Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s topic is Authors I’ve Read The Most Books By. Regular followers of this blog will have no trouble guessing the author I’ll be featuring. Yes, it’s John Buchan. You can find out more about my Buchan of the Month reading project here. Although most well-known as the author of the adventure story The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan wrote many other books in a variety of genres – novels, short stories, poetry and biographies.
Here are ten facts about his life and works, followed by ten of my personal favourites from his many books.
- He was a correspondent for The Times on the Western Front in 1915
- He was appointed Director of Intelligence in the Ministry of Information in 1918
- His Oxfordshire country home, Elsfield, was in earlier times visited by Dr. Samuel Johnson
- He was created Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield in 1935
- He was appointed Governor-General of Canada the same year
- In the above capacity, he signed Canada’s declaration of war on Germany
- He was a friend of T. E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) who visited Elsfield
- Buchan is reported to have remarked that Alfred Hitchcock’s film version of The Thirty-Nine Steps was an improvement on his book
- His sister, Anna, was the novelist O. Douglas
- Buchan’s memoir Memory Hold-The-Door was a favourite book of US President, John F Kennedy
Ten Favourite John Buchan Books
The Power House – adventure featuring lawyer, Sir Edward Leithen
The Thirty-Nine Steps – adventure featuring Richard Hannay
Greenmantle – adventure featuring Richard Hannay
Mr. Standfast – adventure featuring Richard Hannay
Witch Wood – historical fiction set in 17th century Scotland
A Book of Escapes and Hurried Journeys – daring escapes and epic journeys from history
A Prince of the Captivity – globe-trotting adventure
The Blanket of the Dark – historical fiction set in the reign of Henry VIII
Memory Hold-The-Door – memoir
Sick Heart River – Buchan’s last novel, adventure featuring Sir Edward Leithen
What Cathy Read Next... 