2021-2023 BBC Book Calendar

February, 2021

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

(256 pages)
Do I edit Everett?  No, I do not: “Unforgettable post-apocalyptic journey, written in an invented language, a degenerate form of contemporary English, which takes about ten pages to learn (the trick is to ignore the spelling and sound it out). Very well worth the effort. If you liked Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas . . . well, actually, I have no idea how you'll feel about this book.”

March

Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson 

(496 pages)
2020 was certainly a year where we all thought about race a lot, but what if we aren’t thinking about it correctly?  Wilkerson reframes the race debate as one of caste, and avoids our typical language on race in favor of phrases like “dominant caste” or “lower caste” to show how our racial attitudes are closer to India’s treatment of “untouchables” or Nazi treatment of Jews and uses this new perspective to try to show a way forward.  The New York Times review of this book is strikingly positive, saying “I told more than one person, as I moved through my days this past week, that I was reading one of the most powerful nonfiction books I’d ever encountered.”  Nominated by Seth.

April

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

(245 pages.)
OK, probably just assume we will be reading this one, as it was co-nominated by Mike, Tim and Everett.  From the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, a much different book.  Let’s let Everett summarize it, because I just can’t top this: “Piranesi lives in a big-ass house. I mean really big, like Narnian wardrobe big or TARDIS big. And he does stuff there. Also, there might be some other people living there, too. And some of them might be bad. (Which, when you come to think of it, is a real flaw or, at least, unexplored theme in Dr. Who. If the TARDIS so damned big, how do you know there aren't bad-intentioned creepy-crawlies living in there? Can someone explain that to me?) Anyway, Susanna Clarke wrote this, so you know it's good. And there's no footnotes. The end.”

May

The Stonecutter by Camila Läckberg

(436 pages.  Septology alert, or maybe more accurately “long-running series alert”, with this as the third book.)
A Scandinavian mystery series focusing on detective Patrik Hedström and his crime fighting girlfriend, investigating the suspicious drowning death of a local girl they knew who’s death is the key to a secret that spans generations in the small fishing village of Fjällbacka.   Nominated by Märk.

June

Podcast Month


July

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

(608 pages)
Fresh off his extended contemplation of waterborne cutlery in Dead Wake, Larson takes on Winston Churchill in his darkest hour at the beginning of WWII, as Churchill works to teach the British people “the art of being fearless” while navigating extensive family drama at home(s).  Getting lots of good reviews, most of which are of the “best Larson book in a while” bent.  Nominated by Josh.

August

River of Doubt by Candice Millard 

(416 pages)
I just finished reading this one to the kids, and it has BBC written all over it.  It’s true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s last great extremely manly (but staggeringly poorly planned) adventure into the Amazon.  Roosevelt, depressed over his loss to Woodrow Wilson, decides to cheer himself up with a grueling attempt to map the course of the “River of Doubt” with the assistance of a bunch of enthusiastic but amateurish companions and a driven, probably crazy Brazilian military colonel.  It’s a “if it could go wrong, it will” kind of story, and is very funny in the most macabre sort of way. Nominated by Mike E.

September

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari 

Says Seth: “I think I’ve nominated this before, but it still sounds fascinating. Harari focuses on the development of cognition roughly 70,000 years ago and how that shaped everything that followed.”  From the blurb: “One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?”  Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and for what it’s worth, Mark Zuckerberg. 
 

October

Dune by Frank Herbert/Dune by Denis Villeneuve

(704 pages/Untold number of minutes)
From Everett: “This colossal work follows the adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, whose father’s death leaves him to fend for his mother and sister. He soon manages to wrangle a job at the Dotheboys Hall school on the bleak moors of Yorkshire . . . sorry. Wrong book. This first in a colossal series of works follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, whose father's death at the hands of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen leaves him to fend for his mother and (currently unborn) sister. He soon manages to wrangle a job as the Kwisatz Haderach on the bleak sands of the desert-planet Arrakis and many hi-jinks ensue involving giant sand worms, psychedelic sandworm poop, and a burgeoning global jihad. Really, it's that good. And there's a new movie version coming out in October 2021 in IMAX and 3D! So, we should read the book AND see the movie in the same month.”  As an aside, I just finished reading this to the kids, and it still holds up.  An excellent piece of science fiction.  (This blurb serves as a reminder to go watch the Dune trailer again, if you haven’t in a while.)

November

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

(577 pages)
Nominated by Seth and Mike B, Ezra Klein says this is the most important book he’s read this year. Says Klein: “In The Ministry for the Future, Robinson imagines a world wracked by climate catastrophe. Some nations begin unilateral geoengineering. Eco-violence arises as people begin to experience unchecked climate change as an act of war against them, and they respond in kind, using new technologies to hunt those they blame. Capitalism ruptures, changes, and is remade. Nations, and the relations between them, transform. Ultimately, humanity is successful, but it is a terrifying success — a success that involves making the kinds of choices that none of us want to even think about making.”  Robinson is a great sci-fi writer, and this is getting a lot of praise.  If we dare…

December

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

(544 pages, with lots of pictures)
OK, this one is a bit off-beat: an illustrated novel telling the story of uptight Elfin historian Brangwain Spurge trying to survive after being catapulted into enemy Goblin territory.  He is initially aided by a friendly Goblin archivist, but a series of betrayals and cultural misunderstandings triggers an international crisis which may turn a cold war into a hot one.  Lots of discussion of how the victors write the histories, and the inaccuracies and biases that can lead to.  I’ve read other M.T. Anderson books before with the kids, and he aims for a teenage audience but with a sophistication that is very adult.  Finalist for the National Book Award.  Nominated by Andrew B.

January, 2022

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nahisi Coates

(417 pages)
Coates, in his third appearance with the BBC, tries his hand at non-Black Panther fiction.  Coates has written a magical realist take on slavery, focusing on a mixed-race slave boy with the power to remember everything, everything except his mother, that is.  The story follows him to the North and to his work with the Underground Railroad, with the magical elements becoming integral to the themes of the book.  On lots of the best books of the year lists.  Nominated by Tim, who says “What would a self-respecting book club be without an Oprah suggestion?”

February

Half-Drowned King by Linenea Hartsuyker

(464 pages.  Trilogy Alert.)
Says Dave: “Need a break from space operas? – how about a Viking opera (er, saga).”  The story of a Viking betrayed by his stepfather and left for dead after going off to do a bit of light raiding, and of the sister he left behind.  While he fights to regain his kingdom, his sister must navigate politics and an unwanted arranged marriage.

March

Music/Song Discussion Month


April

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

(472 pages.  Also, book 1 of at least 2, with the second part coming out in March, 2020.  Book 1 is self-contained.)
This is the book I was reading when I couldn’t deal with Warlight.  And it’s great.  It’s the story of an ambassador from a small space station-based culture arriving on the capital planet of the neighboring enormous expansionist space empire (based on a futuristic extrapolation of Mayan culture) after her predecessor has been killed, and trying desperately to keep the empire from overrunning her society.  The book has a lots of palace intrigue, as well as interesting ideas about culture and language and how it can limit someone’s perspective.  Nominated by Dave, who says “It apparently won the 2020 Hugo Award, but more importantly, it was nominated for the “Not the Booker Prize.”  Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have won that honor.”

May

The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova

(368 pages)
Writer Konnikova, who typically writes articles for the New Yorker about human behavior with the aid of her psychology degree, decides to do a bit of stunt writing and learn to play professional poker with the aid of a Poker Hall of Fame player.  The stunt begins to snowball when she wins hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The book is part memoir, part poker book and part an analysis of how people’s psychology responds to randomness, luck and emotional stress.  Gets mostly very good reviews, except from people who only want to hear about the poker.  Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com likes it for its rational take on statistics, although I am mad at him at the moment.  Nominated by Mike B. 

June

Long Form Literature Month


July

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

(432 pages)
Three Swedish friends are part of the local junior hockey team from Beartown, about to compete in the national championship, when tensions over the match lead to an act of violence that tears apart the town.  Nominated by Jason.

August

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

(384 pages)
No surprises here.  Nominated by Tim.

September

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

(561 pages)
An in-depth narrative of the Chernobyl disaster drawn from hundreds of interviews and recently declassified documents, Higginbotham weaves together a novelistic account of the actual events of the accident, which have long been obscured by Russian secrecy and propaganda.  And it’s the #1 bestseller on Amazon in “Nuclear Engineering” edging out, well, a bunch of other books about Chernobyl and some textbooks.  On multiple Best Books of the Year lists for 2019.    Nominated by me.

October

On the Plain of Snakes:  A Mexican Journey by Paul Theroux

(460 pages)
Famed novelist and travel writer Theroux goes to the Mexican-American border to get beyond the headlines about immigration.  After driving the entire border, he focuses on the Sonora region, which has been the locale for some horrifying drug gang related violence. He talks to mill workers, attends a Zapatista party meeting.  Apparently a fairly political book, with lots of polarized reviews on Amazon.  Nominated by Mike E.

November

Classics Month


December

The River by Peter Heller

(274 pages)
The story of two long-time friends who take a canoeing trip in northern Canada, which becomes more than they bargained for when a wildfire spreads across the area.  While trying to outrun the fire, the two encounter an arguing couple, and later, suspiciously, just the man.  And so ensues “a headlong, heart-pounding story of desperate wilderness survival.”  Says Greg: “I've enjoyed pretty much everything of Heller’s I've read, and appreciate how all of his books seem to have a tie-in to Denver or Fraser or something else in Colorado.”

January 2023

Abstainer by Ian McGuire

(304 blood-soaked pages)
The latest book by BBC favorite Ian McGuire of awesome, violent, rather rape-y The North Waters fame.  “Manchester, England, 1867.  The rebels will be hanged at dawn and their brotherhood is already plotting its revenge,” says the blurb.  Sounds pretty on-brand for McGuire.  A story of Irish revolutionaries violently seeking independence from Brittan, and the constable trying to stop them.  On multiple Best Books of the Year lists.  Nominated by Mark.

February

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

(322 pages.)
A sci-fi book where travel between alternate versions of Earth has become possible, but only if your counterpart in that world has died.  This is the story of a down-on-her-luck woman who has usually died in other worlds, and so becomes valuable as a multiverse traveler.  When one of her few remaining doppelgangers dies under mysterious circumstances, a new Earth becomes available, and leads her to uncover a plot that could destroy the multiverse.  Nominated by Josh.


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