Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Challenges for the Buffet:
Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR
Challenge #2 - The Year You Were Born and 100 Years Earlier
Challenge #3 - Your Birth Year Top 10 Best Sellers
✔️ Challenge #4 - Members Choice Classic/Genre Challenge
✔️ Challenge #5 - Decade/Century Challenge 11/28/2020
✔️ Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge completed 10/10/2020
✔️ Challenge #7 - 2020 Group Reads Challenge completed 11/2/2020
Challenge #8 - A-Z Author Challenge
Challenge #9 - A-Z Title Challenge

Challenge #1

Only six of the 12 books selected are required be Classics based on the Groups definitions.
3 books Old School (published before 1900)
3 books New School (published between 1900 & 1999).
The other six and your two alternates can be any genre or age you wish to read.

Old School Classic
1. Inferno by Dante Alighieri
2. Divine Comedy: Purgatory by Dante Alighieri
3. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
4. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 5 stars, 4/6/2020 ✔️

New School Classic
5. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson ✔️ 5 stars 9/25/2020
6. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene 4 stars. 7/14/2020 ✔️
7 My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier 5 stars 12/30/2020 ✔️
8. Stoner by John Williams

Fun stuff
9. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa 5 stars 9/12/2020 ✔️
10. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay 5 stars 6/5/2020 ✔️
11. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
12. Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Alternates:
A The Divine Comedy, Vol. 3: Paradise by Dante Alighieri
A Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré ✔️ 3/17/2020 4 stars

Saved for Challenge #4

I was not able to finish all the books that I listed last year, but I did read enough books for all the categories: (perhaps this is cheating a bit). I am attempting to avoid duplicating books in the Century Challenge as much as possible.


✔️ 1. 18th Century or older The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (1589)
✔️ 2. 19th Century Camille: The Lady of the Camelliasby Alexandre Dumas, fils (1848)
✔️ 3. 20th Century The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré (1963)
✔️ 4. Current or Past Group Read The Lover by Marguerite Duras (1984)
✔️ 5. An Author not read before, Picnic at Hanging Rockby Joan Lindsay (1967)
✔️ 6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (1963)
✔️ 7. 카지노싸이트 Fiction Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick (1968)
✔️ 8. Romance The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951)
✔️ 9. Historical fiction, Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (1958)
✔️ 10. Nonfiction Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (108)
✔️ 11. Mystery/Crime A Murder of Quality by John le Carre (1962)
✔️ 12. Horror or Humor The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft (1936)








List and read 12 books, one for each of the following categories.

1. 18th Century or older, Inferno by Dante Alighieri
2. 19th Century, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
3. 20th Century, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré 4 stars 3/17/2020 ✔️
4. Current or Past Group Read, The End of the Affair by Graham Greene 4 stars 7/134/2020 ✔️
5. An Author not read before, Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay 5 stars 6/5/2020 ✔️
6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa (It is an award winning book, published in 2009. I realize I am stretching the word "classic" here.) 5 stars 9/12/2020 ✔️
7. 카지노싸이트 Fiction, Foundation by Isaac Asimov
8. Romance, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
9. Historical fiction, Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 4 stars 5/30/2020 ✔️
10. Nonfiction, Republic of Noise: The Loss Of Solitude in Schools and Culture by Diana Senechal
11. Mystery/Crime, A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 5 stars 4/6/2020 ✔️
12. Horror or Humor, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

These may change up to December 31st

Saved for Challenge #5

This is the Century Challenge. As I read books I am filling them in.

✔️1887 A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 4/5/2020
✔️ 1898 Royal Children of English History by E. Nesbit 11/27/2020
✔️1903 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 4/1/2020
✔️ 1912The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson 4/17/2020
✔️ 1927 To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 6/30/2020
✔️ 1936 The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft 11/28/2020
✔️ 1948 A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger 10/10/2020
✔️ 1955 A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor 10/31/2020
✔️ 1967 The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton 12/10/2020
✔️ 1974 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré 3/17/2020
✔️ 1984 Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 5/29/2020
✔️ 1994 Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson 2/4/2020
✔️ 2003 The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa 9/12/2020

I ended up with more than a century. Of the thirteen books listed, I had pre-planned to read seven of them. That is unusual for me. I have such trouble sticking to a list.

[Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge

Read 24 short stories. If I list it, I read it.

1. [book:The Thanksgiving Visitor|911317] by Truman Capote 1/1/2020 4 stars
2. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe 1/28/2020 3 stars
3. The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton 1/31/2019 5 stars
4. The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson 2/8/2020 3 stars
5. The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson 3/11/2020 5 stars
6 "The Fisherman and His Wife" Brothers Grimm 6/8/2020 5 stars
7. The Man Who Loved Islands / L'uomo che amava le isole by D. H. Lawrence 7/2/2020 4 stars
8. There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury 7/4/2020 4 stars
9. The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft 7/5/2020 4 stars
10. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson 8/7/2020 5 stars
11. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe 8/12/2020 4 stars
12. A Stroke of Good Fortune by Flannery O'Connor 8/25/2020 3 stars
13. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor 9/7/20202 4 stars
14. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 9/9/2020 4 stars
15. The Lover by Marguerite Duras 9/11/2020 2 stars
16. A Late Encounter with the Enemy by Flannery O'Connor 9/13/2020 3 stars
17. "The River" by Flannery O'Connor 9/15/2020 4 stars
18. The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs 9/22/2020 4 stars
19. "A Circle in the Fire" by Flannery O'Connor 9/25/2020 4 stars
20. The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster 10/7/2020 5 stars
21. "Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield 10/7/2020 4 stars
22 " The Displaced Person" by Flannery O'Connor 10/8/2020 4 stars
23. A Cup of Tea by Katherine Mansfield 10/10/2020 5 stars
24 The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor 10/10/2020 5 stars


Challenge completed!!

25. "The Geranium" by Flannery O'Connor 10/10/2020 5 stars
26. A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger 10/10/2020 4 stars.
27. Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie 10/15/2020 4 stars
28. The Man Without A Country by Edward Everett Hale 11/30/2020 3 stars
29. A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett 12/15/2020 3 stars
30. The Lady with the Little Dog by Anton Chekhov 12/22/2020 5 stars
31. Second Variety: Short Story by Philip K. Dick 3 stars 12/24/2020
32. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber 4 stars 12/25/2020
33. The Lineman by Walter M. Miller Jr. 4 stars 12/26/2020
34. ForgetfulnessJohn W. Campbell Jr. 5 stars 12/28/2020
35. The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke 4 stars 12/28/2020

Challenge #7 - 2020 Group Reads Challenge

Between New School, Old School, Short Story/Novella, and Quarterly Long read our group selects 40 new books per year to go on our book shelf. This challenge is to read 12 of these forty.

1. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe 1/28/2020 3 stars
2. The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson 2/8/2020 3 stars
3. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift 3/13/2020 3 stars
4. There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury 7/4/2020 4 stars
5. White Fang by Jack London 8/15/2020 5 stars
6. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré 8/22/2020 5 stars
7. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 9/7/2020 4 stars
8. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin 9/9/2020 2 stars
9. The Lover by Marguerite Duras 9/11/2020 2 stars
10. Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe 10/21/2020 5 stars
11. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor 10/31/2020 4 stars
12. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 11/2/2020 5 stars
13. The Lady of the Camellias: La Dame Aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas fils 11/26/2020 4 stars

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There were several other books I read from the Group's shelf that were group reads prior to 2020:

The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote 1/1/2020 4 stars

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 3/1/2020 3 stars

"The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft 7/5/2020 4 stars

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson 2/5/2020 4 stars

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré 3/17/2020 4 stars

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 4/5/2020 5 stars

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster 5/2/2020 4 stars

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene 7/13/2020 5 stars

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier 12/30/2020 5 stars

I really do not expect to do all of these challenges, especially with Bingo, but as the year goes on I might accomplish most of them.

I thought I had better tally up the number of books I am committing to read before I go back to the buffet for another plate!!

1. Inferno by Dante Alighieri* 1320
2. Divine Comedy: Purgatory by Dante Alighieri 1320
3. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins* 1859
✔️ 4. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle* 1887 5 stars 4/6/2020
✔️ 5. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson 1956
✔️ 6. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene* 1951
✔️ 7 My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier* 1951
8. Stoner by John Williams 1965
9. Our Town by Thornton Wilder 1938
✔️ 10. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay 1967
11. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer 2008
12. Foundation by Isaac Asimov* 1951
13. The Divine Comedy, Vol. 3: Paradise by Dante Alighieri 1320
✔️ 14. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré* 1973 4 stars
Feb 2020
✔️ 15. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa 2003
✔️ 16. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 1984
17. Republic of Noise: The Loss Of Solitude in Schools and Culture by Diana Senechal 2011
18. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome* 1889
19. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry* 1985
20. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious 1952
21. Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck 1946
22. The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan 2016
23. Not Under Forty by Willa Cather 1936

10/23 women authors


Plus 24 short stories
✔️ 1. A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger
✔️ 2. The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft*
3. The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy

From the Catching Up On Classics Group Bookshelf *

You can’t be reasonable at a buffet. Your eyes always overload your stomach. So go ahead and have another plate or two or three or four or… I’ve read a good many of the books you have listed and Lonesome Dove for me is the runaway favorite. Looks like some of your others we will both be reading next year.

Agree about Lonesome Dove but The Housekeeper and the Professor is a favorite of mine. It is a touching story. I see two buddy reads- Tinker, Tailor... and Picnic at Hanging Rock. These look like such fun lists.

Brina wrote: "Agree about Lonesome Dove but The Housekeeper and the Professor is a favorite of mine. It is a touching story. I see two buddy reads- Tinker, Tailor... and Picnic at Hanging Rock. These look like s..."

Definitely. I think there are several people interested in Picnic at Hanging Rock. Tinker, Tailor might even be eligible for the Revisit Shelf this year - I would have to check the date. I have also heard that multiple people may be reading Lonesome Dove.

Tinker, Tailor was last read in Sept 2019, so it would be eligible for Revisit the Shelf in Oct 2020.

That’s ok. I’m sure I’ll read it before then because I used it for bingo and I try to get that done early.

Brina wrote: "That’s ok. I’m sure I’ll read it before then because I used it for bingo and I try to get that done early."

If you want to read it earlier let us know to set up a Buddy Read.

I wanted to bring it vacation at the end of January but that’s probably too early for most people’s plans. Still if there’s enough interest please set up a buddy read.

Brina wrote: "I wanted to bring it vacation at the end of January but that’s probably too early for most people’s plans. Still if there’s enough interest please set up a buddy read."

I put Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy on the list for a Buddy read for January Brina if you would like to read it then, and also posted to others that they can join. :)

Bob wrote: "You can’t be reasonable at a buffet. Your eyes always overload your stomach. So go ahead and have another plate or two or three or four or… I’ve read a good many of the books you have listed and Lo..."

Bob you are a bad influence, LOL

January update. I read three short stories The Thanksgiving Visitor, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Lady or the Tiger?.

I read most of Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, but it will be listed in February for the completion date. I have started The Divine Comedy.

Three great short stories and I really loved Snow Falling on Cedars. Off to a great start, Lynn.

Sara wrote: "Three great short stories and I really loved Snow Falling on Cedars. Off to a great start, Lynn."

I am still pondering a rating and review on this one. This book has required a slow and careful reading, and I think I should take the same approach with the rating.

I read The Lady or the Tiger, Sunday afternoon. I thought it was great. You have had four really good reads.

Bob wrote: "I read The Lady or the Tiger, Sunday afternoon. I thought it was great. You have had four really good reads."

Thanks. I read "The Lady or the Tiger" long, long ago when I was in Middle School. I have taught it in my 8th grade English class the last four years. The students always get into the story, although they find the ending frustrating.

I have read three books since the last time I posted.

1. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 4 stars
2. Anne of Green Gables 5 stars
3. A Study in Scarlet 5 stars

Tinker, Tailor was good, but I really loved rereading Anne of Green Gables. Also, the more Sherlock Holmes I read, the more I like them.

I really loved by Jack London. I always like Jack London and it was nice to revisit a book I read in my youth.

I just read another children's classic, Old Yeller by Fred Gipson for my Old and New Classics Challenge. What a wonderful book. I liked the frontier descriptions as well as the plot of the story. It is a classic coming-of age book with a teenage main character. Yes, I did cry.

You're doing great. I see you need one for the 40's, take a look at Pied Piper, 1942. I think might like it.

Thanks for the encouragement Bob. I'm thinking Pavilion of Women: A Novel of Life in the Women's Quarters by Pearl S. Buck., published 1946. I bought it at the beginning of 2020, but you know, time.

Lynn wrote: "Thanks for the encouragement Bob. I'm thinking Pavilion of Women: A Novel of Life in the Women's Quarters by Pearl S. Buck., published 1946. I bought it at the beginnin..."

I picked up a copy of this late last year. I've only read one by Buck, but it was masterful. Enjoy

I have now completed one of the Challenges , #6 The Short Story Challenge !! Yippie! I hope that I am close enough on a few others that I can finish some more before the end of the year. I am afraid I will get to December with most of them needing just one more book....

I liked the concept of reading short stories. Short stories seem to get pushed aside as almost an afterthought. I like that we focused on them. I read many more short stories than I usually do, and it shows in my book totals so far. Usually I average three books per month then maybe a short story, or not This year I am only averaging 1.5 books per month, but more short stories.

Two years ago I began a Google Spreadsheet that I update every time I enter another book/short story into 카지노싸이트. It helps me keep perspective when we discuss things like reading broadly vs. focusing on a few classic authors. Each person's individual reading history will determine his or her orientation in such a discussion. (This was easy to compile using copy and paste.)

Stats: I have a total of 1193 texts entered - that's everything: short stories, children's books, poetry collections, novels, essays, etc.

I have a total of 718 authors entered.

Categories to think about:
Books per author: 1.66
Children's/YA books: 460
Classic authors: 138/718 or 20%
Women authors: 261/718 or 36%
Texts by women authors: 455/1193 or 38%
Catching Up On Classics Books: 148
Books in translation 57/1193 or approximately 5%
Short stories 120/1193 or about 10%


Conclusion: I might like to read more books in translation. I want to read more from the Group bookshelf. I really, really want to read more per author. I do not like reading just one book by an author then moving on. Having read over 700 individual authors I do not think that breadth is a problem. I think that the mix of female to male authors is fine.

I could read more in translation. In particular, I know I want to read more Honoré de Balzac but he just did not fit on the challenges. I could also read more Jules Verne My list of Russian authors is woefully short considering how many are considered "classic authors". Short stories by Russian authors would be a good place to start. I even have a collection called Great Russian Short Stories. I really enjoyed the two contemporary Japanese novels I read this year and could look into that a little more.

That's all. Just organizing some thoughts here.

A cool idea, I'm not savvy enough to do it, but I'd love knowing the results.

One more challenge completed, so I have completed short stories and group reads. My focus right now really is Bingo. It's hard to predict if I will finish any of the rest of these. Time will tell.

Congrats on completing another challenge, Lynn!

Congratulations, Lynn! I recently read Foundation by Isaac Asimov and it's a short read. Sort of like 5 short stories.

Good luck with the Bingo!

Congrats!!

#5 The Century Challenge. I had orginally planned it two possible ways - one starting with A Study in Scarlet and another ending with The Housekeeper and the Professor. I read The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft 1936 today, so I am finished. In the end I had a Century + Three Decades Challenge.. Of the thirteen books/short stories or novellas, seven were pre-planned. That is actually a pretty high percentage for me!


✔️ Challenge #5 - Decade/Century Challenge completed 11/28/2020
✔️ Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge completed 10/10/2020
✔️ Challenge #7 - 2020 Group Reads Challenge completed 11/2/2020

So I kinda bent the rules a bit on Challenge #4. The rules for 2020 said list then read twelve books. I did not read exactly the original twelve I listed, but I still had twelve books one per category to fill in.

No bend, no break, all challenges except #1 can be adjusted anytime you want. Congrats on #4, you read some great books.

Well done!

You did great Lynn. I really want to get to The Housekeeper and the Professor. I wanted to do a Google spreadsheet of all the books I've read too, especially in case of GR dissolving or not letting people keep track anymore. It seems to daunting via copy and paste. I think they have a way to download to a spreadsheet but I don't remember where I saw that.

Sue wrote: "You did great Lynn. I really want to get to The Housekeeper and the Professor. I wanted to do a Google spreadsheet of all the books I've read too, especially in case of GR dissolving or not letting..."

I didn't know downloading from 카지노싸이트 was an option so I googled it and found this:

Thanks all. Interesting information about the exporting. I have probably double the books now that I did when I first started the spread sheet, so it wasn't too difficult to set up at the time. Also, for many years before I discovered 카지노싸이트, I kept a composition book journal of the books I read and the dates. So that helped when I set up my 카지노싸이트 account. That first six months on 카지노싸이트 I went through all the books on the shelves in my house to add things in, too. If I had tried to do it all at once, it would have been an overwhelming task.

End of 2020 wrap-up. I have a total of 733 authors entered.

Categories to think about:
Books per author: 1.66
Children's/YA books: 463
Classic authors: 152/734 or 21%
Women authors: 265/734 or 36%
Texts by women authors: 460/1220 or 38%
Catching Up On Classics Books: 153
Books in translation 69/1220 or approximately 5.7%
Short stories 145/1220 or 12%