2023 Squire's BINGO-A-GO-GO!

[Squire]

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B1 I1 N1 G1 O1

B2 I2 N2 G2 O2

B3 I3 N3 G3 O3


B4 I4 N4 G4 O4

B5 I5 N5 G5 O5

[Squire]

Planning:

B1: Book Published 1950 - 1999: Alas, Babylon
B2: Classic written in your native language: Islands in the Stream
B3: Classic of Europe
B4: Classic involving art An Artist of the Floating World
B5: Classic from your bookshelf: Infinite Jest

I1: Book from the Group’s Bookshelf Prior to 2023: Dead Souls
I2: Classic biography/autobiography or memoir The Twelve Caesars
I3: Classic horror or gothic: The Gormenghast Novels
I4: Classic comedy, satire, or humor
I5: Book from the group’s Favorites of 2022: The Faerie Queene

N1: Classic of the Americas The Aleph and Other Stories 1933-1969 by Jorge Luis Borges
N2: Classic Western: The Time It Never Rained
N3: Reader’s Choice: The Tale of Genji
N4: Classic mystery or thriller: Fantômas 4 stars
N5: Classic of Africa or Oceania: On the Beach

G1: Classic from a group poll that did not win: Centennial 5 stars
G2: Classic action or adventure: The Begum's Millions 4 stars
G3: Classic history or historical fiction: A Tale of Two Cities 5 stars
G4: Class fantasy or science fiction: The Martian Tales Trilogy
G5: Book from the Group’s 2023 Bookshelf

O1: Book Published before 1900: Jude the Obscure
O2: New-To-You Classic Author: Beware of Pity
O3: Classic of Asia: Digenes Akrites 4 stars
O4: Classic in translation: The Pillow Book
O5: Book Published 1900 - 1949: As I Lay Dying

[Squire]

I'm going to assume my nom of Centennial isn't going to win the long read poll for January 2023. lol

That's 5 doorstops.

[Janelle]

Ooh, Gormenghast and Infinite Jest! I hope you enjoy them, Squire :)

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Squire wrote: "I'm going to assume my nom of Centennial isn't going to win the long read poll for January 2023. lol

That's 4 doorstops."

I do love your doorstoppers, I have three of those of my TBR list for 2023.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Good luck!

[Squire]

Thanks, Sara. I'm toying with the idea of starting with Infinite Jest to get the biggest one out of the way first. lol

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Good plan. I find it gets harder to tackle the thick ones toward the end of the year.

[Lori]

good Luck, Squire! You will not be disappointed with The Time it Never Rained!

[Squire]

Thanks, Lori. When I read about The TIme, I thought "why am I only learning about this book now?"

[Terris]

You have lots of good ones lined up already! Enjoy your challenge :)

[Squire]

I added The Tale of Genji, but I may drop it later. There are 4 complete translations of it and I've read 2 of them (the Arthur Whaley and Royall Tyler translations). The Washburn translation is the latest one. There's also the Edward Seidensticker translation I haven't gotten to yet.

It's also 1300 pages long, so we'll see. lol.

[Squire]

Added Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig as my new-to-me-classic author. The writings of Zweig inspired the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel. I've had the author on my TBR since 2014. The book may change, but the author won't.

[Squire]

The Twelve Caesars will be my classic biography (for now). I have a lot of ancient Greek/Roman titles on my TBR. Hopefully, I'll get around to some of them in 2023.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Alas, Babylon is an amazing book, and you've got On the Beach. Wow that is going to be intense; in a good way.

[Squire]

Those are two books in a 5-book set I got from Easton Press years ago that I haven't read. I need to get them off my TBR.

[Squire]

Fantômas is a book title I came across while reading The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. It looked iteresting, so I added it as my classic mystery or thriller.

[Squire]

The Aleph and Other Stories 1933-1969 by Jorge Luis Borges is a book I stumbled upon while browsing online. It's a translation Borges made with Di Giovanni before his death. Later, to avoid paying hefty royalties to Di Gionvanni, Borges' partner (and heir) commissioned the Hurley translations that are used today. Call it one of Borges' "lost" translations.

I had it in the "classics of Europe" slot until I realized Borges was an Argentine writer. lol

[Squire]

Got a handful of classics for BINGO, so I'm ready to A-GO-GO for 2023!



That was bad, I know. But I couldn't resist. lol

[Squire]

My classic of action or adventure will be one of Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaire. I put in The Begum's Millions, but the title may change.

[Squire]

First square achieved! I'm on my way.

[Klowey]

What a fantastic list!
I am also reading The Aleph and Other Stories for BINGO.
And, I'm a huge old films fan. How was Fantomas?

I want to read Dead Souls and I liked As I Lay Dying. And would be very interested in what you think of Infinite Jest.

[Squire]

2 down, 23 to go!

[Squire]

I settled on An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro as my classic about art. I was thinking about World War Z (a book I rated 2 stars) and how the only parts I liked were about the Hiroshima survivor who is taking care of a garden that was untouched by zombies who considers himself the Caretaker of the Gods. I happened to be in the "I" section at Barnes and Noble and my eye fell on this book. Weird how things like that happen.

Lost a bet with a friend on Sunday and now I get to read Outlander. I honestly thought the Packers would beat the Lions. Oh well. Don't know if it's a classic, or if I can fit in somewhere, but it's good to read outside your comfort zone.

[Terris]

Squire, I'm glad you mentioned An Artist of the Floating World for the "Classic involving Art" category. I almost checked that book out today just because I've been wanting to read it (I checked out Strange Weather in Tokyo instead). But now I think I'll save "Artist" for my Bingo challenge! Thanks :)

And... sorry about losing the bet. But you'll get through "Outlander." It's not that bad -- just long. It'll be good for you ;)

[Squire]

Moved Gormenghast from G4 (fantasy/sci-fi) to I3 (horror/gothic) and added The Martian Tales Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs as classic fantasy/sci-fi. Always wanted to read those books.

[Veronique]

Nice start!
The mention of Fantomas made me smile. Haven’t read it, yet, but grew up watching tv adaptations of it :O)

[Leni]

Good luck! That's an ambitious Bingo plan. I loved Infinite Jest, but it took me two attempts to read it. I lost momentum halfway through the first time. Couldn't stop thinking about it though and I'm really glad I gave it another try.

[Squire]

Added A Tale of Two Cities as historical fiction. Another book that's been on my TBR forever.

[Squire]

Started . My Doorstop mini-challenge has begun.

[Squire]

Added Jude the Obscure as my classic published before 1900. It was recommended to me years ago (before goodreads) and one review of it on GR said reading it was the next step if you were contemplating suicide. I happened to be listening to "Out the Window" by the Violent Femmes--who bring ALL their equipment on the bus--and I had a "Duuuuuuuuh" moment.

I'm laughing as I write this (not at suicide), but seriously YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP!!!

[Squire]

Finished my first Doorstop of 2023!

Next Doorstop:

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Squire wrote: "Moved Gormenghast from G4 (fantasy/sci-fi) to I3 (horror/gothic) and added The Martian Tales Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs as classic fantasy/sci-fi. Always wanted t..."

Oh fun! I read the first three John Carter books. I had to look up what "Martian Trilogy" meant. It's the Barsoom series. They are silly period fantasy books, but I really liked them. Burroughs certainly knows how to write a cliff hanger and seems to put them at the end of every chapter LOL.

[Squire]

Am diving head first into Infinite Jest this month, so that's going to tie me up for a while.

[Terris]

You are a brave man! Let us know when you dig out from under!!

[Squire]

I made it into the 100s in page count; DFW has some funny anecdotes to share; but I'm not connecting with most of it--yet. I have hopes that I will, but I have to tell myself it's time to read a little more of IJ rather than I'm going to ignore something so I can read a little more.

Seriously, though, DFW couldn't take living inside his own head for very long...