Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

It seems that many of us are well underway with this year's reading. What do you have planned for February?

I want to read The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) 528 pages, with the Buddy Read this month.

Next there is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1625), 1026 pages

This is more than I could possibly read in one month. They will be ongoing.

This is my current plan

Finish up from last month:
for once, nothing from last month

Definitely:
Estoril by Dejan Tiago-Stanković
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
The Creeper by A.M. Shine
Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda
My Work by Olga Ravn

Probably:
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Possibly:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas

Unplanned:

February "Core 6":

Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, The Tressell, Robert 1914 (one-off-old; 1910s)
White Fang London, Jack 1906 (author-more-english; 1900s; adventure)
Grand Meaulnes, Le (aka "Lost Estate") Alain-Fournier, Henri 1913 (mega; world; g1000)
Murder Of Roger Ackroyd, The (Poirot #4) Christie, Agatha 1926 (author-more-english; crime)
Lolly Willowes Townsend Warner, Sylvia 1926 (re-read)
Steppenwolf Hesse, Hermann 1927 (author-more-world; author-more-dubious; reserve)

(terms in brackets are tags of why I'm reading them)

My plans, hopes, dreams ...

Continuing
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

To Finish
Master Humphrey's Clock by Charles Dickens
This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Black History Month
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
remembered rapture: the writer at work by bell hooks

Hoping to at least start
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner
Seven Steeples by Sara Baume
Italian Villas and Their Gardens by Edith Wharton

February plans...

Finish reading Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore and In the Heart of the Heart of the Country and Other Stories by William H. Gass

To read:
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
The Saga of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlof
Quicksand by Nella Larsen

Audiobook:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

Continuing and finishing
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Continuing and not finishing
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction by
    Kidada E. Williams (might finish, but I expect it to reach into March)

Starting and finishing
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Starting and not finishing
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

spoko wrote: "Starting and not finishing...The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien ..."

On my radar, I look forward to your review. I read The Sparrow last month and really enjoyed the book.

Katy wrote: "On my radar, I look forward to your review. I read The Sparrow last..."

I liked that book too!

Katy wrote: “I read The Sparrow last month and really enjoyed the book.”

I’ve been reading The Sparrow with a colleague at work, and we’re both really enjoying it. I’ve always heard very good things about it, and it’s not disappointing.

Like you, Lynn, I hope to read The Moonstone for the February buddy read, and get a start on Don Quixote.

I've had a fairly slow start to my reading this year. I'd like to be able to say that I'll get a proper start on my challenge books in February, but I don't know how realistic that is. We'll see.

I am reading the same things I was reading in January. David Copperfield which I am really enjoying, and The Complete Essays of Michel de Montaigne which I am really struggling with.

RJ's FEBRUARY READS

Will Finish
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Moonraker by Ian Fleming
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer
Basin and Range by John McPhee
Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley

Will Be Reading But Won't Finish
Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler
The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II B edited by Ben Bova
Asimov's Chronology of the World: The History of the World From the Big Bang to Modern Times by Isaac Asimov

Current February Plan

Definitely:
✅ Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
🔴 Like Flies from Afar by K. Ferrari (in process)
🔴 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (in process)
Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda
🔴 Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (in process; will complete in March)

Probably:
Deadly Game by Michael Caine
The Creeper by A.M. Shine
Moscow X by David McCloskey
Argylle by Elly Conway
Seize the Day by Saul Bellow

Possibly:
Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas
Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
How's the Pain? by Pascal Garnier

Unplanned:

Caliban's War, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, The Queen of Bedlam, and maybe a discord group read, Best Served Cold.

I want to cram one more book in this month, haven't decided what.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "RJ's FEBRUARY READS

Will Finish
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Moonraker by Ian Fleming
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by [author..."

Ooh, I plan to read [book:Kolyma Stories|38813815] also, but probably later in the year.

Milena wrote: " and The Complete Essays of Michel de Montaigne which I am really struggling with..."

I read that last year, its a lot isnt it? Some essays I liked and others I would find my attention wandering.

- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (Currently Reading)
- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
- Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
- A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Too many books that I can read!

I wanted to read Swann's Way by Marcel Proust for the Catching Up on Classics Quarterly Read but I could only have it for a week from the library. Maybe there are members here that live in the same province as me. :)

Don Quixote by Cervantes for the Catching Up on Classics Revist the Book Shelf

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman for Everyone Has Read This But Me Bookshelf Catch-Up COMPLETED

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang for Everyone Has Read This But Me Modern Book Shelf

The Strange Gentleman by Charles Dickens for Dickensians!

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen for The Reading for Pleasure Book Club

Middlemarch by George Eliot for Masterpiece Theatre Reads

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn for my in-person library book club COMPLETED

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice for Comfort Book Club (Miranda Mills's YouTube channel)

1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews this is for the 40 Day New Testament Challenge on YouVersion Bible app. :) COMPLETED

The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald for the Victorians!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab for The Cozy Book Nook

I want to real all these books but I know it's not possible for me so I am concentrating on Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Diamond Eye and my Bible reading as well as Middlemarch in the evening. And if I have time before the month is over I certainly have many wonderful books to choose from. :)

I have added one more to my list for February:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) 528 pages
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1625), 1026 pages

but first

Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight (1940) 248 pages

Lynn wrote: "I have added one more to my list for February:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) 528 pages
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (..."

Lynn, I'm interested in your addition of the "Lassie" book, because I just started Misty of Chincoteague written in 1947. It's pretty good. I'm reading it because there is going to be a program about it at our library in a couple of weeks. It will feature this book and Marguerite Henry as an "Illinois author." I'm pretty sure that this program will also be performed at the local elementary schools, then offered at the library for everyone in the evening. I'm interested to hear about the island ponies, and I always enjoy a good children's book!
Hope you enjoy "Lassie," too! :)

Terris wrote: "Lynn wrote: "I have added one more to my list for February:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) 528 pages
Don Quixote by [author:Miguel de Cervantes Saaved..."



I love the Misty books. I read 3 or 4 of them as a child from our elementary school library.

My husband spent his teenage years in Newport News, VA. One of his best friends lived on a barrier island of VA. I have actually been to the park on Assateague with them.

Lynn wrote: "Terris wrote: "Lynn wrote: "I have added one more to my list for February:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) 528 pages
Don Quixote by [author:Miguel de C..."

How cool! Thanks for the info! :)

February goals

Challenge books to read/finish in February
✔️Hesiod: Theogony and Works and Days (-701)
✔️Aristophanes: Lysistrata and Other Plays (-423)
✔️Plato: The Last Days Of Socrates (-400)
✔️Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (1597)
✔️Cervantes: Don Quixote (1605)
✔️Locke: Second Treatise of Government (1689)
✔️Walpole: The Castle of Otranto (1764)
✔️Dostoevsky: A Gentle Creature and Other Stories (1876)
✔️Yumeno: The Spirit Drum (1924)
✔️Wodehouse: Ring for Jeeves (1953)
✔️Lawrence/Lee: Inherit the Wind (1955)
✔️Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)
✔️Scalzi: Starter Villain (2023)
✔️Richardson: Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America (2023)

Non-challenge books to read/finish in February
✔️Pratchett: Monstrous Regiment (2003)
✔️Pask: Magnificent Principia: Exploring Isaac Newton's Masterpiece (2013)
✔️Arakawa: Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Vol. 1 (2023)
✔️Garmus: Lessons in Chemistry (2022)

Ongoing long reads
Montaigne: The Complete Essays (1580) - finish in March
Eliot: Daniel Deronda (1876) - finish in March


Challenge completions this month
None, but good progress!
I did finish my first bingo column.

Wow JP that's quite a lot!! I've only read three of the books you have listed! Congratulations.

End of the month wrap-up. I read this month:

Short Stories
The Gentle Spirit by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1876) Feb 25, 2024 2*
The Christmas Tree and the Wedding by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1848) Feb 25, 2024 4*

Children's Books
Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight (1940) 248 pages Feb. 4, 2023 5*
LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail by Mark Teague (2008) 32 pages

Half of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) 528 pages, with the Buddy Read this month.

five and a half of my February "Core 6" bit the dust:

White Fang London, Jack - 2.5 Stars
Grand Meaulnes, Le (aka "Lost Estate") Alain-Fournier, Henri - 4
Murder Of Roger Ackroyd, The (Poirot #4) Christie, Agatha - 5
Lolly Willowes Townsend Warner, Sylvia - 5
Steppenwolf Hesse, Hermann - 4
Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, The Tressell, Robert - still in progress...

Darren wrote: "five and a half of my February "Core 6" bit the dust:

White Fang London, Jack - 2.5 Stars
Grand Meaulnes, Le (aka "Lost Estate") Alain-Fournier, Henri - 4
Murder Of Roger Ackroyd, The (Poirot #4)..."

Congratulations! It sounds like you had a great month!

This is what I ended up with:

This is my current plan

Finish up from last month:
for once, nothing from last month

Definitely:
✔ Estoril by Dejan Tiago-Stanković ★★★ (3.0)
in progress Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
✔ The Creeper by A.M. Shine ★★ (2.0)
✔ Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda ★★★★ (4.0)

Probably:
✔ The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole ★★★ (2.5)
✔ All Systems Red by Martha Wells ★★★★ (4.5)

Possibly:
skipped Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
✔ Artificial Condition by Martha Wells ★★★★ (4.0)
delayed Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas

Unplanned:
✔ Swing Time by Zadie Smith ★★★★ (4.5)

Moved to March:
My Work by Olga Ravn

Greg wrote: "This is what I ended up with:

..."

A good month, Greg! I agree with you on Castle Otranto, am glad to hear about Swing Time, and hope you post your thoughts about Cannery Row in the group read thread when you're done. :-)

Kathleen wrote: "A good month, Greg! I agree with you on Castle Otranto, am glad to hear about Swing Time, and hope you post your thoughts about Cannery Row in the ..."

Thanks Kathleen!

My friends' reviews on Swing Time are very varied. I think the major complaint was the many shifts in time and place, but those shifts didn't disturb me as much as they did some of my friends. I really loved the complex way she looked at things and some of the book's characters will haunt me forever!

It's my first by her. I definitely want to read White Teeth someday - that seems to be most of my friends' favorite of hers.

Greg wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "A good month, Greg! I agree with you on Castle Otranto, am glad to hear about Swing Time, and hope you post your thoughts about Cannery Row in the ..."

Thanks Kathleen!

My frien..."

So interesting, Greg--I'll look forward to Swing Time. Thanks! White Teeth is the only book I've read of hers. I loved it, and what you say about her complex way of looking at things is really on display there. I think you'll enjoy it.

Reading the books I own
2024 Total: 4

February:
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane

I ended up reading:

The Sea, The Sea/Iris Murdoch
The Giver of Stars/Jojo Moyes
The Collected Regrets of Clover/Mikki Brammer
Two Trains Running/August Wilson
Kiss of the Spider Woman/Manuel Puig
Lamb in His Bosom/Caroline Miller
Demian/Hermann Hesse
Why We Read Books/Shannon Reed
Scoop/Evelyn Waugh
A Planned Occasion/Angie Kim
Misty of Chincoteague/Marguerite Henry
An Artist of theFloating World/Kazuo Ishiguro
The Moorland Cottage/Elizabeth Gaskell
The Beauties/Anton Chekhov
Happiness Falls/Angie Kim
Wants/Grace Paley
Childhood’s End/Arthur C. Clarke

Most fit into one of my challenges, but some were just for fun :)

Terris wrote: "I ended up reading:

The Sea, The Sea/Iris Murdoch
The Giver of Stars/Jojo Moyes
The Collected Regrets of Clover/Mikki Brammer
Two Trains Running/August Wilson
Kiss of the Spider Woman/Manuel Pu..."

A fantastic selection Terris! Pretty much all books I liked a lot or have been long eager to read.

Greg wrote: "Terris wrote: "I ended up reading:

The Sea, The Sea/Iris Murdoch
The Giver of Stars/Jojo Moyes
The Collected Regrets of Clover/Mikki Brammer
Two Trains Running/August Wilson
Kiss of the Spider ..."

Thanks, Greg! I did have a pretty good month and enjoyed them all quite a bit. Probably the only one I didn't care for was "The Beauties" and, thank goodness, it was very short!