Renee's 2020 Challenge Buffet

[Renee]

I did horribly on my challenges this year, so it's probably a mistake to do them again, but I'm a glutton for punishment...so here goes! I'll be doing Challenges #1, #6, and #7. Some of these were from my challenges this year that I haven't read yet. I'm determined to read War and Peace this year, if it kills me!!!

Challenge #1

Old School
1. War and Peace
2. Jude the Obscure
3. The Black Tulip

New School
4. The House of the Spirits
5. My Cousin Rachel 13/05 *****
6. Mrs. Dalloway

My Wild Card Six
7. The Shining
8. Curtain
9. Mildred Pierce
10. The Big Sleep
11. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
12. The Thin Man

Alternates
A-1. Crime and Punishment
A-2. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

[Renee]

Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge
Read 24 short stories. This equates to only two per month for the year. To start, I'm adding the short stories from the bookshelf that I have not read yet.

1. Common Sense
2. The Return of the Soldier
3. Summer
4. Siddhartha
5. The Stranger
6. The Red Pony
7. At the Mountains of Madness
8. Candide 19/04
9. The Dead 10/11
10. The Storyteller 25/02
11. The Embassy of Cambodia 25/02
12. The Body Snatcher 27/02
13. To Build a Fire 27/02
14. Extricating Young Gussie 19/04
15. The Story of an Hour 26/10
16. The Old Nurse's Story 27/10
17. The Jockey 27/10
18. House Taken Over 27/10
19. 2BR02B 31/10
20. The Return of the Thin White Duke 31/10
21. Bernice Bobs Her Hair 01/11
22.
23.
24.

[Renee]

Challenge #7 - 2020 Group Reads Challenge
Between New School, Old School, Short Story/Novella, and Quarterly Long read our group selects 40 new books per year to go on our bookshelf. This challenge is to read 12 of these forty. I need to get better at participating in the group reads.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

[Renee]

Just for the fun of it, I decided to try this challenge, just to see how many letters I can fill in. This is my first time doing one of the alphabet challenges, and looking at other member's challenges for this year, the word "the" doesn't count for the beginning of a book title? Just want to make sure I'm doing it right :)

Challenge #9 - A-Z Title Challenge

A
B - The Body Snatcher
C
D
E - Extricating Young Gussie
F
G
H
I - Inferno
J
K
L
M - My Cousin Rachel
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

[Luke]

Renee wrote: "Just for the fun of it, I decided to try this challenge, just to see how many letters I can fill in. This is my first time doing one of the alphabet challenges, and looking at other member's challe..."

'A/The' don't count in most alphabetizing systems, including GR's, so I don't see why this challenge would be any different.

[Renee]

Aubrey wrote: "Renee wrote: "Just for the fun of it, I decided to try this challenge, just to see how many letters I can fill in. This is my first time doing one of the alphabet challenges, and looking at other m..."

Thanks, I just wanted to make sure I did it right when I added my books :)

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Good luck, I too keep putting off War and Peace, and its doesn't look good for this year either. Have fun!

[Renee]

Bob wrote: "Good luck, I too keep putting off War and Peace, and its doesn't look good for this year either. Have fun!"

I'm hoping to get it started next month. It's one I've put off for a while. I got it for Christmas last year, and it's just been sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read. It's one that I really want to read, and actually started it quite a while ago, but the copy I had was a really old book and make me sneeze when I read it. The plan is to start the beginning of the year. It might take me awhile to finish though.

[Brina]

Good luck, Renee. I hope to join in My Cousin Rachel if it’s a group read and maybe Mrs Dalloway as well. Have fun!

[Renee]

Brina wrote: "Good luck, Renee. I hope to join in My Cousin Rachel if it’s a group read and maybe Mrs Dalloway as well. Have fun!"

Thanks, Brina. I voted for My Cousin Rachel, so I'm hoping it wins. Group reads are always better, even if I don't always comment on the threads.

[Susie]

My Cousin Rachel is ahead by 9 votes in the poll, so assuming it will be a group read in February.
I am definitely reading it because I can use it for several challenges 🤗

[Renee]

Finally finished my first book for the Old & New Challenge.
My Cousin Rachel was the first one I read for this challenge, and I didn't want to put it down!! I loved it. Du Maurier has never disappointed me. I wanted to scream at Phillip for being such an idiot though. (view spoiler)[The ending had me wondering what really happened in Italy, and was Rachel involved in it? I went back and forth on how I felt about her while reading. (hide spoiler)]