Bob’s Comments (group member since Jun 22, 2011)

Bob’s comments from the Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) group.

Challenge #2 - Second Place or Worse


New School
✔️1. A Cry of Angels: A Novel - August 2022

Old School
✔️1. Two Years Before the Mast: A Sailor's Life at Sea - March 2023

Short Story/Novella
✔️1. The Bridge of San Luis Rey - November 2023
✔️2. The Grey Woman - July 2023

Quarterly Long Read
✔️1. The Winds of War - 2022 4th Quarter

Challenge #1 - Old & New TBR Challenge

My Old & New Classic Challenge.
✔️12/12 Complete

Unread Group Old School I maybe writing a check I can't cash. Who ever thought of alternates is a genius.
✔️1. Middlemarch
✔️2. The Decameron
✔️3. The Divine Comedy
Unread Group New School
Was given a box set years ago
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
✔️4. The Lord of the Rings
✔️5. The Beautiful and Damned
6. Blindness
My Personal Bookshelf Dust Collectors
✔️7. So Disdained
✔️8. The Winds of War
✔️9. Polar Star
10. The House of Secrets
✔️11. The Third Twin
✔️12. The Chrysalids
Alternates
A-1. The Key to Rebecca
✔️A-2. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
✔️A-3. Men of Iron

Bob's 2024 CHALLENGE BUFFET

I am planning a different type of meal this year. I am going to be mixing my personal old-style reading, action adventures and mystery thrillers, while still reading the classics I enjoy. I almost never reread. This year I plan to reread quite a few.

My Score Card, ✔️= Completed/As of June 30th

Challenges I intend to complete,-
✔️Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR
✔️Challenge #2 - Second Place or Worse
✔️Challenge #3 - Decade/Century/Millennium
✔️Challenge #4 - Members Choice
✔️Challenge #5 - Short Story
✔️Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon with New Authors
✔️Challenge #12 - Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete
✔️Challenge #14 - Rereading Some do Some don't

Challenges I plan to nibble and sample with a good chance for completion.
✔️Challenge #6 - Group Reads and/or Buddy Reads
1/5 Challenge #8 - Most Popular Goodreads Books Listed by Year
6/10 Challenge #11 - Old and New Linked Categories
5/6 + 1 Challenge #13 - Travel the World One Continent at a Time.

Challenges I will keep record of but I'm sure most will not be completed
2/10 Challenge #9 – Fiction/Non-Fiction
0/5 Challenge #10 - The Half a Millennium Challenge with a Sour Lemon Twist of Difficult
✔️24/26 Challenge #15 - A-Z Title Except X & Y
20/26 Challenge #16 - A-Z Author

Wobbley wrote: "Fantastic! That's an amazing number of challenge reads. What were your highlights?"

What were my highlights? I am glad you asked that in the plural. This has been an exceptional year. Over the years my five-star ratings average about 9% of my reading, this year I am at 20%. Many of my four-star ratings should be increased to five, simply because I think back on them fondly. I don't have any formal criteria that I apply to my reading, it's all about how I feel about it.

Being unable to settle on a single best read for the year, I will list four here. Keep in mind I can easily come up with ten or twelve more and still not decide one is the single best for the year.

I found these to be excellent.
Little Big Man
Shōgun
The Yearling
The Man Who Laughs

I have consumed all of the buffet I can. I planned on finishing eight courses and succeeded. I even finished one I did not think I would finish this year, making a total of nine finished. As for the other four, I ate all I could but left some on the plate.

Challenges I set out to finish.
✔️Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR
✔️Challenge #2 - Second Place or Worse
✔️Challenge #3 - 4/10 Decade/10/10 Century/5/10 Millennium
✔️Challenge #4 - Members Choice
✔️Challenge #5 - Short Story
✔️Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors
✔️Challenge #8 - Most Popular Goodreads Books Listed by Year
✔️Challenge #11 - Old and New Linked Categories

Challenge I didn't expect to finish but did.
✔️Challenge #6 - Group Reads and/or Buddy Reads

Unfinished challenges but made a respectable showing.
Challenge #9 – Fiction/Non-Fiction - finished 6/10
Challenge #10 - The Half a Millennium Challenge with a Sour Lemon Twist of Difficult - finished 3/5
Challenge #12 - A-Z Author - finished 20/26
Challenge #13 - A-Z Title - finished 22/26

I will finish 2023 reading a few Christmas stories and enjoy my family during the Christmas holidays. See you all next year!!

I am starting to slide, from a high of 82.9% down to 78.0%

December 4, 2012 - 21/47 = 45%, 26 books unread
April 24, 2014 - 45/84 = 54%, 39 books unread
April 6, 2015 - 66/105 = 63%, 39 books unread
April 4, 2016 - 100/142 = 70%, 42 books unread
April 13, 2017 - 134/180 = 74%, 46 books unread
April 9, 2018 - 180/217 = 82.9%, 37 books unread
April 5, 2019 - 212/256 = 82.8%, 44 books unread
April 2020 - Oops
April 29. 2021 - 276/333 = 82.9%, 57 books unread
December 11, 2022 - 324/399 = 81.2% 75 books unread
December 17, 2023 - 342/438 = 78.0% 96 books unread

The winning story is The Gentle Spirit by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Voting results.
Only 26 total votes

4 votes - 69. So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
4 votes - 327. The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe
3 votes - 394. The Gentle Spirit by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3 votes - 82. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton
3 votes - 233. The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann
---------------
2 votes - 270. Collages by Anaïs Nin
2 votes - 321. On Books and Reading by Arthur Schopenhauer
2 votes - 385. The Immortal by Jorge Luis Borges
1 vote - 281. The Virgin and the Gypsy by D.H. Lawrence
1 vote - 156. A Party Down at the Square by Ralph Ellison
1 vote - 129. Sultana's Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
0 votes - 176. Watchers of the Sky by Alfred Noyes
0 votes - 71. Life of a Good-for-nothing by Joseph von Eichendorff
0 votes - 199. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot

I vote for #233

Last day to vote!! Five are tied for fourth place.

Teri, I mostly use the last name. That maybe the reason I have only ever finished the challenge once. I've seen the first name, usually when it is for some of the tuff letters. Once I used Zane Grey for the letter Z.

Most important, this is your challenge and is for fun. Use first or last name, just enjoy yourself.

I have read all but two. Of the two the one that most interests me is The Last of the Mohicans, especially with the extra reading time.

Welcome, Kate.

Thabitta, welcome to the group.

These are the 14 titles randomly selected from our Master Short Story List. Please vote for the one that interests you the most. You can cast your vote by using the list number or the titles name. The top 7 will move forward to the poll on the 15th. A maximum of 7 titles will move to the poll. If there is a tie for 7th place only 6 titles will go to the poll.

Example: I vote for #__ -or- I vote for Story Title

69. So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
281. The Virgin and the Gypsy by D.H. Lawrence
394. The Gentle Spirit by Fyodor Dostoevsky
270. Collages by Anaïs Nin
82. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton
327. The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe
176. Watchers of the Sky by Alfred Noyes
71. Life of a Good-for-nothing by Joseph von Eichendorff
233. The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann
321. On Books and Reading by Arthur Schopenhauer
156. A Party Down at the Square by Ralph Ellison
129. Sultana's Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
385. The Immortal by Jorge Luis Borges
199. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot

The Behind a Mask, Or, a Woman's Power by
Louisa May Alcott is our January 2024 Short Story/Novella Read.

This discussion will open on January 1

Beware Short Story Discussions will have Spoilers

Welcome, Speluncus!

Welcome Emily!!

Kathryn, welcome to the group!!

Regina wrote: "Newbie question 2: Do short stories count for A-Z titles?"

Yes, short stories count for A-Z both authors and titles.