Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I now anticipate completing all my first set of Bob’s Challenges by the end of June. I focused on this goal thru the first six months of 2024, reading few books not on these challenge lists.

Because I am fascinated by the books I find in researching books for Bob’s challenges, I decided to challenge myself to complete a second set of challenges in the second half of the year.

I will be challenging myself with Challenges #1-4, 7-8, & 12-16.

I have already researched and drafted these second half challenges. To raise the stakes, I decided to not use any books in challenges 1-4, 7 & 8, or 12 & 13 in selecting books to fill challenges 15 & 16.

In order not to have such a long initial post with all the challenges, I have decided to post each challenge separately.

Challenge #1 - Old & New TBR Challenge

1899 and earlier/Old School
1. The Time Machine by H. G.Wells
2. The Bostonians by Henry James
3.The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
1900-1999/New School
4. Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
5. The Ginger Man by J. P. Donnelley
6. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys
My Six Bookshelf Dust Collectors
7.Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream by Sam Staggs
8.The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
9.Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician by AnthonyEverett
10.The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories by Washington Irving
11.A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
12.The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
Alternates
A-1 The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
A-2 The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobatis
A-3 All the Little Live Things by Wallace Sregner

Challenge #2 - Second Place or Worse
New School
1.The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (November 2019)
Old School
2. Washington Square by Henry James (2011?)
Short Story/Novella
3. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain (November 2018)
4. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain (Sep 2018)
Quarterly Long Reads
1. Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey (Sep 2017)

Challenge #3 - Decade/Century/Millennium Challenge

Decade Challenge 1980’s

1980 The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett
1981 Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
1982 A Pale View of the Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
1983 Shame by Salman Rushdie
1984 Bright Lights, Big City by Jay Mcinerney
1985The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A Heinlein
1986Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reiner
1987In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
1988 Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky
1989Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis

Challenge #4 - Members Choice Challenge

1. 19th Century [book:Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
2. 20th Century Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita May Brown
3. 21st Century Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
4. A book originally written in a language other than your own My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
5.An Author never read before The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours.Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson
7. Science Fiction/Fantasy The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
8. Action/Adventure When Eight Bells Toll by Alistair Maclean
9. Childrens/Young Adult Looking for Alaska by John Green
10. Nonfiction Memoir/Biography The Rothschilds: A Family Portrait by Frederic Morton
11. Mystery/Thriller The Quiet Game by Greg Iles
12. Horror or Humor Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors

1. Peace Like a River by Lief Engel
2. The Girl on the Train By Paula Hawkins
3. The Singularities: A Novel by John Banville
4. None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
5.The Fury by Alex Michaelides

Challenge #8 –Most Popular Goodreads Books Listed by Year

10 Books of Interest for 2019

1. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
2. The Yellow House by Sarah Brown
3. Doxology by Neil Zink
4. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
5. Lost and Wanted by Nell Freudenberger
6. Supper Club by Laura Williams
7. The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
8.All This Could Be Yours By Jami Attenburg
9.Find Me by André Aciman
10.Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

Challenge #12 - Series Books – Start, Continue, Complete
1. The Quantum Series Book 1 by Douglas Phillips
2. The Quantum Series Book 2 by Douglas Phillips
3. The Quantum Series Book 3 by Douglas Phillips
4. The House on the Cliff by Franklin Dixon
5.The Secret of the Old Mill by Franklin Dixon

Challenge #13 - Read a Book from each Continent

Australia - The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan
Europe - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
North America - Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf
South America - The House of the Spirits by Isabell Allende
Antarctica -Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Marie Simple

Challenge # 14 - Rereading - Some do. Some don't

1.Justine by Lawrence Durrell
2.Balthazar by Lawrence Durrell
3.Mountolive by Lawrence Durrell
4.Clea by Lawrence Durrell
5. A Confederacy of Dunces

Challeng #15 A # Z Author

A Abigale, FrankW Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by
B Butcher, Tim - Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart
C Clarke, Arthur C - 2001: A Space Odyssey
D Doerr, Anthony - The Shell Collector
E Ellis, Bret Easton - The Rules of Attraction
F Faulkner, William - Go Down, Moses
G Greene, Graham - The Third Man
H Heinlein, Robert - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
I. Irving, Washington - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories
J Jackson, Shirley - The Haunting of Hill House
K Knowles, John - A Seperate Peace
L Lynas, Mark - Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
M Michener, James - Centennial
N Naslund, Jena Neter - Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
O Orlean, Susan - The Library Book
P Patchett, Ann - The Patron Saint of Liars
Q de Quincey, Thomas -Confessions of an English Opium Eater
R Rowley, Steven - Lily and the Octopus
S Smith, Zadie - White Teeth
T Tremlay, Paul - The Cabin at the End of the World
U Uris, Leon - Trinity
V Vonnegut, Kurt - Breakfast of Champions
W Wang, Kathy - Family Trust: A Novel
X Xenophon - The Art of Horsemanship and on the Cavalry General
Y Yoshimoto, Banana - Kitchen
Z Zelazny, Roger - A Night in the Lonesome October

Challenge #16 A - Z Title

A Amsterdam - Ewan McGregor
B The Beet Queen - Louise Erlich
C Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan
DDark Places - Gillian Flynn
E Edge A Novel - Jeffery Deever -
F Find Me - André Aciman
G The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
H The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
I I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban - Malala Yousafzai
J Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier
K Kira-Kira -Cynthia Kadohata
L The Lightening Thief- Rick Riordan
MMuch Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare
NNumber the Stars - Lois Lowry
OThe Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
PThe Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
QQuo Vadis - Henryk Sienkiewicz
RThe Reader - Bernhard Schlink
SSchindler’s List - Thomas Keneally
TTwelfth Night - William Shakespeare
UUp the Down Staircase - Bel Kaufman
VV for Vendetta - Alan Moore
WWater for Elephants - Marcus Samuelsson
XXenophobia - Peter Cawdron
ZZeitoun - Dave Eggers

Dave! You are so ambitious! And Bob's Buffet is really fun, isn't it?
I find that it helps me organize my reading, too. It sounds like you have a "plan" that you've researched pretty well. So glad you are going to challenge yourself to another set of Reading Challenges.

Enjoy!! :)

Terris wrote: "Dave! You are so ambitious! And Bob's Buffet is really fun, isn't it?
I find that it helps me organize my reading, too. It sounds like you have a "plan" that you've researched pretty well. So glad ..."

It is fun isn’t it Terris. Searching is quick on the Internet, but finding something interesting that I have not read and is available in an Audible edition, can take some digging..

I'm glad you are enjoying the buffet. Good luck on the second half of the year.

Oh holy cow! The rest of us hope to finish our challenges at all this year, and you are doing them twice! You are amazing.

Wow, this is amazing, Dave! And reading through your choices has given me some ideas of things I might want to try myself.

Thanks for your comments Bob, Laurie, and Wobbley

Good luck on your second challenge Dave : )

Thanks Rora.

I have completed posting my second set of challenges for 2024.

Good luck with Part II, Dave!

Sara wrote: "Good luck with Part II, Dave!"

Thanks Sara.

Dave wrote: "Because I am fascinated by the books I find in researching books for Bob’s challenges, I decided to challenge myself to complete a second set of challenges in the second half of the year."

It's amazing the interesting things you find when you go searching for these challenges! Hope you enjoy going back for seconds!

Thanks for your comment Red Sycamore.

You are an inspiration, Dave! This sounds fantastic, and I really hope you get to Sometimes a Great Notion. It's so good.

Thanks for the endorsement of Sometimes a Great Notion Kathleen ! One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has been a lifetime favorite.

As we use to say in the Navy, “The reason we have a plan is so we can change it.”

Life circumstances will curtail the amount of reading I can expect to read in the second half of 2024.

So I am setting aside my second 2024 challenges and use these challenges to build my 2025 challenges in December when Bob posts them.

That reading I have time to read in the next six months will be selected from my 300 + unread Audible Library.

Life does interfere, Dave. It has done that with me over the last two years. I hope all is well and that you will enjoy the reading you are able to fit in...and, maybe life will surprise you again and you will be free to read more than you expect. Best wishes always.

Sara wrote: "Life does interfere, Dave. It has done that with me over the last two years. I hope all is well and that you will enjoy the reading you are able to fit in...and, maybe life will surprise you again ..."

Thank you Sara

Even if you'll be reading less for a bit, it's still fun to start planning for 2025 reading! Good luck with everything.

Enjoy your years second half reading, see you in December.

Lots to look forward to in 2025 then! All the best to you, Dave.