The Decades Library
I have been inviting guests to select five books which should be included within the Ultimate Library.
Each guest may only select one book per decade over five consecutive decades.
At the foot of this Library you can access the original posts to learn more about my guests and why they chose these titles.
Here are the selections
1890s
Bram Stoker, Dracula
Selected by Danny Marshall on 21 May 2021
1900s
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
Selected by Danny Marshall on 21 May 2021
1910s
John Buchan, The 39 Steps
Selected by Danny Marshall on 21 May 2021
1920s
Erich Maria Remarque – All Quiet on the Western Front
Selected by Paul Cuddihy on 4 April 2021
Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair At Styles
Selected by Danny Marshall on 21 May 2021
Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Selected by Imogen Church on 30 April 2021
1930s
Federico García Lorca 1898-1936
Three Tragedies: Blood Wedding, Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba
Selected by Heather Martin on 12 February 2021
George Orwell, Keep The Aspidistra Flying
Selected by Chris McVeigh on 26 March 2021
John Dickson Carr, The Hollow Man
Selected by Danny Marshall on 21 May 2021
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Selected by Paul Cuddihy on 4 April 2021
William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying
Selected by Tim Baker on 23 April 2021
Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm
Selected by Imogen Church on 30 April 2021
Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep
Selected by Douglas Skelton on 7 May 2021
1940s
Simone de Beauvoir 1908-1986
The Second Sex
Selected by Heather Martin on 12 February 2021
Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game
Selected by Chris McVeigh on 26 March 2021
Daphne du Maurier – The King’s General
Selected by Louise Fairbairn on 10 April 2021
Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky
Selected by Tim Baker on 23 April 2021
Jack Schaefer, Shane
Selected by Douglas Skelton on 7 May 2021
John Hersey, Hiroshima
Selected by Paul Cuddihy on 4 April 2021
George Orwell, 1984
Selected by Imogen Church on 30 April 2021
1950s
Nevil Shute, A Town Like Alice
Selected by Helen Fields on 14 May 2021
E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web
Selected by Heather Martin on 12 February 2021
Eric Frank Russell, Wasp
Selected by Imogen Church on 30 April 2021
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Selected by Chris McVeigh on 26 March 2021
Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago
Selected by Tim Baker on 23 April 2021
Josephine Tay
Daughter of Time
Selected by Chris Lloyd on 12 March 2021
Alistair MacLean – HMS Ulysses
Selected by Louise Fairbairn on 1o April 2021
Robin Jenkins, The Cone-gatherers
Selected by Paul Cuddihy on 4 April 2021
William Goldman, The Temple of Gold
Selected by Douglas Skelton on 7 May 2021
1960s
Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird
Selected by Sharon Bairden on 20 January 2021
Jorge Luis Borges 1899-1986, Labyrinths
Selected by Heather Martin on 12 February 2021
John Le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Selected by Chris Lloyd on 12 March 2021
Muriel Spark – The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
Selected by Louise Fairbairn on 10 April 2021
Henri Charrière, Papillon
Selected by Helen Fields on 14 May 2021
Derek Raymond, A State Of Denmark
Selected by Chris McVeigh on 26 March 2021
Joseph Heller, Catch 22
Selected by Paul Cuddihy on 4 April 2021 and
Imogen Church on 30 April 2021
Jean Rhys, Wild Sargasso Sea
Selected by Tim Baker on 23 April 2021
Ed McBain, Fuzz
Selected by Douglas Skelton on 7 May 2021
1970s
William Styron 1925-2006, Sophie’s Choice
Selected by Heather Martin on 12 February 2021
Ted Lewis – Get Carter (aka Jack’s Return Home)
Selected by Louise Fairbairn on 10 April 2021
William Goldman, Marathon Man
Selected by Douglas Skelton on 7 May 2021
Stephen King, The Shining
ected by Sharon Bairden on 20 January 2021
Peter Benchley
Jaws
Selected by Ian Patrick Robinson on 5 March 2021
Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Selected by Chris Lloyd on 12 March 2021
Robertson Davies, The Deptford Trilogy
Selected by Chris McVeigh on 26 March 2021
Carolyn Keene, The Mystery of The Glowing Eye
Selected by Noelle Holten on 22 March 2021
Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, The Abominable Man
Selected by Raven on 16 April 2021
William Gaddis, JR
Selected by Tim Baker on 23 April 2021
Hunter S Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Selected by Helen Fields on 14 May 2021
Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Selected by Nicolas Obregon on 28 May 2021
1980s
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
Selected by Helen Fields on 14 May 2021
Stephen King, Misery
Selected by Chris McDonald on 19 February 2021
William Gibson – Neuromancer
Selected by Louise Fairbairn on 1o April 2021
Stephen King, Pet Sematary
Selected by Noelle Holten on 22 March 2021
William McIlvanney, The Papers of Tony Veitch
Selected by Sharon Bairden on 20 January 2021
Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
Selected by Ian Patrick Robinson on 5 March 2021
Umberto Eco
The Name of the Rose
Selected by Chris Lloyd on 12 March 2021
Mark Timlin, A Good Year For The Roses
Selected by Raven on 16 April 2021
Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs
Selected by Nicolas Obregon on 28 May 2021
1990s
Martina Cole, The Ladykiller
Selected by Sharon Bairden on 20 January 2021
J K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Selected by Chris McDonald on 19 February 2021
Chuck Palahniuk
Fight Club
Selected by Ian Patrick Robinson on 5 March 2021
Robert Harris, Fatherland
Selected by Chris Lloyd on 12 March 2021
Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs
Selected by Noelle Holten on 22 March 2021
Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
Selected by Raven on 16 April 2021
Louis de Bernieres, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Selected by Helen Fields on 14 May 2021
Natsuo Kirino, Out
Selected by Nicolas Obregon on 28 May 2021
2000s
Lin Anderson, Driftnet
Selected by Sharon Bairden on 20 January 2021
Don Winslow, The Power of the Dog
Selected by Raven on 16 April 2021
Charles R Ross
Heavier Than Heaven
Selected by Chris McDonald on 19 February 2021
Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Selected by Ian Patrick Robinson on 5 March 2021
Ian Rankin, Fleshmarket Close / Alley
Selected by Noelle Holten on 22 March 2021
Judith Mayne, Le Corbeau (The French Film Guides
Selected by Nicolas Obregon on 28 May 2021
2010s
Mick Herron
Slow Horses
Selected by Chris McDonald on 19 February 2021
James Sallis, Drive
Selected by Ian Patrick Robinson on 5 March 2021
Craig Russell, Lennox
Selected by Noelle Holten on 22 March 2021
Antonin Varenne- Retribution Road
Selected by Raven on 16 April 2021
Fernando Aramburu, Patria
Selected by Nicolas Obregon on 28 May 2021
2020s
Chris Whitaker
We Begin at the End
Selected by Chris McDonald on 19 February 2021
The Curators