Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Here's my plan for 2023. Making adjustments along the reading path.

✔️B1: Book Published 1950 - 1999- Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose - 1/4/2023
✔️B2: Classic written in your native language- Matilda by Roald Dahl
✔️B3: Classic of Europe - A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie
✔️ B4: Classic involving art- Harold's Trip to the Sky by Crockett Johnson
✔️ B5: Classic from your bookshelf- The Hours by Michael Cunningham

✔️I1: Book from the Group’s Bookshelf Prior to 2023-The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, 1/26/2023.
✔️ I2: Classic biography/autobiography or memoir - My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
✔️I3: Classic horror or gothic- Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier 1/16/2023
✔️I4: Classic comedy, satire, or humor- In Praise of Folly by Erasmus
✔️I5: Book from the group’s Favorites of 2022 - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing 1/4/2023

✔️N1: Classic of the Americas- The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder -1/12/2023
✔️N2: Classic Western-Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
✔️ N3: Reader’s Choice- The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoevsky
✔️N4: Classic mystery or thriller- The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
✔️N5: Classic of Africa or Oceania- Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

✔️G1: Classic from a group poll that did not win- Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories by Truman Capote - 1/9/2023
✔️G2: Classic action or adventure- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
✔️G3: Classic history or historical fiction- The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
✔️G4: Class fantasy or science fiction- Anthem by Ayn Rand
✔️G5: Book from the Group’s 2023 Bookshelf- If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino - 1/2/2023

✔️O1: Book Published before 1900- Electra by Sophocles
✔️O2: New-To-You Classic Author- Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
✔️O3: Classic of Asia- The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
✔️O4: Classic in translation- Night by Elie Wiesel - 2/25/2023
✔️O5: Book Published 1900 – 1949 - Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather

A simply marvelous list!
I'm also reading If on a Winter's Night a Traveler for G5.

I finished several of the short books that have been on my shelves. Most were not very cheerful, but so well written. And it was a nice change since December turned out to be a long book month for me ("Gone with the Wind", "War and Peace", and a non-classic long book: "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson- a disappointment for me).
I also finished a few non-classics in January that I enjoyed:
"The Giver of Stars" by JoJo Moyes; "Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"" by Zora Neale Hurston, published 80 years after it was written; "Founding Mothers" by Cokie Roberts; and "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas. It was a fun month of reading!

At the end of 2022 I discovered the Bingo Challenge, went through the books I had read for the year, and filled in a Bingo card for 2022. It was great fun. Full of new confidence, in December 2022, I planned my 2023 Bingo Challenge card, using many of the Classics sitting on my physical and electronic book shelves, eager to make a dent to make room for more.
Well, I don't know if this happens to other people, but I'm really enjoying reading the Catching up on Classics group reads, and my neighborhood book club reads. It turns out that they are fitting right into my 2023 Bingo card, and I am barely making a dent in my to-be-read shelf!
What a dilemma! Stick to my original 2023 plan or take this fun ride with the others. I think my Bingo card tells the answer. Perhaps I'll start another card with my original list if I finish this card before the end of 2023.
I'm really having fun with these classics. I'm thankful for this group that expanding my universe...

I'm with you: planning which books to read is pretty fun, but going with the flow is a lot of fun too. I say go with it as long as it works. Then you can fall back on your plan if you fall into a rut. Have fun!

EvenB wrote: "At the end of 2022 I discovered the Bingo Challenge, went through the books I had read for the year, and filled in a Bingo card for 2022. It was great fun. Full of new confidence, in December 2022,..."

You can have your cake and eat it too. I wish you delirious reading!

Let them fall where they may and enjoy the ride, EvenB. All those "planned" books will be there when you are ready (or in need) of them.

I agree, the meandering reading trail is very fun. I get extra excited when the group happens to select a book I already have on my shelf. And, looking up all of the nominations opens up this classics world to places I haven't explored. So fun.

I just finished my "I" column with a Memoir, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, recommended by a friend of mine. It was so fun. It would also fit into a book published 1950-1999, a classic of Europe, a classic comedy (I was laughing out loud), a possible classic written in your native language.

Now back to Electra by Sophocles for the Old School group read for March. I picked up a more contemporary translation by Paul Roche published in 2001, so much easier to understand and quicker to read than the version I started reading by Lewis Campbell and Henry Frowde Oxford University Press, first published in 1906.

Hey, congrats on finishing your first column -- that's great!

Thanks to the group reads, and finally getting to some books on my shelf, I've finished a few more rows. I loved Electra, especially the Paul Roche translation in my book: The Complete Plays by Sophocles. I think I'll be reading the rest of the plays in that collection.

I was excited when the group selected The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck for the May short story reads; it has been on my shelf for a few years. And I'm going to visit the "Steinbeck House" in Salinas, CA on a field trip with some friends this week. So I thought I would read that before our field trip. I really enjoyed it, quite different from his other central California books.

And I finally got to reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. That'll make space on my shelf! I remember watching the series on TV in 1989. I know I'm not in the majority here, I think I liked the mini series better than the book. And I liked Horseman, Pass By better than the Lonesome Dove book. Horseman, Pass By was made into a movie "Hud", starring Paul Newman. I think I'll need to try another book by Larry McMurtry, not a western, perhaps Terms of Endearment or The Last Picture Show.

Remaining in my bingo:

B3: Classic of Europe
B4: Classic involving art
B5: Classic from your bookshelf
N3: Reader’s Choice
G4: Class fantasy or science fiction

This is way too fun!

Doing some exciting reading, EvenB! I'm looking forward to The Moon Is Down, so glad to see you enjoyed it.

Congrats on your many bingos, EvenB!

Carolien wrote: "Congrats on your many bingos, EvenB!"

Thanks!

I was in literary love with Katherine Anne Porter many years ago. If you are similarly in love with her writing, you might also enjoy her letters. . . . . Enjoy the collected stories :-)

Cynda wrote: "I was in literary love with Katherine Anne Porter many years ago. If you are similarly in love with her writing, you might also enjoy her letters. . . . . Enjoy the collected stories :-)"

I have to say, I enjoy Katherine Anne Porter's prose, but I did not like Ship of Fools. I started her Collected Stories and enjoyed them much more, then I had to return it to the library after being rerouted to some other books. I'll get back to the Collected Stories in a few months.

Thanks for the recommendation of her letters!

I just finished Anthem by Ayn Rand, using it for G4 - classic fantasy or science fiction. I enjoyed it more than Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Anthem was not as whiney or preachy, it was more thought-provoking and a bit romantic. Although, considering what Ayn Rand went through in her early life, her philosophy of Objectivism is quite understandable, regardless of how long John Galt could carry on. :-)

I did not much like The Ship of Fools either. I do want to see what I think of it now. Time and age do sometimes make a big difference.

I completed my Bingo blackout for 2023!

I finished The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoevsky yesterday and really enjoyed it. With the author's dilemma to understand how he would take his own life, while being so concerned about another person in distress (the little girl); it reminded me of The Brothers Karamazov, as Ivan asks his brother Alyosha why he should worry about being good and caring about doing the right thing if he doesn't believe in God. They all get into a circular situation where if you can care about people, you end up doing the right thing. I'm inspired to read more Dostoevsky.

And, I finally read The Hours by Michael Cunningham from my Pulizter Prize shelf. Not my favorite. Although, it did inspire me to read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

I think I'm going to start a personal challenge for my next reading adventure, especially to make a dent in my home bookshelf. My idea is:
B- Pulitzer winners 1918 - 1999;
I- "Ancient" books pre-1000;
N- Pulitzer winners 2000 - 2022
G- Nobel Laureate authors
0- "Big" books - 800+ pages
I'll move this new plan to the personal challenge slot.

This was fun!

Congratulations on your blackout!

Wow, you finished so early in the year. Impressive! You have a few books I'm very fond of in your Bingo list. Which were your favourites?

Congrats EvenB! You read some really great books! Good luck with your future challenges!

Well done EvenB! Great reading 🎉🎉

Carolien wrote: "Congratulations on your blackout!"

Thank you Carolien! Happy reading to you!

EvenB wrote: "I completed my Bingo blackout for 2023! ..."

Congratulations

Wobbley wrote: "Wow, you finished so early in the year. Impressive! You have a few books I'm very fond of in your Bingo list. Which were your favourites?"

Thanks Wobbley. You opened up the can of [book]worms asking which were my favorites!
From my bingo card, these were my 5* favorites: My Family and Other Animals, Electra, The Moon Is Down, Night.
These were the books that surprised me, how much I liked them, 4*:
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, Cry, the Beloved Country, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston - published posthumously in 2018, originally written in 1931.

I get so many great ideas of books to read from this group. So many books and authors I've never heard of; and they turn out to be amazing.

Lori wrote: "Congrats EvenB! You read some really great books! Good luck with your future challenges!"

Thanks Lori! Enjoy your challenges too!

Thank you Janelle!

WOW, congrats!

Congrats, EvenB! It's great that you have enjoyed the books you've read. The point is to find great books and you have definitely succeeded at that.

EvenB wrote: "I get so many great ideas of books to read from this group. So many books and authors I've never heard of; and they turn out to be amazing."

It's fantastic that you enjoyed so many of them! I get a lot of great ideas from this group too. Good luck with your next challenge!