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

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

I nominate If Winter Comes by A.S.M. Hutchinson

The Angel at the Grave by Edith Wharton is our January 2025 Short Story/Novella Read.

This discussion will open on January 1

Beware Short Story Discussions will have Spoilers

The winner for January 2025 - The Angel at the Grave by Edith Wharton

Leona, I hope this helps.

Only six of the 12 books selected are required be Books based on the Groups date requirements; they do not have to come from the group's bookshelf. At least 3 old books (published before 1915) and 3 newer books (published from 1915-2005). The other six and your three alternates can be any genre or age you wish to read. Yes, even non-fiction and post 2005.

Master Challenge Book List
This is a list of all the books I have selected for my Buffet Challenge. The seven books listed for the Millennium Challenge are not listed.

✔️= Read/Completed
27/68 Owned
2/21 Not Owned
1 - DNF

68 Owned Books both physical and electronic
A Man Called Ove
✔️A Matter of Honor
✔️As I Lay Dying
All the King's Men
American Gods
American Pastoral
✔️Blindness
Burn
Cat’s Eye
Cutting for Stone
Dead Man's Folly
✔️Death in the Clouds
✔️Doctor Thorne
✔️Double Star
✔️Drums Along the Mohawk
✔️Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure
Gertrude and Claudius
✔️Gilead
✔️God's Little Acre
Home
If Winter Comes
✔️Lonely Road
✔️Lord Jim
Lucifer's Hammer
Mayor of Casterbridge
Miracles on Maple Hill
✔️Montana 1948
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Narcissus and Goldmund
Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France
✔️Of Mice and Men
Peyton Place
Rabbit Is Rich
✔️Red Planet
✔️Roman Fever and Other Stories
✔️Ruined City
Seize the Day
Ship of Fools
✔️Something Wicked This Way Comes
✔️Sons and Lovers
Tales of the South Pacific
✔️The Boys from Brazil
The Call of Earth
The Chosen
✔️The Constant Gardener
✔️The Death of Grass
The Goldfinch
✔️The Illustrated Man
The Key to Rebecca
The Loving Spirit
✔️The Martian
The Memory of Earth
The Minority Report
The Orphan Master's Son
The Persimmon Tree
The Seeds of Time
The Steel Wave
✔️The Time Machine
✔️The Witchcraft of Salem Village
The World According to Garp
✔️Timequake
To Have and Have Not
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Train to Pakistan
Tropic of Capricorn
Ulysses DNF
Watership Down
World War II at Sea: A Global History

21 Books Not Owned
A Traveler in Time
✔️Augustus
Cimarron
David Harum: A Story of American Life
Diamonds Are Forever
Don't Go Near the Water
Footsteps in the Dark
How Green Was My Valley
Johnathan Livingston Seagull
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Mr. Britling Sees it Through
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Nausea
✔️Pale Horse, Pale Rider
Ragtime
Scoop
Sunset Song
The Chronicles of Narnia 1-7
✔️The Magician’s Nephew #1 - Series Books
✔️The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe #2 - Series Books
✔️The Horse and His Boy #3 - Series Books
Prince Caspian #4 - Series Books
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader #5 - Series Books
The Silver Chair #6 - Series Books
The Last Battle #7 - Series Books
The City and the Stars
Valley of the Dolls
Vile Bodies

Impulse or Books Read in 2025 Not One of the 89 Used in Planning Challenges

Unplanned in December 2024 - Impulse/Group Picks/Book Club Picks Reading Selected in 2025

✔️= Read

Short Stories - With the exception of Pale Horse, Pale Rider, Roman Fever, and Angel at the Grave planned in December.
All the below short stories were found and read this year, true impulse reading.

✔️The Seagull - February Short Story/Novella
✔️Bliss
✔️The Sick Gentleman's Last Visit
✔️The Queen of Spades - March Short Story/Novella
✔️*The Stories of John Cheever 61 Total Stories
✔️The Story of a Panic
✔️A Lost Opportunity - April Short Story/Novella
✔️The Francis Spaight
✔️ The Voice in the Night
✔️Silent Snow, Secret Snow
✔️The Dream
✔️An Invitation to the Hunt
✔️The Summer People
✔️The Lottery in Babylon
✔️The Child Who Believed
✔️Wall-to-Wall Grave, The
✔️Call Me Joe - Moderators Run Amok
✔️The Machine Stops - May Short Story/Novella, 2nd Reread
✔️Witch's Money
✔️Death of a Traveling Salesman by Eudora Welty
https://blogs.longwood.edu/biringeran...
✔️Mimsy Were The Borogoves - Moderators Run Amok
✔️Oh Captain! My Captain!
✔️*The Last Word and Other Stories - 12 Total Stories
✔️Winter Dreams
✔️Piper in the Woods: A Collection of Science Fiction - 11 Total Stories
✔️The Hanging Stranger


Novels - Planned and decided on in 2025
✔️^James
✔️*Memorial Day - Series Books
✔️The Magician - March Old School
✔️A Dangerous Fortune
✔️^The Women - Fiction/Nonfiction
Nicholas Nickleby - 2nd Qtr. Long Read by year end??
✔️Consent to Kill - Series Books
✔️Death in Venice - May Old School
✔️^The Authenticity Project
✔️Act of Treason - Series Books
✔️Picnic at Hanging Rock - Travel
✔️Protect and Defend - Series Books
✔️The Innocent - Series Books
✔️The Hit - Series Books
✔️The Target - Series Books
✔️The Guilty - Series Books #4
✔️End Game - Series Books
✔️Ubik - A-Z
✔️Huế 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam - Fiction/Nonfiction
✔️^First Lie Wins
✔️The Poet - Series Books
✔️Fahrenheit 451
✔️The Scarecrow - Series Books
✔️Fair Warning - Series Books

^Marian's Book Club Reads

Challenge #17 - A-Z Author Challenge
For those of us who struggle, with this challenge consider it successful by using only 23 letters. There are 4 optional letters marked with an (*), you only need to use one.

A Conrad Aiken
B Ray Bradbury
C John Christopher
D Philip K. Dick
E Percival Everett
F Vince Flynn
G Graham Greene
H Robert A. Heinlein
I
J Shirley Jackson
K
L Ira Levin
M Katherine Mansfield
N
O O. Henry
P Giovanni Papini
*Q
R Marilynne Robinson
S Nevil Shute
T Leo Tolstoy
U
V Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
W Frank A. Worsley
*X
*Y
*Z

Challenge #16 - A-Z Title Challenge COMPLETED
For those of us who struggle, with this challenge consider it successful by using only 23 letters. There are 4 optional letters marked with an (*), you only need to use one.

My Second Completion Ever. Without (10) Short Story Titles I Would Not Have Complete This Challenge

A Augustus
B The Boys from Brazil
C Consent to Kill
D The Death of Grass
E Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure
F The Francis Spaight
G Gilead
H The Highway
I The Innocent
J James
K Kaleidoscope: Short Story by Ray Bradbury
L Lonely Road
M Montana 1948
N The News in English
O Of Mice and Men
P Pale Horse, Pale Rider
*Q The Queen of Spades
R Roman Fever and Other Stories
S The Sick Gentleman's Last Visit
T The Time Machine
U Ubik
V The Voice in the Night
W The Witchcraft of Salem Village
*X Xingu
*Y O Youth and Beauty
*Z Zero Hour

Challenge #15 - Award Winners COMPLETED
Using book prize lists, or a prize from your country or local region, seek out and read two award winning books. Please let the group know what prize list or lists you use, as well as the book information.

Possibilities
✔️= Chosen and Read

✔️*Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein, 1956 Hugo Award
*All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, 1947 Pulitzer Prize
*Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener, 1948 Pulitzer Prize
*Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike, 1982 Pulitzer Prize
✔️*Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
*American Pastoral by Philip Roth, 1998 Pulitzer Prize
✔️*The Stories of John Cheever, 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
*The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson, 2013 Pulitzer Prize
*The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, 2014 Pulitzer Prize
*To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway, 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature
✔️*Blindness by José Saramago, 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature
*The World According to Garp by John Irving. 1980 National Book Award
*Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen, 1957 Newberry Medal
✔️Augustus by John Williams National Book Award for Fiction 1973
*Books I Own

Books Chosen
1. Augustus by John Williams National Book Award for Fiction 1973
2. *Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Additional Award Winners Read in 2025
*Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein, 1956 Hugo Award
*The Stories of John Cheever, 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
*Blindness by José Saramago, 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature

Challenge #14 - Publishers Weekly lists of Bestselling Novels in the United States

The below link provides a list of bestsellers from 1895-2023. Pick 10 years of interest. List the bestseller for each year selected. If you have read it, list the 2nd bestseller and so on. Ideas for picking years: birth years for family and friends, memorable events graduations, anniversaries, etc. or historic events.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publish....

NOTE: click on the link above then Look for the blueish info bar, just under it you will find a list of decades from 1890-2020. Click the decade needed and search individual years.

✔️= Read
1899 - David Harum: A Story of American Life
1902 - Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1917 - Mr. Britling Sees it Through
1922 - *If Winter Comes
1930 - Cimarron
1940 - How Green Was My Valley
1956 - Don't Go Near the Water
1962 - *Ship of Fools
1966 - Valley of the Dolls
1972 & 73 - Johnathan Livingston Seagull
1975 - Ragtime
*Books I Own

The Bestseller Challenge from your list of 10 books pick two. One from a genre outside your comfort zone. You may surprise yourself and like it. If it ends as DNF no problem at least you tried. Book two should be a book you think has a chance at 4 or 5 stars.

Books Chosen
1. *Ship of Fools, I tried this a few years ago and it died on the DNF pile. I feel I might have misjudged it, so I will try again.
2.

Challenge #13 - Old and New Linked Categories
Pick three subjects of interest. Link the chosen subjects to an old book 1914 or earlier to a newer book 1915 -present. Total number of books for this challenge is six.

✔️= Read

Life Changing Action
✔️Old - Lord Jim
✔️New - Of Mice and Men

Generation Gap-Mother vs. Children
✔️Old - Sons and Lovers
New - Peyton Place

Time Travel
✔️Old - The Time Machine
✔️New - Timequake

Challenge #12– Fiction/Non-Fiction
Pick three subjects of interest and read a fiction book and a non-fiction book about that subject. Total number of books for this challenge is six.

✔️= Read

Survival
✔️Fiction - *The Martian
✔️Non-Fiction - *Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure

World War II - Europe: The Beginning of the End
Fiction - *The Steel Wave
Non-Fiction - *Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France

Vietnam War
✔️Fiction - The Women
✔️Non-Fiction - *Huế 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

War at Sea
Fiction - *Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Non-Fiction - *World War II at Sea: A Global History

Challenge #11 - Future Classics
A Quarter of the 21st Century has passed; did you read any potential classics? For discussion, and the benefit and curiosity of our members please list 5 books you have read over the last 25 years that you believe will still be actively read in 50-100+ years.

These Five Were Great, I Believe They Will Stand the Test of Time
2003 - The Kite Runner
2006 - The Road
2011 - 11/22/63
2016 - A Gentleman in Moscow
2021 - The Lost Apothecary

The Future Classic Challenge - List 3 unread books published between 2000-2024 that you feel have the potential to become a classic. The challenge, read 1 of your 3 selections. Then let us know if you think it has a chance at greatness, or will it pass into oblivion.

These Might have a Chance at Greatness?
1. *2001 - American Gods Goodreads rating 4.11, 959,000+
2. *2009 - Cutting for Stone Goodreads rating 4.32, 403,000+
3. *2012 - A Man Called Ove Goodreads rating 4.38, 1,095,000+
*Books I Own
In addition to my already owning these and their decent Goodreads ratings my Goodread friends rated books 2 & 3 with lots of five stars. My friends were not as generous with book 1.


Book Chosen
_____________________

Challenge #10 – Most Popular Goodreads Books Listed by Year COMPLETED
Locate and list 10 books that most interest you from the year of your choice. The challenge is to read 3 books from that list.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/popula...

NOTE: click on the link above then change the date to the date you wish to search.

10 Books of Interest for 1956
1. *Train to Pakistan
2. *The Death of Grass
3. The Chronicles of Narnia 1-7
4. *The Seeds of Time
5. *Seize the Day
6. The City and the Stars
7. *Double Star
8. *Miracles on Maple Hill
9. *The Witchcraft of Salem Village
10. *Dead Man's Folly
11. Diamonds Are Forever
12. *The Minority Report

*Books I Own

2025 Books Read
1. *The Death of Grass
2. *The Witchcraft of Salem Village
3. *Double Star
Other 1956 Books Read in 2025

Challenge #9 - Rereading - Some do Some don't COMPLETED

Some of us reread regularly, others reread rarely if ever. We have all read books that we found fantastic. We finish the last page, set it aside and think someday I would like to read this again. Let us know the titles of five or more books you found worthy of rereading. This year’s challenge is, reread two of your reread selections.

Books I'd Love to Reread
1. *Gilead reread in preparation for reading *Home
2. *Watership Down
3. *The Time Machine
4. *Peyton Place
5. *Of Mice and Men
6.
*Books I Own

Read Again in 2025
1. *Gilead
2. *The Time Machine
Additional Rereads for 2025
3. Of Mice and Men
4. The Machine Stops - 2nd Reread
5. Fahrenheit 451

Challenge #8 - Travel the World One Continent at a Time COMPLETED

Select a book or an author from each of the seven world continents, *Antarctica is optional, and can be substituted for a country specific book. I understand that most around the world challenges are much longer in both time and number of books required. Our challenges run from January 1-December 31. So, this seems more doable.

Africa - *The Constant Gardener
Asia - The Women
Australia - Picnic at Hanging Rock
Europe - *Lonely Road
North America - *Of Mice and Men
South America - *The Boys from Brazil
Antarctica - *Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure

Possibilities
*Books I Own

*Cutting for Stone

Challenge #7- Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete COMPLETED

Each member is to decide what they wish to accomplish. For challenge purposes, read at least two books.

✔️= Read/Completed
*Books I Own

Start New Series-
Home Coming Saga - Been thinking about this one for several years, May be it's time.
by Orson Scott Card
*The Memory of Earth #1
*The Call of Earth #2

The Chronicles of Narnia
Chronological Order
by C.S. Lewis
✔️The Magician’s Nephew #1
✔️The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe #2
✔️The Horse and His Boy #3
Prince Caspian #4
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader #5
The Silver Chair #6
The Last Battle #7

Will Robie Series
by David Baldacci
✔️The Innocent #1
✔️The Hit #2
✔️The Target #3
✔️The Guilty #4
✔️End Game #5
Started and Completed in 2025

Jack McEvoy Series
by Michael Connelly
✔️The Poet #1
✔️The Scarecrow #2
✔️Fair Warning #3
Started and Completed in 2025

Continue a Series-
Gilead Series
by Marilynne Robinson
*Home - #2

Mitch Rapp Series
by Vince Flynn
✔️Memorial Day - #7
✔️Consent to Kill - #8
✔️Act of Treason - #9
✔️Protect and Defend - #10

Chronicles of Barsetshire
by Anthony Trollope
✔️*Doctor Thorne - #3

Anna Pigeon Series
by Nevada Barr
*Burn - #16

Finish a Series
No finishing any this year

Challenge #6 - Group Reads, Buddy Reads, or Moderators Run Amok COMPLETED
The challenge is to read 12 total books/stories from this year's selected group reads. Your reads can come from this year's poll winners, the Buddy Read Requests, or the new Moderators Run Amok! There should be plenty of choices.

1. Augustus - Moderators Run Amok
2. The Angel at the Grave - January Short Story/Novella
3. The Seagull - February Short Story/Novella
4. The Queen of Spades - March Short Story/Novella
5. A Lost Opportunity - April Short Story/Novella
6. The Stories of John Cheever - Buddy Read
7. The Magician - March Old School
8. The Illustrated Man - Buddy Read
9. The Machine Stops - May Short Story/Novella, 2nd Reread
10. Call Me Joe - Moderators Run Amok
11. Death in Venice - May Old School
12. Mimsy Were The Borogoves - Moderators Run Amok
Bonus Group Read in 2025
13. Fahrenheit 451 - Buddy Read
14. Regret - September Short Story/Novella
15. The Invisible Girl - October Short Story/Novella

Planning
Nicholas Nickleby - 2nd Qtr. Long Read by year end??

Challenge #5 - Decade/Century/Millennium Challenge COMPLETED

Only one version of the challenge is required.
* Books I Own
✔️= Read

My Decade Challenge the 1930's
✔️1930 - *As I Lay Dying
✔️1931 - *Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure
✔️1932 - *Lonely Road
✔️1933 - *God's Little Acre
✔️1934 - *Roman Fever and Other Stories
✔️1935 - *Death in the Clouds
✔️1936 - *Drums Along the Mohawk
✔️1937 - *Of Mice and Men
✔️1938 - *Ruined City
✔️1939 - Pale Horse, Pale Rider

Unused Decade Choices - *The Loving Spirit or Footsteps in the Dark or *To Have and Have Not or Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day or Scoop or Nausea *Narcissus and Goldmund or Vile Bodies or A Traveler in Time or *Tropic of Capricorn

Century Challenge - 1930-2024
✔️1900-1910 - 1900 - *Lord Jim
✔️1910-1919 - 1913 - *Sons and Lovers
1920-1929 - 1922 - *If Winter Comes
-----------
✔️1930-1939 - 1931 - *Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure
✔️1940-1949 - 1949 - *Red Planet
✔️1950-1959 - 1956 - *The Death of Grass
✔️1960-1969 - 1962 - *Something Wicked This Way Comes
✔️1970-1979 - 1972 - Augustus
✔️1980-1989 - 1986 - *A Matter of Honor
✔️1990-1999 - 1993 - *Montana 1948
✔️2000-2009 - 2004 - *Memorial Day
✔️2010-2019 - 2011 - *The Martian
✔️2020-Present - 2024 - James

Unused Century Choices - 1992 - *The Memory of Earth or 1995 - *Blindness or 1997 - *Timequake2000 - *Gertrude and Claudius or 2001 -*American Gods or 2007 - *The Persimmon Tree, 2022 -*Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow 1962 - *Ship of Fools or 1966 -*The Chosen 1946 - *All the King's Men or 1947 - *Tales of the South Pacific 1980 - *The Key to Rebecca or 1988 - *Cat’s Eye

The Millennium Challenge:
✔️21st Century - 2024 - James
✔️20th Century - 1956 - The Death of Grass
✔️19th Century - 1895 - The Time Machine
18th Century - 1759 - The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia
17th Century - 1605 - Don Quixote
16th Century - 1593 - The Taming of the Shrew
15th Century - 1438 - The Book of Margery Kempe by Margery Kempe
14th Century - 1383 - The Parliament of Birds by Geoffrey Chaucer
13th Century - 1298 - The Travels by Marco Polo
12th Century - 1150 - The Life of Merlin by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Challenge #4 - Short Story Challenge COMPLETED
Read 18 short stories. The majority of these will probably be Impulse Reads. Many times, I just pick up a short story collection and read a few I find interesting.

Collections
Piper in the Woods: A Collection of Science Fiction - 11 Total Stories - Finished 11/11
*The Last Word and Other Stories - 12 Total Stories - Finished 12/12
Pale Horse, Pale Rider - 3 Novellas - Finished 3/3
*The Illustrated Man - 18 Total Stories - Finished 18/18
*The Stories of John Cheever 61 Total Stories - Finished 61/61
*Roman Fever and Other Stories - 8 Total Stories - Finished 8/8

Individual
1. Bliss
2. The Sick Gentleman's Last Visit
3. The Seagull
4. The Queen of Spades
5. Of Mice and Men
6. The Story of a Panic
7. A Lost Opportunity
8. The Voice in the Night
9. The Francis Spaight
10. Silent Snow, Secret Snow
11. The Dream
12. An Invitation to the Hunt
13. The Summer People
14. The Lottery in Babylon
15. The Child Who Believed
16. Wall-to-Wall Grave, The
17. The Machine Stops
18. Call Me Joe
19. Witch's Money
20. Death of a Traveling Salesman by Eudora Welty
https://blogs.longwood.edu/biringeran...
21. Mimsy Were The Borogoves
22. Oh Captain! My Captain!
23. Winter Dreams
24. The Hanging Stranger
25. Tony and the Beetles
26. A Child's Dream of a Star

-------------
Total Short Stories-YTD - 139