A Century of Excellent Books

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