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With the arrival of 2021 we are entering our seventh year here at RMFAO! We started the Classics Catchup Challenge with a focus on books published prior to 1900. That was quickly extended to 1940 to include the great mysteries of the 1920s and 1930s. More wonderful books kept creeping in and now the general guideline is anything pre-1950, but there are quite a few later books that are already considered classics and may be included.

This is your chance to catch up on some great reads with the bonus advantage of being easy on the budget. Except for the newer ones, most are available free in numerous formats (including audio!) from such sites as Project Gutenberg, ManyBooks and LibriVox. It can also be combined with any of the other Challenges for a double header, triple play and even in a few cases, one book could count for all four Challenges at once.

You do not need to choose your books ahead of time, you've got all year so you can pick and choose as the mood strikes you. Late-comers are welcome. Who's in? Just choose a level and go for it - or don't decide on a level now and just read as the mood strikes you.
Level 1: Casual Reader: 1-2 books
Level 2: Frequent Reader: 3- 6 books
Level 3: Bookworm: 6 - 12 books
Level 4: Scholar: 13- 19 books
Level 5: Professor: 20 or more books

Other RMFAO challenges:
RMFAO 2021 Genre Challenge
RMFAO 2021 Series Challenge
RMFAO 2021 Audiobook Challenge

Here's the graphic for this challenge:

Happy Reading!

2021 Classics Catch Up
Going to start with 12 and bump up if I hit it.

Level 1: Casual Reader: 1-2 books
Level 2: Frequent Reader: 3- 6 books
Level 3: Bookworm: 6 - 12 books
Level 4: Scholar: 13- 19 books
Level 5: Professor: 20 or more books

1. One Hundred Years of Solitude 4/19/21
2. The Fellowship of the Ring 4/21/21
3. Brave New World 6/19/21
4. Sense and Sensibility 6/27/21
5. I, Robot 7/14/21
6. The Book Thief 7/26/21
7. As I Lay Dying 10/27/21
8. A Clockwork Orange 10/29/21
9. Lolita 11/27/21
10.
11.
12.

Happy New Year everyone! I'm aiming for Level 5 again this year, hoping to have a better year in tackling my list of classics.

Fran wrote: "Happy New Year everyone! I'm aiming for Level 5 again this year, hoping to have a better year in tackling my list of classics."

Happy New Year, dear!

I will be trying for Level-4 for this year.

1.) The House Opposite A Mystery by Elizabeth Kent
Two and a half star mystery story. I didn't love the ending, but it was an ok read.

2.) The Branding Iron by Katharine Newlin Burt
4 stars.

3.) The Red Lady by Katharine Newlin Burt
3 stars. 1920 gothic mystery about a treasure hidden in an old mansion.

1.) On Her Majesty's Secret Service (AB) - Ian Fleming
2.) Notes from Underground (HB) - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
3.) Persuasion (AB) - Jane Austen
4.) Live Oak, With Moss (HB) - Walt Whitman

4.) The Moving Finger by Mary Gaunt
3 stars. Short story collection set in the Australian outback of the 1800s.

5.) The Book of Three (AB) - Lloyd Alexander

5.) Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
3 stars.

6.) Main Street (AB) - Sinclair Lewis

6.) The Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace
4 stars. A fun, clever mystery.

7.) Edna's Sacrifice and Other Stories by Frances Henshaw Baden
3 stars

7.) Reilly's Luck (AB) - Louis L'Amour
8.) Riders of the Purple Sage (AB) - Zane Grey
9.) The Grapes of Wrath (AB) - John Steinbeck

10.) Richard III (AB) - William Shakespeare
11.) A Wrinkle in Time (AB) - Madeline L'Engle

8.) The Goddess: A Demon by Richard Marsh
Two stars

12.) A Murder is Announced (HB) - Agatha Christie
13.) The Plays of Anton Chechov (PB) - Anton Chechov

9.) The House in the Mist by Anna Katherine Green
3 stars

Dagny wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "9.) The House in the Mist by Anna Katherine Green
3 stars"

I haven't read one of hers in a while, should put this on my list!"

Dagny,

This one was just a novella, so it’s a quick entertaining read.

10.) Henry James: “The Patagonia�� 4 stars
“Louisa Pallant�� 3 stars

I put these two novellas together as one entry, since they were a bit short on their own.

14.) Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems (PB) - James Baldwin
15.) A Clockwork Orange (AB) - Anthony Burgess

11.) Antonia by George Sand
3 stars

16.) The Count of Monte Cristo (AB) - Alexandre Dumas

12.) The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola
3 and a half stars

17.) The Princess and the Goblin (AB) - George MacDonald
18.) King Lear (AB) - William Shakespeare
19.) On the Soul and On Memory and Recollection (PB) - Aristotle

13.) The Mystery of M. Felix by Benjamin Leopold Farjeon
4 stars. A fun sensation-novel.

Dagny wrote: "#10 A Love Crime

Available soon from Project Gutenberg"

Thanks for the Project Gutenberg info!

Dagny wrote: "A Love Crime by Paul Bourget
"

Thanks for the link, Dagny!

20.) Green Hills of Africa (AB) - Ernest Hemingway
21.) Swallows and Amazons (AB) - Arthur Ransome
22.) The Lost Prince (PB) - Frances Hodgson Burnett

14.) Tom Ossington's Ghost by Richard Marsh
3 stars. My review can be found here: /review/show...

23.) From Russia With Love (AB) - Ian Fleming
24.) The Winter's Tale (AB) - William Shakespeare

25.) One Hundred Years of Solitude (AB) - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

26.) The Princess and Curdie (AB) - George MacDonald

15.) Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
3 stars

16.) A Woman's Experiences in the Great War: An Australian Author's Clandestine Journey Through War-Torn Belgium by Louise Mack
3 stars

17.) Four Weird Tales by Algernon Blackwood
3 stars

Dagny wrote: "#13 A Living Lie: Mensonges"

What is this book about? Was it good?

Thanks for the info about the book, Dagny!

Dagny wrote: "Here's the initial link for Paul Bourget's A Living Lie:


At this point I think it is just the basic text version and doesn't yet include the other formats (..."

Thanks, Dagny!

27.) They Do it With Mirrors (HB) - Agatha Christie
28.) Phantastes (HB) - George MacDonald

29.) Wide Sargasso Sea (PB) - Jean Phys
30.) Caddie Woodlawn (HB) - Carol Ryrie Brink

18.) The Yellow God: An Idol of Africa by H. Rider Haggard
3 stars. Vernon's servant, Jeekie, was great!

31.) The Moon is Down (HB) - John Steinbeck

Dagny wrote: “Haggard does have some really fun characters! I should revisit some of his novels."

Yes, it had been a long while since I read his books, so I gave it a try. Lots of fun and adventure!

32.) Julius Caesar (AB) - William Shakespeare
33.) The Bhagavad Gita (PB)

19.) The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
3 stars

Cheryl, I haven't read "The importance of Being Earnest", what were your thoughts?

Fran wrote: "Cheryl, I haven't read "The importance of Being Earnest", what were your thoughts?"

There is alot of wordplay in it, with people kind of saying one thing but meaning another. It shows the upper class as being silly (but they don't know it), and the younger upper class as being self-centered but not taking their station in life too seriously.

I guess if you like the works of P.G. Wodehouse, you might like this one. It's best to listen to it, rather than read it, since it is really a play.