Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Hello. Happy holidays to you. We list books here that we might read in the next month. My possible books or short stories are chosen mostly to finish up those last few challenge books or read a monthly Group Read. There are others I would love to read (like Cat's Cradle) but I don't read quickly enough to get to them all.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899) 198 pages - partially read

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe (1842)
The Siege by Helen Dunmore (2001) 304 pages.
Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope (1882)
Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde (1892) 84 pages
The Praise of Folly by Erasmus (1511) 109 pages

I am finishing for my 2024 Bingo Challenge:
- South Moon Under by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
- The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.

I will read for my book club:
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

I might read for a Group Read:
- Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope.

I might also read:
- Atonement by Ian McEwan.
- A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr.
- The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald.
- Loitering with Intent byMuriel Spark.

Here's my tentative plan:

Finish up from last month:
in progress 24% Linghun by Ai Jiang

Definitely:
The Maniac by Benjamín Labatut
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
Christmas at Thompson Hall: A Mid-Victorian Christmas Tale by Anthony Trollope

Probably:
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Possibly:
in progress 4% A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
The Quest For Tanelorn by Michael Moorcock

Unplanned:

Finish up someday (maybe this month, maybe another):
in progress 28% Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
in progress 37% Juxtaposition by Piers Anthony

I'm definitely intrigued by Ink Blood Sister Scribe, Greg. Thanks for mentioning it!

Well, this is typically my catch up month, to spend any downtime reading feverishly to finish my challenges. So I have big plans, but won't finish them all, and that's just fine. :-)

In Process--will finish
Nicholas Nickelby
The Stillmeadow Road
I Capture the Castle
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze and Other Stories

Group reads
Cat’s Cradle
Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories (Title story only)
A Christmas Carol
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain

Will make an effort to finish for challenges
New Grub Street
A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Hoped to read but may have to put off until January
The Mirror & the Light

Kathleen wrote: "I'm definitely intrigued by Ink Blood Sister Scribe, Greg. Thanks for mentioning it!."

When I'm done, I'll let you know what I think. :)
.

December Goals
I fell behind my November goals, so my main objective is to finish up the books I've already started. I'll add a few more in, including the rest of the Goldsmiths shortlist, but I want to be able to finish all of them before the end of the year, so I can get started on my 2025 Challenge Buffet and Bingo!

From the Goldsmiths Prize shortlist
✔️Mark Bowles: All My Precious Madness (2024)
✔️Han Smith: Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking (2024)

Carryovers from November
✔️Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532)
✔️Markson: Wittgenstein's Mistress (1988)
✔️Martin: A Clash of Kings (1998)
✔️Pratchett: Carpe Jugulum (1998)
✔️Meyer: While We Were Dreaming (2006)
✔️Michaels: Held: A Novel (2023)

Other books to finish in December
✔️Euripides: "Helen" from The Complete Euripides, Volume V: Medea and Other Plays (-438)
✔️Shakespeare: Sonnets from The Complete Sonnets and Poems (1609)
✔️Wodehouse: Tales of St. Austin's (1903)
✔️Krasznahorkai: Satantango (1985)
✔️Ducornet: Phosphor in Dreamland (1995)
✔️Joy Williams: Ninety-Nine Stories of God (2013)
✔️Cusk: Transit (2016)
✔️Khalifa: Sand-Catcher (2020)
✔️Ali Smith: Spring (2020)
✔️Grass: The Living Statue: A Legend (pub. 2022)
✔️Ducornet: The Plotinus (2023)
✔️Harvey: Orbital (2023)
✔️Labatut: The Maniac (2023)
✔️Shanahan: Trace Evidence: Poems (2023)
✔️Carson: Wrong Norma (2024)
✔️Lennon: Glorious Exploits (2024)
✔️missaghi: Sound Museum (2024)

Should time permit (ha!)
Conrad: Heart of Darkness and Other Tales (1899)
Gospodinov: The Physics of Sorrow (2011)
Cusk: Kudos (2018)

December means wrapping up my last challenges

Currently reading
The Executioner's Song (pulitzer challenge)
Varme hænder
The Midnight Feast
Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories (group read)
Circe (audiobook)

To read
Kragernes ø
Kairos (Man Booker International Prize winner)
The Housemaid's Secret (goodreads challenge)
The Whale Rider (bingo, continent and a-z author challenge)
Midnight in Christmas River
Karolines krig
Record of a Spaceborn Few
Tempel - started
What Does It Feel Like?
Elizabeth Is Missing (ongoing birthyear challenge)
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (group reads challenge)
Lady Rample Steps Out
The Netanyahus (audio, pulitzer challenge)
The Blythes Are Quoted
Fangirl
Nine Perfect Strangers
Høstnat
I Was Born for This
Under en blændende sol
Det lukkede rum
The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris
To Hold the Bridge - started
Victorian San Francisco Stories: Volume 2
The Getaway (audio) - started
Orange Is the New Black - started

I need to finish these for BINGO and my challenges:
Cymbeline
Pride and Prejudice
A Christmas Memory, including One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor

These are for read-alongs:
A Christmas Carol
Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories
Black Sheep
Impact of Evidence

These are just for me:
A Little Yuletide Murder
The Clocks
Historia de amor en invierno

Teri-K, I just watched "The Thanksgiving Visitor" with Geraldine Page on Thanksgiving Day. I need to re-read these Capote stories someday soon!

Greg wrote: "Teri-K, I just watched "The Thanksgiving Visitor" with Geraldine Page on Thanksgiving Day. I need to re-read these Capote stories someday soon!"

They are good, aren't they? In the past I've been reading them off Openlibrary, but last month I noticed the Modern Library edition on sale at the bookstore and grabbed it at 30% off. It's lovely, with his three holiday stories in it. I'm enjoying having my own copy to read - and I love the cover! It actually has a soft green background that is just lovely displayed on my bookshelf.

my "Core 4" for December:
Giles Goat-Boy or, The Revised New Syllabus Barth, John 1966
Berlin Alexanderplatz Doblin, Alfred 1929
How Late It Was, How Late Kelman, James 1994
No Bed For Bacon Brahms, Caryl 1941

Do I need to put links? Because that is a lot of work for me! *cries
I actually wrote out a list for this month though. Lol

Infinite Jest (group read)
Interview with the Vampire
Mysterious Benedict Perilous Journey
Killers of a Certain Age
Cats Cradle (group)
Masque of the Red Death (group read)
Earthsea (forget the exact title)
All Good People Here

Alternates or ones that I might move to next year for my Buffet Challenge 😁👍
Stolen Heir
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries
Long Live Evil (waiting on a hold)

I mean, i think that is plenty even without the alternates. Lol

Oh! Also have a couple more on hold, but can also wait till January. Lol

April wrote: "Do I need to put links? Because that is a lot of work for me! *cries
I actually wrote out a list for this month though. Lol

Infinite Jest (group read)
Interview with the Vampire
Mysterious Benedic..."


Links are not necessary. Good luck with your plans.

I'm going to add a 'Dandy' annual and a reread of 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century', to my reading, as my stress relief over the holidays :P .

my "Core 4" for December went thusly:
Giles Goat-Boy Barth, John - got to half-way, not v.enjoyable, but will persist into January...
Berlin Alexanderplatz Doblin, Alfred - DNF
How Late It Was, How Late Kelman, James - 4 Stars
No Bed For Bacon Brahms, Caryl - 3