Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR
✅ Challenge #4 - Members Choice
Challenge #5 - Short Story
✅ Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon with New Authors
Challenge #8 - Most Popular Goodreads Books Listed by Year
✅ Challenge #9 – Fiction/Non-Fiction
Challenge #11 - Old and New Linked Categories
Challenge #12 - Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete
Challenge #14 - Rereading Some do Some don't
Challenge #15 - A-Z Author

Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR

My “French Fried” Old & New Classic Challenge

1899 and earlier/Old School (vieille école)
✅ 1. Published in 1856 - Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
✅ 2. Published in 1874 - The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
✅ 3. Published in 1885 - Germinal by Émile Zola


1900-1999/New School (nouvelle école)
✅ 4. Published in 1913 - Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
✅ 5. Published in 1942- The Stranger by Albert Camus
✅ 6. Published in 1943 - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry


My Six Bookshelf Dust Collectors (collecteur de poussière)
✅ 7. The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough
✅ 8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
✅ 9. Indiana by George Sand
✅ 10. The Misanthrope by Molière
11. Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
🚫 12. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant


Alternates
A-1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
✅ A-2. The Red and the Black by Stendhal
A-3. The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

Challenge #4 - Members Choice

COMPLETED 11/16/24

✅ 1. 19th Century, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Published in 1857
✅ 2. 20th Century, 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff Published in 1970
✅ 3. 21st Century, Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín Published in 2009
✅ 4. A book originally written in a language other than your own, FRENCH Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
✅ 5. An Author never read before, Émile Zola - Germinal
✅ 6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
✅ 7. Science Fiction/Fantasy, The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
✅ 8. Action/Adventure, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
✅ 9. Childrens/Young Adult, The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
✅ 10. Nonfiction Memoir/Biography, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
✅ 11. Mystery/Thriller, The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
✅ 12. Horror or Humor, The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Challenge #5 - Short Story
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.

Some authors to pull from: Edgar Allan Poe, Anton Chekhov, O. Henry, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner, Mark Twain, George Saunders, 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, Sylvia Plath, Shirley Jackson, Ivan Turgenev, Edith Wharton, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kate Chopin, Daphne du Maurier, Raymond Carver

✅ 1. The Bet by Anton Chekhov
✅ 2. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain
✅ 3. The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain
✅ 4. The Story of the Good Little Boy / The Story of the Bad Little Boy by Mark Twain
✅ 5. The Million Pound Bank Note by Mark Twain
✅ 6. A Medieval Romance by Mark Twain
✅ 7. The Two-Book Prelude by William Wordsworth
✅ 8. The Fey of Cloudmoor by Terry Brooks
✅ 9. Aftermath by Terry Brooks
✅ 10. Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks
✅ 11. An Unfortunate Influx of Fillipians by Terry Brooks
✅ 12. Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
✅ 13. Don’t Tell Dad by Terry Brooks
✅ 14. Last Ride by Terry Brooks
✅ 15. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
✅ 16. Animal Farm by George Orwell
✅ 17. The Conversion of the Jews by Philip Roth
✅ 18. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
✅ 19. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
✅ 20. First Love by Ivan Turgenev
21.
22.
23.
24.

COMPLETED 11/16/24

Challenge #7 - 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. Haruki Murakami - Killing Commendatore
✅ 2. Thor Heyerdahl - The Kon-Tiki Expedition
✅ 3. Émile Zola - Germinal
✅ 4. James A. Michener - Tales of the South Pacific
✅ 5. Edward Rutherfurd - Paris
✅ 6. George Sand - Indiana

Challenge #8 - Most Popular Goodreads Books Listed by Year

Locate and list 10 books that most interest you from the year of your choice. The challenge is to read five 5 books from that list. You can use the year of your birth, the birth year of a family member, or friend, or any random year you choose.

Year chosen: 1999
1. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
3. 'Tis by Frank McCourt
4. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks
5. The Testament by John Grisham
6. Hannibal by Thomas Harris
7. The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
9. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
10.

✅✅COMPLETED 11/5/24✅✅

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.

Fiction/Non-Fiction Pairings:



✅ FBI
NonFiction: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI and Fiction: The Silence of the Lambs

✅ Paris
Nonfiction: The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris and Fiction: Paris

✅ JFK
NonFiction: Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot and Fiction: 11/22/63

✅ South Pacific
Non Fiction: The Kon-Tiki Expedition
and Fiction: Tales of the South Pacific

✅ Emile Zola
Non-Fiction: The Disappearance of Émile Zola: Love, Literature, and the Dreyfus Case
and Fiction: Germinal

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

Georgia:
NonFiction: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Fiction: Deliverance or Lamb in His Bosom

WWII
NonFiction: Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler and Fiction: The Winds of War

Horses
NonFiction: Seabiscuit: An American Legend and Fiction: All the Pretty Horses

The Crusades
NonFiction: Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands and Fiction: The Talisman

Challenge #11 - Old and New Linked Categories

Select five categories of your choice or use some of these sample categories. Once you make your category selections, link the categories by finding and reading an Old School (1899 or older) and a New School book (1900-1999) that contains some part or is all about your selected categories. It will be more interesting and more varied if you come up with your own categories.

Some possible combinations: (original classics and modern retellings)

Old: David Copperfield New: Demon Copperhead

Old: Little Women and New: March

Old: Jane Eyre and New: Jane Steele

Old: King Lear and New: A Thousand Acres

Old: Howards End and New: On Beauty

✅ Old: Don Quixote and New: Quichotte

Old: Rebecca and New: The Winters

Old: Wuthering Heights and New: Black Spring

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.

Start
For those who have never read a series collection or have finished one and are stalling off on starting another. The challenge is to find an interesting series and read at least two books this year from the selected series. Some series are only three books in length, such as The Hunger Games #1, #2, #3

Continue
If you are currently reading a series and have stalled out and set it aside, here is your chance to get back to it.

Complete
If you are close to finishing a series, but have not been actively reading them, here is your chance to finish it. Set a goal to see it finished or make a big dent in it.

My goal/accomplishment this year. Each member to decide what they wish to accomplish. For challenge purposes, read at least two books. That is only 1 every six months. This is doable.

——————————————————————————-

Fantasy as a genre fits nicely with this challenge.

Series I’m Starting:
Fitz and Fool - Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb
Scholomance - A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Series I’m continuing:
The Stormlight Archive - Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Sword of Truth - Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind

Series I’m finishing:
The Broken Empire - Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
✅ Viridian Deep - Sister of Starlit Seas by Terry Brooks

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. Middlemarch by George Eliot
2. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
4. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Challenge #15 - A-Z Author

On this challenge, I've added myself a twist to try get back to reading more of my favorite genre - fantasy or epic fantasy authors. I can't have a fantasy list without Terry Brooks, C.S. Lewis, or J.R.R. Tolkien, so there are some duplicated author name letters on my list.

Here's my plan:

✅ A - Victoria Aveyard - King's Cage
✅ B - Jim Butcher - Furies of Calderon
C - Lewis Carroll - The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition
D - Marina Dyachenko - Vita Nostra
E - Michael Ende - The Neverending Story
F - Raymond E. Feist - Magician: Apprentice
G - Terry Goodkind - Stone of Tears
H - Robin Hobb - Fool's Assassin
I - James Islington - The Shadow of What Was Lost
J - N.K. Jemisin - The Fifth Season
K - R.F. Kuang - The Poppy War
L - Mark Lawrence - Emperor of Thorns & C.S. Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia
M - David Mitchell - The Bone Clocks
N - Naomi Novik - A Deadly Education
O - George Orwell - 1984
P - Philip Pullman - The Golden Compass
Q - Seabury Quinn - The Horror on the Links
✅ R - Veronica Roth - When Among Crows
S - Brandon Sanderson -Oathbringer
T - J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings

U - Ursula K. Le Guin A Wizard of Earthsea
V - Jules Verne - The Mysterious Island
W - Helene Wecker - The Golem and the Jinni
*X
Y - Rebecca Yarros - Fourth Wing
Z - Roger Zelazny - Nine Princes in Amber

I'm beginning to set the table for hitting the buffet. Some tentative preliminary planning posted above. My main focus for 2024 will be the A-Z author list and my Fiction/Non Fiction.

I'll work on my Old & New challenge planning soon.

Looking forward to the Buffet. Let's see how many trips I can actually take!

Matt wrote: "Challenge #15 - A-Z Author

On this challenge, I've added myself a twist to try get back to reading more of my favorite genre - fantasy or epic fantasy authors. I can't have a fantasy list without ..."

I find the A-Z lists so hard. You've done a great job with Fantasy Authors. It looks fun. Ursula K. Le Guin and Roger Zelazny are authors I am always interested in reading.

Lynn wrote: "Matt wrote: "Challenge #15 - A-Z Author

On this challenge, I've added myself a twist to try get back to reading more of my favorite genre - fantasy or epic fantasy authors. I can't have a fantasy ..."

Thanks Lynn. I’ve been compiling the fantasy A-Z author list over the past couple of months. I usually start with my TBR then start researching and googling to fill in the letter holes. I’m pretty excited about this A-Z list. Some classics, some contemporary. Lots of new to me and clearing off my TBR.

I’ve posted the start of a plan for my Old & New challenge above. I added a “French Fried” twist to it.

Oh, goodness, now you have made me hungry for French fries, Matt. 🍟

Planning can be half the fun. Best of luck next year.

The French challenge looks great, Matt! I'm reading Swann's Way this year too. Hope we can share notes on that one. All the best.

Wow, the A-Z challenges are so difficult, and yours is already planned out. Enjoy!

Wow, Matt! I’ve never tried the A-Z challenges- they are so intimidating to me. Best of luck to you!

Lori wrote: "Wow, Matt! I’ve never tried the A-Z challenges- they are so intimidating to me. Best of luck to you!"

Thanks Lori! I love the A-Z author challenge. To me, the A-Z Title challenge is very difficult.

You are such an inspiration, Matt. This year, Shakespeare, next year, an entirely French Old and New challenge! Wow.

These look so fun. I have a soft spot for The Once and Future King, so I'll look forward to seeing if you get to that one.

Enjoy!

Wow! A lot of nice lists there, Matt! You're making me hungry! haha!

I see that you have "Mysterious Island" on your Old/New Challenge. That was my very favorite of his! It has really stayed with me. I hope you enjoy it :)

Happy Reading in 2024! I'll be looking for some good recommendations from you!

Oh, Matt, this is so inspiring! I am excited about your lists, and off to think more about mine!

Happy Reading! Enjoy!

Kathleen wrote: "You are such an inspiration, Matt. This year, Shakespeare, next year, an entirely French Old and New challenge! Wow.

These look so fun. I have a soft spot for The Once and Future King..."

Thanks Kathleen! The Once and Future King has been on my shelf for too long. I’ve heard such good things about it. I’m looking forward to it more now!

Terris wrote: "Wow! A lot of nice lists there, Matt! You're making me hungry! haha!

I see that you have "Mysterious Island" on your Old/New Challenge. That was my very favorite of his! It has really stayed with ..."

Oh, that’s great to hear about The Mysterious Island. I loved 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea so much and I was thankful to find a sequel to it.

JenniferAustin wrote: "Oh, Matt, this is so inspiring! I am excited about your lists, and off to think more about mine!

Happy Reading! Enjoy!"

Thanks Jennifer Austin!

Matt wrote: "Terris wrote: "Wow! A lot of nice lists there, Matt! You're making me hungry! haha!

I see that you have "Mysterious Island" on your Old/New Challenge. That was my very favorite of his! It has real..."

Matt, you've just blown my mind! I did not know that Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was BOOK #2 of a three book series! AND I didn't know that Mysterious Island was the sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues!! Now I'm going to have to go back and read Book #1 In Search of the Castaways; or the Children of Captain Grant! I've never even heard of it. It must not have been very popular ;)
Thanks for the info!!

I love the French Fried theme, Matt! I love Verne and read one book by him every year. You also have my all-time favourite The Count of Monte Cristo.

Lots of great books on your list that I have read of plan to read and I look forward to seeing your thoughts on them.

Love the French themed Old and New, Matt. Look forward to your thoughts on some of them!

Carolien wrote: "Love the French themed Old and New, Matt. Look forward to your thoughts on some of them!"

Thanks Carolien! I’m so ready to start the 2024 reading year. This buffet challenge definitely has enough selections to keep me occupied.

What great books you have once again chosen this year, Matt! And I am absolutely in love with your French Fried New & Old choices! Most of your books fall into two categories with me: Read and Want to Read. So I can't wait to see what you think of your choices.

Happy reading!

Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "What great books you have once again chosen this year, Matt! And I am absolutely in love with your French Fried New & Old choices! Most of your books fall into two categories with me: Read and Want..."

Thanks so much Shirley! I believe I’m done tweaking my French Old & New challenge and am very much looking forward to it. I wish I had room for Les Misérables but I have already read it and it is awfully long.

Happy reading to you too!

Matt wrote: "I wish I had room for Les Misérables but I have already read it and it is awfully long..."

I felt the same way, Matt, when I saw that a Buddy Read was forming in 2024. Even with the year-long schedule, I still don't think I could fit it in my schedule.

Good luck with your challenge Matt! You have some great books listed.

The one good/bad thing about reading everyone’s lists is that I keep finding more and more books to read. Good luck with your challenges, Matt!

Wow! You have both A-Z challenges fully planned. I have only been successful once. Looks like you have a good year ahead. How about them dawgs.

Bob wrote: "Wow! You have both A-Z challenges fully planned. I have only been successful once. Looks like you have a good year ahead. How about them dawgs."

Thanks Bob! I’m looking forward to this reading year!

Yes, Georgia shellacked FSU. Wasn’t even a game! Very impressive! I wish I could say the same for my Razorbacks, but maybe next year. 😄

This is shaping up to be a French year. I usually don’t get the opportunity to eat French cuisine, but I’ll be eating at Bouchon at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas during a work trip later this year.

My experience with French food is pretty much limited to a cartoon rat named Remy… 😄

LOL your ten trips sounds like my husband. He is never so happy as when he has multiple plates in front of him at a restaurant.

Matt wrote: "Challenge #15 - A-Z Author

On this challenge, I've added myself a twist to try get back to reading more of my favorite genre - fantasy or epic fantasy authors."

Great list Matt. For many years I read mainly fantasy books.

The wide buffet selections I set up for this year has allowed me to become more of a mood reader which feels fresh and kind of liberating after the last few years. That to me is what reading challenges should be.

Updating my challenges slowly but so far it’s going pretty well. I’ve read some A-Z author fantasy (my favorite genre), a French book for my Old & New, a Fiction/Nonfiction pairing, some short stories (Anton Chekhov and Mark Twain!), and now am doing a reread of Don Quixote alongside a modern retelling Quichotte by Salman Rushdie.

I hope to get back into the French Old & New and my fantasy A-Z author challenge in earnest soon but I’m enjoying the variety on the buffet. It’ll be great if I finish challenges here but my goal is to sample as much of the buffet as possible. Yes any puns are intended. 😄

It sounds like you've made a lot of progress! What have been the highlights for you so far?

Wobbley wrote: "It sounds like you've made a lot of progress! What have been the highlights for you so far?"

The nonfiction/fiction pairing of Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly and 11/22/63 by Stephen King were great.

I’ve also read 3 short stories - these Mark Twain ones (The Celebrated Jumping Frog and The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg) were very enjoyable.

Matt, I agree this has been a great start. I'm reading more than normal, and the variety has been good. I am hitting the short stories hard, 15 to date. I hope the rest of the year continues as good.

You're doing great, Matt, and I like your philosophy on the challenges leading to mood reading. Keep enjoying!

Great job, Matt! I'm glad to hear you say you were doing more "mood" reading and that it felt liberating. That's what I'm going for!
You've given me inspiration that I can do that, too! :)

Nice progress!
Wouldn’t mind getting to 11.22.63 too.

Just updated my Old & New challenge - (message 3 above).

The new selections are done, now I need to tackle the old ones and then the extras on that challenge.

I am considering promoting my alternate A Tale of Two Cities onto my Old & New and using it to replace The Count of Monte Cristo.

Happy reading everyone!

Hmm, I bet you'll get a lot of conflicting opinions on that one. I personally preferred The Count of Monte Cristo, but both are good books.

Well done with the ones you've finished so far -- you're ahead of schedule!

Wobbley wrote: "Hmm, I bet you'll get a lot of conflicting opinions on that one. I personally preferred The Count of Monte Cristo, but both are good books.

Well done with the ones you've finished so far -- you'r..."

Yes I’m on the fence about it. It’s hard for me to fathom right now thinking about 1000 + pages of Count of Monte Cristo but it is a great classic.

Matt, I loved The Count, so I'm biased, but the 1000 pages flew by, and I still wanted more...