Litwit Lounge discussion

Here's our annual thread where we invite you to look back on the year just past, and single out a few of your top reads for special mention. (Personally, I try to pick my top five. That's usually a challenge!)

I wanted to wait until I'd finished my reading for the year before making my picks. Strictly speaking, I haven't, since there are almost two more weeks left in 2020; but for right now, until I start my 2021 reads, I'm just reading in a very thick short story anthology, and won't be adding any more finished books to my read shelf. This year, picking my top five favorite reads isn't easy, although the top spot definitely goes to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

For the runner-up list, competition is fierce. :-) Quite a few books I read this year earned five stars from me. But for special recognition, I think I'll single out: The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Daughter of the Legend by Jesse Stuart; The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy; and The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft.

This is a nice idea :) I can never remember what I've read very far back at all though, so the GR challenge is a great reminder. I don't use it as a challenge as such, as my reading is so spasmodic; I can spend 3 months really teasing out a novel by Charles Dickens, and not be able to read much else at all except maybe a short story here and there. Other times, I can read more. So I adjust the "challenge" to suit.

My top picks then are Charles Dickens's own favourite, David Copperfield, which never fails to lift my spirits, and the remarkable fantasy The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. For nonfiction I choose The Animal Contract by Desmond Morris, which packs a powerful punch for a short book my favourite children's story was The Boy and the Magic by Colette - that particular edition with illustrations by Gerard Hoffnung, and my favourite collection of short stories, Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams. These would be my top 5 choices overall.

In other categories they are: plays: Three Time Plays by J.B. Priestley; poetry: Sailing to an island by Richard Murphy; crime/mystery: Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey.

I've only read 2 of your top 5, Werner!

Jean wrote: "I've only read 2 of your top 5, Werner!"

Well, that's probably understandable. :-) Lovecraft wouldn't be your cup of tea, and from what I can gather from reading as many of your reviews as I have, you don't seem to be very drawn towards medieval historical fiction. My attraction to Jesse Stuart's writing is much influenced by my own long residence in Appalachia, which is a factor that doesn't operate in your case.

I've only read one of your top five, David Copperfield. (And for the most part, I don't read single short stories in electronic format, though I do it at times.) But I do like Philip K. Dick, and have read a different collection of stories by him!

You're right, Werner, from what little I've seen I would not like H.P. Lovecraft - but have been told that Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company is very good, so it's vaguely on my list :)

Hmm - not medieval fiction eh? Of course I immediately began to wonder. I've read The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White very recently, but you're right, it did not capture my imagination nearly as much as it did many years ago, and I found the style far too whimsically self-indulgent. Otherwise, I have enjoyed stories about Cadfael by Ellis Peters - and of course one of my favourite authors M.R. James was inspired by all things medieval ... but other than that I admit I am struggling! I know little about Appalachia (except a folk tale you told me of in your reviews) - but it always conjures up a wonderful piece of music by Aaron Copland for me: "Appalachian Spring". Even now I can see the cover of my LP record in my mind's eye - so you can see how long that's been a favourite :)

It's funny, because only yesterday I asked Chris which American classics he'd actually read, and he couldn't get above counting them on one hand (yet give him a line of English poetry and he'll quote you the rest of the poem!) I think sometimes we don't fully realise our own tastes!

I'm afraid I've altered my choices slightly - sorry! It was a late night post, and I shouldn't really have included one author twice ... also, as I said, I tend to forget what I have read - or how good something was!

Jean wrote: "I'm afraid I've altered my choices slightly - sorry! It was a late night post, and I shouldn't really have included one author twice ... also, as I said, I tend to forget what I have read - or how good something was!"

Well, your alteration didn't change my comment. :-) I've never read anything by Colette.

Ever since Goodreads created its feature for reviewing "20__ on Goodreads" every year, I've kept a running, numbered list of the book titles I've read each year, on a half-sheet of copier paper (I use both sides, of course!), with a note of the number of stars I gave it. (I update it every time I do a review of a newly-read book.) Otherwise, I'd never be able to remember them either!

I used to write book titles and cryptic symbols in my diary (it was a small diary!) and then found out my brother did exactly the same thing :) But I stopped when I joined Goodreads, thinking most ways of recording were covered.

Your post mentioned "single short stories in electronic format", which could have referred to something I'd deleted; I'm glad it didn't! Usually I'm quite careful to enter the exact edition I read, and add it to the database if it isn't there. But for single stories, which may be in a collection I have (physical or kindle), I do enter a different edition, if I happen to want to review it separately. This is true of many classics. Philip K. Dick's stories are mostly available in several different collections, and some are even in the public domain now.

Jean wrote: "But I stopped when I joined Goodreads, thinking most ways of recording were covered."

Goodreads' "Your Year in Books" feature would theoretically give you the same information in one place, without having to click on multiple records in "My Books" to see the date finished (though it usually doesn't show your star ratings). It's not foolproof, though. This year, when I first clicked on my 2020 in Books, it was missing two story collections, because when I finished the reviews, I'd forgotten to enter the date I finished the books. (I've corrected that omission now, though!)

My reference to short e-stories that you quoted was actually made because I'd just assumed that you'd read the Dickens story (that you mentioned in your original post) in that format. (So I was explaining why my list didn't have anything comparable.) But as you pointed out, single short stories can actually be read in physical editions too! And yes, I appreciate the careful job you do of linking your reviews --of books and stories-- to the exact edition you're reviewing. (I don't always do it as conscientiously myself, but I do usually cite the edition I read in the review itself, especially if that review is linked to a different edition.)

My favourite book has been one that has not been translated into English yet, unfortunately: Historias de Mujeres (Stories of Women) by Spanish author Rosa Montero. It is a collection of short biographies - three or four pages each - on women from different countries who have made their mark in the world. Some in a positive sense - painters, sculptors, scientists - and others in the most negative sense - killers.

I also loved Madam Crowl's Ghost & Other Stories by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu - I have always had a soft spot for this author - and Lodo (Mud) by Mexican novelist Guillerno Fadanelli. My review in Spanish of this book is on this site.

This year I have noticed some seriously good articles more than books - I have read so many awful books this year! lesson learned: never follow hypes - and I have especially enjoyed those in Ernest Journal, Taproot magazine and ''Teach Yourself Italian'' by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Yurena wrote: "I also loved Madam Crowl's Ghost & Other Stories by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu - I have always had a soft spot for this author"

Le Fanu is a brilliant writer of supernatural fiction! I've read two books by him (though none this past year), and rated both of them highly.

I am also a fan of LeFanu. I have a collection called In a Glass Darkly, which is composed of five stories from the casebook of Dr. Hesselius, as well as the Dover collection Best Ghost Stories of J. S. LeFanu, which includes four of those stories as well as many others. I'll have to check out the collection you mention to see if there are other stories I've not seen.

Best Ghost Stories of J. S. Le Fanu got five stars from me.