Sunday, September 2, 2018

Fall Reading Challenges: R.I.P. XIII, Persephone Readathon, Victober, and The 1944 Club!

So many great reading opportunities on the blogosphere this fall! Here's a roundup of what I want to read soon. Naturally, I'm going to focus on what's on my own shelves. 



Readers Imbibing Peril XIII: September 1 - October 31.

Mystery, suspense, horror, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic. I'm hoping for Peril the Second, at least two books. Possible RIP Reads:
  • A ghost story collection -- I have collections by Elizabeth Gaskell, M. R. James, and E. F. Benson on the TBR shelves
  • Something by Wilkie Collins, a shorter work: The Dead Secret, The Evil Genius, or The Haunted Hotel. (Can also count for Victober).
  • Frankenstein, for my IRL book club
  • Something by Dorothy L. Sayers -- my library has several available for digital audio download.  Probably either Strong Poison or The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. Will also count for my final category in the Back to the Classics Challenge


Persephone Readathon: September 21 - 30. Hosted by Jessie at Dwell in Possibility

Again, just trying to read more books from my own shelves. I have at least a dozen unread Persephones. Possible reads: 

  • Alas, Poor Lady by Rachel Ferguson. It is the dove-grey book that I've owned the longest without reading it.
  • Long Live Great Bardfield by Tirzah Garwood
  • The Godwits Fly by Robin Hyde. My most recent Persephone purchase, bought at the shop on my trip to London in June.
  • Tory Heaven by Marghanita Laski. A birthday present -- I should read it before my next birthday.
  • The Happy Tree by Rosalind Murray



Portrait of Queen Victoria, painted by Franz Winterhalter  in 1943.
I saw the original at Kensington palace in June.

Victober 2018: October 1 - 30. 

This is a new one for me, a month-long readalong of Victorian literature on Goodreads. Possible reads: 
  • The Doctor's Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
  • The Dead Secret, The Evil Genius, or The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins (also RIP)
  • Tales of Mystery and the Macabre by Elizabeth Gaskell (also RIP)
  • Who Is Lost and Is Found by Margaret Oliphant
  • Is He Popenjoy? by Anthony Trollope -- for my Trollope group readalong
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson -- I've gotten hooked on Black Sails, which includes some of Stevenson's characters -- sort of a prequel which explains the relationship between Long John Silver and Captain Flint.
  • The Time Machine by H. G. Wells




The 1944 ClubOctober 15 - 21.
Hosted by Simon of Stuck in a Book and Karen of Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings


Possible reads: 

  • The Green Years by A. J. Cronin. I know nothing about this book, but someone left a beautiful old edition on the giveaway cart at the library last year, and I couldn't pass it up. Apparently it's about an Irish orphan who is sent to live with his grandparents in Scotland. It's only 240 pages so I'll give it a try.
  • The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker -- I have a beautiful Penguin copy that I received as a prize several years ago from an online contest -- one of the last of my Big Box of Penguins.
  • Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker -- a wonderful book set in Montana, by an author nobody reads anymore. I read it several years ago and loved it, and would love to read it again. It's a coming-of-age story about a young woman working as a teacher in WWII.


It seems like a lot, but it's split up over two months, and a lot of the books cross over into other categories. Bloggers, have you read any of these books or authors? Which do you recommend? And is anyone else signing up for fall challenges? 

12 comments:

  1. You have some really interesting titles lined up there. The only ones I have read are the Dorothy Sayers' novels.

    My plans are much less ambitions, but I definitely want to do the RIP challenge again this year as well as the 1944 club. Like you, I will be taking books from my own shelves if possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm also happy that some of the challenges cross over -- I don't know if I'll be able to read only books from my own shelves as I seem to be reading up all my Victorians! I'm pretty much just left with Trollope and as much as I love him, I want to spread them out a little.

      Delete
  2. I like all the challenges and they do provide a variety of options and authors. I’m planning on reading E.F. Benson for RIP also. Winter Wheat sounds wonderful—I really enjoy books like that. I imagine it will be hard to find. Happy reading—you have quite a list for the coming months!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Winter Wheat is in print from Bison Books and is available from Amazon.

      Delete
    2. Winter Wheat is just wonderful. It's the only one of Walker's books that I've read and I really want to find more.

      Delete
  3. I have such vivid memories of reading The Green Years by Cronin. First of all, as a 12-year-old, I saw the movie, which captivated me. I so identified with the boy, young man, etc. who did everything he could to become a doctor. I grasped at reading the novel when I was a freshman in high school. I have distinct memories of reading it in study halls, leaving my homework for when I got home. It was so riveting to me, probably because I related so much to this coming of age story.
    I will also admit that I was a huge fan of A.C. Cronin at the time. At 15 I read his novel about a young Scottish doctor. Oh, help. I will have to search up the title. Good writing. Great characters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't know it was a movie! I'll have to look for it. And your rave review has really inspired me, I will definitely try to read it then. I love hearing about books that are so absorbing.

      Delete
  4. I am also doing all of those challenges in Autumn :) Loved your TBR! Here is mine, which I posted last week: https://theblankgarden.com/2018/08/28/r-eaders-i-mbibing-p-eril-xiii-persephone-readathon-victober-the-1944-club/

    Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was inspired by your blog post! Of course I have way too many books on this list but if I read at least one for each challenge I'll be happy.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for mentioning the 1944 Club! I was going through my list of potential reads yesterday, and it seems like a very fruitful year. And I really should join in the Persephone Readathon, though I suspect none of my remaining Century of Books years are good for Persephones...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would love to do ACOB someday but I have so many unread books that are repeat years so I feel like I need to read more of those first. I'm looking forward to the 1944 Club!

      Delete
  6. An interesting TBR list (I love The Time Machine!)
    I've just barely started a blog, finally. I had been following yours a bit already because of the B2C challenge. And I decided to join RIP, also for Peril the Second.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.