Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

✔ B1: Written by Nobel Laureate An Artist of the Floating World
✔ B2: Children’s Classic Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates
✔ B3 Government Banned Book Doctor Zhivago
✔ B4: Classic Made into a Film/TV The Moonspinners
✔ B5: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize His Family

✔ I1: 20th Century Classic The Women on the Porch
✔ I2: New-to-You Author Fair and Tender Ladies
✔ I3: Mystery or Crime Classic The Trail of the Serpent
✔ I4: Classic of More than 500 Pages Vanity Fair
✔ I5: 18th Century or Earlier Classic The Vicar of Wakefield

✔ N1: North American Classic Follow Me Down
✔ N2: Classic Short Story The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
✔ N3: FREE SPACE The Green Phoenix: A Novel of the Woman Who Re-Made Asia, Empress Xiaozhuang
✔ N4: Classic Play The Night of the Iguana
✔ N5: African Classic Cutting for Stone

✔ G1: 19th Century Classic East Lynne
✔ G2: Finest Works of Fiction (Martin Seymour-Smith & Editors) Cousin Bette
✔ G3: Adventure or Action Classic The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
✔ G4: Group Read Hard Times
✔ G5: 21st Century Potential Classic A Thousand Splendid Suns

✔ O1: Literary Prize of Your Country/Region The Moviegoer
✔ O2: Lesser known book by a famous author The Glimpses of the Moon
✔ O3: Australia, Antarctica, or Oceania Classic The Narrow Road to the Deep North
✔ O4: A Classic that you have put off reading Dune
✔ O5: Classic written by a Female Author So Big

B1: I1: N1: G1: O1:
B2: I2: N2: G2: O2:
B3: I3: N3: G3: O3:
B4: I4: N4: G4: O4:
B5: I5: N5: G5: O5:

Welcome to the 2018 Bingo Challenge Sara. I hope you have fun.

Thanks, Katy. I know I will.

Ok, wow. I'm also reading Woman on the Porch next year and just added Lost in Translation. That name jumped out at me. In fact I may use it for my decades challenge.

I am currently reading The Monk. It's rather entertaining!

Brina wrote: "Ok, wow. I'm also reading Woman on the Porch next year and just added Lost in Translation. That name jumped out at me. In fact I may use it for my decades challenge."

I nominated Women on the Porch at SLT but got my nomination in too late. I will try again. If it doesn't make a group read, maybe we could do a buddy?

MJ wrote: "I am currently reading The Monk. It's rather entertaining!"

So glad to hear that. I have had it on my TBR forever and a day. Definitely reading it this year.

Definitely. I think it might be better as a buddy read in rfp than here but we maybe we can generate more interest.

Let me know when you are ready and we will put up a buddy read request at RFP.

Anytime but I think I'll wait for February for now.

That sounds great, Brina. Gives me time to get my feet on the ground. First of the year always swamps me.

Great list. I have An Artist of the Floating World on my list, as well. I love that we can use Ishiguro for Nobel categories now. :) Good luck on you challenge!

Great list of books you have there! I hope you enjoy them, and good luck on your challenge!

Angie wrote: "Great list. I have An Artist of the Floating World on my list, as well. I love that we can use Ishiguro for Nobel categories now. :) Good luck on you challenge!"

Me too! I'm sure that is going to be one on the list that I will like.

Renee wrote: "Great list of books you have there! I hope you enjoy them, and good luck on your challenge!"

Thanks so much, Renee.

You are off to a great start, Sara! I've only read one of these - Cutting for Stone - and just loved it! I can't wait for you to read this one :) I will be watching your thread in 2018! Can't decide if I can manage another challenge or not, but knowing me, I will probably attempt it. Maybe just a line rather than a full board :)

Yes, it is nice to have the option to do the whole board or just a part. I don't stick to any plan that closely with the Bingo...I generally put in whatever I am reading until I get toward the end and then have to read specifically for the challenge. I did at least draw up a rough plan this year. :)

Cutting for Stone has been on my TBR (and physical bookshelf) for years. I'm glad you recommend it, because it is a must read for 2018.

You're reading Lost in Translation, too, yay, buddy read?? And yes, Candi, you have to do bingo even if it's just five squares for this year.

Sara, I'm hoping you go with The Return of the Soldier and The Beautiful and the Damned, but I like your plan to keep it open. It's fun to see which books we're reading actually fit in here.

Brina wrote: "You're reading Lost in Translation, too, yay, buddy read?? And yes, Candi, you have to do bingo even if it's just five squares for this year."
Absolutely a buddy read!

Kathleen wrote: "Sara, I'm hoping you go with The Return of the Soldier and The Beautiful and the Damned, but I like your plan to keep it open. It's fun to see which books we're reading actually fit in here."

The Beautiful and the Damned is a MUST DO, Kathleen. It has been carried over year after year. I love the sound of The Return of the Soldier, so I mean to give it my best try on fitting it in. I have all those other Women Writers I have committed to, LOL.

Even though I am not supposed to add to my TBR list, I had to add The Women on the Porch. It looked too good!

lol. I have made myself that promise at least a dozen times, Marilyn. I don't think not adding to the TBR is a promise any of us can keep.

I'm aiming for Lost in Translation for March. I like to do my women's Century challenge then.

I have completed Doctor Zhivago and used it for B3: A banned book. I can see why this was banned in Russia...they didn't want this truth out there! 5+ Stars for me. A great way to kick off the bingo.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have decided to use The Green Phoenix: A Novel of the Woman Who Re-Made Asia, Empress Xiaozhuang by Alice Poon as my Free Space. An excellent historical novel of China. What a pleasant way to learn some history!

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Off to a great start, Sara. You have already been to some fascinating places in your reading!

Great reviews! Completely tempting me to read Doctor Zhivago!

Kathleen wrote: "Off to a great start, Sara. You have already been to some fascinating places in your reading!"

Yes, I love that it has started off so well. I never used to "plan" what I read. I think the planning is paying off!

Veronique wrote: "Great reviews! Completely tempting me to read Doctor Zhivago!"

You won't regret it. And, thanks for the kind words on the reviews.

Great start Sara! I'm still happily making my way through Doctor Zhivago.

Sue wrote: "Great start Sara! I'm still happily making my way through Doctor Zhivago."

I'll be watching for your final thoughts on it, Sue.

Completed O5: Woman Author - So Big by Edna Ferber
and
N4: Classic Play - The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams

For B1: A Nobel Laureate - An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro 4.5 stars
I love to read Ishiguro, because he never fails to make me think about the questions that affect us all. He knows what it is to be human, in the larger sense of the word.

I4: More than 500 pages...Vanity Fair a true tome at 875 pages!

Good, but not great. 3-stars.

That's a hefty one there, Sara! Too bad at that page number it wasn't a bit better. Well, now you've knocked that one off the list at least! You are off to a great start with the bingo too!

You have done some serious reading to start the year...good for you!

Well that is a good one to get out of the way! I want to try the Ishiguro you read, but may wait on Vanity Fair ...

Candi wrote: "That's a hefty one there, Sara! Too bad at that page number it wasn't a bit better. Well, now you've knocked that one off the list at least! You are off to a great start with the bingo too!"

Still worth the effort, Candi.

Susie wrote: "You have done some serious reading to start the year...good for you!"

Yes, it is nice to have the hefty one off the list already.

Kathleen wrote: "Well that is a good one to get out of the way! I want to try the Ishiguro you read, but may wait on Vanity Fair ..."

I do love Ishiguro, and his books are not long or hard to stay with. He certainly leaves you pondering some things!

I have Floating World waiting for me on my table. I think it is on my bingo challenge, or it might be on my personal challenge. Glad to hear you liked it.

Hope you do as well, Tammy. I'll watch for your review.

O4:Book You've Put Off Reading - Dune
Not a big fan of Sci-Fi, so I have carried this on my TBR for a long time. Could see how this book was important to the Sci-Fi culture that followed. Interesting. Just not the kind of story I fall in love with.

I1: 20th Century Classic - The Women on the Porch
Enjoyed this book and although there were parts of it that made me cringe, it was a true reflection of the times in which it was written.

Sara wrote: "I have decided to use The Green Phoenix: A Novel of the Woman Who Re-Made Asia, Empress Xiaozhuang by Alice Poon as my Free Space. An excellent historical novel of ..."

That looks really good! Thank you for the recommendation and review! =)

Sara wrote: "O4:Book You've Put Off Reading - Dune
Not a big fan of Sci-Fi, so I have carried this on my TBR for a long time. Could see how this book was important to the Sci-Fi culture that follo..."

Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy Dune! I’m also planning to read it for “O4: Book You’ve Put Off Reading” which may seem strange when I’ve long enjoyed reading fantasy and science fiction but the movie didn’t wow me... not a good reason to not read a book... I guess I don’t know why I haven’t yet read it myself! XD

Erin wrote: "Sara wrote: "I have decided to use The Green Phoenix: A Novel of the Woman Who Re-Made Asia, Empress Xiaozhuang by Alice Poon as my Free Space. An excellent histori..."

I do hope you will read this. I found it fascinating. I knew absolutely nothing about this part of history and it was quite enlightening as well.

I must say I did not dislike Dune. I think it was a combo of two things, one being that this story has been drawn upon to form so much of the movie genre that it seemed unoriginal (although it is of course THE original) and second that I am not much of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy reader in the first place. I would certainly never discourage anyone else from reading it and will be interested to see how it feels to someone like you who does enjoy this genre.

G5: Potential 21st Century Classic - A Thousand Splendid Suns
I can see people reading this book far into the future and still reacting to it as I did. It might also become an important book for getting a glimpse of what happened to Afghanistan from the time before the Soviets until the arrival of the Americans after 911.

B2: Children's Classic - Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates Lovely classic that I had not read as a child. Happy to say it read well for an adult.