Laurie's 2024 Challenge Buffet

[Wobbley]

Well done! I hope you enjoyed the books too!

[Laurie]

Thanks, Terris, Sara, and Wobbley.

[Laurie]

Terris wrote: "Congrats, Laurie! It feels good to finish up a challenge, doesn't it?! Keep reading & you'll have those other two completed before you know it! :)"

Thanks, Terris.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Congrats. If I counted right, you have finished 7 challenges, that's great!!

[Laurie]

Bob wrote: "Congrats. If I counted right, you have finished 7 challenges, that's great!!"

Thank you, but no I have only finished two. I marked though the challenges in the first post that I chose not to try which now look like ones I've completed. It did look very misleading with those mark-throughs, so I have changed it to be clearer.

[Teri-K]

Laurie - I have Our Mutual Friend and a reread of Grapes of Wrath coming up this year, too. I also loved Grapes of Wrath in HS, I have no idea how the reread will feel.

Good job finishing several challenges!

[Dave]

Congratulations on your progress Laurie. I like how you put your star rating on each book you finish.

[Laurie]

Thanks, Teri and Dave.

[Dave]

Teri-K wrote: "Laurie - I have Our Mutual Friend and a reread of Grapes of Wrath coming up this year, too. I also loved Grapes of Wrath in HS, I have no idea how the reread will feel.

Good job finishing several..."

Laurie, Our Mutual Friend is one of my favorite Dickens. I have read it three times.

Concerning rereading books from HS (or anytime in school or in youth, I have found I didn’t have a clue what I was reading. I have come to realize that the more I experience life, the more I appreciate a wider and wider breadth of books.

Enjoy!

[Wobbley]

Another vote for Our Mutual Friend. It's my favourite Dickens so far.

[Laurie]

Dave wrote: "Teri-K wrote: "Laurie - I have Our Mutual Friend and a reread of Grapes of Wrath coming up this year, too. I also loved Grapes of Wrath in HS, I have no idea how the reread will feel.

Good job fi..."

Dave, I was also an unsophisticated reader when I was young and I see books differently now, but I hope I am as impressed by The Grapes of Wrath as I was back then.

[Laurie]

Wobbley wrote: "Another vote for Our Mutual Friend. It's my favourite Dickens so far."

Wobbley, I enjoyed Our Mutual Friend, but it did not become my favorite. There are so many Dickens books I love that breaking into the top of my list would be hard.

[Dave]

Laurie wrote: "Wobbley wrote: "Another vote for Our Mutual Friend. It's my favourite Dickens so far."

Wobbley, I enjoyed Our Mutual Friend, but it did not become my favorite. There are so many Dickens books I lo..."

Laurie wrote: "Wobbley wrote: "Another vote for Our Mutual Friend. It's my favourite Dickens so far."

I enjoyed Our Mutual Friend, but it did not become my favorite. There are so many Dickens books I lo..."

Laurie wrote: "Dave wrote: "Teri-K wrote: "Laurie - I have Our Mutual Friend and a reread of Grapes of Wrath coming up this year, too. I also loved Grapes of Wrath in HS, I have no idea how the reread will feel. ..."

My favorites has always been Bleak House, followed by David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend, and Great Expectations

[Laurie]

Dave wrote: My favorites has always been Bleak House, followed by David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend, and Great Expectations

Good choices, Dave. I currently rate Dombey and Son and Bleak House as my top two. I still have four left to read, and I haven't read David Copperfield or A Tale of Two Cities in 40 years so I don't know where to rank them. I really need to reread them, especially ATofTC since it was my favorite novel of all in high school.

[Dave]

Domby and Sons is one of the few of Dickens novels I have not read. Based on your recommendation, I will take it up the the next time Dickens creeps into my soul (usually early Winter).

[Dave]

The plan changes..I went and listened to the various samples of Domby and Son on Audible and selected an excellent performance that had the benefit of being free. So I changed out The Blithedale Romance with Dombey and Son in my second half challenge.

[Terris]

Dave wrote: "The plan changes..I went and listened to the various samples of Domby and Son on Audible and selected an excellent performance that had the benefit of being free. So I changed out The Blithedale Ro..."

Good choice, Dave (IMO)! I have not read Dombey and Son but I love Dickens. And I will have to say that I did not care for The Blithedale Romance, so I think you will be very happy with your new choice :)

[Dave]

I have to say I’m going to have to start engaging more in these challenge threads. I am finding a ton of new authors and works to put on my Audible list. This is going to make filling in future

Laurie, was the Anne Tyler book you chose the first of her books that you have read? I am going to be reading Jamaica Inn in the second half of the year but your choice (which I never heard of) has made me realize there are a lot of her books I want to read, Anne Tyler too!

[Wobbley]

Dave wrote: "I have to say I’m going to have to start engaging more in these challenge threads. I am finding a ton of new authors and works to put on my Audible list."

Yes, there are a lot of great recommendations in other people's challenges!

[Laurie]

Dave wrote: "The plan changes..I went and listened to the various samples of Domby and Son on Audible and selected an excellent performance that had the benefit of being free. So I changed out The Blithedale Romance with Dombey and Son in my second half challenge

That's great. I hope you love it.

I'm not sure where an Anne Tyler book shows up on one of my challenges. I don't own any of her books, and I only made my plans with books I own. I have read one book by her but it was many years ago and I don't remember it.

[Laurie]

I finally finished two more challenges. I completed the Old and New and the Series Books challenges. I read The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel to complete both challenges. It was a 5 star read for me. I have immersed myself in the world of Thomas Cromwell all year by rereading Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in order to have the events from those books fresh in my mind. It is an amazing story and Hilary Mantel deserved all the accolades she got for it.

[Wobbley]

Yay, it's great to finish challenges with books you love so much!

[Teri-K]

You've read a lot of new authors this year. Do you have some favorites so far? I'm always on the lookout for new writers to try.

[Kathleen]

Laurie wrote: "I finally finished two more challenges. I completed the Old and New and the Series Books challenges. I read The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel to complete both c..."

I have the same goal, but am running behind. I re-read Wolf Hall, and a re-read of Bring up the Bodies is next and then I'll get to the last one. Great to hear your thoughts, and I'm sure I'll agree!

[Laurie]

Teri-K wrote: "You've read a lot of new authors this year. Do you have some favorites so far? I'm always on the lookout for new writers to try."

Teri, I have two books that I gave 5 stars which stood out above the rest. One was Silence by Shūsaku Endō. Here is my review.

The other is a non-fiction book which is A Country Year: Living the Questions by Sue Hubbell. I was surprised to love it as much as I did but you never know what you'll love. Here is that review.

[Laurie]

Wobbley wrote: "Yay, it's great to finish challenges with books you love so much!"

It is great, thanks, Wobbley.

[Laurie]

Kathleen wrote: "I have the same goal, but am running behind. I re-read Wolf Hall, and a re-read of Bring up the Bodies is next and then I'll get to the last one. Great to hear your thoughts, and I'm sure I'll agree!

I think you will love it. The book is long, but you have the time to see how things slowly fell apart for Cromwell.

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

Laurie wrote: "I finally finished two more challenges. I completed the Old and New and the Series Books challenges. I read The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel to complete both c..."

Congratulations! I think the Old and New is difficult. Great job finishing it!

[Laurie]

Lynn wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I finally finished two more challenges. I completed the Old and New and the Series Books challenges. I read The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel to ..."

Thanks, Lynn. It is a hard challenge for me definitely. Something about choosing books that I can't change makes it intimidating to put together.

[Terris]

Laurie wrote: "I finally finished two more challenges. I completed the Old and New and the Series Books challenges. I read The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel to complete both c..."

I'm so jealous! I still have 5 books to read for my Old/New Challenge. As everyone says, that's one of the hardest challenges to complete (I've only finished once in the last 6 years!). But I have high hopes of finishing this year, BUT I'd better get those 5 books read ;)

Congrats on finishing two more challenges! :)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Congratulations, Laurie. Bravo on the Old/New.

[Laurie]

Sara wrote: "Congratulations, Laurie. Bravo on the Old/New."

Thanks, Sara.

Terris, I looked at your challenge and I see you've already read the three alternates and can read two more books to technically finish, so you must be a true completist. I feel confident that you will finish, but even if you don't you have read some great books.

[Terris]

Laurie wrote: "Sara wrote: "Congratulations, Laurie. Bravo on the Old/New."

Thanks, Sara.

Terris, I looked at your challenge and I see you've already read the three alternates and can read two more books to tec..."

I never thought of it that way! Woohoo! I feel better already ;)
Thanks, Laurie!

[Laurie]

I did it! I completed all of the challenges I attempted. I didn't think I would complete them all, but I finished the A-Z today to close out my challenges.

[Wobbley]

Laurie wrote: "I did it! I completed all of the challenges I attempted. I didn't think I would complete them all, but I finished the A-Z today to close out my challenges."

Woo-hoo! Bravo Laurie! And with still a month to go in the year. What were the top highlights from your challenges this year?

[Kathleen]

What a great bunch of books, Laurie. Congratulations!

[Shaina]

Congratulations!!! Well done, Laurie!

[Laurie]

Wobbley wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I did it! I completed all of the challenges I attempted. I didn't think I would complete them all, but I finished the A-Z today to close out my challenges."

Woo-hoo! Bravo Laurie! A..."

Thanks, Wobbley. I have two highlights from the Old and New challenge. I read The Mirror & the Light after I reread the first two books in the Wolf Hall trilogy. It was great to read all three books this year and I really enjoyed the third book. I was not disappointed in it as some people were. I also loved reading Framley Parsonage which is the fourth book in Trollope's Barsetshire Chronicles. I have enjoyed every book in the series and I'm currently reading the final book. And finally for the Reread challenge, I read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility and I loved those stories even more this time around.

[Laurie]

Shaina wrote: "Congratulations!!! Well done, Laurie!"

Kathleen wrote: "What a great bunch of books, Laurie. Congratulations!"

Thanks, Shaina and Kathleen.

[Wobbley]

Laurie wrote: "Thanks, Wobbley. I have two highlights from the Old and New challenge."

It's great that you found so many that you loved! Yes, re-reading Jane Austen is always a treat. :)