It’s the Classics Club Group Check-In #18 and I thought I would take the chance to peruse my entire Classics Club list. It has changed quite a lot since I signed up for the Classics Club, mainly because I’ve added in books as I came across them and have removed some books that I wasn’t sure about – can vintage crime books be seen as classics? I’m never sure, so I decided not to include those in the list. Can John Buchan’s books be regarded as classics? I’ve decided to keep those ones on the list anyway.
I joined the Classics Club in March 2012 and I decided to make my list 55 books long as my plan was to complete 55 classics by the time I reached my 55th birthday, but as I will be 57 in the summer I have obviously missed my target. I’m still quite pleased with my progress though. These are all books that I’ve had on my shelves for years. If I’ve counted correctly I’ve completed 38 of the books on my list. My most recent read was Oblomov by Goncharov and I read that for the May spin so I haven’t blogged about that one yet, but I did enjoy it.
1. Deerslayer by J. Fenimore Cooper
2. Linda Tressel
3. Heroes by Thomas Carlyle
4. The Lady of the Camelias by Alexandre Dumas
5. Swan Song by John Galsworthy
6. End of the Chapter by John Galsworthy
7. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
8. Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov
9. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
10. The Talisman by Walter Scott
11. Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
12. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
13. Nana by Emile Zola
14. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
15. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
16. The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope
17. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
18. The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett
19. Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett
20. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
21. O Pioneer! by Willa Cather
22. Moby Dick by Hermann Melville
23. The Crowded Street by Winifred Holtby
24. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
25. An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym
26. The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett
27. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
28. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
29. The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
30. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
31. Witch Wood by John Buchan
32. The Courts of the Morning by John Buchan
33. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
34. Love by Elizabeth von Arnim
35. The Corn King and the Spring Queen by Naomi Mitchison
36. Good Morning Midnight by Jean Rhys
37. Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope
38. Poor Caroline by Winifred Holtby
39. The World my Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
40. Salem Chapel by Mrs Oliphant
41. The Republic by Pliny
42. The Harsh Voice by Rebecca West
43. Chatterton Square by E.H. Young
44. Not So Quiet by Hellen Zenna Smith
45. The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola
46. The Ladies Paradise by Emile Zola
47. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
48. Felix Holt the Radical by George Eliot
49. Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope
50. He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
51. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
52. The Duke’s Children by Anthony Trollope
53. The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope
54. Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope
55. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Katrina,
I’m so glad that you enjoyed Oblomov, because that means to me that I may find things to enjoy in it as well.
We’ve had five sunny, warm, low-humidity days in a row, so I’m reading a bit each day, but my time dedicated to it is less.
I intended to read The Professor’s House by Willa Cather, but in late March when I read online what it was about, my interest…completely…fizzled to a dying ash in an abandoned hearth. I did not order it.
But, the good news is, I have a really decent paperback copy of O! Pioneers that I picked up for fifty cents at a book sale. It’s my plan to read it before April ends. However, as we all know, it was not #8 on my Classics Club List, but some other much larger number on my list.
Woops. It’s Oh Pioneers! by Willa Cather.
And, yes, I really admire and enjoy studying your Classics Club List.
Last message for today, I promise,
J.
Judith,
I enjoyed Oh Pioneers but I think my favourite is One of Ours, but not many people seem to have read that one.
It was sunny today and warm-ish – for us anyway, about 60F. But it will be cold again at the weekend with the wind shifting around and coming from the Arctic again, the trees are beginning to look that hazy green way which is encouraging.
Hi Katrina, I arrived at your blog via The Classics Club. I’m mad keen to sign up there but need to get my list finalised and posted on my blog first. I’m dithering between starting a whole new book-related blog or expanding my existing one. Almost certainly I’ll go with the latter, which means I need to catch up first. It’s still in its infancy and I’m about a month behind with posts but making up ground now I’ve figured out how things work. I’ll get there.
What I really wanted to say was that your list is fascinating. So much on it that I’ve not heard of! My list, as it stands, will be rather tame in comparison! I look forward to reading more of your blog and adding to my own book knowledge as a result.
Sandra,
I’ve just hopped over to A Corner of Cornwall. What a lovely blog and location.
I’ll be interested to see what your book list is like when you get around to compiling it. A while ago I considered starting up another blog – one for Scottish ‘stuff’ but I decided just to stick with one blog in the end, if readers aren’t interested in the Scottish bits they can skip those posts. I’m looking forward to visiting A Corner of Cornwall regularly.
Katrina, I would love to have you visiting A Corner of Cornwall regularly đŸ™‚ I’ve just added a couple of widgets to make following easier and I’ve started a blogroll and added your blog to it, which I hope is ok? (I’m learning the jargon!) And yes, I’ve also decided to stick with one blog too. It’s very much simpler. I’ll let you know when my classics list is up; in the meantime, I hope to see you over at CoC!
Sandra,
Thanks, I’ve now subscribed to CoC. I’m looking forward to seeing what you get up to!