All About Books discussion
2025 Reads & Personal Challenges
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Annie’s 2025 books
date
newest »
newest »
What I actually read …1. Richard Greenberg The Violet Hour: A Play (2004) D P ☆☆☆
2. Penelope Lively Judgement Day (1982) F K ☆☆☆☆
3. Stella Gibbons A Pink Front Door (1959) F K ☆☆☆☆
4. Robert Holtom A Queer Case: The Selby Bigge Mysteries series (2025) F P ☆☆☆
5. Kate Moore The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women (2016) NF K ☆☆☆☆
6. Richard Brautigan Sombrero Fallout: A Japanese Novel (1976) F P ☆☆☆☆
7. Charlotte Wood Stone Yard Devotional (2024) F P ☆☆☆☆
8. David McCullough The Johnstown Flood (2007) NF K ☆☆☆
9. Leonard Koren Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers (1994) NF P ☆☆☆☆
10. Jean Lock The Princess Alice Disaster (2013) NF K ☆☆
11. John Burnside Ruin, Blossom (2024) P P ★★★★★
12. Coralie Bickford Smith The Fox and the Star C H (a novelty read with visiting children, not rated)
13. Dylan Thomas Holiday Memory P P ☆☆☆☆
14. Douglas Bruton Hope Never Knew Horizon (2024) F P ★★★★★
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30.31.32. Ongoing ‘Campion’ challenge
Memoir and Biography - 0
Narrative nonfiction - 3
Miscellaneous nonfiction - 1
20thC Fiction - 6
21stC Fiction - 3
Play - 1
Poetry - 2
Children’s - 1
In translation - 0
Male author - 8
Female author - 9
AUS - 1
UK - 11
USA - 5
All About Books 2025 Challenge
1A
A book with more than 500 pages 1A1/1D1
~ Paul Murray Skippy Dies F K
OR
~ Alexandra Harris The Rising Down: Lives in a Sussex Landscape NF K
OR
~ Dan Richards The Beechwood Airship Interviews NF P
A forgotten classic 1A2/2D1
~ Antonio Tabucchi Pereira Maintains: A Testimony, translated from the Italian by Patrick Creagh F P
A book that became a movie 1A3/3D1
~ Daniel Hornsby Via Negativa (in production 2025) F P
~ Robert Holtom A Queer Case: The Selby Bigge Mysteries F P
A book with a number in the title 1A5/5D1
~ Sergio Chejfec My Two Worlds translated from the Spanish by Margaret Carson F P
2A
A book written by someone under 30 2A1/1D2
~ Molly McCully Brown Places I've Taken My Body: Essays NF H
A book with non-human characters 2A2/2D2
~ Chloe Dalton Raising Hare: A Memoir NF K
OR
~ Isa Leshko Allowed to Grow Old: Portraits of Elderly Animals from Farm Sanctuaries NF/Photo H *READING*
OR
~ Anna Quindlen Good Dog. Stay. H *READING*
~ Richard Brautigan Sombrero Fallout: A Japanese Novel F P
~ Stella Gibbons A Pink Front Door F K
A book with a mystery 2A5/5D2
~ Yoko Ogawa The Memory Police translated from the original Japanese by Stephen Snyder F K 2A5/5D2 AUGUST WOMEN IN TRANSLATION MONTH / HOOKED ON BOOKS AUGUST READ
3A
A book with a one word title 3A1/1D3
~ Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel Dayswork: A Novel F P
OR
~ Samantha Harvey Orbital F K
OR
~ Maria Reva Endling F K
A book of short stories 3A2/2D3
~ C.D. Rose Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea K
~ John Burnside Ruin, Blossom P P
A book set on a different continent 3A4/4D3
~ Jazmina Barrera On Lighthouses translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney NF P
OR
~ Yuri Herrera A Silent Fury: The El Bordo Mine Fire translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman NF P
OR
~ Keiichiro Hirano A Man translated from the original Japanese by Eli K.P. William F K
~ David McCullough The Johnstown Flood NF K
4A
First book by a favourite author 4A1/1D4
~ Barbara Comyns Sisters by a River F P
Charlotte Wood Stone Yard Devotional F P
~ Leonard Koren Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers NF P
~ Douglas Bruton Hope Never Knew Horizon F P
A book at the bottom of your TBR 4A5/5D4
~ Kate Barker-Mawjee The Coldest Place On Earth F P *READING*
5A
A book your friend [Joe @ Rough Ghosts] loves 5A1/1D5
~ Luis Felipe Fabre Recital of the Dark Verses translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary F P
OR
~ Jaroslav Rudiš Winterberg's Last Journey translated from the original Czech by Michaela Škultéty F P
~ Kate Moore The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women NF K
~ Penelope Lively Judgement Day F K
The [first and] second book in a series 5A4/4D5
~ Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm F K
~ Stella Gibbons Conference at Cold Comfort Farm F K
A book with a blue cover 5A5/5D5
~ Valeria Luiselli The Story of My Teeth translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney F K AUGUST WOMEN IN TRANSLATION MONTH
☆ ☆ ☆ ★ ☆
☆ ☆ ★ ★ ☆
☆ ☆ ★ ☆ ★
☆ ★ ★ ★ ☆
☆ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Unallocated
~ Reread 2000 - T.E. Carhart The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: The Hidden World of a Paris Atelier H
~ 1925 Club (Oct) - Denis Mackail Greenery Street F P
~ Coffee Table Challenge - Gilbert McCarragher Prospect Cottage: Derek Jarman's House NF/Photobook H
Six degrees of separation Q3
1. Douglas Bruton Hope Never Knew Horizon F
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ongoing Challenge: Booker book or Booker author? 2025
Somewhere to keep this list, started a few years ago: Reading the Fictional 20th Century / Reading the Last 100 Years • See footnote.Part 1a - 1900 to 1918 - fewer readable novels in this era, particularly pre 1910* and the advent of Modernism, so include fiction, plays or poetry.
* “On or around December 1910, human character changed. I am not saying that one went out, as one might into a garden, and there saw that a rose had flowered or a hen had laid an egg. The change was not sudden and definite like that, but a change there was, nevertheless.” Virginia Woolf
1900
A -
T -
1901
A -
T -
1902
A - Arnold Bennett (UK) Anna of the Five Towns B
T -
1903
A - Erskine Childers (UK) The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service B
T -
1904
A - Joseph Conrad (Poland/UK) Nostromo (Broadview Critical Edition) B
T - Knut Hansen (Norway) Dreamers translated from the Norwegian by Tom Geddes P
(https://archive.org/details/dreamersn...)
1905
A - Edith Wharton (USA) The House of Mirth B
T -
1906
A - John Galsworthy (UK) The Man of Property (Forsyte #1) B
T -
1907
A - Joseph Conrad (UK) The Secret Agent B
A - Ada Leverson (UK) The Twelfth Hour E
(https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...)
T -
1908
A - E.M. Forster (UK) A Room with a View P
A - Kenneth Graham (UK) The Wind In The Willows (Illustrated/Folio Society) H
A - Ada Leverson (UK) Love's Shadow B
T -
1909
A -
T -
1910
A - H.G. Wells (UK) The History of Mr. Polly B
T -
1911
A - William Pett Ridge (UK) Thanks to Sanderson E
(https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...)
A - Hugh Walpole (UK) Mr Perrin and Mr Traill K
T -
1912
A -
T -
1913
A -
T -
1914
A -
T -
1915
A - Virginia Woolf (UK) The Voyage Out E (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...)
T -
1916
A - Harold Brighouse (UK) Hobson's Choice A play P
T -
1917
A -
T -
1918
A -
T -
Part 1b - 1919 to 1958 - Fiction and plays only
1919
A - A.A. Milne (UK) Mr Pim Passes By: A play (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...)
A - Elizabeth Von Arnim (UK) Christopher and Columbus B
T -
1920
A - E.F. Benson (UK) Queen Lucia E
(https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...)
A - John Galsworthy (UK) In Chancery (Forsyte #2) B
T -
1921
A - John Galsworthy (UK) To Let (Forsyte #3) B
A - Aldous Huxley (UK) Crome Yellow B & A
T -
1922
A - Elizabeth Von Arnim (UK) The Enchanted April B
A - E. Nesbit (UK) The Lark B
T -
1923
A - Winifred Holtby (UK) Anderby Wold B
A - William Pett Ridge (UK) Miss Mannering ?
(Not digitised/no second hand copies currently available)
T -
1924
A • Dorothy Canfield Fisher (USA) The Home-Maker P
A - E.M. Forster (UK) A Passage to India P
A - Winifred Holtby (UK) The Crowded Street P
T -
1925
A - Dennis Mackail (UK) Greenery Street P
T -
1926
A • Sylvia Townsend Warner (UK) Lolly Willowes K
T -
1927
A - Sylvia Townsend Warner (UK) Mr Fortune's Maggot P
A - Virginia Woolf (UK) To the Lighthouse P
A - Thornton Wilder (USA) The Bridge of San Luis Rey B
T -
1928
A - Dorothy Edwards (Wales, UK) Winter Sonata B
A - R.C. Sherriff (UK) Journey's End: A play B
T -
1929
A - Elizabeth Avon Arnim (UK) Expiation P
A - Lao She (China) Mr Ma and Son (the author wrote this work in English) B
T - Vicki Baum (Austrian) Grand Hotel translated from the German by Basil Creighton
(https://archive.org/details/in.ernet....)
1930
A - E.M. Delafield (UK) The Diary of a Provincial Lady B
A - Dorothy Canfield Fisher (USA) The Deepening Stream P
A - Jean Rhys (UK/Dominica) After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie B
A - Margery Sharp (UK) Rhododendron Pie B (her first novel)
A - F.A.M Webster (UK) The Ivory Talisman H
A - Vita Sackville West (UK) The Edwardians P
T -
1931
A - R.C. Sherriff (UK) The Fortnight in September P
A - Vita Sackville-West (UK) All Passion Spent P
A - Elizabeth Von Arnim (UK) Father B
T -
1932
A - Helen Ashton (UK) Bricks and Mortar P
A - Stella Gibbons (UK) Cold Comfort Farm K
A - Margery Sharp (UK) Fanfare for Tin Trumpets B
A - Leo Walmsley (UK) Three Fevers (Bramblewick Trilogy #1) B
T - Irmgard Keun (Germany) The Artificial Silk Girl translated from the German by Michael Hoffman (beware the Von Ankum translation!) B
T - Joseph Roth (Austria) The Radetzky March translated from the German by Michael Hofman P
1933
A - Jane Oliver (UK) Business as Usual P
T -
1934
A - Katherine Dunning (Ireland) The Spring Begins B
T -
1935
A - Willa Cather (USA) Lucy Gayheart P
A - Margery Sharp (UK) Four Gardens K
T - Georges Simenon (Belgium) The Pitards translated from the French by David Bellos B
1936
A • Lettuce Cooper (UK) The New House P
A - Elizabeth Goodge (UK) A City of Bells K
A - R.C. Sherriff (UK) Greengates P
T -
1937
A - A. J. Cronin (UK) The Citadel P
A - Margery Sharp (UK) The Nutmeg Tree B
T -
1938
A - Robin Hyde (South Africa/UK) The Godwits Fly P
A - Winifred Watson (UK) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day B
T -
1939
A - Rumer Godden (UK) Black Narcissus B
A - Henry Green (UK) Party Going B
A - Richard Llewellyn (UK) How Green Was My Valley B
A - Jan Struther (UK) Mrs Miniver P
T -
1940
A - Frank Baker (UK) Miss Hargreaves: A Novel K
A - Margery Sharp (UK) The Stone of Chastity B
T -
1941
A - Elizabeth Goudge (UK) The Castle on the Hill K
A - Virginia Woolf (UK) Between the Acts P
T -
1942
A - Maura Laverty (Ireland) Never No More B
A - C.S. Lewis (UK) The Screwtape Letters K
T -
1943
A • Barbara Noble (UK) The House Opposite K
A - Betty Smith (USA) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn B
(https://hudsonreview.com/2021/10/the-...)
T -
1944
A - Stella Gibbons (UK) The Bachelor
A - Jocelyn Plairfair (UK) A House in the Country B
A - Margery Sharp (UK) Cluny Brown: A Novel B
T -
1945
A - Norman Collins (UK) London Belongs to Me B
A - Nancy Mitford (UK) The Pursuit of Love P
A - George Orwell (UK) Animal Farm B
A - Denton Welch (UK) In Youth Is Pleasure K
T • Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) The Moomins and the Great Flood translated from the Swedish by David McDuff H
1946
A • Josephine Tey (UK) Miss Pym Disposes K
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) Comet in Moominland translated from the Swedish by Elizabeth Portch H
1947
A - Barbara Comyns (UK) Sisters by a River P
A - Mollie Panter-Downes (UK) One Fine Day B
T -
1948
A - Elizabeth Bowen (Ireland/UK) The Heat of the Day B
A - William Maxwell (USA) Time Will Darken It B
A - Dodie Smith (UK) I Capture the Castle P
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) Finn Family Moomintroll translated from the Swedish by Elizabeth Portch H
T - Cesare Pavese (Italy) The House on the Hill translated from the Italian by Tim Parks (Alternative translation by R.W. Flint NYRB 2002 ) B
1949
A - Stella Gibbons (UK) Conference at Cold Comfort Farm K
A - C.H.B. Kitchin (UK) The Auction Sale P
T - Cesare Pavese (Italy) The Moon and the Bonfires translated from the Italian by Tim Parks B
1950
A - Margaret Kennedy (UK) The Feast B
A - Rose Macaulay (UK) The World My Wilderness B
A - Nevil Shute (UK) A Town Like Alice B
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) The Memoirs of Moominpappa translated from the Swedish by Thomas Warburton H
1951
- Stella Gibbons (UK) The Swiss Summer B
A • J.D. Salinger (USA) The Catcher in the Rye P
A • Howard Spring (UK) The Houses in Between H !Reread!
A • Josephine Tey (UK) The Daughter of Time K
T -
1952
A - Barbara Pym (UK) Excellent Women K
A - E.B. White (USA) Charlotte's Web B
T -
1953
A - Gwendolin Brooks (USA) Maud Martha P
A - Diana Tutton (UK) Guard Your Daughters H
T • Jean Giono (France) The Man Who Planted Trees translated from the French by Barbara Bray P
1954
A • Barbara Comyns (UK) Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead P
A - Sylvia Townsend Warner (UK) The Flint Anchor B
A - Eudora Welty (USA) The Ponder Heart P
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) Moominsummer Madness translated from the Swedish by Thomas Warburton H
1955
A • Rumer Godden (UK) An Episode of Sparrows K
A - Margaret Kennedy (UK) The Oracles B
A - Barbara Pym (UK) Less Than Angels B
T -
1956
A - Rose Macaulay (UK) The Towers of Trebizond B
A - Rebecca West (UK) The Fountain Overflows B
T -
1957
A - Natalia Ginzburg Sagittarius B
A - Patrick White (Australia) Voss B
T • Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) Moominland Midwinter translated from the Swedish by Thomas Warburton H
T - Haldor Laxness (Iceland) The Fish Can Sing translated from the Icelandic by Magnus Magnusson K
1958
A - Rumer Godden (UK) The Greengage Summer B
A - Angus Wilson (UK) The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot B
T - Seichō Matsumoto (Japan) Tokyo Express translated from the Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood B
Key: K Kindle P Paperback H Hardback B Buy or borrow
Note: one Anglophone text for each year and for as many years as is feasible one translated text.
Somewhere to keep this list, started a few years ago …Reading the Fictional 20th Century / Reading the Last 100 Years
… Fiction only (includes plays and short stories) and see footnote.
Part 2 - 1959 to 1999
1959
A - Barbara Comyns (UK) The Vet's Daughter B
A • Stella Gibbons (UK) A Pink Front Door P
T - Ana María Matute (Spain) The Island translated from the Spanish by Laura Lonsdale B
1960
A - Harper Lee (USA) To Kill a Mocking Bird B
A - Muriel Spark (UK) The Ballad of Peckham Rye B
T -
1961
A - Joseph Heller (USA) Catch-22 B
A - Muriel Spark (UK) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie B
T - Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) No One Writes to the Colonel translated from the Spanish by J.S. Bernstein B
T - Seichō Matsumoto (Japan) Inspector Imanishi Investigates translated from the Japanese by Beth Cary B
1962
A • Barbara Comyns (UK) The Skin Chairs P
A - Margery Sharp (UK) The Wells of St Mary's B
A - R.C. Sherriff (UK) The Wells of St Mary's B
T - Yasunari Kawabata (Japan) The Old Capital translated from the Japaneses by J. Martin Holman and Vanja Lantz B
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) Tales from Moominvalley translated from the Swedish by Thomas Warburton H
T - Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) In Evil Hour translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa B
1963
A - Muriel Spark (UK) The Girls of Slender Means B
A -
T - Tarjei Vesaas (Norway) The Ice Palace B
1964
A - William Golding (UK) The Spire P
A - Margaret Laurence (Canada) The Stone Angel P
T -
1965
A - Muriel Spark (UK) The Mandelbaum Gate B
A - John Williams (USA) Stoner B
T - Bohumil Hrabal (Czech Republic) Closely Observed Trains translated from the Czech by Edith Pargeter B
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) Moominpappa at Sea translated from the Swedish by Kingsley Hart H
1966
A - Tom Stoppard (UK) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead: A play H
A -
T -
1967
A - Barbara Comyns (UK) A Touch of Mistletoe P
A -
T - Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) One Hundred Years of Solitude translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa B
1968
A - Ted Hughes (UK) The Iron Man P
A - Ursula K. Le Guin (USA) A Wizard of Earthsea (Illustrated) H
T -
1969
A • Elizabeth Jane Howard (UK) Something in Disguise K
A -
T -
1970
A - J.G. Farrell (UK) Troubles B
A - Joanne Greenberg (USA) In This Sign B
A - Ursula K. Le Guin (USA) The Tombs of Atuan (Illustrated) H
T - Gianfranco Calligarich (Italy) Last Summer in the City translated from the Italian by Howard Curtis B
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) Moominvalley in November translated from the Swedish by Kingsley Hart H
1971
A - Wallace Stegner (USA) Angle of Repose B
A - Elizabeth Taylor (UK) Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont B
A - Dylan Thomas (UK) Under Milk Wood: A play K & A
T-
1972
A - Beryl Bainbridge (UK) Harriet Said... (1st novel) B
A - Patricia Highsmith (USA) A Dog's Ransom B
A - Ursula K. Le Guin (USA) The Farthest Shore (Illustrated) H
T - Tove Jansson (Finland/Sweden) The Summer Book translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal B
T - Yasunari Kawabata (Japan) Dandelions translated by Michael Emmerich B
1973
A • Susan Cooper (UK) The Dark Is Rising P
A • Elizabeth Mavor (UK) A Green Equinox K
T -
1974
A - Beryl Bainbridge (UK) The Bottle Factory Outing B
A - Stanley Middleton (UK) Holiday B
T • Daniel Moyano (Argentina) The Devil's Trill translated from the Spanish by Giovanni Pontiero P
1975
A - J.L. Carr (UK) How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup B
A - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Germany/England/India) Heat and Dust B
T - Seichō Matsumoto (Japan) A Quiet Place translated from the Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai B
T - Guido Morselli (Italy) Divertimiento 1889 translated from the Italian by Hugh Shankland H
1976
A - Beryl Bainbridge (UK) A Quiet Life E
(https://archive.org/details/quietlife...)
A • Richard Brautigan (USA) Sombrero Fallout: A Japanese Novel P
T - Bohumil Hrabal (Czech Republic) Too Loud a Solitude translated from the Czech by Michael Henry Heim P
1977
A • JM Coetzee (South Africa) The Lives of Animals P
A - Penelope Fitzgerald (UK) The Golden Child P
T - Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru) Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter translated from the Spanish by Helen R Lane B
1978
A - A.S.Byatt (UK) The Virgin in the Garden B
A - Penelope Fitzgerald (UK) The Bookshop P
T - Patrick Modiano (France) Missing Person translated from the French by Daniel Weissbort B
T - Georges Perec (France) Life: A User's Manual translated from the French by David Bellis P
1979
A - Penelope Fitzgerald (UK) Offshore B
A - Nadine Gordimer (South Africa) Burger's Daughter K
T -
1980
A • J.L. Carr (UK) A Month in the Country P
A - Isabel Colegate (UK) The Shooting Party B
A - Penelope Fitzgerald (UK) Human Voices B
A - Russell Hoban (UK) Riddley Walker P
A -
T -
1981
A - Bernice Rubens (UK) Birds of passage H
A - Molly Keane (Ireland) Good Behaviour B
A - Muriel Spark (UK) Loitering With Intent B
A - William Trevor (Ireland) Mrs. Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel P
T • Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) Chronicle of a Death Foretold translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa P
T - Daniel Moyano (Argentina) Flight Of The Tiger P
1982
A - Penelope Fitzgerald (UK) At Freddie's
A • Penelope Lively (UK) Judgement Day K
A - Bruce Chatwin (UK) On the Black Hill K
T - Haruki Murakami (Japan) A Wild Sheep Chase translated from the Japanese by Alfred Birnbaum B
1983
A • Terry Pratchett (UK) The Colour of Magic P
(Also read all the other Discworld novels)
A -
T -
1984
A • Anita Brookner (UK) Hotel du Lac K
A - Julian Barnes (UK) Flaubert's Parrot K
T -
1985
A - Jeanette Winterson (UK) Oranges are not the Only Fruit K
A -
T - Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) Love in the time of Cholera translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman P
1986
A - Penelope Fitzgerald (UK) Innocence B
A - Kazuo Ishiguro (Japan/UK) An Artist of the Floating World B
T - José Saramago (Portugal) The Stone Raft translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero B
T - Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru) Who Killed Palomino Molero? translated from the Spanish by Alfred MacAdam B
1987
A • Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lanka/Canada) In the Skin of a Lion P
A - Barbara Comyns (UK) Mr Fox B
T - Fernando del Paso (Mexico) News from the Empire translated from the Spanish by B
(700+ pages/2009 translation/apparently no copies available to buy anywhere!)
T -
1988
A • Nicholson Baker (USA) The Mezzanine P
A - Penelope Fitzgerald (UK) The Beginning of Spring B
T -
1989
A - Beryl Bainbridge (UK) An Awfully Big Adventure B
A - Barbara Comyns (UK) The House of Dolls P
T -
1990
A • William Boyd (UK) Brazzaville Beach P
A - Brian Friel (UK) Dancing at Lughnasa: A play B
A - Ursula K. Le Guin (USA) Tehanu (Illustrated) H
A - Muriel Spark (UK) Symposium B
T - W.G. Sebald (Germany/UK) Vertigo translated from the German by Michael Hulse P/K
1991
A • Beryl Bainbridge (UK) The Birthday Boys P
A -
T -
1992
A • Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lanka/Canada) The English Patient P
A -
T - W.G. Sebald (Germany/UK) The Emigrants translated from the German by Michael Hulse
1993
A - Roddy Doyle (Ireland) Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha B
A -
T - Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru) Death in the Andes translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman B
1994
A - David Guterson (USA) Snow Falling on Cedars B
A -
T - Yoko Ogawa (Japan) The Memory Police translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder K
T - Antonio Tabucchi (Italy) Pereira Maintains: A Testimony P
1995
A - Christopher Priest (UK) The Prestige B
A - Dorothy West (USA) The Wedding B
T - W.G. Sebald (Germany/UK) The Rings of Saturn translated from the German by Michael Hulse K
1996
A • Neil Gaiman (UK) Neverwhere P
A - Rhidian Brook (Wales, UK) The Testimony of Taliesin Jones P
T - José Luis de Juan (Spain) Napoleon's Beekeeper translated from the Spanish by Elizabeth Bryer P
1997
A • Mick Jackson (UK) The Underground Man P
A • Bernard MacLaverty (N.Ireland/Scotland, UK) Grace Notes P
T -
1998
A • Sigrid Nunez (USA) Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury P
A - Beryl Bainbridge (UK) Master Georgie H
T -
1999
A - Vikram Seth (India) An Equal Music B
A - Rose Tremain (UK) Music & Silence K
T - Erri De Luca (Italy) Three Horses translated from the Italian by Michael Moore K
T - Nan Östman (Sweden) Some Kind Of Company translated from the Swedish by Julia Rivers P
Key: K Kindle P Paperback H Hardback B Buy or borrow
Note: *Where possible* minimum two books for each year, one anglophone novel/novella/short story collection/play and one in translation ditto.
Somewhere to keep this list, started a few years ago …Reading the Fictional 20th Century / Reading the Last 100 Years
… Fiction only (includes plays and short stories) and see footnote.
Part 3 - 2000 to date
2000
A - Edward Carey (UK) Observatory Mansions B
A • Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lanka/Canada) Anil's Ghost P
T - Daniela Kapitánová (Slovakia) Samko Tále's Cemetery Book translated from the Slovak by Julia Sherwood H
2001
A • Beryl Bainbridge (UK) According to Queenie H
A - Ursula K. Le Guin (USA) Tales from Earthsea/The Other Wind (Illustrated) H
A - Ann Patchett (USA) Bel Canto B
T - W.G. Sebald (Germany/UK) Austerlitz translated from the German by Anthea Bell B
T -
2002
A - Terry Pratchett (UK) Night Watch P
A - Brad Watson (USA) The Heaven of Mercury P
T • Carlos María Domínguez (Argentina) The Paper House: A Novel translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor H
2003
A • Terry Pratchett (UK) The Wee Free Men H
(I’ve also read all the other Tiffany Aching books)
A - Edward Carey (UK/USA) Alva & Irva K
T - Maria Matios (Ukraine) Sweet Darusya translated from the Ukrainian by Michael M. Naydan and Olha Tytarenko K
T - Yoko Ogawa (Japan) The Housekeeper and the Professor translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder B
T - Richard Weihe (Switzerland) Sea of Ink P
2004
A • Kate Atkinson (UK) Case Histories P
A • Richard Greenberg (USA) The Violet Hour: A Play P
T - Pascal Mercier (Switzerland) Night Train To Lisbon translated from the German by Barbara Harshav B
2005
A • Marina Lewycka (UK) A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian P
A -
T -
2006
A • Verlyn Klinkenborg (USA) Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile P
A -
T -
2007
A - Daniel Alarcón (USA/Peru) Lost City Radio: A Novel B
A - Ann Patchett (USA) Run B
T • Charif Majdalani (Lebanon) Moving the Palace translated from the French by Edward Gauvin P
T - Dušan Šarotar (Slovenia) Billiards at the Hotel Dobray P
T - Olga Tokarczuk (Poland) Flights translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft B
2008
A • Neil Gaiman (UK) The Graveyard Book P
A -
T • Vladimir Lorchenkov (Moldova) The Good Life Elsewhere translated from the Russian by Ross Ufberg P
T • Pedro Mairal (Argentina) The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor P
T - Sergio Chejfec (Argentina) My Two Worlds translated from the Spanish by Margaret Carson P
2009
A - William Trevor (Ireland) Love and Summer B
A -
T • Olga Tokarczuk (Poland) Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
2010
A - Howard Jacobson (UK) The Finkler Question B
A - Tom McCarthy (UK) C B
A - Paul Murray (Ireland) Skippy Dies K
T - Meir Shalev (Israel) Four Meals translated from the Hebrew by Barbara Harshav B
2011
A - Peter Benson (UK) Two Cows and a Vanful of Smoke K
A -
T - Guðmundur Andri Thorsson (Iceland) And the Wind Sees All translated from the Icelandic by Björg Árnadóttir and Andrew Cauthery K
2012
A - Gabriel Josipovici (France/UK) Infinity: The Story of a Moment H
A - Ivan Vladislavic (South Africa) The Loss Library and Other Unfinished Stories H
T - Selva Almada (Argentina) The Wind that Lays Waste translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews P
T - Peter Krištúfek (Slovakia) The House of the Deaf Man translated from the Slovak by Julia and Peter Sherwood K
T - Scholastique Mukasonga (Rwanda/France) Our Lady of the Nile translated from the French by Melanie L. Mauthner K
T - Petri Tamminem (Finland) Crime Novel translated from the Finnish by Kristian London K
2013
A - Jhumpa Lahiri (UK/USA) The Lowland B
A -
T - Valeria Luiselli (Mexico) The Story of My Teeth translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney K
T - Alexis Ragougneau (France) The Madonna of Notre Dame translated from the French by Katherine Gregor P
2014
A - Simon Critchley (UK) Memory Theatre B
A - Damon Galgut (South Africa) Arctic Summer B
T - Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel (Equatorial Guinea) By Night the Mountain Burns translated from the Spanish by Jethro Soutar P
T - Carlos Fonseca (Costa Rica) Colonel Lágrimas translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell B
T - Maria Gainza (Argentina) Optic Nerve translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead B
T - Hamid Ismailov (Uzbekistan/UK) The Dead Lake translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield K
T • Yu Miri (Japan) Tokyo Ueno Station translated from the Japanese by Morgan Giles P
2015
A - Paul Murray (Ireland) The Mark and the Void B
A - Amy Stewart (USA) Girl Waits with Gun B
T • Edgardo Franzosini (Italy) The Animal Gazer translated from the Italian by Michael F. Moore P
T - Renato Cisneros (Peru) The Distance Between Us translated from the Spanish by Fionn Petch P
2016
A • Brad Watson (USA) Miss Jane P
A -
T - Therese Bohman (Sweden) Eventide translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy P
2017
A - John Burnside (UK) Havergey H
A • Benjamin Myers (UK) The Gallows Pole K
T - Inga Ābele (Latvia) The Year the River Froze Twice translated from the Latvian by Christopher Moseley P
T - Renato Cisneros (Peru) You Shall Leave Your Land translated from the Spanish by Fionn Petch P
T - Yamen Manai (Tunisia) The Ardent Swarm translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud F B
T - Serhiy Zhadan (Ukraine) The Orphanage translated from the Ukrainian by Reilly Costigan-Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler P
2018
A - Edward Carey (UK) Little B
A - Sigrid Nunez (USA) The Friend B
A - Amy Sackville (UK) Painter To The King B
A - Laura Wade (UK) The Watsons A play P
T - Keiichiro Hirano (Japan) A Man translated from the Japanese by Eli K.P. William K
T - Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine) Grey Bees translated from the Ukrainian by Boris Dralyuk B
2019
A - Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe) Out of Darkness, Shining Light B
A - Rónán Hession (Ireland) Leonard and Hungry Paul P
A - Toby Litt (UK) Patience P
A • Max Porter (UK) Lanny H
A. Niall Williams (Ireland/USA) This Is Happiness B
T - Jaroslav Rudiš (Czechia) Winterberg's Last Journey translated from the Czech by Michaela Škultéty P
2020
A • Susanna Clarke (UK) Piranesi P
A - Daniel Hornsby (USA) Via Negativa P
A - Kate Zambreno (USA) Drifts: A Novel B
T - Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine) The Silver Bone translated from the Russian by Boris Dralyuk B
T • Benjamín Labatut (Chile/Netherlands) When We Cease to Understand the World translated from the Spanish by Adrian Nathan West P
2021
A - Douglas Bruton (UK) Blue Postcards P
A - Charles Boyle (UK) The Other Jack B
T -
2022
A - Kate Atkinson (UK) Shrines of Gaiety !500+p B
A - Kate Barker-Mawjee (UK) The Coldest Place On Earth P
A -
T -
2023
A - Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel (USA) Dayswork: A Novel P
A - Douglas Bruton (UK) With or Without Angels P
A - Angie Kim (Korea/USA) Happiness Falls B
A - Paul Murray (Ireland) The Bee Sting B
A - Sigrid Nunez (USA) The Vulnerables B
A • Charlotte Wood (Australia) Stone Yard Devotional P
T -
2024
A • Douglas Bruton (UK) Hope Never Knew Horizon P
A - Eliza Barry Callahan (USA) The Hearing Test B
A - Emily Howes (UK) The Painter's Daughters K
A - Hisham Matar (Libya/UK) My Friends K
A - C.D. Rose (UK) Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea K
T -
2025
A - Cary’s Davies (UK) Clear B
A • Robert Holtom (UK) A Queer Case: The Selby Bigge Mysteries P
T -
Key: K Kindle P Paperback H Hardback B Buy or borrow
Note: *Where possible* minimum two books for each year, one anglophone novel/novella/short story collection/play and one in translation ditto.
2026 Standard Bingo Card 1A
• A book with more than 500 pages 1A1/1D1
~ Kate Atkinson (UK) Shrines of Gaiety (2022) F B
OR
~ Paul Murray Skippy Dies F K
OR
~ Alexandra Harris The Rising Down: Lives in a Sussex Landscape (2024) NF K
• A forgotten classic 1A2/2D1
• A book that became a movie 1A3/3D1
• A book published this year (2026) 1A4/4D1
• A book with a number in the title 1A5/5D1
2A
• A book written by someone under 30 2A1/1D2
• A book with non-human characters 2A2/2D2
~ Chloe Dalton Raising Hare: A Memoir (2024) NF K
OR
~ Isa Leshko Allowed to Grow Old: Portraits of Elderly Animals from Farm Sanctuaries (2019) NF/Photo H *READING*
• A funny book 2A3/3D2
• A book by a female author 2A4/4D2
• A book with a mystery 2A5/5D2
3A
• A book with a one word title 3A1/1D3
~ Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel Dayswork: A Novel F P
OR
~ Samantha Harvey Orbital F K
OR
~ Maria Reva Endling F K
• A book of short stories 3A2/2D3
• Your choice 3A3/3D3
• A book set on a different continent 3A4/4D3
~ María Sonia Cristoff False Calm: A Journey Through the Ghost Towns of Patagonia translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver NF P
OR
~ Hisham Matar A Month in Siena NF K
OR
~ Scholastique Mukasonga Our Lady of the Nile translated from the French by Melanie L. Mauthner F B
• A book of nonfiction 3A5/5D3
4A
• First book by a favourite author 4A1/1D4
• A book you heard about online 4A2/2D4
• A best selling book 4A3/3D4
• A book based on a true story 4A4/4D4
• A book at the bottom of your TBR 4A5/5D4
5A
• A book your friend [Joe @ Rough Ghosts] loves 5A1/1D5
~ Luis Felipe Fabre Recital of the Dark Verses translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary F P
OR
~ Jaroslav Rudiš Winterberg's Last Journey translated from the original Czech by Michaela Škultéty F P
• A book that scares you 5A2/2D5
• A book published before 2015 5A3/3D5
• The [first and] second book in a series 5A4/4D5
• A book with a blue cover 5A5/5D5
All About Books
Books mentioned in this topic
A Silent Fury: The El Bordo Mine Fire (other topics)On Lighthouses (other topics)
A Man (other topics)
Skippy Dies (other topics)
The Rising Down: Lives in a Sussex Landscape (other topics)
More...
Memoir and Biography (0/13)
• Annabel Abbs Sleepless: Discovering the Power of the Night Self (2024) P
• T.E. Carhart The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: The Hidden World of a Paris Atelier (2000) H
• Laura Cumming Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death (2023) H/A
•? Chloe Dalton Raising Hare: A Memoir (2024) K 2A2/2D2 (or the Leshko or the Quindlen)
• Anna Funder Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life (2023) K
• Alice Hattrick Ill Feelings (2021) P
• Erica van Horn We Still Have The Telephone (2022) P
•? Hisham Matar A Month in Siena (2019) A/K 3A4/4D3 (or the Cristoff or the Mukasonga)
• Richard Mabey Dreams of the Good Life: The Life of Flora Thompson and the Creation of Lark Rise to Candleford (2014) K
• Mike Parker On the Red Hill: Where Four Lives Fell Into Place (2019) A/K
•? Anna Quindlen Good Dog. Stay. (2007) H 2A2/2D2 (or the Dalton or the Leshko)
• Rebecca Solnit Orwell's Roses (2021) P
•• Molly McCully Brown Places I've Taken My Body: Essays (2020) H 2A1/1D2
Narrative nonfiction (3/13)
• Tim Anstey Things That Move: A Hinterland in Architectural History (2024) NF P
• Polly Atkin Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth (2021) NF P *READING*
• Martin Gayford Man with a Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud (2010) NF P (in Gayford’s words, ‘not a biography’)
• Marion Gibson Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials (2023) NF A
•? Alexandra Harris The Rising Down: Lives in a Sussex Landscape (2024) NF K 1A1/1D1 (or the Murray or the Richards)
•• William Least Heat-Moon Blue Highways (1982) NF P
• Wendy Hitchmough The Bloomsbury Look (2024) NF P
• Olivia Laing The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise (2024) NF A
• Jean Lock The Princess Alice Disaster (2013) NF K Read
• Simon Martin Drawn to Nature: Gilbert White and the Artists (2022) NF H
• Robert Macfarlane Underland: A Deep Time Journey (2019) NF K
•• David McCullough The Johnstown Flood (2007) NF K 3A5/5D3 Read
•• Kate Moore The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women (2016) NF K 5A2/2D5 Read
Miscellaneous Nonfiction (Academic studies/Life skills/Art skills/Exhibition Catalogues/Photobooks/Essays, diaries, letters/Poetry) (2/13)
• Glenn Adamson Fewer, Better Things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects (2018) NF P
•• John Burnside Ruin, Blossom (2024) P P 3A3/3D3 Read
• Tricia Hersey Rest Is Resistance: Free yourself from grind culture and reclaim your life (2022) NF P
• Lavinia Greenlaw The Vast Extent (2024) Essays NF H
• Derek Jarman Pharmacopoeia: A Dungeness Notebook (2022) NF P
•• Leonard Koren Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers (1994) NF P 4A3/3D4 Read
• Tania Kovats Drawing Water (2014) NF H
•? Isa Leshko Allowed to Grow Old: Portraits of Elderly Animals from Farm Sanctuaries (2019) NF/Photo H 2A2/2D2 (or the Dalton or the Quindlen) *READING*
•• Gilbert McCarragher Prospect Cottage: Derek Jarman's House (2024) NF/Photo H *READING*
• Adam Philips Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life (2012) NF K
• David Powell The Wood is Sweet: Poems of Clare P P
• Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh The Path: A New Way to Think About Everything (2016) NF P
•? Dan Richards The Beechwood Airship Interviews (2015) NF P 1A1/1D1 (or the Murray or the Harris)
20th Century Fiction 1900-1950 (3/13)
• Harold Brighouse Hobson's Choice (2016) D P
•• Barbara Comyns Sisters by a River (1947) F P 4A1/1D4
• A. J. Cronin The Citadel (1937) F P *READING*
• E.M. Forster A Room with a View (1908) F P
• John Galsworthy The Man of Property (Forsyte #1) (1906) F P
•• Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm (1932) F K
•• Stella Gibbons Conference at Cold Comfort Farm (1949) F K 5A4/4D5
•• Denis Mackail Greenery Street (1925) F P
(1925 club 20-26 Oct @ Stuck in a book - https://www.stuckinabook.com/announci...)
• Jane Oliver Business as Usual (1933) F P
§ Thornton Wilder The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) F B
• Virginia Woolf The Voyage Out (1915) F P
(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/144/1...)
•• Plus x 3 Campion novels
20th Century Fiction 1950-1999 (3/13)
• Beryl Bainbridge Master Georgie (1998) F H
• Julian Barnes Flaubert's Parrot (1984) F K
•• Richard Brautigan Sombrero Fallout: A Japanese Novel (1976) F P 2A3/3D2 Read
• Penelope Fitzgerald The Beginning of Spring (1988) F K
• William Golding The Spire (1964) F P
•• Stella Gibbons A Pink Front Door (1959) F K 2A4/4D2 Read
•• Penelope Lively Judgement Day (1982) F K 5A3/3D5 Read
•• Yoko Ogawa The Memory Police translated from the original Japanese by Stephen Snyder (Japan 1994) F K 2A5/5D2 AUGUST WOMEN IN TRANSLATION MONTH / HOOKED ON BOOKS AUGUST READ
• Bernice Rubens Birds of passage (1981) F H
• W.G. Sebald Vertigo (1990) F P
•• Antonio Tabucchi Pereira Maintains: A Testimony, translated from the Italian by Patrick Creagh, (1994) F P/A 1A2/2D1
• Diana Tutton Guard Your Daughters (1953) F H
• Eudora Welty The Ponder Heart (1954) F P
21stC Fiction (3/15 - sometimes mission creep is unavoidable!)
•? Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel Dayswork: A Novel (2023) F P 3A1/1D3 (or the Harvey or the Reva)
•• Kate Barker-Mawjee The Coldest Place On Earth (2022) F P 4A5/5D4 *READING*
•• Douglas Bruton Hope Never Knew Horizon (2024) F P 4A4/4D4 Read
• Douglas Bruton With or Without Angels (2023) F P
•• Richard Greenberg The Violet Hour: A Play (USA 2004) D P Read
•• Samantha Harvey Orbital (2023) F K 3A1/1D3 (or the Bachelder or the Reva)
• Keiichiro Hirano A Man translated from the original Japanese by Eli K.P. William (Japan 2018) F K
•• Robert Holtom A Queer Case: The Selby Bigge Mysteries (2025) F P 1A4/4D1 Read
•• Daniel Hornsby Via Negativa (2020) F P 1A3/3D1 - in production 2025
•? Scholastique Mukasonga Our Lady of the Nile (2012) translated from the French by Melanie L. Mauthner F B 3A4/4D3 (or the Cristoff or the Matar)
•? Paul Murray Skippy Dies (2010) 1A1/1D1 (or the Harris or the Richards) K (500pp)
•? Maria Reva Endling (2025) F K 3A1/1D3 (or the Bachelder or the Harvey)
• C.D. Rose Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea K 3A2/2D3
•? Jaroslav Rudiš Winterberg's Last Journey translated from the original Czech by Michaela Škultéty (2019) F P 5A1/1D5 (or the Fabre - thanks Joe @ Rough Ghosts)
•• Charlotte Wood Stone Yard Devotional (2024) F P 4A2/2D4 Read
Translated from the Spanish - Fiction/Memoir/Nonfiction (0/13)
• Selva Almada The Wind that Lays Waste translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews (Argentina 2012) F P
• Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel By Night the Mountain Burns translated from the Spanish by Jethro Soutar (Equatorial Guinea 2014) F K
• Jazmina Barrera On Lighthouses translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Mexico 2017) NF P
• Sergio Chejfec Forgotten Manuscript translated from the Spanish by Jeffrey Lawrence (Argentina 2015) NF P *READING*
•• Sergio Chejfec My Two Worlds translated from the Spanish by Margaret Carson (Argentina 2008) F P 1A5/5D1
•? María Sonia Cristoff False Calm: A Journey Through the Ghost Towns of Patagonia translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver (Argentina (Patagonia) 2005) NF P 3A4/4D3 (or the Matar or the Mukasonga)
•? Luis Felipe Fabre Recital of the Dark Verses translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary (Mexico 2023) F P 5A1/1D5 (or the Rudiš - thanks Joe @ Rough Ghosts)
• Yuri Herrera A Silent Fury: The El Bordo Mine Fire translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman (Mexico 2018) NF P
• Jose Luis de Juan Napoleon's Beekeeper (Spain 1996/2016) F PB translated from the Spanish by Elizabeth Bryer F P
• Dulce Maria Loynaz Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems translated from the Spanish by James O’Connor (Cuba 1953 and posthumously) P P *READING*
•• Valeria Luiselli The Story of My Teeth translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney (Mexico 2013) F K 5A5/5D5 AUGUST WOMEN IN TRANSLATION MONTH
• Luis Sagasti A Musical Offering translated from the Spanish by Fionn Petch (Argentina 2017) NF P
• Luis Sagasti Fireflies translated from the Spanish by Fionn Petch (Argentina 2017) NF P
Argentina 6 / Cuba 1 / Equatorial Guinea 1 / Mexico 4 / Spain 1
Dip into the Richards DAILY
September - Finish the Barker-Mawjee (P) and the McCarragher (H) and the Quindlen (H) / Read the Comyns (Sisters by a River- P) and the Hornsby (Via Negativa - P)
October - Finish the Ogawa / Read the x2 Gibbons (K), and the Mackail (Persephone P, Greenery Street, for 1925 Book Club) and the Molly McCully Brown (H) AND WRITE SOMETHING FOR GARSDALE
November - Finish the ? / Read the Chejfec, read the Fabre, read the Luiselli, and read the Barrera OR the Herrera OR the Hirano
December - Finish the Richards / Read the Carhart, read the Reva, read the Rose and read the Tabucchi