Shaina's Shelf Indulgence

[Lori]

You are definitely moving right along, Shaina! I just finished Doctor Thorne and loved it, and hope you do too.
And I adored The princess bride!

[Shaina]

Sara wrote: "Just look at all those green checkmarks! Also sounds like you are enjoying your choices, which is really the point. Bravo, Shaina."

Yes, I am really enjoying my choices and most importantly I have DNFed anything I felt I couldn't ever read. I learned that from you. It's so liberating!

[Shaina]

Lori wrote: "You are definitely moving right along, Shaina! I just finished Doctor Thorne and loved it, and hope you do too.
And I adored The princess bride!"

That's great, Lori! I really hope to get to Doctor Thorne next month and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it. I see myself rereading Barchester Towers one day. I was skeptical about The Princess Bride but thank you for the endorsement. I think I will pick it up sooner than I planned now.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

You sure are busy. Three challenges finished, congrats!

[Shaina]

Completed Challenge #8 - Most Popular Goodreads Books Listed by Year. I loved High Wages by Dorothy Whipple. I don't think I would have come across this author if it weren't for this challenge. I was sorely tempted to read another one by Vita Sackville-West as I quite enjoyed All Passion Spent ( The Edwardians was cheaper than High Wages too!). I also thoroughly enjoyed Swallows and Amazons.

So now I have a new favourite author in Whipple!!

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Congratulation Shaina you have completed so many Challenges.. I really am trying to pass up the books I don't find interesting and have DNF'd 2 books I started this year. I think your plan sounds great.

[Lori]

Congratulations Shaina! I keep hearing wonderful things about Whipple! So glad you enjoyed her! I’ll have to try to put her in a challenge next year.

[Wobbley]

Wow, challenge #8 seems to have gone really well for you! Well done! I, too, have been hearing a lot of good things about Dorothy Whipple recently. I have read All Passion Spent, and I really enjoyed her writing style. Although you've completed Challenge 8, I also recommend Cakes and Ale by Maugham.

Great Progress!

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Bravo, Shaina, for the completion. I read my first Whipple this year and I am all in for reading the others. Like you, I think she is going to be a favorite. So glad you enjoyed All Passion Spent, as it is in my near future as well.

[Shaina]

Lynn wrote: "Congratulation Shaina you have completed so many Challenges.. I really am trying to pass up the books I don't find interesting and have DNF'd 2 books I started this year. I think your plan sounds g..."

Thanks, Lynn! Yes, being able to DNF (thanks to Sara) has changed my reading life for the better. There are some books I was able to come back and read in the right frame of mind.

[Shaina]

Lori wrote: "Congratulations Shaina! I keep hearing wonderful things about Whipple! So glad you enjoyed her! I’ll have to try to put her in a challenge next year."

Thanks, Lori! She has a lot of books you can pick from. Her writing is really great. I hope you enjoy her as much as I did.

[Shaina]

Wobbley wrote: "Wow, challenge #8 seems to have gone really well for you! Well done! I, too, have been hearing a lot of good things about Dorothy Whipple recently. I have read All Passion Spent, and I really enjoy..."

Thanks, Wobbley! I'm glad Whipple is getting some attention now. She does not deserve the fate of an obscure author as she did till now. I'm glad you enjoyed All Passion Spent. I will try to read Cakes and Ale after my challenge reads this year. If not there is always next year but I'll keep your recommendation in mind and get to it sooner than later.

[Shaina]

Sara wrote: "Bravo, Shaina, for the completion. I read my first Whipple this year and I am all in for reading the others. Like you, I think she is going to be a favorite. So glad you enjoyed All Passion Spent, ..."

Thank you, Sara! I'm glad you read Whipple. Such a great new to me author. I couldn't put the book down and read it in one afternoon. All Passion Spent moved me in so many ways. I'm not a Woolf fan and her admiration of Sackville-West's writing made me skeptical but I was so touched by the writing and story. I totally understand why Woolf loved her.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Congrats on finishing. I will have to investigate Dorothy Whipple, Thanks.

[Shaina]

Bob wrote: "Congrats on finishing. I will have to investigate Dorothy Whipple, Thanks."

Thank you, Bob! I hope you enjoy Whipple and look forward to your thoughts on her writing. I now hope to get to Shogun soon.

[Shaina]

Completed Challenge #12 - A-Z Author.

An enjoyable challenge and got me reading authors I would not have picked otherwise.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Congratulations! You have finished what I consider to be the hardest challenge in the buffet, one I could bet money I won’t be able to finish.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Congratulations. I agree with Bob. A-Z is a tough one, well done!

[Wobbley]

Well done! Which were your favourites from this challenge?

[Carolien]

Congratulations, Shaina! Very impressive to finish the A-Z challenge, it is such a hard one!

[Sara, Old School Classics]

I have never completed the A-Z, Shaina, so a hearty congratulations from me.

[Ila]

Sounds like you just finished a really tough challenge, Shaina. Congrats!

[Terris]

Wow! Shaina, I am impressed! I have not been very successful with this challenge. I have at least five more to go, and they are not easy letters!! I'm glad you were able to complete this challenge. Yay!

[Shaina]

Bob wrote: "Congratulations! You have finished what I consider to be the hardest challenge in the buffet, one I could bet money I won’t be able to finish."

Thank you, Bob but you finished Shogun and I haven't even looked at it yet so I think that balances things out.

[Shaina]

Lynn wrote: "Congratulations. I agree with Bob. A-Z is a tough one, well done!"

Thank you, Lynn. It does feel like an accomplishment.

[Shaina]

Sara wrote: "I have never completed the A-Z, Shaina, so a hearty congratulations from me."

Thanks, Sara! This was my first attempt at the A-Z as I have always shied away from this challenge as I considered it impossible.

[Shaina]

Wobbley wrote: "Well done! Which were your favourites from this challenge?"

Thank you, Wobbley! I enjoyed most of them. The ones that deserve a mention are Which Way? by Theodora Benson, Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes, Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry, The Odd Women by George Gissing, The Martian, Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes and The Moon Is Down :)

[Shaina]

Carolien wrote: "Congratulations, Shaina! Very impressive to finish the A-Z challenge, it is such a hard one!"

Thank you, Carolien!

[Shaina]

Ila wrote: "Sounds like you just finished a really tough challenge, Shaina. Congrats!"

Thanks, Ila! I have been eyeing some of the books you read this year. Hopefully I can get to some of them soon but don't be surprised if you see them on my challenges next year.

[Shaina]

Terris wrote: "Wow! Shaina, I am impressed! I have not been very successful with this challenge. I have at least five more to go, and they are not easy letters!! I'm glad you were able to complete this challenge...."

Thanks, Terri! I'm sure you will finish this one too! Let me know if you need some suggestions for the not-easy letters.

[Leona]

Good for you. That is quite a challenge.

[Wobbley]

Shaina wrote: "I enjoyed most of them. The ones that deserve a mention are Which Way? by Theodora Benson, Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes, Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry, The Odd Women by George Gissing, The Martian, Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes and The Moon Is Down :)"

Thanks for the recommendations! A lot of these look interesting. I'm putting Strange Journey on my list for sure!

[Shaina]

Superb! lt has been reprinted by British Library Women Writers, so you might just find a copy. Let me know what you think about it once you read it.

[Terris]

I'm going to try to get to "Which Way?" soon! :)

[Shaina]

That's great! Do share your thoughts afterwards.

[Terris]

I will!

[Shaina]

I now need just 1 book from the O&N challenge to finish this buffet. I think it's going to be Klara and the Sun or The Custom of the Country.

[Terris]

Woohoo! Keep going -- you still have twelve more days to read! :)

[Wobbley]

Wow, that's terrific! I hope you enjoy your last challenge book.

[Kathryn]

What a fabulous year of reading you have had! I'm hoping you select Klara and the Sun - I did love that one. Hope you enjoy your final read, whichever you select. :)

[Sue]

Wow, what a reading year, Shaina! Being 1 book shy of completing 11 challenges is no small feat. Congratulations!