Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
Buffet Archives
>
Janelle’s first challenge buffet
#2 century challenge1966. 5/10
1. Silence by Shūsaku Endō
2. Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany finished Feb13 4*
3. The Green House by Mario Vargas Llosa
4. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
5. Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen finished Apr16
6. The Comedians by Graham Greene finished Mar20 5*
7. The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny finished Oct10 3*
8. The Magus by John Fowles
9. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
10. Third Girl by Agatha Christie finished Feb8 4*
1866 5/10
1. Armadale by Wilkie Collins finished Aug10 5*
2. Letters from My Windmill by Alphonse Daudet finished Mar1 3*
3. Felix Holt: The Radical by George Eliot finished Sep16 5*
4. The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo
5.The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky finished Oct25 4*
6. The Signalman byCharles Dickens finished Jan5 4*
7. Mugby Junction by Charles Dickens
8. The Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne
9.Behind a Mask, Or, a Woman's Power by A.M. Barnard(Louisa May Alcott)
10. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky possible re-read
Challenge#3 second place or worseOld school
1 The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner finished May9 3*
2 The Gambler finished Oct25 4*
3 Little Dorrit finished Nov 5*
New school
3 Travels with Charley: In Search of America finished Sep8 5*
4
Novella
5 Chronicle of a Death Foretold finished Mar10 4*
6 Bliss finished Jul16 5*
Long read
7 Armadale finished Aug10 5*
Challenge #4 - Members Choice Classic/Genre Challenge Choose one book per category for a total of 12 books. 1. 18th Century or older, Songs of Innocence and of Experience 4*
2. 19th Century, The Kill 5*
3. 20th Century, Moon Tiger 4*
4. Current or Past Group Read, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams 4*
5. An Author not read before, Incidental Music: Stories by Françoise Sagan 4*
6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours. Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó finished Jan25 4*
7. Science Fiction, Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang finished Jan24 4*
8. Romance, Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole finished feb24 4*
9. Historical fiction, Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell finished Jan3 5*
10. Nonfiction, Pictures from Italy finished Jan4 3*
11. Mystery/Crime, Third Girl finished Feb8 4*
12. Horror or Humor, Galapagos finished Jan13 4*
12/12
#5 Decade or century challengeGoing for a decade at this stage, but may well change!
1991 Regeneration
1992 The English Patient
1993 Voyager
1994 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle finished Jul4 4*
1995 I Who Have Never Known Men finished Jun15 4*
1996 The Wood Wife finished Jan29 4*
1997 The God of Small Things
1998 About a Boy finished Apr17 4*
1999 Girl with a Pearl Earring finished Mar4 4*
2000 Super-Cannes finished Jan22 4*
#6 short story challenge1. These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw 4*
2. The Signalman by Charles Dickens 4*
3. El licenciado Vidriera “The Glass Graduate” by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 3*
4. El invitado tigre “The Tiger Guest” by Pu Songling 2*
5. The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann 4*
6. The Shot by Alexander Pushkin 4*
7. Daughter of Necessity by Marie Brennan 4*
8. The Magic Fishbone by Charles Dickens
9. The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang 4*
10. The Severed Hand by Wilhelm Hauff 4*
11. Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven 3*
12. They're Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson 4*
13. A Cup of Salt Tears by Isabel Yap 3*
14. The Dueling Machine by Ben Bova 3*
15. At Home on the River Bend by Kate Morton 3*
16. The Lake of the Bees by Theodor Storm 4*
17. The Three Spinners by Jacob Grimm 4*
18. Empire Star by Samuel R. Delany 5*
19. The Dog by Ivan Turgenev 3*
20. God Sees the Truth, but Waits by Leo Tolstoy 3*
21. Frontier Death Song by Laird Barron 3*
22.La Mujer Alta / The Tall Woman – Bilingual Spanish-English Edition / Edición bilingüe español-inglés by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón 3*
23. The Fortune-Teller/A Cartomante by Machado de Assis 4*
24. Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 4*
25. It Snows by Enrico Castelnuovo 3*
26. Federigo's Falcon by Giovanni Boccaccio 5*
27. The Great Good Place by Henry James 3*
28. The Impossible Resurrection of Grief by Octavia Cade 5*
29. The Attack On The Mill by Émile Zola 4*
30. Figure in a Photograph: A Short Story from 'Where Have You Been?' by Joseph O'Connor 3*
31. George Silverman's Explanation by Charles Dickens 4*
32. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote 3*
33.Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen 5*
34. A Jury Of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell 5*
35. The Wife of Bath by Geoffrey Chaucer 5*
36. Sredni Vashtar by Saki 4*
37. The Black Veil by Charles Dickens 3*
38. The Stationmaster Alexander Pushkin 4*
39. The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin 5*
40. Wreck of the Golden Mary by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins 3*
41. Loot Short story by Nadine Gordimer 3*
42. Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer 5*
43. The Bloomsbury Christening by Charles Dickens 5*
44. Parallel Lifetimes C J Heckman 3*
45. The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant 4*
46. The Trial For Murder by Charles Dickens 3*
47. A Nice Cup Of Tea by George Orwell 3*
48. The Last Question by Isaac Asimov 4*
49. Why I Write: Essay by George Orwell 5*
50. Nine Lives by Ursula K. Le Guin 3*
51. The Priest and the Devil by Fyodor Dostoevsky 5*
52. A Christmas Tree: by Charles Dickens 3*
53. The Horla by Guy de Maupassant 5*
Short Story Collections
1. Incidental Music: Stories by Françoise Sagan 4*
2. Stone Mattress: Nine Wicked Tales by Margaret Atwood 4*
3. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang 4*
4. Pastoralia by George Saunders 4*
5. About Love: Three Stories by Anton Chekhov 4*
6. Pushing Back by John Kinsella 3*
7. Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: Short Stories, Prose and Diary Excerpts by Sylvia Plath 3*
8. In Between the Sheets by Ian McEwan 3*
9. The Enchanted Night: Selected Tales by Miklós Bánffy 4*
10 Strange Bliss: Essential Stories by Katherine Mansfield 5*
11. Lupin by Maurice Leblanc 4*
8. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M.R. James 3*
9. The Holly-Tree Inn by Charles Dickens 3*
Challenge #7 2021 group reads1. The Captain's Daughter finished Jan9
2 Songs of Innocence and of Experience fin Feb6
3 A Streetcar Named Desire fin Mar5
4 Gooseberries fin Apr2
5 Fathers and Sons fin Apr4
6 Babette’s Feast fin May2
7 Dandelion Wine fin May4
8 Wives and Daughters fin Jul28
9 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd fin Jun7
10 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle fin Jul4
11 Goblin Market fin Jul7
12 Père Goriot fin Jul12
13 The Necklace fin Aug4
14 Shirley fin Sep25
15 The Book of Tea: Japanese Tea Ceremonies and Culture fin Oct13
16 The Remains of the Day fin Oct17
17 The Last Question fin Nov3
18. A Christmas Tree: by Charles Dickens fin Dec15
19. The Call of the Wild by Jack London fin Dec17
Challenge #8 new authors1 Honoré de Balzac Père Goriot finished Jul12
2 Heinrich Böll The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum finished Jul20
3 Nadine Gordimer Once Upon a Time Jul10
4 Maurice Leblanc Lupin finished Jul30
5 Françoise Sagan Incidental Music: Stories finished Jan11
6 Isak Dinesen Babette’s Feast finished May2
7 Anthony Trollope The Warden DNF at 40%
8. Magda Szabó Iza's Ballad finished Jan25
9. Alphonse Daudet Letters from My Windmill finished Mar1
10. Rachel Ingalls Mrs Caliban finished Aug8
11. Miklós Bánffy The Enchanted Night: Selected Tales finished May17
12. Edna O'Brien Byron in Love finished Jul26
13. Elizabeth Taylor Angel finished oct30
14. Hjalmar Söderberg Doctor Glas finished Nov14
15. Sylvia Townsend Warner Lolly Willowes finished Nov21
#9 A-Z author challengeA Margaret Atwood
B J.G. Ballard
C Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
D Charles Dickens
E George Eliot
F Penelope Fitzgerald
G Graham Greene
H E.T.A. Hoffmann
I Kazuo Ishiguro
J Simon Jimenez
K Nicole Krauss
L Penelope Lively
M Ian McEwan
N Larry Niven
O Maggie O'Farrell
P Alexander Pushkin
Q
R Kelly Rimmer
S Françoise Sagan
T Ivan Turgenev
U Lyudmila Ulitskaya
V Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
W Tim Winton
X
Y Banana Yoshimoto
Z Émile Zola
#10 A-Z title challenge A After Dark fin Feb 21 5*
B Babel-17 finished Feb13
C The Captain's Daughter finished Jan9
D Dombey and Son finished May4 5*
E Empire Star finished Feb14
F The Favourite Game finished Feb16 5*
G Galapagos finished Jan13
H Hamnet finished Jan3
I Incidental Music: Stories finished Jan11
J Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams: Short Stories, Prose and Diary Excerpts finished Apr13
K The Kill finished Jan16
L The Lake of the Bees finished feb12
M Moon Tiger finished Jan2
N The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency finished May10
O Offshore finished Feb20
P Pictures from Italy finished Jan4
Q The Queen of Spades fin Jun8
R Rememberings by Sinead O'Connor finished Apr11 4*
S The Signalman finished Jan5
T Third Girl finished Feb8
U Utopia Avenue 5* fin Mar8
V The Vanished Birds
W The Wind from Nowhere
X
Y
Z
Mod
Thanks Bob, I’m enjoying finding the books :)The 1866 half of the century challenge is going to be a struggle I think!
Mod
I have filled out some ideas, the other challenges wait till the year begins!
You have such an interesting bunch of titles, Janelle! So many I'm curious about, and your decade challenge looks excellent. (A Fine Balance is so good.)
Janelle, I want to read A Fine Balance over the summer when I have time (I’m a teacher). Let me know if you want to buddy read.
Thanks Kathleen and Brina :) I’m looking forward to A Fine Balance. I found this year I was more attracted to shorter books and stories rather than the big chunky ones so I’m already challenging myself with these lists! I’ve had The God of Small Things on my pile for ages too.
I’m not the sort of reader who plans out the year, Brina but if it’s still to be read when your summer comes around I think it’d be a great book to do a buddy read, too :)
Janelle, I’m actually a mood reader but there are some books- more the long ones- that sat all year and I want to make sure I get them read next year. If I slot them into a month, they will get read and I’ll just mood read everything else around them.
Janelle wrote: "Thanks Kathleen and Brina :) I’m looking forward to A Fine Balance. I found this year I was more attracted to shorter books and stories rather than the big chunky ones so I’m already ch..."'The God of Small Things' is one of my absolute favorites, Janelle, so I hope it goes well for you.
That’s nice to hear , Aubrey :) I’ve read and loved her nonfiction, just never got around to either of the two novels!
Brina wrote: "Janelle, I’m actually a mood reader but there are some books- more the long ones- that sat all year and I want to make sure I get them read next year. If I slot them into a month, they will get rea..."I’ll keep my eye out for when you choose to read it :)
I will Janelle. I figure I will read a long book each in June, July, and August when I have the time. If July works for you, I’m happy to have a reading buddy.
Welcome Janelle! You are getting a good start for what I see! ;-) I read Circe this year, I enjoyed it pretty much^^ And I read some Roger Zezlany which was very nice as well^^
Good luck with your challenge and have a nice reading time!
Thank you Irphen! You have some great books on your challenges as well :)
Circe is wonderful and so is The Kill. Good luck
Thanks Ila, good luck in your challenges too :)
Mod
I’ve read a good selection from the challenges in January. Challenges #2 and #3 are the worst so far. I’ve read a lot of short stories and I’m particularly enjoying collections. I’m expecting my reading will diverge further from my actual lists!
Mod
I’m expecting my r..."
Yes your Challenge #4 is really coming along. I love that you have a Delany and Zelazny both in your 1966 Challenge list.
I really enjoyed putting that 1966 list together, Lynn!
I really enjoyed my first read from 1966 for challenge#2Third Girl by Agatha Christie
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've never heard of this Agatha Christie, Janelle. Thank you for introducing it to me. Hope you're enjoying this challenge.
Anne, I wasn’t aware of it either until I went looking for books from 1966. It was a pleasant surprise for me.Yes, I’m enjoying my reading :)
I hope your reading is going well too.
Janelle wrote: "Anne, I wasn’t aware of it either until I went looking for books from 1966. It was a pleasant surprise for me.Yes, I’m enjoying my reading :)
I hope your reading is going well too."
Thank you, Janelle. I'm having a good reading year and my Bingo challenge is going well so far. ;)
Mod
Wow, you are doing so well on all of these challenges, Janelle! Glad you enjoyed Streetcar--I've just started it.
Janelle wrote: "With A Streetcar Named Desire I’ve finished challenge #4, classic/genre!"I also just read Streetcar but I can't use it for my Bingo Challenge. Glad that you can use it for your challenge. I listened to the audio and it was a fantastic experience.
Wow, you have had great success so far!!! Well done! Thats a lot of reading!! I've also just started Streetcar listening to the Hoopla version and reading along with it.
You are making great progress, you have a few very interesting choices. I look forward to your reviews.
Thank you all for the lovely comments :))
A Streetcar Named Desire was a pleasant surprise for me. Not only did I enjoy it but I slotted it in on a few challenges including the Pulitzer winner on my bingo.
Great short story by Giovanni Boccaccio, Federigo's Falcon 5*I found it here https://americanliterature.com/author...
Mod
Love Greene, but haven't read The Comedians, so another one I am happy to see garners 5-stars.
You’re welcome, Sara :)I think I might attempt the Decameron one day too!
Challenges completed#1 old and new
#2 century challenge
#4 members choice
#6 short stories
#7 group reads
#8 new authors
#3 second place or worse (3 old school, 1 new school, so not quite perfect)
Challenges not completed
#9 A-Z authors all but Q and X
#10 A-Z titles all but X,Y and Z
#5 decade challenge, only read 6/10
All up I think its a successful buffet!
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
Books mentioned in this topic
The Horla (other topics)The Call of the Wild (other topics)
A Christmas Tree: by Charles Dickens (other topics)
A Christmas Tree: by Charles Dickens (other topics)
The Holly-Tree (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jack London (other topics)Banana Yoshimoto (other topics)
Sylvia Townsend Warner (other topics)
Hjalmar Söderberg (other topics)
Fyodor Dostoevsky (other topics)
More...
Old school
1. The Kill by Émile Zola finished Jan16 5*
2. The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky finished Oct25 4*
3. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg finished May9 3*
New school
1. Coming Up for Air by George Orwell finished Dec5 4*
2. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman finished Jun15 4*
3. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes finished Sep23 3*
Free choice
1. Circe by Madeline Miller finished Jan27 4*
2. 1Q84: Book 3 by Haruki Murakami finished Nov6 5*
3. Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
4. In Between the Sheets by Ian McEwan finished Apr25 3*
5. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. finished Jan13 4*
6. Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald finished Feb20 3*
Alternates
1. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
2. The Fat and the Thin by Émile Zola finished Mar16 5*
12/14