British Author Challenge 2026 General Thread

Welcome to another year of the BAC! It continues to be a very casual challenge, so everyone should feel free to pop in and out as they choose.

I'll create threads for each month as they roll around, and post announcements and links here in this thread. The general thread will be a place for questions, answers, suggestions, interesting links, and sundry posts.

Wildcard: To Be Read List https://www.librarything.com/topic/376835#

January: Cressida Cowell & Richard Adams https://www.librarything.com/topic/376836#

February: Elizabeth Chadwick & Nevil Shute https://www.librarything.com/topic/378194#

March: Obscure Works (<300 catalogued) https://www.librarything.com/topic/379015

April: Kit de Waal & Stephen Fry https://www.librarything.com/topic/383223#

May: MM Kaye & Iain M. Banks https://www.librarything.com/topic/383994

June: The Stuarts and Interregnum (1603-1714) https://www.librarything.com/topic/384636

July: Natalie Haynes & Mohsin Hamid

August: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala & Melvyn Bragg

September: Xinran & George MacDonald Fraser

October: Monty Python

November: Natasha Pulley & Siegfried Sassoon

December: Jodi Taylor & JRR Tolkien

Thanks for setting this up, Amanda. I look. Forward to joining, and I hope most of the months.

Like the topper! Mostly already have unread choices for all selections on the shelves (except MM Kaye and JRR Tolkien).

>4 PaulCranswick: It is nifty, isn't it? And you can buy a copy too!

https://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/products/literary-map-of-britain?_pos=1&a...

I love the map too. Looks like a great lineup for the year.

I was scouring my parents’ bookshelves looking for something completely different, and found three (!) Nevil Shute novels I didn’t know were there. February is going to be busy…

US e-book sale: Jodi Taylor's Just One Damn Thing After Another is on sale for 99 cents.

Barnes and Noble

Google

Kindle

Kobo

>7 PawsforThought: Score! I was just now hunting for a particular dvd and found a slipcase of Elizabeth Chadwick novels that my mother must have passed to me. I knew there were some books in that cupboard but had forgotten which ones. Now I need to catalogue them.

>7 PawsforThought: & >9 avatiakh: Sounds like the new year is off to a good start for both of you!

>7 PawsforThought: I hope you enjoy Shute as much as I do, Paws!

Free ebook: April author Kit de Waal's Sweet Pea is available on NetGalley. You'll need to create an account to access it.

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/751245

ETA: Sweet Pea is apparently the US title of The Best of Everything.

The February thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/378194#

The March thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/379015

US ebook sale: A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor is on sale for 99 cents.

Barnes and Noble

Google

Kindle

Kobo

US ebook sale: A bunch of JRR Tolkien books are on sale. Looks like the sale is available from all the major retailers.

The April thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/383223#

US ebook sale: Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes is on sale for $1.99.

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/stone-blind-natalie-haynes?variant=404243...

The May thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/383994

The June thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/384636