Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I cannot resist challenge planning. I can resist taking them too seriously, so I'll just laugh at myself as I arrive early at the buffet and put 10 plates in front of me ...

✔️Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR - msg 2
Challenge #2 - Does a Century Make a Difference?
(✔️)Challenge #3 - Second Place or Worse - msg 3
✔️Challenge #4 - Members Choice Classic/Genre Challenge - msg 4
✔️Challenge #5 - Decade/Century Challenge- msg 5
✔️Challenge #6 - Short Story Challenge - msg 6
✔️Challenge #7 - 2021 Group Reads Challenge - msg 7
✔️Challenge #8 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors - msg 8
Challenge #9 - A-Z Author Challenge
Challenge #10 - A-Z Title Challenge

Challenge #1 New and Old TBR

Old School
✘Agamemnon, Aeschylus (458bc) ✸✸✸✸
✘The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James (1881) ✸✸✸✸✸
The Woodlanders, Thomas Hardy (1887)

New School
✘The Cross, Sigrid Undset (1922) ✸✸✸✸✸
✘The Muses Are Heard, Truman Capote (1956) ✸✸✸✸
Paradise, Toni Morrison (1997)

Wildcard 6
✘Reflections in a Golden Eye, Carson McCullers 1941) ✸✸✸✸
✘How Does a Poem Mean?, John Ciardi (1959) ✸✸✸✸✸
✘Travels with Charley: In Search of America, John Steinbeck (1962) ✸✸✸✸
✘The Keepers of the House, Shirley Ann Grau (1964) ✸✸✸✸✸
✘Incidental Music: Stories, Françoise Sagan (1981) ✸✸✸✸
✘Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel (2012) ✸✸✸✸✸

Alternates
✘Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Blake (1789) ✸✸✸✸
✘Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin (1978) ✸✸✸✸

Challenge #3 Second Place or Worse (7)

Old School
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: The Graphic Novel - December 2020
Elizabeth and Her German Garden - January 2018

New School
✘The Passion - January 2021 ✸✸✸✸
✘Travels with Charley: In Search of America - April 2020 ✸✸✸✸
Angle of Repose - Feb 2021
✘Tales of the City - Dec 2019 Finished 6/27/21 ✸✸✸✸
✘The Keepers of the House - Mar 2019 Finished 7/17/21 ✸✸✸✸✸

Short Story
The Tree - December 2020
✘Reflections in a Golden Eye - March 2021 ✸✸✸✸
Double Indemnity - May 2018
✘A Letter from Santa Claus - Dec 2021 ✸✸✸

Quarter Long Read
Sometimes a Great Notion - 2018 4th Quarter
✘The Wings of the Dove - October 2021 ✸✸
A Letter from Santa Claus - December 2021

More Options:
The Myth of Sisyphus - August 2020 New School
Tales of the City - December 2019 New School
Passing - May 2021 New School
Romola - 2019 3rd Quarter Long Read
The English Patient - May 2019 New School
The Keepers of the House - March 2019 New School
Le Mort de Arthur - 2019 1st Quarter Long Read
The Complete Grimms Fairy Tales - 2021 2nd Quarter Long Read
The Magic Mountain - 2021 2nd Quarter Long Read
Angle of Repose - December 2017 New School
The Gambler - May 2021 Old School
Harrison Bergeron - May 2021 Short Story
Epitaph of a Small Winner - Feb 2021 Old School
Liza of Lambeth - Jul 2021 Old School
The Summer Book - Aug 2021 New School
The Lady in the Looking Glass - Aug 2021 Short Story
Bliss - Sep 2021 Short Story
The Lifted Veil - Oct 2021 Short Story
The Kit Bag - Nov 2021 Short Story
The Paris Spleen - Nov 2021 Old School
A Letter from Santa Claus - Dec 2021 Short Story

Challenge #4 Member's Choice Classic Genre

✘1. 18th Century or older, Agamemnon by Aeschylus ✸✸✸✸
✘2. 19th Century, The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James ✸✸✸✸✸
✘3. 20th Century - The Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun ✸✸✸✸
✘4. Current or Past Group Read - Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury ✸✸✸✸✸
✘5. An Author not read before - Anthony Trollope, The Warden ✸✸✸✸
✘6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours. - Women of Sand and Myrrh, Hanan Al-Shaykh ✸✸✸
✘7. Science Fiction, The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells ✸✸✸✸
✘8. Romance The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë ✸✸✸
✘9. Historical fiction The Cross, Sigrid Undset ✸✸✸✸✸
✘10. Nonfiction, The Muses Are Heard by Truman Capote ✸✸✸✸
✘11. Mystery/Crime A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle ✸✸✸
✘12. Horror or Humor Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin ✸✸✸✸

Challenge #5 Decade/Century Challenge

Women's Century
✘1920-1929 - The Cross, Sigrid Undset (1922) ✸✸✸✸✸
✘1930-1939 - The Artificial Silk Girl, Irmgard Keun (1932) ✸✸✸✸
✘1940-1949 - Reflections in a Golden Eye, Carson McCullers (1941) ✸✸✸✸
✘1950-1959 - The Grass Is Singing, Doris Lessing (1950) ✸✸✸✸✸
✘1960-1969 - The Nice and the Good, Iris Murdoch (1968) ✸✸✸✸
✘1970-1979 - The Bookshop, Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) ✸✸✸✸
✘1980-1989 - Women of Sand and Myrrh, Hanan Al-Shaykh (1982) ✸✸✸
✘1990-1999 - Jazz, Toni Morrison (1992) ✸✸✸✸✸
✘2000-2010 - The Red Queen, Margaret Drabble (2004) ✸✸✸✸
✘2011-2019 - Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward (2011) ✸✸✸✸

Challenge #6 Short Story Challenge (24)

January
Red Dirt Witch by N.K. Jemisin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Captain's Daughter by Alexander Pushkin ⭐⭐⭐⭐

February
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Ursula K. Le Guin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Blake ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (poetry)

March
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Queen of Spades, Alexander Pushkin ⭐⭐⭐
The Snowstorm, Alexander Pushkin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gooseberries: Short Story, Anton Chekhov ⭐⭐⭐⭐

April
Illuminations, Arthur Rimbaud ⭐⭐⭐ (poetry collection)
Fidelity: Poems, Grace Paley ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (poetry collection)


May

June
Battle Royal, Ralph Ellison ⭐⭐⭐⭐

July
Goblin Market, Christina Rossetti ⭐⭐⭐

August
Seven Gothic Tales, Isak Dinesen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (collection)
The Necklace, Guy de Maupassant ⭐⭐⭐
Incidental Music: Stories, Françoise Sagan ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (collection)

September
Bookshop Memories, George Orwell ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Misanthrope, Molière ⭐⭐⭐ (play)

October
A Nice Cup Of Tea, George Orwell ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (essay)
The Spindly Man, Stephen Graham Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Last Question, Isaac Asimov ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Sculptor's Funeral, Willa Cather ⭐⭐⭐ (play)
The Gold-Bug, Edgar Allan Poe ⭐⭐⭐
The Shadowy Third, Ellen Glasgow ⭐⭐⭐⭐

December
A Letter from Santa Claus, Mark Twain ⭐⭐⭐
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Authors

Challenge #7 2021 Group Reads Challenge (12)

The Captain's Daughter, Alexander Pushkin ✸✸✸✸
The Warden, Anthony Trollope ✸✸✸✸
Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Blake ✸✸✸✸
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams ✸✸✸✸✸
The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James ✸✸✸✸✸
A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle ✸✸✸
Gooseberries: Short Story, Anton Chekhov ✸✸✸✸
Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury ✸✸✸✸✸
Goblin Market, Christina Rossetti ✸✸✸
Old Goriot, Honoré de Balzac ✸✸
The Necklace, Guy de Maupassant ✸✸✸
The Misanthrope, Molière ✸✸✸
The Gold-Bug, Edgar Allan Poe ✸✸✸
The Last Question, Isaac Asimov ✸✸✸✸

Challenge #8 New to Me Classic Authors (6)

Anthony Trollope (The Warden ✸✸✸✸)
Irmgard Keun, (The Artificial Silk Girl ✸✸✸✸)
Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire ✸✸✸✸✸)
Anita Brookner (Hotel du Lac ✸✸✸)
Arthur Rimbaud (Illuminations ✸✸✸)
Penelope Fitzgerald (The Bookshop ✸✸✸✸)
Carol Shields (The Stone Diaries ✸✸✸✸✸)
Christina Rossetti (Goblin Market ✸✸✸)
Shirley Ann Grau (The Keepers of the House ✸✸✸✸✸)
Honoré de Balzac (Old Goriot ✸✸)
Isak Dinesen (Seven Gothic Tales ✸✸✸✸✸)
Guy de Maupassant (The Necklace ✸✸✸)
Hanan Al-Shaykh (Women of Sand and Myrrh ✸✸✸)
Molière(The Misanthrope ✸✸✸)
Vicki Baum(Grand Hotel ✸✸✸✸✸)

Glad to see your Women's Century, Kathleen. Planning's always such fun, isn't it?

Thanks Aubrey--yes, this planning makes me feel like a kid, stacking up my toys, so I can admire them and look forward to playing with them. :-)

So many of your books are unknown to me. As we move through the year your reviews are always something to look forward to.

I love your women’s century, Kathleen. I really enjoyed Quartet in Autumn.

That's so nice, Bob. Thank you! I bet there'll be some here you would love.

Pamela, last year I made a pledge to read at least one Barbara Pym a year, and I'm very happy to know you enjoyed this one!

I'm another who loves following your reads. You have introduced me to so many great books. You have a lot of my favorites in your reading this time...so, I can guarantee you have a great year ahead.

Sara, you are someone who has managed both quality and quantity in your reading, and are always a source of excellent recommendations! I'm very happy to be getting around to more of them, and looking forward to it!

I've been taking a hard look at my Old and New Challenge, just to be sure, and decided to make two changes. The Cherry Orchard had some pretty iffy reviews, and though I'm sure to read it sometime, I replaced it in my Wildcards with one I'm definitely going to read, Bring Up the Bodies.

And I'm not faring too well with Shakespeare at the moment (The Winter's Tale), so rather than have A Midsummer Night's Dream as alternate, I'm putting down Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake.

There. Finishing touches done, I think. Now I just have to fight the urge to eat the cake before the party. :-)

lol. This is the one challenge I like to get exactly right, because you are tied into it once the calendar rolls over. You have some great choices.

Songs of innocence is a treat Kathleen. All the best!

Thank you Sara and Ila! I am really looking forward to William Blake.

I love your lists so far Kathleen. Your women's century is wonderfully geographically diverse. You always have some books that I've never heard of and need to as to my tbr like Incidental Music: Stories and Women of Sand and Myrrh

Thank you, Sue! Incidental Music: Stories is one of those books I've had sitting around for ages and decided it was time. I used to love to get Françoise Sagan books from the library for pure pleasure reading--stories of wild party-loving types, but with this underlying sadness to them that for some reason I was drawn to. I'm looking forward to these stories!

I love Songs of Innocence. I hope you all do too.

Cynda wrote: "I love Songs of Innocence. I hope you all do too."

I have a feeling I'll be agreeing with you on that one, Cynda.

Another great list of books from you...enjoy your 10 plates!!

A Capote book I never heard of. I’ll have to squeeze it in at some point. And you’re read Keepers of the House. I loved that. As usual, I get so many ideas from your threads.

Thank you Susie and Brina! Yes, it's a lot of plates, but we can space them out over the year, so that helps (as much as I want to start all of them on January 1!).

I love the name of your challenge. There are so many great books in it I had never heard of and have them now put on my tbr list. Travels with Charley is the only one I actually have read and loved that one.

Thank you, Carolin--I'm glad you found something here! And happy you enjoyed Travels with Charley. I'm looking forward to that one!

I wanted to get a short story posted (msg 6) before too much of the new year went by! Red Dirt Witch is from N.K. Jemisin's collection How Long 'til Black Future Month?, which I'm now determined to read.

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have so many buffet challenges that I've avoided updating this, but I think I've caught up! My Women's Century needs some attention. I wanted to read The Cross in winter ... even though the groundhog saw his shadow, I'm still running out of time. I've been distracted by wonderful group reads, but that is good for another of these challenges!

Here's some reviews:
Songs of Innocence and of Experience - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Warden - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Captain's Daughter - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

To get my Women's Century challenge going (msg 5), I'll use The Nice and the Good by the brilliant Iris Murdoch, published in 1968. A great 60's book, but one that would fit in any time period. A wonderful read!
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My Quest for Women challenges have been going rather slowly as well, Kathleen, but that's what I get for taking on a 2100+ page work in the early game. Plenty of 2021 to go yet for us both at least! (although I'll admit that I'm looking forward to my reading intake diversifying a tad)

Aubrey wrote: "My Quest for Women challenges have been going rather slowly as well, Kathleen, but that's what I get for taking on a 2100+ page work in the early game. Plenty of 2021 to go yet for us both at least..."

Funny how things never go the way we expect, even our reading! Your tackling so many long works amazes me, Aubrey. That takes stamina and dedication, but it can certainly pay off. But yes, plenty of time still, and we will get to our women!

Kathleen wrote: "To get my Women's Century challenge going (msg 5), I'll use The Nice and the Good by the brilliant Iris Murdoch, published in 1968. A great 60's book, but one that would ..."

This sounds wonderful. I really enjoy reading Iris Murdoch so I adding this one to my TBR list as well.

Kathleen wrote: "Funny how things never go the way we expect, even our reading! Your tackling so many long works amazes me, Aubrey. That takes stamina and dedication, but it can certainly pay off. But yes, plenty of time still, and we will get to our women!"

I was blessed to get a good group to get me through Proust several years ago, and I've been addicted to dedicating each year to at least one comparatively sized work since. It's all about taking the necessary breaks and confining myself to a limited number of works per year (in this case, for the 2000+ page ones, one per year is a hard maximum). Still, this year, the work is actually one that I have down for Quest for Women and a couple of other challenges, so it's two birds with one stone! Just some very long lived birds...

Liesl wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "To get my Women's Century challenge going (msg 5), I'll use The Nice and the Good by the brilliant Iris Murdoch, published in 1968. A great 60's book, bu..."

I hope you enjoy it, Liesl. Do you have a favorite of hers?

Aubrey wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "Funny how things never go the way we expect, even our reading! Your tackling so many long works amazes me, Aubrey. That takes stamina and dedication, but it can certainly pay off. ..."

I love that idea, Aubrey. I've got to consider a plan something like that. And if the birds live longer, that's a good thing!

Kathleen wrote: "Liesl wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "To get my Women's Century challenge going (msg 5), I'll use The Nice and the Good by the brilliant Iris Murdoch, published in 1968. A great..."

So far, I think it would be between The Unicorn and A Word Child.

Liesl wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "Liesl wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "To get my Women's Century challenge going (msg 5), I'll use The Nice and the Good by the brilliant Iris Murdoch, published..."

Very intriguing. Had to add them both--thanks!

I read the unique novella The Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun, and am using it for both my Genre Challenge (20th century) and my Women's Century challenge (1930's). Keun is also my second New to Me Classic Author for that challenge.


If you like Sally Bowles or Holly Golightly, you might enjoy this one that's equal parts fun and sad. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kathleen wrote: "I read the unique novella The Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun, and am using it for both my Genre Challenge (20th century) and my Women's Century challenge (1930's..."

You had me at Holly Golightly! Off to read your review. Congratulations on another one down Kathleen.

Kathleen wrote: "I read the unique novella The Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun, and am using it for both my Genre Challenge (20th century) and my Women's Century challenge (1930's..."

You had me at Sally Bowles! I have After Midnight by Irmgard Keun on my tbr. I'm adding this one also.

That is so funny, Sue and Marilyn! I loved Keun's writing, so I am going to add After Midnight right now. :-)

"Willkommen" from "Cabaret" is now stuck in my head.

Marilyn wrote: ""Willkommen" from "Cabaret" is now stuck in my head."

Ah! Thank you for sharing, Marilyn. Now I can have it my head too. :-)

"... In here, life is beautiful ..."

I was able to slot A Streetcar Named Desire in a bunch of places here. :-) And added Tennessee Williams to New-to-me Authors, along with Anita Brookner, since I read her Hotel du Lac.

Streetcar Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Hotel du Lac Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Great review Kathleen. I loved Streetcar too and is a fine insight into Williams' works.

Thank you, Ila. I'm excited for my next read of his. I'm thinking of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Cat was the first I read by Williams. it was excellent

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James is now a favorite, and I'm anxious to read every single one of his books. It seems he creates a very distinct line for readers, but I'm on the love him side.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So with that, I've made a bit more progress with my Old and New and added 19th century to the genre challenge, as well as adding another group read. I had two five star group reads this month! What a great group. :-)