Erich's 2024 Challenge Buffet

[Erich C]

I plan to take on a few challenges in 2024!

Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR
Challenge #3 - Decade/Century/Millennium
Challenge #5 - Short Story
Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon with New Authors
Challenge #12 - Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete

[Erich C]

Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR

Old School
1. The Crime of Father Amaro - 4.5 stars
2. Quo Vadis - 4 stars
3. Lucky Per - 5 stars!

New School
1. Martin Eden - 4 stars
2. Yama: The Pit - 4 stars
3. Growth of the Soil

Dust Collectors
1. The Master of Hestviken - 4.5 stars
2. Wolf Solent - 3.5 stars
3. Journey to the End of the Night
4. Independent People
5. The Citadel
6. Journey by Moonlight

Alternates
1. The Tartar Steppe
2. Every Man Dies Alone
3. A Town Like Alice

[Erich C]

Challenge #3 - Decade/Century/Millennium

1960s Challenge
1960: The Violent Bear It Away -4 stars
1961: The Moviegoer -3.5 stars
1962: The Golden Notebook
1963: The Graduate
1964: Sometimes a Great Notion
1965: Sofia Petrovna
1966: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
1967: The Outsiders - 3.5 stars
1968: True Grit - 5 stars!
1969: Conversation in the Cathedral

[Erich C]

Challenge #5 - Short Story

The Stories of John Cheever
1. "Clancy in the Tower of Babel" - 3.5 stars
2. "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor" - 3 stars
3. "The Season of Divorce" - 4 stars
4. "The Chaste Clarissa" - 4 stars
5. "The Cure" - 4.5 stars
6. "The Superintendent" 3.5 stars
7. "The Children" - 3.5 stars
8. "The Sorrows of Gin" - 4 stars
9. "O Youth and Beauty!" - 4 stars
10. "The Day the Pig Fell into the Well" - 4 stars
11. "The Five-Forty-Eight"
12. "Just One More Time"
13. "The Housebreaker of Shady Hill"
14. "The Bus to St. James's"
15. "The Worm in the Apple"
16. "The Trouble of Marcie Flint"
17. "The Bella Lingua"
18. "The Wrysons"
19. "The Country Husband"
20. "The Duchess"
21. "The Scarlet Moving Van"
22. "Just Tell Me Who It Was"
23. "Brimmer"
24. "The Golden Age"

[Erich C]

Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon with New Authors

1. J.L. Carr - A Month in the Country - 4 stars
2. Shizuko Gō - Requiem - 3 stars
3. Flann O'Brien - The Poor Mouth
4. Maurice Blanchot - Thomas the Obscure
5. Yōko Ogawa - The Housekeeper and the Professor
6. Rikki Ducornet - The Jade Cabinet
7. Anthony Powell - A Question of Upbringing - 3 stars
8. Eça de Queirós - The Crime of Father Amaro - 5 stars
9. Jean Giono - The Man Who Planted Trees - 4 stars
10. Kressmann Taylor - Address Unknown - 4 stars
11. Charles Bukowski - Ham on Rye - 4 stars
12. Nella Larsen - Passing - 4 stars
13. Henryk Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis - 4 stars
14. Max Blecher - Adventures in Immediate Irreality - 4 stars
15. Henrik Pontoppidan - Lucky Per - 5 stars
16. Ivan Bahrianyi - The Hunters and the Hunted - 3.5 stars

[Erich C]

Challenge #12 - Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete

A Dance to the Music of Time
1. A Question of Upbringing - 3 stars
2. A Buyer's Market - 3 stars
3. The Acceptance World 3.5 stars
4. At Lady Molly's - DNF, there are too many other books I'd rather read
5. Casanova's Chinese Restaurant
6. The Kindly Ones
7. The Valley of Bones
8. The Soldier's Art
9. The Military Philosophers
10. Books Do Furnish a Room
11. Temporary Kings
12. Hearing Secret Harmonies

[Gerard]

Good luck on your challenges, Erich! You have some great choices here alongside other works I haven't heard of that caught my attention for the future. I'm particularly fond of The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O'Connor; I look forward to seeing what you think about it!

[Wobbley]

Wow, the entire Dance to the Music of Time series in one year is pretty ambitious. Good luck!

[Terris]

I like so many of your choices, Erich! I especially liked The Housekeeper and the Professor! Hope you enjoy it, too.
Have fun with your 2024 Buffet Challenge :)

[Connie]

Have fun with your reading in 2024, Erich! A Month in the Country is a beautifully written book.

When I read Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time" series, I found the "Pictures in Powell" website enhanced the reading.
https://picturesinpowell.com/i-a-ques...

[Sara, New School Classics]

Glad you are taking on the challenges, Erich. Like you, I will read Quo Vadis this year. I keep moving it from year to year--got to mark it read. Have a great 2024!

[Erich C]

Thanks everybody for your encouragement and favorites!

[Sam]

I was weighing chiming in earlier and was reluctant since I don't participate in challenges, but you have some selected some books that I had great reads with recently.
The Golden Notebook was one of my favorites of the year a few years back, and some of us had a marvelous buddy read of Sometimes a Great Notion recently. John Cheever's short stories grow on me more every year and I hope you failed to include "Torch Song," because you previously had read it. Good luck with your challenge and I hope to see some of your other selections as group reads in the coming year.

[Erich C]

Sam wrote: "I was weighing chiming in earlier and was reluctant since I don't participate in challenges, but you have some selected some books that I had great reads with recently.
The Golden Notebook was one..."

Thanks, Sam! I'm reading all of the Cheever stories, including "Torch Song." I based my list on where I thought I would be in the stories at the beginning of the year. I've been reading one a day; Cheever is great!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

You can never go wrong with Nevil Shute and Jack London. I'm also going to read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress this year. I've been neglecting my Si-Fi. Good luck.

[Erich C]

Bob wrote: "You can never go wrong with Nevil Shute and Jack London. I'm also going to read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress this year. I've been neglecting my Si-Fi. Good luck."

Thanks, Bob! I'll look forward to your review.

[Sue]

Great challenges, Erich. I just read The Stories of John Cheever and loved the stories overall. I also loved True Grit and A Town Like Alice. I hope you like all those too. I need to fit Sofia Petrovna in one of my spots because I purchased a used copy of it but it didn't come in time for the group read and I forgot about it until just now. Thanks for reminding me!

[Rora]

Good luck with your challenge Erich C. I also used the 60s for the decade challenge and your books look interesting.

[Erich C]

Early March Update

The year is off to a good start as for keeping to my goals. Highlights so far have been The Crime of Father Amaro and True Grit. I have also enjoyed Quo Vadis and Martin Eden.

John Cheever's stories have been consistently good, with the real standout being "The Cure." I'm keeping on with A Dance to the Music of Time: 1st Movement but haven't loved it so far.

[Darren]

Erich C wrote: "Early March Update

The year is off to a good start as for keeping to my goals. Highlights so far have been The Crime of Father Amaro and True Grit. I have also enjoyed..."

Snap! both on my favorites shelf
looking at the other books on your lists, the best one to round out the hat-trick would be The Tartar Steppe - so I await your verdict on that one... ;o)

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I have read a good bit by Jack London, including two short stories this year. I have yet to read Martin Eden, thanks for the reminder.

I also agree, True Grit was excellent.

[Wobbley]

It sounds like your year is off to a terrific start!

[Ila]

A wonderful selection of books, Erich! Yama: The Pit is a disturbing but great read. I hope you like it. I'm curious to know what exactly you enjoyed about The Crime of Father Amaro since I have it on my lists too.

[Shaina]

You have good progress, Erich! I loved Journey by Moonlight, and I still think of it at times. I hope you enjoy it too. The Housekeeper and the Professor is another good one. Good luck with your challenges!

[Erich C]

Ila wrote: "A wonderful selection of books, Erich! Yama: The Pit is a disturbing but great read. I hope you like it. I'm curious to know what exactly you enjoyed about The Crime of Father Amaro since I have it..."

Hi Ila! Here's a link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I hope you enjoy the book!

[Erich C]

Shaina wrote: "You have good progress, Erich! I loved Journey by Moonlight, and I still think of it at times. I hope you enjoy it too. The Housekeeper and the Professor is another good one. Good luck with your ch..."

Thanks for the encouragement, Shaina!

[Erich C]

Early May Update

It has been a slow couple of months for reading. The highlight was Lucky Per, which I greatly enjoyed. I also liked A Month in the Country.

After three and a half books, I'm abandoning my goal of reading the full Dance to the Music of Time series. Even at a book a month, it was becoming a serious chore for me to stay motivated. I'm happy that other people appreciate the books, but they are not for me at this time.

[Wobbley]

It's great that you're figuring out what's for you, and stopping things that aren't working. That can be a hard-won lesson. I'd never even heard of Lucky Per. Great progress!

[Erich C]

Thanks, Wobbley! I rarely DNF, but with 2000/2900 pages to go there are just so many other books I'm more excited about.