Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

✔ 1918 - His Family by Ernest Poole
✔ 1919 - The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
✔ 1921 - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
✔ 1922 - Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
✔ 1923 - One of Ours by Willa Cather
✔ 1924 - The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson
✔ 1925 - So Big by Edna Ferber
✔ 1926 - Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
✔ 1927 - Early Autumn: A Story of a Lady by Lewis Bromfield
✔ 1928 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
✔ 1929 - Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin
✔ 1930 - Laughing Boy: A Navajo Love Story by Oliver La Farge
✔ 1931 - Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes
✔ 1932 - The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
❌ 1933 - The Store by Thomas S. Stribling (Abandoned on Second Attempt)
✔ 1934 - Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller
✔ 1935 - Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 - Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis
✔ 1937 - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
1938 - The Late George Apley by John P. Marquand
✔ 1939 - The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
✔ 1940 - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
✔ 1942 - In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow
1943 - Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair
1944 - Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin
✔ 1945 - A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
✔ 1947 - All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
✔ 1948 - Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
1949 - Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens
✔ 1950 - The Way West by A.B. Guthrie, Jr.
✔ 1951 - The Town by Conrad Richter
✔ 1952 - The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
✔ 1953 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
✔ 1955 - A Fable by William Faulkner
✔ 1956 - Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
✔ 1958 - A Death in the Family by James Agee
1959 - The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 - Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
✔ 1961 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
1962 - The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor
✔ 1963 - The Reivers by William Faulkner
✔ 1965 - The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
✔ 1966 - The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter
1967 - The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
1968 - The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
1969 - House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
1970 - The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford
✔ 1972 - Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
✔ 1973 -The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
✔ 1975 - The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
❌ 1976 - Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow (abandoned at page 64 after 11 days of trying to force the read)
1978 - Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson
✔1979 - The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
1980 - The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
✔ 1981 -A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
✔ 1982 - Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
✔ 1983 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1984 - Ironweed by William Kennedy
1985 - Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
✔ 1986 - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
✔ 1987 - A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
✔ 1988 - Beloved by Toni Morrison
✔ 1989 - Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
✔ 1990 - The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
✔ 1991 - Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
✔ 1992 - A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
1993 - A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories by Robert Olen Butler
✔ 1994 - The Shipping News by E. Annie Prolux
✔ 1995 - The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
1996 - Independence Day by Richard Ford
1997 - Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser
1998 - American Pastoral by Philip Roth
✔ 1999 - The Hours by Michael Cunningham
✔ 2000 - Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
✔ 2001 -The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
✔ 2002 - Empire Falls by Richard Russo
✔ 2003 - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
✔ 2004 - The Known World by Edward P. Jones
✔ 2005 - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
✔ 2006 - March by Geraldine Brooks
✔ 2007 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy
✔ 2008 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
✔ 2009 - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
2010 - Tinkers by Paul Harding
2011 - A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
✔ 2013 - The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
✔ 2014 - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
✔ 2015 - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2016 - The Sympathizer by Nguyen

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Added after I took on the challenge, so no promises:

✔ 2017 - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
2018 - Less by Andrew Sean Greer
2019 - The Overstory Powell
✔ 2020 - The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
2021 - The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
2022 - The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
✔ 2023 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - and -
2023 - Trust by Hernan Diaz

Hi Sara --hope you have fun with this - you might edit your title to include your name so we know who this challenge belongs to.

Wow! I like your ambition, and inspiring too!

This is a great challenge. How many have you already read?

Kathy - thanks, I did the edit.
Andrea & Stephanie - I think this might be a very long project.
Laurie - I have only read 18 out of 97 - OUCH.

If 18 out of 97 is OUCH, then I am screaming in pain here. 5! I've only read 5 of these. That's pathetic, but I will add at least 2 more this year ...

I have to say, all five that I've read were SO good, so this is a great challenge idea. I'd like to put in a good word for one I really enjoyed, The Optimist's Daughter. It is just wonderful. Thanks for the inspiration!

I want to do this too, eventually. It's a big project. I've read 12 already and have 13 planned for this year. So, another seven years if I keep up that pace.

great list - I might just copy this next year :-)

Kathleen wrote: "If 18 out of 97 is OUCH, then I am screaming in pain here. 5! I've only read 5 of these. That's pathetic, but I will add at least 2 more this year ...

I have to say, all five that I've read were S..."

Me too. Only 5 read so far, and a few more planned to read soon. The list looks very interesting, thanks Sara for sharing, and good luck with your chalenge !

Kathleen wrote: "If 18 out of 97 is OUCH, then I am screaming in pain here. 5! I've only read 5 of these. That's pathetic, but I will add at least 2 more this year ...

I have to say, all five that I've read were S..."

I think a lot of us are in a similar boat. I am hanging my head slightly while admitting that I can only claim having read 6 of them.

This is a very impressive list and one that I will endeavor to use as a reading list for the future. It makes me want to look at the Man Booker Award list since I have really enjoyed many of those. I think I will get that one together and post it. (May be a little while.)

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!!!

I have read 18 as well and only one of the others is on my list for a challenge this year. So I need to work on this too because these are some great books for the most part.

Outstanding challenge idea, a multi-year project. Like others I have only read a small percentage (14). Good luck with this.

What a great challenge. I'd like to do this too at some point. I've read 18 on the list. Good luck!

What a great challenge! So much great reading to do. Good luck!

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. If Bat-Cat posts the Man Booker list I might have my reading determined for the next decade. All of the ones I have read from this list were stellar works and I will try to choose at least one from the list each month if I can. I came across Lamb in His Bosom this year as a group read and was surprised that I had never heard of it. I wondered if there weren't a lot of other Pulitzer's that needed my attention--guess I was right.

This is a wonderful list!! I'm doing a century challenge in another group where I have to read 100 books published in consecutive years & they have to be read in order. I will be borrowing from your list ... probably a lot!! I've only read 5 of these.

Good luck with your challenge!

That does sound challenging, Martha, especially having to go in order. It would really give you a sense of how literature has changed over time, though. Borrow away. I borrowed the entire list from someone else. Good luck to you!

I am planning to make a big dent in this list this coming year.
To finish off 2016, I read one more, Olive Kitteridge

Good for you!! Slowly but surely I am starting to do this.

Sara wrote: "I am planning to make a big dent in this list this coming year.
To finish off 2016, I read one more, Olive Kitteridge"

Olive Kitteridge is on my list for next year! I'll be watching for your review :)

Start with Lonesome Dove, I wish it had just kept going.

Lena wrote: "Start with Lonesome Dove, I wish it had just kept going."

It was wonderful!

Yes, I have read Lonesome Dove and it was wonderful. I enjoyed the entire series, but LD was the best of them.

Olive Kitteridge is on my 2017 womens writers list - looking forward to your review

Loved Olive Kitteridge. Here is my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Sara wrote: "Loved Olive Kitteridge. Here is my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Nice review, Sara. I'm looking forward to reading it now, and have an idea of what to expect :)

You are smart to jump around on the list. I started at the beginning and there are a couple of real duds in the early 1920s.

Marilyn wrote: "You are smart to jump around on the list. I started at the beginning and there are a couple of real duds in the early 1920s."
I thought I would start with the ones I have on my physical shelf, but I am going to tackle some of the earlier ones as well this year. I'm sorry to hear there are duds, but I guess that is to be expected.

Terris wrote: "Sara wrote: "Loved Olive Kitteridge. Here is my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Nice review, Sara. I'm looking forward to reading it now, and have an idea of what to expe..."
Thank you, Terri. Hope you like it too.

Finished One of Ours. Not Cather's best, I think, but definitely glad to have read it.

Did you make a review or commented whatsoever about The Goldfinch?

I did not know Sinclair Lewis was a Pulitzer Prize Winner! I have three of his books planned, including Arrowsmith.

With what are you going next?

Emerson wrote: "Did you make a review or commented whatsoever about The Goldfinch?

I did not know Sinclair Lewis was a Pulitzer Prize Winner! I have three of his books planned, including [book:Ar..."

Here is my review of The Goldfinch: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am trying to do the early books first where I can, so I am likely to do one of the Booth Tarkingtons.

Arrowsmith is so awesome.

So glad you can recommend it, Hayley. I have been enjoying these earlier winners, some of which I had never considered before. I hope to get to Arrowsmith before too long.

Great! I loved all my Sinclair Lewis so far, I'm happy I still have this one to look forward to!

Donna Tartt's skill is to make characters live with us long after the book is over. The Lady has style but what I admire most is how alive and a part of myself she made Richard, Francis, Camilla, Henry and all her other characters!

I have now read 24, with my completion of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. It was a 4-star read for me. Fun, but with a sadder, deeper story underneath the surface.

And you need to update your list with the 2017 winner! I do not know Colson Whiteshead book, but I'm definitely gonna read the Drama winner with sweat and the History winner with Blood in the water.

Thanks, Emerson, I do need to do that. Just like the TBR, take one off--put one on.

Now up to 25 read...long way to go. The 2017 winner The Underground Railroad was a bit of a disappointment.

I agree Sara. It was a DNF for me last year.

Sometimes I just don't seem in sync with other readers. Not bad enough to DNF for me, but certainly not something that would go on my favorites list! Glad to find that someone else saw it as I did, Brina.

The 2013 Pulitzer winner The Orphan Master's Son qualifies as great literature in my view. It was hard to read in places (especially in view of the sad events surrounding Otto Warmbier), but a mesmerizing story and an unforgettable main character.

1973's The Optimist's Daughter was a short but serious read dealing with death and its aftermath. Of course, Welty is a master, but I liked Losing Battles a bit more than this one.

I also enjoyed The Optimist's Daughter earlier this year. I am looking forward to seeing what you have on tap next.

Doing great Sara. Love the ticker tape for the Gold.

Thought it might inspire me to read more of them if I could see a visual of my progress (or lack thereof).

I believe it is a positive and happy looking reminder :)

I've only read a few of these. _Arrowsmith_ was so good. I love Sinclair Lewis. _The Good Earth_ is perfect. And _The Age of Innocence_ really drew me in emotionally.

Haven't gotten to Arrowsmith, but I read Elmer Gantry back in high school and have several of his books on the TBR. I'll be looking forward to that one, knowing you liked it. Age of Innocence is a marvelous novel, but then I don't think you can go wrong with Wharton. I really liked The Good Earth, just short of a 5-star for me.

One more for the count, Interpreter of Maladies a very respectable short story collection, but somehow nothing there that truly connected for me.

Such slow progress, but I read A Confederacy of Dunces.
I think the Pulitzer Prize committee must have been anxious to adjourn if this was the best they could do for 1981. I HATED it.