Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Hooray, it's challenge planning time of year again! These are the challenges I'm hoping to do for the 2026 Buffet.

To start with, I'm going to put only the ones I'm completely sure I'll do into the "Will definitely tackle" category, because I'm trying to only commit to challenges where I have at least 2 books I'm really keen to read for every category. That said, I expect some of the "We'll see" challenges to be promoted as I make progress on my planning.

Will definitely tackle:
Challenge #3 - New Authors
Challenge #4 - Short Story
Challenge #5a - Decade
Challenge #5b - Century
Challenge #8 - Travel the World
Challenge #9 – Rereading
Challenge #11 - Future Classics
Challenge #14b - Break Your Reading Rut: Favorite Author

We'll see
Challenge #2 - Members Choice
Challenge #6 - Group Reads, Buddy Reads, Moderators Run Amok
Challenge #7 - Series Books
Challenge #10 - Books by Year
Challenge #13 - Old and New Linked Categories
Challenge #14a - Break Your Reading Rut: Genre Locked
Challenge #15 - Award Winners
Challenge #17 - Important Year and 100 Years Earlier
Challenge #20 - 2026 Impulse Reads

Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR (I probably won't do this one)

Challenge #2 - Members Choice (I'm waiting until I've done a bit more planning before committing to this one this one)

Challenge #3 - New Authors (I expect this one will fill up on its own, without me doing any planning)

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Challenge #4 - Short Story (I expect this one will fill up on its own, without me doing any planning)

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Challenge #5a - Decade: 1964 - 1973

1964 - This Rough Magic (Stewart) -or- From Doon With Death (Rendell)
1965 - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Vonnegut) -or- The Cyberiad (Lem)
1966 - The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (Gilman) -or- Black Sheep (Heyer)
1967 - The Chosen (Potok) -or- The Outcasts (Becker)
1968 - A Small Town in Germany (le Carré) -or- MASH: A Novel (Hooker)
1969 - I Sing the Body Electric! (Bradbury) -or- When in Greece (Lathen)
1970 - Tau Zero (Anderson) -or- Time and Again (Finney)
1971 - Maurice (Forster) -or- A Perfect Vacuum (Lem)
1972 - A Choice of Gods (Simak) -or- The Halloween Tree (Bradbury)
1973 - Dog Tags (Becker) -or- Moonraker's Bride (Brent)

Challenge #5b - Century: 1910s to 2000s or 1920s to 2010s

I haven't decided yet whether I'll do the 1910s through the 2000s or the 1920s through the 2010s, so for now I'll include 11 decades, and I'll drop one of the endpoints along the way.

1910s - A Dreamer's Tales (Dunsany) -or- A Princess of Mars (Burroughs)
1920s - Miss Marlow at Play (Milne) -or- The King of Elfland's Daughter (Dunsany)
1930s - The Edwardians (Sackville-West) -or- Black Narcissus (Godden)
1940s - Nothing So Strange (Hilton) -or- Pied Piper (Shute)
1950s - Time and Again (Simak) -or- Travel Light (Mitchison)
1960s - I Sing the Body Electric! (Bradbury) -or- This Rough Magic (Stewart)
1970s - Dog Tags (Becker) -or- The Halloween Tree (Bradbury)
1980s - Bluebeard (Vonnegut) -or- So Long, See You Tomorrow (Maxwell)
1990s - A Night in the Lonesome October (Zelazny) -or- Hocus Pocus (Vonnegut)
2000s - Bel Canto (Patchett) -or- People of the Book (Brooks)
2010s - The Garden of Evening Mists (Tan) -or- Convenience Store Woman - (Murata)

Challenge #6 - Group Reads, Buddy Reads, Moderators Run Amok

I'm not necessarily committing to finishing this challenge -- it depends on the selected books and how they fit into my schedule -- but I'll get started on it anyway based on the group books I know about already that I'm definitely planning to try.

1. No Name (Collins)
2. This Rough Magic (Stewart)
3. I Sing the Body Electric! (Bradbury)
4. My Brother Michael (Stewart)
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Challenge #7 - Series Books (I'm waiting until I've done a bit more planning before committing to this one this one)

Challenge #8 - Travel the World (I expect this one will fill up on its own, without me doing any planning)

Book Title - Author/Country - Book Setting
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Challenge #9 – Rereading (I love rereading!!)

Books I'd Love to Reread
1. No Great Mischief (MacLeod)
2. The Martian (Weir)
3. A Covenant With Death (Becker)
4. Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Thien)
5. My Brother Michael (Stewart)
6. Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner (Milne)
7. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People (le Carré)

Read Again in 2026
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Challenge #10 - Books by Year (I'm waiting until I've done a bit more planning before committing to this one this one)

Challenge #11 - Future Classics

✅ Challenge Complete ✅

5 books from the 2000s that I've read that I think will still be read in 50-100 years
partly in the 2000s - Harry Potter Series (Rowling)
2011 - The Martian (Weir)
2016 - Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Thien)
2005 - Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro)
2001 - The Shadow of the Wind (Ruiz Zafón)

3 books from the 2000s that I haven't read that may stand the test of time
1. The Garden of Evening Mists (Tan)
2. Convenience Store Woman (Murata)
3. Bel Canto (Patchett)

Book Chosen to read in 2026:

Challenge #12 - Fiction/Non-Fiction (I probably won't do this one)

Challenge #13 - Old and New Linked Categories (I'm waiting until I've done a bit more planning before committing to this one this one)

Challenge #14a - Break Your Reading Rut: Genre Locked (I'm waiting until I've done a bit more planning before committing to this one this one)

Challenge #14b - Break Your Reading Rut: Favorite Author

Most of my challenge planning so far has at its core the idea of reading something I've not yet read by authors I've liked in the past. Authors selected are either ones I've read a fair bit by with a lot of success, or else recent promising discoveries who will hopefully end up on that list over time. (Some favourite authors -- Jane Austen and Andrei Makine for instance -- are not on this list, simply because I've already read nearly everything they wrote that I'm interested in trying.)

These authors are my top priority -- I definitely want to fit them in:
1. A. A. Milne
2. Ray Bradbury
3. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
4. James Hilton
5. Clifford D. Simak
6. Stephen Becker

These authors are my next priority -- I'd like to fit them in, but I won't be hard on myself if I'm waylaid by other books instead:
7. Rumer Godden
8. Wilkie Collins
9. James Baldwin
10. Mary Stewart
11. John le Carré
12. Elizabeth Gaskell

Challenge #15 - Award Winners (I'm waiting until I've done a bit more planning before committing to this one this one)

Challenge #16 - Book Chain (I probably won't do this one)

Challenge #17 - Important Year and 100 Years Earlier (I'm waiting until I've done a bit more planning before committing to this one this one)

Challenge #18 - A-Z Author (If I complete this one, it will be pure chance)

Challenge #19 - A-Z Title (If I complete this one, it will be pure chance)

Challenge #20 - 2026 Impulse Reads (I'm undecided about keeping track of my impulse reads in my challenge thread)

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