Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Challenges:
#17 - Author A-Z
#16 - Title A-Z
#15 - Award Winners - Finished 15/2 - but I'll keep going
#8 - Travel the World One Continent at a Time
#5 - Decade/Century/Millennium
#4 - Short Story
#3 - New Authors - Finished 8/1 2025!

Challenge #17 - A-Z Author Challenge
Read: 22/24(?)
There are 4 optional letters marked with an (*), you only need to use one. Z done!

A Selva Almada: Not a River
B Elizabeth Bishop: Geography III
C Leela Corman: Unterzakhn
D Constance Debré: Playboy (Semiotext
E Annie Ernaux: Den anden datter
F
G Georgi Gospodinov: Time Shelter
H Samantha Harvey: Orbital
I Saou Ichikawa: Hunchback
J Ida Jessen Fire noveller af Jessen, Ejersbo, Helle og Djørup
K Irmgard Keun:: The Artificial Silk Girl
L Sergei Lebedev: En perfekt gift aka Untraceable
M Thomas Mofolo: Chaka
N Dorthe Nors Spænd
O Richard Osman: We Solve Murders
P Claudia Piñeiro: Elena Knows
*Q
R Rodrigo Rey Rosa: Severina (+ Guatemala!)
S Leonardo Sciascia En oplagt sag
T Olga Tokarczuk: Empusion
U Uketsu Strange Pictures
V Tarjei Vesaas: Tusten og andre noveller
W Watson Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning
*X
*Y
*Z Yasmin Zaher: The Coin

Challenge #16 - A-Z Title Challenge
Read 20/24(?)
There are 4 optional letters marked with an (*), you only need to use one.

A The Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun
B The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan
C Chaka by Thomas Mofolo (New country: Lesotho!)
D Den anden datter by Annie Ernaux
E Empusion by Olga Tokarczuk
F Flere post-it-monstre by John Kenn Mortensen
G Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop
H Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
I I sidste øjeblik by Claire Keegan
J Jeg skriver på vådt papir by Lív Maria Róadóttir Jæger
K Klæbemonstre III by John Kenn Mortensen
L
M Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
N Not a River by Selva Almada
O Orbital by Samantha Harvey
P En perfekt gift aka Untraceable Sergei Lebedev
*Q
R The Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Manu Larcenet
S Severina by Rodrigo Rey Rosa (New country: Guatemala!)
T Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (New country: Bulgaria!)
U Universality by Natasha Brown
V
W The Wolf by Guy de Maupassant
*X
*Y
*Z

Challenge #15 - Award Winners (Finished 15/1 25)

Nobel Prize in Literature - since 1901
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
I have an ongoing Nobel challenge, so I'll just read two more of those: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Books Chosen
1. Den anden datter by Annie Ernaux (Nobel 2022)
2. Sult aka Hunger by Knut Hamsun (Nobel 1920)
3. The Trolley by Claude Simon (Nobel 1985)
...but more Nobel Prize winners to come...

But I'll also check this out:
European Union Prize for Literature - since 2009
https://www.euprizeliterature.eu/

Challenge #8 - Travel the World One Continent at a Time
7/8 read (by the 4th of January!)
Select a book or an author from each of the seven world continents, *Antarctica is optional, and can be substituted for a country specific book.

Africa Chaka by Thomas Mofolo [Lesotho]
Asia The Lover by Marguerite Duras [Vietnam]
Australia
Europe Den anden datter by Annie Ernaux [France]
North America Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop [US]
Central America(?) Severina by Rodrigo Rey Rosa [Guatemala]
South America Not a River by Selva Almada
*A Country I'd like to visit: Argentina Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro

*Read a book set in the country you'd most like to visit

Challenge #5 - Decade/Century/Millennium Challenge

The Century Challenge: Read 10 books from any 10 consecutive decades (1 book per decade). Authors can only be used once in the challenge. You can use authors previously read by you. Or you can add a level of difficulty to your challenge by selecting only authors you've never read before.

I'd like to read a century of women - but this one is very aspirational, as I usually fail this challenge - but maybe this year is my year?
Read: 8/10

1930 The Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun (1932)
1940 The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg (1947)
1950
1960 A Very Easy Death by Simone de Beauvoir (1964)
1970 Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop (1976)
1980 Elskeren by Marguerite Duras (1984)
1990 - maybe 1993 Toni Morrison - Beloved / Sula
2000 Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro (2007)
2010 Den anden datter by Annie Ernaux aka L'Autre Fille (2011)
2020 Empusion by Olga Tokarczuk (2023)

Ideas:

1988 El Salvador: Woman Of The River, Claribel Alegrí
1989 ? Patricia Grace Potiki (NZ / Maori)
The Man in the Queue (Inspector Alan Grant, #1) Tey, Josephine 1929
Memories - From Moscow to the Black Sea Teffi 1931
Cold Comfort Farm Gibbons, Stella 1932
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Stein, Gertrude 1933
Testament of Youth Brittain, Vera 1933
New Islands: And Other Stories Bombal, María Luisa 1939
Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art Langer, Susanne K. 1942
The Second Sex de Beauvoir, Simone 1949
Strangers on a Train Highsmith, Patricia 1950
Maud Martha Brooks, Gwendolyn 1953
The Dollmaker Arnow, Harriette Simpson 1954
Beast In View Millar, Margaret 1955
Owls Do Cry Frame, Janet 1957
The Waiting Years Enchi, Fumiko 1957
Ciudad Real Castellanos, Rosario 1960
To Kill a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird, #1) Lee, Harper 1960
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Spark, Muriel 1961
The Time of the Doves Rodoreda, Mercè 1962
The Little Virtues Ginzburg, Natalia 1962
The Book of Lamentations Castellanos, Rosario 1962
The Wall Haushofer, Marlen 1963
The Expendable Man Hughes, Dorothy B. 1963
Les Fruits d'Or Sarraute, Nathalie 1963
Sofia Petrovna Chukovskaya, Lydia 1965
The Iguana Ortese, Anna Maria 1965
Efuru Nwapa, Flora 1966
Picnic at Hanging Rock Lindsay, Joan 1967
Journey into the Whirlwind Ginzburg, Evgenia 1967
Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock 1968
A Persian Requiem Daneshvar, Simin 1969
Venusdeltaet Nin, Anaïs 1969
Det tidlige forår Ditlevsen, Tove 1971
Gorilla, My Love Bambara, Toni Cade 1972
The Twilight Years Ariyoshi, Sawako 1972
Nonrequired Reading Szymborska, Wisława 1973

Challenge #4 - Short Story Challenge
Read 18 short stories.

1-2. Fire noveller af Jessen, Ejersbo, Helle og Djørup
3-6. So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan
7-10 Tusten og andre noveller by Tarjei Vesaas
11.
12.

.
.
18.

Challenge #3 DONE 8/1 2025!
- Expand Your Horizon with New Authors

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

1. Chaka by Thomas Mofolo
2. Severina by Rodrigo Rey Rosa
3. En perfekt gift by Sergei Lebedev
4. The Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun
5. Orbital by Samantha Harvey
6. The Wolf by Guy de Maupassant
...
7. Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop
8. Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov

Enjoy your planning, Anetq!

As always I am optimistic for the new year and all the reading I'll be doing - I usually finish these challenges, except for the century of women - but once again I am hopeful, and maybe with a little planning I'll make it this year?

Delighted you have joined in again, Anetq. All that reading is commendable! I'll root for your Century of Women to be a huge success this year.

I love the A-Z challenges. I look forward to your ideas on those as well as the other challenges. I really envy your multilingual abilities; I can only read in English. Have fun planning!

Sara wrote: "Delighted you have joined in again, Anetq. All that reading is commendable! I'll root for your Century of Women to be a huge success this year."

Thank you for the well wishes - I've decided to start early, rather than leave it 'til December and then give up :)

I finished up the 6 new authors (Challenge #3) in no time (8/1 25) - but that's not the surprise: I am halfway through the century of women!! (Challenge #5)

Wow -- amazing progress! That's really impressive. I hope you've been enjoying the books you've read.

Wow, Anetq!

So I'm doing pretty well on the century of women (though I guess this is where it gets harder...
Also the A-Z of titles & authors are coming along nicely,

I'll take recommendations for the missing part of my world challenge: Australia - does anyone have suggestions for something good and maybe new?
Prizewinning? Written by a woman? Modern? It doesn't need to be all of this at the same time :)

Amazing lists! For Australian women writers you could check readingmattersblog.com, a great resource.

Anetq wrote: "Challenge #3 DONE 8/1 2025!
- Expand Your Horizon with New Authors

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

1. Chaka b..."


Congratulations on finishing this challenge already. Nicely done.

You're making terrific progress! Congrats on finishing the Award Winners Challenge too. I haven't read Hunger, but I remember enjoying Pan by Knut Hamsun.

Summer status:

Doing well on the alphabets - missing:
Authors with F U & something from QXYZ
Titles with L V & something from QXYZ
(I expect to finish these I usually do)

World Travel: Australia

Short stories: I've read 10 of 18 short stories, so a few more collections should do it.

My century of women is still missing 1940s, 1950s and 1990s - will have to seek out a few titles I actually feel like reading :)

Well done, you're making great progress! For Australia, I recommend the short stories of Peter Carey.

The 1940s and 1950s are a mine-trove of underappreciated women writers. I'll be interested in seeing who you pick.

Sara wrote: "The 1940s and 1950s are a mine-trove of underappreciated women writers. I'll be interested in seeing who you pick."

I'm having trouble finding anything I want to read from the 1940s - so recs appreciated?
For the 50s I usually end up with more Tove Ditlevsen - but have read most of it by now...

This Year's Z author done: Yasmin Zaher The Coin - a strange but good book, can recommend it!

Rumer Godden A Fugue in Time
Elizabeth Taylor Blaming or A Wreath of Roses
Harriette Simpson Arnow The Dollmaker
Dorothy Whipple Someone at a Distance
Pamela Frankau A Wreath for the Enemy
Elizabeth Bowen The Heat of the Day
Natalia Ginzburg The Dry Heart
E.H. Young Chatterton Square
Carson McCullers The Member of the Wedding

Hope you find something in there that will be appealing. I have not read Tove Ditlevsen, but the TBR keeps telling me to!

Sara wrote: "Rumer Godden A Fugue in Time
Elizabeth Taylor Blaming or A Wreath of Roses
Harriette Simpson Arnow The Dollmaker
Dorothy Wh..."

Ooooh thank you so much - I have read some Ginzberg before and liked it, may go there again :) I'll have a look at some of the others!
And yes, obey the TBR! Read some Ditlevsen :) I can highly recommend Dependency the Danish title is "Gift" meaning both 'married' and 'poison' - her terrible choices and extreme honesty is a potent cocktail!

My library had Ginzberg on a digital loan so I read it - harsh!!
That's 40s for the century challenge:
1940 The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg (1947)

I also made progress on the Author Alphabet with a U author, so only F to go on that one...

Thanks, Anetq. I'm moving Ditlevsen up the ladder.

Great progress Anetq!

Sara wrote: "Thanks, Anetq. I'm moving Ditlevsen up the ladder."

I read The Copenhagen Trilogy this year (my first Divletsen) and enjoyed her writing. I think you'd like her, Sara :)