Having said that I wasn’t sure what I’d do for a reading project in 2019, I have a brainwave the other day. I am still thinking of informally joining in with Karen’s very popular Back to the Classics challenge (many thanks to those who recommended it!) but I also have a more idiosyncratic project of my own: books with people’s names in the title.
I think this features in a few other challenges as a category, but I’ve decided I’ll read as many as I can this year. At the moment I’m not setting a concrete target – I initially thought I’d aim for fifty, but then I decided to use it as a guiding principle for selecting my reading, rather than a fixed goal.
I’ve been through my unread books and, at a rough count, I have 145 candidates on my shelves. And that’s just fiction – there are obviously quite a few more if I like at my biography shelves.
Why do I like this project? Well, it answered several things I was looking for post-A Century of Books:
- I need some structure! Coming off ACOB straight into unbridled reading felt too loose.
- I can read from my shelves.
- There’s lots of choice, and a lot of variety – no pre-determination about what the books are likely to be like.
- It’ll make me pick things off my shelves that might otherwise have been neglected.
So, watch this space! You might not notice it’s happening – just that a preponderance of people’s names turn up. Or I might set up a separate page, we’ll see.
And if you want to join in, please do! And feel free to add suggestions and recommendations, though I’ll be trying to do it from my shelves as much as possible.
This sounds like a very good idea. Will you also do books with just half a name (first name only, last name only) as well?
Yep! As long as there’s a first name or surname or something in there, it’s eligible.
This is your chance to finally read “Stoner”. Have you read “Lila” too?
Oh, is Stoner his name? I have 146 candidates! (I also thought I’d got rid of it when I moved, but it is apparently still here.) And yes, love Lila! Excited that there will be a fourth in the series at some point.
I think you would enjoy both Stoner and Lila.
That sounds like a fun, and very loose, challenge! So much scope, especially if it makes you read from the TBR and gives you the flexibility to go to other stuff if the mood takes you. I expect to see lots of books from 1965 with names in the title in April… ;)
Love this idea. What fun!
That sounds like a fun and unusual challenge, while still allowing you room to manoeuvre.
Here are some that come to mind:
Dalila by Jason Donald
https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/106/1062144/jason-donald.html
Adele by Leila Slimani (the title in French isn’t a name, but the English translation is)
https://www.waterstones.com/book/adele/leila-slimani/9780571331956
There is an excellent Romanian book called Enigma Otiliei (The Secret of Otilia), but I don’t think it has been translated into English. However, there is a film based on it which has not one but two names: Felix and Otilia – 1971. Could be worth trying to unearth it.
And then of course all the classics:
Moll Flanders, Daisy Miller, Agnes Grey, Jane Eyre, Pamela, Therese Raquin, Hedda Gabler, Pippi Longstocking (my personal favourite), Salome, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Shirley, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Mapp and Lucia…
Very clever! If this is successful you could try books with place names in the title as your next challenge. Just looking at my own TBR, I’ve got Cannery Row, Green Dolphin Street, The Golden State, London Belongs to Me, Reservoir 13, etc. Good luck!
London Belongs to Me is WONDERFUL. Collins also wrote Bond Street Story which is also excellent. I also love Cannery Row, parts of it are really funny. And I also own Green Dolphin Street (bought for Simon’s 1944 Club but still unread — I hope to get to it soon).
Oo good idea, Ruthiella! I suspect I have rather fewer, but certainly some.
What a great idea!
Although the following books might not be sitting on your shelves, neverless some suggestions:
Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate
Agatha Christies, At Betram’s Hotel, both published 1965
Two names in the title:
Doris Lessing, Mara and Dann
Julian Barnes, Arthur and George
And last but not least, a lighter reading, first published in 1965 AND two names in the title:
A Charlie Brown Christmas :)
Happy reading!
Oo is Mandelbaum somebody’s name? Perfect!
I like the idea of this. I might look on my shelves and see how many names in titles I have. I like the idea of places in titles too. Will be fun to follow and I might do a few, if I have them. I loved Stoner. We did it for book group.
Thanks for the mention (and I’m so pleased that you think the challenge is very popular!). I will probably bring back Name in the Title for next year, that’s such a fun category with so many possibilities. Some of my favorites that you might like (if you haven’t read them already):
Lucy Gayheart by Willa Cather; (also My Antonia);
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton;
Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope (he wrote quite a few with proper names, this one is relatively short)
Lady Audley’s Secret (wonderful over-the-top Victorian sensation)
Good luck with your challenge, I look forward to reading about it! And now I’m off to count how many names-in-the-title are on my unread shelves!
I have both the Cathers unread on my shelves, perfect!
Wendell Berry would be good, like Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter!
What an interesting idea. You could add Missing Fay by Adam Thorpe to your list
I love this idea and it seems you are well-supplied for it with 140+ books to choose from! Just looking at a quick survey of the bookshelf closest to my desk I realise I have 40+ plus books on it alone that would qualify thanks to authors like Georgette Heyer, Anthony Trollope, D.E. Stevenson, and, most of all, P.G. Wodehouse. I won’t join you (trying to wrap up ACOB) but look forward to seeing what you read!
Thanks Claire! It does seem – by my not-very-scientific sampling – to have been more popular to include people’s names until about forty years ago. Which I can live with, for sure!
Exciting idea – I’ll look forward to reading about these!
This is such a great idea – I love how it provides structure without the book content getting “same-y”. Best of luck!
Ooooooh what an interesting approach! It allows so much scope for variety in your reading, literally almost any genre or time period will offer you something with someone’s name in the title so you’re not locked in to a year of anything in particular. I love it!
Thanks Sheree!