Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I have been perusing the menu and since I need to reduce the piles of TBR books in my house, I have selected a slice of Challenge 1: "New & Old TBR". I really like trying out new authors so Challenge 3: "New authors" will make a pleasant side dish, as will Challenge 8: "Travel the World One Book at a Time", because I like to try authors from different countries around the world.
That may well be enough, but I cannot resist having a portion of Challenge 16: "Terry's Book Chain". Finally, I will finish up with a wedge of Challenge 20: "Your 2026 Impulse Reads". (This will probably be a big wedge!)


Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR (see post 2 for details)
Challenge #3 - New Authors (see post 3 for details)
Challenge #8 - Travel the World One Book at a Time (see post 4 for details)
Challenge #16 - Terry's Book Chain (see post 5 for details)
Challenge #20 - My 2026 Impulse Reads (see post 6 for details)

Challenge #1 - New & Old TBR
A tick mark (✅) indicates the books I have read

1914 or earlier
✅ 1. Maurice - 5 stars - my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
NB This was first published in 1971, but it was written 1913 to 1914 and the publication was held back until after Forster died. I am counting it based on when it was written.

I don't like choosing books in advance but here are some possibilities that I own
The Mysteries of Udolpho. Actually, this is pretty certain because I hope to join the buddy read in February.
The Warden
The Sorrows of Satan; or, The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
Trilby
Self Help by Samuel Smiles


1915-2006
Possibilities include:
The Scapegoat or Rule Britannia
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Young Adolf


Others:
I have hundreds of possibilities but these were looking particularly tasty when I was searching for the classics I've listed here:
The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce
Macbeth: A True Story
Making Money (or maybe a Vimes or Granny Weatherwax book)
How to Solve Your Own Murder
Piranesi
A Sentimental Murder: Love and Madness in the Eighteenth Century
The Pendragon Legend by Antal Szerb (Hungarian author)

Challenge #3 - New Authors

I am going to try to complete this challenge using my owned books:

Books read:
✅ The Miracles of Santo Fico by D.L. Smith 5*. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
✅ The Art Thief by Noah Charney
1* My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

There are many possibilities, but these are some I am thinking about using for this:
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
The Enchanted April - Elizabeth von Arnim
Golden Hill - Francis Spufford
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

Challenge #8 - Travel the World One Book at a Time

Another challenge I want to complete using my own books. Some of the possibilities:

The Legend of the Ice People by Margit Sandemo (Norwegian-Swedish author, book set in Scandinavia)
Four Mothers by Shifra Horn (Israeli author, set in Jerusalem)
A Gentle Creature and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Russian author, "A Gentle Creature" is set in St Petersburgh, I don't know about the other stories but I think most of his stories and novels are set in St Petersburgh)
The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder (Norwegian author, book set in Norway)
Lethal Investments byK.O. Dahl
(Norwegian author, book set in Norway)

Challenge #16 - Terry's Book Chain

I have chosen to start with a form of "Vanish". I know "Vanish" or some variant doesn't need to be in every title, but there were so many interesting books with "Vanish" in the title I decided not to change it. I could have filled this challenge 4 times over just with books with titles containing "Vanish".
Edited to add: The books for this challenge can come from the library.

1. The Vanishing Point: Stories – A Brilliant New Collection of Literary Fiction by Paul Theroux
2. The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura
3. Rooms for Vanishing by Stuart Nadler
4. Remembering Peasants: A Personal History of a Vanished World by Patrick Joyce
5. Vanish by Shelley Burr
6. Craftland: A Journey Through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades by James Fox
7. The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
8. Shadowlands: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Cities and Vanished Villages by Matthew Green
9. The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue
10. Panic as Man Burns Crumpets: The Vanishing World of the Local Journalist by Roger Lytollis
11. The Golden Mole: and Other Living Treasure by Katherine Rundell
12. The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley

Challenge #20 - My 2026 Impulse Reads

4th Jan: The Long Shadow by Celia Fremlin 3*
13th Jan Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller 5*
25th Jan: Mordseefest: Ein Borkum-Krimi. Spannender Küstenkrimi: Zwei Hobbydetektive ermitteln auf beliebter Urlaubsinsel (Borkum-Krimireihe 3) 3*

Goodness you have some interesting titles here...many brand new to me! I am going to have fun watching how this comes together for you. Happy reading!

What an interesting approach to Terry’s Book Chain! I hope you have fun as they vanish from your TBR!

A really cool approach to Challenge 16. Have a great time with your planning and reading!

Terry wrote: "What an interesting approach to Terry’s Book Chain! I hope you have fun as they vanish from your TBR!"

I saw what you did there. HAHAHA!

Uh oh. You have given me an idea for my Terry's Book Chain, KeenReader ... thank you! And yes, so many interesting choices here. I loved Piranesi!

Oh wow, the book chain! And you found THAT many titles you want to read with "vanish"! Haha! Enjoy!

Sounds like you are having a lot of fun with this planning and hopefully the year will be just as fun! I actually do not recognize most of your choices, but I have read and enjoyed How to Solve Your Own Murder. If you decide to read that one, i hope you enjoy it too!

Have a great year!

Yay! First challenge book of 2026 completed and it was a 5 star read. It was Maurice, read for challenge number 1 (see message 2). I've added the link to my review in message 2 if anyone is interested.

Fantastic start to the year! Maurice is one of my possible challenge reads this year too (I always give myself at least 2 options for each category). :) Should I read your review, or is it spoilery?

I'm so glad to see how much you enjoyed this, KeenReader. I'm looking forward to it too, and Wobbley, I didn't think the review was spoilery. Made me want to get to it this year too, but it will probably have to wait.

Wobbley wrote: "Fantastic start to the year! Maurice is one of my possible challenge reads this year too (I always give myself at least 2 options for each category). :) Should I read your review, or is it spoilery?"

I try not to write spoilery reviews but to check it, I've just compared my review to the synopsis on Goodreads and I don't spill any beans that are not in the synopsis. My review of the ending is a spoiler, but I hid it behind a spoiler warning, so unless you click on that you should be OK.

KeenReader wrote: "Yay! First challenge book of 2026 completed and it was a 5 star read. It was Maurice, read for challenge number 1 (see message 2). I've added the link to my review in message 2 if an..."

Awesome! So nice to start the year with a five star review. I hadn’t heard of Maurice, but your review makes it sound amazing. Might have to put it on my TBR. Happy reading. Your buffet looks awesome overall, and I especially love your approach to Terry’s book chain. Looking forward to reading more reviews as the year progresses.

KeenReader wrote: "I try not to write spoilery reviews..."

Thanks KeenReader and Kathleen, I'll check it out! :)

edit: fantastic review, thanks!

Great review and i also hadnt heard of this title, but i still have yet to read from this author. It actually reminds me of The Picture of Dorian Grey, although Maurice is more explicitly stated it is about a gay man, i would venture to guess that the descriptions of feelings are similar. I really enjoyed Dorian, well, not so much him but the story and the other characters. Dorian was surely interesting though. Ha!

The overall "feel" of this book is very different to The Picture of Dorian Grey. If I recall correctly (it's been a while since I last read it), Dorian Grey focused on Dorian's activities, where Maurice was much more about Maurice's feelings and his reactions to his situation. Both had sections of outstandingly beautiful writing though.

I just finished my first book for challenge 3 (message 3): The Miracles of Santo Fico. Another 5 star read. That's my second on the trot. That doesn't happen often, In this case, I think it was the writer's evocative prose that got the 5 stars. He set his book in a small. remote Italian village and he really conveyed the sense of warm summer days.

Wow, 2 5-star books by mid-January -- what a start to the year! Your review is terrific, and you have 100% added this to my TBR. :)

Wobbley wrote: "Wow, 2 5-star books by mid-January -- what a start to the year! Your review is terrific, and you have 100% added this to my TBR. :)"

I hope you enjoy it when you get around to it.

Sounds like a wonderful read, Keenreader. I am adding as well.
Congrats on your fabulous start.

KeenReader wrote: "I just finished my first book for challenge 3 (message 3): The Miracles of Santo Fico. Another 5 star read. That's my second on the trot. That doesn't happen often, In this case, I th..."

This might be the second book from you that gets added to my TBR this month. Amazing to get two 5 star reads this early in the year. You’re off to such a great start! Here’s hoping it’s a harbinger of a great year of reading to come.

Glad to see some love for Sam Vimes and Granny Weatherwax here! Two of my favorite Discworld characters, along with Tiffany Aching and Lord Vetinari.
Night Watch and Guards! Guards! are my two favorite solo Terry Pratchett books out of those that I've read. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (collab. with Neil Gaiman) is one of my favorite books ever.

KeenReader wrote: "The overall "feel" of this book is very different to The Picture of Dorian Grey. If I recall correctly (it's been a while since I last read it), Dorian Grey focused on Dorian's acti..."

Thank you for that info! 🙏

I just completed a second book for my new author challenge (Message 3). It was The Art Thief by Noah Charney. I recommend avoiding it. It was seriously bad, in fact the biggest mystery is how he got it printed. Pocket Books published my edition, so it wasn't self-published.

Oof, thanks for the warning! Still, it moves you forward in your challenges, and at least your other New Author was a 5-star read. :)

Wobbley wrote: "Oof, thanks for the warning! Still, it moves you forward in your challenges, and at least your other New Author was a 5-star read. :)"

Well everyone reads a few clunkers and it's a TBR I'm finished with. I could have stopped reading but I think I was getting a perverse kind of enjoyment out of seeing how bad it could get.

Always glad to know the ones to avoid, Keenreader. I will mark it accordingly!

KeenReader wrote: "I could have stopped reading but I think I was getting a perverse kind of enjoyment out of seeing how bad it could get."

Haha, I got a laugh out of this!