Category: Classics Club

The Classics Club, Volume 2

whatcathyreadnext4 Comments

The Classics Club was founded in March 2012 with the aim of encouraging more people to blog about classic literature.  Members are invited to create a list of at least 50 classic titles they intend to read and blog about within a maximum of five years. 

I completed my first list back in 2021 and I’ve decided it is time to tackle some more of the classic books I own, many picked up in second-hand bookshops at a time when no trip to a place was complete without a visit to one or two. 

In constructing my list I’ve picked books published more than 65 years ago, i.e. 1961 or prior, and concentrated on physical books crowding my bookshelves. Although some are lovely copies, the majority are nothing special and the text in quite a few is very small. For this reason I may read digital versions or listen to the audiobook.  I’ve become pretty ruthless recently so, once read, many of the books on my list will be heading to the charity bookshop to be rehomed.

You can find my list here.

Currently links from each title will take you to the book description on Goodreads, although not necessarily to the edition I own. I will update the list with links to my reviews as I go along with the aim of having read and reviewed them all by 31st December 2030. Blimey, what a long time away that seems… 

My Classics Club List Is Completed! @ourclassicsclub #ccspin

whatcathyreadnext9 Comments

The Classics ClubThe Classics Club was founded in March 2012 with the aim of encouraging more people to blog about classic literature.  Members are invited to create a list of at least 50 classic titles they intend to read and blog about within a maximum of five years.  With characteristic over-enthusiasm, when I first enrolled in the challenge in January 2017, I set out to read the 50 classics on my list by 31st December 2018.   I soon recognised that was way too ambitious and revised it to 31st December 2021.

In putting together my list, my personal definition of “classic” was a book published more than 40 years ago, i.e. anything published before 1976. I also decided to concentrate on two categories: women writers and the works of John Buchan, one of my favourite authors.

I’m pleased to say, having just read the final two books on my list as part of the latest Classics Club Spin event, I’ve completed the challenge with a little under five months to spare. As well as reading some wonderful books I might not have otherwise read, I now qualify for a place on The Classics Club Wall of Honour! You can view the list of books I read with links to my reviews here.

And before you ask, since I’m already signed up to quite a few other reading challenges, I don’t intend to attempt another fifty classics. What I will do is continue to follow The Classics Club blog as well as read and share the reviews of other Classics Club members.