Classics Club Check-In April 2016

Published on by Margaret

Classics Club check inIt’s time for a Classics Club Check-In. Three years ago (next week) I joined The Classics Club, signing up to read and write about at least 50 classic books in at most five years. This is the first time I’ve taken part in a Check-In, although I have joined in with the Classics Club Spins, which I enjoy.

The list is not a fixed list and I have changed it since I started in 2013.This is my current list. I’ve listed the books in a-z author order. I’ve read 18 books, shown in bold, so I’m behind if I’m going to meet my target in the next two years. Currently I’m reading The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (my current Spin book).

It’s hard to pick a favourite. These books stand out in my mind – Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens.

  1. Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon by Jane Austen ‘“ finished 24 August 2015
  2. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen ‘“ finished 29 June 2014
  3. The Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett
  4. Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor by R D Blackmore
  5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (a re-read) ‘“ read in November 2014
  6. The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan ‘“ finished 21 February 2014
  7. My Antonia by Willa Cather ‘“ finished 26 September 2013
  8. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
  9. The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins ‘“ finished 30 September 2015
  10. No Name by Wilkie Collins
  11. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
  12. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
  13. Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens ‘“ finished 29 June 2013
  14. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
  15. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
  16. Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
  17. The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens ‘“ finished 10 October 2015
  18. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  19. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  20. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  21. Adam Bede by George Eliot ‘“ finished 18 September 2015
  22. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
  23. Romola by George Eliot
  24. Silas Marner by George Eliot
  25. Parade’s End by Ford Maddox Ford
  26. The Forsyte Saga (1-3) by John Galsworthy
  27. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
  28. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
  29. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
  30. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
  31. The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
  32. Washington Square by Henry James ‘“ finished 17 December 2013
  33. The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
  34. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ‘“ finished 16 July 2013
  35. The Call of the Wild by Jack London ‘“ finished 10 December 2014
  36. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  37. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  38. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell ‘“ finished 20 November 2013
  39. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ‘“ finished 20 September 2015
  40. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes by Robert Louis Stevenson
  41. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
  42. Barchester Towers (Barsetshire Chronicles, #2) by Anthony Trollope ‘“ finished 22 February 2015
  43. Doctor Thorne (Barsetshire Chronicles, #3) by Anthony Trollope ‘“ finished 3 March 2016
  44. Framley Parsonage (Barsetshire Chronicles, #4) by Anthony Trollope
  45.  The Small House at Allington (Barsetshire Chronicles, #5) by Anthony Trollope
  46. The Last Chronicle of Barset (Barsetshire Chronicles, #6) by Anthony Trollope
  47. The Time Machine by H G Wells ‘“ finished 29 March 2014
  48. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
  49. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton ‘“ finished 22 February 2014
  50. The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf

6 thoughts on “Classics Club Check-In April 2016”

  1. Nice to see this list and check on the ones you have reviewed. I have been working on a classics list of about 50 books. I don’t know if it makes sense for me to commit to a certain number in 5 years, so I have decided whether to join in on the Classics Club or not.

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  2. I’m like Tracy – I do have a list of classics I’d like to read but I think 50 in 5 years is too much – I hate to feel under pressure to read something just to meet a target. Your 18 sounds like a good achievement to me, and there are loads on your still to read list that should be very enjoyable.

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  3. You’ve got a lot of my favorites on your list–there’s a reason they’re classics! I liked The Mill on the Floss, though it was actually quite different from what I expected. Are all of these new to you or rereads?

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  4. I wasn’t sure whether to join the Classics Club because like you both Tracy and FictionFan I thought 50 in 5 years was a lot to commit to – and a lot can change in 5 years! But on the other hand I thought, why not try it. And, strangely for me, I haven’t felt pressured at all, not like I have done with other reading challenges. Actually I tend to forget about it a lot of the time.

    Jane, The Mill on the Floss isn’t what I thought it would be either. It’s very different from Adam Bede for example, and I am enjoying it more than than I thought I would. Apart from Jane Eyre I haven’t read any of these books before. I re-read Jane Eyre because I first read it in my early teens, which was a long time ago!

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  5. What a lovely selection you have, Margaret! I’ve always been a fan of García Márquez’ magical realism work. I’ll be interested in what you think of that, as well as the Ford.

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  6. I am, slightly scarily, in my final year of The Classics Club! Congratulations on 3 years and I hope you continue to enjoy your reading – I see you still have some great books on your list.

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