Classics Club Reading Challenge - Spin #30

Here is my current "Spin" List of 20 books for the "Classics Club Reading Challenge." This list was developed from the poster "100 Essential Books" Scratch Off Bucket List. However, since I've already read and scratched off a number of the original books and some "books" were actually series of books, my ending number is 106 (as of June 6, 2022.) This "master list" is shown below.

On June 12, 2022, the Classics Club blog will post their CC Spin #30, a random number from 1 to 20. The challenge is to read and review whatever book falls under that number on my Spin List by the 7th August, 2022. Although the Classics Club has been at this for quite awhile (Spin #30!), this is my first time to participate.

Duration of Challenge: June 12 - August 7, 2022

Number selected for Spin #30 - ??

Spin List

1. A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1) – Deborah Harkness

2. The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka

3. The Commitments – Roddy Doyle

4. The Odyssey – Homer

5. Misery – Stephen King

6. The Martian – Andy Weir

7. Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1) – J.K. Rowling

8. The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien

9. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

10. Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes

11. Watership Down – Richard Adams

12. Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee

13. How to be Champion – Sarah Millican

14. A Death in the Family – James Agee

15. Go Tell It On the Mountain – James Baldwin

16. Little Town on the Prairie (Little House, #7) – Laura Ingalls Wilder

17. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson, #2) – Rick Riordan

18. The Romanov Sisters – Helen Rappaport

19. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy

20. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) – C.S. Lewis

The following is the Master List of what I have left to read on this poster. Some of the selections shown on the poster are actually whole series so I have listed the books in those series which I've not completed. In order to get my Spin List, I used a Table of Random Numbers to generate 40 numbers from 1 to 106 (the total number of books in the Master List. The first number, 67, corresponded with A Discovery of Witches and became the first book on my list of 20 (and so on.)

One problem for me is I don't like to read series' books out of order, hence the 40 random numbers generated. If a number generated led me to a book in the middle of the series, I substituted whichever book in the series was first on the list. So when the random number was 34 which corresponded to Harry Potter and the the Deathly Hallows, the 7th book in the series, I substituted the first unread book in that series, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. If that book's list number, 28, had come up, I planned to skip it and go on to the next random number. Complicated enough? Only to explain.

Anyway, on to the Master List!

Master List

1. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo, #1) – Jules Verne

2. The Mysterious Island (Captain Nemo, #2) – Jules Verne

3. Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1) – Sophocles

4. Oedipus at Colonus (The Theban Plays, #2) - Sophocles

5. Antigone (The Theban Plays, #3) – Sophocles

6. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin – Benjamin Franklin

7. Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes

8. Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare

9. The Story of My Experiments with Truth – Mahatma Gandhi

10. The Autobiography of Malcolm X – Malcolm X

11. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson, #2) – Rick Riordan

12. Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot (Percy Jackson, #2.5) – Rick Riordan

13. The Titans Curse (Percy Jackson, #3) – Rick Riordan

14. Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon (Percy Jackson, #3.5) – Rick Riordan

15. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson, #4) – Rick Riordan

16. Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades (Percy Jackson, #4.5) – Rick Riordan

17. The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson, #4.5) – Rick Riordan

18. The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson, #5) – Rick Riordan

19. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens

20. Sophie’s World – Jostein Gaarder

21. A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking

22. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

23. A Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela

24. Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie

25. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

26. The Color Purple – Alice Walker

27. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

28. Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1) – J.K. Rowling

29. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) – J.K. Rowling

30. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) – J.K. Rowling

31. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) – J.K. Rowling

32. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) - J.K. Rowling

33. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6) – J.K. Rowling

34. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) – J.K. Rowling

35. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

36. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

37. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift

38. The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells

39. American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis

40. Macbeth – William Shakespeare

41. The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) – J.R.R. Tolkien

42. The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) – J.R.R. Tolkien

43. The Return of the Kind (The Lord of the Rings, #3) – J.R.R. Tolkien

44. The Hound of the Baskervilles – Arthur Conan Doyle

45. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

46. Ulysses – James Joyce

47. The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje

48. The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

49. The Commitments – Roddy Doyle

50. The Time Machine – H.G. Wells

51. Dracula – Bram Stoker

52. Misery – Stephen King

53. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) – C.S. Lewis

54. Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia, #2) – C.S. Lewis

55. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3) – C.S. Lewis

56. The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4) – C.S. Lewis

57. The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia, #5) – C.S. Lewis

58. The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #6) – C.S. Lewis

59. The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia, #7) – C.S. Lewis

60. Hamlet – William Shakespeare

61. The Odyssey – Homer

62. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy

63. 438 Days – Jonathan Franklin

64. How to be Champion – Sarah Millican

65. The Romanov Sisters – Helen Rappaport

66. The Martian – Andy Weir

67. A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1) – Deborah Harkness

68. Shadow of Night (All Souls, #2) – Deborah Harkness

69. The Book of Life (All Souls, #3) – Deborah Harkness

70. Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) – Stephen King

71. Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1) – Pierce Brown

72. Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2) – Pierce Brown

73. Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee

74. Hamilton: The Revolution – Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter

75. The Fireman – Joe Hill

76. Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #2) – Stephen King

77. End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #3) – Stephen King

78. The Radium Girls – Kate Moore

79. Artemis – Andy Weir

80. The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy

81. The Shipping News – Annie Proulx

82. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy

83. Play It As It Lays – Joan Didion

84. The Painted Bird – Jerzy Kosiński

85. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

86. Naked Lunch – William S. Burroughs

87. Go Tell It On the Mountain – James Baldwin

88. A Death in the Family – James Agee

89. Blindness – José Saramago

90. The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien

91. Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett

92. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison

93. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

94. Little Town on the Prairie (Little House, #7) – Laura Ingalls Wilder

95. These Happy Golden Years (Little House, #8) – Laura Ingalls Wilder

96. The First Four Years (Little House, #9) – Laura Ingalls Wilder

97. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner

98. On the Road – Jack Kerouac

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

100. The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka

101. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho

102. Watership Down – Richard Adams

103. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith

104. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle

105. The Stranger – Albert Camus

106. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

#ccspin

Karen's List for THE OFFICIAL TBR PILE CHALLENGE

I was intrigued to discover that there is a fun, do-able challenge out there to encourage reading from your TBR pile. Like you need that kind of encouragement, right? Well, yeah, I do. And apparently I am not the only one because Roof Beam Reader’s official TBR Pile Challenge is back for its NINTH YEAR! This challenge started when they realized they had some MAJOR issues with buying books but never reading them (not because they don’t read – but because they have such a book buying problem!) Year after year, books would sit on their shelves untouched, and they would end up reading newer ones first. Just like me, they realized they was missing out on a lot of great books because they let them sit there gathering dust instead of reading them as when they were purchased.

The Goal: To finally read 12 books from my “to be read” pile (within 12 months).

Specifics:

1. Identify 12 books from your TBR pile/shelf, or in my case, storage unit. (I picked a random box.)

2. Each of the selected 12 books (from my box) must have been on your bookshelf/box or “To Be Read” list/box for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2021 or later (any book published in the year 2020 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile).

3. Caveat: Two (2) alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books ends up in the “did not finish (DNF)” pile.

So, on to the random pile of 14 (in no particular order) that I grabbed from the box that met the above criteria:

1. A Grave Issue by Lillian Bell

2. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

3. On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

4. The Burn by Kathleen Kent

5. Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

6. The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber

7. Across the Void by S.K. Vaughn

8. Dogstar Rising (Makana, #2) by Parker Bilal

9. Betrayal at Iga (Shinobi Mystery, #5) by Susan Spann

10. Y.T. by Alexey Nikitin

11. The Ghost Runner (Makana, #3) by Parker Bilal

12. Rot & Ruin (Rot & Ruin, #1) by Jonathan Maberry

13. Trespasser (Mike Bowditch, #2) by Paul Doiron

14. Duel to the Death (Ali Reynolds, #13) by J.A. Jance

#TBR2022RBR

The Japanese Literature Challenge 15: January through March, 2022

Uemura Shōen, Fragrance of Spring.

This year I plan on participating in the Dolce Bellezza ~for literary and translated literature~ blog's Japanese Literature Challenge which is in its 15th year. It is a reading challenge that occurs over the first quarter of 2022 only, and the idea is pretty straightforward. Read as many books as you like from January through March. (Even if that is ”only” one.) Make sure the work was originally written in Japanese. Choose from classic to contemporary works, whatever appeals to you.

Since it is my first time, I'm going to try for one book a month.

January - Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Completed 1/30/22)

February - Tales from the Café (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #2) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Completed 2/7/22) See my review here.

March - Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (Completed 3/27/22) See my review here.

Karen's 2022 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge

Never. Say. Die!

This year I'm going to participate in the 2022 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge hosted by Celebrity Readers AGAIN. I'm all over the place with reading series so this is OBVIOUSLY a true challenge for me to be more disciplined in my reading choices. As last year, i'm going to go for the "B-LIST" and hope for the best.

I'm going to opt in on the A-LIST SERIES FINISHER ⇒ COMPLETE 9+ SERIES.

These are my target series this year.

(1) Jimm Juree series - Colin Cotterill (3 books) - 0 completed

(2) Shinobi Mystery series - Susan Spann (3 books) - 0 completed

(3) Bernie Rhodenbarr series - Lawrence Block (3 books) - 0 completed

(4) Kitty Pangborn series - Linda L. Richards (1 book) - 0 completed

(5) Lunar Chronicles series - Marissa Meyer (2 books) - 2 completed

(6) Ali Reynolds series - J.A. Jance (4 books) - 0 completed

(7) Thistle & Twigg series - Mary Saums (1 book) - 0 completed

(8) Stonehaven Mysteries - Linn Chapel (1 books) - 1 completed

(9) Melkor & Purity - Kim Faulks (1 book) - 0 completed

This is a total of 19 books. As of August 6, 2022, I have completed 3 of the 19.

#FinishingTheSeries2022

2021 A-to-Z Reading Challenge

What is the A-to-Z Reading Challenge?

Now in its fourth year, the A-to-Z Reading Challenge is a laid-back, year-long reading challenge hosted by Bookstacks & Golden Moms. Readers choose and complete a book starting with each letter of the alphabet.

26 books with optional mini-challenges for each month (12/12)

JANUARY – A book you purchased in 2020 but didn’t read - The Golden Scales (Makana, #1) by Parker Bilal

FEBRUARY – A book with non-romantic love (siblings, parent-child, friendships) - The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis

MARCH – A book written by a person of a different race than you - A Rising Man (Sam Wyndham, #1) by Abir Mukherjee

APRIL – A book with an Autistic main character (April is Autism Awareness) - Engage at Dawn: Seize and Destroy (Engage at Dawn, #2) by Edward M. Hochsmann

MAY – A book about a nurse (Nat. Nurses Week 2021 is May 6-12) - The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1) by Richard Osman

JUNE – A co-written book (2 authors) - The Little Book of Capital Cities: A Quiz by Peter Keyne and Rudolf Amsel

JULY – A Christmas book (Christmas in July!) - Not A Creature Was Stirring (Gregor Demarkian, #1) by Jane Haddam

AUGUST – A book by an Indie author (self-published or independent) - Skid Kids by Michael Franz

SEPTEMBER – A memoir/biography - The Church of Tango: A Memoir by Cherie Magnus

OCTOBER – A book written by a new-to-you author - Wreckers: A Denver Boyd Novel by George Ellis

NOVEMBER – A book outside your normal genre - The Me Monster by Timothy L. Carver

DECEMBER – A backlist title (published BEFORE Jan 1, 2021) - Zone One by Colson Whitehead

A – Aeverless 3.2 by Jones Harwell (See my review on Reedsy Discovery!)

B – Beneath the Waves (A Kira Hunter Novella, #1) by Nora Cabot (See my review here!)

C – Chelsea Girls, The by Fiona Davis (See my review on Fresh Fiction!)

D – Deadland by Sawyer Hall (See my review!)

E – Elephant Cage, The by Greg Powell (See my review!)

F – Fools Rush In (Lady Vigilante, #19) by Hayley Camille (See my review!)

G – Golden Scales, The (Makana, #1) by Parker Bilal (See my review!)

H – Hope, Faith, and a Corpse (A Faith Chapel Mystery, #1) by Laura Jensen Walker (See my review!)

I – Incomplete Artist, The (Ashley Westgard, #2) by Philip Wyeth (See my review!)

J – Jar of Pickles, A (Lady Vigilante, #18) by Hayley Camille (See my review!)

K – Kicker One (Frankie Scarmazino, #1) by Cy Young (See my review!)

L – Loving Modigliani: The Afterlife of Jeanne Hebuterne by Linda Lappin (See my review!)

M – Murder Off Broadway: A Pet Portraits Cozy Mystery by Sandi Scott (See my review!)

N – Nuclear Midnight (Savage Dawn, #1) by Robert Cole (See my review!)

O – Old Buzzard Had It Coming, The (Alafair Tucker, #1) by Donis Casey

P – Pint of No Return (Shake Shop Mystery, #1) by Dana Mentink (See my review!)

Q – Quench by Xondra Day (See my short review)

R – Rhino Charge (A Kenya Kanga Mystery, #3) by Victoria Tait (See my review!)

S – Shifting Sides (A Shift in Space, #0.5) by Danielle Forrest (See my review!)

T – The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1) by Richard Osman (See my review!)

U – Undead Annihilation (Undead, #1) by Matthew Doggett (See my review!)

V – Vengeance is Mine (Red River Mystery, #4) by Reavis Z. Wortham

W – Wreckers: A Denver Boyd Novel by George Ellis (See my review!)

X – The Xyania Project (The Xyania Project, #1) - J.V. Nolan (See my review!)

Y – Yellow Wall-Paper, The by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (See my review!)

Z – Zone One - Colson Whitehead

As of 12/12/2021, I've read 26 of 26 and 12 of 12.

#AtoZReadingChallenge

Spacetime Reading Challenge 2021 #spacetimereads

Spacetimereads is the short name for the Spacetime Reading Challenge. This reading challenge is being hosted by Jemima Pett at

http://jemimapett.com/blog/2020/12/01/sign-up-spacetimereads-challenge-2021/

Spacetimereads

The Spacetimereads Challenge is to read fiction books set in space or time… How far you want to go is up to you.

There are four levels:

5 books: Planet hopper

10 books: Interstellar explorer

20 books: Galactic navigator

40 books: To Infinity and Beyond

This is my first try on this challenge and I am going to commit to the 1st level - 5 books - Planet Hopper.

Completed on 4/13/2021 - 5/5

The Reckoning (Calliope, #3) - Scott Mari (space) - See my review at Reedsy Discovery

Assurity: A Supernatural Space Thriller - Anthony Barbera (space) - See my review on Goodreads

Shifting Sides (A Shift in Space, #0.5) - Danielle Forrest (space) - See my review at Guatemala Paula Lives to Read

2240: Return to Planet Earth - Daniela Rincon Morassutti (space) - See my review at Guatemala Paula Lives to Read

Wreckers: A Denver Boyd Novel - George Ellis (space) - See my review at Guatemala Paula Lives to Read

Engage at Dawn: Seize and Destroy (Engage at Dawn, #2) - Edward M. Hochsmann (space) - See my review on Goodreads

Karen's 2021 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge

So again, this year, I'm going to participate in the Finishing the Series Reading Challenge hosted by Celebrity Readers (see https://celebrityreaders.com/2020/11/27/2021-finishing-the-series-reading-challenge/). But this time around I'm going to play it a little more realistically considering my other reading responsibilities.

Update: Even with cutting back, other things took precedence over reading this year. Since I don't think this will repeat this year, I am going to move my plan into 2022. I did read a couple of books from this year's list but that's all.

I'm going to opt in on the B-LIST SERIES FINISHER ⇒ COMPLETE 5-8 SERIES. (Good luck, Me!)

These are my target series this year.

(1) Jimm Juree series - Colin Cotterill (3 books) - 0 completed

(2) Shinobi Mystery series - Susan Spann (4 books) - 1 completed

The Ninja's Daughter (Shinobi, #4)

(3) Bernie Rhodenbarr series - Lawrence Block (3 books) - 0 completed

(4) Kitty Pangborn series - Linda L. Richards (1 book) - 0 completed

(5) Lunar Chronicles series - Marissa Meyer (1 book) - 0 completed

(6) Agatha Raisin series - M.C. Beaton (1 book) - 0 completed

Down the Hatch (Agatha Raisin, #32)

(7) Thistle & Twigg series - Mary Saums (1 book) - 0 completed

This is a total of 14 books. As of December 16, 2021, I have completed 2 of the 14.

#FinishingTheSeries2021