Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
The rules are simple:
- Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
- Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
- Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
- Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment on her weekly post.
This week – February 2, 2021 – the topic is: Top Ten Books From Before I was Born.
This is actually a topic that I suggested. Mind you, the older one is, the harder it will be to find books that fit this list, but I’m sure many of you will be up to the challenge.
I can see that although there are many books on my Goodreads list that I’ve read that were published before I was born, but I have reviews for very few of them. However, I did find some. Interestingly enough, I’ve read and reviewed these books mostly in the last year or two. I guess I really am starting to get into reading classics (or maybe its just that Dean Street Press have been sending me ARCs of several of these books).
So, without any further ado… I’m listing these in descending order from my birth year backwards…
1957 – “A House in the Country” by Ruth Adam – I’m unsure if this was actually published before my actual date of birth, but there’s just over a 50-50 chance that it was, since I was born at the end of June that year!
1936 – “Begin Again” by Ursula Orange. I called the author of this book a 20th Century Jane Austen, and I really think she is. Gotta read more of her books!
1930 – “Rhododendron Pie” by Margery Sharp. This was one of the ARCs that Dean Street Press sent me, and I thank them for it, and for introducing me to Sharp!
1928 – “Quicksand & Passing” by Nella Larson. I read this because I wanted to read more works by diverse authors, and it seems many of the authors of color writing today, write books in genres that don’t interest me. This is purely literary fiction, and it really gives people insights into living as a person of color in a white world.
1925 – “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. I should note that of all the books here, this one was my least favorite. But still… it did have some redeeming qualities.
1922 – “The Lark” by E. Nesbit. This is the only YA book here, although I don’t think it was called that when it was published. No matter.
1922 – “The Red House Mystery” by A.A. Milne. What a charming mystery. I can tell that had Milne lived longer, he would have written a whole series of these novels. Sadly, he didn’t, but at least we have this one.
1915 – “Herland and Selected Stories” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I bought this book after having read her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” and was so impressed, I knew I needed to read more by her. I’m very glad I did, too!
1900 – “Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde” by Robert Ross. What can you say, right? Wilde? Well, this one has some surprises for you, and not all for the good. But like with the Woolf, it does have many redeeming factors.
1400 – “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer – As mentioned above, I didn’t have 10 books I’ve reviewed to fill out all ten spots, so I went to Goodreads to see what was the oldest published book I’ve read, and this is what I got! I actually remember a great deal about this book, and I recall correctly, I enjoyed it very much (well, I must have, because I gave it 5/5 stars there).
The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
I wasn’t a big fan of Mrs. Dalloway either. I remember studying it for school and really wishing we had picked something else from Woolf, haha.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, after Dalloway, I’m not sure I want to venture any further into her writing…
LikeLike
I haven’t ever thought about older books that I’ve read, but now you’ve got me thinking. Fahrenheit 451, Jane Austen, Mark Twain…
LikeLiked by 1 person
There you go then! We’ve all read books from before we were born, we just don’t think about them much.
LikeLike
Great list!! I don’t think I’ve read any of these, I’ll have to add them to my TBR!
Here’s my TTT: https://cahughesbookreviews.com/2021/02/02/top-10-tuesday-books-written-before-i-was-born/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great list of books. I’ve see Nella Larson’s books mentioned quite a bit in the last year and especially want to read hers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She didn’t write much, but she had a very interesting insight into the life of people of color of her era.
LikeLike
I remember really enjoying The Canterbury Tales when we read it in middle school. I don’t think I’ve read any of the other books, but I have read from Oscar Wilde.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for suggesting today’s topic!
From yours, I only read Chaucer and a few by Oscar Wilde. Milne’s is on my TBR. One day, I’ll try again Mrs Dalloway
Here is my post, I choose only from those I read last year: https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/02/02/top-ten-books-written-before-i-was-born/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, don’t go back to Dalloway on my account! I wasn’t crazy about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know, but I feel like I should really give it another chance, she’s such a big author
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had a hard time thinking of books, too. Luckily, I took a humanities class in college and could use many of those titles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve not read any of these, so great list! I’ll have to check some of them out, I think.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed this topic! The only one of these that I’ve read in full is Mrs Dalloway and I guess I liked it more than you, as I read more of her books later on. I’ve just finished Orlando, which isn’t as good, so I don’t suggest that you read it. I enjoyed the Prologue and the Knight’s Tale in The Canterbury Tales years ago, but haven’t read any more since.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chaucer is hard to read, but I had a great translation.
LikeLike
Great list! One of these days I really want to give The Canterbury Tales a try–I did Literature at uni, but this was one of the famous classics I never studied.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m telling people that a good translation is the key to this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you suggested this TTT topic. It’s a fun one! I had no idea Milne wrote anything other than WINNIE THE POOH. I might have to check out some of his other books. Fun!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great topic suggestion! Out of these, only The Canterbury Tales is on my TBR 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Make sure you get a good translation. It makes all the difference!
LikeLike
You are a youngster; I was born the previous year. I listed books published a year or two before I was born and tried to decide if my mom would have read each. A fun exercise for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Youngster? Hehehe… glad you enjoyed this!
LikeLike
I liked The Canterbury Tales, too.
My post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A good translation is the key, I think!
LikeLike
I’m yet to read any Woolf, should definitely correct that! 😀 Happy reading! 😀 My TTT https://readwithstefani.com/books-written-before-i-was-born-the-classics-edition/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, it was a bucket list read. Now I can say I read her. I doubt I’ll read more.
LikeLike
It’s amazing you selected The Red House Mystery. I just bought that book last night for the Color Coded Reading Challenge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Enjoy… it was fun!
LikeLike
What an interesting list – ashamed to say I’ve only heard of a few of them!
I suppose the most obvious choices for me would be Jane Austen, the Brontës and Thomas Hardy. Still books I reread on occasion.
Childhood favourite books would definitely be from Enid Blyton!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done for having your topic chosen and it was a great one. My list https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/toptentuesday-books-in-my-tbr-pile-written-before-i-was-born/
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m curious about the Milne one. I only know him for the Winnie the Pooh books.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really is a lovely, fun, mystery novel!
LikeLike
Nice list and nice topic! I’m hoping to read Passing this month. There’s a book club discussion over it through The New York Times Book Club, T Book Club, on March 9th, if you’re interested. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting… but I don’t think I can get into a NYT site – I don’t have a subscription.
LikeLike
Oh, I don’t either! I guess it’s free or there’s a free level?? I think I do have an account, but I definitely don’t pay for it. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
We were never “young adults” or “young people” in my day 🙂 . We were teenagers, and, in E Nesbit’s day, I suppose they’d just have been “older children”!
LikeLiked by 1 person