Cecrow - 2022 TBR Challenge

Primary List:
1. Auto-da-Fé - Elias Canetti (2022/01)
2. Masters of Rome #3: Fortune's Favourites - Colleen McCullough (2022/03)
3. ISOLT #3: The Guermantes Way - Marcel Proust (2022/05)
4. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (2022/04)
5. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (2022/06)
6. Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (2022/07)
7. Letters of the Younger Pliny (2022/08)
8. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (2022/09)
9. Citizens - Simon Schama (2022/05)
10. ISOLT #4: Sodom and Gomorrah - Marcel Proust (2022-11)
11. A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helprin (2022/10)
12. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (2022/12)

COMPLETED 2022/12

Alternate List:
1. Different Seasons - Stephen King (2022/09)
2. The Home and the World - Rabindranath Tagore (2022/03)
3. The Queen's Gambit - Walter Tevis (2022/04)
4. Old Goriot - Honore de Balzac (2022/06)
5. Disgrace - J. M. Coatzee (2022/06)
6. The Promised Land - Pierre Berton (2022/07)
7. The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane (2022/05)
8. July's People - Nadine Gordimer (2022/08)
9. African Samurai - Thomas Lockley & Geoffrey Girard (2022/09)
10. The Quiet American - Graham Greene (2022/09)
11. The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury (2022/10)
12. The Red House Mystery - A.A. Milne (2022/05)

COMPLETED 2022/10

The centerpiece of this year's challenge is Schama's massive history of the French Revolution. I'll have to get an early start on that one. It shows up this year in order to time with my next Dickens (same subject), and Wilkie Collins appears for a similar reason (published same year). Rome is still a theme here, I'll get through another unread Berton, and I'll try to maintain two Proust books per year. Chess shows up a couple of times, a couple of South African authors I've paired together, King and Bradbury provide short fiction, and I'm revisiting India in a couple of works (had a streak of those going a while back.) The oddest entry is Anthony Doerr, being an unusually current title; I'm saving him for summer.

I'm so envious that you're getting to read A Tale of Two Cities - it's my favorite Dickens and one I've read a few times. Who knows maybe I'll reread it next year just for fun.

The Collins books was good and I'll be interested to see what you think. The Doerr book is on my radar and one I hope to read sooner rather than later.

As always you have a well thought out list and I look forward to seeing your progress.

You have a nice mix there! I remember finding The Woman In White unputdownable.

As a chess enthusiast and Anya Taylor-Joy fan, I'm thrilled you have The Queen's Gambit in there :) I hope you get around to reading it. The adaptation was great, but there were some nuances that i liked better in the book.

And, oh, Tagore...the last time I read you I was still in high school! Would be looking forward to your reaction to The Home and the World...i dont think I'm familiar with this title...

Interesting mix of books. Happy reading in 2022 :)

Good mix of books.

The woman in white is great mystery fun; Disgrace I found memorable rather than fun (I'm not a big Coetzee fan, though, so YMMV). Sense and Sensibility deserves its spot in the canon. Tagore I've read a smattering of, and I'll eventually get to this book, I think (someone once gifted me an ebook of his collected works. I've been reading bits and pieces out of it for years).

Having been burnt by a Gordimer book, I'll be looking forward to your review of July's people. The Bradbury is on my informal list for this year (as in, it would be nice if I got to it but there's no rush).

Happy reading in 2022!

#1 Auto-da-Fé by Elias Canetti

This is Canetti's only novel, and the man walked away with a Nobel Prize for literature. It's definitely unusual, and in some ways unique among books I've read. Reminiscent of absurdism or Kafka, it isn't quite either one. The protagonist of the story is possibly certifiable, then other main characters reveal they are as well, and soon it proves to be the same for almost everyone with a line of dialogue. Yikes. None of them can see reality's forest for their own personally selected trees, each of them severely loaded down with various baggage. Peter Kien is at least a babe in the woods compared to others like Therese (gold digging and physically abusive), the caretaker (even more abusive, horribly so), or the oddly sympathetic Fischerle the dwarf (hellbent on earning a dollar by any means just short of outright stealing). None of them are nice people, but at least Peter is only miserable in a grumpy-old-hermit kind of way. Mostly. He is unrelateable at first, but being surrounded by so many worse examples makes him magically more relateable over time. I grew to like this novel but I wouldn't broadly sing its praises since there's several hurdles involved.

I've read the 'Winter' story from Different Seasons (see what I'm doing there? Won't be done until the fall), and I'm also a quarter of the way through Citizens which is turning out to be fascinating in a history-geek kind of way.

#2 Fortune's Favorites (Masters of Rome #3) by Colleen McCullough

I'll be leaving this seven-volume series here that closely follows the history books, since I think Plutarch and other sources have educated me well enough about the rest of the Roman Republic's story. It's been a fun way to learn, though. Sulla's character arc from the first two books reaches its conclusion, but Pompey and Caesar are up and coming at this point. This volume also features the Spartacus slave revolt as a sort of side light.

Hmm ... not as much progress as I'd like to see in this challenge, given we're in March now. On the other hand I'm closing in on being halfway through Citizens, and most of my alternate list is short stuff. Might do some catching up there, then I'll try Mr. Mistry. Not feeling ready for Proust again just yet.

I have only read The Thornbirds by her and while this series sounds fascinating I'm not sure I'm ready to dive into it when each book is over 1000 pages. Kudos to you for getting this far.

Good luck catching up - I have faith you'll be able to do it.

>10 LittleTaiko:, just over 800 pages in my editions but yeah, big ones. The pages go by pretty fast though, it's not dense stuff.

#3 The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore

An easier read than some novels by Nobel prize winners (*cough* Auto da Fe *cough*) - but only just. Tagore's characters are almost more philosophical positions than they are realized personalities. Their thoughts are consumed by what ground they occupy on issues related to India's independence movement and other political matters. That makes it a little dry, and perhaps the reason why this novel doesn't have a higher profile (apparently?) outside of Tagore's native country. Still, I enjoyed reading something by an author from India instead of an outsider's perspective, which is where I've more often landed. This was a lucky Early Readers' Program win for me here on LT, one of the occasional classics they include in their monthly offering.

#4 A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

Like The Kite Runner, this tells a story of harsh realties in a time (1970s) and place (India) far removed from western comforts and privileges. It has an easy breezy style with a dramatic plot, detailing the lives of four characters representing different strata of society; how those lives merge and overlap, how their perspectives contrast in the face of highs and lows. There is a fine balance between hope and despair that each tries to maintain, as Indira Gandhi's emergency measure spreads nefarious cracks through every element of society that sustains them. I was carried along through 700 pages that felt much fewer, and the ending is brilliant.

Going back to my alternates list, then it's Proust time. Two thirds through Citizens, at the point of the French Revolution where Louis XVI fails to flee the country and Robespierre begins to accumulate power.

#5 The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

Love it. Love it! How is it possible I didn't know about this book before Netflix? Published in 1982, well received, on a topic I've loved since highschool ... somehow I never came across it or I would have read it years ago. Beth Harmon is a child prodigy of the chess world, but also the victim of a foster system that condones tranquilizers for children and sends her down a bad path of addiction. This short novel is a battle between these two influences, as both work increasingly stronger spells over her life. Even having seen the series first and anticipating events, it was gripping. I'd be wishing for someone to make a movie of it if they hadn't. Gotta watch it again now.

Spring has sprung so I'll read the next story in Different Seasons, and then I'll duck Proust no longer. Citizens is picking up steam, they're chopping heads off now.

>14 Cecrow: - That does it - I need to read the book and actually watch the show.

Good luck with Proust!

>14 Cecrow: as a chess nerd, i'm glad you enjoyed the book and the series :) i'd say its one of those rare moment where the adaptation is just as a good as the book.

also, permit me to say it in a book review...but anya taylor-joy's wardrobe was fantastic in the series!

>16 riida:, Netflix has a good behind-the-scenes look at the series where they talk about how her wardrobe progresses, and how in the final scene she's dressed to look similar to the white queen.

>17 Cecrow: oh...i've heard about how her last look is similar to the white queen, but i didnt know about the behind-the-scenes netflix feature. Thanks!

#6 Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama

I'm not always timely in what I choose to read, but unrest in revolutionary France proved fitting as I was watching the Ottawa convoy protest on television earlier this year. Happily it didn't have any of the preconditions that created the Revolution in 1789 France, which Schama goes to great trouble to explore. There's no mystery about what the triggers are as dominos start to fall, and Schama highlights places where events might have been turned aside by quicker action or a clearer sense of what was happening (which King Louis XVI clearly did not have until it was too late.) Things were at their worst when the anti-revolutionaries fought back. At that point the revolution's conscripted armies waged total war and spared not even the civilians in places like Lyon and the Vendee district, like what we're seeing Russia do in Ukraine. Any non-fiction work of 800 pages is liable to be a trial and it took me a few months of reading-on-the-side, but this instance lands in the "less painful" category. It's told like a story which never gets dry, and the topic lends itself well with its many highlights and significant figures. And some modern relevance.

That gives me all the fresh background I require for A Tale of Two Cities, but it also prompted me to get a copy of Rousseau's Confessions. I'm debating whether to sneak that in now (deferring something else on the challenge), or holding on to it for next year. Meanwhile I'm into the second half of Proust's third volume, and beginning to unravel the The Red House Mystery.

#7 The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne

Yep, he's the Winnie-the-Pooh guy. Turns out he also wrote a few novels for adults, including this mystery novel. I don't typically read this genre but I thought this one might be an interesting curiosity. It turned out better than that, a very engaging puzzle with a smart sleuth who very methodically unveils clues that lead to more ideas that lead to more information, like pulling on a thread that unravels the whole carpet. I've read several by Agatha Christie that I've liked, and while this isn't in her style it definitely feels like it's from that period.

My latest battle with Proust is at the two-thirds mark, and I'm already engaged in another Canadian history lesson with Pierre Berton.

>20 Cecrow: - I can't remember how I first heard of this book but it's already on my wishlist. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Good luck with Proust! Sounds like you're about ready to win your battle.

>20 Cecrow: I had no idea the Winie-the-Pooh author wrote anything for adults. That's interesting!

#8 The Guermantes Way (In Search of Lost Time, vol. 3) by Marcel Proust

This third volume's theme is primarily social climbing and its follies. It's hard to say whether 'follies' is really intended, but Proust doesn't shy away from the ridiculous aspects. At the same time he doesn't strictly ridicule it either; it's a clear-eyed gaze into what people who do this are struggling to attain, an honest assessment of its value and weaknesses. The narrator finds that all is not what he imagined, not unlike someone taken in by the glamorous social media posts of someone else who busies themselves with disguising a mundane life. We may not all be attending Parisian salons and comparing our ancestry anymore, but many people we know today are not so much different in what they strive for, setting themselves on carefully constructed pedastels of clay. This felt like a modestly more eventful novel than the last two but that didn't make it action-packed, and I didn't relate to it on a personal level so often as I did the second one (I prefer his romantic episodes.) It also stung a bit that my copy is missing thirty pages in the exact middle thanks to a publishing error.

That was quite a hill to conquer, and with the French Revolution history already behind me I should have clear sailing on the primary list until I meet Proust again this fall. I'm still behind on the alternative reads, but there's progress on closing that gap: a decent start on Stephen King and Pierre Berton, and I will shortly be done with Stephen Crane.

#9 The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane died tragically of tuberculosis when he was just 28, but he left this classic war novel behind among some other works. Published about twenty-five years after the American Civil War, it describes the experience in realistic terms that don't shy from the horror, and especially the terror. Initially there is nothing romantic or glorifying in this depiction, while Henry is still bound up in fear. As he finds his courage, all the downsides of war are forgotten like a bad dream while its brutality continues. I didn't read this one in high school - partly a factor of being Canadian, perhaps - but it's an interesting read now for discovering which themes Crane chooses to take up and which ones he avoids.

Congrats on the Proust progress! I have The Red Badge of Courage in my huge TBR pile. It wasn’t part of our assigned reading in high school either. Maybe I’ll put this on my 2023 challenge list - sounds like something worth reading.

#10 Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

Booker and Nobel winner. A man of my age and circumstances makes some bad life choices; that's the gist of it. He's working on coming to terms with his age, mortality and attitude towards women in a roundabout, indirect way that requires him to acknowledge the process as little as possible. It's a short novel in clear, plain language but it takes you on a rough ride through trigger-filled territory. I think this is the first novel I've read with a South Africa setting (discounting stories that were just passing through), and it opened my eyes to their horrible crime rate and the political turmoil they still endure, Nelson Mandela's efforts notwithstanding. This novel was written twenty years ago but the internet suggests things haven't improved much since.

I've been wanting a copy of The Red house Mystery for a while now but havent gotten around to it yet. I guess I was hesitating because I knew he created Pooh and maybe I didnt want to mix my childhood memories of him with murder ^.^

But now I think I really should read this soon-ish :p

#11 A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A fascinating account of the hockey rivalry between Toronto and Montreal ... no, wrong book. Dickens' historical fiction about the French Revolution, thickly layered with drama. In two more years I'll be able to rank my opinion of all his novels, and this is going to land somewhere in the middle. For the first two thirds I found it fairly bland and umimpressive. Its third section cures every ill and is masterfully done. How am I supposed to rate that? I don't believe the plainness of the first two thirds was a required price to pay to achieve the last, surely something more could have been done with it besides just setup. Something to make me care about the characters besides just their pure glowing goodness would have helped. More detail about the evolving Revolution would have helped too, instead of skimming over its highlights in a vague noncommittal way enroute to the Terror portion. Yes, the final third makes it worth it.

>28 Cecrow: "A fascinating account of the hockey rivalry between Toronto and Montreal" made me do a double take :p

it's been a while since i've read this...and embarassingly, the only thing i can remember now are the opening lines!

there's a collaboration series between two youtubers called "dickens vs tolstoy" where they go through those authors' works, reading and discussing them, one book at a time. it's very exciting for the book nerd in me and made me want to pick up the old books again. but yeah...how can these books be so dull and beautiful at the same time??!!

#12 Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

Surprisingly good. Seems like I'm always encountering unexpected coincidences in the books I read; in this case I found myself touring high society in the Fauborge Saint-Germain, precisely the same place I just visited in The Guermantes Way. Balzac is far more to the point than Proust, and in pursuit of the same idea: a young man dazzled by his entry into the highest class of Parisians. Having just felt disappointed with Dickens' Two Cities, I've been struggling to understand why that let me down while this one elated me. One difference is that Dickens' world was very black and white, while Balzac paints with the entire palette of greys. His is a much deeper struggle with morality, to the point of philosophical debate: the young man Eugene with the troubling Vautrin on one shoulder, his laid back friend Bianchon riding on his other. This is also a better structured novel, as engaging through its first half as in its second.

>28 Cecrow: - I think this one will always be my favorite just because it was the first Dickens I ever read and I fell hard for it. We were assigned this in high school and I remember reading the first third and being underwhelmed. Then all of a sudden I was sucked in and didn't want to stop. I've reread it a couple of times since then and still love it. Best opening and closing lines in a book. I even used the opening lines in my high school graduation speech. Total fan girl.

I can't wait for both of us to have finished our Dickens reading and to compare rankings.

>31 LittleTaiko:, already thinking ahead about that, lol. I'll be done with him in Summer 2024 or so.

#13 The Promised Land: Settling the West, 1896-1914 by Pierre Berton

Not to be confused with the recent memoir by a certain ex-President that I read last year. I've read about a dozen books by Pierre Berton, a fantastic chronicler of popular Canadian history. This book fills a gap between his coverage of building of the first national railroad in the late 1800s and the start of World War One, overlapping the Klondike excitement in the Yukon. This is the story of the settling of our prairie provinces, predominately by Americans coming north but also by a polyglot of European immigrants. Again my reading proves timely because a lot of these came from the Ukraine, which explains our strong Ukrainian communities and ties today. It lacks the imagination-capturing thrust of other topics Berton has zeroed in on, but he works his usual magic of including a broad mix of individuals' stories that contribute to portraying the overarching tale. He is very blunt and plain about the slanted politics, the prejudice and racism that welcomed these-but-not-those, the swindling of Europeans on the voyage over. He's slow at getting around to the plight of Native Americans who were forced aside to make way for these new arrivals, but he gets there.

#14 Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

One of my rare forays into recently published fiction, an impulse buy after I read the quirky outline described on the book flap. I thought the Lego Movie created this name and I had no idea it came from the ancient Greeks, so that was the first thing I learned. It's a place idly spoken of in a play by Aristophanes, but Doerr invents an entire creative work in Greek under the name and then traces its history through time, highlighting the miracle of how ancient texts are preserved through the ages and what drives us to save them, generation after generation. There's nothing particularly deep in the message but it has some nice touches. I'm most impressed by the breadth of knowledge Doerr required to make this novel work, spanning from Byzantium and Bulgaria in 1453 all the way forward to interstellar travel. I had thought I would read this and then discard it, but I think I'll keep it.

Reading 14 titles by end of July puts me right on target. I'm closing in on 3/4rs of King, and I have a start on the Japanese history. But Proust is looming further down the list and I've learned his volumes of the size coming up are a two month endeavour. Predicting Austen will get bumped yet again.

#15 The Letters of the Younger Pliny

Much, much less dry than I'd feared. In fact (as the introduction notes) Rome springs to life far more vividly over the course of reading these actual letters from the period than in most else I've read on the topic. Pliny the Younger (to distinguish him from his esteemed uncle, also named Pliny) took a great deal of pride in his speeches and poems, but it was his letters that proved to be his greatest legacy: those to Tacitus, his exchanges with Emperor Trajan, his first-hand account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the death of his uncle and the destruction of Pompeii ... it's worthy stuff and a fascinating record. When Anthony Doerr celebrates amazing literature that's been preserved through twenty centuries or more in Cloud Cuckoo Land, he's talking about things like this.

#16 July's People by Nadine Gordimer

The second book I've read about South Africa this year, after Disgrace earlier. In this one, published 1981, Gordimer imagines a future in which arpartheid is resolved by the (then seemingly more likely) scenario of a violent uprising and overthrow of the white government by the black majority, with help from neighbouring countries. The story centres on the Smales, a white family saved from the violence by their black employee who guides them by safe byways to his own small remote village. Here they learn a new relationship between themselves and their hosts. Disturbing and illuminating.

Next up is Wilkie Collins, and I'm most of the way through Yasuke's story.

>14 Cecrow: Would you say you enjoyed the book or the series more? I started watching the series but I got bored with it.

>37 handshakes:, re Queens Gambit, for emotional highs I'd say series. For character depth I'd say the book. The series is more friendly if you don't follow chess.

>38 Cecrow: I don't follow chess, but I'd be interested in learning the intricacies of it. I didn't really care for the emotional highs and lows of the series, as they seemed shallow at best, anyway.

>39 handshakes:, even in the final episode? Ah, that's too bad.

>40 Cecrow: Honestly, I didn't get that far. I was too bored with it.

#17 African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan by Thomas Lockley & Geoffrey Girard

Thank you, Walmart, for catching my eye with this one. Not a place you'd normally encounter a densely-packed non-fiction work, but no complaint from me. I enjoy reading Japanese history, and this hits an interesting pocket I'd not read much about, detailing the rule of Oda Nobunaga prior to Hideyoshi and the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ostensibly though, the focus is on Yasuke. Long ago I read James Clavell's Shogun which is a fictional retelling of the true story of Samurai William. I regarded William as a fairly unique vintage outside of the Portuguese Jesuits, but here's another example of a foreigner who rose to significant Japanese heights in that period and did it about twenty years earlier. Apparently Netflix is carrying an animated version of his story now, but I wouldn't trust it for historical accuracy. This account incorporates everything that's actually known about him, along with some (identified) educational guesswork. And it does so in a unique style that almost reads like historical fiction.

#18 The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Ever read a book and feel like you're being manipulated by the author? Like he/she is purposely hiding things from you, going out of their way not to make things clear, putting the narration in the hands of characters who don't have the whole picture while there's clearly others who do, etc.? If Collins didn't invent that here, he at least established a major example. In 1859 this was sprung on people right on the heels of A Tale of Two Cities, published in the same magazine right after the other novel ended, and Collins and Dickens were close friends ... I wonder if it is only coincidence that both novels feature two characters who look remarkably alike? I won't say anything more about it because seeing how the novel unfolds, its basic construction, is part of the fun of reading it. It amounts to a very carefully constructed puzzle box.

Next I'm reading Graham Greene and finishing with Stephen King. Then I'm deferring Proust to ensure I get reacquainted this year with Mark Helprin.

>43 Cecrow: I've wanted to read this one for a while. Thanks for giving me even more motivation!

#19 The Quiet American by Graham Greene

This is only the third of Greene's novels I've read, and I always forget in between how good he is. His style is the best mix of literary and captivating; you've never quite sure if he's just telling you a good story or imparting some valuable life insights, because he's usually doing both. This is his most popular novel according to LT, possibly because it's the epitome of that perfect mix. The setting is contemporary for when it was published in 1955, taking place toward the end of France's role in Vietnam and before the Americans had their turn. The narrator is Thomas Fowler, a British journalist, but the story is about Alden Pyle, ostensibly also a journalist from America but possibly something more. The United States could have saved themselves a whole lot of trouble if they'd just read this novel and taken its political message seriously: Vietnam didn't want rescuing.

#20 Different Seasons by Stephen King

Has it been forty years already since this was published in 1982 (same year as The Queen's Gambit)? That's more time than Red or Andy spent in prison. Thirty-six years ago it led to the movie "Stand By Me" (featuring the late River Pheonix, Joaquin's then-more-famous brother, and a young Wil Wheaton.) Twenty-eight years ago, it produced the Oscar-nominated movie "The Shawshank Redemption". And just a few years later, "Apt Pupil" (not so popular or well received.) Only the last story, "The Breathing Method", hasn't gotten a movie treatment for being too slight a story to warrant it. It used to be fun to stun people by telling them all three movies stemmed from a single collection, and by Stephen King of all people ("The horror guy? No way!"). Now the movies are getting a bit forgotten and I don't think the connection would surprise anyone, given how versatile he's proven to be over the decades since. I've sampled way more King than I ever intended to (I think this makes ten), who I would not call a favourite author of mine. Although every time I'm ready to stop, something else he wrote piques my interest. Fairy Tale, anyone?

makes me want to pick up wilkie collins and stephen king again :)

>47 riida: Stephen King is hit and miss for me. I generally love or hate his stuff. The Colorado Kid was particularly dreadful, The Tommyknockers too long, and Dreamcatcher--although I liked it--too scrambled. There are some books where you can just go, "Yep, he was high as a kite when writing that one!" :O

#21 The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Bradbury offers political commentary on American imperialist attitude in this 1950s collection of related short fiction. It masquerades well as a novel, easily read as a sequential series of loosely related episodes. Classic of the genre though it is, I'm not sure I'd call it a must-read - certainly not if you want a scientifically accurate look at Mars (try Kim Stanley Robinson instead for a more serious approach.) Bradbury is a good writer though, and if you can push the absurdity aside he still sparks an emotional response.

That finishes my Alternatives list for this year.

#22 A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

I love Helprin's trademark optimism, but he doesn't spurn the darker side of life (this is a novel about Italy in World War I, after all.) The 'great war' of the title refers to more than just the first World War. Alessandro is an engaging character who grasps life with both hands, but he has the misfortune of being thrust into war along with the rest of his generation. This will either destroy everything good in him, or he will come out the other side with a tried and tested philosophy that can find and cling to the power of love and beauty, whatever he is subjected to. I like the idea behind this story, I liked Alessandro, and Helprin has a flare for description, but at nearly 800 pages I think it needed to be shorter.

Now I'm turning back to Proust. As much as I'd like to say I can still fit in Austen after that, I'm not getting my hopes up.

With over two months left in the year, I'd say you have a decent shot to finish your list.

just 2 more books to go!! amazing! i'm jealous, and i'm in awe ^_^

question...how do you insert the book's covers?

>52 riida:, you can enclose tags with the angle brackets (the ones pointing left and right). To show you I'll use the round brackets instead, just substitute:

(img src="")(/img)

Inside the quotes, put the full address of the image. In my browser I can right-click on the book cover and choose "Save image URL", then I can paste it.

Congrats on getting achieving so much with your challenge thus far. Good luck with Proust!

>53 Cecrow: brilliant! tnx!! ^_^

>51 Narilka:, I was skeptical, given my track record, but I'm halfway through this volume as of today. I think that's a record for me. Not sure if he's getting easier or I'm just getting used to him.

#23 Sodom and Gomorrah (In Search of Lost Time, vol. 4) by Marcel Proust

I'm always wary of when Proust writes something like "There is not time to address this now, I will only say that ..." It's much more tolerable when you don't let this lift your spirit into believing he's actually going to be brief about something. Somehow, though - whether it's my becoming accustomed to the voice and style, or the content of this volume - it's becoming easier to wade through and I finished this one a lot faster than I'd anticipated. Thematically this was largely "more of volume three", as the narrator is still moving among the elite social circles and revisiting his old vacation stomping grounds, etc. But his social standing is accomplished fact now, which gives him leisure to make observations about homosexual characters who think they're being more subtle than they really are, and to exhibit an insane amount of jealousy over his lady love whom he insists he cares nothing for. Frankly I don't much like the guy at this point, but I understand he's getting set up for a fall so (next year) we'll see how that plays out.

Meanwhile, this year I might finish this challenge after all!

Amazing! you're about to finish off your lists!!

I’m living vicariously through your Proust reviews since I really have no plans on reading it myself. One more to go - you can do it!

>59 LittleTaiko:, alas there's still three more: The Captive, The Fugitive, and Time Regained. I'll get two done next year, then finish up in 2024...

.... oh! You must have meant one more book for this year's challenge! Yes, and it's a pretty easy one too, but I'm not gonna jinx it, lol.

#24 Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Of the three by Austen I've read so far (Emma, P&P) Elinor and Edward are the characters I most relate to. I like compare-contrast exercises between emotional spontenaity and cool logic (not that anyone is ever entirely found devoid of either), which loosely reminds me of Narcissus and Goldmund. The laugh-out-loud moments don't hurt either (i.e. the Palmers.) While I'm firmly on the 'sense' side of the equation, I don't think Austen plays entirely fair with the contest and is a little too decisive about where she stands. I'd like to track down the much-praised movie version with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet.

I think this makes the fourth time I've finished the challenge in 12 attempts, so I'm scoring 1-for-3 odds. Also happy that I have no outstanding unread titles again. I'm getting better at estimating how much I can realistically get through in 12 months when I make my lists.

There's no headway on the size of my TBR pile, broke even this year (in the low 90s) for how many unread books I have. I'm not sure I'd want it to be a whole lot smaller, though. It's about the right size right now to offer a good selection for annually drawing my next 24 titles from - or a good excuse, anyway. Really looking forward to next year, hoping I can finish up a couple of non-challenge books over the holidays first.

Congratulations on completing your challenge!

I’m so impressed that you finished your challenge - well done!

S&S is my fourth favorite of the Austen novels. It’s been ages since I saw the movie, but I remember it being worth seeing.

Happy Holidays!

well done on finishing your challenge! ^.^

i think i need to read S&S soon!