Monday, September 17, 2012

The Classics Club: My List


After this featured post for BBAW about The Classics Club, I wondered... so, why have I not done this already? I'm slow jumping on this one I guess! But I don't know why I wouldn't do it because it's pretty much in my plan anyway, and this would just help to make it happen.... hopefully.

Are you wondering what I'm even talking about? Reading classics again, that's what!

Last week, we talked a lot about the pros of blogging. I have one con though, and that is that somehow my reading changed to NOT include the classics as much, which has always made me sad. This "club" is to encourage us to try and read 50 classics (at least) in the next five years. Doing some math (I can almost handle this math even!) that's ten classics a year, which is a lot more than I've been doing lately, but still very doable if I step it up.

So, in order to join, all I have to do is list my 50 (or so) books here, ones that are on my radar right now to read, keeping in mind that I can add and delete as we go along.


Classics Currently Reading at the time of this post:

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (read Oct. 2012)

Classics I have on the shelf already that I assume I wanted to read someday:

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Twenty Years After by Alexadnre Dumas
Felix Holt by George Eliot
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
Lady Chatterlye's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
Evelina by Fanny Burney
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
Eugenie Grandet by Honore Balzac
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Classics that I just plain want to read:

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The Old Curiousity Shop by Charles Dickens
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
The Winter of our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
A Modern Comedy by John Galsworthy


Classics that I started once upon a time and never finished and maybe might if I try hard again;

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (this one is really iffy... what a HARD book!)
War and Peace by Loe Tolstory (I could do this one, really)
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (I've no idea why I never finished it)
The Idiot by Fydor Dostoevesky (I'd have to start over again for sure.)
The Netherworld by George Gissing

Wilkie Collins books get their own category:

Poor Miss Finch
Basil
No Name
New Grub Street
Hide and Seek
The Law and the Lady

Classics I want to Re-Read
(I'm sure there will be more in this category, but this one tends to be off the cuff and spur of the moment, know what I mean, so we'll see what gets added as the years go by!)

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (Read Dec. 2012)

Newer-ish Books that I'm Calling Classics:
(I have no method to this madness, just what feels newer to me,and yet feels like a classic, or a soon to be classic)

The House on the Strand by Dahne Du Maurier
MaryAnne by Daphne Du Maurier
Extremely Loud and Incrediably Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Read Oct. 2012)
A Mercy by Tony Morrison
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'hara
Roots by Alex Haley
The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath


So, let's check back in five years on September 15, 2017 and see how I'm doing, shall we? :) The idea is that I'll link to my reviews here as I complete things.

What say you? Want to come play too?

18 comments:

  1. I'm assuming that WOMAN IN WHITE and MOONSTONE aren't in the Wilkie Collins category because they each get their own post, correct? CORRECT?!!!

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    Replies
    1. Heidi: It's because I ALREADY READ THEM! Years ago, preblog.... BUT... perhaps they should be in the re-read section? Hmmm... I think so... Maybe I should explain the Wilkie Collins thing? We went through a phase years ago and my husband bought every book he could find... he read them all, but I couldn't keep up. This is an attempt at catch up.

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    2. That's because Wilkie Collins is The Best, Hands Down, Bar None. Charles Dickens can suck it.

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    3. Tikabelle: Yes, BUT I like Charles Dickens TOO! :)

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  2. Welcome to the club! I'm so glad you decided to join the fun. You've picked some great books too. - Melissa (Avid Reader)

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  3. That's a lot of classics! I have this thought that I'll pick a year to just read all classics. Someday!

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    Replies
    1. I could never limit all my reading to just the classics... too many good new books coming out too! BUT, I CAN read MORE classics... yes... I can! :)

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  4. We should read some of these for book club. I'd like to read The Importance of Being Earnest and Mary Barton.

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    Replies
    1. Jenny: Yes, I'm hoping I can work a few of them in at least! :)

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    2. I think so too!

      I've been eyeing this club for a while. I will definitely join eventually, once I get my list put together.

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  5. You've got a lot of heavy hitters on that list! I'll be interested to see which ones you really like and which ones maybe don't work. I have a love-hate relationship with Victorian authors, so your list really intimidates me :-)

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    Replies
    1. Aarti: I bet some I will just LOVE and some will be really hard to get through. I'll let you know for sure! :) And yes, the list intimidates me too!

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  6. Every time I read someone's list, I think I should add some more books to my list. Yeah, the same list I've only read 2 off of in several months!

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  7. Welcome to the club. I've read some of the books on your list, but many I have not. I too keep wanting to add to my original 50, but I know if I want to complete things in 5 years I have to be realistic. Good wishes for your reading.

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  8. Good luck with your list. I just joined the Classics Club as well and I'm like Lisa, I always want to go back and add more to my list. But with 50 classics it seems I ave enough work cut out for myself! Here's my list if you'd like to stop by...http://momssmallvictories.com/classics-club-book-list/

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  9. i thought i'd read all of wilkie collins but some of these are new titles for me. thanks for the list.

    good luck with the challenge - I'm in too

    karen@bookertalk.com

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  10. I'm in the Classics Club, too. Loved the idea. Collins is on my list as rereads. Read them so many years ago. Great list of books!

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