I am nothing if not suggestible. Earlier this week Simon shared his Century of Brilliant Books in which he recommends a book for every year of the 20th Century. Having done a Century of Books alongside Simon before (twice! in 2012 and 2024) I already had form for making excessively long lists at his prompting. […]
I am nothing if not suggestible. Earlier this week Simon shared his Century of Brilliant Books in which he recommends a book for every year of the 20th Century. Having done a Century of Books alongside Simon before (twice! in 2012 and 2024) I already had form for making excessively long lists at his prompting. And lists are so fun! I’m not the only one who thinks so: Gareth has also created his own list.
I selected the books (and plays) I would most strongly recommend for each year. Sometimes that means they are my absolute favourite for the year but other times, for a bit of variety (and so I don’t duplicate favourite authors endlessly), they are books that left a strong impression on me and which deserve to be read more widely.
Voila!
1900 – Claudine at School by Colette
1901 – The Benefactress by Elizabeth von Arnim
1902 – Glengarry School Days by Ralph Connor
1903 – Brewster’s Millions by George Barr McCutcheon
1904 – The Canon in Residence by Victor L. Whitechurch
1905 – The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
1906 – The Man of Property by John Galsworthy
1907 – Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim
1908 – Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
1909 – The Caravaners by Elizabeth von Arnim
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1910 – Psmith in the City by P.G. Wodehouse
1911 – Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie
1912 – Olivia in India by O. Douglas
1913 – Maria Chapdelaine by Louis Hemon
1914 – Saturday’s Child by Kathleen Thompson Norris
1915 – Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
1916 – Greenmantle by John Buchan
1917 – Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber
1918 – My Antonia by Willa Cather
1919 – Mr Pim Passes By by A.A. Milne
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1920 – Penny Plain by O. Douglas
1921 – The Dover Road by A.A. Milne
1922 – The Lark by E. Nesbit
1923 – Leave It to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse
1924 – Skylark by Dezső Kosztolányi
1925 – Greenery Street by Denis Mackail
1926 – Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
1927 – Some People by Harold Nicolson
1928 – The Trials of Topsy by A.P. Herbert
1929 – The Gardener’s Year by Karel Čapek
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1930 – The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
1931 – Silver Ley by Adrian Bell
1932 – Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer
1933 – Business as Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford
1934 – The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
1935 – Four Gardens by Margery Sharp
1936 – Greengates by R.C. Sherriff
1937 – Summer Half by Angela Thirkell
1938 – Dear Octopus by Dodie Smith
1939 – It’s Too Late Now by A.A. Milne
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1940 – My Name is Million by Lucy Zoe Girling Zajdler
1941 – Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan
1942 – Pied Piper by Nevil Shute
1943 – Speaking of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern
1944 – Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham
1945 – The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
1946 – More Was Lost by Eleanor Perényi
1947 – One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
1948 – The Ark by Margot Benary-Isbert
1949 – Rest and Be Thankful by Helen MacInnes
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1950 – The Coast of Bohemia by Edith Pargeter
1951 – Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies
1952 – The Far Country by Nevil Shute
1953 – Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson
1954 – The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
1955 – Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
1956 – We Made a Garden by Margery Fish
1957 – Drawn from Memory by E.H. Shepard
1958 – The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
1959 – A Separate Peace by John Knowles
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1960 – Moon Over the Alps by Essie Summers
1961 – The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
1962 – Nobody Leaves by Ryszard Kapuściński
1963 – A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford
1964 – If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler
1965 – Frederica by Georgette Heyer
1966 – The Piper on the Mountain by Ellis Peters
1967 – The White Nights of St Petersburg by Geoffrey Trease
1968 – The Past is Myself by Christabel Bielenberg
1969 – Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
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1970 – Frederick the Great by Nancy Mitford
1971 – Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
1972 – The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
1973 – Under a Cruel Star by Heda Margolius Kovaly
1974 – The Siren Years by Charles Ritchie
1975 – Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
1976 – Travels by Jan Morris
1977 – I Was a Stranger by John Hackett
1978 – This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall by Gordon Korman
1979 – And No Birds Sang by Farley Mowat
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1980 – The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
1981 – A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
1982 – Clinging to the Wreckage by John Mortimer
1983 – The Man Who Was Greenmantle by Margaret Fitzherbert
1984 – The Princess of Siberia by Christine Sutherland
1985 – Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
1986 – The Pebbled Shore by Elizabeth Longford
1987 – Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
1988 – Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson
1989 – The Snows of Yesteryear by Gregor von Rezzori
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1990 – Zinky Boys by Svetlana Alexievich
1991 – Looking at the Moon by Kit Pearson
1992 – The Republic of Love by Carol Shields
1993 – A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
1994 – To War with Whitaker by Hermione Ranfurly
1995 – The Lions of al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
1996 – Evening Class by Maeve Binchy
1997 – The File by Timothy Garton Ash
1998 – Homestead by Rosina Lippi
1999 – A Positively Final Appearance by Alec Guinness
