Susie's Old, New and In Between Challenge for 2019

[Susie]

9/12 (14)


Before 1900:

1. ✔ The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) 4/21/19 ⭐⭐⭐
2. ✔ The Lifted Veil (1859) 1/6/19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Letters from My Windmill (1869)

1900-1999

4. ✔ The Voyage Out (1915) 10/8/19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. The Wreath (1920)
6. Thousand Cranes (1952)

In Between:
7. ✔ A Room with a View (1908) 7/21/19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
8. ✔ The Murder on the Links (1923) 11/28/19 ⭐⭐⭐
9. ✔ The Grand Sophy (1950) 1/31/19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
10. The Sea (2005)
11. ✔ Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (2012) 1/20/19 ⭐⭐⭐
12. The Red Notebook (2014)

Alternates:

13. ✔ The Warden (1855) 11/8/19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
14. ✔ Silas Marner (1861) 8/15/19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Susie]

Just in case...

[Susie]

Almost finished with my line-up for 2019, which now includes 2 'rollovers' that I didn't get to in 2018, which is fine. They will get read at some point!

Update: Completed and ready to roll... 🤗
Thanks to those that I got ideas/books from!

[Terris]

I think this is a good "rollover" challenge -- I do it every year!!

I read The Grand Sophy last year and really enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy it too :)

[Susie]

I think we talked about this book last year, so I thought I would save it until the end of this year for a light, fun read.
Great plan...until I ran out of time! I didn't want to have to push to finish so it will be one of my first reads in 2019!

[Terris]

Susie wrote: "I think we talked about this book last year, so I thought I would save it until the end of this year for a light, fun read.
Great plan...until I ran out of time! I didn't want to have to push to f..."

Let me know what you think! ;)

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I've read three of your selected books. One I read earlier this year was Silas Marner. I thought it was terrific, enjoy your challenge.

[Susie]

A couple of last minute switches...
I added The Wreath in hopes for motivation to finally read it!

Thanks for the comments... helps that motivation! 👍🤗

[Lotte]

I quite enjoyed The Wreath, so I hope you come round to read it (and enjoy it, too). Good luck with your challenge!

[Susie]

1. The Lifted Veil
I gave it 4 stars. George Elior's writing is amazing! This short read ecompasses life, love, treachery, mental illness, forboding darkness, yet illuminating...
Mostly hard to find the words that she was so excellent with!

[Terris]

Susie wrote: "1. The Lifted Veil
I gave it 4 stars. George Elior's writing is amazing! This short read ecompasses life, love, treachery, mental illness, forboding darkness, yet illuminating...
..."

Thanks! It's going on my TBR list :)

[Petra]

Nice start on your challenge, Susie.

My first book for the challenge will be a George Eliot as well: Adam Bede. I haven't started it yet; probably will next week.

[Terris]

Petra wrote: "Nice start on your challenge, Susie.

My first book for the challenge will be a George Eliot as well: Adam Bede. I haven't started it yet; probably will next week."

I read Adam Bede just a couple of months ago. I liked it pretty well!
Hope you enjoy it too :)

[Susie]

Adam Bede is on my list of potential George Eliot Celebration reads...a couple others to read first...

[Susie]

2. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore 1/20/19 ⭐⭐⭐

A quirky read that takes you on a ride through history while also using an army of 'Googlers' to try and find answers that have mystified a secret group of readers for hundreds of years...the pursuit of living forever.
The end is rather simplistic, but a fun ride none the less!

[Hayley]

I love this book. I am just now finishing it. Check out the one from great Illustrated Classics. It has interesting pictures and photographs in it that go along with the book or augment the story of how this books was written.

[Kathleen]

I hope you enjoy The Wreath, Susie. I loved it and plan to read the next one in the series this year.

And I've added The Lifted Veil to my George Eliot reading for this year--sounds like a good one. :-)

[Susie]

3. The Grand Sophy I gave it 4 1/2 stars. It is a fun, light easy read that got a little nutty at the end, but I enjoyed it all! Thanks to all those that recommended it...good job! 👊

This was one I didn't get to last year so that's an added bonus!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I've heard good things about Georgette Heyer, another author I need to be on the lookout for. Three finished you are doing great.

[Susie]

4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame I finally decided on 3 stars.
This took me much longer than I expected to read and I have mixed feelings about it. There were parts that I loved and then parts that were hard to follow and I wondered what they added to the story. The story line in and of itself was wonderful. I admit I was pulled to finish it after Notre Dame burned last week and I found myself viserally moved by it...just heartbroken...

[Sue]

I read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore this year too and also thought it was fun. I think I rated it 4 stars.

I hope you like The Voyage Out as much as I did. It isn't plot-driven, but the writing is gorgeous and I loved the main character.

I may read The Wreath this year also. It fits in my Women's challenge depending on what direction I go.

[Susie]

6. Silas Marner 11/8/19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Loved it! Second only to Middlemarch which is stil one of my all time favorites!


7. The Voyage Out Illustrated edition

Always a challenge for me but I found this one of the easier Virginia Wolff books to read and follow. Note I said 'easier', not easy!
It is a very deep dive into people's inner most thoughts and feelings in 'real time' as the story plays out across the ocean and into South America. Definitely some dark parts and I'm still pondering the ending.
Not sure what to think yet...