Revised Dusty Bookshelf Challenge 2025

[Paul]

I have finished reading June's selection The Bell Jar. Here are my thoughts.
I did enjoy reading The Bell Jar. It is beautifully crafted by Plath. I've read that is almost autobiographical, perhaps it is, maybe that is a conflation of two separate events.

Is Plath the Joan character or Esther or none at all? I had images of Mad Men, Breakfast at Tiffany's, very middle America with country clubs and skiing holidays and the urge to get to Europe.

Plath's world building is excellent, some nice details about New York's fashionable and unfashionable sides.

Perhaps more could have been made of the mental health aspect of the characters, I felt that in many ways this was the weakest part of the novel, yet it was the central theme.

Regardless, the story is well written and well told. It obviously carries a great deal more weight with the death of Plath just a few weeks later. It raises the question whether this book would be as mythologised and revered if Plath had continued to live. I'm not sure. But I do know it was an enjoyable read.

[Liz, Moderator]

Paul wrote: "I have finished reading June's selection The Bell Jar. Here are my thoughts.
I did enjoy reading The Bell Jar. It is beautifully crafted by Plath. I've read that is almost autobiographical, perhaps..."

Glad you enjoyed The Bell Jar, Paul. I thought it was great.

I'm about halfway through Indignation and it's very good, although not quite on the same level as The Human Stain or American Pastoral, which I think are Philip Roth's best.

[Liz, Moderator]

I've just spun the wheel to select the next number for our Dusty Bookshelf Challenge....

For July we'll be reading number 3 on our to-read list/shelf.

I've just checked my list and my no 3 is In a Free State by VS Naipal, which I put on my to-read list in November 2009!

Luckily it's short (256 pages), so I hope I can play catch up and finally read my dusty book for May, Of Human Bondage, which I didn't have time to read last month...

What's number 3 on your list/shelf?

[Bill]

Liz wrote: "I've just spun the wheel to select the next number for our Dusty Bookshelf Challenge....

For July we'll be reading number 3 on our to-read list/shelf.

I've just checked my list and my no 3 is [bo..."

[book:Gideon's Press|709542] by J.J. Marric (Gideon #19) It's been on my bookshelf since 2010.

[Lucy]

I've got The Seven Husbands od Evelyn Hugo on mine. I've been wanting to read that for ages! although I'm struggling to finish this month's book, Butter. other things have taken over!

[Paul]

Oooh lovely. Mine is The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. It has been winking at me from the shelf these last few weeks

[Liz, Moderator]

I have that one on my to-read list too, Lucy.

Paul, I hope you enjoy The Picture of Dorian Grey - I certainly did. :)

[Rachel]

I have my books in alphabetical order so number 3 is The Lost past of Billy McQueen. By Nell Alexander. I read another book from the Author called the vanishing of Margaret Small.

[Paul]

My first reading of Picture of Dorian Grey and what a joy. The prose is loaded with so much fact and fiction it is difficult to separate the two, other than the painting. Was this novel Wilde's attempt of sorting out on paper his own world that was gradually building walls around him. Or was it the beginning of his genius period, one that could never have continued with or without Reading.

[Liz, Moderator]

I agree, it is a wonderful book, Paul. I read it a long time ago, but it still lingers in my mind. I also saw the black and white film on TV with my mum many years ago and it made a big impression on me!

[Kate, Moderator]

That's one I really want to read Paul. It sounds quite compelling from your comments.

[Liz, Moderator]

I'm about two thirds of the way through In a Free State by VS Naipal. It was on my to-read list as it won the Booker Prize in 1971 - I'm gradually making my way through the winners.

For once I wish I'd known a little more about it before I started. I was just getting to know one set of characters, before being abruptly thrust into a new location and new characters. This has now happened four times and I don't think they're going to link together, they are so disparate. The writing's very good and the observations are sharp, but it's quite random.

[Liz, Moderator]

I've just spun the wheel to select the number we'll be reading in August...

It came up with #10, which for me is very funny as currently my number 10 is Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham - the one I didn't manage to read three months ago (the book's so long) - the fates really want me to read this book!

What's number 10 on your to read list?

[Kate, Moderator]

#10 on my shelf is Odysseus: The Oath: Book One (Odysseus 1) by Manfredi, Valerio Massimo (2014) Paperback which I've had for a while. I need a Greek myth book for August for another challenge so this is a good pick for me.

[Paul]

My 10 is The Information by Martin Amid

[Bill]

I read #10 on my list already... A Wycliffe mystery.

[Liz, Moderator]

Bill wrote: "I read #10 on my list already... A Wycliffe mystery."

That means your number 11 is now your number 10 ;)

[Dough]

Hello just joined this group. lovely idea! Mine is “Call me by your name” by André Aciman. Not seen the film either so excited for this one.

[Liz, Moderator]

You are very welcome. That one's on my to-read list, too. Let us know how you get on.

[Liz, Moderator]

Hallelujah! I have finally caught up with the Dusty Bookshelf Challenge and finished Of Human Bondage It was good, but very long. If you've never read Somerset Maugham but want to have a go, I'd suggest you start with The Razor's Edge. I think it's his best.

[Bill]

Liz wrote: "Hallelujah! I have finally caught up with the Dusty Bookshelf Challenge and finished 'Of Human Bondage'. It was good, but very long. If you've never read Somerset Maugham but want to have a go, I'd..."

Congratulations, Liz.

[Paul]

Well I finished Martin Amis' The Information. Very much like London Fields. Overly written and convoluted. His story is hidden by his need to be seen to be clever on the page, ending with long strings of words that leave the reader bored. If he was trying to be better than his father he had a very long way to go.

[Liz, Moderator]

Paul, I feel exactly the same way about Martin Amis! ;)

[Paul]

Liz, at the moment I cannot understand what all the hype was about around Amis. I have a few more of his to read including Rachel Papers and Zone of Interest, if they follow London Fields and this then I'm out. I need the shelf space anyway😀

[Liz, Moderator]

I have Time’s Arrow and London Fields on my to read list and I'm not in a hurry to get to them...

[Liz, Moderator]

To ready ourselves for next month I have just spun the wheel to discover which book we'll be reading next from our dusty piles!

It's Number 47!

Remember, that with a spin of 47, books no 4 or no 7 also qualify.

Scrolling down my to-read list, my #47 is The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril which I remember wanting to read because the title made me laugh. No surprises that it's a tribute to the pulp crime novels of the 40's & 50's. Fingers crossed it's as good as its title... the cover's pretty good too ;)

What has come up on your list?

[Paul]

Well would you credit that. Number 47 is A Clockwork Orange. I was going to choose that for my Cult/Chemical pick. I will have to go and have another look on my shelf now.

[Kate, Moderator]

Paul, I'm all for doubling up on challenges! ;)

[Paul]

I know I should but I just can't make myself do it😐

[Leanne]

My number 47 is The Marriage by K L Slater, which I added to my shelf in 2021. And it's also currently free on Kindle Unlimited which is a bonus! :-)

[Liz, Moderator]

Leanne wrote: "My number 47 is The Marriage by K L Slater, which I added to my shelf in 2021. And it's also currently free on Kindle Unlimited which is a bonus! :-)"

The stars are aligned ;)

[Bill]

Mine will be Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #19) It's been dusting my shelf since 2012

[writer...]

47 for me is Nicolas Sparks’
Counting Miracles

So I’ve requested the library audio and signed out the ebook to begin in the meantime ;))

[Liz, Moderator]

Bill wrote: "Mine will be Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #19) It's been dusting my shelf since 2012"

I have never read Margery Allingham, although she's on my to-read list. Let us know how you get on, Bill.

[Sheska]

This will be my first time participating in a GR challenge. Having checked my TBR list, I'll probably be picking up one of these 3 books:

47 - The Last Great Australian Adventurer: Ben Carlin's epic journey around the world by amphibious Jeep, by Gordon Bass;

4 - We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin; and/or

7 - For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway.

Was super tempted to reshuffle the list but a challenge is a challenge.

[Liz, Moderator]

Sheska wrote: "This will be my first time participating in a GR challenge. Having checked my TBR list, I'll probably be picking up one of these 3 books:

47 - The Last Great Australian Adventurer: Ben Carlin's e..."

Welcome Sheska, glad to have you with us ;)

Ooh! For Whom the Bell Tolls is good, and I also have We buried somewhere on my dusty shelves waiting to be read... Decision time.

[Sheska]

Cheers, Liz. I might have to do eeny, meeny, miny, moe to pick the first one :)

[Bill]

Liz wrote: "Bill wrote: "Mine will be Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #19) It's been dusting my shelf since 2012"

I hav..."

Will do. Have you ever watched the TV series with Peter Davidson?

[Liz, Moderator]

Bill wrote: "Liz wrote: "Bill wrote: "Mine will be Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #19) It's been dusting my shelf since ..."

No, I never did see it. The one on my to read list is The Tiger in the Smoke (Albert Campion #14). Maybe I'll get around to it when we next do crime for the genre challenge....

[Liz, Moderator]

Liz wrote: "Scrolling down my to-read list, my #47 is The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril ..."

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril is proving hard to find - it's a book that's been on my to read list forever, but I don't actually own a copy and it's not in my local library... I'll see how much the ebook costs... If not, I'll revert to either #4 (The Castle of Otranto) or #7 (William Blake by Peter Ackroyd) from my list...