Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I think I will play without planning on Bingo this year. I seem to enjoy it more when I just let the chips...uh, books...fall where they may. I will go for a blackout.


➤B1 A Classic by a Nobel Laureate or a Pulitzer Prize Winner Years of Grace
➤B2 A Classic Book in Translation. Dangerous Liaisons
➤B3 A Classic Comedy or Satire Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular, a Comic Burletta
➤B4 A Classic Written Before 1700 Richard III
➤B5 A Classic of Asia or Oceania In the Wet

➤ I1 A Classic from our Short Story Group Shelf Behind a Mask, Or, a Woman's Power
➤I2 A Classic from your Personal Bookshelf My Name Is Asher Lev
➤I3 A Classic Historical Fiction or a Nonfiction History The Journey of August King
➤I4 A Classic Prize-Winning Female Author The Children
➤I5 A Book Recommended by a Group Member The Fortnight in September: A Novel (recommended by Terris)

➤N1 A Classic Made into Movie/TV The Go-Between
➤N2 A Classic you've been meaning to read. Phineas Finn
➤N3 Free Space The Priory
➤N4 A Classic on or about the Sea/Ocean My Family and Other Animals
➤N5 A Literature Class Book The Mayor of Casterbridge

➤G1 A Classic of North or South America - Ramona
➤G2 A 21st Century Potential Classic Fallen Land
➤G3 A Classic from our Old School Group Shelf Jane Eyre
➤G4 A Classic New-to-You Author The Millstone
➤G5 A Classic Play or Classic Poetry Collection The Strange Gentleman

➤O1 A Classic Book you begged, borrowed, or stole Scarlet Sister Mary
➤O2 A Classic Children's Book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
➤O3 A Classic Book found by using Literature-map.com The Light Years
➤O4 A Classic from our New School Group Shelf Things Fall Apart
➤O5 A Classic Book that Reminds You of Someone The Sanctuary Sparrow

B1: B2: B3: B4: B5:

I1: I2: I3: I4: I5:

N1: N2: N3: N4: N5:

G1: G2: G3: G4: G5:

O1: O2: O3: O4: O5:

Reserved

I'm stalking your Bingo challenge to see what you plan to read!! You always read good stuff! ;)

LOL. I do the same thing to you, and all through the year you make me change the plan because I cannot resist your choices!

:0) also very interested in seeing your choices

Thanks, Vero. The planning is so much fun--of course, getting them all read is another thing altogether.

The planning is fun, isn’t it? I am thinking of going cold turkey (🦃) next year and see what transpires. Because we both know there are plans and then there are other choices that look equally as good!! Haha!!

I decided not to plan the Bingo because I am often surprised how quickly it fills in without planning. Of course, I will have to work at finding some of the harder categories, but I usually revise the plan by mid-year anyway.

Sara wrote: "LOL. I do the same thing to you, and all through the year you make me change the plan because I cannot resist your choices!"

I love it!! ;)

Sara wrote: "I decided not to plan the Bingo because I am often surprised how quickly it fills in without planning. Of course, I will have to work at finding some of the harder categories, but I usually revise ..."

You make a good point. I planned in detail 25 books last year and only used about 8. The rest came from impulse reading that happened to fit a square. I still like to plan.

I laugh at myself because I plan so copiously and then stray away so easily. I really, really need to read the books I have already bought!

Enjoy your reading year Sara. I never really know how it will go either :-) Whichever way it goes, I hope you will find books that please.

Thanks, Cynda. I'm sure we will both find some books to love!

I think we all need to read some books that we've already bought. I hope you manage to fit some into your Bingo squares, Sara.

I'm crossing fingers, Connie, that I can stick to books I own. After all, I bought them because I knew I wanted to read them!

Have fun with your Bingo Challenge, Sara! I'm looking forward to seeing which books you really love, since those make a great reading list for everyone else!

Thanks, Wobbley. One of the best things about the challenges is scooping up all the good reads other people find!

Sara wrote: "Thanks, Wobbley. One of the best things about the challenges is scooping up all the good reads other people find!"

So true -- this group is a great source for reading ideas!

I like your restrain in not planning, Sara! I like when they just fall into place also.

It is a lot of fun just to see how they fall, especially in the beginning of the year. Toward the end, I usually have to pick some intentional books for harder categories, but sometimes I surprise myself.

I love this, Sara--like a present waiting to be opened! Can't wait to see what gems you'll find.

I get very excited about the beginning of the year, then I realize I have books I need to finish before the old year disappears! Can you believe it is almost 2024?

Sara wrote: "I get very excited about the beginning of the year, then I realize I have books I need to finish before the old year disappears! Can you believe it is almost 2024?"

I do deep breathing when the thought comes to mind!

LOL. Good idea, Jennifer.

Have fun! I am sort of planning my Bingo — just a little— I put some of my Old & New 2024 books in where they fit so I can double dip.

I will no doubt double dip as well, Annette. You have fun, too.

It begins-- G1 Classic of North America Ramona, published 1884.

Wow! I didn't know you'd finished Ramona already! Hope you enjoyed it. Congratulations on getting your first Bingo read in by January 11th! :)

I finished it this afternoon, Terris. It was better in the first half than the second, overly sentimental and romantic (Ramona is just too perfect), but historically significant. I've read worse.

Ramona is on my bookshelf, but every time i pick it up and look at the small type, I put it back. I look forward to your review!

I have so many books like that, Terry. I liked Ramona, but didn't love it. Hard to know about books sometimes until you finish them.

How true that is, that you don't know about books until you finish them! Congrats on the first book down, and a colorful beginning to your bingo board. :-)

Thanks, Kathleen. Ramona went down, but I had to upgrade my rating of The Wild Palms. My immediate reaction was lower, but the book kept haunting me and I kept mulling over and making new discoveries in my head; then Lexy put up a link to a Faulkner Q&A and I knew I just hadn't given this one time to simmer.

Sarah, I’m glad that you finished Ramona. I think I felt kind of the same way you did about it, I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it. Also, it had been on my list for so long. I think I was just glad that I had finally got to it! Overall, not bad, but not one of my favorites.

Even if you didn't love it, well done completing your first BINGO read!

Thanks, Wobbley!

Congratulations on your first unplanned BINGO spot, Sara! Too bad you weren't thrilled with it.

Thanks, Sue. It's a start.

Congratulations on another 1 spot, Sara. You could use Rabbit Redux for B1 too if you want because that one the book doesn't have to win the prize, just the author.

I'm using that spot for a Pulitzer winner, Sue, just because it forces me to get at least one more off the Pulitzer list. LOL--mind games.

Sara wrote: "I'm using that spot for a Pulitzer winner, Sue, just because it forces me to get at least one more off the Pulitzer list. LOL--mind games."

I get it, Sara! I'm so determined this year since I didn't get any read last year.

What really aggravates me is that some of the books on that list are ones I really, really want to read.

After this discussion with Sue, I decided it was time to read my first Pulitzer entry. Wow--good choice! Years of Grace. B1 now completed.

Yay, I'm glad you found a winner!

It is a big book so it's good that something so long was also a great book.

Sara wrote: "After this discussion with Sue, I decided it was time to read my first Pulitzer entry. Wow--good choice! Years of Grace. B1 now completed."

Yay, Sara! I'm so glad that you loved it on top of ticking another one off. I'm so sad that I've been unable to find a reasonably priced copy.

Wobbley wrote: "Yay, I'm glad you found a winner!"

Thanks, Wobbley. Felt good.

Laurie wrote: "It is a big book so it's good that something so long was also a great book."

Not a wasted word in it either, Laurie.

Sue wrote: "Sara wrote: "After this discussion with Sue, I decided it was time to read my first Pulitzer entry. Wow--good choice! Years of Grace. B1 now completed."

Yay, Sara! I'm so glad that ..."

I had a feeling it was going to be good, so I skipped some others and went for it. I had to read it online at archive.org. I simply could not get my hands on it any other way. Not my favorite way to read (no copying quotations, have to stop and type them out in the middle of reading) but I got so lost in the book that how I was reading it really didn't matter.