Tag: A Century of Books project

A Century of Books! How Am I Doing? FINAL Report

~ whatmeread ~ 14 Comments

I’m done! I finished the last book on April 27th!

In January 2024, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing? I was trying to finish by the end of December, but I clearly didn’t make it.

There are no longer any holes in my project. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: complete!
  • 1935-1944: complete!
  • 1945-1954: complete!
  • 1955-1964: complete!
  • 1965-1974: complete!
  • 1975-1984: complete!
  • 1985-1994: complete!
  • 1995–2004: complete!
  • 2005-2014: complete!
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Between March 28 and April 27, I read the following books. The ones for this project are listed in bold:

  • Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts for 1945
  • Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante for 1948
  • Lanark by Alasdair Gray for 1981
  • Luckier Than Most by David Tomlinson for 1990
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson for 2003
  • Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan for 2007
  • Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke for 2017
  • Treacle Walker by Alan Garner for 2021
  • Clear by Carys Davies for 2024
  • Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd for 2025

Yes, beginning in April, I only had three more books to go, and they nearly killed me! Reviews to come.

A Century of Books! How Am I Doing? December Report

~ whatmeread ~ 6 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for this month below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: complete!
  • 1935-1944: entry needed for 1939
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for 1948 and 1950
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for 1955 and 1960
  • 1965-1974: entry needed for 1973
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1983
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 1998, 1999, and 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for 2005, 2006, and 2007
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Since November 27, I read the following books. As we’re closing in on the end of the year, I decided to mark the ones that fill one of my holes in bold from now on. I was trying to fit in novellas for Novellas in November and some nonfiction in November, so I did poorly on this project in November. This month I tried to read mostly books for this project, but I read fewer books because of the holidays.

  • Elizabeth and Essex by Lytton Strachey from 1928
  • The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier from 1957
  • Levels of the Game by John McPhee from 1969
  • A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters from 1977
  • Cousin Rosamund by Rebecca West from 1985
  • A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride from 2013
  • The New Life by Tom Crewe from 2023
  • The Winter Spirits by various authors from 2023

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? October Report

~ whatmeread ~ 11 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for this month below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1928
  • 1935-1944: entry needed for 1939
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for 1948 and 1950
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for 1955, 1957, 1960, and 1964
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for 1969 and 1973
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1975, 1976, 1978, and 1980
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years except 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1992
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 1998, 1999, and 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

This month my reading was slowed down by a couple of big honkers, especially The Possessed or Devils by Dostoevsky, which is too early to qualify for my project. However, as you can see, I really buckled down trying to fill the holes in my project. Since September 25, I read the following books. As we’re closing in on the end of the year, I decided to mark the ones that fill one of my holes in bold from now on:

  • Devils (The Possessed) by Fyodor Dostoevsky from 1873 (too early)
  • The Camomile by Catherine Carwell from 1922 (too early for this project)
  • The Islandman by Tomás O’Crohan from 1929
  • Highland Fling by Nancy Mitford from 1931
  • Young Man with a Horn by Dorothy Baker from 1938
  • Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie from 1945
  • I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith from 1949
  • School for Love by Olivia Manning from 1951
  • The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath from 1963
  • Picnic at Hanging Rock by John Lindsay from 1967
  • The Home by Penelope Mortimer from 1971
  • Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba from 2008
  • The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King from 2012
  • Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton from 2016
  • The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye from 2017
  • Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the Marriage that Shook Europe by John Guy and Julia Fox from 2023

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? September Report

~ whatmeread ~ 4 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for this month below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1928, 1929, and 1931
  • 1935-1944: entry needed for 1939
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for 1945, 1948, 1949, and 1950
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for 1967, 1969, 1971, and 1973
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1975, 1976, 1978, and 1983
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years except 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1992
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 1998, 1999, and 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Since August 28, I read the following books:

  • Maitland: Scenes from Scottish Life by Margaret Oliphant from 1851 (too early for this project)
  • Germinal by Émile Zola from 1885 (too early)
  • Dead Ernest by Alice Tilton from 1944
  • The Chateau by William Maxwell from 1961
  • Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie from 1970
  • Fifth Business by Robertson Davies from 1970
  • Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer from 1970
  • Tropical Issue by Dorothy Dunnett from 1983
  • Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham from 1989
  • I’m Not Your Eve by Devika Ponnambalam from 2022
  • The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves from 2024

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? July Report

~ whatmeread ~ 2 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for April below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1927-29 and 1931
  • 1935-1944: entries needed for 1939 and 1944
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for 1945, 1948, 1949, and 1950
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1962
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for 1967, 1969, 1971, and 1973
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1975, 1976, and 1978
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years except 1987, 1992, and 1988
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 1998, 1999, and 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Since June 26 I read the following books:

  • These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer from 1926
  • The Listening House by Mabel Seeley from 1938
  • Miss Granby’s Secret by Eleanor Farjeon from 1940
  • Village Story by Celia Buckmaster from 1951
  • The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West from 1956
  • The Heather Blazing by Colm Toíbín from 1992
  • The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett from 1998
  • The Time of Women by Elena Chizhova from 2009
  • Memorial by Bryan Washington from 2020
  • Glory by Noviolet Bulawayo (DNF) from 2022
  • Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein from 2022
  • In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas from 2023

I’m on vacation this week and next, so I haven’t been making much progress lately.

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? June Report

~ whatmeread ~ 4 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for April below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1926-29 and 1931
  • 1935-1944: entries needed for 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1944
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for all years except 1946, 1947, 1952, 1953, and 1954
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1962
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for 1967, 1969, 1971, and 1973
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1975, 1976, and 1978
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years except 1987 and 1988
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 1998, 1999, and 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

This month I read the following books:

Not eligible for this project, unfortunately, because written too early:

  • The Book of Dede Korkut by Anonymous from the 12th or 13th century
  • The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins from 1873

Eligible and read since May 29th:

  • Turn, Magic Wheel by Dawn Power from 1936
  • Table Two by Marjorie Wilenski from 1942
  • The House Opposite by Barbara Noble from 1943
  • The Killings at Badgers Drift by Carolyn Graham from 1987
  • The Birds of the Innocent Wood by Dierdre Madden from 1988
  • Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs from 1998
  • The Topeka School by Ben Lerner from 2019
  • The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride from 2023
  • My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor from 2023
  • The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese from 2023
  • Deep Beneath Us by Catriona McPherson from 2024

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? May Report

~ whatmeread ~ 4 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for April below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1926-29 and 1931
  • 1935-1944: entries needed for all years except 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941, and 1943
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for all years except 1946, 1947, 1952, 1953, and 1954
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1962
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for 1967, 1969, and 1973
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1975, 1976, and 1978
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 1999 and 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Read since April 24th:

Unfortunately, too early to be counted, The Prophet’s Mantle by Fabian Bland (E. Nesbit) from 1885

Books that count:

  • The Shutter of Snow by Emily Holmes Coleman from 1930
  • Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz from 1937 (DNF)
  • Westwood by Stella Gibbons from 1946
  • The Dark Fantastic by Margaret Echard from 1947
  • Spam Tomorrow by Verily Anderson from 1956
  • Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker from 1962
  • Endless Night by Agatha Christie from 1968
  • Ibiza Surprise by Dorothy Dunnett from 1970
  • The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons from 1978
  • Killing Me Softly by Nicci French from 1999
  • La Rochelle by Michael Nath from 2010
  • The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli from 2010
  • Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown from 2020
  • After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz from 2021
  • Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley from 2022
  • The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer from 2023 (DNF)
  • The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright from 2023
  • Weyward by Emilia Hart from 2023
  • North Woods by Daniel Mason from 2023