Reading 1001 discussion

The authors for August Coover through Diaz.

Books over 600 pages are not included and books that have been past botm in 2023 are not included. Voting for the botm starts today and ends on the 24th when the winners will be announced.

Randomizer selection: Only books that have not been previous botm (*) in past 10 years (2015 +) will be added to the randomizer. Each book you choose that has not been previously botm in the past 10 years will be fed into the randomizer for an opportunity to be chosen by the randomizer. Books excluded: A Home at the End of the World and Amadis of Gaul.

HOW TO VOTE:
Please send your choices by private message to either myself or the Shelf Personality. Everyone gets one free vote. if you have participation points you can have up to 4 additional votes. You can use them all on one choice or you can make 5 different choices. Please see how to obtain participation points in the Annual Point Challenge explanation.

Robert Coover - US
*1. Pricksongs and Descants - botm 2015, 256 pages, 1969
*2. The Public Burning - botm 2021, 544 pages, 1977

Louis Couperus - Dutch
3. Eline Vere - 1889, 523 pages

Jim Crace - UK
4. Arcadia, 1991, 312 pages

Michael Cunningham - US
* 5. The Hours, botm 2021, 1998, 230 pages

Gabriele d'Annunzio - Italy
6. The Child Of Pleasure, 1889, 384 pgs

David Dabydeen - Guyana
7. Disappearance, 1993, 180 pages

Tsitsi Dangarembga - Zimbabwe
*8. Nervous Conditions, botm 2015, 2017, 1988, 204 pgs

Robertson Davies - Canada
9. Fifth Business, 1970, 252 pgs

Lydia Davis - US
10. The End of the Story, 1995, 231 pages

Machado de Assis - Brazil
11. The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, 1881, 240 pages
12. Dom Casmurro botm 2017, 1899, 288 pages

Honoré de Balzac - France
13. Eugénie Grandet, 1833, 200 pages
14. Le Père Goriot, botm 2010, 1835, 370 pgs

Louis de Bernières - British
*15. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, botm 2011, 2019, 1994, 437 pgs
16. Senor Vivo & the Coca Lord, 1991, 352 pgs

Alain de Botton - Switzerland
17. On Love, 1993, 194 pgs

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - Spain
18. Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda / The Travels of Persiles and Sigismunda, 1616, 394 pages

Giorgio de Chirico - Germany/Italy
19. Hebdomeros: A Novel, 1929, 133 pages

Madame de La Fayette - France
20. La Princesse De Cleves, 1678, 288 pages

Comte de Lautréamont - Uraguay
21. Maldoror

Tessa de Loo - Dutch
22. The Twins

Guy de Maupassant - France
23. Bel-Ami, 1885, 416 pgs
24. Pierre and Jean, 1887, 134 pgs
25. Une vie, 1883, 299 pages

Eça de Queirós - Portugal
26. The Crime of Father Amaro, 1875, 471 pgs

Fernando de Rojas - Spain
27. Celestina

Marquis de Sade,
28. Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue, 1787, 264 pgs
29. The 120 Days of Sodom, 1785, 376 pgs

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - France
30. The Little Prince, 1943, 96 pages

Daniel Defoe - England
31. Robinson Crusoe, 1719, 320 pages, botm 2013
32. Moll Flanders, 1721, 339 pages
33. Roxana, 1724, 356 pages

Miguel Delibes - Spain
34. The Heretic: A Novel of the Inquisition, 1998, 350 pgs, botm 2013

Don DeLillo - US
35. White Noise, 1985, 320 pages, botm 2011
36. Libra, 1988, 480 pgs
37. Mao II, 1991, 241 pgs
*38. Falling Man, 2007, 246, botm 2015
39. The Body Artist, 2001, 128 pgs
40. The Names, 1982, 339 pgs
41. Ratner's Star, 1976, 448 pgs

Thomas Deloney, England
42. Thomas Of Reading 1599, 80 pgs

Kiran Desai - India
*43. The Inheritance of Loss, 2017 botm, 2006, 357 pgs

Anita Desai - India
44. Clear Light of Day, 1980 183 pgs

G.V. Desani - Kenya
45. All About H. Hatterr, 1948, 316 pgs

Shashi Deshpande - India
46. Small Remedies, 2000, 324 pgs

Junot Díaz - DR/US
*47. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 2007, 335pgs, 2015 botm

E.E. Cummings
48. The Enormous Room, 1922. 200 pages.

That is August list of eligible books. How many have your read? What would you like to read in August? Voting is open until The 24th, winners announced that day.

"Only" 21 read from this lot, just 3 out of the 7 DeLillo books. I have some choice on my TBR shelves:

- Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord (De Bernières)
- Maldoror (De Lautréamont)
- 120 Days of Sodom (De Sade)
- Moll Flanders (Defoe)

I'll wait to see what others might have to say, as I have no strong preference. They might all end up in the randomiser pot (even the Sade one!).

@Kristel: what is the first Sade (which should be #28)? Is it Justine?

Patrick wrote: "@Kristel: what is the first Sade (which should be #28)? Is it Justine?"

Yes, thanks for catching that. I had all kinds of troubles yesterday with posting.

Even though Moll Flanders does sound amusing, I might vote for Fifth Business.

PS. I added a 48 because I missed Cummings book, The Enormous Room.

I have read 20 of these. I would go with Moll Flanders, or any of the Defoe. I have read Fifth Business. I also thought the Dabydeen sounded interesting.

I will likely throw in a bunch of shorter ones for the randomizer, as is my wont. These include:

The Fifth Business, the first The Deptford Trilogy, which I've always wanted to read.
The End of the Story
Pierre and Jean
On Love

I've read 27 of these which also includes all the DeLillo, de Maupassant, de Bernieres, and Cunningham. I would be up for reading Roxana (Defoe) and Eugenia Grandet (Balzac). I own de Botton On Love and I own Clear Light of Day which I also own.

I've read 14, a little less than a third. I also read DeLillo's Underworld which was excluded due to length (I recommend it).
I'm planning to read Fifth Business in the next six months so I will vote for that- it's the first volume and best known of The Deptford Trilogy.
Also near the top of my to-reads is The Twins by deLoo, of which I have a copy I picked up last year. I would read Moll Flanders if chosen- my GR friends give it better ratings than the GR avg rating. Some others of these choices are in my to-read list but quite a ways down, Libra by DeLillo the highest.

George P. wrote: "I've read 14, a little less than a third. I also read DeLillo's Underworld which was excluded due to length (I recommend it).
I'm planning to read Fifth Business in the next six months so I will vo..."

I really liked Libra when I read it.

Today is the last day to get your votes in.

The Winners for August botm are;
Popular Vote: Moll Flanders by 1

Randomizer: The End of the Story submitted by Jane

What will you be reading in August?

I'll definitely read Moll Flanders, having voted for it. I read The End of the Story last year in my TBR Challenge, it was a bit meh, from what I recall. Otherwise, I'll see how far the randomised list will carry me.

I’ve read Moll Flanders and really enjoyed it. The End of the Story isn’t appealing to me at the moment, but by August I could feel differently. I have plenty of other options anyway :)

I've previously read Moll Flanders so probably won't reread. I can access The End of the Story at my local library so probably will go with that.

I will definitely read Moll Flanders. I am not sure about The End of the Story although my library has an e-book version of it, so I might fit it in.

I’m in for Moll Flanders! I was traveling and didn’t remember to vote or I would have added one to that tally ;)

I was also away for this vote. I've read Moll Flanders but just ordered a copy of The End of the Story from eBay.

I said I'd read Moll Flanders if it was selected so I guess I will be! I'll pass on End of the Story- I noticed it is a "core" list book though, so I have it on my "someday, maybe" list.
I liked the BBC miniseries that was done of "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders" (1996) with actress Alex Kingston, the not-yet-James-Bond Daniel Craig and Diana Rigg.

I'm at 40% on reading Moll Flanders now.