AnetQ's 2021 all-you-can-eat buffet

[Anetq]

Well here we go again...
Challenge #1 -New & Old TBR
Challenge #2 - Does a Century Make a Difference?
Challenge #3 - Second Place or Worse
Challenge #4 - Members Choice Classic/Genre Challenge
Challenge #5 - Decade/Century Challenge
Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge (DONE)
Challenge #7 - 2021 Group Reads Challenge
Challenge #8 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors (DONE!)
Challenge #9 - A-Z Author Challenge
Challenge #10 - A-Z Title Challenge

[Anetq]

Challenge #3 - Second Place or Worse
(Considering this one, as I've always tried to add a few things not from the anglo-american canon to the nominations, but I fear there is still way to much anglo-american canon in the noms for my taste.)
Rules: Go back through the groups past polls and select seven (7) total books that are of interest to you but lost the poll and never made it to our group bookshelf. Ideally pick two books from New School, two from Old School, two from Short Story/Novella, and one from the Quarterly Long Read.
1 For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange,1975
2 First Love by Ivan Turgenev
3 White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
4 Sonnets From The Portugese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
5 The Lifted Veil by George Eliot
6
7

Had a look through the nominations, and these look promising:

The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela, 1942, 166 pages.
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 1869
Beloved by Toni Morrison 1987 (+ Nobel),
Niels Lyhne by Jens Peter Jacobsen 1880, 152s
Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee 1980 (+ Nobel)
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann 1816, 84 pages
Hunger by Knut Hamsun 1890, 134 p
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, 1944, 174 p
Candide by Voltaire pub. 1759, 129 p
Gösta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlöf 1891, 368 p (+ Nobel)
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (pub. 1937) 339 p.
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne 1760, 735 pages.
Laxness

Short ones:
The Star by Arthur C. Clarke, 10 pages, 1955
King Pest by Edgar Allan Poe, 19 pages 1835.
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain, 9 pages, 1865.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott 1884, 96 p.

[Anetq]

Challenge #5 - Decade/Century Challenge. 6 women read - a few more old men...
(I try for this most years, and most years fail - but hey, maybe 2021 is the year!)

Decades of Women... (may be a slightly different century, who knows)
1760s Den listige Optrækkerske by Charlotte Dorothea Biehl
*1840s White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1848) Den sorte kat by Edgar Allan Poe (1848)
1850s Sonnets From The Portugese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1850) The Lifted Veil by George Eliot (1859)
*Men: 1860 Den første kærlighed by Ivan Turgenev (1860)
*Men: 1879 Et Dukkehjem by Henrik Ibsen To fantastiske fortællinger by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1877), Mogens og andre Noveller by Jens Peter Jacobsen (1872)
*Men: 1881 Irene Holm by Herman Bang

1890-1899 Dunungen og Tøsen fra stormyrhuset by Selma Lagerlöf 1894
*1900-1909 Man: Kirsebærhaven by Anton Chekhov. Plan: Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career 1901 (+ Australia!) Kindle.
*1910-1919 Plan: Kejseren av Portugalien (1914)
Grazia Deledda Reeds in the Wind 1913.
*1920-1929 Man: Leporella by Stefan Zweig (1929), Batuala by René Maran (1921). Plan: Nella Larsen: Passing 1929, Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence (1920)
1930-1939 Pigesind: Digte by Tove Ditlevsen (1939)
*1940-1949 Plan: Kallocain by Karin Boye (1940)
1950-1959 Kvindesind: Digte by Tove Ditlevsen 1955 (+ Les Inséparables by Simone de Beauvoir, written 1954)
1960-1969 Ungdom: Erindringer by Tove Ditlevsen 1967
1970-1979 For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange 1975, The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta (1979)
1980-1989 alfabet by Inger Christensen

My list of possible authors to read (still trying to go outside the anglo-american sphere) Ideas:

1890s
Selma Lagerlöf Gösta Berling's Saga 1891
1900s
Miles Franklin My Brilliant Career 1901 (+ Australia!)
Selma Lagerlöf The Wonderful Adventures of Nils
1910s
Grazia Deledda Reeds in the Wind 1913
1920s
Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter 1920
Colette Claudine's House 1922
Nella Larsen: Passing 1929
1930s
Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm 1932
María Luisa Bombal New Islands: And Other Stories 1939
1940s...
1950s
Janet Frame Owls Do Cry 1957 (+NZ)
Fumiko Enchi The Waiting Years1957 (+Japan)
1960s
Doris Lessing: The Golden Notebook 1962
Natalia Ginzburg The Little Virtues 1962
Lydia Chukovskaya Sofia Petrovna 1965
Flora Nwapa Efuru 1966
Evgenia Ginzburg Journey into the Whirlwind 1967
Simin Daneshvar A Persian Requiem 1969 (+Iran)
1970s
Sula by Toni Morrison 1973
Annie Ernaux Cleaned Out 1974
Rebeka Njau Ripples in the Pool 1975
E.M. Broner A Weave of Women 1978
Angela Carter Saints and Strangers 1979
Elfriede Jelinek Les amantes
1980s
Annie Dillard Living by Fiction 1983
Ken Bugul The Abandoned Baobab: The Autobiography of a Senegalese Woman 1984
Mavis Gallant The Pegnitz Junction: A Novella and Five Short Stories 1984 (+ Canada)
1990s
Yvonne Vera Butterfly Burning 1998
2000s
Sefi Atta Everything Good Will Come 2001

Women Nobel Prize Winners:
Unread:
1928 - Sigrid Undset
1993 - Toni Morrison
2004 - Elfriede Jelinek
2009 - Doris Lessing

(Read: 1909 Selma Lagerlöf, 1926 Grazia Deledda, 1938 Pearl Buck, 1945 - Nelly Sachs, 1966 Gabriela Mistral, 1991 - Nadine Gordimer, 1996 - Wislawa Szymborska, 2007 Herta Müller, 2013 Alice Munro)

[Anetq]

Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge (Done!)
Nice one!

Singles:
Den sorte kat by Edgar Allan Poe

Read collections:
Udvalgte Fortællinger by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (5 stories)
Mogens og andre Noveller by Jens Peter Jacobsen (6 stories)
Må jeg komme med dig hjem by Marie Aubert (9 stories)
Historien om Fru Berg by Ingvild H. Rishøi (5 stories)
Vinternoveller by Ingvild H. Rishøi (3 stories)

Africa 39 edited by by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey
I have started this -but with 39 authors and many texts being excerpts from novels, I need to take this in smaller bits. about 10 read so far.


I have a few collections on by TBR.
Wild Swims by Dorthe Nors
Alice Munro
Also there are the Caine Prize winners and nominees

38/24 stories read.

[Anetq]

Challenge #8 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors
Easy peasy: Seek out six (new to you) authors published before the year 2000.

1 Tarjei Vesaas: The Ice Palace
2 Simone de Beauvoir: De uadskillelige (yes, I know published in 2020, but really written 75 years earlier, so I'll count it!
3 Norbert Zongo: The Parachute Drop
4 Kjell Westö: Luftspejling 38
5 Louise Glück: Averno
6 Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich: First Love

(done!)

[Anetq]

Challenge #9 - A-Z Author Challenge
Always doing this, and usually succeeding!
24/26 read

A Aubert, Marie: Må jeg komme med dig hjem
B Beauvoir, Simone de: De uadskillelige
C Christensen, Inger: Alfabet og Sommerfugledalen
D Ditlevsen, Tove: Kvindesind: Digte
E Emecheta, Buchi: Børn er en velsignelse (AKA The Joys of Motherhood )
F
G Glück, Louise: Averno
H Høeg, Tine Tour de chambre
I Ibsen, Henrik: Et Dukkehjem
J Jacobsen, IP: Mogens og andre Noveller
K Korneliussen, Niviaq Blomsterdalen
L Lagerlöf, Selma: Dunungen og Tøsen fra stormyrhuset
M Miodownik, Mark: Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
N Nothomb, Amélie: Blåskæg
O Oseman, Alice: Heartstopper, Volume Four
P Poe, Edgar Allan: Den sorte kat
Q Queen, Ellery: Q.E.D. Queen's Experiments in Detection
R Rovelli, Carlo: Syv små forelæsninger om fysik
S Stoltz, Kristina: Paradis først
T Turgenev, Ivan: First Love
U Unigwe, Chika: On Black Sisters Street
V Vesaas, Tarjei: Is-slottet
W Winther, Lærke: Ikke afsendt
X Xun, Lu: The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun
Y
Z Zongo, Norbert: The Parachute Drop

[Anetq]

Challenge #10 - A-Z Title Challenge
Always doing this, and usually succeeding!
22/26 read

A Averno by Louise Glück
B Blomsterdalen by Niviaq Korneliussen
C Camille Clouds brevkasse by Line Knutzon
D Dunungen og Tøsen fra stormyrhuset by Selma Lagerlöf
E Eros by Stefan Zweig
F Den første kærlighed by Ivan Turgenev
G Gale kvinder by Gabriela Mistral
H Hvide nætter by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I Is-slottet by Tarjei Vesaas
J
K Kvindesind: Digte by Tove Ditlevsen
L Leporella by Stefan Zweig
M Mogens og andre Noveller by Jens Peter Jacobsen
N Nye rejsende by Tine Høeg
O On Black Sisters Street by Chika Unigwe.
P Paradis først by Kristina Stoltz
Q Q.E.D. Queen's Experiments in Detection by Ellery Queen
R Rystet spejl by Søren Ulrik Thomsen
S Alfabet og Sommerfugledalen by Inger Christensen
T Tour de chambre by Tine Høeg
U De uadskillelige by Simone de Beauvoir
V Vinternoveller by Ingvild H. Rishøi
W
X
Y
Z Zombieland by Sørine Steenholdt

[Anetq]

...

[Luke]

Glad to see you doing more challenges in 2021, Anetq. You always have the most interesting book selections.

[Anetq]

Thank you Aubrey!

And an update:
I've kicked off the year with a reading streak - much of it recent danish literature, and a few within my African reading - I'm working on 'finishing' the continent, by reading the 8 (?) remaining countries - and managed to track down a copy of Zongo: The Parachute Drop which was excellent, and hey, that's my Z covered as well as Burkina Faso!

[Anetq]

I'm back to reading after a break, have been catching up with audiobooks as I am fixing up a flat. The 'new to you'-authors is long done (I am always reading new authors, so just 6 is nothing in my reading).
I've updated my alphabet challenges, and I'm at 17 authors and 16 titles.
And my century of women is at 4 read.
Must check some of alle the classics I read recently against the 'second place' challenge...

[Sue]

Congratulations on your progress Anetq. Being more than half way done on both alphabet challenges is impressive.
I love that you are focusing on reading a continent!
I feel the same about "new to you' authors, it's a breeze for me.

Which reads have been your favorites so far?

[Anetq]

Sue wrote: "Congratulations on your progress Anetq. Being more than half way done on both alphabet challenges is impressive.
I love that you are focusing on reading a continent!
I feel the same about "new to..."

Actually it's been a pretty good run so far this year. Some of the nordic classics have been pretty amazing: Vesaas, Ditlevsen, Christensen and Lagerlöf!
Then there is a bunch of new Danish female writers, which turned out to be great - Tine Høeg and Stine Pilgaard (all probably not translated, yet) and Korneliussen from Greenland. And then I've been listening to Dostojevskij short stories and Turgenev lately - it keeps surprising me, with the non-alien-ness of something written in Tsar Russia 150 years ago - but he tells very human stories, and Russia/Sct. Petersburg was pretty closely linked to Europe (and the rich all had French nannies and teachers) - so it shouldn't be that surprising really.
On the other end of the spectrum Glück is not going to be my favorite reading and the QED crime fiction seemed a silly rip-off of Agatha Christie-style crime writing.

[Anetq]

Just did an update, and doing pretty good so far - The short story challenge is well done already, I have 23 Authors and 21 Titles and 5/7 in the 'second place' challenge, so it's just the centuries now...

[Sara, Old School Classics]

You've made marvelous progress, Anetq and I admire the diversity of your reading. I try to broaden the borders, but I find myself snuggling down in England far too often.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

You have done great. I admire the progress on the A-Z challenges, I gave them up this year, I just can’t seem to finish it.

[Anetq]

Sara wrote: "You've made marvelous progress, Anetq and I admire the diversity of your reading. I try to broaden the borders, but I find myself snuggling down in England far too often."

Thank you! As for home turf 8 of the titles are Danish litt. so it not all exotic (to me :) ) but I have picked up on the African reading again after a break. I do recommend "reading abroad" - and the Russian classics are a lot more accessible then some make them out to be :D

[Anetq]

Bob wrote: "You have done great. I admire the progress on the A-Z challenges, I gave them up this year, I just can’t seem to finish it."

When reading around a 120 a year it's a question of being a little strategic and not leaving all the difficult letters to the end of the year. Since I have been doing this for years I now take note when I come across an author or title with a difficult letter for later use :) Also it helps to read in multiple languages (no c or w in Danish, but I and j might be more common than in English). The XYZ, Q and U needs a bit of planning. but how else would I have read Zingu, Norbert Zongo, the chinese classics and Mme Yourcenar?

[Luke]

Anetq wrote: "Also it helps to read in multiple languages (no c or w in Danish, but I and j might be more common than in English). The XYZ, Q and U needs a bit of planning. but how else would I have read Zingu, Norbert Zongo, the chinese classics and Mme Yourcenar?"

Hear hear! :)

[Anetq]

So this is moving ahead. The Alphabets are coming along (though the titles are missing a handful of tricky letters...

Also I've realised, that I might finish my century of women this year!!
Only missing 4, and I have ideas, that just might happen!

*1900-1909 Plan: Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career 1901 (+ Australia!) Kindle.
*1910-1919 Plan: Kejseren av Portugalien (1914) or Grazia Deledda Reeds in the Wind 1913.
*1920-1929 Plan: Nella Larsen: Passing 1929, Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence (1920)
*1940-1949 Plan: Kallocain by Karin Boye (1940)

[Carolien]

Well done, Anetq!

Both My Brilliant Career and Passing are quick reads if that helps your selection.

[Anetq]

Carolien wrote: "Well done, Anetq!

Both My Brilliant Career and Passing are quick reads if that helps your selection."

I DO appreciate short reads :)

[Anetq]

So another year's over as John Lennon sang... And I didn't read as much as usual this year, so status is:
Challenge #3 - Second Place or Worse 5/7 - maybe I read something else, that made the polls, but can't be bothered to check. Not bad!
Challenge #5 - Decade/Century Challenge (didn't finish, it's almost a tradition by now, I do make i harder on myself by allowing only women, but even though I don't finish I always read something old, I wouldn't have, so it's worth it!)
Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge (DONE)
Challenge #8 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors (DONE!)
Challenge #9 - A-Z Author Challenge (Missing F & Y, not even the hardest letters as I am great at sneaking in the hard letters, whenever I come across something that fits, but less reading meant less authors to pick from...)
Challenge #10 - A-Z Title Challenge (ditto)