorship is a very dangerous and pernicious thing in almost every case.

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 18 : The Orenda by Joseph Boyden



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 2013

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : Canadian

Why I Included It
Through typographical carelessness this is in the wrong order as I realised I had typed Joseph Boyden instead of Boyden, Joseph in compiling my list so that when I sorted the list it was out of place. Maybe a reflection of my personal interests as the Native Americans and their culture has always fascinated me, but this is altogether a wonderfully compelling novel. I would say my favourite novel published in the time since I joined LT.

Did You Know?
Like Elizabeth Warren, Boyden has courted controversy for claims of indigenous antecedents. He still sticks to his story but it is hotly disputed. \

What Other Group Members Thought

" I was truly surprised at how much I loved this book. I picked it up just to check it because I had planned to return it to the library unread. Then, the thing I love best about reading a great book...I just kept reading until I was finished. This is a book that made me want to read more about these tribes. It also made me sad to once again see how these tribes lost everything once the white people arrived on their shores."
Diane

" Mixed in with the horror of mortal combat and torture are passages of humor, joy, beauty, and devotion. I found this book hard to put down, yet I didn't want the experience of reading it to end. Highly recommended."
Carrie

"I wish I could give words to how good this book is. The interplay of relationship, the maturing of conscience, the brutality of Indian life in the 1630s, the complexity of the relations between various tribes and newcomers – all of it so well written. By the natives, the Jesuits were called “crows” for their flapping robes and cawing speech, and the Indians, by the missionaries, “sauvages”. Boyden gives due to each group of peoples, being frank with both their good points and bad. Superb."
Cindy

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 19 : Jack Maggs by Peter Carey



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1997

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : Australian

Why I included it?
Great Expectations is one of my favourite Dickens novels and two novels inspired by that book make my list. Carey writes so beautifully and he tells this updating quite wonderfully. Despite his two Booker wins for other books, I think this is the best of Carey.

Did You Know?
Carey is proof of the power of reading. He dropped out of college and worked a series of menial jobs which allowed him time to read voraciously which he clearly put into good effect.

What Other Group Members Thought

" An interesting but slightly unsatisfying look at life in Victorian London."
Calm

"Fascinating characters made this nearly impossible to put down once I started. A most enjoyable jaunt through late 1830s London."
Jeremy

"Like Dickens, Carey paints memorable characters, all flawed to some degree, yet all human enough to arouse the reader's sympathy. I raced through the last third of the book, anxious to see how it would end. Recommended for most readers of historical fiction."
Carrie

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 20 : O' Pioneers by Willa Cather



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1913

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : USA

Why I Included It
This was a difficult choice as the next book is, by many yardsticks, the superior book. What I cling to is an impression made upon me by this book which is one of only two books of prose that I have ever read cover to cover and then read immediately straight over again. The other much to my own surprise did not make this list.

Did You Know?
The title is taken from Leaves of Grass by Whitman.

What Other Group Members Thought

This had a good plot, a great main character and some of the most beautiful writing about the American midwest that must exist. If it's sitting on your bookshelf, move it up your TBR mountain!!!
Cushla

What a delightful tale of life and death on the American frontier. The descriptions of the land were sublime and the people within this story were all well rounded and realistic, with both strengths and weaknesses within each. My main complaint is that there wasn't enough of it.
Jenny

This book has two of my favorite things - beautiful writing and a strong female protagonist.
Amy

>181 PaulCranswick:. You are absolutely right. I've read Things Fall Apart and Watership Down. And the closest I've gotten to Jane Eyre is Jasper Fforde's books. And several others here are already on the WL, or TBR pile. But many more to add, I'm sure.

Very much enjoying reading this ever growing list.

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 21 : The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1860 (Book form)

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It
This is a novel I do feel a bit ambivalent about given that it goes from supersonic to pedestrian so often. Collins well knew how to construct novels along the Victorian model of weekly instalment in the hugely popular periodicals of the day.

Did You Know
This was Collins' own favourite book and is specifically mentioned on his epitaph.

What Other Group Members Thought

" Part romance, with a dollop of mystery, and a dash of crime, and a generous portion of entertainment, this classic was one that has never been out of print since it's first publication date, and once read, the reason behind its success is evident."
Valerie

" Now that I've read it and that there are no more secrets for me to discover, I still look forward to reading it again for a fun romp with highly colourful characters and some Gothic frissons."
Ilana

" I found it generally quite entertaining, although I found the last couple of sections the most difficult to get through. I guess that's just the nature of the beast - the fun is in the chase, not in the wrapping up."
Ursula

>213 mahsdad: Thank you, Jeff. My reading will suffer for a couple of days while I put this together but the animation it should otherwise cause me will add to my productivity over time.

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 22 : To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 1972

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It
This novel has an autumnal texture - smooth edges and satisfying. Just the sort of historical personal saga that I yearn to read; you can immerse yourself in its pages and imagery and let the sullied times see to themselves a while.

Did You Know?
The school in the novel, Bamfylde, is based upon the actual school RFD attended in West Buckland, Devon.

What Other Group Members Thought

"The book is long, over 600 pages, but the time just flew by as I was reading because it was so very engaging. And compelling. Complex characters, especially his characterization of the female characters, which is particularly impressive considering the book was written in the early 70s and depicts the years between the wars. Someone described it as sentimental. Maybe so but also compassionate, funny, endearing and just wonderful all the way around."
Bonnie

DICKENS ALERT

I now have an interlude of a few hours as I have reached a stage of cogitation and hesitation as I ponder confirming my favourite Dickens novel. Chuckles is a loved or hated writer with very few ambivalent as to his merit or charm or absence thereof. I am firmly in the former camp and fail to see how, as an Englishman, it would have been possible to have fallen in love with English Lit without The Dick.

I have read all his novels - sort of - Dombey & Son, Little Dorrit, Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend I have read in kids abridged format and will not count them for this purpose. All the others I read both my childhood Dickens collection bought by my late great Mum and the full unabridged novels out from my teens.

I split these into two groups - the good and the rest

The rest : Martin Chuzzlewit, Barnaby Rudge, Hard Times, The Old Curiosity Shop, A Christmas Carol (and the other Christmas stories), Pickwick Papers

The best : Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities

Decisions, decisions....... which one of the five should I pick?

>203 PaulCranswick: I did read The Master and Margarita, Paul, not a fan. It would only make it to my list of worst reads ever.

>218 FAMeulstee: What really grabbed me from your list is Life and Fate and I will read his books in the next quarter.

>219 PaulCranswick: I have a re-read of Life and Fate planned this year, Paul, maybe we can do a shared read?

>220 FAMeulstee: I would love that, Anita. Just give me a week or so notice and I will be on it!

>221 PaulCranswick: Okay, I make my planning for the next month, at the end of the month before. I will let you know when a fitting TIOLI challenge is found :-)

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 23 : David Copperfield by Charles Dickens



DATE PUBLISHED : 1850

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It
I had four different picks in a couple of hours. The novel I enjoyed the most I realised was Nicholas Nickleby which I read in 1996 just after my marriage, the novel with the best story is probably A Tale of Two Cities. The one with the most vivid scenes, Great Expectations. And I considered all of these but in the final analysis the one that probably came second in each of these categories wins out. David Copperfield is a warm, generous novel teeming with memorable characters and it is the memory of all of them that puts it on this list. Yes it is overly sentimental. Yes it is over long. It is also a wonderful companion on long dark English nights and my heart belongs there and with this.

Did You Know?
Tolstoy who, I guess, was a half-decent judge of writing rated the book as the very best written by an English author.

What Other Group Members Thought

" Sentimental, full of tears and elation, oddball characters, prolixity, villains and heroes, angelic women and sinning men, oppressors and oppressed, con men and their victims, the steadfast and the persevering, the eloquent, the grandiloquent and the tongue-tied, all abetted by a multitude of monumental coincidences - David Copperfield is a sprawling wonder, pure addictive reading. "
Joe

" The length is daunting and the story starts slowly, which was much of the reason the book took me so long to finish. It was well worth it, however, as I was introduced to some of the most memorable characters - Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, Mr. Dick, Uriah Heep, and my personal favorite Miss Betsey Trotwood - that I have ever encountered. I'm sure I will read it again."
Mary

" The strength of the work lies in character development. "
Lori (thornton)

>222 FAMeulstee: You have a deal, Anita!

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 24 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky



PUBLICATION DATE : 1867 (in book form)

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : Russian

Why I Included It
My old teacher used to say that the Crime was publishing it and the punishment was in having to read it. My teacher was an ass. This is a grim story granted but it is one that impels the reader forward and, given I read this in my teens, obviously stays with the reader.

Did You Know
Dostoevsky was very nearly executed by firing squad in December 1849 when he was taken to the place of execution and he and his fellow "conspirators" split into groups of three. Just then a rider arrived with a message from the Tsar commuting the sentence.

What Other Group Members Thought

" The writing here is well done and the translation is also excellent as it doesn't have that stilted and removed feeling I've noted in several translated novels I've read recently. I can see why it's an enduring classic but I was kind of hate reading long passages of this. There are many sections where paragraphs stretch across multiple pages, which is exhausting to read, particularly when spending so much time inside the head of a character whose thoughts are convoluted but also circular. Also, Dostoyevsky's female characters often serve as little more than window dressing with no real careful examination of their internal lives. If you're on a classics kick, this isn't a terrible read but it isn't one I'll ever recommend."
Micky

" I admit that I went into this one not expecting to enjoy it much - I assumed it would be a bit of a slog. But, happily, I was absolutely wrong; this is a riveting read that kept me on the edge of my chair. The characters are so vividly created, and I'm impressed with how Dostoyevsky can make Raskolnikov both abohorrent and yet make me constantly worried that he'll get caught."
Amber

Duplicate post.

So I will mention some of the "C" and "D" authors who didn't make the cut for whatever reason.

Italo Calvino - His book "If On a Winter's Night....." does have extraordinary moments but it is just too strange for me.

I'm not a huge fan of Truman Capote and haven't read any Canetti, JL Carr's short novels and in particular A Month in the Country came close, Angela Carter is too weird.

Susanna Clarke's Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell missed out by a hair's breadth and Erskine Childers would have been included had I not been thinking of a thriller/adventure genre spin-off.

I have never loved anything enough by JM Coetzee and frankly Conrad's novels are turgid in the extreme. The Prince of Tides is an effecting novel. Last of the Mohicans is a timeless story that I considered and Jim Crace's Harvest is one of the better novels from the last decade. I haven't read The Hours.

I love Anita Desai but couldn't force her into the group here and though I like Ragtime very much it missed out as did The House of Sand and Fog both of which would have made my list 5 years ago.

Drabble, Du Maurier and Dunmore are three English female writers that I wanted to put on the list and couldn't quite do so. Another one I agonised over was The Count of Monte Cristo which had it been edited to half its original size would have made my top twenty never mind top 100.

There is one more "D" author. Any guesses?

I've read:
The Good Earth (liked it a lot)
The Orenda (loved it)
Jack Maggs (liked it a lot)
O Pioneers (loved it)
The Woman in White (liked it a lot, love Wilkie Collins)
David Copperfield (my top Dickens as well, and possibly my favorite book of all – it’s so useful!)
Crime and Punishment (read it in high school and it was a class favorite)

>227 cbl_tn: I have read many and included a number of quotes from your reviews, Carrie and I am really happy that we do seem to be on a good wavelength when it comes to fiction. xx

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 25 : Justine by Lawrence Durrell



PUBLICATION DATE : 1957

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It
Honestly I cannot remember too much about the plot of this book except to note that I distinctly recall underlining phrases and re-reading aloud a number of sentences in awe at their quality. In many ways, in the opinion of this second rate versifier, the best written work of fiction period.

Did You Know?
Cider With Rosie will always be my favourite work of non-fiction but My Family and Other Animals definitely rates second and Lawrence (Larry) Durrell was one of the animals!

What Other Group Members Thought

" The prose in this book which is the first of the Alexandria Quartet is breathtaking. I had my Kindle highlighter on and running. "
Auldhouse

"Durrell is a lyrist and each word seems to be purposely chosen, often requiring looking up (at least for me). Thank goodness for Kindle dictionary. "
Kristel

"Durrell’s story drips with the sights and smells and colors of Alexandria and the Egyptian desert. Poetic throughout, the language Durrell uses to tell his story is evocative and lyrical. At the completion of the novel, most readers could walk away fulfilled and satisfied. But those who chose to read into the further novels of the Alexandria Quartet will learn that all was not as it seemed for our narrator. "
Mac

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 26 : Invisble Man by Ralph Ellison



PUBLICATION DATE : 1952

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : USA

Why I Included It
As a very young man I was something of a radical and the themes of identification and marxism made a huge impression on me then. Ellison was a very convinced and convincing writer as well as a unique storyteller.

Did You Know
Ellison cited Moby Dick and Herman Melville as a major influence in writing the book.

What Other Group Members Thought

"I was afraid the book would not hold up after so many years; I was mesmerized."
Judy

"This book is a classic, and should be read by everyone. It is a dense read, and does contain a lot of polemical prose that could perhaps have been omitted. It is a sad book, and does not end on a hopeful note"
Deborah (arubabookwoman)

"This is a wonderful book that I'll probably have to read multiple times to truly be able to comprehend it."
Jeff

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 27 : The Round House by Louise Erdrich



PUBLICATION DATE : 2012

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : USA

Why I Included It
This is a pretty new addition to my favourites and left more of an impression than her subsequent Pulitzer winner although I liked that too. She won the American Book Award 60 years after Ellison and her novel is different but equally compelling and just as disturbing in its consideration of sexual violence, justice and revenge.

Did You Know?
Erdrich owns Birchbark Books giving voice to the Native American community especially in Minnesota.

What Other Group Members Thought

" But this book is much, much more than an investigation into a criminal act. It’s the story of a family trying desperately to hold themselves together while they heal. It’s the story of a young boy coming of age, hanging out with his friends, getting into trouble, and resisting his parents’ attempts to control him. And it’s the story of the larger Ojibwe community’s struggle to maintain independence in the face of discriminatory government policy. These threads all tie together into a powerful tale of love, loss, and hope."
Laura (laurelkeet)

"This is a wonderful story of the challenges, poverty and cultural richness of a contemporary reservation as well as the story of a teen age boy being thrust into an adult situation that neither he nor his buddies are prepared to endure.
I’ve enjoyed all of Erdrich’s work, but this is my favorite to date."
Janet

"This is a remarkable novel, absolutely recommended."
Ellen

>223 PaulCranswick: oh hey, I recognize my words there! I'd probably give David Copperfield as my favorite Dickens as well (I loved A Tale of Two Cities, but read it so long ago that I couldn't compare the two, and A Christmas Carol would be a contender, too, if it's long enough for your consideration as a novel).

I am not a disciplined enough reader to come up with 100 top books, but it's fun reading through your selections and comparing what I've read. I also really admire Crime and Punishment and The Round House. I would pick The Moonstone over The Woman in White, I think. And apparently I need to read Pearl S. Buck.

Edited to get touchstones to cooperate

>232 bell7: I do struggle with deciding on my favourite Dickens and change my mind as often as Hani does when she is shopping for shampoo.

It is fun putting the posts together and seeing what my pals think of the books I like.

Collins wasn't an easy pick either.

>230 PaulCranswick: Hey, I recognize that quote! Okay, I didn't really recognize it, but I was pretty sure it was mine. Thanks! ;)

>234 mahsdad: Some of the guys are very prolific reviewers but I wanted to share out where possible on the quotes and give as many of my friends the limelight as I could.

Wordle 269 3/6

🟨⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Disappointed not to get a two.

>134 alcottacre:, >172 ArlieS: Chiming in...."Appropriation" is not the same as "appreciation", as it implies taking over a practice as your own, thereby effectively denying its origins. It has a lot to do with colonialism, imperialism or nationalism. In many cases cultural appropriation is just a step toward eradicating the culture itself, because language, rituals customs, etc., can be the only way a subjugated culture can continue to retain its identity. The appropriator can and will change the practices in ways that do not accord with the original, which in some cases can amount to sacrilege. True appreciation of another culture includes acknowledgement of its source and respect for its integrity.

>218 FAMeulstee: I fell in love with The Master and Margarita when I read the Burgin/O'Connor translation. I later read Alpin's translation and know if I had read that version first I would not have said I liked the book, let alone loved it; I never did get through the Peaver/Volokhonsky translation.

>226 PaulCranswick: I really liked Calvino's Nonexistent Knight and Cloven Viscount, but I don't think they'd make my top hundred.

I've read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell twice and it would certainly make my top one hundred. (P.S. It's even better the second time around.)

The Count of Monte Cristo definitely makes my top twenty, and would even if it was twice as long as it is.

>216 PaulCranswick: I loved this book. It's one I bought and have read several times.

I like your choices for favorite author books.

>238 amanda4242: A different translation might make all the difference, Amanda.
In Dutch only one translation is available, so that was the one I have read.

I am adding all these to my WL (or updating the ones I have already) , with a special PaulCranswick Best of Tag

Of the 27 you've added so far, its
22 on the WL
2 read
3 on the TBR

And >170 PaulCranswick: always makes me think of Kate Bush.

>237 laytonwoman3rd: I wouldn't argue with your points, Linda, but we have to be extremely careful in applying criticisms of appropriation to works of fiction. I am against censorship generally but especially in fiction unless there is a clear incitement to hatred in the language or it is using and perverting real events.

>238 amanda4242: Translation definitely matters, Amanda. A great writer can be rendered drab by a poor work of translation - I have seen this especially in Russian and German literature.

>239 amanda4242: Both The Count and Jonathan Strange were bubbling just below the list for me, but when I revise this next time I may have changed my mind which is another benefit of this type of exercise as it helps us reappraise, reread, reconsider. I have read three books by Calvino but not yet those.

>240 ArlieS: Delderfield is often not considered in the top rank of authors Arlie but he is just the type that I enjoy. Satisfying storytelling. One thing that I did notice doing my research for my posts on my hundred picks was how many of them you had reviewed!

>241 RBeffa: Thanks Ron. Obviously none of our lists would ever be identical and those differences help make this group so great for book suggestions and so on.

>242 FAMeulstee: Sometimes our impression of a translated author can be ruined forever by a dud translation.

>243 mahsdad: I am honoured by that Jeff, thank you so much!

Thinking about Kate Bush was something I did very often as a young man!

>247 PaulCranswick: 47 million views can't be wrong. A favorite of mine also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp43OdtAAkM

>248 RBeffa: That album is genius, Ron. I liked Graceland but The Hounds of Love was another album of the 80s.

>249 PaulCranswick: I am fairly certain that Graceland was the very first CD I ever bought. Hounds of Love was the year before so I have it as an lp (and always will). Breathtaking music. Her Cloudbusting video with Donald Sutherland is pretty cool as well.

Cursed Bunny is nothing short of brilliant. That is all.

>247 PaulCranswick: Me too. Speaking of great women of rock, I just saw a CBS Sunday Morning clip of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. She's another of the staples of the 80's MTV rotation (back when they actually were "M"tv). They've been married almost 40 years, pretty much unheard of in the entertainment business. They are working on turning their music into a broadway musical

https://youtu.be/HFyjSY1eVi4

>249 PaulCranswick: I loved Kate Bush, Paul, I saw her in concert in 1979 in Amsterdam. I was so disappointed I did not manage get through to get tickets in 2014.

ETA misspellings

>245 PaulCranswick: We aren't twins, but perhaps our reading habits rhyme.

>250 RBeffa: My very first CDs were Strong Persuader by Robert Cray, Oh Mercy by Dylan and The Traveling Wilburys. I held out for quite a while with my vinyl!

>251 kidzdoc: Lovely to see you Darryl. I am glad I added that one last week and I will definitely read it soon.

>252 mahsdad: We Belong by Pat Benatar was a favourite of mine at the time, Jeff and she was very nice to look at too.

>253 FAMeulstee: I never managed to see her in concert, Anita, and I would have thought some of her later stuff would be difficult to recreate live although intriguing to hear stripped down.

>254 ArlieS: There does seem to be a confluence anyway! I have an actual twin, Arlie, and it may surprise you to know that he doesn't read! One thing I always notice in his house is the absence of books. Even more so given that my niece studied English Lit at Leeds University.

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 28 : A Passage to India by E.M. Forster



PUBLICATION DATE : 1924

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : UK

Why I Included It?
Forster was a great prose stylist. This in some ways is not the most typical of his books but it is the one that leaves the most lasting impression. Shone a light on the inherent racism of colonial society quite admirably given the time in which it was written.

Did You Know?
The title is another derived from Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

What Other Group Members Thought

" I loved this book. This is my first Forster book that I've read, and it will most certainly not be my last."
Rachel

"Forster delivers a great work of literature that both entertains and makes a social statement of racism. "
Kristel

"The first third of the book was hard to get into -- tedious, even, while the last two-thirds were unputdownable."
Anne (AMQS)

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 29 : The Promise by Damon Galgut



DATE OF PUBLICATION : 2021

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : South African

Why I Included It
Don't always agree in fact don't often agree with the Booker judges but they got this one right. Pitch perfect novel and one which certainly points out that modern South Africa still has a way to go.

Did You Know?
Galgut writes all his books with a tortoiseshell fountain pen.

What Other Group Members Thought

"This novel, winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, was an interesting study of sibling relationships set against the background of South Africa’s political landscape."
Laura (lauralkeet)

"'The Promise' is a compelling look into the life of an ordinary white South African family during the waning years of apartheid and the years that followed, which also permits the reader with a glimpse of modern day South Africa, and relations between the two main races, which leaves out the sizable mixed race and Indian communities. I'm a fan of Damon Galgut's work, most notably his novels 'The Impostor', 'In a Strange Room', 'The Good Doctor' and 'Arctic Summer', but this is his best novel yet, and one that is worthy of this year's Booker Prize."
Darryl

>258 PaulCranswick: I've yet to read that one, despite loving the four Forster novels I have read.

>229 PaulCranswick: I haven't read the Alexandria Quartet yet, but I have penciled in Justine for Lawrence Durrell month in the BAC. Looking at how well our assessments line up in the books I've read from your list, I think that's a good sign that it could be a great read for me. I'm looking forward to it even more now!

>260 amanda4242: It is stylistically slightly different to some of his other work but still unmistakably Forster.

>261 cbl_tn: Indeed Carrie. I was pleased to see for how many of my picks you had written positive reviews.

Dodging a bunch of book bullets, Paul, as I have read most of these. Justine is in my stack of books to get to at some point this year.

Happy whatever!

MY BEST 100 NOVELS BY 100 AUTHORS

Based on my first 55 years of reading. Rule being I can only select 1 book per author.
I will slowly go through my list selecting in alphabetical order by author surname.

BOOK 30 : Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh



PUBLICATION DATE : 2008

NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR : Indian

Why I Included It
Rollicking good storytelling. Brings to life a period of history and in a location I was not familiar with but eventually through his skill felt an affinity with.

Did You Know
In 2008 there were two Indian nominees for the first time short-listed. the wrong book won.

What Other Group Members Thought

"Ghosh manages all of the separate plotlines with great deftness, and his characters are carefully drawn.
The story is vividly told, with great boisterousness, and i am very eager to read the next instalment"
James

"This book is well worth the time that it takes to assemble and discern the stories of its main characters. "
Mamie

"I wanted to immediately begin reading River of Smoke, the second in the trilogy. I am invested in the characters, intrigued by the story, and left wanting more. Amitav Ghosh is an author whose books are now destined for my must-read list."
Lisa

Wordle 270 4/6

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Extraordinary I got it in three and miss-typed the third word!

>263 alcottacre: I may re-read that one as I remember very little of the story itself.

I reread Justine this year and liked it better the first time I read it. The difference might be that I read it the first time and the second time I listened to it on audible. I don’t think I will ever be drawn to reread it.

>267 Kristelh: Interesting, KristeL. Sometimes when you have read a loved a book it may pay to leave it well alone as there are after all plenty of books in the world! I thought to read the entire series though so it would help to re-read #1.

Wordle 270 6/6

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Struggled today, took me all six tries.

>269 Kristelh: At least after guess #5, #6 was a foregone conclusion......sometimes happens.

I haven't said any thing about your listed books after book 7, Paul, so here:

Book 8: Not read, probably not (recently) translated
Book 9: I liked The silence of the Girls, but I LOVED her Regeneration trilogy
Book 10: No Dutch translation
Book 11: I have read three other books by Louis De Bernieres, wasn't impessed by Captain Corelli and The Dust that falls from dreams. I liked Blue dog.
Book 12: I have not read The Sheltering Sky, not sure I want to read it
Book 13: André Brink is on mount TBR, most likely I will read A Dry White Season first
Book 14: Read Jane Eyre in 2020, wasn't impressed
Book 15: Read Wuthering Heights in 2017, did not love it, despite the Kate Bush connection
Book 16: The Good Earth resides on mount TBR
Book 17: The Plague is in my top 50
Book 18: My library recently culled all their Joseph Boyden books. Not sure I will ever get to his books
Book 19: I haven't read Peter Carey yet, more likely I will read his Booker winners
Book 20: The only Willa Cather book I tried to read was in unreadable translation, only a few of her books are available in Dutch translation
Book 21: Added to mount TBR
Book 22: Will keep To Serve Them All My Days in mind, not sure I want to read it
Book 23: I have already read all the Dickens I can take ;-)
Book 24: I have read Crime and Punishment, a very good read, not great
Book 25: Justine is on mount TBR
Book 26: Recently read Invisible Man, important read
Book 27: Haven't read any Louise Erdrich yet, will do so in the (near) future
Book 28: A Passage to India is on mount TBR
Book 29: The Promise is also on mount TBR
Book 30: Only one copy of Sea of Poppies in all Dutch libraries, not sure I will ever get to it

>271 FAMeulstee: Interesting comments, Anita. I'm surprised the Joseph Boyden books got culled. Is it because of the controversy over whether he has any Native American antecedents?

>272 PaulCranswick: I don't know, Paul, usually books are culled because they don't leave the library enough/at all.
So I guess his books are not popular over here, or just in my province.

>273 FAMeulstee: Strange because it really is a wonderful novel and his other work has been lauded too but it is really hard to find in the stores here too.

>264 PaulCranswick: For the first time, I agree on both author AND book!

>275 richardderus: First time out of 30 isn't a great hit-rate even for me, RD, but that is a winning tale isn't it?

I did realise that Mr. Copperfield would never make your list but I would have hoped that you might have liked at least 15% of "em!

Oh gosh yes! Durrell, I adore; Boyden, I champion; Willa Cather, others, yes all the way! Just not those books. I'd've chosen Monsieur, Or The Prince Of Darkness for Durrell, and Through Black Spruce for Boyden, and Death Comes for the Archbishop for Ccather, and Armadale for Collins...you get the drift. Substantively, though, many of your choices are *chef's kiss*

>277 richardderus: Good man! I don't mind your horror of the Dick because you weren't after all hampered by being born and raised in Blighty, but I would hope that all my picks weren't scorned by a certain curmudgeon whose opinion I value.