Amanda at The Zen Leaf has decided to read a classic book each week, which I think is a great idea, and as I decided that I’m not going to do any challenges in 2011 I’m going to be doing something similar.
This is a list of 52 books which I’ve compiled from various book cases and piles in our house, it’s a mixture of books which I’ve bought and inherited and this is just scratching at the surface of the unread books here. They aren’t all classics but most of them are pretty old, some are quite obscure I think. I’m hoping to read and review one a week which I should manage quite easily even although I don’t skim read.
I’m planning to have a sprinkling of seasoning in between in the shape of vintage crime, books recommended to me, any others from my book piles that shout READ ME, and newer books via the library.
Hannie Richards by Hilary Bailey
An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge
The Overlanders by Dora Birtles
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
The Power House by John Buchan
Heroes by Thomas Carlyle
Selected Stories by Anton Chekhov
Basil by Wilkie Collins
Uther and Igraine by Warwick Deeping
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Poor Folk by Dostoevsky
The Gambler by Dostoevsky
Uncle Bernac by Arthur Conan Doyle
The King’s General by Daphne Du Maurier
Castle D’Or by Daphne Du Maurier
Hungry Hill by Daphne Du Maurier
Julius by Daphne Du Maurier
Deerslayer by J. Fenimore Cooper
The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas
The Popular Girl by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Swan Song by John Galsworthy
End of the Chapter by John Galsworthy
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The Naulahka by R. Kipling and W. Balestier
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
The Deer Park by Norman Mailer
Shadows of Empire by Allan Massie
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
The Blessing by Nancy Mitford
Coming Home by Rosemary Pilcher
Harriet Dark by Barbara Rees
The Pirate by Sir Walter Scott
The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
The Amateur Emigrant by R.L.Stevenson
The Silverado Squatters by R.L.Stevenson
A Dedicated Man by Elizabeth Taylor
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Claverings by Anthony Trollope
Virgin Soil by Ivan Turgenev
Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh
A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
Nana by Emile Zola
Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
Well, I make that 52.
I’ve just finished reading Anthony Trollope’s The Belton Estate which I’ll be reviewing at The Classics Circuit on December 10. I’m about to start on Rosamunde Pilcher’s September and after that it’s the biggy, yes – War and Peace. I may be some time!
Hey! I’m glad you’re going to be doing something similar next year. 🙂 I don’t think I could hold myself to a specific list of titles – I’m just too fickle – which is why I have tons of choices on my page. 😀
Amanda,
Actually putting it down in print is the only way I’ll stick to it and as they’ve been waiting for me to read them for years it’s about time I got around to them. I don’t want to do any other ‘challenges’ this year. I have a terrible habit of reading and reviewing books for them and then not linking to the challenge or getting the linky thing wrong and having an arrgh! moment – my fault I’m sure.
Regards,
Katrina
I adored The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. Also I Capture the Castle, those should be fun reads. I also want to read more Trollope and Zola — I’m having a hard time with my Trollope selection for the circuit and I think I may have to switch to a shorter work. I look forward to reading about The Belton Estate!
Karen,
People have been recommending that I read I Capture the Castle for years. I don’t know why I haven’t got around to it before, so I’m looking forward to that one. I read some Mitford books years ago but now can’t remember which ones.
The Belton Estate was a quick read compared with some of his books.
I love your idea and want to read more classics next year as well. I think this year I didn’t do so well in this area, but I will have to look through my list of books read. There are a number of books on your list that I’d like to read as well–more by Daphne du Maurier and Wilkie Collins and Nancy Mitford and something by Trollope and Waugh…I’m sure I’ve already mentioned how much I love Coming Home and I Capture the Castle is a great read, too. I’ve been thinking a bit about what I’d like to read next year, too, but I need to clean up my reading pile (books already started) before the end of the year!
Danielle,
I think that at first glance the list looks quite dry and dusty but I often really enjoy classics and I’m sure I’ll still have time for more books than just these ones. I just have so many books here unread and it’s my way of getting through them at last – I hope!
What a great list! Lots of familiar authors and unfamiliar titles, which is always fun to see. I think the only ones I’ve read are I Capture the Castle, The Power and the Glory, and Therese Raquin, and I enjoyed all three.
Teresa,
It’s going to keep me busy anyway but I should have plenty of time for other books too as they aren’t all huge tomes. I’m looking forward to working my way through them all.
I just thought it was about time that I started working my way through the many books already in our house.