2018 is going to be the year of A Century of Books – henceforth to be known as ACOB. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here before, only on Twitter, but hopefully it’s not too late for people to join in if they’d like to.
What is ACOB, you ask? Back in 2012, I thought it would be fun to try to read and review a book for every year of the 20th century – not in order – and various people joined in, with different targets. Some wanted one book for each decade; some wanted to do it over 2, 3, or 4 years. Essentially, you can make up your own rules. I think Claire from The Captive Reader was the only other person aiming to do 1900-1999 in one year, and… we both did! Here’s what Claire read, and here’s what I read. My post also has some stats and tips; Claire also has some helpful hints on how to get the most from ACOB.
I’m thrilled to say that Claire is doing it again this year! My century is shifting a bit – I’m going to do 1919-2018 – and I’ll keep track of the reviews on this page. If you’d like to, please do join in in whatever form you choose – I certainly found it one of the most rewarding and enjoyable (and, in the final month or so, frustrating!) reading projects I’ve ever undertaken. The best thing about it is that it is the anti-project, as you can more or less read at whim – at least for the first two-thirds of the year…
Let me know if you’re joining in, and… here we go!
1919 – The Sheik by E.M. Hull
1920 – In the Mountains by Elizabeth von Arnim
1921 – Mr Waddington of Wyck by May Sinclair
1922 – The Lark by E. Nesbit
1923 – Sphinx by David Lindsay
1924 – Bill the Conqueror by P.G. Wodehouse
1925 – The Human Machine by Arnold Bennett
1926 – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
1927 – Leadon Hill by Richmal Crompton
1928 – As Far As Jane’s Grandmother’s by Edith Olivier
1929 – First and Last by V.L. Whitechurch
1930 – Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
1931 – Buttercups and Daisies by Compton Mackenzie
1932 – Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
1933 – A Thatched Roof by Beverley Nichols
1934 – Concert Pitch by Theodora Benson
1935 – Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
1936 – The Birds by Frank Baker
1937 – Hunt the Slipper by Violet Trefusis
1938 – Excellent Intentions by Richard Hull
1939 – The Priory by Dorothy Whipple
1940 – The Cat’s Cradle Book by Sylvia Townsend Warner
1941 – Soap Behind the Ears by Cornelia Otis Skinner
1942 – House-Bound by Winifred Peck
1943 – We Followed Our Hearts to Hollywood by Emily Kimbrough
1944 – Company in the Evening by Ursula Orange
1945 – The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen
1946 – Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood
1947 – Tell It to a Stranger by Elizabeth Berridge
1948 – The Plague and I by Betty Macdonald
1949 – By Auction by Denis Mackail
1950 – Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty Macdonald
1951 – Lise Lillywhite by Margery Sharp
1952 – The Gentlewomen by Laura Talbot
1953 – Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
1954 – The Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp
1955 – Onions in the Stew by Betty Macdonald
1956 – The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
1957 – Tea with Walter de la Mare by Russell Brain
1958 – The Sweet and Twenties by Beverley Nichols
1959 – The Young Ones by Diana Tutton
1960 – The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
1961 – Albert the Dragon by Rosemary Weir
1962 – Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
1963 – Two By Two by David Garnett
1964 – Further Adventures of Albert the Dragon by Rosemary Weir
1965 – The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
1966 – Random Commentary by Dorothy Whipple
1967 – Stonecliff by Robert Nathan
1968 – Several Perceptions by Angela Carter
1969 – The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
1970 – A Tale of Two Families by Dodie Smith
1971 – A Meaningful Life by L.J. Davis
1972 – The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor
1973 – The Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn
1974 – Mrs Harris Goes to Moscow by Paul Gallico
1975 – Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban
1976 – Just Between Ourselves by Alan Ayckbourn
1977 – Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff
1978 – Albert’s World Tour by Rosemary Weir
1979 – The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
1980 – Desirable Residence by Lettice Cooper
1981 – Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon
1982 – The High Path by Ted Walker
1983 – Another Time, Another Place by Jessie Kesson
1984 – According to Mark by Penelope Lively
1985 – Unexplained Laughter by Alice Thomas Ellis
1986 – The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace
1987 – Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
1988 – Man of the Moment by Alan Ayckbourn
1989 – The Education of Harriet Hatfield by May Sarton
1990 – Touching the Rock by John M. Hull
1991 – Ride a Cockhorse by Raymond Kennedy
1992 – The Devil’s Candy by Julie Salamon
1993 – Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
1994 – When Heaven Is Silent by Ron Dunn
1995 – An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
1996 – Silence in October by Jens Christian Grøndahl
1997 – Naked by David Sedaris
1998 – Family Man by Calvin Trillin
1999 – An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
2000 – Letters From the Editor by Harold Ross
2001 – The Real Mrs Miniver by Ysenda Maxtone Graham
2002 – The Pelee Project by Jane Christmas
2003 – Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras
2004 – A Reading Diary by Alberto Manguel
2005 – The Curtain by Milan Kundera
2006 – Mr Thundermug by Cornelius Medvei
2007 – Two Lives by Janet Malcolm
2008 – Who Was Sophie? by Celia Robertson
2009 – Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
2010 – Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
2011 – The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
2012 – The Other Mitford: Pamela’s Story by Diana Alexander
2013 – Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
2014 – The Reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
2015 – Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
2016 – Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
2017 – Scribbles in the Margins by Daniel Gray
2018 – Bookworm by Lucy Mangan
