Paul C's a mellow fellow in 2015 - 16th; Winter arrives but not here

This was a project we completed a couple of years ago. The Helicopter Centre at Subang International Airport, KL.

Poem

Since it is Muriel Spark for the BAC this month and she has long been a favourite of mine, I thought I would include this poem by her from 1948 - 10 years before she published her first novel. Naive a little perhaps but it was clear that her career was not really in doubt.



The Victoria Falls

So hushed, so hot, the broad Zambesi lies
Above the Falls, and on her weedy isles
Swing antic monkeys swarm malignant flies,
And seeming-lazy lurk long crocodiles.
But somewhere down the river does the hush
Become a sibilance that hints a sigh,
A murmur, mounting as the currents rush
Faster, and while the murmur is a cry
The cry becomes a shout, the shout a thunder
Until the whole Zambesi waters pour
Into the earth’s side, agitating under
Infinite spray mists, pounding the world’s floor.
Wrapped in this liquid turmoil who can say
Which is the mighty echo, which the spray?

Books Read in 2015 - First Quarter

January

1. A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro (1982) 183 pp
2. The Photograph by Penelope Lively (2003) 236 pp
3. Best, Pele and a Half-Time Bovril by Andrew Smart (2014) 332 pp
4. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers (1951) 157 pp
5. The Volcano by Norman Dubie (2010) 79 pp
6. Wanting by Richard Flanagan (2008) 252 pp
7. The Bat by Jo Nesbo (1997) 425 pp
8. Talkative Man by R.K. Narayan (1986) 123 pp
9. Complete Poems by Basil Bunting (2003) 236 pp
10. Her by Harriet Lane (2014) 235 pp
11. How it all Began by Penelope Lively (2011) 248 pp
12. Winter King by Thomas Penn (2011) 378 pp
13. New and Selected Poems by Al Alvarez (2002) 73 pp
14. This Boy by Alan Johnson (2013) 286 pp
15. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986) 206 pp
16. Watching the Dark by Peter Robinson (2012) 405 pp
17. Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis by Wendy Cope (1986) 59 pp
Total Pages : 3,913

February
18. Farthing by Jo Walton (2006) 316 pp
19. Twirlymen by Amol Rajan (2011) 379 pp
20. A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh (1934) 312 pp
21. Magician : Master by Raymond E. Feist (1982) 499 pp
22. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot (1939) 59 pp
23. What Maisie Knew by Henry James (1897) 309 pp
24. The Mirabelles by Annie Freud (2010) 62 pp
25. Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough (2000) 890 pp
26. Affinity by Sarah Waters (1999) 352 pp
27. The Sense of Movement by Thom Gunn (1957) 55 pp
28. The Cast Iron Shore by Linda Grant (1996) 434 pp
29. 1222 by Anne Holt (2007) 352 pp
Total Pages : 4,019 (7,932 total)

March
30. Great Britain's Great War by Jeremy Paxman (2013) 288 pp
31. King Rat by China Mieville (1998) 421 pp
32. Racing Through the Dark by David Millar (2011) 346 pp
33. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier (1936) 302 pp
34. Wessex Poems and Other Verses by Thomas Hardy (1898) 72 pp
35. Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes (2013) 367 pp
36. Zealot : The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan (2013) 216
Total Pages 2,012 pages (9.944 total)

Books Read in 2015 - 2nd Quarter

April
37. Death in the Olive Grove by Mario Vicchi (2008) 244 pp
38. Foundation by Peter Ackroyd (2011) 462 pp
39. The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham (1908) 233 pp
40. The Killing of Richard III by Robert Farrington (2013) 401 pp
41. Personal by Lee Child (2014) 460 pp
42. The Lost Leader by Mick Imlah (2008) 126 pp
43. Wise Children by Angela Carter (1991) 232 pp
44. The Round House by Louise Erdrich (2012) 374 pp
2,534 pages (12,476 pages total)

May
45. Jacobs Beach: The Mob, the Fights, the Fifties by Kevin Mitchell (2009) 288 pp
46. The Millstone by Margaret Drabble (1965) 167 pp
47. Fiere by Jackie Kay (2011) 64 pp
48. Lionel Asbo : State of England by Martin Amis (2012) 276 pp
49. The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen (2012) 584 pp
50. The Gingerbread House by Carin Gerhardsen (2013) 385 pp
51. Cinderella Girl by Carin Gerhardsen (2014) 362 pp
52. The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen (2013) 576 pp
53. All Russians Love Birch Trees by Olga Grjasnowa (2012) 324 pp
54. The Puzzleheaded Girl by Christina Stead (1967) 278 pp
3,304 pages (15,780 total)

June
55. Kaddish for an Unborn Child by Imre Kertesz (1990) 120 pp
56. Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (1998) 212 pp
57. Waterloo : Four Days, Three Battles and Three Armies by Bernard Cornwell (2014) 340 pp
58. Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason (2007) 398 pp
59. Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason (2008) 451 pp
60. The Gaffer by Neil Warnock (2013) 354 pp
61. The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem Van Loon (2014) 748 pp (updated edition)
62. Napoleon Symphony by Anthony Burgess (1974) 390 pp
63. This Great Unknowing by Denise Levertov (1999) 68 pp
3,081 pages (18,861 total)

Books Read in 2015 - Third Quarter

July
64. Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry by B.S. Johnson (1973) 187 pp
65. The Killer's Art by Mari Jungstedt (2006) 423 pp
66. The Churchill Factor by Boris Johnson (2014) 359 pp
67. Coming Out to Play by Robbie Rogers (2014) 222 pp
68. Russian Roulette by Giles Milton (2013) 342 pp
69. The Burning Perch by Louis MacNeice (1963) 47 pp
70. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (2006) 219 pp
71. The Search Warrant by Patrick Modiano (1997) 137 pp
72. Seven Days by Deon Meyer (2012) 396 pp
73. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (1968) 187 pp
74. Family Life by Akhil Sharma (2014) 210 pp
75. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925) 213 pp
2,942 pages (21,803 total)

August
76. The Last Champions by Dave Simpson (2012) 388 pp
77. Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat (1847) 408 pp
78. Handwriting by Michael Ondaatje (1998) 75 pp
79. Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri (2010) 279 pp
80. The Dead of Summer by Mari Jungstedt (2008) 380 pp
81. The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene (1943) 221 pp
82. The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch (1968) 362 PP
83. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (2006) 456 pp
2,569 pages (24,372 total)

September
84. Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry (1997) 752 pp
85. The Last Lullaby by Carin Gerhardsen (2010) 326 pp
86. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut (1965) 167 pp
87. Sailing Close to the Wind by Dennis Skinner (2014) 317 pp
88. Grimus by Salman Rushdie (1975) 314 pp
89. Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger (1997) 316 pp
90. Enemies : A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1966) 226 pp
91. Rain by Don Paterson (2009) 61 pp
92. The Long Song by Andrea Levy (2010) 398 pp
2,877 pages (27,249 total)

BOOKS READ IN 2015 - FOURTH QUARTER

October
93. The Song of Lunch by Christopher Reid (2009) 66 pp
94. The Siege by Helen Dunmore (2002) 291 pp
95. Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor (1965) 269 pp
96. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (2014) 613 pp
97. The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes (1986) 603 pp
1,842 pages (29,091 total)

November
98. The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark (1974) 107 pp
99. Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott (2012) 54 pp
100. Solo by William Boyd (2013) 322 pp

Monthly Summaries

January 17 books - (7 literary fiction, 4 poetry, 3 thrillers, 3 non fiction) - Book of the month - Winter King by Thomas Penn

February 12 books - (5 literary fiction, 3 poetry, 3 thrillers, 1 non-fiction) - Book of the month - The Cast Iron Shore by Linda Grant

March 7 books - (2 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 1 thriller, 3 non-fiction) - Book of the month - Great Britain's Great War by Jeremy Paxman

April 8 books - (4 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 2 thriller, 1 non-fiction) - Book of the month - The Round House by Louise Erdrich

May 10 books - (4 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 4 thriller, 1 non-fiction) Book of the month - The Gingerbread House by Carin Gerhardsen

June 9 Books (3 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 2 thriller, 3 non-fiction) Book of the month - Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell

July 12 books (5 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 3 thrillers, 3 non fiction) Book of the month - Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

August 8 books (4 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 2 thrillers, 1 non fiction) Book of the month - The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch

September 9 books (5 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 1 thriller, 2 non fiction) Book of the month - Enemies : A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer

October 5 books (3 literary fiction, 1 poetry, 1 non fiction) Book of the month - The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes

CURRENT READING

Well, I guess I'm first. I just finished posting on your previous thread.

Here's what I wrote:

*blinks* You haven't read Harry Potter? I found them intriguing from the beginning and amazingly consistent across 7 books and 4,199 pages in the American Scholastic series. When I was reading them to my daughter, we would laugh out loud at the descriptions of people and situations and savor the language.

I started reading Casual Vacancy and after being shocked that J.K. would use the F word and confused by the characters, put it down. I eventually listened to it and liked it a lot.

I absolutely adore the Cormoran Strike series written under the pseudonum Robert Galbraith. I just powered through the 3rd one, Career of Evil and already can't wait for a fourth book.

Happy Sunday.

And, I interrupted your posts. Sorry about that.....

Reading Plans for November

Category Challenges

1 A.A.C -
2 a) B.A.C. - The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark COMPLETED
2 b) B.A.C. - Solo by William Boyd READING
3 Anniversaries -
4 Catching up my series reading -
5 1001 First Edition books -
6 Nobel winners - Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich READING
7 Stagnating shelves -
8 Just to be contrary -
9 Poetry - Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott COMPLETED
10 Biography -
11 Sports -
12 History -
13 Scandi -
14 Anzac Challenge -
15 Random Read -

Will also be adding to my NF reads as those in challenge 6, 10, 11 & 12 as a minimum will count towards Roberta's challenge

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE


Here is the link to the latest thread : http://www.librarything.com/topic/202355

Here are the Selections:

2015 selections

January : Penelope Lively & Kazuo Ishiguro
February : Sarah Waters & Evelyn Waugh
March : Daphne Du Maurier & China Mieville
April : Angela Carter & W. Somerset Maugham
May : Margaret Drabble & Martin Amis
June : Beryl Bainbridge & Anthony Burgess
July : Virginia Woolf & B.S. Johnson
August : Iris Murdoch & Graham Greene
September : Andrea Levy & Salman Rushdie
October : Helen Dunmore & David Mitchell
November : Muriel Spark & William Boyd
December : Hilary Mantel & P.G. Wodehouse

Thirteenth Month : Bernice Rubens & Aldous Huxley

Nobel Prize Winners Read

2014 Patrick Modiano
2013 Alice Munro
2011 Tomas Transtromer
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa
2009 Herta Muller
2007 Doris Lessing
2006 Orhan Pamuk
2005 Harold Pinter
2003 J.M. Coetzee
2002 Imre Kertesz
2001 V.S. Naipaul
1998 Jose Saramago
1997 Dario Fo
1995 Seamus Heaney
1994 Kenzaburo Oe
1993 Toni Morrison
1992 Derek Walcott
1991 Nadine Gordimer
1988 Naguib Mahfouz
1987 Joseph Brodsky
1985 Claude Simon
1983 William Golding
1982 Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer
1976 Saul Bellow
1972 Heinrich Boll
1971 Pablo Neruda
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
1968 Yasunari Kawabata
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre
1962 John Steinbeck
1961 Ivo Andric
1958 Boris Pasternak
1957 Albert Camus
1955 Halldor Laxness
1954 Ernest Hemingway
1953 Winston Churchill
1952 Francois Mauriac
1951 Par Lagerkvist
1949 William Faulkner
1948 T.S. Eliot
1947 Andre Gide
1946 Hermann Hesse
1938 Pearl Buck
1934 Luigi Pirandello
1933 Ivan Bunin
1932 John Galsworthy
1930 Sinclair Lewis
1929 Thomas Mann
1926 Grazia Deledda
1925 George Bernard Shaw
1923 W.B. Yeats
1921 Anatole France
1920 Knut Hamsun
1913 Rabindranath Tagore
1907 Rudyard Kipling

56/112

Booker Prize Winners Reading Update

1968 Something to Answer For P.H. Newby
1969 The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens
1970 Troubles by J.G. Farrell READ
1971 In A Free State by VS Naipaul ON SHELVES
1972 G. by John Berger ON SHELVES
1973 The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell ON SHELVES
1974 The Conservationist by Nadien Gordimer ON SHELVES
Holiday by Stanley Middleton
1975 Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala READ
1976 Saville by David Storey READ
1977 Staying On by Paul Scott ON SHELVES
1978 The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch ON SHELVES
1979 Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald READ
1980 Rites of Passage by William Golding ON SHELVES
1981 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie READ
1982 Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally READ
1983 Life and Times of Michael K by JM Coetzee ON SHELVES
1984 Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner READ
1985 The Bone People by Keri Hulme ON SHELVES
1986 The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis READ
1987 Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively READ
1988 Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey ON SHELVES
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro ON SHELVES
1990 Possession by AS Byatt READ
1991 The Famished Road by Ben Okri ON SHELVES
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje ON SHELVES
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth READ
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle ON SHELVES
1994 How Late it Was, How Late by James Kelman
1995 The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
1996 Last Orders by Graham Swift READ
1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy READ
1998 Amsterdam by Ian McEwan READ
1999 Disgrace by JM Coetzee ON SHELVES
2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood ON SHELVES
2001 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey READ
2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel ON SHELVES
2003 Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollighurst ON SHELVES
2005 The Sea by John Banville READ
2006 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai ON SHELVES
2007 The Gathering by Ann Enright READ
2008 The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga ON SHELVES
2009 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel READ
2010 The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson ON SHELVES
2011 The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes READ
2012 Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel ON SHELVES
2013 The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton ON SHELVES
2014 The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan ON SHELVES
2015 A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James ON SHELVES

Pulitzer Prize Winners

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2016

Planning thread : http://www.librarything.com/topic/199234

January : Susan Hill & Barry Unsworth
February : Agatha Christie & William Dalrymple
March : Ali Smith & Thomas Hardy
April : George Eliot & Hanif Kureishi
May : Jane Gardam & Robert Goddard
June : Lady Antonia Fraser & Joseph Conrad
July : Bernice Rubens & H.G. Wells
August : Diana Wynne-Jones & Ian McEwan
September : Doris Lessing & Laurie Lee
October : Kate Atkinson &
November :
December :
Wildcard

TBR Physical Book records (UPDATED AT THE END OF EACH MONTH)

Records restarted from 1 July 2015

Physical Books to read - 3,356
Read : 23

Revised Remaining from Stacks : 3,333

Pages to Read - 1,186,542
Read : 6,853

Revised to read from Stacks 1,179,689

Books Bought and Read Since 1 July 2015 (separate list)

New Books Bought (Since 1 July 2015) 101
New Books Read : 10

Pages Added 37,140
Pages Read 3,156

Pages Left : 33,984

Overall TBR Summary

Books to read : 3,457
Read since 1 July 15 - 33
Total TBR Balance : 3,424

Total Pages : 1,223,682
Pages Read : 10,009
TBR Total Balance : 1,213,673

>9 karenmarie: I will never moan about getting a post Karen! I will get to Potty Harry someday I am sure and I must say that Robert Galbraith sounds just my cup of tea. It is lovely to see you in these parts as always. xx

thank you! There's a poltergeist character in the Potter books named Peeves who calls Harry "Potty Wee Potter" and makes up songs about him. You just may like them, despite your misgivings!

Jumping on your newest thread while it is still a baby, Paul! I also adore both Harry Potter and Rowling's new detective series - reading the third one now and loving it. Wishing for you a week that is filled with fabulous!

>19 Crazymamie: Mamie, Mamie; how I have missed those tidings of fabulous. Thought you'd given my tired old abode up for done and dusted so it is splendid to see you here at the start of a new thread.

Nope. You can't get rid of me that easily. I am just catching up with the threads very slowly in bits and pieces.

Happy New thread, Paul! Hope you had a great day!

Happy New Thread, Paul.

>21 Crazymamie: As the french might say Mamie; petit a petit, l’oiseau fait son nid . Look after yourself and that pesky gall bladder too by the way. xx

>22 msf59: All the better for seeing you here buddy.

>23 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. xx

Happy New Thread Paul. That's a big project in your topper! Awesome!

Happy New Thread Paul! As you must know by now, I'm following the unfolding of the 2016 BAC with rapt attention. Very happy with this mont's chosen authors, who are among my favourites. Looking forward to reading The Ice-Cream War and The Mandelbaum Gate, which I know are two of your favourites since you've sung their praises often enough! Thanks so much for dropping by my thread with very helpful suggestions. In the end I don't know yet what I'll do, but it'll be what it'll be. xx

Happy new thread!

Deutsch Wella TV just told me that the New Zealand All Black's are once again Rugby Champions of the World with a very solid win over Australia. What would I do without the Germans telling me what is going on around the world? I certainly am not getting this news from the American media.

Happy new thread, Paul and impressive thread topper.

Happy new thread, Paul. Like you, Muriel Spark is a favorite author so I am looking forward to the November BAC.

Happy new thread mate and I am glad you liked the wedding photos and my post of the build-up and the day itself, we are still on an emotional high looking at all the photos and videos that have been posted on facebook. Sending love and hugs to all at Cranswick manor and thank you for the lovely message mate.

Good show here, Paul. Glad to see you've marked a space for Pulitzers.

>26 connie53: It was a troublesome project Connie as we were faced with an incompetent contractor foisted upon us by Malaysian Airports. In the end they were terminated and we had to complete the works directly in order to hand it over.

>27 Smiler69: Decisions over which suggestions not to use are bound to be fraught ones Ilana though I do think most of your pals in the group would give you the leeway to choose. Already completed my Muriel Spark after polishing off The Abbess of Crewe in a single rapt sitting.

>28 amanda4242: Thanks Amanda. I took a slight breather yesterday (it is Monday morning here) on the BAC males but the options will be up in a few hours at my lunchtime.

>29 benitastrnad: I would have been astonished had they not won, Benita, as they were very much the best team throughout the tournament. I ought not to be surprised that the USA is not interested with it being your World Series. I find it amusing that you term it as such although only the USA and Canada effectively participate.

>30 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg. The bit on the bottom extreme right is actually a helicopter simulator building. This is how it looks in real life as we decided to change the colour scheme slightly:

>31 lkernagh: I think a few will be pleased Lori that her books are never of the doorstopper variety too!

>32 johnsimpson: Thank you John. It was lovely seeing you all look so contented, although with the waistcoat you had on I did have a quick look to see if I could spot your snooker cue!

>33 weird_O: Would have been quite remiss of me otherwise, Bill. I will be fleshing it out today.

Hey Paul nice new digs. I'm hoping to read some of the Boyd from my shelves this month. Maybe even two?

>37 charl08: I am well into his James Bond 'novel' already, Charlotte. I am hoping to do two too this month.

Hi Paul, happy new thread. I see you're going at your usual snail's pace ;0)

Happy new thread! Of course I'm pleased that DWJ won out on your last thread -- now I hoping everyone likes her when the time rolls around. Amber is currently enjoying the Howl's Moving Castle series over on her thread, so that's a positive endorsement.

Looking at the current month's BAC authors, perhaps I shall dig up a Muriel Spark I haven't read and chime in. We'll see. And next month's Wodehouse is always fun, especially as a vacation read. You may have hooked me for a few months...

>39 humouress: Something like normal service resumed, Nina. I clocked up 900 posts last month which is 2012/3 pace. xx

>40 foggidawn: Foggy there are times when I feel positively like a fisherman, only my bait comes in paperback!

I'm also happy about DWJ as I have a book of her essays to read.

Good afternoon Paul. Lovely new thread, amazing project up top. Looks serious and seriously complex! Keeping all those balls in the air must be a job in itself. My delicate sensibilities wouldn't cope. ;)

Eta I love the sound of Darryls AmBritCan challenge! That kind of thinking I find brilliant ;)

>42 avatiakh: I will certainly pick up a few of her books to add to the one I treated myself to last month.

>43 LovingLit: Darryl is certainly a wise owl, Megan, I will agree to that. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we could all share our flags like that.
The project was a difficult one and challenging in the sense that we had only 8 months to design and complete it as the simulator equipment was en route from Spain and the business case necessitated it to start on time.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - AUGUST 2016

Back on solid ground in August with three titans of contemporary literary fiction. We will be choosing from the following three gentlemen:

Julian Barnes

or

Jim Crace

or

Ian McEwan

Julian Barnes



Details of his work can be found here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/julian-barnes/

Won the Booker in 2011 for the slight but elegant The Sense of an Ending and he had been shortlisted three times earlier. Barnes is beloved by the critics but his work remains accessible. He has also published detective fiction under the nom-de-plume Dan Kavanagh and these would count too.

Jim Crace



Details of his work can be seen here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/jim-crace/

Jim Crace supposedly retired from writing fiction with the publication of the much lauded Harvest in 2013. This book won the IMPAC award and the James Tait Black Prize in addition to a Booker shortlist and for which many thought he may have won. He had also been shortlisted for Quarantine earlier.

His books are loved by critics but have never sold in droves.

Ian McEwan



Details of his work can be seen here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/ian-mcewan/

Another winner of the Booker, McEwan won for Amsterdam in 1998. He was also long/shortlisted another 5 times. He has been very vocal against radical islamism and is also slightly infamous for a bitter divorce in which his wife continued to stalk him for years afterwards, often interrupting speeches and readings given in public.

My first choice is McEwan, with Crace second.

>50 amanda4242: I can honestly say on this one Amanda that I do not have a preconceived favourite, all three would suit me just fine. I had a lot of thinking to do as I had four names down for three places but lotteried out Graham Swift at the last moment.

I've read the work of all three and enjoy them all so am torn. I think I'm going for McEwen as he's the one I've still got on the TBR, whereas I'm up to date with my copies of books with Barnes and Crace. Not exactly an exciting reason, but there you go.

Tho three are all top notch, Paul. I'd read any of them any time :)
Not that my 2c is worth much, as I am generally not a challenge person...although, with Darryls amalgamated ABC one....

Happy new already-quarter-full thread Paul. You really got your mojo back - since I caught up yesterday afternoon, there's already a new thread and 50+ posts.

I also vote for McEwan for the same reason as Charlotte.

>52 charl08: It is as good a reason as any Charlotte when you have three authors that ought to go down well.

>53 LovingLit: I like Darryl's idea very much but don't want to promote it overly as interest in the BAC may slacken!

>54 Deern: I suppose a little rest may have done me good but, in this case, what kept me away was really not what I would have prescribed for a rest!

Put me down for McEwan as well. He's someone I always mean to read more of, but somehow I never get around to actually doing it.

I have something on the TBR list for each author. I've only read Barnes's The Sense of an Ending, which I liked very much. My order of preference would be Barnes, then McEwan, then Crace.

>56 Fourpawz2: Charlotte so far it is a tidal wave in favour of Macca.

>57 cbl_tn: Carrie, I have read three books by Barnes: The Sense of an Ending, The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters and Arthur and George and I liked them best in reverse order.

I'd like to get to Arthur and George soonish.

Happy new one, Paul!

>59 cbl_tn: It makes quite a good fist of historical fiction and has more meat to it than The Sense of an Ending

>60 scaifea: Thanks Amber. xx

I vote for Barnes. I have two of his books on my shelves. My second choice would be McEwan as I have two of his books on my shelves, but they aren't calling out to me as much as is Barnes' books. I think that is because I watched the PBS/BBC production of Arthur and George a few weeks back and that renewed my interest in Barnes's books. While I am familiar with Crace through reviews and other literary discussions, I don't have anything by Crace on my shelves and the reviews of his work that I have read have not made his work especially appealing.

>62 benitastrnad: I remember the acclaim here for Harvest by Crace a few years ago, Benita, and thought he would be very popular; I suppose one swallow doesn't make a summer.

I want to read more work by all three authors, so happy with any one of them.

>64 Smiler69: Pretty much my feelings too, Ilana. I checked the reviews for Crace's Harvest a few years ago and on the whole the 75ers liked it. Darryl, Ape, Donna, Nancy, Ellen and, erm, Ilana loved it whilst Rhian and Bonnie didn't care for the cut of its jib.

Curious to know why you dropped Graham Swift as a candidate though. I have several of his books to get to and will do eventually, BAC or not. For the third edition maybe?

>66 Smiler69: Probably my reasons were selfish Ilana as I have read most of his work and I felt he was a more accessible choice compared to the other three who each have a certain dry, detached style of work. I will get to Swift eventually for sure as Last Orders is a good read and Waterland a superb novel.

Howdy Paul! Love all the BAC planning and voting going on here and the previous thread.

What book(s) have you read by Orhan Pamuk? I will go hear him on Thursday evening and will receive his latest but I would like more information on his previous work. I see you have read him for your Nobel winners category. I'd love your input.

Hi Roberta - I have you very much in my mind this month as I try to see how many non-fiction books I can fit in.
I have read Snow by Orhan Pamuk and thought it good but not great.

Here is another one voting for McEwan.

I loved Harvest but not The Pesthouse (at all). Go figure. I can't recall if I have read more of Jim Craces....

Not really bothered with who takes this one out. I've read several Barnes, a couple of McEwan and nothing by Crace as yet. I just read Arcadia by Pears so maybe my vote should go to Crace so I can read his version.

I vote for McEwan, then Barnes, then Crace in that order. I definitely have the most selection in what to read with McEwan.

PS - I'm glad I'm not being forced to read Harry Potter. I'm another one of those who hasn't read it yet.

Lovely picture of your project, Paul. I confess, I am not keen on Ian McEwan. I've only read Atonement and was not keen on it. Perhaps I should try another book by him. He looks quite jolly in his picture.

>70 Ameise1: Noted Barbara. xx

>71 LovingLit: I liked Harvest but couldn't make head nor tail of Quarantine so I know exactly what you mean, Megan

>72 avatiakh: I have seen that huge tome by Pears straining the shelves in Kuala Lumpur and I will give it a try when the paperback version in a more manageable size arrives.

>73 thornton37814: Lori, the only reason I folded and put her on the shortlist is that she has now published more than just the Potty Harry books.

>74 vancouverdeb: Well spotted, Deb. McEwan does give me the impression of being a rather dour individual. I have read four of his novels to date and liked The Innocent the most from the ones I have read.

>75 PaulCranswick: I enjoyed it though it doesn't come near An Instance of the Fingerpost.

I looked, and I haven't read any more of Jim Craces books. But having read a quick review of Being Dead, I now want to get that one ASAP. It was available at the wrong library though, so I got Netherland instead today.

>77 avatiakh: Iain Pears is likely to crop up in BAC discussions in the future if I do more of them or someone takes on the mantle, but perhaps not yet this year.

>78 LovingLit: I have a couple more on the shelves too by Crace, at least three each by McEwan and Barnes so I won't be spoiled for choice anyways.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE AUGUST 2016

IAN McEWAN



Turned out to be a fairly comfortable win for McEwan with treble the score of the other two authors.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER 2016

Many of the UKs most famous authors were born away from our shores. Penelope Lively, kicked things off rather splendidly as January 2015 BAC was born in Egypt. Our three ladies were British but not born there:

Sybille Bedford

or

Doris Lessing

or

Barbara Trapido

My library has very little by Trapido, none of which looks interesting to me, so I'll go with Bedford for my first choice and Lessing as second.

Sybille Bedford



Details of her work can be seen here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/sybille-bedford/

How Sybille Bedford became British is a story in itself and a story of Aldous Huxley's making. German born and with a mixed-Jewish heritage designed to get the outspoken student in England have her passport confiscated and deported to an uncertain fate in the Nazi Germany of the 1930s. Huxley and his wife hit on the idea of having one of his homosexual friends enter into a marriage of convenience and, in this way, she managed to get herself a British passport in the nick of time. She retained the passport but not the husband and subsequently published all her work in her married name.

Doris Lessing



Details of her work can be seen here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/doris-lessing/

Doris Lessing was born of British parents in Persia in 1919 and spent most of her formative years in what today is called Zimbabwe.
Her debut novel The Grass is Singing is on a par with almost any debut novel I have ever read but it is fair to say that her output was as patchy as it was prolific.

Booker shortlisted three times she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007.

Barbara Trapido



Details of her work can be found here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/barbara-trapido/

Born in South Africa but emigrated to the UK in 1963, taking British citizenship shortly thereafter. Despite a modest output of seven novels in thirty-five years Trapido has gained plaudits for an elegance and lightness of touch. She lives in Oxford.

>82 amanda4242: Bedford was hailed by many including the late Bruce Chatwin for her "dazzling prose". I will be interested to read her work because her life was certainly incident packed. She travelled extensively and maintained an open relationship with the american lady novelist Eda Lord at a time when it would result in prejudice againt them.

I'm completely torn: massive fan of BabsTrap, especially Frankie and Stankie, her fictionalised childhood memoir. But I think I have read most of the seven, so that leaves me with limited options. Doris Lessing on the other hand, appeared a couple of times in orange penguin editions that I was unable to resist, so really they should be read. But Bedford's a new one to me (her life history sounds so surreal - European royalty?) I'm going to vote for her and maybe discover a new-to-me writer.

I love travel writing so I'll cast my vote for Bedford. Lessing is my second choice because her works are more readily obtainable here.

Lessing by default. Both of the others are a little difficult to find locally though I did locate a Trapido that sounded good. However a review of that book revealed something that is too dreadful so it's Lessing for me.

Wow! So many interesting authors and so many I have not heard of. I will cast a vote, for McEwan though, since I have several of his books on shelf.

>87 charl08: This could be a close vote, I think. Bedford certainly wins on an incident packed life, Lessing wins on a huge body of work and Trapido on elegant confidence. I have read quite a number of books by Lessing and have plenty on the shelves to go at but her writing varies between the sublime and the slime in almost equal measure. It is like there were several little writers in there beavering away. As in The Grass is Singing her work could be absolutely top drawer whilst some of the rest of it is frankly dross.

>88 cbl_tn: To be fair Lessing's sense of place can be on point as in some of her African short stories, but Bedford was extremely well travelled so I am sure that her travel books would be engaging.

>89 Fourpawz2: You have intrigued me Charlotte. What in fiction could be so dreadful that it would prevent confronting it in fiction? Don't tell me if your not comfortable. xx

>90 msf59: Marky, Mark. Isn't it the best way to vote - for the winning guy AFTER he has already won said vote!

LOL! Good point, Paul! I guess I missed the actual voting, but I won't do that next November in the states.

>94 PaulCranswick: Only pulling your leg buddy. Your electoral college system to elect the President is an unhelpful relic. In an (effective) two horse race they should just count up all the votes across the US of A and the one getting the most takes home the bacon. Such a slice of good sense would have kept that jerk Dubya out of the White House and made everone's vote count.

>91 PaulCranswick: If Lessing is chosen I will probably read African Laughter since it's available where I work. However, I'm more interested in Bedford's A Visit to Don Otavio since my brother's Mexican in-laws have adopted me into their family. NYRB plans to release a reprint next summer.

I have to vote for Trapido because I have never heard of her and she sounds so intriguing.

>95 cbl_tn: I have a couple of Bedford's books on the shelves and will almost certainly read A Legacy if she makes the cut. I have four books by Lessing unread in the house but will probably read Martha Quest from those. I have two by Trapido and will probably go for Frankie and Stankie.

>96 banjo123: It is funny Rhonda but 21 years ago I had never heard of Johor Bahru and I finished up living there for seven years and meeting my soulmate in its environs. A step into the unknown can be a rewarding one sometimes.

>92 PaulCranswick: - don't laugh .... a kitty dies in it. For some twisted reason a child dying in fiction does not bother me the way animals dying does. This is why I've never been able to watch that Netflix series with Kevin Spacey. In the first episode I thought I could hear a dog squealing in pain. It was just background noise - I had no reason to think it had anything to do with the show's storyline, but it was enough for me to stop watching and never go back.

>98 Fourpawz2: Surely if handled with sensitivity the subject matter would be able to bring to the page an emotional connection that left an impression for a long long time. On the same basis though I would avoid reading books about domineering wives as it is far too close to home!

>85 PaulCranswick: Do I miss a link in this post, Paul? Or is this a work on progress?

My vote goes for Doris Lessing.

>100 connie53: Well spotted Connie. I have corrected that.

>101 Ameise1: Looks like another close call, Barbara. xx

I was going to vote for Lessing, only because I have a couple of her books, but my vote goes to Sybille Bedford as the travel aspect is always appealing. My library has lots of her book and Pleasures and landscapes: a Traveller's Tales from Europe, published by Daunt Books last year, a collection of essays looks good.

I just finished reading Bedford's A Legacy, and I can't say I loved it. haven't cared much for any of the Lessing I've read either. But if they each wrote "travel" books, perhaps I could give either of them another chance with one of those. I know nothing of Trapido, so she would be the biggest challenge for me, and that gives her my vote. Also, South Africa is always a draw for me.

>103 avatiakh: Kerry, I am so jealous of all those libraries that give you such great options. I have had to make my own library but there are always so many books that I want that I cannot keep up by my reading. I will go and see what travel writing of Bedford's I can find.

>104 laytonwoman3rd: A process of elimination, Linda, is not a bad way to get to choosing an author. South African authors and I have a good record together - the late Andre Brink was a particular favourite of mine.

First mini splurge of November:

279. Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud (1992) 186 pp
Bought to add to my 1001 collection in a lovely new edition
280. On Leave by Daniel Anselme (1957) 194 pp
Anselme's well regarded first novel
281. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (2013) 576 pp
Well everyone else is raving about Cormoran Strike
282. The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts (2015) 873 pp
Long awaited sequel to Shantaram

#281 I hope you enjoy it.

#282 - ooh. I didn't know there was a sequel out..... must rush off and check it out.

Lessing is my first choice simply due to availability. Bedford is my second choice even though no books are available in my library. Trapido doesn't excite me at all. I do have three books available to me at the public library.

>105 PaulCranswick: Paul - you should try abebooks.com and search under UK. The postage isn't bad for many of the books even to NZ and most out of print books are usually really cheap.
Also betterworldbooks.com in the US is freepost worldwide. I occasionally buy from them and also find their prices are fairly competitive via abebooks where you do pay postage.

eta: these are all used books of varying condition

>107 karenmarie: Sounds more my thing than Potty Harry, Karen. I hadn't heard about the sequel to Shantaram but the huge tome sang to me from the bookstore entrance and I was drawn in like a magnet.

>108 thornton37814: When Lessing was good, Lori, she was very good. Interestingly she occasionally tried publishing books under an assumed name and it always amused her that publishers invariably rejected them!

>109 avatiakh: I have often ordered from AbeBooks and sent the books to my mum's house when I know I'll be in the UK, I will go and check out betterworldbooks.com. xx

An update on the posting league. All those threads above 100 posts.

1 scaifea Amber 6645
2 msf59 Mark 6303
3 jnwelch Joe 4444
4 PaulCranswick Paul 4175
5 kidzdoc Darryl 4153
6 katiekrug Katie 3481
7 CrazyMamie Mamie 3093
8 EBT1002 Ellen 2339
9 Ameise1 Barbara 2290
10 charl08 Charlotte 2269
11 susanj67 Susan 1753
12 ronincats Roni 1733
13 ireadthereforeiam Megan 1631
14 lunacat Jenny 1600
15 Whisper1 Linda 1590
16 cbl_tn Carrie 1523
17 cameling Caro 1512
18 BLBera Beth 1451
19 lyzard Liz 1393
20 Sibyx Lucy 1384
21 Jolerie Valerie 1282
22 lkernagh Lori 1247
23 Donna828 Donna 1237
24 lit_chick Nancy 1154
25 johnsimpson John 1152
26 Smiler69 Ilana 1134
27 Berly Kim 1098
28 vancouverdeb Deb 1078
29 thornton37814 Lori 1058
30 nittnut Jenn 1026
31 Ape Stephen 1022
32 LizzieD Peggy 1016
33 Morphidae Morphy 1003
34 storeettlr Mary 1002
35 Deern Nathalie 999
36 Chatterbox Suzanne 987
37 lauralkeet Laura 927
38 coppers Joanne 914
39 maggie44 Karen 907
40 MickyFine Micky 906
41 souloftherose Heather 881
42 drneutron Jim 844
43 SandDune Rhian 839
44 AMQS Anne 835
45 Familyhistorian Meg 832
46 qebo Katherine 784
47 Connie53 Connie 744
48 paulstalder Paul 732
49 richardderus Richard 730
50 laytonwoman Linda 710
51 tymfos Terri 695
52 bell7 Mary 680
53 Oberon Erik 655
54 foggidawn Misty 648
55 norabelle414 Nora 636
56 lindapanzo Linda 627
57 DorsVenabili Kerri 625
58 Swynn Stephen 620
59 AuntieClio Stephanie 619
60 mahsdad Jeff 595
61 mckait Kath 582
62 avatiakh Kerry 581
63 evilmoose Megan 570
64 The_Hibernator Rachel 565
65 Carmenere Lynda 562
66 rosylibrarian Marie 556
67 lovelyluck Jennifer 528
68 banjo123 Rhonda 499
69 SuziQoregon Juli 480
70 Kassilem Melissa 469
71 leahbird Leah 455
72 squeakychu Madeline 449
73 brenzi Bonnie 440
74 alcottacre Stasia 439
75 karenmarie Karen 437
76 RebaRelishesReading Reba 421
77 porch_reader Amy 408
78 ctpress Carsten 407
79 tiffin Tui 402
80 weird_o Bill 401
81 streamsong Janet 395
82 lycomayflower Laura 368
83 inge87 Jennifer 323
84 _Zoe_ Zoe 301
85 Xymon81 Matthew 298
86 cyderry Cheli 292
87 humouress Nina 276
88 fourpawzz Charlotte 274
89 ffortsa Judy 268
90 seasonoflove Becca 266
91 bohemima Gail 263
92 countrylife Cindy 258
93 Cobscook Heidi 256
94 drachenbraut23 Bianca 255
95 Dejah_Thoris Dejah 248
96 rosalita Julia 244
97 roundballnz Alex 244
98 cammykitty Katie 238
99 kmartin802 Kathy 235
100 tututhefirst Tina 235
101 catarina1 Catarina 234
102 LoisB Lois 229
103 Rbeffa Roni 228
104 BekkaJo Bekka 221
105 rretzler Robin 216
106 amanda4242 Amanda 209
107 arubabookwoman Deborah 206
108 kgodey Kriti 199
109 cushlareads Cushla 197
110 LauraBrook Laura 197
111 TadAD Tad 194
112 CDVicarage Kerry 193
113 Cariola Deborah 180
114 scvlad Stephen 178
115 mdoris Mary 177
116 yoyogod Nathan 176
117 fuzzi Fuzzi 174
118 JustJoey4 Monica 162
119 elkiedee Luci 153
120 someguyinvirginia Guy 151
121 ChelleBearss Chelle 150
122 torontoc Cyrel 150
123 majkia Jean 148
124 klobrien2 Karen 143
125 crazy4reading Monica 142
126 beeg Brenda 138
127 susanna.fraser Susanna 138
128 HanGerg Hannah 135
129 tloeffler Terri 134
130 cal8769 Carrie 133
131 jennyifer24 Jenny 133
132 jjmcgaffey Jennifer 133
133 jessibud2 Shelley 132
134 phebj Pat 128
135 LibraryLover23 LL 126
136 walklover Debbi 125
137 FAMeulstee Anita 123
138 bluesalamanders Blue 112
139 aktakucac Rachel 109
140 BBGirl55 Bryony 109
141 RandyMetcalfe Randy 108
142 BerlinBibliophile Miriam 106
143 Deedledee Dee 105
144 archerygirl Katherine 104
145 CassiBash Cassie 104
146 AnneDC Anne 103
147 alsvidur Emilie 102
148 stephivist Stephanie 100

88 - hmmmm. Not totally disgraceful.

>113 PaulCranswick: By no means Charlotte. Group numbers have dropped this year a little but we still have a membership of 556.

87? I'm surprised I'm in there at all, let alone so high up.

>105 PaulCranswick: Try Overdrive, Paul (which you can also download as an app). I'm still e-borrowing from a couple of counties DownUndah and I know that the Singapore National Library is also on there. I'm sure you sign up / renew your library membership from a county or two back in the UK.

>114 humouress: Thanks Nina. I would only do e-books if I really couldn't find something in its physical form (I may need it for some of the 1001 books and certainly the obscurer Nobel winners) as I much prefer the physical sense of holding an actual book.

If it's not too late, I'll vote for Lessing.

eta: that being said, I've added A Legacy by Sybille Bedford to the wishlist.

>116 Smiler69: Not too late at all Ilana, about an hour to go before I have to try to find a consensus.

>117 PaulCranswick: Counting the minutes until the announcement...

>118 amanda4242: Hahaha Amanda: 31 minutes to go

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - SEPTEMBER 2016

DORIS LESSING



Very close between her and Bedford. In the end my own vote swung a tie her way. Main reason she is the only female Nobel winner to put up so those who follow that challenge can also partake. I will still be reading Bedford too though.

>115 PaulCranswick: Technophobe!

I have a strange feeling of deja vu ...

I'm just trying to save your neighbours who live below you in your building, Paul ;0)

>121 humouress: I like the challenge twofer reasoning . I will be reading along, clearing some Lessing from my TBR.

>121 humouress: I have never pretended to be anything other, Nina! Surely there are worse ways to go than being buried under a pile of books that were lovingly collected. I have to say that I have a fondness for my books bordering on the physical - I wouldn't go as far as Ted Hughes who claimed sexual arousal just on walking through the doors of a library but I couldn't live without my books!

>122 charl08: Surprising that I actually sided with a writer I have been known often to criticize. I suppose it is because of the quality of some of her work; the mediocrity of a lot of it is particularly galling.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER 2016

I am trying to mix it up a little bit this year and not flood the challenge with literary fiction after literary fiction. For September we will include three writers who amongst various other skills have written hugely enjoyable series of memoirs. The three gentlemen we will choose from for September shall be:

Roald Dahl

or

Gerald Durrell

or

Laurie Lee

Roald Dahl



Details of his work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/roald-dahl/

Roald Dahl was born in Wales of Norwegian parents he had an incident filled and varied life which is more than adequately mirrored by the mix of his published work. He was a fighter ace in the RAF in the war and served in the diplomatic corps after leaving the services. He faced traumas with his first wife the actress Patricia Neal having one child hit by a Taxicab in NYC and losing a child to measles. His wife burst bloodvessels in her brain during childbirth and he famously nursed her back to health which was immortalised in film.

He lived in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire and I have had the pleasure of visiting his home which is now a museum both to celebrate his books but also to inspire a passion of his which was literacy in children.

Famous above all as a writer of children's fiction, he also write deliciously twisted short stories and his memoirs are delightfully accessible.

Gerald Durrell



Details of his work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/gerald-durrell/

He seemingly grew up very much feeling the shadow of his hugely talented brother, Lawrence, but he is nowadays at least as well remembered as his brother and certainly as fondly.

Born in India but grew up in Corfu which resulted in the trilogy of memoirs of his childhood that started with My Family and Other Animals. He became a renowned natural scientist, zookeeper and conservationist.

Laurie Lee



Details of his work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/laurie-lee/

If I was asked to choose a memoir to take with me to read on a desert island I would not hesitate for it to be Cider With Rosie. The first part of a trilogy of memoirs that is a wonderfully lyrical evocation firstly of a rural childhood but then a young adulthood wherein he displayed the courage of his convictions - tramping off on foot to Spain to aid the republican struggle.

He related further tales of his life in other now difficult to find memoirs and wrote several volumes of poetry which mirrored the lyrical simplicity of CWR. I had the pleasure of meeting Laurie Lee in 1988 and confirm that he was a lovely man as erudite in person as he was on page.

I would be happy with any of the three men for September. Durrell would be my first choice.

Roald Dahl's first wife, Patricia Neal, was from Knoxville and she maintained local ties all her life. One of our local hospitals, and the one I use most frequently, opened the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center in 1978. They do outstanding work with patients recovering from stroke and other brain and spinal cord injuries. Patricia Neal made annual visits to the center until her death.

>94 PaulCranswick: Amen, brother!

>128 cbl_tn: Three of my favourite writers for so many different reasons. Lee's output was not considerable but, my, what a wordsmith! Dahl could reach children of all ages from 6 to 60 and Durrell could make me smile and frown in the same sentence.

>129 scaifea: I looked back at my post and thought how inappropriate it was for a Brit exiled in the tropics passing judgement on the electoral system of others........but really it is a darned silly system and involves such unnecessary expense. Glad to get your approval rather than an admonishment, dear lady.

I would like the CG (Chosen Guy) to be either Durrell or Lee. I've got books by both gentlemen on my wishlist, the Lee one being Cider with Rosie which has been there since you recommended it, Paul. (Oh, how I love that cute little critter in the picture with Mr. Durrell!)

I'll toss in a vote for Dahl this round.

Lee please. I've got a combined edition of his memoirs on order from the library, having recently read As I walked out and really loved it. I want to read about his return to Spain later in life.

Thanks for the stats, Paul. Impressive as always.

My vote goes to Roald Dahl.

Happy Midweek, Paul. I have not read Lessing, so I am looking forward to it.

Thanks for updating the posting league. It looks like this biblio-joint, is alive and kicking!

If I were voting, and it's based on books we'd like to read, I suppose I could read My Family and Other Animals to the kids. We read it when I was about their age, in school, and it was very evocative.

>123 PaulCranswick: While you and I might not mind, Paul, your neighbours might mind being buried under your avalanche, however lovingly collected.

>131 Fourpawz2: CG 2B GD/LL? The critter was certainly better looking than Gerald!

>132 foggidawn: Your toss has been caught, Foggy! I am not sure what I will read if it is Dahl as I think I have read pretty much everything by him. ETA seems I have The Twits on the shelves unread.

>133 charl08: If it is Laurie Lee then it may be a poetry month for me as I am about to order his Selected Poems. As I turn 50 at the beginning of next September and will almost certainly be treading the lanes of the village of my youth in West Yorkshire, I am sure that I will celebrate by re-reading Cider with Rosie for the occasion. My brother is planning a joint celebration in Leeds next year at Oulton Hall as we will collectively notch up 100 years between us.
Any 75er who can be in West Yorkshire at that time will of course be welcome to join the fun.

>134 Ameise1: Barbara there are such rich pickings to be had by wading through Dahl's back catalogue. Wonderful writer and interesting man.

>135 msf59: Start with her debut novel mate which I remember really liking.

>136 humouress: I am going to re-read My Family and Other Animals along with the rest of the trilogy whether Durrell gets picked or not! Just the thing to make a flight back from England zing by.
I am ever so fortunate that the block I am living in was built by a particularly reputable Japanese contractor and is solid in the extreme!

>137 PaulCranswick: - Yes. And yes.

>140 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, you always make me smile. I really do have to get this quarrelsome family of mine on the road to the States sometime soon so I can meet so many of the lovely friends I have made here.

Why, thank you, Paul. You are so very kind. I like making people smile - especially people I like!

If one day you, Hani and the brood should make it here, you are probably going to have to do a 50 state procession.

Paul, you've put out quite a lineup! Two authors I adore (Durrell, Dahl) and one I'm eager to discover (the other guy). I've got Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning in a Folio edition, though I know the one to start with is Cider With Rosie, which you've warbled on about many a time. My Family and Other Animals is among my all-time favourites (though I discovered it in the last couple of years), and I have it in multiple collector's editions, but I have other books by Durrell on the tbr. As for Dahl, I haven't taken in any of his tales for adults yet and am very curious to delve into those. In other words, you can't go wrong with this vote, only I do wish each author had his own month (more fodder for the 2017 BAC edition).

I agree, any one of these three guys will work for me. Cider With Rosie and My Family and Other Animals have both been on my radar for some time, and I'd be happy for a little push to get to one or t'other of them.

As much as I love Dahl, my first choice is Durrell since I've been looking for an excuse to read My Family and Other Animals.

Loved Cider with Rosie, but any of these three would be fine.

I'll pass this time as I've read Lee's Spain books and finally read Cider with Rosie earlier this year. I've read almost all the Dahl books and lots of Durrell.

>142 Fourpawz2: I seem to have been thwarted in my plans to make it to the States in the last couple of years. Circumstances are not going to be able to keep me away for too much longer.

>143 Smiler69: I am quite happy with this one too, Ilana! I like to group options together to make the choice 'fairer' if you will
and some groupings will be stronger than others.

>144 laytonwoman3rd: This choice looks to be the most evenly spread. Linda. With so many of you speaking up for more than one I am going to have to either think very carefully about this one or not at all.

>145 amanda4242: I bought The Corfu Trilogy last year of which My Family and Other Animals is the first part. I have read it before but I want to read it again in context of the trilogy.

>146 jnwelch: There is a lovely programme about Lee and his travels through Spain called "Traveller's Century : Laurie Lee". I watched it again yesterday and it showcases his work beautifully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfM0TQZXp_4

>147 avatiakh: When it is Hani's birthday I normally say to her "what do you buy for the girl who has everything?" - well for one thing I always buy her "Red Door" by Elizabeth Arden as that is the perfume she wore on our first date (of course I have to think of something else too). The familiar is often the most delightful and I'll take my landmark birthday as a chance to re-read some of my favourites. xx

Oh yes, I like the occasional reread too. The Lee and the Durrells I've read too recently. If Durrell gets chosen I'd like to go for the last two books in the Corfu trilogy. I'd like to see Lee win so others can discover him.

>150 avatiakh: I can see that I will read plenty of Laurie Lee next year come what may. Then again I will certainly read The Twits (hope I don't get a mention) and The Corfu Trilogy too.

Hani and I have something in common. I am a fan of Red Door as well.

>152 benitastrnad: And I have to say that I am too, Benita. It is the associations that the scent wafts into my memory banks; of fresh love, of hopes of a future shared, of a desire then still to be consumated, of italian dinners and clandestine meet-ups, of the expression of gratitude that what was sought was in large part realised. xx

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER 2016

Laurie Lee



I am forced to announce this one slightly earlier than usual as I have a series of meetings that will take up most of my day. I was undecided until 7.26 pm (LT Time, which I guess is Eastern Standard Time) and >150 avatiakh:. Kerry's comment that:

"I'd like to see Lee win so others can discover him."

hit home. It shouldn't be about that always but it is at least a little what this challenge, Mark's AAC, Jacqui's ANZAC challenge and Ilana's soon to be CAC are about.

>111 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the stats, Paul. I only looked at the total posts until >112 Fourpawz2: pointed out that the number you attain shows where you compare on posts to the other 75ers. #45 - how did that happen? Must have been all those vacation photos!

Somehow I didn't manage to get my vote in, but I'm happy with any of those three anyway. I had too much going on today to check in before evening.

Hi Paul! I recently finished The Picnic and Other Inimitable Stories by Gerald Durrell and was thoroughly entranced. Laugh-out-loud guffaws were a common event during said reading. Even though he didn't "win", I heartily recommend him.

>149 PaulCranswick: Intriguing, thanks, Paul. I saw another LTer highly recommend the Laurie Lee book the show you linked is exploring, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning. I'm going to put that on the WL.

>154 PaulCranswick: Good choice! I'll plan to be one of those who discover him next year.

>154 PaulCranswick: I'm sure what swung the vote is your pick of a Lee book for me... but we'll keep that a secret between us. Guess it makes your pick a sure bet, as I said it might. ;-)

>155 Familyhistorian: Meg, your thread has been one of so many Canadian based ones that has performed very solidly this year. Eight Canadian based ladies have over 500 posts and six of those have already topped 1000.

>156 thornton37814: I was also early with my pick, Lori, as I my whole afternoon and evening was taken up with work stuff.

>157 karenmarie: I couldn't agree more Karen. Gerald Durrell is a wonderful writer and his books are always fun. I was torn immensely in making my choice.

>158 jnwelch: One constant theme in the programmes on the great travel writers, Joe, was their great personal charm. I met Laurie Lee and can vouch for that, he had a great sense of humour and when he got to speaking he could be mesmeric.

>159 laytonwoman3rd: I do hope that you will enjoy his work, Linda.

>160 Smiler69: Ilana. ssssssshhhh!

Hi Paul, hope all is well with you my friend and the family. We are now getting back to normal after the wedding but it does feel strange for some reason. Sending love and hugs to you, Hani and the kids.

>164 johnsimpson: Thanks mate. Well, it is a rather momentous event in the lives of parents - seeing off their children into married life. It was heartening to see just how lovingly you embraced the occasion and everything that went with it.

>165 PaulCranswick:, Paul, the day went as I had hoped. The weather cleared up in time for photos outside, the bridesmaids were absolutely gorgeous, Amy looked stunning and all the gents looked very smart in our matching suits. Our good ladies, Karen and Pat were gorgeous and the rest of our respective families looked very nice. The guests continually commented on how much they liked the whole occasion and venue and those staying at the hotel loved it. It is a strange thing handing over responsibility of your daughter to another man, I will always be there as a daddy should but number one man in her life now is Andy, I love this guy to bits and his speech will last long in my memory and as long as I keep watching it. It was strange that we both touched on my first meeting with him and we hadn't spoken about our speeches but we got on from the start and when they come over we are like naughty boys and I get away with things with Karen when we get together.

I managed finally my 100th book this year yesterday with William Boyd's take on James Bond in Solo. More capable than compelling and written as something of a period piece in the mould of Fleming, it lacked a little of the humour of Bond who came across as dour and self-analytical. All in all though a worthy successor and addition to the canon. I would hazard that Boyd carried out the remit of the Fleming estate to the letter.

>166 johnsimpson: I always thought that I would despise any young man with designs on my girls but I find, when faced with the actuality of it, that I am quite enamoured of Yasmyne's boy - Saad. Whether it develops into a marriage as per Amy and Andy remains to be seen of course but we have all taken him to our hearts already and his family besides.

I should catch up on my reviews:

93.

The Song of Lunch by Christopher Reid

Year of Publication ; 2009
Pages : 66
Category Challenge : Poetry

Delightful long poem about the meeting over lunch of ex-lovers - the lady happily married; the gentleman regretful.

Immediate, accessible and eminently appealing to someone of my age-group who can sympathise with both participants in the piece. Recommended.

8/10

94.

The Siege by Helen Dunmore

Year of Publication : 2002
Pages : 291
Category Challenge : BAC Challenge October

Well written but ultimately disappointing tale of a love affair blossoming amid the horrors of the siege of St. Petersburg in 1941. Without being able to fully express why, I just felt that Dunmore failed to achieve the emotional attachment or intensity that the subject matter deserved. I didn't feel the horror they must have felt or gain an impression of the bitter struggle for survival.

It was adequate but could have been so much more.

6/10

>170 PaulCranswick: - you hit the ol' nail right on the head, Paul. That was exactly what I found wrong with this book when I read it. Only you said it better.

95.

Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor

Date of Publication : 1965
Pages : 269
Category Challenge : AAC September.

The final collection of twisted tales from the sadly gone too soon Ms. O'Connor. The treatment of race and ignorance jars awfully as it is meant to do and the whole works well as a piece.
Many felt that this collection didn't quite match her premier salvo A Good Man is Hard to Find but I don't agree; there wasn't a dud in the whole.

8/10

>171 Fourpawz2: Thanks Charlotte. I was trying to encapsulate an impression in just a couple of sentences in order to catch up my reviews. xx

96.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

Date of Publication : 2014
Pages : 613

Southport born Mitchell has one heck of an imagination. All he writes doesn't necessarily light up the page but the thought processes to get there will impress nonetheless.

This story told in several "movements" spanning succeeding decades is typical Mitchell both in complexity and the manner of the telling. Some of the parts (especially those most obviously involving our heroine, Holly) work better than others but overall it is a satisfying read.

My only real beef with Mitchell is that he can tend to go on a little too long. I would say the final movement set some 20 years after the real denouement of the story was perhaps an unnecessary addition to the book and I would have liked it the more without it.

8/10

>170 PaulCranswick: Paul, try The Conductor by Sarah Quigley, it focuses on the members of the orchestra during the seige.

97.

The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes

Date of Publication : 1986
Pages : 603
Category Challenge : ANZAC October

The writing of history doesn't get too much better than this. Enormous in details and scope, profound in interpretation and written densely but always deftly.

Hughes' telling of the founding of modern Australia via the convict transports and the early bitter struggles for survival both made me cringe at my British-ness and marvel at the fortitude of those that survived to wrest a nation from such unlikely beginnings.

The cruelty of the times of those waning days of the eighteenth century and the early decades of the following one makes one shudder and be thankful that drawing breath two hundred years on, whilst imperfect, is a vastly improved experience to ages gone before.

I found myself scoring passages and phrases and I will return to parts of this book in times to come for sure. Brilliant.

9/10

>175 avatiakh: Thanks Kerry. I will certainly go and look for that one.

98.

The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark

Date of Publication : 1974
Pages : 107
Category Challenge : BAC October

Quirky as is Spark's wont. This is a short novel but one that certainly makes you smile. I read it in one sitting and only when I thought about when it was written (1974) did I realise the fact that she was sending-up the watergate scandal.

The old Abbess has died and the nuns will meet to elect a replacement from their number. One nun will stop at nothing to make sure that victory is attained.

There are some lovely lines in this short piece including one where our Nixon nun informs her main dupe and lackey - (paraphrased)
sometimes I think I could eat you, if only I could stomach suet pudding.

Enjoyed it.

7/10

>169 PaulCranswick: Is it my imagination or do the people on your cover look uncannily like Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson? And if so, why?

99.

Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott

Date of Publication : 2010
Pages : 54
Category Challenge : Poetry

Jo Shapcott's fifth collection was lauded by the critics and won the Costa Book of the Year in 2010.

Parts of it certainly work but as a whole I didn't find the collection hugely satisfying. She considers mortality, ageing, the confrontation of illness and nature and does so in taut, blank verse. There is the occasional highpoint in an inspired turn of phrase and I particularly like the poem "The Deaths". This extract is from a poem in six short movements called "Border Cartography":

Here the earth tells its story
to the sea, the sky;
the estuary in between
leaks history.

We're listening so hard
but the wind hereabout
whips up its own
noisy version of the truth.

I can understand why the critics like it and perhaps, to my own detriment, I understand why I wasn't blown away.

7/10

>179 ronincats: Observant indeed Roni. The poem was enacted by the two wonderful actors for the BBC.

Here is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfS4C2LSVsU

100.

Solo by William Boyd

Year of Publication : 2013
Pages : 322
Category Challenge : BAC Challenge November
TIOLI Challenge : November #3 (3rd book)

Boyd's take on James Bond in Solo yesterday. Set in London, Washington DC and most telling (and Boydian) in an invented West African republic in the throes of civil war. Cars, women and plenty of culinary preoccupation a la Fleming but this lacks a little of the wit that I seem to recall in the originals and which is surprising for Boyd. Competent but not overly compelling, this is a well created period piece set at the end of the 1960's with Bond starting to feel his 45 years.

I much prefer Boyd's more serious fiction but this is by no means a failure.

7/10

I can't believe I'm still in the top ten of posting. I sometimes go days at a time without posting to my own thread, much less visiting others!

I will be reading something by William Boyd this month, at least Restless. I need to do some investigating of Muriel Spark as I have not had her on my radar, really. But you say she is a favorite of yours and that carries some credibility.

And I NEED to read some David Mitchell!!

>183 EBT1002: I am not sure that me and credibility are able bedfellows, Ellen!
In truth posting numbers have gone down a great deal this year. Over the last five years Richard, myself and Amber (last year) have been on the cusp of 10,000 posts in a year. This year I would be surprised if the top poster makes 8,000. I had six months of extremely flat activity due to life complications but I do admit feeling a little re-energised by my break. With virtually a thousand posts in the last month I feel like normal service has been resumed finally. Your numbers have stood up reasonably well.

ETA

I have done a little checking and by the end of October 7,500 posts have been breached five times:

Paul C = (2012, 2013, 2014)
RD = (2014)
Amber (2014)

Amber's total to beginning of November of 6645 would only place her fourth last year. I am about 3,900 posts down on my last three years average and still lie fourth this year.

Mark must be commended for remarkable consistency with the following scores to the end of October in the last four years:

2012 6,126
2013 6,190
2014 6,533
2015 6,303

Ellen, your scores for interest's sake:

2012 2,491
2013 3,972
2014 2,983
2015 2,339

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE OCTOBER 2016

1940's, 1950's & 1960's

For October we will choose between a lady born just after the war, one born in the 1950s and one in the swinging sixties. The options:

Maggie Gee (born 1948)

or

Kate Atkinson (born 1951)

or

Nicola Barker (born 1966)

>120 PaulCranswick: Doris Lessing looks cool! She meets my expectations of what she would look like.

>170 PaulCranswick: Maybe her sparse treatment of the more emotive aspects of the work are intended to mirror the harsh conditions....too kind? Well, I liked the book anyway, hopefully not just for the grim aspects of it.

Eta: oh yeah, and what I came here for. Do you know of an open source online image library other than wiki commons? I'm on the search for some images that are free from copyright restrictions...for my new job :)

Maggie Gee



Details can be found here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/maggie-gee/

Maggie Gee was born in 1948. Her work has elements of evolutionary biology and is close to science fiction in some parts. Other works shine a torch on racism and in this vein The White Family was nominated for the Orange Prize.

>186 LovingLit: She had a very distinctive look, Megan, don't you think?
I don't know why Dunmore's book didn't really grab me as I felt it ought. There was nothing actually wrong with it in technical terms but I felt it missed a certain indefinable something that would have changed it from adequate to excellent.

Try this link my dear. Many of the stock images if you play fair have to be paid for.
http://www.creativebloq.com/photography/photo-libraries-12121413

>188 PaulCranswick: über awesome, thanks heaps Paul.
I am pretty much looking for free, judging from what I know about the process so far. If they aren't free or appropriately accredited, they'll be removed from lecture slides. Must follow rules!

It's funny with indefinable qualities. They are true to their description! Sometimes though, if I have 26 minutes (or so) of uninterrupted thinking time, I can just about pin down some reasons as to why something does or doesn't work. But not always!

Kate Atkinson



Details of her work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/kate-atkinson/

Despite her nine novels and one collection of short stories, I thought Kate Atkinson was closer to my age than she in fact is.
She won the Whitbread Book Prize for her debut novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum but has been somewhat unfairly overlooked for awards subsequently even though her books have always been well received.

Four of her novels include Jackson Brodie and would almost be classable as detective stories if they weren't quite a bit more - these are beloved by many in the group.

Making an early bid for Nicola Barker, on the 'I've never come across her' grounds. Atkinson I've read it all except the latest one (and will eventually), and Gee I don't get on with.

>189 LovingLit: I think one or two were actually free ones though right? How to define the indefinable? - I guess I just couldn't define it!

>191 charl08: I have to admit Charlotte that I couldn't get along with The Ice People by Gee at all though many people loved it. I sent one of Barker's books to Calm in the group a couple of years ago when I used to give prizes out on my thread and she thought it extremely good. Atkinson, I like, especially those with Brodie in.

^ yes, there are a few free sites on the list you linked to. That is going to be very useful.

Nicola Barker



Details of her work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/nicola-barker/

Nicola Barker is pretty much my age (we were both born in 1966) although she has failed to age whilst I.....

She has made Booker Long/Shortlists twice with Darkmans and The Yips and won the Hawthornden Prize for the former and the IMPAC Prize for Wide Open in 2000.

>194 LovingLit: Pleased to help, Megan, my dear.

Kate Atkinson by default. No books by Gee at the public library and only two by Barker, neither of which appeal to me. I love the Jackson Brodie novels and have yet to read any of her others.

>190 PaulCranswick: The BBC 4 abridged read of Behind the Scenes meant I was a fan of Atkinson from that point on. One of the first pieces of fiction for adults I spent my hard earned pennies on. I agree with you the Brodie books mean other early fiction has rather been overshadowed (although not of course Life After Life.

Atkinson for me please. The couple of Barker books I looked at did not entice me at all.

Ditto

My vote goes to Kate Atkinson.

No book available here for the other ladies.

My library has two books by Barker and only one by Gee, so I guess my choice is Atkinson.

I'm curious about Nicola Barker's Darkmans, and will add it to the wishlist, but it's much too voluminous for me to commit to (at 800+ pages, according to the library listing). So my vote goes to Kate Atkinson too, since she's on the tbr. Case Histories was the first book I read by her and I absolutely loved it.

I'm not really overwhelmed for one over the other at this stage. I've only read Atkinson and haven't really become a fan though I enjoy the Jackson Brodie novels and tv series.

My vote will go to Maggie Gee as she's not getting much love so far and I do have a Gee or two on the tbr pile.

Hi Paul, wishing you and the family a very happy weekend mate.

Passing on this choice. I've read a good bit of Atkinson, and the other two are probably not for me, from what I know about them.

I vote for Atkinson. The works of the other authors just don't have much appeal. Maybe Barker's humor is to British, but I tried one of her books and just didn't get it.

Brought my laptop to the office yesterday and like a fool went home without it! Came back and can see plenty of support for Ms. Atkinson. Also had a little splurge yesterday which I shall report on a little later.

>197 cbl_tn:, >198 charl08:, >199 Fourpawz2:, >200 jnwelch:, >201 Ameise1:, >202 amanda4242:, >203 Smiler69: & >207 benitastrnad:
Carrie, Charlotte, Charlotte, Joe, Barbara, Amanda, Ilana and Benita - you are helping to make this choice exceptionally difficult, hahaha.

>204 avatiakh: I was starting to feel a little sorry for the other two, Kerry, so I am pleased to see your small touch of mercy!

>205 johnsimpson: Thanks John, I will get along to your place and cast similar wishes to you and yours this weekend.

Got some fairly bad news this weekend as my mum is about to be hospitalised again (she should have taken up the offer of a season ticket) as she has a partial blockage of some kind in the bowel. The doctors think it may be something to do with the histeroectomy she had over a year ago. I spoke to her on the phone this morning (my time) and managed to cheer her up a fair bit but her lamentations about missing Hani, me and the kids was excruciating and poor old Hani had tears rolling down her cheek whilst talking to her. I snuffled a little and acted all manly, wiping a little moisture from my eyes when she wasn't looking.

I am truly going to have to find the time to go back to the UK en masse to cheer the old girl up more thoroughly.

>206 laytonwoman3rd: Would Barker and Gee be to your taste, Linda? I cannot really say as the only thing I read by Gee, I detested and I am giving her a fresh chance because it may have had more to do with me than her. I have a few Barker books but haven't read 'em yet.

>207 benitastrnad: Does the peculiarity of British humour fall flat with most Americans, Benita - I am not so sure - I mean I am both British and peculiar and have just managed to make you smile!

Sorry to hear about your mum, Paul. How hard to be so far away. And possibly not that much easier to be close by when someone you love is ailing.

>211 LovingLit: Thank you, Megan. Quite right in that the distance heightens the problem but its absence wouldn't solve it either. xx

Nothing available by Gee or Barker at any of my libraries. I abandoned the one Kate Atkinson book I tried to read. Too bad "none of the above" is not an option. ;-)

Sorry to hear about your mum doing poorly Paul. Sending good thoughts your way. xx

Oh, poor Mum...adhesions, perhaps? That can happen. I hope all goes well for her with the correction, and that you can manage a trip soon. That will do her good, I'm sure.

>213 thornton37814: Wow I would have thought that the two of them had a reach a little further than Hampstead, Lori. I am surprised that Atkinson got thrown in the skip as she is normally a very painless read.

>214 Smiler69: Thanks Ilana. Did you confirm any plans of your own to pay a visit to France to visit your Mum? xx

>215 laytonwoman3rd: I am not sure exactly what the problem is Linda but it does seem that she is in a great deal of discomfort.

Hope your mother is better very soon, Paul. And that somehow a block of time frees up so that you can all go to visit.

Here is my latest little waltz through the bookstores

283. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (2014) 26(18953 pp
I have seen so many positive reviews of this one - started it already
284. Correction by Thomas Bernhard (1975) 249 pp
1001 Book First Editioner
285. Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille (1928) 127 pp
1001 Book First Editioner and apparently bordering on pornographic
286. High Rise by J.G Ballard (1975) 248 pp
1001 Book First Editioner
287. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (1848) 524 pp
1001 Book First Editioner and least well renowned of that trio of sisters
288. Where are the Snows? by Maggie Gee (1991) 400 pp
Just in case Gee gets 10 votes in the next ten minutes
289. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (1989) 222 pp
1001 Book First Editioner and mexican best seller extraordinaire
290. The Man in the Shed by Lloyd Jones (2009) 307 pp
Leaving Mr. Pip behind to write short stories
291. Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad (1895) 134 pp
Early novel by the Polish, Russian and French speaking writer of English
292. The Dictator's Last Night by Yasmina Khadra (2015) 190 pp
Imagines Gaddafi one day before his end
293. Little Exiles by Robert Dinsdale (2013) 426 pp
Found this novel by a northern english writer plugged by Kerry
294. Outline by Rachel Cusk (2014) 249 pp
Toying with her for the BAC but the CAC may not approve

Also found three books secreted in a draw in my office which I need to add to my spreadsheet TBR records; by Robert Lowell, Cees Nooteboom and Zane Grey - all in all a good day!

>217 Fourpawz2: Thanks Charlotte; I hope so too.

Just in case Gee gets 10 votes in the next ten minutes. Doesn't look that likely. I'm fairly sure there was a bit of love for Gee a couple of years back on Darryl's thread.

>220 avatiakh: Well Kerry, the Doc is quiet these last few days and, anyway, he's too late:

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE : OCTOBER 2016

KATE ATKINSON



The words country and mile spring to mind.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE OCTOBER 2016

Nobel Winners

British gentlemen that have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. We choose from:

William Golding

or

Rudyard Kipling

or

V.S. Naipaul

William Golding



Details of his work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/william-golding/

William Golding was a Cornishman is body and spirit. The sea and its consequences appear regularly in his work most notably in his Booker Winning Rites of Passage. His books present a provocative and sometimes difficult view of the world that challenges and never stoops to mollify its readership. Of course he is best remembered for Lord of the Flies published in 1954 but his works were often profound and, over the course of a Baker's dozen of novels provides plenty of choice for the intrepid bookie. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 and the Time rated him 3rd in the top 50 British Writers since 1945.

Rudyard Kipling



Details of his work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/rudyard-kipling/

Rudyard Kipling was the first British winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907 and he remains the youngest ever recipient. Whether it was deserved in front of luminaries such as Tolstoy, Checkov, Hardy, Twain, James and Ibsen is at best a moot point but he was gifted in at least three forms - novel, short story and poetry.

His reputation has dimmed as Britain's world influence waned and its attachment to Empire shrugged off. He is seen as a died in the wool colonialist these days but it is fair to say that his love for the far flung remained with him as he stayed a man of principles, albeit of his time, to the end.

V.S. Naipaul



Details of his work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/v-s-naipaul/

Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul is of Nepali Brahmin extraction whose family moved via India to Trinidad where he was born in 1932. He emigrated to the UK in the 1950s and took British citizenship shortly thereafter. His wandering spirit has often found voice in his writing.

Famed for his earlier comic novels : A House for Mr. Biswas is a wonderfully picaresque book as well as his darker later ones. He has written seventeen novels and about as many works of non-fiction.

He is apparently not the nicest of men - dislikes the overweight passionately (although he is no Slim Jim himself) and has been disdainful of female writers in a manner that does not become him. An important and frankly extremely good writer even so.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2001 and he won the Booker Prize in 1971.

Naipaul please. He's on my TBR pile, you'd be helping me out.

So sorry to read about your mum, hope that you're able to visit soon.

I admire your book haul. Very nice. I loved Outline and (much longer ago) Like Water for Chocolate. And I must get back to the Gawande. Las time I checked the people of Lancashire were clearly as keen as LT members, and the reservation queue was as long as my arm.

I'm so sorry to hear about your mum. Here is hope that it gets better soon.

My vote goes to William Golding.

Wishing you and the family happy weekend.

Since we of similar vintage, even across the city with regular conversations I get those conversations ( mine currently wants to move across the city to be nearer to us) though the intensity will be more with the distance

I do hope your mum gets better & you find the time etc to visit soon ....

>226 charl08: I am conflicted on Naipaul, Charlotte. I thought Biswas was fantastic; I didn't like Guerillas at all, but I have enjoyed some of his non-fiction. I like his writing despite some of his opinions. I like some of Kipling's intentions even knowing that they are anachronistic but I find his writing hit and miss. Golding is a "serious" writer - makes me think but I don't always enjoy the experience of reading him.

I was specifically looking for something by Rachael Cusk as she would seem a good choice for the BAC, although I am not sure that the Canadians wouldn't cry foul! This is how somehow borders get blurred; born unmistakably Canadian, nominated for the Giller Prize but also vote one of Britain's Granta Best Young writers. I think perhaps Ilana will need her the year after more than I!

>227 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. I hope James Bond this evening can take my mind off my mum for a couple of hours!

>228 roundballnz: Hani would be happy to move back to the UK to be closer to my mum but has stipulated it musn't be somewhere that would be one public bus ride away!

I'll vote for Golding. I heard John Carey talk about him a few years ago and since then I've been meaning to read more Golding and Carey's biography, William Golding: The Man who Wrote Lord of the Flies.

I don't own anything by Golding or Kipling, so I'll vote for Naipaul, even though he is a detestable SOB.

>230 avatiakh: Kerry, I have that biography on the shelves and might try to read it next month. Cornwall is one of my favourite places and, although it doesn't permeate his writing to quite the extent of, say, Du Maurier, it does remind me that I want to go back there soon.

>231 kidzdoc: Darryl, you were in my thoughts this morning when I picked up Being Mortal and got drawn in. I thought immediately of some of your heart rending posts about seriously ill children and you exposed the human being inside the white coat before Gawande seems to do so successfully with his book.
Hahaha and I know on your Naipaul comments.

>232 PaulCranswick: I'm glad to hear that you're reading Being Mortal, Paul. It is the only book that I would claim that everyone must read. If you ever have the opportunity to see him speak in person I would highly recommend it. I saw him give a talk several years ago in San Francisco and was able to chat with him for several minutes after he finished. He is a great and very relaxed speaker, and is approachable and personable as well. (In comparison, I enjoyed attending Caryl Phillips's conversation with Linton Kwesi Johnson at Foyles several years ago, but he was very prickly when I chatted with him, although LKJ told a hilarious story about Atlanta when I spoke with him that had us all in tears of laughter, including Phillips.)

I absolutely adored A House for Mr. Biswas by Naipaul and it's probably the #1 book I would like to read again. If I ever met Naipaul in person I would probably praise him for that book, and suppress the urge to smack him in the mouth for his past racist comments, and for how he treated his first wife at the end of her life when she was dying of cancer.

Going with Naipaul - mostly because I've got a book of his in the TBR.

Doesn't sound like a very nice person, does he?

I'll vote for Naipaul because I have Mr. Biswas in my TBR stash.

If a vote for reading The Jungle Book to the kids counts, pop it in.

Hoping your mum's health improves soon, Paul.

ETA: for some reason, the square brackets don't take a hold unless I edit the post. I'm using an external keyboard with an iPad.

You are amazing,Paul , with the volume of books you can read and even give a mini - review. And then another Cranswickian Haul! Wonderful! So sorry to hear about your mum. I certainly would not cry foul is Rachel Cusk is considered to be British. She was born in Canada, but within 3 or 4 years moved to the USA and then shortly after to the UK. I think she regards herself as British.

I'll grab Nina's coattail and vote for Kipling as well. I recently found a very nice copy of The Jungle Books, and I'd like to read it to myself. Detested The Lord of the Flies, and have heard too much nastiness about Naipaul. If I miss one decent book because of it, so be it. I'd have to buy or borrow one of his to read it, and I'd rather not.

I'll be keeping you mom in my thoughts, Paul.

Sorry to hear your Mum's not feeling well. The distance makes it doubly hard for you all, I'm sure.

If I have a vote, it would be for William Golding, one of my favorite authors---but if he's chosen I would urge participants to read something other than Lord of the Flies.

>233 kidzdoc: I do get the impression that it is one of those essential reads, Darryl. Like your Caryl Phillips story but I am rather surprised that someone from my home area could be "prickly". Naipaul has dismissed the written work of all women and places himself well above the likes of Austen, the Brontes, Woolf and Eliot. Not slow at putting himself forward anyway. That said I have to repeat that the work of a younger man A House for Mr. Biswas is a real winner.

>234 Fourpawz2: No I don't think he is Charlotte and neither is Ernst Stavro Blofeld as I already knew but had confirmed watching the latest Bond film tonight. I am a fan so it played to the converted and I came home very happy.

>235 cbl_tn: Well it is certainly worth taking down from that shelf, Carrie.

>236 humouress: This keyboard on my laptop has its moments too Nina. I guess Kipling would be flabbergasted if he knew people could press buttons onto a screen and chat about his work in all corners of the globe.

>237 vancouverdeb: I wouldn't say that flattery gets you everywhere Deb, but it does see you quite a way down the road! I do have my moments on the old book buying front I'll allow. Thanks for the Cusk comment and I will certainly keep her in mind for future BACs.

>238 laytonwoman3rd: Could do a heck of a lot worse than Kipling. Some of his poetry is memorable and I may turn to that next year.
Linda sometimes people say things just to make themselves infamous ~ I don't think that Naipaul is one such; he is pretty irredeemable.

>239 scaifea: Thank you dear Amber. xx

>240 arubabookwoman: Thank you Deborah. I am fond of William Golding despite finding him a difficult writer to read.

Any of these three work for me. Although I would like to read a Naipaul at some point in my life.

My vote is for Kipling since he is one of those writers I've always meant to read but never actually gotten around to. *Not* interested in Naipaul (especially after finding out he believes himself greater than Austen!) and I have been actively avoiding Golding since high school.

Hope your mother is better soon!

Really hope your Mum gets better news - or they can get to the bottom of it and sort things out :/

My vote is for Golding. I have a few on the TBR and keep not quite getting to them.

I've been wanting to read A House for Mr. Biswas for a long time, so my vote goes to Naipaul. I won't judge the book according to the author's least palatable aspects. Second comes Golding. I love The Lord of the Flies myself, even if it isn't an easy read, but I would pick up Rites of Passage if he was picked.

eta: oh yes, as for Rachel Cusk, I certainly can't say she belongs on one challenge more than the other. I guess it'll be a question of who claims her first! ;-)

Hi Paul, sorry to hear that your mum is not well mate, hope everything gets sorted out quickly. Nothing wrong in shedding a manly tear mate and we will be thinking of you all and your mum mate.

>244 benitastrnad: I am going to have to check the votes carefully, Benita - if it is really too close to call I will exercise executive discretion! On the vote Atkinson / Gee / Barker, I actually preferred Barker but almost all the votes went to Atkinson that it would have made a mockery of the exercise to choose her.

>245 amanda4242: I think Kipling is a rewarding writer especially if his work is considered in the context of the time and circumstances he was living in. I prefer Naipaul's earlier work over his later stuff based on what I have read to date which is hardly exhaustive. I left school with a view of Golding's similar to you. I had an English teacher who at twelve had the class read in rota Lord of the Flies and discuss it as if we were a University Lit seminar. We weren't up to it at that age I'm afraid and it scarred me for Golding for a long while. I subsequently read The Spire and Pincher Martin and discovered that Golding, whilst challenging, brought something to literature not always seen - startling originality. I would recommend you throw your qualms to the four winds with him and pick something other than the book that made him famous and see what happens. xx

>246 BekkaJo: Lovely to see you Bekka. I will be calling her later in the day for an update and to brighten her day as I know she is pining for us all a little. My sister, is a solicitor who specialises in family law and particularly children who have been subject to abuse and she is, as a result, as hard as nails. Not the source of comfort, my mum, who is a delicate flower at the best of times, appreciates. Julie's (my sister) husband Tony is a great help to my mum and in between bouts of naked fear of his spouse is very helpful to both of them. My twin brother Peter runs a successful business in Wakefield with his own fire protection products but has always been fairly brusque with my mum and has little patience for her habit of setting out all her grievances (which are many and varied) every time he brings her the five or so miles to his home. His wife Nicola was a registered nurse and helps my mum with hospital visits but is herself an only child and has a mum and dad of her own not in the best of health. Which leaves Paul and Hani. I suppose I have smoother edges than Peter and Julie (who don't speak to each other by the way) and Hani is beloved greatly of her MIL as she has an OCDs energy to transform her cozy little home into a den of order and sparkling cleanliness. She misses us, I know, and I shall have to try and put work aside (or combine it a bit) and get back to UK for a bit.

>247 Smiler69: Very generous on Rachel Cusk my dear. I am not going to take advantage to the full this year since you have made your picks already so we'll leave that one until another year God willing!

>248 johnsimpson: No tears buddy just an unexplained watering of the eyes without an obvious cause and no onion in sight, hahaha. I don't know about you, John, but as I get older I do get a little more easily moved by my emotions than I had used to.
Oh and by the way, it will be my 50th birthday in September 2016 and we will be celebrating (together with my twin) in Leeds. I would be honoured if you and Karen could join us for it.

The same invite obviously goes to all my LT buddies and their spouses who would be able to make it - just give me a little notice so that we can organise you a place. It would be good to have an 75ers table for sure.

Hi Paul, hope your Mum is doing better soon. I have no preference for the 3 men of October but do confess to curiosity about Naipaul. I guess an overweening ego would be an advantage to a writer.

Glad to see I'm not too late to vote. I vote for Kipling.

>251 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg. Ego is fine, I think, but Naipaul's views can jar somewhat.

There is of course an element of facetiousness in some of the throwaway comments he has made as much for the impact of having said them as for the content itself.

This is an excellent article on Naipaul written and published in the Guardian just before he won the Nobel Prize. Despite myself I have to say that his winning was fully merited.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/sep/08/artsandhumanities.highereducati...

>252 thornton37814: With more than an hour to spare in fact, Lori. xx

There is a tie between Naipaul and Golding. Next one to vote for either wins. Otherwise in half an hour I'll have to make my own conflicted mind up.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE OCTOBER 2016

WILLIAM GOLDING



I couldn't in all good conscience in the event of a tie favour someone regarded by so many as a rascist, sexist homophobe. William Golding was none of those especially but his private life was far from unblemished with a sexual assault in his teens long on his conscience and his honesty in confronting his demons and clear remorse of his actions I suppose count in his favour.

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE NOVEMBER 2016

Late Victoriana. For November we will choose from three ladies born in the latter days of Queen Victoria's reign. It is a tough one really as I had a short list of five. I have dropped Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamund Lehman so the choice is between:

Vita Sackville-West

or

Rebecca West

or

Winifred Holtby

Vita Sackville-West



Details of her work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/vita-sackville-west/

Married to diplomat Howard Nicholson, they are said to have "shared" Virginia Woolf for a goodly while, she was the inspiration for Orlando and is today almost as famous for her gardening skills as she is for the books of novels and poetry she left us.

Twice winner of the Hawthornden Prize, her novels of the late twenties and early thirties are still highly regarded and as varied as was her amazingly prolific sex life.

Rebecca West



Details of her work here (some dates in error):

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/rebecca-west/

A very distinguished journalist and critic in addition to being an extremely able writer of fiction and non-fiction, West arguably deserves a place higher in the pecking order of 20th Century literature figures. Harry Truman declared her the world's greatest reporter.

A staunch anti-fascist and anti-communist despite being a supporter of the socialists in Britain. She was also sexually very prolific, if slightly more orthodox or consistent in her tastes than Sackville-West - her long-time liaison with H.G. Wells resulted in the birth of a son.

Winifred Hotlby



Details of her work here:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/winifred-holtby/

Who knows what she could have achieved had she lived a longer life. The posthumously published South Riding hinted at real greatness possible. What novels she did leave behind still provide plenty of grist for the mill of her admirers.

Yorkshire born (there are a lot of talented writers from my home county aren't there?!) and a fervent campaigner against sexism and racism. She was a lifelong friend of Vera Brittain and died of blood pressure related complications whilst still in her early forties.

>223 PaulCranswick: look how cool William Golding looks! Suave!

And I've never heard of any of the November ladies!

>262 PaulCranswick: There's me thinking scruffy!

All three ladies were all pioneer feminists in a way so it is a little sad that they should not be better remembered. West had a few of her books in the 1001 Book lists.

Hi Paul, my vote goes to Vita Sackville.

>263 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara. First up this Sunday.

Rebecca West for me. I have one of her books in my TBR stash. Anything by Holtby other than South Riding will be hard to come by here, and I've already read that one.

I think I could be satisfied with with any of the girls.

Good day, Paul! Yorkshire, eh? I'm pretty sure one of my sets of 3rd-great grandparents were from Masham. I've temporarily dropped the genealogical researches, but if I can retire 1st quarter of 2016, I might be able to get them going again.

The Aubrey Trilogy of Rebecca West sounds fascinating, so I might go check it out. In honor of Late Victoriana, I might re-read one of my favorite authors who would fit into that category - Dorothy L. Sayers.

Another one for Rebecca West who languishes unread on my TBR pile.

>265 cbl_tn: Very logical choice, Carrie. I have Return of the Soldier on the shelves.

>266 Fourpawz2: I think that is what Vita Sackville-West used to say!

Happy Sunday, Paul! How was the Bond film? It got a good review in our local paper. But does it need to be 2 1/2 hours? Really?

>267 karenmarie: Masham is famous for the production of one of the world's finest beers, Karen. Theakston's brewery produces Old Peculiar and Black Sheep beers that, in my view, are on a par with anything I have had elsewhere and believe me I have tried a few!

>268 charl08: Noted Charlotte; makes her the early front runner.

>270 msf59: It was a tad long Mark but I enjoyed it pretty much. Classic Bond shaken and stirred.

>269 PaulCranswick: I read The Return of the Soldier last year and loved it!

I wonder if Craig will return as Bond? Lots of speculation. He has done an admirable job.

>273 cbl_tn: I have been meaning to read it for a good while now Carrie so this may remove any further excuse!

>274 msf59: I think he has been brilliant, Mark, but it appears set up for him not to reappear.

I like the idea of Idris Elba being the new Bond. That would be a radical departure and he is such a good actor.

>269 PaulCranswick: - oh, Paul you made me laugh big-time! I so walked into that one, didn't I?

Oh, can't go wrong with me with any of these three women. I especially love Rebecca West, but I guess I'll put in a vote for Holtby, as I've been meaning to get to South Riding for so long.

All Passion Spent is among my all-time favourite novels, but I think my vote would go to one of the other two ladies as I haven't anything else by Sackville-West on the tbr. On the other hand, I've had Anderby Wold and The Fountain Overflows in the stacks for a while. Have read The Return of the Soldier twice and highly recommend it. Love your quip about Sackville-West! :-)

William Golding...making it difficult for me to read the complete set next year. Oh well, I'll suffer through him.

Winifred Holtby looks interesting but my library doesn't have anything by her, so I'll vote for Rebecca West.

>250 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, Karen and I would be honoured to attend your 50th birthday party mate, it will be so nice to see you and the family again and for Karen to meet you all and to meet your mum and the rest of your Yorkshire family.

>277 msf59: I have seen him mentioned Mark and he is a good actor but in my mind's eye I don't see him as Bond. If I was casting I would go for Damian Lewis. Clive Owen would have been ideal but he is already 51 and Tom Hardy at 5 ft 9 is probably a little short.

>278 Fourpawz2: I couldn't help myself, Charlotte - as she may also have explained to you. xx

>279 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, I am pleased that this selection pleases. I wanted to go with this era as I do think that these wonderful writers and the few I didn't shortlist don't get the attention they deserve these days.

>280 Smiler69: Thanks Ilana - unlike the last male selection there seems to be no adverse feelings about any of them which bodes well. I am fascinated by the liberality and lasciviousness of some of the ladies of that era - it seems that, in the aftermath of the 'Great War' many barriers came down and the Second World War re-erected some of them.

>281 amanda4242: Amanda, as you know, your efforts in reading so many books for the BAC challenge has had me in awe and appreciative bliss this year and long may it continue. As I said, I had exactly your feelings on Golding when I left school but after a remove of about a dozen years I read a couple of his and got plenty from them. I would recommend The Spire.

>282 johnsimpson: Thanks mate, that is good to know.

Hi, Paul! Thanks for stopping by my thread ~ I left a couple of links that discuss a number of popular/best-selling novels that were begun as part of NaNoWriMo.

You've been busy, I see, since last I visited. Just a few brief comments: I read only one Lessing novel, The Cleft, which I liked though it was very weird. Very weird. Haven't read anything else by her though I've been meaning to. As for the three choices for November, I've heard of Sackville-West and West, but haven't read anything by either of them. If I were voting, though, I'd pick Vita Sackville-West for her name alone.

Hope you had a great weekend!

>285 Storeetllr: Nice to see you as always Mary. I haven't read that one by Lessing, but I do find her the most inconsistent of writers. Weekend done and a slightly sore eye has ensued which hopefully will not slow me down too much.