The main idea is to make a list of 50, 100, or 200 classics you would like to read in the next five years. The Goodreads group is a home to discuss these classics, post reviews, and talk about progress. Classics Club discussions can also be facilitated on Twitter with the hashtag #theclassicsclub.
I am going to opt for the 50 classics list, due to the fact that there are several other genres I read. My list includes some rereads because I read quite a few classics when I was younger and I think I will benefit significantly from reading them again. So... here they are! I will also be putting my list under the Challenges tab.
1. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
3. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
4. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
5. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
6. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
7. Wings of the Dove by Henry James
8. Paradise Lost by John Milton
9. A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
10. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
11. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
12. My Antonia by Willa Cather
13. Dracula by Bram Stoker
14. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
15. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
16. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
17. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
18. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
19. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
20. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
21. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
22. Summer by Edith Wharton
23. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
24. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
25. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
26. The Portrait of A Lady by Henry James
27. Silas Marner by George Eliot
28. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
29. Night by Elie Wiesel
30. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
31. The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura
32. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
33. Elizabeth and her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
34. If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
35. Evelina by Fanny Burney
36. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
37. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
38. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
39. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
40. Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
41. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
42. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
43. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
44. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
45. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
46. The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
47. The Hounds of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
48. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
49. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
50. Agnes Gray by Anne Bronte
I see 4 of my all-time favorites on your list! Les Miserables, Northanger Abbey, East of Eden, and The Woman in White. I also really enjoyed many others - Far from the Madding Crowd, Dracula, etc. You've got a great list goin' on here!
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to read them all! I am having a hard time deciding which to do first, but I think Les Miserables is going to win the day -- that way I will have taken a chunk out of my most daunting book.
DeleteAwesome list! I've read and loved many of them. But some I would recommend more than others! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, uh oh, I am wary of the not-so-recommended ones! I hope most of these are good reads, though :)
DeleteWhat an awesome list, Lorri! I'm so happy you're joining in. I can't wait to hear what you think of Agnes Grey -- that's a book I really respect.
ReplyDeleteI see a bunch on your list I'm sad I didn't have room for on mine. (Willa Cather! Betty Smith!!)
But, we share a lot of titles too. :)
I am so excited to read Anne Bronte's books. This is a great idea, Jillian! Thanks for getting it all started!
DeleteLorren!! - Sorry for calling you Lorri above. I type fast and forgot to edit before I hit publish. For some reason I had typed it wrong because my fingers go faster than my brain -- but never since I've known you have I called you Lorri in my head! Whenever I type "Pride & Prejudice" it comes out "Prode & Prejudice." Dumb fingers. You can call my Jilli and we'll be even. :P
DeleteOh, no worries! I was called Lorri by some of my friends in high school so it didn't even faze me. And I definitely have random things that I type that come out wrong. "Begin" always comes out "being" :-P haha!
DeleteEveryone has posted such great lists. The Handmaid's Tale is one of my all-time favorites. You've picked a lot of good ones!
ReplyDeleteI've heard great things about The Handmaid's Tale! I finally have my own copy so hopefully I will get to it soon!
DeleteGreat list! We have quite a few of the same books on our lists and you also have some of my favourites on yours. Happy reading :)
ReplyDeleteYay, perhaps we will do some readalongs together! Happy reading to you as well :)
DeleteAwesome list - we have a couple in common! I'm kicking myself I didn't add A Tree Grows In Brooklyn on mine. I may have to make it 51 classics.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean -- I keep seeing other people's lists and thinking, oh, I want that one, too!
DeleteI have read about 29/30 of your list and think you have chosen some fabulous books you are in some real treats. I am in the process of re-reading all of Thomas Hardy for a Hardy reading group I have. I also have some Edith Wharton and Elizabeth Von Armin TBR. Enjoy : )
ReplyDeleteThat is great that you have read so much Thomas Hardy! I have read nothing, and I am looking forward to diving in!
DeleteDavid Copperfield, Anna Karenina, and Les Miserables are projects in and of themselves---great project, but still projects. I think you'll enjoy all of the books on your list, and you made me remember a boo that I intended to add to mine but forgot: Elizabeth and her German Garden.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I am reading Les Miserables right now, and I agree with you -- it certainly is a project! Fortunately, a very enjoyable one. :)
DeleteI love Conan Doyle's books, and John Milton's Paradise Lost. I'm going to read Les Miserables too. Last time I read it I only read 5 pages and then I didn't continue it because I was busy. But next time I'll finish it.
ReplyDeleteLes Miserables is definitely a tough book when you're busy! I have been moving through it really slowly. Even though I usually finish 2-3 300 page books in a week, it is taking me many weeks to get through it. But it is definitely worth it!
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