Shawn H's 2020 Bingo Challenge

[Shawn]

B1: Classic of Asia The Importance of Living
B2: Classic Tragedy Ethan Frome
B3: A Book Published at Least 200 Years Ago The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
B4: Memoir, Autobiography, or Biography The Diary of a Young Girl
B5: Classic of Europe Père Goriot

I1: Classic Mystery or Crime And Then There Were None (2/29/20)
I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick The Thin Man (02/18/20)
I3: Classic Drama or Play Hamlet
I4: Book From Group’s 2020 Bookshelf The Fire Next Time (10/11/20)
I5: Classic Gothic or Horror Dracula

N1: Book From Group’s Old School Classic Shelf prior to 2020 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (04/05/20)
N2: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize The Sirens of Titan
N3: Reader’s Choice Epitaph of a Small Winner (09/12/20)
N4: Classic Short Story The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories (11/21/20)
N5: Book From Group’s New School Classic Shelf prior to 2020 The End of the Affair

G1: Classic Science Fiction or Fantasy Foundation
G2: The Bigger Read List by English Pen Journey to the End of the Night
G3: Poetry or Essay Collection The Prophet
G4: Banned Book The Picture of Dorian Gray or A Clockwork Orange
G5: Classic Science or Philosophy Meditations

O1: Classic of Africa, Antarctica, Australia, or Oceania Waiting for the Barbarians or The Famished Road
O2: Classic Western Riders of the Purple Sage
O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born Empire of the Sun
O4: Classic Adventure Around the World in Eighty Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth
O5: Classic of the Americas Travels with Charley: In Search of America

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Hope you enjoy the challenge, Shawn.

[Shawn]

Thank you Katy. I look forward to finishing a few on this list!

I'm looking for suggestions for the classic of Asia category and the Bingo participant pick!

Thanks in advance.

[Rosemarie]

Good luck and happy reading, Shawn!

[Angie]

I took a peek at your shelf, and we seem to have some similar tastes., so I'll give you several random recs for Bingo Participant picks. My apologies if you've read them.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane
Farmer Giles of Ham (from Tales from the Perilous Realm) by J.R.R. Tolkien
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

And for Asia:
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand

[*]

I'm not sure if you enjoy non-fiction, but I somehow ended up with two classics from Asia on my list this year:
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang

Some recommendations based on a quick glance at your shelves:
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

[Luke]

Classic of Asia: If you want an introduction, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima. If you want a challenge, The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.


Bingo Participant: Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

You have some really good picks so far, have fun!

[Lynn, New School Classics]

What a nice list. I read 4 of your books last year. Ethan Frome and The Picture of Dorian Gray both feature incredible writing, but I just could not give them 5 stars because they were so sad or heavy. Still I would unhesitatingly recommend them.

I really liked The Sirens of Titan and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. with his odd ball humor and serious undertones. I saw on your shelf that you have read a good number of his books.

I really loved The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.

Happy reading.

[Shawn]

I am looking forward to this challenge. Quite a few of these have been on my TBR shelf for quite some time. There are also a number of first time authors for me. I'm hoping to put forth a strong effort and get through some of these.

Thanks to those that provided suggestions. I am looking forward to reading those!

[Shawn]

Completed my first task - I2: Bingo Participant Pick. Thanks to Angie for the recommendation of The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett.

I enjoyed the book and was a surprised by the ending. It was a nice quick read. Compared to other crime noir books, I felt this was a bit heavier on dialogue than others.

I am glad I completed this one and looking forward to checking another one off the list.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

One day, many new books to enjoy.

[Shawn]

Checked off #2:

I read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie for I1 - Classic Mystery.

I have read Christie before and found this book to be in line with her other novels. It was a quick, fun, read. She did a masterful job of building suspense and making it difficult to figure out how things would end. I thought I had it all figured out but then the twist at the end. Overall, very enjoyable. I would recommend to others.

On to #3.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I agree on the twists. Every time I think I have it figured out Chrisite, double crosses me, makes for good reading.

[Philina]

Shawn wrote: "Checked off #2:

I read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie for I1 - Classic Mystery.

I have read Christie before and found this book to be in line with her ..."

I have recently read this for my Old-and-New-Challenge and I totally agree, especially about building suspense. I thought the way she described the atmosphere in the house was amazing.

[Shawn]

Finished #3 - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson for N1.

A fun read, although I found the final letter from Dr. Jekyll to be the best part of the book. The build up was not all that exciting for me, but I enjoyed the ending. Glad I have finally read this one. Look forward to checking another off the list.

[Shawn]

Finished #4 (feels like I've really fallen behind) - Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis for N3 - reader's choice.

This was recommended by Aubrey. I really enjoyed this one a lot. It is quite possibly my favorite book of the year. I really enjoyed the way this was written. I found a little bit of everything in this one.

Chapter 134 - Fifty Years - was my absolute favorite. I'm not entirely sure why this one stuck with me, but it did.

All in all, a very enjoyable read. I would highly recommend this to anyone. Thanks to Aubrey for the recommendation. I'm not sure I would have stumbled onto this one, otherwise.

Hopefully I can tick a few more off this list before the year is over.

[Luke]

Shawn wrote: "Finished #4 (feels like I've really fallen behind) - Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis for N3 - reader's choice.

This was recommended by Aubrey. I really ..."

I'm very glad to hear that, Shawn. That's one of my absolute favorite books, and it's one I love to recommend to folks as something they might not have come across otherwise. It's short enough to not be too intimidating, and it proves to be a reading gamechanger for some, which is always a pleasure to see.

[Shawn]

Ticked off #5 - the most of checked off in a Bingo Challenge! The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin for the Group's 2020 bookshelf. A quick, thought provoking read.

I'm hoping to get through a few more before years end.

[Shawn]

Finished #6 (an all-time high for me during this challenge)! The Snows of Kilimanjaro and other stories by Ernest Hemingway. I have recently read quite a few of his short story works and found this one to be my favorite. I loved the combination of stories in this work. I found the book ends, both the first and last stories to be my favorite. I love Hemingway when he writing about the outdoors.