Irphen's Buffet Challenge 2020

[Irphen]

I will be doing ( or at least trying! ) to do challenge 1, 6 and 7 this year. This is my first time doing any reading challenging stuff so I hope I will be able to stick to it!

[Irphen]

1: Old & New TBR Challenge 12/12

Old School
Richard III by William Shakespeare finished reading 27 october
Frankenstein - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley finished reading 23 january
Strange Case of Dr. Jekell & Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson finished reading 28 march

New School
The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien finished reading 5 april
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov finished reading 21 march
The Stranger - Albert Camus finished reading 29 may

Wild Cards
1. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón finished reading 24 september
2. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson finished reading 8 March
3. Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse finished reading 9 july
4. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen finished reading 23 october
5. Farewell Waltz by Milan Kundera finished reading 30 january
6. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides finished reading 21 february

[Irphen]

6: Short Story Challenge 24/24

1) The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury finished reading 29 february
2) Solar Plexus - James Blish read 24 febraury
3) No Future In It - John Brunner read 25 februay
4) A Haunted House - Virginia Woolf read 8 february
5) The Canterville Ghost - Oscar Wilde read 6 april
6) The Happy Prince - Oscar Wilde read 10 april
7) The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde read 9 april
8) Dagon - H.P. Lovecraft read 21 january
9) The Horror at Red Hook - H.P. Lovecraft read 14 april
10) Polaris - H.P. Lovecraft read 21 january
11) The Festival - H.P. Lovecraft read 12 february
12) The Temple - H.P. Lovecraft read 24 february
13) The Cask of Amontillado - Edgar Allan Poe - read 20 january
14) Metzengerstein - Edgar Allan Poe read 24 june
15) The Gold-Bug - Edgar Allan Poe read 22/23 june
16) The Masque of the Red Death - Edgar Allan Poe read 24
17) The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe read 23 june
18) The Country of the Blind - H.G. Wells read 18 june
19) The Ensouled Violin - Helena Petrovna Blavatsky from Darren's Short story challenge read 5 july
20) Letter from an Unknown Woman - Stefan Zweig read 27 april
21) Moonbeam Alley - Stefan Zweig read 28 april
22) The Old Chevalier - Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) read 18 april
23) Laurie - Stephen King read 15 april
24) A Warrior's Daughter - Zitkála-Šá read 6 may from Bob's short stroy challenge

[Irphen]

7: Group Read Challenge 2020 10/12

1) The Cask of Amontillado - Edgar Allan Poe read 20 january
2) We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson finished reading 8 March
3) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson finished reading 28 march
4) Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There - Lewis Carroll finished reading 8 april
5) The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho finished reading 10 april
6) Dr. Faustus - Christopher Marlowe finished reading 24 may
7) The Country of the Blind - H.G. Wells read 18 june
8) To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf finished reading 12 september
9) A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft currently reading
10) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury finished reading 6 october
11) The Nose by Nikolai Gogol read 8 november

[Jazzy]

oh well done so far! I suggest you think of doing ALL the challenges and then picking out the books, that's a lot of fun as well :D

[Philina]

Wonderful books!

I loved reading Dracula and Frankenstein.

[Irphen]

Jazzy wrote: "oh well done so far! I suggest you think of doing ALL the challenges and then picking out the books, that's a lot of fun as well :D"

Thanks!^^ Haha, you are way too optimistic! XD If I manage to do all this and the whole Bingo challenge it would already be a miracle! But I'm sure picking the books and doing the other challenges as well is a lot of fun indeed. Maybe if I manage to do all this I will try more of the buffet challenges next year ;-)

[Irphen]

Philina wrote: "Wonderful books!

I loved reading Dracula and Frankenstein."

Thanks!
And by the way I just finished Frankenstein and I really liked it!! The emotions are so well depicted and I couldn't help me self to feel so sorry for Victor as well as for the monsters, I identified a lot with both of them. It was really great!
I think I will wait a while before starting Dracula however, I love gothic fiction but I should try to diversify a bit my reading.

[Philina]

Yes, I felt sorry for them both as well. I was also very much surprised how "deep" and philosophical this book is. The media depict it as such a simple story.

[Irphen]

Philina wrote: "Yes, I felt sorry for them both as well. I was also very much surprised how "deep" and philosophical this book is. The media depict it as such a simple story."

Sure the deep and philosophical side of the story isn't really known. I think merely because most people know the story but never read the book. Also I believ film industry is one reason it is like this because they only used the monstreous side of the creature.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

You have some great selections, I think you will enjoy them. I stole one of your short stories, Dagon, and read it for my challenge. I will be on the lookout for more, thanks!

[Irphen]

Bob wrote: "You have some great selections, I think you will enjoy them. I stole one of your short stories, Dagon, and read it for my challenge. I will be on the lookout for more, thanks!"
Thanks!^^
Your welcome! Steal as much reading ideas as you want! :-)

[Jazzy]

Irphen wrote...

Next year? We have 11 more months of THIS year, go for the lot!

[Irphen]

Jazzy wrote: "Irphen wrote...

Next year? We have 11 more months of THIS year, go for the lot!"

Haha, you really have too much fate in my reading talents! XD But I will take a look at the other challenges of the Buffet and maybe if I can find some where I can put a few double books with the Bingo Challenge I will try to do a bit more^^

[Irphen]

Just finished The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde and enjoyed it very much! It's very nicely written, a charming beautiful and funny story but with also a dark note. Really recommend it to any one on a short story hunt if you haven't read it yet!^^

[Irphen]

Yesterday I read The Old Chevalier by Karen Blixen, I didn't knew what to expect and it really was a good surprise!

[Irphen]

I just completed challenge 6: Short Stories!!!
I had a great time reading all of them, and actually I'm thinking of doing a double of this challenge as I still have quite some short stories collections and still 6 months left to the end of the year.^^ But maybe I should first try to make some progress on my other challenges, cause they aren't going this well! XD

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Congrats on finishing challenge #6. I've always loved short stories, but never so much as this year. I'm so hooked it cutting in on my other reading.

[Cynda]

Wow Challenge #6 is impressive. Well done. . . . See you at Circe buddy read soon.

[Irphen]

Bob wrote: "Congrats on finishing challenge #6. I've always loved short stories, but never so much as this year. I'm so hooked it cutting in on my other reading."

Thanks!^^ Haha, i understand what you mean, it tends to happen to me as well from time to time ;-p

[Irphen]

Cynda wrote: "Wow Challenge #6 is impressive. Well done. . . . See you at Circe buddy read soon."

Thank you! Yay, I will be starting to read some chapters this afternoon, see you then^^

[Irphen]

Well I finially decided and I will be doing a double of challenge 6; short stories!
Second Challenge 6: Short Story Challenge 24/24
25) The Wind by Ray Bradbury read 17 july
26) The Man Upstairs by Ray Bradbury read 17 july
27) The Crowd by Ray Bradbury read 20 july
28) Skeleton by Ray Bradbury read 24 july
29) En la noche by Ray Bradbury read 28 july
30) The Furies by Roger Zelazny read 29 july
31) The Emissary by Ray Bradbury read 29 july
32) The Other Gods by H P Lovecraft read 29 july
33) The Alchemist by H P Lovecraft read 1 august
34) Poetry and Gods by H P Lovecraft read 1 august
35) The Street by H P Lovecraft read 1 august
36) The Graveyard Heart by Roger Zelazny finished reading 3 august
37) The Leviathan of Venus by Roger Zelazny read 23 august
38) A Rose for Ecclesiastes by Roger Zelazny read 24 august
39) Shoggoth's Old Peculiar by Neil Gaiman read 24 august
40) The Deluge at Norderney by Isak Dinesen aka Karen Blixen read 25 august
41)The Monkey by Isak Dinesen read 26 august
42)The Roads Round Pisa by Isak Dinesen read 27 august
43) The transition of Juan Romero by H. P Lovecraft read 27 august
44) Azathoth by H. P Lovecraft read 27 august
45) The descendent by H. P Lovecraft read 27 august
46) The book by H. P Lovecraft read 27 august
47) The thing in the moonlight by H. P Lovecraft read 27 august
48) The Lottery by Shirley Jackson read 28 august

[Irphen]

Yay! So I just finished my double of challenge 6; short stories! It was really fun, my favourites in here are The Wind by Ray Bradbury and The Graveyard Heart by Roger Zelazny. I woud be almost tempted to try and do a third round but however I believe I should first try to move a bit more on my other challenges ;-)

[Philina]

Wow! Congratulation on all the short stories!

[Irphen]

Philina wrote: "Wow! Congratulation on all the short stories!"
Thank you Philina!^^

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Short stories, they're great

[Irphen]

Bob wrote: "Short stories, they're great"
Absolutly!

[Laurie]

Congrats on completing your short stories and a double challenge at that. Way to go!

[Irphen]

Laurie wrote: "Congrats on completing your short stories and a double challenge at that. Way to go!"
Thank you Laurie!

[Irphen]

So right now I'm planning to move a bit on with challenge 7; Groupe Read Challenge! I will be reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf which was a re-read of June as well as A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft which is currently in the reading, and then moving on with Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and maybe Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck both planned to be read in october. So I hope to read the two first ones this month to be up to date with those on the october reading list^^

[Irphen]

Well I just finished To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, this being my first Woolf read and also first time reading stream of consciousness I had some struggle in the beginning but I ended up enjoying and admiring it very much!
If someone is interested here is a link to my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

Irphen wrote: "Yay! So I just finished my double of challenge 6; short stories! It was really fun, my favourites in here are The Wind by Ray Bradbury and The Graveyard Heart by [auth..."

Nice job on the Science Fiction double challenge. Zelazny and Lovecraft are both really good! Plus I love Bradbury.

[Irphen]

Lynn wrote: "Irphen wrote: "Yay! So I just finished my double of challenge 6; short stories! It was really fun, my favourites in here are The Wind by Ray Bradbury and [book:The Graveyard Heart|233..."
Thanks Lynn! I wasn't initially going for a Schience fiction challenge but somehow it ended up being indeed merely sf short stories! XD
I've read quite a lot of Lovecraft, however Zelazny and Bradbury were a first but certainly not a last! :-)

[Irphen]

So I finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and I must say it got me really hooked. Despite the fact I was reading it in Spanish and I don't practice or read regulary in that language, I finished these + - 600 pages in no time ( I have to confess I'm kind of proud of that XD )! I liked it a lot, the gothic/romantic atmospere, the characters, all the mysteries...

[Marilyn]

Irphen wrote: "So I finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and I must say it got me really hooked. Despite the fact I was reading it in Spanish and I don't practice or read ..."

Glad you liked it! It's on my TBR.

[Irphen]

I just finished Fahrenheit 451 yesterday and I have to say I liked it a lot. Very interesting story and it seems quite realistic. I mean they way books came to be burned is because first most people stopped reading, and I have the impression that is happening now a bit as well. So much young people and children are all the time behind a screen, playing games or watching series/movies, not that it is necesserly a problem, I love watching movies my self, but they end up not knowning any other way to entertain or bussy themselves. And in that way, with the constant easy distractions that our society offers it actually has similarities with the one depicted by Bradbury. Luckily enough we are still a few, on here especially, to resist this and keep the books in honour! ;-)

[Irphen]

Just completed today my Old & New Challenge!

[Laurie]

Irphen wrote: "Just completed today my Old & New Challenge!"

Congrats, Irphen! I hope you enjoyed your books.

[Annette]

Congratulations! I am finding the Old & New my most toughest challenge. Did you find it difficult? What was the best read from it?

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Irphen wrote: "Just completed today my Old & New Challenge!"

Congratulations. That challenge is always so hard for me to finish.

[Irphen]

Laurie wrote: "Irphen wrote: "Just completed today my Old & New Challenge!"

Congrats, Irphen! I hope you enjoyed your books."

Thanks Laurie! I enjoyed most of them very much! ;-)

[Irphen]

Annette wrote: "Congratulations! I am finding the Old & New my most toughest challenge. Did you find it difficult? What was the best read from it?"

Thank you Annette! I imagine it can be quite though but for me it didn't turn out that way, at least this time ;-) The best reads were The Silmarillion, The steppe wolf and Frankenstein^^

[Irphen]

Katy wrote: "Irphen wrote: "Just completed today my Old & New Challenge!"

Congratulations. That challenge is always so hard for me to finish."

Thank you Katy! It wasn't the hardest for me I guess ;-)

[Kathleen]

A bunch of good books and stories--congrats, Irphen!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Irphen wrote: "Just completed today my Old & New Challenge!"

Congratulations!

[Shaina]

Congratulations, Irphen! I love all the books on your list. I have read some this year and planned to read many of them in 2021. I like Lovecraft and Bradbury too.

I'm adding Silmarillion to my list. I will need to look into Zelazny soon.

[Irphen]

Kathleen wrote: "A bunch of good books and stories--congrats, Irphen!"
Thank you Kathleen!

[Irphen]

Bob wrote: "Irphen wrote: "Just completed today my Old & New Challenge!"

Congratulations!"
Thanks Bob!

[Irphen]

Shaina wrote: "Congratulations, Irphen! I love all the books on your list. I have read some this year and planned to read many of them in 2021. I like Lovecraft and Bradbury too.

I'm adding Silmarillion to my l..."

Thanks Shaina! Oh it's always nice when you find someone with more or less the same taste ;-) Actually Lovecraft is one of my all time favorite authors, and I discovered Bradbury's writings ths year, it was a very nice surprise. You are doing well in adding The Silmarillion!^^ When it comes to Zelanzy I recoomend you his short story ( around 50 pages I think ) The Graveyard Heart^^

[Shaina]

Irphen, I agree! I looked at your books and thought, this could be my list..give or take a book or two. I think I will read The Graveyard Heart this month.

I read so many new to me authors this year. I was never one for horror, but Lovecraft changed that. I will start Tolkien next year but maybe Zelazny should not wait till then... Thank you for the recommendation.