Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I am planning on taking all the challenges head-on. I like the extra element of structuring my reading and filling out gaps in challenges leads me to books I otherwise might have completely missed out on (for better or worse)

Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR CHALLENGE NOT CONTINUED

Old School < 1900
1. The Monk by Matthew Lewis
2. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
3. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe FINISHED April 2020

New School 1900-1999
1. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
2. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
3.To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Wild Cards
1.Under Their Skin by Dinah Lee Küng
2.The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
3.Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by P K Dick
4.Alexanderplatz, Berlin by Alfred Döblin
5. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie FINISHED January 2020
6. Birth of the Alliance by Alex Albrinck

Alternates
1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. Hyperion oder Der Eremit in Griechenland by Friedrich Hölderlin

Update december 2020: This Didn't go as planned at all! Due to a combination of less time and mental space to read and no access to the library.

Challenge 2: The year you were born and 100 years earlier Challenge NOT continued

Counts as successful if 5 books from each year are read.

1983

Only listed books here that were already on my TBR anyway and avoided overlap with books in the top 10 of 1983.

1. The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek (is available at local library)
2. Shame by Salman Rushdie (is available at local library) FINISHED 15-1-20
3. Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee (is available at local library)
4. The Christmas Oratorio by Göran Tunström
5. La Brava by Elmore Leonard
6. Heartburn by Nora Ephron (is available at local library)
7. Waterland by Graham Swift (is available at local library)
8. Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić
9. Fado Alexandrino by António Lobo Antunes (available in Dutch translation at library)
10. The Witness by Juan José Saer

1883

1. A Woman's Life by Guy de Maupassant (scribd)
2. Belinda by Rhoda Broughton
3. Heart and Science by Wilkie Collins (scribd)
4. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson FINISHED 15-2-20
5. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche (scribd)
6. The Ladies' Paradise by Émile Zola (scribd)
7. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (scribd)
8. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (scribd)
9. The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia P. Hale (scribd)
10. Hester by Mrs. Oliphant (scribd)

A fellow Dutchie here reminded me that my 1983 list is very much devoid of Dutch books... So I feel obliged to swap three books (that I couldn't find a copy of anyway) out and these three in:

1. Het nichtje van Mozart by Willem G. van Maanen (won F. Borderwijkprijs in 1983)
2. De Aanslag by Harry Mulish
3. Het verdriet van België by Hugo Claus (listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die)

Update december 2020: I loved the idea of this Challenge! Yet couldn't make it through. Turns out I am not a fan of books from 1983... however I'm also not someone who always agrees with the bestseller lists nowadays so maybe that plays a role too. Also here, having no access to a nice library really impeded the process.

Challenge #3 - Your Birth Year Top 10 Best Sellers Challenge Not Continued

List the Top 10 Best Selling books from the Year you were born. This challenge is considered successful by reading 5 books from your list.

Best sellers according to Publisher's Weekly

1. Return of the Jedi No, not freely available
2. Poland FINISHED man that was a long one...
3. Pet Sematary, no (I hate horror books)
4. The Little Drummer Girl yes, available at library
5. Christine, no (I hate horror books)
6. Changes, no
7. The Name of the Rose, yes, will be a reread I own a copy
8. White Gold Wielder, no, not freely available
9. Hollywood Wives yes, available via Scribd
10. The Lonesome Gods, no, not freely available

hmm let's add some New York Time Bestsellers to counteract all the Stephen King books and Danielle Steel that I'm never gonna read

Alternate: Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession yes! available via Scribd

Challenge 4: Reading accross genres COMPLETED :-)

I'm gonna let these categories fill up naturally whilst reading, and intervene if things didn't fill out by October

1 18th century or older
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe read april 2020

2 19th century
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne read may 2020

3 20th century

Animal Farm by George Orwell FINISHED 31-1-2020

4 Current or past group read

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho read april 2020

5 author not read before

P.D. James
entered seperate challange to reading one of her books each month. January finished Cover Her Face

6 Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours.

Shame, by Salman Rushdie finished 15-1-2020)

7 Science Fiction,
Ascent of the Aliomenti by Alex Albrinck finished march 2020

8 Romance,
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton sep 2020
9 Historical fiction,

De erfenis van Mozart bij Femke Roobol finished 8-2-2020)
10 Nonfiction,
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb read april 2020

11 Mystery/Crime,

So many! (I'm a Detective fan) let me list The Hollow by Agatha Christie here finished 11-2-2020)

12 Horror or Humor
Naturally went with humor
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry PratchettNeil Gaiman finished 22-1-2020

Challenge 5: Century Finished :-)

Read 10 books from any 10 consecutive decades (1 book per decade). Authors can only be used once in the challenge.

1880-1889 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson finished 15-2-20
1890-1899 The Case of Lady Sannox by Arthur Conan Doyle finished
1900-1909 The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells finished
1910-1919 The 39 Steps by John Buchan finished 9-6-2020
1920-1929 Ashenden by W Somerset Maugham finished january 2020
1930-1939 And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
1940-1949 Animal Farm by George Orwell finished 31-01-2020
1950-1959 Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson
1960-1969 Cover Her Face by P.D. James finished january 2020
1970-1979 Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke finished>

Challenge 6: Short Stories FINISHED :-)

Yay! I can finally "legally" read short stories!

1. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe, january 2020 ebook scribd
2. Agatha Christie The Girl in the Train: A Short Story finished 11-2-20 ebook owned
3. The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson finished 16-2-20 ebook scribd
4. The Elevator Dancer by N.K. Jemisin (intriguing! ) read 14-3-2020 symphony space? audio
5. Amok and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig read april 20 ebook owned
6. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales read may 2020 scribd
7. Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne read June 2020 audible owned
8. The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells read june 2020 audio scribd
9. The Breast by Philip Roth read sep 2020 audio scribd
10. Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong read sep 2020 audible owned
11. The 39 Steps by John Buchan read june ebook scribd
12. I Sing the Body Electric! & Other Stories Ray Bradbury ebook scribd
13. Yellow Iris: A Short Story Agatha Christie ebook owned
14. The Case of Lady Sannox by Arthur Conan Doyle read feb 2020 ebook scribd
15 The Christmas Creature by Erin Kubo read 4-12 -2020 youtube Hank Green
16 A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert read 4-12-2020 ebook scribd
17 the Sea Cloak in The Sea Cloak and other stories by Nayrouz Qarmout read 5-12-2020 ebook owned
18 Territorium by Coen van Hasselt 6-12-2020 ebook owned
19 The Genuine Tabard in Trent Intervenes by E.C. Bentley 7-12 print owned
20 Pony, Christmas in July & The Ursula Cookie I Was Told There'd Be Cake: Essays by Sloane Crosley 8-9 december 2020 print owned
21. Reginald by Saki 10-12-2020 print owned
22. How to travel with a salmon, from How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays by Umberto Eco, Symfony Space 10-12-2020
23. Melk by Matthijs Deen and De Middeleeuwen van Vroeger en nu door Louis Paul Boon in Nederland leest de mooiste korte verhalen 11-12-2020
24. Cultural Relativity by Charles R. Johnson, symphony space 12-12-20

bonus
25 Aunt Bessie's Summer by Diana Xarissa 12-12-20


Update Dec 3r: hm must have read more but didn't log them...
Update dec 6th: I went to my bookshelves and looked for short story collections there. Put them all out on the table, will surely reach the goal before the end of the year!
I realize I make it extra hard on myself by listing usually only one short story here when I read a collection by the same author. But hey, why not make things unnecessarily complicated if you can? ;-)
Update 12-12 easily made it!

Challenge 7 Reading 12 Group Reads Challenge discontinued

1. Edgar Allan Poe The Cask of Amontillado read
2. The Body Snatcher by Stevenson read
3. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide by Robert Louis Stevenson read
4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
5. Dangerous Liasons read
6. The Country of the Blind H.G. WellsArthur C. Clarke
7. The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton
8.2001:een Ruimte-odyssee
9. A Simple Soul Gustave Flaubert
10.
11.
12.

Fell short here... Better luck next year!

Challenge 8 A-Z Author Challenge

Another one that can fill itself up naturally until intervention is needed.

A. Alex Albrinck
B. Buchan John
C. Agatha Christie
D. Arthur Conan Doyle
E. Laura Esquivel
F. Marc Fennell
G. Neil Gaiman
H. Hawksley, Lucinda
I. Kazuo Ishiguro
J. Rachel Joyce
K Mensje van Keulen
L James Lecesne
M Ross Mathews
N
O George Orwell
PEdgar Allan Poe
Q Nayrouz Qarmout
R Salman Rushdie
S W. Somerset Maugham
T Dylan Thomas
U
V Jules Verne
W Martha Wells
X Diana Xarissa
Y Banana Yoshimoto
Z Zweig, Stefan

U hm might have to give in to reading something by John Updike or Dubravka Ugrešić, but will leave this one for last

N TBR Philip en de anderen by Cees Nooteboom hardcopy owned unread

Challenge 8 A-Z Title Challenge
A Ashenden by W. Somerset Maugham
B Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science by Bill Bryson
C Cover Her Face by P.D. James
D Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
E Eric by Terry Pratchett
FFive Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
G Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
H Hickory Dickory Dock Christie Agatha
I I Sing the Body Electric! & Other Stories Ray Bradbury
J Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
K Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
L Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
M Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
N Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist by Marc Fenell
O
P Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
Q
R Ramble Book: Musings on Childhood, Friendship, Family and 80s Pop Culture by Adam Buxton
S Shame by Salman Rushdie
T Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
U Unnatural Causes by P.D. James
V
W When You Finish Saving the World
X
Y Yellow Iris: A Short Story
Z

Hm Missing are O, Q, V, X, Z

Z Zilver by Adriaan van Dis owned unread
x Xingu by Edith Wharton
V Van muizen en mensen John Steinbeck Owned, unread, how nice to be bilingual (=Of mice and men)
Q Queer by William S. Burroughs -> audio via scribd
O Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf owned unread in translation Onze Zielen bij Nacht

Looking forward to your lists as you prepare them. Sorry about so much horror on your top 10. I'm not a fan of horror either, except in small doses, short stories and other small exceptions. Have fun!!

Bob wrote: "Looking forward to your lists as you prepare them. Sorry about so much horror on your top 10. I'm not a fan of horror either, except in small doses, short stories and other small exceptions. Have f..."

Yes! I wonder what was going on in 1983... it's fun though to then go to 1883 and see what was happening. A century is a long stretch.

Slight snag in my plan for January as Stoner suddenly became unavailable via Scribd and is not popular in Dutch libraries. I read Poe's The Cask of Amontillado to fulfil my Group Read assignment for this group. Though that is a very short read... I feel I am allowed to cross off the group read assignment fully as I also finished 2 group reads with other groups and will likely finish another one over the weekend.

We really can look at the bestsellers of our birth years and wonder what the heck people were doing buying certain books. I wonder if you could replace the horror books with non-fiction best sellers. Not too many good choices, but one for your year is The Best of James Herriot: The Favorite Stories of One of the Most Beloved Writers of Our Time which I would love to pick up.

Thank you Laurie! I did look into some nonfiction but... The passing of time is probably most noticeable there haha. The best of James Herriot is a good option!

Hi Jessica!
Good luck with your challenge!
I see you have Edgar Allan Poe and Neil Gaiman on your list as well! And by the way just like you I'm very happy with the short story challenge which I'm doing as well obviously ;-) I will maybe come by once in a while to pick inspiration from your short story list ( if you wanna do the same with mine you are welcome by the way! )^^
I read The Monk last year, true gothic fiction and it was rather a nice read actually :-)
Oh and by the way a fellow Dutchie here, through I live in France and I don't read much Dutch cause finding those books here is pretty hard...

I love James Herriot. If someone doesn't read that, I might have to.

Irphen wrote: "Hi Jessica!
Good luck with your challenge!
I see you have Edgar Allan Poe and Neil Gaiman on your list as well! And by the way just like you I'm very happy with the short story challenge which I'm ..."

Thank you! I certainly will look at your list for inspiration from time to time! Next up in my short story selection is Amok and Other Stories by Zweig.

I also really like your selections for the "Old & New TBR Challenge".

Challenge number 2 is definitely my favorite. I just finished Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I never read it before and think I would have loved it if I had read it as a teenager. Now as an adult burdoned with reason and knowledge and Google maps, the adventure itself didn't really hold any appeal. I could really appreciate it for what it was though.

And then I opened The Name of the Rose, published in 1983. Published one hundred years after treasure island, yet set much ealier
It is interesting to contrast the writing over 100 years but even more to contrast the authors lives and experiences and the social context.

I think next year I'll continue a form of this challenge and pick a different year all together.

Love that idea and hope the mods are making a note and will convert the challenge that way for next year. I agree that the contrast between eras is very interesting, and also how little the important themes change. Seems mankind is always struggling with the same issues.

I am having an interesting new challenge with the libraries closed, and if I do get a book (either from my home TBR or from an iPad that by miracle was charged when in the reading mood) I find I miss my 2 hrs daily commute to get into the reading vibe.

In the beginning of this covid-period I thought I needed to read cheerful books for better frame of mind. Turns out that doesn't work for me. So I went the other way...reading dark classics (like Goethes Werther), works much better for me! Also didn't make me as gloomy as I thought it would.

The trick for me seems to be finding something that completely engages me--cheerful or gloomy, otherwise my mind seems to wander away. Not a problem I normally have. Who would have suspected that COVID19 would affect even our reading habits.

Good luck, Jessica!

Sara wrote: "The trick for me seems to be finding something that completely engages me--cheerful or gloomy, otherwise my mind seems to wander away. Not a problem I normally have. Who would have suspected that C..."

Thanks Sara! Hope you're doing okay :-)

I've updated my lists, and made great progress! But also still have far to go (luckily because I'm enjoying my reading adventures).

Challange 4 reading accross genres is almost filled. just need to find a nice romance to read. Oh well actually I'm already reading Pride and Prejudice! I think that fits the bill

Great work, Jessica. I think P&P is perfect--so an early congrats on the genre completion.

I've been lucky with my reading this year too. More five star reads this year than in the last two years combined. Glad things are going well for you.

All right! Time to check in here. It's almost like working in health care during a pandemic whilst also studying full time somehow doesn't combine well with reading...

Will go easy on myself and let challenges 1 - 3 go. Will see what I can still do to fill out the alphabet!

With focused reading I easily managed to finish the Short Story challenge!

Next up: going through my OWNED UNREAD book shelf to find books from authors with their last name starting in
I, K, N, T, U, X, Y --> I,U,X,Y are left to find
Next up : WANT TO READ shelf --> U and X are left to find

Congrats on finishing your short story challenge!