So here's how we play the game...

This is a list from the June 24, 1899 edition of the New York Times Saturday Review of what they judged the best books published in America in the previous twelve months suitable for that dark goal known as "summer reading". The reason I chose this particular list probably tells you a lot about me: it was the first one I found, and of the three pre-1900 lists, it was the shortest one I found. In a way, I regret jumping the gun; if I had held out for 1898, not only would I get to talk about The War of the Worlds and Captains Courageous, but John Rowley's The Art of Taxidermy. And wouldn't that be a great beach read? Sure, it'd be a conversation starter, but do you want that kind of conversation?

Then as now, summer reading was considered light reading. "In the midst of all these and many other distractions," the introduction tells us, "the book must not be too absorbingly interesting, but rather one whose current flows along like a gentle stream, so that we may be able at any moment to put down the volume and go off into day dreams of our own manufacture." Which sounds familiar enough: no heavy mental lifting. But then you look at the the list and there's Kate Chopin's The Awakening, which apparently was so challenging in its days and the times that it went out of print for nearly 50 years, and today is a book esteemed enough to be encased in a thicket of pick-apart lit-crit articles. And some reviewer 110 yeas ago decided to tag it with the "summer reading" label? The same label that today is used for books by Dan Frickin' Frackin' Brown? What the hell's going on here? That, fun-time gang, is the question that sold me on doing this in the first place.

Anyway, here's the deal: All I know about all but maybe a dozen of these authors is that in 1899, they were considered worthy of attention. My intention is to read all of these (except one, which I'll touch on in a moment) for however long it takes, and report what I get from each one along the way. I'm not a lit major or even someone remotely well-read in modern critical theory (oh, God forbid), just a guy who likes a good story, and that's going to influence my approach to this project. As a reader, I'll be focusing first and foremost on what's actually on the page, then spinning off from there. As an Internet jerk, however, I reserve the right to do all this with a dollop of snark when it's deemed necessary.

So without any further delay, under their designated categories, here's The List:

HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, AND MEMOIRS

• THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Part I 1766-1776, by the Right Hon. Sir George Otto Trevelyan
• A HAND-BOOK OF CUBA, PUERTO RICO, HAWAII, AND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. Our Island Empire. By Charles Morris.
  
• INDUSTRIAL CUBA. Being a Study of Present Commercial and Industrial Conditions, with Suggestions as to the Opportunities Presented in the Island for American Capital, Enterprise, and Labor, by Robert P. Porter, Special Commissioner for the United states, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. (Sorry, that subtitle was too ridiculously involved to throw out.)
  
• TALES OF THE MALAYAN COAST, By Rounsevelle Wildman, Consul General of the United States at Hongkong.
• THE LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CORRESPONDENCE OF GEORGE BORROW, 1803-1881, by William I. Knapp.
• JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL AND HIS FRIENDS, by Edward Everett Hale.
• THE LIFE OF HENRY DRUMMOND, by George Adam Smith.
• THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS (no author listed)
• REMINISCENCES, by Justin McCarthy.
• EUGENIE, EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH, by Clara Tschudi.
• THE ROUGH RIDERS, by Theodore Roosevelt. (Book #4, finished 27 September, 2009)
  

TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

• AN AMERICAN CRUISER IN THE EAST, by Chief Engineer John D. Ford, U.S.N.
• ALPS AND PYRENEES, by Victor Hugo (A Journal of His Travels)
• THE HOOLIGAN NIGHTS, by Clarence Rook. (book #2, completed 12 July, 2008)
  
• LETTERS FROM JAPAN, by Mrs. Hugh Fraser.
• FROM SEA TO SEA: LETTERS OF TRAVEL IN INDIA, JAPAN, AND THE UNITED STATES, by Rudyard Kipling.
• A THOUSAND DAYS IN THE ARCTIC, by Fredrick G. Jackson.
• CATHEDRAL DAYS: A Tour in Southern England, by Anna Bowman Dodd.

GARDEN AND FOREST AND POETRY (and boy, isn't that a head scratcher of a category...)

• POEMS by Richard Realf.
• LYRICS OF THE HEARTH-SIDE, by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
• THE GOSPEL IN THE FIELDS, by R.C. Fillingham, Vicar of Hexton.
• THE MAN WITH THE HOE, AND OTHER POEMS, by Edwin Markham.
• RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM, Edward FitzGerald translation (second version), preface by Nathan Haskell Dole.
• NATURE STUDIES IN BERKSHIRE, by John Coleman Adams.
• WILD LIFE AT HOME: HOW TO STUDY AND PHOTOGRAPH IT, by Cherry Kearton.
• BIRD LIFE, by Frank M. Chapman
• THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER, by Lewis Wright. (See? I gave up taxidermy, I get poultry in return.)
  
• THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM, Edward Heron-Allen translation.

FICTION BY FAMILIAR HANDS

• THE MARKETPLACE, by Harold Frederic.
• THE OUTSIDERS, by Robert W. Chambers.
• AN EXPERIMENTAL WOOING, by Tom Hall.
• THE GARDEN OF SWORDS, by Max Pemberton.
• A DASH FOR THE THRONE, by Arthur W. Marchmont.
• MARTYRS OF EMPIRE, by Herbert C. McIlwaine.
• THE ADVENTURES OF THE LADY URSULA, by Anthony Hope.
• MISS CAYLEY'S ADVENTURES, by Grant Allen.
• CHILDREN OF THE MIST, by Eden Phillpotts.
• A DUET, WITH AN OCCASIONAL CHORUS, by A. Conan Doyle.
  
• THE ADVENTURES OF FRANCOIS, by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell.
• THE TWO STANDARDS, by Dr. William Barry.
• GOOD AMERICANS, by Mrs. Burton Harrison.
• THE BLACK DOUGLAS, by S.R. Crockett.
• THE WIND-JAMMERS, by T. Jenkins Hains.
• RUPERT OF HENTZAU (the sequel to "The Prisoner of Zenda"), by Anthony Hope.
• SNOW ON THE HEADLIGHT, A Story of the Great Burlington Strike, by Cy Warman.
• A HUNGARIAN NABOB, by Maurus Jokai. (book #1, completed 11 June, 2008)
  
• THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN, by E.W. Hornung. (Hey look, it's Raffles! Give it up for Raffles, y'all!)
  
• GALLOPS, by David Gray.
• THE BATTLE OF THE STRONG, by Gilbert Parker.
• STRONG HEARTS, by George W. Cable.
• LADY JEZEBEL, by Fergus Hume.

NEWER TELLERS OF TALES

• IDOLS, by W.J. Locke.
• THE WOLF'S LONG HOWL, by Stanley Waterloo.
• THE HOUSE OF STRANGE SECRETS, by A. Eric Baily.
• NOT ON THE CHART: A NOVEL OF TO-DAY, by Algernon Sydney Logan.
• THE CRUISE OF THE GOLDEN WAVE, by W.N. Oscar.
• THE SILVER CROSS, by S.R. Keightley.
• THE SEED OF THE POPPY, by Clive Holland.
• RICHARD CARVEL, by Winston Churchill.
• NO. 5 JOHN STREET, by Richard Whiteing.
• D'ARCY OF THE GUARDS, by Louis Evan Shipman.
• DAVID HARUM, by Edward Noyes Westcott.
• THE SHORT LINE WAR, by Merwin Webster.
• THE TAMING OF THE JUNGLE, by Dr. C.W. Doyle.
• PRISONERS OF HOPE, by Mary Johnston.
• THE VALLEY PATH, by Will Allen.
• A GENTLEMAN PLAYER, by Robert Neilson Stephens.
• DEFICIENT SAINTS, by Marshall Saunders.
• PASTOR NAUDIE'S YOUNG WIFE, by Edouard Rod.
• THE TWIN SISTERS OF MARTIGNY, Rev. J.F. Bingham.
• THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON, by Wilson Barrett and Robert Hichens.
• THE MEASURE OF A MAN, by S. Livingston Prescott.

A GROUP OF FEMALE NOVELISTS

• ONE POOR SCRUPLE: A SEVEN WEEKS' STORY, by Mrs. Wilfred Ward.
• MISTRESS CONTENT CRADOCK, by Annie Eliot Trumbull. (Book #5)
  
• I, THOU, AND THE OTHER ONE, by Amelia E. Barr.
• THE FOWLER, by Beatrice Harraden.
• DEADMAN'S, by Mary Gaunt.
• HEART AND SWORD, by John Strange Winter.
• AS TOLD BY THE TYPEWRITER GIRL, by Mabel Clare Ervin.
• A DOUBLE THREAD, by Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler.
• A WIND FLOWER, by Caroline Atwater Mason.
• PAULINE WYMAN, by Sophie May.
• THE GREATER INCLINATION, by Edith Wharton.
• THE MIRACLES OF ANTI-CHRIST, by Selma Lagerlöf
• A TENT OF GRACE, by Adelina C. Lust.
• THE MATERNITY OF HARRIOT WICKEN, by Mrs. Henry Dudeney.
• ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN, by Elizabeth von Arnim (published anonymously).
• LOVE AND ROCKS, by Laura E. Richards.
• THOSE DALE GIRLS, by Frances Weston Carruth.
• THE AWAKENING, by Mrs. Kate Chopin.
• DOROTHY QUINCY: A STORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, by Elizabeth Springer.

NOVELETTES AND SHORT STORIES

• THE STRONG ARM, by Robert Barr.
• TIVERTON TALES, by Alice Brown.
• IRISH LIFE AND CHARACTER, by Michael McDonagh.

THE SUMMER'S MISCELLANY

• WATERS THAT PASS AWAY, by N.B. Winston. (book #3, completed 24 August, 2008)
• THE BARONET AND THE BUTTERFLY, by James McNeil Whistler.
• THE DREAMERS: A CLUB, by John Kendrick Bangs.
• FIELDS, FOREST, AND WAYSIDE FLOWERS, by Maud Going (E.M. Hardinge).
• KIPLING KALENDAR FOR 1900 (Yeah, a calendar. On a reading list. This is the one that I'll probably not get to actually "read", but don't think I won't dwell on the merchandising angle at some point.)
• THE GOSPEL FOR AN AGE OF DOUBT, by Rev. Henry Van Dyke.
• THE BOOK OF GOLF AND GOLFERS, by Horace G. Hutchinson and others.

And now the part I throw onto you, dear reader: your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pick out the first victim (or, if you prefer, the first book to feed to the victim). As a pasty-faced digital age scrounger, I'm obviously leaning heavily toward starting with the stuff that can be found for free online (Google Books has been great in this regard). Be certain that when I ramp up to a title, I'll post a few links to online versions for those who want to be tag-along pals.

I dedicate this post to Matt, whose fondest desire is to watch my back snap under the industrial strength of leaden Victorian-era prose. "I've read stuff from that era. You will not have fun." That's a challenge I refuse to ignore, punk.