British Author Challenge December 2024: Books Acquired in 2024
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2024
Join LibraryThing to post.
1amanda4242
Let's keep the books we added to our libraries this year from languishing unread on our shelves! Books can be purchased, gifts, prizes, downloaded from Project Gutenberg, etc. as long as they are acquired and read between 1 January and 31 December 2024.
2PaulCranswick
Yay!!! I will definitely be able to get a few done this month.
3RBeffa
I will join in this month with an Ian Fleming novel I acquired in April - Casino Royale. I've never read a Bond novel and this one was the first. From reviews I have skimmed I have very low expectations despite enjoying almost all the Bond films over the years ... or maybe because I enjoyed the films.
4kac522
Ooooh....I've been piling up books all year for this! Here's my very long list of possibilities; most of these are British women writers of the 20th century:
The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage, Enid Blyton, 1943 (children's)
Green For Danger, Christianna Brand, 1944 (British Library Crime Classics series)
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths, Barbara Comyns, 1950 (nyrb reprint)
The Light Years, Elizabeth Howard, 1990 (first in the Cazalet Chronicles saga)
The Sunny Side: Short Stories and Poems for Proper Grown-Ups, A. A. Milne, 1921
No Fond Return of Love, Barbara Pym, 1961
O, The Brave Music, Dorothy Evelyn Smith, 1943 (British Library Women Writers reprint series)
They Knew Mr Knight, Dorothy Whipple, 1934 (Persephone Books reprint)
and 4 Dean Street Press reprints:
A Winter Away, Elizabeth Fair, 1957
Arrest the Bishop?, Winifred Peck, 1949
Rhododendron Pie, Margery Sharp, 1930
Nothing Venture, Patricia Wentworth, 1932
It's just choosing which to read first....
The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage, Enid Blyton, 1943 (children's)
Green For Danger, Christianna Brand, 1944 (British Library Crime Classics series)
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths, Barbara Comyns, 1950 (nyrb reprint)
The Light Years, Elizabeth Howard, 1990 (first in the Cazalet Chronicles saga)
The Sunny Side: Short Stories and Poems for Proper Grown-Ups, A. A. Milne, 1921
No Fond Return of Love, Barbara Pym, 1961
O, The Brave Music, Dorothy Evelyn Smith, 1943 (British Library Women Writers reprint series)
They Knew Mr Knight, Dorothy Whipple, 1934 (Persephone Books reprint)
and 4 Dean Street Press reprints:
A Winter Away, Elizabeth Fair, 1957
Arrest the Bishop?, Winifred Peck, 1949
Rhododendron Pie, Margery Sharp, 1930
Nothing Venture, Patricia Wentworth, 1932
It's just choosing which to read first....
5amanda4242
>3 RBeffa: Casino Royale isn't the best Bond novel, but it's worth reading to see the birth of the iconic character.
6PawsforThought
I’m counting books I’ve borrowed from the library as that is my main way of getting books, aside from Project Gutenberg and Archive.org
I’ll be reading Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson, and a couple of Agatha Christies as a little Christmas treat for myself.
I’ll be reading Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson, and a couple of Agatha Christies as a little Christmas treat for myself.
7RBeffa
>5 amanda4242: I started reading casino royale before bed last night. I have not read a spy novel for a number of years. I think I am going to enjoy it.
8PaulCranswick
I have checked my reading additions and read lists and:
I have so far added 295 books in 2024
I have read 33 of that 295
Of the remaining 262, 91 books are by British authors so I have plenty of choice!
I have so far added 295 books in 2024
I have read 33 of that 295
Of the remaining 262, 91 books are by British authors so I have plenty of choice!
9Kristelh
I acquired Orbital last month so will be counting that one toward this. Samantha Harvey, English author, born 1975. Same age as my eldest. I may also read Western Lane for this challenge.
10alcottacre
I will be reading Making It So by Patrick Stewart for the BAC this month. I am trying to locate another book in my library but thus far have been unsuccessful at finding it! I know that no one else in the group has this problem, right?
11amanda4242
NetGalley and LT's ER program provided a lot of qualifying books for me this year.
The Last Pantheon by Tade Thompson & Nick Wood
A very engaging comic book-inspired fantasy novella. The philosophical differences between the "hero" and the "villain" are thought-provoking, although I felt a bit let down by the ending.
The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch
This is miles better than Aaronovitch's last novella set in America and he did two things that really helped sell the setting: he set it in the 1920s and made the narrator British, so any errors can be chalked up to changing times and/or a non-American narrator.
And what a narrator! Augustus Berrycloth-Young sounds like he's stepped out of a Wodehouse story and just makes the entire book sparkle. I hope we get to see more of Gussie and his adventures.
Queer Art: From Canvas to Club, and the Spaces Between by Gemma Rolls-Bentley
Gemma Rolls-Bentley has done an exceptional job in selecting works that show the breadth of queer art. Her accompanying text is incisive and a wonderful supplement to the art.
Pearl by Siân Hughes
Troubled child becomes troubled teen becomes troubled adult. It's the plot of a trashy TV movie tarted up to appeal to judges of literary prizes.
Vincent: A Graphic Biography by Simon Elliott
The text is a super simplified biography of Vincent Van Gogh, which, if not for some very adult incidents it covers, could easily be a children's biography. It's facile, and the conceit of the book being narrated by Van Gogh's sister-in-law is unnecessary and often intrusive.
The layout is closer to a picture book than a comic. I found the art terrifyingly soulless and not at all appropriate for a book about one of the greatest painters the world has ever known.
The Worlds of Wes Anderson: The Influences and Inspiration Behind the Iconic Films by Adam Woodward
Barring Fantastic Mr. Fox and the sublime Grand Budapest Hotel, I find Wes Anderson's films to be mannered to the point that they are damn near unwatchable; however, I cannot deny his visual style stands out in the sea of dreck Hollywood mass produces each year. The Worlds of Wes Anderson gives a glimpse at the myriad works of art he draws on to create his films, and shows the director utilizing a long-established visual language to tell his tales.
Recommended mostly for hard-core Anderson fans, but casual viewers of his films will also find much of interest in this book.
To Tilt at Windmills: A Memoir of the Spanish Civil War by Fred Thomas
This memoir is heavily supplemented by entries from the diary Thomas kept during his time with the International Brigades during the war. It's a lot of hurry up and wait, interspersed with complaints about the food and the confusion of battles. Nothing groundbreaking, but interesting reading.
The Last Pantheon by Tade Thompson & Nick Wood
A very engaging comic book-inspired fantasy novella. The philosophical differences between the "hero" and the "villain" are thought-provoking, although I felt a bit let down by the ending.
The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch
This is miles better than Aaronovitch's last novella set in America and he did two things that really helped sell the setting: he set it in the 1920s and made the narrator British, so any errors can be chalked up to changing times and/or a non-American narrator.
And what a narrator! Augustus Berrycloth-Young sounds like he's stepped out of a Wodehouse story and just makes the entire book sparkle. I hope we get to see more of Gussie and his adventures.
Queer Art: From Canvas to Club, and the Spaces Between by Gemma Rolls-Bentley
Gemma Rolls-Bentley has done an exceptional job in selecting works that show the breadth of queer art. Her accompanying text is incisive and a wonderful supplement to the art.
Pearl by Siân Hughes
Troubled child becomes troubled teen becomes troubled adult. It's the plot of a trashy TV movie tarted up to appeal to judges of literary prizes.
Vincent: A Graphic Biography by Simon Elliott
The text is a super simplified biography of Vincent Van Gogh, which, if not for some very adult incidents it covers, could easily be a children's biography. It's facile, and the conceit of the book being narrated by Van Gogh's sister-in-law is unnecessary and often intrusive.
The layout is closer to a picture book than a comic. I found the art terrifyingly soulless and not at all appropriate for a book about one of the greatest painters the world has ever known.
The Worlds of Wes Anderson: The Influences and Inspiration Behind the Iconic Films by Adam Woodward
Barring Fantastic Mr. Fox and the sublime Grand Budapest Hotel, I find Wes Anderson's films to be mannered to the point that they are damn near unwatchable; however, I cannot deny his visual style stands out in the sea of dreck Hollywood mass produces each year. The Worlds of Wes Anderson gives a glimpse at the myriad works of art he draws on to create his films, and shows the director utilizing a long-established visual language to tell his tales.
Recommended mostly for hard-core Anderson fans, but casual viewers of his films will also find much of interest in this book.
To Tilt at Windmills: A Memoir of the Spanish Civil War by Fred Thomas
This memoir is heavily supplemented by entries from the diary Thomas kept during his time with the International Brigades during the war. It's a lot of hurry up and wait, interspersed with complaints about the food and the confusion of battles. Nothing groundbreaking, but interesting reading.
12RBeffa
Ian Fleming's Casino Royale was much better than I expected. My daughter told me that I had seen the film but I am pretty sure I did not. I picked the dvd up from the library and will watch it soon but the description clearly differs in major ways from the book. I got a much better idea of who James Bond is from this book, the first of the Bond books.
13kac522
Two titles so far this month:
A Winter Away, Elizabeth Fair (1957); set in post WWII southern England, a young woman just out of secretarial school becomes the "secretary" of a curmudgeonly old man who owns a crumbling estate. A little romance and some great dialogue.
The Sunny Side: Short Stories and Poems for Proper Grown-Ups, A. A. Milne (1921); these are pieces Milne wrote for Punch magazine from 1912 to 1920 (pre-Winnie-the-Pooh). They were all amusing; some just silly. I especially enjoyed "The Arrival of Blackman's Warbler" (bluffing your way through bird calls), "The Complete Dramatist" (how to write a play) and "A Poetry Recital" (attending a poetry reading).
Previously in 2024 I bought & read these titles by British authors:
The Moving Finger, Agatha Christie (1942)
Poems of the Great War: 1914-1918 (1998)
Brief Lives: Elizabeth Gaskell, Alan Shelston (2011); short bio of Gaskell
Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins (1870); reviewed in BAC Gothic month
My Lady Ludlow and other Stories, Elizabeth Gaskell (1859); series of stories with connecting material
The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare (1600)
The Provincial Lady in London, E. M. Delafield (1932) for BAC E. M. Delafield month
Hope to get to several more.
A Winter Away, Elizabeth Fair (1957); set in post WWII southern England, a young woman just out of secretarial school becomes the "secretary" of a curmudgeonly old man who owns a crumbling estate. A little romance and some great dialogue.
The Sunny Side: Short Stories and Poems for Proper Grown-Ups, A. A. Milne (1921); these are pieces Milne wrote for Punch magazine from 1912 to 1920 (pre-Winnie-the-Pooh). They were all amusing; some just silly. I especially enjoyed "The Arrival of Blackman's Warbler" (bluffing your way through bird calls), "The Complete Dramatist" (how to write a play) and "A Poetry Recital" (attending a poetry reading).
Previously in 2024 I bought & read these titles by British authors:
The Moving Finger, Agatha Christie (1942)
Poems of the Great War: 1914-1918 (1998)
Brief Lives: Elizabeth Gaskell, Alan Shelston (2011); short bio of Gaskell
Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins (1870); reviewed in BAC Gothic month
My Lady Ludlow and other Stories, Elizabeth Gaskell (1859); series of stories with connecting material
The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare (1600)
The Provincial Lady in London, E. M. Delafield (1932) for BAC E. M. Delafield month
Hope to get to several more.
14RBeffa
Earlier this month I was given a copy of Pat Barker's WWI novel Regeneration which I have just finished. I didn't realize until I had read quite a ways in that most of the characters in the book were real people, although the book itself is fiction based, drawing from, real events. I had a small bit of trouble with the author's writing style and character shifts but I was eagerly reading and then at some point my interest began to flag. I'll tentatively give it 3 stars but need to think about it a bit.
15alcottacre
I am still hopeful of finishing Patrick Stewart's Making It So this month, but it is going to be close. . .
16alcottacre
>15 alcottacre: Well, it is not going to happen. I will finish the book but it is not going to be by end of day today. I will say that 150+ pages in, I am finding it interesting reading.
17alcottacre
I did not finish Making It So in December, but I did finish it today. I had a great time with Patrick!
18cindydavid4
2025 thread ?
