War Through the Generation’s 2012 reading challenge will be World War I. The challenge will run from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012.
Rules:
This year you have options when reading your fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc. with the WWI as the primary or secondary theme.
Books can take place before, during, or after the war, so long as the conflicts that led to the war or the war itself are important to the story. Books from other challenges count so long as they meet the above criteria.
Dip: Read 1-3 books in any genre with WWI as a primary or secondary theme.
Wade: Read 4-10 books in any genre with WWI as a primary or secondary theme.
Swim: Read 11 or more books in any genre with WWI as a primary or secondary theme.
I've picked out a pool of books to read from:
Mr. Punch's History of the Great War
Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost Road - Pat Barker
The Patriot's Progress - Henry Williamson
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer - Siegfried Sassoon
People Who Say Goodbye - P.Y. Betts
Testament of Youth - Vera Brittain
The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry edited by Jon Silkin
I'm signing up for 'Dip' as I reckon I ought to be able to read three of these books in a year. And if I read more, well that would be lovely, but I'm not putting pressure on myself by promising.
I think this should be a really interesting and informative challenge for 2012 and am looking forward to starting.
7 comments:
The new year hasn't even begun and she's off and running! LOL..
Thanks for signing up! We've got you on the participants list already and look forward to your reviews. I'll be sure to add any of the books you listed that are not already on the WWI reading list.
I found the Sassoon and the Poetry very satisfying I haven't read the others. As if you need more suggestions...lol
Evans "The Escapers club" and Jones "The Road to Endor" are both available on Gutenberg I think (they are memoirs of WW1 POW'S) and I remember a collection of Womens Poetry focused on the war that was rewarding... I'll rack my brains for the title if I can remember..other memories include All Quiet on the Western Front which I find hard to recommend as I still have the images it paints in my head (which may be a compliment to it's power and a recommendation it's self ?)and Graves "Goodbye to All that"
Reading "These is My Words - Nancy Turner " at the moment and am enjoying the opening ..THANKS!
I always want to join this challenge but then never actually do... I am just terrible with year-round challenges.
I did the WW2 challenge a couple of years ago, and it lead me to some wonderful books and improved the quality of my reading. I hope this one does the same for you.
Testament of Youth is one I've noted to read as well. I'll be looking out for your thoughts on it if you do get round to reading it next year. Isn't it just so long??
Pat: I know! Although... if I'm honest I haven't run anywhere in a *long* time. lol
Serena: Really looking forward to participating.
Val: All recs welcome. I've made a note and will check Gutenberg later to see if they have those two titles for my Kindle. I've read All Quiet on the Western Front and agree that it's extremely powerful. Have you read Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith? It's about female ambulance drivers in WW1 and *well* worth reading if you can get hold of it.
SO thrilled to hear you're reading These is My Words. Love to hear what you think when you've finished.
Kelly: I'm better at year round challenges than I am at shorter ones. A whole year is a nice long time to get a small amount of books read.
FleurFisher: I'm glad to hear that because one of things I've been cogitating on for next year is to try and improve the quality of the books I read. Not that there's anything wrong with what I read this year but looking at the list I'm lacking in non-fiction, classics etc. I need to change that a little.
Margaret: Of the whole selection Testament of Youth is the one book I really want to get to. But yes... it's a bit of a doorstop. Good luck to us both!
Post a Comment