February Group Challenge, 2020

Use the Group Zeitgeist link on our 1001 books group home page to find “characteristic works”. This is a list of our groups 134 most commonly held books. Look over the list and see how many of these you have read and choose one from the list to read for February. Has anyone read all 134? Then you have completed February’s group challenge!

Interesting - never seen this list before. It seems to only have 126 books listed, and 16 of these are not on Boxalls list, including Boxalls book itself (though I’m sure he wished it was included!). Of the remaining 110 books there are 6 I haven’t read so I’ll pick Unless by Carol Shields for this challenge.

>2 puckers: yes, it will be the "most-held" books so if a lot of our members have some of the same books that aren't on the list, those are included as well.

So, good to point out to verify that it's a list book before you read!

I have 58 to choose from and not all are the giant chunksters that I've been avoiding! Gotta see what I've got on the pile...

I was just about to say the same thing as puckers.

Looks like I have not read 23 of the list books on this list. Lots of good books, that I already have, to choose from. I might go with Fingersmith or Family Matters in Feb. I still have to finish The Diviners for the January Group Read.

I'm only shown 100 books and i thought I might have the challenge completed until, at the very bottom, Gulliver's Travels is mentioned :(

I have read all the 1001 books on the list, but I have The Last Chronicle of Barset on my shelf. I can see The Warden on this list, maybe that will kickstart my reading of the series. I can't bring myself to read the last one on its own- the list lover in me won't allow it!

Haven't read Book Lust, Wolf Hall or 84, Charing Cross Road.

I have a lot of choices from that list and since I was already planning on reading Vernon God Little I will also add The Sea by John Banville to my February TBR as well.

I might choose Unless as well.

>7 soffitta1: Wolf Hall is one of my favorite books and should be on the list! If you're interested in a group read, we're reading it in the category challenge in February.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/315906

>10 japaul22: Thanks for the heads up. I didn't enjoy enjoy Beyond Black - possibly more for the subject matter - so have never picked it up. I do enjoy historical fiction a lot.

>10 japaul22: I decided to count the great Wolf Hall among my 1001 completed books because I am so certain it will be added once she finishes the series. I notice that they tend to only count the last book in a series, so I think they are waiting for #3 on this one, due out this year!

For the current challenge, I might take on The Gathering, which has been on my TBR shelf for a while.

update: I realize that The Gathering was the last list book I read! It was truly deeply forgettable.

>12 annamorphic: Except when they use the first in a series: Casino Royale, Interview with the Vampire, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Justine, All the Pretty Horses, Faceless Killers, Tarzan of the Apes, 2001
Or picked representative samples: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1 of "Karla Trilogy") Smiley's People (3 of "Karla Trilogy"), Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey, #10), The Nine Tailors (Lord Peter Wimsey, #11), Thank You, Jeeves (Jeeves, #5), Phineas Finn (Palliser, #2)
Or maybe just adding the most recently published: Home (Gilead #2), Winter (Seasonal, #2)..............

>13 ELiz_M: I don't think of many of those as true series. The Peter Wimsey books are definitely not a series in the way that, say, the Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante are a series, each one building on the last. Nor are the Poirot or Jeeves books. I haven't read enough of the others to judge.

But maybe they will go with the first of Mantel's Cromwell books once the third comes out!

>12 annamorphic: Is there another update of the list due out soon?

I have completed my read of Vernon God Little by Dbc Pierre, and while I can't say that I loved this bizarre story, it certainly held my attention.

ETA: I have also just completed The Sea by John Banville a book I felt more admiration than liking for. The author's writing is beautiful.