British Author Challenge 2022 General Thread

Hi all! I've once again selected a mixture of themes and authors which I hope will appeal. This will continue to be a very casual challenge, so everyone should feel free to pop in and out as they choose.

I'll create threads for each month as they roll around, and post announcements and links here in this thread. The general thread will be a place for questions, answers, suggestions, interesting links, and sundry posts.

The selections

Wildcard I: Read the movies https://www.librarything.com/topic/337718

Wildcard II: Rereads https://www.librarything.com/topic/337719

January: Children's Classics https://www.librarything.com/topic/337716

February: Mary Renault & Timothy Mo https://www.librarything.com/topic/339137

March: The Interwar Period (11 November 1918-1 September 1939) https://www.librarything.com/topic/339869

April: Kamila Shamsie & Clive Barker https://www.librarything.com/topic/340803

May: Comic Books/Graphic Novels & Audiobooks https://www.librarything.com/topic/341418

June: Jackie Kay & E. F. Benson https://www.librarything.com/topic/342001

July: The Georgian Era (1714-1837) https://www.librarything.com/topic/342539

August: Espionage https://www.librarything.com/topic/343200

September: Retellings, Continuations, and Non-Series Prequels & Sequels https://www.librarything.com/topic/343816

October: Aminatta Forna & Lawrence Durrell https://www.librarything.com/topic/344761

November: Arthurian Legend https://www.librarything.com/topic/345472

December: Books about books https://www.librarything.com/topic/346166

Planning thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336553# (has suggestions for themes)

Starred!

ditto!

I will be up for the challenge as usual, Amanda.

Michelle Magorian is up for me in January with Goodnight Mister Tom and The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter.

This sounds interesting! Does the British Author Challenge work as a kind of the 75 Book Challenge prompt? (sorry, a newbie here)

I have to admit that out of the 8 names listed here, I've heard of exactly zero of them... Probably because I'm a non-native English speaker.

>6 zuzaer: Welcome! You could describe this is a sort of reading prompt. Each month I start a thread for the current theme or authors and we chat about what we've read. It's very casual, and there's no need to read something for every month unless you want to.

I'm not surprised that you're unfamiliar with the selected authors: several of them had their peak popularity a generation or more ago and some of the others don't have particularly high profiles outside of the UK. Clive Barker is probably the widest known of the lot because he wrote and directed the original Hellraiser film, but even he might be unknown to those who avoid horror writing.

>7 amanda4242: Thank you!
This year I'm participating in a read-it-in-English class (to be frank, these were the only books I've read regularly since autumn started) and during the last semester I've read quite a lot of novels and short stories that I haven't heard of before. It's more American than British, though, and I think I'll start balancing that with your challenge, which sounds very interesting! (And starting with children's classics sounds delightful.)

>8 zuzaer: I hope you enjoy your British reading!

Project Gutenberg is a wonderful source for free ebooks of children's classics, although there's no way to filter for British authors. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/20

>9 amanda4242: I haven't thought of looking for the books there, thank you for the reminder!

>9 amanda4242: good idea!

I must be really out of it because I've never heard of Clive Barker. I know Mary Renault, E. F. Benson and Lawrence Durrell. Just shows my age, I guess.

Starred! Hoping to participate in at least some months.

The February thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/339137

Two Lawrence Durrell books on sale: Mountolive for $2.99 and The Best of Antrobus for $1.99.

>15 amanda4242: Can I ask, where and what format? (I'm relatively new here)

>16 zuzaer: They're ebooks available from multiple retailers (Amazon, Google, etc), but the sale is probably US only.

>17 amanda4242: I though you meant one retailer, thank you for clarifying that.

ETA: It is for US only, or at least Kobo won't allow me to buy the book.

For those looking for books for the May theme, the latest Humble Bundle is Masters of British Comics. These are DRM free ebooks, and I think they're available worldwide.

Masters of British Comics bundle

The March thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/339869

Rachel Ferguson's 1936 novel A Harp in Lowndes Square is free on kindle this week. I know it's available for US and UK, but I'm not sure about other countries.

US ebook sale: Mary Renault's The Nature of Alexander is on sale for $2.99 today.

https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/the-nature-of-alexander/9781480432949

>2 amanda4242: For those of us who order ahead on Abe or other used book sites,

a few examples for September and December would be welcome.

Thank You!

>23 m.belljackson: September: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336553#7660939
December: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336553#7657113

US e-book sale: Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie is on sale today for $1.99.

https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/broken-verses/9780547537825

Two US ebook sales today! Mary Renault's The Persian Boy is available for $2.99 and Miss Mapp by E. F. Benson for 99 cents.

https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/the-persian-boy/9781480432376
https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/miss-mapp/9781504058933

The April thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/340803

There are a few US & UK Audible codes for some Clive Barker titles available for free at https://freeaudiobookcodes.com/?q=clive+barker&page=1. This isn't an illegal download site: it's a legitimate website where publishers and authors give out Audible codes hoping to get reviews out of it.

US ebook sale: Lawrence Durrell's White Eagles Over Serbia is on sale for $1.99 today.

https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/white-eagles-over-serbia/9781453261521

The May thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/341418

Free audiobooks https://audiofilemagazine.com/sync/

AudioFile magazine's Sync program makes two titles available each week through the Sora app. Once you've borrowed a title, it is yours to keep. This week's selections are Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda and four stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

FAQs: https://audiofilemagazine.com/sync-faq/
Full list: https://audiofilemagazine.com/sync-season/

The June thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/342001

The July thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/342539

Aminatta Forna's Ancestor Stones is on sale for $2.99.

https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/ancestor-stones/9780802191960

The August thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/343200

Collections of Neil Gaiman's Sandman are on sale for $3.99 on Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Google, and possibly other retailers.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JHX4H9V?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_s...

The September thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/343816

US ebook sale: The Alexander Trilogy omnibus by Mary Renault is on sale today for $3.99.

https://openroadmedia.com/ebook/The-Novels-of-Alexander-the-Great/9781480433373

If you're interested in a Victorian reading challenge, it's almost time for Victober (Victorian October) on booktube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGWgG8DKcus

In addition to the 5 challenges and 1 Group Read, hosts Kate Howe and Katie Lumsden post interesting Victorian-themed videos throughout the month.

The October thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/344761

The November thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/345472

The 2023 planning thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/345635#

Just a reminder that the 2023 planning thread is up.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/345635#

The latest Humble Bundle is the Neil Gaiman Dark Horse Collection.

The Neil Gaiman Dark Horse Collection bundle

Just a reminder that I'm going to start finalizing the 2023 selections soon, so don't forget to pop over to the planning thread and voice your opinions.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/345635#

Clive Barker's The Damnation Game is currently $0.99 from various retailers.

The December thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/346166

Nicola Griffith's Arthurian novella Spear is on sale for $2.99 today. It can fit in for this year's Arthurian theme or be held over for next year's short stories and novellas theme.

The 2023 BAC is up!

General thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/346901
Wildcard: https://www.librarything.com/topic/346903
January: https://www.librarything.com/topic/346902