British Author Challenge 2026 Wildcard: To Be Read

We all have books we plan to read or re-read. We may keep an actual list, a stack by the bedside, or a mountain that threatens to warp space-time. Whatever form your "list" takes, the wildcard is here to help you whittle it down.

I plan on reading at least 2 of Charles Dickens books this year: Our Mutual Friend is slated for January and I am thinking of re-reading Oliver Twist later on in the year.

>2 alcottacre: I also hope to read at least two Dickens this year! Great Expectations for sure. Bleak House is also on my list. I hadn't heard of Our Mutual Friend until today. I have a massive collection of Dickens so I need to check if that one is on my shelf. I'd love to hear what you think of it.

I read a lot of English children's books and came across Rose Manning's Green Smoke books, I have three and book #2 is home from the library. So I'll be reading these in January along with The Borrowers for my ongoing Carnegie Medal (UK) reading.

>3 Kyler_Marie: Bleak House is arguably the best of Dickens' novels. I have read it at least twice now and can highly recommend it, although it is not my favorite from him. I will let you know what I think of Our Mutual Friend, but I suspect I will not be finishing it until close to the end of January as I am sharing the read with one of my LT friends and we are not even starting it until mid-month.

I have loads of unread British authors on my shelves. Unfortunately, none of them line up with the monthly authors for 2026 (except maybe "obscure"--we'll see). So I'll mostly be here.

Right now I'm in the middle of Tea with Mr Rochester by Frances Towers (1949), a small volume of short stories and so far they are exquisite gems. This is Towers' only published work in book form; most of these stories were originally published in magazines.

A lot of Dickens love here. I agree about Bleak House in all the incarnations, text and series. Having deaccessioned my mother's (hated by her) set of Dickens, I may pick up an ebook of one of them soon, but they are not as high on my list as some other books. I'll be interested to see what people think of Our Mutual Friend.

>7 ffortsa: Dickens writes great books! When I decided to read Great Expectations, I noticed that my copy is a dual book and includes Oliver Twist as well. So, I started with Oliver Twist and will move to Great Expectations next. At ~100 pages in, I'm loving Oliver Twist. I much prefer it over David Copperfield.

>5 alcottacre: Which Dickens is your favorite?

>8 Kyler_Marie: I love both Oliver Twist and David Copperfield! I am not sure that I could pick a favorite between the two. And then there is Great Expectations, which I also love. . . I am thinking of re-reading Oliver Twist in May or thereabouts.

>9 alcottacre: I think my favorites are David Copperfield, Little Dorrit and Bleak House, depending on which one I've read last! I think his best novel is Our Mutual Friend in terms of plotting and characters, but for some reason it doesn't grab me like the other three. Certainly A Tale of Two Cities has the best and most unforgettable ending of all.

>10 kac522: I think his best novel is Bleak House even though it is not my favorite. I am reading Our Mutual Friend for the first time in forever this month so my opinion on that may change. I completely agree about the ending for A Tale of Two Cities!

>11 alcottacre: Be prepared for all the twists and turns in OMF! Even though I re-read it last year, I may join you all and listen to the audiobook if I finish the other audios I want to complete in January.

>12 kac522: It would be great to have you along for the shared read, Kathy! I hope you can join us.

The Roman Guide to Slave Management: A Treatise by Nobleman Marcus Sidonius Falx by Jerry Toner

An informative and entertaining read. Each chapter is written in the voice of Marcus Sidonius Falx, a slave-owning Roman citizen, and is presented like an "insider's" view on the laws, customs, and attitudes about slavery in the Roman Empire; at the end of the chapter is Toner's commentary, where he expands on some bits and gives his sources for the chapter's topic.

So far this month I've read 3 books from my TBR by British authors:

Tea with Mr Rochester by Frances Towers (1885-1948) is a collection of short stories published in 1949. Published after her death, this was the only collection of Towers' stories which appeared throughout the 1940s in various magazines and periodicals. Frances Towers' writing is hard to describe except to say that it is kind of ethereal and evocative. It takes concentration but is rewarding. My favorite was the title story, "Tea with Mr Rochester" about an adolescent girl who admires an older man from afar. This is from my collection of Persephone books.

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie (1950) is a classic Miss Marple mystery in which a "murder game" becomes a real crime scene. Includes several characters who are living under a different name and/or different persona. Miss Marple makes her appearance relatively early in this one.

A Laodicean by Thomas Hardy (1881) is a departure from rural Hardy and focuses on a decrepit castle in Wessex, its new wealthy female owner Miss Paula Power, and her two suitors, Mr Somerset (an architect) and Capt. De Stancy. The love triangle takes precedence as our characters travel across Europe. Lots of descriptions of architecture and an architect's work in this one as well as some rather sensational elements that kept me turning pages. In between Hardy has his characters argue the pros and cons of revering the aristocratic past vs. the benefits of progress and the new order.

I have also read three British authors so far:

The Water Horse by Dick King-Smith
A Body in the Village Hall by Dee MacDonald
Before The Crown by Flora Harding

I've read The Borrowers by Mary Norton, Green Smoke by Rosemary Manning & A Long Way from Verona by Jane Gardam.

I’ve read two British Author’s besides the one(s) designated for January. Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews and Clare Leslie Hall, Broken Country. One in the past, one in the present.

Another British author - The Young Clementina by the wonderful D.E. Stevenson.

I read Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go - Ishiguro was a featured author in the British Author's Challenge back in January of 2015, and multiple of his books are on my never-ending and forever-growing TBR list. It was a pretty quiet and slow read, which I recognise from the only other Ishiguro I've read before (The Remains of the Day). As a reader I felt quite removed from the action and the feeling of the main character, even though it was written in her POV. Not in a bad way, though, but it wasn't what I expecring - particularly with the very heavy subject matter. The one thing I disliked about the book was the repeated use of phrases like "I'll tell you about that later".

I read The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth as part of the 75 books challenge. It’s a novella about a jet fighter pilot facing imminent danger on Christmas Eve.

I have also read Ariadne by Jennifer Saint and The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. Could Narnia be any more British?!

I've read Dragon in Danger by Rosemanry Manning, book 2 in the Green Smoke series. Surprised I haven't read anny others this month. Trying to finish a YA, The Witching Hour by Elizabeth Laird which was published in the US as The Betrayal of Maggie Blair. Laird was born in New Zealand to Scottish parents and the family returned to Scotland when she was two years old.

February TBR books by British authors:

Crossriggs by Jane & Mary Findlater (1908); from my Virago TBR pile, a loving book about a daughter who must figure out how to support her widowed sister, her sister's children and her eccentric "fruitarian" father. Apparently loosely influenced by Austen's Emma, I also got vibes of Jo March from Little Women. A delightful read.

Mary Olivier, May Sinclair (1919); also from my Virago TBR pile. The story of Mary's restricted life with her parents, focusing especially on a complex mother-daughter relationship, and apparently loosely based on Sinclair's own life. It was hard to like any of the characters, even poor Mary herself. Sinclair deep-dives into Mary's inner life. I loved Sinclair's Life and Death of Harriett Frean, but Mary Olivier was too long and ended up feeling tedious.

Two on a Tower, Thomas Hardy (1882); a married woman falls in love with a young man 10 years her junior while studying the stars together. Lots of plot twists and sensation-type elements in a stifling small town, which avoids blatant misery until the very end. Not the best Hardy novel, but it was a page-turner and the astronomy aspect was surprisingly interesting.

Anna of the Five Towns, Arnold Bennett (1902); a short novel with an interesting portrait of the Staffordshire pottery towns at the turn of the 20th century, focusing on Anna, a young woman and her tyrannic and miserly father. There are several interesting scenes, including when Anna gets a tour of a pottery factor, from lump of clay to finished dinner plate. Bennett, who grew up in the area, gives us the portrait of a complex female character in an almost impossible situation, but doesn't flinch from a realistic ending. I enjoyed it more than I expected.

Christine, Alice Cholmondeley pseud. Elizabeth von Arnim, (1917); fictional letters in 1914 from Christine, a teen-aged daughter studying violin in Germany, to her English mother. Loosely based on von Arnim's own daughter who became trapped in Germany as war was declared and died of pneumonia there.

I had a great reading month from the shelf--5 thoughtful books, each featuring a complicated female leading character trying to be true to herself under difficult circumstances.

British authors read in February:

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
Trouble With Lichen by John Wyndham
Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo

Finished in March so far: Trio by William Boyd & The Chimney Sweeper's Boy by Barbara Vine.

British authors read from my TBR in March:

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume II, Arthur Conan Doyle; I've been listening to the complete works over the last two years and have finally finished. Volume II contained The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. Has been on my TBR since before 2009.

The Hotel, Elizabeth Bowen (1927); on my TBR since 2019; meh

Ayala's Angel, Anthony Trollope (1881); on my TBR since 2021; loved it.

There is a Tide, Agatha Christie (1948); on the TBR since 2023; decent until the last 3 pages.

Letters from Constance, Mary Hocking (1991); on the TBR since last year; not as engaging as the other novels of hers I've read

Robinson Crusoe, Daniel DeFoe (1719); on the TBR since 2022; surprisingly readable, and more thoughtful than I expected.

British authors read from my TBR in April:

John Caldigate, Anthony Trollope (1879); on my TBR since 2019; a good solid Trollope about a man who goes to Australia to seek his fortune in the gold mines.
Miss Pym Disposes, Josephine Tey (1946); on my TBR since 2023; a murder occurs in a private girls' school
The Woodlanders, Thomas Hardy (1887); on my TBR since 2005; fidelity in love & marriage in the midst of the woods; great nature writing and sense of place, but the story left me cold.
Cross Channel, Julian Barnes, short stories (1996); on my TBR since 2024; 10 stories about Brits in France, all set in different time periods. My favorite was "Evermore", set in post-WWI France, a woman visits the grave of her brother who died in France in the war.

I don't think I'll get to any other Brits in April; I have 2 Americans (Edith Wharton & Octavia Butler) to finish out the month.

British authors read from my TBR in May:

Tess of the D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy (1891); fiction; on the TBR since before 2009. This Hardy readalong is giving me Hardy-fatigue; had a hard time with this one.
South Riding, Winifred Holtby (1936 post.); fiction; on the TBR since 2015. Sweeping portrait of a Yorkshire village between the wars.
Crooked Cross, Sally Carson (1934); fiction; on the TBR since 2025. The fate of an average German family living near Munich during the meteoric rise of the Nazis in 1932-33. Tense, but important, published in 1934 with observations that are prophetic.

I've read a couple of Helen Griffith's books, Dancing horses & Moshie cat, and intend to read some more. So delightful.
I also read Howl by Howard Jacobson & Simulation Bleed: Complete collected serial by Martin Millar.