Vit's Buffet Challenge 2023

[Vitaliy]

Ok, I think I'm ready. Perhaps I'll start with only four challenges. So:

Challenge 1: New & Old TBR
✅✅✅
✅✅✅
❌✅✅✅❌❌

Challenge 3: Decade (1950-1959)
✅❌✅❌❌❌❌❌✅✅

Challenge 7: Expand Your Horizon With New Authors
✅✅❌❌❌✅✅✅❌❌✅✅✅
✅✅✅✅✅

Challenge 13: A-Z Title
✅✅✅❌✅✅✅✅✅❌❌❌✅
✅❌❌✅✅❌✅✅✅✅❌❌❌

I hope I can do it! lol

[Vitaliy]

Challenge 1: New & Old Autors

1899 and earlier/Old School
✅ 1. The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas - 246 pgs - rt 3*
✅ 2. The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells - 139 pgs - rt 2*
✅ 3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - 464 pgs - rt 4*

1900-1999/New School
✅ 4. Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque - 320 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 5. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco - 536 pgs - rt 5*
✅ 6. East of Eden by John Steinbeck - 601 pgs - rt 4*

My Wild Card Six
7. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
✅ 8. Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway - 272 pgs - rt 2*
✅ 9. Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman - 368 pgs - rt 3*
✅ 10. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - 216 pgs - rt 5*
11. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
12. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Alternates
A-1. The Headless Horseman by Thomas Mayne Reid
A-2. Lucy Crown by Irwin Shaw
A-3. Junkie by William S. Burroughs

[Vitaliy]

Challenge 3: Decade Challenge

✅ 1950 - Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway - 272 pgs - rt 2*
1951 - My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
✅ 1952 - East of Eden by John Steinbeck - 601 pgs - rt 4*
1953 - Junkie by William S. Burroughs
1954 - I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
1955 - Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo
1956 - Lucy Crown by Irwin Shaw
1957 - Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
✅ 1958 - Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - 209 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 1959 - Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque - 320 pgs - rt 4*

[Vitaliy]

Challenge 7: Expand Youe Horizon With New Authors

✅ 1. Bel Kaufman (Up the Down Staircase) - 368 pgs - rt 3*
✅ 2. Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose) - 536 pgs - rt 5*
3. Daphne du Maurier (My Cousin Rachel)
4. William S. Burroughs (Junkie)
5. Irwin Shaw (Lucy Crown)
✅ 6. Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart) - 209 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 7. Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights) - 464 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 8. Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon) - 216 pgs - rt 5*
9. Juan Rulfo (Pedro Páramo)
10. Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)
✅ 11. Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood) - 400 pgs - rt 3*
✅ 12. Truman Capote (Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories) - 142 pgs - rt 3*
✅ 13. Walter Tevis (The Queen's Gambit) - 258 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 14. Jon Krakauer (Into the Wild) - 203 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 15. Jonathan Safran Foer (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) - 326 pgs - rt 3*
✅ 16. Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) - 336 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 17. Hubert Selby Jr. (Requiem for a Dream) - 279 pgs - rt 4*
✅ 18. Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) - 416 pgs - rt 4*

[Vitaliy]

Challenge 13: A-Z Title Challenge

✅ A - Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway - 272 pgs - rt 2*
✅ B - Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories by Truman Capote - 142 pgs - rt 3*
✅ C - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald - 64 pgs - rt 3*
D - Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
✅ E - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - 326 pgs - rt 3*
✅ F - Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - 216 pgs - rt 5*
✅ G - The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - 336 pgs - rt 4*
✅ H - Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque - 320 pgs - rt 4*
✅ I - Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer - 203 pgs - rt 4*
J - Junkie by William S. Burroughs
K -
L - Lucy Crown by Irwin Shaw
✅ M - Mystic River by Dennis Lehane - 416 pgs - rt 4*
✅ N - Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - 400 pgs - rt 3*
O -
P - Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo
✅ Q - The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis - 258 pgs - rt 4*
✅ R - The Road Back by Erich Maria Remarque - 352 pgs - rt 4*
S -
✅ T - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco - 536 pgs - rt 5*
✅ U - Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman - 368 pgs - rt 3*
✅ V - Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho - 210 pgs - rt 3*
✅ W - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - 464 pgs - rt 4*
X -
Y -
Z - Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

Ps. Can someone recommend novels whose titles start on letters: "K", "O", "S", "X", "Y"?

[Squire]

The Red Sphinx by Alexander Dumas is an unfinished serial novel that is a direct sequel to the The Three Musketeers. It's a more political novel that deals with the political maneuverings of Richelieu to keep France safe. The novel has an interesting history and the translator Lawrence Ellsworth is a man who taught himself French to read the works of Richelieu and Dumas in their original language. Then his career was made with TSR and live action role-playing games. I loved it.

Zorba the Greek was my "Z" classic in 2016, but I never made it that far.

[Vitaliy]

I have 8 novels of Dumas on my shelf, that waiting for their time. Alas, there is no "The Red Sphinx" among them, but I am not ready to read Dumas' e-book until I have read the available ones)))

But Zorba the Greek is interesting! Firstly, the description interested me, and secondly... Greece is still an undiscovered country in literature for me. So I add, thanks)

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

You have sone really great books chosen and several I count as favorites. I just read I Am Legend last month and enjoyed it. Just finished the 10 short stories that were in my copy today. They were good but not as good as Legend. Good luck with your challenge.

[Vitaliy]

Bob wrote: "You have sone really great books chosen and several I count as favorites. I just read I Am Legend last month and enjoyed it. Just finished the 10 short stories that were in my copy today. They were..."
Thanks. Fortunately or unfortunately, but I'm not a fan of short stories, and therefore I can not be interrupted by reading novels)

I have long wanted to read "I Am Legend", but something always got in the way. Even to read another novel by the author, What Dreams May Come. I hope this year I will find time for the I Am Legend)

[Vitaliy]

I have planned too much. But reading is a completely different novells and authors. However, making allowance for how difficult it is now to find books, the very fact of reading is already a good thing.
From updates: Into the Wild (unexpected reading), All Quiet on the Western Front (and again Remarque), The Queen's Gambit (from long wished), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (from new), Wuthering Heights (anything according to plan).

[Kathleen]

You are making amazing progress, and I hope you can keep finding books. I also hope you get to Zorba the Greek. It's a story that has a special power to make me feel better in bad times.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

I agree with Kathleen. Nice progress so far Vitaliy.

Recommendations: of course you may have read some of these

C Candide by Voltaire
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

O The Once and Future King by T.H. White

R Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

S Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Unknown
Siddartha by Hermann Hesse

[Ila]

Great progress on your challenges!

Here are a few suggestions:
R - The Return of the Soldier, The Royal Game

S - A Streetcar Named Desire, The Shadow of the Wind

C - The Call of the Wild, Calista

G - The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, Gates of Fire

K - The Kalevala

O - Othello, An Oresteia

Y - Yama: The Pit

V - The Vienna Melody

[Wobbley]

Vitaliy wrote: "Can someone recommend novels whose titles start on letters: "С", "G", "K", "O", "Q", "R", "S", "V", "X", "Y"?"

A few more recommendations:

C: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams; The Channel Shore; Come, Thou Tortoise; The Cat's Table

G: The Good Soldier

K: Kitchen; King Solomon's Mines

O: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; Our Homesick Songs

Q: The Quiet American

R: The Razor's Edge

S: Season of Migration to the North; Slaughterhouse-Five; The Sound of the Mountain

Hope that helps!

[Vitaliy]

Kathleen wrote: "You are making amazing progress, and I hope you can keep finding books. I also hope you get to Zorba the Greek. It's a story that has a special power to make me feel better in bad times."
Thanks, Katheleen) I also hope, that Zobra the Greek like for me. Mayby i even can find this paper book, but i don`t sure now, lol

[Vitaliy]

Wobbley wrote: "Vitaliy wrote: "Can someone recommend novels whose titles start on letters: "С", "G", "K", "O", "Q", "R", "S", "V", "X", "Y"?"

A few more recommendations:

C: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams..."</i>
<i>Ila wrote: "Great progress on your challenges!

Here are a few suggestions:
R - [book:The Return of the Soldier, The Royal Game

S - A Streetcar Named Desire, The Shad..."</i>
<i>Lynn wrote: "I agree with Kathleen. Nice progress so far Vitaliy.

Recommendations: of course you may have read some of these

C [book:Candide by Voltaire
A Christmas Carol ..."

Thank you so much) But i need to get to know with these books better, becaus about some books i hear first time, lol) I`m more interested in literature of XX or XXI centuries (mayby XIX, but rarely) though.

[Jane]

I would suggest:

S - Shalimar the Clown by bSalman Rushdie

S - Sons and Lovers by D H Lawrence

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Thanks for the source for some needed letters. I will be using a few.

[Vitaliy]

Jane wrote: "I would suggest:

S - Shalimar the Clown by bSalman Rushdie

S - Sons and Lovers by D H Lawrence"

Its two books that i planed to read a lot of time. But can not find these(
Thanks for your advice)

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Congratulations on finishing your Challenge to read New Authors. You have 16 listed!! After six you have officially finished, so nice job.

[Vitaliy]

Another progress! One more new author is Hubert Selby Jr. with his Requiem for a Dream! An amazing book, as a film adaptation, of course!
And the closed gestalt is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. The book I've been wanting to read for years!

[Wobbley]

I have East of Eden for my "hopefully" list this year too. I'm glad you seem to have liked it!

[Vitaliy]

So, Dennis Lehane with his Mystic River turned out to be approximately at the level that i expected. After a heavy and difficult to read beginning, somewhere in the middle the novel captured me. But i still want to get to this aythor`s Shutter Island. The film adaptation is one of my favorite movies, so the expectation from the novel is even greater.

But Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was very surprised in a pleasant way. Did not expect much from the novel and read as an experiment. But devoured the entire book in one breath and was satisfied.