⭐️ COMPLETE ⭐️ Wobbley's 2024 Buffet Sampler

[Wobbley]

Thanks Sara! I hope this one really works for you too!

[Wobbley]

I've got 3 more books for my Buffet, which finish off 2 more challenges for me. None of these are actually classics(!), but the super-flexible Buffet Challenge has room for them just the same.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: This one finished off Challenge #14 - Rereading. Since it's a reread of a favourite, it's no surprise I gave it 5 stars. A coming of age story in which a young girl discovers there's a lot more to the world than she thought. This is a nearly perfect book, with beautiful prose, perfectly drawn relationships, a touch of fantasy, and just the right pay-offs.

These next two were read while I was traveling, and apparently I only read modern fluffy books when on airplanes. They were both selected for having an epistolary component (a bit of a weakness of mine). I'm using them to complete Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon with New Authors.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares ⭐️½: Two teenagers exchange dares in a book, and eventually get to know each other in person. Yeah, this one really didn't do it for me. Kind of dull, kind of juvenile, one of the main characters isn't likeable, and the happy ending doesn't feel like it comes out of what came before it.

Red, White & Royal Blue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½: Alright, I'm confessing the slightly embarrassing thing: I actually really liked this book. A totally generic plot outline in which the son of the American president starts a romance with a prince of England. It's not my normal kind of book (I don't usually do modern romance -- too cheesy most of the time), and there were definitely things I didn't like about the book (too much American politics, and rather racier than I'm accustomed to). But none of those things seem to be influencing my star rating, which tells me that the things I liked, I liked a lot. And what I liked was a really engaging relationship between two very likeable characters, and a book that managed to be romantic without being cheesy. And, the epistolary component really worked too.

Alright, next time I'll try to have actual classics in my update, so I won't be summarily booted out of this group, haha.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Nothing wrong with reading non-classics, Wobbley. Just don't make a habit of it. LOL.

Getting close!

[Kathleen]

Congrats on finishing the two challenges, Wobbley! I love what you say about Red, White & Royal Blue. We like what we like, even if it's not something we usually like. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Wobbley]

Sara wrote: "Nothing wrong with reading non-classics, Wobbley. Just don't make a habit of it. LOL."

Haha, thanks Sara. Yes, of course non-classics are fine, but it does feel a bit weird having an entire update of just modern books for a classics club. :)

[Wobbley]

Kathleen wrote: "Congrats on finishing the two challenges, Wobbley! I love what you say about Red, White & Royal Blue. We like what we like, even if it's not something we usually like. Glad you enjoyed it."

Thank you Kathleen, it does feel rewarding to be checking off some of my challenges. Yes, this book was a surprise to me for sure, and I am a bit embarrassed with myself about it. But whatever -- every book you enjoy is a big win!

[Wobbley]

I've finished a few more for my Buffet:

Cousin Phillis ⭐️⭐️⭐️: This one had a handicap right from the start: I'd read that it's the thing she wrote that is most similar to her Wives and Daughters. That's a lot to live up to. I didn't find the two at all similar (I suppose they just meant that they are both domestic dramas), but I did find I slowly became attached to the characters in this one. Then, it ended very abruptly. It turns out she'd intended to write 2 additional parts, which were never written. I think it would have benefited from that, but overall it was fairly enjoyable.

Antaeus ⭐️⭐️⭐️½: This one was quite effective for such a short story. I read that it is considered a classic of the struggle between urban and rural ways of life. That is there, but to me it seemed to be more about the experience of childhood helplessness in the face of an adult world (or more generally, the inevitable outcome when people without power run up against the people who have the power). Thanks to Terris for pointing me to this story.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ⭐️⭐️⭐️½: Thanks to Connie for giving me the push to give this one a try. While I'm not so sure how much I liked the story in this one (what was the point of making his crew-mates suffer so much for his error?), the language in this classic long poem is pretty sensational. For example, re the moon:

Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread;
But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
The charmed water burnt alway
A still and awful red


All pretty solid ones this time.

[Terris]

Wobbley wrote: "I've finished few more for my Buffet:

Cousin Phillis ⭐️⭐️⭐️: This one had a handicap right from the start: I'd read that it's the thing she wrote that is most similar to her Wives a..."

You read some good ones, Wobbley! Glad you enjoyed "Antaeus" :)

[Sara, Old School Classics]

The Gaskell is one I have not yet read, Wobbley. I am going to push it to the bottom.

Glad Connie inspired you to read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Terris also inspired me to read Antaeus. Both excellent reads.

[Wobbley]

Terris wrote: "You read some good ones, Wobbley! Glad you enjoyed "Antaeus" :)"

Thanks Terris! Yes, that was a good one, and a totally new author for me.

[Terris]

Wobbley wrote: "Terris wrote: "You read some good ones, Wobbley! Glad you enjoyed "Antaeus" :)"

Thanks Terris! Yes, that was a good one, and a totally new author for me."

Well, you have to give credit to Sara for the author -- she was the one who told me about him! :)

[Wobbley]

Sara wrote: "The Gaskell is one I have not yet read, Wobbley. I am going to push it to the bottom.

Glad Connie inspired you to read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Terris also inspired me to read Antaeus. Both excellent reads."

Thank you Sara. Yes, they are both the kind of work that you finish, and can really understand why we consider them classics.

[Wobbley]

Terris wrote: "Well, you have to give credit to Sara for the author -- she was the one who told me about him! :)"

Is that right? You two are a bit of a dream team, aren't you? :)

[Lynn, New School Classics]

I was reading through your list of interesting books and authors. Congratulations on finishing a second challenge... but as I look I see 6 Challenges finished! Great progress.

[Terris]

Wobbley wrote: "Terris wrote: "Well, you have to give credit to Sara for the author -- she was the one who told me about him! :)"

Is that right? You two are a bit of a dream team, aren't you? :)"

I would say we complement and challenge each other! :)

[Wobbley]

Lynn wrote: "I was reading through your list of interesting books and authors. Congratulations on finishing a second challenge... but as I look I see 6 Challenges finished! Great progress."

Thank you so much, Lynn! I feel like I've still got a long way to go (especially with Bingo), but you're right, I've made a lot of progress too. :)

[Wobbley]

Terris wrote: "Wobbley wrote: "Terris wrote: "Well, you have to give credit to Sara for the author -- she was the one who told me about him! :)"

Is that right? You two are a bit of a dream team, aren't you? :)"

I would say we complement and challenge each other! :)"

Well, between the two of you, you find a lot of great books, which is a treat for the rest of us! Actually, Sara is the reason I read A Covenant With Death last year, which I'd never heard of, and which ended up being one of my favourites of the year.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

I think the marvelous thing here is that we all introduce one another to books we would otherwise miss. Terris recommended The Fortnight in September which was great, and I know I would probably never have found it on my own.

[Terris]

Wobbley wrote: "Terris wrote: "Wobbley wrote: "Terris wrote: "Well, you have to give credit to Sara for the author -- she was the one who told me about him! :)"

Is that right? You two are a bit of a dream team, a..."

I remember hearing about "A Covenant with Death," but now I'm definitely moving it up on my list -- it really sounds good!

And, Sara is right -- it's wonderful that we can share new authors and titles with each other.
Also, Wobbley, you are definitely going to have to read "The Fortnight in September"! It's really good :)

[Wobbley]

Terris wrote: "I remember hearing about "A Covenant with Death," but now I'm definitely moving it up on my list -- it really sounds good!

And, Sara is right -- it's wonderful that we can share new authors and titles with each other.
Also, Wobbley, you are definitely going to have to read "The Fortnight in September"! It's really good :)"

Oh yes, do read "A Covenant with Death". I actually can't understand why it isn't considered a "To Kill A Mockingbird"-level American classic. The second half is especially good.

I've been reading about "The Fortnight in September" just now, and I'm absolutely moving it up my list! Thanks to you both for the recommendations!

[Kathleen]

You are doing such a great job on this challenge, Wobbley--congrats!

[Wobbley]

Thank you so much, Kathleen! My reading isn't nearly as prolific as last year, but it's moving along.

[Wobbley]

I've got a few more for my Buffet, and they finish off 3 more challenges for me:

"Ours", from Plays by Tom Robertson ⭐️⭐️⭐️½: I had never heard of this playwright, but apparently he's known for his role in transitioning Victorian plays from the melodramatic to more natural/realistic scenarios and dialogue. The first two acts of this play were a witty country house light comedy, something like a play by A.A. Milne or Oscar Wilde. I was really enjoying it. Then the 3rd act became kind of serious and took place in a war zone. It wasn't terrible or anything, but it felt a bit like it belonged in a different play. This had been heading towards 4 or 4 ½ stars, but the third act didn't work as well for me, so I knocked it down by a star. This book finishes off Challenge #11 - Old and New Linked Categories

Title story from Exhalation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: An alien scientist discovers how their species's lives are supported, with quietly devastating consequences. This story was just brilliant. This one finishes off Challenge #5 - Short Story Challenge

Narrow Road To The Deep North ⭐️⭐️⭐️: A travelogue from 17th Century Japan. Basho was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period, and this is probably his most enduring work. The content was a bit dull for me (likely due to my total lack of familiarity with any of the places he visited), but the writing was calm and soothing. It also had a few affecting quotes about impermanence, such as: Days and months are travellers of eternity. So are the years that pass by. This one finishes off Challenge #10 - The Half a Millennium Challenge with a Sour Lemon Twist of Difficult

Only 2 more challenges to go!

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Congrats on finishing three more challenges and WOW, only two more to go!

I will be looking for the Chaing book, since I loved the one and only story of his that I have read.

[Wobbley]

Sara wrote: "Congrats on finishing three more challenges and WOW, only two more to go!

I will be looking for the Chaing book, since I loved the one and only story of his that I have read."

Thanks so much, Sara! I'm really happy to be so far along. It's so rewarding to be close enough to done that you get to make a post like this one: 3 books, each of which finishes a different challenge! Though I'm not out of the woods yet -- still some longer ones coming up.

So far, I'm about halfway through the Ted Chiang book (I'm just using this one story in my Buffet, but the book in its entirety will eventually make it onto my Bingo card, I think). I have to say, he's good at picking which story to name his books after: this is my favourite story so far in Exhalation, and I also liked best the title story in Stories of Your Life and Others. Although, he has a lot of creative ideas, and many of his stories are interesting.

[Sara, Old School Classics]

I will be watching for your review of the entire collection. I try to keep a string of short stories going.

[Wobbley]

Sara wrote: "I will be watching for your review of the entire collection. I try to keep a string of short stories going."

That's really smart!

[Wobbley]

I've finished 3 very different books, all for my Decade challenge: A psychological drama, an adventure, and a gothic mystery.

The Eternal Husband ⭐️½: A husband and his dead wife's former lover have a psychological showdown. I think it's time I accepted that Dostoevsky and I are not a good match. His characters seem very alien to me, their moment-to-moment thoughts and motivations almost baffling.

Fast in the Ice ⭐️⭐️⭐️: A crew bent on Arctic exploration are stuck in the ice for the winter, and the story details how the crew survived. This is a pretty decent old-fashioned adventure/survival story.

Count Kostia ⭐️⭐️⭐️½: A man is engaged as a secretary to a classics researcher, and gets embroiled in his family drama. This is a classic gothic, complete with a spooky isolated castle, a tyrannical father figure with a dark past, and a tortured son the hero must save. I found this fairly entertaining most of the time, though a bit over the top sometimes too (of course, gothics are supposed to be over the top, but just occasionally it was a bit much).

Getting close now...

[Sara, Old School Classics]

I understand what you are saying about Dostoevsky, for me it was Gogol. I like Russian literature, but I could barely push myself through him. Finally decided he and I just weren't ever going to connect.

Congrats on all the progress!

[Wobbley]

Thanks Sara, that does make me feel better. Dostoevsky is such a giant in classic lit, and that's probably why I keep trying with him, but I do think it's time I moved on. It's somehow reassuring to know this happens to you too.

[Wayne]

Great progress, Wobbley! Just stopping this thread for all the great updates and summaries. Cheers.

[Wobbley]

Thanks very much, Wayne! I'm happy with how my challenges have been going this year. :)

[Wobbley]

A really short one and a pretty long one to finish off my Buffet!

Paul Revere's Ride ⭐️⭐️⭐️: I'd actually never read this famous poem. It's a fine poem, with a rousing patriotic feeling at the end. And I wonder whether it might be the original source of the famous "one if by land, two if by sea" expression...

East Lynne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: An 1860s sensation novel in which a woman (gasp!) leaves her husband! There's a lot more to this one though. It follows a few families in a small town, their relationships and dramas, with some sensational elements (there's a murder, for example). I really enjoyed this one. The writing is smooth and engaging, and I became attached to a lot of the main characters. Even the woman who (gasp!) leaves her husband is painted with a lot of complexity, and not as a villain (although there are some outright villains in the story). The author had a certain brand of morality at the center, but (almost) never veered into preachiness. And for being such an old book, it had some surprisingly post-modern elements, such as passages where the narrator discusses the characters with the audience. I did have to knock back my rating a bit because of the 2nd quarter of the book, which felt a bit painful to me, like watching a car crash in slow motion. But happily it picked up again after that section. Overall, a real success and a totally new author for me!

This completes my Buffet Challenges for 2024. Huzzah!

[Connie]

Great job in finishing off your Challenge Buffet, Wobbley!

[Wobbley]

Connie wrote: "Great job in finishing off your Challenge Buffet, Wobbley!"

Thanks very much, Connie! I'm really happy to have been able to finish my Buffet this year. There were definitely points during the year when it seemed pretty impossible, haha!

[Sara, Old School Classics]

The sound you hear is me clapping! I am in awe that you have finished the buffet so early.

[Wobbley]

Sara wrote: "The sound you hear is me clapping! I am in awe that you have finished the buffet so early."

Thanks so much Sara! The trick is to not sign up for the New & Old TBR ;)

[Rora]

Congratulations Wobbley : )

[Wobbley]

Thanks Rora, I appreciate it!

[Janelle]

Well done Wobbley 🎉🎉🎉

[Wobbley]

Thanks Janelle!! :)

[Ila]

Great work, Wobbley!

[Wobbley]

Ila wrote: "Great work, Wobbley!"

Thanks very much, Ila. :)

[Carolien]

Congrats, Wobbley! Some lovely books in your challenge!

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Wobbley wrote: "A really short one and a pretty long one to finish off my Buffet!

Paul Revere's Ride ⭐️⭐️⭐️: I'd actually never read this famous poem. It's a fine poem, with a rousing patriotic feel..."

Yea! Congratulations.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Wobbley wrote: "Sara wrote: "The sound you hear is me clapping! I am in awe that you have finished the buffet so early."

Thanks so much Sara! The trick is to not sign up for the New & Old TBR ;)"

Haha I hear that! Still you finished the Half a Millenium which can be a tough one.

[Wobbley]

Thanks Carolien! You're right, I read made some great discoveries.

[Wobbley]

Lynn wrote: "Wobbley wrote: "Thanks so much Sara! The trick is to not sign up for the New & Old TBR ;)"

Haha I hear that! Still you finished the Half a Millenium which can be a tough one."

Thank you Lynn! You're right that I did complete the Half Millenium, and it was a tougher one. But I'll confess that I swapped out a long book I had planned in that challenge for a much shorter one -- just the sort of trick I wouldn't have been able to pull in the New & Old TBR ;)

[Shaina]

Congratulations, Wobbley! This is definitely an achievement in self-control..lol. I keep adding books to my buffet every month. Looks like you read some good books, and that's the most important thing. I'll remember the tip about the O&N for next year.

[Wobbley]

Shaina wrote: "Congratulations, Wobbley! This is definitely an achievement in self-control..lol. I keep adding books to my buffet every month."

Haha, thanks Shaina! In the beginning of the year, I add more books, but later in the year I find I'm more interested in finishing the challenges. But then I'm already looking forward to setting up my challenges for next year. :)