Revisiting My 2017 Reading List

[osprey_archer]

Still trotting away on my 2015 book log list (only Project Hail Mary holding me back now!), but I wrapped up 2016 so I decided it was time to post the author list for 2017.

Barbara Cooney - Only Opal (a picture book about Opal Whiteley, one of my minor obsessions)

Jane Langton - Her Majesty Grace Jones

Gary Paulsen - The Cookcamp

E. M. Delafield - The Provincial Lady in London I’ll finally continue the Provincial Lady books, unless someone has another recommendation

Chris Van Allsburg - A Kingdom Far and Clear (illustrated by Allsburg rather than written by him, but it’s a Swan Lake retelling so I’ve been meaning to take a crack at it)

E. F. Benson - Queen Lucia (I’m going to give the Mapp and Lucia novels a go! Should I start at the beginning (Queen Lucia) or is this one of those series where order doesn’t matter, in which case where should I start?)

Carol Ryrie Brink - Mademoiselle Misfortune I’ve read all the more easily available ones at this point. Tempted by Four Girls on a Homestead or Strangers in the Forest just for their titles.

C. S. Lewis - The Discarded Image I’ve read all the famous ones, I think. Leaning toward The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature right now.

E. Nesbit - The Phoenix and the Carpet

Kate Seredy - The Open Gate

Emily Arnold McCully - Starring Mirette and Bellini (I realize I didn’t post about this one. An inferior sequel to Mirette on the High Wire.)

Julia L. Sauer - Mike’s House

Ngaio Marsh - Singing in the Shrouds

Sarah Pennypacker - Pax (I’ve wanted to read this for YEARS based purely on the Jon Klassen cover. Hopefully the book lives up to it.)

Daphne Du Maurier - Simply couldn't do another Du Maurier at this time. Before this challenge I did about one a year and I think that's actually the right interval. (I’m thinking it’s going to be The House on the Strand, but open to persuasion if you have words in favor of The Scapegoat, Frenchman’s Creek, or The King’s General.)

William Dean Howells - My Mark Twain

Randa Abdel-Fattah - Does My Head Look Big in This?

Edward Eager - Red Head Another one I didn’t review. A rhyming picture book about a red-headed boy who runs away from home because he’s so cross about being called Red all the time, but he learns to appreciate his red hair when it lights his way home. Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. Slight. Not up there with Mouse Manor.

Comments

[regshoe]

I haven't read the other three, but The House on the Strand is a vividly memorable book and I think it would be a good choice!

Huh, I did not know red hair was bioluminescent.

[osprey_archer]

I believe the bioluminscent hair is an exaggeration for the purpose of the book, haha. There's a scene where he's standing on the cliffs by the shore and accidentally serves as a lighthouse.

[grrlpup]

I'm excited about Her Majesty, Grace Jones! It has a scene that unfailingly makes me laugh out loud no matter how many times I read it.

[osprey_archer]

Oh, that's good to know! Looking forward to reading it even more now.

[ethelmay]

I should find a copy of The Majesty of Grace Jones. I remember liking it but don't think I own it. I do have the sequel, The Boyhood of Grace Jones, which I am very fond of.

[asakiyume]

You've read a lot on this list! This is your 2017 authors list?

[osprey_archer]

Yes, these are all authors I read in 2017. The idea of this book log challenge is to go back through the book log and write down the authors I want to read more books by and then read a book by each author. (Each author can have only one entry on the challenge, even if I read 50 books by them in a particular year, because otherwise the challenge would get totally bogged down in certain authors.)

The original idea was that I would, perhaps, finish finish one year before moving on to the next. However, as much as I like lists, I am also bad at confining myself to lists, so I'm always skipping ahead and starting the next list while still finishing up the previous list. (Case in point, I actually made my 2018 list yesterday. The snow had trapped me inside! I was bored!) Which is why I'm always posting these lists with half a dozen items already crossed out. Maybe I should just go ahead and post the 2018 list to cut myself off at the pass?

[rachelmanija]

What did you think of The Phoenix and the Carpet?

[osprey_archer]

I posted about it here. Enjoyable but the children stressed me out because they seem so accident-prone. Obviously for genre reasons I knew they would come through unscathed but a part of me was still expecting someone to fall off something and die in France.

[sartorias]

You really need to read the Mapp and Lucia books in order. (Though I think Lucia in London can be skipped)

[osprey_archer]

Thank you! Very useful information!

[skygiants]

I don't think The Scapegoat is very GOOD but I can't say I didn't have an entertaining time reading it ....

[osprey_archer]

I think this time I'm going for The House on the Strand, but there will be more Du Mauriers on future lists (I hadn't realized I'd been chugging along so steadily through her oeuvre, but she keeps popping up) and at some point I must give The Scapegoat a try.