Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I think this thread is for my oddball personal challenges, so here goes:

SF&F Classic (read at least two):
The Mists of Avalon Done
Magician: Apprentice
Doomsday Book
The Stand Done
Anathem

Cockroach Squasher (read at least two):
The Good Soldier Švejk
The Decameron
Gargantua and Pantagruel
War and Peace
Ulysses
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale Done
Life: A User's Manual
The Divine Comedy

Coretta Scott King winner (read at least two):
Fallen Angels Done
One Crazy Summer Done
Brown Girl Dreaming Done
Elijah of Buxton
Copper Sun
The First Part Last
Bronx Masquerade
Slam!
The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

Belpre winner (at least two):
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano Done
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom Done

Printz winner (at least two):
On the Jellicoe Road
The First Part Last
Looking for Alaska Done
Ship Breaker
The White Darkness
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
A Step from Heaven Done

Newbery Medal winner (read at least three):
The Dark Frigate Done
Smoky the Cow Horse
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women
Last Stop on Market Street (done)

500 Cult Classics (read at least two):
The Divine Comedy
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale Done
Life: A User's Manual
The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories Done
The Master and Margarita Done
The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories Done

Random books that GR recommended (read all three):
Duncton Wood
The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories Done
Darker Than You Think Done

Sounds great, I´m interested to see what books you end up reading. Also Duncton Wood sounds kind of interesting. I really liked Watership Down and I was wondering if it´s nothing alike.

Thanks for checking in!

Who knows about Duncton Woods. I never heard of it till it kept popping up on my recommendations. The reviews are evenly divided between "Better than the Bible" and "Badgers are weird," so I don't know how it will be to read it.

It's not available as an e-book, which is usually a sign of obscurity.

Note to self- I have to read 16 books to satisfy all my challenges. The year is about 1/4 done, and I've only read three, so I'm a little behind. Being partway through Moby Dick sort of helps, though.

Nice list -- what a fun variety of reading. Good luck on your challenge.

shouldn't your "Cockroach Squasher" category include The Metamorphosis? ;o)

Darren wrote: "shouldn't your "Cockroach Squasher" category include The Metamorphosis? ;o)"

Ha ha. Maybe The Castle.

Great list and category names! I'm hoping to read a few of these this year as well.

Note to self: Trying to finish "Rosy Elf" by HCA today.

I read several of the Duncton Wood books when I was in primary school after reading Watership Down, I remember enjoying them but it was a long time ago! They could probably go in your cockroach squasher category, I remember them being hefty

Yeah, I'm a little scared. The one I've got is a small-font paperback, which is my Achilles' heel. I'll be giving it a shot around July/August if you want to cheer me on.

Phil wrote: "Note to self- I have to read 16 books to satisfy all my challenges. The year is about 1/4 done, and I've only read three, so I'm a little behind. Being partway through Moby Dick sort of helps, though."
There's a lot of year left, you can do it.

Darren wrote: "shouldn't your "Cockroach Squasher" category include The Metamorphosis? ;o)"

Har, har!

Note to self:
Trying to finish Tale #35 "The Red Shoes" by Thursday.
Trying to finish Tale #82 "Pepperman's Nightcap" by the end of June.

I'm going to park this over here, because it's hard to find otherwise:

Women's Century Challenge:

1840s Wuthering Heights
1850s Narrative of Sojourner Truth
1860s-1880s nuthin'
1890s Yellow Wallpaper
1900s-1920s nuthin'
1930s And Then There Were None
1940s ?
1950s A Raisin in the Sun
1960s Bronzeville Boys and Girls
1970s Kindred
1980s The Color Purple
1990s Speak
2000s A Step From Heaven
2010s Pax

How did you get onto Gargantua and Pantagruel it stands out as particularly obscure?

And what lead you to the various prizes?

Thanks for checking in, Jon!

I didn't know G&P was all that obscure. I read part of it in high school French class, and I've heard about it from time to time. I'm drawn to satires, so it seemed like a natural. I would have thought you would call out The Good Soldier Švejk or Life: A User's Manual for being more obscure.

"Il pleut comme une vache," (He cried like a cow) is one of my favorite sentences in any language, and I just want to read the book that goes with it.

My interest in the Newbery, Printz, CSK, and Belpre awards is work-related. I teach Middle School English, and I have to motivate myself to read more age-appropriate material.

Phil wrote: "I would have thought you would call out The Good Soldier Švejk or Life: A User's Manual for being more obscure. "

Funny how that works. They seem like standard classics to me, but only because the new Pocket Penguin edition of the Hasek is face out in all my local bookshops, and I have a poet friend who loves him some Perec.

Jon wrote: "Phil wrote: "I would have thought you would call out The Good Soldier Švejk or Life: A User's Manual for being more obscure. "

Funny how that works. They seem like standard classics to me, but onl..."

Your local bookshops are cooler than mine, and your friends sound interesting.

So, I'm on track to finish Hans Christian Andersen, and I'll probably find time for one more Newbery winner (probably Hitty: Her First Hundred Years).

That leaves The Divine Comedy and Duncton Wood. There's about a 50/50 chance of me finishing Dante in the calendar year and a very slim chance of me even starting Duncton Wood.

I'm okay with that. My third child was born in September, and I'm still doing way better on reading than the year my second child was born.

That sounds quite an achievement to me. I'm sure I only get so much reading done nowadays because my kids are older (17 and 19) I don't think I read anything for years when they were very young!

Pink wrote: "That sounds quite an achievement to me. I'm sure I only get so much reading done nowadays because my kids are older (17 and 19) I don't think I read anything for years when they were very young!"

Thanks, Pink! It's a little discouraging when I see how much people without small children are getting done.

Wow, your third child was born and you manage to get some reading done. That's impressive to me. Two of my coworkers who had a third child this year seem to be happy if they just make it to work every day. I doubt they are getting much reading done since they both get sleepy when they sit too long. So be proud of your reading successes so far.

Thanks, Laurie. It's exhausting and joyful. My wife knows that I become grouchy and unpleasant without reading, so she takes the kids for a few hours each weekend while I read.