I've made some adjustments and would appreciate comments (loved the first set of opinions).

1.made into film--

2. new-to-you author--

3. book you haven't read yet by a favorite classic author--

4. a classic you've always meant to read--

5. lost in translation--

6. book you consider short--

7. book you consider long--

8. a pre-19th century novel--

9. set in colonial history--

10.-12. three books set in a particular country.

Comments?

                                                               Rose

book that won an award. although sometimes an award goes to an author and not necessarily a particular book. maybe this won't work. I have always wanted to read books by Nobel prize winners. For example I have never read anything by Patrick White.

I did have winner of a literary award in my first rough draft. I could put it back in and make those last categories be two books set in a particular country.

We'll see if any other comments are made.

                                                                                                            Rose

Maybe my lack of edumacation  is showing, but are not #8 and #9 both set in the 1700s?

Valerie, someone suggested I do a colonial category, but stressed that it could be a colony of any country. That extends the time frame considerably. I should point that out in the listing, I suppose.

In addition, a pre-19th century novel could have been written during a number of different centuries, not to mention the B.C. era.

                                                                                                         Rose

Quite true, just a one-tracked mind here. Thanks.

questions:

1. re #9 "set in colonial history"...does this mean a work set in a colony of ANY country?

2.  re #10-12 "three books set in a particular country"...does this mean ONE country three times OR THREE different countries?

idea: choose 2 books to read on a chosen theme (to enable you to compare two different authors approach to the theme).Themes like:

death/dying/grief, a noble sacrifice, a great journey, country or city life, revenge, relationship, family life, isolation/exile, etc.

I think I agree with Valerie. Numbers 8 and 9 do seem to be  perhaps too similar? Can someone give me an example of a classic set in colonial history? (Other than the scarlet letter? I love Hawthorne but..... Sounds like a narrow category -- is there a way to open it up a bit?

Rose, I thought we agreed to label number 8 " a pre- 19th century classic" instead of "pre- 19th c novel" in order to open up the door to forms other than novels, I.e., poetry, essays, plays, etc.

1) I was going to make the same suggestion as Janet about changing "novel" to "classic" (or "work").

2) I was thinking #'s 10-12 could be "set in" a specific country or "written by any author from" a specific country.

3) Here's a random thought (piggybacking on Barbara's idea above): The "wildcard" option could be a 3- of-a-kind category that allows someone to triple up on any of the other categories they like. That would give us back #'s 10-12, so we we could add back in the "award winners" category and maybe choose a couple of the themes Barbara mentioned for #'s 11 & 12.

• Example: I could read 3 works "made into film" and skip 2 categories that I don't want to read. 

Clear as mud...? 

(Btw, I'm not totally tied to that idea or anything -- just putting it out there.) 

Janet, you're right--I'll change pre-19th century "novel" to classic.

As I told Valerie (and Barbara), the colonial reference is to any country. Consider the whole world.

                                                                                      Rose

Barbara, as I told Valerie (and Janet), the colonial reference is to any country, not just the United States.

As for the three books set in a particular country, I was thinking of three books, one country (three set in Poland, for example).

I'm loving this honing process!

                                                                                                           Rose

So... Can anyone give me an example of a classic written or set in the colonial period of any country in the world? I'm not asking to be smart mouth about this. I'm just not sure of what choices to read . Thanks!

janet

I would consider all the lands that technically belonged to the British Empire as "colonies"--India, parts of Africa, various islands. Other countries also had control over many lands.

I don't know my history well enough to suggest others. I'll probably change the word "colonial" to something more broad. (This wasn't my idea, by the way.)

                                                                                                                        Rose

RE classic set in the colonial period of any country in the world

This is all  mostly -fiction or fictionalized memoir.

Burmese Days - George Orwell -- Burma circa 1920s

Out of Africa - Isak Dinesen --Kenya
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -- Congo
The Flame Trees of Thika - Elspeth Huxley.-- Kenya
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene -- Sierra Leone
King Solomon's Mines - H Rider Haggard - S. Africa
The Four Feathers - AEW Mason -- Sudan
Plain Tales from the Hills - Kipling -- Inja, b'gosh
Arundel and its sequel Rabble in Arms - Kenneth Roberts - colonial America
Oliver Wiswell - Kenneth Roberts -- colonial America
Tropic Moon - Georges Simenon --Gabon

Update:

Voss - Patrick White --Australia
An Outcast of the Islands - Joseph Conrad -- Sulawesi
Max Havelaar: Or The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company -- Multatuli -- Dutch East Indies
The Malayan Trilogy - Anthony Burgess -- Malaya
Short stories set in the South Seas -- Robert Louis Stevenson -- must be a collection Out There
The Plague and  The Stranger -- Albert Camus -- Algeria

John Masters is known for Bugles and and Tiger, his memoir about his service the British Army in India, but he wrote various novels about the British in India.
Coromandel! (1955) historical novel set in the 17th-century--plucky English lad flees the farm ends up in India.
The Deceivers (1952) novel about an English officer spying against the Thuggee cult of killers
Nightrunners of Bengal (1951) novel of the The Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.
The Lotus and the Wind (1953) novel of The Great Game

I may be wrong, but I think Australia was a British colony from about 1788 to 1901.

Matt B., thank you for your research!

                              Rose

ObsessedR, thanks for clarification on the colony question...by the way, many countries had colonies besides England, e.g., Spain, Portugal, and the Dutch as well, so there are many options for reading choices under "colonial"!

As far as #10-12 go, I think three choices from one country is overkill. I like what Kristin K. said about adding back the award winner category and having a wild card category

Thank you Matt B. For your list. It's a big help, and when I looked at my bookshelf I realized that A Passage to India was staring  me in the face and was an obvious choice!

Janet

And for Dutch colonial lit  I would like to recommend the magical book by Dermout,  The Ten  Thousand Things.  My book group read it years ago and loved it. 

Thanks for the recommendation Janet E.!

this is looking like the challenge in World Lit.

To add to Matt's list of "colonial era" reads:  Omoo and Typee, by Herman Melville, about Tahiti after its takeover by the French

I know that I have not given any input but I'd like to add a bit here.  How about a section that allows us to pick up something we planned to read but didn't get to it in 2014 or 2013?  Maybe we could substitute for a category or two that we don't wish to read.  Just a thought.  

The Flame Trees of Thika - Elspeth Huxley.-- Kenya

this one is not fiction. there is a sequel if anybody is interested. The Mottled Lizard.

Can anyone give me an example of a classic written or set in the colonial period of any country in the world?

The Far Pavilion by M.M. Kaye