Reading 1001 discussion

The authors for October are Carpentier through Conrad.

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:
The Hive by Cela, Camilo Jose (2001) Library Binding


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.


Alejo Carpentier - born in Switzerland, died in France. Considered a Cuban author
1. The Lost Steps - 1953, 576 pages
2. The Kingdom of This World - 1949, 186 pages

Lewis Carroll - England
3. Through The Looking-Glass - 1871, 228 pg
*4. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - 2015botm

Angela Carter - England
*5. Wise Children, 1991, 240 pgs, 2019 botm
6. Nights at the Circus, 1984, 295 pgs
7. The Passion of New Eve

Carlo Cassola - Italy
8. Bebo's Girl, 1960, 249 pgs

Víctor Català - Spain
9. Solitude: A Novel of Catalonia, 1905, 216 pgs

Willa Cather - US
10. The Professor's House, 1925, 237 pgs

Camilo José Cela - Spain
11. Journey to the Alcarria: Travels through the Spanish Countryside, 1932, 139 pgs

Louis-Ferdinand Céline - Spain
12. Journey to the End of the Night, 1948, 453 pgs

Javier Cercas - Spain
13. Soldiers of Salamis, 2001, 213 pgs

Chariton - Greek
14. Chaireas and Kallirhoe, 50 AD, 448 pgs

Raymond Chandler - US
15. Farewell, My Lovely - 1940, 292 pgs
16. The Big Sleep - 1939, 231 pgs, botm 2013
17. The Long Goodbye - 1953, 231 pgs

Jung Chang - China
18. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, 1991, 562 pgs

Bruce Chatwin - UK
*19. On the Black Hill, 1982, 262 pgs, 2015 botm

Erskine Childers - England
* 20. The Riddle of the Sands - 1903, 336 pgs, 2021 botm

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos - France
21. Dangerous Liaisons - 1782, 448 pgs

Kate Chopin - US
22. The Awakening, 1899, 195 pgs, botm 2011

Agatha Christie - UK
23. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926, 288 pgs

Emil M. Cioran - Romania
24. On the Heights of Despair, 1934, 150 pgs

Arthur C. Clarke - UK
* 25. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1961, 297 pgs, botm 2017

John Cleland - UK
26. Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, 1748, 224 pgs

Jean Cocteau - France
27. Les Enfants terribles AKA The Holy Terrors

Jonathan Coe - UK
28. What a Carve Up!, 1994, 512 pgs

Paulo Coelho - Brazil
29. Veronika Decides to Die, 1998, 210 pages
30. The Devil and Miss Prym, 2000, 205 pgs

J.M. Coetzee - South Africa
*31. Waiting for the Barbarians, 1980, 152 pgs, botm 2017
32. Life and Times of Michael K, 1983, 192 pgs, botm 2009
33. Disgrace, 1999, 220 pgs
34. Foe, 1986, 157 pgs
35. Dusklands, 1974, 125 pgs
36. Elizabeth Costello, 2003, 231 pgs
37. In the Heart of the Country, 1977, 151 pgs
38. The Master of Petersburg, 1994, 256 pgs
39. Youth, 2002, 175 pgs
*40. Slow Man, 2005, 265 pgs, botm 2019

Colette - France
41. Claudine's House, 1922, 170 pgs

Wilkie Collins - UK
42. The Moonstone, 1868, 528 pgs, botm 2013

Joseph Conrad - Polish/Eng
43. The Shadow-Line, 1917, 136 pgs
44. The Secret Agent, 1907, 304 pgs
45. Nostromo, 1904, 336 pgs
46. Lord Jim, 1900, 455 pgs
47. The Heart of Darkness, 1899, 188 pgs, botm 2011

That is the list for October 2025, which would you like to read? Voting is open until the 24th when winners will be announced. Happy Reading!

I have read 28 from this patch, it would be more if we also counted the larger books. I've only read 4 of the 10 Coetzee books, so I will back those that are on my TBR shelves:

- Dusklands
- Elizabeth Costello

I could also have put The Professor's House by Cather, but I am reading it this week as one of my randomizer reads (never mind the points).

I think I will have a bit of time in Oct, so can participate in the BOTM. I own Elizabeth Costello so would back that choice.

I have read 18 which is less than I have been averaging lately.
I could go with Elizabeth Costello or almost any other Coetzee. I have only read Slow Man and The Master of Petersburg. Also, I think I will be reading Life & Times of Michael K before October.

I've read Elizabeth Costello but there are others by Coetzee I haven't read. I have Conrad's Nostromo on audio. I'll probably pick a few for the randomizer.

I am super embarrassed to admit that I've never read Coetzee :( I will back the ones that have been mentioned above if you all promise not to tell anyone.

Rosemary wrote: "I've read Elizabeth Costello but there are others by Coetzee I haven't read. I have Conrad's Nostromo on audio. I'll probably pick a few for the randomizer."

Surprisingly, our library system has Nostromo. Maybe I will give that a vote for the randomizer.

I've read 21 from this group which is more than usual for me.
Chandler's The Long Goodbye is at the top of my to-read list, a lot of you have probably read it.
I've read three Coetzees. His ...Michael K and Conrad's Nostromo are on my list to-read but kind of far down. I haven't read Coetzee's Dusklands or E Costello.

I'd like to read Coe's What a Carve Up.

I just read What a Carve Up for my TBR and it is amazing.


George P. wrote: "I've read 21 from this group which is more than usual for me.
Chandler's The Long Goodbye is at the top of my to-read list, a lot of you have probably read it.
I've read three Coetzees. His ...Mich..."

Ugh, Coetzee is maybe going to be the reason I don’t end up as a completionist on the list, I’ve found him so insufferable in the past. But in the interests of the group, I could probably be persuaded to put a vote in for Dusklands or Michael K as those are still core list.

I would be more happy to vote for Nostromo and just to add one more to the mix, I've always wanted an excuse to try to reread les liasons dangereuses in french, since its so dishy.

Jenna wrote: "Ugh, Coetzee is maybe going to be the reason I don’t end up as a completionist on the list, I’ve found him so insufferable in the past. But in the interests of the group, I could probably be persua..."

Jenna you can always vote for other books that then get a shot at being chosen as the "randomizer" book even if no one else votes for them.
I am going to put a vote on Nostromo and a vote on What a Carve Up!

Jenna wrote: "Ugh, Coetzee is maybe going to be the reason I don’t end up as a completionist on the list, I’ve found him so insufferable in the past. But in the interests of the group, I could probably be persua..."

That's what we call the Nobel Prize curse: a great number of winners end up having quite unappealing books. I get your point about Coetzee, but he's probably not the worst. How about Handke or some of Bellow's works, for example?

I've read 25 of these. I haven't decided what I am going to vote for.

Patrick wrote: "That's what we call the Nobel Prize curse: a great number of winners end up having quite unappealing books. I get your point about Coetzee, but he's probably not the worst. How about Handke or some of Bellow's works, for example?"

Haha yes, at least Handke is only 3 books on the list, and I read Bellow early in life so have a bit of a soft spot for him, plus willing to give him the biases of his time, like with Kingsley Amis for example, whereas Coetzee should know better.

But I think I wouldn't be as frustrated if I didn't have such a streak towards goals and completion, lol.

And George, yes I know about the randomizer and so obviously will vote my conscience, I was just hoping to influence the group a little ;)

Standings and points used has been updated today. Please get your votes in, three days remaining.

Last day for voting. Happy reading.

Books for October:
Popular Vote: Nostromo
Randomizer: Dusklands

What will you be reading in October?

I got one of the two Coetzees I was voting for, but not the one I expected. Uncommitted on Nostromo, as it retails at above $25 and requires around a 4-week wait for delivery, the reality of un-cultured Australia (and, no, I won't order from Amazon, on principle). So I might end up reading both Coetzees after all.

Good question, Kristel! Neither of the books I voted for made it, perhaps I will read them anyway. I'll decide closer to October.

I’ll be reading Nostromo, not sure about Dusklands but it’s a maybe.

I'll likely read Dusklands because it's short and it'll be my first Coetzee. Will probably skip Nostromo and maybe do The Monk from my randomized reading list -- a good one for Halloween.

I've read Nostromo not long ago. I probably will read Dusklands. It is available as a kindle book so I might purchase it. I can check on used books as well. I do try to limit purchases from Amazon but I am not absolute like Patrick.

Well, neither titles were on my hoped for list but they are both available from my library, one as a physical book and one as an e-book, so I will probably read both.

Hahahaha after all my griping I voted for both of those! I will try to read both as a moral obligation :)

I'll be planning to read both, too!

Dusklands is short so I might try and read that one.

I put a vote on Nostromo- I'm moving it up from #300-something in my to-read list to #2, a big promotion! That'll be my fourth Conrad. I can get it in audiobook from my county library. It seems the ebook is free on kindle if you search by "price low to high". So that would not actually be buying anything from Amazon. I don't know if that's available outside the US- maybe you could use VPN if not?
By the way if you're ever in Austin Texas check out the art museum at the University of Texas- they have a very nice bust sculpture of Conrad.