Renee's Old & New Catching up on the Group Shelf Challenge

[Renee]

I wasn't going to do this one since I failed it miserably the first time I tried it, but after seeing everyone else's challenges I decided to give it a go. I'd like to get some more books off the group shelf read, and hopefully this will give me incentive to catch up!

Old School
1. Northanger Abbey
2. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
3. Jude the Obscure

New School
4. My Cousin Rachel
5. Mrs. Dalloway
6. The Handmaid's Tale

My Wild Card Six
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
8. Bleak House 12/07 *****
9. The Scarlet Pimpernel 28/08 ****
10. The Mill on the Floss
11. The Black Tulip
12. Far From the Madding Crowd

Alternates
1. War and Peace
2. Crime and Punishment

[Petra]

I wasn't going to do this challenge again next year either, Renee, but everyone's lists drew me back in, too.

Nice list! I didn't find room to include a Virginia Woolf (she's such a good author).

[Renee]

Petra wrote: "I wasn't going to do this challenge again next year either, Renee, but everyone's lists drew me back in, too.

Nice list! I didn't find room to include a Virginia Woolf (she's such a good author)."

Thanks! There are so many good books on the shelf that I haven't read yet, it makes it easy for me to put together a nice list. I read To the Lighthouse last year, so this will only be my second novel by Virginia Woolf.

[Petra]

It'll be good, I'm sure. I've read The Waves and The Voyage Out. Loved the first; totally enjoyed the second.

[siriusedward]

Wow!a great list ,Renee.

Love all your old school chiices and Mill on the floss and am loving War and peace .
I found Handmaid's Tale interesting and relevant.
Liked Black Tulip.
I have Mrs.D,Madding Crowd and Bleak House for next year and hope to finally get to one of du Maurier someday.
Have a grand time reading these books. :)

[siriusedward]

Renee wrote: "Petra wrote: "I wasn't going to do this challenge again next year either, Renee, but everyone's lists drew me back in, too.

Nice list! I didn't find room to include a Virginia Woolf (she's such a..."

I loved both of tje Woolf I have read so far(to the lighthouse,A Room of One's Own ) .This stream of conscious writing has made me more conscious of my thinking annnd its interesting to backpedal on your thoughts and find the merest thread by which the next thought hangs to the first one.
Anyhow,sometimes I require breaks (for me) when reading her works but in the end I always find them worth the effort.

[April]

That's a great list. Northanger Abbey is very funny. I hope you enjoy it.

[Renee]

siriusedward wrote: "Wow!a great list ,Renee.

Love all your old school chiices and Mill on the floss and am loving War and peace .
I found Handmaid's Tale interesting and relevant.
Liked Black Tulip.
I have Mrs.D,Mad..."

Thanks. A few of these are more recent group reads that I never got around to reading with the group, probably because I was engrossed in Les Misérables at the time. Others have been sitting on my shelf for a while and it's about time I get to them.

Glad to hear you're enjoying War and Peace. It's one of the books on my list that just feels intimidating, if you know what I mean. If enough people are interested, and it doesn't win a group read, maybe we could set up a Bleak House buddy read. That was on my list this year, but I never got to it, and it's one I really want to read next year.

[Renee]

April wrote: "That's a great list. Northanger Abbey is very funny. I hope you enjoy it."

Thanks. I'm want to read all of Austen eventually, but there are so many others I want to read also that it's taking a while to get through them. Glad to hear you enjoyed it :)

[Candi]

Fantastic list, Renee! I see a few favorites there - Northanger Abbey, My Cousin Rachel, and The Mill on the Floss. Some others I've very much enjoyed as well. Enjoy and good luck!

[Darren]

I've read 8 of these already, fave being Mrs Dalloway

oh and I'll be reading Cuckoo's Nest in January...

[Renee]

Candi wrote: "Fantastic list, Renee! I see a few favorites there - Northanger Abbey, My Cousin Rachel, and The Mill on the Floss. Some others I've very much enjoyed as well. Enjoy and good luck!"

Thanks! It's always nice to hear there are someone's favourites on my list.

Darren, I'm glad to hear you liked Mrs. Dalloway. I'm quite a bit behind on the group bookshelf, so it's pretty easy for me to put a list together. I'm hoping to catch up a bit next year though! I'm not just "Catching up on Classics", but "Catching up on the Classics Bookshelf" :)

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I've read three by Thomas Hardy this year and he is now a true favorite. I hope you enjoy both Madding Crowd and Jude the Obscure. Excellent list, you have chosen really good reads.

[Renee]

Bob wrote: "I've read three by Thomas Hardy this year and he is now a true favorite. I hope you enjoy both Madding Crowd and Jude the Obscure. Excellent list, you have chosen really good reads."

Thanks Bob. I wanted to read Jude the Obscure, when it was a group read, but didn't have time to read it. They both sounded really good though, so I had to add them both to my list.

[Leni]

I fail every year, but I know the challenge gets me reading books that I probably wouldn't have gotten around to otherwise. It gives a bit of direction to my reading plans, if nothing else.

Good luck!

I have My Cousin Rachel on my Quest for Women challenge. I've really enjoyed everything I've read by du Maurier so far, so I'm really looking forward to it.

[Erin]

Great list! Although I think your alternates may be more “hardcore” than any of the dozen picks — or maybe that is just my impression of those imposing Russian tomes! 😅

I hope you enjoy your picks! I enjoyed reading My Cousin Rachel and The Scarlet Pimpernel this past year. 😊

[Renee]

Erin wrote: "Great list! Although I think your alternates may be more “hardcore” than any of the dozen picks — or maybe that is just my impression of those imposing Russian tomes! 😅

I hope you enjoy your picks..."

Thanks! I haven't really read any of the great Russian classics, and wanted to put them on my list. I'm really hoping to get to them, or at least one of them. They are a little more intimidating to me than the others though!

[Darren]

Crime and Punishment is a good one to start with imo - it's not as "heavy" as it sounds!

[Renee]

Not off to a good start with this one, since I just finished my first book, but oh well! I finally finished Bleak House for this and the Bingo challenge, and really enjoyed it. I love Dickens, and hope to eventually read all of his books. Probably won't finish this challenge, but I'm definitely going to read some of the books on this list.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Sorry you are off to a bad start. Your book choices are fantastic, I've read 12 of the 14 and I only wish time was limitless, for me they are all worth rereading over and over and over. I hope things go better in the second half of the year.

[Sue]

I'm so glad you loved Bleak House Renee, it's one of my favorites. I too want to make my way through all of Dikens' books.

You have so many other good choices on here. No big deal if you don't finish, but you may want to go with Scarlet Pimpernel and The Black Tulip next because they are fun and quick reads. Those will make you feel like you're making progress.

I absolutely loved My Cousin Rachel and couldn't put it down. I also loved The Tenant of Wildfel Hall. It doesn't have a fast-paced narrative like the others mentioned, but it's still great (5 stars for me).

Good luck on the rest of the challenge. Last year I abandoned my Old and New. This year I have one left.

[Renee]

Sue wrote: "I'm so glad you loved Bleak House Renee, it's one of my favorites. I too want to make my way through all of Dikens' books.

You have so many other good choices on here. No big deal if you don't fi..."

Sorry, but I must have missed yours and Bob's posts earlier. I just finished a couple others for my Bingo challenge, and was thinking the same as you. Maybe The Scarlet Pimpernel will be my next read. I want something fun. And a bonus, it's also on my Bingo challenge :)

[Renee]

Bob wrote: "Sorry you are off to a bad start. Your book choices are fantastic, I've read 12 of the 14 and I only wish time was limitless, for me they are all worth rereading over and over and over. I hope thin..."

Thanks, Bob. I'm not going to fret about it too much if I don't finish though. I may not have time to read them all this year, but these are the ones I really want to read the most from the group bookshelf.

[Petra]

I'm in the same boat, Renee, and, like you, am enjoying the process. I've enjoyed the books I've read towards my challenge, so although I won't finish the challenge I'm enjoying it very much.

I also like Dickens. Haven't read Bleak House yet. So glad you liked it.