Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I am joining in the 2024 Challenge Buffet this year. I am mixing some things up and trying new categories.

Challenge #1 – Old & New TBR Challenge

1899 and earlier/Old School
1. “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare
2. “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There” by Lewis Carroll - completed 4/10 3*
3. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain – completed 6/5 4*

1900-1999/New School
4. “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.– completed 5/5 3*
5. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck - completed 2/6 5*
6. “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner– completed 6/26 3*

My Six Bookshelf Dust Collectors
7. “Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates” by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger - completed 5/5 5*
8. “The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingsolver - completed 3/12 5*
9. “Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert– completed 8/7 5*
10. “Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey” by Alison Wearing - completed 3/9 3*
11. “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)” by Agatha Christie - completed 1/5 4*
12. “The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes #2)” by Arthur Conan Doyle– completed 8/10 4*


Alternates
1. “Artemis” by Andy Weir
2. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway
3. “Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger


Challenge #4 - Members Choice Challenge
1. 19th Century – “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte – completed 4/23 3*
2. 20th Century – “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – completed 11/4 3*
3. 21st Century – “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro - completed 2/10 5*
4. A book originally written in a language other than your own – “Blindness” by Jose Saramago – completed 7/15 1*
5. An Author never read before – “The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth von Arnim– completed 6/14 4*
6. Diversity Classic – “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison – completed 9/4 3*
7. Science Fiction /Fantasy – “2001: A Space Odyssey” by Arthur C. Clarke – completed 6/17 4*
8. Action / Adventure – “King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard – completed 5/3 4*
9. Children’s / Young Adult – “Mary Poppins” by P. L. Travers – completed 7/6 4*
10. Nonfiction Memoir/Biography – “Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nellie Bly - completed 2/14 3*
11. Mystery / Thriller – “Hallowe’en Party” by Agatha Christie – completed 7/7 4*
12. Horror or Humor – “Penguins Stopped Play: Eleven Village Cricketers Take on the World” by Harry Thompson - completed 2/24 4*


Challenge #5 - Short Story Challenge

Read 24 short stories. This equates to only two per month for the year. Read them all at once or spread them out, it's up to you.

1. “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier – completed 1/6
2. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe– completed 1/7
3. “The First Law” by Isaac Asimov – completed 1/8
4. “How Much Land Does a Man Need” by Leo Tolstoy – completed 1/8
5. “The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov” – completed 1/8
6. “The Last Rung on the Ladder” by Stephen King – completed 2/5
7. “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood” – completed 2/5
8. “The Ones who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursala Le Guin – completed 2/15
9. “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges – completed 2/15
10. “The Boogeyman” by Stephen King – completed 4/2
11. “The Chef” by Andy Weir – completed 4/1
12. “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol – completed 5/19
13. “Don’t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier – completed 5/19
14. “The Eyes Have It” by Philip Dick – completed 5/19
15. “At the Mountains of Madness” by H. P. Lovecraft – completed 5/19
16. “The Witness for the Prosecution” by Agatha Christie – completed 7/9
17. “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston – completed 7/9
18. “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson – completed 7/9
19. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor” – completed 8/1
20. “Koolau the Leper” by Jack London – completed 8/7
21. “Xingu” by Edith Wharton – completed 8/30
22. “Counterfeit Bills” by Richard Matheson – completed 10/25
23. “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane – completed 10/25
24. “The Red Room” by H. G. Wells – completed 10/25
25. “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benet – completed 10/25




Challenge #6 - Group Reads Challenge
The challenge is to read 12 of this years group selections. Between New School, Old School, Short Story/Novella, Revisit the Shelf, and Quarterly Long read our group selects 40 new and 12 reread books per year, giving us plenty of choices.
1. "The Beauties” by Anton Chekhov – completed 4/2
2. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London – completed 4/1
3. “The Overcoat” by Niloai Gogol – completer 5/19
4. “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman – completed 5/22
5. “The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Wadpole - completed 5/25
6. “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman – completed 5/30
7. “The Eyes” by Edith Wharton – completed 7/7
8. “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo – completed 7/30
9. “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borge – completed 8/1
10. “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte – completed 8/23
11. “The Body in the Library” by Agatha Christie – completed 9/16
12. “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy – completed 9/22



Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors

Seek out at least six (6) authors that you have never previously read, male or female, from any genre or era you want.

1. Roald Dahl - “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” – completed 1/27
2. Nellie Bly - “Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nellie Bly – completed 2/14
3. Algernon Blackwood – “The Willows” – completed 2/5
4. H. Rider Haggard - “King Solomon’s Mines” – completed 5/3
5. Daniel Dafoe - “Robinson Crusoe” – completed 5/18
6. Walt Whitman – “Leaves of Grass” – completed 5/22



Challenge #9 – Fiction/Non-Fiction

Select five different subjects of interest to you and read a fiction book and a non-fiction book about that subject. Total number of books for this challenge is ten.

Features an Asylum/Madhouse
Fiction – The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas - completed 1/10
Nonfiction - “Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nellie Bly - completed 2/14

Treasure Hunters
Fiction: “King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard – complete 5/3 4*
Nonfiction - “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon” by David Grann – completed 5/10 5*

Shipwreck
Fiction: “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe – completed 5/18 4*
Nonfiction: “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder” by David Grann– completed 9/13 5*



Rabies
Fiction – “The Blondes: A Novel” by Emily Schultz - completed 2/20
Nonfiction – “A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy
- completed 4/14 5*

Hemingway
Fiction: “The Paris Wife: A Novel” by Paula McLain Nook
Nonfiction: “Hemingway in Love: His Own Story” by A. E. Hotchner – completed 11/22 3*

Challenge #12 - Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete

Many if not most of us read series books. Sometimes these books are neglected in favor of other reading. As much as I like reading several of the series I have on my shelf. I have at times left them untouched for as much as a year. This year’s series challenge is to break the neglect and bring series books back into our current annual reading.

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
The Bear and Nightingale
The Girl in the Tower
The Winter of the Witch


Challenge #13 - Travel the World One Continent at a Time

Select a book or an author from each of the seven world continents, *Antarctica is optional, I understand that most around the world challenges are much longer in both time and number of books required. Our challenges only run from January 1-December 31. So, this seems more doable.

Africa - “Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” by Trevor Noah – completed 3/16 3*
Asia - “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck - completed 2/2 4*
Australia – “A Long Way Home” by Saroo Brierley - completed 2/1
Europe – “The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth von Arnim – completed 6/14 4*
North America – “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain – completed 6/5 4*
South America – “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon” by David Grann - completed 5/10 5*
*Antarctica - “The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen” by Stephen R. Brown – completed 10/26 4*




Challenge 14 - Rereading - Some do. Some don't

Some of us reread regularly, others reread rarely if ever. We have all read books that we found fantastic. We finish the last page, set it aside and think someday I would like to reread this again. Let us know the titles of five books you found worthy of rereading. This year’s challenge is, reread two of your selections.

1. “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
3. “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott - completed 3/27 4*
4. “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck - completed 2/2 4*
5. “Lost Horizon” by James Hilton – completed 7/5 4*



Challenge #15 - A-Z Title Challenge

I find this to be a very difficult challenge, many others consider it one of their favorites. For those who really enjoy this challenge in its pure form use all 26 letters. For those of us who struggle, with this challenge consider it successful by using only 23 letters. There are 4 optional letters marked with an (*), you only need to use one.

A - “Atonement” by Ian McEwan – completed 11/22/2024 4*
B – “Blindness” by Jose Saramago – completed 7/15 1*
C - “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl - completed 1/27 4*
D – “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - completed 12/27 4*
E – “Emma” by Jane Austen
F – “For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway
G - “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy – completed 9/22 3*
H – “Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey” by Alison Wearing - completed 3/9 3*
I – “I am Legend and Other Stories” by Richard Matheson - completed 4/15 5*
J – “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte - completed 8/23 5*
K - “King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard – completed 5/3 4*
L - “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott – competed 3/27 4*
M - “Malice” by Keigo Higashino – completed 6/23 5*
N – “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman – completed 5/30 4*
O – “Othello” by William Shakespeare – completed 8/10 5*
P – “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw – completed 12/23 3*
*Q – “Quills” by Doug Wright
R – “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe – completed 5/18 4*
S – “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – completed 5/5 3*
T - “Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nellie Bly - completed 2/14 3*
U – “Up From Slavery” by Booker T. Washington – completed 10/1 5*
V – “Villette” by Charlotte Bronte – completed 10/23 3*
W - “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte – completed 4/23 4*
*X – “Xingu” by Edith Wharton – completed 8/30 4*
*Y – “Year of Wonders” by Geraldine Brooks
*Z - “Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald” by Therese Ann Fowler - completed 1/27 4*

You've made a lot of progress with your planning! I've enjoyed a fair few of the novels you've got penciled in, especially Slaughterhouse-five, The Sign of Four, King Solomon's Mines, The Good Earth, and Emma. Enjoy!

Thank you. I really enjoy the planning for the next year's reading. I always want a mix of fiction and nonfiction, plus I want to read more books that are already on my personal bookshelf. I am also trying to make progress on my personal goal of reading all the classics on the group shelf.

I love your choices and am “stealing” the fiction/non fiction for asylums!

Jessica-sim wrote: "I love your choices and am “stealing” the fiction/non fiction for asylums!"

I thought both books looked really interesting!

Matt wrote: "Your planning looks great Karen! Good luck! Your A-Z title list makes me want to attempt that challenge."

This is my first year for this particular challenge. I have been watching others, and wanted to try.

I am glad you have decided to join our buffet. You have secelcted some wonderful books. Many I have already enjoyed and several I count as favorites. Have a good year.

Books I have completed so far this year:

Challenge #1 -
2. “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There” by Lewis Carroll – completed 4/10 3*

5. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck – completed 2/6 5*

8. “The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingsolver – completed 3/12 5*

10. “Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey” by Alison Wearing – completed 3/9 3*

11. “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)” by Agatha Christie – completed 1/5 4*

Challenge #4:

3. 21st Century – “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro – completed 2/10 5*

10. Nonfiction Memoir/Biography – “Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nellie Bly – completed 2/14 3*

12. Horror or Humor – “Penguins Stopped Play: Eleven Village Cricketers Take on the World” by Harry Thompson- completed 2/24 4*

Challenge 5:

1. “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier – completed 1/6
2. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe– completed 1/7
3. “The First Law” by Isaac Asimov – completed 1/8
4. “How Much Land Does a Man Need” by Leo Tolstoy – completed 1/8
5. “The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov” – completed 1/8
6. “The Last Rung on the Ladder” by Stephen King – completed 2/5
7. “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood” – completed 2/5
8. “The Ones who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursala Le Guin – completed 2/15
9. “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges – completed 2/15
10. “The Boogeyman” by Stephen King – completed 4/2
11. “The Chef” by Andy Weir – completed 4/1


Challenge #6:

1. “The Beauties” by Anton Chekhov – completed 4/2
2. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London – completed 4/1


Challenge #9:

Features an Asylum/Madhouse
Fiction – “The Mad Women’s Ball” by Victoria Mas – completed 1/10 4*
Nonfiction - “Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nellie Bly – completed 2/14 3*

Rabies
Fiction – “The Blondes: A Novel” by Emily Schultz – completed 2/20 3*
Nonfiction – “Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik
and Monica Murphyn - completed 4/14 5*

Challenge 13:

Asia - “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck – completed 2/2 4*
Australia – “A Long Way Home” by Saroo Brierley – completed 2/1 4*

Challenge #14:
3. “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott – completed 3/27 4*
4. “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck – completed 2/2 4*


Challenge #15:
C - “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl – completed
1/27 4*
H – “Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey” by Alison Wearing
– completed 3/9 3*
I – “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson – completed 4/15 5*
L - “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott – competed 3/27 4*
T - “Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nellie Bly – completed 2/14 3*
*Z - “Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald” by Therese Ann Fowler –
completed 1/27 4*

You've read so much! And you're ahead of schedule for Challenge #1, which I find is the hardest challenge. Well done!

Wow! Lots of good reading! You are moving right along with your challenges :)

I'm glad to see that you gave The Bean Trees 5*s. I have the book but have not ever "decided" to read it. I hear mixed reviews. Your 5* rating is moving this book up on my TBR list! ;)

I enjoyed it. It reminded me of Fannie Flagg's "Fried Green Tomatoes". There is a sequel called "Pigs in Heaven" which is now on my TBR list.

Karen wrote: "I enjoyed it. It reminded me of Fannie Flagg's "Fried Green Tomatoes". There is a sequel called "Pigs in Heaven" which is now on my TBR list."

I'll look into it :)

Terris wrote: "Wow! Lots of good reading! You are moving right along with your challenges :)

I'm glad to see that you gave The Bean Trees 5*s. I have the book but have not ever "decided" to read it...."

Ha--funny, I have this too, and was just looking at it wondering why I hadn't read it!

Great progress on your challenges, Karen!

Kathleen wrote: "Terris wrote: "Wow! Lots of good reading! You are moving right along with your challenges :)

I'm glad to see that you gave The Bean Trees 5*s. I have the book but have not ever "decid..."

Glad I'm not the only one, Kathleen!

Great job on your challenges Karen : )

I also loved The Bean Trees. I am Legend is another good one, glad you liked it.

You read at a pace I can only admire.

Your challenge is going well, Karen. Is this your first time reading The Murder of Roger Akroyd? What did you think of it?

I agree with your list of books worth rereading - except for The Little Prince. lol I've never seen what everyone loves about that book. But the other four are great, aren't they?

Thank you! Yes, this was my first time reading "The Murder of Roger Akyrod". I was blown away - definitely did not expect the ending.

All of my rereading books were books that I had read in high school that I enjoyed. I wanted to see whether they held up when reading as an adult. "The Good Earth" and "Little Women" were both still very good. I ended up reading "Pilgrim's Progress" because of my rereading "Little Women". I was surprised to find that "The Good Earth" and "Pilgrim's Progress" weren't on our classics list.

Books Completed update:

Challenge #1

3. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain – completed 6/5 4*
4. “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – completed 5/5 3*
7. “Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates” by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger -
completed 5/5 5*

Challenge #4
1. 19th Century – “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte – completed 4/23 3*
5. An Author never read before – “The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth von Arnim – completed 6/14 4*
8. Action / Adventure – “King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard – completed 5/3 4*

Challenge # 5
12. “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol – completed 5/19
13. “Don’t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier – completed 5/19
14. “The Eyes Have It” by Philip Dick – completed 5/19
15. “At the Mountains of Madness” by H. P. Lovecraft – completed 5/19

Challenge # 6
3. “The Overcoat” by Niloai Gogol – completer 5/19
4. “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman – completed 5/22
5. “The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Wadpole - completed 5/25
6. “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman – completed 5/30

Challenge #9

“King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard – complete 5/3 4*
“The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon” by David Grann – completed 5/10
“Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe – completed 5/18 4*

Challenge #13

Africa - “Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” by Trevor Noah – completed 3/16 3*
Europe – “The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth von Arnim – completed 6/14 4*
North America – “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain – completed 6/5 4*
South America – “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon” by David Grann – completed 5/10

Challenge #15

K - “King Solomon’s Mines” by H. Rider Haggard – completed 5/3 4*
R – “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe – completed 5/18 4*
S – “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – completed 5/5 3*
W - “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte – completed 4/23 4*

Wow, so much progress!

Nice job Karen. I see so many titles from the Group shelf!

Great Job, Karen! You have read so many good books. I'm glad you're enjoying your reading while completing challenges! Keep it up! :)

Terrific progress, Karen.

Progress Update:

Challenge #1
6. “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner – completed 6/26 3*
9. “Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert – completed 8/7 5*
12. “The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes #2)” by Arthur Conan Doyle – completed 8/10 4*

Challenge #4
4. A book originally written in a language other than your own – “Blindness” by Jose Saramago – completed 7/15 1*
6. Diversity Classic – “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison – completed 9/4 3*
7. Science Fiction /Fantasy – “2001: A Space Odyssey” by Arthur C. Clarke – completed 6/17 4*
9. Children’s / Young Adult – “Mary Poppins” by P. L. Travers – completed 7/6 4*
11. Mystery / Thriller – “Hallowe’en Party” by Agatha Christie – completed 7/7 4*

Challenge #5
16. “The Witness for the Prosecution” by Agatha Christie – completed 7/9
17. “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston – completed 7/9
18. “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson – completed 7/9
19. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor” – completed 8/1
20. “Koolau the Leper” by Jack London – completed 8/7
21. “Xingu” by Edith Wharton – completed 8/30

Challenge #6
7. “The Eyes” by Edith Wharton – completed 7/7
8. “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo – completed 7/30
9. “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borge – completed 8/1
10. “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte – completed 8/23

Progress Update (con't)

Challenge #14
5. “Lost Horizon” by James Hilton – completed 7/5 4*

Challenge #15
B – “Blindness” by Jose Saramago – completed 7/15 1*
J – “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte – completed 8/23 5*
M – “Malice” by Keigo Higashino – completed 6/23 5*
O – “Othello” by William Shakespeare – completed 8/10 5*
*X – “Xingu” by Edith Wharton – completed 8/30 4*

To be honest, I may not finish all the challenges this year. With only 3 1/2 months left, it seems like a daunting task. However, it will be definitely fun to try!

You've made great progress, Karen. Finish or not, it is more important that you have fun trying!

Great job, Karen! You’re reading some good ones — whether you finish or not, you’re still going to be a winner! :)

Amazing progress! You've got a lot of high-scoring ones, so you must be really enjoying your reading. I'm also a fan of The Sign of Four.

Well, I did not finish all my challenges this year. I missed Challenge #1 - Old & New and Challenge #9 - Fiction/Nonfiction each by 1 book. I did not even start Challenge #12 - Series Books, so that will carry onto 2025. I also missed Challenge #15 by 4 books. However, I have already read 3 of these books so far in 2025.

I did complete Challenge #4 - Member's Choice, Challenge #5 - Short Story, Challenge #6 - Group Reads, Challenge #7 - New Authors, Challenge #13 0 Travel the world, and Challenge # 14 - Rereading.

I read a lot of good books, and I had fun. The challenges are always great, because I would never have finished as many without them.

That's fantastic! Well done on all your great progress, and on enjoying your challenges and your reading so much!