Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

What are your plans for November? Do you have a special book you are eagerly waiting to read? Is the time ticking on finishing a challenge?

My reading plans this time of year are usually about finishing challenges. Still other books will sneak in.

Group Reads this month:
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle - in my Old and New School Challenge
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol - this would finish my Short Story Challenge

Bingo books to finish that challenge:
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Virginian by Owen Wister

We'll see far I get with them. Bingo and the Short Story Challenge are nearly completed, but the Old and New Challenge has many books to go.

RJ's NOVEMBER READS

Will Finish:
The Aeneid by Virgil (didn't finish last month as expected...all those footnotes to read!)
Vathek by William Beckford
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
A Simple Plan by Scott Smith

Won't Finish But Will Be Reading:
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A edited by Ben Bova
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov
Asimov's Chronology of the World: The History of the World From the Big Bang to Modern Times by Isaac Asimov

my Core 6 for November will be:
The Gathering Enright, Anne 2007
The Adventures of Gil Blas Le Sage, Alain-Rene 1715-1735 (first half)
Auto-da-Fé Canetti, Elias 1935
A Life Maupassant, Guy de 1883
The First Men in the Moon Wells, H. G. 1901
The Book of Daniel Doctorow, E. L. 1971

Like you, Lynn, I'm hoping to finish up my challenges. That will mean reading:
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
and something from Africa or Oceania

After that, everything else I read is just bonus!

The clock is definitely ticking, and it's time to decide which challenges to finish and which to let go. I also had to give up on The Way We Live Now, though I really hope to read it sometime in the future.

Here are my somewhat iffy plans for November:
Group Reads
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (finish)
A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol

Challenge Reads
Just an Ordinary Day: The Uncollected Stories by Shirley Jackson (Finish)
Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald
West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

Possible Surprises
The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
Emily's Ghost by Denise Giardina

Matt wrote: "Like others, I will be working on finishing up a couple reading challenges for the rest of this year.

Classic BINGO Challenge
For the Classic of Africa or Oceania square I plan to finish [book:Wa..."



You mentioned burnout Matt. I have a similar problem going on. One of my favorite lines from Doctor Who is from the character of the woman in "The Woman Who Lived". She ends up immortal. As we see her later in the series she cannot remember things... important things like children and grandchildren. She says something like, "Finite brain, infinite life."

I feel that way about the books. There are an immense number of details, characters, authors... I feel like reading is an infinite world, and I have a finite brain. I was actually sitting here tonight trying to recall just the name and the author of the books and short stories I read this year. I cannot get them correct. I remember vaguely storylines, but finite brain.

Ahh see, this is what I mean:

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/015bfdd5...

I didn't have the quote quite right. It's "Infinite lifespan, finite memory- it makes for an awkward social life."

It's a wonderful quote, Lynn. I think it gets much harder as I age. I sometimes find I have read a book (and not that long ago) and cannot remember anything about it until I check my review or a book blurb.

My local group laughs a lot because we can describe a book that we read years ago but no one can name it :)

Working on challenges

Finish Century Challenge:
Kingfishers Catch Fire by Rumer Godden

Decade Challenge:
Beat Not The Bones by Charlotte Jay
A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin

Nonfiction November:
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians by Herman Lehmann

Lynn wrote: "Ahh see, this is what I mean:

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/015bfdd5...

I didn't have the quote quite right. It's "Infinite lifespan, finite memory- it makes for an awkwar..."

Wonderful quote, Lynn!

Honestly I think it is a great thing to have read so many books in your life that you cannot recall what happens :) It's like a badge of honor for a reader.

I'm not so sure about this month, but I want to pick up on some books I've bought in past years but haven't gotten to yet. I am currently reading The Sign of the Fourwith the group and just started The Magnificent Ambersons, but purchased The Legend Of Sleepy Hallow and want to read that (even though I missed reading it during Halloween season). I'll see what happens after that.

As always, I have way too many books that I can read in a month but who can say no to great books?! :)

I am almost finished reading the Book of Isaiah NIV, Starting Place Study Bible: An Introductory Exploration of Studying God's Word for the New Life Bible Study group

Then I will begin reading the Book of Luke NIV, Starting Place Study Bible: An Introductory Exploration of Studying God's Word for New Life Bible Study group

I am a little over halfway done of Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt for my in-person library book club

I recently finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins for last month's Victober group

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Desperate Remedies byThomas Hardy for Victorians! group

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte for Catching Up On Classics Revisit the Shelf group

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie for Everyone Has Read This But Me Catch-Up group

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century by Alice Wong for Read Women group

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang for The Reading For Pleasure group

Janice wrote: "As always, I have way too many books that I can read in a month but who can say no to great books?! :)

I am almost finished reading the Book of Isaiah[book: NIV, Starting Place Study Bible: An Int..."

Janice, nice list! I always thought Northanger Abbey was the most underrated Austen book ever and I bought Desperate Remedies because I love reading Hardy, but need to get to it one of these days.

This is my current plan

Finish up from last month:
in progress 60% The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

Definitely:
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
✔ Minor Detail by Adania Shibli ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill ★★★★★ (4.5)

Probably:
Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas by Christian Kracht
✔ The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle ★★★★ (4.0)
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

Possibly:
in progress 9% Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Greg wrote: "This is my current plan

Finish up from last month:
in progress 60% The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

Definitely:
The Sound of Waves by [author:Yuk..."

A great selection, Greg. I hope Razor's Edge is going well--I loved that one! And I think you'll like The Memory Police.

Kathleen wrote: "A great selection, Greg. I hope Razor's Edge is going well--I loved that one! And I think you'll like The Memory Police."

Thanks Kathleen, enjoying The Razor's Edge very much! And I have high hopes for The Memory Police; good to hear you liked it! :)

My November plans
◯ Absolute Beginners in progress
✔ The Castle of Otranto (13 Nov) ★★★
✔ The Pickwick Papers (24 Nov) ★★★★
✔ A Tale of Two Cities (5 Nov) ★★★★★
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Probably:
◯ The 10:30 From Marseille in progress
✔ The Adventures of China Iron *16 Nov) ★★★★
✔ Aunty Lee's Delights (12 Nov) ★★★★
Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries
✔ Fellowship of Fear (10 Nov) ★★★★
Wessex Tales

JenniferAustin wrote: "My November plans
...The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman"

ooh Tristram Shandy - hope you enjoy this as much as I did JA!

Franky wrote: "Janice wrote: "As always, I have way too many books that I can read in a month but who can say no to great books?! :)

I am almost finished reading the Book of Isaiah[book: NIV, Starting Place Stud..."

Thanks, Franky! I have read Northanger a few times and each time it just gets better! I have never read Thomas Hardy and not sure I will be able to get to Desperate Remedies this month. I do have quite a few of his books on my TBR list.

This was my final results for the month of November:

Finish up from last month:
✔ The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham ★★★★★ (4.5)
✔ Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett ★★★★ (3.5)

Definitely:
✔ The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol ★★★ (2.5)
✔ Minor Detail by Adania Shibli ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill ★★★★ (4.0)

Probably:
✔ Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas by Christian Kracht ★★★★ (3.5)
✔ The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle ★★★★ (4.0)
in progress 30% The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

Possibly:
✔ Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer ★★★★★ (4.5)
skipped When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Unplanned:
in progress 44% The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

Is there a December thread?

Hi. Yesterday was super busy for me. I am doing my threads a day late. Sorry, almost there.

So, this is how November turned out. I really loved The Virginian.

☑ The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890) 11/11/2023 3*
☑ The Virginian by Owen Wister (1902) 11/26/2023 5*

These two will be moved to December.
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

of my declared six, I have carried one over into December, and had two DNF's and three 3.5-starrers:

The Gathering Enright, Anne - 3.5 Stars
The Adventures of Gil Blas Le Sage, Alain-Rene - DNF
Auto-da-Fé Canetti, Elias - DNF
A Life Maupassant, Guy de - 3.5 Stars
The First Men in the Moon Wells, H. G. - 3.5 Stars
The Book of Daniel Doctorow, E. L. - in progress...