Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Mary Stewart + Greece + you loved it means I'm definitely adding My Brother Michael. Thanks, Wobbley! Glad you did so well with this bunch. :-)

Kathleen wrote: "Mary Stewart + Greece + you loved it means I'm definitely adding My Brother Michael. Thanks, Wobbley! Glad you did so well with this bunch. :-)"

Thanks so much Kathleen! I don't think you'll be disappointed. :)

Bravo, Wobbley!

I am always so happy when others read Mary Stewart. She is one of my favorite writers of all time and I have never not liked one of her books. She is both clever and skilled at description...I always feel I am there.

I am adding Appointment With Venus. Sounds like I would like it--I don't really have a problem with war horror as long as it feels genuine and accurate.

Sara wrote: "Bravo, Wobbley!

I am always so happy when others read Mary Stewart. She is one of my favorite writers of all time and I have never not liked one of her books. She is both clever and skilled at des..."

Thanks Sara! Yes, I really did like this Mary Stewart rather a lot! I definitely want to try some more from her in this genre. :) And yes, some of the descriptions of the setting were very evocative. (And I'm a bit of a sucker for half falling down ancient things, so the Greek ruins were right up my alley.)

I think you'll probably like Appointment with Venus. The horror-of-war stuff does feel genuine, and there isn't a ton of it. It's a bit tonally varied, but I think it worked. Happy reading!

Wobbley wrote: "I've read a few more for my Buffet challenges:

✅ Appointment with Venus - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - During the German occupation of a small Channel Island, London stages a covert rescue of a rare p..."

Unknown Ajax and My Brother Michael are favorites of mine - I'm glad you enjoyed them, too! I'll have to try and track down Appointment with Venus, it sounds pretty good, too. You've had a nice run of books there!

Teri-K wrote: "Unknown Ajax and My Brother Michael are favorites of mine - I'm glad you enjoyed them, too! I'll have to try and track down Appointment with Venus, it sounds pretty good, too. You've had a nice run of books there!"

Thank so much Teri-K. Yes, I've had a terrific week of reading. :)

I've finished a few more for my Buffet, all for my 1950s Decade Challenge:

✅ Year In, Year Out - ⭐️⭐️⭐️: This book of musings and anecdotes by A.A. Milne, like most collections, is mixed. Sometimes it was really amusing. And I think it would have been even funnier had I lived in England at that time: I definitely felt I was sometimes missing cultural references. Overall enjoyable enough, and I did really like what he had to say about reading things you enjoy:

In the language of the day it is customary to describe a certain sort of book as "escapist" literature. As I understand it, the adjective implies, a little condescendingly, that the life depicted therein cannot be identified with the real life which the critic knows so well... and may even have the disastrous effect on the reader of taking him happily for a few hours out of his own life ... Why this should be a matter of regret I do not know; nor why realism in a novel is so much admired when realism in a picture is condemned as mere photography. ... There is no need to be ashamed of a detective story which is so exciting that "it is impossible to put down once you have taken it up", merely to be smug about the four-generation chronicle which is impossible to take up once you have put it down.

✅ The Winds of Heaven - ⭐️⭐️½: After a woman's husband dies leaving her nothing but debt, she has to move around between her daughters' houses. I so much enjoyed the author's Mariana last year, but somehow this one didn't work so well for me. It wasn't unpleasant to read or anything, but it sort of went right through me. If I try to think of specific criticisms, the story kept jumping to different characters as she moved from place to place which made it feel less cohesive, I didn't feel any attachment to the characters, and the ending felt out of keeping with the rest of the story. Still, it was a reasonably quick read, and the writing was fine. Perhaps the experience was coloured by my expectations.

✅ Aunt Clara - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½: When a man leaves his fortune to his overlooked spinster niece, the rest of the family tries to interfere. This was the first of Noel Streatfeild's books for adults that I've read (she's famous for her Shoes books for children). I thought it was often pretty amusing, especially the portrayal of the aging uncle at the beginning. Sometimes it became a bit repetitive with the family's behaviour, but overall quite enjoyable.

Doris discovered swelling with righteous anger was wasted swelling, unless there were those to watch the swelling, and, on hearing what caused it, start to swell too.

Wobbley wrote: "I've finished a few more for my Buffet, all for my 1950s Decade Challenge:

✅ Year In, Year Out - ⭐️⭐️⭐️: This book of musings and anecdotes by A.A. Milne, like most c..."

Interesting selection of books! I love the Milne quote. Yesterday I had a discussion with some (female) friends that relates to this. She has a (male) friend who only reads nonfiction, and he asked her why she read books that "aren't real". We discussed what "real" means, and why nonfiction, which still reflects the attitudes and opinions of the writer, would be more real than a book about human emotions and feelings. We talked about how history isn't "real" because it's interpreted and reported by one group of people with their own biases. I suggested that he threw that question at her in order to feel superior to her, and next time she should ask him to define "real". lol

It was a fun discussion!

You are doing so well, Wobbley! Both of the Monica Dickens books you mention have been on my list, so I'll try to read Mariana first so I don't give up on her. Your notes are always so helpful. :-)

Teri-K, good job sticking up for the "real" in fiction!

Teri-K wrote: "Interesting selection of books! I love the Milne quote. Yesterday I had a discussion..."

Thanks Teri-K! I agree, that's a really smug question to ask someone. The idea of what is real in art (and in history) is very subjective. I always think that people should read whatever they enjoy, or else they won't read. I once knew someone who couldn't understand why I read classics, and said he never read things by authors who are dead. Honestly, what does he do if his favourite author dies?

Kathleen wrote: "You are doing so well, Wobbley! Both of the Monica Dickens books you mention have been on my list, so I'll try to read Mariana first so I don't give up on her. Your notes are always so helpful. :-)"

Thank you very much Kathleen, I'm so glad you enjoy my mini-reviews! It looks like a lot of people really enjoyed Winds of Heaven, so don't let me turn you off it. I just personally found it didn't hold a candle to Mariana.

Wobbley wrote: " I once knew someone who couldn't understand why I read classics, and said he never read things by authors who are dead. Honestly, what does he do if his favourite author dies.."

LOL That's a good question! Put down their book that you're in the middle of and refuse to finish the series, perhaps? Plus, do they actually check to see if every author they read is alive? I'd rather just be reading another book... :)

I truly don't understand the need folks seem to have to judge others for their hobbies and interests. We should all be jumping up and down whenever anyone wants to read anything, I think. Not criticizing. sigh...

Teri-K wrote: "I truly don't understand the need folks seem to have to judge others for their hobbies and interests. We should all be jumping up and down whenever anyone wants to read anything, I think...."

I 100% agree. I also appreciated what he said about visual arts (in the same quote). I paint as a hobby, and some people don't consider me a real artist because my paintings are realistic rather than abstract.

Nothing wrong with reading just because you enjoy the story. In fact, the classics that have endured the longest have something to say, but also have a riveting story that makes you want to read. The Milne quote is priceless and I am still chuckling about the dead authors.

To each his own, but I suspect those readers are missing a lot of fun and perhaps enlightenment. I have learned some pretty amazing things from fairly unenlightened books.

Sara wrote: "Nothing wrong with reading just because you enjoy the story. In fact, the classics that have endured the longest have something to say, but also have a riveting story that makes you want to read. The Milne quote is priceless and I am still chuckling about the dead authors."

That's so true. Glad you enjoyed the quote; its last line is quite the zinger! :)

Milne definitely had a way with words, didn't he?

Teri-K wrote: "Milne definitely had a way with words, didn't he?"

Boy did he ever!

Well, I'm definitely in the middle of a "life gets in the way" period, but I finally have another update for my Buffet. I've also completed my second 1950's decade challenge!

✅ Childhood’s End - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Aliens arrive and establish a benevolent but absolute rule. But what is their purpose here? This was my first novel by Arthur C. Clarke, and it was generally a success, and not quite what I expected. It was creative and thoughtful and poignant. Many thanks to Lynn for selecting it for Moderators Run Amok!

✅ Written on the Dark - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: The latest by my favourite fantasy author, Guy Gavriel Kay. A tavern poet gets mixed up in the events of his day. While this is not top-tier Kay (and he persists with his annoying recent habit of adding a bunch of slightly pompous "aren't I deep" asides), I found this generally satisfying and enjoyable. The focus was more contained than in many of his books, and that worked for me.

✅ Anatomy of a Murder - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I chose this one for "genre outside my comfort zone" in the "Bestselling Novels" challenge. The top genres listed are mystery, crime, and thriller, all of which are definitely outside my comfort zone. But it turned out not to be what I expected. It wasn't really a mystery, crime or thriller: it was a courtroom drama, told from the perspective of the defendant's lawyer. I thought it was pretty entertaining.

All strong ones this time. :)

Glad you had a lot of successful reads in a difficult reading zone. I think summer lends itself to the life interfering syndrome. I remember Anatomy of a Murder as a very old movie, glad it was an interesting book.

Sara wrote: "Glad you had a lot of successful reads in a difficult reading zone. I think summer lends itself to the life interfering syndrome. I remember Anatomy of a Murder as a very old movie, glad it was an interesting book."

Thanks Sara! Yeah, it's just one thing after another right now, and I'm pretty glad I got so far into my challenges early in the year! But although my reading has slowed down for sure, you're right that I had a bunch of successes. I've never seen the movie version of Anatomy of a Murder -- I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

Life Gets in the Way could be my theme of the year. Let’s hope things get better for each of us!

Terry wrote: "Life Gets in the Way could be my theme of the year. Let’s hope things get better for each of us!"

Hopefully things will quiet down soon!

There seems to be a lot of that going around, and I guess we're lucky when we have any time at all for reading. Looks like you're making the best of your reading time, Wobbley!

Kathleen wrote: "There seems to be a lot of that going around, and I guess we're lucky when we have any time at all for reading. Looks like you're making the best of your reading time, Wobbley!"

Thanks Kathleen! You're right, and I'm glad I had lots of reading time earlier in the year -- it's a sign of calmer times. :)

Terry wrote: "Life Gets in the Way could be my theme of the year. Let’s hope things get better for each of us!"

Definitely seems to be the theme for this summer, April. Hope things are going fine.

Wonderful progress, Wobbley!

Thanks so much, Ila!

Yup! That's the theme of my summer, too! Unfortunately, I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel yet. So, I am looking at my reading as my "happy place" when I get the time. And happy to have you guys to talk to! :)

Wobbley wrote: "Well, I'm definitely in the middle of a "life gets in the way" period, but I finally have another update for my Buffet. I've also completed my second 1950's decade challenge!

✅ [book:Childhood’s E..."

Those look good, Wobbley! I'm going to have to look into Anatomy of a Murder :)

Terris wrote: "Those look good, Wobbley! I'm going to have to look into Anatomy of a Murder :)"

Thanks Terris! I hope you'll enjoy it if you give it a try! Yeah, I think my life will calm down around October, which is so much time with so little reading... but at least I read a lot at the start of the year. :)

I'm in the club with you guys. I look at my slack reading time and know it isn't going to get much better before the fall and maybe not until the winter. Always grateful for the ones I can fit in though!

That's exactly the right attitude Sara -- we take what we can get. :)

Life gets in the way - that's for sure. I think I'm back and getting on track again. Fingers crossed! I haven't been up to focusing on anything challenging, or sometimes anything at all, it seems. It's great to be able to pop in and see what everyone else has been reading, though.

I'm intrigued by Written in the Dark; I brought it home from the library a few days ago. I'm hoping to be able to give it a try - glad you enjoyed it. I have Tigana on my reread shelf right now, waiting for the right time to come.

Teri-K wrote: "Life gets in the way - that's for sure. I think I'm back and getting on track again. Fingers crossed! I haven't been up to focusing on anything challenging, or sometimes anything at all, it seems. ..."

I'm glad things are getting back on track for you, Teri-K! I didn't find Written on the Dark to be at the level of Tigana (Tigana is top-tier Guy Kay for me), but I did enjoy it, and it had that nice Guy Kay book feeling. I hope you'll find it satisfying!

I've finished a few more for my Buffet, and finished off a few more of the challenges: my second Members Choice challenge, Travel the World, and Rereading.

✅ The Martian Chronicles - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½: This is my favourite Bradbury so far. His writing is beautiful, and seems to be about everything. His stories are full of creative ideas, and he touches on so many parts of what it means to be a human: to suffer and to strive and to dream.

If you can’t have the reality, a dream is just as good.

✅ A Lost Opportunity - ⭐️⭐️: A decent parable about living peacefully with others.

✅ Allan Quatermain - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½: A small group of adventuring English gentlemen in the late 1800s venture into the unexplored heart of Africa following rumours of an isolated kingdom of white people. Yes, this has the racism and sexism one might expect from a book from the 1880s about Europeans in Africa. But nevertheless, if you can get past that, it's entertaining. I didn't like it as much as book 1 of the series, King Solomon's Mines, but it was pretty enjoyable, sometimes exciting, and sometimes quite touching in its handling of the friendships among the main characters.

“Adventurer”—he that goes out to meet whatever may come. Well, that is what we all do in the world one way or another...

I've read a couple more books for my Buffet, and finished off 2 more challenges:

✅ Random Harvest - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: A story about a man who loses his memory in WWI, has to build a life without it, and then has to figure out what to do when he regains it years later. I enjoyed this one so much! The style of the writing was somehow comforting. The characters we were meant to like were incredibly likeable. There was even a twist at the ending that I didn't see coming at all. I'm so glad I picked this one up! This is my third read by James Hilton, and probably my favourite so far. It completes my Century Challenge, and my Bestselling Novels Challenge.

✅ The Seagull - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½: A country house play by Chekhov, in which everyone is in love with the wrong person. To me, this play is about power dynamics in relationships, and the cost of a life devoted to art. I will admit that Chekhov's characters pick much more dramatic solutions to their problems than I would (this is a common feature of 19th Century European literature). Nevertheless I thought this play had some good insights about human nature.

Random Harvest sounds really good, Wobbley. Like you,I have read several of his other books and enjoyed them.

Congratulations on finishing 2 more challenges. Looks like you are going to meet all your goals this year!

Wobbley wrote: "I've read a couple more books for my Buffet, and finished off 2 more challenges:

✅ Random Harvest - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: A story about a man who loses his memory in WWI, has to build a life w..."

I've had my eye on Random Harvest for a while - you've made it sound quite good. Looks like I should bump it up my TBR!

Terry wrote: "Random Harvest sounds really good, Wobbley. Like you,I have read several of his other books and enjoyed them."

It definitely is good, Terry! Yes, I really enjoy his writing style.

Sara wrote: "Congratulations on finishing 2 more challenges. Looks like you are going to meet all your goals this year!"

Thank you Sara! Yes, I think I'll be able to finish my Buffet. At the moment I'm trying to madly read as much as I can in a very small break before my next busy period. :)

Teri-K wrote: "I've had my eye on Random Harvest for a while - you've made it sound quite good. Looks like I should bump it up my TBR!"

Yes, the TBRs are endless, but I think you won't regret moving this one up. Thanks Teri-K!

Congratulations on finishing two more challenges, Wobbley :)
And I'm definitely adding Random Harvest to my "soonest" list!
I actually had not heard of it, but have read Lost Horizon and Good-Bye, Mr. Chips and enjoyed both of them. Thanks for your review!

I also want to say that I completely agree with your assessent of "Allan Quatermain"! But I still plan to read She before the end of this year. I've been told by friends that this was their favorite of Haggard's. Maybe a strong female main character will help! ;)

Terris wrote: "Congratulations on finishing two more challenges, Wobbley :)"

Thanks Terris! It helped that the two challenges were finished by the same book ;)

Yes, those were the two other Hiltons I had previously read as well. I liked both but I preferred Goodbye Mr. Chips. I was so impressed by Random Harvest! I hope you'll enjoy it when you get to it, and that I haven't oversold it, haha!

Good luck with She. The only person I know who's read it preferred King Solomon's Mines, but there are definitely people who like She better. I'll be curious to hear what you think.

Wobbley wrote: "Terris wrote: "Congratulations on finishing two more challenges, Wobbley :)"

Thanks Terris! It helped that the two challenges were finished by the same book ;)

Yes, those were the two other [auth..."

I'll let you know :)

Well I too have added Random Harvest. I remember a classic film of it, but have never read James Hilton so need to fix that. Great progress, Wobbley!

Kathleen wrote: "Well I too have added Random Harvest. I remember a classic film of it, but have never read James Hilton so need to fix that. Great progress, Wobbley!"

Yeah, I think I might be officially a James Hilton fan at this point. I think you are wise to add this one to your TBR ;) Thanks Kathleen!

I've finished 2 more for my Buffet challenges, and completed Challenge 10: books from 1953.

✅ Regret ⭐️⭐️: A short story in which a woman suddenly finds herself looking after her neighbour's children, and is surprised to find she likes it. I don't know. I feel like this story wanted to be emotionally affecting, but somehow it just wasn't for me. I think maybe it was too short for what it was trying to achieve. I liked it fine, but that's it.

✅ The Variable Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️: A man is accidentally brought from the early 1900s to the year 2136, and causes mayhem -- the fact that he knows how to improvise and is good with his hands apparently makes him unique in 2136. My experience with this one was varied. Sometimes I found it quite interesting, but sometimes I found the execution a bit lacking, as I often do with Philip K. Dick (so far, he's my least favourite of the big names in early sci-fi).

I only have 2 more book to go for my 2025 Buffet (though I doubt I'll get to them before October, as I'm moving back into a busy time).

Well, at least you don't need to rush to finish, with only two books left!

I'm sorry you didn't love these two stories more. I think it can be quite tricky for short stories or novellas to work in the same way novels do, there's just not enough space to get it all done. So I guess my expectations are always lower for them, anyway. Though I sometimes am surprised with really great shorts, too.

Teri-K wrote: "Well, at least you don't need to rush to finish, with only two books left!"

Thanks Teri-K! That's a very sensible approach to short stories. Somehow, I can't seem to convince myself to change my standards for them just because they're short. I've definitely read some amazing short stories, just as I've read some amazing novels, so I think I judge them the same way. Oops...

Wobbley wrote: "Teri-K wrote: "Well, at least you don't need to rush to finish, with only two books left!"

Thanks Teri-K! That's a very sensible approach to short stories. Somehow, I can't seem to convince myself..."

You just have high expectations for them - that's not bad. I have low ones. LOL The optimist vs the pessimist, perhaps.