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.

Will definitely tackle:
✔️ Challenge #2 - Members Choice
✔️ Challenge #3 - New Authors
✔️ Challenge #4 - Short Story
Challenge #5a - Century
Challenge #5a - Century, take 2
Challenge #5b - Decade
Challenge #6 - Group Reads, Buddy Reads, Moderators Run Amok
✔️ Challenge #7 - Series Books
✔️ Challenge #8 - Travel the World
Challenge #8 - Travel the World, take 2
✔️ Challenge #9 – Rereading
Challenge #10 - Books by Year
✔️ Challenge #11 - Future Classics
✔️ Challenge #13 - Old and New Linked Categories
✔️ Challenge #14a - Break Your Reading Rut: Genre Locked
✔️ Challenge #14b - Break Your Reading Rut: Favorite Author
✔️ Challenge #15 - Award Winners

We'll see:
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 expect this one will mostly fill up on its own with just a couple of categories needing planning)

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

✔️1. 18th Century or Older - The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Anonymous) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️2. 19th Century - No Name (Wilkie Collins) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️3. 20th Century - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️4. 21st Century - Bel Canto Ann Patchett - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️5. A book of interest from another diner's buffet - The Perfect Plan (James Hilton) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️6. Genre: Fantasy - The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️7. Genre: Memoir - Timequake (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️8. Genre: Historical Fiction - The Chosen (Chaim Potok) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️9. Genre: Mystery - Was It Murder? (James Hilton) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Challenge #3 - New Authors

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

✔️1. Lord Dunsany (The King of Elfland's Daughter) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️2. Isak Dinesen (Babette’s Feast) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️3. Chaim Potok (The Chosen) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️4. Ann Patchett (Bel Canto) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Challenge #4 - Short Story

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

✔️1. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Anonymous) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️2. Babette’s Feast (Isak Dinesen) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stories 3-14 are from The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories (Lord Dunsany)

✔️3. The Sword of Welleran - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️4. The Fall of Babbulkund - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️5. The Kith of the Elf-Folk - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️6. The Highwayman - ⭐️⭐️½
✔️7. In the Twilight - ⭐️⭐️
✔️8. The Ghosts - ⭐️⭐️½
✔️9. The Whirlpool - ⭐️⭐️
✔️10. The Hurricane - ⭐️⭐️½
✔️11. The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️12. The Lord of Cities - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️13. The Doom of La Traviata - ⭐️⭐️
✔️14. On the Dry Land - ⭐️⭐️½

✔️15. The Count and The Wedding Guest (O. Henry) - ⭐️⭐️½
✔️16. The Sound of Summer Running (Ray Bradbury) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Challenge #5a - Century: 1910s to 2000s

✔️1910s - Maurice (E.M. Forster) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️1920s - The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️1930s - Was It Murder? (James Hilton) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
1940s - Nothing So Strange (Hilton) -or- Pied Piper (Shute)
✔️1950s - Time and Again (Simak) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️1960s - The Chosen (Chaim Potok) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️1970s - Tau Zero (Poul Anderson) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️1980s - So Long, See You Tomorrow (William Maxwell) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️1990s - Timequake (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️2000s - Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Challenge #5a, take 2 - Century: 1920s to 2010s

✔️1920s - Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️1930s - They Came Like Swallows (William Maxwell) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1940s - While Still We Live = The Unconquerable (MacInnes) -or- The Folded Leaf (Maxwell)
✔️1950s - My Brother Michael (Mary Stewart) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️1960s - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1970s - A Choice of Gods (Simak) -or- The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (Le Guin)
1980s - Thursday's Children (Godden) -or- Grotto of the Dancing Deer (Simak)
1990s - A Night in the Lonesome October (Zelazny) -or- Stardust (Gaiman)
2000s - People of the Book (Brooks) -or- Star Girl (Spinelli) or The Shadow of the Wind (Zafón)
2010s - The Garden of Evening Mists (Tan) -or- Convenience Store Woman (Murata)

Challenge #5b - Decade: 1964 - 1973

✔️1963 - The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin) - ⭐️⭐️
✔️1964 - This Rough Magic (Mary Stewart) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️1965 - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️1966 - Black Sheep (Georgette Heyer) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️1967 - The Chosen (Chaim Potok) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1968 - A Small Town in Germany (le Carré) -or- MASH: A Novel (Hooker) -or- The Laughing Policeman (Sjöwall/Wahlöö)
✔️1969 - I Sing the Body Electric! (Ray Bradbury) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️1970 - Tau Zero (Poul Anderson) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️1971 - Maurice (E.M. Forster) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
1972 - A Choice of Gods (Simak) -or- Murder Without Icing (Lathen)

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

✔️1. Group - No Name (Wilkie Collins) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️2. Buddy - The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️3. Buddy - This Rough Magic (Mary Stewart) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️4. Buddy - Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️5. Buddy - The House at Pooh Corner (A.A. Milne) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️6. Buddy - I Sing the Body Electric! (Ray Bradbury) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️7. Group - Maurice (E.M. Forster) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️8. Group - 2BR02B (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️9. Buddy - My Brother Michael (Mary Stewart) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
10. Buddy - Airs Above the Ground (Stewart)

Challenge #7 - Series Books

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

Series book contenders:
1. Yotsuba&!, Vol. 16 (Azuma)
2. The Chosen (Potok)
3. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (Gilman)
4. When in Greece (Lathen)
5. MASH: A Novel about Three Army Doctors (Hooker)
6. Time and Again (Finney)
7. A Princess of Mars (Burroughs)
8. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People (le Carré)
9. Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner (Milne)

Series books read in 2026:
✔️1. The Chosen (Chaim Potok) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️2. Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner (A.A. Milne) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Challenge #8 - Travel the World

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

Book Title - Author/Country - Book Setting
✔️1. No Name - Wilkie Collins / England - England - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️2. The King of Elfland's Daughter - Lord Dunsany / Ireland - Imaginary - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️3. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. / USA - USA - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️4. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter - (Anonymous) / Japan - Japan - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️5. Babette’s Feast - Isak Dinesen / Denmark - Norway - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Challenge #8 - Travel the World, take 2

Book Title - Author/Country - Book Setting
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Challenge #9 – Rereading (I love rereading!!)

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

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. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People (le Carré)
7. Timequake (Vonnegut)

Read Again in 2026
✔️1. Timequake (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️2. My Brother Michael (Mary Stewart) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Challenge #10 - Books by Year

Books of Interest from 1965
1. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Vonnegut)
2. Airs Above the Ground (Stewart)
3. The Cyberiad (Lem)
4. The Looking Glass War (le Carré)
5. Going to Meet the Man (Baldwin)
6. All Flesh is Grass (Simak)
7. Frederica (Heyer)
8. Cosmicomics (Calvino)
9. Roseanna (Sjöwall)
10. The Odd Couple - A Comedy in Three Acts (Simon)

Books from 1965 Read in 2026
✔️ 1. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2.

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:
✔️1. Bel Canto (Patchett) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

Challenge #13 - Old and New Linked Categories

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

favourite author:
✔️Old: No Name (Wilkie Collins) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️New: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

speculative fiction:
✔️Old: The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories (Lord Dunsany) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️New: The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Challenge #14a - Break Your Reading Rut: Genre Locked

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

Pick and read one book from two different genres that are not your normal go-to.

Genre Selected - Book Chosen
✔️1. fantasy - The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️2. mystery - Was It Murder? (James Hilton) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

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

✔️Challenge Complete✔️
Technically, this challenge only needs 1 author to count as complete. But I'll keep going with my personal goal for this challenge.

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 (Miss Marlow at Play) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️2. Ray Bradbury (I Sing the Body Electric!) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️3. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✔️4. James Hilton (Was It Murder?) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️5. Clifford D. Simak (Time and Again) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️6. Mary Stewart (This Rough Magic) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

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 (No Name) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
9. Stephen Becker
✔️10. James Baldwin - The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin) - ⭐️⭐️
11. John le Carré
12. Elizabeth Gaskell

Challenge #15 - Award Winners

✔️Challenge Complete✔️

I'm using the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, which is a lifetime honor presented annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association to a living writer of fantasy or science fiction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damon_K...

Books Chosen
✔️1. Clifford D. Simak (1977 winner): Time and Again - ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
✔️2. Ray Bradbury (1989 winner): I Sing the Body Electric! - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

Challenge #17 - Important Year and 100 Years Earlier (I'm undecided on 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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Ok, I just want to read every book you're reading - how about a year long buddy read? LOL Gilman, Heyer, Bradbury, Zelazny, Lathen, Shute, Milne... I could go on and on. Looks like loads of great reading already planned. I'm excited to see what else you come up with as the year goes on!

Teri-K wrote: "Ok, I just want to read every book you're reading..."

Thanks Teri-K. To be honest, a lot of these books were suggestions from you over the year (certainly the Gilman, Zelazny and Lathen were). So thank you for that! :)

Wobbley wrote: "Teri-K wrote: "Ok, I just want to read every book you're reading..."

Thanks Teri-K. To be honest, a lot of these books were suggestions from you over the year (certainly the Gilman, Zelazny and La..."

I hope you enjoy them, then!

Teri-K wrote: "I hope you enjoy them, then!"

That's the plan! :)

If you want, I think a buddy reread of Winnie-the-Pooh would be fun. I'd love having someone to share the puns and fun language with. So let me know if you'd like that. :)

Teri-K wrote: "If you want, I think a buddy reread of Winnie-the-Pooh would be fun. I'd love having someone to share the puns and fun language with. So let me know if you'd like that. :)"

I'm absolutely always up for Winnie the Pooh (it's happiness in book form). Whenever you like. :)

You have some marvelous choices here. I'm going to just give you a nudge toward Pied Piper, So Long See You Tomorrow, and The Garden of Evening Mists (since they are in an "either or" category). You also have a lot of books I am not familiar with, so I can see my TBR will be expanding again. Main thing is enjoy the ride.

Thanks Sara. Yes, you always expand my TBR as well. :)

I'm trying to make sure I have options in place for every challenge, so basically everything on my buffet is an "either or".

What a great variety of genres! I read Time and Again about 20 years ago and really loved it. Have fun!

I agree with Klowey--my eyes lit up when I saw Time and Again on your list. And I hope you choose The Chosen, and let us know what you think in the buddy read thread. Have fun, Wobbley!

Klowey wrote: "What a great variety of genres! I read Time and Again about 20 years ago and really loved it. Have fun!"

Thanks Klowey! The genre variety is not intentional. I just have a few authors that have been successful for me recently that I want to keep going with, and also I'm following up on some recommendations from group members over the last year.

Kathleen wrote: "I agree with Klowey--my eyes lit up when I saw Time and Again on your list. And I hope you choose The Chosen, and let us know what you think in the buddy read thread. Have fun, Wobbley!"

Thanks so much Kathleen! That's a good idea -- I'm rather late for that buddy read, but I could still post my thoughts there. :)

Alright, I think I've completed my planning for now. Now I need to be patient and not start any of these before the end of the year!

Wobbley wrote: "Alright, I think I've completed my planning for now. Now I need to be patient and not start any of these before the end of the year!"

That's my problem - I want to start reading all the books I've singled out for next year.

Teri-K wrote: "That's my problem - I want to start reading all the books I've singled out for next year."

Haha, I know. Even though I have books I'm supposed to read in December, I'm excited from my 2026 planning and want to get started. Well, being excited about books is not a bad thing -- I'll take it!

Common problem for us all, I think. But, January will be here before we can say "Charles Dickens".

Sara wrote: "Common problem for us all, I think. But, January will be here before we can say "Charles Dickens"."

I don't know, I can say "Charles Dickens" pretty fast... But, I suppose it will be here before I can read a Charles Dickens, so that's something ;)

Finally getting a chance to take a peak at yours, Wobbley.

Zelanzy? I saw the comment but had to go back for the book. Ive never read him (?), but it is a good author for the "Z" 😂 and i had heard about this author recently from my aunt (well just that she has some books and doesnt want to part with them just yet, so thats a good sign, yeah?)

Some great stuff here! (I keep saying. Admittedly, i have a lot to learn about what a lot of the posters here read, but that is why i love the group and the group reads and suggestions.) I did see a couple i recognized or might be interested in.

Enjoy!

Great planning, Wobbley :)

April wrote: "Finally getting a chance to take a peak at yours, Wobbley. Zelanzy? I saw the comment but had to go back for the book. Ive never read him (?), but it is a good author for the "Z" 😂 ..."

Thank you April! Yes, I absolutely have used Zelazny for the "Z" author before -- it's a tough slot to fill.

Janelle wrote: "Great planning, Wobbley :)"

Thank you Janelle! I really enjoy planning my challenges, and I find a lot of new interesting books along the way. :)

So many titles unknown to me! I hope you rate them as you read them to help those like me. Have a great trip yo the Buffet in 2026, Wobbley!

Terry wrote: "So many titles unknown to me! I hope you rate them as you read them to help those like me. Have a great trip yo the Buffet in 2026, Wobbley!"

Thanks Terry! Not to worry, I always rate them as I go.