Jillian of A Room of One’s Own is hosting a book club, named The Classics Club.
The idea is for individual readers to set a goal to read a certain
number of classics over a certain period of time (say, 50 classics over
a period of five years). The club is intended to be very casual–pick
your own list, no stress, no major requirements, etc.–and it sounds like
a lot of fun.
My goal is to read the following fifty classics over the next five
years and I think I can succeed because I usually read around fifty books a year. Some of the books on
the list will be re-reads for me, but, I forget a lot of them so I'm happy to re-read.
Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility
Persuasion
Emma
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abbey
Pride & Prejudice
Anne Brontë
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Agnes Grey
Charlotte Brontë
Villette
Shirley
Elizabeth Gaskell
Cranford
North & South
Truman Capote
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
Bleak House
Oliver Twist
Great Expectations
Edith Wharton
A House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
A House of Mirth
Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca
My Cousin Rachel
George Eliot
The Mill on the Floss
Middlemarch
Silas Marner
F. Scott Fitzgerald
This Side of Paradise
Thomas Hardy
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Far From the Madding Crowd
Henry James
The Portrait of a Lady
What Maisie Knew
The Awkward Age
D.H. Lawrence
Sons and Lovers
The Rainbow
The Rainbow
Elizabeth Bowen
The Death of the Heart
W. Somerset Maugham
Of Human Bondage
The Razor’s Edge
Cakes and Ale
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
Betty Smith
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
William Makepeace Thackeray
Vanity Fair
Virginia Woolf
A Room of One’s Own
Mrs. Dalloway
Margaret Atwood
Handmaid's Tale
Mary Woolstencraft
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Yasunari Kawabata
Thousand Cranes
James Clavel
Shogun
Shogun
Kate Chopin
The Awakening
John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
The Grapes of Wrath
Cannery Row
Walter Scott
Lady of the Lake
Victor Hugo
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Nice! I might have to be a part of this. I was part of a Classic Books reading club for a while last year, but it died out. I've read a fair few classics in the last few years (considering I hadn't really read any before that), but I have so many more on my TBR shelf!
ReplyDeleteA couple of those will be tough - good luck!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! Sounds like you have some great picks!! :D
ReplyDeleteI like your list. I haven't read any of the classic in a long time. That's something I need to change. Good luck with your goal.
ReplyDeleteMason
Thoughts in Progress
I ADORE your list!!! Especially all those Austens. My favorite is Sense & Sensibility so far. I have Emma and Mansfield Park left to read for the first time.
ReplyDeleteVillette is a beautiful book. I'm reading Bleak House right now -- incredible. And Wollstonecraft? SUCH and excellent essay.
I'm so excited you've joined, Clarissa! This will be FUN. :D
I would rather read classics than anything else. I've read many on your list and they are awesome.
ReplyDeleteI read all things John Steinbeck. My all time fav is Grapes of Wrath. My second fav is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Smith. You will enjoy your list.
T
You've got a great list. I enjoyed a few of the Jane Austen novels and a couple of Steinbeck's as well.
ReplyDeleteGlad it gives you five years to do it. Some of the classics are truly, well, classic in writing style, content and handling.
Now do you have to re-read them for them to count? I've read 20 from your list. Have you read Great Gatsby by F. Scott F?
ReplyDeleteDenise
I need to read Atwood's piece. I think I'll probably do that soon.
ReplyDeleteI've downloaded quiit a few classics to my kindle because they were free. I thought that would intice me to read them.
ReplyDelete50 books in 5 years? I'd get to the last 3 months and feel guilty for my epic fail.
Good luck Clarissa.
.........dhole
Oh what a fun reading challenge!! I love it!! I'm mentally ticking off ones I've read, ones I'm yet to read and ones I want to read again.
ReplyDeleteTake care
x
What a great list. I read many of them in uni, but I'd love to go back to reread them without any time pressure.
ReplyDeleteSounds like something worth doing. Maybe I'll join in.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite books are on your list. I hope you enjoy them!! I can't wait to hear what you think of all the books.
ReplyDeleteGreat, great list! You've got some of my favorite books listed... Mill on the Floss, Far from the Madding Crowd, Of Human Bondage - and ESPECIALY Tender is the Night.
ReplyDeleteI also plan to read Tess of the D'Ubervilles, Hunchback of Notre-Dame and some others. Exciting!
I've read many of these. Given my mini-rant about classics last week, I'm sure I won't be joining this group. Shogun...seriously? That would take me forever. Seems like it's a million pages LOL.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll pass on this list. I haven't read any classics since I was required to in English class.
ReplyDeleteIf you can get through that list, I'll be impressed.
ReplyDeleteI've read almost all of these during my English Literature MA studies at college. Can't stand Austen, but Hardy, Fitzgerald and Scott were nice at some points.
ReplyDeleteI was always surprised how Americans never include French, Russian, German.... books when talking about classics even though those are light years above in quality and depth.
Good luck with it Clarissa. I've read a small handful of those and several are on my TBR pile. I might just join in, but 50 will be too many I think!
ReplyDeleteI hope you will review each one on your blog.
Awesome blog following :)
ReplyDeleteThe Classics Club sounds interesting--I've been trying to read more classics recently, so I'll have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your reading goal!
What a fantastic list! We'll have to chat about all of the books our lists have in common--I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI've read a lot of books on that list. Will need to jot down a few other titles.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! You've got several of my faves on there. I've always loved reading classics but there have been a couple I've avoided so maybe I'll make reading those my goal.
ReplyDeleteA fantastic goal! There are so many books on this list that I've thought, "I should really read that," about and still haven't got around to it... So good for you for making it a proper goal :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Clarissa .. amazing post - and a great list for some of us (me!!) as a list I could follow too ..
ReplyDeleteSounds an excellent idea ..
Great resources to know about .. cheers Hilary
Great list there. You have chosen lots of Austen and Dickens.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your reading. :D
Great list of The Classic Club books. I was interested in seeing Kate Chopin's name among the group. I've joined, too, and am now looking to see what everyone else is up to. Should be fun.
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