Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Another year, another BINGO board!

B1 A Classic by a Nobel Laureate or a Pulitzer Prize Winner
Early Poems by W.B. Yeats 10/4
B2 A Classic Book in Translation
Metamorphoses by Ovid 3/13
B3 A Classic Comedy or Satire
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 2/6
B4 A Classic Written Before 1700
Theogony / Works and Days by Hesiod 3/18
B5 A Classic of Asia or Oceania
Died In The Wool by Ngaio Marsh 7/12

I1 A Classic from our Short Story Group Shelf
The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde 3/24
I2 A Classic from your Personal Bookshelf
Never Too Late by Angela Thirkell 5/23
I3 A Classic Historical Fiction or a Nonfiction History
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro 2/28
I4 A Classic Prize-Winning Female Author
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather 7/18
I5 A Book Recommended by a Group Member
A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell 7/9

N1 A Classic Made into Movie/TV
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien 8/5
N2 A Classic you've been meaning to read.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 7/30
N3 Free Space
N4 A Classic on or about the Sea/Ocean
The Voyage of Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes 3/21
N5 A Literature Class Book
Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare 9/31

G1 A Classic of North or South America
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote 12/7
G2 A 21st Century Potential Classic
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad 3/20
G3 A Classic from our Old School Group Shelf
Aesop's Fables by Aesop 2/27
G4 A Classic New-to-You Author
The Romance of a Shop by Amy Levy 2/7
G5 A Classic Play or Classic Poetry Collection
Lysistrata by Aristophanes 2/23

O1 A Classic Book you begged, borrowed, or stole.
The Dialogues of Plato by Plato 2/20
(Got it from the Little Free Library!)
O2 A Classic Children's Book
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 10/19
O3 A Classic Book found by using Literature-map.com
X Y Z: A Detective Story by Anna Katharine Green 8/15
O4 A Classic from our New School Group Shelf
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor 2/13
O5 A Classic Book that Reminds You of Someone
Watership Down by Richard Adams 6/4

Possibilities:

I can't wait to see what you read next year, Teri-K! I may have to "borrow" some of the books you like best ;)

Enjoy your Bingo Challenge!

Terris wrote: "I can't wait to see what you read next year, Teri-K! I may have to "borrow" some of the books you like best ;)

Enjoy your Bingo Challenge!"

Thanks, Terris. I'd be happy if you enjoy some of my selections - I've certainly taken ideas from you!

Teri-K wrote: "Terris wrote: "I can't wait to see what you read next year, Teri-K! I may have to "borrow" some of the books you like best ;)

Enjoy your Bingo Challenge!"

Thanks, Terris. I'd be happy if you enjo..."

Haha! Happy to oblige ;)

Welcome Teri-K. It's nice to see you're reading with us again.

Lynn wrote: "Welcome Teri-K. It's nice to see you're reading with us again."

Thanks, Lynn. I appreciate that your Bingo board works for the variety of books I like to read in a year. I always have goals, but I've found forcing myself to read a particular book at a particular time can backfire, so I need to stay flexible. I can do that here.

Enjoy your challenge, Teri-K. I hope you have a great year of reading!

Wobbley wrote: "Enjoy your challenge, Teri-K. I hope you have a great year of reading!"

Thanks! I'm excited enough to skip Christmas and get right into the New Year. I'm not sure everyone else would like that, though. It's just so hard to wait...

Yes :-) I am ready for the new year of reading too. . . . .Enjoy your new reading year.

February Progress:
B3 Satire Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 2/6
G4 New Author The Romance of a Shop by Amy Levy 2/7
O4 Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor 2/13
G5 Lysistrata by Aristophanes 2/23
O1 The Dialogues of Plato by Plato 2/20
I3 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro 2/28
G3 Aesop's Fables by Aesop 2/27

Well done getting started on your challenge!

Wobbley wrote: "Well done getting started on your challenge!"

Thanks. I really liked both the books I've read so far. I consider that a good sign for the year!

Teri-K wrote: "February Progress:
B3 Satire Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 2/6
G4 New Author The Romance of a Shop by Amy Levy 2/7"

Nice start :O)
Was intrigued by your review of Amy Levy’s title. I knew of her since Persephone published Reuben Sachs but that was all. Sounds great!

March Progress:
B2 Metamorphoses by Ovid 3/13
B4 Theogony / Works and Days by Hesiod 3/18
G2 Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad 3/20
N4 The Voyage of Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes 3/21

Well done -- I hope you enjoyed it!

Veronique wrote: "Nice start :O)
Was intrigued by your review of Amy Levy’s title. I knew of her since Persephone published Reuben Sachs but that was all. Sounds great!
..."

Sorry I missed your comment earlier! I discovered The Romance of a Shop through Katie Lumsden's Youtube channel. It sounded so good I requested it through ILL. I'm glad I did.

Have you read Reuben Sachs yet? I'm interested in her work - unfortunately she died too young.

Wobbley wrote: "Well done -- I hope you enjoyed it!"

I like did like it a lot. At first it just felt like a lot of myths strung together, but as I read I got pulled into it and spent a lot of time thinking about the overall picture he was painting. I'm sure I'll revisit it some, too. I'm surprised how interesting it turned out to be!

Great progress, Teri! I loved Mrs. Palfrey.

Kimberly wrote: "You've really made some great progress! Cold Comfort Farm is on my BINGO card for the year, too, but I haven't made it to it, yet. I look forward to seeing how you finish up. Good luck and happy re..."

Thanks, Kimberly. Progress goes in fits and starts, I find. I never know which task I'll finish next.

I hope you like Cold Comfort Farm - I got a kick out of it and look forward to rereading it.

May Progress:
I2 Never Too Late by Angela Thirkell 5/23

I've never heard of this one. Did you enjoy it?

Wobbley wrote: "I've never heard of this one. Did you enjoy it?"

Well, it's not one of her best, I gave it 2.5 stars, being kind I think. It had the usual fun characters, but tended to ramble even more than usual. It's really late in the series, so I think that's the problem.

I did remember how much I enjoy Thirkell, and decided I'm going back to reread the early ones in order. So that was good!

Well, it's nice that you got something out of it, even if it wasn't a winner. :)

Wobbley wrote: "Well, it's nice that you got something out of it, even if it wasn't a winner. :)"

Yes, not every book will be great. I don't finish them usually if I really don't like them. This wasn't bad, just not very good, either. I'm already excited about starting the reread, though!

JUNE:
O5 Watership Down by Richard Adams 6/4 *5+
Reminds me of my Mom, who rarely read fiction but loved this book.

Teri-K wrote: "JUNE:
O5 Watership Down by Richard Adams 6/4 *5+
Reminds me of my Mom, who rarely read fiction but loved this book."

I loved it, too -- almost 40 years ago -- time for a re-read!
Glad it brought memories of your mom :)

I just reread Watership Down for the first time since I was a teen. Loved it just as much. Sometimes I am scared to reread, fearing it will spoil my good memories. But this was a joy.

This is one of my favourite books! I'm so glad you liked it.

Nice reading so far Teri. I love hearing the story about your Mom. The square about a book that reminds you of someone was Sara's idea. It is so sweet reading what people chose for that.

Thanks for all your comments! I'd recommend that anyone who hasn't read Watership Down in years pick it up soon. It definitely held up really well! I enjoyed it so much I deliberately read it slowly so it would last longer.

If you've never read it - well, what are you waiting for? Get started! You won't regret it. And I can vouch for the audiobook, which is how I first read it about five years ago. It's wonderful, too.

I agree that Watership Down is timeless. I first read it when I was in my 20s and again almost 50 years later...enjoyed it both times. Interestingly, I had a friend like your Mom...didn't read much...and she loved this book and begged everyone she knew to read it. Thanks for the memory!

Sara wrote: "I agree that Watership Down is timeless. I first read it when I was in my 20s and again almost 50 years later...enjoyed it both times. Interestingly, I had a friend like your Mom...didn't read much..."

You're welcome, Sara, especially since your suggestion gave us that task! I struggled for months over what to read, as most of the people I've known don't read much. Then I saw this at the library and decided to reread it. It was only while reading it that I remembered how much Mom enjoyed it - so it worked backwards for me. :)

July:
I5 A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell 7/9
Found this on Terris' list and gave it a try. It's very good, both as a mystery with clues and as a feminist story.
B5 Died In The Wool by Ngaio Marsh 7/12
I4 O Pioneers! by Willa Cather 7/18
N2 The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 7/30

Yes, I enjoyed this one too!

Wobbley wrote: "Yes, I enjoyed this one too!"

Some short stories can really pack a punch, can't they? Libby has this as a play, which I thought I'd listen to some time, too.

Teri-K wrote: "July:
I5 A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell 7/9
Found this on Terris' list and gave it a try. It's very good, both as a mystery with clues and as a feminist story."

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Teri! I also listened to the play -- I think you'll like it :)

Oh, great, Terris! I will give it a listen soon.

AUGUST
N1 The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien 8/5 Reread 5+*
O3 X Y Z: A Detective Story by Anna Katharine Green 8/15 *2

SEPTEMBER

N5 Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare 9/31 4* ('Cuz Falstaff puts me off)

You've done a lot of great reading. Watership Down and Woman in White are my favourites from what you've read so far. Great progress!

Wobbley wrote: "You've done a lot of great reading. Watership Down and Woman in White are my favourites from what you've read so far. Great progress!"

Thanks! I didn't care for Woman in White, but I don't really like gothic fiction, so that's not surprising. I did love Watership Down.

I'm hoping to get everything wrapped up by November, as my life will be getting busier soon. I do find that I want to do more mood reading in the fall and winter, so I can't put too many books off till then.

Yeah, I like to finish by the end of October if I can. The new challenges for next year come out at the end of November, and I think that if I was still plugging away at this year's challenges, I might not be as excited to plan for next year's. But that's just me.

Sounds like we are all on the same page. I am going to call it "done" in October. November and December need to be open and just reading for fun.

Congrats on some great reading thus far, Teri.

Sara wrote: "Sounds like we are all on the same page. I am going to call it "done" in October. November and December need to be open and just reading for fun.

Congrats on some great reading thus far, Teri."

Thanks, Sara. You've been reading some really good books, too. So that makes it a win, whether we finish every challenge or not!

OCTOBER

B1 Early Poems by W.B. Yeats 10/4 3.5*
O2 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 10/19 5*

NOVEMBER & DECEMBER
B3 Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens 11/29
G1 A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote 12/7

I have finished BINGO for 2024. I'll admit I saved the last two spaces for very special books. :) It was a fun challenge.

Congratulations, Teri. I agree that those of two very special books!

Teri-K wrote: "I have finished BINGO for 2024. I'll admit I saved the last two spaces for very special books. :) It was a fun challenge."

Oh, well done! I haven't read the Capote, but I did really enjoy Our Mutual Friend. Well done finishing both your Bingo and Buffet on the same day!