Renata’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2019)

Renata’s comments from the EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club group.

I second The Things They Carried and Wolf Hall.

Reserved for BOTM intro.

Hello Readers!
This is the Pre-Read thread for the December 2021 Catch-Up selection. This month we will be reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. This will be our second group read of this classic.

Please note that this is a SPOILER FREE discussion.

Who's planning to join in on this read? Why did you choose this book to read? What are your expectations in reading this book?

Hello Readers!
Welcome everyone to our November 2021 Classics Group Read; this month we'll be reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Friendly reminder that this is the SPOILERS thread - if you're not yet ready for spoilers then head on over to the pre-read thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

What did you think of this story? What is the moral statement the author is making? Did you admire Hester?

Hello Readers!
Welcome everyone to our November 2021 Modern/Popular Group Read; this month we'll be reading The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

Friendly reminder that this is the SPOILERS thread - if you're not yet ready for spoilers then head on over to the pre-read thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

What did you think of this story? What does the title mean to you?

Hello Readers!
Welcome everyone to our November 2021 Catch-Up Group Read; this month we'll be reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. This is our fourth group reading of this classic book.

Friendly reminder that this is the SPOILERS thread - if you're not yet ready for spoilers then head on over to the pre-read thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Tracking through message: 63
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
⭐One Hundred Years of Solitude (417p) - 13
Dracula (488p) - 4
⭐Dune (688p) - 8
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (139p) - 2
⭐The Princess Bride (456p) - 7
A Man Called Ove (337p) - 4
The Midnight Library (304p) - 4
⭐Never Let Me Go (288p) - 7
⭐The Martian (384p) - 10
Ready Player One (374p) - 1
The Joy Luck Club (352p) - 2
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - (325p) - 1
Memoirs of a Geisha (434p) - 2

These books have been re-read within the last 12 months and are ineligible to be nominated:

Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Frankenstein
Lolita
Anne of Green Gables
The Kite Runner
Pride and Prejudice
Catch-22
The Bell Jar
1984
The Night Circus

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for January 2022 in the BOOKSHELF CATCH-UP category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

For this category, you can nominate any book that the group has previously read. For a list of books that the group has previously read and discussed, please see the Bookshelf HERE.

Books featured as a group reread within the last twelve months are not eligible. See Message 2 below.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end Midnight November 16.

***Please note we have added a new criteria for book nominations. Our group's intent is to read books that many others have already read. So, all books nominated should now have at least 50,000 ratings to qualify. (That's ratings, not reviews, folks!)

Tracking through message: 73
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
Fingersmith (582p) - 7
A Prayer for Owen Meany (637p) - 2
The Things They Carried (246p) - 6
⭐Wolf Hall (653p) - 8
⭐The Pillars of the Earth (976p) - 10
⭐Project Hail Mary (476p) - 14
Women Who Run With the Wolves (584p) - 5
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (442p) - 6
A Little Life (720p) - 3
⭐The Queen's Gambit (243p) - 9
Anxious People (341p) - 3
Room (321p) - 2
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (562p) - 3
A Promised Land (768p) - 1
Malibu Rising (369p) - 1
Master and Commander (464p)

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for January 2022 in the MODERN CLASSIC/POPULAR category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1970 or after. For older books, please make your suggestion on the Classics thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catchup thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read, with at least 50,000 ratings, to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight November 16.

***Please note we have added a new criteria for book nominations. Our group's intent is to read books that many others have already read. So, all books nominated should now have at least 50,000 ratings to qualify. (That's ratings, not reviews, folks!)

Tracking through message: 78
⭐ Poll Candidate

Nomination (# of pages) - # of Seconds
⭐The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (206p) - 15
The Merchant of Venice (238p) - 3
The Maltese Falcon (213p) - 5
King Lear (338p) - 6
Inferno (490p) - 6
Night (115p) - 4
⭐The Price of Salt aka Carol (304p) - 11
⭐The Godfather (448p) - 9
Jude the Obscure (304p) - 2
⭐Carmilla (108p) - 9
Leaves of Grass (624p) - 2
A Town Like Alice (359p) - 2
The Grapes of Wrath (479p) - 2
Valley of the Dolls (448p) - 1

Hi all! Starting up the book-of-the-month suggestions for January 2022 in the CLASSICS category. Top 4 will be selected for the poll.

Books that qualify for this category:

1. Must have a publication date 1969 or before. For newer books, please make your suggestion on the Modern Classic/Popular Reads thread.

2. Have not been previously ready by this group. Previously read books can be nominated in the Bookshelf Catchup thread. See the group's Bookshelf for previously read books.

3. Be reasonably well-read, with at least 50,000 ratings, to fit the "Everyone Has Read This but Me" claim.

Only one nomination is allowed per person, per category. If you nominate more than one book only your first nomination will be added toward the tracking post. Please continue to second as many nominations that interest you!

Page numbers are now required for every nomination. To find out how many pages a book has; go to the book's page on Goodreads. look under the section titled "GET A COPY" and above the book's ISBN number.

Nominations end midnight November 16.

Jennifer wrote: "Renata wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "For BOTM is the classics starts version of Frankenstein good enough?"

Jennifer, your question was answered in the main posting thread, posts #193-195. Here's the li..."

Ha! So which was the better book, in your opinion?

Jennifer wrote: "For BOTM is the classics starts version of Frankenstein good enough?"

Jennifer, your question was answered in the main posting thread, posts #193-195. Here's the link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Updated #11 with final of 43 points for October reading.

Britt, you have listed my score as 31.5. It's actually 42. (Post #11)
You also missed Jennifer's update (#13). She's at 45 points.
Hans update also missed (#25), He's at 6 points.
Thanks!

December Books - 19.5 points

✅ Jane Eyre - 532 pages - Dec.31 - 3.5 points (BOTM)
✅ Murder, Madness and Mayhem - 336 pages - Dec.7 - 2 points
✅ The Chrysanthemums - 33 pages - Dec.30 - 1 point (Easy #9)
✅ 84, Charing Cross Road - 97 pages - Dec.11 - 1 point
✅ A Perfect Day for Bananafish - 18 pages - Dec.11 - 1 point (Easy #1)
✅ The Machine Stops - 48 pages - Dec.30 - 1 point (Easy #7)
✅ The Body Snatcher - 22 pages - Dec.14 - 1 point (Easy #3)
✅ Markheim - 48 pages - Dec.22 - 1 point (Easy #4)
✅ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - 32 pages - Dec.30 - 1 point (Easy #10)
✅ The Big Front Yard - 41 pages - Dec.29 - 1 point (Easy #6)
✅ The Veldt - 45 pages - Dec.30 - 1 point (Easy #8)
✅ The Lottery - 30 pages - Dec.29 - 1 point (Easy #5)
✅ Rape Fantasies - 8 pages - Dec.12 - 1 point (Easy #2)
✅ My Mother's Secret - 208 pages - Dec.14 - 1 point
✅ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - 139 pages - Dec.20 - 1 point
✅ All Systems Red - 144 pages - Dec.12 - 1 point

November Books - 38 Points

✅ The Vanishing Half - 343 pages - Nov.3 - 2.5 points (BOTM)
✅ Wuthering Heights - 464 pages - Nov.7 - 2.5 points (BOTM)
✅ No Time Left - 15 pages - Nov.1 - 1 point (Easy #1)
✅ Rules of Civility - 335 pages - Nov.30 - 2 points
✅ The Snows of Kilimanjaro - 25 pages - Nov.2 - 1 point (Easy #2)
✅ The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber - 72 pages - Nov.21 - 1 point
✅ Hills Like White Elephants - 6 pages - Nov.6 - 1 point (Easy #5)
✅ When I was a Witch - 12 pages - Nov.5 - 1 point (Easy #4)
✅ If I Were a Man - 7 pages - Nov.10 - 1 point (Easy #7)
✅ Turned - 10 pages - Nov.4 - 1 point (Easy #3)
✅ Ruthless King - 350 pages - Nov.11 - 2 points
✅ I Know This Much Is True - 897 pages - Nov.23 - 4 points
✅ American Predator - 285 pages - Nov.12 - 2 points
✅ Stone Mattress - 34 pages - Nov.8 - 1 point (Easy #6)
✅ Requiem for a Dream - 279 pages - Nov.9 - 2 points
✅ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 108 pages - Nov.14 - 1 point
✅ The Martian Way - 46 pages - Nov.13 - 1 point (Easy #8)
✅ The Moon Moth - 43 pages - Nov.14 - 1 point (Easy #9)
✅ The Monkey's Paw - 32 pages - Nov.17 - 1 point (Easy #10)
✅ The Midas Plague - 69 pages - Nov.13 - 1 point
✅ The Spectre General - 76 pages - Nov.15 - 1 point
✅ My Life on the Road - 276 pages - Nov.16 - 2 points
✅ Miao Dao - 66 pages - Nov.18 - 1 point
✅ Elevation - 146 pages - Nov.18 - 1 point
✅ Cleaning the Gold - 129 pages - Nov.17 - 1 point
✅ The Bottle Imp - 56 pages - Nov.19 - 1 point
✅ The Distance of the Moon - 64 pages - Nov.20 - 1 point

Britt, thank you for the updates! Message 2 & 3 lists don't match up, so not sure which list is accurate. eg. Adele should be 8.5 on both.

Also, updated message #11, now at 41 points.