I now blog over at The Eyre Guide! This blog is an archive of my past posts.


Saturday, December 1, 2012

New Challenge: The Classics Club

Posted by Charlene // Tags: , ,
I'm joining The Classics Club challenge of reading at least 50 classic literature novels in at most 5 years.  Because I already find the prospect a little daunting, I'm doing the minimum - although I hope to read more.  At least if I read one classic a month I can stay on top of the game! *fingers crossed*

I want to do this because there are many great classic books that I have yet to get around to reading - some that I want to read, and some that I'm curious to see what the hype is all about.  I figure since this is not high school, if I don't like the classic I am reading, I can move on and replace it with another.  And hopefully find some more books to adore.

Here's my current list in alphabetical order by title, and I'll update it regularly when I've read a book or want to change the lineup. It's a mix of personal interest, books that I've heard good things about, books I haven't read from the Guardian's top 100 books you can't live without, and other 'books you should read before you die' type lists.

1. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
2. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery [READ]
3. Atonement - Ian McEwan
4. Aurora Leigh - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
5. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
6. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
7. My Cousin Rachel - Daphne duMaurier [READ]
8. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
9. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
10. Consuelo -George Sand
11. Dream of the Red Chamber - Cao Xueqin
12. Emma - Jane Austen [READ]
13. Flatland - Edwin A. Abbott
14. Hard Times - Charles Dickens
15. Ivanhoe - Walter Scott
16. Katherine - Anya Seton
17. Lady Audley’s Secret - Mary Elizabeth Braddon [READ]
18. Lady Chatterley’s Lover - D. H. Lawrence
19. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
20. London Fields - Martin Amis
21. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
22. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen [READ]
23. Melmoth the Wanderer - Charles Maturin
24. Middlemarch - George Eliot
25. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
26. Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
27. Paradise Lost - John Milton
28. Persuasion - Jane Austen [READ]
29. Possession - AS Byatt
30. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen [READ]
31. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
32. South Riding - Winifred Holtby
33. Stealing Heaven - Marion Meade
34. The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
35. The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
36. The Italian - Ann Radcliffe
37. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings - Washington Irving
38. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
39. The Man Who Laughs - Victor Hugo
40. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov [READ]
41. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
42. The Pilgrim’s Progress - John Bunyan
43. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
44. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
45. The Tale of the Genji - Lady Muraski
46. The Tempest - William Shakespeare
47. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
48. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells [READ]
49. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
50. Wake Not the Dead - Johann Ludwig Tieck

Completion Goal Date: December 1, 2017

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12 comments:

  1. This is a fun idea! Want to join along but I am already wayy behind on the books I have agreed to review! Looking forward to your reviews of them! I love the Anne of Green Gables series!

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    1. I know what you mean, I feel overwhelmed too, but I really want to read these books so I hope this will force me to finally do it! :) I'm looking forward to Anne of Green Gables - another friend is a fan of it as well.

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  2. Welcome to the Classics Club!! Just a warning - I started with a list of 50 too... and now I'm up to almost 90! I figure I can't lose!

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    1. LOL, I can imagine that happening to me! I look forward to it - the list of books on the Classics Club website is going to be so helpful I think!

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  3. That's a fantastic list! There are a lot of good books in there. You're going to enjoy this. :)

    My Classics Club List

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    1. Thank you for stopping by! And I am very much looking forward to reading these books. :)

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  4. Persuasion is one of my absolute favorite books. I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

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    1. I hear so many good things about it, I look forward to reading what all the fuss is about! :) Thanks for commenting!

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  5. This is one great list of classics!
    I love LM Montgomery! The Anne books are really good, but The Blue Castle and The Story Girl are even better, imo. :)
    I also loved Genji Monogatari.
    And The Master and Margarita is one of my all time favorite books. I read it multiple times :)
    The Secret Garden is on my tbr list for 2013.

    Happy reading! :)

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    1. I have read The Blue Castle and really enjoyed it! I'm glad to get some positive feedback on my choices. :) Thanks for stopping by the blog!

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  6. I can't wait to read your review of "Atonement" by Ian McEwan when you get to it. It's one of my all time favorites! Read it three times and wrote my dissertation on it. :) I really hope you will enjoy it. And please don't watch the movie first... although it's good enough, it doesn't live up to the book. :)
    Reading your list, I noticed I haven't read many of these classic novels. I guess I should take a break from fantasy and go back to the classics for a while.

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    1. I will try to read it soon then! I am interested in seeing the movie as well, but I usually like to read the book first. Reading a Classic after newer books is like a breath of fresh air sometimes. :)

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