Tag: books

The Classics Club 26 in 2026

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To kick off the New Year, the lovely people who give up their time to be moderators of The Classics Club have invited members to reflect on their relationship with the classics by answering a series of questions:

  1. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club so far? Share a link to your latest classics club list.
    I joined in 2017 and completed my first list in July 2021. I’ve recently put together my second list of 50 books with the aim of reading them by the end of 2030.
  2. What classic are you planning to read next? Why? Is there a book first published in 1926 that you plan to read this year?
    I’ve started listening to the audiobook of Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier. (The text in my copy is very small.) It just happened to be the first title on the shelf I’ve set aside for the books on my list. I don’t have anything published in 1926 on my list.
  3. Best book you’ve read so far with the club? Why?
    From my first list, Mr Standfast by John Buchan because a) I’m a Buchan enthusiast and b) it’s one of my favourite of his books. Great story and the ending always makes me cry
  4. Classic author who has the most works on your club list? Or, classic author you’ve read the most works by?
    Easy answer – John Buchan
  5. If you could explore one author’s literary career from first publication to last — meaning you have never read this author and want to explore him or her by reading what s/he wrote in order of publication — who would you explore? Obviously this should be an author you haven’t yet read, since you can’t do this experiment on an author you’re already familiar with.  Or, which author’s work you are familiar with might it have been fun to approach this way?
    Paul Gallico. I have Trial by Terror on my new list, it will be the first book I’ve read by him. I was surprised to discover he wrote The Poseidon Adventure (which was made into a film) so now I’m intrigued about his other books.
  6. First classic you ever read?
    Can’t remember, probably something I was forced to read at school (a long time ago)
  7. Favorite children’s classic?
    Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome.
  8. Which classic is your most memorable classic to date? Why?
    The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton because I was not expecting that ending.
  9. Least favorite classic? Why?
    Ironically it’s a book by John Buchan, A Lodge in the Wilderness. Although nominally fiction, it’s essentially a debate about imperialism conducted by a group of fictional characters. I described it as ‘turgid’ and ‘paternalistic’ amongst other things.
  10. Favourite movie or TV adaption of a classic?
    A toss-up between the 1943 adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles or the 1946 adaptation of Great Expectations starring John Mills
  11. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read, or the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any?
    John Buchan: Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps by Ursula Buchan
  12. Favourite classic author in translation? Do you have a favorite classics translator? What do you look for in a classic translations?
    I haven’t read many translated classics except a couple of crime novels by George Simenon and Frédéric Dard.
  13. Do you have a favorite classic poet/poem, playwright/play? Why do you love it?
    I rarely read poetry or plays.
  14. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself? Which classic character do you most wish you could be like?
    Very unoriginal but Jo March from Little Women or Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice
  15. What is the oldest classic you have read or plan to read? Why?
    The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1839. I’ve seen Roger Corman’s film adaptations of some of the stories but never read the originals.
  16. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you be happiest to see continued?
    Great Expectations to know how Pip and Estella’s relationship panned out
  17. Favorite edition (or series) of a classic you own, or wished you owned, if any?
    My first edition of The Power-House by John Buchan, published in 1916. It’s the only first edition of his books I own and I found it of all places in a secondhand bookshop on the Scottish island of Iona.
  18. Do you reread classics? Why, or why not?
    Not often because I can’t resist new books. If I do it will be an old favourite like A Christmas Carol.
  19. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish?
    The Last Man by Mary Shelley, just could not get into it.
  20. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving?
    Not dislike exactly but I kept putting off reading Katherine by Anya Seton because it was over 500 pages long but it came up on a spin and I loved it
  21. List five fellow Classic Clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs?
    There are probably more but I can only think of Margaret at BooksPlease and Helen at SheReadsNovels. They like the same sort of books as I do and I enjoy reading their reviews.
  22. If you’ve ever participated in a readalong on a classic, tell us about the experience? If you’ve participated in more than one, what’s the very best experience? the best title you’ve completed? a fond memory? a good friend made?
    I don’t think I ever have.
  23. If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why?
    If I could persuade my book club to choose any classic at all I’d consider that a success! A couple of us suggested a Jane Austen novel to celebrate the 250th anniversary but got outvoted.
  24. What are you favourite bits about being a part of The Classics Club?
    The motivation to read more classic books, especially ones I own but haven’t yet tackled, reading other members’ reviews, taking part in spins
  25. What would like to see more of (or less of) on The Classics Club?
    More frequent spins, perhaps once a quarter? It’s my favourite activity the club organises.
  26. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!)
    How easy do you find it to keep up to date with Club and members’ activity? Answer: Not very easy unless I’m following individual members on social media such as X, Instagram or Bluesky, or subscribed to their blog.

If you’re a member of The Classics Club, or even if you’re not, how would you answer some of these questions?

#WWWWednesday – 7th January 2026

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Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

What I’m Currently Reading

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor (Picador)

It is 1938 and for Manod, a young woman living on a remote island off the coast of Wales, the world looks ready to end just as she is trying to imagine a future for herself. The ominous appearance of a beached whale on the island’s shore, and rumours of submarines circling beneath the waves, have villagers steeling themselves for what’s to come. Empty houses remind them of the men taken by the Great War, and of the difficulty of building a life in the island’s harsh, salt-stung landscape.

When two anthropologists from the mainland arrive, Manod sees in them a rare moment of opportunity to leave the island and discover the life she has been searching for. But, as she guides them across the island’s cliffs, she becomes entangled in their relationship, and her imagined future begins to seem desperately out of reach.

The Pretender by Jo Harkin (Bloomsbury)

Kill the pretender. Do not let it be known that there was a pretender to kill.

The year is 1483 and England is in peril. The much-despised Richard III is not long for the throne, and the man who will become Henry VII stands poised to snatch the crown for himself. But for twelve-year-old John Collan, living in a remote village with his widowed father, these matters seem far away.

But history has other plans for John.

Stolen from his family, exiled – first to Oxford, then to Burgundy, and then Ireland – and apprenticed to a series of unscrupulous political operators, he finds himself groomed for power; not as John Collan, but as Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick – and rightful heir to the throne.

Far from home at the Irish court, preparing for a war that will see him become king or die trying, John has just his wits – and the slippery counsel of his host’s daughter, the unconventional Joan – to navigate the choppy waters ahead.

What I’ve Just Read

The Eights by Joanna Miller (Bloomsbury)

They knew they were changing history. They didn’t know they would change each other.

Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the world’s most famous university has admitted female students. Giddy with dreams of equality, education and emancipation, four young women move into neighbouring rooms on Corridor Eight. They have come here from all walks of life, and they are thrown into an unlikely, life-affirming friendship.

Dora was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and her fiancé on the battlefield, has arrived in their place. Beatrice, politically-minded daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way – and her own friends – for the first time. Socialite Otto fills her room with extravagant luxuries but fears they won’t be enough to distract her from her memories of the war years. And quiet, clever, Marianne, the daughter of a village vicar, arrives bearing a secret she must hide from everyone – even The Eights – if she is to succeed.

But Oxford’s dreaming spires cast a dark in 1920, misogyny is still rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War are still very real indeed. And as the group navigate this tumultuous moment in time, their friendship will become more important than ever. (Review to follow)

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Macmillan Audio)

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.

Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.

But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together. (Review to follow)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Polygon)

On 9 July 1857, Angus MacPhee, a labourer from Liniclate on the island of Benbecula, murdered his father, mother and aunt. At trial in Inverness he was found to be criminally insane and confined in the Criminal Lunatic Department of Perth Prison.

Some years later, Angus’s older brother Malcolm recounts the events leading up to the murders while trying to keep a grip on his own sanity. Malcolm is living in isolation, ostracised by the community and haunted by this gruesome episode in his past.