The Reading Challenge Group discussion

hanks to Renee again for this one!

This will run all year.
The idea is to try to read and record ONE book originally published in each decade listed. Your end result should be a list of the 22 decades posted here, with one book you've read beside each decade. (Feel free to cut and paste the template below to get started.)

Some members will have posted a mockup of this challenge in their personal goal threads, for ease of organization. This is the official thread for posting lists and sharing ideas about how to complete this challenge.

Also, GR does a "Best Books of ____" by decade, which is really helpful. You can access through LISTOPIA or Google "Best Books of (decade/year)" to get to them.

Original publication date)

1800-1809:
1810-1819:
1820-1829:
1830-1839:
1840-1849:
1850-1859:
1860-1869:
1870-1879:
1880-1889:
1890-1899:

1900-1909:
1910-1919:
1920-1929:
1930-1939:
1940-1949:
1950-1959:
1960-1969:
1970-1979:
1980-1989:
1990-1999:

2000-2009:
2010-2019:
2020-2026:

It was a long haul last year but I'll try this again:
1800-1809: Castle Rackrent
1810-1819: Ormond or The Absentee
1820-1829: The Last of the Mohicans
1830-1839: The Charterhouse of Parma or The Nose
1840-1849: Wuthering Heights
🔹1850-1859: North and South
1860-1869: Notes from the Underground
1870-1879: Middlemarch
1880-1889: The People of Hemso
1890-1899: The War of the Worlds

🔹1900-1909: The House of Mirth
🔹1910-1919: The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett 14 Feb (1911)
1920-1929: Quartet
1930-1939: Anne of Windy Poplars
1940-1949: Cry, the Beloved Country
1950-1959: Invisible Man
🔹1960-1969: The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath 18 Jan (1962)
1970-1979: Ragtime or Life: A User's Manual
🔹1980-1989: A Month in the Country
1990-1999: Vineland

2000-2009:Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
🔹2010-2019: The Tiger's Wife Téa Obreht 10 Jan (2011)
2020-2026: Before I Knew I Loved You

Here we go again!

1826: Othello by Wilhelm Hauff

1834: Peter Simple by Frederick Marryat

1847: The Princess by Alfred Tennyson

1856: The Hollow Land by William Morris

1886: Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

1890: Cesar Cascabel by Jules Verne

1902: The Pothunters by P.G. Wodehouse

1913: Betrachtung by Franz Kafka

1923: Arson Plus by Dashiell Hammett

1937: Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon

1946: The House in Lordship Lane by A.E.W. Mason

1957: La ciociara by Alberto Moravia

1963: La giornata d'uno scrutatore by Italo Calvino

1971: La mort heureuse by Albert Camus

1988: Journey Continued: An Autobiography by Alan Paton

2015: War in My Town by E. Graziani

2023: The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary by Sarah Ogilvie

I am in:

1800-1809:
1810-1819:
1820-1829:
1830-1839:
1840-1849:
1850-1859:
1860-1869:
1870-1879:
1880-1889:
1890-1899:

1900-1909:
1910-1919:
1920-1929:
1930-1939:
1940-1949:
1950-1959: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958). Finished 2/9/2026.
1960-1969:
1970-1979:
1980-1989:
1990-1999:

2000-2009: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (2007). Finished 2/15/2026.
2010-2019:
2020-2026: The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024). Finished 1/23/2026.


Books finished:

I'd like to try...

1800-1809:
1810-1819:
1820-1829:
1830-1839:
1840-1849:
1850-1859:
1860-1869:
1870-1879:
1880-1889:
1890-1899:

1900-1909:
1910-1919:
1920-1929:
1930-1939:
1940-1949:
1950-1959:
1960-1969:
1970-1979:
01-01-1975: Clifford's Good Deeds by Norman Birdwell ~ Read 01-02
1980-1989:
01-01-1982: What is a Fish? by David Eastman ~ Read 01-04
1990-1999:
2000-2009:
2010-2019:
03-07-2012: Resiting Cupid by Carol Rose ~ Read 01-08
12-05-2019: The Totally Most Original Worst Horrible Book of Poor Quality Cringe Worthy Dad Jokes by Arsidious ~ Read 01-05
2020-2026:
11-18-2024: Christmas Baby for the Cowboy, by Jamie L Schmidt ~ Read 01-05
09-25-2025: Temp by Adariana Locke ~ Read 01-06

And,again......

1800-1809:
1810-1819:
1820-1829:
1830-1839:
1840-1849:
1850-1859:Little DorritbyCharles Dickens(1857)
⭐✔13/2/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
1860-1869:Wives and DaughtersbyElizabeth Gaskell(1866)
1870-1879:The Story of SalomebyAmelia B. Edwards(1873)
⭐✔20/4/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
1880-1889:The Lady from the SeabyHenrik Ibsen(1888)
1890-1899:Charley's AuntbyBrandon Thomas(1892)
⭐✔19/4/26★ ★ ★ ★

1900-1909: Green MansionsbyWilliam Henry Hudson(1904)
✔28/2/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
1910-1919:The Adventure of the Red Circle - a Sherlock Holmes Short StorybyArthur Conan Doyle(1911)
1920-1929:The Orange-Yellow DiamondbyJ.S. Fletcher(1920)
✔15/3/26★ ★ ★ ★
1930-1939:Little House on the PrairiebyLaura Ingalls Wilder(1935)
✔18/3/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
1950-1959:Officers and GentlemenbyEvelyn Waugh(1955)
⭐✔20/3/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
1960-1969:Mrs Harris MPbyPaul Gallico(Mrs 'Arris 3) (1965)
✔14/3/26★ ★ ★
1970-1979:The Silent World of Nicholas QuinnbyColin Dexter(1977)
✔16/3/26★ ★ ★ ★
1980-1989:
1990-1999:Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of DiscoverybyRussell Freedman
⭐✔23/3/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
2000-2009:Orson's ShadowbyAustin Pendleton(2003)
⭐✔27/2/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
2010-2019:We are All Completely Beside OurselvesbyKaren Joy Fowler(2013)
⭐✔3/3/26★ ★ ★ ★ ★
2020-2026:Flannery O'Connor and the Scandal of FaithbyJessica Hooten Wilson(2024)