Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I am heading for a short vacation in the mountains. Fall colors on the trees and the sound of music from a festival. What are your Autumn plans? Any special books in your future?

Have a blast, Lynn! I am reading the books of my choice. And it is slowly coming back together for me after a persistent reading slump.

No way I'll get through all these, but it will be interesting to see how far I get!

Audio:
One of Ours - 60% finished - Bingo
Crossing to Safety - Book Club
The Secret Book of Flora Lea - Just heard it was good!
A Wizard of Earthsea - I like science fiction.
What You are Looking For Is in the Library - Looks interesting
Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading - This is my motto!
The Bookshop of Yesterdays - Recommended by a friend
Moonflower Murders - Want to continue with the series
Ruth - Old/New Challenge
Wizard and Glass - Old/New Challenge

Print:
North Woods - 60% finished - NetGalley
The Upstairs Delicatessen - NetGalley
High Wages - I wanted to read a Dorothy Whipple book!
Buried Alive - Bingo
Disgrace - Bingo
Death with Interruptions - Bingo
The Hills is Lonely - GR group mini challenge
Tom Lake - Looks good!
Vile Bodies - GR Buffet, A-Z Title Challenge

The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez (continuing from September)
Fathers and Crows: Volume Two of Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes by William T. Vollmann (continuing from September)
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera
Tar Baby by Toni Morrison

That sounds lovely, Lynn--enjoy! And I really liked Dracula Matt. Hope you do too.

I'm SO excited about my October plans. Starting with a re-read of my favorite Wuthering Heights. Other spooky books I have planned:
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories by Shirley Jackson
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton - probably just one or two of these.
I should finish:
Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch
And some great group reads this month:
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
Stoner by John Williams
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (I laugh at myself for thinking I can fit this monster in, but can't resist trying!)
A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore
And some of my challenge books, if I can squeeze them in, because only three months left!

RJs OCTOBER READS

Will Finish
Triple by Ken Follett
Stoner by John Williams
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
A Curtain of Green and Other Stories by Eudora Welty

Might Finish
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
The Aeneid by Virgil
Triplanetary by E.E. "Doc" Smith

Will Read But Won't Finish in October
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A edited by Ben Bova
Asimov's Chronology of the World: The History of the World From the Big Bang to Modern Times by Isaac Asimov

Terris wrote: "No way I'll get through all these, but it will be interesting to see how far I get!

...A Wizard of Earthsea..."

Matt wrote: "...I’m interested to see what you think of A Wizard of Earthsea. I’ve been on the fence whether should try it."

Wizard of Earthsea is one of my all-time favorites. I'm working my way through the other Earthsea novels right now. I highly recommend it.

Kathleen wrote: "That sounds lovely, Lynn--enjoy! And I really liked Dracula Matt. Hope you do too.

I'm SO excited about my October plans. Starting with a re-read of my favorite Wuthering Heights. Othe..."

You have so many good books on your list this month, Kathleen!
I enjoyed "The Loved One" and "Stoner" is one of my very favorites. And I love your selection of "spooky" books! Enjoy your month :)
P.S. Let me know what you think of "The Sea, The Sea." It is on my immediate list, but I don't know if I really want to read it or not -- and it's kind of long :/
I'll be interested to see what you think!

Matt wrote: "Terris wrote: "No way I'll get through all these, but it will be interesting to see how far I get!

Audio:
One of Ours - 60% finished - Bingo
Crossing to Safety - Book Club
The Secret Book of Flora..."

I will let you know. I just finished reading The Sparrow (which I think you should definitely read!) and didn't want to read two sci-fi at the same time and get mixed up! I hope to start it soon :)

I am really looking forward to my books this month. I like to join along with the Booktube channels I watch and read Victorian books each October, so our classic group long read fits right in with my plans. I don't just intend to read Victorian novels though so I have a busy month planned.

Victorian
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
Hester by Mrs. Oliphant (abandoned last October but hope to finish this year)
Red Pottage by Mary Cholmondeley
The Odd Women by George Gissing (audiobook)

Other Fiction
Stoner by John Williams
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (audiobook)
A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear (audiobook)
Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum
Told by Starlight in Chad by Joseph Brahim Seid (Around the World challenge)

Nonfiction
How to Be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman

I'll add some classic spooky short stories in if I can.

I've got some books in common with others this month. Perhaps we're in some of the same GR groups!

"Classics" I hope to finish this month:
1. Wodehouse: Summer Moonshine (1937)
✔️2. Pratchett: Witches Abroad (1991)
✔️3. Barrett: The Heroine, Or, Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader (1813)
✔️4. Virgil: The Aeneid (20 BCE)
5. Smith: Triplanetary (1948)
✔️6. Waters: Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters (1986) - I'm also going to see him live this month!
7. Duras: The Lover (1984)
8. Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1981)
✔️9. Christie: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940)
✔️10. Feynman: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character (1985)
✔️11. Wodehouse: Right Ho, Jeeves (1934)

21st-Century Reads:
12. de Castell: The Malevolent Seven (2023)
✔️13. Fawcett: Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (2023)
14. Snicket: The Slippery Slope (2003)
✔️15. Hiaasen: Bad Monkey (2013)
✔️16. Shafak: The Bastard of Istanbul (2006)

Long reads, may not finish in October:
✔️17: Trollope: The Way We Live Now (1897)
18. Sterne: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1767)
✔️19. Brontë, C: Jane Eyre (1847)

My October plans

Currently reading:
City Boy (audio)
The Dragon Republic

To read:
Jingo
City
Sår
The Reivers (pulitzer challenge)
Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema
Book Lovers (audio)
Den anden side af månen
The House in Dormer Forest
The Homecoming (nobel laureate challenge)
The Armour of Light
Girls Just Wanna Have Funds
Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda (audiobook, sync)
The Lives of Saints
Den sidste udvej
Fugitive Pieces (old&new challenge) - started
The Inheritance of Loss (old&new challenge, D author)
The Aeneid (serial reader) - started
The Sun Is Also a Star (audio, Y author)
Aunt Bessie Believes (X author)
The Moon and Sixpence (bingo challenge) - started

declaring my Core 6 for October:

Aeneid, The Virgil -19 (CUOC Group Read)
Way We Live Now, The Trollope, Anthony 1875 (CUOC Group Read)
American Pastoral Roth, Philip 1997 (Author-More UK/US)
Appointment in Samarra O'Hara, John 1934 (1930's)
Darkness At Noon Koestler, Arthur 1940 (1940's)
Hideous Kinky Freud, Esther 1992 ("Guardian 1000" Group Read)

Glad to see The Way We Live Now on a lot of lists, and for those reading it all this month---I'm so impressed.

Terris, I particularly love your bookish choices! I'm not quite to the halfway point in The Sea, the Sea, but I love it so far and it's surprisingly fast reading. You should try it! I'm guessing it's Murdoch's best.

My tentative plan for the month:

book club reads:
Winnie-the-Pooh
The Aeneid
The Haunting of Hill House

my challenges:
Scaramouche
O, the Brave Music
The Valley of Fear

bonus:
Small Things Like These
The House at Pooh Corner

We've started a book club at work for which I am reading The Haunting of Hill House.

I'm also reading I Capture the Castle and have a buddy read for Jazz scheduled with a friend in another group.

I will also try to get to Seven Gothic Tales to get it back to my sister-in-law when they come to visit at the beginning of November.

And I have a plan to get to Emma.

Kathleen wrote: "Glad to see The Way We Live Now on a lot of lists, and for those reading it all this month---I'm so impressed.

Terris, I particularly love your bookish choices! I'm not quite to the ..."

Thanks for the encouragement! I'll definitely keep it on the list ;)

Oh I never put my book list up.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne


Perhaps I will read Stoner by John Williams but this is probably one book too many for me.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "RJs OCTOBER READS

Will Finish
Triple by Ken Follett
Stoner by John Williams
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptr..."</i>




This is Lynn's response but the darn formatting is hard to work with. Oh well.


[book:The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A and The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two B: The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of All Time Chosen by the Members of the Science Fiction Writers of America

I like the novellas. I think that length works very well for Science Fiction. The authors are amazing.

er... looks like I won't be reading Hideous Kinky this month after all :o(

cos it's of those (myriad) titles that has fallen foul of the recent legal ruling against Internet Archive, which means it can no longer be digitally loaned

Lynn wrote: "I like the novellas. I think that length works very well for Science Fiction. The authors are amazing."

I've read the first few so far. I like some better than others. I do think that Science Fiction - which tends to be idea-oriented - often works better in short stories and novellas where it is less necessary to develop characters and themes that many of the Sci-Fi authors seem to disregard anyway.

Victober:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope and it's also for the Catching Up On Classicss Group Quarterly Read

A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

The Book of Isaiah - New Life Bible Study Group

Marple: Twelve New Stories by Naomi Alderman

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy for A Little Tree Hollow's September book

Backli's Ford: An A'lle Chronicles Mystery by Emma Faraday for my in-person library bookclub COMPLETED October 5

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Lynn wrote: "I like the novellas. I think that length works very well for Science Fiction. The authors are amazing."

I've read the first few so far. I like some better than others. I do think that..."

Exactly, you just said it much better than I did! I was thinking that exploring one technical advancement or a scientific discovery usually is better when they strictly stick to the subject at hand and don't meander the way so many novels do.

Lynn wrote: "...I was thinking that exploring one technical advancement or a scientific discovery usually is better when they strictly stick to the subject at hand and don't meander the way so many novels do."

I used to read a lot of Arthur C. Clarke, the guy who wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey. He's the perfect illustration of this.

Clarke's novels - with a couple exceptions - are not very good (apologies to those who like them); they don't bother with character development or themes, the prose is adequate at best, and the storylines usually are like templates. Probably his best novel is really just a long short story (Childhood's End) and his most famous novel (2001) was jointly developed with film auteur Stanley Kubrick based on - you got it - a short story that Clarke had previously written (The Sentinel).

Clarke's short stories, on the other hand, are a lot of fun. They have great ideas (this is the guy who first postulated the idea of geosynchronous satellites, which make modern communication possible) and they get to the point quickly and often poignantly ("The Star" is a great example here).

There are some Science-Fiction writers who have the chops to handle a novel-sized project, of course. But I've found that the short form is where many of the genre's authors shine brightest.

Janice wrote: "Victober:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope and it's also for the Catching Up On Classicss Group Quarterly Read..."

Goodness, The Woman in White, and The Way We Live Now, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Anna Karenina! So many big classics in one month -- this is so ambitious! For me, this would be more like a 3-month reading plan. I hope you really enjoy everything!

Wobbley wrote: "Janice wrote: "Victober:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope and it's also for the Catching Up On Classicss Group Quarterl..."

Oh, I know I won't be able to read it all! :) I am a slow reader but I do like writing what is on my plan and seeing what I can accomplish. :)

Janice wrote: "Oh, I know I won't be able to read it all! :) I am a slow reader but I do like writing what is on my plan and seeing what I can accomplish. :)"

Well, however far you get this month, I hope you find new favourites!

How did everyone's reading go in October?

I spent most of my time with work-related reading so there are a few new children's books:

Group Read
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (1926) 5*

Children's books

Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights by James Haskins (2005) 3*
The Secret Message by Mina Javaherbin (2010) 4*
The Buffalo Are Back by Jean Craighead George (2010) 5*

my Core 6 for October went pretty well:

Aeneid, The Virgil - 4 Stars
American Pastoral Roth, Philip - DNF
Darkness At Noon Koestler, Arthur - 4
Hideous Kinky Freud, Esther - 3.5 (ended up reading this after all, after buying an inexpensive second-hand copy)
Way We Live Now, The Trollope, Anthony - shaping up as at least 4 stars, having got to 2/3rds way through, which is where I was aiming for for the end of October
Appointment in Samarra O'Hara, John - over half way through, but carried over into November...

I ended up reading 13! :)
The leftovers have been pushed on to the November reading list!

Audio:
✔One of Ours - 60% finished - Bingo
✔Crossing to Safety - Book Club
✔The Secret Book of Flora Lea - Just heard it was good!
✔A Wizard of Earthsea - I like science fiction.
What You are Looking For Is in the Library - Looks interesting
✔Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading - This is my motto!
✔The Bookshop of Yesterdays - Recommended by a friend
Moonflower Murders - Want to continue with the series
Ruth - Old/New Challenge
Wizard and Glass - Old/New Challenge

Print:
✔North Woods - 60% finished - NetGalley
✔The Upstairs Delicatessen - NetGalley
✔High Wages - I wanted to read a Dorothy Whipple book!
✔Buried Alive - Bingo
✔Disgrace - Bingo
✔The Hills is Lonely - GR group mini challenge
✔The Book of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks
Tom Lake - Looks good!
Vile Bodies - GR Buffet, A-Z Title Challenge