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B1: Book From Our Group’s Shelf Prior to 2021 - For Whom the Bell Tolls
✔️B2: Book That Has Been Made Into Film - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 3/13 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
B3: Booker Prize Winner Lincoln in the Bardo
✔️B4: Classic Romance Persuasion 1/21 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
B5: Classic of Europe Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Vol 1

I1: Classic Adventure
I2: Book Published or Written 1700 or earlier
I3: Classic Short Story Collection - Selected Stories of Anton Chekov
I4: Book Published in the 19th Century War and Peace
I5: New To Me Classic Author

N1: Nobel Laureate
✔️N2: History or Historical Fiction 7/31 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
N3: Reader’s Choice
✔️N4: Classic Satire or Comedy Candide 7/11 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
N5: Newberry Medal Winner Holes

G1: Classic Female Author - My Ántonia by Willa Cather
G2: Book Published in the 18th Century
G3: Nonfiction -
✔️G4: Book Published in the 20th Century -Invisible Man⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
G5: Book From Another Book Club or Library List

O1: Classic of Africa - Cry, the Beloved Country
O2: Classic Mystery, Suspense, or Thriller - The Moonstone
O3: Pulitzer Prize Winner -Lamb in His Bosom
O4: 100 Must-Read Classics in Translation Siddhartha
✔️O5: Book From Our Group’s 2021 - Bookshelf Ender's Game 01/04 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Welcome to the challenge, Donna. Looks like a nice group of books. And you can always add more to your challenge if you like. You do not have to plan ahead for this one.

Good to know, Katy. Thanks!

I will admit I decided on an audiobook to read War and Peace (and Anna Karenina,too!)It really is a good book-but even more so because it's based on real history.The reason it's so long a book is because it was serialised for over two years before it was finally published-so Tolstoy got rewarded with a small fortune for his hard work!I do hope this is the year you are able to read it :)Good luck with the challenge!

Thank you, Vicky. Anna Karenina is one of my all-time favorite books. A while ago I got a copy of War and Peace for Christmas. (It was the newly translated version by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.) I’ve picked it up several times but never got very far. It’s kind of a bucket list book for me, so I do hope this is the year.

Donna wrote: "Thank you, Vicky. Anna Karenina is one of my all-time favorite books. A while ago I got a copy of War and Peace for Christmas. (It was the newly translated version by Richard Pevear and Larissa Vol..."
Whatever happens I can guarantee that you will enjoy the Jane Austen novel!I recently visited the Jane Austen museum about an hour away from where we live and stood wondering at the tiny desk where she wrote so many of her books.She was a very clever person but I got the feeling walking round the family's farmhouse that she was at her most happy and creative when she was at home.I think there was a good deal of the author in the heroine of this story!BTW here is the desk-in case you're interested!

Thanks for that, Vicky. I love the desk - it captures the imagination. We were in the UK two years ago and spent a few days in Bath. One afternoon I walked up to the Jane Austen Center and had a fun afternoon there. I never read Austen until just recently and I’m looking forward to Persuasion.

I’m making some progress in the Bs. Next up for me is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

I see you gave 5 stars to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It's one of my favorites. Good luck with For Whom the Bell Tolls. I struggle with Hemingway.

Marilyn wrote: "I see you gave 5 stars to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It's one of my favorites. Good luck with For Whom the Bell Tolls. I struggle with Hemingway."

Thanks, Marilyn.

Nice list! Hope you enjoy the Moonstone when you get to it. I'm low-key obsessed with Wilkie Collins and really need to find time to read more of his books! (I've read four so far. They tend to run long, so it's a one a year kind of thing for me. lol)

Leni wrote: "Nice list! Hope you enjoy the Moonstone when you get to it. I'm low-key obsessed with Wilkie Collins and really need to find time to read more of his books! (I've read four so far. They tend to run..."

I've enjoyed "The Woman in White" much more than "The Moonstone" myself. Which would you recommend for a third Collins novel, Leni?

Sid_rw wrote: "I've enjoyed "The Woman in White" much more than "The Moonstone" myself. Which would you recommend for a third Collins novel, Leni? "

The Woman in White has one of the most amazing heroines, and ditto villain, that I have come across. Such a pairing! But the second part of the book was a bit of a letdown for me, because of the milquetoast hero. Armadale is another great one. Although it was originally serialised, and so is longer than it strictly speaking needs to be. There's always a new sensational twist around the corner. I loved it though. I plan on reading No Name next. Then I'll have covered his four major works.

Leni wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "I've enjoyed "The Woman in White" much more than "The Moonstone" myself. Which would you recommend for a third Collins novel, Leni? "

The Woman in White has one of the most amazing ..."

Thanks for that, Leni. "Armadale" certainly looks intriguing. It may be the next classic I turn my attention to once my current personal challenge is complete.

I loved No Name but still have Armadale ahead of me. Collins has become quite a favorite with me.

Sara wrote: "I loved No Name but still have Armadale ahead of me. Collins has become quite a favorite with me."

This is good to know, Sara, but I still wonder if I'm alone in finding "The Moonstone" a bit slow and dry, mostly. Maybe I was having an off-time when reading it and might enjoy it more on re-read?

I started with The Moonstone, first reading it when I was in high school. I did not find it slow or dry, and went on to read it again later in life. Even that read has been a while (before joining GR), though, so I might do it again soon and have a fresher view of it. Timing is sometimes everything!

You all are making me excited to read The Moonstone. It’s the one by Collins that I have on my Kindle, which is why I decided to start with it. But I’ve heard many good things about The Woman in White.

Sara wrote: "I started with The Moonstone, first reading it when I was in high school. I did not find it slow or dry, and went on to read it again later in life. Even that read has been a while (before joining ..."

I agree that timing can make quite the impact, Sara. It's one reason why I tend not to synchronise my reads with a group unless I'm genuinely committed to reading a text at that time. I started "The God of Small Things" twice at the wrong time and just couldn't get into it. Third time, I really enjoyed it.

Donna wrote: "You all are making me excited to read The Moonstone. It’s the one by Collins that I have on my Kindle, which is why I decided to start with it. But I’ve heard many good things about The Woman in Wh..."

Donna, I first approached "The Moonstone" when I was nineteen years old, and what appealed to me was that it was being credited as possibly the earliest "detective novel" in the English language, which intrigued me. It was okay but not deeply absorbing. "The Woman in White" however, gripped me from start to finish.

Thanks, Sid, good to know.