I found this great meme created by The Book Jotter (via Helen's blog, She Reads Novels). The idea is to look back at the books you've read in the first six months of the year. Book Jotter created a lot of great categories. I've tried to choose different books for each category, though some of my authors repeat. I've read some great books so far this year, and I'm definitely starting to see which books will make my favorites for the year.
Six Books From Authors I Know Will Never Let Me Down:
- The Doll: Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier
- Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym
- The Unrest Cure and Other Stories by Saki
- He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
- They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
- The Girl on the Boat by P. G. Wodehouse
Six Trips Abroad:
- Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang
- Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser (France)
- The Lost City of Z by David Grann (The Amazon)
- Kim by Rudyard Kipling (India)
- The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston (Italy)
- Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojurn in Kyoto by Victoria Abbott Riccardi (Japan)
Six Persephone Classics:
- Midsummer Night in the Workhouse by Diana Athill
- The Squire by Enid Bagnold
- The Runaway by Anna Elizabeth Hart
- Few Eggs and No Oranges: The Diaries of Vere Hodgson, 1940-1945
- House-Bound by Winifred Peck
- Wilfred and Eileen by Jonathan Smith
Six From the Non-Fiction Shelf:
- Jane Austen's England by Lesley Atkins
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Caine
- Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
- The Sisters: The Story of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell
- Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
- Among the Janeites by Deborah Yaffe
Six Authors I Look Forward to Reading More Of:
- Kate Atkinson (Life After Life)
- Elizabeth Jane Howard (The Light Years)
- Nancy Mitford (The Blessing)
- Irene Nemirovsky (Suite Francaise)
- Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch)
- Stefan Zweig (The Post-Office Girl)
Six Authors I Read Last Year, But Not So Far This Year:
- Isabel Allende (The House of the Spirits)
- Jane Austen (The Annotated Pride and Prejudice)
- A. S. Byatt (The Children's Book)
- Charles Dickens (The Old Curiosity Shop)
- Neil Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane)
- Penelope Lively (Making it Up)
Bloggers, how were your first six months of reading this year?
This is a fun little meme, isn't it? I've enjoyed reading your choices! Daphne du Maurier is an author who has never let me down either, but The Doll is one I haven't read yet. And I'm looking forward to reading more Kate Atkinson too, after reading Life After Life last year.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a wonderful six months of reading. Trollope is on my list as an author I've read for the first time and loved, and I have a feeling he'll be making it onto my list of authors I know won't let me down in years to come.
ReplyDeleteLove this annual meme.... and your topics. I'll have to play later this week!
ReplyDeleteFun meme! My first six months of reading has been EXCELLENT this year. I've been doing more diverse reading, which has yielded some marvelous results and some duds, in approximately equal proportion to the marvel/dud ratio of the reading I've done in past years. So overall I'm pretty happy with 2014. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your list of authors who do not let you down, except for Dorothy Whipple. I don't know her but probably I should. You can add Graham Greene to the list on my behalf!
ReplyDeleteAnother fun meme--I particularly like the "never let me down" and "read last year" categories. I do tend to read authors I know and like--part of my need to read everything by an author I like.
ReplyDeleteI was actually a bit disappointed with Isaac's Storm--I'm an Erik Larson fan, but didn't feel it was up to Devil in the White City or In the Garden of the Beasts.
I still want to read Quiet :)
I love this idea! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yep, Trollope and Wodehouse never let me down either.
Wonderful! Some brilliant contemporary fiction has been published this year. Especially loved Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and the brilliant memoir My Salinger Year. Love your Persephone List!
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