Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
Archived Chit Chat & All That
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How many have you read? (Reading the books on our group bookshelf)
I started with the group a little over a year ago (Nov 2017). I'd read 80 books on the list at that time and now I've hit 130. I'm pleased with that # since my goal was to read 10 off the list in 2018!
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 listopia up to date. Anyone can feel free to add the books, if you haven’t already used your limit of voting for 100.
Mod
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.
Thanks Bob ! :o)I am holding steady at 50% with 122/244
Mod
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...
Mod
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.
My count is 195/244 which 79.9%. My goal is 80%.There are some books on the list that I am not going to read, for various reasons.
Gary wrote: "When I finish Ulysses I will probably think it is great, but now at 58 % I'm wondering how could I have spent my time reading better this last year...."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.
My Final update for the year. 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%
Mod
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. 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!
Mod
And no...I'm not OCD...."
Looking forward to it, now I have a reason to stay up!!
I'll finish Mrs. Dalloway in a few days which will make 132 for me of those currently in our Listopia list, which is 54%.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.
I've read 60 books off the bookshelf since joining Goodreads in 2009 and 46 pre-Goodreads (not rated or marked at Read). That's 106/244 or 43%. Looks like I've got some catching up to do.
81 of 244 (33%) as of 12/31/2018-- 71 as of 12/31/2017
-- 54 as of 3/6/17 (when I first discovered this thread)
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 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.
Sounds like we are all doing really well keeping up with the shelf!!!! Here's to great progress in 2019
I worked my eyes and ears off last year to get current. Will admit to not doing any of the rereads so I could catch up, just about did it.Dec 31, 2018 239/244 = 98%
Jeri wrote: "I worked my eyes and ears off last year to get current. Will admit to not doing any of the rereads so I could catch up, just about did it.Dec 31, 2018 239/244 = 98%"
😲 Wow, Jeri! Congrats on catching up!
Great job, Jeri
As of midnight, December 31, 2018, I've read 57/240 or 24% of the group's bookshelf.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.
Jeri wrote: "I worked my eyes and ears off last year to get current. Will admit to not doing any of the rereads so I could catch up, just about did it.Dec 31, 2018 239/244 = 98%"
That is awesome. Congrats.
As of Jan 1, I have read 150/245 which is 61%. My percentage has held steady for years in the 60s but is creeping slowly down.
Mod
A good time to take stock. I'm up 8 books from last time I checked, but holding fast at 43%--no closer to my goal of 50%.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. :-)
Thanks to Pink for directing me to this thread. 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
I agree about Zola. I read Germinal and I was hooked. I think I own all of his books now. I own Requin on audio and Kate Winslet narrates, its exceptional
PinkieBrown wrote: "Thanks to Pink for directing me to this thread. 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 ;-)
PinkieBrown wrote: "...Graham GreeneGraham 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...."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?
@BAM; re- Zola. Therese Raquin is great material for adaptation; I watched an old BBC serialisation of it; it can be taken all the way to psychological horror so I could see it being adapted as a modern film. I’m currently reading L’Assommoir because having read Nana I thought I needed to read about her mother! Hopefully this will build towards reading that entire cycle of 20 or so books. I like the idea of always having a book of Zola close to hand, his writing is angelic even if he is a bit of a devil. 😀@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!
A few others that fit the bill;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.
I agree with you about Kim. I was surprised at how much I liked it, and it really does show Kipling's love for India. Good characters and plot too.
Of the 47, Currently Reading, 1
Read, 10
Want to read,18
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 ..."
Our progress is so similar Renee! And I didn't realize we started around the same time either.
I've just joined the group and Lynn called my attention to this thread. I need to go through the list and update my books and then I'll be back to join in the fun!
Karen Michele wrote: "I've just joined the group and Lynn called my attention to this thread. I need to go through the list and update my books and then I'll be back to join in the fun!"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.
I’ve read two more: Passage to India and Left Hand So I think that leaves only 3 or 4 more for me
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!
J_BlueFlower wrote: "Karen Michele wrote: "I've just joined the group and Lynn called my attention to this thread. I need to go through the list and update my books and then I'll be back to join in the fun!"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.
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 that has to be about 96% I’d think. Really looking forward to that 100%!
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..."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
Great to know! I’m waiting on the library for that book.
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 this project!
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!
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.
Thanks for that vote of confidence!
June 2017 81 out of 186 = 43.54 %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%
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The Arabian Nights is missing, for one.