Cather Novels

The Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge

 

Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge

 

I’d love to see more people reading and talking about Willa Cather’s novels which is why I turned my personal plan of reading all twelve of Cather’s novels in 2012 into a public reading challenge.

Cather published 12 novels which makes this a perfect year-long reading challenge. Jump in anytime, read the novels in any order. There are no rules, just the pleasure of reading novels from this American master.

The novels in chronological order:

  1. Alexander’s Bridge (1912)
  2. O Pioneers! (1913)
  3. The Song of the Lark (1915)
  4. My Ántonia (1918)
  5. One of Ours (1922)
  6. A Lost Lady (1923)
  7. The Professor’s House (1925)
  8. My Mortal Enemy (1926)
  9. Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927)
  10. Shadows on the Rock (1931)
  11. Lucy Gayheart (1935)
  12. Sapphira and the Slave Girl (1940)

The links below are the posts I wrote for the Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge in 2012. There is two posts for each novel: An “introductory” post to the novel and then a “thoughts & comments” post. (I’ll eventually remove the dates to make this feel more evergreen.)

Sadly, not all of the comments survived when I transferred my blog from Blogger to WordPress, but some did. Please feel free to add your comments. I’d love to keep the conversation going!

  1. Take the Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge
  2. Alexander’s Bridge: Book #1 Introduction
  3. Alexander’s Bridge: Thoughts & Comments
  4. O Pioneers!: Book #2 Introduction
  5. O Pioneers!: Thoughts & Comment
  6. The Song of the Lark: Book #3 Introduction
  7. The Song of the Lark: Thoughts & Comments
  8. My Antonia: Book #4 Introduction
  9. My Antonia: Thoughts & Comments
  10. One of Ours: Book #5 Introduction
  11. One of Ours: Thoughts & Comments
  12. A Lost Lady: Book #6 Introduction
  13. A Lost Lady: Thoughts & Comments
  14. The Professor’s House: Book #7 Introduction
  15. The Professor’s House: Thoughts & Comments
  16. My Mortal Enemy: Book #8 Introduction
  17. My Mortal Enemy: Thoughts & Comments
  18. Death Comes for the Archbishop: Book #9 Introduction
  19. Death Comes for the Archbishop: Thoughts & Comments
  20. Shadows on the Rock: Book #10 Introduction
  21. Shadows on the Rock: Thoughts & Comments
  22. Lucy Gayheart: Book #11 Introduction
  23. Lucy Gayheart: Thoughts & Comments
  24. Sapphira and the Slave Girl: Book #12 Introduction
  25. Sapphira and the Slave Girl: Thoughts & Comments
  26. Wrap-up Post

 

Willa Cather Lane

 

6 comments

  4. Chris, I’m ashamed to say I’ve just discovered Willa Cather this year, and just discovered your site. I was struming through an old box of paperbacks when I fell upon “MyAntonia”, and being a fan of Conrad Richter, gave it a read. It turned out to be my most enjoyable read so far this year.
    I gave it to my wife to read and immediately ordered “O Pioneers”. She couldn’t put it down. How could I have missed this? I feel so illiterate.
    I’ve not been much on fiction. Two years ago I set out to read and add a biography of each American presidents and founding fathers to my personal library — should be done by December. Thus, my reading has been focused on history, but I love fiction by the greats.
    Also, I’ve been fascinated by your tour or the great libraries in America. I would love to know more of how you accomplished this. Also, I’m curious why there were no visits to any libraries in the south. Just wondering!
    Looking forward to your contact.
    Mike

    Reply

    • Hi Michael, how wonderful that you’ve discovered Cather! More often than not, people have not heard of her, although her star seems to be (again) on the rise. I have not heard of Conrad Richter, so thank you for bringing him to my attention. I also admire your presidential & founding fathers reading project. So far I’ve only read a bio on Washington and Benjamin Franklin. I’ve read some about Lincoln, too. Do you have an online space where you write about your reading?

      I love stopping at libraries whenever I’m on a trip and can spare the time. After years of documenting them here, the list has gotten long. Funny you should ask about libraries in the south—the post I’m currently working on is a library in Alabama. I also recently visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, so that will be a future post as well.

      Reply

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