All About Books discussion

I've got some ideas, so will get some of them down here in the next few days. Some of them are to carry on with those of my 2015 challenge, that I didn't complete.

*My main challenge will be to finish my Austrohungary challenge, that is - read books (fiction and non-fiction) that relate to the main present-day countries that were part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
13 countries, 13 books! I have 6 countries to go.
1 Austria Rock Crystal Read March 2015
Also The Post-Office Girl Read March 2015
The Chosen Ones: A Novel Read July 2016
2 Bosnia and Herzegovina Rose of Sarajevo Read April 2015
3 Croatia The Balkan Express: Fragments from the Other Side of War Read April 2016
The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Svejk During the World War, Book Two Read July 2016
4 Czech Republic The Trial Read October 2015
5 Hungary Brigitta Read February 2015
Also Embers Read March 2015
They Were Divided Read June 2015
Kaddish for an Unborn Child Read April 2016
6 Italy - northeast Zeno's Conscience Read May 2016
7 Montenegro Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (finished at end of 2014, but I'm still counting it!)
8 Poland The Street of Crocodiles Read April 2016
9 Romania The Appointment Read May 2016
10 Serbia Skylark Read February 2015
11 Slovakia Zoli Read November 2015
12 Slovenia On the Tracks of Wild Game Read March 2016
13 Ukraine Taras Bulba Read March 2016

*Complete the Rougon Maquart cycle by Émile Zola, bimonthly
I have 4 books to go.
1 The Beast Within Read January
2 Money Read March
3 La Débâcle Skimread May
4 Doctor Pascal Read July

* Read 6 books by William Faulkner, bimonthly
1 As I Lay Dying Read February
2 The Reivers: A Reminiscence Read April
3 Go Down, Moses Read June
4 Absalom, Absalom! Read August
5 Sanctuary Read October
6 Requiem for a Nun Read December

*Continue reading books by Graham Greene, maybe 4
1 A Burnt Out Case Read April
2 Yours, etc.: Letters to the Press Read April
3 Travels With My Aunt Read June
4 Monsignor Quixote Read June

* In another GR group, I have taken part in a project in 2015, relating to The Novel: A Biography. I have read the book, and 40 sidereads. I have 20 sidereads still to read connected with this.
1Invisible Man Read January
2 The Lancashire Witches Started February, read a few pages. Definitely not for me!
3 The Story of an African Farm Read February
4 The Horse's Mouth I was going to read this in March, but it turned out that the ebook was a completely different book with a similar title, that was incorrectly listed.
24th March , I'm giving up with this section of my challenge. I can't fit it in with the other reading I am enjoying doing.

Here are some notes trying to plan out which Graham Greene books I want to read. I'll select from amongst these for 2016.
Books I have read in the last few years:
A Gun for Sale 1936
The Power and the Glory 1940
The Third Man 1949
The End of the Affair 1951
The Quiet American 1955
The Comedians 1966


Here is the list that I'm left with of books by Graham Greene, that I haven't read recently and that are available to me in an accessible form:

In chronological order:

The Man Within (1929) CD

Stamboul Train (1932) CD

It's a Battlefield (1934) CD

Brighton Rock (1938) Calibre CD eaudiobook

The Confidential Agent (1939) CD

The Heart of the Matter (1948) Possibly read a long time ago Calibre

Our Man in Havana (1958) Calibre CD eaudiobook Large Print

A Burnt-Out Case (1960) Possibly read a long time ago CD

Travels with My Aunt (1969) CD eaudiobook

The Honorary Consul (1973) Calibre CD

The Human Factor (1978) Calibre CD

Monsignor Quixote (1982) CD

The Captain and the Enemy (1988) CD

The Last Word (1990) (short stories) Calibre Large Print

Calibre also has 'The Fallen Idol' and 'A Sort of Life'

Library has on audio book of 'The Fallen Idol'

14 titles to select from. I'll be reading these for some time to come!

My main challenge is to read books (fiction and non-fiction) that relate to the main present-day countries that were part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. If I've got it right, that's Austria, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, also I think parts of what was Yugoslavia. (My first job is to clarify which countries it involves!)
Also Northeast Italy (thanks Giorgia!)

I'm going to add books here which I'm interested in reading. Even if I add more than one for a country, my intention is to only read one book per country (at least initially).

Austria
The Post-Office Girl

Bosnia and Herzogovina
Rose of Sarajevo

Croatia

Czech Republic
Prague Winter

Hungary
They Were Divided
Brigitta
Embers
Italy - northeast
Italo Svevo
Trieste?

Montenegro
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon
Poland
The Street of Crocodiles

Romania

Serbia
Skylark

Slovakia
Zoli

Slovenia
On the Tracks of Wild Game

Ukraine
Taras Bulba

I've updated Message 1 with the books I've read in January for my challenge. I only managed 2.

I need to sort out something to read for Poland. Any suggestions?

Gill wrote: "
I need to sort out something to read for Poland. Any suggestions?"

You can try Israel J. Singer or his more famous brother Isaac Bashevis Singer. By him I've read only "Destruction of Kreshev" a short story I can't find on GR but I don't remember a lot about it. I've liked much more The Family Carnovsky by his brother.

Gill wrote: "I've updated Message 1 with the books I've read in January for my challenge. I only managed 2.

I need to sort out something to read for Poland. Any suggestions?"

I've looked at my polish shelf. There's ton's of poetry, but surprisingly little prose or non-fiction that has been translated to English. However two sprung to mind: The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski and The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories which is one of my favourites but a) I don't know where exactly it's set b) Bruno Schulz wrote in Polish but: (quote from Wikipedia ;) was born in Drohobych, Austrian Galicia, historically part of the Kingdom of Poland before the three partitions, and today part of Ukraine. take a pick! ;)

And, if you wanted to really go wild: The Captive Mind ;)

Thanks for the suggstions, dely and Jenny. I'll have a look into them all.

Gill wrote: "Thanks for the suggstions, dely and Jenny. I'll have a look into them all."

Our current BoTM is by a Polish author -- did you read Solaris?

Gill wrote: "My main challenge is to read books (fiction and non-fiction) that relate to the main present-day countries that were part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. If I've got it right, that's Austria, Hunga..."

What an impressive list! Wow! Thanks for sharing, Gill.
I'm steeling some off of your list. :-))

Gill wrote: "I've updated Message 1 with the books I've read in January for my challenge. I only managed 2.

I need to sort out something to read for Poland. Any suggestions?"
Does it have to be about Poland, or just Polish author?

Mimi wrote: "Gill wrote: "I've updated Message 1 with the books I've read in January for my challenge. I only managed 2.

I need to sort out something to read for Poland. Any suggestions?"
Does it have to be a..."

I'm more interested in it being about Poland, Mimi, because I'm trying to get a but of a feel for the countries.

Gill wrote: "Mimi wrote: "Gill wrote: "I've updated Message 1 with the books I've read in January for my challenge. I only managed 2.

I need to sort out something to read for Poland. Any suggestions?"
Does it..."

Oh then my suggestion is a poor one. Sorry!

Leslie wrote: "Gill wrote: "Mimi wrote: "Gill wrote: "I've updated Message 1 with the books I've read in January for my challenge. I only managed 2.

I need to sort out something to read for Poland. Any suggesti..."

It was a very good suggestion, Leslie. But it doesn't really fit. Thanks anyway!

Finished This one not to long ago and though they are short stories, they connect through characters and a small village in Poland. In the Land of Armadillos: Stories.

Thanks Diane. Yes, I saw your review, I thought the book looked very interesting. It's not available on kindle here yet though. I'll keep a lookout for it.

The book I've decided to use for Poland is The Street of Crocodiles. (Interesting - armadillos and crocodiles, that could be the start of another themed read!)

I've updated Message 1 with my challeng related reads for February.

I've chosen the next 3 books for my Austrohungary challenge.
They are:
Poland The Street of Crocodiles
Slovenia On the Tracks of Wild Game
Ukraine Taras Bulba
I'll read them in March and April.

After that I have only 3 more countries to go: Croatia, Northeast Italy, Romania. I have some ideas for Northeast Italy, but I could do with some suggestions for Croatia and Romania. Hint, hint!

Girl at War for Croatia.

Another book for my The Novel project bites the dust!

As part of the Novel project, I want to read The Horse's Mouth. So I looked up Joyce Cary on iBooks, and was pleased to see that the book is available, with him as its author, for £2.49. So I have just bought the book, and iBooks have actually sent me for download The Horse's Mouth: Showing the age by the teeth, still telling me that it's the Joyce Cary book.

It's a funny old world!

I've updated Message 1 with my challenge related reads for March.

So this is where I'm up to:

I've decided to give up on the part of the challenge that relates to the side read books for The Novel. By doing this, I'm hoping to get all the other parts of this challenge finished this year, plus I'll still have a bit of time to read all the other books that I'm interested in and that I hope to enjoy.

So the parts that are left to do:
2 of the books in the series by Zola
5 books by Faulkner
4 books by Graham Greene (and I've bought 3 books now for my kindle so I should get this done )
4 books for my Austro Hungary challenge. These are for Croatia, North-east Italy, Poland, Rumania.

It's actually looking possible!

Re Austrohungary challenge:
I've recently read The Street of Crocodiles for Poland,
I'm currently reading The Balkan Express: Fragments from the Other Side of War for Croatia,
I've bought Zeno's Conscience for Northeast Italy.

So I only need to sort a book for Romania, and that's my challenge completed.

I've decided to read The Appointment for Romania.

I've updated Message 1 with the books I have read for my challenge in April.

I've updated message 2 with the books that I've read for my challenge this month, May.

And the exciting news is that I have now finished my Austrohungary challenge; reading 1 book for each of the 13 current countries that formed part of the Austrohungarian Empire.

Gill wrote: "I've updated message 2 with the books that I've read for my challenge this month, May.

And the exciting news is that I have now finished my Austrohungary challenge; reading 1 book for each of the ..."

Woo hoo!! Congrats on reaching your goal in the Austria-Hungary challenge Gill :-)

Thanks, Leslie. I'm really pleased to have done so, and I'm also pleased that it has served the purpose that I hoped; I'm now much clearer about that part of the world, both currently and historically.

I've updated Message 2 with my June reads. I've completed my Graham Greene challenge now (but it's not the end of reading his books!).

One Émile Zola and three William Faulkner books to go!

I've updated Message 2 with my July and August reads.

Two William Faulkner books to go!

I've updated Message 2 now.
Only one Faulkner to go now, Requiem for a Nun in December.
Time to start thinking about 2017!

To Read list, as of 18th October, 2016
Part One

1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution Read October 2016

Becoming Faulkner: The Art and Life of William Faulkner

The Book of Daniel

The Book of Disquiet

Breathing Lessons

Confusion

The Confusions of Young Törless

The Custom of the Country

Dance on the Volcano

Death Going Down

Dom Casmurro

Dora Bruder

The Empty Space

Every Move You Make

Exit West

The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy

To Read list, as of 18th October, 2016
Part Two

Gone to Earth

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Homegoing

In This House of Brede

An Inland Voyage

Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach Us How to Live

Judas: The troubling history of the renegade apostle

Lions

Lolly Willowes

The Making of the English Working Class

My Name Is Asher Lev

Nadja

A New World Order

On the Shortness of Life

Orlando

A Personal Record

To Read list, as of 18th October, 2016
Part Three

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948

Reputations

Requiem for a Nun

Reykjavík Nights: Murder in Reykjavík

Satantango

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets

Seiobo There Below

Silence

Six Records of a Floating Life

So Long a Letter

The Spoilt City

The Dark Flood Rises Read October 2016

Toba Tek Singh: Stories

The Unknown Soldier

The Walk and Other Stories

So, here's the thing. When I joined Goodreads I was determined to operate my 'to read' list, as a list of books that I intended to read in the near future. It's worked pretty well for me. I've never had more than 60 books on it, and I periodically cull it of books that no longer appeal etc etc.

Notwithstanding that, I still have some books on it that have been there for more than 2 years. So, what to do?

I've decided that, by the end of 2017, in relation to the 47 books that are currently on my To Read list (as of 18th October 2016), I will have either read them or taken them off the list.

Messages 30, 31 and 32 list these 47 books. I'll keep a record of my progress with them in these 3 messages.

A couple of other things.

* I'll still be adding books to my To Read list, but by the end of 2017, at least none of them will have been on it for more than 15 months.

* The books I have on my Kindle aren't included in my To Read list. They are in separate Fictiononkindle (24 books currently) and Nonfictiononkindle (11 books currently) lists.

I'm a recent member of Goodreads and although I am a voracious reader, pale in comparison to many here.
So, I think I'll be open to suggestions from you. I'm glad you're going to continue providing titles that I will fearlessly seek out and digest.
Thanks Gill.
Marc W.

Gill wrote: "A couple of other things.

* I'll still be adding books to my To Read list, but by the end of 2017, at least none of them will have been on it for more than 15 months.
..."

Wow, that is a great achievement! I really should go through and weed out some of the books on my TBR and make more of an effort to read or discard them.

Marc wrote: "I'm a recent member of Goodreads and although I am a voracious reader, pale in comparison to many here.
So, I think I'll be open to suggestions from you. I'm glad you're going to continue providin..."

Welcome to All About Books, Marc. We're a friendly lot, so enjoy being in the group!

I've finished my 2016 challenge today. Phew! I'm very pleased to have done it, with a few weeks to spare.

Gill wrote: "I've finished my 2016 challenge today. Phew! I'm very pleased to have done it, with a few weeks to spare."

Congrats Gill!! Good for you finishing early :)

Perfect timing Gill!

Well done, Gill.

Thanks everyone!

Congratulations on finishing this early, best of luck with your 2017 challenges.