Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I'm not really sure what I'm capable of so I'm diving right in and trying them all. We will see what this realistically turns into as the year progresses.

Completed: 11/12

Challenge #1 - Old & New TBR Challenge

1899 and earlier/Old School
✔ 1.Northanger Abbey (finished 11 May 2021)
2.Shirley
✔ 3.The Mill on the Floss (finished 29 January 2021)

1900-1999/New School
✔ 4.One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(finished 5 February 2021)
✔ 5.1984 (finished 25 January 2021)
✔ 6.Rabbit, Run (finished 25 October 2021)

Wildcard Six
✔ 7.The Alchemist (finished 2 January 2021)
8.Love in the Time of Cholera
✔ 9.Things Fall Apart (finished 1 March 2021)
✔ 10.Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation (finished 29 January 2021)
✔ 11.A Death in the Family (finished 27 July 2021)
✔ 12. The Giver (finished 6 February 2021)

Alternates
1.The Sun Also Rises
✔ 2.The Remains of the Day (finished 2 May 2021)

Challenge #2 – Does a Century Make a Difference?

Completed: 6/10

My Birth Year: 1988

1. Alaska by James Michener
2. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
3. Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake
✔ 4. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (finished 17 September 2021)
5. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
6. Libra by Don Delillo
7. Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
8. The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
✔ 9. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (finished 2 January 2021)
10. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

100 Years Earlier: 1888

✔ 1. The Aspern Papers by Henry James (finished 24 August 2021)
✔ 2. The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling (finished 31 January 2021)
3. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
✔ 4. The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde (finished 27 January 2021)
✔ 5. My Favorite Murder by Ambrose Bierce (finished 28 August 2021)
6. The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
7. Looking Backward: 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy
8. The Lady from the Sea by Henrik Ibsen
9. Two Years' Vacation by Jules Verne
10. Pierre and Jean by Guy de Maupassant

Challenge #3 - Second Place or Worse

New School
1.
2.

Old School
3.
4.

Short Story
5.Bartleby the Scrivener (finished 5 February 2021)
6. The Last Question (finished 25 July 2021)

Long Read
7.

✅ Completed: 12/12

Challenge #4 - Members Choice Classic/Genre Challenge


✅ 1. 18th Century or older, Moll Flanders (finished 9 September 2021)
✅ 2. 19th Century, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (finished 22 January 2021)
✅ 3. 20th Century, Nineteen Eighty-Four (finished 25 January 2021)
✅ 4. Current or Past Group Read, The Captain's Daughter (finished 8 January 2021)
✅ 5. An Author not read before, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (finished 29 January 2021)
✅ 6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours. The Alchemist (finished 2 January 2021)
✅ 7. Science Fiction, The Last Question (finished 25 July 2021)
✅ 8. Romance, Normal People (finished 10 August 2021)
✅ 9. Historical fiction, The Bridge of San Luis Rey (finished 8 February 2021)
✅ 10. Nonfiction, Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation (finished 29 January 2021)
✅ 11. Mystery/Crime, The Mysterious Card finished 28 August 2021
✅ 12. Horror or Humor, The Dunwich Horror (finished 19 February 2021)

Challenge #5 - Century Challenge

I've decided to use this one to make a dent in the Pulitzer list I've been slowly working through.

✔1920-1929 The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1928)
1930-1939 The Yearling (1939)
1940-1949 A Bell for Adano (1945)
✔1950-1959 A Death in the Family (1958)
1960-1969 The Reivers (1963)
1970-1979 The Stories of John Cheever (1979)
1980-1989 The Executioner's Song (1980)
1990-1999 The Shipping News (1994)
2000-2009 Olive Kitteridge (2009)
2010-2019 A Visit from the Goon Squad (2011)

✅ Challenge #6 - Short Story

1. The Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence (finished 2 January 2021)
2. A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger (finished 3 January 2021)
3. Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian (finished 4 January 2021)
4. The Captain's Daughter by Alexander Pushkin (finished 8 January 2021)
5. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates (finished 10 January 2021)
6. The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs (finished 23 January 2021)
7. The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde (finished 27 January 2021)
8. The Lady with the Little Dog by Anton Chekov (finished 28 January 2021)
9. The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling (finished 31 January 2021)
10. The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft (finished 19 February 2021)
11. Gooseberries by Anton Chekov (finished 20 April 2021)
12. Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen, Karen Blixen (finished 5 May 2021)
13. An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce (finished 10 June 2021)
14. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald (finished 22 July 2021)
15. The Last Question by Isaac Asimov (finished 25 July 2021)
16. My Favorite Murder by Ambrose Bierce (finished 28 August 2021)
17. The Fatal Secret by Daniel Webster (finished 28 August 2021)
18. The Mysterious Card by Cleveland Moffett (finished 28 August 2021)
19. The Mysterious Card Unveiled by Cleveland Moffett (finished 28 August 2021)
20. Goodbye, My Brother by John Cheever (finished 26 October 2021)
21. The Enormous Radio by John Cheever (finished 11 November 2021)
22. The Common Day by John Cheever (finished 11 November 2021)
23. O City of Broken Dreams by John Cheever (finished 11 November 2021)
24. The Hartleys by John Cheever (finished 11 November 2021)

✅ Challenge #7 - 2021 Group Read Challenges

1. The Captain's Daughter (finished 8 January 2021)
2. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (finished 22 January 2021)
3. Songs of Innocence and of Experience (finished 2 February 2021)
4. A Streetcar Named Desire (finished 20 March 2021)
5. Gooseberries (finished 20 April 2021)
6. The Portrait of a Lady (finished 20 April 2021)
7. Babette’s Feast (finished 5 May 2021)
8. Tess of the D'Urbervilles (finished 5 July 2021)
9. Moll Flanders (finished 9 September 2021)
10. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (finished 7 October 2021)
11. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (finished 8 November 2021)
12. A Christmas Tree (finished 11 December 2021)

✅ Challenge #8 - New Authors

1. Alexander Pushkin, The Captain's Daughter
2. Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
3. Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince
4. George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss
5. Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey
6. H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror
7. Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
8. Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day

Completed: 19/26

Challenge #9 - A-Z Author Challenge


A- Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart (finished 1 March 2021)
B- William Blake - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (finished 2 February 2021)
C- Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist (finished 2 January 2021)
D- Daniel Defoe - Moll Flanders (finished 9 September 2021)
E- George Eliot - The Mill on the Floss (finished 29 January 2021)
F- F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (finished 22 July 2021)
G-
H- Thomas Hardy - Tess of the D'Urbervilles (finished 5 July 2021)
I- Kazuo Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day (finished 2 May 2021)
J- Harriet Ann Jacobs - Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (finished 22 January 2021)
K- Ken Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(finished 5 February 2021)
L- H.P. Lovecraft - The Dunwich Horror (finished 19 February 2021)
M- Cleveland Moffett - The Mysterious Card (finished 28 August 2021)
N-
O- George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four (finished 25 January 2021)
P- Alexander Pushkin - The Captain's Daughter (finished 8 January 2021)
Q-
R- Karen Russell - Swamplandia! (finished 22 July 2021)
S- JD Salinger - A Perfect Day for Bananafish - (finished 3 January 2021)
T-
U- John Updike - Rabbit, Run (finished 25 October 2021)
V-
W- Oscar Wilde - The Happy Prince and Other Tales (finished 27 January 2021)
X-
Y-
Z- Alyssa Zaczek - Martin McLean, Middle School Queen (finished 25 March 2021)

Completed: 18/26

Challenge #10 - A-Z Title Challenge


A- The Alchemist (finished 2 January 2021)
B- The Bridge of San Luis Rey (finished 3 February 2021)
C- Crazy Rich Asians (finished 8 July 2021)
D- The Dunwich Horror (finished 19 February 2021)
E- The Enormous Radio (finished 11 November 2021)
F- Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions(finished 7 October 2021)
G- Gooseberries (finished 20 April 2021)
H- The Happy Prince and Other Tales (finished 22 January 2021)
I-Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (finished 22 January 2021)
J-
K- Kristy's Great Idea (finished 26 October 2021)
L- Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA (finished 24 June 2021)
M-The Mill on the Floss (finished 29 January 2021)
N- Nineteen Eighty-Four (finished 25 January 2021)
O- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (finished 5 February 2021)
P- The Portrait of a Lady (finished 20 April 2021)
Q-
R- The Remains of the Day (finished 2 May 2021)
S- A Streetcar Named Desire (finished 20 March 2021)
T- Things Fall Apart (finished 1 March 2021)
U-
V-
W-
X-
Y-
Z-

Good luck and have fun, Stephanie!

Philina wrote: "Good luck and have fun, Stephanie!"

Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun planning so far.

You remind me of me, this year. Nothing wrong with a healthy appetite. Good luck!

Oh wow, I have never done a challenge but I like the look of your planning. I might be convinced doing it myself. Have fun reading!

Carolin wrote: "Oh wow, I have never done a challenge but I like the look of your planning. I might be convinced doing it myself. Have fun reading!"

There's just something about a neatly organized list that I cannot resist. It's definitely an overambitious first go around but I can't wait. Happy reading!

Off to a good start, finished The Alchemist today which fit into several challenge categories. I went back and forth between thinking "this is a nice idea" and "ugh that's not the way anything works" but I think I settled on liking the book overall. Plus it had one of the most interesting "About the Author" sections I've read in recent memory. 3/5 stars.

Nice job. You have a nice list of good books. I see you have read quite a few short stories. I have also been concentrating on short stories this month.

Lynn wrote: "Nice job. You have a nice list of good books. I see you have read quite a few short stories. I have also been concentrating on short stories this month."

Thanks Lynn. I haven't had a ton of experience with short stories but I've marked a few from some of the "must read lists" and I have enjoyed them all so far. Hope your enjoying your reading this year too!