Sunday, October 29, 2017

The Classics Club: My Second List


The Classics Club - List #2

With the first challenge complete, it's time to move on to round 2. The goal once again is to read 50 classics in 5 years... November 1, 2022?? The date seems unreal, but here we go.

I prefer reading from an evolving list, so there are more than 50 books here.


My Evolving List #2

Atwood, Margaret - The Handmaid's Tale (reread)
Austen, Jane - Persuasion (reread)
Balzac, Honore - Cousin Bete
Beston, Henry - The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth - Lady Audley's Secret
Brittain, Vera - Testament of Youth
Bronte, Charlotte - Villette
Cather, Willa - A Lost Lady
Cather, Willa - Death Comes for the Archbishop
Cather, Willa - The Professor's House

Christie, Agatha - Murder On the Orient Express
Collins, Wilkie - No Name
Collins, Wilkie  - Jezebel's Daughter
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Dickens, Charles - David Copperfield
Dostoevsky, Fyodor - Crime and Punishment (Pevear and Volokhonsky translation)
Dumas, Alexandre - The Black Tulip
DuMaurier, Daphne - My Cousin Rachel
Faulkner, William - A Light in August
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - Tender is the Night (reread)

Fitzgerald, F.Scott  - The Beautiful and the Damned
Fontane, Theodor - Effi Briest
Forster, E.M. - Howards End (reread)
Galsworthy, John - The Forsyte Saga (reread first 3, finish series)
Gaskell, Elizabeth - Wives and Daughters
Gaskell, Elizabeth - Life of Charlotte Bronte
Gissing, George - The Odd Women
Hardy, Thomas  - The Return of the Native
Hemingway, Ernest - The Sun Also Rises
Ishiguro, Kazuo - The Remains of the Day

James, Henry - Portrit of a Lady (reread)
Keyes, Daniel - Flowers for Algernon (reread)
Larsen, Nella - Quicksand
Mann, Thomas, The Magic Mountain
Mann, Thomas - Buddenbrooks
Mitford, Nancy - The Pursuit of Love
Morrison, Toni - Sula
Oates, Joyce Carol - Them
Oliphant, Margaret  -  Miss Marjoribanks
Orwell, George - 1984

Powell, Anthony - A Dance to the Music of Time (first movement)
Pym, Barbara - A Few Green Leaves
Rølvaag, O. E. - Giants in the Earth
Stegner, Wallace - Crossing to Safety (reread)
Stegner, Wallace - The Spectator Bird
Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath (reread)
Tan, Amy - The Joy Luck Club
Tanizaki, Junichiro - Naomi
Tanizaki, Junichiro - Some Prefer Nettles
Thirkell, Angela  - Wild Strawberries, Barsetshire #2

Trollope, Anthony - Phineas Redux (Palliser #4)
Trollope, Anthony - The Prime Minister (Palliser #5)
Trollope, Anthony - The Duke's Children (Palliser #6)
Trollope, Anthony - Rachel Ray
Trollope, Anthony - The Way We Live Now
Trollope, Anthony - Miss Mackenzie
Taylor, Elizabeth - A Game of Hide and Seek
Updike, John - Rabbit, Run
Welty, Eudora - Delta Wedding
Wharton, Edith - The Bunner Sisters

Whipple, Dorothy - The Priory
Woolf, Virginia - A Room of Ones Own
Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse
Woolf, Virginia - Night and Day
Zola, Emile - The Fortune of the Rougons (Les Rougon-Macquart #1)
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45 comments:

  1. James' Jane Austen read-along is doing Persuasion in December. Join us! Then you'll have one off the list right away!

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  2. I'm so impressed! As always, there are some that I've read and others that I haven't...

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  3. PS I'm hoping to be reading Persuasion in December (did we talk about that already?)

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    1. Audrey - I don't think we talked about it yet, but I am penciling in Persuasion for December. That coincides with the Austen Read All-Along at James Reads Book, too.

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  4. I agree that an evolving reading list is best. I make somewhat elaborate reading plans that I change all the time.

    You have some great books planned.

    I look forward to trading your thoughts on them.

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    1. Brian - I always seem to lose interest in some titles after making my initial list, and then there is always a DNF or two. Flexibility gives me a better chance of success.

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  5. The Outermost House is going on my list to read.

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    1. Vicki - The Outermost House is one of my FIL's favorites. I'd love to be able to read that book while actually on a Cape Cod beach :)

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  6. I would love to read The Portrait of A Lady with you!

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    1. Lisa - That would be great! The Portrait of a Lady is near the top of my list... just need to finish off Trollope's Palliser novels. John Banville has a new novel coming out in November that extends the story of the heroine, Isabel Archer. I plan to read that novel, too.

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  7. Oh great list, JoAnn. You're pumped up now! I'm with you on wanting to read more Willa Cather and quite a few of the others too. Good luck .... on the next 50.

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    1. Susan - I read several Cather novels just before starting my blog, but have not gotten back to her since. Now is the time!

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  8. I highly recommend Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding. You might recall comments I've made about Eudora Welty before, but she has been tops in my book life for a very long time. I've had the pleasure of hearing her read, and I also have a copy of her book The Golden Apples which she kindly autographed and returned to me. J

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    1. JudyMac - Yes, I remember your Welty comments! I absolutely loved The Optimist's Daughter and her short stories are wonderful, too. Wish I could have heard her read... what an experience. I think we've also talked about Ann Patchett being a fan. You read her essay about attending Welty's funeral?

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  9. A wonderful list! Good luck on your next five years. I loved Death Comes for the Archbishop, and David Copperfield is probably my favorite Dickens book. I look forward to reading your reviews as you make your way through the list.

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    1. Nick - Death Comes for the Archbishop will surely be my next Cather. I'd hoped to read it while we were in Santa Fe last year, but it was not to be. Haven't read any Dickens since discovering Trollope, but I will get back to him after finishing the Palliser series.

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  10. Villette & Testament of Youth! <3 David Copperfield! A Room of One's Own!! I just read The Portrait of a Lady -- LOVED it. A sequel is coming out in a couple months. Not by the original author, obviously. ;-) GOOD LUCK with this!!

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    1. Jillian - It's been over a decade, but I absolutely loved The Portrait of a Lady. Only recently heard about John Banville's "sequel" but now I want to reread it even sooner. Villette and Testament of Youth are high on my priority list, too.

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    2. Oh, ha! We both told each other about the sequel. :P Testament of Youth is one of the finest books I've read.

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  11. My cc2 has lots of rereads on it too, but you still have the magnificent A Testament of Youth ahead of you!

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    1. Brona - I'm quite certain it was your review that convinced me to add A Testament of Youth to my list :)

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    2. Another vote for Testament of Youth! Will add it to my 2018 list.

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  12. Death Comes for the Archbishop is one of my favourite Willa Cather novels. The Pursuit of Love and Wild Strawberries are both very enjoyable for when you want a lighter read. A Few Green Leaves is one of Barbara Pym's later and slightly sadder novels, and although good, not the best place to start if you have not read her earlier works. Good luck with the project!

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    1. Michelle Ann - I figured I needed to include a few lighter read, too ;-) I've read several of Pym's novels and am wondering if A Few Green Leaves is similar to Quartet in Autumn? That one seemed darker and sadder than the others.

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  13. I've also finished the original challenge, but hadn't thought of making out another list - yet. You have some great ones on your list. I've read 27 of them and enjoyed most of them, but I really disliked Crossing to Safety.

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    1. Katrina - I hope you decide to make another list, too!

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  14. All I can say is that I didn’t even realize there were so many classics! That is an amazing list!

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  15. Ok, just had to re-read 2022! That does seem unreal doesn't it? Anyway, so cool that you are continuing on with your Classics challenge. I'm sure you are going to have a wonderful time discovering some amazing reads.

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    1. Iliana - 2022 knocked me over, too... how is that even possible?? Looking forward to digging into the next list.

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  16. I really enjoyed Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather), Giants in the Earth (Rolvaag), and The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck). Good luck with this challenge!

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    1. Les - Have I heard you talk (well, write) about Giants in the Earth? Wasn't even aware of that one pre-blogging... so many books out there to read!

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    2. I read the book prior to blogging, but posted a "Looking Back" entry about it here. It's a great book!

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    3. Les - Thanks for the link. Rereading your post makes me want to pick the book up right away!

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  17. This will be fun to hear about. All the best with these wonderful selections.

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    1. Pam - I've already started the second list... currently reading My Cousin Rachel :)

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  18. I may very well have read Patchett's essay about Miss Eudora's funeral .... if I did, I can't recall the details. Do you remember where/when it was published in case I missed it?

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    1. JudyMac - I don't remember where the essay was originally published, but it is included in Patchett's collection This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. I listened to it a few years ago and keep meaning to pick up a print copy to reread.

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  19. I've seen the movie of Testament of Youth but I haven't read the book yet. I really enjoyed The Odd Women and The Pursuit of Love. I hope you do too.

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    1. Patience_Crabstick - I'm always tempted to watch Testament of Youth, but feel like I *should* read it first... sigh. I've never read Gissing, so looking forward to The Odd Women. The Pursuit of Love is waiting on my shelf.

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  20. Good luck with your second Classics Club list - I am still considering whether to do a second list myself.

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    1. Jessica - Thank you. I really do enjoy reading classics and the second list will help keep me organized :)

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