Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
Archived Chit Chat & All That
>
How many have you read? (Reading the books on our group bookshelf)


I have added
From the Earth to the Moon
The Pillars of the Earth
Shirley
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Cricket on the Hearth
The Arabian Nights
That totals 244 books.
From the Earth to the Moon
The Pillars of the Earth
Shirley
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Cricket on the Hearth
The Arabian Nights
That totals 244 books.
Helen wrote: "Pink wrote: "I think it’s the latest batch of books that aren’t on the list. I tried to add them, but I can’t vote for more than 100, so I’m at my limit. We’ve relied on members to keep our listopi..."
I haven't read enough to really be able to help much on the list. I need to read more!!
Helen, I have not read all the books I added above. Nor would I vote for them as being what I consider favorite/excellent/or top group reads. In order to place a book on our Listopia shelf, it only needs to be on your personal shelf either read or unread. Then at the top of the Listopia page click add books to the list and vote for the one that needs to be added.
Once a book is added to the list and other members vote for it as being a favorite, you can remove your vote, if indeed it is not a favorite, but was added to help keep the list current. This also will make the math more accurate for moving books up and down the list so a truer picture of what are our groups top most liked reads shows up on page one. The secret for learning what our group likes best about our bookshelf is individual voting. Unfortunately very few members take the time to vote.
Here we are at years end, so I encourage members to click on the link and vote for there most favored group books.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
I haven't read enough to really be able to help much on the list. I need to read more!!
Helen, I have not read all the books I added above. Nor would I vote for them as being what I consider favorite/excellent/or top group reads. In order to place a book on our Listopia shelf, it only needs to be on your personal shelf either read or unread. Then at the top of the Listopia page click add books to the list and vote for the one that needs to be added.
Once a book is added to the list and other members vote for it as being a favorite, you can remove your vote, if indeed it is not a favorite, but was added to help keep the list current. This also will make the math more accurate for moving books up and down the list so a truer picture of what are our groups top most liked reads shows up on page one. The secret for learning what our group likes best about our bookshelf is individual voting. Unfortunately very few members take the time to vote.
Here we are at years end, so I encourage members to click on the link and vote for there most favored group books.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
Just took my final count for this year:
197/244 for 80.73%
I keep reminding myself that the goal is not to reach 100% for me. There are just some on the list that I don't really care to read. So, this is feeling like a great number for me.
197/244 for 80.73%
I keep reminding myself that the goal is not to reach 100% for me. There are just some on the list that I don't really care to read. So, this is feeling like a great number for me.

There are some books on the list that I am not going to read, for various reasons.

Hah! I hope you end up liking it Gary...but that is exactly how I felt when I finished Ulysses. On the other hand, I really enjoyed If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. I can definitely understand not liking it though.

June 2016 14/148 - 9%
Dec 2016 44/168 - 26%
June 2017 64/183 - 35%
Dec 2017 85/201 - 42%
Jun 2018 105/224 - 47%
Dec 2018 137/244 - 56%

And no...I'm not OCD. Just kidding though, update when you want. As for me though, in honor of Adrian Monk, I WILL wait until New Year's Eve. Cheers!
Joseph wrote: "I don't know how you people can live with yourselves...updating this before December 31. I have my total, and I won't complete anymore before the end of the year, but still...
And no...I'm not OCD...."
Looking forward to it, now I have a reason to stay up!!
And no...I'm not OCD...."
Looking forward to it, now I have a reason to stay up!!

Since my last post to this thread in July I have dropped a bit from 56%. I'll try to pull it back up in 2019, Sue is leaving me behind :)
I plan to read at least three more of those on our bookshelf in the next year: The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Caine Mutiny and Silas Marner.

That's 106/244 or 43%. Looks like I've got some catching up to do.

-- 71 as of 12/31/2017
-- 54 as of 3/6/17 (when I first discovered this thread)

July 2016 19/152 = 19% (When I first joined)
July 2017 69/189 = 36%
Dec 2017 89/201 = 44%
Dec 2018 125/240 = 52% Not too bad!
Hopefully I can keep up with the group reads (which I seem to have trouble with!), and read a few more in the next year.


Dec 31, 2018 239/244 = 98%

Dec 31, 2018 239/244 = 98%"
😲 Wow, Jeri! Congrats on catching up!

This doesn't include titles I read before joining Goodreads, or titles added to the group bookshelf for the first time for 2019 reads (whether I've already read them or not). Not bad for having focused more on my son's reading list and a variety of challenges. My personal challenge this year is to choose more books from the group shelf.

Dec 31, 2018 239/244 = 98%"
That is awesome. Congrats.


But it's New Years--a day to be hopeful. So even though I made no progress in 2018, 2019 will be different! I'm applying that to lots of goals, by the way. :-)

My tally is 17 old classics/ 26 new classics.
I was interested to see Fahrenheit 451/ Maltese Falcon on the list as my main interests were always in SF and noir so it was good to see these in the classics bracket.
My authors to champion who aren’t represented much;
Graham Greene- Greene described The Heart of the Matter as his best book before the caveat that he couldn’t imagine it being anyone’s favourite of his. The Power and the Glory ranks alongside it as a literary achievement; again different from being a favourite of which there are three- Brighton Rock, The End of the Affair & The Quiet American. All terrific books.
Joseph Conrad- I saw Heart of Darkness on the list and that’s a story Conrad wrote as a break from writing Lord Jim which has a similar ending to HoD but it’s epic in comparison. Typhoon is a great short story and The Secret Agent has a lot to say about modern terrorism even if Conrad has his tongue in his cheek throughout.
The Rainbow- DH Lawrence remarkable poetic book.
Emile Zola- the great scandaliser. Germinal is a crowning achievement and it also contains the most outrageous passage I can remember reading (I read this and Clockwork Orange close together; really shook me up). Therese Raquin- you have Cain’s Postman on the list which has a similar plot and TR is the earliest noir I’ve read! The Beast Within is also outrageous and Zola dresses it up as a bit of criminal psychology.
Three more modern books to fit the bill would be Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridien; an SF Iain M Bank’s Matter; a noir James Ellroy’s American Tabloid.
Cheers


My tally is 17 old classics/ 26 new classics.
I was interested to see Fahrenheit 451/ Maltese Falcon on the list as my main interests were always..."
Whew! Great recs. Thanks for that post. My clicking finger is tired from filling up my TBR now ;-)

Yes, Graham Greene would be a good nominee. He has no less than 5 books on the 1001-books to read list :
Brighton Rock
The End of the Affair
The Honorary Consul
The Power and the Glory
The Quiet American
Goodreads has The End of the Affair as he most read closely followed by The Quiet American
Noir: How about The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler?

@J Blueflower; re- Greene. The End of the Affair would be my choice if I had to pick just one of his books to read; extraordinary book. I’m minded to call it a near perfect piece of writing even though that’s a huge claim. I can see that Greene has such a caustic tongue it could be offputting when the subject is supposed to be romantic. He often deconstructs romance.
Re-Chandler; perhaps it’s a case of being either a Hammett man or a Chandler man; even Chandler deferred to Hammett as a writer of true crime; he plots as if he has little concern for the plot at all and Chandler’s plotting is just ... maze-like, even though his writing is very fine. I’d put The Glass Key, Red Harvest and The Thin Man on a bookshelf before considering Chandler; especially when considering these books with pulp origins as classics. Hammett defines the language of detective noir; Chandler with Marlowe puts the cherry on top or gilds the lily or some other inappropriate cliche! I’d put Chandler’s script with Billy Wilder on Double Indemnity as his best writing. Well, that’s a lot of personal opinion; isn’t it?😀
Thanks for all of those replies. Great to talk!

Kim- Rudyard Kipling; my deepest impression was Kipling loved India and this is a love letter. The Great Game being played by Empires has modern resonances but Kim here myself is a great character; boy to man.
Christopher Isherwood; The Berlin books and A Single Man in particular; the mature man expressing his homosexual life, brilliant.
Of Human Bondage-W Somerset Maugham; ambitious Bildungsroman that attempts to define the meaning of life through the eyes of many different people. Admirable effort at the impossible.
Adam Bede- George Eliot; my favourite of her books, great tragic characterisation. Hardy seems tremendously influenced by it.
The Mayor of Casterbridge- Thomas Hardy; any rogue’s gallery needs Michael Henchard in it.


July 2016 19/152 = 19% (When I first ..."
Our progress is so similar Renee! And I didn't realize we started around the same time either.


Welcome!
I can recommend making a shelf called catching-up-read or similar. That will save you a lot of work.
If you have read less than 100 another easy option is to go through the list
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
and vote for those.
Renee wrote: "I haven't done an update all year, so was curious to see if I made any progress on the bookshelf. So here is my update for the year, with my previous numbers.
July 2016 19/152 = 19% (When I first ..."
You have read over 100 books from the Group bookshelf in the last two and a half years. Impressive. That is quite a lot!
July 2016 19/152 = 19% (When I first ..."
You have read over 100 books from the Group bookshelf in the last two and a half years. Impressive. That is quite a lot!

Welcome! ..."
Thanks for the suggestions. I may make myself a shelf of just those books I haven't read. I need to go through and mark some of the books "read" that I read before joining Goodreads in 2010. This is my year to work on that project! I'm not much of a re-reader, but do sometimes read a book again if I really enjoyed a book, so I'm eager to get the list caught up. I think it will be a pretty good amount from just glancing at the list and estimating.


That is amazing! Though I'm also quite high (92.8%), I'm fairly sure I'm not going to hit 100% (as there are some books on the list I don't plan to read)...
I've read all the books you are missing and enjoyed them all, especially Lonesome Dove

BAM wrote: "Ok double-checked my #s. I have For Whom the Bell Tolls, House of the Spirits, Invisible Man, and Lonesome Dove left. Then whatever may win next month; there are a few options I have not read. So t..."
BAM that is really great! You will be able to knock those four out in a month or so at the speed you read!
BAM that is really great! You will be able to knock those four out in a month or so at the speed you read!
Karen Michele wrote: "I got through my "bookwork" and I have 35 books left to read. One of them is The Maltese Falcon which I plan to read with the group. I love completing lists, so I'm looking forward to ..."
Wow that is quite a list of books you came into the group with! Someone, I forget who, has called it "tail-wind". Still 35 left with the monthly selections will hopefully provide some fun reading for you.
Wow that is quite a list of books you came into the group with! Someone, I forget who, has called it "tail-wind". Still 35 left with the monthly selections will hopefully provide some fun reading for you.

Aug 2017 86 out of 192 = 43.54 %
Oct 2017 88 out of 198. = 44.4%.
Dec 2017 93 out of 205 = 45.3%
Feb 2018 96 out of 208 = 46.1%
April 2018 100 out of 214 = 46.7%
June 2018 109 out of 222 = 49.1%
Aug 2018 112 out of 230 = 48.7%
Oct 2018 120 out of 237 = 50.6%
Dec 2018 128 out of 244 = 52.5%
Feb 2019 134 out of 250 = 53.6%
Books mentioned in this topic
Infinite Jest (other topics)The Death of Ivan Illych (other topics)
The Death of Ivan Illych and Other Stories (other topics)
Swann’s Way (other topics)
The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (other topics)Thomas Bernhard (other topics)
Michel de Montaigne (other topics)
James M. Cain (other topics)
Ken Kesey (other topics)
More...
The Arabian Nights is missing, for one.