
Thanks to Annabel‘s example I’m posting my version of this alternative view of my year in the world of literature.
Using only books you have read in 2020, answer these prompts. Try not to repeat a book title.
Luckily I had quite a range of completed books to choose from, more than eighty! Links in the titles will take you to my reviews. Disclaimer: Not all the statements are true…
- In high school I was The One that Got Away (Jan Mark)
- People might be surprised by The Box of Delights (John Masefield)
- I will never be Dead and Alive (Hammond Innes)
- My life in lockdown was like The Masque of the Red Death (Edgar Allan Poe)
- My fantasy job is Sorcerer to the Crown (Zen Cho)
- At the end of a long day I need A Room of One’s Own (Virginia Woolf)
- I hate being Absent in the Spring (Mary Westmacott / Agatha Christie)
- Wish I had The Last Wish (Andrzej Sapkowski)
- My family reunions are Tempest-Tost (Robertson Davies)
- At a party you’d find me with Finn Family Moomintroll (Tove Jansson)
- I’ve never been to The Black Island (Hergé)
- A happy day includes Chess (Stefan Zweig)
- Motto I live by: Till September Petronella (Jean Rhys)
- On my bucket list is The Gradual (Christopher Priest)
- In my next life, I want to have The Patience Stone (Atiq Rahimi)
Interestingly, not through deliberate choice I seem to have landed on authors from around the world, and not just from the UK — the US, yes, but also Malaysia, Poland, Canada, Finland, Belgium, Austria, Dominica, and Afghanistan.
Does this appeal? If so, feel free to have a go too–you have a few days of 2020 left!

Surprisingly coherent. However, it seems 40 read titles is not enough to do this…
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You can leave questions out… there are no rules! 😀
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Yes but the beauty here is the abundance…
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Yes, I was surprised too, Bart, but even with those eighty-odd titles I found some ‘solutions’ a bit forced so I can appreciate your dilemma.
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If you had used a direct translation for the original title of “Finn Family moomintroll” you would have instead found yourself with “the magician’s hat”, which could still have made for a good party 🙂
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An interesting party, certainly, but good? 🙂 Still, I would hope that the Trollkarl himself would be able to undo any deleterious effects that arose!
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Thanks for the link. I love your choices. The mention of Hammond Innes takes me right back to the early 1970s when I read all my Dad’s thrillers.
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The Innes was a delightful by-product of browsing charity shop bookshelves, as I wouldn’t have normally picked up one of his novels (despite enjoying his Levkas Man way back when). Was happy to acknowledge you in the link — I didn’t know the original source — as your answers were inspiring!
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Lovin’ that Marley-esque knocker! Quite the impressive variety here, Friend. I think 2021 needs to be my move out of the comfort zone and into the unique from all sorts of Elsewheres….A lovely New Year to you!
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And best wishes for 2021 to you too, Jean! (Or as we say here, Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!) Good reading for next year, wherever it takes you. 😊
Glad you liked the knocker—I’d just seen the 2017 fantasy drama about Dickens The Man Who Invented Christmas and remembered I had just the most apt photo on my phone.
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Great answers! What a fun meme this is. And I’m with you on the Poe….
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Thanks! Masque was the perfect novella/novelette to read at the height of the first lockdown, I found… 🙂
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Quite a fun challenge. I should play more Chess than I do.
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I did warn you that some of my answers may have been less than truthful (that is, terminological inexactitudes) so now you know.
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I may be slightly disappointed, but I’ll manage.
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Haha, your family reunions sound like fun! 😉
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😄
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