Guardian Newspaper 1000 Novels discussion

What didn't you like about Eugenides?

I really loved The Virgin Suicides so was looking forward to Middlesex, but it didn't seem like a novel as such, more of a cross between a memoir of the Greek immigrant experience and a nonfic/history book
I only made one highlight in my Kindle version which was this at nearly 300 pages in:

"When I told my life story to Dr. Luce, the place where he invariably got interested was when I came to Clementine Stark. Luce didn’t care about criminally smitten grandparents or silkworm boxes or serenading clarinets. To a certain extent, I understand. I even agree."

I figured that if even the protagonist admits that the book so far has been uninteresting, then it was time for me to stop.

Thanks. I have not had much luck with modern authors, and am always hoping I'll find one that I like. Eugenides seems to be pretty well liked, so I was curious what you saw.

What LIST books did I read in October? hmmm...

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
Asterix the Gaul by Rene Goscinny
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

and a few of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series:
Monstrous Regiment
The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable
Unseen Academicals
Going Postal

Only one this month:

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

An ambivalent 3 stars

Darren wrote: "I really loved The Virgin Suicides so was looking forward to Middlesex, but it didn't seem like a novel as such, more of a cross between a memoir of the Greek immigrant experience and a nonfic/hist..."

I liked Middlesex - eventually! I pushed through and it got really good. Virgin Suicides is definitely a lot better though. Snappier and more to the point. There was a lot of meandering in the first part about life in Greece.

Jenny wrote: "Only one this month:

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

An ambivalent 3 stars"

Have you done Parade's End yet? It blew hot and cold for me but there were some stunning passages and insights.

Just 3 guys to get to 310! I'm a little ashamed of myself!

A Farewell to Arms
The Three Musketeers
A Passage to India

No Human Comedy either. Definitely to up my game!

Fay wrote:

Have you done Parade's End yet? It blew hot and cold for me but there were some stunning passages and insights."

I haven’t read Parades End yet. I enjoyed the first 3 parts of Good Soldier but Ford lost me at the end.....so I think I’d probably agree with your hot and cold assessment.

Good to see you posting again Fay...sorry about all your recent upheavals. I hope things are settling down a bit for you. Keep calm and carry on--I believe that started in your neck of the woods. : )

Bryan wrote: "Good to see you posting again Fay...sorry about all your recent upheavals. I hope things are settling down a bit for you. Keep calm and carry on--I believe that started in your neck of the woods. : )"

Thanks, you have all been so nice. It's all going OK actually so I'm looking forward to getting some good reading time in!

I’ve read about 35% of the list, but I’m also somehow missing 14 books from the list and I am dreading the needle in the haystack search I will have to go through to figure it out

Here are the books from the list I read in November:

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Castle by Franz Kafka
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delaney
The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

and more of Terry Pratchett's Discworld:
A Hat Full of Sky
Wintersmith
Thud!
Making Money

I've read 61 of the 156 on the shelf. BUT lots more I plan to get to!

5 more for me in November, making 377

Code Of The Woosters, The Wodehouse, P. G. - 3.5
End Of The Affair, The Greene, Graham - 3
A Rage In Harlem Himes, Chester - 5
Suite Francaise Nemirovsky, Irene - 4
Play It As It Lays Didion, Joan - 4

also an "OTGA"
Lord of Light Zelazny, Roger - 4

also a re-read
Heart Of Darkness Conrad, Joseph - 4.5

Terris wrote: "... BUT lots more I plan to get to!"

I think that we can all say that!

@Darren -
5* for the Chester Himes! I will have to move it up in the TBR.

Well, I found my copy of the Guardian list on my computer and my update is that I have read 251/1000, with 43 on my immediate TBR list, two of which I hope to finish this month (Brighton Rock and For Whom the Bell Tolls)!
Looks like I'll be reading for awhile ;)

Late to the party with my November additions.

3 books read off the list, one of which was a reread.

the Castle (reread - but a long time ago before I went to university so well worth coming at again)

The Member of the wedding - excellent

The Stars my Destination - a curate's egg.

It puts me up to 263/1000.

I also added A Woman of Thirty, from Balzac's Human Comedy, and Henry IV pt 1 from my endeavour to read all of Shakespeare's works in order of writing (or one of the suggested orders, anyway).

My November reads were

The Member of the Wedding--excellent

The Name of the Rose--enjoyable

The Castle--frustrating, but that was the point

The Military Philosophers--#9 in The Dance to the Music of Time

The End of the Affair--disappointing.

I haven't read any list books for December yet, but I did start Books Do Furnish a Room, #10 in DttMoT

I'm also at 250 on my own checklist, but only 248 at the website checklist I use--I found one discrepancy, but I'm not sure where the other is.

Phil wrote: "Late to the party with my November additions.

3 books read off the list, one of which was a reread.

the Castle (reread - but a long time ago before I went to university so well worth coming at ag..."

Thank you for teaching me a new term "a curate's egg"! I had not heard that before -- I love it!

You're welcome, Terris. "Good in parts".

It looks like I've read 97 of the books on the list, but that is including individual books from the Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Earthsea and Discworld series.

My LIST books from December were

new-to-me books:
The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge
If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi
White Noise by Don DeLillo

rereads:
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Heavy Weather by P.G. Wodehouse
1984 by George Orwell

and from Terry Pratchett's Discworld, which I have finally completed!
Snuff
I Shall Wear Midnight
Raising Steam
The Shepherd's Crown
Guards! Guards! (reread)

I’m going to post my number at the beginning of January so I have a baseline of improvement throughout the year.

BAM wrote: "I’m going to post my number at the beginning of January so I have a baseline of improvement throughout the year."

Me too! I'm gonna do that too! ;)

Ugh I sucked in the latter half of the year but I did increase my total to 319 by adding:

White Teeth
The Member of the Wedding
The End of the Affair
Jude the Obscure
Dolores Claiborne
No Country for Old Men
Norweigian Wood
White Noise
The Information


I also managed the following from Human Comedy:
Domestic Peace
Madame Firmiani
Study of a Woman
The Imaginary Mistress

Ultimate goal for 2020 is to reach 350 I think :-)

Anyone else have any personal goals?

Okay so I calculated my baseline: 315. So I’m starting my Guardian goal at that number already read. I’m going to check on that probably quarterly and report my increase.

My personal goal will be the same as it has been for the past several years - to read at least 25 new-to-me books from the list. I count individual books from series in my total so for example, I have 12 books from the Discworld series in my 2019 list even though Discworld is only a single entry in the list. I won't have that "easy out" in padding my list in 2020 as in December I finally finished the Discworld series!

I am starting 2020 with 527 books read (according to List Challenge; there is a slight discrepancy with my own list on my computer which I haven't been able to track down yet.)

Leslie wrote: "My personal goal will be the same as it has been for the past several years - to read at least 25 new-to-me books from the list. I count individual books from series in my total so for example, I h..."

You rule!! I can;t wait for you to finish!

BAM wrote: "Okay so I calculated my baseline: 315. So I’m starting my Guardian goal at that number already read. I’m going to check on that probably quarterly and report my increase."

Good luck! Can't wait to see which ones you choose :-)

Wow. December was pretty bad, reading-wise. Two list books finished: White Noise (Don DeLillo) and Children of the New Forest (Capt Maryatt).

Although I'm most of the way through two more, which will help bulk up January's.

2020 goals will be to reach 300 on the list (I'm nearly at 270 at the mo). And to read more than 50 books in total).

As of today I have read 254, I am currently reading two on the list, and have hi-lited 41 others that I'd like to get to in the near future. I am not going to set a specific goal for this year -- just try to work along and see how it goes!

5 more from the Guardian 1000 List for me in December,
so ending year on total of 382

Tropic of Ruislip Thomas, Leslie - 4 Stars
Bel-Ami Maupassant, Guy de - 4
Gravity's Rainbow Pynchon, Thomas - 4
Member Of The Wedding, The McCullers, Carson - 3.5
Vanity Fair Thackeray, W. M. - 3.5

also an "OTGA"
Hopscotch Cortazar, Julio - 4

also a "Should Be On The List"
The Gate Soseki, Natsume - 4.5

Managed to get back in the game lol! 8 new ones this month taking me up to 327 and because one of them is A Suitable Boy I am suitably impressed with myself (and I loved it!)

This months offerings are:

If Not Now, When?
The King of Torts
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Oscar and Lucinda
A Gun for Sale
A Suitable Boy
Porterhouse Blue
The Name of the Rose


No HC for me this month.......

4 more for me in January:

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A Twain, Mark - 2.5
Malice Aforethought Iles, Francis (aka Anthony Berkeley) - 4
Canticle For Leibowitz, A Miller Jr., Walter M. - 2.5
Song Of Solomon Morrison, Toni - 4

making total of 386

plus one "OTGA":
Half Of A Yellow Sun Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi - 4

Darren wrote: "4 more for me in January:

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A Twain, Mark - 2.5
Malice Aforethought Iles, Francis (aka Anthony Berkeley) - 4
Canticle For Leibowitz, A Miller Jr., Walter M..."

I love Half of a Yellow Sun :-)

An average start to the year, with 4 books read, 3 of which were new reads from the 1000 list, which took me up to 268 :

If Not Now, When (Levi)
Babbitt (Lewis)
A Gun For Sale (Greene)

Plus number 20 in my Human Comedy read
The Girl With the Golden Eyes

Another person with 4 :)

New to me were:
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh
Living by Henry Green
Uncle Silas by Le Fanu

plus 2 from Balzac's Human Comedy:
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket
The Ball at Sceaux

and one reread - A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene

That takes me to 531 done.

What a slacker I am! Just one for January:

Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Same two Human Comedy books for me as Leslie.

I think that makes 249 for me.

In January I read 9 books from the list and generally a very good bunch it was!

The 39 Steps - 4/5
The Diary of a Nobody - 4/5
Queen Lucia - 4/5
The War of the Worlds - 4/5
Doctor Zhivago - 5/5
The Midwich Cuckoos - 3/5
The Day of the Triffids - 4/5
Topper Takes a Trip - 3/5
Tom Brown's Schooldays - 3/5

That gets me to ~170 so maybe even reach 200 this year if I keep it up...

I am currently reading:

Cider With Rosie
A Suitable Boy
Crome Yellow, and
The Two Towers

Fingersmith
Mary Barton, and
So Long, See You Tomorrow
are on my immediate reading list for February.

I've read 150 books on the Guardian list before I even joined. It will be fun to follow along the group and read a book or two each month.

Gary wrote: "I've read 150 books on the Guardian list before I even joined. It will be fun to follow along the group and read a book or two each month."

That was about where I was when I first encountered the list 8 years ago. The group is a good way to keep whittling away at the list & discovering new authors and/or books. For me, it helps remind me to read from all the categories, not just my favorites (crime, comedy and sci fi/fantasy)!

February was a good month for me, with 8 more completed, namely:

A Lost Lady Cather, Willa - 4.5
Room Temperature Baker, Nicholson - 4.5
My Cousin Rachel Du Maurier, Daphne - 4.5
A Judgement In Stone Rendell, Ruth - 4.5
Fireflies Naipaul, Shiva - 4
Rubyfruit Jungle Brown, Rita Mae - 4
Sentimental Education Flaubert, Gustave - 2.5
Brewster's Millions McCutcheon, George Barr - 2.5

making total of 394

plus one re-read:
Pride And Prejudice Austen, Jane - 4.5

plus one "should be on the list":
Cities Of Salt Munif, Abd al-Rahman - 4.5

fingers crossed for cracking 400 in March... :oD

Well done Darren!

I only managed to finish 3 new-to-me books from the list:

The Baron in the Trees
Père Goriot
First Love

plus one short story from Balzac's "Human Comedy" - The Purse.

I also reread 4 books from the list in Feb. (2 for group reads):
Lolita by Nabokov
A Lost Lady by Cather
Whose Body? by Sayers
Dune by Herbert

February has been a poor month for finishing books, for me (I’ve even dropped behind schedule in my Reading Challenge).

Only 3 books finished - but at least all List Books that are new to me.

A Canticle for Leibowitz
Ennui (Maria Edgeworth)
Brewster’s Million’s

Although I am v close to completing two other books, before starting on this month’s poll winners.

Here’s hoping March will see a pick up in reading time.

I didn't do too bad for February--

They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Native Son by Richard Wright

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

I think that puts me at 257

Seven books from the list for me in Feb which is not bad at all, taking the total to 174.

Death in Venice - 5/5
Dead Lagoon - 4/5
(I was in Venice at the time and have started a new habit of reading books based in the location I'm visiting. It really adds to the reading experience when you're able to recognise the locations, customs, etc)
Greenmantle - 4/5
Just William - 3/5
A Lost Lady - 4/5
Brewster's Millions - 2/5
England, Their England - 2/5

I feel like yelling -- I just marked A Suitable Boy off my list -- by which I mean that I READ IT!! ALL 1349 PAGES!! Of course, it took me three months ;) But by reading only a set amount of pages per day, I was able to read another 42 books within that same time! :)

I hate to say it, but it wasn't very good. You might want to move it down on your list and just read it when you're really desperate ;)