I was really hoping to time my one year check-in for The Classics Club for the exact date, but that just didn’t work out. I forgot I’d joined as early as I did. (I may have joined a little later, but I’ve set my end date as March 8, 2012.)
I’ve really enjoyed participating in the club and even though I’m right on track 20/100 books read I am starting to wonder if I can keep up the pace for the next four years. I managed to squeeze in with my twentieth novel this month (thus the late post), so I’m right on schedule, but long-term I’m not sure if I want to continue to dedicate a third of my reading to Classics. Who knows though, mostly I’ve only read older classics, maybe it’s time I take a break and read some of the newer classics from my list or re-read a few favorites? Any one else go through this sort of thing already?
Below is the list of twenty books I’ve already read which link to my reviews. I’ve also participated in quite a few of the memes (and will hopefully squeeze in this months at some point) but I’m not going to link to all of those. To see all of my posts related to The Classics Club click here, and to see my full list click here.
Year One in the Classics Club Book Reviews
- Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie
- Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
- Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë
- The Color Purple – Alice Walker
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith
- Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
- Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
- A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
- Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
- Doctor Zhivago – Boris Pasternak
- 1984 – George Orwell
- The House of the Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Villette – Charlotte Brontë
- Lysistrata/The Acharnians/The Clouds – Aristophanes
- The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
- Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
- The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe
Good for you! I know what you mean though, it’s hard sticking with classics when there are so many books. However my 1001 list has a lot of classics so I don’t really have a choice 🙂
It really is! At least there’s a huge variety on the 1001 list, but I can’t imagine it’s too heavy on recent fiction 🙂 I’m really enjoying just reading whatever I want at the moment.
Great job so far! I’ve noticed that I really have to time my classics reads with other related books (like pairing one with a more contemporary along the same lines/themes) to get motivated to read them. I’m not good at forcing myself to read on a schedule.And I find reading them in a group is really enjoyable as well, as I’m doing with Little Women at the moment.
I’m not great at group reads. I read too fast (or to slow), but it really is all about pairing it with great alternatives. I love to read fluff as soon as I finish a big Classic.
You’ve done really well! What’s nice about The Classics Club we can always make our lists shorter if we want to or change them up entirely. But I know how you feel — it’s good to have a break with something new. 🙂
Very true! If anything I’ll just extend my time past the five years. I want to read all of the books, I just don’t know if I want to read them as fast as I thought I wanted to!
I see…that’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought of extending the years. I might just do that myself. 🙂
Man! You have read some pretty great books in the past year! Do you have a favorite out of those 20? Can you read some shorter classics to help up your number but not tire you out? I know you already read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but some of the other classic children’s stories are kind of short too.
I’ve not actually looked at my long list in a while. I’m sure there are a couple of shorter ones on there I could read to keep my numbers up. That’s sort of the same thing with looking at more of the modern classics as those are generally a little bit less of a struggle for me.
I’m not sure about a favorite – I really loved reading Anne Brontë so those were definitely two that made an impact.
I haven’t read any Anne Bronte but want to. Is there a favorite out of the ones you’ve read? Or is it too hard to choose? 🙂
Both were great, but I think I preferred Tenant. The scandal seemed less forced and great!
Woo-hoo! Good for you! I’ve read almost 20 of mine (I think), too. I think I also missed my one-year mark–I should really look and write up a progress post.
Haahaa – well I know you missed your one year mark because you joined before me! Plus I back dated my joining to the start 🙂 It’s crazy how fast time flies when you’re reading.
Congratulations on a year Geoff 🙂 It is also a year for me too my post is scheduled for tomorrow. I can see what you mean about 20 books being a lot to dedicate to classics. I went for a much smaller aim than you at just 50 books of which I am over target having read 11 so far.
Thanks! 50 definitely seems more reasonable and when I made my list I think I started at 80 and there were just more and more. I finally had to cap it at 100. But the great thing is the Club is what you make of it and it’s definitely encouraged me to read more classics. So no matter if I stay in the time frame or not I’m glad I started it and will eventually finish my entire list.
Well done! I’ll have to do a check-in soon too. I’m a wimp and only doing 50 books, but I think I might be expanding that as I near the end.
Haahaa. It’s all what you make of it and at least you’ve chosen fewer and can tack on rather than cut books!